"You're..." Duncan blinked. "Glowing." Kieran's eyes had lit a couple times, but this was something else entirely. The man's entire body was crisscrossed with green light. And perhaps most disturbingly, Alai looked like a mouse trying very hard not to show terror in front of a cat.

"Observant of you." He shrugged.

"Why is Kieran glowing?" Duncan looked at Salla.

"Kieran got knocked out by a sleep spell." Salla shrugged. "He's still out." She glanced at him. "How much longer?"

"Most likely until morning."

"Wait..." Duncan looked from Salla to Kieran, and back. "If Kieran is asleep..."

"Oh. Urthemiel, this is everyone. Everyone, this is Urthemiel." Salla gestured.

Kels raised a hand. Salla glanced at him, and he swallowed. "Permission to panic?"

"It's fine, he's still on our side." Caleb nodded to Kels reassuringly, then frowned and turned towards Urthemiel. "You are still on our side, right?"

"If I wasn't, you would be able to tell." Urthemiel shrugged. "The running and screaming is usually a dead giveaway."

"See." Caleb turned back to Kels.

"Yeah." Kels took a deep breath. "I think I'm going to go ahead and panic."

"Do it quietly." Urthemiel nodded to him.

"Okay."

#

Hawke sighed. "Really, what were you thinking?" He shook his head as he looked over the wreckage of what had been Starkhaven's guard tower, and then turned towards Sebastian. "You may not have known the cult would attack, but you had to know messing with the kids was going to end in part of your city exploding."

"I..." Sebastian couldn't meet Hawke's eyes. "Maker, they dangled the bait in front of me and I couldn't wait to take it. I did know it was stupid. And I swear to you, Hawke, I ordered my guards not to harm any of them."

"One of your guards drew steel on Lord Hendry." Melavan spoke quietly from where he was standing near Cullen. "And you shot me."

"I heard rumors about sentinels." Sebastian gestured with one hand. "I thought you and Hendry were keeping the children prisoner." He sighed. "Until Caleb spoke up, I considered you a threat." His eyes narrowed. "I'm not convinced I'm wrong on the matter."

"Got something here." A guard's voice called their attention over.

Brehan nodded. "This is where we encountered Abelas." He looked over the two dead sentinels.

"Your work?" Alistair raised an eyebrow at him.

"Tisallan." Brehan shook his head.

"Renanin." Melavan gestured to one of the corpses. "Hanir." He pointed to the other, and sighed. "Hanir was one of Tisallan's students."

"Ir abelas, hahren." Brehan's voice was quiet.

"Ma serannas, da'len." Melavan closed his eyes. He shook his head, then turned his eyes to Cullen. "I request leave to see to their bodies."

Cullen nodded and gestured to Brehan. "I'm sure Brehan can assist."

Hawke frowned. "There is residual magic here. Some I can figure out, but there is something else, something..."

"Like nothing I've seen before." Lenore turned a slow circle.

"Urthemiel." Hawke rubbed the bridge of his nose. "My daughter ran off with Urthemiel."

Sebastian turned to the guards. "Extend the search outside the castle. Send word at the first sight of any of them."

"Yes, Prince Vael."

#

"Alright, we are going to need supplies." Salla frowned. "Rapidly becoming the story of our lives. What we had was in Lord Hendry's mansion. Whatever wasn't destroyed is currently under guard." She sighed. "Poor Lord Hendry."

"Our folks will make sure he comes out of it alright." Leandra tried to sound reassuring.

"He sacrificed much to aid us." Alai's voice was low. "A brother when we needed one."

"His work will not go unrecognized. Nor uncompensated." Urthemiel nodded to her.

"Good to know." Salla smiled, and then frowned again. "Though that doesn't solve our supply problem. We've got some weapons and armor picked up from the dead mercs, but most of its crap. We should have done what Loghain did and rob the Starkhaven guards." She turned towards him. "You didn't kill them, did you?"

"Well, I suppose that depends on how long it takes before anyone goes looking for them." Loghain shrugged.

"What do we need most?" Salla rubbed the back of her neck. "Kels, thoughts?"

"Panicking."

"Oh, right."

"A solution to that problem lies in that direction." Urthemiel pointed. "Trian is also waiting."

"Alright. Let's move." Salla headed in the direction he had pointed.

#

"You..." Gavren gave Trian a disbelieving look. "Robbed our folks, and stole their horses."

"It was not my idea."

The squirrel chittered proudly.

Kels stared at Gavren. "I could point out we also robbed your folks."

"They handed it over willingly, so it doesn't count." Caleb shrugged.

"Right. That excuse is absolutely going to stop the Commander from killing me." Kels rubbed his forehead.

"Would you mind letting our folks know we got out of the city okay?" Salla reached out and petted the squirrel. It squeaked at her and rubbed its head against her hand. "I bet Uncle Carver would take you back to Aunt Merrill." The squirrel chirped happily and ran off.

"Anyone want to explain to me why Kieran is glowing?"

"I am not Kieran."

"Trian, meet Urthemiel. Urthemiel, meet Trian." Caleb waved a hand. "And now let's get out of town, because if our folks catch us we are in so much trouble."

"We..." Trian stared. "What?"

#

Alistair went to check in with those in Sebastian's office. Fenris was still glaring at the prince, and he thought the elf's tattoos were glowing just faintly. Hawke entered behind him. "It would appear the reason nobody was killed when the tower exploded is someone neatly piled all the debris in the middle of the courtyard." He grinned at Cullen. "Your son apparently remembered his manners in the middle of a jailbreak."

"I am so very proud." Cullen pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

Hawke hesitated a moment, and then shrugged. "What he did..." He gestured. "Breaking down an anti-magic ward, exploding a tower, and preventing fallout? Lenore and I couldn't have done that." He shook his head. "Lenore and I couldn't have done that working together."

Cullen stared at him. "Hawke, you and Lenore are two of the most powerful mages in Thedas."

"A fact of which I am well aware." Hawke nodded. "And neither of us could have called magic to us inside that ward, let alone enough to blow apart a stone tower without hurting anyone inside." He turned towards Sebastian. "What bait did they dangle in front of you to make you decide taking that one on was a good idea?"

Sebastian leaned on his desk. "Anders."

"What does Anders have to do with any of this?" Hawke raised an eyebrow.

Carver's voice came from behind him. "The answer to that question doesn't go beyond this room." His voice was hard. Cullen, Hawke, and Alistair all turned towards him, and Carver rolled his eyes. "Be honest. When you hear 'stupid enough to sleep with the general's daughter', is it really Nathaniel that comes to mind?"

"Oh." Alistair's voice was quiet. "Loghain."

"Anders..." Hawke slowly shook his head. "Has a son." His head came up sharply and he turned towards Sebastian. "And what exactly were you planning on doing in regards to said son?"

"I just wanted the location of Anders."

"Well, then, you should have asked nicely." Carver shrugged. "Qarinus. Red Star District. Ask around for Lord Balith, and you'll get his attention." Carver folded his arms. "Can't promise that will be good for you, but you'll get it."

"I suppose you are going to aid him." Sebastian stared at Carver.

Carver laughed. "Well, let's see." He started ticking points off on his finger. "Anders was a fairly powerful mage before he was possessed. He's spent the past decade in working with The Warden. He's effectively the High Priest of an Archdemon. You messed with the most precious part of his life. He's not going to have to look far for backup, considering who and what the kid's grandfather is." He switched hands. "You also threatened the child of the aforementioned archdemon, a man who was known for being overprotective and prone to acts of violence before he started a new pantheon. And the child's mother is the elven goddess of motherhood and protection. Said child is also the host of an Old God. The boys and their allies just proved that the Starkhaven guard, all the mercenaries a cult could hire, and the vanguard of the Dread Wolf are at best an inconvenience to them. And one of the kids you threw into a cell was my daughter." He let his hands drop.

"Not to mention Loghain's mother is my teyrna and he himself is a knight in service to my son." Alistair folded his arms. "And your guards went after my son as well."

"And one of the kids you threw into a cell was my son." Cullen nodded.

"I think you also may have annoyed the Divine." Fenris leaned back in his chair.

"And you still have a bounty out on me." Hawke shrugged. "You might be approaching 'too stupid to live' territory."

Sebastian sighed. "Caleb had already convinced me to revoke the bounty." He shook his head. "I will be honest. He had just about nearly convinced me to abandon this before the attack by the cultists. I..." He took a deep breath. "I am not certain what I was thinking. I was just so focused on..."

"Your desire." Carver banged his fist against the door. "When all this started, Kieran told us the Formless One was a desire demon, one of the most powerful of such creatures."

Sebastian's face went pale. Hawke reached a hand out and put it on his shoulder comfortingly.

#

"Why is no one else disturbed by this?" Trian gestured at the glowing being.

"I'm panicking." Kels nodded to him. "Quietly."

"Is it helping?" Trian looked at him.

"Not really." Kels swallowed.

"Mind if I join you anyway?"

"No, it's fine. I'd hate to panic alone."

"You aren't." Jerath said quietly. Alai made a sound of agreement.

"Good to know some of you have sense." Tisallan's lips twitched.

"You are one of the people not panicking." Duncan shot a glare over his shoulder. "So what does that say about you?"

"He has walked the Amber Path," Urthemiel answered.

"Yeah, that clarified exactly nothing." Duncan shook his head.

"I will try to phrase it differently. He has knelt before the Sulahnven, in the hall of scintillant exaltation, offering panegyric veneration in jubilant aria."

"That didn't help." Duncan sighed.

"The concordat was proposed in excruciating tribulation before the tabernacle of imprecation when he espoused the chanteuse"

"That doesn't help either."

"Perhaps I could convey the concept in a simplified lexicon?"

"Maferath's balls, you're doing that on purpose." Duncan glared.

"Your father repeatedly stabbed me." Urthemiel shrugged. "Be grateful I'm contenting myself with snide remarks."

"I'm going to shut up now." Duncan swallowed.

#

"Why are you glowing green?" Caleb asked.

"I dislike glowing red." Urthemiel shrugged.

"Are all the gods sarcastic?" Caleb raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Kels shook his head. "Yes they are." He ran a hand down his face. "And I hate what knowing that says about my life."

"He's just annoyed I won't let him burn down Starkhaven." Salla shrugged.

"He's just annoyed you won't..." Kels stared at her. "Let him burn down Starkhaven?"

"She has some sort of pesky morality..." Urthemiel waved a hand. "Thing." He pointed. "And here we are."

There was a shout as they came upon the campsite. One of the people there grabbed for a bow. Jerath started to shout as the arrow came flying in their direction. Urthemiel caught it several inches from his chest. "I'm going to ask you not to do that." He snapped the arrow in half. "Once."

"It's okay." A young woman stood up, gesturing for others to halt. Two of the other griffin riders got hold of the others who had gone for their weapons. "We know them." She looked from Salla to Urthemiel to Caleb and then back to Urthemiel before shrugging. "Or we thought we did. What the..." Greta started to ask.

"Hey, Greta." Salla nodded to her. "We are short on gear. So we are stealing your supplies. Hope you don't mind?"

"A rather questionable pesky morality thing." Urthemiel shook his head.

Greta looked from Urthemiel to Salla, and then back again. She nodded. "Help yourselves."

"Thanks."

Urthemiel tilted his head at Greta. "Would you pass a message to the spymaster for me?"

#

"Any sign of them yet?" Alistair paced back and forth, trying not to give in to the urge to strap his shield to his arm and go looking himself. It wasn't as if he didn't trust Sebastian... or rather, it wasn't just that he didn't trust Sebastian. His boys were in danger. And not just from the cult. The forces of the Dread Wolf had made an appearance.

"Not only is there no sign of them..." Cullen looked ready to start stabbing people himself. "Apparently our forces back at the inn lost Trian."

Alistair kicked the wall. "For the love of..." He waved a hand. "You led the army that took down Corypheus. Hawke put down a Qunari invasion. I'm the king of Ferelden." He growled. "How can a less than a dozen kids be giving us this much trouble?"

"Probably because they are our kids." Carver answered as he entered the room. "I sent word to my riders to start searching outside the city. The kids are probably on the -"

A small gray creature came flying through the doorway. It did a circuit of the room before leaping from the desk to Carver and climbing up him. The squirrel reached his shoulder and began squeaking.

"What the..." Hawke started to ask.

Carver shushed him and nodded to the squirrel. "All of them?" The squirrel nodded and squeaked again. "Where?" The squirrel hesitated, then gave an apologetic squeak. "No, I understand." It made an inquisitive chitter. "She's missed you too." There was a hopeful chirp. "Of course you can." He offered the squirrel a bit of something out of his belt pouch. "Make yourself cozy in my pack." The squirrel took the item from him, shoved it into its mouth, squeaked again, and rushed back off.

"You are going to explain that..." Hawke stared at his brother. "Right?"

"He's a friend of Merrill's." Carver shrugged. "The kids have regrouped and they are all alive and safe. And heading out of the city."

"The squirrel..." Alistair sighed. "You know, being that your cousin once got into a rhyming contest with a tree, I don't know why I'm even finding this strange."

#

"Where do we go from here?" Duncan asked.

"The ruins in which we first encountered them are located in Antiva," Tisallan said. "Perhaps they return there?"

Urthemiel shook his head. "The cult is already fleeing the city. West, back into Nevarra."

"It gets us out of Starkhaven, so it's as good a direction to head as any." Leandra shrugged.

Salla nodded. "Kels, are you done panicking?"

"Mostly."

"If we head back into Nevarra, where is the first Inquisition safehouse we'll find?"

"Back in Hasmal." Kels furrowed his brow. "One of our agents is a seamstress, and maintains one in the basement of her business."

"She'll report back our presence." Agatha frowned.

"I'm not worried about that." Salla shrugged.

"Why not?" Duncan turned towards her in surprise.

"Duncan, somehow, our parents found us in Starkhaven." She gestured towards Tisallan. "He says they got there only a day or so after we did. Pretty sure no matter where we go, our parents will be following close behind." She smiled before turning to Urthemiel. "I don't suppose you could convince whoever is helping them to stop."

"Your question implies a willingness to make the attempt."

Her smile became a frown. "You think we are going to need them."

"Each decision you make branches more paths before you, changing with the choosing. You have already altered the flow of time and stretched boundaries of reality." Urthemiel's glowing eyes swirled slightly. "Ripples no longer reflect enough to be read, and thus I cannot be certain you will not."

"That's fair." Salla nodded.

#

"Sers..." A guard stuck his head into the office tentatively. "We seem to have something of a situation here."

"Explain." Sebastian nodded to him.

"We found some of the mercenaries still alive, but..." The guard shook his head in confusion. "Well, we aren't sure what is going on."

Sebastian glanced at Hawke, who nodded and followed him and the guard out of the room. The guard led them into the gardens of the palace, then gestured. A man dressed in servant's clothing bowed when he saw them. "My lords."

Hawke stared for a moment. "What are they doing?"

"As near as I can tell, serah, they are making topiaries." The servant turned back towards where the two men were working. "I thought about asking the guard to stop them..." He shrugged. "But they are doing a really good job."

They continued staring for several minutes as the two heavily armed ruffians pruned the hedge shape. Footsteps caused them both to turn, and they saw Cullen approaching with several of the guard, accompanied by Melavan. "Is that supposed to be a fish?" Cullen raised an eyebrow at the topiary.

"I..." Sebastian rubbed his forehead. "Actually, I think I kind of like it."

"You should ask them to do a mabari next." Hawke pointed at one of the untrimmed hedges.

"Your guards found another of the mercenaries." Cullen pointed back the way he had come. "He is sitting in your southern guard tower, painting a picture of the ships in the river. And a messenger from the chantry claims that two more are insisting on being allowed to take vows."

"I don't suppose you can explain this?" Hawke turned to look at Melavan.

"You've seen the effect spirits can have on mortals." Melavan gestured at the men working on the hedge.

"Urthemiel..." Hawke shook his head, and then pointed at the gardening mercenaries. "Did that?"

"The first time the elves called upon the spirit that eventually became known as Urthemiel..." Melavan smiled. "What he inspired was nothing less than Arlathan itself." He swallowed. "The Muse walks the world once more."

"Maker's breath..." Sebastian stared.

#

"You're not like Cole."

"Cole was Compassion." Urthemiel nodded to Gavren. "There are overlaps between emotions, certainly. But we stem from different sources."

"And sometimes the line between spirit and demon is a thin one." Gavren frowned. "Cole became angry when he couldn't help." He sighed. "Can I ask why..." He shook his head. "I am not sure how to phrase it."

"You wish to know why I do not answer prayers."

"Yeah." Gavren nodded. "I guess I do."

"A farmer prays for rain, so that his crops will grow. A traveler prays for sun, so he may reach his destination safely. An old woman prays for a peaceful ending to come quickly, while her grandchild prays for more time with her. A mage prays for freedom while a templar prays for them to remain in their cage. Soldiers on both sides of a battle pray for victory." Urthemiel spread his hands. "Whom shall I answer?"

"But can't you steer them on a better path?"

"As the Wolf intends to do?"

Gavren nodded slowly. "I see your point. Who defines better?" He sighed. "But if you are inspiration..."

"Anders was inspired by justice. Meredith was inspired by faith. Corypheus was inspired by pride." Urthemiel shook his head. "I inspire what lies within the heart, and the heart of a mortal can be a treacherous place to wander."

"I see." Gavren nodded. "Thank you."

#

"You..." Alistair stared at the young griffin rider that had come with the report for Carver. "Let them take off with all the supplies?"

She shuffled her feet. "Look, your majesty, I know you do things a little differently in Ferelden." She squared her shoulders. "But I'm from Kirkwall. I have a very strict policy about arguing with glowing people."

Alistair opened his mouth, and then shut it again and rolled his eyes. He growled. "My son, the future king of Ferelden, is robbing people."

"I seem to recall during the Blight..." Brehan started to say.

"You shut up." Alistair held up a finger without bothering to turn towards him. "And that was mostly Brosca." He furrowed his brow. "And Lenore. And Zevran. And Jerath." He glanced back at Brehan. "Didn't they steal Loghain's crown?"

"And were rather annoyed they couldn't convince you to wear it to the Landsmeet." Brehan's lips twitched.

"Whatever happened to that thing, anyway?"

"Lenore uses it as a paperweight." He heard a snicker from Magister Arenda before she managed to compose her face once more.

Greta looked back and forth between them, then suddenly brightened. "Oh, he did ask me to pass a message to the spymaster."

Brehan raised an eyebrow at her. "And what is that?"

"Um..." She took a deep breath. "He said it's either ma shem'nan or emma sahlin'nan. And that your accent is bad enough without you butchering the idioms."

Alistair tried very hard not to laugh at the look on Brehan's face. And failed. Badly.

"For over a thousand years, the Imperium has been calling to the Old Gods, with no response." Magister Arenda frowned. "One finally shows himself, and the first thing he does..." She turned towards Brehan. "Is correct your grammar?"

"Apparently," Brehan said through gritted teeth.

Magister Adalricus was practically beaming. "This is the best day ever."