Happy holidays, everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and thanks (as always) to JacksAreWild for helping me edit things :)

"Right," Aednat said, getting to her feet. She unceremoniously hauled Liam up, too. She slid her shield onto her arm and drew her sword. "You should probably get back toward the tunnel, Commander," the elf said briskly. "For a lot of reasons."

She nodded quickly, her eyes already filling with tears. These animals didn't deserve this. They had done nothing wrong, and now they had to be butchered. She had felt the painful anguish in their minds, how their bodies and teeth and feet and everything hurt. This wouldn't be just self defense for her and her companions; this would be mercy.

It didn't make it any easier.

"Come on, Commander," Nathaniel said, holding out a hand. She took it, and allowed him to pull her to a standing position. "Why don't you take your elephant and go back with the others? I think in these close quarters, it would be best if the elephants stayed out of it."

Lorelai nodded again, placing a hand on the elephant's leg to steady herself.

"Feel free to send them in if, you know, we're about to be eaten or something," Aednat tossed over her shoulder as Lorelai and her elephant started toward the tunnel.

"I'll keep that in mind," Lorelai said with a harsh laugh. She motioned to Jacob, waving him to her side. He would be good in a fight like this, but in the chaos, he would be just one more animal. She didn't want someone to accidentally hurt him.

Oh, Andraste, how she just wanted to go home… She bit her lip as she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Not now. She couldn't let everything overwhelm her now. Once the others were safe, once this massacre was done. Once she was on Isabela's ship, riding the waves to Denerim. Then she could deal with all of this.

Just as she reached the edge of the ruins, she heard a thick growl come from behind her. She turned as Jacob's answering growl rose in intensity. There, through the jungle, were a set of eyes. But they were different, strange. Then it dawned on her: the eyes were cat-like, instead of dog-like; a sight much more common to a Fereldan.

And they were huge.

She placed her back against the ruins, as the elephants reacted. Through the cords that connected her to them, she felt their tension. They stayed back because she wanted them to, but even if she hadn't been there, their first instinct wouldn't have been to rush forward. Predators like this were too dangerous, and they would not come to hunt them, but to hunt their young.

They gathered the youngsters against the wall, near Lorelai, blocking them all with their bodies. She found herself suddenly among them, one of them directly beside her, its ears flapping in anxiety and hitting her in the shoulder. Sifting through the bright strings of light in her mind, she found the ones connecting her to the younger elephants and tried to soothe them.

Nathaniel notched his bow and aimed at the eyes. Through the wall of elephant bodies, she could see his shoulders relax as he prepared to let his missile fly. He exhaled, and released the string.

A scream, wild and primal, tore the air. It startled Nathaniel badly, turning his body at the last second and causing the arrow to shoot off into the dense undergrowth. There was another set of eyes, and another, and another.

She watched helplessly as her companions fanned out. They came out of the jungle slowly; legs crouched and bellies nearly dragging the dirt. Saliva dripped from their jaws in thick ropes, and their eyes were red-rimmed and cloudy. Their mouths were parted as they panted, revealing thick, heavy teeth.

Even in their illness, they looked deadly.

"Tigers," Isabela said, her voice a few pitches too high. "Sure, of course. Why wouldn't it be tigers?"

Shale flexed her stony fingers, and stomped toward the closest one. "Finally," she rumbled. The tiger didn't flinch from her approach, but curled its lips back and crouched to spring. It leapt at the golem, who grabbed it out of the air by the throat. It scrambled at her skin with its paws, and the sound of claws grating against rock raised goosebumps over Lorelai's skin. Shale flexed her fingers, crushing the big cat's throat and snapping its spine all at once. Its flailing ceased immediately, and she tossed its body aside.

Lorelai squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the light that was the tiger's life snuff out in her mind. Her heart gave a painful twist. This was necessary. This was necessary. She dug her fingers into Jacob's fur.

"It looks like I shall not need any of your squishiness to take care of this," Shale noted mildly. "Feel free to get out of my way."

"Shale!" Aednat shouted, a few moments too slow.

Like a swooping dragon, another cat leapt from the branches of one of the towering nearby trees directly onto the golem's back. Shale grunted, more with irritation than anything, and stumbled a few steps. Reaching behind her back, she sought for a grip to remove the maddened creature.

"Leopards, too," Isabela moaned. "Sure, why not? Wouldn't be a party without-"

Two more tigers materialized, and were snarled at by those already present. This much predatory instinct all jammed in one place was a recipe for disaster in the best of times, let alone in circumstances like this.

Shale finally managed to drag the leopard off her back. "Loathsome beast," she muttered before snapping its back over her knee. She tossed the body at a nearby tiger, causing the cat to backpedal.

Lorelai felt physically ill, and experienced brief relief that her stomach was completely empty. A high-pitched chattering noise filled the jungle, rebounding off the dense canopy and seeming to come from everywhere. The elephants rumbled again, swinging their ears and trunks, trying to pinpoint the source.

"Look, are we just going to wait for everything with teeth on this entire bloody island to get here all at once?" demanded Isabela. "Because it's apparently going to keep getting worse, in case you hadn't noticed!"

"By all means, if you want to be the first to rush the tiger," shot Aednat, "feel free!"

"No," Liam countered. "No one has armor cut out for this except me and Aednat," he added. "And the golem, obviously."

"So good of you to notice," Shale snorted as she approached another tiger. This one backed away from her, but Lorelai sensed no fear from it, only a deranged kind of calculation and patience.

Another of the tigers charged Nathaniel, dust flying from its gigantic paws. He dropped his bow, but he'd never pull out his daggers in time.

Lorelai flung a hand forward as she let out a wordless shout of denial, and one of the elephants rushed from the protective circle. It swung its trunk out, and smashed the tiger out of mid-air. It bounced across the ground a few times, before digging its feet beneath it to halt its momentum. It rose and stared at the elephant murderously.

Nathaniel scrambled to his feet as the elephant retreated.

The chattering came again, and again seemingly from all around them. "Anyone have a plan?" the pirate Queen demanded. "Because what's coming amounts to a pack of wolves that's used to hunting baby elephants. So, yeah, things are going to get uglier."

"And you used to come to this island all the time why exactly?" Nathaniel shouted.

Isabela grinned fiercely, becoming her old self for a moment, "Because who else in their right mind would come here?"

"Come on, Anders," Sigrun said, holding out her hand. She reached into the darkness of the tiny bubble of space the mage had maintained to save their friends' lives. He'd managed to drop part of the side of the spherical shield, allowing the others to crawl out. Now it was just him inside, holding up the last three-quarters of the shield. He was crouched down, one foot planted flat. His arms were up, palms touching the ceiling. An iridescent glow emanated from them. All that had stood between those inside and death. "We're waiting on you, pretty boy."

"I…don't know that I can," he whispered.

"What?" Sigrun demanded. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I don't think I can move," he said, his voice tiny and helpless. "Even if I can, once I drop the shield, how do we know the whole tunnel will stay up?"

Sigrun gritted her teeth. Truth was, she hadn't thought about that. Would the keystones hold if this little pocket collapsed? Her dwarven instincts said that most of the tunnel would hold, yes. Only the last portion would be affected by the pocket filling up. Of course, that last portion was where they were all standing.

She glanced behind her; no one else had heard their conversation. They were too busy hugging and exchanging accounts of what had happened.

All at once, the elephants behind them started shifting around. They shuffled their feet in the tiny space, their agitation clear and terrifying.

"Anders," Sigrun hissed sternly, "I don't care what you think. Just do it."

He laughed weakly. "And risk burying all of you in here, after everything we've been through to get the Commander? In your dreams, little lady."

"Anders?" Leliana called from behind Sigrun's shoulder. "We really need to get moving, sweetheart."

The mage let out a choked little noise, and Sigrun spun around. "Everybody start moving, now. At the very least, somebody get outside and see what in the bloody Stone is going on with the elephants." They all stared at her. "Go! You want to be crushed if they so much as lean?"

"Out of the way, you overgrown bronto pups," grunted Oghren as he started down the tunnel. "Gotta go tell your mama you've been naughty." He cackled wildly, his voice echoing off the ceiling.

"But I-" Leliana began.

"Go breathe some air, Leliana," Sigrun interrupted. She had to get the former Chantry sister out of there; she had to get them all out of there. "See some light. I promise, your lovesick mage is right behind you."

The bard smiled tiredly, and nodded. She followed Oghren's path, gingerly moving past the agitated elephants. Zevran gave her a look, and she stared him down. The elf broke first, and took Aideen's hand and led her away.

"You too, Your Majesty," the ex-legionnaire said.

He narrowed his eyes; the lantern's light creating odd shadows across his face. "Sure, right. That will be the day."

"I mean it," she said, the notion that she was ordering about the King of Ferelden completely forgotten. "Whatever's making the elephants ignore us, you know it's not good. Get out there and see what's going on."

His face spasmed in a wave of pain. "Damn you," he whispered.

"For what?" she asked with a forced laugh. "Getting you to go see your wife?" She waved him off dismissively, playing innocent for all she was worth. "Scram, we're right behind you. The wimpy mage just needs a second to remember how to use his legs."

The King got angrily to his feet, towering over her. Oh dear, this hadn't worked at all. Every second he stood there was a second wasted. "I'm leaving the lantern," he bit out. "Are you sure you-?"

"Everything's fine."

"I don't believe you," he retorted, his voice practically a growl. "Something's gone wrong, and you won't let me-"

"Go, Alistair," she snapped, the name slipping from her lips before she could realize it. Anders let out a wheezing laugh, while the King just stared at her for a second in shock. Sigrun giggled, embarrassed. "You need to go tell your wife she just accomplished her goal."

The Commander's voice, raised in a desperate shout, drifted down the tunnel.

The King turned in a panic, heading down the corridor.

She turned back to Anders, determination on her face. "Now, about this whole-"

"Get out, Sigrun," he said tightly. "Now."

"Not leaving you behind."

The cats were padding forward, foggy eyes no less able to see them all, to want their blood. Nathaniel gulped. For the first time, he wasn't jealous of the Commander's ranger abilities. He did not need to see what was going on behind those eyes, to feel what they were feeling.

They were closing in on them from all sides, as if they were working as a unit. He suddenly felt naked in his leather armor. He might as well be for all the good it would do him against those teeth coming for his throat.

He'd drawn an arrow, and was trying to aim for the one Shale was after. But every time he got a good lock on it, and was about to let fly, it would dart away. The golem was many things, but swift it was definitely not.

"You want to give me a hand, instead of that walking mass of gravel?" Isabela hissed.

Nathaniel spun around to see not one, but two leopards had approached the pirate, and were on the verge of corralling her between them. It was simply impossible for her to keep her eyes on both.

With as little hesitation as he could manage, the Warden released the arrow. It struck one of the cats in the side. It screamed in pain, rolling over, trying to dislodge whatever was hurting it. The shaft snapped off, and the creature regained its feet. It turned to glare at Nathaniel with fury, blood trickling down its side in a steady stream.

Isabela used its distraction, stabbing downward into the wounded leopard's back. She struck home, bowing the cat's spine with the force of her blades. It screamed again as it crumbled. But in doing so, the duelist left her own back open to the other leopard that was now behind her.

Nathaniel shouted her name as he drew another arrow. One of the elephants trumpeted with fury, rushing forward with its ears out and its head low. But it wouldn't be able to intercept the cat in time.

The arrow shot from his bow, and he begged the Maker that this one would fly true. He ran toward her, drawing his own blades. From behind him, he heard Liam give a shout of surprise and Aednat scream in rage, her voice sounding eerily like those of the leopards. The spine-jarring sounds of claws screeching on metal had him gritting his teeth.

His arrow struck the leopard's shoulder, spinning it slightly off course. But it still landed on top of the pirate. She went down with a grunt, and dropped her daggers, lacing her hands behind her neck to protect her spine.

The elephant reached out with its trunk, snaking around the back of the leopard's legs, but not before its claws slashed at the pirate Queen's hands and its jaws made a grab for the back of her neck. She screamed as a bright burst of blood colored the air.

What felt like a clap of thunder made solid slammed into Nathaniel's shoulder, bowling him to the ground and knocking the breath from his lungs. The weight pressing against his back was incredible, and the snarl that filled his ear froze his blood. He scrambled to reverse the grip on his daggers, to be able to stab backwards. His face was shoved into the dirt by a swipe of a paw that felt like a sledgehammer.

His ears rang with the force of it, and he felt blood dripping through his hair. He thought he could vaguely hear the Commander scream, but he wasn't sure. Perhaps she'd sent an elephant, but he didn't think it would get to him in time. The stinking breath of the tiger tangled in his blood-soaked hair and up into his nose. He coughed, trying to get enough air to breathe, trying to get enough strength to throw the cat off his back.

A voice broke over the chaos, and Nathaniel managed to hear that just fine. "Ebost issala!"

"Just move your feet, Anders," Sigrun said, putting as much command into her words as possible. "I'm sure being a martyr would only increase your appeal with the ladies, but it will be pretty hard to capitalize on that when you're dead. So let's go."

"Get out, Sigrun," he repeated, his head hanging low. "I don't know how much longer I can hold it."

"All the more reason for you to move," she countered. "Everyone's gone, they're safe. It's just you, me, and the elephants."

"You're not safe," he disagreed. "I can't do anything about the elephants if they won't leave, but you…"

"And what exactly would you like me to tell Leliana when I come sauntering out there without you?" the dwarf pointed out. "Seriously, just move your stupid, mage-y feet!"

"Do you know what this is like?" he asked, his voice hollow. "It's like I'm holding up this entire fortress. It's trying to crush me. I literally can't move, it's too much weight. I was getting this feeling earlier, before you came, but there wasn't much point in dwelling on it at the time. Well, now it's time. So, please," he whispered, "go."

Sigrun's blood pounded in her temples. Not like this. She wasn't letting Anders die like this. If he wouldn't move on his own, what was she supposed to do? If she left, she was afraid he'd let the shield go. If she screamed down the tunnel, would the King hear her? If she crawled in there and tried to push him out… No, she was afraid of what he would do. He could cast her out with magic. He could seal the shield back up right now if he wanted; he wouldn't have to hear her nagging then. But if that hadn't occurred to him, she wasn't about to point it out.

She wasn't going to let him die.

She stood up, and turned to the anxious, wide-eyed elephant behind her. In the flickering light, she could see its eyes were distant, but they still moved, like they were seeing something. Like it was dreaming with its eyes open.

With the back of her mind screaming at her for the idiocy of this plan, she grabbed its trunk. She shook it, wiggling the giant muscular appendage. "Please, please help him," she begged. "Do something."

Lorelai screamed, pushing Jacob forward with her Call. Normally, holding on to the elephants, and manipulating a separate Call for her mabari would have exceeded the limits of her abilities. But with her son's power, glowing beneath her ribs like a furnace, she had just enough.

She'd never done this before, never connected with Jacob like this. There had never been a need. Now, tapped into the mind of her faithful war dog, she felt dazzled, like she was staring at the sun. The purity of his love for her brought tears to her eyes.

He darted through the elephants' legs like a bolt of lightning, barreling towards Nathaniel in a charge that had given almost every enemy they'd ever faced cause to backpedal. He was silent, his head tucked down and his ears laid back, as he ate up the distance separating him from the archer.

Jacob would not make it in time.

Lorelai leaned against the young elephant beside her, clutching its back to keep from losing her feet as despair tried to cripple her. Through the creatures blocking her she could just barely see Nathaniel's body, the tiger lowering its head to search for his spine.

"Ebost issala!"

A flashing blade sliced down from an impossible height and nearly cut the tiger in half. Blood and entrails exploded as a thick fist scruffed the big cat and hauled it off Nathaniel. Jacob skidded to a halt, falling to his side with the effort to stop his charge.

Lorelai leaned back against the ruins and closed her eyes. She didn't need to see; Jacob's eyes showed her everything. Not that she even needed that. Only a fool would mistake that battle cry.

"Sten," she whispered, a tiny smile of relief curving her lips.

Through the hound's eyes, she watched the Qunari acknowledge the dog with a nod before turning to deliver more devastation. Without a moment's hesitation, he dispatched two more of the cats, Asala's edge cleaving through the bodies like soft cheese.

Bending down, he gathered Isabela into his arms and-

Lorelai felt her sight and her breath ripped away as one of the elephants tugged on their connection with enough force to nearly choke her. When she could see again, it was in the darkness of the tunnel, and she was looking down from an enormous height into Sigrun's desperate face. The dwarf pointed into a hole in the rocks, gesturing emphatically.

Dear Andraste, what had been going on in the tunnel this whole time? In the chaos and fear, she hadn't realized she'd stripped the elephants of the autonomy she'd given them to obey Sigrun. She gave it back swiftly.

Her perspective tilted crazily as the elephant bent its head to see where the Warden was pointing. Through its eyes, she saw a battered, dusty, defeated Anders. The mage turned his head and looked at the animal. The resignation in his face told Lorelai everything she needed to know.

[Get him out!]

Sigrun could've wept as the elephant finally showed signs of life. It blinked at her, then looked where she was pointing. There was a mere second of hesitation, then it threaded its into trunk into the hole.

"Hey, what the-? No!" Anders exclaimed.

But the elephant wasn't listening. With a delicate power Sigrun had never seen before, it pulled Anders out of the hole. It happened so fast, and yet the mage didn't even bump his head on the opening.

The elephant plopped him on the ground. Anders stared at his hands in horror, the shimmering that had been the shield completely gone.

"Carry him," she told the elephant. Sure, the tunnel hadn't collapsed yet. The pocket was even still holding. But there was something in the air, she could feel it. The stone above her head seemed suddenly oppressive. Anders had been right, to a point. The loss of the shield was causing things to shift. They weren't dead yet, but if they stayed here much longer… That would change.

"Outside, now," Sigrun said, praying the elephant was still listening.

The elephant trumpeted, and in the confines of the tunnel, Sigrun could only imagine that her ears were gushing blood afterwards. The ones in front of it turned swiftly, and began shuffle-stepping their way quickly out. With a scoop, it grabbed Anders around the waist. Twisting its trunk, it forced the mage to sit in the crook, like a swing.

"Oh, well isn't this dignified," he grumbled, though he clung to the animal's muscular nose with rigid fingers.

Sigrun couldn't help but laugh, even as they made a mad dash for the safety of the open sky.

Blood and meatier things gushed over Nathaniel's back, and then the tiger's awful weight was removed. He dragged a frantic breath in, and then another, searching for the motor skills to roll over and find out what benevolent spirit had saved him. It was eluding him for the time being, and as more of his blood dripped from his hair to land with dry plops onto the dusty ground, the archer thought that maybe just concentrating on breathing was a grand idea.

The sounds of slaughter were all around him. But there could be no mistaking the noises for his companions' voices. The big cats were dying. He tried to turn his head, to at least attempt to see what was going on, but his blood-soaked hair blocked either side of his vision.

The owners of the chattering voices finally arrived, their calls resonating painfully with the throbbing in his scalp.

"Vashedan," the new voice said in a tone of disgust. "Kadan, would you fight along side me, so we may end this annoyance quickly?"

"It would be my pleasure," answered the golem.

Chattering turned quickly to yelps of agony, most of which were silenced quickly. The golem chuckled as what sounded like its foot slammed into the ground with a nauseatingly liquid sound.

And then all was quiet.

At least until the elephants came pouring out of the tunnel. Then the world filled with short, agitated trumpets and raised, alarmed human voices. It all mushed together, so Nathaniel couldn't pick out anyone's words. Partly because of all the racket, but partly also because of his muddled head, he was sure.

Boots appeared near his face. "You still with us, Howe?" grumbled Oghren's unmistakable voice.

Before he could gather the breath to answer, a gentle voice scolded, "Do not move him, Oghren."

"I wasn't gonna touch him," the dwarf said defensively. "Why you always gotta assume the worst of me, woman?"

"I find it is the easiest way to prepare myself," she answered.

The boots retreated, and a robe of rich scarlet appeared as its owner knelt near his head. "Be at peace, Warden Howe," she said, as her hands pressed against head.

He nearly groaned as healing magic poured over him like water. The throbbing receded, leaving the cacophony of human and animal noise a bit easier to decipher, and his brain much less foggy. "Isabela," he gasped out, bracing his hands against the ground and trying to shove himself to his feet.

The mage held him down easily, her grip on his head keeping him prone on the ground. "I have seen to her already, young man. She lives, though I think she has had quite enough. Her vocabulary is," she paused, "colorful."

Nathaniel laughed weakly into the dust. "Good."

The mage removed her hands. "Now, that should fix you right up-"

Sounds of tearing rock and earth-bound thunder cut her off. "There it goes!" someone shouted, before everything was drowned out by the sound of the tunnel succumbing to gravity.

Nathaniel jerked his head up in time to watch the wall of dust roll over him. He winced, hiding his eyes. When he looked again, it had mostly dissipated. So he could very clearly see a three-ponytailed dwarf running towards him.

Oh, thank the Maker. Bracing himself again, he raised up to a sitting position. He wanted to look at her face, and reassure himself that she was all right.

"Nathaniel!" Sigrun cried out as she reached him, falling to her knees. With shaking hands, she reached up and touched the bloody half of his head.

"I'm all right," he said with a smile. "Just a little messy."

Sigrun's lip quivered, and she buried herself against his chest with a force that nearly knocked him backwards, and the strength of her arms around him made it almost impossible to breathe.

Returning her embrace, he laid a kiss on her dusty hair. He turned, resting his cheek against her head and looking at the mage next to him. "Thank you," he said.

She smiled, her elderly face losing ten years. Bowing her white-haired head, she answered, "You are welcome, Warden Howe. Now, I should see to the others." Gathering her robes, she got to her feet and headed over to Liam and Aednat. The elf was sitting, trying to blink away the blood in her eyes. It wasn't worked very well, considering half her face had four deep claws marks running down it from her hairline to her chin. It made a garish mask of red that chilled Nathaniel to the bone. The cat's strike had missed her eye by a hair's breath.

"'M all right," she insisted, her voice a bit slurred, as the mage approached.

"Shut your mouth," Liam and Aideen said at the same time, one on either side of the blonde, each holding a hand. They looked at each other over her head in surprise. Zevran stood nearby, his fists clenched as he stared at Aednat's wounded face, and then at Liam's presence.

The elephants had gathered toward the jungle, and they were helpfully pulling all the carcasses together into a morbid pile. They were clearly not enjoying it, as they released the bodies quickly and wiped their trunks on the ground and on nearby trees in disgust.

"Stand up," the Commander demanded. She was talking to Anders, who was sitting in a seat made of an elephant's trunk, the only elephant not with the rest, and looking like death warmed over.

"You think I'd be sitting here if I could?" he asked, looking up at her with a bit of fear in his eyes.

The King was slightly behind her, looking confused. "Love, let's give Anders-"

"Stand him up," she interrupted, directing her orders to the elephant. Without hesitation, it shifted its trunk around. Anders was forced to put his feet on the ground, and then the elephant moved its trunk again, pushing the mage in the lower back. It wasn't pretty, and Anders clearly wasn't standing on his own, but he was up.

Leliana, standing nearby, took a few steps forward. "This is a bit much, my friend. Whatever you need to say can wait-"

The Commander slapped Anders. Hard.

Everyone gasped as the mage staggered. The elephant grabbed him about the waist with its trunk, making sure he didn't fall over.

"Lorelai!" Leliana shouted, stepping up to come between them.

"No!" Sigrun called from beneath Nathaniel's chin. Her shout stopped the bard, who glared furiously in her direction. "He deserves it," the dwarf said tightly.

Before the archer could puzzle out what that meant, the Commander stepped forward. The King grabbed her arm, trying to pull her back. "You know exactly what that was for," she said into the mage's face hotly.

Anders avoided her eyes, loose blond hair hanging down to hide his face.

"You great, stupid idiot!" she continued, her voice filling with tears. "After all of this, you thought that was your only option? After everything everyone has accomplished, you have accomplished, you thought we couldn't find a way-" she sobbed to a stop, and the tears started to fall. She shrugged off the King's hold, who seemed too stunned to fight it. Grabbing the front of the mage's robes, she forced him to look at her with a shake. "You would've broken my heart, you stupid mage."

"I'm sorry," he said, in a voice almost too quiet to hear. "And thanks, for, you know-"

She nodded to cut him off, then crushed him against her in a desperate hug. The mage responded with as much strength as he could muster. It occurred to Nathaniel in that moment that, aside from Oghren (who was not the touchy-feely type), Anders was the last to see the Commander. Aideen, too…but Aideen was not one of her Wardens.

The Commander was sobbing now. The elephant, trunk still stuck between her and Anders, nudged her backwards. It separated them gently, pushing her towards the King. He gave the creature a grateful look, and took the Commander into his arms. She kept crying as he gathered her up, lifting her off her feet and cradling her against his armored chest.

The elephant twisted its trunk, turning it into a makeshift chair again before Anders fell over. He collapsed into it, leaning wanly against the upper part of its trunk. Tear tracks marked the only clean parts of his face.

Leliana crouched down in front of him, holding his hands. "You are going to tell me what she means. Later."

He nodded miserably.

Oghren chuckled, rubbing his hands together. "Somebody hit him again! That sight did my heart a world of good!"

"If my kadan has indeed adopted corporal punishment as a means of controlling those below her, I should be very proud of her," the Qunari said, looking up from cleaning his sword.

Nathaniel had to consciously keep his jaw from falling open. A Qunari, the Qunari. Sten of the Beresaad. A pretty large thing to miss, but all things considered, he felt like he could be allowed the oversight. The means of their salvation came together finally.

"Doubtful," the golem commented from where it stood near to the Qunari. "Though one can only hope."

"Indeed," agreed Sten, reaching down absently to pet Jacob's head. The dog lay sprawled near his feet, rubbing his face enthusiastically over the Qunari's boots.

"How did you get here?" the King asked, moving slightly closer, still carrying the weeping Commander. "Not that I'm not hugely grateful… But Isabela was here with us-"

"Which I'll never make the mistake of doing again!" spat the pirate from where she was sitting, covered in blood but seemingly all right.

"Her opinion of that, aside," the King continued. "How did you get here?"

Sten looked up, giving the Warden a withering look. "My people live on islands, I think you're aware. I do not need some foul-mouthed, scantily clad woman to get me where I need to go on the sea."

"And he stopped by Denerim, just in case," the white-haired mage said, "and that is where I joined him." She raised an eyebrow as she turned her attention to the golem. "And Shale, dear. I do hope you took my advice, and managed not to kill anyone on your way here."

"Yes, Elder Mage," the golem said sullenly. Nathaniel half expected it to cross its arms and kick a stone.

"I am…proud of you, Sten," Leliana said, glancing at the red-robed mage. "I know mages make you uncomfortable. You traveled a long way with one in such close proximity."

"He even let me start knitting him a cloak," the mage added with a wink.

"Oooh," Leliana cooed appreciatively. "What color?"

"Parshaara!" Sten snapped. "I have not missed all your ceaseless babbling!" His face softened then, just a bit. "There is nothing I would not do for my kadan when she calls for me, even court destruction."

Everyone fell silent, the only noise left was the Commander, whose sobs had quieted to breathless whimpers. The white-haired mage approached the King. "Let me see her, Alistair."

But the King shook his head, his arms tightening. "Nothing personal, Wynne," he said gruffly, "just right now, I can't..."

Ah, of course that's who she was. He'd blame his failure to make that leap of logic on his head injury, as well.

"I simply want to see if she is hurt," Wynne said gently.

"She's not," Nathaniel supplied, and then gulped as he felt the attention of fourteen sets of eyes suddenly staring at him. "I think she's just-"

"-had enough. Just like I've bloody had enough!" interrupted Isabela. She got to her feet shakily. "I don't care if you want to come with me or not, but my boat is leaving as fast as I can get on it. So you either leave this Maker-damned jungle with me now, or you can bloody well stay here for all I care!"

"You heard the Captain," Zevran said. He helped Aideen to her feet, but when he turned to get Aednat, Liam had already done the job for him. The assassin looked like he wanted to say something, but Aednat touched his arm. He looked at her, then swallowed. "Let us not try our dear pirate Queen's patience," he said, rallying. "Off we go then."