Alex remained gazing at the crumbled doorway a few meters before her as she heard Blackwall remove his boot and shake it out, the sand from the Western Approach trickling down from inside. They've explored as much of the desert wasteland as they could, helping Researcher Frederick and killing the Abyssal High Dragon, although there was still one area that was so full of toxic fumes that she ordered a fall back. The only thing left for them to do was to head to the ritual tower, and from a distance, she could see her cousin and her brother-in-law by the door.

"I don't like this." She muttered out, and Solas stood beside her, "I don't like this at all."

Solas nodded in affirmation to her statement as he stood with his hands behind him, "I understand your discomfort, Inquisitor. Whatever the Wardens are up to, it must have been a desperate move." He looked at her, "Let us find out what is going on."

She nodded and looked behind her to see Blackwall putting his boot on again, "Are you all ready?"

Blackwall finished strapping his boot and nodded, "On your order, Inquisitor."

She nodded and started walking, with him, Sera and Solas following her. Already she could smell the scent of blood from the tower, and she let out an audible growl as she neared Hawke and Alistair.

"Sister-in-law." Alistair said, nodding to her companions, and Hawke nodded in greeting as well, "Glad you could make it. We've seen lights coming from the tower."

"Blood magic, I'd wager. You can smell it…or see the corpses." Hawke said, a small frown marring her face, "You take point. I'll guard your back."

She nodded at her cousin, "Be careful out here, Marian."

Hawke gave a tight smile, "You too."

Alistair followed them as they went inside, going up a narrow walkway and up the stairs, and immediately he growled. They watched as a Warden warrior held up his hands in fear, as another Warden mage neared him, holding a knife. "Wait… no." The warrior said pleadingly to his comrade, who was crouched to attack.

"Warden Commander Clarel's orders were clear." Alex heard a man speak, and she looked up an altar-like platform to see a man, with dark hair, mustache and goatee, with a white overcoat and blood-red armor, with a staff at his back, scowling down at the warrior.

The warrior looked up at the man and said, "This is wrong!"

But the man merely shrugged, "Remember your oath: In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death…"

Alex gasped out as the Warden mage rushed forward, his knife flashing, piercing the warrior's chest until he fell down dead and bleeding. Beside her, she heard Alistair and Blackwall's growls, and she raised up a hand to them to make them silent. They did so, but she could feel their anger burned from their very bodies.

"…Sacrifice." The man finished, and immediately a demon came out, growling menacingly. The man smiled at the sight of the creature, "Good." He said, looking down at the Warden mage. "Now bind it, just as I showed you."

The mage raised his hand, and a small spark emanated from it and from the demon in synchronization, and the demon stilled. The man waved them away, and they walked to the sides, the demon dutifully following the mage, and she and the others walked forward.

"Inquisitor!" The man said, sneering at them, "What an unexpected pleasure. Lord Livius Erimond of Vyrantium, at your service." And he bowed down gallantly.

Alistair scowled at him, "I'm guessing you're not a Warden."

The man, Erimond, turned to look at him, "But you are. The one Clarel let slip. And you found the Inquisitor and came to stop me. Shall we see how that goes?"

Alex sneered back at the man, "It looks like you've already done some of my work for me."

Erimond pointed at the corpse near them, "What, him? We simply needed his blood." He sneered again, "Oh, were you hoping to garner sympathy? Maybe make the Wardens feel a bit of remorse?" He looked down at the mages and gestured, raising a hand, "Warden's, hands up."

They watched as the Warden mages raised their arms to mirror Erimond's command, and lowered it as he commanded, "Hands down."

Alistair blinked in surprise at the way his comrades were acting, and he growled, "Corypheus has enslaved them."

"They did this to themselves." Erimond told him, "You see, the Calling had the Wardens terrified. They looked everywhere for help."

"Including Tevinter." Alistair said again, his fist clenched.

Erimond nodded, "Yes. And since it was my master who put the Calling into their little heads, we in the Venatori were prepared. I went to Clarel full of sympathy, and together, we came up with a plan… raise a demon army, march into the Deep Roads, and kill the Old Gods before they wake."

Alex blinked in surprise, but she merely smirked, "Ah, I was wondering when the demon army would show up. I guess it all makes sense now."

For a moment, Erimond was surprised, "Ah… you knew about it, did you? Well, then, here you are." His sneer returned as he continued to speak, "Sadly for the Wardens, the binding ritual I taught their mages has a side effect. They're now my master's slaves. This was a test. Once the rest of the Wardens complete the ritual, the army will conquer Thedas."

"So Corypheus influence the Wardens and made them do this?" Alex asked, bristling.

Erimond laughed a little, "Ha! Made them? No. Everything you see here? The blood sacrifices to bind the demons? The Wardens did it all of their own free will. Fear is a good motivator, and they were very afraid."

"That's a lie!" Blackwall shouted, and Alex turned a little to look at him, "The Grey Wardens are heroes! They would never do this willingly!"

"The Grey Wardens care about nothing save stopping Blights. They will do anything to accomplish that." The magister said, looking at Blackwall as if he was some idealistic fool, "You should have seen Clarel agonize over the decision. Burdens of command, I suppose."

"Why would the Wardens try to kill the Old Gods?" Alex demanded of him, and Erimond looked down at her again.

"A Blight happens when darkspawn find an Old God and corrupt it into an Archdemon." He explained, "If someone fought through the Deep Roads and killed the Old Gods before they could be corrupted… poof! No more Blights. Ever. The Warden sacrifice their lives and save the world."

From behind her, Solas rushed forward, looking livid, "That's madness! For all we know, killing the Old Gods could make things even worse!"

The magister sneered again, "Well then, it's a good thing I'm taking this demon army off their hands."

"Solas, stand down." Alex told the elf, and he turned to look at her, "I need to ask him a couple more questions."

Solas opened his mouth to argue, but he silenced and stood back, and Alex spoke to Erimond again, "Why would Clarel risk using demons?"

"Demons need no food, no rest, no healing. Once bound, they will never retreat, never question orders. They are the perfect army to fight through the Deep Roads. Or across Orlais, now that they are bound to my master."

Alex scowled, "Do you really want to see the world fall to the Blight? What do you get out of this?"

Ermind smiled down at her, making her scowl darker, "The Elder One commands the Blight. He is not commanded by it, like the mindless darkspawn. The Blight is not unstoppable or uncontrollable. It is simply a tool."

"He's a tool." Alex heard Sera mutter out, and she agreed whole-heartedly.

"As for me: while the Elder One rules from the Golden City, we, the Venatori, will be his god-kings here in the world."

"Do you think you can stand against me with just demons and a Fade rift?" Alex said, but they could see she was getting angry, "Did Corypheus not mention what I did to the Breach?"

Erimond grinned evilly, "He did. He also noted what he did to you at Haven."

The magister raised his hand, red light emanating from his palm, and Alex shrieked in agony as her Mark burned, glowing bright green. She fell to her knees as it hurt, like a thousand red hot needles piercing into her hand as Alistair kneeled beside her, "Alex!"

"The Elder One showed me how to deal with you, in the event that you were foolish enough to interfere again." Erimond said as Alex struggled to her feet, with Alistair helping her, "That Mark you bear? The Anchor that lets you pass safely through the Veil? You stole that from my master. He's been forced to seek other ways to access the Fade. When I bring him your head, his gratitude will be…"

But Alex raised her own hand, her Mark glowing and her power flaring, making the Rift in front of them to close and making Erimond get knocked back in surprise. She caught her breath as the pain in her hand slowly faded, as the magister struggled to his feet. Blackwall, Sera and Solas drew closer to her, glaring at Erimond as he regained his footing, "Kill them!" He shouted at his minions, and the demons growled in response as they enclosed upon them.

Solas casted a barrier around them, and immediately Alex, Alistair and Blackwall charged. She summoned out her Spirit Blade as she hacked and slashed through her enemies, as Solas began casting spells and Sera shot arrow after arrow at the demons. Even Hawke had joined in the fray, freezing their enemies so that Blackwall could bash them to bits.

Alex beheaded the last of the demons with her Spirit Blade, just as the others finished as well. Catching her breath, she kneeled down at one of the Warden mages, blood flowing down from his lip and his eyes open in death. She sighed heavily, as she used her fingers to close the man's eyes, before standing up and facing Alistair and Hawke.

"So… that went well." Hawke joked, and for a moment, Alex saw that Varric had meant, although her comment was rather off in the timing.

"You were right." Alistair said, "Thanks to the ritual, the Warden mages were enslaved to Corypheus."

"And the Warden warriors?" Hawke asked, and Alex and Alistair looked at each other, their gazes making her understand as she scowled, "Oh, but of course. It's not real blood magic until someone gets sacrificed."

"Human sacrifice, demon summoning…who looks at this and thinks it's a good idea?" Alex said as she crossed her arms after sheathing her staff.

Hawke scowled before looking up at Alistair with a spiteful gaze, "The fearful and the foolish."

Alistair returned Hawke's scowl, "Hawke, they made a mistake, but they thought it was necessary."

"All blood mages do." Hawke answered back, the anger now completely visible on her face, "Everyone has a story they tell themselves to justify bad decisions… and it never matters. In the end, you are always alone with your actions."

Alex looked at her cousin, seeing a look of anger and sadness in her eyes, and immediately, she realized that Varric was telling the truth. The guilt of killing Anders still haunted her, and her decision of doing it herself hurt her to the point that she has become blinded. She had become convicted against blood magic and blood mages that she could not see that they were tricked by Erimond and Corypheus.

Alistair seemed to have sensed it too, but he remained silent as he turned to Alex, "I may know where the Wardens are. Erimond fled that way…" he said, pointing to the east, "There's an abandoned Warden fortress in that direction. Adamant."

Alex nodded, and Hawke turned to her, "The Warden and I will scout out Adamant and confirm that the other Wardens are there. We'll meet you back at Skyhold."

Hawke and Alistair turned to head back to the castle, but they stopped when they looked back to see Alex staring down at the bodies of the Wardens, her hair covering her face, her hands clenched into fists on her sides, "Alex?" Alistair asked, turning to look at her again.

"She could have been one of them." Alex muttered out, "Solona… if things had been different, if she hadn't been the Warden Commander of Ferelden, if she was just a normal Warden mage, she could've…"

Sera and Solas looked at her sadly, and Blackwall put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Alistair stepped back and headed to her, putting both of his hands on her shoulders, "Alex… I know Solona." He said, and she looked up at him. "Even if she was here, even if she hadn't defeated the Blight and became a normal Warden mage, she wouldn't stand for this. She would've left the Wardens with me, and do this thing we're doing now. Your sister was one of the bravest women I've ever met in my life. And she knew the dangers of blood magic… we saw it first-hand in Kinoch Hold. If she had been here, this would never have happened, believe me. That's why she's looking for some other way to cure the Calling."

"And of Warden Commander Clarel?" Alex said, and Alistair smiled gently at her, "Clarel didn't have the same level of courage as you and your sister, Alex. In fact, as one expertly versed in Solona-logy…" That earned a giggle from Alex, "I think she would be proud of how brave you are right now."

Alex smiled and nodded, and Alistair gave her a brotherly hug before patting her shoulder, "Now then, sister-in-law, what do you say about kicking Erimond's ass, hmm?"

She laughed heartily, "About damned time, I'd say." But her laughter stilled when an Inquisition scout came running from the direction of their nearby camp, and stopped in front of her, panting but still saluting at her, "Inquisitor, an urgent message from the Lady Nightingale."

"Report." She said, and their group gathered around the scout, who nodded. "Commander Cullen says our armies are ready to mobilize should you need us. Our siege platforms and trebuchets are also repaired and ready to go."

Alex nodded as she started striding towards the camp, "Right. Tell Cull… the Commander to order our troops to head to Adamant Fortress."

"Understood, your Worship." The scout said, following her to the camp, "There is also an urgent letter that has arrived for you… and Ser Alistair. The Lady Nightingale has it in her possession and will give it you upon your return from Skyhold."

She and Alistair looked at each other in confusion, "A letter for me?" Alistair asked.

The scout nodded, looking positively giddy and excited, "We've made contact with the Hero of Ferelden, Inquisitor."