Chapter 96

Between Alistair and Morrigan, Corypheus's dragon had been dealt with, leaving the rest of them to meet Corypheus himself head-on. Now, as the Inquisitor used the elven orb to close the Breach again, Leliana breathed a sigh of relief.

"You wanted into the Fade?" She levelled a steely gaze on the defeated magister, opening a smaller Breach directly behind him. "You got it."

But Corypheus refused to go, clinging onto the ground as the hole tried to suck him. After a few seconds of struggle, however, his grip failed, and he went sailing in, disappearing into the Fade.

For a long moment, nobody spoke. Then Marian, leaning against her staff and breathing heavily, cleared her throat.

"I suppose his defences were... Breached."

Leliana snorted, as did a few others. Some of them laughed. Before long, the laughing had become infectious. Their laughter rang in the air, here someone clutching at their side, there someone wiping the corners of their eyes. A hard-won victory, snatching the world back from the jaws of darkness itself; it was no mean feat. In Leliana's eyes, this moment of levity was well-deserved.

Except, the Breach that the Inquisitor had opened for Corypheus hadn't closed.

Its continued existence finally caught everyone's eye. Ellana tried closing it with her Mark, but nothing happened.

"This is… weird," she said, brows furrowed. "It should close."

"Try squeezing harder," Sera suggested.

"I am squeezing harder!"

Varric opened his mouth to speak next, but his words never came. Instead, a hush fell over them all. From the Breach came the sound of laughter.

"Is the Blighted bugger tickling himself?" Marian muttered, readying her staff.

"No." Solas took a few steps towards the Breach. "This is… this should not-"

"It's not over," Ellana said.

And just as she finished, a humanoid figure stepped out of the Fade with a deep rumbling chuckle. Leliana felt her breath catch.

No. Maker, not this.

With an unearthly malignant smirk strewn across his face, Aedan Cousland said, "Boo."

Then he punched Solas, the person nearest, in the stomach and sent him flying.

"Dying alone," said Aedan and turned his attention to Rainier. He put his hand around the man's throat and picked him up off his feet, got down on one knee and slammed him down, hard enough to break the stone beneath his armour.

Leliana gasped. The speed with which he'd dismantled the two was unbelievable. She couldn't even nock that fast! It was like lightning was coursing through his body.

As Rainier choked and croaked, Aedan stood up. "Himself."

"That's the Nightmare demon's voice," the Inquisitor said. "That's the general of Corypheus's demon army! The Hero of Ferelden died-"

"Dead? No." Aedan smirked mirthfully as he advanced on the rest, arms spread wide. "Fear personified."

"Fucking demons," bellowed the Iron Bull and charged.

"Bull, no!"

But Dorian's warning went unheeded. With a war cry, the giant qunari raised his axe and swung at Aedan. His giant muscles grew taut from all the force he'd put into his monstrous horizontal swing. Aedan raised his left knee and lowered his left elbow, catching the axe between them. Then he grabbed the stunned qunari's horn with his right hand, swung him around twice or thrice before throwing him into one of the stone pillars.

"Madness." Aedan's voice rumbled low in his chest, and, for a moment, Leliana could only watch as he dodged Varric's bolts, and Vivienne and Marian's spells. "Fool, do you know who I am? Who I really am?"

Leliana nocked an arrow, but didn't pull back the string. Her trembling fingers wouldn't let her.

"We don't wanna know!" Varric replied.

Aedan charged. He planted his palm across Cole's face and lifted him up, carrying the boy with him like a piece of cloth as he ran and smashed his head into another column. Twice. Thrice. Repeatedly. When he released him, Cole slid down onto the floor, incapacitated.

"Despair," Aedan said, looking down at him.

Taking advantage of his preoccupation, Cassandra tried to bash him with her shield, but he kicked it away. He then drove his knee into her breastplate, and, as she bent over, Aedan drove his elbow into the back of her skull.

"Helplessness." He picked up her limp body, lifting her up over his head. "An example."

Then he threw her at Dorian before he could cast the spell he was readying. Vivienne, however, let loose a barrage of ice spikes. They rained down on Aedan, but he smirked and smashed his knuckles together, resulting in a small flicker of magic.

The ice spikes dissolved into water and fell on the ground, forming puddles.

"Fuck!" Marian swore. "He just Cleansed the entire bloody area!"

Vivienne by then had also figured out what happened, but it was too late for her to do anything: Aedan grabbed onto her staff, and closed his fingers around her throat.

"Irrelevance." He bashed his forehead into the bridge of her nose. Again and again. Then he let her go and vaulted over her falling body to stand before Varric.

The dwarf shook his head. "Don't say it."

"Becoming your parents."

"You had to say it."

Varric shot a bolt at Aedan's face but he slapped it away like a fly. He placed his hand atop the dwarf's head and drove his face into the ground. Varric didn't get up, but Dorian did, heaving Cassandra off of him. Aedan took a hopping step in his direction, lifted his right leg, and caught the mage right under the chin with his foot, snapping his head back.

"Temptation."

As the mage fell, Aedan faced Sera and smiled. "Nothing."

"You're nothing," replied the girl. Aedan caught the arrow she shot at him point blank, spun, and slapped her across the face. She fell like a cut tree.

Leliana couldn't believe it. Within moments, he – whatever he was– had taken down the main members of the Inquisition. Only Hawke, herself, Cullen and the Inquisitor were battle-ready.

"Maker help us," Cullen muttered beside her. He covered the Inquisitor while Hawke stood firmly between Aedan and them.

"Too long have I waited to walk out and feel the world," said Aedan as he walked towards them. "Move, pest, or be trampled underfoot."

"What, that's it?" asked Hawke. "No grand villainous monologue?"

"I saw you die!" cried the Inquisitor. "What happened? What have you become?"

Aedan laughed and took off at a sprint. "I am what I always have been!"

"Bullshit!" A torrent of flames burst from Marian's staff. Aedan leapt clean over them and drove both his knees into Cullen's shield, bringing him down to the ground. With a quick elbow strike, he smashed his nose.

"Worthlessness." Aedan stood tall as Cullen lay choking on his own blood. He looked right at Ellana. "I am the Elder One."

With a cry, Marian thrust the spear-end of her staff at Aedan. Though she was now behind him, he sidestepped it with ease. She kept throwing out quick jabs while circling to her left, making him go the other way. He seemed amused, but played along, slipping and dodging the stabs.

"You're not a Warden anymore," Marian said, slashing horizontally with the blade upon manoeuvring herself between Aedan and the Inquisitor. "He can't be controlling you."

"Corypheus is a gnat, a speck in the river of Time." He leaned back at an unnatural angle, his back almost parallel to the ground. Hawke's staff-blade cut the air maybe an inch above his chest. Then he straightened like a spring. "Fear is Eternal!"

And, suddenly, the Inquisitor was gone. Ellana darted forward past Marian, dropped her bow, and jumped. Leliana watched on, spellbound, as she planted her right knee straight into Aedan's sternum, then lifted her left knee and clocked him on the temple.

She landed on her feet. Aedan staggered back.

"You'll find none of that here," the Inquisitor said defiantly. "A good man once told me that it was only when we are afraid that we can be brave."

"Well said!" Marian charged ahead, thrusting out her spear. But this time, he grabbed it and smirked at her.

"Losing your loved ones," he said. Then in true Aedan fashion, he punched her in the face and dropped her. He stepped over Marian and rounded upon the Inquisitor and Leliana. "So, are you afraid, little girl?"

Without waiting for a reply, he punched her in the stomach. A quick, vicious uppercut. Ellana dropped to her knees, coughing. Aedan walked past her and came to a halt before Leliana.

"Not going to fight?" he asked. Leliana shook her head. There was no point. Aedan had ripped apart the Inquisition in less than five minutes. She looked down at the trembling fingers with which she held her bow. She wanted to fight. But taking on… whatever this was would only have one outcome.

Leliana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The righteous stand before the Darkness, and the Maker shall guide their hand. Now, standing face to face with darkness, there was only one thing her body was telling her to do. And she listened.

"No." Leliana let her bow fall from her grasp. Some of the others were stirring. Groaning. This was not something that could be defeated with brute force. There was only one counter to fear. So, she looked right at Aedan and smiled. "You can't beat us. You can't shake our faith."

At that moment, Alistair came charging in, driving his shoulder into Aedan's gut, and tackled him off his feet. Alistair scrambled up and sat on his chest.

"Aedan Cousland had no fear," he gritted out.

Laughing, Aedan brought his feet up, placed them under Alistair's armpits and kicked him off.

"Everyone has fear," he replied, getting to his feet. "Your precious friend was no exception."

"Exactly," said Leliana. "Flemeth took your son."

Aedan stopped. Or, whatever he was, stopped. He stood still. Only breathing. Doing nothing else.

"What?"

The demonic voice was gone. This was the Aedan she knew and remembered. Leliana's smile widened.

Every demon needed an anchor to hold them to the real world. In this case, there was no summoning. The Nightmare demon had bound itself to Aedan, enthralled him. The body seemed to be struggling to move, but was being held back. His muscles were strained, almost like a puppet struggling against all the strings. It was momentary, but it was enough for Leliana to see that her friend was still in there.

"Yes," she continued. "Flemeth took Kieran away because of the Old God soul."

A change came over Aedan at that. He seemed staggered, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No," he said finally, the demon's voice returning. "Lies."

"And Morrigan is now a slave to her will."

A visceral snarl ripped from deep inside Aedan's throat. He covered his face with his palm and bent over slightly. Leliana glanced at Alistair and he, holding his sword out before him, one hand on the hilt and one hand on the tip of the blade, rammed Aedan with it.

"Anger is better than fear, Aedan always said," he told Aedan. "Feeling angry? Good. There is no room for Fear inside you!"

With that, he smote Aedan, sending him skidding across the ground. "Cullen!"

But the Commander was already struggling to his feet. He buried his sword in the ground, knelt, and delivered a Smite of his own, flinging Aedan over to-

"Cassandra, do it!"

A Seeker had all the abilities of a templar, and Cassandra was no slouch. Her Smite caught Aedan just as he was trying to stand and bowled him over.

"Now, together!"

Alistair, Cullen and Cassandra knelt around Aedan in a triangle and smote him together. Aedan, with both hands over his ears, growled and shouted. A Holy Smite cut off a mage's connection to the Fade, and since the Nightmare hadn't been summoned, it wasn't fully free of the Fade. On the other hand, it couldn't be banished so long as it had a hold on its anchor.

I'll have to loosen it, then.

Despite the simultaneous smites from three directions, Aedan staggered to his feet, though shaking all over. Leliana ran up behind him and, drawing a dagger, slid it in between his ribs.

"Inquisitor!" she called over her shoulder, lopping an arm around Aedan's throat to hold him in place. "Now!"

Ellana, though still kneeling, immediately opened up a rift above her and Aedan. Leliana was almost taken off her feet but Alistair latched onto her waist. She, in turn, wrapped her legs around Aedan as the Breach pulled him off his feet.

"Your son needs you," she said in his ear over the crackling Breach. "For his sake, come back!"

She pushed the dagger in deeper.

Aedan howled in pain. It was thunderous, shaking her down to her bones. It was the Nightmare's voice, but it slowly morphed into his own. Leliana felt something get sucked out of his body and slip into the Fade, at which point the Inquisitor closed all the rifts at once, sending them all crashing to the ground.

Leliana knew that if she pulled the dagger out, Aedan would bleed to death. She left it in and turned him over onto his back. She'd punctured his lung and almost killed him. All in an effort to cast the demon out.

The members of the Inquisition who had come to started gathering around. Marian, sitting and rubbing her jaw, said, "He's got a punch like the kick of a mule."

Ellana went about asking everyone whether they were all right before going off to find Solas. Alistair sat down on the ground. "Will he live?"

"I don't know," Leliana replied as she put Aedan's head on her lap. She looked up to ask Dorian whether he could heal, but then noticed Morrigan limping towards them. When the witch saw Aedan, she came over hurriedly and knelt beside him, her hands glowing with healing magics.

"This fool," she muttered, her voice choked. "This utter fool…"

"Will he live?" Alistair asked again and Morrigan nodded.

As almost everybody breathed a sigh of relief, Leliana looked up at the sky. The hole was gone, leaving behind a simple, beautiful scar. Like the lights in northern lands.

Behind it, the eastern sky was slowly reddening. She smiled.

The dawn had come.

A/N: Three guesses as to whose POV the next chapter will be from.