Maxwell led them through the burning village with his daggers drawn. Cassandra drew her sword as did Adaar and Erdic. Solas lifted his staff, and the gem set in the top began to glow brightly. Ellana smiled, and did the same thing.

Varric sent a crossbow bolt into an oncoming templar, and shouted something about Bianca.

"Once we get the trebuchet aimed, I want the rest of you to run for the Chantry."

"Herald…"

"Don't argue with me, Cassandra," said Maxwell with a firm grip on the hilt of his daggers and looked at Adaar and the others. "That also includes you three."

"You can't expect us to leave you without thing!" Adaar roared slammed her blade down upon a mutated templar.

"Someone has to protect the Inquisition, to make sure they get out of Haven safely!" Maxwell yelled. "I have a feeling the Elder One will be more interested in me then the three of you."

"How can you be certain?" Erdic asked as he blocked the sword of a templar.

"Call it a hunch," said Maxwell as he plunged his daggers into the chest of a templar.

"If you're certain," said Ellana.

"Don't worry about me."

"Heh. Fat chance of that," Varric said.


They had to fight their way through multiple waves of templars to get the trebuchet aimed. Maxwell could hardly believe that the templars would allow such a thing, most of them looked unrecognisable and he feared that he might be fighting one of his cousins.

With the last wave came a monster. The red lyrium had spread to cover some poor soul, turning him into a behemoth of red spikes. One of his blows destroyed Cassandra's shield. Only a well-timed blast of magic from Solas stopped it from doing the same to Cassandra himself. Ellana and Solas caught it in a crossfire, feeding their spells into each other in a discordant harmony.

However, this seemed to be more of a distraction than anything else, but fortunately Adaar saw this as her opportunity and she plunged her greatsword right through his chest. Erdic then slammed his shield into one of his legs causing him to kneel. The lyrium around the thing seemed to crack and shatter, and it fell to the ground.

Maxwell moved in to aim the trebuchet, and gestured for his companions to run. Much as she expected, Cassandra and his guard hesitated. Solas started to reach for the Cassandra's arm, then his eyes widened. "Herald!"

Maxwell barely had a chance to look at when the dragon's breath struck. He was sent flying.


The ground shook when it landed. He managed to get to his feet. The blade of his daggers had been melted and were now completely useless. He then turned and saw a figure walking through the flames, ignoring them as if they were naught but smoke.

Before he could make sense of this the beast landed behind him snarling at him, he was completely cut off from everyone. This, however, gave him a closer look at the beast and it looked like a mutated dragon. It certainly matched the descriptions of an archdemon, the yet there were no darkspawn apart from the emissary.

"Enough!" the emissary roared and struck Maxwell the powerful burst of magic. He then glared at him as if he was some kind of vermin. "Pretender. You toy with forces beyond your ken. No more."

He turned to face it. He was Maxwell Trevelyan, of House Trevelyan. And if he was going to die today, it was going to be on his feet and fighting. "Whatever you are, I am not afraid."

"Words mortals often hurl at the darkness. Once they were mine. They are always lies." He continued towards him. "Know me, know what you and your guard have pretended to be." He spread his hands, the long fingers ending in sharp claws. "Exalt the Elder One! The will that is Corypheus!" He pointed a claw at him. "You will kneel."

Maxwell now his eyes at him. "You're forcing this fight for no reason!"

"You will resist. You will always resist. It matters not." He held up an orb. "I am here for the Anchor. The process of removing it begins now." The orb glowed and eerie red, and suddenly the pain in his hand was overwhelming. "It is your fault, 'Herald'. You and your guard interrupted a ritual years in the planning, and instead of dying, you stole its purpose. I don't know how you and your followers survived, but what marks you as 'touched,' what you flail at rifts, I crafted to assault the very heavens." His hand glowed green, and the pain drove him to the ground. "And you used the Anchor to undo my work! The gall!"

He struggled back to he feet, glaring at him defiantly. "What is this thing meant to do?"

"It is meant to bring certainty where there is none. For you, the certainty that I would always come for it." He caught his wrist, and lifted his into the air. "I once breached the Fade in the name of another, to serve the Old Gods of the empire in person. I found only chaos and corruption. Dead whispers. For a thousand years I was confused. No more." He lifted him higher, until their faces were level. "I have gathered the will to return under no name but my own, to champion withered Tevinter and correct this blighted world. Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the Throne of the Gods, and it was empty!" He flung him towards the trebuchet.

Maxwell struck the wooden beam of the trebuchet and grunted in pain. His vision greyed slightly, but he didn't black out. He managed to get to his feet.

Corypheus turned towards him. "The Anchor is permanent. You have spoiled it with your stumbling." He started walking towards him, the dragon at his heels and he quickly grabbed a nearby sword. "So be it. I will begin again, find another way to give this world the nation—and god–it requires.

Maxwell looked over his head. Above the mountain. An arrow. The signal. They'd made it. His shoulder was dislocated, but he held the sword in front of him defiantly.

"And you. I will not suffer even an unknowing rival. You must die," said Corypheus, not noticing the signal behind him.

"You expect us to surrender and kneel. We will not." The trebuchet was aimed and armed. "You'll face us all. When we choose!" He then kicked the trigger, and the stone was flung into the air.

He watched it fly through the air. He took this opportunity to run and by the time Corypheus had noticed he was a good distance away in the landside was practically above him. Grudgingly he ordered his archdemon to carry him to safety.

Maxwell dropped the sword and ran as quickly as he could an old mine shaft and jumped. He bounced once, twice, and skidded to a halt on an icy surface. This time, he did black out.


His eyes opened, and he sat up with a gasp. His shoulder felt like it was on fire, but it was the numbness in his fingers that had his worried. Slowly, he managed to get to his feet. It took some time but he was able to create a torch with some old wood and a collection of stones.

He stumbled his way through the tunnels with only the torch to give him light. However, suddenly a powerful gust of wind blew through the tunnel and blew the torch out. Annoyed he discarded the burning word and carried on.

He didn't get very far when he came across several demons. His chances were not good, he was wounded and had no weapons. Then suddenly something flowed out of the mark, a shifted energy, like a mirror of a rift. The demons were drawn into it as it collapsed, and he continued forward.

It was snowing. He scanned the mountains. In the distance, he could just barely make out a glow. Drawing his coat around him, he headed towards it.


The snow was deep. He'd fallen through a crust, and something had cut open his leg. She was leaving a trail of blood behind him now. The snow had stopped, but the chill wind remained.

He kept on wondering through the snow. The drifts were piled high. His lungs burned with each freezing breath. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot stuck. He pulled it free. Right foot.

A camp. A fire. "Embers? Recent?" He blinked at it. It wasn't buried by snow. They couldn't have been gone long. He continued stumbling towards the small pass between two rocks.

"There! It's him!" Cullen's voice yelled.

"Thank the Maker!" said Cassandra's.

Maxwell could only just make them out before everything went black.


Maxwell began to walk by the sounds of angry voices. When he opened his eyes he saw that Cassandra, Cullen, Leliana and Josephine were arguing again.

"What would you have me tell them? This isn't what we asked them to do!"

"We cannot simply ignore this! We must find a way!"

"And who put you in charge? We need a consensus, or we have nothing!"

"Please, we must use reason! Without the infrastructure of the Inquisition, we're hobbled!"

"That can't come from nowhere!"

"She didn't say it could!"

"Enough! This is getting us nowhere!"

"Well, we're agreed on that much!"

Maxwell was about to pull himself up, but someone else held him down. "Shh," came a voice from near his elbow, "you need rest."

She turned to see Mother Giselle sitting next to her.

"They've been at it for hours," said a voice to his right. Maxwell turned and saw Adaar looking down at him and next to him were Ellana and Eridc.

"They have that luxury, thanks to you." Giselle handed Maxwell a teacup filled with steaming liquid. "The enemy could not follow, and with time to doubt, we turn to blame. Infighting may threaten as much as this Corypheus."

Maxwell sipped. Broth, not tea. He took a longer drink, and felt warmth spread through him. "Do we know where Corypheus and his forces are?"

Giselle shook her head. "We are not sure where we are. Which may be why, despite the numbers he still commands, there is no sign of him." Giselle took the cup from him and refilled it. "That, or you are believed dead. Or without Haven, we are thought helpless. Or he girds for another attack." She handed the cup back to Maxwell. "I cannot claim to know the mind of that creature, only his effect on us."

He drank. "If they're arguing about what to do next, I need to be there."

"Another heated voice won't help." Giselle glanced out of the tent. "Even yours. Perhaps especially yours. Our leaders struggle because of what we survivors witnessed. We saw our defender stand…" She glanced down at his hands, rubbing his palm. "And fall." She turned back to look at Maxwell. "And now, we have seen him return. The more the enemy is beyond us, the more miraculous your actions appear. And the more our trials seem ordained." Giselle's eyes were calm and knowing. "That is hard to accept, no? What 'we' have been called to endure? What 'we', perhaps, must come to believe?"

"I escaped the avalanche," said Maxwell sitting the cup down. "Barely, perhaps, but I didn't die."

"Of course, and the dead cannot return from across the Veil. But the people know what they saw." Giselle smiled. "Or, perhaps, what they needed to see. The Maker works in both the moment, and in how it is remembered. Can we truly know the heavens are not with us?"

Maxwell just shook his head. "Mother Giselle, I just don't see how what I believe matters. Lies or not, Corypheus is a real, physical threat. We can't match that with hope alone."

"Aye, because everyone's lost hope," said Erdic.

"I have to agree that we've lost more morale than ever before possible," said Adaar.

Maxwell soon left his cot and saw that the others were looking as depressed as he did. Adaar and Erdic just sat there in silence and Ellana just simply remained silent.

"Shadows fall, and hope has fled."

Maxwell turned and found Mother Giselle singing and everyone in the camp looked up at her.

"Steel your heart, the dawn will come

The night is long, and the path is dark

Look to the sky, for one day soon

The dawn will come."

There was a short moment of silence and then Leliana began to sing.

"The Shepherd's lost and his home is far

Keep to the stars, the dawn will come."

One by one everyone in the camp began to joining and they began to sing in perfect harmony under the night sky, even Cullen was singing.

"The night is long and the path is dark

Look to the sky for one day soon

The dawn will come."

Adaar and the others soon joined Maxwell just as Haven survivors approached them and went down on one knee.

"Bare your blade and raise it high

Stand your ground, the dawn will come."

Cole was with Chancellor Roderick, who had just closes eyes for the final time. In the background Solas watched as they sung. Some of the Chargers joined their voices to the harmony. He saw Blackwall and Sera. Even Vivienne and Varric.

The night is long and the path is dark

Look to the sky for one day soon

The dawn will come."

They were all looking at them. Eyes wide, hopeful. Believing. The dragon hadn't shaken them as much as all those eyes did.

Mother Giselle placed a hand on Maxwell's shoulder. "An army needs more than an enemy. It needs a cause." She walked into the crowd, which slowly began to thin as people returned to their work with lighter steps.

"A word?" Solas said from behind Maxwell. He nodded.


Solas soon led him and the rest of the guard away from the tents. He lit a torch with a wave of his hand. "A wise woman. Worth heeding. Her kind understand the moments that unify a cause. Or fracture it." He clasped his hands behind his back, and looked at them. "The orb Corypheus carried, the power he used against you. It is elven. Corypheus used the orb to open the Breach. Unlocking it must have caused the explosion that destroyed the Conclave. I do not yet know how Corypheus survived…" He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Nor am I certain how people will react when they learn of the orb's origin."

Adaar narrowed her eyes in curiosity. "All right, what is it, and how do you know about it?"

"They were foci, used to channel ancient magicks. I have seen such things in the Fade, old memories of older magic." Solas twitched a shoulder. "Corypheus may think it Tevinter. His empire's magic was built on the bones of mine and Ellana's people. Knowing or not, he risks our alliance. I cannot allow it."

Maxwell nodded. "This whole mess is confusing. I can see how elves might be an easy target."

"History would agree. But there are steps we can take to prevent such a distraction." He turned and looked at the four them. "By attacking the Inquisition, Corypheus has changed it. Changed each of you." He knelt, and used his finger to sketch a map in the frost on a rock. "Scout to the north. Be their guide." Maxwell looked at him. "There is a place that waits for a force to hold it." He stood. "There is a place that where the Inquisition can build… grow…"


Using Solas' directions matter on the others began to lead the convoy through the Frostback Mountains. No one actually complained, because they had a faith in each and every one of them no matter what race they came from what religion they believed.

The trail was old, but here and there, Solas was able to point out markers, nearly faded into the stone. They soon made it to the ridge that overlooks the entire valley.

"Skyhold," said Solas.

It was magnificent. Despite the span of time it must have remained hidden here in the mountains, the stone of its walls were only crumbled in a few places. They walked towards, it, wonder written on their faces and those behind them. Home. They were coming home.