First I want to apologize for how long this has taken me to write and I want to thank my readers for sticking with me. I have had a really bad case of writer's block for not just this story, but all of them. Life and work has also played a huge part in me not sitting down and writing more. I have the next chapter mostly written so I hope it will not be another three months between. As for my other stories, I will be getting back to them soon. Thank you again for your support and endless patience with me. Your reviews and favs have kept me going.

Lots of love,

Raven

Sebastian watched from his perch on the rocks and waited. An arrow was notched, ready to find it's mark when he saw the signal. The group of them had made good time getting to Haven. It was almost like the Maker had cleared and and all obstacles from their path. The plan they had put into place was working so far. He could see from his position where Anders and Bethany had placed themselves. Morrigan was harder to spot, but he knew she was out there somewhere. He had lost sight of the other three as soon as they entered the village. His lips moved in silent prayer when the first bought of smoke went into the air. The glint of Templar armor caught his eye and her let the arrow fly. The body dropped like a stone and he quickly notched another arrow. Flashes of magic went off here and there making it hard to keep his aim true.

"Maker guide my hand." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Anders jump down from his perch. The eerie glow of his magic encased his hands as he threw a lightning spell. Sebastian cursed and left his hiding place too. Once he was on the ground he saw why Anders had moved. Isabela was on the ground holding Fenris in her arms. He had a very large gash on his torso that was oozing blood at a fast rate. Anders caught the flash of white from Sebastian's armor and yelled over his shoulder.

"Cover us!" The prince ran up and kept his eyes trained on the village. Bethany had also moved from her hiding place and was standing guard over Anders and Fenris.

"Where is my sister?" Isabela shook her head.

"Not sure once the smoke went up we got separated."

"I have to go find her." Isabela grabbed the young mage's arm and held her to the spot.

"Your sister will be fine. We don't need to be worrying about you running off and getting yourself killed. Just stay here. I'm sure Hawke will be here any second now." Anders felt the chill of Templar magic just seconds before it stripped him of his. He was thankful he had healed worst of the damage before they had found them.

"We have company." Anders stood up and pulled Fenris up with him. He could see the horrified look on Bethany's face as her magic sputtered out too. Out of the smoke at least a dozen Templars and Seekers stalked. Sebastian saw one he recognized. The leader was none other than Cassandra Pentagast, the Seeker who had come to Starkhaven looking for Hawke and Anders.

"Prince Vael what a surprise to see you here on Ferelden soil." Her gaze turned and caught sight of Anders. A slow evil smile graced her lips. "And in the company of a murderer no less. I am very surprised. I thought you were one of the faithful." Sebastian raise himself to his full height and glared at the woman.

"The only murderers I see are the ones in front of me wreathed in heavy armor. Let us pass Seeker or I promise you will regret it." The Seeker let out a mirthless laugh and stepped a little closer.

"You are in no position to demand anything Prince Vael. You will hand over the apostates and come quietly. The Divine will show mercy." It was Sebastian's turn to laugh. Anders stiffened thinking the man was actually thinking of turning him and Beth over.

"I know of the Divine's mercy...I think I will pass. Now move Seeker or be moved." Cassandra opened her mouth, but the sound of a inhuman groan made all eyes turn to the left. A Templar stumbled out of the smoke. His eyes looked pained though Sebastian could not see any wounds on the man. The man's gate was choppy and strained. Cassandra rolled her eyes and motioned for some of the other Templars to help the groaning man.

"What is wrong?" The Templar opened his mouth to speak, but doubled over in pain. Anders' magic began to return slowly, but it was enough to see what afflicted the Templar.

"Shit! Take cover he is going to blow!" Before anyone could move a bright sizzling light took over the groaning Templar right before his body exploded. A shield went up around Anders and the others, while the Templars were left exposed to the blood and gore that rained down.

"What in the Maker's name was that?!" Anders grimaced and looked away from the scene in front of them before answering the prince.

"It is called a walking bomb. A mage puts magic energy into a person and it builds till the person explodes." Beth looked ill as did Isabela. Fenris growled and Sebastian said a small prayer.

"Why would someone do that? It is barbaric!"

"I've only ever seen it done, I have never done it myself." The Templars were in shock. Some screaming, others standing covered in gore just staring at what was left of their fellow Templar. Pieces of bone and armor had injured most of them. Even the Seeker who was standing the furthest away had bone shrapnel wounds on her face and body. Anders felt the shield dissipate leaving them exposed. The Seeker turned her wild eyes to the group in front of her and she screamed.

"You will pay for that murderer!" Her eyes were staring right at Anders.

"He had nothing to do with it." Leigh appeared next to her group half carrying Morrigan who looked severely injured. "Anders, Beth please." Anders took the witch from his wife and began calling forth his healing magic. Leigh tried not to let the scene in front of her turn her stomach. She had witnessed Morrigan cast the walking bomb spell on the man, but knew it was more in self defense than in malice. Leigh had disarmed the Templar and told him to run. The man repaid her by trying to stab her from behind and would have succeeded if not for Morrigan jumping in front of the blade.

"Ah, the Champion. I was wondering if you would be here as well."

"The Divine stole my daughter. I have come to get her back." The Seeker's eyes shown confusion. "She does not know." "I can see that much." "She is a pawn in this Leigh, it is not her fault." "She stands with Strife, she shares her fate. I will not be kept from my child." Pash fell silent, knowing she could not talk her host out of ripping this place apart if that is what Leigh wished to do. "Now I will give you the same chance I gave your fellow Templar. He chose to attack me after I spared his life. His death is his own fault." Red cracks formed in Leigh's skin and her eyes shifted from silver to crimson. Magic built in her body until it wreathed around her, spinning like a brilliant hurricane. "Leave now and save yourselves or stay and die fighting a force you can't win against. Choose!" Cassandra backed away and the other Templars with her began to run.

"What are you?" The question came out in a whisper, but Leigh heard her.

"I am the just a mage who wants her freedom, her family and her life." Leigh lifted her hand and the house next to Cassandra exploded into timber. "We will not be bullied anymore. We will not be taken from our families anymore and we will not be slaves anymore!" Most of the Templars had run screaming by that point. If she was in the right mind she would admire the Seeker for her courage. Most people would have run by now, faced with a foe they could not hope to defeat. Leigh's eyes turned sad for a moment as she stared at the armored woman. In a soft voice that was a mix of hers and Mercy's she begged Cassandra to go. The Seeker nodded and ran after her men. Leigh waited til she could feel they were gone before letting her magic slip back into herself. She turned to see how Morrigan was and saw Anders closing the woman's eyes.

"She...she's gone."

"What? How?" Leigh ran and knelt next to the witch. She saw the wound was mostly closed, but the skin around it was very discolored. "That bastard poisoned his blade."

"He nicked her heart Leigh. If I had gotten to her sooner...I'm so sorry." Leigh let tears run down her cheeks, but harshly wiped them away. Now was not time to cry and mourn. She was here to get her daughter and to end the Divine's life. Leigh took off her cloak and laid it over the witch's body. It was almost funny to her how many times she had done this. How many people she had laid to rest or have died around her. Death was a part of her life just as much as magic was. She hated it. Hated that good people have died for nothing but pride and hatred.

"Maker take you into his arms Morrigan. I swear I will make your sacrifice mean something." Quickly she jumped to her feet and stormed off through the smoking village. The others followed quickly after her leaving Morrigan's body behind.

"Hawke wait!"

"What?" Fenris winced seeing the pure anger on Leigh's face. He had never seen her like this.

"We need a plan. We can't just march up there. What if there are more Templars?" Leigh's glare softened and she nodded her head. She knew he spoke the truth, but her heart was telling her to rush forward. They had already lost one of their group. Her head won over the throbbing of her heart. She was not willing to lose anyone else to her anger and fear.

"You're right. We need a diversion to see if we can flush the rest of them out. Any volunteers?"

OoO

Carver's arms felt like jelly. As soon as his army reached the River Dane the Orlesian were on them. That had been three days ago. The battles were going in his favor, but he had lost a lot of men. If it had not been for the Dalish and their army Ferelden would be over run. The Orlesians had retreated back across the river to lick their wounds giving his army time to rest and heal the wounded, count the dead. So many dead. He had never want to see this side of war again, but the Maker has seen fit that he did. Carver walked the encampment hearing men scream as the mages tried to heal their wounds. It was almost to much for him the bare.

"Carver!" Joy and anger swept over him as he saw his wife running through the camp. When she finally reached him he picked her up and crushed her too him.

"Ori, you shouldn't be here."

"I couldn't leave you to fight this alone."

"If something happens to you..." His wife made a face at him. He knew that look all to well and he braced for the dress down she was about to unleash.

"And what am I to do? Wait for you to come home. What if you don't? If I die then it will be here with you Carver Hawke. I will not sit by when I can help." Carver heard the sound of armored footfalls and looked up from his wife's face.

"You'd better just let her help son or she follow you to the Void if she has to. just to nag." A small group of Templars stood behind Ori, led by her father Ser Gregior. "We will lend what ever aid we can. The mages from Kinloch are also here to fight." Carver looked over and saw the mages running through the camp. The light from spells could be seen popping up here and there. Carver breathed a sigh of relief as the screams of the injured began to lessen.

"Seems they're helping already."

"Have you put a dent in their lines?" Carver motioned for his wife and her father to follow him to the war tent. Reports and maps were scattered on the wooden table and Nathaniel was leaning over it trying to make sense of it all. His wife Shyira was with him trying to help. The older man looked up from his parchment and smiled.

"Well?"

"From what our scouts can see the Orlesians are hurting far worse than we are. They have no mages to heal their wounded, no mages to throw spells to cover their men. With the addition of the knights and the mages for us we should be able to end this soon."

"How soon? Days, weeks?" Nathaniel shrugged.

"At best a day or two, at worst a week. They have no allies and are being hit from the back end by the Tevinter army. The word is the Empress is in hiding and most of her advisers are dead."

"Never thought I would see the day the Tevinters would be helping free people. Amazing isn't it?" Ori nodded at her father. She could see Carver more clearly in the candle light and could see he looked tired.

"Carver why don't you try to get some rest."

"I'm alright Ori," Nathaniel could see Carver was dead on his feet. He was thankful for the Grey Warden stamina even if the taint had been lifted from his blood. Somehow all of the good effects stayed and the bad were washed away.

"Carver go get some sleep, I can run things til you get up. A tired leader makes mistakes."

"Alright, thanks Nate. If anything should happen..."

"I'll come get you. This is your army Carver. I'm just here to help." The younger man smiled and took his wife's hand.

"Wake me at dawn." With that Carver led his wife to his tent. As much as her presence worried him, he was glad she had come to help. It hurt seeing Nathaniel and his wife standing together and he was there without his other half.

"Are you still mad I came?" Carver quickly took off his armor and wrapped his arms around Ori's thin frame.

"No, I am glad really. I hated leaving you behind. We have been together since Ostagar, it just didn't seem right you not being at my side." Ori turned in his arms and faced him. A loving smile graced her lips and she buried her face against his broad chest.

"Any news?"

"No, but if I know my sister she has that bitch cornered by now. Leigh is not one to sit back and let what the Divine did slide. I pity the woman really."

"She deserves what she gets. This has gone on too long." Carver let Ori go, but held on to her hand. This might be his last night on Thedas with his wife and he was not going to waste it. "Carver?"

"I've missed you and want to make this a night to remember."

"Then we should waste no more time with talk then." Carver leaned down and kissed her passionately. He lead her back to the furs that made his bed and watched her blow out the candles that lined his small table.

OoO

Leigh let out a inhuman roar as she charged one of the Templars that was guarding the Chantry in Haven. The man did not even get a chance to draw his sword before he was on the ground dead. The other Templars closed ranks in front of the Divine with weapons drawn. Their faces hidden by their helms, but Leigh knew they were afraid. Anders stepped over the dead knight and took his place next to his wife. Sebastian was the last to enter the room and took his place next to Anders. Sebastian scanned the room in search of his daughter, but could see no sign of her or Cullen. His gaze met Leigh's and he shook his head. The Divine rose from her throne and walked to the end of the raised dais.

"Welcome." Leigh took one step forward her eyes glowing red and the Templars took a step back.

"Where is my daughter?!" The older woman smiled and motioned for her guards to stand down.

"She is safe for now. It is up to you if you want her to stay that way. She is an apostate and it is our right to take her to be trained." Anders' hands balling into fists and his skin began to crack open letting blue light spill from it.

"You have not right demon! She is a child and innocent in all this! You want a prisoner you should have taken one that could fight back, you bloody coward!" The smile on the Divine's face faltered a bit, but she recovered quickly.

"What stories you tell. If there is a demon in this room it is you mage." Anders took a step to charge forward, but Sebastian caught his arm. "I know who you are. You are the one who destroyed the Chantry in Kirkwall. You are a murderer and will pay for what you have done." Leigh placed a calming hand on her husband's chest and turned to face the Divine.

"He did not kill anyone. It is you who pay for what you have done Strife. You have more blood on your hands than he ever will." Shock shone in the older woman's eyes.

"What did you call me?" Leigh grinned.

"I called you Strife. I know what you are, what you have done and I will not let you get away with this any longer. You persecuted mages, killed Andraste's daughters and now because you are losing your control over Thedas you decide to kidnap people." The Templars turned their heads and saw the Divine's pious facade fail. Rage shone in her face as well as fear.

"How do you know that name?! Who are you?"

"You never found this place did you? The only reason you know it was here was because of Brother Genitivi, but the Wardens had already searched the place. They found ancient scrolls written by the very people you feared. I think you know the rest. The Wardens gave the scrolls to a sister who deciphered it. When she sent a copy of the text to you, you had her marked for death. You picked the wrong group of assassins to do it. You see they group in Ferelden was led by the very Warden who gave the scroll to the sister. Must have really made you angry when you found out they failed the contract or should I say refused to take the orders."

"Quite a story Serah Hawke, but I don't see how..."

"You don't see how I know what you are. Oh that is another story and I want to see if you can figure it out on your own. I want my daughter back now and maybe I will give you a quick death!" Leigh drew her daggers and took a menacing step forward. Half the Templars moved to protect the Divine, but the others did not move. The Divine growled in rage and screamed orders to the men before backing up. Even with the odds against them the three did not back down. They had to buy time for the rest of their group. Leigh just hoped they were having more luck than they were.

OoO

Bethany hurled a fire ball at a group of Templars. Their screams died out as Fenris and Isabela cut through them as they burned. The three of them searched the mountain caves for the dungeons that held Cullen and Meghan. It helped they had gotten detailed maps and descriptions from both Ashlyn and Leliana. Isabela pulled the map out and checked their position.

"Maker there are a lot of tunnels in this place." Bethany paced in annoyance behind the pirate queen wanting nothing more than to just find the man she loves and her niece. "It looks like we are here. Ashlyn said there were pens back up that path. They were used to keep drakes and baby dragons. Maybe they were converted to holding cells." Fenris nodded and began heading in the direction of the pens.

"Worth a look." A shrill scream echoed in the caves making the three jump. "That sounded like a child." Bethany broke out into a dead run followed closely by the elf and the pirate. Isabela shared a worried look with Fenris as they ran. Both knowing that there was only one person that could have made that scream.

"Meghan."

OoO

Cullen placed himself between Leigh's child and the Templars that were now in front of the cell they were held in. Their leader was a man Cullen knew well enough from his days in the Tower. He made Ser Alrik look like a kitten. Rolen and Addler had been his friends and Cullen knew this man would love nothing more than to take out his hatred of mages of the child behind him. The click of the lock made Cullen stiffen his stance as Meghan screamed in fear.

"You should have joined us Cullen." The man sneered showing broken yellow teeth.

"I would rather die than become what you are Ciro. I will not let you anywhere near this girl." Ciro let out a dark laugh and motioned for his men to move Cullen away. The first Templar made the mistake of not having his weapon ready and in hand. Cullen lunged forward slamming his elbow into the man's nose and spun around to take the Templar's sword. Being armed made him feel a little better, but he really wished he had his armor. Ciro grit his teeth in anger at the Templar as he stumbled backwards bleeding from his nose. With a quick motion Ciro slit the man's throat for his mistake.

"You sodding fool!" Cullen heard Meghan whimper at the site of the man's blood gushing from his body.

"You bastard! He did not deserve that!"

"Blame yourself Cullen. If you had just handed over that creature and died quietly he would still be alive." The other Templar had her sword drawn and made a quick move forward only to turn and run Ciro through. Shock plain on the man's face as she twisted the blade to do as much damage as she could. Cullen grabbed Meghan and shielded her from the sight.

"It's alright Meghan, just keep your eyes shut sweetheart." A heavy thud made Cullen look back at the woman. Ciro was dead, but his face was still twisted in fear and pain. From the amount of blood this killing was meant to cause pain. Cullen placed Meghan on the ground and turned to face he Templar. At this point he was not sure if she was friend or foe.

"I have waited years to do that." The woman yanked the helmet off her head and threw it aside. Dark hair fell back down to lay at her shoulders and bright eyes shined up at Cullen.

"Miranda!?" She went to take a step forward, but Cullen made a threatening move with his sword. He still remembered how she tricked him so they could capture him. "Don't you dare take a step closer. Miranda put her hands up and back off a few steps.

"Please let me explain." She moved slowly to take the armor she had on off. Under it was her Circle robes and Cullen noticed it was in tatters. She noticed his appraising gaze and sighed sadly. "They broke me. I will not go into detail since Meghan is here, but it was far worse than anything that I had ever endured. As soon as I was broken they forced me into the fade so I could be taken over by a demon."

"I guessed that much. Your eyes...but your body did not become twisted."

"The spirit I met in the Fade was not a demon. She...it's hard to explain. She is not whole, just a whisper of what she use to be. Even as weak as she was she shielded me from the demons until another woman came and healed my broken soul. She told me what I had to do to end this. All of us had to be here Cullen. Eight must stand together or it will never end. I knew it was dangerous to work both sides, but I had to. Please believe me. This nightmare has to end." In the back of his head Cullen heard Valor whisper. His arm dropped letting the sword tip touch the ground in peace, instead of up in aggression. Meghan smiled up at Miranda before running into the woman's arms.

"I missed you Mimi." Tears streaked down the older mage's cheeks as she hugged the little girl tightly.

"I missed you too little one. I'm sorry, so very sorry you have to be here."

"It's okay. We will win." Cullen heard the sound of running feet coming down the hallway. He moved to the door and nearly fell to his knees. Bethany threw herself into his arms and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "See." Miranda let out a small laugh and nodded to the girl. Isabela quirked her eyebrow up at Miranda when she saw the woman.

"Aren't you on their side?" Fenris' tattoos glowed, but Meghan held up her hand to stop his move forward.

"I would have been if not for some help." Bethany let herself shift back a bit to look at her cousin.

"Help?"

"Spirit help."

"Maker not you too." Miranda shrugged her shoulders and Meghan giggled. "Then why did you kidnap Cullen and Meghan?"

"All of us had to be here to end this. Compassion, Justice, Valor, Faith, Hope, Purity, Fortitude and lastly Courage. We can't lose this time. If we do it is over for mages. She will end us all if she wins just to stop someone from being born like Leigh, like Meghan. I had to make her think I was possessed by a demon. She is arrogant and could not help boasting about how Leigh could never beat her. That she was the Maker's chosen child and not even his daughters could stop her. She wanted Leigh here so she could kill her."

"Then we'd better get back to the others. Leigh is down at the Chantry buying us time to get here." Miranda nodded and rose to her feet. Her eyes fell to Ciro's body and she smiled.

"I have an idea."