A Climb to Despair

The next biggest room was a library that had books all the way up to the huge ceiling. I would have loved to spend more time in it pouring over the large books if it had not been covered with dead bodies and pools of blood. The bodies sprang to life as soon as we came near, but with a quick arrow throw the chest or slash of the sword, they fell back to the ground instantly. Shale had to one up us by smashing the possessed bodies into the ground.

"Another sign of abomination takeover," Alistair told me grimly.

"Those aren't…the people from the tower are they?" I asked quietly so the enchanter wouldn't hear.

He nodded sadly. "A mage did this with blood magic. Horrible, horrible fate."

"Come wardens," Wynne commanded, "we don't have much time." She opened another gigantic set of doors to reveal a staircase.

"How many floors are there?" I enquired.

"Pigeon shit!" Shale hissed in its strange echoed voice. The three of us looked back and watched it struggling to climb up the stairs. The steps weren't wide enough, so Shale had to practically crawl.

"Four," the mage answered, much to Shale's displeasure.

"There's a man on the other side of the door," I whispered. "Is he possessed?"

Wynne pushed me out of the way. "It's Owain! He can't be possessed, he's tranquil," she explained. She walked with purpose to the man in question, Shale following behind.

"Oh," I said looking at Alistair with a question on my lips. He uncomfortably regarded me and then went over to the man as well.

"Owain," Wynne exclaimed, obviously relieved, "you could have come downstairs and asked me to pull down the barrier for you."

"There were many demons," the man said completely mono-tone. "It was not safe until now. I am busy cleaning the tower." His lack of fear, compared to the topic, was slightly off putting.

"Shouldn't you be hiding? The Circle isn't safe," I said. By the looks of the room "cleaning" was going very slowly.

"The demons, though at first many and violent, would not be able to possess me. Though I do not want to die, I cannot fear death."Owain didn't look like any mage I had ever seen before. He didn't feel like any mage I had felt before either. It was like he was completely normal, except for the fact that he had said his proclamation with a straight face and not Braveheart style.

"You can go downstairs Owain," Wynne motioned to the stairs, "Pytra and some of the other apprentices are in the great hall."

"I must continue cleaning," he said without batting an eye. The man turned and started to pick up charred books off the floor and put them into a nice pile, as if he was going to sort them later.

"What an odd creature," Shale blurted out.

"We must hurry wardens," the enchanter said briskly, ignoring the golems comment. "The doorway forward is blocked, but this will make it easier for us. The demons won't have anywhere to go. This will help to make sure we have eradicated all of them on this floor." The mage moved into the next room, walking with renewed purpose.

We followed her, but once she was out of earshot sufficiently, I cocked my head towards Alistair. "What was that all about? Does that mage have a medical condition? Is he autistic?"

"If that means he is Tranquil, then yes. But since you have mentioned before there was no magic at your home, then you would be wrong. He was a mage, but he has been stripped of his emotions and desires. Usually only the most dangerous of mages go through the ritual."

"What?" I breathed. Sympathy bloomed across my chest, and I put a hand against it, trying to hold onto the feeling. "He isn't even human anymore." The idea was so vile and outlandish, it started to make me angry.

"Sometimes it has to be done."

I heard the uncomfortable tone in his voice, but the anger threatened to explode it hurt so much. "How could you let this happen?" I yelled at him.

"Not to interrupt its very important conversation, but there seems to be a fiery beast blocking our way," Shale announced.

That was all the warning I was given before a creature wreathed in flames tackled the golem. Rage demon, I thought, remembering Alistair's lessons. The golem and demon wrestled on the floor oddly, the demon not quite in a physical form in all areas, so Shale was in a state of being on and off the floor at the same time. The rock that Shale was made out of was already becoming red from the heat.

I violently unsheathed my sword to help just as Shale managed to push the demon off of it into a cabinet that burst into flames instantly. I took advantage of this and made the biggest mistake of my life by shoving my sword into what looked to be its face.

I didn't have time to scream out in pain from the heat as ice covered the demon, cabinet, and my arm just as the demon started to roar. Then I screamed out as the cold numbed any feeling I had.

"Don't move," Alistair's careful voice said beside my ear quietly.

"That was foolish," Wynne reprimanded, "I could have dealt with the demon faster if your golem had not interfered."

I had a retort building in in my throat, but I could feel myself blacking out. A quick slap from an armoured glove fixed that.

"Thanks," I managed, blinking away tears. My vision tunnelled again so I only saw my frozen arm connected to the demon, still wailing in stationary pain.

"Shale," Alistair continued on without acknowledging me, unless I had been too quiet. "Can you help me shatter the ice? I'll make a nick where her sword ends, so if you hit it the cabinet it won't shatter her arm."

Shatter her arm worried me the most, jerking me back to conciseness better than a slap in the face could.

"Hurry warden, she's going to lose her arm," the enchanter's voice strained.

I didn't hear anything else but the pounding of Shale's feet and then the shattering of ice. The arm started to fall as my legs gave out, but Alistair's arms came into my vision as he caught the chunk of ice, arm, sword, demon head and all.

"I have it warden," the mage said, taking the chunk and instantly melting away at it with her magic. Within moments, a large puddle collected on the floor, and I felt the pain of my burnt arm. I started to whimper despite my best efforts.

"You are very lucky warden," Wynne commented, "if I had wasted any more time casting the spell, I'm afraid these burns would be much more serious."

"I'm sorry this is slowing us down," I my voice cracked as the pain spiked.

"I would have been a fool to think we would be free on injuries from this venture. We have been lucky so far with only scrapes and bruises. There, I shall begin healing now."

I looked over to see what she was doing and immediately regretted doing so. The mage was using her magic to peel away the dead skin, letting it drop to the floor. Instead of the usual energy burst I felt when Morrigan healed me, a wave of nausea hit.

"How is my weapon?" I asked, quickly looking away from the gruesome limb that was my arm.

Alistair was checking it over, "Looks like steel to me."

I started and gave a meek laugh. "That was the weakest attempt at humour you've made yet."

"Ah, but it worked didn't it?" he winked at me.

A rush of energy brought my arm back to life, and as always I gasped.

"Warden, Alistair is it? If you could refrain from making any more jokes I would appreciate it. It makes for better concentration on my part," the enchanter said lightly.

Alistair blinked in confusion as I smiled and repressed a giggle.

We moved on after I gave a few practice swings with my sword. The skin was pink and fragile, but we had no choice but to move on. Wynne was already becoming tired from her constant spell casting, and I worried about how much longer she would be able to keep up.

"I recognize all of them," she whispered to us as she peaked through the door to the next level, "They were with Uldred when he started his uprising."

"Do we have a plan to get around them?" I asked. I looked through the door as well to take in the scene. The room was complete carnage just like the rest of the tower. However, instead of a demon or the dead occupying it, three mages in robes were quietly discussing something.

"This is the only way forward."

"I can take away their magic, but that could make them desperate," Alistair offered, "we don't want to give them any reason to use blood magic."

"No indeed," the mage agreed, "I will create a distraction, and your golem and Alistair can run at them while they are down. This way they won't have a chance to hex the two of you."

"Fantastic," I pulled out my bow and knocked an arrow. "Shall we?"

Wynne gave a quick nod, and then a blast of magic from her staff hit a bookshelf on the other side of the room, falling on the mages. All three of them rushed to jump up, one of them running straight into Shale. The golem through him back and trampled him. The mage did not even have time to feel the pain before Shale's foot went through his ribcage.

A female swerved toward me in her panic. I shot her in the arm by accident, causing her she yelled out in pain and drop her staff. I cursed as she reached for her knife, quickly redrawing again to hit her in the leg. She fell to the floor with another yelp, which was overtaken by a roar of pain from across the room.

Alistair was blown back from the last mage into the wall. Shale was being contained by a large amount of vines. Wynne was nowhere to be seen.

The mage focused at me, his eyes livid. As soon as I locked eyes a familiar blurred feeling washed over me. Put it down. Put the bow down and walk away. "Get out!" I growled very unladylike to the blood mage.

He frowned in confusion and then threw up his hands. My confusion cost me as blood splashed diagonally across my face. My head exploded in pain as if a million needles had been shoved into my skull. Images of the people I loved flashed through my head. Mike. Amber. Kat. Aunt Lily. My father. People I grew up with. Darkspawn. Countless darkspawn running towards me on a battle field. A burning village.

Then it was over. I realized that I was on the cold floor, sprawled out like a starfish. With a groan I curled into the fetal position and held my chest, breathing heavily. It was like the air had been knocked out of my lungs they were burning so badly. I blinked back the tears in my eyes, trying to suppress the strange emotions. Once again my mind had been mentally abused, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. The only thing that I thought was safe in this world had been attacked for the second time. I had a sickening realization that Tanin had been merciful to me, only preying at the edges of my mind. This mage had gone much further.

"Abby," Alistair's concerned voice broke through my lockdown. "Can you hear me?"

I gave a weak grunt in response, absolutely sure if I nodded, I would become dizzy.

"It seems to get hurt a lot," Shale observed dryly. "Perhaps it being a grey warden is not the best choice of living."

"She wasn't hurt," Wynne said sadly. "Not physically, but emotionally. Blood mages can bend the very being of a person's soul. It could have happened to any of us."

I untangled myself slowly and attempted to sit up. Breathe in, breathe out, I told myself repeatedly as I opened my eyes. Alistair was kneeling before me, Wynne and Shale standing behind him.

"Ow," I winced as a splitting headache started.

Alistair gave me a sympathetic smile. "Sorry I didn't get him sooner."

"You got him, that's what matters. What happened?"

"Wynne and Shale got stuck in the vines. When I hit the wall I landed in pillows, of all things. I would have blacked out if I hadn't."

"Thank the Maker for pillows."

He chuckled.

"The other squishy blood user is awaking," Shale reported.

"Please have mercy," the mage I had shot implored, "I…I just wanted to be free of the tower. You don't know what it's like to always be watched, to always be in fear." She sat up and ripped the arrow from her leg, paling considerably as she did so.

"I do know what it is liked," Wynne replied, her voice dangerously low, "but it does not make what you have done here right."

"I could repent," she continued, "if you let me go I will join the Chantry. I swear it!"

"You know they'll never take you," Alistair said as he helped me stand up. "They're very picky about who they let in. Harlots, murders, yes. Maleficarum, oh no."

"Please Wynne, we just wanted change, just like you did," the girl looked at the elder enchanter desperately.

"Nothing is worth what you've done here, not even freedom," she answered harshly.

The blood mage's eyes whipped back to me urgently. "Please, I only ask for my life."

Bile coated the back of my throat. "You would not have done the same for us, and the templars certainly will not let you leave." I clenched my jaw and hissed out my command, "Make it quick Shale."

"No! No please!" she screamed. She tried to get up, but her bad leg failed her. Shale walked up to her and lifted its leg, holding it there for a split second before bringing it crashing down onto the body.

I buried my face into Alistair's splint mail, but it could not hide the sickening crunch of bones and the cut off of a scream.

Alistair hugged me tightly. It wasn't an awkward, unsure hug like at the Spoiled Princess, but much more real and comforting. "The templars would not have been so kind," he whispered to me.

But it did not make me feel any less terrible.