Alysia gritted her teeth as she walked out of the door, alone. She could hear her heart pounding in her chest and her stomach churn in fear, but resolve was deep in her bones and it was leading her to her destiny. If she were truly the Herald of Andraste, this would be the moment in proving her worth to herself.

Her feet steadily moved along the thick snow, the grass around her was wet and splayed red from blood; she counted the bodies lying on the ground in her head as she moved in the shadows, and cursed herself for not being able to save them. Haven was torn asunder, the small cabin that used to be her home now lay in wreckage and what little she had to call this place home was now lost in a pile of rubble and fire. She saw the dragon fly overhead as she moved from a large bush to the next, she was careful to not catch its watchful gaze; all she had to do now was to run as fast as she could to the solitary trebuchet and she hadn't the faintest idea on how to reach it undetected. She looked up at the dark sky and couldn't find any sign of the evil creature lurking about; Alysia closed her eyes and took a deep breath in to ready herself for the fastest run she would ever do. She started racing forward with all of her might, her boots crunching on the snow with force; as she was almost nearing the trebuchet she heard the sharp shriek of the dragon flying closer to her. Her heart pounded even faster now, knowing that the dragon was right behind her; she felt her body start to ache and burn up like it did this morning and cursed it for its impeccable timing.

Before she could acknowledge her unknown pain, she saw something explode from the side of her eyes, and her body flew forward and landed heavily on the cold ground. As she tried to move to shake the pain away, she screamed loudly when she felt something pierce through the side of her stomach; hot shards of fire burnt through her armor and pierced through her exposed skin, leaving grotesque marks all over. For a moment the dragon seemed to be toying with her, as if giving her a chance to escape and she took it, but then her body slam firmly onto the ground with a whip of its tail. She groaned in agony when she tried to move her body away from dragon whose teeth were now bared at her; she curled her fingers into a ball, nails digging deep into the palm of her hand to block out the soreness that was surging through her

Alysia's head spun with each movement she made, she lay motionless on the ground in pain and fear that was slowly encompassing her. She saw through hazy eyes a tall silhouette walking towards her, she recognized him—it—to be the creature that stood on top of the hill. As it got closer to her, she could see its once human face contorted into something grotesque, red crystals jutted out from its gray skin, its body was frail but not sickly and its face was twisted into anger. It towered over her body, glaring down at her.

"Did you think you could outrun my pet?" he snarled at her, its voice was deep and grainy, as if all of its previous human self was lost in his ghastly appearance.

Alysia held her breath from the foul smell that was seeping off his decayed skin, it smelt of corruption and blood and it had the unmistakable smell of taint from the blight.

"The Herald of Andraste, are you?" he asked mockingly.

Alysia didn't answer him; instead she lay panting on the ground trying to devise a plan to escape from this lunatic.

"You have stolen what was rightfully mine, Herald," he said, using her title like it was a slur.

He raised his hand out and with a slight movement from his long fingers her left arm extended itself out to him, and as he motioned his fingers towards himself, her feet dragged involuntary towards him. As he flexed his fingers, her body jerked up into the air and slammed heavily onto the ground again, knocking the air out of her. She screamed out in pain when she felt her back dig deep into a stone on the ground; he extended his fingers out again and continued his unrelenting torture, with each scream that escaped her chapped lips his grin grew more savage and hungry for the sound.

"Pretender. You toy with forces beyond your ken. No more," his voice thundered through the cold air.

Alysia felt her head throb as her body slammed once again on to the ground, and back up into the air.

"What are you?" she breathed through gritted teeth.

His grin grew more manic at her words and his eyes flashed something sinister. "Know me. Know what you have pretended to be. Exalt the Elder One. The will that is Corypheus," he said furiously. "I once breached the Fade in the name of another, to serve the Old Gods of the Empire in person. I found only chaos and corruption. Dead whispers. For a thousand years I was confused. No more. I have gathered the will to return under no name but my own. To champion withered Tevinter and correct this blighted world. Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the Gods, and it was empty!"

Alysia head swum at the words that was being thrown at her, she could not wrap her head around anything he was saying. Was everything that she grew up knowing to be false?

"You don't frighten me, creature," she managed through her aching body.

Corypheus laughed a deep and dark laugh at her words, a laugh so sinister that Alysia felt it echo through the darkness.

"Words mortal often hurl at the darkness. Once they were mine, they are always lies. You will kneel."

"Whatever you want from me, you will not have it?" she challenged, she had no intention of fighting with it in her condition but she knew that she had to distract her mind from succumbing to her pain, and ultimately unconsciousness.

His eyes narrowed at her and his mouth twitched in ire.

"You will resist. You will always resist. But it matters not," he said. His eyes roamed over her hovering body and it fell on to her left hand, on her mark. Alysia felt her palm and her body burn, but this time with more intensity. He motioned her body towards his slender fingers and it wrapped firmly around her neck, causing her to whimper in pain. Her legs flailed around helplessly as she tried to break from his grasp but she knew her attempt was for naught.

"I will ease your suffering and remove what is mine. The process of removing the Anchor beings now," he said. Through tired eyes Alysia saw him slowly revealing an orb in another hand, as he clutched his fingers around the orb tighter, Alysia felt the mark on her left arm throb in pain, with each pulse the orb lit up in response. Alysia screamed in agony at the pain the was searing through her palm, it felt as though her skin was being ripped off piece by piece, whatever will she demanded from herself to ignore her agony was lost within this moment.

"Scream more for me, Herald. Sing to me."

With a twist of his wrist at her mark, Alysia felt more pain surge through her hand—she knew that she was almost at her breaking point. She did not know if she the air that was escaping her lips were yells anymore, all she knew was that everything hurt and she did not know how to make it stop. To make matters worse her right hand was burning and glowing with the same intensity that her left hand did.

"What is this—thing, meant to do?" she screamed out at him through tears.

"It is meant to bring certainty where there is none. For you, the certainty that I would always come for it." Alysia could feel his breath hot on her face as he spoke. Before she could summon anymore will to speak back to him, he flung her to the side. Her back impacted heavily into the trebuchet, she felt her left arm and ribs snap in response.

"The anchor is permanent. You have spoiled it with you stumbling," he growled at her.

Alysia struggled to her feet, and willed her body to ignore the pain that she felt throughout her body. She had no weapons, her armor was tattered, her body was battered, and she had no idea how she was ever going to survive this. Through the corner of her eyes, she saw the glow on her right arm persist, its light had a familiarity to it, and it was something she vaguely remembered knowing as a child.

With each familiarity she recalled from the glow in her hand, it began to spark—the sickness—the shame that her family felt—the reason she was shunned. This sensation was hers, hers alone, it was her sense of purpose that was oppressed and taken away from her. She lifted her right arm slowly in front her and saw her fingers burn bright, and fire danced around the tips of her fingers begging for its release. Her eyes grew wide at its light; she knew with all of her heart that her sickness needed to be free.

"Tonight you will die. I will not suffer even an unknowing rival."

She lifted her eyes slowly to face Corypheus, and in the distant she saw a solitary flaming arrow soar high up in the sky. Her heart felt easier now, her people had made it out, and Cullen had save them."

"Honestly. You really need to shut up," Alysia spat at him, feeling braver now. She quickly kicked the crank on the trebuchet, and sent the load it bore flying towards the mountainside.

The boom that came from the impact was deafening, Alysia quickly scrambled out of the way and saw that Corypheus was still standing where he had been with his face twisted into a snarl. He glowered at Alysia who was running towards the Chantry, and with a swift motion of his hand, his dragon exhaled shards of fire to stop her from escaping. Alysia quickly jumped out of the way and let red streams of fire escape her right hand, building a wall of fire, separating her and Corypheus. He glared at Alysia then up at the mountain that was threatening to topple over Haven, and let out a deep yell that was quickly lost in the sound of snow barreling towards them. Knowing that the battle was lost, his dragon swooped down and gathered its master in its claws, it used its large wings to sweep it back up into the air as the great wall of snow swiftly came rumbling down the mountain.

Alysia fought through the intense pain and urged her legs to move faster than it already was, to outrun death that was knocking at her door. Right in front of her she saw a hollowed tunnel, she rushed quickly to it and prayed to the Maker that whatever was beneath it was safer than where she was. Through her fall she heard the snow smash through the wounded land but soon everything around her returned to silence and darkness, and whatever consciousness she begged herself to have was lost.

The people of Haven arrived safely through the passageway, and as they heard the dragon—the archdemon to them—shriek, they all turned back to see their home now reduced to nothing but rubble. They saw the archdemon fly off as the mountainside came tumbling down, covering their former home in snow. Everyone gasped and cried out at the wreckage, feeling desolate at the stillness that followed after the avalanche—an eerie silence fell over them when they realized that their precious Herald was lost in the entombed town.

Aurelia fell to her knees and felt hot tears stream down her cold face, she begged for her sister to come walking out of the rubble—for a movement, for a sound, anything. But nothing came, except for the discomforting sound of the cold winter wind. She felt someone's hand rest on her shoulder, willing for her to keep going. She looked up and saw Dorian's face crestfallen but he silently begged her to march to safety. Now was not the time to grief, now was not the time to shrivel up and die in the cold—Alysia had saved everyone's lives and giving up now would have meant that she her death was in vain.

Her body shook from the intense cold that was slowly seeping into her bones, everything hurt and her eyes couldn't see much of anything through the dimly lit cave; she didn't know how far down she had fallen from the hollowed tunnel. She stirred awake slowly, feeling the intensity of her pain rushing in at the same time— giving herself a moment to breathe and asses the situation she forced her body to prop itself onto the cold wall of the cave, the sensation of it on her bruised skin caused her to shiver even more.

Each intake of breath felt like agony to her, her lungs were on fire and her ribs grinded together each time she moved her chest. She was exhausted mentally and physically but she knew that if she sat in this spot any longer her body would succumb to the cold and any chance of her moving would be nil. She looked up at the hole she fell from and saw nothing but darkness, the only way was out of this mess was forward and even at that choice she did not know if it would be safe, but she had to try rather than die down here, cold and alone.

She heard wind howling in the distant, and she hoped silently that wherever the sound was coming from it would lead her to safety. Slowly she stood up on her aching legs and moved across the mold filled tunnel feeling the wind grow colder on her body with each step she took; soon she reached the end of the tunnel and was greeted by a vast expanse of. The cold was intense and the blizzard was unforgiving, Alysia felt her eye sting from the snow the was blowing about and her hair blew around her face, blocking her view from anything; she lifted her right arm to her face to cover her eyes and moved steadily along the thick snow.

She saw trails of burnt out campfire along the way and she knew that it was the people of Haven and with any luck she might run into them soon, she hoped. Her body was colder than it was, her fingers were numb, lips were chapped and dry, she couldn't breathe properly, her lungs burnt with each intake of air but her body felt so, so cold. The snow was up to her knees now, and she saw trails of red in the snow behind her, she wanted to give up but she knew that she had no other choice but to keep moving forward for death was already creeping upon her now.

The people settled safely in a clearing that offered them some form of protection from the blizzard, they sat around each other hoping for warmth to come pooling in from the campfire that they had built. Once she knew that the people were safe and their eyes were off her, Aurelia reached into her pack to dress for the trek back to Haven.

"You're leaving?" Cullen asked, his figure towering over her. Aurelia saw his haggard face grow dejected at his own question; he was hurting as much as she was.

"Of course. I can't leave my little sister behind," she said while continuing dressing herself. She will not let him deter her from finding Alysia, no one will.

"I will go with you," he said, determination and anger in his voice.

Aurelia looked up at him surprised at his resolve, but somewhere within her she was afraid for him to come with her because there was a large possibility that Alysia was lost in the wreckage, and she could not bear to see Cullen break down and become even more doleful than he was.

"But she might be…", she stopped when she saw Cullen face grow empty at her words.

"She might be alive," another voice spoke, deep and unwavering. It was Bull, Dorian and Sera, they were bundled up, especially Dorian— whose face was mostly covered by a large wool hood.

"We're going with you too," Sera said, her voice growing angrier at the thought of Alysia's death.

They group began their slow trek up the mountain; Dorian was the first to curse at the cold, causing Bull to growl at him. They scanned the horizon through the thick snow, hoping for any sign of her. They weren't far off from the camp when Aurelia saw trickles of red along the snow they were walking on; she picked up the bloodstained snow and prayed to the Maker that it was her sister's. The trail didn't lead them that far off from where they were, it stopped under a large tree and she saw a slight movement under a pile of snow.

"There!" she cried out to the group who were scanning the area for signs of life. She raced towards the tree, kicking up snow with her rushing legs and panting through the cold. The others came rushing behind her, their lanterns swaying in the air.

She dug through the thick snow and when she had found her buried underneath it, she was unmoving but her breath was shallow. Snow matted onto her hair, clinging on to her pale face, her lips were cracked and dry, her entire body felt deathly cold. Aurelia lifted Alysia's limp body up with the help of Cullen and felt her hands grow sticky with each touch, the armour on the side of her waist was torn and soaked with blood, her arms were bruised and tiny cuts filled her exposed skin—she was lucky to still be breathing. They quickly raced back to the camp in fear that she would slip away at any moment, the others followed behind, relief washing momentarily over them.

Cullen placed her unconscious body on a cot, while Dorian called out to Solas and some healers for aid—who came running into the tent, worry spreading onto his otherwise calm face. Cullen and Dorian both left the tent to give Solas more space; Aurelia stripped her sister off her frozen armour and was careful to not expose her already shivering body to more cold. She felt her sister's pulse grow weaker as her body shook terribly; a faint light emitted from Solas' hands as he hovered it over her body—the faint glow danced on her face, casting shadows over it. When he was done, he turned to Aurelia who was tucking the blankets on her shivering sister.

"Her left arm is broken, as well as a few ribs. A large gash on her stomach, and multiple scars on her body. But nothing life threatening. She will live. She needs plenty of rest and warmth, and something for the pain."

He nodded slightly at Aurelia who mouthed thanks to him; he then proceeded to cast a barrier over her tent to block out the cold for entering it. She kissed her sister's forehead lightly and thanked the Maker in whispers, and stayed by her side. With no immediate danger upon their Herald, the others who came to check on her left for the night, leaving the two sisters to rest. Cullen hesitated for a moment, shuffling back and forth between the tent's entrance, he did not know if he should visit the sleeping Herald. Something bothered him, but he knew that she was fine but he felt like he needed to be there, to be there until she woke up, to hear her voice again, to know that the Maker had heard his prayer in keeping her safe.

"We don't need another person succumbing to the cold," a voice said from inside the tent. "Come in, before your smirk freezes off, Commander."

Cullen paused for a moment then entered the tent, he saw Aurelia sitting next to her sister with a warm cloth pressed over her forehead.

Alysia's body seemed better now, colour slightly returned to her face, her body no longer shook with such ferocity and her breathing was more constant.

"Well, sit," Aurelia, instructed, dragging another chair beside her with her left leg.

Cullen obeyed and sat promptly next to her, he sat there in silence, not knowing what to say. He started to regret walking into the tent, feeling ill-prepared and slightly out of character.

"Um, so—", he started.

"I'm sure you didn't come here to get an update, Commander," Aurelia said, looking squarely at him.

"No… No. I didn't," he said. Hearing her words out loud made him feel even more stupid for walking in here.

"…And?"

"I wanted to say sorry," he managed, letting the words fall off his prideful lips. He truly was sorry, for the way he acted towards her the entire time, for doubting her abilities, and for never giving her enough credit for everything that she had done for the Inquisition. It took an almost comatose Alysia for him to realize how terrible he had been to her, and he hated himself entirely for suggesting that she give her life away to save theirs.

Aurelia chuckled at his apology and shook her head. She pushed an odd hair out of her sister's face and looked at Cullen whose gaze had fallen onto the ground.

"She's fine. You're fine. We're fine. That's all that matters," she said, smiling weakly at him. "Besides, she is a stubborn fool and she knows it. And it's through her sheer stubbornness that she is alive right now. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"But—,"

"Not buts'. We've all earned a good night's rest, and I suggest you take it while you can," she said while resting her head in her hands. "Goodnight, Commander."

Cullen bit his lower lip and contemplated saying something but decided that tonight wasn't the best time for it. He got up from his stool and bowed himself out. What Aurelia said was true, tonight was probably going to be the last night that he—they, would ever sleep soundly, for danger was lurking right behind them.