I hope the first chapter wasn't too short D: I was really worried it wouldn't be a very good opening chapter, but I didn't want to let out too much detail in the first chapter.

Anyways, read and enjoy :D feedback is welcome.

Her legs felt like lead, her head pounded from the blow she took from the Mother. Katherine didn't care if she dropped down dead right now, but she needed to reach Vigil's Keep in order to assist those she left behind.

To save Amaranthine itself before Vigil's Keep was one of the hardest choices Katherine had to make. But she didn't want to risk a political uproar from the arls and nobles of every other region, mainly because of the added weight it would add to Alistair's shoulders, and she did not want to return to a stressed-out husband. The argument she used with Oghren, Velanna and Sigrun was just that, as well as the fact that Vigil's Keep can easily be rebuilt. They reluctantly accepted the Warden Commander's decision and assisted her.

But the smoke bellowing into the sky and the thick, heavy smell of blood lingering in the air was not a good sign in the slightest.

"By the Stone Kat, we don't all have long legs like yours so slow down!" Oghren called out to her, panting away as he managed to catch up to her, Sigrun close behind him. Velanna scoffed and kept marching ahead, her head held high and looking ahead.

"Sorry Oghren I just-"

"I know, c'mon we better catch up to ol' pointy ears over."

Katherine allowed the others to walk ahead of her, she instantly noticed Sigrun limping slightly, but that hard-headed dwarf was too stubborn to let it slow her down.

She prayed to the Maker that everyone was alright; even Nathaniel Howe whose family she despised after his father slaughtered everyone in Highever castle. Yet, Nathaniel was different. Of course, he was a moody and a completely miserable bastard, but she knew he would never be like his father, and to prove her trust for him, she made Nathaniel her second-in-command.

As she trudged to the top of the hill, she glared through misty eyes in horror at the scene before her; bodies of both darkspawn and Grey Wardens scattered the battlefield. Vigil's Keep was almost rubble apart from a few walls and towers, fires still blazing in certain places as surviving Wardens attempted to battle the flames. Katherine tried to pick out from the faces that survived if any of them belonged to Anders, Nathaniel or Justice. Her eyes scanned the destruction ferociously as her companions started to spread out and assist on putting out the fires.

"Commander Katherine!" shouted an extremely familiar voice.

On top of a heap of rubble, Nathaniel Howe stood. His Warden armour blood-stained as he sheathed his bow and started running towards her; Katherine beamed the first smile she had in days as she met her fellow Warden halfway and briefly hugged him before returning to serious matters.

"How many casualties?"

"Two hundred and still counting; we found Justice's body first, and we found Anders' earring but..."

Katherine's heart started to thump in her chest with worry, "But what?!"

"Anders is nowhere to be seen, but a couple of Wardens saw him running into the forest and lost sight of him from there."

Katherine began to pace back and forth in front of a rather confused Nathaniel. What reason did Anders have for running away? What happened? Where did he go?

"I'm taking Velanna and Sigrun with me to go and look for him. I leave you in charge for dealing with the bodies and everything else," Katherine said coldly.

"What?! Are you serious? We have to take care of the injured and clean-up without wasting time looking for one mage," Nathaniel snapped, his eyes glaring daggers at Katherine. But she simply met his eyes full-on. She used her height to her advantage and she easily intimidated others by being the height of an average man, and almost being built like one. Katherine easily could best a man too; she may be burly, but deep down, she was still a woman.

"I have no time to argue with you, Howe. Now do as your Commander says. Besides, Anders is deserting and needs to be punished for it," Katherine replied coolly and whistled for her mabari Rex, and called out to Sigrun and Velanna to accompany her.

Washing the blood off his hands and the grime from his face, Anders had no idea what just happened. One minute, he was falling in a never-ending darkness, as if he was stuck in the Void itself. But there was a sudden light and Justice's voice calling out to him, and he awoke with an arrow in his head and under a pile of rubble. Despite his injuries and the scorching pain surging throughout his body, Anders pulled out the arrow as if it was just a burden to his appearance and started scrambling towards the woods, knowing he wouldn't be allowed to stay in Vigil's Keep because of what he and Justice have now done.

He had allowed Justice to possess his dying body.

They had promised each other if Anders died in battle, Justice would possess his body so that he could live, and fight for mage rights.

As Anders stared at his reflection in the small stream, he heard voices ahead, those that he instantly recognised.

"I heard noises over here Commander, could it be him?"

"I don't know Velanna, but it better be."

Suddenly, Anders became extremely dizzy as he felt the world spinning around him. His hands clamped onto his head tightly as he tried to control the dizzy spells, but he knew what was coming.

Anders, Katherine and the others have come after you in order to bring you back for desertion. They're going to kill us both.

"That's easy for you to say, spirits can't die," Anders whispered to the voice in his head as he knelt curled up into a ball on the bank of the stream in order to regain control of his mind.

How will we prevent every child born with magic being taken away from their families? You need to dispose of Katherine and the others.

Anders' eyes snapped open in realisation of the seriousness of Justice's words.

"No! I will not and shall not!" Anders screamed; his body shaking violently as he battled with Justice, trying desperately to make his thoughts his own again.

"Anders!" he heard Katherine's voice call out to him as he heard hurried footsteps towards him. He closed his eyes as he felt a presence tower over him.

Suddenly, inside him, something snapped and all Anders could do now was watch the horrors he was about to commit. Justice had managed to gain complete control of Anders' mind and pushed Anders to the very back, taking complete control of Anders' body.

Through a blue haze, Anders watched as Velanna was sent hurtling towards a tree, the heart-wrenching sound of bones snapping and breaking as the force that blew Velanna back made her go through the tree itself as she landed against another, her neck snapping as her head hit the side of the trunk.

"Velanna!" He heard Katherine scream out in unison with his own voice, but no words spoke from his mouth.

He now realised what was going on; Justice had taken complete control and all he could do was look on as Justice destroyed everything in his path.

Rex lunged towards him but was quickly pushed backwards by an unknown force, and instantly knocked out. Katherine cried out and went down to her mabari.

Anders watched as Sigrun charged towards him, screeching her usual battle-cry. But with a rise of his open hand, Sigrun was enveloped in sinister, blue vines and started to rise in the air. Out of the corner of his eye, Anders could see tears of horror pour down Katherine's cheeks as Sigrun struggled against the vines. He screamed out as Justice clenched that hand into a fist and the blue vines started to constrict Sigrun, the blood-curdling scream from the dwarf's mouth made Katherine furious as she drew her swords and desperately tried to cut the vines of blue magic, but the Warden Commander was only sent flying backwards across the floor, temporarily knocking her out.

Yet again, the sounds of bones cracking and breaking haunted Anders' mind as the air from Sigrun's lungs were forced out of her before Justice slammed her lifeless corpse to the ground with extreme force, creating an immediate blood splatter as Sigrun's disfigured, broken body laid in a heap of gory mess.

Anders tried his best to prevent Justice from marching towards Katherine, but yet again, he failed as he watched on as Justice grabbed Katherine by the hair and held her above him. The woman struggled against the hand as the other hand grabbed her throat. But the moment Katherine's hazel eyes met Anders', he felt something inside Justice stir within.

You can't kill her, can you Justice?

As the life started to seep from Katherine, Justice simply threw the woman to the ground like a rag doll, instantly knocking her out as her head hit a nearby rock. Justice then began to run away from the scene of gore surrounding them, and all Anders could do was watch.

"Are you satisfied?" Justice's voice was harsh and monotonic as always.

Satisfied?! You killed my friends and almost killed Katherine! So no, I'm not 'satisfied'.

You didn't think I could do it. Never underestimate my power, mage.

From those words, Anders knew he had made the biggest mistake of his life as he continued to watch as Justice carried on sprinting further into the woods, despite being covered in blood.

"I don't care! I need to see her now!"

"Please calm down, your highness. The Warden Commander is in safe hands."

"She is not just the Warden Commander! She is my wife and Queen of Ferelden!"

Katherine groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, the light from the windows almost blinding her as she rubbed them groggily. Her whole body ached and her right arm throbbed with pain, she felt arms support her as she attempted to sit up and rest her back against the pillows.

Suddenly, the door burst open as soon as Katherine's eyes adjusted to the world around her. There, in full ceremonial armour, Alistair marched towards her, relief evident in his eyes.

"Katherine…" He whispered softly as he knelt down at her bedside, taking her hands in his.

She smiled weakly, hiding the horrors of the destruction Anders caused in her mind. She watched as Alistair dismissed the healers and Seneschal Varel so that he could be alone with her.

"How long have I been out?"

"Oh nice to see you too honey, I'm sorry for worrying you half to death that I immediately jumped on my horse and rode here just to be by your side," Alistair jested, a small smile on his face, "but in all seriousness, you were out cold for a few days. I was worried sick…"

"What happened…?"

"Well," Alistair started to take off his armour so that he was just in a linin shirt and trousers, "That mage Anders killed both Sigrun, Velanna and seriously injured both you and Rex."

"Rex?" Katherine gasped slightly as she felt her feet kick a soft, brown lump at the end of her bed.

Her faithful mabari Rex was sound asleep at the end of her bed, some bandages around his ribcage as her hound raised his head, whining softly as he crawled over and rested his head on her lap, completely lying down. Alistair perched at her side of the bed as he kicked off his boots.

"I thought I lost you when Nathaniel sent the message as to how serious and bloody the scene was when he found you…" Alistair's voice cracked slightly as he cupped one of Katherine's cheeks.

Katherine immediately saw the way that worrying about her aged her husband's handsome face; he had huge bags under his eyes and he was beginning to get wrinkles on his forehead. She chuckled softly as she nuzzled her cheek into the palm of his hand.

"I'm here now, and that's all that matters."

Alistair rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes as he kissed her lips as gently as he could.

"I'll leave you to get some rest."

But as Alistair went to leave, Katherine gripped onto the sleeve of his shirt in desperation.

"No…Stay please."

Alistair's eyes widened in shock; he had never seen Katherine this vulnerable before. The only other time he had ever seen her like this was that one night at camp where the nightmares about the Archdemon were so vivid that it literally shook Katherine up, and she clung onto Alistair for the rest of the night.

He smiled softly as he lay down on the bed, leaning against the bedframe and allowed Katherine to rest her head on his chest. Alistair tangled his fingers amongst Katherine's raven-black locks of hair.

"I will never let anything like that happen to you again."