First of all thanks to all of you who have followed this fic from beginning to end! The lovely people who reviewed Chapter 28 – Elissa Theirin, Morninglight, Apollo Wings, Eilonwycousland, and Pintsizedpsycho (extra cookie for the five of you) – and who have put this fic on their lists of favorites! It means a lot to me! :)

Sadly, this is the LAST CHAPTER! *cries* Yeah…super-emotional over this one!

I'll be writing a one-shot soon about Rhianna, Anders and Bethany as they travel to the Avvar village to help Bethany with her Taint. So if you want to read more about the heroes of this fic (or any other fic I write in the near future), check the 'Follow Author' box to receive email updates/alerts whenever I post something! :D

Also, I want to thank Eynla and CouslandSpitFire for all their wonderful help and suggestions! Even though they lead very busy lives, they have ALWAYS been available to lend a helping hand! You both are AWESOME! :) THANK YOU SO MUCH! :D :D :D

Finally, my disclaimer as usual: Bioware owns everything! I just play and will continue to play with the characters! *giggles*

Chapter 29

Anders could have sworn his feet moved of their own accord – there was no other explanation for how fast he put himself in front of Rhianna to protect her. But just as he did, the grief that Sebastian was feeling for the death of the Grand Cleric turned vocal and caused Justice-Velanna to turn briefly and look at the white-armored archer with disgust.

That moment was a small window of opportunity right there and Anders took it. He had a smile on his face as he paralyzed the abomination while everyone else was watching Sebastian cry on his knees and minutes later stand to deliver a final prayer for the Grand Cleric. For the briefest of moments, they all stood around like statues, and Anders started to worry. His paralysis spell wouldn't last very long – he still had to master it for it to last longer.

Why didn't anyone attack Justice for the Maker's sake!

As if on cue, Rhianna turned away from the grieving Sebastian, who was now reciting verses of the Chant, and her daggers flashed. She rushed forward so fast that she became a blur. Even so, the whole scene played slowly for Anders as he watched her jump at the last moment, decapitating the blond elven mage almost instantly in one swift movement.

Merrill cried out and burst into tears, but Rhianna didn't even look at her; she was now looking at Anders – her eyes brimming with unshed tears. Before he could take her in his arms, or even take her hand to comfort and reassure her, the Knight-Commander took a step forward, trembling with rage.

"The Grand Cleric is dead! As Knight-Commander, I hereby invoke the Right of Annulment! Every mage in the Circle is to be executed immediately!"

The four templars behind her unsheathed their swords, and stood at the ready, aiming their weapons directly at Orsino and the three mages behind him.

"No!" Rhianna cried out immediately, taking a few steps to stand before the Knight-Commander, while First-Enchanter Orsino watched the scene unfolding before him with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"The Grand Cleric has been slain by a mage!" Meredith spat out angrily. "The people will demand retribution and I will give it to them!"

"The Circle had nothing to do with this, this woman wasn't even part of the Circle!" Orsino cried out desperately to Rhianna. "Champion, please help us!"

"And after all you've seen here, I demand YOU join us and eradicate the mages with us!" the Knight Commander told Rhianna, her ice-blue eyes burning with a fire Anders had never seen before.

"Really, Meredith?" Rhianna replied angrily. "You are asking me to join you?"

"If you truly are the Champion of Kirkwall, you will!" the Knight-Commander yelled back.

"I DESPISE you and what you stand for!" Rhianna managed to say through clenched teeth.

"Your own mother was killed by a mage and you would take their side?" Meredith countered with a cruel smile ghosting her lips.

"My father was a mage and he was a wonderful man and father," Rhianna replied coldly. "The templars have gone too far – they have been abusing the mages for too long! They raped me, and my father died protecting my sister from them. If I fight here today, it will not be against the mages!"

"Thank the Maker!" Orsino murmured in relief.

"So be it, Champion! If you take their side, then you will share their fate!" Meredith said angrily.

Rhianna burst out laughing and Anders began to sweat. Rhianna laughing in the face of danger was never a good sign.

Meredith's red face turned into an ugly shade of purple-vermillion. She then ordered the templars that were accompanying her to attack the group before leaving them to rally the rest of the Order. Orsino quickly ordered his mages to run to the Gallows and placed a barrier around himself for protection. The templar attack was quick, but Anders was faster and he brought a storm of electricity upon them before anyone had had the chance to even bat an eyelash.

Rhianna and her companions waited for the electricity spell to wear off and then lunged themselves at the four weakened templars.

If the templars had ever entertained the thought that they could overcome Hawke and her companions they were sadly mistaken. Varric's crossbow slowed them down and he quickly reloaded, stunning them before they had the chance to recuperate. Both Isabela and Rhianna quickly engaged themselves in a deadly dance, slashing at the stunned templars. Sebastian pinned two of them to the ground with his arrows, while Aveline charged in with her shield held high. But in the end it was Fenris's mighty blow that finished them off.

Anders didn't even have to heal anyone afterwards.

…

Orsino asked Hawke and her group to meet him at the Gallows as soon as they could. He walked towards the Docks, where a ferry boat was waiting to take him there.

As soon as he had gone, Anders took Rhianna in his arms and she welcomed his embrace. The scent of lemon soap and elfroot immediately enveloped her, soothing her. She rubbed her cheek against the feathers of his coat, humming appreciatively.

A few moments later, she felt a soft touch on her back and turned. Merrill had walked up to Hawke and was looking at her with such pain and sadness that Rhianna winced slightly.

"You killed her."

"You saw that I had no choice, Merrill. That thing inside her had overtaken her completely. There was no other way," Rhianna said sadly, disentangling herself from Anders's arms to face her.

"I know," Merrill replied, her voice breaking. "But it hurt to see her die all the same."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry I killed that thing, Merrill. I'm sorry you had to watch it happen and I'm sorry to have hurt you."

Isabela stepped forward, placing a comforting arm on Merrill's shoulder. "You're not alone, Kitten. We're your friends, remember? We'll take care of you better than she ever did."

"I – thank you," Merrill sighed. "I know she wasn't kind to me most of the time. But still, she was sweet sometimes and I'm going to miss that…"

Anders bit his lip to keep himself from commenting. Velanna being sweet was certainly something he had never seen and thankfully never would. Then again, Merrill was so naïve and innocent that she would probably even argue that darkspawn were sweet creatures. Or at least pity them.

"We'd better get to the Gallows," Varric interrupted. "It's going to be a rough show."

"You can say that again," Fenris chimed in, looking straight at Rhianna. "I didn't think the day would come when I would be fighting to defend the mages, but it seems that I was wrong."

Rhianna gave him the brightest of smiles and Anders was surprised to see the elf grin right back at her.

"I'm with you, Hawke," Aveline said, jutting her chin out stubbornly. "Whatever comes next."

"Bianca is getting twitchy," Varric commented. "She's ready to kill any templar that crosses our path."

"I love you all," Rhianna said, her voice trembling slightly with emotion. Then her eyes started to twinkle and a smirk appeared on her face. "Let's head to the Gallows and kick some templar arse!"

…

It took them the whole night to make their way back to the Gallows though. They were ambushed by blood mages, abominations and templars along the way and had to stop every now and then to heal, rest and catch their breaths. The whole damn city had erupted into madness. That wasn't really surprising to Anders. After all, Kirkwall was madness, wasn't it? He discovered to his uttermost dismay that he had been right all along about one thing: there were too many blood mages in the city.

As they joined forces in the Gallows with the First Enchanter, Meredith made an appearance. Anders thought for sure that they would start fighting then and there, but the Knight-Commander asked the First Enchanter to leave the courtyard and ready his mages for combat. She would be doing the same with the rest of the Order after they had crossed the harbor to meet her.

They all headed towards the Gallows' inner courtyard, where the rest of the mages were. Orsino spoke to his people, asking them to never submit to the templars again. Then, he turned to Hawke.

"You will need to speak to your companions and prepare, Champion."

Rhianna gave him a nod and turned to Anders.

"I know what you're going through," Anders said quickly before she had a chance to speak. "I'm here for you and will always be with you."

"I can't feel happy about everything that has happened, Anders. Those innocent people dying!" Rhianna shook her head. "But at least we'll be fighting for a cause. Mages should be free."

"A dangerous thing, but who am I to say no to fighting the templars? It's like a party!" he chuckled pulling her close. "You know what I've always wanted out of life, right? Last time I checked, I could still shoot lightning at fools!"

Rhianna laughed into the feathers of his coat, then raised her head to look up at him. "I know we've run into a great number of blood mages so far, but I blame the templars for that! They go too far and it seems that in Kirkwall, specifically, things have been abusive for a while now."

"Hmm," Anders replied thoughtfully. "I don't know if I agree with you. Things have been hard for me as well, but I didn't turn to blood magic, love. There is a line between what is right and what is wrong. It's your decision whether you choose to cross it or not. Let's just say that I don't believe all the abuse in the world justifies the mages turning to blood magic here."

"But the templars - !" Rhianna started to protest and was interrupted by Anders capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.

"No fair!" Rhianna scolded as soon as they came up for air. "That's cheating!"

Anders burst out laughing. "I'm not saying I don't want to fight the templars, or they don't deserve this, love. I'm just against the use of blood magic." He looked up and around the courtyard. The whole group was looking around nervously – Fenris, in particular, was pacing up and down the courtyard. "I really think you should talk to the rest, my love. If you don't, they'll turn batty on us and start a killing spree!"

Rhianna chuckled at that, reluctantly pulling herself away from Anders's embrace.

"Hey, everyone!" she called them all over with a gesture and a smile. "I'd like to speak to you all before the battle is upon us."

Varric, Fenris, Aveline, Isabela, Sebastian and Merrill all walked over to where she was standing and waited for her to speak. At that moment, however, there was a commotion at the gates. The whole group smiled at someone who was making her way to where Rhianna was standing.

"Bethany!" Rhianna cried out happily as she embraced her sister. "But, what are you doing here?" she asked immediately afterwards, holding her sister at arms' length.

"I heard the news and travelled by horse to get here quickly, sister," Bethany smiled. "I came here to help…if you'll have me."

"I thought the Grey Wardens didn't involve themselves in political affairs," Rhianna said, her violet eyes holding Bethany's warm brown ones.

"I'm not a Grey Warden right now, I'm your sister," Bethany replied with a smile.

"I would love it if you fought at my side," the rogue commented with a loving look at her sibling.

"And I will be honored to fight at your side," the mage said. "As always…"

…

Excerpt from Anders's journal:

I am NEVER, EVER, EVER (insert a plethora of exclamation points here) fighting a Knight-Commander again before checking their weapons very thoroughly first! That lady had a sword on her back as big as she was that was made entirely out of…

Tun, tun, tuuuuun!

RED LYRIUM – taken from that stupid IDOL stupid Bartrand had brought back from our terribly ill-fated expedition into the Deep Roads!

After she slammed that thing (er, her greatsword) into the stone courtyard – which broke the courtyard by the way - her eyes started to glow red, and she was transformed into the scariest and most dangerous creature in all of Thedas! Yes, you heard me! Broodmothers, darkspawn, abominations, pride demons and all the rest of the demons…STEP ASIDE! There is someone even more dangerous than you! Bloody Knight-Commander Meredith, that's who!

She graced us by performing acrobatics for us as well. With a backwards flip she shot straight up into the air and then landed on the raised platform of the staircase that led to the gates. She then slammed her glowing red sword into the stone floor again. A wall of pink reddish flames shot out and hit the bronze statues of templars on either side. And the templar statues suddenly came to life! Then the statues of the slaves surrounding the courtyard came to life, too! The power that surged through this evil person was a power I had never before seen. In a very short time, she caused so much damage and destruction, that Kirkwall looked like me after a drinking binge.

Totally destroyed.

And she was reciting parts of the Chant while she was causing this chaos and destruction! Beyond creepy, I'm telling you!

I really don't understand how in Andraste's name, tits and knickerweasels we survived, but we did! Bat-shitty crazy Meredith (aka the possessed Knight-Commander), turned into a statue herself in a fit of rage when we finally managed to kill off all her minions and very nearly killed her.

Yes. The Knight-Commander is now a permanent addition to the Gallows courtyard. I can imagine the birds flying overhead and shitting all over her and that makes me smile.

OH, and here's a detail I MUST write down! Just before all this happened, Knight-Captain Cullen ordered the Knight-Commander to stand down and fought with us against her even though she was technically his boss! That's when I finally realized that maybe, just maybe, the mages had a chance. I mean, if a bloody 'Knight Captain' of the Order was going against his Knight-Commander, then surely this meant that it was time for a change! I mean, where in all of Thedas has that ever happened?

Nowhere!

When the battle was over and all was said and done, the Knight-Captain surprised me even more: He let us walk away. Never seen a templar do that before! Of course, it could have been the snarl my love had on her face when the templars surrounded us! She was looking right into Cullen's eyes, too! So when I picked up my jaw from the floor, we all turned around and calmly walked away.

Yes! He let us walk away! Just like that!

What became of Rhianna Hawke and her faithful companions? Well, nearly all of us fled to the mountains. Sebastian, better known as 'Royal Pain in the Arse', decided to go back to Starkhaven. That didn't bother me one bit, by the way. The rest of us are on the run. I'm kind of an expert on running, having escaped the Circle so many times before. Everyone else is…well…adjusting. I assume it must feel strange to Rhianna, who prior to us becoming fugitives was living a comfortable life in her estate, but I haven't heard her complain so far.

We managed to talk to Bethany about the possibility of reducing the Taint in her and the plan is to head to the Avvar village as soon as we can. It will be nice to see the Avvar again, particularly Signy. Rhianna has this far-away look in her eyes most of the time and I'm sure the child will be able to come up with something to help with her inner demons.

Anyway, I certainly hope that Signy will be able to help. Yes, I know. I worry too much about her. My Hawke. My knight in shining armor. My love and confidant; lover and friend. This petite woman has captured my heart forever.

And I wouldn't want it any other way…

…

Anders gave a yell as a shadow fell over the parchment and he quickly closed his journal with an audible slam.

"Hey, now Blondie, why so defensive?"

Rhianna, who had been leaning against a tree trunk behind her and dozing off in front of the fire, opened her eyes and chuckled.

"He'll never let you read it," she yawned sleepily. "He protects that thing fiercely!"

"Well now I'm hurt," Varric replied with a grin.

"You don't look hurt to me!" Anders exclaimed with a frown. "This is my personal journal, Varric. Keep your nose out of it!"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours!" Varric practically sang out.

"Somehow that came out so wrong," Rhianna mumbled with a smile, her eyes shut. "If Fenris were here, he'd be heading towards the stream just to stop listening to you two!"

"They're taking a long time. Are you sure this is where we're supposed to meet?" Merrill asked in a worried tone.

"The beach is right down there, and it's the sandy cove that Rivaini described, Daisy," Varric drawled, his voice exuding confidence.

Rhianna laughed outright and everyone turned to look at her. She shook her head and her eyes were twinkling when she spoke.

"I was just thinking how ironic it is that Isabela has to steal her own ship!"

"Well, since we're fugitives on the run, they'll probably have someone watching the landing where Castillon's ship is docked, right?" Anders asked.

"I don't think the templars are that smart to be honest," Varric noted with a sigh. "I mean, they let us go, right? But hey, wherever Rivaini goes, trouble follows. She's a girl after my own heart."

"Who's a girl after your own heart?" Aveline asked as she and Donnic made their way to the camp fire. Their hair was wet from their bath in the nearby stream and they looked happy and very relaxed as they sat next to Rhianna and Anders.

"Please don't tell me we're going to have to repeat the last conversation!" Anders complained. "I'm starting to get sleepy here!"

Varric gave Anders a predatory smile as he eyed the journal and Anders, who was frowning, held it even tighter while glaring back at the dwarf.

They didn't even look up when Bethany emerged from a large tent a few steps away from the fire, then walked towards the group. "I'll start cooking," she announced. "Poor Orana is still fast asleep and I like to cook."

"No complaints here, sister," Rhianna sighed happily. "I'll just go back to sleep again!"

Varric was now looking at something above Anders's shoulder.

"If you think I'm going to fall for that, Varric, you're sadly mistaken," Anders said with a grin. "There is no way you'll be getting your hands on this journal!"

"Not the journal again!" Aveline groaned.

At that moment, Ser Whiskers jumped from an overhanging tree branch onto Anders's right shoulder without warning, his razor-sharp claws digging into the soft, thin tunic and tender flesh underneath. Anders cried out and turned to glare at his cat, but as he did, his journal slipped out of his grasp and fell to the ground. Varric immediately lunged forward and grabbed it with a snicker.

Bethany giggled at Anders's dumbfounded look. Both Aveline and Donnic chuckled and Rhianna bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. Merrill was now looking up at the trees, lost in her imaginary world. Ser Whiskers, however, jumped back down on the ground and purred at Varric, giving the dwarf a little kitty bump on his knee as it walked past, tail held high and slightly curving at the tip.

"My own cat against me? Oh, this is a cruel moment!" Anders managed to say as he tried reaching for the journal from where he was sitting. But Varric rapidly scooted back and put the book in his backpack with a grin.

"I'll have to remember to wear my coat all the time now." Anders said. "Ser Whiskers' claws sure are sharp!"

"See what you've done?" Merrill suddenly told Varric. "That coat is horrible!"

"Hey!" Anders protested.

"Here, Blondie. I keep my promises," Varric chuckled, throwing him a leather-bound book. "Read mine. You won't regret it!"

Rhianna was laughing again, her eyes wide open as she regarded everyone with a mixture of amusement and love. She still missed Bodahn and Sandal, but since Sandal was going to be working for the Empress herself, she knew they would be all right.

They were all her family. Each and every one of them.

Hers.

And demons take anyone who dared to say they weren't.

THE END