Chapter 26
~Ashes to ashes~

Morriana

I woke in what I assumed was morning. Alistair was gone by my side and was on watch. There was a small part of me was disappointed that I didn't wake to him next to me, but I was overjoyed when he had been next to me, something I've never felt before. He was sitting on a rock, facing the opposite way of us. I stood and pulled my blanket over my shoulders. I limped to him, seeing as my foot was hurting again, making little sound. When I was closer I saw he looked lost in thought. I walked around him and stood before him. He looked up at me with a smile.

"Morning." He said. I chuckled.

"What we hope is morning, you mean?" He shrugged and stood. He then noticed me trying not to put pressure on my foot and then looked back up at me.

"Does it still hurt?" I nod. He helped me back to the others and we woke them up and packed up. Morrigan made more of her smell-less potion to help me not feel pain and then we were off.

###

The further we ventured into the cave, the weirder things got. We found young dragon and drakes in the care of more cultists. Alistair explained that we could take the scales off the drakes and make armor out of it. I agreed and did so onto the three drakes we found. We also had to fight some old mage with a magical sword, which I allowed Morrigan to carry on her belt.

Finally we came to another opening. A man stood in front of us with other cultists.

"Stop!" He bellowed at me. "You will go no further!" I jumped at his tone, and put a hand to the hilt of my sword.

"And you are…?" I asked, calmly. Someone here was finally talking to me and I didn't want to mess it up. Well, not too quickly.

"You do not have the right to demand my name!"

"Well, it wasn't a 'demand' so much as 'asked'…" He cut me off.

"You have defied our temple, spilled the blood of the faithful and slaughtered our young! No more!" He reached forward and grabbed me by my armor." The others pulled out their weapons out, as did the cultists. "No more. You will tell me now, intruder, why you have done all this. Why have you come her.

"Wait!" I shouted. "We have come for the Urn of Sacred Ashes." The man was silent, as if he was contemplating what to say next.

"You did all this for an ancient relic? You will pay for the blood you have spilled here. If you dare kill us, Andrastae will smell our blood and the blood of her children on you and Her wrath will be great."

"Children?" Alistair said behind me. "You mean the dragons? Is Andraste a dragon?"

"She is so much more. She is even more glorious than all the Old Gods combined. The prophet Andrastae has overcome death itself and has returned to Her faithful in a form more radiant then you could imagine! Not even the Tevinter Imperium could hope to see her now. What hope have you?!"

"What has happened to the ashes?"

"They are still within the Temple. But why do we need the ashes when we serve the risen Andrastae in all Her glory. What are her ashes but the remains of a mortal woman?"

"And why not give them to us?" I piped up, still in his hands. His eyes suddenly lite up, like he had an idea.

"So you are after the ashes? Hmm… perhaps there is a way for you to make up for your destruction of our home and temple. Perhaps through Andraste's mercy, Her greatest enemy will become her greatest champion." He then set me down easily and I gestured for my team to put away their weapons. They did so, reluctantly. "I am Father Kolgrim, leader of Andraste's disciples."

"What must I do?" I asked. I jumped as Alistair grabbed my arm.

"You're not seriously considering this, are you?" He whispered to me. I "shushed" him and turned back

"The ashes you seek reside atop this mountain, watched by an immortal guardian who refuses to accept the truth of the risen Lady. Now the ashes prevent Holy Andraste from fully realizing Her new form. They are a remnant of Her past incarnations, and she cannot move on a long as they exist."

"You would destroy the ashes?" Alistair said. "I would see you dead first!" I nodded in agreement. Not that I really didn't care what happened to the ashes, but I knew they were too important to be destroyed. We pulled back out our weapons, as did they.

The fight against him was brutal. Korlgrim swung his great axe at us like it weighed nothing. His followers were also powerful. A mage and other warriors battled the others while I handled Kolgrim. Blades met in combat and I eventually caught him with my sword at his side while he lifted his blade to strike. I then swiped my sword under his feet and stabbed his chest, twisting the blade. When I had looked to the others their enemies for sprawled onto the floor and they seemed uninjured, save for a few small cuts and bruises they might get. I straitened and whipped whatever blood was on my face off.

"Let's move on."

###

We stumbled cautiously out of the cavern and outside. the mountain that lay in front of us was as majestic as the temple was and it took out breath away. Suddenly, a loud roar caught our attention. Looking up, a large dragon flew over us, its loud scream forcing us to cover our ears. It flew around then landed on a part of the mountain then lied down, seeming to ignore us completely.

"I once heard that if you sing a dragon a song it will be calmed." Leliana piped behind me. I scoffed.

"Yeah, we should totally test that out." I said sarcastically. "Let's move, and move quickly. We need to find the ashes and go." They nodded and we walked on, quickly. The dragon remained in its place as we passed and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

When we finally reached a door on the other side we walked in and were met with a cold rush of cold air that nearly froze me to my bones. I may love Ferelden and have lived here my whole life, but damn all this cold! We walked and as we turned a corner we saw a figure at the end of the hall, standing in front of the door. Cautiously, we walked to him. He stood so still he looked like a statue. He didn't even seem to breathing.

"I bid you welcome, pilgrim." He said when we were close enough, causing me to jump and my hand reach to my blade. I relaxed when I saw no sign he was an enemy and decided on what to say.

"I have come for the Urn of Sacred Ashes," I declared to him.

"So you have. I have waited years for this." I was taken aback and the others remained silent behind me.

"For me?"

"You are the first to arrive in a very long time. It has been my duty, my life, to protect the Urn and prepare the way for the faithful who come to revere Andraste. For years beyond counting I have been here, and shall I remain until my task is done and the Imperium has crumbled into the sea."

"Then…I would like to see the Urn." I told him, hesitantly. I didn't know if he would attack if he saw I was a threat. Instead, he said,

"You have come to honor Andraste, and you shall, if you prove yourself worthy."

"But I need them to cure a noble man." I protested.

"Still, you must prove yourself worthy. It is not my place to decide your worthiness. The Gauntlet does that. If you are found worthy, you will see the Urn and be allowed to take a small pinch of the ashes for yourself. If not…" He didn't need to finish that.

"Very well. I will enter this Gauntlet." I moved to take a step, but he held a hand up to stop me. Does he not want me to go through with this?

"Before you go, there is something I must ask. I see the path that led you here was not easy." Oh shit. "There is suffering in your past—your suffering and the suffering of others." I could tell Alistair and the others were giving me an odd look, but my throat was clenching too much for me to notice well. "By the time you reached Shianni, she was broken, brutalized. She lost her innocence because you were too late."

"But I—" I couldn't finish. And then I realized, he wasn't done.

"But that is not all. You could not fend off your attackers—" I looked away, too ashamed to look at him "—and they did the same to you. In the end it was all on you. You began to self-mutilate yourself and wanted to end your life. Still not a day goes by that you do not think about it." By now tears were streaming down my face as I realized he was right. Even as much as am becoming to get back to normal and have a growing love for Alistair, I still want to die.

"Yes." I admitted. "It was all my fault. I should have been faster. Stronger!" I finally looked up at him. "Yes I still do want to die. If… if maybe I died I'd pay for my mistakes. If I was no longer alive then I wouldn't have to live with the memory and shame—" I broke off, not being able to speak anymore. Alistair tried to put a hand on my shoulder for comfort, but I flinched away, my emotions being too great.

After that I could no longer be able to hear them all speak and the Guardian talk to the others. It was only when I felt a tap on my shoulder did I look back up.

"The way is open. Good luck, and may you find what you seek." I nodded and walked on without saying another word. The next room we came to had images of Andraste's past. They each gave us riddles, which I solved easily. That didn't surprise me. I was always good at them. Valendrien, my father, Shianni and Soris often though of riddles to tell me and I always go them within the first day, and never longer. Sometimes they thought I was a mage and read their minds.

When we walked through the next door, my throat clenched even tighter, if that be possible. There in front of me stood Shianni. Her smile bright as ever.

"Hey," she greeted. I was so unsure of she was just my imagination, a hoax, or whatever, that I just stood there. Seeing her, of an image of her, in front of me made me miss her so much more.

"Shianni?" I finally said after a very long pause. She giggled that very special giggle and I knew it was really her.

"Who else? It's good to see you, I suppose."

"Shianni I… I'm so sorry." Once again, I began crying. Shianni moved and placed her hands on my shoulders, and I knew she was no simple image.

"I know." She merely said. I looked up and into her eyes; the eyes I would give anything to see in person once again. "You have suffered so greatly. All your life you have wanted to so things alone because you thought that was the only way. But sometimes," she glanced at Alistair, "we need others to help us." She placed a hand on my cheek. It was so warm in this cold temple. "And there are people here to help you. You may want to die, but you can't. Look at all you'll leave behind. None of this was your fault. In time, both you and I will heal. And we have people around us to help us do so." Once again she glanced at Alistair. I did too and when I turned back she was gone and a pendent lay around my neck.

A part of me began to panic but then I hear her voice echo in my mind.

"Keep going. And no matter how long it may be, we will see each other again." I closed my eyes and when I opened them I felt a bit stronger and more hopeful, believing what she had said was true. I whipped the tears from my eyes and moved on.

The shadow images of ourselves appeared in the next room. As we fought our own, we saw it was too difficult. No matter what move I made "I" would block it and mimic it. But then I had an idea. I was able to push my shadow away and shout to the others, "Switch!" They heard me, and Alistair took "Morrigan", Morrigan too mine, I took "Zevran", and Zevran had "Alistair". In the end we won, realizing we may be stronger to each other than we thought.

The next room was more… complicated, to say at least. We had to make a bridge using petals around a gaping hole in the ground. After a bit of arguing, Morrigan yelling at Alistair for being a stupid fool, and me nearly falling in (Which in turn scared the crap out of Alistair, which in turn kind of lightened my mood) we made a solid bridge to the other side.

"Maker's breath," sighed Alistair once we were across. "It seems Andraste favored the clever."

"That she did." I muttered and kept walking.

And then… We entered the last room. A line of fire stretched across the room with an altar in front of it. As I read the writing on it I realized we had to undress. Alistair and I blushed, but Morrigan and Zevran simply didn't care, although, we promised each other not to look at one another.

I walked to the fire, cautiously. Taking a leap of fate, I stepped through it. When I was on the other side I noticed flames upon my skin. I was about to panic, but saw they did not burn, nor leave a mark.

Then, suddenly, the Guardian appeared next to me.

"You have been through the trials of Andraste and proven yourself worthy. You may take a pinch of the ashes. May her name live in grace." Then there was a bright light and when I looked once again my armor was back in place, as was the others.

All together, we walked up the stairs where the ashes were held in a vase. Alistair was awe struck, Zevran was looking in unbelief and Morrigan… well, was being Morrigan and didn't really care. With careful ease I lifted the lid and pulled out a pouch I kept in my pack and took a pinch of the ashes. I looked back up at the others, their eyes, even Morrigan's, were gleaming. Smiling I said,

"Come on. Arl Eamon isn't getting any better, and we aren't getting any warmer."

Yay! Another Mori chap. And now, finally, Alistair knows what happened. Makes you wonder how it'll turn out. Thank you for being patient once again. Things have been moving so fast for me. Right when I finish one thing I'm off to the next. But I will attempt to finish the story by then end of the year.

Oh, And HAPPY HALLOWEEN, my little gumdrops! I may be a day late, but still!