"Deylan, what were you thinking?" Ilaria asked him again. What was it - the third time? This was so out of character for him. He never did anything stupid or impetuous. That was Anders department. She paused in the process of sorting through the bundle of supplies one of the Tranquil had brought and took a deep calming breath. Crying now wasn't going to help; it would probably just make things worse.

"You would have done the same thing had Jowan approached you first. He loves that girl. He just wanted to make a life with her. Although, I might not have been so willing to help if I'd known about the blood magic."

"Who'd have thought you'd be a secret romantic..." she grumbled.

The stories were flying all over the tower. Jowan had destroyed his phylactery, escaped the templars and had done it with the use of blood magic. Most surprising of all - Deylan Amell, ever serious and steady, had helped him. And all for a Chantry initiate.

Ilaria shook her head in an attempt to clear it, still frantically sorting and folding and finally selecting a heavy cloak and placing it in Deylan's pack. Jowan was so stupid! Why would he even get involved with and initiate in the first place? He knows it's forbidden and there is enough hanging over mage's heads here. Maybe he thought it would be like the mages who've gotten involved with a templar. Those indiscretions are just swept under the rug. Deylan's voice interrupted her mental tirade.

"They were going to make him Tranquil, Arie." He rarely used her nickname.

She paused, her shoulders slumping. "I don't want you to go. I've read about the Warden's and darkspawn. And it's a war. I don't want you to die," she said softly.

He turned her to look at him, his knuckles lifting her chin. "I am not going to die. Not yet, anyway. I promise, I'll see you again."

She felt comforted by the look of determination in his eyes. She wrapped her arms tight around his waist for a moment before speaking. "Losing Jowan has been difficult enough. It feels like our family is falling apart. If you die... I'll kill you."

Deylan snorted and shook his head a little. He picked up the pack she'd loaded for him, hefting it onto his shoulders. "Take care of Neria. She's been so quiet since her Harrowing... I just wish I could be here to keep an eye on her with Jowan gone..."

There was a silent pause before they said their farewells. Ilaria watched him walk down the hall toward the stairwell, toward Duncan and the Grey Wardens. She wondered if she really would ever see him again. He was a good candidate for the Wardens. Few mages his age were as skilled in Entropy.

"Maker guide your steps, brother," she whispered as he disappeared down the stairs.

"Why did we let Anders talk us in to squeezing up here again?" Ilaria demanded of Neria. It had been almost two months since Jowan disappeared and Deylan left for the Wardens and Anders seemed to be encouraging them into new forms of trouble. They were belly-down on a ledge high off the floor. Before them was a narrow opening into another room; a room in which the Senior Enchanters and a few others were discussing what had happened at Ostagar.

Neria sighed with a smile. "Because he made the face. You know, the one with the big, sad eyes and the funny little smile..."

"I know. Why do we keep falling for that? It's gotten us in trouble so many times..." her voice trailed off as they slid into the opening.

Once far enough in, they were able to look down and see part of the room. It was difficult to catch everything being said. This room had a strange echo in it and so many of the mages below them were talking. Words and phrases floated up to them. Wardens dead. Massacre. Support Loghain. Traitor. New regent. Help our cause. This was followed by an uproar of voices that blocked out any single word until a single voice rose above the clamor.

"Don't be foolish! We will not be slaves to the Chantry any longer!" It was Uldred's voice. Ilaria could feel the massive swell of mana as Uldred began to cast.

"We should go," Neria hissed in her ear.

"Wait... just a minute long..." Ilaria was cut off by Uldred's scream and she sucked in a deep breath of horror. "NO! Out! We have to get out now!" It was difficult for Ilaria to keep her voice low while pushing Neria back. The elfin mage had frozen at the scene below them and now there was more screaming.

As the two women lowered themselves to the floor, Anders was quickly darting around them. "What is going on?"

Ilaria looked at him. She imagined her face was probably as white as Neria's. "Uldred summoned a demon. I... it took him. There are blood mages..." She paused, a new awareness settling in. "Anders, we have to get the children somewhere safe!"

Ilaria had spent much of the last two years working on basic spells with the younger apprentices; and some of them were so young. She took off toward the door, Anders and Neria close on her heels.

Down the hallway, just far enough around the curve of the tower that they couldn't see, the sounds of battle could be heard spilling out of the meeting room. The metal tang of blood was already in the air. Templars were beginning to stream toward the fight. The three young mages were almost to the stairwell when Ilaria's arm was gripped by a strong hand.

"Ilaria, what has happened?" It was Cullen.

It wasn't until the templar had steadied her that she realized she was shaking. "Uldred summoned a demon. There are blood mages... We're trying to get to the children."

Cullen cast a concerned look down the hallway towards the sounds of pain and death. "Get the apprentices and barricade yourself in somewhere secure. I'll come find you when it's safe." Ilaria was a little unsettled by the tender look he gave her and then Neria before charging toward the clang of battle, sword drawn.

When they reached the large classroom two floors down, the children were huddled together. Only one senior mage, Torrin, was still present with them. After a quick, hushed explanation, Torrin directed them to a storage room further down the hall to guard the children in. He left with the intent of helping his fellow mages.

Anders lead the children out of the room. As the last child left, Ilaria and Neria followed them out into the hallway. Faint screaming could be heard coming from the floor above. As the children were shepherded into the room by Anders, Neria and Ilaria kept anxious watch. As the final child entered the room, Anders called out to the women.

"Come on you two!" There was an urgency in his tone that was so foreign to his voice.

As Ilaria turned to Anders, there was a strange rush of magic and a gravelly voice. "Here you are, my lovelies. Lambs to the slaughter."

She whipped her head around in time to see an abomination thrust its clawed hand through Neria's torso, bloody fingers flexing out of her back. Time seemed to slow almost to a stopping point. Neria's tiny body arched around a thick, gray arm before whipping back and falling heavily to the floor. Anders was calling out somewhere in the background but all Ilaria could hear was a rushing in her ears that was filling her, first, with anguish and then blind rage.

She'd never cast a fire spell so quickly before. The demon-possessed mage had barely turned its gaze on her before it was consumed by white hot fire leaving the sickly scent of burnt flesh in the air and she was on her knees in a pool of hot sticky red calling to Neria, shaking her shoulders.

"You have to get up! There will be more of them. Neria, please!" she sobbed. Neria's violet eyes looked sightlessly away. It was Anders strong hands pulling on her arms that finally ended the rushing.

"Ilaria, she's gone. She's gone. Look at me." Ilaria lifted tear-filled eyes to his face. His hands cupped her jaw gently and he brushed a tear away with his thumb. "We have to go."

She nodded her assent. "Anders, we can't leave her here. Please, I don't want them to... do anything to her." A cold determination was visible in her eyes.

Anders reached down and gently lifted the small, still form. Ilaria tore a large strip of fabric from the bottom of her robes and covered the gaping wound. Before Anders could walk away, she gently kissed Neria's forehead.

"I'll shield the door," Ilaria said as they entered the room. She watched Anders carry Neria's body to the back of the room and could see from the stiff set of his shoulders how difficult it was for him to hold his emotion in check. Sweet little Neria: so innocent, gentle, gone. Ilaria hoped Anders would forgive her for what she was going to do. She took a step back so that she was just outside the doorway and began casting. She saw Anders turn to look at her just as the shield came up, a horrified look on his face. He ran to the doorway, slamming his fists once on the shield.

"Ilaria, what are you doing? Get back in here!" he yelled through the shimmery film between them.

Ilaria pressed her hand against the shield, a sad look on her face. "I can keep you safe out here... and I might be able to help the others."

Anders was shaking his head, mumbling, "No, no, no..."

"Anders, you are the only one left. You're my family. If you died..." Her jaw clenched. "The children need to be taken care of. The key is still in the door. Lock the door. I'll come back when it's over."

She could see the defeat in his face. He lifted his hand and pressed it opposite hers. "Please, don't go," he said so softly she almost didn't hear it, his forehead coming to rest against the shield.

She rested her hand over his face for a moment. "I'll be back," she whispered and then ran down the hallway.