Recap: "Someone... please... halani... ma..." He whispered before his world went black.

Now

Reaper appeared in an abandoned village. He could feel his demon fighting him from the inside. The fear that the now deceased Aedan Hellathen had had fed the Fear Demon within which began to stir. He focused on it briefly before it stopped. He could feel his Sins nearby. They were having a much harder time controlling their demons than he was. It was ingenious really, using red lyrium as a catalyst to bind spirits and demons. The Blight was alien, strange and foreign, to the beings of the Fade. Reaper realized that it could be used to control them, but he needed more safeguards than that. So he theorized on what it might do to lyrium. Despite it being a mineral, it is one of the few things that can be found in this world and the Fade. Not only that, but it seems to bridge the gap between the two. Hence why it allows mages to be stronger in its refined form.

As Reaper began walking to his Sins, he thought over on how he tested his theory. He had brewed a master lyrium potion and went to Amaranthine in search of an entrance to the Deep Roads. He found it in the Knotwood Hills. At the time, the land was inhospitable with little evidence of life. He had traveled there due to a rumor that a section of the Deep Roads runs under the hills, and that the structure of those old tunnels was starting to deteriorate. He found it. At the time it was merely a sinkhole. Reaper entered and was almost immediately beset by darkspawn. He made sure not to be too close to them as he slaughtered them. Blood magic was too dangerous to use against the monsters so he kept his spells to just the primal school. At the end of it, he lived and around 30 darkspawn were dead.

He remembered as he walked up to an emissary's corpse and drew the blood from it. He watched as the dark crimson blood poured into the vial, hissing and bubbling as if it were heated acid. After getting what he had come for he made his way back out and quickly made distance between himself and the cave. Once safely away he poured the contents of the vial into the master lyrium potion and watched transfixed. For a moment he thought the two would mix into some kind of purple concoction but he was proved wrong. Blighted crimson overwhelmed luminous blue until the flask was filled with only glowing crimson. He remembered the flask beginning to shake violently before quickly throwing the bottle away just as it exploded.

It had confirmed his theory though. Lyrium could be corrupted by the blight. It was incredibly volatile, however. It would have to be more controlled and composed as well as tested. Without even directly touching it, Reaper could feel how chaotic red lyrium could be. He knew that he would need to at least have the taint curbed, but also malleable, able to provide a stronger connection to him and his Sins. Specifically to their half-breed blood. That was why he had sacrificed those three Grey Wardens in that blood ritual. Blood of the Grey Wardens carries the Taint but it is much more tame. There was a bigger reason as to why he had three different wardens, ones of each race.

A dwarf of Orzammar, one who held a strong resistance to lyrium in its raw form would provide some security of the red lyrium not being so destructive. An elven and a human warden mage whose blood would ease their ability in consciously controlling the lyrium. Both human and elven blood mingled in all of their veins so they required both over a single one of them. But even then, Reaper could tell the red lyrium was still highly dangerous. Luckily, it was a two-way road with the demon and the red lyrium. Reaper immediately figured out that he could use the demon's power to control the red lyrium from taking over and now he had all the power he needed. However...

Reaper finally found his Sins and the sight wasn't pleasing to the eye. Unlike their master, the Sins did not have as much willpower as he did so their demons were giving them a harder time along with the red lyrium.

Reaper glanced at Pride who seemed to have the most control, but his skin looked as if it were flaking or shedding off with purple crystalline skin underneath.

He looked at Desire who seemed to be trying to stop what looked to be horns growing out of her head. Not only that but it looked as if flames were trying to come of her hair.

His gaze turned to Rage who was on his hands and knees. The man looked like he was trying to vomit but at a closer look, Reaper could see that his student's saliva was starting to turn into lava or some kind of fire, no doubt due to the Alpha Rage demon within.

Envy garnered his attention from the corner of his eye. Her body seemed to be shifting and changing. She looked like she had something inside of her body moving around everywhere. She was moaning in obvious pain and discomfort.

Then there was Sloth. His student seemed to be moving much slower than usual. Not only that but the area around him seemed to be moving slower too considering the butterflies near him were flying in slow motion.

Finally, he saw Hunger. Unlike the rest of the Sins, Hunger showed no obvious signs of his demon fighting to take control. However, Reaper could hear the man's stomach growling quite loudly. Not only that but the red lyrium in ring that Sloth was wearing seemed to have grown over his hand and was continuing to grow albeit slowly almost like it was... ah. So that was what his demon was doing. It was trying to eat him slowly. And from the look of all of them who at least had the red lyrium under control, Hunger seemed to be struggling to gain control over it as well as his demon. Hunger slumped against a ruined house before sliding down to the ground in pain. Reaper went to him first so that he wouldn't lose him.

Once he got near, he kneeled beside his students who was looking at him pleadingly. Reaper hadn't seen that look since the first time he met Hunger. The maleficar placed his hand on Hunger's forearm and drew on the Fear Demon's power. A fear demon is probably the most powerful type of demon in the Fade and it was capable of frightening other demons away. Reaper could now feel the sloth demon and it was most displeased. He channeled his fear demon's energy and he could feel the sloth demon being cowed by the potent energy. Hunger seized the window of opportunity and took control of the demon. The red lyrium shrunk back until it was a ring again.

Seeing he had succeeded, Reaper got up and moved over to Rage and did the same thing. Rage stilled once he felt his master's energy go through him. Sensing the rage demon was weakened, Rage ruthlessly took power over it. Now his mouth and stomach didn't feel like they were on fire.

Reaper moved to Envy and quickly intimidated the demon inside her. Envy's body stopped moving and shifting. Slowly, she rose up and looked into his eyes. Reaper would've been surprised at sudden changes in eye color had he not been aware of an envy demon's abilities. Envy's eyes were constantly changing colors: red, yellow, green, blue, purple, you name it.

Reaper walked over to Sloth and could immediately feel the magic radiating off his student. Said magic was affecting the flow of time and bringing it to a call crawl. It would be fascinating if it weren't preventing him from getting closer to his student. Thinking quickly, he focused on Sloth himself before radiating his Fear energy at him. Sloth opened his eyes quickly and looked at him in fright. Reaper could feel the fear coming to his demon and by extension himself. It was intoxicating to say the least, but he had to focus on Sloth now. It seems to have snapped him out of his trance and the demon within had intimidated to the point where it held no hold over him. Reaper could see that Sloth was still afraid of him though.

"Take control of it." He ordered. It brought Sloth to his sense where he quickly subjugated his demon. Reaper turned to Desire and could see she was beginning to gain control considering her horns weren't growing anymore and the purple fire was gone. He moved up to her side and gripped her shoulder. The desire demon stopped immediately upon sensing a new presence brushing against her. Desire immediately dominated her demon sensing its lowered guard. Her demonic features disappeared quickly as she took full control.

He was about to go over and help Pride but noticed something different was happening to him. The crystalline scales that had been growing out of him had stopped and were actually going back under the skin. Reaper smirked as he watched Pride gain control of his demon all by himself. His strongest student turned to him and the rest and Reaper could see that the demonic power had healed Pride's wounds that Hellathen had inflicted on him years ago. Pride had taken control of the his demon without any help. He should have expected as such from his strongest student.

"So, what happened with that bastard Hellathen?" Pride asked. Reaper could see the bloodlust in his eyes and he could feel the stares from his other students.

"He is dead." Reaper replied stoically. Pride hmphed while the others showed no reaction above mild interest.

"Good riddance." Reaper smirked at Pride's obvious hatred of the young man. Pride had been beaten badly by Hellathen in not only body but in ego as well. The mere thought that anyone outside their little group that was more powerful than him pissed Pride off to no end.

"That's a shame. I was hoping I could get to play with him with for a little while." Desire said as she smiled, thinking of what she could've done to Aedan with her new powers.

"Your definition of playing leaves men hollow and empty, Desire. I on the other hand prefer him dead now by Master's own powers." Sloth said to her. Desire merely pouted at him.

"My brother is right, at least with Master, we know that he is dead." Desire glared at Rage in annoyance as she crossed her arms.

"What? Is my power so little that you believe one little man could overpower me?" She demanded. Envy spoke up.

"That 'little man' managed to keep up with all of us." Hunger agreed with her.

"She's right. He took all of us on, even Master, and yet he wounded him so. He was certainly not your average mage." Desire glared at him.

"Oh please. Pride and I would've been enough to kill him." Pride nodded with her.

"No you wouldn't have. He would've killed you." Reaper said silencing them until Pride spoke up.

"But, Master, I could've done it when he and I clashed back there. If you would only trust me to-"

"It's not about trust, it's about skill and in that fight, Hellathen would have killed you. That is why I took him on. Or do you believe yourself stronger than I?" Reaper cut him off, flaring his new power. Pride as well as the others felt the sheer force of it pressing down on them. They could feel that the demons and the red lyrium had pushed their power to an incredible new level, but their master's was still in a league of his own.

"No, Master, I don't." Pride said with his head bowed in submission. Reaper ceased his intimidation.

"Good, now that that is done with we need to train and figure out what our new powers are before we move with the plan." The Sins nodded and followed as Reaper walked to a clearing.

Meanwhile with Clan Sabrae

The Dalish Clan Sabrae had come out of the woods and had trekked back to their campsite to immediately begin packing what they could in preparation of leaving. Keeper Marethari had ordered all of them to gather what they could which included herbs, food, water and any other sort of resource that they needed on the journey. They had to get out of the country now with Reaper and his Sins having gained more power. Marethari had felt their powers increase and also felt the disappearance of the seth'lin. Not only that but the portal to the Beyond was still open. They had to get away before anymore demons came through.

Marethari looked over her clan as some children ran by with supplies that were needed. The elders had been largely untouched by the battle save for some bruising. Ilen the craftsman had survived so the clan had someone to craft new weapons and other things. Hahren Paviel as well which was good. Someone other than the Keeper and the First needed to remember the clan's past. Maren, the halla keeper was alive and well which was great since the halla listen only to their tenders. The woman and children were fine. At least Reaper had kept away from them. Merrill, sweet, innocent, clumsy Merrill was alive and well too. Their hunters and warriors had taken more than a few losses. While some hunters like Mahariel, Tamlen, Fenarel, Junar and several others survived the rest had been killed off. The clan had already begun moving the bodies of their fallen to the shallow graves that they had dug. Marethari was snapped out of her thoughts as she noticed Mahariel walking away with Tamlen trying to, from what it looks like, stop her from going. She approached them and heard some of the conversation.

"Lyna, I really don't think this is wise."

"I'm just going to take a look and see if there is anything that can be done about it, Tamlen. You don't have to come." Tamlen looked at her with an affronted expression.

"And what? Leave you to deal with a dangerous demon? Why are you so determined to go back there?" Mahariel stopped and looked at him. They hadn't noticed her yet obviously since they were so engrossed in their conversation.

"Because that seth'lin might still be there." Marethari raised an eyebrow. That's why? His aura had disappeared shortly after Reaper's did which meant that he wasn't there anymore, dead or alive. Marethari also noticed the slightly dark look that came over Tamlen.

"Really? Why go out there for some half-breed?" The tone of his voice was mocking when he said half-breed. Marethari frowned at his tone of voice which spoke of how he looked down on the seth'lin. The one who had actually saved them. Mahariel had noticed his tone too.

"Because that 'half-breed,' as you so eloquently put it, saved us. And the elders are talking about how he was able to wield that sword. You've heard the stories. That sword wouldn't let any human touch it and let only elves hold it, but he had been wield it in combat. You can't tell me you're not curious."

"The only thing I'm thinking about with the sword is that it shouldn't be in the hands of that half-breed." Mahariel gave Tamlen an annoyed look. He put his hands up upon seeing it. "Hey, some of the elders are talking about it too, along with some of the other hunters." That was true too. While Marethari was curious about the seth'lin, some of the others had been angered by the fact that an elf-blooded had been wielding a precious artifact, not to mention that Reaper is one as well.

"So are you coming or not?" Lyna asked. Tamlen looked at her before groaning.

"Fine. We'll go over there, see if he's there or if the sword's there, and get back here. Before the Keeper notices we're gone." Tamlen said. That was when Marethari stepped out.

"And what would happen if the Keeper caught you before you left?" She prompted making the two freeze before looking at her.

"How long have you been there?" Lyna asked nervously. Marethari kept her stoic expression but she was smiling on the inside. It was always fun make the da'len nervous.

"Long enough." She said. Lyna sighed.

"Keeper, please just let me go scout out the area around the portal. Let me go see if there is anything that I might bring back." Marethari crossed her arms.

"And what do you believe you could possibly bring back?" Lyna thought over what could be taken. The sword might still be there, or the seth'lin himself. At the very least she could find out if any more demons had come out.

"Information. Possibly any sightings of more demons roaming free." She said. Marethari was about to rebuke her before she stopped herself. She sensed something. Something from the portal's direction. It wasn't like a demon, but it wasn't like anything from this world either. She looked at Lyna with a serious expression. They were low on hunters and warriors so they needed everyone they had. That being said she needed someone to go check out what was going on.

"Very well. I'll allow both of you to go. Wait here." She ordered. The two did not understand what she meant, but stayed. For a few minutes they believed that she had merely left them there until she came back with Merrill walking right behind her.

"Merrill, you are to go with them. We don't know what you might find, but you will need your magic and your knowledge just in case." Merrill nodded.

"Yes, Keeper." Merrill walked over and stood beside them.

"I think you'll need an extra sword too." A male elf said coming up to them. This elf had blonde hair and green eyes with the vallaslin style of the elven god June.

"Fenarel, what are you doing here?" Tamlen asked. Fenarel did not answer his question but spoke to Marethari.

"Keeper, I humbly request to join them in their search. There is no way of knowing what they might face. Having an extra set of hands will help them." Marethari thought it over before agreeing. With how dangerous this could be they would need help.

"I'll allow it. Just be swift, da'len." She said. The group nodded and walked away form the camp and into the forest.

Thirty minutes of walking later

The group had been walking for some time now and had finally gotten to where Reaper had them bound earlier. Merrill was getting twitchy with being so close to the portal. They couldn't see it, but they sure could hear it. In fact, it was the only sound around. There were no sounds of birds or wind or anything. Once they came to the site they were stunned. They could see the portal had changed from a portal to some sort of crystal form. They looked around the area and could see that the fight had been pretty vicious. The ground was burned and upturned, the air smelled different, and there was blood on the ground.

"Wait, look over there." Lyna pointed seeing a blood trail. It had started from a pool near the fade portal but led to behind a tree away from the portal. They followed it, making sure to keep a wide berth from the portal. The trail took them behind more than a few trees. They walked until they were a good fifty feet from the portal. Lyna was in the front and she noticed the blood trail curved behind the tree in front of them. She signaled for them to stop before she slowly took out her Dar'Misu. The group followed her lead and took out their Dar'Missan with Merrill readying her staff. Lyna looked around the curve and she quickly put her daggers away.

Resting against the tree, was the bleeding body of Aedan Hellathen. In his hands were the pieces of the Sword of Shartan. The burgundy blade had been snapped in two, both of which were in one hand each. Lyna studied the elf-blooded in front of her: Black hair, fair skin, and thick stubble. This was her first time seeing a human this close up before without pointing a bow an arrow at them. She also wasn't used to seeing any facial hair on anyone's face before too. All the men she'd met were elven and elves do not grow beards.

"The blade's been broken. Damn seth'lin was careless." Tamlen said seeing the broken sword. Lyna didn't agree with him internally but she didn't rebuke him. They didn't know what had happened. Tamlen tried to grab the pieces from the seth'lin's hands but they wouldn't budge. It was as if this man was holding on to them as if they were the most precious things to him.

"Dammit, let go!" Tamlen said jerking. Lyna looked closer at the elf-blooded and noticed that there was fresh blood in a cracked area on his armor. She brought her hand up to it and felt it. It was still pretty fresh. Then she felt something thumping through the armor. It took her a second to realize it was his heartbeat.

"Mythal, he's still alive!" Lyna said in shock. She should've expected him to be alive, but with the amount of blood he had lost, he shouldn't be.

"So what? Let's just get the blade back to Master Ilen so it can be repaired." Tamlen said yanking once more, this time the pieces came loose. Tamlen stumbled back a little before grinning triumphantly, like he had succeeded in some major quest. He had prepared to leave when he noticed the rest of them were reluctant to leave the halfbreed. Tamlen rolled his eyes.

"We have what we set out to get. Let's go."

"No, we shouldn't leave him here!" Lyna said making Tamlen look at her in shock. Lyna gave him her best glare. This person had saved them. Whether he was human, elf or something in-between didn't matter. They owed him for saving them. Tamlen groaned seeing she wasn't going to budge on this.

"Do we really have to?" Before anyone could answer him something bleeted in the forest. They all turned to look. No normal creature would come this close to a fade portal. The animals had enough sense to know that. So what was it? They didn't have to wait long as something golden came walking out of the forest in front of them. All of them stopped still as they saw a halla approach them.

This halla was different from the others. While most halla looked like white deer with long antlers, this one's fleece was different. It was yellow almost... golden. Tamlen heard Merrill whisper Hanal'ghilan. He knew the story well. The pathfinder of their culture and one of, if not the most revered creature. The halla approached them casually knowing who they were. The young elves dared not disturb the halla. They all had one question on their minds: Why was it here?

Usually Hanal'ghilan roamed free and tended to be away from their camps though it did come to lead them to safety in harsh times. The golden halla moved past them before coming to a stop in front of the downed elf-blooded. They watched as the pathfinder stared at Aedan, as if it were studying him. Then the halla got closer and licked his cheek. The elves were stunned at this. Halla only tend to be affectionate toward their handlers and only their handlers. Why would this free and untamed halla be affectionate to this half-breed? The seth'lin groaned at the touch as the halla continued to lick his cheek.

"Halani... ma..." The elves were surprised by the words that came out of his mouth. The words of the elvhen! How could he know them? Then the halla nuzzled him before backing away. The halla stamped its foot twice as if telling him to get up. The seth'lin only groaned before losing what little consciousness he had regained. The halla looked at him before looking to them then looking back at him once more. It was almost like it was telling them to help him. When the halla looked back at them, Lyna nodded her head in understanding. Seeing that its message was clear, the halla left swiftly into the forest depths. This time Lyna, Merrill and Fenarel looked at Tamlen.

"Fine. We'll save the seth'lin. Fenarel, help get him up. Lyna here, you hold the blade pieces." Tamlen said as he gave the pieces to her while he and Fenarel took one of Aedan's arms over their shoulders. They proceed to drag him back to the camp. They passed the portal and Lyna noticed two golden daggers on the ground. She quickly picked them up.

'These daggers are certainly not from any of our craftsmen. Maybe they're his.' Lyna thought before taking them. She turned to go along, but noticed they were one short.

'Where's Merrill?' She thought looking around frantically for the lovable First. She looked and noticed Merrill was right next to the Portal!

"Merrill! Get away from there!" Lyna ordered. The First took something from the altar that was under it before running back to it.

"Don't worry. The portal is closed so there is no real danger." Lyna shook her head. The First of their clan was going to give someone a heart attack someday. She looked at Merrill for a moment before looking at her hand.

"What did you get?" The First had an excited expression when she asked that. She held up an old, leather bound book. This book also had metal edges and was particularly thicker than most books she had seen.

"Do you have any idea what this is?" Lyna gave a negative shrug.

"This is the Tome of the Fade! It must have been dropped or forgotten or something. Do you know what this means?" Merrill said in an equally excited voice.

"That you have something new to read?" Merrill shook her head negatively before stopping.

"Well, yes, but not just that. We might find a way to close the portal now with this book." That got Lyna's attention. If this book did have a way to close the portal then they needed to get it to the Keeper right away.

"Right then. Let's go back." The group quickly left the area growing more curiouser about the person they were carrying with them.

In an unknown place

Blackness. Nothing but blackness. That was all he could see. He couldn't hear, he couldn't feel. Is this what death is like? It was maddening! Granted its better than eternal damnation, at least for the moment anyway, but this was capable of driving anyone insane. He felt he was in a true prison. No light, no sound, no feeling. The Circle was a hundred times more freer than this! The silence was deafening. Her had to see if he could break at least.

"Hello?" He asked. Suddenly everything was broken. The silence, the numbness, even the blindness. All of that turned into multiple voices talking at once, pain and pure light. Now everything hurt. Everything was too loud and he felt weak. Weaker than he had ever been.

'What's going on?!' He tried to think. He could barely hear himself anyway. Even covering his ears didn't help. The voices weren't stopping.

"SILENCE!" He called out. Thankfully, it was as if the voices heard him and stopped. He couldn't open his eyes on the account it was still too bright. Suddenly he felt something soft against his back. Reopened his eyes to see the blinding light was gone and instead he could see he was in a room. A very familiar room. He rose up out of the bed and looked to the vanity. He studied his reflection closely. His stubble was clean shaven and his hair was shorter now, but it was still him. Black hair and green eyes, fair skin. For all accounts Aedan Hellathen was alive and well. He looked around his room, his old room in the Circle Tower. Why was he back here?

"Oh you're up." He looked at who was talking to him and he was shocked to see Neria. She was older than he last saw her. This must be how she looks right now. She was taller with her hair longer, coming to the middle of her shoulders. She was also wearing mage robes instead of apprentice robes.

"Neria?" He asked in shock. He shouldn't be here. He hasn't been here in years. Why was he here anyway? Last place he was... Where was he? Aedan tried to think about where he was before here but it wasn't coming to him. Neria brought him out of his thoughts.

"Aedan, come on. We need to get to the great hall. It's breakfast time." She said coming up to him, grabbing his hand and proceed to drag him to breakfast. He followed her reluctantly wondering why she was dragging him along. Soon enough they reached the great hall and saw everyone inside it. Wynne, Irving, Greagoir and most of his classmates were there.

"Ah child, come and sit with us. Let's eat." Aedan watched as Neria walked away to a different table while he sat with Irving and the other higher ranked mages. He had no idea why though. He was nothing more than a simple mage in the Circle, not an enchanter or anything higher. Everyone began eating. Aedan took his seat and got his food, but didn't really touch it. His eyes looked around the table. He was surrounded by high ranking mages, sitting right across from the First Enchanter.

"Are you well, young man?" Wynne asked from beside him. Aedan looked at her wondering what she meant before answering.

"Yeah, just spacing out. Not fully up yet." Wynne looked at him curiously.

"Are you sure? Because you look awake." He mentally cursed. Wynne could always tell when something was up with him. He was about to say something else but someone cut him off.

"He is probably just nervous since it's his first day as an Enchanter." Aedan looked at Irving with wide eyes. What? He was an Enchanter? He looked down at himself and saw that he was in enchanter's robes. He was surprised by it to say the least. He must be the youngest mage to become an enchanter. Aedan looked back up, noticing everyone at the table was looking at him now.

"I suppose you're right, First Enchanter. I am a little nervous since I'm not used to giving lectures and teaching." Irving merely nodded.

"You see, Wynne? He's perfectly fine." Aedan closed his eyes as Wynne started talking to Irving. What was going on here? Why was he here? And most importantly, where was he before?

His thoughts jumbled up suddenly before he saw the point of a blade coming toward him, light glistening off of it just before striking. He startled out of it before noticing the silence. Aedan looked around the now empty and dark hall. Where was everyone? The room was now dark. Where there were lit candles and a peaceful, warm atmosphere, it was now darker and empty. Aedan was the only one in the room. He looked at a window nearby and saw that there was a storm outside. A really bad one by the looks of it. He walked back downstairs into a dark hallway. He casted a useful spell called mage-light. The small orb of light was in his hand which illuminated the area around him. He walked down the hall looking into rooms as he passed by. He could hear thunder from the outside as he kept going. He eventually found a room where there was light: The Circle's residential chapel. He walked in to find it lit up by candles and inside only to find two priestesses, neither one he recognized.

"Uhhh sisters? Where is everyone?" Both looked at him in unison. Both of the sisters were clad in the usual chantry robes however the one on the right was dressed in mother robes. Both got up at the same time and greeted him.

"Hello child, I am Mother Faith." The one on the right spoke.

"And I am Sister Hope." The one on the left said. Okay those were strange names. Especially with these two in the same chapel, here of all places. He remembered his manners quickly enough though.

"I am Aedan Hellathen, it is a pleasure to meet you both." The both of them nodded to him with content smiles. Aedan felt reassured by the smiles for some reason, but was reminded why he had come here.

"If you do not mind me asking, where is everyone else?" Both of them looked at him with confusion. Like they didn't know what he had meant.

"Your other sisters? The mages and templars?" Aedan offered. Last time he had been here, the chapel had more than two sisters of the faith and even at bedtime the halls were always lit with templar guards keeping watch. That was when Mother Faith spoke.

"Our Sisters are lost in the Tower. The Seven Sins took the mages and templars." The two lost their smiles which were replaced by frowns. That got Aedan's attention. That name. Why did it ring a bell?

"What? What do you mean by took them? And who are these Seven Sins?" The Mother and Sister looked at one another before looking back at him. Sister Hope stepped forward.

"The Seven Sins are group of maleficar who had found a way to successfully bind demons to them without being possessed. In a sense they had become abominations who still retained control over their minds and bodies. These maleficar eventually used their demonic enhanced powers to take control of Ferelden's capital, Denerim. There were rebellions of course with the templars leading the first charge. But sadly the templars were overwhelmed. At first it was the city's chantry of templars who attacked, but they were slaughtered by only one of them. Seeing this threat, the Grand Cleric, who was out of the city at the time, ordered all templars to attack the city. Over 5,000 templars played siege to the city, but they were unable to kill the maleficar. Before the maleficar had bound their demons to them, they had taken control of several bandit organizations through blood magic. When they had bound their demons, they used their magic to kill the bandits only to resurrect them as the undead. The templars lost a great amount of their numbers to the undead army but triumphed over it. However their numbers were too low to battle the Seven Sins." That was when Mother Faith took over.

"Where there was once 5,000 templars, they had been cut down to 300. Those 300 battled against the Seven Sins, but even these skilled warriors were no match for the immensely powerful mages. The 300 templars died honorably in their service to the Maker while Seven survived and continued to rule over Ferelden. The mages attempted to put a stop to them, but the Seven offered them a choice, either join or be forced to join. Those who resisted fought bravely but lost in the end. Now they are being made to serve in this New Ferelden with them being brainwashed and being ruled over by the Seven. The non-mages attempted to rebel, but any chances were squashed when their would-be-leaders suddenly died or had a change of heart, no doubt due to blood magic controlling them. The Divine has called for an Exalted March on Ferelden, but it hasn't been going well." Aedan was horrified by the story. Now that she mentioned it, the Tower looked like it had been abandoned save for the chapel here. But... a Circle Tower with no mages and Templars? The very thought didn't sound right. His mind was swirling with emotions and thoughts, one after the other, layer upon layer. He couldn't think straight, he couldn't breathe. He was being suffocated. Memories were coming back. His time in the Circle, him leaving, him spending time in Highever then going to Denerim, him heading toward Orzammar and staying near there for a couple of years then leaving, him walking into a huge forest... him dying by Reaper's hand.

Aedan backed away, hyperventilating. He placed his hand on his chest feeling for where he had been stabbed. He felt no blood or a hole to which he sighed in relief. He looked back at the two and saw that there was no surprise at his sudden actions. Aedan forced himself to clam down. He had died or perhaps had been close to death. But how was he back here? He was far from it in unknown location in the Brecilian Forest.

"How did I get here?" He asked.

"We brought you here... from the brink of death." Mother Faith said.

"How long have I been asleep?" Sister Hope spoke next.

"Three weeks." Aedan's eyes widened. Three weeks?! He was unconscious for three weeks and that was all it took for Reaper and his Sins to take control of Ferelden? He couldn't think about it now. He had to focus on the two in front of him. What did they want?

"Why did you help me?"

"Because you called for help." A voice said from behind him. He quickly moved away form the person behind him to look at him. It was another woman. She was older and exuded an aura of wisdom that surpassed even Irving himself which was saying something. She was clad in chantry robes as she smiled at him. While Faith and Hope had black and blonde hair respectfully, this woman had silver hair.

"Hello, young one. You may call me Prudence if you wish." The woman said as she walked around him to join Faith and Hope. Aedan watched them carefully. These woman weren't normal.

"Hello." He said calming himself down but making sure to keep close to the door just in case. Prudence looked at him with a kind smile.

"Now, now. There is now need to be so nervous around us. We're here to help you." Aedan kept glancing at the three and the door.

"Are there more of you?"

"Yes, four to be exact." Prudence said.

"Will they be coming here?" Faith asked, turning to Prudence. The older woman merely shook her head negatively.

"I'm afraid they will not attend until he seeks them out." Prudence said pointing to him. Hope looked at him.

"Could you please be a dear and go find them? When you do we'll answer all of your questions." Aedan was about to say no when he thought over it. These were not normal people. Who else could have been with them. Besides these people wanted to see him and chances were he was the only one who could convince them to come here anyway when Prudence who was the leader couldn't.

"Fine, but let's be swift about this." He agreed. Hope nodded her head happily.

"Just go down stairs and you'll find them." Aedan nodded as he left, re-lighting his mage-light. He traveled down the steps to the library on the first floor where he found to of them. One was a templar knight while the other was another chantry sister with a bloody leg.

"Mercy, I will not leave you. The Commander ordered me to look after you." The templar said as he checked her leg.

"But Ward, they need you. Those two can't bar the doors alone." The templar shook his helmeted head.

"I won't abandon my duty." Aedan chose that moment to approach them. The templar looked at him briefly before taking out his sword and standing protectively in front of Mercy. Aedan put his hands up calmly.

"Whoa, whoa! No need to slice and dice me. The other three chantry followers sent me." Aedan said placatingly. The templar lowered his sword slightly, but not fully. Aedan took a closer look at Mercy's leg. Something had clawed at it pretty badly form the way blood seemed to flow out of the wounds.

"Let me help her. I'm a mage that can use helping magic." The templar looked reluctant while Mercy whimpered in pain.

"Look, with the amount of blood she's losing, she won't last long. With my help, she'll live." The templar looked at him before looking over his shoulder quickly before looking back at him.

"Why would you help her? She's a chantry sister and you're a mage." Aedan's eyes narrowed at the templar. How dare he?

"Just because of that doesn't mean I'm heartless. She's in pain, I have the ability to help and I want too. Not only that, but as a mage that can heal, it is my duty to help when I can. Now are you going to keep questioning me or are you going to let me save your charge?" The templar didn't move for a few seconds as he studied him before he lowered his blade and moved aside.

"Be quick." Aedan nodded and strode over. He kneeled next to the downed woman. He quickly analyzed the wound and noticed dark veins showing around the wound. This was demonic poison at work. What kind of demon got her? He casted a rejuvenation spell and a healing spell. The rejuvenation will bring back whatever stamina she lost to poison while the healing spell would cleanse the poison and heal the wound.

"Thank you." She said as the pain was leaving her.

"You're welcome." He looked up to the templar. "It'll take a few moments for this to fully heal. Once it does so, take her to the chapel on the second floor. It's the only room with lit candlelight coming out of it." The templar nodded.

"Very well. There were two other templars with us but they are at the entrance, trying to keep a demon from coming in." Aedan raised an eyebrow at him. Why was there a demon out here and not in the Fade? He shook his head. No time to think on that now.

"Right, I'll go help them." Aedan said before running to the entrance. He could here the sound of doors slamming and struggling. When he arrived he saw a two templars, a knight and a knight-commander, trying to bar the front doors. Something was obviously pushing against it with great fervor which was matched by the two trying to keep it closed. Aedan sprinted to the templars and helped push the doors closed. Almost as if whatever was behind the door sensed his presence it began striking the door with more ferocity. It kept going at it until it slammed the doors so hard, they were practically flung from it. The doors had burst open with Aedan landing on his back in front of the door. He looked up to see what exactly had been ramming against it and he was genuinely afraid. It was the very same demon that Reaper had taken for himself, a fear demon. The creature looked at him and he froze.

The demon made to move towards him but it was slashed by the templar knight. The demon shrieked in pain before it smacked the templar away. The knight-commander ran up from the side before stabbing the creature in the chest. With a roar, the creature grabbed the knight-commander and shoved him back across the floor. Aedan finally got over his fear and attacked the demon with fireballs. The flames licked the fear demon which shrieked pain before it suddenly burst into white smoke which trailed around Aedan. He looked around only to see the demon behind him just before it grabbed his head. The demon squeezed hard, trying to crush his skull. Aedan desperately tried to attack it but all he could do was hit it physically. The two templars got up and ran at it, jumping on the demon in an effort to get it off of him. Aedan felt around with his hand as the pressure lessened off his head when he felt a sword handle. He gripped on it and sent a wave of electricity through it. The demon roared as the electricity coursed through it. The templars fell off the demon and backed away while Aedan didn't let go of the sword handle and instead sent more electricity through it. The demon was fried from the inside out by the attack. Aedan took the sword from the withered husk of a corpse and gave it back to the knight-commander who took it back graciously.

Now that he wasn't in danger anymore, Aedan studied them, but he needn't have bothered. They both looked like ordinary men of their position with their helmets on.

"How do you do, I'm Aedan Hellathen." He stated in greeting. The knight-commander spoke first.

"I am Knight-Commander Will. This is Knight Courage." He said gesturing to the other templar who nodded to him. Aedan nodded back before looking at the door. It was open but the outside was showing a heavy rain so strong, Aedan couldn't see through it. He walked over and closed it before locking it.

"Come on, we need to get back to the chapel where we'll meet the others." Aedan said.

"Lead the way." Will commanded. Aedan walked back to the chapel with them following him silently. As they went through the library, Aedan noticed that Mercy and Ward were not there so they had to be at the chapel. After walking a few flights of stairs, they made it to the chapel where the rest were waiting. Aedan stayed near the doorway while Will and Courage took their places with the rest who had gathered in a semicircle facing him. Seeing them return, Prudence spoke.

"Now that we are all here allow us introduce ourselves fully. Greeting young Aedan. I am Prudence, a spirit of wisdom." One by one, they went after her.

"I am a spirit of faith so you amy call me Faith if you wish."

"You can do the same with me. I'm a spirit of hope so you can call me Hope."

"I am Mercy, a spirit of compassion which you have shown me today. Thank you again."

"You may call me Ward, for I am a spirit of duty. I commend you for showing such loyalty to your station, self-imposed as it may be."

"I am known as Courage, for I am a spirit of valor. It brings me joy to see you have such in the face of great fear."

"And I am Will, a spirit of command. I sense in you a leader that has yet to come out." Aedan was shocked at the introduction that was given to him. These people were spirits. Honest to Maker spirits!

"Okay. I am Aedan Hellathen as you probably already know. Thank you for saving me, but what is going on?" Prudence answered his question.

"In reality, you were on the brink of death when you called out to us. Your pain and sorrow drew us to you so we agreed to save you. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones to hear you. A fear demon had possessed you first while you still had some life left in you and attempted to leave the area with your body. We couldn't allow it, so we tried to free you from it. We managed to save the spark of life inside you as well as heal you, but you couldn't consciously handle a spiritual struggle waging in your body so you were kept asleep."

"Wait, so. This isn't reality? I'm still asleep?" Aedan asked gesturing to the space around them to which they nodded.

"Yes, while we battled the demon, we also saw your memories. Every act you've done, good and bad, has been seen by us. Normally we wouldn't have taken on an Alpha Fear demon even with our numbers, but we were inspired by your memories to keep fighting the demon." Courage said. Aedan was humbled by the words. It was a good feeling to know you inspired someone to keep going on.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Aedan said before looking at Hope. "Why the story about Reaper taking control?"

"That is a possibly future, and most likely what will happen if you are not around to stop him." She replied. Ward took over from her.

"Yes, while I admire his loyalty to his cause, I cannot approve of his methods. They are twisted and warped. He must be stopped." Aedan felt a spark go off inside before it was gone.

"How can I do that? He's got a demon bound to him, not to mention his students. I can't even take them on one-on-one." He felt defeated. There was no way he could stand up to that kind of power. Not even with Shartan who was now gone.

"You won't have to." Mercy said gaining his attention. "You have us. You have a quality that called out to all of us, which made us want to stay. We can help you, but you need to let us."

"What happens if I do? What will you do?"

"We will assist you in your cause. We know that you agree with Reaper's goal of tearing down the barrier that separates your peoples, but unlike him, you'd rather it be peacefully done. We admire that about you Aedan. That is why when you finish your quest, we will leave you. Nothing else will happen." Will said. Aedan thought it over before he felt that fire spark again in his chest.

"Okay, let's do it." Aedan said nodding. He could see the women smiling at him and he was sure the men were too. All of them raised their hands to him before the floor between cracked open and stone tub of water, blue and pristine, rose form the ground.

"Go into the tub, and submerse yourself in our combined power." Prudence said gesturing to the tub. Aedan nodded as he walked to it and got in. The water was cool and oddly refreshing. He submersed himself fully as he closed his eyes. Even while under this pure water, he could still breathe and hear clearly. He could hear all of them speaking at once in perfect harmony.

"Now, Aedan Hellathen, be reborn!"

Well, here we go. I hope you all liked it. I'm back with this and I hope you favorite and/or review this.