Sorry for the wait, guys. Thank you to everyone who's favorited and followed this story. It means so much to me!

ImagineBagginsDragon, your review made me laugh. But sadly, there isn't any Avina/Alistair romance in this chapter. This one is too dark, methinks. Perhaps in the next chapter :P

Now, without further ado, here is chapter 11.

Valena

She thinks it's been two days since she shut herself in here. Not even a few hours after she had, the screaming stopped, only to be replaced with something much worse.

Silence.

When they were screaming, at least she knew some of the others were alive. Now, she has no idea.

Perhaps the arl is dead now. Maybe the arlessa is dead. Maybe all the staff, the guards, and even young master Connor are dead. Maybe all the others are dead - Valena can't be sure - but she knows even if they are, she is not alone.

She hid here when those... creatures came pouring out of the main hall, ripping apart anything that moved.

If she was braver or had combat training, perhaps she could have tried to fight her way out. But as it is, she doesn't, so she can't.

If she wasn't terrified, she thinks she would be very hungry. The terror keeps her from feeling it, but her stomach has been making noises. She only hopes her stomach doesn't rumble loud enough for the monsters to hear...

There's a crash out in the hall and she flinches, cowering into the crates. She knows she can't hide forever, that the monsters will come for her eventually if she doesn't starve to death, but all she can think is not yet, please don't let them find me. Not yet.

One of the monsters screeches in fury, and she thinks they must have found something. The hounds are relatively nearby, she supposes...

Then a blast shakes the wall.

Valena barely keeps herself from screaming. What was that? Some sort of explosion?

The creatures shriek, and Valena covers her ears, and prays they will go away. She prays they will leave her alone.

She doesn't know how much time passes with her hands clasped over her ears, but after a while she lowers them, listening. She hears nothing. No growling, no dead feet scraping across the floor, no sound indicating the monsters are nearby. Perhaps they left, she thinks with relief.

Then the door swings open.

A scream is torn from her throat and she throws up her arms to protect her face.

But they aren't monsters. They're people, humans and and elf and even a mabari hound.

"Please don't hurt me," she begs as she lowers her arms.

The pretty elven woman places a finger to her lips. "Shhh! Calm down, we're not here to hurt you."

Valena puts a hand over her mouth. "I... I'm sorry; I'm so frightened! These monsters are everywhere! My... my name's Valena, the arlessa's maid. Is she... all right? What happened to everyone?"

"Valena?" the elf repeats. "The smith's daughter?"

"You know my father?" Valena gasps. "I want to go back to the village... Is there a way out of here?"

She nods. "Yes. There's a tunnel that leads out through the dungeons."

"W-what about the monsters?" Valena stutters.

"Most of them are dead," the elf assures her. "Jowan will show you the way. If you run into trouble, he can protect you."

The black-haired man who steps forward looks rather thin and pale, but his staff looks sturdy and his eyes burn with determination. "Come with me."

Just before they leave, the elf grabs his arm. "Show her out quickly," she whispers. "Then meet us at the castle as fast as you can, okay?"

Jowan nods sagely. "I'll make sure she gets out safely."

"Good." She releases him and he leads Valena down the hall, where many bodies of the monsters are strewn about.

Valena doesn't know if he can hear her, but she whispers, "Thank you."

He says nothing in return, only peeking through a doorway and motioning for her to follow.

Avina

They barely had lyrium potions to begin with, but now, with so little left...

It's scary now how tempted she is, after all this time. Lyrium is more expensive than she is. It would be so easy to release it, to just let it go and damn the consequences.

But she can't. No, she won't.

And that's final.

Maybe.

She knows Alistair isn't happy with her for releasing Jowan; she wishes she could make him understand. But how could he possibly? She doesn't want him to know that if things were different, it would've been her in that cage.

Morrigan is pleased however; she thinks she may have gained a bit of approval from the Witch of the Wilds. Not that she was actively seeking it, as Morrigan isn't among the most trusted of her companions, but she is somewhat glad that she isn't completely hated by her.

Avina has no idea what Daylen thinks. He's voiced no opinion of Jowan so far, and he still has yet to comment on her letting him out of the dungeon.

She wonders, briefly, if he's angry.

At last, they reach the front of the castle. Avina is almost ready to cry with relief and is about to go open the gates when Daylen catches her by the arm.

"Wait," he cautions. "Look there."

He points across the yard, where a few walking corpses stand lazily, their decaying jaws hanging open as they look in random directions. Now that she's looking, she can see more up the stairs. Many of which have bows.

Damn.

"Avina," he says quietly. "Open the gate, let the knights in. Griffon will cover you. The rest of us will clear the stairs."

A childish part of her wants to disagree, to complain about how she's always the one to do the least dangerous tasks. But when it comes down to it, she thinks she trusts him. At least in a combat situation.

So she obeys.

She breaks into a sprint, rushing over to the lever as fast as she can while Griffon keeps up beside her, his ears perked up and alert. Before she even reaches it she can hear Leliana give a battle cry, Alistair's sword hitting flesh.

Once she's reached her destination, she realizes that pulling the lever down is a lot harder than it looks, especially to a mage who spent most of her life in a tower. She tries several times to pull it down with her meager strength alone until she gives up on that. She has to jump up and push it down with all her weight to make it budge, but as soon as she's done the knights of Redcliffe come charging in, weapons at the ready.

She whirls around, her hands lighting up with electricity as she searches for an opponent.

The Revenant catches her by surprise.

In her surprise, she lets the lightning shoot out of her outstretched fingers, across the field and into the monster's chest. It staggers, confused, and one of the knights trips it with his blade.

The walking skeletons are felled quickly, and soon enough they're walking into the castle.

And come face to face with what caused this.

Connor himself.

Daylen

He is not surprised in the least.

He isn't pleased that Jowan's prediction was correct, but at least it's what they were expecting.

A possessed mage - even if it's a child - is dangerous business. Daylen knows, the Circle hammered it into his head since he arrived the dangers of accepting a deal with a demon. Once possessed, depending on how strong the mage's will is and how powerful the demon, there is no guarantee that you will ever have control again.

There are only two ways a possession can be dealt with.

The first option is to kill them. Certainly the easiest way, but Daylen doesn't think the arl would be too pleased about them murdering his only son, possessed or no.

When Jowan arrives again, he offers the second option.

Going into the Fade to confront the demon itself, killing it and cutting the connection. The boy would survive, but as they do not have as much lyrium as would be needed, as well as several mages, the only thing they do have is blood magic.

And someone will have to die for the sacrifice if they decide to do what he has suggested.

"No, no!" Avina refuses. "We can't just... kill an innocent person!"

"Take me," Isolde offers suddenly, stepping towards Jowan. "I will be the sacrifice."

"Isolde, no!" Teagan grabs her arm. "Are you mad? Eamon would never stand for this."

She only yanks her arm free. "Either they kill my son to destroy that thing inside him, or I give my life so my son can live. To me, the answer is clear."

"Blood magic," Alistair spits. "How can more evil be of any help here? Two wrongs don't make a right."

Morrigan crosses her arms. "It does seem like a sensible choice, with a willing participant."

"I agree," Daylen says. Jowan is right, after all. The power must come from somewhere, and they don't have nearly enough lyrium with them. "Isolde has offered herself; it would save the boy."

Avina whirls on him, and for a moment Daylen almost flinches, afraid she might strike him. "No," she snarls.

"Connor is blameless in this," Isolde adds. "He should not have to pay the price."

"I say we should go to the Circle," Alistair says. "It's only a day's journey, and we have treaties for them."

Avina nods. "They would help us. I agree with Alistair; we should go to them."

Daylen raises an eyebrow at her. "Are you saying we should leave these people alone with a powerful abomination? If we go to the Circle, we may come back to find everyone here dead."

"The ends do not justify the means!"

Avina's scream echoes through the hall and everyone falls silent, staring at her.

"We'll leave Sten and Leliana behind," she says finally, her voice lower than Daylen has ever heard it. "They can protect the people here. With the gates open, there shouldn't be much of a problem anyway."

Daylen blinks in surprise. So does Morrigan, and possibly the rest of the group.

Everyone looks at Daylen to see if he'll go along with what she's ordered. To see if he trusts her judgment.

He could argue further, but the fire in her eyes tells him that she won't back down, not this time. And seeing how she's one of the three surviving Fereldan Grey Wardens, it wouldn't be beneficial to simply ignore her and hope she and Alistair didn't leave the group.

"Alright," he allows finally. "I suggest we clear out the remaining creatures from the castle and leave as soon as possible."

Avina opens her mouth, as if to argue, then shuts it, looking shocked.

She blinks, twice, then nods to the rest of their companions and heads for the hallway.

Avina

She finds it in the study.

She admits it, she's nosy. She's read the first page of the book on the desk when the top drawer catches her eye.

And when she pulls it open, she's greeted with the sight of Andraste's holy symbol.

She freezes. But... it can't be...

But it is. The amulet is cracked, but was obviously put back together with great care. So it must be it.

So she takes Alistair's mother's amulet and puts it in her pocket.

Maybe she'll remember to give it back to him when they reach camp.

Tel'abelas.

Next chapter: The Antivan Crow