Cullen followed Brehan to the tavern, along with Alistair, Hawke, Sigrun, and Fenris. They'd left Carver and his riders to tend to the griffins and continue aerial sweeps. The presence of the once extinct beasts was causing quite the commotion in the city, and a crowd was already starting to gather. Sera had gone to locate some of her people, and Lenore and Zevran were presumably doing the same. Cassandra and her people were following on the ground.

The tavern was mostly empty. Two people, both wearing robes and carrying staffs, rose when they entered. The first was a woman near his own age, dressed in darker robes. She nodded. The other was a man who couldn't be older than twenty five or so. The man started towards them, an eager smile on his face. He didn't miss Brehan wince as he started to make introductions. "May I present Magister Arenda..." He indicated the woman. "And Magister Adralicus." He started to gesture at the man.

"Fasta vass." The man's eyes widened. "You're King Alistair. The Alistair!" He strode forward and grabbed Alistair's hand, gripping it tightly in both hands as he shook it. "I've heard so many stories. You fought the archdemon atop Fort Drakon! What did it look like? How big was it? What kind of fire did it breath? Did you really defeat the Arishok in single combat and make him give you three dreadnaughts?"

Cullen blinked and glanced at Brehan, who gave a slightly panicked shake of his head. Alistair was starting to look as if he wanted to chew his own arm off as the magister continued throwing questions at him without waiting for answers. Adralicus practically dragged the king towards a table, waving at the bartender. Alistair sent a pleading glance over his shoulder at Brehan, who ignored his predicament to continue introductions. "Magister Arenda, these are Commander Cullen, Senior Warden Sigrun, Hawke, and Fenris."

She bowed. "Your reputations precede you. Magister Pavus indicated that we have an overlap of concern." She gestured for them to join her.

He walked forward, and didn't miss the wary, almost hostile look with which Fenris was watching her. Despite his respect for Dorian, he wasn't sure how he felt about working with magisters himself. "You are Lucerni?"

"We are." She took a breath. "And to get everything out in the open, you should know that both my father and brother were Venatori. My brother's name was Macrinus. I believe your wife killed him at Griffin Wing Keep."

His head turned towards Brehan. The spymaster nodded. "Arenda was passing information to the Inquisition before Corypheus showed himself at Haven, and she was one of the first to throw her house behind Dorian."

"I see." He'd trust Brehan's judgment on the matter.

Magister Arenda set a satchel on the table, and offered some parchment to Brehan. "You requested information about a particular cult and its leadership." She folded her hands. "The cult is led by an elven woman named Siofra."

"A slave?" Fenris asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes. One born in Ferelden, in the alienage of Denerim before being taken during the events of the Fifth Blight. She was purchased by Magister Giladius, yet another fool who joined the Venatori. When her magic manifested, he apparently used her as a research assistant and possibly as one of his test subjects."

"Giladius?" Fenris spat the name.

"Someone you know?" Hawke turned towards him.

"A colleague of Danarius."

"Colleague and student." Arenda nodded to Fenris. "He attempted to duplicate..." She sighed. "Well, you. And he did so successfully." She flicked her eyes towards Hawke. "Including the part where his lyrium warrior acquired a mage lover and they teamed up to kill him."

Hawke and Fenris exchanged a look. "You know, that really shouldn't be funny," Hawke said. Fenris smiled in response.

Sigrun snickered. "That would be this Siofra?"

"It would. They fled together along with some of Giladius's other slaves, leaving quite the trail of corpses behind them. They surfaced again two years ago, and began amassing followers."

"Elves?" Cullen asked.

"They appear to be rather indiscriminate, recruiting and slaughtering both humans and elves, even some qunari. And we have yet to discover their motivation or intent, save for one thing." She offered another parchment to Brehan. "They defile every shrine they come across. Andraste, Old God, Elven, it seems to matter little to them."

Alistair joined them, having managed to extract himself. Adralicus seemed to notice Fenris for the first time, and actually reached out a hand to touch his markings. Markings which immediately started to glow as Fenris glared. Adralicus jerked his hand back, his expression that of a wounded puppy.

"Your assistance is appreciated, Magister Arenda." Cullen spoke up before blood could be shed.

#

"She seemed pretty okay with the fact the Inquisitor killed her brother." Sigrun shrugged.

"Okay?" Brehan smiled. "She sent a fruit basket." He looked down at the parchments and began spreading them across the table. "Parts of Nessum were built when the Imperium was at its height. What is now the harbor watchtower used to be part of a temple of Toth, and the local necropolis was once a temple of..." He sighed.

Cullen shook his head. "Urthemiel?"

"Fenedhis." Brehan ran a hand through his hair. "Trap, or coincidence?"

"Good questions." Cullen nodded. "I expect you to find the answers." He frowned. He had seen both Hawke and Fenris take the field. And he'd seen them take the field together. The thought of his son going up against such a pair made his stomach twist with fear even before considering there was a demon involved.

Alistair reached over and whacked Brehan in the back of the head. Brehan winced and gave Alistair an indignant look. Alistair glared. "He actually asked me if I knew what had become of Warden Constable Mahariel."

"And if you tell him, you won't have to wait five years to be assassinated." Brehan rubbed the back of his head. "Arenda's information has always been reliable."

"Don't worry, Cullen. If the kids are still on their way here, Carver will find them." Hawke nodded. "His future son-in-law might get brought back in a sack, but he'll find them."

"That's... wait..." Cullen's eyes widened. "What?"

Hawke blinked. "Um..." He raised an eyebrow. "Gavren didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Well, on that note, I think I'll be turning in. Goodnight, everyone." Hawke rose.

"Hawke." Cullen lowered his head. "Tell me what?"

#

Agatha climbed down from the trees. "Two griffins, heading in to one of the towers."

"You had to tell them where we were headed, didn't you?" Duncan shook his head at Kels.

"Do I really have to keep reminding you that you kidnapped me?"

Salla sighed. "Nessum is only half the size of Nevarra City, and this time they are going to be actively looking for us."

"Nessum is older than Nevarra City." Kieran tilted his head to one side, half-closing his eyes. "Unstable foundations, and the city built upon itself, again and again. Sepulchral tunnels lie beneath the city beyond those used by the necropolis."

"Secret passages, like those under Kirkwall?" Salla raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Wonderful." Loghain shrugged. "I haven't been lost in the Deep Roads for months."

"They connect to the Deep Roads, but are not part of them."

"And you know how to navigate these?" Salla asked Kieran.

"Well..." He tilted his head again. After a moment, he frowned and shook his head. "No."

"Then how do we get around in there?" Duncan asked. Then he turned to look at Trian, as did the others.

Trian gave them a disbelieving look. "What kind of dwarf do you think I am, magic?"

#

Jerath took the lead in the tunnels, a branch to move spiderwebs out of their way. Agatha kept near him, her eyes watchful for traps. Trian followed a pace behind, occasionally pointing out weakened areas and times they needed to watch their footing.

"How long do you suppose it has been since someone was down here?" Caleb asked.

Duncan pointed with one of his arrows. "Not that long. You can see where the dust hasn't quite filled in all the tracks, and somebody has marked passages." He shrugged. "Smugglers, probably."

"Loghain, you'll tell us if there are any darkspawn, right?"

"Knight. Not Warden."

"Oh. Right. Oh. Kieran, you can control them, right?"

"No."

"But you did it during the Blight."

"I was an Archdemon then. We hear different music now."

"I have absolutely no idea what that means."

"I think it means if he starts singing we should all run like hell." Gavren shrugged.

"What are you, exactly?" Duncan glanced back over his shoulder. "I mean, Dumat was what, the god of silence?"

"It was slightly more complicated than that. His name had more to do with my sister being the goddess of wishful thinking." Kieran shrugged. "And the 'god we all wish would please just shut up already' is rather a mouthful."

Leandra buried her face in Gavren's shoulder as she laughed. Duncan sighed. "And now you're just fucking with me."

"Have you actually heard the 'verses of silence'? They go on forever, the structure is lacking, the syllable pattern is forced, and the rhyming scheme is atrocious."

"And half the metaphors are just absurd." Caleb nodded in agreement. "I keep expecting it to say something like 'and then he stabbed him in the face like a dignified heron munching a frog'."

"No, sadly, that's just ancient Tevinter poetry in general." Kieran sighed.

"And then they all moved to Antiva and formed their own nation."

"No one else would take them."

"I had an actual question at one point." Duncan frowned. "I think. What was Urthemiel the god of? Bitching about bad poetry?"

"Beauty." Kieran shrugged. "So, yes."

"Beauty? Seriously?" Duncan shook his head. "That's kind of ridiculous."

"And yet you still place candles into carved containers to created pleasing shadows on the wall at Wintersend."

"Yeah but thats..." Duncan frowned.

"And great effort is put into making your Chantries the most attractive buildings."

"That's because..."

"And the hymns are lovely, are they not?"

"I..." Duncan sighed. "Well, shit. Okay. You made your point."

"Wait a minute." Gavren glanced over his shoulder at Kieran. "We do the carved candle holder thing because of you?"

Kieran sighed wistfully. "I always liked the snowflake ones best."

#

"I don't see any way to get this door open." Agatha wiped her hands off on Caleb's tunic, and got glared at.

"It's probably some kind of puzzle door." Gavren gestured at some strange sconces on the walls. "Veilfire sconces."

"You're going to have to light the torches in some particular order." Kieran sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Always with the lighting things." He waved a hand dismissively. "The developers have no imagination."

"What?" Duncan turned around to look at him.

Kieran blinked. "What?"

#

Salla's eyes narrowed, and she kicked at the chains on the floor. "Not smugglers."

"Slavers." Kels spat the word.

Trian nodded. "Not unexpected, this close to Tevinter. Probably a waystation."

"Show of hands?" Salla turned to her companions. "Who wants to go kick some faces in?" She looked them over. "And it's unanimous." She nodded. "We need a plan."

#

Duncan fitted an arrow to his bow and started towards the front of the group. Jerath's arm caught his shoulder and pulled him back behind the warriors. He narrowed his eyes, and Jerath met them steadily. He grunted, and then shrugged and moved to the back lines. Salla glanced over her shoulder. "Alright, we don't know what they've got in there, so take it easy with the spells. We don't want to blow anything up by accident."

"Good point." Gavren returned his staff to his back, switching it out for the sword and shield he'd grabbed out of the gear they'd purchased. Duncan gave him a questioning look, and Gavren shrugged. "Need I remind you I also have a former templar for a father?"

"Kieran?" Salla raised her eyebrow at the other mage. "I can handle barriers if you want to do the spider thing."

"Bad news is the door isn't locked." Agatha sighed. "It's stuck."

"No. Not a spider. Please step back. And Salla, I would appreciate a barrier." Kieran waited for them to move before shaking his head. A moment later a giant bear filled most of the tunnel.

"Heh. Bear-ier." Duncan said.

"Oh for..." Loghain shook his head and groaned.

#

He'd charged at a bear. This was, however, the first time he'd charged with a bear. Kieran had checked none of his forward momentum after breaking down the door, and the slavers were panicking as they fell upon them. Jerath spun, knocking away an archer with his shield before bringing his sword down on a man trying to draw his own.

Instead of crashing into the opposite wall, the bear shifted back into Kieran who ran halfway up it before launching himself off. A glowing sword appeared in his hand as he joined the battle. Duncan and Caleb took up positions on either side of the door they'd come through, Duncan with his bow and Caleb with a crossbow.

Rows of cells lined one of the walls. After the initial surprise, the prisoners inside began to howl and cheer. Duncan elbowed Caleb, and they moved in to start freeing the captives. Loghain and Trian moved in to deal with the reinforcements coming down one of the tunnels. Leandra and Gavren fought on either side of Salla as the mage directed targeted bursts of energy. Kels had moved in to assist Kieran. Agatha fought back to back with him.

One of the slavers managed to get hold of a lever. He pulled it down. There was a rasping noise as a door near the prisoners slid up into the ceiling, followed by a roaring sound. Duncan narrowly managed to yank Caleb out of the way of a gout of fire as a dragon came through the opening.

Jerath shoved Agatha behind him and brought his shield up just in time to block the next blast of fire. He dropped the shield as it became heated and moved forward as the dragon started towards them. He ducked to one side and jumped as he and the beast passed each other, catching hold of its wing joint in his free hand and using the leverage to land atop the creature. It twisted its neck to try to bite at him and he stabbed his sword into its throat. Blood sprayed as it thrashed, and he thrust the blade in a second time before it went still.

He stood up to see everyone staring at him, including the two surviving slavers. "That was..." Caleb shook his head. "Awesome. You killed a dragon!"

One of the slavers started to move, and Trian rather casually brought the pommel of his axe down on the guy's head. "You don't get to be the King's personal bodyguard for nothing."

Kieran tilted his head to one side and gave Jerath a contemplative look. "Ah. No, that makes sense now."

Jerath blinked at him. "What makes sense now?"

"I had wondered why you were the one they named after my father."

He found himself smiling as he wiped his blade clean.

#

"I think your shield might be a loss." Agatha handed the item back to Jerath. It was warped where the heat of the dragon's breath had hit it. "I owe you one."

He frowned at her. "Why?"

"It was aiming at me. You could have dodged instead of risking getting your arm burned off." She gave him a concerned look. "You are okay, right? You didn't take any damage?" She caught his arm in her hand. It was slightly red, but there were no blisters.

"I'm fine. I appreciate the concern."

Agatha held on to his arm, though she kept her touch gentle. "That was impressive. It was like it didn't even faze you." She smiled up at him. "Was that your first dragon?"

Jerath shook his head. "No. I've encountered them before, and Duncan and I assisted the Order of Vigilance in dealing with a High Dragon near Gwaren."

"A high dragon?" She batted her eyes at him as she leaned in. "Tell me about it?"

#

Leandra leaned on Gavren, and looked over at where Agatha was talking to Jerath. "He does realize she's flirting with him, right?"

Duncan glanced up at where she was looking. Agatha was all but draping herself over his friend. "No. I can say with utter certainty that he does not."

Gavren looked down at him. "You've got to be kidding me." He shook his head. "Short of actively ripping off his clothes, I'm not sure she could make her intentions any more clear."

"And it's Agatha." Leandra shook her head. "Her breasts practically qualify as deadly weapons."

"Good point." Gavren swallowed as Leandra turned her head back to look at him. "Though they aren't as lovely as yours," he said quickly.

"I love it when you lie to me." She kissed him.

"Would you two get a room?" Duncan shook his head. He glanced back over at Agatha. It probably didn't help that the future version of Agatha had been a long-time comrade in arms that was often prone to treating Jerath like a little brother. What was happening at the moment was actually a bit disturbing. "Let's see what else we can find."

#

"Okay, I get the spiders. If they aren't hungry, they just ignore you." Salla glanced up at Kieran. "But how did you manage to study a great bear long enough to be able to turn into one?"

"Carefully." Kieran twitched a shoulder. "And from above, while in the form of a bird." He handed her a roll of bandages, and she carefully wrapped the arm of prisoner she'd just healed. "You are a skilled healer."

"I learned from..." She trailed off. "One of the best, in his way."

"Ah."

"Is he..." She stood, gesturing for the prisoner to join the others where Trian and Caleb were partitioning out the gold and supplies they'd taken from the slavers. "Alive?"

"He and Nathaniel are assisting my father in his work."

"Were you? I mean, before you came to help us?"

"Father prefers I stay away from anything having to do with the Blight. I was undertaking a different portion of our task."

"What were you doing?"

"Turning mirrors around."

Salla chewed her lip curiously. "What does that mean, exactly?"

"A path is really only useful if you know where it leads."

"I still don't..." Her eyes widened. "You were switching the eluvians?" She snickered. "Can he change them back?"

"Of course. If he realizes which ones I have altered. Finding and restoring them takes time, however, as does recovering his agents. The Inquisitor requested time. We are doing our best to provide."

She leaned back, and slowly nodded. "It's..." She sighed. "All my life I was taught that the Maker had turned his back on us, and we must earn his forgiveness. And then suddenly there were active gods." She looked up at him. "One of whom just..." She gestured at where the prisoners were heading out of the tunnel. "Answered a lot of prayers."

Kieran shook his head. "You led us down here, Salla. You answered their prayers."

"Now, that is a terrifying thought."

"Yes."

#

Kels followed Gavren, Leandra, and Duncan into the next series of rooms. A quick survey showed there was nothing of any real value to be found. Duncan shrugged, and picked the lock on one of the doors. "The King of Ferelden picks locks. That is still such a bizarre notion."

"My mother taught me on a particularly rainy afternoon when I was five. She regretted it almost immediately." He pulled the door open. "We had some visiting dignitaries and to make a long story short, undergarments ended up on flagpoles."

"When Divine Victoria was still with the Inquisition, some of Josephine's undergarments ended up hanging with the banners." Kels shook his head. "Funny how two of the best spymasters in the world were unable to locate the culprit."

"Certain traditions do live on." Leandra grinned back at him. "Odd how one of the greatest trackers who ever lived can never seem to -" She cut off as an arrow caught her in the shoulder, sending her staggering backwards to land on the ground.

Gavren called her name. Kels went for his sword as Duncan went for his bow. Something flashed in Gavren's eyes as he turned towards where the archers stood. Duncan and Kels both froze halfway through drawing their weapons. Where three archers had stood a moment ago there was only red splatter on the walls and a fine pink mist floating slowly to the ground.

"What the..." Duncan swallowed.

"Sweet Andraste..." Kels said simultaneously.

Gavren turned and knelt next to Leandra. Leandra shook her head, and smiled fiercely. "Told you. I'm not the dangerous one."