"The Blight had been unleashed on Midgard. Darkspawn poured out of the Wilds, clashing with the army at the ruins of Ostagar. The battle was a disaster. King Cailan died on the field with his men, betrayed by his most trusted general. Unopposed, the horde marched on the village of Lothering. The village burned, and many innocents were slaughtered. The Champions and their mother barely escaped in time…"

Leandra stumbled, tripped, and fell to the ground, panting. Her children immediately turned around to defend her. Part of her wished they'd just keep running. They'd stood a better chance without her slowing them down.

Their names were Dak and Leyla Hawk, and they were twins. Dak was the eldest twin by just five minutes; he had short, spiky red hair, clear blue eyes, and a slight scar just over his right eyebrow. He was the warrior in the family. On the other hand, Leyla had her hair tied in a ponytail and similar blue eyes that were calculative. Unfortunately, she had inherited her father's ability for magic.

They had lived on the outskirts of Lothering; it was too dangerous to be anywhere close to a big city as the higher the population, the more Templars present. It was common knowledge that a child gifted with magic would need to seek training inside the Circle Magi under Chantry supervision.

Of course, if that happened, Leandra would never lay eyes on her daughter again, and she would be locked away for the rest of her days in prison. Fortunately, her husband was a mage who had once been a Circle Mage until he ran off with her and eloped. He had to train her in secret so as not to arouse any suspicions, teaching her the dangers of demons and a terrible reputation of blood magic.

Dak decided to spend his days training, and a few soldiers who passed by in the village trained him. He was rather proficient with it. She was terrified when he enlisted in the Bann's army, especially with a Blight on the horizon.

However, she was pleasantly surprised when he returned, even though the terrible things he said had transpired at Ostagar. She scarcely believed that Drago had abandoned King Cailan. However, she did find the accusations of the Grey Wardens led the king into the trap rather dubious.

Regardless, the moment he told them that the darkspawn were approaching, they immediately grabbed anything they needed and ran off. Sadly, they did not run far enough as the darkspawn were practically on top of them.

An orc had just emerged from beyond the hill, and she would have been slaughtered if Leyla hadn't blasted away with a fireball. A second one appeared out of the flames, but Dak moved in and cut it down with his blade. Their Dire Wolves also provided some help as Winger and Summer plunged their fangs into the darkspawn Leyla had just fell.

"I think that's all of them," said Dak as he sheathed his sword and offered her a hand up.

"For the moment," said Leyla.

Leandra looked down. She could just make out the remains of Lothering in the distance. "Maker save us; we've lost it all. Everything your father and I built…"

"I know how much Lothering meant to you, but we have to move," said Leyla gently as she placed a hand on a shoulder.

"Yes. You're right," she swallowed and tried to force the panic back down.

"We're lucky Dak survive to warn us," said Leyla.

"Yeah, but you should have run sooner the moment, but you heard us getting slaughtered at Ostagar," said Dak.

Leyla quickly approached him and whispered so their mother wouldn't hear them. "Mother wouldn't leave without you."

"Okay, but we should stand still. We have to keep moving if we want to stay ahead of the darkspawn," said Dak.

"That's great and all, but where do we go after that?" Leyla asked.

"We can go to Huttsgalor," said Leandra.

Both Dak and Leyla looked at her, surprised by this suggestion. She couldn't really blame them; Huttsgalor was a major city-state within the Free Marches. It had a fearsome reputation thanks to its Knight Commander, who had zero tolerance towards mages, even from the Chantry's standpoint.

"What? Why would we go there?" Dak asked, stunned.

There's a lot of Templars in Huttsgalor," Leyla pointed out."I know that, but we still have family there—and an estate."

That was true; Leandra was part of the Amell family before she ran off with her husband. She was certain that her parents had disowned her, but they had passed away over a decade ago. Her brother was now running things, and she was very certain he wouldn't turn them on the streets.

Leyla sighed."Then we need to get to Cold Claw and take a ship."

Dak started down the path again."If we survive that long."

They began to make their way east with no other option, but that wasn't easy given that the entire area was sworn with darkspawn. They have to fight their way through several of them, and no sooner have they turned round the corner than they saw, to their surprise, a templar. He wasn't alone either; a redheaded woman was fighting at his side.

Dak was about to suggest that they leave them when a darkspawn struck the templar on the back and toppled over, dropping his shield. The redhead woman then slammed into the orc that had attacked him and punched it in the face.

"You will not have him," she yelled before reaching for her sword and cutting off the orc's head. She then picked up the templar shield and helped the man to his feet.

"They will not have you."

Seeing that they were in trouble, Leyla immediately jumped in, which, of course, forced Dak to help. Dak didn't know who was surprised more by their appearance, the templar or the darkspawn, who clearly had not been anticipating additional forces to arrive, especially a mage.

Leyla twirled her staff, unleashing a powerful blast of ice that froze them in place. Dak began cutting through orcs with his blade, and the redheaded woman assisted him. Working together, they quickly took down the darkspawn.

Once the fighting was over, the woman rushed to the templar and helped him onto his feet. "Stop squirming, Wesley. You'll make it worse."

Unsurprisingly, the templar Wesley narrowed his eyes as they approached."Apostate, keep your distance."

" That's a nice way to treat someone who saved your life from a hoard of darkspawn," said Leyla, rolling her eyes, not that she expected anything less.

"The darkspawn are clear in their intent, but a mage is always unknown. The Order dictates…"

The woman tried to call him back. "Wesley."

"The Order dictates…" Wesley repeated as he took a step towards Leyla.

Dak instantly placed himself between them and narrowed his eyes at them. Given his injuries, he wouldn't stand a chance against them, even with the woman's help.

Clearly, the woman could see this as well. "Dear, they saved us. The Maker understands."

Wesley sighed and then stepped back. "Of course."

"I am Aveline Vallen. This is my husband, Sir Wesley. We can hate each other when we're safe from the horde."

"For a while, it looked like we were the only ones to escape the darkspawn," said Leyla.

"We aren't free of them yet," Dak sighed. "You didn't see Ostagar. This is just the start."

"You were there?" said Aveline, giving him a surprised look. "Yes, I see it now. Third company, under Captain Varel."

"Then you saw how the whole of the army was defeated."

"We fell to betrayal, not the darkspawn. This arm of the horde will not have the same advantage."

Dak then turned his gaze back to the templar. "How bad is that wound?"

Wesley looked at his sword arm. "I think my sword arm's loss, even with healing."

"Then you will have mine, as always," said Aveline firmly. She then turned our eyes on them. "For now, we move with you. North is cut off. We barely escaped the main body of the horde."

Dak shook his head in frustration. "Then… we're trapped. The Wilds are to the south! That's no way out!"

"We have no choice. The darkspawn have us fenced in. We go south," said Leyla, starting to walk.

They began to proceed, but Wesley was lagging behind due to his injuries. Leandra remained with him to keep him company. Both Dak and Aveline took point, and Leyla positioned herself behind them to support them with her magic.

So far, the strategy was working as they were able to handle the small number of darkspawn they encountered.

For a brief moment, they might actually make it.

There was a thumping sound, and the ground beneath them actually shook. Aveline glanced down and started to raise her shield as a troll wearing armour charged up the hill. Leyla quickly blasted with several fireballs, and while she was able to stun it, it quickly recovered.

However, this gave Dak and Aveline enough time to jump in together. The two of them swiped their blades across its legs, causing it to stumble. Leyla then quickly created a patch of ice beneath its feet before it stumbled, causing it to slip. Aveline moved in to finish it off, but before she could plunge her blade into it, it knocked her aside with its powerful arms.

Dak jumped in just as it got back up, plunging his sword right into its chest. It howled in pain, and Leyla then created the biggest fireball she could conjure and smashed right into its face, causing its helmet to melt and, with added, topple over.

"We just took down a troll," said Dak, stunned as he removed his blade from its chest. "We actually took down a fully grown troll."

"And lived to tell about it," Leyla added.

"There was certainly quite impressive," said Wesley as he limped over.

"Are you two okay?" Leandra asked, looking terrified.

"We're fine, Mother," Leyla assured her.

"But we have to keep moving; this was partly a small advance party, but the main force is still on its way," said Dak.

They were just about to move when Aveline drew her sword again. "Flames! We're too late."

Dak took up a defensive position. "There's no end to them…"

None of them could see how they would survive this, but behind them, they heard a roar.

They turned and saw a massive dragon flying directly over them; it gave a whole new meaning out of the frying pan and into the fire. Apparently, the darkspawn agreed because they were running away from the dragon as it flew over their heads.

They ducked just in time as the dragon breathed fire down upon the darkspawn, burning them to cinders. It then grabbed an orc, took off into the air, and released it, causing it to fall to its death.

The dragon then came back around and landed with a massive thud. It then began to take out the remainder of the darkspawn, but one thought was coming into Dak's mind. What was she going to do after she dealt with the darkspawn?

When she looked at them, he naturally assumed the dragon was going to attack them next, but then it did something that surprised them all. She began to transform into a woman with gold cat-like eyes, silver grey hair, and fur around her neck, but it looked as if it belonged to a fox.

Clearly, the woman had to be a mage, but their father had never mentioned any sort of magic like this during their training and wondered who she was. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Wesley stumble. Aveline set him down gently next to where Leandra had collapsed.

"Well, well, what have we here?" said the woman, walking towards them. "It used to be we never got visitors to the Wilds, but now it seems they arrive in hordes!"

Leyla decided the wisest move was to be polite; she didn't fancy the idea of facing so powerful. "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't arrived."

"I do! You would have perished. You still may," she smiled. The way she talked told her it was wise to be polite to her. "If you wish to flee the darkspawn, you should know you are heading in the wrong direction."

That wasn't good; if the woman said was true, they were trapped. She started to walk away.

Dak stepped forward. "So you're just going to leave us here?"

She stopped. "And why not?" she asked as she slowly turned back to face them. "I spotted a most curious sight; a might troll, vanquished! Who could perform such a feat?" She looked at Hawke. "But now my curiosity is sated, and you are safe… for the moment. Is that not enough?"

Leyla wasn't sure who this woman was or what she was, but he was sure she was testing them. "We won't be able to get through the darkspawn on our own."

She smiled in a way that sent a shiver down her spine. "They are everywhere or soon will be. Where do you plan to run off to, hmm?"

"We're going to Huttsgalor—in the Free Marches," said Dak.

Something about the answer pleased her, but that made Leyla nervous. "Huttsgalor? My, but that is quite the voyage you plan. So far… simply to flee the darkspawn."

"And better suggestions?" Leyla asked, raising an eyebrow. "I hear the Deep Roads are vacant now."

"Oh, you I like," she said, laughing. She focused her odd golden eyes on him. "Hurtled into the chaos, you fight… and the world will shake before you." She turned away, tilting her head as if talking to something they couldn't see. "Is it fate or chance? I can never decide." A moment later, she turned back towards them. "It appears fortune smiles on us both today. I may be able to help you yet."

"There must be a catch," said Dak suspiciously.

"There is always a catch. Life is a catch! I suggest you catch it while you can!"

"Who are you?" Leyla asked.

"Should we even trust her?" Carver asked. "We don't even know what she is!"

"I know what she is," said Aveline. "The Witch of the Wilds."

"Some call me that. Also Flemeth. Asha'bellanar. An 'old hag who talks too much'," she shrugged. "Does it matter? I offer you this: I will get your group past the horde in exchange for a simple delivery to a place not far out of your way. Would you do this for a 'Witch of the Wilds?'"

Leyla was more than a little hesitant and looked at Dak. "Should we trust her?"

"I don't think we have much of a choice," said Dak. "Wesley's injured and were barely able to stay ahead of the darkspawn as it is."

Wesley coughed. "If you need to, leave me behind."

"No," Aveline said firmly. "I said I would drag you out if I had to, and I meant it!"

"What is a Witch of the Wilds, exactly?" Leyla asked.

"A Chasind legend," Aveline replied. "Witches that steal children."

Flemeth scoffed. "Bah! As if I had nothing better to do."

"Then you're an apostate."

She smiled. "Yes, we have so much in common."

"How much trouble will this delivery be, exactly?" Leyla asked cautiously.

"About as much trouble as my saving your lives five minutes ago," she said with a slight smirk.

"That's a lot to ask without telling us what this involves," said Leyla suspiciously.

"It's nothing more dangerous than one so capable can handle."

Leyla sighed, but she had to agree with Dak on this one. "We don't have much choice."

"We never do. There is a clan of Freefolk elves near the city of Huttsgalor," she said and then offered Leyla a carved wooden amulet. "Deliver this amulet to their Keeper, Marethari. Do as she asks with it, and any debt between us will be paid in full." She sighed. "Before I take you anywhere, however, there is another matter…" She turned her gaze towards Wesley.

The veins under the man's skin were starting to show black. He sighed and walked next to Flemeth, and she went to where he was lying. Wesley's eyes met his. The man knew.

Aveline rose to her feet and drew her sword. "No! Leave him alone."

"What has been done to your man is within his blood already," said Flemeth, surprisingly sympathetic.

"You lie!"

Wesley reached up and took her hand. "She's right, Aveline. I can feel the corruption inside me."

Dak looked at Flemeth. "There must be something we can do."

"The only cure I know of is to become a Grey Warden," said Flemeth.

Aveline's face was bleak. "And they all died at Ostagar."

"Not all, but the last are now beyond your reach."

Wesley pulled Aveline towards him. "Aveline. Listen to me."

"You can't ask me this. I won't."

"Please. The corruption is a slow death. I can't…"

"He's your husband, Aveline," said Dak sympathetically. "None of us can decide his fate."

Leyla just stood there watching. She remembered how Dak explained that when someone got the Blight, it would lead to a slow and painful death. Unfortunately, there was no known cure aside from becoming a Grey Warden; even then, it is deadly.

Aveline clearly knew this as tears began to roll down her cheek.

Wesley caressed her cheek. "Be strong, my love."

He then pulled out his dagger, and she placed both hands on it, over his, and positioned it over his chest. Then, in one clean thrust, the blade sank into the man's chest. They all watched as life exited out of Wesley's eyes.

"Without an end, there can be no peace," said Flemeth. "It gets no easier. Your struggles have only just begun."

Cassandra stood there, giving Varric a questionable look.

"Flemeth."

"I thought that might interest you," said Varric with a hint of satisfaction.

"You expect me to believe a myth swooped out of the Wilds to save the Champions?"

"Oh, come now, Seeker. Do I need to recite the Tale of the Warden King as well?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised to hear of her involvement."

"I liked my version better, too."

"What else aren't you telling me, then? Did she send someone with the Champions?"

"In a manner of speaking," said Varric with a small smile.

"So it's true. Continue," she said but then looked at him sternly. "But if you tell me they all flew to Hattsgalor on a dragon…"

"Nothing so fanciful, I assure you," Varric assured her as he sat back again.