Thank you everyone who's following the story so far! I hope you enjoy it :)

Aryana woke with a start, the threads of her dream about her escape from the Circle still wrapped around her. It had been about eight years since that day. It was no coincidence that the dream had come today though. Today she was on her way to see her old friend again.

As Aryana set to work rolling up her bedroll and packing up her meagre little camp she allowed herself to drift off into her memories.

Once they had managed to sneak their way out of the Circle, a difficult fast made easier by having keys to nearly every door in the tower and the lack of Templars due to so many having been called away, the next task had been figuring out where to go. For Talizan the answer was obvious; she had been stolen from her clan by the Templars and so there was still a home waiting for her. Aryana was fairly certain she did not have the same option. It was her parents who had called the Templars to come and take her away. Wherever she went, she was certain she could not go home.

The first night they had run as long as possible, trying to get as much distance as they could between them and the Circle. When they tired they slowed to a fast walk, but they were too afraid to stop moving. They walked through the day until the sun sunk below the horizon. Then they finally chose a sheltered spot beneath some trees to rest.

"I remember coming through here with the Templars two years ago. I'm fairly certain we'll come across a small village tomorrow, if we continue in this direction." Aryana raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"That's quite the memory you have there Tali. I was just going to pick a direction and walk until I found something." Tali gave her friend a tight smile.

"I'm Dalish Ary. Remembering the land is a useful perk." Ary let out a short laugh. The stress and fear was slowly lifting from them. They were finally free.

They'd lucked out in that Tali's clan hadn't been planning on moving on for another summer. The territory they'd been inhabiting when she'd been taken had still been new to them. Had they moved on Aryana was doubtful they would have been able to track them down. They made their way back to Clan Lavellan with no incident, opting to avoid the small village along the way. They'd briefly considered stopping to steal food, but Tali knew how to hunt with her magic and that seemed less risky than the possibility of being recognized as mages and handed right back to the Templars.

The Clan was overjoyed to have their young Mage returned to them. They were less enthusiastic about her shemlan follower, but Tali was able to convince them that Aryana was a friend. She told them how Aryana had been a friend to her during her time at the Circle and also how she could not have escaped without the other girl. In the end the Keeper offered to let Aryana stay until she decided what she wished to do. It was a kindness she hadn't expected from the Dalish.

The problem was that Aryana had no where else to go. So she simply stayed. She learned more about magic from Keeper Istimaethoriel, joining in the lessons meant for Tali and another elven Mage, a young boy who had only recently discovered his abilities. She also learned to hunt like the Dalish and how to use various plants to make different kinds of remedies. They were survival skills she would come to rely on. Keeper Istimaethoriel also taught Aryana what she knew of the Arcane Warrior branch of magic, which wasn't much, but it was enough to get her started. She learnt how to use her mana to enhance her combat skills, and how to hug it close to herself to help avoid being detected as a Mage.

As summer approached and the clan prepared to move on and find new territory to set up camp, one of the young elves began to show signs of magic. Clan Lavellan already had two mages, Talizan and the young boy, and with Aryana staying with them that put the total up to three. It meant someone would have to go. It meant it was time for Aryana to move on. She'd known she would have to eventually. She was human after all, she couldn't live with the Dalish forever.

"Keeper Istimaethoriel wants to gift you with a new weapon to take with you," Talizan informed Aryana as she was packing some supplies to take with her. She was planning to head West to Kirkwall where she hoped she would be able to find work without being recognized. Once she had saved enough she hoped to be able to buy passage on a ship to somewhere else. She hadn't decided where yet.

"What type of weapon would most please you? Perhaps a new staff?" Aryana laughed.

"A staff?" She asked her friend with a raised eyebrow. "I'm an apostate Tali. It would be stupid to go wandering around with a staff strapped to my back." She paused for a moment, considering. "I'd love a real Dalish bow though. Like the hunters use." Tali nodded.

"I'll let the keeper know. There was something else I wanted to tell you." Aryana, who had finished packing, stood up and slung her pack over her shoulder. It was heavy, but she's grown stronger in her time with the Dalish. She'd be able to manage it. She met Talizan's eyes, noticing they were filled with excitement. "Keeper Istimaethoriel is teaching me to direct my dreams. It's a talent not all mages have, but eventually I'll be able to go where I wish the Fade. I'll be able to visit you while you sleep. No matter where you travel or where the Clan ends up, I'll be able to find you." Aryana grinned.

"Well then, I guess this isn't really goodbye is it?" Tali shook her head the girls hugged. Before Aryana left the keeper presented her not only with a beautifully crafted Dalish hunting bow but with an amulet she claimed marked Ary as a friend of the Dalish, so she should be able to travel safely through other Clans' lands. She left with a promise from Tali that they would see each other in the Fade.

It was a promise Talizan had stayed true to. Throughout the years, no matter how far apart they were in the physical world, Aryana would dream once a week of the clearing in the Free Marches were she had last seen Tali physically. And the other girl would be there and they would share stories and worries and hopes for the future.

It had been during the most recent Fade meeting that Tali had asked Aryana to come to Haven to meet her. Aryana had been in Fereldan anyway at the time and Tali had been sent to spy on the Conclave and see what the outcome would be. She was alone and could use the company, and the girls hadn't seen each other physically since Clan Lavellan had been camped on the north western border of the Free Marches while Ary had been in Tevinter a few years ago.

Finished packing up her camp, Aryana saddled her horse and set out towards Haven. She'd been camped a few hours away and would reach the conclave by midday. She wasn't sure where exactly she was to meet Tali, but her plan was to go to the Temple of Sacred Ashes and listen in to the Conclave and look for her there.

As she approached the Temple a few hours later she felt something she could only describe as a shudder in the Veil. She stopped her horse for a moment to try and get a better feeling of the Veil. And then the Temple blew up and the sky seemed to tear open. She was far enough away that although the blast nearly knocked her from her horse she was unharmed. It took her a few moments to calm her mount and then she was galloping at full speed towards the smoking remains of the temple. She arrived amid the chaos just in time to get a look at the elven girl who stumbled out of the rift in the middle of the ruins and collapsed to the ground. It was Tali.