They journeyed deeper into the nightmares lair, and they came across a tall pillar. Maxwell approached it, feeling it calling to him somehow...
"Bring forth the sacrifice," Corypheus' voice spoke. Suddenly they were all thrown into Max's memories...
The Divine was being held by what looked like Warden mages, "Now is the hour of our victory." Corypheus stepped forwards.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked.
"Keep the sacrifice still," He said, holding the orb Solas had told them about.
The orb glowed in a greenish light that matched the light that was emitted from Max's mark.
"Someone help me!" Justinia cried.
Suddenly the door flew open and Max entered, "What's going on here?!" He cried.
Divine Justinia took Corypheus' distraction as an opportunity, and she smacked the orb from his hand. It rolled to Max where he picked it up, immediately he was in pain, and then there was an explosion.
They then saw Max climbing up a sheer slope, spiderlings on his tail.
The Divine was already at the top, "Hurry! The Demons!" She called to him, reaching out her hand. He was just close enough to take it and pull himself up. They both began to run towards the rift, Max pulled ahead of the Divine slightly, and as he was within reach of the rift she screamed.
He turned and grabbed her arm before the demons could pull her away, "Go." The Divine was ripped away from his grasp. He stared after her in shock for a moment before turning and running through the rift.
...
Suddenly everyone stumbled backwards and were released from the memory.
"Maker help us, was that..." Alistair started.
"That was how I escaped, I could never remember, but now..." Max stopped, "I could have saved her."
"No, Max." Evelyn put a hand on his shoulder, "And she knew that."
Max nodded grimly. The Divine, or... whatever she was, appeared once again.
"You have weakened the nightmare, facing your fears is the only way to do so. Each of you has a fear to face, do so and it will no longer have any control over you. It knows you are here now, be wary..." She disappeared.
Hawke nodded slowly, "So all we need to do is face our fears? That doesn't seem too hard."
"Really? What if we see a giant spider?" Varric asked.
"That was uncalled for," Hawke said.
"Sure Hawke, sure."
The group continued on the path until they heard a menacing voice, the nightmare. "You do not fear me?" It asked and then chuckled, "Maybe I should be the one afraid of you. You are the most powerful members of the Inquisition after all, like you Blackwall. There's nothing like a Grey Warden, and you are nothing like a Grey Warden." The voice stopped as they came across a plateau of sorts.
It was a graveyard, Evelyn thought it simply symbolized death, but upon seeing Blackwall's reaction to it she realized it meant much more. There were names and dates on the stones, Evelyn noticed that they were all men's names and that the dates placed the oldest of them at about 30 years and the youngest at 17.
"Who are these people?" Evelyn asked Blackwall.
"Men I lead into battle, they are dead because of me," Blackwall said.
"We can't control who lives and who dies Warden Blackwall, it's a part of life, it's a part of battle," Alistair said.
Blackwall sighed and looked around, "I know my demons, and they don't scare me."
Evelyn nodded and smiled at him, Max clapped him on the shoulder. "We have to get moving."
They walked for a little while longer until the voice spoke again, "Are you afraid Cole, I can help you forget. Just like you help other people. We're so very much alike you and I."
Cole looked around them, "No I'm not!" He cried.
"Is that what you tell yourself, that you're not a demon?" It asked.
Cole looked terrified, and Evelyn intervened, "He's not!" She shouted.
"And how would you know, Mage."
"Because he has a soul, and you do not," Evelyn said, and Cole looked at her in surprise. The voice laughed but did not respond. "Come on, let's keep moving."
They rounded a corner and saw that there were two pride demons ahead, everyone drew their swords, but then Evelyn spoke, "Wait a second, I want to try something." Max looked at her in confusion, but put his sword back in its sheath. "Just wait here, I'll call if I need help." Evelyn slipped off around the corner, moving quietly and hiding behind rocks. It had been about a minute when suddenly there was a large explosion. Max and the others drew their swords and ran around the corner, only to see Evelyn, unharmed, standing over the demon's bodies.
Hawke looked bewildered, "What did you do?" He asked her.
"Well, in theory, a mage has powers because of their connection to the fade, but since I'm here physically..." Evelyn smiled, "It took a few tries to really tap into the energy, but now..."
"You're all powerful. Brilliant!" Alistair exclaimed.
"Sheesh Shorty, like you weren't enough already. Dorian's going to be jealous," Varric said.
"No," Max spoke, "Solas will be jealous."
The group laughed, minus Alistair and Hawke, who had no idea what they were talking about.
"Impressive mage, but do you really think it'll be enough to stop me?" The nightmare asked.
"I sure think so yes," Alistair said.
"Ah the Warden, I nearly forgot," The nightmare spoke, "Did the King's bastard really think he could prove himself? It's far too late for that. Your whole life you've left everything to far more capable hands. The Archdemon, the throne of Ferelden. Who will you hid behind now that your precious Elissa is not here?" It asked mockingly.
"Well, behind her I suppose," Alistair said and gestured to Evelyn, who laughed, "That wasn't really too bad, I've heard worse from Morrigan."
"Is this all we have to do to face our fears?" Max asked, "It seems too easy."
"Well, never say never," Varric said.
They had been moving for some time and had just killed a group of spiderlings when the voice spoke again.
"Once again Hawke is in danger because of you Varric. You found the Red Lyrium, you brought Hawke here," It said.
They then came across another plane, on that looked startlingly familiar to the members of the party that had been to Kirkwall.
"Is this?" Evelyn asked.
"I think so..." Hawke replied.
"What's going on?" Max asked.
"It's Kirkwall, or the Gallows anyways," Varric said.
"It looks worse than I remember it," Hawke said, and Evelyn shook her head.
"Did you think you mattered Hawke? Did you think anything you ever did mattered?" The nightmare spoke, "You couldn't even save your city, how could you expect to strike down a god." It paused, "Fenris is going to die, just like your family and everyone you ever cared about."
Hawke grit his teeth, "Of course a fear demon would know where to hit us, we have to ignore it."
Evelyn saw a glint of something in the black dust and walked over to it. It was a sword, she could barely pick it up it was so heavy, but when she did she saw an engraving on it. She dropped the sword and took a step back.
"What's that?" Max asked.
"It's Cullen's," Evelyn replied, "He lost it here, in the Gallows."
"I remember that. He made some poor boy give him another one so that he could help us find Meredith," Hawke recalled. "How did he lose it?"
"He dropped it..." Evelyn said, but her voice echoed strangely and they were all thrust into a memory.
...
"Quickly! This way!" Evelyn shouted. She was on a horse and had ridden into the Gallows just as the fighting begun, "I'll cover you!" Several of the younger mages from the circle took up her offer and ran to her, while many of the older ones wanted to stay and fight.
"What do we do Mistress Enchanter?" One of the young girls asked her, she looked to be only five or six years old.
"You see those trees?" Evelyn asked and pointed behind her, they nodded, "I've marked a safe path through the woods and to a river. If you follow the river a days walk east you'll come across a town. You'll be safe there for a while. If I can I'll come back and help you there, wait one day and if I don't return then go due south." Evelyn handed the oldest among them a bag of coin, "Use this to board a ship that will take you to Ferelden."
Evelyn turned and was about to join the fight when one of the little ones spoke, "Misstress Enchanter, I'm scared."
Evelyn knelt down, "I know Lily, I know. I am too, but if you follow your friends and stay together, then you'll be alright."
"Do you promise?" She asked.
Evelyn nodded, "I promise." She turned to the oldest ones, "Go now and do not come back." They nodded and ran off in the direction that she had pointed.
Evelyn looked ahead grimly, mages and Templars alike were being killed in droves. She helped the younger mages, the ones who did not want this fight and sent them along the same way she had sent the others.
Across the battlefield, someone saw her. It was Cullen.
Evelyn was checking the pulse of one of the teenaged mages she had found laying on the ground. Her eyes closed in sadness, and when she opened them she saw Cullen.
She stood, "I thought I told you to leave," He asked slightly menacingly.
"I did, but I had to come back. They're killing children Cullen. This isn't alright, nothing about this is alright. Come with me, you can help protect the ones I've..." Evelyn trailed off noticing the dark look on Cullen's face, and the blood dripping from his sword. "Cullen, whatever's happened-"
"Don't try to trick me into helping you!" Cullen said angrily, "I know what your kind is capable of!" He raised his sword, and Evelyn quickly put up a shield in response.
Cullen kept swinging, and slowly the shield was breaking, cracks formed and grew and grew, until...
Her shield broke, and it sent her stumbling backwards, tripping over a body. She fell onto her back but then sat up to face him.
"Cullen please," She said, hoping her voice would be enough to change his mind, but as he raised his sword again she knew it wouldn't be, "Cullen," She said one last time, she shut her eyes.
Cullen's face changed from maniac rage to horror. He dropped the sword and shook his head. He took a few steps back, "I-no..." He turned and ran away.
Evelyn opened her eyes and saw Cullen's retreating form, and the sword lying in the blood-stained dirt. She stood and looked around, the tower was on fire, many of the mages had fallen, she had done all she could and now it was time to leave.
She ran towards the woods and followed the marked path, leaving them behind in case any other mages she had told would change their mind. When she reached the river she saw the children drinking and washing the blood clean from their clothes and hair.
"Mistress Enchanter!" The little girl from before cried. She ran up to her and hugged her around the waist. Evelyn wanted to cry, but she knew she had to be strong from them.
The two oldest came up to her and handed the money back, "Did everyone make it here okay?" Evelyn asked.
"Yes, but we don't have many," one of the boys said.
Evelyn shook her head, "I don't think we'll get any more, waiting here would just leave us exposed. I sent a few others after you, did they get here?"
The boys shared a confused glance, "No, no ones come up the path except you and us."
"Then where-" Evelyn was cut off by an arrow impaling the boy right in the neck, spraying blood onto Evelyn and the other mage.
The children screamed and Evelyn reacted quickly, "Quickly come here!" She shouted. All of them gathered close, and Evelyn cast a barrier around them all. There were several moments of nothing, no noise, no arrows. Then men started to come out of the forest, there were many, at least thirty.
"What do you want from us?!" Evelyn cried.
"What do we want?" The apparent leader asked, "Blood."
The men closed in on the barriers edges, one of them made the mistake of touching it. He screamed in agony, it had burned him.
"Stay back boys, we can wait, but how long can they?" The man taunted.
The older boy turned to Evelyn, "How long can you hold this up?"
Evelyn didn't respond but just stared at the leader. "These are children. If you want to kill me fine, I'll let you, but they have done nothing to anyone."
"Yet," He said, "Mages, you're so powerful, but also unpredictable, uncontrollable. You can't be allowed to run free on this Earth, none of you."
Evelyn turned to the boy, "I'm going to leave the barrier and fight, prepare the children to run, I won't last long but I will try to get as many of them as I can," she whispered.
"What about the barrier?" The boy whispered back.
"I'm leaving it up around you, but it'll take a lot of my strength to do so. Once I fall so will the barrier," Evelyn explained.
The boy looked unconvinced, "Can't we just wait them out?"
"I can't hold it for that long," Evelyn said. She handed him the money, "Follow the plan, don't stay anywhere for too long. If you can make it to Ferelden... I hope you'll be safe."
The boy nodded and knelt beside the children explaining the plan, then Evelyn walked out.
She took them off guard and managed to kill several of them right off the bat with a fireball. The rest were trickier. She blocked most the arrows coming through with a wall of ice, but it soon broke, leaving her right side exposed.
She killed the leader, and some swordsmen, but eventually they got in too close. A sword clipped her side and she screamed in pain. With her fleeting strength, she cast a blizzard between most of the men and the children. She let the barrier go, saw them running, and killed the few that ran after them. She knew she had probably killed about half of them, and all she could do now was hope that the kids could run faster than the rest of them.
She closed her eyes and slipped away. When she woke there was an old man and woman standing over her whispering something.
"I... where am I?" She asked.
"We found you in the clearing, along with twenty dead men, and a few kids too, mages," The old man said.
Evelyn sat up and nearly screamed in the pain it caused her, "Young lady, you are in no condition to sit up-"
"The mages, the mage children, where did they go?" She asked.
"I think they followed the river east," The man said.
Evelyn stood with a grimace and left the small cottage. She could hear the river and walked towards it. There she saw the catastrophic scene, there were half-melted ice and scorch marks everywhere. The bodies of the men she had killed must have been taken away, but there were a few bodies that remained, simply covered by sheets.
There were five. Evelyn lifted the first one, it was the boy who had been killed in the initial ambush. The next was a young girl, maybe 13. The next two were under the same sheet, two young boys huddled together each about ten years old. The final sheet had a small body under it, and in Evelyn's heart, she knew...
It was Lily, the adorable five-year-old who always called her Mistress Enchanter, even though it wasn't her title. The one who had never harmed a hair on anyone's head, the one who had just been sent to the circle a few months prior.
Rage burned Evelyn, she let out an anguished scream into the air. After a moment she stood with determination and followed the river east. Along the way, there were more bodies, a young girl, a boy. One of the men even, he was had been killed by a sword. One of the children hadn't done this.
Evelyn moved as fast as she could with her wound and as she turned the bend in the river she saw that there were two Grey Wardens fighting off ten of the men. The children were hiding behind them.
When they saw Evelyn turn the corner their eyes lit up, she helped the Wardens as much as she could. When the final man had dropped, the older boy came quickly to her side, "Enchanter Evelyn! You're alive!"
One of the Warden's approached Evelyn, "You were the one that helped these kids escape?" He asked.
"Yes," Evelyn said.
"You did a very good job, they told us what happened."
"Thank you," Evelyn said.
"They told us your plan too," The other Warden spoke, "We'll accompany you to Ferelden, to help keep you safe."
Evelyn felt like crying, "Thank you, thank you so much..."
...
Everyone was thrown out of the memory, and the group was silent.
Evelyn sat down, she hadn't been prepared to relive all that.
"Did you make it?" Alistair asked, sitting down beside her, "Did you make it to Ferelden?"
"We made it to the docks in the Free Marches, I went to Tevinter, the Wardens took the kids to Ferelden, just in time for them to be caught up in more war," Evelyn said bitterly.
She stood, and Max approached her, "Evie, what happened was not your fault."
Evelyn shook her head, "I know, it's just... that little girl, she-she trusted me, and I-"
Max hugged her tightly, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Max held his crying sister. He could almost not believe what he had seen. Cullen had told him how horrible Kirkwall had been, but what he had just seen, it was like a nightmare.
There was also something that was nagging him, Cullen had almost killed her. If he had just listened to reason, then he would have been there to protect those kids, to protect Evelyn. But that was something he was going to have to work out later.
Evelyn pulled away from Max and wiped her face, she was about to speak when Cole hugged her as well. When that was over Varric spoke, "I think it's time to move on."
Evelyn nodded. Everyone took a moment to prepare themselves for what they might see ahead, before setting their gaze back on the rift.
