"Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him

Foul corrupt are they

Who have taken His gift

And turned it against His children.

They shall be named Maleficar, accursed ones.

They shall find no rest in this world

Or beyond."

Canticle of Transfigurations 1:2

The Vaults, Kinloch Hold

The longer they stood in front of the elemental door the hotter their surroundings became. If they didn't do something soon the Templars would be there in time to find their charred bodies.

"You know frost magic, yes?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

"Apparently so. Are you going to use it or just stand there?"

Begrudgingly Richard channelled the magic through his palm, as the blood in his veins iced over the magic came forth. As soon as the ice hit the door the fire disappeared and the door opened leaving no evidence of the furnace they had just been in. As they made their way through the door and down the corridor the hum of magic increased. Powerful magic, designed to contain the darker secrets of the circle, the ones that were rumoured about. But this is not what they were after, eventually they came upon the door into the main chamber, a simple lock was all that stopped them entering, since neither of them were rogues they used magic. Once the door was open they were able to start their search, Morrigan transformed back into her original form and started the search for the grimoire and Richard looked for his phylactery. The searching took longer than expected and it was Morrigan who was successful first. The grimoire was hidden up high in a collection of books, with runes that no one would want to translate. Runes of Tevinter. Morrigan stowed the grimoire away and helped Richard with his search. The problem was that in that one room alone there were hundreds of phylacteries. It took longer than they anticipated and it was only due to dumb luck that they found it.

"Morrigan, I have it."

"What are you waiting for? Destroy it."

"How? I doubt simple magic will be able to do it."

"You have feet, I'm fairly certain that even you should be able to manage to put your physical strength behind it and smash it."

With the phylactery on the floor Richard brought his foot down and smashed the phylactery. The collected blood seeped through the gaps in the floor and disappeared just leaving the smashed glass. As quickly as they arrived they had gone again, back out through the elemental door and up into Richards' quarters. With the joy and comfort of having been successful they both sat down on the bed and rested momentarily.

"We did it."

"Very astute of you."

"What now?"

"I lead, you follow."

With that Morrigan went over to the window and slowly transformed into a raven and took off, she took to a circling pattern above the tower as she waited for Richard. As Richard approached the window he heard footsteps growing closer to his door, he transformed as quickly as was possible without making a noise and had only just made it onto the windowsill before the door opened. As the door opened in walked his friend Jowan who was talking about someone called Lilly. It took him a while to realise that he was in fact alone in the room, well apart from the raven which took off as soon as Jowan locked eyes with it.

Richard flew higher and joined Morrigan with her circling pattern before they changed direction and headed towards the wilds. Communication between the two was easier, instead of talking or even squawking they threw their thoughts to each other and communicated through the magic.

Morrigan, where are we headed?

Home

The ground beneath them became more and more littered with trees and the foliage became more dense. In the distance they could see Lothering and even further in the distance the ruins of Ostagar, a once mighty fortress. It took them two hours to reach the clearing in the woods where they had first met, where once there had been nothing there now stood a small house. Morrigan led them down to a perch on a dead tree.

Wait here. Mothers home.

Morrigan hoped of the perch and shifted back into her normal form and walked into the house. Several minutes passed by before the door opened again. But instead of Morrigan an elderly lady walked out, her eyes sunken into her face but the fire behind them burning ever so brightly.

"So you're Morrigan's fairy tale, a raven. Last time you were a wolf, so which is it?"

At her a cursory tone Richard jumped of the perch and shifted into his natural form.

"Neither, I am not one or the over. I am what or whoever I wish to be. You may call me Richard, a pleasure to meet you."

"Now that is a civil greeting. You may call me Flemeth if you wish. I can see why Morrigan likes you, how many forms have you taken? Which form do you use the most?"

"If you must know I have taken the form of various different animals, but I take the form of the wolf most. Now unless the inquisition of old has been reformed and you're their leader, I don't have to answer any more of your questions."

"Yes, I see it now. You may stay."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet boy."

First Enchanter's office, Kinloch Hold

"Maleficar, it's the only possible reason for it."

"There is no proof of that Gregoir."

"No proof! What more proof do you need Irving? He's gone, his phylactery is destroyed and we have no way of tracking him down."

"But as you said he didn't get past your Templars so he must still be here in the tower. The tower was built in order to keep mages in; you Templars had the windows spelled so that it could detect anybody going out through it. And since there has been no commotion he must still be here."

"Blood magic could see him through the window and outside."

"But then how would he have reached the shore. There are no boats apart from the one in the dock and the water is freezing, after spending a minute or two in the water you would freeze to death and we've found no bodies."

"There must be an explanation for it; my men have searched the tower top to bottom. The guard has been doubled at the docks, there's no way out. Did he not have friends?"

"Jowan."

As the mention of the boy's name, the door opened up and the mage walked in accompanied by two Templars, who were immediately dismissed.

"Jowan. You and Richard were friends, he must have told you something."

"He didn't tell me anything. I don't know where he is."

"Tell me, what did you see? You were the last person seen entering his room."

"I didn't see anything Knight-Commander. When I went to his room it was empty, there was no one there."

"What was there Jowan? You're leaving something out I can tell."

"Ok, yes there was something else. There was a raven with eyes as cold as ice."

"Thank you Jowan, you may leave."

Silence followed as they waited for Jowan to leave, as soon as the door was shut Irving started searching through his bookshelves.

"What's so important about this raven Irving?"

"The eyes. Jowan said they were as cold as ice."

"I heard him, but that doesn't mean anything. What are you searching for?"

"Transmogrification. Do you know what that is? It's the process of changing something or someone into a different form, otherwise known as shifting."

"I've never heard of it."

"That's because it's an ancient form of magic. No longer taught amongst the circles. The only book on it is kept...found it."

"He is the only one who had access to my room, this explains everything."

"But how would he get past the windows?"

"The magic used wouldn't detect a creature going through it. If he transformed into the form of a raven beforehand he'd be able to leave. The only question is where did he go?"

Flemeth's Hut, the Wilds

It had been two months since Flemeth had taken Richard in. There had been problems at first between Flemeth and Morrigan about the whole arrangement but they had eventually been sorted out. It had been a new experience for Richard living with two such different characters. Flemeth treated him like a son, which infuriated Morrigan. She taught him how to properly enhance his magic and to use it to its fullest. Under her tutelage his power grew and his mana pool increased. They now had a permanent ice field where Richard practiced. Such was his relationship with Flemeth. With Morrigan however thinks had changed, where once they had been nothing more than friends, something had sparked between the two. They were constantly sneaking moments together out of reach of Flemeth. A routine had been established that every other night they would hunt together. There was nothing more fierce than the loyalty and companionship of a wolf, when they hunted they were linked together and for a while afterwards they were still together.

The abrasiveness that Morrigan wore as a shell had been smoothed down, and transposed onto Richard. They had truly rubbed off on each other, for the better. Even Richards's new outfit was more approving of a wizard of the wilds. His once clean blue circle robes had been blackened, the arms had been ripped off and trousers had been created from the lower half of the robes. His appearance matched Morrigan's perfectly.

"Morrigan, Richard there's something you need to do."

"What is it mother?"

"You will have noticed no doubt the army gathering at Ostagar on one of your hunts. Yes I know about that. Tomorrow you'll need to go to the old Grey Warden outpost and keep an eye out for a group of Grey Wardens, bring them here."

"Can't you do this yourself mother?"

"It must be you two who do it, have fun with them if you wish. You may leave now."

As soon as Flemeth dismissed them they transformed into two wolfs they jaunted of into the forest and towards Ostagar. They made record time and were there within an hour. From their position they could see the camp fires of the army spread out on their right like fireflies across the sky. The cold night brought the two together for warmth. Richards arm quickly closed around Morrigan and her head rested against his shoulder. Morrigan always felt safest when she was with Richard, it was a feeling that she wasn't used to and wasn't entirely sure whether she liked it or not. But for the moment she was content and in the comfort of his arms she promptly fell asleep.