For two weeks the demon and the child battled for the body, struggling to gain control of the power and access to the mortal world that the body offered. For two weeks they fought over the body, attempting to spread their control over it while slowing the other's attempt to do the same. In time the demon came to realize that it could no longer touch the fade, that it was completely embedded in the mortal world. Furthermore it realized that it could not tell the difference between the child's energy signature and its own. What did the mean? it wondered, had this brutal, desperate battle turned the child into a demon? Had the demon been turned into something mortal, human even? Or was it a middle ground? Had the constant clashes left both of them more, and less then what they had been? Was the child still truly human? Was it still truly a demon?

The creature had little time to consider this, for the child had sensed it's distraction and forced the final confrontation that would decide who ruled this body.

oOo

"Yes, I hear you, don't disturb my concentration"

Even through Neira at least suspected what they would find here, hearing the voice of the wizened old mage made her jerk in surprise. Elisa, however showed no such reaction, flipping Blood out of its sheath on her back and pointing it at the ancient mage in an almost lazy fashion "Avernus I presume?"

The ancient warden mage looked surprised at the question "yes, how did you know who I was?"

"The wards around this place haven't been disturbed since shortly after the veil had been torn and I'd assume that if anyone survived this long it would be the powerful blood mage" Elisa relaxed her pose, leaving Blood to swing loosely by her side.

Avernus nodded "A fair assumption, I am the last of the wardens of Soldier's peak, the sole survivor of that brutal battle all those years ago, Sophia Dryden may walk around but she to is gone, I am the last one privy to those dark secrets hidden in the past. And now I will reveal to you what you wish, I assume you have questions?"

"More then you can imagine old man but for now only one's important; can you undo what's been done here? Can you unravel the summoning circles and make this place safe once more?"

"Yes"

"Can you teach me and Neira? I don't want Soldier's peak to be lost if one demon gets lucky"

"Her? I can teach her the basics in half an hour. You? You're a warrior, wielding steel and brute force to carve your way through your problems. This requires magic and finesse. I assume you thought that you could do this because the demon offered to do it but I assure you that just because a demon can do something does not mean that some bru-"

Avernus was cut off when Elisa filled her hand with magic "You of all people should know how dangerous assumptions are, how quickly fatal oversights can be. You've survived centuries as a mage for Andraste's sake! Pay attention and look past appearances! If you can't, well, then you're just another threat, Sophia's still waiting for us to honour our deal after all"

Avernus looked shaken by what Elisa had revealed and by the fact that she was right; he had grown careless "I assume you're well trained?"

"Very"

"Then this won't take long, follow me; I keep my notes on this matter over here"

oOo

Henrick paced back and forth, gritting his teeth; he could not believe that his commander would even consider working with a demon. They were everything he had been trained to fight, they were the source of the worst magics, the darkest atrocities that Thedas had ever known. As far as he was concerned, helping the Tevinter magisters of old rise to power meant that they were responsible for the blights themselves. Demons knew only evil and so no good could ever come of a deal with them.

Across the room Leroy was obviously having similar thoughts. The chantry had both taught them everything they knew, trained them to keep their minds clear from influence, both material and magical. All they needed was an opening, and then they would save their comrades from temptation. Henrick tested his knee, it was weak but most likely usable; Neira was a powerful mage and a trained healer, she probably warned him to stay with Levi just to be on the safe side, he would be fine.

"This one is wondering why the two mages are taking so long. This one desires freedom from this place" The demon turned its back on Henrick, now was their chance!

He signaled Leroy and moved, draw his sword as he lunged towards the demon's unprotected back, ready to plunge his blade into the creatures heart and end its horrible existence. Across the room he saw Leroy cry out as an arrow appeared in the crook of his elbow, a vulnerable point that forced him to drop his sword. Not to be deterred Leroy continued his dash across the room, striking not for the demon but for the Dalish elf, but he was too slow. Faster than Henrick could see the elf palmed a knife before avoiding the Templar's blow before slamming the hilt of the blade into Leroy's temple. Henrick's only ally fell to the floor unconscious. But that didn't matter, what mattered was that the demon had not yet turned, he could still run her through and end this insanity. Just three more steps… two… one…

His knee gave.

Henrick collapsed to the ground, clutching his ruined knee. His sword skidded across the floor, coming to rest just past Sophia's feet. Duran walked up to him as he struggled to understand what had happened, why had his knee given out so easily? Had one of the mages cursed it? Had Neira ensured that he would be unable to attack? What had happened?

Duran came up to him and asked in a almost conversational tone "I have to ask, are you that blindly devoted to the chantry? Or are you just really fucking stupid?"

oOo

Elisa and Neira walked into the room to be greeted by a rather irate Sophia "This one is wondering what took you so long, if all grey-"

Elisa did a quarter spin, precise and powerful, using the momentum to draw Blood and cut Sophia's head in two before anyone realized what happened. One moment the demon haunting Sophia Dryden's corpse was berating the two mages for taking so long and the next it was on the floor with its brains leaking out of its partially removed head.

Duran raised an eyebrow at her, she shrugged "The other guy offered a better deal"

"Other guy?"

"Yea, Avernus managed to survive all this time. I know it's a bit hard to wrap your mind around that but we need to seal the veil before anymore demons slip through. You can run around screaming 'What the Fuck' after were done."

"So long as I get the chance" Duran sighed "Ancestors I hate magic"

oOo

The demon raised its head as the death of the demon possessing Sophia Dryden rippled across the fade. One of the first to demons to know life he was privy to many forgotten secrets. He was one of the few who knew how to compress strength into a small body, allowing him to take the form of a werewolf and use the form's speed to tear apart his gigantic brethren, he was one of the few who knew how to maintain his form in the mortal world without the use of a body, he was one of the few who knew how to function past physical death, allowing him to sustain mortal wounds in combat and keep fighting, provided they were not too severe. None could stand against him.

Not anymore.

For untold years he had struggled to break the barriers preventing entry to the rift in Soldier's peak for all those save that one's vassals, struggling to gain entry to the mortal realm where he could rule unchallenged.

And now the demon was dead.

Some hero had obviously slain her in their bid to regain that ancient fortress, not knowing that he was far, far worse.

The demon immediately set a course for the rift, he would gain entry to mortal world, he would gain the power he deserved.

He would destroy all who opposed him.

oOo

"Once we begin the demons will begin an all-out assault to prevent us from sealing the rift, be ready"

Elisa nodded and gripped her swords and readying herself as Duran did the same beside her. With Leroy and Henrick down for the count they were the only melee combatants the group had; it would be up to the two of them to keep the demons off their allies, something that would not be made easy by how close Avernus would have to get to the rift. She grinned predatorily, three mages and an archer meant that it would be easy to create a killzone that would eliminate most of the demons coming through. She and Duran would have no trouble dealing with any who made it through that death trap, this wasn't a battle, this was going to be a slaughter. "Ready" she called out, and the battle began.

The first demons to come through were incredibly weak, torn apart by the mages' spells before they even realized what was happening. It wasn't until Avernus went to work on the second summoning circle that any made it through. Elisa had easily dispatched that one, moving with a speed that surprised even her; Avernus' concoction sure was something. After that the power of the demons steadily increased. Just as Avernus began unraveling the third summoning circle a rage demon with incredible speed dodged Duran as he dealt with a second demon and made a beeline for Avernus. Elisa didn't hesitate, throwing Silence through the air to strike the offending demon, killing it instantly. Theron adjusted his focus to aim for any demons who moved to attack Avernus as Elisa drew dagger from her belt and kept on killing.

Shortly after two demons attacked her in unison, one charging directly at her while the other made to move past her, either to attack her from behind or attack one of the mages, neither of which was acceptable. Elisa plunged Loss into the one demon as it passed her. Unfortunately, the creature was moving with considerable speed and she was forced to let of Loss and raise her arm to block the other demons attack before plunging her dagger into its eye. She noticed that Duran had lost his sword in a similar fashion and was now using his greatsword. She gritted her teeth, she had gotten arrogant and underestimated the demons; if they didn't finish this soon then they may not all make it out alive.

As Avernus was finishing the unraveling of the final summoning circle Elisa sensed a powerful presence approach the tear in the veil "Something really powerful is coming through the tear! Be ready!" A werewolf tore through opening, mere seconds before the summoning circles were unraveled and the veil snapped shut. The werewolf charged toward Elisa as the warrior gripped Blood and waited as it came closer and closer. Three meters away, two meters away…

One.

Elisa pivoted, placing her less than an inch away from the werewolf's body, its hair brushing along her armor. At the same time she plunged Blood into its back, barely missing the creature's heart. Theron loosed an arrow, straight towards the demon's eye.

Instantly the monster pushed itself towards Elisa, taking out her legs. She rolled across its back and landed in a crouch, her boot brushing the tail of Theron's arrow. Duran took up a defensive position in front of the others; he would prevent the werewolf from easily attacking them. He wouldn't be able to stop it but he could slow it down enough that it would never survive the attempt with Elisa at its back; it would have to deal with her first.

The werewolf surprised them once again by using magic to stop itself completely and reverse its direction, attacking Elisa before she had a chance to stand up completely, catching her off balance. She tried to dodge the blow but was too slow, the werewolf's claws slashed her stomach, cutting through her chainmail like it was paper. The blow further knocked her off balance, enough that she was unable to roll away, only one of Theron's arrows piercing the creature's eye saved her, but it did not kill the creature as it should have. Faster than should have been possible the demon moved to attack again, Elisa would not be able to get Blood up in time, had no way to get the weapon in between the werewolf's claws and her throat.

The next few blows were nothing but a blur.

Before anyone realized what had happened Elisa dropped Blood and blocked the killing blow with her armored and magically shielded forearm while simultaneously punching the werewolf in the jaw with her other arm, driving the creature back. The mages unleashed a powerful joint hex that slowed the creature's movements. Driving foot into the creature's chest, Elisa scooped Blood off the ground before launching into a flying spin that lined up Blood's blade with the werewolf's neck. It struck out with its claws and scored another hit in her stomach but was too far away to do enough damage to save itself. Blood cleaved removed the creature's head from its shoulders and it fell to the floor dead, 12 seconds after it had entered the mortal realm.

A/N Not much to say this time really, Thanks to Ditsy Doo for his review

As always, thanks for reading please review