A/N I changed to blood mage's name to Clara after posting the chapter – just sounded better.

Also I suppose that I should warn you that there will be F/F relationships in this story, however since that is not the point of the story I hope that it will not scare anyone away, also I will clearly label when any sex scenes begin and end; skipping them will just mean that you don't read about people having sex so feel free to do so – I'm only writing them because the story's already M rated so why the hell not?

It was a six day walk from Lothering to Redcliff and surprisingly uneventful. Alice's group spent the time amicably chatting among each other about their lives and what they had done before the blight. The only relevant topic that came to light was Leliana convincing Alice that looting the corpses of the dead was a part of adventuring "We killed them, so it's only fair that we take their stuff" paraphrased Kallian, who had joined in on the conversation. At camp the group most of the group save for Morrigan and Theron made camp around a single camp fire, Morrigan camped at a small fire she made not too far away and Theron seemed to alternate between them both. Judging from how the two acted around each other, Kallian had started a betting pool as to how long it would take for the two to wind up sharing a tent.

On the last night before they reached Redcliff Alistair pulled Alice aside. "look uh, I have something to tell you…" he began

Trying to make light of it Alice smiled and quipped "If you're leaving me for Theron just say so, I've seen how you look at him"

"What? Ha, very funny. No it's about Arl Eamon; you remember how I said he raised me right? Well the first thing you need to know is that I'm a bastard and before you make another smart comment I mean the fatherless kind – royal actually" Alice was a skilled diplomat – while Elisa had been learning fighting she had been learning politics – but Alistair's revelation that he was royal blood was a shock that she could not hide, seeing her surprise Alistair continued on "you see my mother was a serving girl at Redcliff and my father was king Maric. After I was born they gave me to Arl Eamon to raise until I was sent to the chantry when I was ten."

Alice schooled her face back into a blank mask and accepted the information "Has it occurred to you that with Cailan dead you are next in line for the throne?" she asked

"Maker no! I never wanted to rule over anyone! I like being a grey warden and helping people, I don't want to deal with anything else. So can we please just pretend that I'm still some nobody who was too stupid to die with the rest of the wardens?"

Alice grinned and bowed "As you command… my prince" she teased

"Very funny"

oOo

At about midday the group approached Redcliff castle only to be approached by a distressed peasant "thank the Maker someone has come! Are you the reinforcements that we sent for? Why has no one else come?"

"We're in the middle of a blight man, no one knows you're in trouble" Alice said gently "tell us what's happened"

"Well, the Arl was sick you know, so the Arlessa sent out all the knights to search for a cure, but no one ever found one, then all the sudden one day the gates to the castle closed and that night we found we were under attack by the dead!" the man's voice was frightened and panicky

"When did this begin? Who's in charge here?"

"Three days ago, milady; we've suffered two nights of attacks, Bann Teagan is leading the defenders"

"We'll need to speak with him, where is he?"

"At the chantry, I can take you there"

"I can see it from here, we'll be fine" As the man ran off to attend to other duties that he surely had Alice turned to the group. "Thoughts?" she asked

Alistair was first in "How did this happen?" he asked, clearly in shock "We heard rumors that Arl Eamon had fallen ill back in Lothering but this…"

Leliana was not far behind "We need to help these people" she said "They have no hope of defending themselves alone and I would not want to abandon anyone to such a fate"

When the rest of the group remained silent Alice spoke "We will help these people, I would not have it any other way" she turned to Morrigan but was interrupted by the witch

"Surely you do not intend for us to defend these snivelling idiots?" the witch sneered as Kallian nodded her agreement and Theron added "Why should we help these Shemlen weaklings? My people would never leave our weak without defenses, if they are so foolish then why should we risk our lives and our mission to save them?"

Alice sighed "two reasons: one, they may know what happened to Arl Eamon – who's the most powerful human ally we can befriend at this point I might add and two; Right now we're being called traitors an king slayers, anything we can do to generate goodwill among the people of Ferelden is a great help. Besides" Alice's smile twisted arrogantly to mirror Theron's own "do you honestly think that we would be endangered by an attack that a bunch of villagers managed to hold off twice?" She spoke directly to the three's own arrogance, bringing them around to her way of thinking as effectively as any blood magic her sister might use "Are you honestly that uncertain of your abilities?"

The three looked at each other and shrugged; the woman did have a point. As they set off for the Chantry Leliana went over to speak with Alice "I have to wonder what your reason for aiding these people is; the tactical reason or the moral one?"

Alice shrugged "Both, neither; I honestly don't know what I would have done if saving the village had been a bad choice, and I'm not sure I want to know. I didn't have to choose between the greater and lesser good today and that's enough for me"

oOo

Having met Teagan – who actually recognized Alistair after he made a joke about seeing him last all covered in mud. The group hashed out how to best prepare for the coming battle. After some deliberation Alice decided to send Leliana to talk the village blacksmith into repairing armor for the militia, Alistair went up to the path to see if the remaining knights in Redcliff needed anything, Theron, she sent out to see if he could find a young boy that had run off earlier that day; Alice had met the Dalish before and knew that for all his hostility to adult humans – which actually wasn't all that much considering the usual Dalish attitude – his people valued children far too much for him ever to treat a young boy badly and hoped that the stoic warrior might be able to impress the child into staying with his sister. Kallian, Morrigan and herself went out to see if anyone was hiding in the abandoned houses, such people were most likely hardened soldiers if they had survived two nights already and would be a great help if they could be persuaded to join the militia.

All four endeavours turned out to be successful; Leliana managed to talk the blacksmith into making armor before he managed to take a second swig of his drink after letting her in, Theron found the boy easily enough once he figured out where the boy's home was and the reputation of his people as warriors was more than enough to awe a single boy, Alice found a dwarf with a couple of body guards and with Morrigan and Kallian's help convinced them to join up with the militia. The only issue to be had was that Alistair had difficulty convincing the revered mother into blessing some amulets to boost the knights' morale, however Alice managed to talk the mother around and had the amulets delivered in no time.

Once that was done they spent a few hours preparing for the night ahead. Theron laid some snares around the paths that the villagers said the dead attacked from, Morrigan brewed some healing poultices that the villagers could use if injured, the rest worked with the villagers and taught them different combat techniques; Alice and Kallian taught some of the women and smaller men how to use their speed to their advantage, Alistair taught the main body of the militia some shield techniques and Leliana tried to improve the archery of those that had bows. And then the night was upon them

There were two paths that the dead attacked from; the path to Redcliff castle and from the lake, just in front of the chantry. The militia guarded against attacks from the lake and the knights held the path. Keeping in mind that the knights specialized in melee and the militia had more archers than anything else Alice took Alistair, Kallian and George with her to guard the docks and put Theron in charge of holding the path with Leliana and Morrigan.

oOo

The attack began shortly after sundown.

While Alice didn't quite understand how the undead could be killed just like any man, save for the fact that they were immune to poison, she did not complain; it was this fact alone that allowed her and her companions to survive. Because there were several paths between the lake and the Chantry square, she, Alistair and Kallian were forced to spilt up; each holding a third of the semi-circle that dead could attack from, while they were supported by the militia, they were the primary defense and where treated as such. On the path Theron, Leliana and Morrigan unleashed devastation from a distance while the knights dispatched the few undead that got close enough to attack them. The attack lasted for most of the night, with the villagers relying heavily on the wardens to keep them alive.

And then it was over.

At about two hours after midnight the last of the undead had been dispatched and no more came to attack. Unwilling to risk that there may be more later many of the villagers and knights chose to stay awake on watch but the wardens chose to retire to the chantry to get some rest; tomorrow they would enter castle Redcliff and if what they faced tonight was any indicator they would need all the rest they could get.

oOo

"My friends, the sun has risen and we are all still here" Bann Teagan called out before the villagers from the chantry steps as he faced the wardens "And for that we have these brave wardens to thank" he handed them an expensive looking helmet "we present to you the helm of my grandfather; may you put it to good use. Come, let us go to the castle and purge that evil that caused this" with that he started walking toward the path to Redcliff castle.

"There's a secret passage into the castle that's only known to the family" Teagan said as they stepped onto the small plateau where Morrigan and the two archers had held the path against the dead "I didn't want to use it while the villagers needed my help but with you here-" The sound of a woman, running down the path, calling out Teagan's name cut him off.

"Isolde? What's going on?" Teagan clearly knew the woman and was quite surprised to see her

"You need to come to the castle" the woman, Isolde, said "Connor-" she broke down sobbing

Alice recalled what she knew about the Guerrein family "Connor? Your son? What's wrong with him?"

Isolde ignored her "Teagan, I'm begging you, please trust me, you need to come with me to the castle"

Theron frowned "Even a shem like you cannot be so stupid as to walk into such an obvious trap"

Teagan turned to the wardens "Trap it may be, I must do this. Here" he handed Alice his signet ring "the passage way into the castle is in the windmill over there, I will try to keep the attention of whatever is in the castle. Remember, Eamon is the priority here, everyone else, Isolde, Connor, myself, we are all expandable"

Alice nodded "I shall"

Without another word Teagan followed Isolde up the path into the castle. Once they were out of sight Alice led the wardens into the windmill.

While the passage in the windmill was traversable, it was dark and cramp. Upon seeing it, Theron frowned and – for the first time since Alice had met him – hesitated. For a moment Alice thought that she would have to say something, but Theron quickly mastered himself and entered the passage, muttering something about getting the hell out of there if he saw a mirror. George however, was unable to enter the passage due to the ladder and so was left to make sure nothing came up behind them; a paranoid decision but one that was excusable considering they had come seeking an audience with an Arl and found an undead invasion.

Upon exiting the passage the wardens found a trio of undead attempting to reach through a cell door to kill the man inside. They drew their weapons and slew the undead without any difficulty. Once they were dead the man called out "Hello? Who's there?"

Alice turned to him "I am Alice, of the grey wardens" she said "Who are you? Why are you locked up like this?"

"I'm Jowan" the man introduced himself, upon hearing the name Alistair frowned "I'm an apostate that the Arlessa hired to teach her son in private, once this all started however she locked me down here, accusing me of poisoning Arl Eamon and inviting the evil into the castle"

Kallian raised an eyebrow "And did you?"

"No! I didn't invite anything in I've been down here since before it began"

Alice jumped in "I thought you said she locked you up after this started, does that mean you poisoned Arl Eamon?"

"Well, I was on the run from the Templars and they cornered me. I was about to get executed when Teryn Loghain showed up and rescued me; he told me that Arl Eamon was a threat to the kingdom and had to be dealt with, what was I supposed to do? Anyways after Ostagar I panicked and got caught, I was locked down here and then a few days later the Arlessa came down here with some guards and demanded that I undo what I had done, I didn't know anything about it before then"

Alice turned to Morrigan "Can you tell if he invited this thing in?"

"There is some traces of Demonic taint on his aura, but it is fairly old, I do not think that he has bargained with a demon recently, certainly he is not responsible for what has happened here"

"What about Connor? You said that you were hired to train him, does that mean that he is a mage?"

This realization took Alistair by surprise "Connor? A mage?"

"Yes milady, I was hired to teach him but didn't get far before I was locked up"

"Could he have done this?"

"Not on purpose, he barely has any control right now, but he may have accidentally sundered the Veil"

Alice nodded "Ok, I'm going to let you out of your cell and you're going to help us fix this"

Before Jowan could say anything Alistair cried out "Wait! When I was at the tower, there was a blood mage named Jowan who escaped, he nearly got Solona and Neira killed"

Alice turned to Jowan "Is it true?"

"Yes, milady, I thought that it would make me a better mage, it was such a stupid mistake. Are Solona and Neira ok?"

"Only because I recruited them into the grey wardens!" Snapped Alistair "When I got there they were seconds away from being killed!"

Alice laid a hand on Alistair "Calm down Alistair, they're ok and Jowan can help us" she turned to Jowan "This changes nothing; you're still coming with us"

Leliana spoke up "This man has made mistakes and seeks to atone for them, letting him help us would be best" and the others murmured their assent

Jowan quietly asked "Do I have a choice? I'd really rather not come with you, it looks dangerous"

Alice rounded on him, reaching between the bars to grab him by his collar, pulling him against the bars and pressing a dagger against his ribs with her other hand "You can come with us or you can die here" her voice was eerily calm the entire time.

"I-I'll come than" Jowan stuttered

Alice picked the lock "I hereby conscript you into the grey wardens; make a wrong move and you're dead"

oOo

They fought their way into the courtyard if the castle with little difficulty; the halls had been plagued by undead but nothing that they could not handle. Jowan's blood magic was powerful but seemed to be limited when facing bloodless creatures such as the undead. He had proved quite formidable when facing the shades that they had found in the chantry and the crazed mabaris that they had found in the kennels; however against the undead Alice had thought that he was weak as a traditional mage until Morrigan had commented on his skill. That had forced Alice to acknowledge that she had met four mages in her life and all were incredibly powerful I've been spoiled for magic she thought wirily.

The courtyard seemed to be empty but they had already seen the dead rise up on them several times and so decided to move cautiously. They barely stepped into the courtyard when the dead rose up. Alice was pulled across the courtyard by an unseen force; she found herself on her back as a powerful looking undead brought its sword down toward her. She rolled out of the way, the sword missing her by an inch. Both mages and archers attacked the creature, forcing it back a couple inches and giving Alice the time she needed to get to her feet. The arrows seemed to have had no effect on it so the archers turned to support Alistair as he engaged the group of undead that had risen up on the stair while Kallian moved to assist Alice. Morrigan unleashed a hex that weakened and slowed the undead and cried out "Revenant!"

The revenant attacked Alice, swinging its sword toward her head, she dodged and attempted to stab it but was blocked by its shield; it was so fast, even with the hexes and curses that Jowan and Morrigan were piling on it, if they didn't end this soon then Alice was a dead woman. Alice circled around so the revenant's back was to the rest of the courtyard, giving Kallian the chance to sneak up behind the thing. When she did so however, the revenant spun around incredibly quickly and blocked her attack, nearly killing her; Kallian was knocked back but seeing her chance, Alice struck. She stabbed forward with her dagger, deliberately staying on the rights side of the revenant's body; her gamble paid off and when the creature spun to block her attack she was able to parry with her sword. The force of the blow vibrated all down her arm and her sword all but shattered but it gave her the time she needed; her dagger pierced the undead's heart and it collapsed. Not wanting to risk the thing getting up, Alice raised her sword to cut of the revenant's head but when she struck the sword bounced off its neck armor and shattered.

The last of the skeletons on the steps were defeated so Jowan walked over and set the corpse aflame, clearly not wanting it to get up any more than she did. Alice stared at the hilt of her broken sword "You know, if this is just a taste of what's to come then from now on I'm going to carry two swords, even if I can only use one"

"Tis a good idea, especially if we run into more revenants" Morrigan approached them just ahead of the others

Alice looked up "Right, what was that thing?"

"A revenant; the corpse of a powerful mage possessed by an even more powerful demon. Thankfully, the only reason that they're encountered at all is because they are so hard to kill; few mages with such power are not cremated and fewer demons of such power are given the chance to possess them"

"Well that's a relief" Alice looked at the sword the revenant dropped and picked it up; it was obviously of good quality – good enough to all but shatter the red steel blade that her parents had bought her for her 20th birthday – perhaps it was made of dragonbone? Whatever had been used to make it, it was light, hard and sharp; she would replace her sword with it and at first opportunity she would add another sword to her weapons, making sure she wouldn't risk finding herself without a sword again.

The group entered the main hall to confront the evil and found… Teagan dancing?

Teagan was dancing about like a jester, making insensible comments like a fool. There were several guards standing about, Alice looked at Jowan and raised her eyebrows, he immediately replied to her unspoken question "Blood magic"

Alice nodded and turned her attention to the front of the hall. In front of the fire was a young boy that matched all she had heard about Connor "Look mother, we have guests" he said in a deep voice that screamed possession "Are these the people that stopped me from retaking my village?"

"Y-yes Connor" Isolde, who was standing beside him, said clearly terrified.

"Why are you here?" Connor demanded, turning to face Alice "Are you here to stop me?"

"Yes" with that Alice flung a dagger towards Connor, aiming for his head. Without even turning she flicked a second blade into the throat of a nearby guard "Jowan, knock Teagan out of it!" she called out as the others killed the remaining guards. Once that was done she turned her attention to the center of the room and smiled; her knife had done exactly what she wanted.

Connor was gone from the room, probably fled after suffering such a deep cut to his face, her knife was lying beside the great hall's fireplace with Connor's blood gleaming on the blade. She grabbed the knife and turned to Jowan, who was helping Teagan to his feet "Can you preserve this blood?" she asked, handing the dagger to Jowan

"I can but why?" Jowan asked, clearly mystified by the question but he took the dagger and began working his magic anyways

"Correct if I'm wrong but Connor's an abomination yes?" when he nodded Isolde broke down into hysteria, ignoring the woman Alice continued "But we can save him if we send a mage into the fade and kill the demon right?" Jowan nodded again and Isolde stopped crying and instead started frantically begging for them to save her son.

Morrigan frowned "But we have no way to enter the fade do we? Such a thing would require a considerable amount of lyrium and a number of mages, neither of which we have"

Jowan hesitated then jumped in "I know a ritual that substitutes lyrium with blood, but it takes a lot of blood, all of it in fact"

"Then I volunteer" Isolde stood up "It was my mistake that got Connor possessed, if it takes my life to save him then let it be so"

"That will be plan B" Alice said "My sister is a powerful blood mage and she has a unique ability that allows her to enter the fade at will, if we can get this blood to her she can use it to locate the demon and kill it"

"But your sister is at the tower" Theron looked tired, as if facing that he would have to kill either a child or let this woman die

"Yes" Alice turned to Teagan "Do you have any horses?"

Teagan nodded "I can take you to the stables"

Alice grinned "Ok, here's the plan; I'll take the dagger and a horse and try to get to my sister, if nothing happens in six days or it looks like Connor is going to cause trouble then preform the ritual, Morrigan will enter the fade. If I can get to my sister then she'll kill the demon, it's only two day's ride to the tower but the demon may be cunning so don't assume success until you hear from us, understood?" They all nodded, she turned to Teagan "Take me to the stables"

Five minutes later she was riding like the Archdemon itself was at her back, hoping to make it to the tower in time, praying that the demon would not force their hand by manifesting fully and forcing her companions to kill a child.

A/N I'd assume that Isolde would react differently to Jowan saving her brother-in-law then just popping up after the battle so I got rid of her outburst.

Also, I was looking at the map of Ferelden and realized that the 4 days to the circle thing was ridiculous so I'll change that when I get the chance – I'm just really lazy and don't want to do it right now, it's also why it took six days to reach Redcliff

Anyways thanks for reading and as always please review