The Blackmarsh was cold, and the ground was mushy. It only added to Zeriah's irritable mood. Delnan had not yet returned, nor had he sent word from Denerim to tell her if Alistair was all right. As they tramped through the muck, raindrops spattering their faces, darkspawn and demons constantly attacking them, she continued to get grumpier and grumpier.
"Zeri, I think Nathaniel's found something." Traven murmured. She glanced up to see her old friend wandering through the mud towards them, a grim expression on his face.
"What did you find, Nate?" she asked quietly.
"I think you should come see for yourself." he replied. She groaned. That was never a good thing to hear. As they crossed over the hilltop, she sighed. Kristoff's body lay face-down in the mud. Zeriah had Traven and Mhairi help her flip him onto his back. By the skin that was beginning to rot off his sallow cheeks, he had been dead for a while.
"How pleasant." Anders quipped, wrinkling his nose. Zeriah nodded. The smell was atrocious. She felt something boil in her blood and she leaped to her feet, drawing her weapon. The other Wardens had done the same, searching for the beasts they could feel approaching. She heard a dark, gravelly chuckle as a creature emerged from the darkness.
"Yes, that is your Grey Warden. The mother told me that if he was lured into this place and slain, that you would come." it said, approaching her. She had never been this close to a live darkspawn without it trying to kill her, let alone one that could speak. It was truly a terror to behold. It laughed again. "And the Mother was right! The Mother is always right!" it cried. She glared at it.
"What is this? Some type of ambush? You think we won't be able to defeat you?" she asked. It looked confused for a moment.
"An..'ambush'? An attack? This is no attack." it said. The creature stood up a little straighter. "Here before you is The First, and I am bringing you a message." it said. She arched an eyebrow.
"This should be riveting." she drawled.
"The Mother, she is not permitting you to further his plan, unknowing or not. So she is sending you a gift." the First said excitedly. Before she could respond, the darkspawn had presented his hand. A green, glowing rift in the sky sprouted from it with a rush of air that seemed to be trying to pull her in. She shouted, but everything went white.
Her eyes fluttered open and she groaned as she tried to sit up. She was dizzy, and the world seemed fuzzy. She tried to blink it away, to no avail. She glanced around and saw her companions starting to get up. Traven looked at her with concern.
"We're in the Fade, Zeriah." he said. She swore.
"That explains why everything seems fuzzy." she grumbled. The First was there as well, scrambling to its feet. She never thought she would be able to describe a darkspawn as frightened, but there was no other word for the expression on its corpse-like face.
"No! We have been brought to the Fade as well! It cannot be this!" it cried. Zeriah laughed bitterly.
"Looks like you've been betrayed." she spat. The darkspawn looked enraged, then terrified.
"No!" it shouted before sprinting away through the landscape. Zeriah sighed.
"Let's find a way out of here, shall we?" she said, turning to her companions. Her four followers nodded eagerly and they set off, trekking through the Fade with determination.
Traven gasped as the world was ripped from underneath him once more. He tried to keep calm, but being ripped from the Fade was always an unpleasant experience. As Zeriah had struck the final blow on the Baroness that was keeping them trapped, the world had twisted, and he knew that they would soon be waking up. His eyes opened, and they were once again in the waking world. He felt something odd in the air, and he turned to see the corpse of Kristoff getting to its feet. He yelped in surprise and jumped up.
"Zeriah, the body!" he shouted. His small friend was already warily holding out her weapon. Kristoff blinked a few times and held a hand to his forehead.
"What...what happened?" a familiar voice asked. Traven's eyes widened.
"Justice?" Zeriah asked in shock. The corpse barked a laugh.
"Of course it is, who else would it be?" he replied. Traven gaped at him.
"Justice, we aren't in the Fade any longer. This is our world!" he said, exasperated. The corpse stared at him for a long time before looking down at his hands. He shouted in surprise.
"This cannot be! The Baroness has torn me from the Fade!" he cried. Traven nodded.
"It seems that way. You are possessing the body of a deceased Grey Warden." he revealed. Justice closed his eyes.
"I know. I...I can feel him. I see his memories, his thoughts. Kristoff." he whispered. Traven glanced at Anders. He had never seen anything like this before. Zeriah looked intrigued.
"Is this the sort of thing that happened with Wynne, Traven?" she asked. Traven shook his head.
"It might be similar, but Wynne was not dead when the spirit chose to aid her. And it seems this spirit of Justice was pulled against his will. It is more like what happens in a summoning circle, but by accident." he explained. She nodded slowly.
"So what will you do...err...Kristoff?" she asked. The corpse scoffed, a truly terrifying expression.
"Do not call me that. I am a spirit of Justice. You may address me as such." he boomed.
"All right, Justice. What do you plan to do?" she asked.
"Before any decisions are made we must slay the Baroness. She is here as well." he argued. Zeriah gestured for him to lead the way, and they were once again tramping through the muck. The dark, haunted mansion was soon a shadow that rose before them, lightning strikes making the building stark against the sky.
"What are we going to do about him?" Traven whispered to Zeriah. They both looked ahead where Anders was in deep conversation with the spirit.
"I don't know, Trav. Do you think he could become an abomination?" she murmured. He shrugged.
"In my opinion, he sort of already is one. But if he is willing to help us, it might not be the worst idea to accept him. We'll just have to watch him carefully." he answered. His commander and friend nodded.
"True enough." she said, drawing her weapon as they entered the courtyard to face the Baroness. The woman laughed cruelly as they approached.
"So, now we face each other one last time. I will survive, Warden. Do not doubt it." she crooned. Her eyes turned yellow, and Traven felt the very Fade shift. She had given in to a demon. Her body morphed, and she grew to a massive size.
"She had to be a bloody Pride demon." he muttered as he set himself to fighting. He felt Zeriah's Templar magic pulsing out from her as she smote the Baroness. The demon cried out and stumbled, but it was not enough. Justice charged blindly in, clearly having no brain for tactical maneuvers. Lesser demons began to pop up through the torn veil, and Mhairi hung back to keep them off of him. Anders was somehow being ignored as he continually sent healing magic through the party. With the combination of Zeriah's smites and the overpowering attacks, the Baroness soon fell with a scream.
"Is everyone all right?" Zeriah asked, mopping sweat from her forehead. They all nodded. No one had been seriously injured. They turned to leave the hellish place when an ear-splitting screech sounded above them.
"Maker's breath." Traven breathed as a huge, lightning-fused dragon soared above them. He had never seen anything like it.
"We need to get out of here." Zeriah ordered, hurrying them toward the outside of the courtyard. Nathaniel was the first to pass through the gate, and he was the first to be hit by a bolt of lightning. "Nate!" Zeriah cried. The dragon landed before them then, roaring in rage. Traven glanced at their broody scout. He wasn't moving.
"Shit." he muttered as he tried to think of a way to fight the electrified beast. He couldn't use his traditional lightning spells, because the beast wouldn't be affected. He tried using fire and ice, but the elements weren't working. His party was having a rough time. Zeriah was managing to hold her own, but Justice had already fallen, and Anders was looking visibly shaken. He was having a hard time keeping up with the injuries that the beast was inflicting. Traven couldn't even see Mhairi from where he stood, which worried him, and Nathaniel was still unmoving.
As Zeriah dodged another lightning bolt, she caught his eye. The flash of light made her green eyes even brighter than usual, and she nodded. He sighed. He knew what kind of magic he would have to use to get everyone out alive. He drew a small knife from his belt and slid it across his palm. The blood flowed freely and began to swirl around him. The dragon immediately turned it's focus to him, but he didn't mind. He could feel the blood that coursed through the electric dragon's veins, and he smiled. The beast wailed as its blood began to boil. It thrashed its tail and neck around with a loud, painful cry, lowering itself to the ground. This gave Zeriah the opportunity to drag her sword through its neck as she once had with the archdemon atop Fort Drakon. Traven saw her face contort with pain, and he realized that her sword was conducting the electricity into her body. She held on just long enough for the creature to fall before releasing her sword. The light faded and the beast became a normal dragon once more. Traven rushed to Zeriah's side. She was whimpering with pain and looking down at her hands. They were bright, blistering red, burned nearly to the bone. Traven let his blood magic flow through her, repairing the burns left by the dragon and leaving new, healthy skin. She smiled fondly at him.
"Thank you Trav." she said softly. Her eyes widened as she remembered Nathaniel, however, and she leaped to her feet. The pair of them were at his side in an instant, and Traven was relieved to see his chest rising and falling.
"You live, good." a deep voice said behind them. Traven turned to see Justice standing with his arms folded.
"We need to make sure the others are all right." he said. Justice barked a laugh.
"Anders was only weakened by overusing his magic." he said. Traven nodded, but quickly searched the area around them. He saw her lying not far from the dragon's corpse.
"Mhairi." he breathed, rushing to her side. She looked pale, and she didn't seem to be breathing. "Come on. I didn't help you though the Joining just to have you die here." he growled. He used what healing magic he had knowledge of to revive her, deciding against the use of blood magic. Color flooded back into her cheeks, and her pale blue eyes fluttered open.
"Traven." she said softly. He nodded.
"She's all right." he called to Zeriah, who was still leaning over Nathaniel. When he turned back, Mhairi's eyes were boring into him.
"You're a blood mage." she said simply. He flinched at the accusation, even though it was true. He said nothing, simply continued staring at her. "Did you heal me with it?" she asked nervously. He shook his head.
"I used regular healing magic." he assured her, starting to get a little irritated. She nodded, but said no more. Traven helped her to her feet, surprised that she didn't have a look of revulsion when he touched her hand. His train of thought was broken when he heard Zeriah wail. He turned, staff ready, but she was kneeling. He went to her and saw that she was staring at what was left of her sword. It was basically a lumpy, molten pile of useless garbage now. He could still see the Cousland heraldry etched onto one of the lumps, but the sword was useless. Zeriah was crying. That had been her only keepsake from her family's home, and now it was gone. She picked up the lump that had the heraldry on it and stuffed it into a pocket.
"Let's get out of here." she said miserably. Traven hoped they would have better news when they reached the Keep.