"Yes, that is your Grey Warden." The raspy voice came from behind a cluster of typical darkspawn as a large, pale Genlock pushed its way to the forefront while focusing on Izarre specifically. "The Mother told it to me that if he was lured to this place, and slain, that in time you would come."

"All this for us?" Anders mocked as he stood by his leader's side. "How sweet."

"We've got ourselves an admirer," Oghren snorted as he moved to stand by his friends as well with Nathaniel close behind. "An ugly one."

"And the Mother, she was right. The Mother is always right."

"Who is this Mother?" asked the Commander as he took another step forward, having to strain his neck to look up at the painted-faced monster imposing over him.

"The Mother is she that sent me, she that wished you to come. To here, this place. I, here before you, is the First, and I am bringing to you a message."

"At least, you're not offering speech lessons!" joked the Blond and elbowed his Rogue partner to laugh along only to be stared at. "You get it, right? Because of how it talks?"

"Ugh…Quiet," Nathaniel shushed instead.

"The Mother, she is not permitting you to further his plan, whether this you know or not. She is sending you a gift." Holding out its hand, a green orb floated above an armored palm. The light was dim, at first, but rapidly become more and more intense as the air vacuumed around it. Both mages cries out as their energies began to rip from their bodies, while Nathaniel and Oghren felt it as if their souls were being sucked dry with an overwhelming sensation of flesh being torn from bones. In a flash, the green glow turned to a burning white, blinding darkspawn and Wardens alike.

When the pain subsided, Izarre instantly realized where they were. The air was heavy and made his nostrils tingle with every breath. His eyes attempted to focus, but the thick fog only revealed what it wanted him to see. The stone floor under their feet was twisted, his body felt as if it could float away, yet sink into the ground at any moment, and the quietness was unnaturally void of any sound. This was the Fade, but not of his own making. No, this was someone else's nightmare. Anders seemed to realize it as well and pushed himself to stand while gaining his bearings, however he was genuinely surprised to see the Howe and the Dwarf there. "You two actually made it to the Fade? What the bloody hell did we get hit with?" Turning around, the younger of the two mages stared at the stunned Genlock responsible for all of this.

"No!" It cried out after managing to stand while looking bewildered. "We have come to the Fade as well? It cannot be this!"

"What have you done to us?!" Izarre yelled more furious than concerned.

"This was not as she said! I am betrayed!"

"Ha!" Oghren laughed. "Could never trust my mother either."

"Now I am being trapped in the Fade with you! Ah, I am the fool!"

"Someone's expendable," hummed Anders.

"No!" Stomping around, it continued to bellyache. "I am the First! I am not being expendable! Both the Grey Warden and the Mother shall be learning this! I will be leaving you to the Children. I will be finding my own path back into the world! Back to the Mother!" With that, it ran off into the abyss as more of the insect-like creatures hatched from emerging egg pods. Pacing in pure rage, an echoing battle cry was roared as Izarre punched the ground with both fists. As the new breed of crawlers closed in, everything underneath the Warden's feet froze over. Instantly, the bugs and their pods were immobilized. A second punch to the ice forced them to shatter into tiny, white bits of vanishing crystal. As if they had passed the first phase of a gauntlet, the ghostly fog crept back to reveal several pathways ahead, but the spell had taken its toll. Taking a shaky step, Izarre attempted to walk, but fell to a knee where he struggled to breathe.

With a patient sigh, Anders kneeled down close by to put a cupped, gold-glowing hand to the pink, parted lips. Soft, yellow swirls were breathed in by the young man, slowing the wheezing down. "You can't do that sort of magic without knowing how to control your output," the more experienced Healer explained. "The Fade will quickly drain you if you aren't careful. It's the price paid by mages who find newfound strength here. Remember your true limits."

"…Thank you," Izarre said as he steadied himself while looking to Anders as a fledgling student would look to a wise tutor, but his attention was taken away when he heard a familiar screech overhead. On a branch of a twisted dead tree, a large, red bird called out to him a second time before taking off down one of the available paths. Narrowing his eyes and with his stamina returned, he took off running after it. Anders seemed to see…something…as well. A glint of light, perhaps? The fluttering of long robes in the wind? Whatever it was, neither of the other two Wardens reacted until their leader ran away since they hadn't seen or heard anything else.

"Wait!" Nathaniel called out. "Balls! Come on! Move those short legs of yours!" Stopping at another crossroads, the bird overheard landed on top of a new branch with its gaze fixated on a pair of Desire demons channeling their energies at a focusing pillar similar to what Izarre saw in the Circle tower. With the rest of his party finally catching up to him, he pointed to their targets.

"We need to kill those," he said without much explaining. "Ready?"

"Ready? We can't just…! Oy!" But Nathaniel's warning came too late as Izarre had already begun his charge. Naturally, Oghren was happy to follow and gained the lead with his broad-axe in hand. The first strike landed between the plump, lavender bosoms of the first demon as if he had aimed there intentionally to miss striking anywhere else. Anders had attempted to attack the other, but she vanished in a puff of black smoke only to reemerge from behind with a hand on his lower back and the other gently caressing under his chin.

"You want," she cooed into his ear. "So badly do you want, yet cannot have. Do you truly wish for a princess?" There was a pause as her gold eyes closed and her hand slid from his face down his chest into his robes. "Or yet, a prince?" spoke in a more masculine voice as the body gripping the Mage warped to display a different gender. There was a stiffness now which rubbed against Anders' backside as the pillow-like breasts retreated to a favor a flat, yet firm chest. When it pulled away to turn the Mage to face it, a sword came through its belly. The tip of the blade barely missed the mildly-intrigued Warden as his Commander ran it through. Leaning back against its killer, the now male form of Desire smiled. "Unobtainable. Hopeless. I could have helped you." As the entity faded away, Izarre seemed puzzled.

"What was that about?" he asked as Anders adjusted his practically opened coat.

"I don't know, really. Damn thing tried to seduce me with thoughts on cute cats and Templars in their skivvies, I think. Stopped caring after the cats though," he shrugged making sure to tuck himself away in more intimate places before a glint in the trees above beamed like a ray of sunshine piercing through leaves directly into his eyes. "What the bloody hells is that thing?" Looking surprised, Izarre turned to Anders in bewilderment.

"You can see it? The bird?"

"Are you seeing a bird? Really?" Looking up a second time, his eyes were only burned again. "No…I see…light. There as well," he pointed in the distance. And there, there….and there…?"

"They must be trail markers then," Izarre surmised even if he didn't see them himself. "Take the lead then. I trust you."

"You…trust me? Why?"

"Don't be stupid. You're one of us and the bird seems to agree."

"…So you trust that some mage seeing sparkles and a bird, which only you can see by the way, will lead us somewhere other than to our deaths?" wearily asked Nathaniel, but accompanied them just the same. "Oh, look. More demons. Why am I not surprised?" Indeed, there were more forms of Desire, as well as Rage, protecting the remaining focusing pillars. When the final pedestal was dispelled, the red animal jubilated before flying off into the fog. As its wings beat against the clouds, a new path emerged and the haze lifted to reveal a hidden town in the distance. "So this is what the Blackmarsh used to look like then? All those people…Do you believe they are here as well?" Izarre shrugged, fixated instead on one of those missing residents sitting by the shore who spoke without moving at all as if her voice was trapped within a living statue.

"No! Please!" she screamed with red tears leaking from unblinking eyes. "My lady! Have mercy! No! No!" The shrill voice echoed as the woman exploded into a massive geyser of blood only to reform and repeat her torturous wailing seconds later.

"Walking around in a magical dream village," Oghren grumbled as he shook his head. "I've had enough of this touchy-feely head-trip." Upon closing in on the massive, crumbling wall surrounding the hamlet, they spotted yet another young woman praying at a worn headstone, but the bird leading the Wardens through the Fade stopped to perch nearby as if ready to attack.

"Something…is wrong with her face," Izarre whispered to Anders, but the Mage looked again.

"She's not your type then? Fair enough."

"No, it's…shattered. Distorted. Broken."

"Broken? I don't see any injuries."

"You," she interrupted politely. "You're not a spirit like everyone else. How did you get here?"

"I could ask you the same question," Izarre muttered as he kept his distance and radiated distrust with his hand locked around Anders' forearm to keep his friend close.

"This is where my grandfather's ashes are buried. I come to visit him often. He was the last person to stay in Blackmarsh. Once he passed, there was nobody left in the village who remembered." Lowering her head, she looked as if she were about to weep to everyone else, but her appearance remained twisted and warped with black swirls in Izarre's eyes.

"Remembered what exactly?" Nathaniel asked as he lowered his defenses to offer a sympathetic ear.

"Remembered what happened to the village, of course. It was full of people, once." There was an expression of anger and grief as she continued to speak. "Then that evil woman came and changed everything! She…Oh no! They've come back again! Quick, hide in the crypt!" Upon hearing the snapping of bones, Izarre turned to see corpses rise from the gloom with weapons in hand. Putting his bow away, Nathaniel opted to use daggers at close-range to fight much more like his deceased father. Ignoring the enemies entirely, the younger Mage released his hold on Anders and left his group, disappearing into the open gravesite. Anders' fire thoroughly disintegrated the rotting zombies and he hurried to catch up. While he didn't know exactly where his Commander had run off to, it was easy to follow the remains of other risen bodies and frost blasts along the walls.

"Tell me who you are!" Izarre's voice echoed from a room. "Tell me what you are! Why don't you have a face?!"

"To think; my entire existence, I have sought a mortal mage to possess, and now one walks right into my lair." Frowning, the Warden took a step back with his family's sword tightly gripped.

"...Possess? You're a demon then? Is that why I cannot see your facade? But Anders is also a mage, so why…?" The screeching of the red hawk which had also tagged along interrupted his train of thought.

"Quiet, Spirit!" the demon yelled at it. "You cannot save him!"

"Spirit?" Looking even more baffled, the Commander turned to Anders for confirmation. "Are spirits large, annoying birds?" Having no idea, Anders replied with a quick shoulder bop.

"…We should probably kill the demon and worry about how to get out of this place first." Having a difficult time finding an argument against such logic, Izarre gripped his weapon even tighter and took a defensive stance in preparation for the demon's attack, but five arrows zipped past his ears. Each punctured a vital part of the distorted demon's midsection, throat, and lastly, one into the forehead as the visage was dropped entirely to reveal the Shade underneath.

"You two really need to stop leaving us behind," Nathaniel scolded with a disapproving tone.

"..Apologies," Izarre stammered, still surprised at how accurate the shots were. Overhead, the stalking animal seemed to flap its wings in approval and flew off again to the center area of the crypt before turning into a newly created tunnel. At the end was a partially opened doorway which led to the gates of the phantasmal town.

"Halt!" a guard called out to the approaching Wardens. "Who enters the Blackmarsh?"

"Is this…still considered the Blackmarsh?" Howe asked with a cocked eyebrow. The guard seemed to be surprised at the question and racked his mind for an answer.

"I…I don't know. We've been here so long, at her mercy. I almost forget what it was like, before. Ah, but wait! There is a spirit that's come to free us. Perhaps you could help him? If only that were possible…" Izarre made a face at the mention and again turned to Anders for clarification.

"Ah, right," the Blond sputtered. "Spirits are…what demons used to be…or something. We should probably see what it's doing here."

"The only spirits I care about only come in a bottle," Oghren grumbled and readied his axe for any sort of magical treachery. Further in was an angry mob shouting at the massive double-gates of the estate safe within. While their voices protested their confinement, there was a certain warrior who stood out from the rest. In shimmering, translucent armor, a spirit of Justice took charge of the outcry.

"The mansion will not protect you, fiend! Come out and face your crime!"

"The witch hides!" yelled a battle-ready maiden. "Break down the door!"

"Be cautious, my friends," Justice turned to warn his flock. "The Baroness has power within her lair, and she well knows it. We rush in at our peril." Pushing past the protestors, Izarre closed in on Justice, yet maintained a respectful distance. "And who comes now? More minions of the Baroness? Or yet more helpless souls she has tormented?" Taking a step back, the Commander frowned.

"Do I look like a helpless soul?" he grunted in offence.

"No, that you do not," the Spirit spoke with some degree of apology. "I am Justice. I have watched this place and seethed at the wrongs visited on these poor folk, and now I seek to aid them."

"Once, we lived in the real world," a weary mother spoke. "And the Baroness ruled over us. She took our children and used their blood to work dark and evil magic." As her eyes filled with water, another took over telling the story.

"And when we burned down her mansion, she cast one final spell that brought our spirits here. We have been trapped ever since, still under her rule."

"This Spirit knows the Fade," Nathaniel whispered to his leader. "If we help him, he might help us in return."

"But I think that since the Baroness trapped these people here, that's she our best chance of getting out," Anders rebutted.

"We need to find a way of the Fade," Izarre agreed with them both while looking new entity in front of him over.

"Ah," Justice responded with patience in his voice. "I see. You come from the realm of mortals, as these fine people once did. Was it the Baroness who brought you here, as well?"

"No, it was darkspawn…"

"Then the injustice of your own situation underscores why these people must be avenged. These men and women are dead, yet their spirits remain trapped by the vanity of this sorceress." This was not the answer the Warden wanted to hear and he frowned while folding his arms over his chest. "I do not know how to cross the Veil back into your world. Should you aid us now, however, I promise that I will help you in your search." Looking around, Izarre took in his options. There were people here who had been trapped longer than most books cared to remember and it tugged a bit on his heartstrings, something he was sure to be Alistair's influence.

"Fine, fine. We'll help you," he caved and swore he heard Justice smirking underneath his helmet.

"Then we have the numbers to challenge the baroness directly! You have the heart of a true and righteous king!"

"Ooh!" Oghren also grinned deviously. "A direct challenge! I like the sound of that. Less talk, more killing!"

"But they just said she's an evil, powerful witch! Do we really want to antagonize her?" whined Anders before his eyes fixed on his attractive, budding new Apprentice.

"We could defeat her and make her use her magic to help us," Izarre easily wooed him over with a simple scratch to a rough cheek. Shaking off the shiver in his spine, reluctance towards the new plan was replaced with a more enthusiastic grin.

"Hmm. Now there's a thought…all right. You've convinced me."

"Why am I not surprised?" eye-rolled Nathaniel as he readied his bow.

"My intention is to storm the gate," Justice cut the Warden's dialogs short. "Are you ready?" Izarre nodded at the question and the Spirit clenched his fist. "Good people, we take the battle directly to the Witch! For too long have her crimes gone unpunished! Now is the time to reclaim your freedom!" Impressively, Justice kicked the barred gates open before leading the charge where the Baroness stood on her balcony.

"My, my," she hissed with a smirk across her moistened ruby lips. "All that shouting outside and you've finally decided to barge in? Without even a proper invitation?"

"Foul Sorceress! You will release these poor folk and submit yourself to justice!"

"Justice? Is that what you're calling it? What of their punishment, burning my home to the ground and me within it?"

"Because you were stealing our children!" a guard protested. "Using their blood to feed your vanity!"

"As was my due! You lived on my land, I, your rightful ruler! Your blood was mine just as your lives are now!"

"How is it you created this?" shouted Izarre as he pushed to the front of the crowd. "How do you remain?" Overhead, he saw his guardian fly to land on top of the manor's roof. He also noticed how it caught the glare of both the Spirit and the Witch.

"Pesky thing!" the Baroness yelled to it before returning her scowl to the Commander. "What's this? The pathetic fools have managed to recruit yet more sympathizers?"

"We are no longer alone!" Justice asserted. "Your reign ends here!"

"As it happens, I am no longer alone either." It was then when the talking darkspawn emerged from the shadows, immediately catching glower from the Wardens below.

"My path back across the Veil lies in victory over you and your new allies. Then the Mother will pay for her treachery!"

"You should choose your pets more carefully," Izarre mocked as the betrayed First leapt to the ground.

"Instead I should have chosen you, mortal?" she said in a snit.

"We must be ending this! Now! The Grey Warden, it is more dangerous than you know." To this Izarre grinned and took a few steps back.

"Nathaniel?

"Yes, Commander?"

"Do you have a line of sight?"

"I do, Commander."

"Take the shot." Manifesting an icicle dagger, Izarre hurled it into the First's chest. The arrow from the Rogue was aimed at the Baroness's head, but a summoned Ash spawned in front before it could reach its mark.

"The battle is joined!" Justice rallied the townsfolk who also began to bombard the balcony with arrows of their own as Izzare went head-to-head with his prey. Anders stood back to cast a protection spell over the group as more demons were summoned into the melee. Oghren charged at whatever he could while Nathaniel provided cover with thrown knives and other projectiles ranging from even more arrows to poisonous grenades. Continuing his relentless attack against his own enemy, the small Mage continued to fight with a fierceness he had become infamous for.

Using his size to his advantage, he managed to avoid many swings from a heavy sword or reflected them to knock the creature off-balance to stay within striking range, slicing at its stomach and groin. As a coup-de-grace, the monster's face was grabbed to freeze its head in an attempt to snap it off entirely, but Izarre was forced to jump away to avoid another attack which could have severed off his arm. Not fast enough, it still managed to make a sizeable wound. Still, his magic had enough time to spread over half of the Darkspawn's face and shattered the flesh there revealing skull bone.

"They are too much!" it screamed to the Witch still watching from her post. "It must be sending me back through the Veil! Now, before it is too late!"

"Oh, I will sunder the Veil all right! I'll send them all back! But you…your life is going to provide the power!"

"No! No!" the First cried out as its body was torn apart. A flash of light blinded the Wardens as they abruptly found themselves feeling suffocated and gasping for air. It was Izarre who woke up first on the cold, wet ground of Blackmarsh in the real world and his party began to awaken shortly after. They all cursed and groaned from being covered in mud, their heads spinning from the dizzying trip.

"Is that was it feels like for a mage every time?" grunted Nathaniel as he pushed himself to stand and looked to help Anders to his feet.

"Not every time, no," the Blond responded with a laugh. "A bit like popping your cherry!" He then noticed the Commander holding a bleeding arm while staring completely petrified as the body of the slain Warden began to move on its own.

"What…where am I?" the Spirit trapped within the corpse asked as he also stood. "What is happening?" Taking a few steps, he stumbled over rocks and dirt. "No! This is the world of mortals, beyond the Veil! And this…this is a mortal body of flesh! I am trapped with!" Anders took Izarre's injured arm in hand to heal the fresh wound as he watched Justice in his state of panic with only one thing to say.

"Well, shit."