Author's Note: Thanks to all those following and reviewing! I love reading your comments, and a special thank you to those of you leaving constructive criticism. I've started re-reading my chapters before upload 4 times to cut down on errors and cut-offs! I'm sure there's still some stuff that gets through (sigh), but I do appreciate it all, just the same! Anyway, does anyone else hear Isolde's voice from the game when she says Tee-gaan and laugh? It just cracks me up.
Chapter 28 – Malificarium Regrets
The ceremony was short and sweet, thankfully, with the bann simply expressing the town's collective gratitude to Serena and her companions for their efforts the night before. They said a prayer to the Maker for the fallen, and despite the fact that they had lost many; Serena had seen the true grit of the small village shine through. The people had dared to hope once again, and it warmed her heart to know that they had had a hand in helping them recover a little of the faith they had lost in the nights before.
After the service was done, the townspeople meandered away, going back to their tasks, and Serena saw some were even helping people move back into their houses along the lake. She caught herself staring as men and women moved dutifully back and forth from the Chantry, slowly drifting back into their previous roles.
"Serena? Did you hear that?" Alistair tapped her shoulder gently, his eyes full of apprehension. "Bann Teagan just said he wants us to meet him up at the mill. He wants to attempt to enter the castle and find the arl, since all those... things... are gone."
"Oh, right, yes." Serena nodded, shaking herself out of her reverie. "I was just watching the... well, nevermind." She smiled quickly, following him and the others up the hill to where the old windmill stood. The castle beyond on the island was still, with no flags waving, no men guarding the walls, no wagons or merchants coming to and fro... nothing. Serena couldn't help but shiver, the eeriness of it overwhelming her, even in the bright sunshine.
The bann raised a hand to the group, waving them over. "Ah, how do I begin? I know that you all just risked your lives to help us, but I fear I must ask for your help again..." Bann Teagan sighed, and Serena could feel concern for those within the castle emanate off him in waves.
"I asked you all up here because within this mill is a secret passageway into the castle, accessible only to my family by way of this ring." The bann held out a ring to Serena, flipping it in her hand to reveal a small raised square that could be inserted into a lock. "If you turn it like this, the trap door to the cellar will open-" Teagan paused, his eyes focusing on something over Serena's shoulder. "Maker's breath!"
"Teagan! Thank the Maker you yet live!" A woman Serena vaguely recognized ran up to them from the hill, a heavily armored guardsman right behind her.
"Isolde? You're... you're alive!" Teagan wrapped the woman in a quick hug. "How did you...? What has happened?"
The arlessa shook her head, her usually neat bun coming undone and splaying her reddish locks messily over her shoulders. "I... I don't have much time to explain. I slipped away from the castle as soon as I saw the battle was over, and I must... must return quickly." She paused, dropping her head sheepishly. "And I... need you to return with me, Teagan. Alone."
Serena exchanged worried looks with Alistair. "Ah, why don't we... all go to the castle then?"
"What?" The arlessa turned to Serena and her companions, as if she just realized they were there. "I... who is this woman, Teagan?"
Beside her, Alistair sighed heavily. "You remember me, Lady Isolde, don't you?"
The woman eyed him suspiciously, her mouth pursing into a frown. "...Alistair? Of all the... why are you here?"
"They are Grey Wardens, Isolde," Teagan said gently. "I owe them and their companions here my life."
"Pardon me, I..." The woman shrugged her small shoulders, as if her rudeness was beyond her own control. "I would exchange pleasantries, but... considering the circumstances..."
"Please, Lady Isolde... we had no idea anyone was even alive within the castle," Alistair said, holding up a hand to the woman. Serena saw his normally carefree expression was replaced with one of unease. "We must have some answers!"
"I know you need more of an explanation, but I... don't know what is safe to tell." The arlessa moved nearer to Bann Teagan, nearly hanging on him in despair. "Teagan, there is... a terrible evil within the castle. The dead waken and hunt the living! The mage responsible was caught, but... still it continues!"
"Mage?" Morrigan muttered from behind Serena. "What is it always a mage's fault?"
"Perhaps because mages are the only ones who can raise the dead?" Leliana whispered back.
"I think... I think Connor is going mad, as well," Isolde cried. "We have survived but he won't flee the castle. He has seen so much death!" The woman pulled at her hair, shaking her head. She looked like she had gone mad herself. "You must help him, Teagan! You are his uncle. You could reason with him. I do not know what else to do!"
"What about Arl Eamon?" Serena said quickly. "Is he still alive?"
"He is. He is... being kept alive so far, thank the Maker."
The bann turned to Isolde, his eyes narrowed. "What do you mean... kept alive? Kept alive how?"
"It is... something the mage unleashed! So far it allows Eamon, Connor, and myself to live..."
"How very convenient," Morrigan drawled.
"The others... were not so fortunate," Isolde continued. "It's killed so many, and turned their bodies into walking nightmares! Once it was done with the castle, it struck the village! It wants us to live, but I do not know why." The arlessa dropped her head, whimpering softly. "It allowed me to come for you, Teagan, because I begged... because I... I said Connor needed help."
Morrigan stepped forward, her yellow eyes focused intently on the arlessa. "And this evil... what do you suppose it is? A demon?"
"I... I do not know," Isolde admitted, her eyes flipping from Morrigan to each of the others. "Oh, Maker's mercy... do you think...? Could it truly be a demon?" She turned back to the bann, her hands a flurry of activity. "I can't let it hurt my Connor! You must come back with me, Teagan! Please!"
"And what about this mage?" Serena asked. "Where he is now?"
"Down in the dungeons. He was... one of the castle staff... but we discovered he was poisoning Eamon... that is why he fell ill." Isolde wiped at her eyes.
"Eamon was poisoned?" Teagan exclaimed.
Isolde shrugged, as if this news was the least of her worries. "He... he claims an agent of Teyrn Loghain's hired him... He may be lying, however, I cannot say."
"Loghain sent men after Serena and I in Lothering, Bann Teagan," Alistair said. "This feels like his doing, as well."
"Teagan, I do not have much time! What if it thinks I am betraying it? It could kill Connor!" Isolde pulled at Teagan's hand, her voice cracking. "Please come back with me... must I beg?"
"The king is dead, and we need my brother now more than ever. I will return to the castle with you, Isolde." Teagan turned to Serena, his eyes suddenly intense. "My lady, if you could... take that ring I gave you back to where it belongs, and I will call for you in the castle as soon as I can. I appreciate the help you have given us so far, although I wish I did not have to do this alone."
"I... of course, Bann Teagan," Serena answered, nodding. She could see Isolde was watching them intently, and Serena hoped she was conveying to him that she understood what he was telling her. "We hope to see you again very soon. Maker protect you... both."
"Thank you, my lady. Our village was truly blessed when the Maker sent you all to us." The bann waved a hand to them and followed the arlessa and her guard up the hill, disappearing over the bridge.
"We aren't really going to wait for him to call for us, are we?" Alistair said suddenly.
"No, he gave Serena that ring to use in the mill. Right?" Leliana replied.
"I... believe that was his intent, yes." She held out the little ring in her hand. "He said it opens a trapdoor in the mill." Serena paused, a plan forming slowly in her mind. "Isolde said there were more of the dead inside. I'm not going to ask all of you to face that again if you don't want to." She looked to each of her companions, silently questioning them.
"Well, of course I'm going if you're going," Alistair said quickly. "I owe Eamon that much, and I'm not going to just let you wander in there alone."
"Nor I," Leliana added. Beside her, Peanut let out a short bark.
"My sword is once again in my hand. I shall use it," Sten rumbled.
Morrigan leaned on her staff, her golden eyes aloof. "I am... intrigued by this mage. That woman was obviously lying about a few things, and I would like to see what is going on for myself."
"Agreed," Serena replied. "She played it pretty well, but there's definitely a lot of somethings she was keeping from us, and Teagan. I just hope she doesn't lead him into danger because of it. Let's go."
They entered the windmill through a small door at the front. Serena peered about, the floors were covered in straw and boxes, and the room was mostly taken up with the massive stonework center holding the mill's blades in place. However, Leliana quickly found the trapdoor the bann had mentioned pressed into the floor near the back.
"It looks like the ring goes in there," she said, pointing. "Do you think this leads to a cellar?"
"It must go under the lake, I'd imagine," Serena replied, opening the large wooden door in the floor with Alistair's help. A rush of cool air blew out at them, and Serena recognized the salty smell.
"There's no ladder," Serena remarked. "So it looks like we won't be exiting this way easily." She grabbed Alistair's hand and he lowered her into the hole. She landed softly, with Leliana coming down next. With a loud clink of metal, Alistair dropped to the floor.
"Hold this, will you?" Morrigan called, handing her glowing staff down to Serena. The witch held onto the side of the trap door and dropped down lightly to the ground like a cat. Peanut looked down into the hole after her and whined piteously.
Serena handed Morrigan back her staff and looked up out of the hole. "I've seen you take down two darkspawn at once and you're afraid to jump into a dark hole?" She clapped her hands on her knees. "Would you like me to stand here and catch you?"
"I will take him," Sten said, lifting Serena's mabari easily in his arms and jumping down into the passageway below. He set Peanut back down as if the dog weighed nothing and shrugged. "Lead the way."
Serena moved through the passageway slowly, Morrigan at her side with her glowing staff. The path was made of uneven stones, with bits of wooden planks jutting out of the walls at strange angles. Cobwebs covered the ceilings, and Serena took out her bow to bat at them as they passed. The passageway seemed to be going... up... the further they walked.
Soon they came upon a large room, with a wooden door on the other side. Serena wiped the webbing from her bow and nocked an arrow into it tentatively. She could hear Alistair pull his blade as she kicked the door open.
"Help! Help me!" called a man's voice. "Somebody! Please!" Serena saw a group of ghouls charging at what appeared to be a small jail cell, their mangled bodies pressing against the bars in an effort to get at the man inside.
"Well, this should be easy enough." Serena loosened one of her arrows into the clump of writhing flesh monsters, hoping to get their attention.
The dead body turned to her group and dropped it's jaw, roaring and preparing to charge them. Beside her, Alistair tapped his shield with his sword menacingly. "You want a go? Have at it then, beasties!"
The ghoul bellowed again and ran at them, his two fellows right on his tail. Alistair caught them with his shield, knocking them back, as Morrigan waved her hand and the group froze right before them.
"That will not hold them for long," the witch said, eyeing the monsters as if she were choosing what color dress to wear to a ball. "Perhaps it would be best to crush them." Sten stepped forward then and with a thrust of his sword, brought it down across the frozen ghouls, smashing them into small icy pieces.
"Hello? Who's there? Is there anyone alive out there?" A dark haired young man leaned forward, his arms grasping the bars of the cell. Serena noticed that his robes bared the symbol of the Circle of Magi and he was splattered with blood. Bits of food scraps littered the floor. "Wait... you... don't look like the arlessa's guards. Are you from outside the castle?"
"Are you the mage that Lady Isolde mentioned?"
"Y-you've spoken to her?" The man dropped his head, his dirty hair falling into his eyes. His face had several days worth of beard growth on it, and Serena wondered how long he'd been held down here. "Then you... know what I did."
"She said you poisoned the arl," Serena said, watching the mage as he flopped onto a small bench within his cell.
"I'm not proud of my deed. Poisoning Arl Eamon was what I was hired to do. Lady Isolde had no idea when she took me in to tutor her son, of course."
"Wait. Tutor her son?" Serena exchanged uneasy glances with Alistair. "In magic?"
"Yes... he had started to show... signs. Lady Isolde hired me in secret to teach her son to... control his magic." The mage sighed. "The arl had no idea, and she did not want the boy taken to the Circle. He would lose any titles he had, and as an escaped apostate... of course I would not turn him in. To her, it seemed like the perfect solution."
"What about the walking corpses?" Leliana asked. "Did you do that, too?"
"No!" The mage stood, his arms gripping the bars again. "I know it looks suspicious, but I'm not responsible for the creatures and the killings in the castle! I was already imprisoned when all that began... You saw them! If I were controlling them, why would I have them attack me?"
"At first, Lady Isolde came here with her guardsmen... demanding that I reverse what I'd done. I thought she meant my poisoning of the arl... That's the first I heard about the... the corpses. She thought I'd summoned a demon to torment her family and destroy Redcliffe." He wiped at the blood on his face, and Serena was repulsed to see large burn marks on his wrists as his sleeves fell down.
"She... had me tortured," the mage said, following Serena's eyes to his arms. "There was nothing I could do or say that would appease her. So they... left me to rot."
"Or be eaten by ghouls, it would appear," Morrigan replied, scowling.
"I'm sorry you were tortured, not that it would make you feel any better, I suppose," Serena said. "Why did you poison the arl?"
"I was instructed to by Teyrn Loghain," the mage responded. "I was told that Arl Eamon was a threat to Ferelden, and that if I dealt with him... Loghain would settle matters with the Circle. You see... I'm a maleficar..."
"A blood mage?" Alistair exclaimed. "I… uh… well, that isn't good."
"Oh, Alistair, I believe your inner templar is showing a little bit, just around the edge there," Morrigan drawled from Serena's side.
"I was in hiding when I was caught, but instead of killing me, Loghain... made me an offer. The templar that found me was furious. He said I belonged in the Circle if I wasn't to be killed outright. I thought I was lucky, with the Teyrn finding me..." The mage dropped his head. "But he's abandoned me here, hasn't he? Everything's fallen apart, and I'm responsible!" He stood up, his burns showing dark against his pale skin. Had she used a hot poker on his arms? "I have to make it right somehow, I have to!"
Serena tapped her foot, thinking hard. "So if you didn't summon the corpses... did Connor?"
"I would be lying if I said it hadn't crossed my mind, dear lady," the mage replied. "Connor has little knowledge of magic, but he may have done something to tear open the Veil. With the Veil to the Fade torn, spirits and demons could infiltrate the castle. Powerful ones could kill and create those... walking corpses."
"Fantastic," Serena muttered. "Walking dead weren't enough, now they're controlled by demons who've escaped from the Fade... Who may or may not have been conjured by a child." She threw up her hands in exasperation. "Fantastic."
"I... I didn't teach him much, I mean, I didn't really have a chance to..."
"What's your name?" Serena snapped, interrupting the mage.
"J-Jowan," the mage answered timidly.
"Well, Jowan, get up. You started this whole mess, and you are going to help us figure it out." Serena pulled a pin from her hair and kneeled at the lock. With a soft click, she opened the cell door. "Come on. Don't try anything."
"What?" Alistair put his hand forward, shutting the door again. "Serena, you can't honestly want him to come with us, he's a blood mage!"
"He wishes to redeem himself, Alistair," Leliana said quietly. "Doesn't everyone deserve that chance?"
"Unless you know a lot about demons, we have to do this. We need his help. Connor could be possessed." Serena turned to the mage in the cell, her eyes wide and imploring. "You want to help us, don't you? You want to... atone... for what you've done?"
"I do... but... I'm no fighter..."
"Beggars can't be choosers, Jowan. Either you're coming with us, or you're staying in there." Serena pulled Alistair's gloved hand from the door and she was thankful to feel him relent to her touch. "I'm not going to just let you run loose around the castle."
"I... alright. I'll come with you." Jowan sighed, pushing the cell door open slowly. He glanced quickly at Alistair before dropping his eyes.
"Right, so... Jowan, this is everybody." Serena waved a hand at her companions, her tone utterly flippant. "Everybody, this is our new friend Jowan the blood mage. I imagine we're going to be running into a lot more of these... dead things, and we have no idea where Teagan and Isolde are."
"Actually, they might be in the main hall, but that's at least..." Alistair paused, his face screwing up in concentration. "That's one floor up, and 4 rooms over. We're in the dungeons now."
"Oh, I'd completely forgotten, you used to live here." Serena put a hand on his arm, grateful for someone who knew where they were in the castle. "Alright, so we'll head for the main hall. We're a rather large group, so let's try not to get in each others way. Jowan, you're with me. I know you don't have a staff, but you can still cast, right?"
"Yes, I... I can chant spells that... affect a certain area, at least. What would you have me do?"
"Rahim did that Heroic Offense spell that was pretty helpful," Alistair said. "Do you know that?"
"Senior Enchanter Rahim?" Jowan said.
"Yes... he was... he served at Ostagar with Alistair and I," Serena said quietly, the fight suddenly rushing out of her. Morrigan had mentioned to her on their way to Lothering that her mother had found his body among the wreckage in the Tower of Ishal. Serena had carried around the guilt of his death for two full days afterwards before Alistair had spoken with her about it one night in her tent. "He was a good man."
Jowan grimaced; the news did not seem to surprise him much. "I heard many of us were lost at Ostagar," he said solemnly. "I... do know the spell you speak of, however. There's a defensive counterpart as well that I can cast."
"Excellent, well, let's get going then," Serena said. "Alistair, if you wouldn't mind leading the way?" The former templar nodded to her, his hazel eyes lingering uneasily for a moment on the new mage in their midst before they exited the dungeons.