The further they went into the caverns, the darker it got. There was a glow from Tony's chestpiece, but it wasn't enough for them to walk by so Kora called a magelight to her staff. Tony was infinitely fascinated by the orb but his attentions were drawn elsewhere when they came into a large, brighter, cavern. There was a group of people dressed in the weird robes he'd seen around the city all huddled around one man who was waving his staff and muttering. As soon as they took a few steps forward, the man turned.
"They're here! The templars have come to take us back to the Circle!"
"Decimus, no! Stay your hand! These are no templars!" the woman beside him cried.
"Why do I care what shield they carry? If they challenge us, the dead themselves will meet the call!" He drew the bladed end of his staff across his wrist and let the blood spill onto the ground.
"No!" Kora shouted and threw a frost spell that was dashed against what appeared to Tony as thin air. There was a strange aura around the man as he muttered some more.
All of a sudden, skeletal hands burst up from the dirt and began to claw their way out, "What the hell!?" Tony exclaimed, stomping on one that had come up next to him.
"He's raised the bloody dead!" Anders called.
After a short skirmish with Kora and the group blasting away at the undead, finally Decimus lay defeated. Kora glanced up, a fireball spell ready at her fingertips, as she saw the woman that had spoken before approaching.
"You killed him! Oh Decimus, you should have listened to me, love..." She glared at Hawke, "I saw what you are! How could you murder one of your own just for daring to defy the templars?"
"I'm sorry, he obviously meant a lot to you." Kora started.
"He was our future! Until he came, we never thought to fight back. I told Decimus he was going too far, but he said it was the only way to protect us. To protect me." Her shoulders slumped in defeat, "Please... we only want our freedom. Without your help, the templars will execute us all for Decimus' crimes."
"That... is all I wish as well." the mage said softly, "But it will not be easy for you. Even if you manage to get free from here, the templars will always be after you. People you think are friends or allies will sell you out, in fear, whether of you or the templars. You cannot live outside of shadow, forever hiding who you are. Some manage, but for others, it is too much. They can no longer hold back their urge to scream at the world, 'I am a mage, and proud to be so!' They lash out at everyone and wreak havoc, just 'because they are a mage'. They turn to demons and blood magic to bolster their power, so they can prove that they have it. Is this what you want? Is this the way you want to live? I cannot fault you for wanting to be free, but I personally don't believe anyone is truly free in this world." Kora glanced around at the other mages, "You all are free, in this moment, to choose. You can escape, or I can get you safely back to the Circle. I will help no matter which path you take, but keep this in mind, if you decide to escape now, and are caught again later, I can no longer protect you from execution or Tranquility."
The group murmured amongst themselves while there was a stunned silence between Kora and her companions, "Sister." Carver began, "What the hell are you thinking? Don't even start with the whole 'mage' thing, I don't care whether they're mages or not, you put your trust in people too easily!"
"I agree with Inferiority Complex, people will use your help because you offer it freely. They will use you as a tool to achieve their own ends." Tony said.
Rather unexpectedly, Kora laughed, "Of course, when their ends are the same as mine, I don't mind being used. Because you could also say that I use them in return. But I don't like to look at things in such a heavy way, I like to keep life simple, enjoyable. Now," she turned to address the mages, "Those who wish to return to the Circle, come with us. Those who don't, follow till we reach the entrance, then stay back, I will convince the templars you're ... dead or something and get them to leave. When the coast is clear I'll come back in and let you know." She glanced back at her friends, "As for you guys, I'm sorry for dragging you into this, but when we get home, the first rounds on me!"
"Are you trying to tell me this boy is all that's left of the apostates?"
"I ran away when they began to use blood magic, ser." the boy, Alain said nervously.
"They are not in the caverns, Ser Karras, I have thoroughly explored—" Thrask started but trailed off when Kora, her companions, and a small number of the mages who had decided to go back to the Circle, came out of the cave.
"Who is this?" Ser Karras interrupted.
Kora balked slightly at the troop of templars there and Varric swooped to the rescue, "What's the trouble, Ser Thrask?" he began smoothly, "Did the Knight-Commander forget to tell Ser Karras that Enchanter Hawke came from Ferelden to help her root out rebel mages?" Thrask blinked.
"Uh, yes. Yes I was just about to tell him."
"We've completed our investigation of the mages in those caverns. This group left the others, like the boy did, when they started to use blood magic. But, there is no one left inside."
"One of the cowards ran out the back. You should go after him!" Isabela pitched in, snickering to herself.
"Right. Their leader fled the battlefield ahead of us. Bloody coward left his own people to die. I only caught a glimpse, but it looked like the back passages led out to the coast. I'd send your men that way." Varric continued.
"We can still catch them if we go around the caverns. That's the faster route." Thrask said.
"The coast, you say? Men, fan out, search the shore! We will retrieve these corpses later." the templar said, then turned and inclined his head to Kora, "I will commend you to the Knight-Commander, Enchanter Hawke. It is rare to see a mage cooperate with authorities."
"Please, a commendation is not necessary. I do what I can." Kora replied quickly. Ser Karras nodded to Thrask and swiftly followed his men around the caverns.
"Thank you, my friend. I will make sure none of them are harmed." Thrask smiled and led away the surrendered mages. As soon as they were no longer in sight, Kora turned back to the cave entrance to see the woman coming out cautiously.
"I didn't think you could do it! Truly you must be able to charm a miser out of his last coin." she said to Varric, "I did not think any of us would leave those caverns alive."
"If it makes you feel better, officially you were 'killed during escape.'" Kora chuckled, relieved that this was over.
"I will do my best to seem cold and rotted, then. Now, we must flee as far as we can before nightfall. Thank you, friend." She and the rest of the mages ran off in the opposite direction of the templars.
"Just so you know, that was utterly and completely a mistake. This will come back to bite you in the ass and I kind of hope I'm there to say 'I told you so.'" Tony said, sighing. Kora snorted.
"I just assume that everything comes back to bite me, that's generally how it works in my life."