Three hours past, hours spent questioning the elven man calling himself Solas until he was allowed to leave and see the prisoner. Leliana exited the room as well but went back to the small room at the back of the Chantry to tell Cassandra of what had passed. When she entered, however, Cassandra was not there, but Cullen was. Cullen commanded the Chantry's forces doing whatever he could to keep the demons at bay.

"Where is Cassandra?" Leliana asked. Cullen, who was studying a large map placed on a huge table in the middle of the room, turned to Leliana. "She left about two hours ago. Something happened out in the field and she left to help. Why? What is it?"

"I just needed to inform her of our new guest."

"A guest?"

"An elven apostate, but clearly not Dalish. He wishes to help, and from all the details about the Breach and the Fade, he is our best bet to fixing this mess." Cullen looked concerned, something he retained from his years as a templar. "Don't worry, Cullen. My people will keep an eye on him," Leliana assured. Before Cullen could respond, a soldier burst into the room covered in sweat. "Commander, the main force needs reinforcements, the Breach grew and then more demons spilled out." Cullen quickly marched out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

Leliana was left alone in the room. If she couldn't tell Cassandra in person, then she would have to write a letter. She acquired a piece of paper, and quill and ink and wrote:

Cassandra,

I understand our first order of business must be to investigate this bizarre breach in the sky and protect people from the demons descending. While my search continues, I wish to draw your attention to a new arrival at our camp: an elven apostate calling himself Solas.

Solas entered the camp voluntarily, surrendering his staff to Chantry forces without protest. He is not Dalish and says that he has never been part of the Circle, claiming instead to have studied magic peacefully on his own... particularly magic tied to the Fade.

While I suspect you will be reluctant to accept the help of an apostate, Solas did come to us freely. Witnesses saw him in a nearby village at the time of the blast, so he was likely not responsible for what happened at the Conclave. However, he has described the effects of the Breach in enough detail to convince me that he knows more about the Fade than anyone else present.

Solas has requested permission to study the lone survivor and one of the smaller rifts, in hopes of finding a way to seal the Breach. He has correctly guessed that it is growing and believes it will destroy the entire world unless we find a way to stop it. Unless you object, I will allow him his studies - under proper observation, of course.

Leliana

She folded the letter and called the guard into the room. When he entered, Leliana ordered him to deliver the letter the Cassandra on the frontlines. The guard did as he was told and ran towards his destination.

Below the Chantry sits the prison cells, where the golden brown bricks dull to a dismal gray, the walls close in and water drips from the ceiling from an unknown source. The smell of standing water hits Solas as he and a guard enter the depressing place. From the stairs, they enter a long hallway, and the hallway opens up to the large stone room with cells caged with cold iron bars and a guard at every corner. In the middle of the room lay an elven woman covered in sweat and clamped in irons. With her was another man, a human, in robes trying to keep her still. Solas joined the man and knelt down next to him. "Are you my replacement?" the man asked. "No," Solas answered, "I am here to examine her for any evidence of what caused the Breach. I am no healer, but I'll help if I can." The man sighed, "I really wish they would have gotten someone more qualified to do this."

Ignoring the man's grumbling, Solas examined the young woman closer. Like all elves, she had a small lithe frame and pointed ears. Like a small child, she had an impish face with a delicate bone structure, a small upturned nose and pursed lips. When the man opened her eyes to check the dilations of her pupils, he saw that her eyes were bright green with specks of fiery orange around her now very large pupils. Her short, messy black hair and dark vallasline contrasted with her pale skin.

A bright green light flashed from the young woman's palm causing her to moan and clench her teeth in pain and causing Solas to examine her palm closer. He took her hand in his and it flashed again and he felt the mark spreading and her life draining away. "The mark is thrumming with unknown magic," Solas stated. The man next to him laughed a sad laugh and held his face in his hands. "Maker's breath, I wish we had a templar here."

"I must use magic to stop the mark from spreading," Solas stated. He peeked over his shoulder at the guards behind him, looking for any indication that they heard him. What he got, however, was a young woman, who clearly wasn't a guard, emerge from the shadows of the hallway behind him. She gave him a nod, indicating that he was not going to be attacked while saving the prisoner's life. Like all mages, he focused himself to summon power and refined it to the specifications he thought were needed -though treating something as strange as the mark would take the whole day if not several- then mentally prepared himself for the long hours of magic. If need be, he had decided to consult his friends for help should he need it. His hands began to glow radiating a faint blue light, and with her hand still in his, he cusped it and began his long hours of study and healing.

Meanwhile, in the demon infested field not far from Haven, Cassandra and two patrols fought hard against the demons spewing from the small rift near the forests. Salty sweat dripped from their eyebrows as demons came one after another pushing the soldiers to their limits. Cassandra, being the most experienced and trained, was slashing through demons easily, rolling to avoid strong blows and blocking to create openings. Soon, the demons were pushed back, giving the soldiers a chance to rest and regroup. As she was just catching her breath, the courier delivering Leliana's letter made it safely to Cassandra. He saluted as he approached her and handed her the letter stating, "Urgent letter from the Spymaster," and then waited for Cassandra's orders. Quickly reading the letter, Cassandra's brow furrowed the more she read. "Back to your post!" Cassandra ordered, stuffing the letter into her knapsack, "I am returning to Haven."

Many hours passed until the human man who was treating the prisoner left and then many more hours passed, during which Solas studied the mark on the survivor's hand, trying to determine how it got there and how to stop it from killing the young woman who lay before him. His eyes closed, he tried to contact his friends, the spirits in the Fade. For hours he tried to find them, but the Breach had either torn them from the Fade or had scared them away. Solas opened his eyes, returning from the Fade. His brows furrowed with concern for their safety and hoped for the later. The woman's hand vibrated violently in his, the mark lighting up his face and making the woman groan painfully. He might not be able to determine the origins of the mark, but he was able to use his magic to stop the mark from spreading... For now, at least.

The sound of a door slamming open echoed throughout the Chantry prisons followed by a heated dialogue between two women, one of which Solas recognized as the woman who had questioned him, the other had a more robust accent. "Cassandra, this is unnecessary. He is under constant surveillance. There is no need for you to-,"

"I have to see for myself!" The two women emerged from the hallway's shadows. Indeed, one of them was the woman who questioned Solas. The other woman, Cassandra, he had never met before. She crossed her arms and Solas could feel her disapproving glare on his back. "What progress have you made, mage?"

"Ah," Solas thought, "one of those."

"I have been able to stop the mark from killing the survivor, if that counts as progress to you," he responded, letting the sarcasm reveal itself more in the words than in the tone. Cassandra frowned but said nothing of the sarcasm. "What of the mark itself," Leliana intervened, "Have you figured out what it is?"

"All I've been able to figure out is that it reacts to the Breach itself. Whatever caused the Breach also put the mark on her hand."

Cassandra's frown loosened, but it remained. She had wished for more, but this would have to do. Leliana cleared her throat, prompting Cassandra to let the matter rest for now. Cassandra uncrossed her arms, but left Solas a warning in the guise of of an order: "I expect to hear of more progress tomorrow," and then disappeared back into the dark hallway.

Leliana let out her relief with a sigh as she felt the tension leave the room along with Cassandra. "Now," Solas huffed, "If you will excuse me." With that, he turned his attention back to refining the magic he had used to stop the mark from spreading. Leliana took the cue to leave but told the guards to watch him, not caring that Solas could hear.

Two days went by and Cassandra was growing impatient, an impatience that was as calm as an active volcano due to the growing and ever present Breach and the stress of keeping an armed force, whose description of flimsy was a generous one, on the offensive against the demons that spewed out of the Breach and the smaller rifts the Breach birthed across Thedas. Any new information came from the healer who saw to the prisoner, the only helpful information being that it looked like the prisoner would soon awaken, but nothing from Solas, nothing that she herself had not heard or suspected already anyway.

Since his report on the prisoner's mark Solas had not come up with any new information. Even close examinations of the rifts yielded little and useless information, according to Cassandra at least. The information that Solas did present answered none of the questions she deemed important: what caused the Breach; who was responsible; could it be sealed. Solas himself appeared to be growing impatient and irritated. Cassandra's constant hounding weared on his nerves. He would have said that her breathing down his neck wouldn't help the results if there had been any to begin with.

The one small respite he had was when a dwarf calling himself Varric approached him and offered to be a listening ear, something Solas refused but accepted his company none the less. Varric told Solas the story of how all this came to pass: His adventures with Hawke and their companions; the expedition into the Deep Roads ; The Qunari invasion; Anders blowing up the Kirkwall chantry; Hawk siding with the mages; Orisno resorting to blood magic; a red lyrium idol driving Knight-Commander Meredith insane; Varric got a little creative in telling the story of Hawke and Fenris' relationship. Solas enjoyed the diversion that Varric offered and even chuckled when he shared his experience with Cassandra.

Solas felt the presence of the Leliana's agents wherever they went, constantly nagging at the back of his mind. It would seem that even Leliana is starting to consider that Solas was overstaying his welcome. "Don't let them worry you, Chuckles. I'll protect you." Surprised, Solas asked, "Chuckles?"

"Yeah, after your sunny disposition and your cheery sense of humor." Solas quickly learned that Varric had an ironic sense of humor.

The gates of Haven burst open and dozens of people, wounded and dying, sought help within Haven. They weren't dressed in armor or armed with any kind of weapon, just pilgrims who got caught in the Breach's wake. "Refugees," Varric noted, "As if the war in Orlais wasn't enough." Solas looked closer. Indeed, about half of the refugees wore Orleisian clothing ranging from glistening gowns and pantaloons to simple patchwork skirts and vests. All looked weary and down hearted, but a newfound misery had brought wails and sobbing from people desperate for any sign of hope.

The two men heard a commotion coming from the Chantry up the hill. "Wonder what other party games the Maker has planned for us," Varric quipped. Whatever comments Solas had he kept to himself as he followed Varric up the hill.

When they arrived, they found soldiers wrestling a group of men to the ground. Cassandra was among the soldiers and she quickly took command of the situation. She drew her sword and aimed it at one of the men's throats, its tip grazing the hairs on his neck. The men fell silent and the calm before a storm hung over all present turning lungs into lead. "Return to your duties!" Cassandra ordered, "And if I ever catch you trying to kill the prisoner again, you will be executed on the spot!"

"She killed the divine!" one of the other men shouted. "She needs to pay for what she did!" another added. "And she will," Cassandra interjected, "When we question her and we've deiced her punishment. Now go!" Her tone left no room for argument. The men left grumbling and discouraged. "Let me guess," Varric started, "They thought they could sneak past a Seeker and dozens of soldiers and assassinate the prisoner."

"Indeed," Cassandra answered, a hint of annoyance creeping into her voice, "As you can see, they were not successful."

"Speaking of which, how is our infamous friend doing?"

"Nothing that concerns you, dwarf."

Varric was about to continue the banter when the Breach pulsed again and a man ran up to Cassandra looking disheveled and more than a little uneasy. He had short blond hair, rough features and he was clad in armor and dark red cloth resembling a lion's mane. "Cullen," Cassandra addressed. "Cassandra, rifts are opening all around and the waves of demons has grown too much. We need assistance!" Cullen reported. He sounded desperate and drained but ready to fight. Cassandra's eyes stopped on Solas and Varric and they had a pretty good idea what was going to come next. "You two: I want you to support the troops in holding back the demons. Don't come back until every last one of them is destroyed!" she commanded. Varric was going to argue, bad idea as it may have been, but gave up when Cullen and command of troops ran past him and followed them. Solas followed, seeing opportunity. There was nothing more he could do here and he did not trust Cassandra with his life. He would wait and look for the chance to escape.

Cassandra was about to follow when someone grabbed her arm from behind. She turned to see Leliana. "The prisoner is awake," she said. That stopped any thoughts Cassandra had dead in their tracks.