SUPER GIANT CHAPTER IS SUPER AND CRAZY! I just wanted to get it all over in one chapter and I couldn't really chop it up into two. Hope everyone is adjusting to the fading summer/winter. Depends where you all live, yes?

Bioware copyrighted. I'm just frolicking.

A Rescue and a Mistake

"Morrigan?" I looked down the path the witch was about to takes us on uneasily. "Are you sure you've been to this village before?"

"I have been near it many times, but never amongst it's people. One would remember a giant statue, however, I have never been in the village, so I cannot say I have seen it," she talked down to me. I didn't mind because I felt like a child tagging along, as did everyone else.

"Something is wrong," Leliana said. "Do you see that?" She ran ahead and dropped to the ground, bow in one hand, a she picked up a small pile of dirt and ran it through her slender fingers. We all crowded around her to see what she was looking at. "See?" she said as we all stared at the soil. "The ground is becoming tainted, the soil is dying in splotches. The templars in Lothering said that was the first thing the refugees noticed before the darkspawn attacked."

"The taint must kill the smaller organisms first," I said in mild fascination. "It makes sense, they are more susceptible to harmful substances."

Leliana looked up at me in confusion. "Do you mean to say that the soil is a living being?"

"No, I must sound silly to you. You see, there are very small animals and other organisms that live in the soil, so tiny you can't see them."

Everyone gave me a look that I was sure to receive many times in the next while. I was about to back up my statement when Sten came to my rescue.

"What the Warden says is true," he said, and then continued on the trail, not even stopping to see if we were following behind him.

"The kossith has spoken!" I said dramatically with a smirk. "Uh, is he going the right way?" I said to Morrigan.

"If memory serves, yes."

We found Honnleath in absolute chaos as had been promised. Darkspawn covered the area, the grass and plants black from the taint, or from the fires engulfing the homes. We found no bodies laying on the ground, so I assumed that they had enough warning to get out, or they had been trapped in their own homes. I didn't want to think about the latter.

Helíos practically threw himself into battle with Sten, both warriors clearing a path easily into the burning village. At first I was a little mad for being left defenceless, but Alistair made sure I wasn't left alone. When the final monster fell, the qunari looked the war hound up and down like the animal had lost it. Helíos didn't notice, he just strutted around like a king.

Watching Leliana use her bow made me feel inadequate. She used it quickly and efficiently, not pausing to check if she had been successful, just moving on to her next target. She moved so fast that her red hair looked more dangerous than the fires around us.

I, however, in all my excitement, almost got my arm removed from my body. I managed to spin away, but the jagged blade still cut through my leathers and into my lower arm. As I side-stepped the hurlock, Alistair made quick work of it by crushing it's skull.

"Perhaps now you won't find your companions so interesting," Morrigan commented dryly. She healed the shallow gash, or attempted to while I squirmed. "Stop fidgeting!" she commanded.

"I can't," I squeaked back. "It feels so weird." It was like I could sense every cell in my arm regrow itself, the amount of energy made me feel like I could run for miles. Imagine what it would have felt like when Flemeth had healed me.

Alistair and Leliana had gone to try their luck with the control rod so we could leave as soon as possible. By the way they looked as they came back, I could tell good news wasn't coming. The lack of golem trailing behind might have also given it away.

"We tried," Leliana said to my crestfallen face.

"Leliana even tried it and everything," Alistair joked glumly. "Sorry."

I sighed in defeat. "Well, back to plan A then. We should-"

"Warden!" Sten's call from a building interrupted me. "Your war hound seems to have found something of interest."

Helíos was sniffing madly at a door like it was going out of style. He barked at it and watched me. When I made no move to help him, he launched himself at the door, only to bounce back. He barked in frustration.

"Ouch," Alistair winced.

I touched my hand to the warm steel, only to immediately jerked back. Not from how hot it was, but from the discomfort my blood felt, the taint telling me our job wasn't over. My head also pulsed powerfully. "Darkspawn," I said, "and magic, very powerful magic."

"How is that possible?" Leliana asked. "No one could have survived this." I took that as a sign that she was taking my super power very seriously.

Morrigan and Alistair backed me up. "I feel it to," they both said at the same time. I held back a smile while they glowered at one another.

I pushed at the door with a grunt. "Sten? Could you give me a hand please?" I stepped back to give him some room but he seem to have other ideas. The giant ran at the door and smashed it open. He unsheathed his beast of a sword and ran into the building, Helíos tearing after him.

"Are you sure he imprinted on me?" I asked Alistair. Leliana giggled behind him.

I hefted my sword and went in after the two warriors, following the ferocious barking of my war hound. The back of the building opened into a large room, all of it covered in darkspawn. A blue-purple wall cut a small part of the room away from the rest. I jumped into the fighting head first beside Sten and Helíos. I soon felt Morrigan's magic and Alistair fell in beside me. Falling darkspawn told me Leliana was behind with her bow. I paid more attention to what I was fighting this time, all of us making quick work of the monsters.

I sheathed my sword and walked towards the blue wall. I felt the massive amounts of magic energy coming off of it in waves, wondering for a moment how it was being maintained. The wall was translucent, giving me a clear view of all the people cowering behind it. A fried genlock smoked in front of the people. Note to self: don't touch the wall, or any other walls that look odd.

"Are you alright?" I asked breathlessly, still tired from all the fighting.

A man stepped up to the front and with a wave of his hand, the wall faded to nothing. "Yes, none of us are seriously injured. Thank the Maker you arrived. " Some of the other villagers went to move when he held up his hand again. "Is it safe? Are there any more of those creatures outside?"

"It's safe, but you all need to leave, and quickly," Alistair answered. "The rest of the horde could get here any day now."

The man gave a silent nod. "Tristian, take everyone to the edge of the forest. Grab only what is necessary."

"Before you leave," I said to the man as he started to follow. "I want to ask you something about the statue in your village."

"So you weren't sent by the bann. Maker's Breath, we could have starved down here and no one would have known." He shook his head in frustration. "You came for the statue?" he narrowed his eyes. "You have the control rod don't you. You're here for Shale."

"Shale?" I repeated.

"That damnable golem gave us nothing but trouble. My mother sold the rod after it killed my father."

"Oh, I'm sorry." That doesn't sound good.

"Take it if you will. I'd rather let it rot myself, but it's yours now, I never want to see it again!"

"I would love to, trust me, but the control rod doesn't work," I explained.

The man grunted. "My mother most likely gave out the wrong command phrase when she sold the rod. She never wanted to see Shale active again."

"Fan-flipping-tastic." I grumbled. "I don't suppose you know what the command phrase actually is?"

To my relief, he nodded. "I'll tell you it too, but only if you help me first."

"Did you not witness us saving your life?" Morrigan scathed. I gave her a withering look.

"Yes, and I am extremely grateful, but my daughter, Emilia, ran away in fear. She went into my father's old laboratory. I'm not sure how, but she managed to get past my father's defences, and one of the men tried to go after her, but he was killed. You, however, look much more prepared for something like this."

"It seems that we are," I sighed. "Very well, we will go find your daughter."

Morrigan volunteered to go first into the dark hallway. She argued that my magic detection was erratic at best, and any magical traps would be hidden. She hadn't been wrong yet about this sort of thing before, so I agreed to it.

We entered what looked to be a study, a desk at the far end covered in books. Not a moment after Morrigan and I entered, two creatures appeared out of thin air. They easily towered over me, long arms tipped with long sharp claws dragging on the floor. Their middles twisted completely around, the grey skin that covered them giving way to bone.

They both hissed at us, fangs slick with what I was hoping to be drool. In all of a millisecond, Morrigan hit the first one with a blast of magic, and the other one rammed into me as I attempted to draw my bow.

I hit the wall with a short thud, all the breath in my lungs gone. I felt the beast pull back and I fell to the floor gasping like a fish. It made to lunge at me, but stopped as a large sword went through it's chest. It instantly disappeared, Sten standing with a frown in it's place.

"Abby?" Leliana bent over and put a welcomed hand on my shoulder. "Did you hit your head?"

I breathed in deeply a few times and sat up slowly before I could answer her. "No, I just had the wind knocked out of me. I should be okay now."

Helíos trotted over and sat down with a whine. He gave my shoulder a gentle nudge as if to ask if I was okay.

"Teach you not to leave the rookie unsupervised next time, eh?"

He whined again and put his large head on my shoulder.

"Sounds like someone is sorry," Alistair said with a smile.

"He is forgiven," I announced and threw my arms around the war hound. He sat up and wagged his tiny tail furiously in response.

Leliana helped me up and gave me my bow that had been thrown across the room. I inspected in diligently to see if had been damaged and then nodded in approval when I found it was fine.

"Sounds like our mage friend was experimenting with demons," Alistair was looking at one of the many books found on the table. "It says here there is one at the end of the hall."

"Is it possible that it's still there?" I asked Morrigan.

"Demons have no life expectancy, I would expect it would need something to posses to continue to be here. The mage may have provided for that need if he was using the demon long term."

"Only one way to find out," Leliana winked at me. "I'll go in second this time." I pretended not to hear her.

We found Emilia at the last room. The circular area contained a square of tiles some on fire, others not. Emilia was beside a tabby cat, talking to it and petting it. She almost didn't notice us come in until Sten stood in front of the pair.

"Kitty," she looked at the cat. "Who are these people?"

"Emilia," Leliana spoke gently. "Your father is very worried about you. Isn't it time for you to go back?"

I walked up behind Sten, slightly disgruntle that I wasn't talking to Emilia. My chest hurt a little and I breathed in slowly.

"Don't leave Emilia," I jumped at the sound of a different voice. It was as smooth as silk and very pleasant, almost sickeningly so.

"I don't want to leave Kitty! She's been here alone for so long. She's my friend." I glanced around Sten and saw Emilia petting the cat, of whom was focussed on the red-head and giant before it with glowing bright pink eyes.

"You see," the cat purred. "The little girl cannot go, because I cannot leave. That mage Wilhem trapped me here with his clever magic long ago. All I want is to be free, to see your world for myself. Let me have the girl. The puzzle behind me is the key. Solve it and the girl and I are free."

I looked at Morrigan and mouthed the word "demon", and she nodded her head slowly. I took a deep breath and slowly drew my bow. The witch observed my action and started mouthing words to herself.

"I-I don't know if-," Leliana shook her head as if a fly was buzzing around her.

I tried not to plan, letting instinct take over. I hoped the demon was too weak to attack all of us at once, or hadn't counted as we had come into the room. Morrigan held up three fingers in my peripheral vision and I moved my head slightly. My arms started to burn, but I couldn't let go of the draw.

Three, two, one.

I stepped out from beside Sten and fired. I hit the cat right in the chest and it flew across the room from the vast amount of kinetic energy of the bow being so close. Morrigan cast a spell and Emilia glowed a dark blue colour. The girl blinked in confusion. "Why did you hurt Kitty?" Morrigan took the girls head in her hands and began muttering again.

"Nice shot," Alistair sounded impressed.

Leliana spoke angrily in Orlisain. "I can't believe it almost got control of me. Well done Abby, I'm very glad I went in second this time." She shook her head again.

"How is she?" I asked Morrigan.

"She is alive, and the demon had not the time to posses her."

"Of course I'm alive," Emilia pipped up. "Why wouldn't I be?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. "I was just worried about you."

"Oh," she eyed Sten nervously from the corner of her eye. "Can we go back to my father now?"

"Absolutely," I smiled.

"We have a golem to rescue, yes?" Leliana agreed.

I took a step towards the stairs when I felt my arm being roughly grabbed and Alistair spun me around. I jumped in surprise as he hissed into my ear. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure. Sten, could you escort everyone out?"

As soon as our companions and Emilia couldn't be heard anymore Alistair finally looked at me.

"What were you thinking?" he growled. "Do you have any idea how dangerous your little stunt was?"

I reeled back at his unexpected venom. "If you're worried that I might have hit someone I'm sorry-"

"Hit someone! You could have killed Emilia! You have no idea how demon possession works!"

"You're right," I said defensively. "I don't understand how it works. Would you like me to ask you next time for confirmation? Will the demon allow us to argue about the finer points of horse breeding while we are at it?"

"This isn't a game. You made a decision when you could have become possessed yourself. The demon could have killed you in an instant if it had found out what you were doing! The only thing that saved you and all of us was because it was down here for Maker knows how long. What would you have done if someone had died because of this?"

"I...I," I stuttered pitifully. I clutched my bow like a child would a teddy bear for support. "Morrigan was on board with my plan," I grasped at a straw.

He scowled. "If Morrigan told you to walk into a pit of wolves, would you do it?"

"No...What would you have done then?"

He opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything. He closed his mouth and gave a heavy sigh. "I'm not sure." He ran a hand through his hair, getting darkspawn blood in it.

We stood their awkwardly for a long time, until I found my voice again. "I didn't grow up here Alistair. Everything I ever learned, my whole childhood is completely useless to me. I need you to teach me these things so I won't make a mistake like this again."

"I didn't forget, trust me. It's just, harder to think about how much different you are when you are so easy to talk to."

"Thank you."

A small smile played on his lips. "How about we teach each other then? So we can both understand."

"Deal," I said and held out my hand. He took it with a bigger smile.

I ended up standing in the courtyard of the village, buildings still burning around me, with the control rod in my hands. The golem stood in front of me, it was the first time I had seen it, and I decided that I thought it looked beautiful. It stood a head taller than Sten, but was much bulkier. The head was parked slightly forward, a ring of runes around where the neck would be like a collar. A large single rune on its head was carved in large lines. These same lines covered its body, some smaller than others.

I felt a tiny amount of energy coming of the control rod. I wondered how much energy would come off the golem before I clearly said the command phrase. "Dulen Har."

The runes lit up a light blue instantly, pure energy springing from the statue in front of me. The sound of rocks grinding together filled the air as it's arms fell to its side and it stumbled two steps forward. It looked up, its eyes glowing a white light, the centre brighter then the sides. Like pupils.

Then it spoke. "Ah, it is so nice not to be stuck in that uncomfortable position anymore. Now, where is that infernal chicken? I saw it not a moment ago, I know it escaped the attack. I have a bone to pick with that feathered fiend!"

I raised my eyebrows in shock. "Woah! Slow down there Speedy Gonzales. Could you wait for a second first please?"

It looked at me, at the control rod, and then back at me. "Give a real order," it's voice echoed, like if we were in a tunnel.

"Excuse me?"

"I've been standing here for eons and the first thing it comes up with is "wait a second?" Who says that?"

I looked for something quickly. "Uh, go smash that door in." I pointed at some poor unsuspecting house door.

"NO!" It yelled triumphantly. "Shale is free at last! No master needed!" It ran through us, everyone moving out of the golem's way. The ground shook as it passed, causing Leliana to squeak and grab onto my arms for support.

"It appears as if the control rod might be useless," Morrigan commented astutely. We watched the golem whoop and run through a burning building, and then through another one.

I looked down at the control rod and rolled it in my hand. Sure enough, a small line caught my notice. "It's cracked," I said. "Just a little bit. I can't believe I didn't notice it before."

The golem stopped its rampage and stood in front of us. "That explains it. What a feeling. No more 'get that golem' or 'lift this golem' or 'don't kill that golem!'. But what to do now? It came for me, what did it have in mind?"

"I think it's talking to you," Leliana said as she detached herself from my arm.

"Well, the village was attacked by darkspawn. We came here because we need help to defeat them," I explained.

"Hm, does that mean we will be squishing things?" It asked excitedly.

"I suppose you will be," I smiled at the thought of darkspawn being crushed in the golem's wake.

"Then I will follow it. I haven't anything better to do, and it does sound like fun."

"Welcome to the clan Shale," I said. "My name is-"

"Oh, please don't tell me your name. All you squishy things are all the same to me. I won't remember it."

"Very well Shale," I answered. I wasn't sure if I should be offended or not.

"Shale," Alistair mused. "That's ironic."

So we left Honnleath to its destruction, now in a hurry to make up for precious lost time. Outside of Honnleath, Shale was lagging behind when I heard a deranged squawk. I turned to she the golem stare at me and then shrug it's shoulders as if to say "what?". It then moved to catch up with the others. I couldn't help but notice the feathers and blood on the ground, and still stuck to the golem's foot.

Wonderful. A bird psychotic golem. I guess I can now say I've seen everything. What a group we are turning out to be.

Yes it's different, but I had so much fun writing this. Thanks for the love as always, whether you read, alert, review, follow. EVERYTHING is loved back. Trust me.