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Chapter 16: The Dalish Pariah

Before Vaela could strike, Merrill cast another Misdirection Hex on her. "She just won't give up, will she?" the mage asked herself. "Wrath of the Elvhen!" Merrill again called for nature to aid her and this time Vaela was restrained. "I never wanted to fight you lethallin. But, I don't plan on dying today, either."

Merrill placed a hand on Vaela's head and used the entropic spell Horror. Vaela's mind was sent to a realm where an eternity there was only a moment in the real world.

"Ugh… where am I?" The Warden groaned.

"You're in my world, now. Designed by all of your fears, this is my gift to you, lethallin."

Vaela was sent to Sundermount where she saw all of her old clan mates, Fenarel and Keeper Marethari among them. "What is this? The clan…"

Marethari became a grotesque pride demon that slowly corrupted the rest of the clan, who happily followed her every command.

"They were lost without you, lethallin. You led them to this."

"You're lying! Marethari could never become an abomination!"

"How could you possibly know the truth? You abandoned us, you abandoned your own clan."

"That's not true! I-"

The Warden saw Hawke and Merrill leaving Sundermount until Marethari told the clan to attack. One by one, the pride demon led each elf to ruin. All that was left was death and destruction. The massacre replayed itself over and over again.

"Stop it! Why are you showing me this?! STOP!" Images of each of the Warden's dead clan mates flooded her mind until she found herself in a graveyard surrounded filled with the tombs of her clan. The Hero of Ferelden collapsed, her mind and will broken by Horror. A single day in this world was less than a moment in Thedas.

Merrill released her grip on Vaela and watched her limp body hit the ground. "Vaela's strong. She'll recover eventually."

"Merrill…"

"Wha-"

"MERRILL!" Vaela charged at Merrill and her momentum carried the both of them into the waterfall. The two combatants scratched and clawed at each other in the current until they were sent over the edge. When Vaela swam to the surface she saw Merrill standing atop the water. A red aura began to emanate from the Warden's body as she began to climb atop the water.

"It's always something with you," Merrill thought. "You're strong, always were… but how is this possible?"

The Warden had taken on a more feral appearance. Her body felt as if it was on fire. "The taint," she thought, "I can't fight it!" Her eyes had become completely bloodshot; her appearance was something best described as some elf-darkspawn hybrid. The Old God's call to ther was louder than ever before. "Let go," they said. "Unleash your true potential… don't fight our influence."

"What's going on with her?" Merrill wondered. "Why are we doing this?" she asked the Warden.

Although she was still embattled in her own internal struggle, Vaela was able to respond. "You… you stole everything left of me! You massacred our clan, OUR CLAN, and you showed me how you did it!"

"I only wanted to help our clan, our people. When you left, I worked that much harder to get stronger, like you. You were always the one I looked up to. When I left the clan, it was because of you, the example you provided. I thought I could make a difference. I never wanted any of this to happen, lethallin."

"It's too late, Merrill. It's just too late. Neither of us can go back now."

"I… understand, lethallin. Still, I don't plan on dying today." Merrill told the Warden. "I'm completely out of mana," she thought. "I'll have to use blood magic."

A/N: So, Merrill was fighting Vaela without using blood magic the entire time?! No disrespect to the Warden here, but how can she hope to defeat Merrill now? Find out on the next episode of Dragon Age Z!