Something didn't feel right.

As I stood outside the Chantry in Haven, overlooking the people as they danced and celebrated the large victory, my stomach churned.

Maybe it was paranoia, but something felt wrong.

We had helped the mages escape the grasps of both the Venatori and the Elder One, but what about the Templars? There was something very wrong with Lord Seeker Lucius, and maybe I couldn't rest until we figured out what exactly.

My eyes scanned the area for my companions I had grown closer to, and I found them all in places of their own. Varric, nestled by his campfire drinking some of the finer ale we had here, was reading some papers in his hand with a smile on his face.

Maybe it was a letter from friends, or family. With Varric, it was hard to say.

Blackwall and the Iron Bull were both in different places than usual, both of them heading towards the tavern with huge smiles on their faces. Of course, Bull had his entire mercenary band behind him, but they both looked happy for once. That wasn't so unusual for Bull, but Blackwall had a way of letting the worst things get the better of him.

Vivienne stood over the mages, watching with a scornful eye to make sure no one thought twice about taking their freedom too far. She had no problems expressing her distaste with my decision to allow them freedom, but she knew better than to challenge my decision and left it at distaste.

Solas was watching from a distance, as I had noticed he liked to do. Living on his own as he had, it was no surprise that he preferred to stay that way. His experience and knowledge came from somewhere outside of reality, so living in reality always proved to be a challenge for him. Sometimes, the things he said and did just made people feel out of place.

I couldn't see Sera, but I didn't have to see Sera to know where she was. Her most comfortable spot was inside the tavern, with the "little people" as they no doubt celebrated more loudly and vibrantly than even the people outside.

Dorian was still inside the Chantry, no doubt looking for the Commander. He had a fascination with the Commander that might make me uncomfortable in other circumstances—irritated at best, furious at worst. Dorian hadn't said anything about enjoying the company of men, but he was quite taken with the Commander.

He wasn't the only one, but at least I had a shot . . . or a better shot than Dorian, since I had the right . . . parts.

Speaking of the Commander.

Cullen stood apart from everyone, but he wasn't isolating himself. He mostly enjoyed seeing the way his men and women celebrated their victory. Some celebrations were over the top, but some were just wonderful to see.

Didn't make me feel any better about it, but . . . .

He leaned against the wall, and my gaze locked on him in an instant. His armor was elaborate, decorated in cloths and feathers as I had never seen on anyone's armor before. Nothing was over the top, and if anything, he looked fierce. Like a lion . . . which was fitting, since his helmet was forged into the shape of a lion.

Almost as if he could sense I was watching him, his gaze turned up towards me, and I was quick to continue scanning the crowd.

How many times had this happened? Surely by now he knew I enjoyed staring at him.

Who wouldn't? He was just so handsome, and his reserved personality made him a mystery. Handsome, mysterious, charming when he wanted to be; what was bad about him?

I noticed him push himself off the wall and take the first step in my direction, but my attention was quickly averted away from him as Cassandra came to stand beside me.

On her face was an unusually cheerful smirk, and I was curious about it. Curious enough I was able to temporarily put the Commander in the back of my mind.

"We did it," she said, the words rolling off her tongue in that thick Nevarran accent.

My eyebrows furrowed, and I refocused on the anxiety churning around in my stomach. "Did we? I feel like there's more we could've done."

"There's always more to be done," Cassandra agreed. "But we must take the victories where they come. This was a victory of alliance, one of the few in recent memory. You did it."

"We did it," I disagreed, and I gestured out towards the people celebrating. "I didn't do this alone. You know that."

"Maybe not, but you were the one who helped us get here," she said. "Without you, without the mark, none of this would've been possible."

I looked down to my left hand, and as usual when I paid it any attention, the mark began to spark and crackle with the green light that fell from it. It had been here for around a month now, but that didn't make it any easier to grow accustomed to. Sometimes, it was hard to wrap my head around the fact that it wasn't just me using magic.

"I can't take credit for doing what was asked of me," I whispered, and I let my hand fall to my side. "I—"

When the Commander took off running, my heart nearly fell out of my chest. When things were okay, he didn't wear his helmet, but on his way towards the gates, he made sure to grab ahold of his helmet.

Just moments after he ran, the alarm bells began ringing. The celebrations halted immediately, and panic set in. The people who had been cheerful were now terrified, and the ones who were only here as refugees didn't know what to do.

Our soldiers quickly ran to grab their weapons, and I was impressed with how quickly they jumped into action. If there was one thing that could be said, it was that our Commander had our soldiers well trained.

Cassandra's eyes widened, and she looked out towards the mountain. Torches from many people lit up the side of the mountains, showing an army we were not ready to face.

Who was here?

I took off running after the Commander, hoping for some answers, but as we reached the gates—Cassandra right on my tail—I realized he knew barely more than we did.

She was the only one who could get any words out to ask. I just couldn't find it in me to say anything to him.

"Cullen?"

"We've got one watch guard reporting," he said, and he sent a brief glance my way. "It's a massive force, the bulk over the mountain."

I didn't know where Leliana and Josephine came from, but as I took a step towards the closed gates, they appeared beside the Commander.

"Under what banner?" Josephine demanded.

This question seemed to trouble him because he simply looked at her with a furrowed brow and discomfort in his eyes. "None."

Josephine looked just as alarmed as he was now, though I think she was relieved that it was no banner she knew. "None?!"

I could feel many sets of eyes on me, but I didn't glance to see just who it was. My gaze was set on the gates in front of me, and my feet took me closer before I could actually make myself move.

Out of nowhere, someone began knocking.

"I can't come in unless you open!"

The voice was a male's, a young man if I had to guess. He sounded frightened, which I hardly blamed him for, so I grabbed the doors of the gates immediately.

The others seemed more hesitant to open the gates, but if someone was in trouble, it was our duty to protect them and helpthem.

What I saw wasn't a young man, but many bodies and one soldier dressed in thick armor standing upright. Just as I reached for my staff, however, a dagger pierced through his back, and the man fell to the ground with the others.

The young man was the one to stab him, but his face was hidden by the large hat he wore. It was hideous, and I couldn't for the life of me understand why he would wear something like that. As I observed him, everything he wore looked as tattered as the hat.

As I took off for the boy, someone followed behind me. One brief glance behind me, I found comfort in the fact that it was the Commander with his helmet on and sword drawn. Whatever was going on, we would protect these people.

"I'm Cole," the boy said, and I saw a glimpse of his face. Blue eyes, long blonde hair, the boy looked exhausted and sickly even. "I came to warn you." He sucked in a breath and closed the distance between us with one large step. "To help. People are coming to hurt you, but you probably already know."

"What's going on, Cole?" I murmured, but I could feel the Commander's hand gently pulling me back. "Who's coming?"

Cole looked very sinister as he peered at me from underneath the hat, but I wasn't afraid of him—only whatever he had to say. "The Templars are coming to kill you."

"The Templars?!" the Commander barked, something that scared Cole and me both, though only Cole jumped at the sound of his outrage. "Is this the Order's response to our talks with the mages? Attacking blindly?"

"The red Templars went to the Elder One," Cole said, and he looked back to me. "You know him? He knows you." He leaned in really close to get a better look at me. "You took his mages. There." And he turned back away from me, pointing up towards the top of the mountain to reveal two people standing on a ledge above the rest of the army.

Those two people were . . . horrifying. One was a man too far away to see, but he looked to be in a lot of armor. The other stood much taller than him, too frightening to miss. This was no man, only the remnants of what used to be a man twisted into something much more sinister. From where we stood, or maybe even up close, it was impossible to say just what he was.

I was frightened, so frightened I couldn't really move for a few moments.

"He's very angry that you took his mages."

Finding strength within myself, I turned to the Commander with wide eyes. "Commander, please tell me you have a plan. Anything!"

"This is no fortress," the Commander said, but his voice was much softer than before. "We cannot win this battle if we don't control it. Hit that force with everything we've got. Use anything you can." He gestured towards the trebuchets in the distance. "And be careful."

The last sentence was a whisper, something so soft I barely heard it at all. But I heard it, and I was stunned for a moment.

He didn't really give me time to question, time to analyze anything. While I froze, he pulled his sword out and turned towards the army that had gathered behind him. "Mages, you have sanction to engage them. That is Samson. He won't make it easy. Inquisition, with the Herald! For your lives! For all of us!"

The army yelled out in agreement from behind him as he pointed his sword out to the approaching army, and I took that as my signal to head for the trebuchets. With Bull, Varric, and Dorian behind me, I felt a bit safer heading right into the face of danger.

At least a bit.

The first trebuchet was already manned, but the Templar forces were surrounding the woman trying to aim it. We were able to pretty easily take them down, and she was able to fire her trebuchet where she was instructed to do so.

The second trebuchet had no one on it, so since I knew where to aim it, I ran towards it to man it myself. With just the right location, there was a way to at least slow the army down. It wouldn't stop it, not by any means, but maybe, just maybe, it would slow them down enough that we could get everyone to safety, maybe even out of Haven.

The moment I began turning the aiming wheel, a large Templar force approached us.