A/N: Ecstasy of Gold, you might just get your wish. I admit that I'm not very good at writing her though, so sorry in advance. To be honest, I only played Awakening twice and it was quite a while ago. So, forgive me if the details aren't exact. I know that the Warden stepped down from being the Arl/Arlessa and there were several new companions. I'm still mad that nothing about the Architect has been released.

Pan awoke that morning not feeling rested at all. In fact, he felt more tired than before he'd gone to sleep. It was not new to him. It had been happening to him for the past year or so. He was sure it was the Calling, but it didn't feel quite right to him. He'd always thought that the Wardens were called back to the Deep Roads, not somewhere specific, or on the surface for that matter.

Adamant Fortress. Go to Adamant. Lay your sword down at Adamant.

The orders rang in his head over and over again. He felt the urge to go, of course, but he tried to ignore it. He had something to do before he gave in.

Pantheras quickly packed his things and readied himself for the road. He would stay for breakfast just to appease Ariel and Alistair, but that was all. He didn't have much time left, and he wasn't going to waste it. No one ever mentioned any Wardens that had ignored their Calling, nor what happened if they did. Pan figured he'd end up some ghastly creature like that poor Dwarf, Ruck, they'd ran into in the Deep Roads trying to find Branka. He slipped on a gray cotton shirt and his leather pants, not ready to get back into his armor. It got pretty heavy after a while. He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed to the kitchen.

"Good morning Lord Cousland!" an older servant woman greeted him.

"Good morning," he said flashing her a smile.

As he got closer to his destination, he could hear happy barking. Dragon and Fauxe were up to something, like always. He rounded the corner and saw them sitting, wagging their little nub tails as one of the younger kitchen maids brought out bowls for them. Spoiled pups.

"Ah, I'm sorry 'bout that. You don't have to make them something special. I've got food for them," he said almost bashfully.

The young woman lifted her soft brown eyes and tucked her short brown hair behind her Elven ear.

"These two good dogs need better food than what scraps you might be givin' them serah. They act half starved," she said, wrinkling her nose.

Pan chuckled and bowed his head in apology, "You're probably right that they need better food, but I assure you that they eat all the time, m'lady."

Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned pink as she realized who he was.

"Warden Commander! I am so sorry. I hadn't realized. Please forgive me for my rudeness!" she babbled.

Pan walked over and scratched the top of his dogs' heads while they gobbled up whatever scraps she'd left for them.

"It's no insult to me. Really. You just spoke your mind," he said casually.

She shook her head and took a deep breath, "You are most kind Commander. I know one such as you does not deserve such talk from an Elven servant."

Pan scowled closed the few feet between them. He hated how Elves were treated in Thedas. Alistair had done quite a lot to help improve things, and he was not prejudice what so ever towards them. Pan gently lifted her chin with two of his fingers and made her look him in the eyes. She looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"I do not care what your ears look like, serah. I've had plenty of Elven friends in my years. Do not be afraid to speak your mind. You are no less than I because of who you are," he said softly, "In the time of Arlathan you could've been a princess. Who knows?"

He nodded his head once more and took his leave, leaving the Elven woman in stunned silence. His faithful furry companions trotted behind him as he made his way to where the Royal family was just sitting down for breakfast.

Pan kissed Ariel on the cheek, patted Alistair's shoulder, and hugged Killian before he sat down to join them. Alistair hated the enormous table that was in the dining area, so they ate at a much smaller round table in a sun room. It didn't feel as if they were so far from each other.

"How did you sleep, dear?" Ariel asked sweetly.

Pan faked a smile and sipped his fresh apple juice, "I slept really well, thank you." His best friend knew better and shot him a look. Pan tried not to look Alistair in the eye. Pan made it through breakfast without many more questions about topics that made him extremely uncomfortable, which included Morrigan, Keiran, sleeping, and why he hadn't been in the company of many Wardens for so long. The last one was more complicated than he wanted to admit. They didn't like that he was searching for something to get rid of the taint. It made the Order feel meaningless. He'd tried to explain to them that it could be used only for Wardens that had just started hearing the Calling when there was not a Blight. Or in a special case, use it for Alistair. They wanted to hear none of it.

Pan said his goodbyes and was walking towards the castle gates when a familiar horse came galloping up. The guards became frantic and barred the way. An angry Elf woman started yelling at them and telling them to back off before she put a dagger in their eye. Pan rushed forward, telling the guards that it was alright.

"Warden Elana!" he called, "What are you doing here?" he asked, voice laced with worry. There was no way that the other Wardens had translated the book that quickly. A knot formed in Pan's stomach.

She ran over to her commander, eyes wild and terrified.

"They're gone," she whispered.

They ended up borrowing Alistair's study for a small Warden meeting. Alistair leaned against a bookshelf, Elana sat in his chair, and Pan leaned over the desk, both hands on top of it.

"What do you mean they're gone?" Pan asked. Elana had explained to them that she had arrived back at Vigil's Keep and the workers seemed to be confused. They'd told her that all of the Wardens had begun to disappear, saying that they had something important to do. It was a single Warden at first, then small groups. Finally, there were no Wardens left.

"I don't know, Commander. The workers didn't say where they'd gone… But, that's not all."

Alistair and Pan exchanged a look. It took a lot to spook a Warden of her experience. She'd been with the Order for at least eight years and had been in the Deep Roads a few times, for months at a time. She hadn't heard the voice of the Archdemon like they had, but she'd heard and seen plenty.

"Elana… what's got you so worked up?" Alistair asked gently.

"I-I heard it. I heard the Calling. I'm not ready! I don't want to go to Adamant!" she stammered.

Pan's eyes widened. There was no way. "Adamant Fortress? As in the one in The Western Approach?" he demanded.

Elana nodded, "I heard something in my dreams. I couldn't understand it, but I knew it wanted me to go there. It just happened after I arrived at Vigil's Keep. Commander, what do I do?"

Pan's eyebrows furrowed. He'd understood the voice perfectly. Strange. Maybe it was because he was the senior Warden and had more of a connection to the taint than she did. That didn't explain why she heard it already. She should have at least seven more years ahead of her. And for it to be the same exact place did not sit well with Pan. Another question was bugging him.

"Alistair, have you heard anything in your dreams?" Pan asked with a deadly seriousness.

"I, uh… no? Not that I can recall. Why?" he asked.

"Because the voice that I've been hearing has been telling me to go to Adamant as well. This isn't right. Something sinister is going on. We need to find the other Wardens immediately. And, Alistair, if you start hearing the voice, ignore it," Pan ordered.

Alistair groaned and looked at his friend worriedly. He could almost predict exactly what Pan was about to do. It was the opposite of what Alistair thought they should do.

"You're going to Adamant Fortress," he said. It wasn't a question, more of a slightly whiny 'don't do it'.

"I'm going to Adamant Fortress," Pan confirmed with a smile. Twelve years ago this was how their plans had gone. They would talk about something in camp and Alistair would oppose it in his head, but Pan got this look in his eyes and Alistair would know that's exactly what they were doing. The best was when Alistair warned Pan not to go try and 'save' Anora. They went and saved Anora, and got thrown in jail.

"You know what this reminds me of?" the king asked.

"What?"

"When I said 'Let's NOT fight the High Dragon outside of the Temple of Sacred Ashes! That's a bad idea, Pan!' and you were all 'NOPE! We've gotta fight it because it's a DRAGON!' and we did. And we almost died," Alistair said giving Pan a ridiculously deep voice.

Pan laughed, "But we didn't. And we didn't die when we fought that Sloth demon. We didn't die when I helped the Lady of the Forest and the Elf Clan. We didn't die when we fought the Broodmother in the Maker-forsaken Deep Roads. No one died when I killed that Desire demon that was possessing Connor."

Alistair made a face, "I actually wanted you to do the last one. I was just scared."

"For a Warden, you don't like to do anything," Pan teased.

Elana burst out laughing. The two men looked at her with the same stupid expression on their face.

"What?" they asked at the same time.

"I've heard the official story, and I've heard about what you two were really like. I just didn't believe it until now! You two are like young lads."

Alistair smiled sheepishly and Pan shrugged and started petting Dragon. That's just what happened when he and Alistair started goofing around. That was how things were when Pan felt comfortable and at ease. It reminded him of how things were. Back then sure wasn't the greatest time for the world as a whole, but that had been the best year of Pan's life. He'd lost his mother, father, sister-in-law, and nephew, but he'd gained a different sort of family. They didn't expect him to be a certain way or follow a certain path other than what was obviously on his 'to do' list. He wasn't told to find a woman, have this many kids, become a master of this kind of trade, obey his brother, and so on. He had been freed. Anyone could easily think that he was cold-hearted for thinking that way, but that wasn't the case. He loved his mother and father dearly. They were wonderful people. He'd mourned them for quite some time. He still missed them.

The thing about being a Cousland was that he never felt like one. He felt like he should've been born to a farming family or to a merchant family. The Cousland House was a noble one that had to uphold their good name and follow all the rules. They had to be upstanding citizens and not do anything outlandish. Like, want to explore the world, fight Darkspawn, go live with the Dalish Elves, or learn more about the Avaar tribes. That was not something the son of a Noble house wanted to do.

"I think it's about time we headed to the Western Approach. It's about a month to get there from here. We're going to make a stop before we get there," Pan said. His face turned stony. He didn't want to go through with his plan, but there was no other way. He wanted to find out what was going on with the Wardens and there was one person he could count on to find out what it was.

They were going to Skyhold.