The next morning the groups packed up the camp and headed out in their respective destinations, Bodhan and Sandal decided that they would follow Elisa's group – Elisa suspected that they may have Lyrium and were hoping to sell it to the Templars or mages. As the team headed toward the tower Neira approached Elisa "So Solona said you used a form of blood magic to enchant her blade last night"

Elisa looked over at her friend "Is that an issue?" her voice was cautious.

"Not unless the Templars find out, you may want to refrain from using any spells like that when we're at the tower, it may stop them from sensing it."

Elisa sighed "The Templars know that I'm a mage after what happened at Highever, hopefully they'll respect the warden's claim on me and leave it at that. As for sensing the magic, one of the bonuses of learning a pride demon's magic is that I can mask any traces of magic, let alone blood magic, quite effectively"

Neira's eyebrow shot up "You learned your magic from a pride demon?"

"I never said I learned directly from a pride demon but yes, the style of blood magic I use is a pride demon's"

"Different demons teach different blood magic?"

"Yes, the style they teach is based on their own nature; rage demons teach more forceful violent spells, hunger demons more consuming spells and so on. Pride demon blood magic is cunning and deceptive, used to draw your opponent in and think that they've won and then crushing them with their own arrogance. I also know a bit of desire demon magic but that's better for a… softer setting" Elisa's voice turned soft toward the end

Neira was intrigued "That sounds interesting" she murmured "perhaps you can show me?"

"Perhaps" Elisa turned and placed one hand on the elven mage's waist "I think you find it quite captivating"

It occurred to Neira that she might already be getting a demonstration

Elisa leaned in close and whispered in her ear "However we'd have to wait until we were far away from the Templars no?" before removing her hand from Neira's waist and walking towards the others.

Neira found herself wishing for two things; a cold bath and the death of every Templar in Thedas.

oOo

The sun set on the group when they were about a quarter of the way there. The day had gone smoothly, the only issue being a group of bandits that had set up a clumsy ambush for travellers. They had considered simply avoiding the whole incident but decided to ambush the group instead after Natia pointed out that they could "Kill them and take their stuff" to ensure continued funding for the wardens. While none were better at quietly removing the outermost bandits than Natia, Elisa and Neira both proved to be quite good at subtle attacks; Elisa was no stranger to moving quietly and could use blood magic or a quick knife to deal with any who discovered her and Neira's aptitude towards subtle, weakening magics allowed her to weaken, or even kill her target before they even realized what was happening. Once they dealt with any scouts or lookouts the bandits had posted Solona sent a firestorm into the center of the camp, with Sten and Duran hot on its heels. Truthfully it had not been necessary to use such elaborate tactics but Elisa had wanted to experiment with the capabilities of the group and it was always good practice to work on more subtle and effective tactics when possible – provided they did not endanger anyone of course.

After dinner Elisa gave Solona another lesson on combat magic, mainly revising what they had gone over last time and only adding a few new parries and attack patterns to the lesson. Solona was learning very quickly; perhaps it was natural talent, or maybe the discipline that allowed the mage to cast spells for hours without needing to imbibe any lyrium potions, it could even be that using magic to augment her strength made learning the sword just like learning another spell. Whatever the reason, Solona would probably be able to fight melee effectively after another night at camp or two.

"Just out of curiosity" Solona asked at the end of the lesson, just before Elisa went to return the shield she had borrowed from Duran "How come you chose the sword and shield for me instead of having a weapon in each hand?"

Elisa paused for a second, considering her question; she hadn't really thought about it but had simply acted out of instinct born of experience then giving conscious thought to the decision. "Dual wielding is a difficult style to learn; wielding two full length weapons is difficult and all but the best fighters find themselves tangled up by their own weapons when they attempt it. Also it is possibly the most unforgiving style to learn; making a mistake with two as a dual-wielder is more often fatal then when using a pole arm or sword and shield or even a two-handed weapon. Furthermore you seem to value defensive magic above offensive and that is a mentality that works best with a shield." Elisa shrugged "not to mention finding a second weapon that could conduct magic or be enchanted to conduct magic may prove difficult; you were lucky to find Oathkeeper"

Solona accepted the explanation "Fair enough, just one more thing" Solona hesitated before continuing "I was just thinking that we're calling this sword Oathkeeper, but that's not really true anymore is it? I mean part of the Oath that the sword represents is to protect against blood magic but we've enchanted it with blood, somewhat violating the oath right? So if this sword has been corrupted by the thing that it was made to defend against then it's not really Oathkeeper is it?"

Elisa nodded "True, what do you want to call it then"

Solona hesitated for a moment before holding the weapon in her hand in front of her face, staring at it as the blood runes glowed at her command "Oathbreaker"

oOo

The sun had already set when they reached Lake Calenhad, if they had not been so close to the small collection of buildings near the docks by the circle the group would have already made camp. As it were Solona had pointed out that they could take up residence at the tower and not have to out again.

As they approached the docks Sten pulled Elisa to the side "This is where we were attacked" he said

"Let's see if we can see anything then"

Elisa explained the reason for the detour and the group spread out, they quickly found a scavenger who called out "What are you doing here? These are my lands! I paid for scavenging rights plain and simple!"

Elisa walked up to the man "Don't suppose you scavenged a sword?" she grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and hauled him up "because my friend here wants it back"

"N-No! I bought the rights off a trader, said there was plenty of loot! Didn't say he'd already taken it!"

"Name, Location"

"I-I'm having trouble remembering…" the rest of his sentence was cut off when Elisa slammed him into the back of a tree

"Now"

The scavenger told them that the looter he bought it off was named Faryn and had been headed up to Orzammar after he sold the land. Elisa turned to Sten and said "Orzammar, we need to head there to get the dwarves support, we'll get your sword back Sten"

"Thank you basalit-an"

The issue resolved they headed down to the docks that would take them to the tower. Neira and Solona looked around, appearing to be quite amused. "We've never seen this area" Neira revealed

"You've left the tower before haven't you?" Natia asked

"Yes but we stole a boat and bashed it into some rocks about 3 miles away from here; luckily the water wasn't too deep and we got ashore safely enough, started running into the forest as soon as we could."

There was a Templar guarding the docks, when they got close enough to recognize his face Solona groaned at the same time as Neira swore. Elisa turned to them and asked "What is it?"

Solona explained "Carroll, the Templar over there, was sent to the chantry because he was a continued embarrassment to his noble father; once in Carroll decided to join the Templars and the only reason he made it through training is because his father decided he'd rather bribe the knight-commander in charge of training then suffer the disgrace of having his son fail. He's an idiot and a buffoon who doesn't have two thoughts to rub together. His only saving qualities are his willingness to enjoy the company of mages and his… size"

"He does not appear to have a rather large build" Sten frowned

"Think lower Sten"

oOo

Despite his goofiness, disbelieving that they were grey wardens until he saw Solona and claiming to be the queen of Antiva, yelling "Don't question royalty!" when they tried to dispute it; Carroll was easy to handle and Elisa had him rowing them over to the circle before he knew it. There was some mess about half way over when Carroll had realized the Neira was an accused blood mage but was convinced to keep rowing on the grounds that a) Neira was a grey warden now and not the Templar's problem and b) if she was a blood mage then Greagoir would be happier if she was trapped on an island. He spent the rest of the trip trying to convince Solona that she didn't need to meet the Knight-Commander and should stay with him instead.

When they arrived at the tower they found Knight-Commander sealing the doors to the rest of the tower, leaving only the first few chambers available. He noticed them and went to confront them "What's going on here?" he demanded "I thought I told Carroll to keep all visitors away from the Tower"

"Carroll's not good at following tricky orders; stuff like 'Don't drink the mage's experiment' 'Say no to pretty mage' and 'Don't let anyone in the tower' is so difficult for him to follow" quipped Neira, Greagoir had not seen her until that moment as she and Solona had been blocked from view by Elisa and Sten.

Greagoir frowned but seemingly could not argue as he did not argue "It seems you have returned" he glared at the two former circle mages, frowning briefly at Solona's new armor and weapons getup.

Neira and Solona both opened their mouths to reply – judging from the looks and their faces, Solona's reply would have been more polite than Neira's – before Elisa cut them off "The Grey Wardens are in need of assistance from the Circle of Magi" she said formally.

"We'll you'll find none here, the circle has been lost; we are waiting on the rite of Annulment and reinforcement from Denerim and have closed the Circle doors to prevent any of the abominations and maleficar that have overrun the place from escaping" Greagoir said

Sten opened his mouth to say something but a look from Elisa shut him up; she then turned to the Knight-Commander and said "Surely some of the mages still live"

"If any still live than the Maker himself has guided them, I will not risk the lives of my men on pointless rescue missions"

"Then I'll go in the tower and deal with the abominations myself"

"I will not allow-" Elisa cut him off

"I am a warden" she said "I need mages for my efforts against the blight, these people are not helpless and can protect themselves, surely some still live; I will take my people into the tower and we'll clear it out. In return I expect that you will not prevent me from recruiting any and all willing and able mages into the army for combating the blight."

"I will not accept that the tower is safe unless I am told by the first enchanter himself; other than that I accept your terms. I will tell my men to open the doors, but be warned; you will not be allowed back out."

"Very well" Elisa quickly conferred with her group "Duran, you're in front with me; dwarven resistance to magic will make you a better meat shield then Sten. Natia, be aware that your resistance is not immunity; you can still be hurt and badly, use uttermost caution when sneaking up behind an attacker. Sten, I'm aware of Qunari treatment of mages, it would do well for you not to mention such things while we are here. Neira and Solona, do what you do best; you've spent to most time studying this type of combat and will recognize what threat maleficar and abominations represent, don't be afraid to offer advice or give us information, even if you think we know it." New tactics established, Elisa lead the group over the quartermaster where they restocked their supplies, buying extra lyrium potions as they feared that magic would be all to necessary. Once that was done Elisa let Greagoir know they were ready and led the group into the demon-infested tower.

Once inside the group quickly met up with a handful of mages who had barricaded themselves between the sealed doors and the rest of the tower using a powerful ward. Recruiting the mage who had casted the ward, Wynne, and leaving the other mages to guard the children that they had managed to save Elisa was about to lead the six further into the mage's tower when she noticed a large, metal door.

Pulling Neira aside she asked "What's that?" indicating the metal monstrosity.

"That is the door to the repository" Neira answered "it contains all sorts of magical items that the Templars keep locked away. I went down there just before fleeing the Circle to destroy mine and Jowan's phylacteries; vials of blood that the Templars keep to track us if we run away. I could sense all the magical items that had been hidden down there but we didn't have time so I had to leave them behind"

Elisa adsorbed this information "Anyway we could slip down there and put some of those magical items to good use?"

Neira nodded "Probably, but I don't think Wynne would approve"

"Then we'll just have to make sure she doesn't know" Turning to the others, Elisa ordered them to bed down for the night, they would rest here and tackle the tower in the morning. Solona would take the drain from the ward off Wynne so the older mage could properly recover before they went into the tower proper and the rest of them could get some sleep.

oOo

Once everyone was getting ready for bed, Elisa pulled Natia aside and asked her if she would be able to pick the lock to the repository. Natia treated the question with the scorn it deserved – of course she could pick the lock. Elisa volunteered for first watch and Natia for second; Natia picked the lock once everyone was asleep and when time came for her to take the watch, Elisa and Neira snuck down into the repository.

Once inside they quietly shut the doors and turned to the second door. Normally they would need a Templar to say a password to prime the door and then they would cast a spell to open it, however magic was magic and Neira proved yet again to be quite the crafty one; with Elisa's help she managed to trigger the prime and open the door without need of any password. After that the two slipped into the repository through the back door, Neira chuckling about how they had yet to replace the melted lock; her handiwork apparently.

Once inside they quickly went through the place, sentinels were displaced quickly when encountered and the two grabbed what they could find. Neira was quite fascinated by a number of books that could be found and stuffed them into her pack by the handful, vowing to read them over and see if she could learn any spells that could be useful. Elisa also grabbed a number of books for the same reason as well, being particularly attentive to a book titled Observers: The ghosts of the fade to the point where she stopped where she was, opened the book and began to read.

Neira look at the book over her shoulder "Observers are most commonly thought to be denizens of the fade, they have in fact been attributed to be the mysterious spirits of faith and hope that have never been seen. This is not true; Observers are powerful mortal mages that possess the ability to see all aspects of the fade and magic as well as conceal themselves from either. They are extremely dangerous due to the fact that on top of their powerful magic they can see the aptitude and abilities of their attackers and so are impossible to ambush. Their ability to conceal themselves from magic is not so formidable in combat as a mage can still target them from sight, however it allows them to pass a mundane until they begin to cast spells; also fighting them in the fade would be fatal for any but another observer or a dreamer as they can use their concealment abilities to disappear from their attackers sight entirely and then attack them from a fatal angle. Like dreamers they can enter the fade at will and make the most powerful blood mages and spirit healers, however apart from their disappearing act they are unable to manipulate the fade as dreamers can. They can see the nature and origin of any enchantment and can even see the bloodlines of mortals – even those who have not magic. Since their abilities lie firmly within the observation of magic it may be possible that this suggests that all humans once wielded magic as the elves claimed to – certainly the Templar's abilities would indicate such" she read aloud before looking at her friend "you're an observer, aren't you? I knew you had some unique abilities but I didn't know what they were called"

Elisa shut the book with a clap "the Tevinters have a name for everything, I found a book on Observers in one of their libraries a few years ago, I had been hoping that this one would have more information – maybe even some original research – but it looks like this book has nothing I don't already know. I keep it anyway; we don't have time for a thorough examination and maybe this scholar had something that others did not"

Once they reached the repository proper they began to move through the many magical items that had been stored here. After a brief examination the two found several rings and amulets that would augment their abilities and well as several tomes. As they went to leave Neira found a set of robes and a staff. The robes appeared to be similar to circle robes in design save for the fact that they were in a shade of green that was not used in circle hierarchy, they shone with power and Elisa could see that they did a great deal to augment the wearer's magic and would prove to be tougher than leather armor should anyone get close enough to Neira to strike a blow, touching them Neira declared the robes were called the "vestments of the seer". The staff was ancient and powerful, while Elisa was unsure why the robes were down here apart from that they might slow a Templar's sword should a mage be wearing them it was clear why the staff was down here; even from across the room Elisa could not only see but feel and hear the sheer power of the staff. It was a dark red and was decorated at the point by a Tevinter design that twisted it up to a stone at the top; just above the hand-grip was a small sharp edge that was the only part of the staff that wasn't smooth. It was clearly deliberate and there was no doubt in either of their minds what it was for.

Neira held the staff hesitantly "Should I…" her voice trailed, off full of doubt

"Wardens use whatever they can" Elisa urged "It's power, nothing more, nothing less. It might be dark power but that doesn't mean it's evil, it just means that it was used for evil." Sensing that Neira was coming around Elisa pressed on "You're a strong mage Neira, you will not fall prey to temptation; I understand why you wouldn't want to use something like this in the past but you're a warden now. We protect our own and I trust you to use your magic to serve what's best in you, not what's most base and what's best in you is using the power of this staff to help the Circle, help the friends I know you have here and by doing so defeat the blight"

Convinced Neira grabbed the staff fully and held it in front of her "I will not succumb" she said "I will take the darkness in me and fashion it into a blade that carves a path for the light"

"Good, now grab your new gear and let's go"

oOo

After battling their way through the first floor where Elisa and Neira oddly decided to touch statues at random they headed up to the second and ran into a tranquil. The three Circle mages in their group recognized him as Owain. After a brief conversation that revealed blood magic to be involved in the fall of the Circle and that another mage, Niall, had taken the Litany of Andralla in an attempt to save the circle, the band left the stockroom and went into the first part of the library.

There they encountered a group of blood mages, who immediately attacked them. Solona quickly threw up a shield to block any attacks while Elisa and Neira cast a pair of devastating spells that killed all but one of their attackers, the last mage had managed to hold her shield despite the sheer power of the their attacks and had survived, albeit drained of both mana and most of her blood; if she attempted another spell she would certainly die. "Please" she begged, "don't kill me"

Elisa considered it; this mage was certainly powerful if she could survive hers and Neira's attacks. She herself was not sure that she would have been able to deflect such a powerful attack without resorting to blood magic "Tell me why I should spare your life" she asked

"We didn't mean to kill so many, we only wanted to be free, but Uldred's gone insane and now we're trapped here to die"

"Then join us and make this right, help us save the tower and fight the darkspawn"

"The darkspawn? Who are you?"

"I am a grey warden, as are several of my companions. We can conscript you into our ranks if you would fight alongside us instead of dying here"

The mage nodded her assent; Elisa turned to Wynne and ordered the older mage to heal her. Wynne was taken aback "You want me to heal a blood mage? You want to work with a blood mage? They are the worst of mages and will turn on you at the slightest opportunity"

"Wynne, blood magic is a power just like any other, the only difference between it and the spells you use are what it can achieve; spirit healing can be used to heal, so people thing it must be good, yes? Blood magic can be used to harm so it must be evil, no? What about a sword then? Is it evil? Is a bandage good? Magic is a tool like any other; we only give concepts of good and evil to it because we are good and evil, blood magic can be used to do heal to you know, watch" Elisa knelt in the blood that covered the ground where the dead mages lay and held out her hand. The blood from the fallen streamed towards her and then into the wounds of the living mage, healing her. Elisa turned to face Wynne and said "I can also use "spirit healing" to hurt people to, you know"

Wynne sighed "I must admit I am surprised to see that you are a mage, let alone a blood mage. My first instinct is to attack you both; but I am an old women and I do not think I would survive if I did such a thing. I see that you mean to save the circle if you can and so I will help you for now. Once we are out of danger however, I will have a talk with the both of you"

Elisa just nodded but the blood mage they had recruited looked faintly alarmed at the idea of having a "talk" with Wynne, never the less she mastered herself and said "thank you for showing me mercy, my name is Clara Sanguis"

Elisa gave Clara the names of her companions and then added "I won't show you mercy again; you live by my rules or you die by them, understood?"

"Yes"

"Then get up, we have work to do"

oOo

They moved through the remainder of the second and the third floor with little difficulties, killing demons and blood mages where they found them, no other mages held off their attacks long enough for Elisa to offer them the chance to surrender and so they were all killed. They paused shortly in Irving's study to look for evidence as to what happened but found nothing on the topic; Neira thought she saw Elisa grab a black book of some sort but decided it wasn't important. The fourth floor was surprisingly sparse in comparison to the other floors and there were fewer battles, while this was a welcome fact it gave the group a feeling that the worst was yet to come.

Unfortunately they were right.

Upon entering the center chamber of the fourth floor they encountered a sloth abomination standing over a fallen mage "Niall!" Solona cried out, recognizing the mage.

"Ah, visitors" the demon began "It is so tiring to entertain, wouldn't it be better to simply rest"

Neira cried out "Sloth demon! Think quick, fast thought!"

"Ah, but isn't that so tiring? Wouldn't it be better to simply take a nap?" All save Elisa and Neira began to sway on their feet "Sleep" the demon commanded "the world will go on without you" the companions began to collapse on the floor one by one.

When only Elisa and Neira still stood the demon turned to face them "Fighting is so tiring but it would be even harder to make a dreamer and an observer take a nap" the demon said "I will simply have my minions kill you" taking four black vials from his robes the demon added "wouldn't death be best? Then you could sleep for all eternity" and tossed the vials onto the floor

They all broke.

A/N my attempt at a cliffhanger, hopefully it did well.

Anyways the reason that I had the blood mage join the party (I think the reference I made with her name was about as obscure as glass, but I have the hardest time with naming characters so I tend to use references or jokes when I can) was because it always annoyed me that you could recruit her but she wouldn't show up again at all. My justification for Wynne agreeing to side with a blood mage or two was because she's kinda had a major shock recently; her home of about fifty years has been overrun, she's become an abomination and then she saw a young warrior heal somebody using blood magic and claim she could hurt people with the technique used by spirit healing – it's enough to make anyone question their beliefs, especially when the offenders are helping do the impossible and save the people she's known for her entire life.

The reason Sten didn't make his "Mages need to be locked away" comment was because he respects Elisa – as we've established – and understands that mages are needed for war efforts. So when Elisa subtly lets him know that she doesn't want him talking about the evil of mages he shuts up.

Also the observer thing is all my fabrication – I came up with it as a middle ground between mediums, who are barely above mages and dreamers, who are more or less all powerful once they get a hang on their abilities.

Next chapter is either going to be Elisa and Neira getting their asses kicked by four revenants followed by the conclusion of the circle of magi arc or the first part of the Redcliff arc – leave a review if you have an opinion, if no one says anything I'll simply go with what I start writing.

As always please review, thanks