In the ballroom, the companions were shifting around restlessly. The lone female dwarf was on her knees scrubbing. A few mages stood around her, waving their staffs. Two other mages merely stood off to the side and looked bored. Their efforts paid off; the ballroom was looking somewhat cleaner. With a final swipe, Sigrun stood up and dusted off her knees. The mages put down their staffs, and three of them returned up the stairs to the balcony. The last one joined the bored mages, a big smile on her face.

"Well, it's good that's all taken care of, now isn't it? It would be awful if one of us slipped in it, I mean, just think, we're in the middle of a spell, and whoops, down we go. The spell would go all over the place, and who knows what we might hit..." The chatty elf trailed off, sensing that the other two were ignoring her. The other elf woman was examining her staff while the lone human just stared in the distance.

The Crow and the pirate swaggered into the ballroom, apparently having found new clothes. Isabela's looked exactly like her previous outfit, only the corset was a different color. Merrill waved as they went past and Isabela winked at her. Merrill tried to wink back, but only managed to pull off an odd blink.

"Nice of you to join us. I hope you two... oh Void take you, I don't care enough to finish that thought. Hello everyone, we're back!"

"Welcome to Round Four: Which Witch is the Biggest Bitch? This round our contestants are Morrigan, a Witch of the Wilds, Velanna; former Keeper-in-training, and Merrill; also a former Keeper-in-training. Seriously Hawke, Merrill? I've been trying to figure out for the past three rounds why she's up against these two. Merrill? She's..."

"A blood mage."

"What?"

"And it's your fault."

"My fault?"

"You just had to touch the pretty mirror..."

"I didn't... it wasn't... Tamlen... what the... blood mage? Really?"

"Yup."

"Okay then." Mahariel barely squeaked out the last sentence. "So... are we ready to start?"

"Definitely. Shale." Hawke nodded her head towards the golem. The stone creature once again signaled the beginning of the match, though it was decidedly less motivated than in previous rounds.

Within seconds the ballroom had turned into a jungle. A very thorny, deadly looking jungle. Vines crawled along the floor and up the pillars, stopping just short of the second level. Even so, most watching had scooted their stools a few feet back. There were two small clearings in the midst of the greenery; each held a Dalish woman in the center. Merrill was in the process of encasing herself in natural stone armor and Velanna seemed to be gearing up for another spell. Where Morrigan had stood only few seconds ago, there was now a swarm of insects.

"I really hope those things are temporary." Murmured Mahariel.

"Chances are... no. By the way, I just realized something."

"Hawke, I'm getting very tired of your realizations."

"I know, that's why I do it."

"I'm going to regret this, but what did you realize?"

"It's just that, well, doesn't it strike you as odd that amongst our mages, it's the abominations that will take care of your wounds and it's the Dalish Keepers – the ones who are supposed to protect lore and their clan and all that good stuff – who have the potential to kill you in so many interesting ways?" Hawke smiled brightly. There was no reply from the elf. "Mahariel?"

"I hate you so much."

Velanna's next spell was interrupted as the swarm buzzed around her head. She tried to swat them away, but they just kept coming. They apparently had stingers too, Velanna was starting to develop little red bumps where the swarm hit her. Over in the other clearing, Merrill had erected a translucent shield around herself.

Velanna managed to ignore the insects long enough to prepare another spell. She aimed her staff at the thickest part of the swarm, and shot a flame of fire at it. The swarm dropped low and coalesced into human shape. The whole thing shimmered slightly as the insects became Morrigan. There were a few burns on her arm and one on her cheek from the parts of her that got hit by the flames. She immediately put up a domed shield and just in time. The fire, having mostly passed through the swarm, hit the nearest pillar with force. Unfortunately, that same pillar was also covered in greenery courtesy of the Dalish women. The flames caught, and rose higher as more and more of the thorny vines burned. Morrigan glared at the blond elf, who looked perturbed; she clearly did not expect this to happen.

While the flames continued to burn hot and bright, a few noticed a dark shadow passing over the ballroom. Isabela was the first to recognize the black storm clouds that were amassing in the vicinity of the ceiling and quickly pulled out a clock from her pack. A crack of thunder, rain and lightning poured down from the ceiling onto the flames. The audience breathed a sigh of relief as the rain dampened the inferno below. The lightning was less welcome, as a few bolts of electricity arced towards those wearing plate metal. Lightning also managed to respark a few fires, but those were quickly washed out in the torrent. Velanna and Morrigan also had to dodge a few lightning strikes;as their staffs acted as conductors. Merrill alone stood untouched in the center of the maelstrom.

As the fire dampened, Morrigan started to move. It wasn't easy; charred roots, thorny vines, and spot fires still littered the landscape and lightning made the path even more dangerous, but standing within spitting distance of one of the Dalish was even more dangerous. She climbed a pile of greenery and stood up, pointing her staff in the air. The cloud changed from black to white, and the lightning subsided. The rain turned to snow, and the temperature of the room dropped quickly. The wet vines froze over quickly, and puddles of water became puddles of ice in moments. Up in the balcony, a few people huddled together for warmth.

"Interesting weather we're having." Remarked Anders to the young mage beside him.

"Hmph. Showoffs." Bethany snitted. Neither one seemed particularly affected by the rapid changes in the environment.

"Are you seeing this! It's fantastic! Mahariel? Mahariel, are you all right?" The elf had buried her face in her hands and was weeping softly. Hawke chuckled and returned her gaze to the mages below.

They were all mostly stuck. Between the blizzard and ice, the one or two fires that somehow hadn't been put out, and the vines that still covered everything, the ballroom floor was a treacherous mess. Every step the mages took would risk a poke, or burn, or a fall on the ice that would leave them vulnerable. Another dark cloud formed, this time directly over Merrill. Though it looked somewhat less substantial than the storm cloud, it was somehow more foreboding. With a swirl of her staff, the mist flowed towards Velanna and Morrigan. It hit Velanna first; she cried out and clutched at her head. She looked up, eyes wide with fright, and start to back away from some horror unseen by the rest of the crowd.

Morrigan saw Velanna's reaction and looked at the cloud making it's way towards her. She slammed up an invisible barrier and the blackness crawled along the edges, seeking purchase. She made a motion with her hand, and the cloud dispersed into nothing. Morrigan's spell apparently removed anything magical in origin; the pile of frozen vines she was standing on gave way and submerged back into the ground. She gestured again in the direction of stricken blond elf, and turned her attention to the cause of the shadows.

Merrill's rock armor was suddenly becoming very stifling. She looked down at her body; the layer of rock was thinning. At the same time, she felt heavier and movement was becoming harder. She looked at her fingertip; they seemed to have turned to stone.

"Well played Morrigan!"

"Oh so you're watching again?"

"Shut up. But you got to admit, turning Merrill's own spell against her to petrify her... that was genius!"

"It was an excellent move."

Morrigan was prepping for another spell to aim at the stonified Merrill when something shot past her ear. It missed her completely but she whirled around, forgetting about the statue. Velanna had stood up and was aiming her staff at the witch. Velanna shot off another bolt of arcane magic, but missed yet again. She drew herself up and unleashed a plethora of deadly motes, but not a one managed to touch Morrigan. Velanna stopped and examined her staff. Morrigan merely laughed.

"Ooh... I think Morrigan put a hex on Velanna..."

"Ouch. That can't be good for her."

"Nice of you to state the obvious, Mahariel."

Velanna apparently figured out that any spell she cast was doomed to miss so she changed tactics. Wielding her staff in both hands like a sword, Velanna charged towards Morrigan. She ran into a patch of ice on the floor and went sliding, aiming herself towards Morrigan. Unfortunately, she was a bit too far off to one side. She still managed to swing her staff as she glided past, delivering a harsh blow to the back of Morrigan's unprotected knees. Morrigan's legs buckled and she went down. The blond elf took a leap of the ice and twisted around to face the prone witch.

Something very odd was happening to the golden-eyed woman – her back appeared to be growing larger and with a pronounced hump. Things appeared to sprout from her abdomen. The audience watched in horror as Morrigan went from a very pretty human to a very large and ugly spider. She was black all over, with fangs that poison seemed to fairly drip from.

In a panic, Velanna summoned a fireball and threw it at the spider. Unfortunately, the hex held and it missed completely; instead hitting a frozen vine-covered pillar with a sizzle. She held her staff up in front of her and tried to summon a shield to block the advancing Morrigan. The witch-spider ignored it, leaping on the poor elf and pinning her down with all eight of her hairy legs. Velanna could do nothing but scream as Morrigan's fangs came closer and closer to her face.

"Hold!" Shouted a voice from the balcony. The dark-haired bowman raced down the stairs.

"Nathaniel, what are you doing?" Mahariel called down. The spider scuttled back off of Velanna. Nathaniel rushed to her side, and helped her to her feet. The spider morphed back into Morrigan, and stood off to one side with her arms crossed. There was a short, quiet, but obviously heated argument that ended with Velanna's bowed head and a glare from Nathaniel. The elf sighed and stepped forward, looking up at the balcony.

"I yield to Morrigan." She said, scorn dripping with every word. She winced, and put a hand to her neck. She lifted it and stared at her palm which held a trace of green poison. A slight red mark was forming on her neck and palm. She shot Nathaniel a grateful look, and took his arm as they headed out the ballroom, followed by Anders. Morrigan watched them go and then looked up at the two hosts.

"Okay well it looks like..."

"Uh, Mahariel..." Hawke pointed at a spot on the ballroom floor. Morrigan and Mahariel's gaze followed the direction of her hand. The rock statue that was Merrill was regaining flesh color. Slowly, one of her arms started to move. A stone rose from the ground and hurled itself towards Morrigan, who didn't have time to react and was knocked to the ground. The Witch of the Wilds wasn't down for long, she leapt to her feet in a flash. Merrill and Morrigan faced each other, staffs at the ready.

"Hey Sigrun," drawled the red-bearded dwarf. "Didjya know about Howe and Velanna?" The female dwarf next to him snorted.

"By the stone Oghren, did you really not notice?"

"Pity. She was hot for a bony elf."

"She didn't like you much."

"I know. Still, a dwarf can look."

"Or leer, in your case."

"Jealous, Sigrun?" Oghren sniggered.

"Ancestors, save me."

Morrigan was a little wobbly on her feet, but she manged to hold it together. She expelled a giant pulse of light that hit Merrill like a sledgehammer. The Dalish woman let out a strangled cry though the light left no visible damage. The light bounced back towards Morrigan, who stood straighter and stronger with renewed energy.

Merrill waved her staff, but nothing happened. She stood for a moment, eyes closed and focused inward. She put her staff on her back and from her belt drew a very small knife. With her eyes still closed, she placed the edge of the knife in her palm and gritted her teeth. In one swift motion, she sliced the knife across her palm and returned it to the sheath on her belt. She opened her eyes again; they were glowing a hellish red color.

"What did she just..." Mahariel said, bewildered

"I told you. Merrill's a blood mage."

"I didn't think she would actually use it."

"Morrigan forced her hand when she drained her."

"By the Dread Wolf."

Merrill reached out towards Morrigan and clenched her hands. Morrigan's body jerked and her eyes rolled back in her head. When Merrill threw her hands down, Morrigan jerked again and fell to her knees, her staff on the ground next to her left hand. Merrill took her own staff off of her back and and loosed a bolt of lightning. The other witch took up her staff, sending a whirlwind of cold directly at the electric bolt. The spells met midair, the cold wrapping around the bolt, causing it to dissipate harmlessly in the atmosphere. The rest of the wind hit Merrill and swirled around her, freezing her in place.

Morrigan walked over to the frozen figure – carefully, as the ground was still covered in ice and vines. She held out her staff, and gently tapped the ice-covered elf. Merrill fell over, a few ice crystals shattering around her. The witch sighed and poked the elf in the stomach with her staff. A warm glow suffused Merrill, and she stirred as the ice melted around her. She looked down at the staff still at her stomach and then up at Morrigan standing over her.

"You win." She said with a grin. She held out her hand. Morrigan grabbed it, and the elf hopped to her feet, shaking Morrigan's hand the entire time. "Well that was really interesting wasn't it? I mean, I didn't really like the parts where I couldn't move and all, but wow! You turned into insects and a spider! Can you do anything else? Like something not so creepy? I mean, I'm sure the scary helps in a fight..." Her legs chose to give out at that moment, and Morrigan had to hold her to keep her steady.

"Perhaps... yes... perhaps I should go lie down for a bit." Morrigan continued to support the woozy elf until Wynne came down and collected her. They left the ballroom with Merrill leaning heavily on the older woman's shoulder. Morrigan stood in the center of the room, as if daring them to cheer for her. No one rose to the challenge.

"Merrill was right about one thing; Morrigan makes one creepy spider."

"She does indeed Hawke."

"Congratulations Morrigan! You won the second mage round!"

"Does that mean we're finished with mages? I'm so thrilled."

"Only until the final round. Morrigan will join Wynne, Aveline, and Sigrun, and two yet to be determined. Hey! I just noticed something Mahariel."

"Not again."

"All of our winners so far are female."

"That's because they're ridiculously awesome Hawke. Although that streak will end with the next round."

"Why's that?"

"There's absolutely no women in the next round."

"Right. So let's take a short break, and we'll come back for round five. Hopefully somebody will have cleaned up the ballroom in the meantime."

"Pretty please?"