What the hell was this Nightmare, Ash asked the Divine. Once it seemed to be a simpler spirit that fed on fears people tucked away in the darkest corners of their mind. But under Corypheus, it had grown monstrous. Its reach was far now, and it sowed terror that begat more terror. It created the Calling. It served only Corypheus. It stole memories of pain and failure that once emboldened wiser people. The Divine believed it had to be stopped.

And either way, the Inquisitor and her companions couldn't leave without defeating it. So, the group battled on through the surreal landscape.

Hawke had been uncharacteristically solemn since the encounter with the Divine.

"Something troubling you?" Ash stepped close. The rogue scowled and blinked up into the overcast sky.

"There were Grey Wardens in that vision. Holding the Divine captive," Hawke said.

"Yes," she affirmed. She had taken note. Yet another strike against the ancient order that she didn't want to think about. "Perhaps they were controlled, like others we have seen."

"Do you really believe that?" her sharp green eyes swiveled to Ash. A second passed between them. The elf slowly gave a single shake of her head.

The group reached a narrow path with high walls. Skulls decorated the ground around them. The path started to widen into a circular area, and as they stepped into it, a deep, gritty voice echoed so loud and sudden that Ash jumped. Sera cursed and looked around.

"Perhaps I should be afraid," it boomed. The voice was thick with sarcasm. "Facing the most powerful members of the Inquisition." A throaty laugh lilted all around them.

"That's disconcerting," Blackwall frowned.

"Where is it? Where's that voice coming from?" Sera was in a constant state of near panic.

"It's just the Nightmare trying to get under our skin. Don't let it." Ash had some experience with demons thanks to her brother. This thing would need more than good acoustics to scare her.

"Sera, Sera, Sera," it thundered.

"Fuck. What?!" the elf notched an arrow and held it low and ready.

"If you shoot an arrow at me, I'll know where you are."

"Out of my head, bitch-balls!" she spat.

"It probably already knows where we are," Ash said dismissively.

"How's that help?" Sera cried.

"She means it's just trying to unsettle us," Blackwall said. "But we've defeated everything this place has thrown at us. It's all bark."

As if on cue, spiders erupted from around nooks and corners of the steep rock walls around them. Sera gave a strangled cry and arrows started flying faster than Ash had ever seen her shoot them. She heard Solas curse in elven behind her, in a voice shaky with horrified surprise. They made short work of the spiders.

"Smaller fears, I would guess, scavenging whatever the Nightmare leaves behind," Ash reasoned as she wiped gore from her axe.

"And they take the form of spiders, something so many fear," Hawke added.

"Spiders?!" Sera was incredulous. "That's not what I saw. I'd have taken bloody spiders."

"Ah, of course," Solas sighed with some revelation. "The demons look different to each of us. Personalized little terrors."

"Well, isn't that thoughtful of them," Blackwall snorted.

"More reason to remind ourselves most of this is just in our heads," Ash pointed out. "Let's keep on."

The voice boomed again as they started out.

"Did you think you mattered, Hawke? Did you think anything you ever did mattered?" The human rogue flipped her blades restlessly in her hands. "You couldn't even save your city. How could you expect to strike down a god? Fenris is going to die, just like your family, and everyone you ever cared about."

"Well, that's going to grow tiresome quickly," she muttered under her breath.

A veilfire torch shone on a smattering of cobblestones ahead. The path widened into a side ledge overlooking more of the surreal landscape. Ash spotted a large outcropping of red lyrium on the path ahead, and more memory orbs in the field of rock and bones below.

The Divine stood at the start of the path leading down. She held out potions to them. Ash warily took one.

"The Nightmare is closer now. It knows you seek escape," she warned.

"Thank you," Solas said as he took a potion from her. There were fewer demons on the field below, and Sera took almost all of them down herself before the melee fighters even reached them.

"Damn. Well, now I know what motivates you, Sera," Ash called back to her as she collected more fragments of her memory.

"If you ever summon demons on me, I'll put scorpions in your bed. Fair warning."

Ash bit her lip as she turned to the last memory. This is it, the moment of truth. Or something like it. She picked up the orb.

She cried out and fell to her knees as the pale green light engulfed her vision. Her head pounded. She clasped her face in her hands as the memory of Haven came back.

She had been in the Fade, running from a horde of huge spiders… or terrors… something she knew would devour her. There had been a near vertical cliff, a topsy-turvy set of crumbling stairs. She was scrambling up there, desperate to reach the portal above her, and…

The Divine. It had been Divine Justinia at the top, waiting for her. Not Andraste.

She breached the top and they were on the cliff face together, running for the portal. Justinia had cried out, and Ash had whirled back to grab her hand. But the creatures had the Divine. Despite her strength, Ash could feel them pulling the woman from her grasp. Visions of Thalanil rushed back to her. Visions of darkspawn swarming them. She couldn't leave her.

Divine Justinia had looked into Ash's concerned face. The creatures were rushing up behind, moments from capturing them both. Her face darkened with resolve. Ash felt the woman's fingers loosen.

"Stop, you'll…" she started to shout.

"Go."

The Divine let go, and Ash couldn't keep hold. She watched her slip away into the darkness. Then the monsters were upon her, and she had no choice. She turned and ran back through the portal.

She blinked and came to with Warden Blackwall kneeling by her side. Solas kneeled in front of her, one hand balancing himself on his staff and the other on her shoulder. She stood and turned her eyes to the Divine who had been aiding them.

"It… was you."

Divine Justinia stared back. Sadness reflected in her pale blue eyes.

"It wasn't Andraste at all. The Divine sent me from the Fade. And then you…" Ash paused. "And then she died."

The figure before her lowered her gaze.

"Yes," it affirmed.

"So this creature truly is just a spirit," Stroud said with the faintest hint of disappointment.

"I think we all knew that," Hawke said. The Warden frowned at her. The spirit that was the Divine looked at Hawke.

"I am sorry if I disappoint you," it said sincerely. That took the Champion off guard. She shook her head and tore her gaze away.

Then suddenly, the figure's features started to burn away in a bright yellow light, a light that engulfed the form until only a shimmering humanoid figure remained. It took flight and floated above the group.

"Don't shoot it," Ash demanded when she heard the hiss of an arrow being drawn from Sera's quiver. Damn, she's jumpy. "Whatever you are, you've helped us. Even if I'm not exactly sure who… or what you are."

"The only thing that seems certain now is the true Divine perished after all," Hawke stepped next to Ash. She cast Stroud a withering look. "Thanks to the Grey Wardens." He frowned back and shook his head.

"As I said, we do not know if they were under the control of Corypheus," he defended. He took a defiant step toward the Champion. "We can discuss this further after we return to Adamant."

"Do you mean before or after we've defeated the army of demons raised by your Wardens?" the rogue shot back and moved till she was face to face with the Warden.

"Are you both seriously going to have this argument right now?" Ash asked with incredulous exasperation. They didn't immediately respond. She snorted and stepped between them. "Let me rephrase that. You are not going to have this argument right now."

They stepped apart reluctantly.

"Ash!" Blackwall drew their attention to encroaching giant spiders.

"The Nightmare has found us!" the spirit's voice wafted down to them as the group drew their weapons.

Stroud drew one creature's attention as Hawke circled around behind it.

"Perhaps you're right," she admitted as she slashed at its razor-sharp legs. "Now is not the time!"

"I will have your back until it is, Champion," Stroud smirked as he thrust his sword down with a crunch into the creature's carapace.

When the battle was done, Ash saw the spirit's floating form in the distance.

"That thing has helped us so far. I say we keep following it," she pointed ahead. Sera mumbled some unhappy sounding words under her breath, but started out with the group. They had gone barely forty yards when the Nightmare's deep voice echoed around them.

"Warden Stroud. How must it feel to devote your whole life to the Wardens, only to watch them fall?"

"Maker, shut it up," Blackwall growled.

"Or worse, to know that you were responsible for their destruction? When the next Blight comes, will they curse your name?"

"With the Maker's blessing, we will end this wretched beast," Stroud shook his head. Ash clapped him on the back and gave him a small smile.

"That's the spirit! You are what every Warden should be." Even if his brethren were truly responsible for what happened to the Divine, Stroud had remained strong. It wasn't right that he was fighting for the reputation of all the Wardens. But he was doing a damned fine job of it, at least.

"And you, Blackwall," the voice reverberated off the stones around them. "There's nothing like a Grey Warden. And you are nothing like a Grey Warden." It cackled at some secret joke. Ash looked over at Blackwall and saw his face turn red. "You pretend you won't hide forever, but you can't help yourself. You ran before, and you will again. You gain nothing from telling her the truth."

"You know nothing of what is right," he growled under his breath.

Solas watched him with a furrowed brow. Nothing like a Grey Warden. The elven mage had kept his eye on Blackwall since the day Cole revealed he might somehow be a threat to Ash. Though this Nightmare was taunting them, it was using their worst fears. True fears. What did it mean?

"Dirth ma, Harellan," the Nightmare boomed, shifting attention yet again. Solas swallowed. His ears started to burn as he felt Ash's gaze turn to him. "Ma banal enasalin. Mar Solas ena mar din." He glanced at Ash. Confusion etched in her features.

"Banal nadas," Solas spat back.

"What's it saying? Shit, I'm not sure if I'm glad I don't know or not," Sera would've wrung her hands if she wasn't holding so tightly to her bow.

Solas wondered if Ash would translate. She held his gaze a moment longer, then looked forward again. Whatever she might think, he realized, she's not going to say anything about it right now.

"It's just the Nightmare trying to fluster us," Ash said as they climbed yet another flight of stairs. "We just need to get out of here."

"Do you think you can fight me?" the Nightmare retorted. "I am your every fear come to life!"

They started down another narrow path with high walls on either side. The twisted forms of fallen soldiers lay on the ground around them. The spirit that had posed as the Divine glowed ahead.

"You have always been so certain of yourself in battle, Inquisitor," it taunted. "And you yet stand. Surely you will continue to stand, no matter the risks you take, while all others around you fall. Like your sister. Like all those in your clan who fell to the darkspawn you led back to them."

Rage and shame bubbled up inside her. It's not news, Ash, she chided herself. Don't let it get the better of you.

"I've made peace with what is and isn't my doing, demon," she said with more firmness than she felt.

"Ah, but have others? Has your mother and father?" it chortled with smug triumph. "Has your brother? And what of those who follow and depend on you?"

"You cannot comprehend the inspiration the Inquisitor is to those around her," Blackwall shouted into the void.

"And what does she inspire in you, Blackwall? Would you not give anything to keep her respect? Would you let others die for it?" It chuckled with secret amusement.

"Ugh, just stop talking to it," Ash snorted.

"I am the Veiled hand of Corypheus himself!" it boasted. "The demon army you fear? I command it. They are all bound through me!"

She blinked.

"Wait. What?"

The spirit ahead of her laughed.

"Ah, so if we banish you, we banish the demons? Thank you, Every Fear Come to Life," it announced. The ground vibrated with the Nightmare's grunt of annoyance. Blackwall barked a laugh of triumph.

"Yeah, that's what you get for yapping forever," Sera crowed. "Boastful shit."

"Excellent. Now we not only have a goal, but a purpose," Stroud declared.

"Holy balls," the elven archer breathed as they descended stairs into a strange marsh land that ended in a somber beach to their right and more cliffs to their left. The horizon to their right was a malformation of mountains stretching down from the sky toward the grey-green sea below. "I hate this place."

"No time to dwell on it!" Ash pulled out her axe as two massive pride demons lumbered toward them.

"Distractions welcome!" Sera shouted. She peppered one demon with arrows as Ash and Blackwall met it head on. Stroud, Solas, and Hawke worked on the other.

The battle ranged across the marsh land, and when an arrow landed a final blow to the demon's eye, Ash looked around to find herself standing before a small graveyard. It was tucked at the end of the beach, surrounded by a dilapidated fence and swimming in white mist.

She walked through the broken gate and looked down at the headstones. Her eyes narrowed. Her companions' names were on each. What new trick is this?

Cassandra: Helplessness.

Vivienne: Irrelevance.

Cole: Despair.

Ash felt like she shouldn't be seeing these. It was almost like reading someone's private letters.

Iron Bull: Madness.

Dorian: Temptation. Huh, she thought. I wouldn't have guessed that one. Rejection, more like.

"Creepy," Sera muttered. "This another ploy? Promise us death at the hands of our worst- oh, shit balls."

Sera: The Nothing.

"You're nothing!" she shouted at the empty air.

"Just another trick. We're all still here," Blackwall patted her back comfortingly. His face blanched when he saw his tombstone.

Blackwall: Himself.

He looked warily at Ash. Yet another reminder of the conversation they were still to have. She raised an eyebrow at the tombstone and then gave him an unexpected smile.

"I don't know. I rather like yourself."

He laughed uneasily and felt his face grow hot. Her eyes softened as she watched him shift feet uncomfortably. She reached out and touched a reassuring hand to his cheek, then turned to the next tombstone.

Varric: Became his parents.

"Well. That's so classic it's almost funny," Hawke mused. "I'll have to tease him about that later."

"Glad to see you're thinking positively," Ash said dryly. She glanced over at Solas as approached the last tombstone. His whole body was tense, his face expressionless. She walked beside him.

Solas: Dying Alone.

Ash looked at him. His eyes were rigidly wide, as if it took all his concentration to keep his stoic façade. She leaned closer, close enough that she could reach out surreptitiously and take his hand. His stare snapped to her and he blinked as if he just realized she was there. He exhaled a slow, steady breath he'd been holding. She gave his hand a soft squeeze before letting go.

"Ar'an shia saron," she reassured him. We travel this together. His stony expression didn't waver.

"I know it's all very fun to consider our worst fears, but we need to keep going," Hawke's stern voice brought them all out of their reverie. Ash sighed.

"Varric never said you were such a taskmaster," she smirked as she walked out of the graveyard.

"I didn't save a whole city with just my pretty face," the Champion retorted drolly. "Come. This is a dead end, but there were stairs back the way we came."

They were all tired at this point, weary from battles and the Nightmare's taunting. It was a welcome sight when the glowing figure that had been the Divine finally appeared again in the distance, guarding the entrance to a tunnel of knee-deep murky water. Ash looked down at the Anchor as it began to tingle with energy.

We must be close, she realized.

"You must get through the rift, Inquisitor," the spirit declared as it floated ahead of them, a guide of light in the eerie darkness. "Get through and slam it closed with all your strength. That will banish the army of demons and exile this cursed creature."

"Consider it done," she growled. They sloshed loudly through the water. The world brightened as the tunnel opened up to another set of stairs descending to a wide area. Ash could see a raised platform ahead. An ominous demon mage with a many-legged carapace helmet floated atop it, flanked by minions. And behind it…

"Oh, shit," Ash breathed. She had thought it was a cliff face at first, another stories-high collection of stone rising into the sky. But then she saw the bony, spindly legs jutting from the massive exoskeleton and the ridged head of some giant, corrupted spider. Was that the Nightmare? Or some tremendous demon, a manifestation of all the fear the Nightmare had gathered.

Whatever it was, it stood between the companions and the crackling green rift beyond.

"We're almost there!" Hawke shouted through gritted teeth.

"Are we?" Blackwall joked darkly.

"Shut it! It doesn't need to know we're almost anywhere," Sera snapped, then she gasped as she finally saw what awaited them. "That's not real, is it?!"

"If you would," the Spirit pushed past Ash and toward the two monstrosities ahead, "please tell Leliana, 'I am sorry. I failed you, too.'"

Light crackled and arched from its floating body, growing in intensity as it neared the demon mage and the horrifying creature behind it. The figure exploded like a tiny star and suddenly both it and the huge creature were gone. The demon mage turned toward the small group as they approached.

"You will die in agony," it growled and raised a hand. Green light encircled them like a cage and spiders appeared from the air. Ash twirled her great axe and sneered.

"You first."

"Good, Ash," Solas slammed his staff into the ground and the light of a barrier burst around them. "He feeds on fear. Do not give it to him!"

"I'll give him some arrows, is what!" Sera started letting them fly. The Nightmare cackled as the arrows flashed blue, absorbing harmlessly into its barrier.

Blackwall charged the avatar of the Nightmare as Stroud and Hawke engaged its minions. Ash looked down at her mark. She had used its power on rare occasions before. Now seemed the right time.

She gritted her teeth as energy coursed through her arm like lightning. She gripped her elbow to help control the shuddering of her arm and directed the pulse of light above the Nightmare. It shrieked in surprise and pain as Ash's mark struck it full blast, then arced out to its minions like chain lightning. The minions shrieked, stunned. Stroud and Hawke wasted no time in ending them. Blackwall, Solas, and Sera used the opportunity to focus on the Nightmare and whittled through its barrier quickly.

Ash fell to her knees. Her limbs were shaky, like she had been shocked herself. She quickly pushed herself to standing and looked up in time to see the Nightmare materialize from the air in front of her. Her eyes flew wide and she barely managed to bring up her axe to deflect its attack. From the corner of her eye, she saw Blackwall and Stroud running toward her, only to stop, stunned, as they made contact with a glowing rune trap on the ground.

The Nightmare landed blow after blow against Ash, She deflected and dodged some, and grunted from the impact of others. She saw a blast of ice crash harmlessly against the Nightmare and heard Solas curse.

She heard the spider behind her too late. Sera spotted it and peppered it with arrows, but not before it had tripped Ash and sent her tumbling backward. She used her axe like a pole and slammed it against the ground, whirling on it to keep some balance. But her foe was fast, and was on her before she could regain her footing. Its talons screeched against her armor and seared into her neck as it took hold of her collar. She felt her feet leave the ground as it hoisted her up.

"You cannot stand against me!" it sneered.

"Then we won't stand!"

She dropped her axe and grabbed hold of its forearm. She put a leg on its waist and climbed fast, lifting her other leg up over its head and down over its arm, trapping it between her legs. She pitched forward into a roll. The demon shrieked and fell with her into the tumble. They rolled till Ash sat atop it, holding its arm hostage.

She knew she couldn't hold it in submission for longer than the half second it would take it to blast her with a spell.

It was all the time Hawke needed to plunge her daggers just below the carapace protecting its head.

It gurgled a death rattle as Hawke helped Ash to her feet. Her other companions had shaken free of the stun spell. They turned toward the glowing green portal at the top of a short flight of stairs. Her heart sank as the massive many-legged demon reappeared, blocking the way.

"Go! I'll cover you," Hawke said firmly.

"No!" Stroud shook his head and stepped forward. "You were right. The Grey Wardens caused this, and a Warden must-"

"A Warden must help them rebuild! That's your job!" the Champion turned her fiery gaze back to the monster. "Corypheus is mine." They both turned toward Ash. She blanched. Since when was there was silent agreement that she chose life or death for them?

"We don't have time," Solas whispered at her side.

Hawke wants Corypheus… but Corypheus is still out there. Ash looked between the two humans she had come to call friend in recent days. She didn't want to make this choice. Her eyes drifted to Blackwall. And there yet remains another who might lead the Wardens. One who was as stalwart as Stroud. He doesn't deserve this.

Her eyes lingered on Stroud. He saw her expression and nodded.

"Stroud…" there had to be some other way.

"Inquisitor," he cut her off, "it has been an honor." She watched him brandish his sword and stride toward the many-legged beast. He slashed at one leg and then another. It shrieked and turned toward him. "For the Wardens!"

Ash ran for the portal with the others, then paused. She looked back. She could still see him fighting the creature. It towered over him, threatening him with its many limbs on all sides. A firm hand grasped her elbow. She looked back to see Blackwall's gently somber expression.

"We have to go, Ash."

She took a deep breath and nodded. She stepped through the portal with him.