Returning to the camp ground was easy enough. They had a favored location along each of the roads so far. This one was almost in and yet just outside of the forest. Oddly, it was seeing the dalish again that was the least interesting part of their mild trip. Zevran seemed as nonplussed about the haughty elves as Morrigan and herself were. Wynne was very happily talking with some of the elders, and Barkspawn seemed content as long as there were trees to mark. Though Saeris had to admit the tanner knew his craft exceptionally well and did not even mind Zevran's smug "I told you there is nothing like Dalish leather! Well unless it is Antivan but alas.."

Instead of a robe there were now comfortable snug pants and knee high boots, something between a tunic and a bodice that left her arms bare, not so unlike Morrigan's own attire but where the dark haired witch wore a cowl shirt and skirt the bodice was reinforced leather and the tunic under went in a sort of skirt that left bare the sides of Saeris's legs where the pants were. Lacings up the front of her breeches and the sides of the tunic had been left so she could adjust the fit as need be without a belt should she prefer to leave off the protective bodice which served as light armor, and Zevran kept making jokes about 'untying' her. Aside from a roll of her eyes though, Saeris took them in the playful complimentary way they were meant. The boots were also serviceable and if her companions thought her a bit odd to wear them so thinly soled with her toes freed, more like sandals than not, they said nothing. With the very thin leather on the bottom it silenced her steps while letting Saeris feel the earth as she moved. Gloves serving the same purpose and style bared of fingers so if she started 'sparking' it would not get caught in the leather, liberally trimmed in fur and with reach far longer than over her elbows to assist with wielding a staff as it had light mail that could go over it to help deflect blows. Just on the chance she found herself in a situation as with the werewolves again. The gloves could be fastened loose, folded over to be shorter, or pulled up longer. The way her cloak fell over her shoulder's like a mantle meant that with little effort Saeris could be all but attired for cold weather minus her feet. Something happened when she put on that cloak, it was as if all the strength and courage she'd possessed during that moment returned to her with the reminder of her capabilities at that time. It was no small thing to say you'd ripped out a werewolves throat with your teeth!

It did not take long though for the four of them to adjourn to their own campsite, leaving the Dalish be. Morrigan especially was keeping a close watch on the form of her friend, for all the two witches of the Wild's rarely would even consider using such a term for the other. The copper haired woman though, scantly younger than Morrigan, was looking off with a distant gaze almost constantly when Wynne was not actively teaching her. Her hand would be resting along her cloak, and while even Morrigan would admit Saeris made a pretty picture of a wild woman attired and perched on the edge of camp as she was gazing into nothing, she worried.

For some reason the slightly younger woman had adored Flemeth where Morrigan found her mother irritating and controlling at best. Being around the too sweet and stuck up elves who knew less of their history than Morrigan did had not endeared the black haired beauty to them at all, but Saeris did not really even attempt to socialize with them. It had taken Morrigan a while to realize it was not just the upcoming death of her mother, but that here they were so close to where the spirit at the crux of the werewolf curse had been. The full extent of that was not something that Saeris had ever disclosed but Morrigan would not be surprised to find out that it had somehow altered the very nature of her fellow witch. Such curses were not small matters and duration meant little when magic was involved.

Indeed Morrigan was not far off, as much as she cared for and respected Flemeth, the urge to go wander and sleep in the ruins where once had held the Lady was a very potent one. It felt like her heart was breaking anew and she had not even been in the other spirit's presence more than a day. Yet, she did not feel as if there was anyone she could properly approach on her concerns, and if she ventured into the Fade she was half terrified of the idea that some warped memory would be there. It was exhausting.

She wanted Flemeth. Or Valor. Someone whom she could trust to speak to and give advice on what to do. How to handle this exceptionally painful experience that she did not have the words to explain. Yet, Valor was locked behind the circle mage tower and Flemeth was potentially being killed off soon by friends of her daughter. The others were leaving in the morning and only stopping to resupply and set the belongings they would not take with them so the secondary group would watch over them.

Saeris wanted to warn the old crone, but had no way to do so without leaving. Her frustration finally came to a head as she gripped her staff, the air sparking around her and her teeth clenched around a growl. She'd taken to being just outside the group, unable to look at Leliana and Surana whom she felt closest to of those going to end the Eldest Witch of the Wild's come morning. She'd needed time alone but not because she was tempted to do something entirely stupid. So that she didn't lash out and say or do things she did not want. Lose control. It was the surprising feel of a large steady hand gripping the back of her neck through hair and cloak firmly that stilled her.

Sten grasped the back of her neck as if she was just a dog at that moment and not a woman. "Calm your mind. This fretting is pointless. Can you do anything? No. So do not let it trouble you."

"My mind circles around it." She confessed, not even afraid though right then Sten could have snapped her neck without a thought. They had come to a strange comfortable level in battle and out of it, again his placing her firmly in his mind as a dog that took human form seemed to have made the Qunari much more willing to approach her. Even if it usually meant they only walked side by side in silence. "I cannot still my thoughts, they get away from me." And if she went to Wynne she'd hear the same chastisement of meditate and calm yourself, not letting emotions grow too strong lest they corrupt them. Sten just breathed out, but it was a little louder than normal.

"You seek a way to calm your thoughts enough then?"

"Something besides just running off or letting loose magically. I tried to meditate but it seemed to just make my thoughts louder." She agreed with a sigh. Sten's pressure on her neck gave her a focus. She could not do anything while he was there and right then when half of her wanted to run and warn Flemeth, half of her wanted to go curl up in the Ruins where the lady died and howl until her throat was raw. Then there was the nasty part that was tempted to call down every sort of storm she could as a coping mechanism or take off in her canine form and never cease running. It was just nice to have something else for her thoughts to focus on. She hadn't realized the scent of the Brecillian forest would cause such turmoil in her.

"Did your master never teach you battle forms for such moments?"

Saeris wrinkled her brow, thinking. Valor had but they were not ones that transferred well, it required a lot of magic to utilize as this was not the Fade and reality had different laws. "Not ones available to me now." And if she went to the Fade when so emotionally troubled it would either draw unpleasant things to them or have her inundated with spirits who wished to share. Such heart wrenching emotions were appealing to beings, or else the popularity of tragedies and especially tragic tales would not have been so widespread. Sometimes people enjoyed drama that made them cry. Right then however, Saeris did not feel like entering the Fade and providing fodder for the spirits and wisps for it meant experiencing the emotions fully and she was unstable enough.

"Come." And there was a very gentle shake he gave her neck as he walked away. Curious, Saeris followed him further into the woods until they found a clearing. There Sten removed his armor and set aside his weapon, following his example she did the same. "This is the start. Even before the Qun there were ways. To still the mind by focusing first on mastery of the body. Striving for mastery is the goal, not the achievement." With that said Sten took up a slightly strange looking lunging stance, arms outstretched and body twisted. "Do as I do."

Though she almost fell a few times, Sten simply held his pose and did not offer her any further guidance. Holding perfectly still and waiting for her to clumsily mimic him. She did so poorly, but he grunted.

"Now stay like this as long as you can. It is in your mind. You can do this. Your muscles will tremble but they will not falter until long after you think they will. Focus only on breathing. Your rigid form."

It was a lot of words for the stoic man and Saeris felt rather awed he was aiding her in such a fashion. So, to show she appreciated his help she did just as he stated. Breathing in, and out. Her attention would start to wander but the quivering of a muscle in her calf meant she had to adjust slightly. Then her shoulder. Her arms. Little by little her attention was only on each small muscle and tiny adjustments in order to hold the position. Eventually she simply could not any longer and Sten switched which leg was in front, twisting his torso the other way so a different arm was leading as well.

"Again."

Four different postures were shown to her that were repeated for each side, each pulling and twisting her body in ways she was unfamiliar with and left her trembling and weary while Sten seemed if anything, at peace. She fell a few times but each just got back into the funny movements and didn't care if anyone walked in on the sight. It was helping. The smells were not sending her into memories, emotions she could not handle. There was only their breathing, and the strain of focusing on the poses.

Her mind felt cleared again. It was like fighting, you only had the adrenaline and the focus of the next moment. No wonder Sten felt this helped. He was startlingly flexible for such a powerfully built male and she was an unyielding stick in comparison, but he had told her at the start that it was striving for, not arriving, that she should work on as a goal.

When they went to regather their things it was a curious feeling of utter exhaustion and elation that filled Saeris, silencing even her thanks she wished to give.

"It is good sometimes, to return to the basics." Was all Sten said, her actions in doing her utmost for those hours thanks enough. Though she was surprised at the heavy hand on her hair and the barely audible, deadpanned joke of "Good dog."

Smothering her laughter as she followed Sten, Saeris stayed silent but it was not an angry brooding silence anymore as she ate with the others. Because whilst in that strange silence focusing on everything else physically needed to hold the positions had cleared her mind, it was in the aftermath an answer came.

She couldn't run and warn Flemeth, but Dreamer mages could find and enter the dreams of any was rumor, if they were skilled and ancient enough. If good enough, even breaking into the sleeping minds of the powerful who would otherwise block them out. Perhaps Saeris wasn't strong or attuned enough to get to Flemeth in such a way, but she knew someone who was.

When they broke apart to sleep and her tail flipped over her nose, curled up by the fire Saeris had to remind herself to calm and gain control over her nerves as she sought out the Fade.

()()()()()()()()

It was not her way, this seeking of another. She knew as a Dreamer herself she could do so theoretically, yet had never learned how. Considering her unique upbringing as spirit trained in the Fade she was only limited by her imagination and decided to start there to accomplish the task ahead. If Solas could summon her and offered her to find him if she needed help, then certainly she should be able to seek him out. Refusing to let doubt creep into her mind she thought hard on all she knew of her quarry. Scents and sounds, sights, emotions and the way he liked to warp the Fade into the images she had seen gave Saeris a surprising sensation that had she a body and identified it as her mortal one, would have felt as if she was being simultaneously squashed and turned inside out. Instead she registered the mild discomfort of forcing herself a good distance, but from the startled sound and the sudden steadying of the Fade by the firm hand of someone not content to remain in the Raw Fade, Saeris figured it had worked just fine.

Opening her eyes she wagged her tail, looking down and somewhat sideways at Solas. A very startled but slowly looking elated Solas.

"You sought me out, Twiceblooded?" The ancient elf teased but the smug aura already leaking off him could have been read by even an infant wisp.

"Give me a moment." She pleaded, feeling dimmer than usual and a lot more worn down, as though she'd just let several wisps barrage her to borrow memories and steal away emotions so they could grow. She actually let herself drop to the ground instead of half in mid air so she'd be at eye level. "That's a first for me."

"Truly? You've never ventured on your own from where your body resides?" And there was a spark of intrigue before Solas was rubbing his jaw, speaking to himself. "I suppose that makes sense, riding a mortal form there's no reason to as there could be a new location at all times. I shall have to remember that excuse for when I waken. To only dream in a location where you lay your head. Most interesting."

Saeris rippled her confusion at him twice before remembering he did not speak in the same way she had learned and let out a whine, allowing her body language to do the communicating for her.

"Ah! Just that it seems you are a fine example of what is and is not known of the capabilities of mages, even ones that would say, specialize in the Fade. The areas you react in surprise to despite traveling with some at your own insistence tells me many of our practices have been lost. I would prefer when I eventually venture amongst mortals once more, awake, to not give myself away."

"I'm pretty certain you'd stand out. You aren't like the mortals I know." Saeris answered but was feeling steadier. Again, she was amused as Solas laughed delighted. It wasn't as if she had anything to hide, much as those who were not mages would find truths had a way of coming out and your perspective was different in the Fade. It was why the impossible could seem utterly believable to only be a totem spirit rather then spirit trained dreamer mage after all. Not to mention how many regular people had strange dreams that felt entirely real. She'd heard enough from Alistair about his dreams of cheeses and dancing pastries when not the darkspawn littered nightmares to know that there was anything but sense generally.

"That's the first compliment you've given me." Solas smirked, arms crossed but Saeris had a feeling he was much happier than his smile was giving off. It was annoying that he couldn't express it in a way she understood better when in the Fade.

"It could be as much insult." She pointed out but finally righted her position. "Solas, you'd said I could come to you for help..."

Solas felt no guilt over the delight that the Twiceblooded spirit was taking him up on his offer. Truly, he preferred the sensation of being helpful instead of when things went terribly wrong and he was thrust into the position of leading. It had not been as enthralling as most thought, when the allure of power and control wore off. Indeed it was more a constant exhaustion with fewer amusements and slowly each became twisted until it took seeing there was no saving his once friends and fellow Evanarius from the creatures they were becoming. He certainly didn't often like what he saw in the mirror when examining his own past.

"And so I shall if I can. What is the problem?"

Though Solas could not communicate through emotions and light displays as the spirits did, the body language of a canine was one he was particularly familiar with. Watching as Twiceblooded paced, the hackles raised, the twisting of ears and the way the gait moved half stalk half lowered depending on whatever was going through it's mind. Clearly this was far more important than he had thought. It made the fact he had been sought out all the more pleasing. He wanted to mentor such a novel spirit and see what heights it could evolve to.

"A group of my mortal companions intend to murder someone I hold in high esteem because of an action she might cause."

He had not been expecting that. Eerie as the parallel was, he remembered a time when he discovered the Evanarius were going to 'deal with' Mythal, over some issue that had not emerged but only had the potential to.

"What is it you wish me to do? I cannot simply invade their dreams and change their minds. Well, I could, but I can tell you from experience that whatever has led them to such a decision would only by you time, not change things in the long run. Unfortunately hearts have no logic and fear is far too common amongst the quicklings. You haven't the millennium to talk sense to them. At times, even that was not enough."

"No! I just..can you help me warn her?" And the tilt of the muzzle as she kept her feet flat on the floor to look up at him, the way her ears were back and her tail low was not exaggerated but slightly more pronounced than if he could read the way her form flickered and sparked, the tiny ripples of the Fade around her immediate vicinity showing her acute distress.

"Names are common." Solas started to explain, fighting the urge to reach out and rub her ears as if she were one of the mortal canines he had once enjoyed the company of. No doubt a good part of why he had earned his moniker, much as his preferred shape to change into in his youth before exploring more intricate and ephemeral magical arts.

"I have a title for her. Multiple ones known and repeated by scores of mortals alive and gone." Twiceblooded interrupted him, pawing at the ground.

"That would work. Potentially. Is it one held by others?" For if she was just 'master smith' or the like, it would not help Solas to track this mortal down that was so highly regarded by Twiceblooded. Though Solas was admittedly becoming curious as to what sort of mortal would have such frantic devotion by an otherwise highly independent spirit. He may even be able to admit to a twinge of jealousy. Usually it was himself the spirits flocked so passionately to.

"Only a lesser form. The true title is hers and hers alone."

"Then tell me, and I'll do my best to bring us."

Twiceblooded seemed to go smoother in the output of light from that declaration, visibly relieved before determination took hold. Solas tilted his head, wondering at the larger form, the almost curved patterns in a golden hue he could nearly make out on her fur in a few areas before the echoing voice in the way all spirits spoke once again arrested his attention. The voice was clearly female as ever, but Solas tended to not assign gender to spirits, it was mere habit if anything that made them assume such a form in his experience.

"Flemeth of the Chasind, of the Kocari Wilds. Great Witch of the Wilds. Mother of Vengeance." And for all that Solas was usually 'dumb' to the tones of emotions in the way spirits spoke he could still sense the loyalty and affection buffering his own control of the fade. These were no small titles, and he felt his eyebrows rise. Even more so at the final one. It was enough. Titles held power and the amount ricocheting amongst the ones that Twiceblooded had given let Solas reach out a hand, materializing a staff for the comfortable sense of presence even as his other made a grasping motion in Twiceblooded's direction. After all, he would not seek out one dear to it and not bring the spirit along!

Whatever he expected as the wrench of the Fade twisted and coalesced into a neutral plains of grasslands as his formation of a meeting place, the almost wizened gray haired hag of a human woman was not it. The wide gold eyes as she looked around and then threw back her head and laughed. It was the sound however, that even as Twiceblooded bolted from his side, all but bounding around the hunched crone's form in dazzling brilliant light displays as it would vanish and reappear on another side, that had given Solas pause.

It sounded familiar.

"Well! I tell you not to return your scruffy hide to my hut until things are done and you find a way around it! Clever child, and what has the Twiceblooded been up to?" Flemeth reached her hand out as if to grasp at the fur of the hound, and looked startled as Twiceblooded dispersed before contact could be made, reforming just a slight ways away.

"Ah, spirits prefer not to be touched. It is a literal temporary meshing of souls and not to be done lightly. No matter how they act in a mortal body. Welcome to the Fade." Solas started to explain hooded as he was now to help hide his own appearance.

"I'm a mage, I'm not precisely unfamiliar with it. Though indeed, far less than yourself." There was a pause, as the crone looked down at her wizened hands and then at the patient spirit wagging it's tail beside her. "I can think of only one reason for you to go to another for seeking me out. The fools come to handle the information my Morrigan has learned at last, do they?" Flemeth shook her head and then relaxed, form melding into one of an older but far more imposing woman. Her hair gone white and mimicking the horns of a dragon and her attire entirely different. The spirit beside her looked puzzled, but accepting. As they tended to be. What mattered appearance to one who reshaped the fade by will and determination as spirits did? However, the resemblance gave Solas pause.

"Flemeth...was it?"

"You knew me by another name once. And what do you go by now, Old friend?"

Solas ran his hand over his face, shoulder's quaking as the implications were understood. "Solas. I told Twiceblooded to call me Solas."

"An out of all the ones that could be glimpsed in the Fade the two of you met. Normally I can never figure if something is fate or chance, but in this? I cannot help but suspect Fate. Perhaps moving things along more swiftly."

A soft whine interrupted whatever monologue the old witch would have begun. "Flemeth..."

"Ah. Yes, forgive me child." Flemeth gave no heed to the appearance of her actions as she knelt, hand reaching out but not touching the jaw of the chasind hound at her side. "Have you found the storm inside you yet, little wonder?"

"Growing." Twiceblooded agreed and then Solas found his curiosity pushing aside the tumultuous emotions for later upon realizing who had stood there, present in a sense though immensely diminished when Flemeth had formed.

"As I am now is a better representation of my abilities, less bound. When they come to slay me it will be but a part. There's already been an amulet I forged carrying part of myself within and currently being brought by a family to Kirkwall. There they shall approach the Dalish and use a ritual that will let my wandering self once deprived of a body reform. It will not be so limited. Just shedding one shape for another, one more capable of holding my powers."

"Then this must happen?" came the audible whine of the distressed spirit, flickering rapidly enough even Solas and Flemeth could see that if in a human or elfin form it would have likely been sobbing or screaming aloud.

"It must."

"Kirkwall is far."

Flemeth laughed then and shook her head as she stood once more. "Loyal brat. You are not to seek me out. I have far to fly and much to explore and deal with, indeed my old friend Solas and I will now be able to accomplish much in contact as you've allowed us to be." There was a pause before Flemeth smiled and dropped her hand so she wouldn't try to pat the hound on her head. "It will not be the last of me you see."

"I don't think I can forgive them this."

"Betrayal is never easy to forgive." Solas interjected, the surreal nature of realizing that the very person he had sought to avenge was in a fashion, the same that Twiceblooded was protecting even now made his mind swirl in the potential outcomes. "Sometimes it is best to snap your jaws shut and say nothing, let them wonder why you walk away when the time comes."

"He speaks from experience, girl." Flemeth said but it was with dark humor.

"Just because the hound has a mortal form that is female is no reason to address it such." Solas replied, seeking out the familiar ground of being the expert on the Fade instead of the absolutely world shattering revelation of Flemeth being here and alive and clearly holding the essence of his friend to the point they were mixed in areas he would have sworn she was an elf. If not so clearly a human. For some reason though, Solas's comment made Flemeth cackle.

"She is she as much as she is Twiceblooded. Just because you know the Fade better than I ever shall, much as I know the skies as you never will, does not mean you can tell me to stop calling the girl such!" Flemeth smirked down, trying to lighten the air of sorrow permeating the spirit at such a close range. "He always was bossy."

"Perhaps I could not assist you in your goal..but I hope you realize.." Solas trailed off. "Twiceblooded, I had thought...'Flemeth' long gone and obliterated. You've done me a great kindness by accident. I owe you."

"Hm. It seems to me we both owe you a boon." Flemeth agreed and the ancient witch smirked seeing the way the hound shook her head viciously.

"I need none for doing what I felt I must. If anything I owe you, Solas, for helping me. And getting to see one I care so for when worry has consumed me."

"You haven't gone tearing up the wilderness again have you, brat?" Flemeth asked amused though what she clearly meant, for all that Flemeth was having far too much of a grand time keeping Solas in the dark without his even being aware of it-oh it was like old times!- was that Saeris had not been summoning storms in an attempt to calm herself.

"The largest one who shall come to kill you has helped me focus. He seems amused for a qunari warrior in training a dog." Emotions however, were rippling along Saeris and she yielded to her desires, after all Solas was in his control of the Fade keeping unwanted spirits and visitors out of Flemeth's dream. She took a step forward and nudged Flemeth's hand with her muzzle, ducking under it so the fingers would trail over her head and ears before stepping back again. It was quite the sight, the wide yellow eyes and dropped mouth even in the more appealing crone form Flemeth had chosen to assume.

"What was...that..?" Came softly whispered words as Flemeth brought up her hand that Saeris had been in contact with, cradling it to her gently. "Emotions and thoughts and for a moment I was feeling the touch on both sides, the sense of the Fade as never before..my form that of a hound and.."

"Spirits when they initiate contact, share everything." Solas said softly and his gaze was both thoughtful and perhaps a bit envious. "It can be...it changes ones perspective on everything."

Flemeth blinked and looked at her hand, then the hound sitting before her and Solas felt his lips twitch in a smile, yes, he himself still became so startled when a spirit initiated contact of such a manner. It was no doubt a greater form of how they always communicated and the full awareness faded almost instantly but the impressions that were left behind were an intimacy that made almost all others seem clumsy and pale in comparison. Nor did the Twiceblooded seem ashamed. Pride evident in how they held themselves and met Flemeth's gaze.

"I needed you to know."

"And you learned from me as well?" Flemeth asked with her eyes narrowed. "Give and take I assume.."

"The important part is I learned you will survive. Am certain of it now though much of what you thought made no sense to me."

"...sneaky thing. Solas, you never told me about this part of spirits."

"I did. Many times. You just tended to get bored and prefer to focus on other aspects of magic." Solas rebutted her with a casual ease of one who had known the other for untold centuries.

"I am wakening." Saeris warned the two ancient ones before locking her citrine gaze to Solas's own. "My thanks."

There was suddenly no hound there and Flemeth turned to Solas with a smile and spoke a name she had not used unless telling her daughter's stories for eons. "Fen'harel."

"Mythal." He replied with a soft almost heartbroken tone.

"Come old friend, whilst we have the time so unexpectedly, thanks to a hound that is far too loyal for her own good..let us catch up."

()()()()()()()()()

Saeris awoke before the others, and lifted her head. Something had made her waken as it was still dark out. Beside her Barkspawn was rousing as well and sniffing the air. Finally he started to growl just as the scent reached her own nose.

Darkspawn. Grumbling she shifted back to human, glad it was so simple now. She would not fight things that she could not safely bite as a hound, having no interest in dying from the taint! "To arms!" Saeris yelled out, hearing the sounds of the camp awakening though she gave a wicked grin. Flemeth had one spell in the back of her mind, so soon of talking of storms and destroying things that when Saeris had briefly shared gestalt communication had passed to her. Who knew you could combine earth and wind to craft a tornado under ones control?

The eager press of the Fade so new from being in it's wanderings as a spirit would, meant that upon awakening Saeris was far more flush with mana then she would be as the day waned. While their companions came tumbling from tents her fingers twisted and coiled in the free hand as her staff directed the resulting rush of power. Screaming winds combined into a twisting thin column that touched on the bodies of a few darkspawn, hurling them into the distance as Saeris's staff shattered from the force pushed through it.

"Oh come on.." Dropping her now useless staff Saeris pulled out the long knife Zevran had given her and blocked an incoming blow. Indeed, her over reliance on taking the form of her twiceblooded hound self was becoming well known as she simply could not risk it now. Several times Saeris almost used it to run or dodge only to need to tumble out of the way. Leliana's lessons on dodging and evading attacks now saving her life as a hurlock seemed far too focused on her. Saeris dared not even turn to see what her fellows were doing, her free hand throwing the lesser spells she did not need a staff for and lamenting the mana leak it caused to do so without an aide to channel that force.

"Can you just not do crazy things? Is that too much to ask?" Alistair yelled as he moved between her and a blow, shield catching it before he bashed the hurlock.

"Not trying! I can't bite them though!"

"Oh right, that'd be bad. Well, the dog survived it."

"Surana said the kennel master gave it-eek!" Saeris screeched and then for all she kept her jaw clenched tightly did shift forms to be shorter as a mattock went whistling over where her shoulder had just been. Fortunately it left the darkspawn open to Alistair who cleaved off it's head and Saeris shifted back, out of the spraying range thankfully.

It had been the last one. The group looked around and Surana frowned, for the first time Saeris could see her childhood friend as the Grey Warden he was supposed to be, serious and thoughtful. "We're still heading out. But we're all going to stop at Redcliffe along the way. I'd prefer you all behind walls. The forest will defend the Dalish but just in case.."

"It would be wiser I think for us to go to Denerim." Zevran interjected. "There is much villany in the underground there and many silly tasks to handle, and we can at least be turning a profit whereas in Redcliffe not much to do save go to the chantry, yes? The inn hardly had anything drinkable."

"I suppose. Can you mages hide well enough?"

"Oddly enough my fool Warden, they don't seem to notice the staffs or robes on women so much. Feeble creatures as we must be to need walking sticks and of course, in dresses." Morrigan said while looking at her nails. A few of the party exchanged amused looks as Surana went red. Morrigan probably didn't realize she'd said 'my' fool Warden.

"Ah, very well then. Be careful though, there may be more of them on the road."

"To Denerim then." Zevran grinned and the looks between Wynne, Morrigan, and Saeris were amused.

"We've an assassin leading three mages into the capital city. A fine plan." Morrigan snarked but they gave in. Really, walls and baths sounded wonderful right then.

"He's just doing this to increase his reputation you know." Saeris teased, and judging from the smirk and cocky wink Zevran sent her, it wasn't that far off. "...I need to find new spells for when I'm cornered and can't take my other form." And her staff was shattered and would need to be replaced, apparently casting on Flemeth's level was still beyond her, but what a rush that spell had been!

"I think I can help you there, dear girl." Wynne stated. "Don't fret. You're not the first mage to realize a hole in their studies. Though usually for those of us who take up healing it is lacking offense, you just went straight to that instead of defense."

"She does enjoy setting things ablaze, or freezing..or overly playing with electricity." Morrigan agreed, making Saeris laugh.

"Actually out of the lot of us in the tower, I was the least destructive. That always went to Amell and Surana. Pyromancers."

"Set Senior Enchanter Edwin's robes on fire if I recall." Wynne agreed. "Ended up writing lines for a week from one of the old texts we needed copied. I think however my dear apprentice, you have more than made up for your previously good behavior as eager to call upon the storms as you are now. Not, that I am complaining. There certainly are few better places for it than fighting these hordes."

Though Saeris was bantering, Morrigan briefly reached out and squeezed her shoulder before looking ahead as if nothing had happened. Knowing that the night prior had been hard on Saeris, close to Flemeth as she was. It was not unwelcome and Saeris let out a heavy sigh even as they began to increase their speed to Denerim, packs shared since Saeris didn't need a tent or as much in the way of supplies by doing much of the hunting as a hound. Even knowing that Flemeth would be okay, and relieved Solas and her shared a friend that she was able to reunite, the sting of her friends going to kill her mentor had her insides twisted.

It would take a long time for her to come to terms with how to forgive them. If she even could.