Author's Note: So, if you've played the mage origin, you'll recognize some characters here. Ah, poor sweet s-s-stammering Cullen. In the game, he makes me infinitely sad. But, since his epilogue options and his presence in DA2 don't match up LIKE AT ALL, I decided to just have at it. I believe this chapter marks the end of our time in the tower, so, onward and upward! Oh, and thanks to everyone reviewing and following the story!

Chapter 36 - Crushing Prison

They awoke in Circle Tower, the sloth demon lying dead before them, along with the body of Niall. Serena kneeled beside the fallen mage, setting his body much as she had Dairren's, his arms crossing his chest, as if he merely laid down to sleep. Serena put two fingers to her lips, kissed them, then pressed her fingers to Niall's forehead.

"Dear Maker, know this man's heart was true, his goal was pure." Serena paused, feeling a tear slip down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. They had seen so much death in this tower, when all they wanted was to help... "Niall was a good man. Without him, many more would be dead, and I owe him my thanks. Please place him at Your side, where he may find peace in Your everlasting love. Amen."

"Thank you, dear girl," Wynne said, touching Serena's shoulder lightly. Serena could she, too, had tears in her eyes. "Niall would have wanted this."

Serena nodded, unable to say anything for fear of choking up and walked out of the room, her eyes downcast, unwilling to look at her companions for fear that they would disappear again. They moved through the tower in silence. Serena assumed the rest of her party was dealing with the emotional scars from the Fade as much as she was, her only solace being that none of them had shared her nightmare.

The corrupted halls became more and more grotesque as they moved through the templar quarters, as the majority of the blood mages rage must have been focused here. They found a few dead templars, their bodies set at distorted ankles, and two injured ones that Alistair and Wynne patched up and sent downstairs.

Serena opened the door leading to what Wynne said was the Harrowing Chamber at the top of the tower when they encountered a glowing pinkish cage made of energy. A blonde templar was trapped inside, crying and praying on his knees.

"S-Solona? Is that you? I thought you had been t-taken..." The cage crackled with energy as the man stared at Serena through hazy, unfocused eyes. "Am I dead then? Or is this... is this another trick again?" The man backed up, pushing away from the cage's edge. "I know what you are! It... it won't work!" The templar fell to his knees again, his head dipping to the ground. "I will s-s-stay strong... My name is Cullen, and I am a t-templar in the Circle Tower. I am strong... I have my duty... My name is... My n-name..."

The man looked up at Serena before dropping down to the ground again in anguish. "How far must they have delved into my thoughts... Enough visions... if anything in you is human, k-kill me now and s-stop this game!"

"What game is he talking about?" Serena asked quietly. "Does he think we are visions?"

"The poor boy is exhausted... this cage..." Wynne stepped forward to examine it closely. "I've never seen anything like it."

"You broke the others, but... I will stay s-strong... for my sake... for theirs..." The templar clutched at his head, shaking uncontrollably. "Shifting through my thoughts... t-tempting me with the one thing I... I always wanted but could never have! Using my s-shame against me... my ill-advised infatuation with her..."

"A mage! Of all things!" The blonde man beat his armored fists on the ground, tears flooding down his face. "I am so t-tired of these cruel jokes! These tricks... these..." His words dissolved into sobs and Serena found herself kneeling down to him, just outside the cage.

"Please... Cullen? You... you have to believe me, I'm real... we're real..." She put her hand against the cage and felt a strange buzzing as the energy of it rolled over her. "Please... I think you should... just calm down..."

"I am beyond c-c-caring what you think, Solona... The Maker knows my s-sin, and I pray that He will forgive me!"

"The Maker knows all our sins, Ser Cullen. What have you done? Why... why are you in this cage?"

"When you k-knew me, I was an innocent... I wanted to be a knight, but I never really thought about why we were n-needed... I was naive... but no longer!" The templar stood, pulling at his hair as he paced the cage. "You are a mage! And I am a templar! Why... why couldn't you ever understand that we... we cannot be together?"

Alistair kneeled down next to Serena, his hazel eyes were dark with an emotion Serena could not read. "Oh, Maker... I think... this man thinks you are a mage he had... a relationship with. This Solona, whoever she is."

"You... you aren't real... you can't be real... Oh, Maker, I am sorry... I should n-never have loved you..." The templar kept pacing, back and forth, his chest heaving. "I have brought this down upon me with my s-s-sin..."

"Cullen? Please, are you... please, listen to me." Serena stood, beckoning the wild templar back to her. "The Maker loves all his Children, and He wants us to be happy, please... don't do this to yourself. To love someone is not a sin in the Maker's eyes. You did not bring this on yourself."

The man turned, looking at Serena with eyes blurry with tears. "Please, help me, Solona... I'm sorry, I... please... I feel like I am losing my mind..."

"I will help you... I... I promise. Where is Uldred? We must stop him."

"They are in the Harrowing c-chamber... I thought you were there, too... I saw them t-take you. The sounds coming up from there... They tried to drive me crazy... the demons told me they were t-torturing you..." The templar dissolved into a fit of wracking sobs again. "Oh, Maker... I could hear your screams..."

"We must hurry," Wynne said. "They are in grave danger, I am sure of it."

"You can't save them! You don't know what they've b-become! They're b-blood mages, Solona! Their wicked fingers snake into your mind and c-corrupt your thoughts... Please, Solona, don't leave me in here! Please! The visions-"

"Cullen, I will be back for you, I promise. Please, stay safe." Serena touched the cage and felt the almost electrical shock rush over her again. This man looked so hopeless, so exhausted...

"I love you, Solona, I do... Please..." The poor blonde templar ran his hand along the cage to Serena's, and shivered. "I l-love you..."

Serena bit her lip, unsure if she should continue his belief in this woman, whoever she was. "I love you, too, Cullen. Please, just rest. I'll come back for you." The templar nodded, laying down on the ground to wait, curled up in as tight a ball as his thick armor would allow.

Alistair watched as Serena stood up from the cage and felt more than a slight pang of jealousy in his chest. 'I love you, too, Cullen.' How easily had the words spilled from her lips? And to this man she didn't even know... Alistair dropped his eyes, his concentration momentarily wavering as he felt a rush of emotions, wondering if he would ever hear those words directed towards him.

He remembered, vaguely, her shout to the sloth demon in the Fade... 'Chased by the man I love'... had that been about him? Or some other man? Someone from her past perhaps? He admitted to himself he hadn't really ever asked her about any past men in her life. She was so beautiful, so unendingly good, surely there must have been some... The thoughts plagued him as he followed her retreating back.

Serena led the way up the stairs to the Harrowing chamber, her eyes still on the templar rocking unsteadily in the cage below. Alistair came to stand beside her, his hand on the hilt of his sword and Serena could see him frown.

"That was... are you sure you should have done that?" His eyes were on the templar lying in the cage below them. "What if that woman is dead?"

"I don't know, Alistair. He was in such pain... I couldn't just leave him with nothing." Serena glanced at him, unable to look him directly in the eye. "I wouldn't want to be trapped like that, thinking of the person I loved being tortured..."

Alistair sighed. "I know... I suppose I would want that hope, too, if it were me..."

They pushed open the door to the Harrowing chamber to the sound of screams. The bright light of multiple spells glowed around the room, as a group of hooded mages casted in the center. Serena felt her hair stand up as the electrical charge of the magic washed over them.

A young mage stood in the middle of the circle of hooded figures, screaming and writhing in pain. A bald man that Serena recognized as the bossy mage from the meeting with the King and Loghain back in Ostagar was leaning over the boy, gripping his chin tightly in his hand.

"Do you accept the gift that I offer?" the bald man asked, his voice distorted. Without waiting for a reply, he dropped the boy to the ground where he collapsed in a heap. Serena could see a line of mages, including an old man in important looking robes who had to be Irving, sitting along the sides of the room, bound by their hands and feet.

"Uldred..." Wynne hissed, as the man in question signaled to two mutated abominations and began to cast on the young man. His body convulsed and grew, his shoulders exploding out into the massive twisted form of the demons beside him. Serena felt her heart freeze as the changed mage stood, looking very much like the sloth demon, and wailed at them.

"Ah, look what we have here. An intruder..." Uldred's distorted voice cooed at Serena. "I bid you welcome. Care to join in our... revels?" He held up a hand, and the crackling energy of magic formed in a ball there. "I'm quite impressed you're still alive. Unfortunately, that must mean you killed my servants."

"Ah, well, they are probably better off dying in the service of their betters than living with the terrible responsibility of independence." Uldred shrugged, his eyes gleaming dangerously at them.

"You are turning these people into abominations!" Serena yelled. "How could you-!"

The bald man cackled, as if she had just told him a hilarious joke. "And freeing them in the process! A mage is but the larval form of something greater. Your Chantry vilifies us, calls us abominations, when we have truly reached our full potential!" Uldred gestured angrily to the bound mages. "Look at them. The Chantry has them convinced. They deny themselves the pleasure of becoming something glorious!"

"You're mad!" Wynne cried. "There is nothing glorious about what you've become, Uldred!"

"Uldred? He is gone. I am Uldred and yet not Uldred. I am more than he was." He smirked, his voice becoming maddeningly calm. "I could give you this gift, Wynne. You and all the mages. It would be so much easier if you just accepted it." He turned to one of the demons standing beside him. "Some people can be so stubborn."

Serena felt like throwing something at his gleaming bald head. "I'm glad so many of them stood up to you, you disgusting filth!"

"And what good did that do? I still won." the mage replied icily. "I even have the first enchanter on my side, don't I... Irving?"

"Stop him... he... is building an army." Irving gasped, his breathing coming in short wheezes. "He will... destroy the templars and-"

"You're a sly little fox, Irving, telling on me like that. And here I thought he was starting to turn."

"N-never!" Irving panted, falling back.

"That's enough out of you," Uldred snapped. "He'll serve me, eventually. As will you... I'd kill you, but that would be such a waste." He strolled up to Serena and sneered. "Your raw potential, with the strength of a demon behind it, would be unstoppable. I can do that- I can give you power, and a new life."

"As tempting as that sounds, I'm going to have to pass." Serena pulled her daggers. "I've really just had it up to here today with blood mages and demons and being beat up every which way."

"Well, I don't think your opinion matters," Uldred replied testily. "This is what I've decided, and that is what will be done. Fight, if you must. It will just make my victory all the sweeter." Without another word, the mage threw his hands down and transformed into a giant demon, larger than an ogre, and covered in sharp purple-black scales.

Serena and her companions spread out across the tower, Serena shouting orders to each of them in turn. "Zevran, protect the mages, we can't have him hurt any more of them!" The elven assassin nodded, sprinting across the room and bringing his blades across to slice clean through one of the abominations on his way.

Beside her, Alistair slammed his shield into another demon, his sword driving deep in its middle as he battled his way to Uldred. Morrigan swung her staff, bashing another lesser shade as a blast of freezing ice struck it from her hand. Downing those opponents, she ran at another cluster of demons, shifting into a wolf in mid-jump to rip into them with razor-sharp claws and teeth.

Leliana kept pace at Serena's side, swinging her dual swords in rapid circles as she jumped from foe to foe, knocking them back and slicing them down. Serena could feel Wynne's healing magic working to knit her various cuts and burns up as she cut her way across the room next to Leliana.

The enormous Uldred demon bellowed at the pair of them, and Serena turned to the bard. "Take my bow and cover me!" She pulled it from her back and tossed it with her quiver to Leliana as she sprinted at the demon, daggers out. Leliana nodded, peppering the colossal beast with arrows as she circled it swiftly.

Serena moved fast, sliding between the demon's giant legs and slicing across its knees with her blades. From her left, Morrigan howled, her jaws dripping with blood and launched her wolf body at the demon's back, holding tight with her teeth. The Uldred demon screamed and flailed, trying to pull the wolf from its back with its own sharp claws.

Alistair appeared beside her, and Serena grabbed him, pointing at Uldred. "Throw me!" The former templar looked at her, completely lost, until she smacked him. "Do it! Now!" Nodding once, he flung his shield at an oncoming demon and lifted her easily, swinging her up onto the demon.

Serena felt her body push through the air as she landed on Uldred, driving her daggers deep into the demon's skull with a frenzied scream. The demon rocked on its feet as one of Leliana's arrows landed in its eye, and Serena kicked off, flipping back to the ground as Uldred dropped.

"Let us make sure he is truly gone," Morrigan said, back in her human form. She placed her hands on the demon's head and a ball of flame erupted into its face, scorching the scaly flesh. Serena grinned at the witch, kicking the demon with her boot for good measure.

Behind them, Zevran was already working to untie the mages, cutting their bonds with his blade. "They got a bit roughed up," the elf said, shrugging. "I believe that man tortured them for quite a while before we got here."

Serena kneeled at the mage's side, helping them up. Most of the mages had bruises forming on their faces, and looked as if they hadn't slept in days.

"Irving! Are you all right?" Wynne was assisting the elderly bearded man to his feet.

"I've... been better," the man grumbled. "But I am thankful to be alive. I suppose that is your doing, isn't it, Wynne? And your fine companions here..." He nodded to Serena and the rest. "Thank you all. The Circle owes a debt we will never be able to repay."

Serena glanced around, taking stock of the casualties. Most of the mages could stand on their own, and Alistair was supporting a dark haired girl about Serena's age as Wynne healed her leg. Alistair caught her eye and waved her over.

"This is Solona," he said quietly. Serena felt her eyebrows raise in surprise as she took in the girl before her. Indeed, she could now understand the templars confusion. This girl, if one didn't look closely, could have easily passed as Serena's double. They both had long dark hair and light eyes, although Solona's were a pale green, like the sea.

"H-hello, I... I don't know how to thank you all." The woman eyed Serena closely, and she could tell by her expression she was surprised to see someone who looked so like her. "They... they had us up here for... for days it felt like. They tortured us..."

"I know, I'm so sorry. I wish we had known... we could have..." Serena put a hand on the mage's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I... don't know how to explain this, but there's a man, a templar, downstairs. He was asking for you. He was... very worried about you."

"Cullen? Oh, I...I mean..." Solona glanced around quickly, tense. "I... don't know him. I mean, he's just a friend."

"It's all right, dear lady," said Alistair gently. His eyes found Serena's and she nodded. "We won't say anything. You should know... he cares for you very much."

"Yes, I... I know. He's a good man," Solona replied solemnly. She tested her foot, putting pressure on it. "I think I can walk now. Thank you again, both of you. I don't know if I can ever... thank you enough."

"Come, the templars await," Irving called. "We shall let them know that the tower is once again ours." Zevran stood next to him, helping the man walk. "I will need you all to guide me down the stairs. Ah, curse whoever insisted the Circle be housed in a tower..."

A larger group than Serena had been expecting was waiting down on the first floor for them, mages and templars alike, all huddled by the barrier, looking frightened and exhausted. When their company showed, the mages cheered at the sight of first enchanter Irving and their fellows, and many of the templars stood to welcome Ser Cullen back.

"We had thought you dead, brother," one of the templars said, patting Cullen on the back. "It's so good to see you made it through." Cullen nodded to the man then turned, catching Serena's eye quickly. She saw him smile weakly, then his eyes flipped to the battered mage that looked so much like her, Solona. He turned back to Serena, mouthing a silent "thank you" before he went to join his brothers.

"Yes, we all owe these people our lives," the first enchanter said, gesturing to Serena and her companions. "Without them, Uldred and his abominations may have taken all of us by force."

As Wynne brought the barrier down and they came out into the main hall, they saw knight-commander Greagoir sprint towards them, waving. "Irving? Maker's breath, I did not expect to see you alive!" The burly man had relief etched all over his face as he took in the sight of many of his rescued templars and mage charges.

"It is over, Greagoir," Irving said tiredly. "Uldred is dead." He sighed, putting a hand on the shoulder of one of the younger mages. "We will rebuild. The Circle will go on, and we will learn from this tragedy, and be strengthened by it." Beside him, many of the mages were nodding in agreement, and Serena was surprised to see templars too, were bowing their head in respect to the first enchanter.

"I will accept your assurance, Irving, that all is well." The knight commander smiled at Serena, bowing his head. "It would seem we have won back the tower. I must say thank you. You have proven yourself a friend of the Circle, and the templars."

"Yes, ser, thank you," Serena replied, curtsying awkwardly to both men. Her shoulder still felt stiff from her encounter with the desire demon. "I... I have a request, if I may."

Irving nodded. "Of course, dear girl, anything. The Circle owes you more than we could ever hope to repay."

"There is a child, possessed by a demon in the Fade, that we need help with." Serena bit her lip, not sure if she should mention the blood mage. "One of your Circle mages, an apostate named Jowan, he is at Redcliffe castle, helping them hold the boy until we could return with more mages. He said we could try a ritual to enter the Fade, to challenge the demon without harming the boy."

"Yes, I know of what ritual he speaks." Irving signaled to some of the mages and nodded. "I will gather a group of my people, and we shall meet you at Redcliffe Castle in two days time. It is the least we can do, after you all have done so much for us."

"Thank you, first enchanter, this means... this means a lot to us." Serena curtsied again, relief washing over her in waves. "We shall see you in two days."

"Before we go, Irving, I have a request of my own." Wynne looked into the older man's eyes. "I seek leave to follow the Grey Wardens to help them in fighting the Blight."

"Wynne... we need you here. The Circle needs you." Irving frowned, his eyebrows knitting together.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Irving, but the Circle will do fine without me, the Circle has you." Wynne smiled, looking to Serena. "This woman is brave, and good, and capable of great things. If she will accept my help, I wish to try to help her accomplish her goals."

Serena looked to the first enchanter and then back to Wynne. "I... of course. I would be honored to have you join us, Wynne." Behind her, she could hear Morrigan sigh.

"Ah, you were never one to stay in the tower when there was adventure to be had elsewhere." Irving sighed. "I give you leave to follow the Grey Warden, but know that you always have a place here." He glanced at Greagoir, nodding. "There is much to be done here before we leave for Redcliffe, so I must go. I will see you, young lady, in two days time."

"Yes, thank you, again," Serena replied, giving the old man a little wave. She turned to her companions, now one party member stronger, and smiled.