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Chapter Text

There’s a dull throbbing pain along the right side of his head, nearest his temple. A gentle flex of his left hand; there’s a more sharp pain there, one that he can’t explain. Eyes slowly open as he feels the pulse in his palm, pain shooting from it and he can’t help but gasp. Remember your training. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was being asked to lead his squad to the Conclave for added security in case something went wrong. Now, he was shackled, kneeling in a dungeon with several guards watching over him with swords pointing towards him. Nothing more than a single torch in the corner for life. Shackles. The rattle of the chains and he can’t help but swallow the bile that is quick to rise in the back of his throat. Had they found him? Had the Arvaarad finally found him after all this time? Vash tired to control his panic before the door is slammed open and the room is flooded with light. What was going on here?

Two women enter the room. Vash takes the moment to look them over; both human, both female. One looks like a thunderstorm coming over the horizon; all black clouds and rolling thunder. The other seems calm, more collecting, almost as if she is gathering information in her mind. He cautious watches the warrior as she circles around him like a dragon toying with a ram. The other walks toward him, sharp eyes and cautious movements. If they ask questions, how will he answer them? How could he make them understand? Vash swallows down his panic and remembers his training.

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now,” it’s spoken with a harsh tone on his left side. She’s hovering right over his shoulder. The other is sizing him up. Curious. Is he now the first Qunari she has ever encountered? “The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead.” She circling him again but her hand has yet to reach for the sword at his side. She pointing a gloved finger at him, waving it in a somewhat taunting manner. “Except for you.” He says silent but his mind is going over the information. Everyone is dead. Everyone can’t be dead. His brows knit together in thought and he wonders if the women see it as defiance or even a threat.

Suddenly, she’s reaching down; jerking his shackled wrist into the arm as if it were nothing but a dolls as the green glares once again. Vash suppresses the urge to groan in pain. “Explain this.” It’s spoken with the same amount of venom as before as she releases him and his arm falls to the stone floor with a clatter. He can’t explain anything to her. He can’t tell her that he can’t and that he doesn’t know what’s going on. That all he remembers is heading toward the summit and then… darkness. He closes his eyes for a brief moment, trying to go through the flashes in his mind of what happened.

In his silence, she advances toward him. The other woman that had been carefully watching him trails her eyes to his lips and a flash of understanding shows in her eyes. “We need him, Cassandra.” The raven haired woman is pushed away, anger flashing in her eyes. “There may be an explanation as to why he is not talking.” This Cassandra, her nostrils flare but she backs down and for once, he’s thankful not to be alone. It’s hard enough to live in a world where one can’t talk or even explain what is going on. A set of teal eyes watches as she backs toward the door, notes that her hand is indeed on the hilt of her sword.

The other woman is now standing before him. Vash risks looking up at her. “Do you remember what happened? How this began?” His eyes fall on her face, she tilts her head. Of course I remember. I just can’t voice it. His brows narrow in frustration and it seems to dawn in the woman’s eyes finally. A hand convers her mouth as she steps away from him; not from fear, but from the mortified conclusion that she understands why he can’t answer her. He hears that quiet gasp from her and he can’t help but to lower his head. If only the members of his mercenary group where around.

The woman Cassandra pushes past her, “Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take him to the rift.” Vash head shot up at that. Rift? What rift? He was hoping that someone would at least explain this to him. He did have ears still after all. The raven haired human is now kneeling in front of him, a key in hand and she’s unlocking the chains from the floor. At least that’s something. He still feels panic rising in his chest. Fall apart later, Tar. It takes a second before she’s helping him up off the floor, a questioning look on his face and it’s almost as if she understands. “Come. It will be easier to show you.” Vash does nothing more than give a quick nod and she’s gone as quickly as she came. The doors opening as if on some silent command to the armored guards keeping watch.

He keeps his head lowered as they walk through the building. His eyes adjusting to the changing light. He hears faint praying coming from several of the strangely dressed men and women that gather in small groups. It’s odd. He’s never heard it before. When they finally reach the main gate, the doors opening and the brightness flooding in, Vash has to cover his eyes with his arm. It’s good to have the freedom to move them again. It’s been years since he’s felt the weight of them but the memories still burn bright.

That’s when he sees it. The swirling green mass in the sky but there’s stones floating around it. How very odd. The clouds are angry around it. What looks like lightning flashing in the sky but there’s bright green balls falling from it. Almost the shapes of round rocks but different. All this seems like a bad dream. “We call it “The Breach.” Cassandra is talking now. Vash averts his attention to the human as she explains more. “It’s a massive rift into the world of demons that grows later with each passing hour.” She turns to face him. “It’s not the only such rift. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave.”

His teals eyes are once again focused on this breach. He’s seen many explosions in his time but he’s never seen any cause something like this. It had to be some form of magic gone wrong. “Unless we act, the breach may grow until it swallows the world.” She’s lost the venom in her voice but her eyes are still cautious, watching him. He knows the one she called Leliana will explain everything to her later.

It’s the sudden noise of it that causes both of them to turn towards it. It pusles; angrily and he can feel it in whatever is in his hand. It’s a throbbing pain that races up his arm, causes him to groan with bared teeth and collapse to the snow covered ground. It leaves him panting, a pain in his chest the like that he has never before felt. Vash does his best to try and close his hand into a fist, hoping to find some form of relief before curling his massive hand around his other wrist. His head lowered and he has to blink the tears from his eyes, lest she see them.

“Each time the breach expands, your mark spreads… and it is killing you.” He snaps his head up at her words, this isn’t how he expected to die. Not after everything that he has been through. “It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn’t much time.” He wants to ask her if he agrees to do what she wants, will he live through it? He doesn’t have much to live for but he isn’t that old either. Well, he’s old enough, but there’s so much that he hasn’t gotten to experience yet. It’s almost as if she understands. “But we have no way of knowing.” Cassandra is once again helping him off the ground, almost as if she is taking pity on him but he doesn’t want pity. He wants answers himself.

She keeps a tight fist in the back of the green coat he’s wearing. He’s surprised at how warm it is against the cold of this place. They pass more humans, looking at him with disdain and whispers. He makes out ‘oxman’ more times than he’s heard in years. “They have decided your guilt. They need it. The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justina, Head of the Chantry. The Conclave was hers.” It’s only natural for people to want blood when something like this happens. He watches as more people come to watch her lead him through the town, arms crossed and scorn on their faces. He can feel the hate radiating off them. She wants to know if he can help, they want to string him up by his feet and bleed him.

“It was a chance for peace between mages and templars.” They are out of the town now, walking along a dirt path toward a towering gate. He supposes that that’s the way to the breach. “She brought their leaders together. Now, they are dead.” He does feel sympathy for these people. Even after everything that he has been through. He understands pain and suffering better than she will ever understand. The gate opens, a long bridge is what they step onto and it is filled with people. Soldiers and the praying people alike. Most are sitting, rocking back and forth and he understands that. It’s the face of war. Some are standing with the praying people with bowed heads, receiving a blessing he doesn’t understand.

“We lash out, like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves. As she did. Until the breach is sealed.” They stop just inside as she rounds him, unsheathing a knife from her belt. The robes that are holding his wrists are cut, the rope itself falling to the stone and he can’t help but rub them. Feeling the air brush against the bruised skin. He doesn’t know if he should hate this woman yet for what she has done. “There will be a trail. I can promise no more.” He didn’t expect anything less. “Come. It is not far.”

He wants to ask where they are going. There are times that he’d love to be able to voice himself but it will never be possible again. Not unless he makes himself look like a fool. He focuses on her face for a moment and arches a brow. “You’re mark must be tested on something smaller than the breach.” Her voice has once again lost all it’s venom and that’s when he notices the accent. She isn’t from this part of Ferelden either.

He briefly wonders if she has noticed the scars on his lips, or that his lips are black. The lack of blood flow over the years from having them stitched together took it’s toll on them. Not that he really remembers much about when it happened. They make their way toward the other gate and the soldiers guarding it look at her with caution. “Open the gates. We are headed toward the valley.” The guards nod, the doors open and for the first time, he feels a certain amount of freedom. Until they start up the trail. Several soldiers come running toward them. “Maker, it’s the end of the world.” Several more soldiers are running toward the breach. Some are crouching behind the spiked barriers. Bodies are lying in the snow. This looks like a war zone. Burning wagons and everyone is on high alert. The tension in the open air is enough to choke.

This has to be a dream. I’ll wake up and everything will be back to normal. He can see another bridge as they make their way up the bath. The thunderous noises coming from the breach are slightly deafening. It pulses once again. His hand flares with pain and he cradles it against his chest before falling to the ground with a groan. The human, she’s a mystery to him as she steps in front of him; helping him off the ground and patting him lightly on his upper right arm. His hand is gripping at his left, just above the elbow as if that is going to stop the pain that is trailing up it in waves.

Cassandra can tell by the look on his face that it causes him great pain. Her voice is softer as she speaks, “The pulses are coming faster now. The larger the breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face.” Vash tilts his head lightly to the side. “They said you… stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I suppose you’ll see soon enough.” Yes, he supposed that they would.

Everyone was wanting answers, including Vash. This own memories fractured and nothing seemed to make sense. The pain seemed to be keeping him grounded for the moment and it was the thing that was keeping him from running into the hills. He would take his chances if he needed too but for now, he was willing to trust this human. Did he really have a choice?

They make it to the middle of the second bridge before a ball of green light blasts into the center of it. The soldiers screaming and the stone crumbles beneath them. Vash and Cassandra tumble down onto the frozen water below. Vash shakes his head, another ball of green light appears in front of them. Shades. Two of them form from the green slime like glow on the snow. “Stay behind me.” There is no way that she can take on two of them by herself. Cassandra has her sword in hand and she charges toward them with a fierce cry. Vash looks around. He’s tempted to blast them with magic just from his hands but it risks hitting her when it’s so unfocused. Spotting a staff, he makes a last second decisions and scrambles to pick it up as one of the shades floats towards him. He’s dealt with demons before, this was going to be no different.

You have to learn to focus all your energy into your staff. It is nothing more than a tool to extend your magic. He breathes in heavily as he remembers the words his trainer had told him. He was nervous when he first started using his magic but soon he became an excellent student. The shade was coming closer now. Cassandra not so far away as she battled with the other. Focus, Vash. He twirled the staff in the air, feeling the current dance along his skin before it slammed into the ice with a thunderous clash. The shade in front of him made a horrible noise as it was electrocuted on the spot. It’s arms flailing in the air as it gave a ghostly scream. He looked at the warrior and her own shade was suffering a painful death from her blade. He had to admire her for that.

“Drop your weapon. Now!” She was on him with her blade drawn. He’d just helped her and she still didn’t trust him. The staff was raised in front of him, a way to counter the attack of her sword if it came. Vash wrinkled his nose for a moment before a small spark of lightning danced along his fingers. Telling her he didn’t need this staff to be dangerous. “Is that suppose to reassure me?” Vash tilted his head at that. “You’re right. You don’t need a staff to be dangerous, and I can not protect you.” Cassandra lowered her sword, sheathing it once more before she handed him a small pouch. “Potions. You made need them. We are own our own for now.” He placed the staff behind him, almost as if it were glued to his back and they made their way forward.

…
…
…

Shades and wraiths fell like rain from the sky. The path in front of them littered with the demons and they had to fight their way through. It was tasking for Vash to say the least. He wasn’t use to this staff, missing the old one that he had made himself. Cassandra had taken to not watching him as carefully as she did before. Before long, making their way up some snow covered steps, the sounds of a group fighting hit his ears. “We must help them!” She called out as they made their way to the top. Several of her soldiers, along with an elf and a dwarf were fighting a group of shades that had most likely taken them by surprise. It didn’t take long before his lightning filtered through the air and fried them on the spot. That’s when he noticed that his palm was crackling green, a small amount of pain shooting up his arm and a smaller rift was the cause of the demons. Could this day get any more odd?

“Quickly! Before more get through!” The elf, brave as he was, took his left wrist in his small hand and held it up toward the rift. The energy from his palm cracked, spreading a stream of green between it and the glowing green rift. It was angry, his palm was burning and he felt his knees go weak. The elf kept his hold until a high pitch noise was heard and he jerked his hand away, the rift exploding in a bright flash of light. That was… so he could help. Vash looked at the elf questioning. “I did nothing. The credit is yours.” Curious.

Vash looked at his palm. It had stopped glowing the second the rift was closed. He looked back to the elf, towering over him. He’d seen elves before, once when his Arvaarad had taken him near Tevinter. They were still an oddity to him. He reached his opened hand toward the other mage, hoping he understood his question. “Whatever magic opened the breach in the sky also paced that mark upon your hand.” It glowed slightly as Vash looked at it but it didn’t hurt. “I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the breach’s wake… and it seems I was correct.”

“Meaning it could also close the breach itself.”

“Possible.” He listened as the two of them talked together. Completely feeling ignored as he wrinkled his nose. The elf clasped his hands together in front of him before turning his attention back to Vash. “It seems you hold the key to our salvation.” Well, isn’t that just great. He closed his eyes, nodded his head to tell them that he understood.

“Good to know.” The dwarf had finally spoke, tugging at the end of his glove like he was bored. “Here I thought we’d be ass-deep in demons forever.” Walking toward them, Vash could now understand the height advantage that he had over certain species. He’d never really seen a dwarf before. “Varric Tethras: rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcomed tagalong.” He turned to see Cassandra wrinkle her nose. These two seemed to not be in good graces with one another. Towering over him in such a manner, he was able to see the crossbow on his back. Even Vash could appreciate a well crafted weapon when he saw one and he felt it was the best way at breaking the ice.

Varric laughed, “Beautiful, isn’t see. Bianca and I have been through a lot together.” Vash blinked rapidly several times before he cocked his head to the side. He’d never named a weapon before. “She’s gonna be great company in the valley.”

“Absolutely not,” Cassandra moved to stand beside him before she stepped closer to the dwarf. “Your help is appreciated, Varric, but…”

“Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker? You’r soldiers aren’t in control anymore. You need me.” He cocked his head slightly, gave her a crocked little grin and she made the most disgusted noise Vash had ever heard. He wondered if the two of them were lovers or something. He’d only known one pair of lovers in his life and they couldn’t stand one another. They ever acted like the human and the dwarf.

Cassandra walked away, shaking her head. “My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions.” Vash turned his attention back to the elf. “I am pleased to see you still live.” Probably because I’m the only one that can seem to close these rifts.

“He means, “I kept that mark from killing you while you slept.”

While I slept? Did I sleep? He arched a brow.

“Like you, Solas is an apostate.” Where they finally starting to understand his facial expressions when he wanted to expression himself.

“Technically all mages are now apostates, Cassandra. My travels had allowed me to learn much of the fade. Far beyond the experience of any circle mage. I came to offer whatever help I can give with the breach. If it is not closed, we are all doomed. Regardless of origin.”

Vash bowed his head slightly, giving a grunt. “I give merely a sensible attitude. Although sense seems to be in short supply right now.” Solas turned his attention to the Seeker for a moment. “Cassandra, you should know; the magic involved here is unlike any I have ever seen. Your prisoner is a mage, but I find it difficult to imagine any mage having such power.”

“Understood. We must get to the forward camp quickly.”

Vash watched as the human and the elf walked away. The dwarf coming to stand beside him. “Well, Bianca’s excited.” This was all so strange to him. He shook his head as Varric walked with him and rose a hand to rub the back of his head. Life had not prepared him for any of this shit. …
…
…

“We had Qunari in Kirkwall. A whole boatload of them.”

Vash had stopped moving from garther Elfroot. Solas had told him that the plant was good for healing. He froze for a moment as the dwarf started talking. He and the Qun didn’t really have the greatest relationship considering. He seemed to be talking to him and no one in particular. “They were your typical cheerless sort. Then they tried to take over the city and kill everyone.” Vash scoffed at that. Typical indeed.

“But I’m guessing you don’t follow the Qun.” Not anymore. Do you? You’re Tal-Vashoth.”

He stood from his crouching spot, towering over the dwarf once more and narrowing his brows. He didn’t know how comfortable this would get if Varric kept talking. “Well,” he shrugged, “You haven’t recited a single quote from the prophet Koslun yet. So unless you’re just trying to stay on the Seeker’s good side, I’d say that’s pretty telling.”

Vash snorted. How could he recite anything without a tongue. “We need to keep moving.” Solas chimed in and they headed toward the forward camp once more.

“So... are you innocent?” Did the dwarf never stop talking. They had just made it past more shades when he asked. Vash shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. “Should have spun a story.”

“That’s what you would have done.”

Varric chuckled, “It’s more believable and less prone to premature execution.”

…
…
…

There was a small fade rift at the top of the mountain they had climbed. It seemed to be easier to close it this time around and the pain had dulled. Maybe this was the way to heal him. “Open the gate!” The Seeker screamed at the guards and they did her bidding. She must have held a great amount of respect in the human lands.

Another bridge. Leliana and a man were bickering back and forth with one another. This was going to give him a headache. They were mostly talking about him. The man was more worried about what to do with him and Leliana was more worried about why he wanted to do it. Vash pinched the bridge of his nose before he made a loud grunt to get their attention and pointed a large finger toward the breach.

“You brought this on us in the first place!” Well, he was a cheerful fellow. Cassandra had moved toward the table as the three of them started going back and forth again. The breach made itself known then, rocking the Earth as his hand began to shake. It was pain this time but he controlled any noise that threatened to escape his lips. They all turned, staring at him and he hated how on display he felt.

“How do you think we should proceed?”

Now she was asking him. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking back and forth between the two females. He caught Leliana’s eyes looking at the scars on his lips once again and frowned.

“You have the mark.”

“And you are the one we must keep alive. Since we cannot agree on our own…”

They all seemed to fall silent as a sigh escaped his lips. He knew what she said to be true. He wasn’t going to survive this. No one could. His eyes lingered toward the mountains. He’d never been good with heights or cave. Closed spaces had always made him panic and lose focus. In all honestly, they terrified him. Vash shook his head before he pointed toward the way of the soldiers. Something he was far more comfortable with.

“Leliana, bring everyone left in the valley. Everyone.”

She nodded, following the order. “On your head be the consequences, Seeker.” It was spoken as they walked by. He knew then that that was something about this man that he just didn’t like.

It was a short walk up the mountain until they met with some of the soldiers. A lot of bodies laid on the ground covered with cloth. Men kneeling over them praying. Vash wasn’t really a religious person. Ever since his escape, he’d thought it was nothing more than his sheer will that had helped him get away.

Another fade rift, more demons. This was starting to make his head throb. He’d had very little time between rifts and his whole body was starting to feel the strain from it. They needed more, needed him and as his magic flowed through the air, taking out shades, demons and terrors; his mind was starting to fizzle out on him. When the last terror was defeated, Vash rose his hand in the air, his palm pulsing with the need to relieve the pressure that was building up and the green stream of light flowed through the air. Jerking his hand back, the rift closed much easier than the last three and he looked around with a small amount of shock on his face.

Solas was beside him before he knew it. “Sealed, as before. You are becoming quite proficient at this.” Wait… was someone giving him praise now. These people were confusing the shit out of him.

“Let’s home it works on the big one.”

“Lady Cassandra, you managed to close the rift? Well done.” Wait… I know you. How do I know you? Vash brows knitted together once more.

Cassandra sighed softly. “Do not congratulate me, Commander. This is the prisoner’s doing.”

He turned his attention to Vash. Vash just couldn’t recall where he knew this ‘Commander’ from.

“Is it? I hope they’re right about you. We’ve lost a lot of people getting you here.” Well, that certainly didn’t make him feel any better about the situation. He gave a small bow to Cullen’s statement. “We have hope. That’s all we can ask for.” He walked to Cassandra, pointing toward their way. “The way to the Temple should be clear. Leliana will try to meet you there.”

The Seeker placed a hand on her hip before she spoke. “Then we’d best move quickly. Give us time, Commander.”

“Maker watch over you… for all our sakes.” At that, he walked away, helping one of the wounded soldiers make it to safely. Vash knew how to fight. This was nothing knew to him. He just didn’t know where this path was going to lead him. Turning his attention back to the task at hand, they jumped down. The breach closer now. He could feel it in his bones.

“The Temple of Sacred Ashes.”

“What’s left of it.”

There were bodies everywhere. They seemed to have been burned into statues where they stood. Some were laying down, others on their knees with their hands in the air. Some were still burning. The smell would take your breathe away. Innocent people caught in the crossfire of a war they didn’t want. It sounded about right to him. They passed what looked like the ruin of a doorway before Cassandra spoke but he wasn’t listening. His eyes taking in all the destruction.

“That is where you walked out of the fade and our soldiers found you. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was.”

He remembers the woman, she had reached out to him, helped him but he didn’t know if she was real or a spirit. The fade plays tricks on a mage’s mind, makes them see and hear things that aren’t real or that they want to hear. Make your deepest desires come true. He’d been approached by a demon before, one making promises of giving him back that ability to speak. It was tempting but there was something that told him not to take the deal. Needless to say, he had a pissed off demon chasing him in his dreams for a very long time until his trainer taught him how to defeat them.

Walking down a small mound, the breach was now right in front of him. Green and angry, crystals shooting out in all directions and he couldn’t help but be in awe of it. Staring at it with his mouth slightly open. Was this what these people wanted him to close and had they lost their mind. Solas had already said that everyone had lose their senses. Where they one in the same?

”: “The breach is a long way up.”

They all seemed to be in awe of it know that they were up close. Known of them had even noticed that Leliana had made it, followed by several of her men.

“You’re here. Thank the Maker.” She ran toward them the short distance. Like she’d never been more happy to see a group in her life.

“Leliana, have your men take up positions around the temple.” Cassandra seemed to be the leader here. The redhead nodded before she moved, giving orders to the small group that followed her.

Vash just stared at the breach. What could cause such a thing? This was more than an explosion and he had to admit that this was making him want to find out the cause. He’d changed a lot since he gotten his freedom. Forgave those that did everything to him even if they were his own people. Monsters. That’s what his group had called them.

Cassandra stepped in front of him. “This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?”

He looked at her before looking at the breach again. Would he be able to do this? He didn’t really know but he nodded his head.

“This rift was the first. It is the key.” Solas sounded like he actually believed that but what could anyone really believe with that staring at you. “Seal it, and perhaps we seal the breach.” He was really starting to hate fade rifts.

“Then let us find a way down. And be careful.”

They found a little path that lead down to the rift. It was littered with rubble from the explosion and several rocks were falling from the walls surrounding them. He just didn’t know this wasn’t the only dangerous thing that he would be having to do.

“Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice.”

“What are we hearing?”

“At a guess, the person that created the breach.”

Red crystals. He felt drawn to them. Their hum was the sweetest song that he had ever heard and they had a warmth that was radiating from them. “You know this stuff is red lyrium, Seeker.”

It was Varric’s voice that brought him back to the now. He didn’t even know that he was standing that close to it. “But what’s it doing here?”

“Magic could have drawn on lyrium beneath the temple, corrupted it…”

Varric huffed. “It’s evil. Whatever you do, don’t touch it.” Well, shit. He didn’t touch it but he couldn’t help but want to hear more of the song it was singing to him. He shook his head as they continued down the broken path. He would have to find out more about this red lyrium.

“Keep the sacrifice still.”

“Someone help me!”

“That is Divine Justina’s voice.”

He didn’t look back to Cassandra as she spoke those words. A part of him wished that he remembered something, anything about what happened here that would maybe lay some worries about to him to. The rift here is much more powerful then he would have thought, being able to feel it through his body. It’s a sensation that he feels he will never get use to.

“Someone help me.” Her voice sounds with desperation.

His hand sparks for a brief moment and they see two figures standing in the light of the rift; a creature the likes he has never seen before and a woman. He seems to be holding her captive with magic but it’s unlike any he has ever seen before. Suddenly, Vash comes into view. He remembers that they had been hired, by this woman as added security. He blinks at the scene, still not fully understanding.

“Run while you can!” She calls out to him with panic in her voice. “Warn them!”

“We have an intruder. Slay the Qunari.” And as soon as it appeared, it vanished.

“You were there!” He feels himself being twisted around to look at Cassandra. He doesn’t know which one he pays attention to more; the pain in her eyes or the anger in her expression. “Who attacked? And the Divine, is she…? Was this vision true? What are we seeing?”

He doesn’t know how to answer her questions. Panic bubbles in his chest and he doesn’t know if she’s going to hit him or start crying. This must have been someone she cared greatly for. His own brows knit in frustration as he sighs softly.

“Echoes of what happened here.” Thankfully, Solas steps in. “The fade bleeds into this place. This rift is no sealed, but it is closed… albeit temporarily. I believe that with the mark, the rift can be opened, and then sealed properly and safely. However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side.”

That meant more demons, probably a big one. Vash wrinkled his nose. “That means demons. Stay ready!” Cassandra’s voice was commanding and it echoed through the valley. All of the soldiers standing on the sidelines seemed to prepare their weapons. He didn’t know what sort of force this was, but they were willing to lay down their lives for her; for them.

They all moved into position. He could feel the mark burning and it was a pain unlike what he felt when he closed them. Instead of drawing power in, he was taking power away from himself. His arm rose, the green line connection them and he felt like his entire body was on fire; his arm trembling with the effort of the task it had been granted. Suddenly, the connection broke. There was a bright flash of light behind him and he could hear the laughter before the pride demon even materialized. Well, shit. This was going to be a fight.

It was a battle that felt as if it spanned years. Having to use the power in his palm more than once to help wear the defenses of the demon down, hearing the cries of the people that had banded together to fight it. Each time his hand rose, connecting with the rift, he could see flashes in his mind. It was overwhelming. He could feel the draw of the demons, the pull of the fade and it was the strongest he had ever felt anything in his life. He was useless when it came to actually fighting the demon, his storm magic doing hardly any damage to it whatsoever. Running around in circles, waiting for the rift to be ready for another connection was going tiresome. Vash could feel the sweat bead from his brow, could feel how drained his energy was and there was one occasion that he had to lean on his staff for support, but the fight raged on.

He was about to disrupt the rift once more when he felt it whip against his back, a current rose up his spine and for a moment, he was taken down to his knees. Eyes opening and closing against the pain, knuckles white as he gripped his staff and more flashes came to his mind. His time with the Qun, his escape, everything flashes at once and he thought he was going to be sick. He heard something soft echo through his mind, a voice telling him to get up. Not to give up and do his duty, not only to himself but to the people that were depending on him.

“Now! Seal the rift!”

He could hear the panic in her voice as he rose, his face contorting with pain as he rose his hand and it drew the connection. So weak. He felt the energy being drained from his body as he jerked his hand back, the rift closing in a bright ball of light. A shockwave, powerful enough that it knocked the rest of them backwards. His world went black.

Chapter Text

Day One:
Clammy. Shallow breathing. Pulse over-fast. Not responsive. Pupils dilated. The mark seems to be throbbing on it’s own. Wish we could station a templar in here, just in case.

They had had a hell of a time getting Vash from the valley back to Haven. His girth in general was massive but dead weight seemed to be impossible without the help of Cullen and several of his soldiers. Without the ability to speak, it was hard getting any communication from the Qunari other than pained grunts and being pushed away. Adan was doing his best at trying to heal the mage, since they didn’t have a good healer on call, but even he was getting frustration. “He thinks we are trying to hurt him. At least I think that.” He had stepped outside with Cassandra in tow after several hours of patching him up the best he could.

They were all slightly horrified when they had peeled him from his armor. His body littered with scars; some old, some new, and Cassandra had commanded them all to silence. “Don’t you think you could get someone else in here that would be better suited at this then me. If he dies, I don’t want my head on the block.” Cassandra had narrowed her brows at that. “It’s a vain hope that he’s going to live through this but I will try my best.” Adan growled before walking back into the small cabin. The Seeker had merely sighed before Leliana had walked toward her.

“I have called a meeting. There is something we all need to discuss.” The Seeker nodded before looking back through the opened door. She could see the sweat on his brow, see the trembling in his body and she couldn’t help but be curious about what happened to him. She didn’t know many mages that had been under the Qun.

He remembers being strapped to a table. Struggling to move against the binds on his wrists and ankles. Panic in his eyes as they ran a cold piece of leather across his forehead. He remembers hearing whispers that they had found him practicing the magic that was forbidden. The room is dark except for the torch that is on the wall directly, the room itself was cold. Vash closed his eyes, hearing the moans from several others that seemed to be locked away in the darkness. Shuffling from behind him, he felt strong hands forcing his jaws open, felt something cold clasping his tongue and pain. Tasting copper trickle down his throat and tears burning his eyes.

“Hold him down!” Adan screamed at several of the soldiers. Maker, the Qunari was burning up. This was above his pay grade and he knew it.

…
…
…

“How many of you know what happens to a mage under the Qun?” Leliana was standing in the war room, arms crossed against her chest as Cullen closed the door behind them. Josephine blinked and Cassandra wrinkled her nose. “It is a secret what they do to their mages,” Josie was looking at her board that she packed around with her, making small notes.

“What have your ears heard, Leliana?” Cassandra crossed the room, standing beside her before she spoke again. “Saarebas’ are what the Qun deem a mage. They are not treated with kindness and I believe that is why he can’t speak. One of the Qunari that is part of my mercenaries explained it too me. He said that their lips are sewn shut, that would explain the scaring on his lips, but if a mage if found practicing the forbidden arts, they either slice their tongues or completely cut them out.” Cassandra looked at her mortified. Cullen felt like he was going to be sick and Josephine had stopped writing. “They do not receive proper magical training and are kept in a chains.” Her hands were balled into fists at her side. “They have handlers but he wasn’t able to explain to me how they ate or drank. He’d only seen one in his life and she was lead around on a leash all the time. Apparently, she had made a deal with a demon when she was very young.” Her voice had went dangerously low.

“Maker’s breath.” Cullen rubbed the back of his head with his hand. “How are we supposed to communicate with him?”

“He hears us. He understands everything that we say to him, he just can’t talk back. We need to see if he can read and write. Maybe that will help him communicating with him.”

“We always hear mages in the circles complaining about their treatment, but this. This is barbaric.” Leliana’s voice was soft as she spoke, knowing that mages under the Qun were treated as not even people. “How can a culture honor mages when they are subjected to such treatment.”

They were quiet now. Heavy breathing. His eyes finally open and it’s dark. Vash can feel something heavy around his neck before he struggles against the chains that refuse to give. Everything hurts; from his head to his toes. He briefly wonders if death would be better than a life in chains. That’s when he feels something pull him, a groan escapes him, muffled as he feels his knees give and he hits the floor. He’d heard stories about it but the Tamassran that raised him had left out this. Curse magic. He didn’t want it anymore.

Adan looked over at the moaning Qunari laying on the bed. “Get me a towel and a basin of cold water.” The little elf that was running around and helping him nodded and scurried away. He had to find a way to get the fever down.

…
…
…

Day Two:
Pulse normal. Breathing normal. Still unresponsive; careful drop feed or prep. Elfroot extract to hasten his recovery. Fever is under control. A lot of thrashing. Dreams most likely. Keeps muttering something I can’t understand.

His meals are taken in small bites through the thread that has been sewn through his lips. It’s mostly mush but it’s enough to keep him alive. The Arvaarad that holds him is a rough man. He gets the whip for the smallest things and Vash learns quickly what he can and can’t do. He’s a slave to his magic, nothing more. There is no hope for his future now. Pity, he doesn’t feel honored at all, just pity that he is being held by something that he had no control over.

“How is our patient doing?” Leliana’s voice is soft as she walks into the room, the fire warm but his skin looks more grey than it did when he first arrived.

“He’s alive, if barely just. He needs to be moved. This dungeon is nothing but a draft and the fire keeps going on.”

The spymaster nods, moving away to speak to the guards. It will be a day or so before he can be moved in a cabin but there is unrest outside. Some people are overjoyed that it did work to stop the breach from growing, others are unsure of just what the Qunari is here for. That he should have been able to close it completely. That it didn’t work and she had had idea where all this was coming from.

Adan writes down more notes in his journal. Vash finally falls asleep.

There’s a torch coming towards the cell where Vash is being kept alive. Several angry voices echo in the stillness and the guards block them. “We need to kill him. That will make the breach go away.”

“Yeah… it’s that thing in his hand that keeps it here!” Several others in the group agree with the villagers.

“There will be no killing.” Adan’s voice is tired but powerful. “Why don’t you people go and make use of yourself elsewhere and let me try to save the one person that can fix the world!”

Day Three:
Less thrashing. Some response to stimulus. Vitals seem solid. Two attempts so far by locals to break into the chantry to kill my patient. All this work to save his life, and will they just execute him? Will inform Lady Cassandra I expect him to wake before the morn.

He feels the grass between his toes, the wind on his skin and the sun is shining down on him. Where is he? What’s happened? He risks raising his head and see the small band of Qunari that he was traveling with all dead around him. He isn’t in his chains anymore, the shackles are gone and his collar… Is he free? A shadow blocks the sun, a hand extents to him and he looks up, blinking. “Come with me.” He doesn’t know if he should trust it but he takes the hand given to him. A new life he thinks.

When his eyes finally fluttered open, he’s alone. Head throbbing lightly but the room he is in is warm. A soft groan as he rose from the bed, his clothes have been changed and he’s been cleaned up. Vash wonders how they did it without him knowing, then his mind starts to wonder about what more they actually know about him. There’s a small noise beside him and a small startled elf drops the crate she was packing. “Oh?”

“I didn’t know you were awake, I swear?” Why does she seem so afraid? Is it because of what he is. A raven caws from a golden cage in the corner and Vash moves to sit on the edge of the bed. A bed? He hasn’t felt that below him in so long. “That’s wrong, isn’t it? I said the wrong thing.” She wringing her hands back and forth and he can’t understand what’s going on. She drops to her knees, forehead almost pressed against the rug. “I beg your forgiveness and your blessing. I am but a humble servant.” All he can do is make a small grunt. “You are back in haven, my Lord.” Lord? “They say you saved us. The breach stopped growing, just like the mark on your hand.” It’s glowing a gentle green now, it doesn’t hurt, but whatever it is, it’s still there. His teal eyes stare at it curious for a moment.

“It’s all anyone has talked about for the last three days.” She rose her head to look at him. He blinks softly before tilting his head at her. “I’m only saying what I heard. I don’t mean anything by it.” She’s rambling on, almost as if she doesn’t even understand why he isn’t speaking with her. She rose, backing toward the door. “I’m certain Lady Cassandra would want to know you’ve wakened. She said, “At once.” She’s in the chantry, with the Lord Chancellor. “At once,” she said.”

Vash rose from the bed, a little light headed as the elf girl ran out the door and slammed it shut behind her. This was not how he figured his day starting out.

When he opened the door to his cabin and the chill of the air hit him, Vash wasn’t expecting to be met with so many people. Hundreds of eyes staring at him as he made his way down the small stairs and onto the path. He can hear the whispers, most of them are amazed.

“That’s him. That’s the Herald of Andraste.”
“They said when he came out of the fade, Andraste herself was watching over him.”
“Why did Lady Cassandra have him in chains?”
“That’s him. He stopped the breach from getting any bigger.”
“I heard he was suppose to close it entirely.”
“Still, it’s more than anyone else has done. Demons would have had us otherwise.”

Vash is silent as he walks up the path to the chantry. More than one person has called him this “Herald of Andraste” and he can’t help but wonder just who that is. Almost everyone is giving him either praise or blessings and he can’t help but sigh softly. What has he gotten himself into this time?

The chantry itself is warm, several more people greet him as he heads to the door where he hears the voices talking to one another rather loudly. Cassandra and the Roderick fellow that would gladly see him carted off.

“Have you gone completely mad? He should be taken to Val Royeaux immediately, to be tried by whomever becomes Divine.”

“I do not believe he is guilty.”

“The Qunari failed, Seeker. The breach is still in the sky. For all you know, he intended it this way.”

“I do not believe that!”

“That is not for you to decide. Your duty is to serve the Chantry.”

“My duty is to serve the principles on which the Chantry was founded, Chancellor. As is yours.”

Vash came to the conclusion that he didn’t like this Roderick fellow.

…
…
…

The door to the war room is opened so hard that it slammed against the wall. The guards jumped but it was the only way he knew to make such a dramatic entrance. He has a finger pointed at him and a harsh voice training to act commanding. “Chain him! I want him prepared for travel to the capital for trial.” Vash gave a low growl at Roderick’s words.

“Disregard that, and leave us.” The two templars that were standing guard by the doors looked at one another briefly and left, closing the door behind him. Vash didn’t know what was going on but he was smart enough to see that the two of them seemed to have butted heads often. Leliana was standing beside Cassandra with her arms crossed. He noted the brief pity that flashed into her eyes as the four of them were left alone. Did she know?

“You walk a dangerous line, Seeker.”

Soon they were standing in front of one another.

“The breach is stable, but it is still a threat. I will not ignore it.”

Vash slowly makes his way to the war table, gesturing to himself before he waved his hand about. He knew how to do simple things that would help them understand him a little better. Closing the breach had almost killed him. What more did they want from him? “The breach almost killed him, Chancellor.”

“Yet he lives. A convenient result, insofar as he’s concerned.” Roderick’s voice was laced with venom as he spoke.

“Have a care, Chancellor. The breach is not the only threat we face.”

“Someone was behind the explosion at the Conclave. Someone Most Holy did not expect. Perhaps they died with the others… or have allies who yet live.”

“I am a suspect.” He sounded so shocked at the accusation. Vash arched his brow. This man was going to be a thorn in everyone’s side.

“You, and may others.”

“But not the prisoner.” He was pointing his finger at him once again. Vash had the strongest desire to break that finger to make a point but he stayed himself.

“I heard the voices in the temple. The Divine called to him for help.”

“Yet, he can’t speak to help protest his innocence.” The three of them were looking at him now and he didn’t know what he could do. It wasn’t exactly his fault… well, it might have been. At least the not being able to talk part. Poor choices and even poorer excuses. “But his survival, that thing on his hand… all a coincidence?”

“Providence. The Maker sent him to us in our darkest hour.” He made a small grunt that drew Cassandra’s attention toward him. “I was wrong. Perhaps I still am. I will not, however, pretend you weren't exactly what we needed when we needed it.” He gave a small smile at that. Maybe he would be able to make it through this alive after all. She walked away, heading toward a little table in the corner.

“The breach remains, and your mark is still our only hope of closing it.”

Roderick had his arms crossed. “This is not for you to decide.”

Cassandra slammed a heavy looking tome on the table, her eyes narrowed at the Chancellor. “You know what this is, Chancellor.” She had it a point to point at the tome itself. “A writ from the Divine, granting us the authority to act. As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn.” The two women stood next to one another, pride in their stance. Cassandra was slowly walking toward Roderick who was slowly walking backwards. “We will close the breach, we will find those responsible, and we well restore order. With or without your approval.” She pointed a finger to his chest and he looked like a scolded child as he scowled at Vash. A scoff was heard as he left the room, slamming the door behind him. Cassandra rubbed the back of her head as Vash teal eyes landed on the tome itself.

“This is the Divine’s directive; rebuild the Inquisition of old. Find those who will stand against the chaos. We aren’t ready. We have no leader, no numbers, and now no chantry support.”

“But we have no choice; we must act now. With you at our side.”

Vash didn’t know if he would be able to do everything they were asking him to do. Shit. He didn’t even know what the details of the job actually was. Stop the breach. Take on this Chantry. Throw Roderick in the lake. He arched a brow before pointing a large finger at the writ itself. He didn’t know any other way to tell them that he was curious about it. At least until he found something to write on.

“The Inquisition of old preceded the Chantry; people who banded together to restore order in a world gone mad.”

“After, they laid down their banner and formed the Templar Order, but the templars have lost their way. We need those who can do what must be done united under a single banner once more.”

Vash looked around, finding what he was looking for and pointed to the Chantry banner hanging on the wall. Cassandra snorted. “Is that what you see?”

“That Chantry will take time to find a new Divine, and then it will wait for her direction.”

“But we cannot wait. So many grand clerics died at the Conclave...No, we are on our own. Perhaps forever.”

Vash wrinkled his nose. He certainly didn’t think this was going to happen when he woke up. “Help us fix this before it’s too late.” Cassandra had turned to face him, hand extended in the air and he stared at it for a long moment. This wasn’t another form of slavery, at least he hoped that it wouldn’t be. They didn’t seem to mind that he was a saarebas and if they did, they didn’t voice it. He nodded softly before taking her hand in his own and shaking it with a small amount of force to bring the point home. What was he getting himself into.

“Forgive me for asking, but do you know how to read or write?”

He blinked a few times at the redhead before he gave a nod and she gave him a soft smile. He had been taught by the same person that had helped him with his magic. He couldn’t write very well, being that they never stayed in one spot for too long but he knew enough to get by.

“Excellent. We will speak to Josie about getting you the things you need.”

Chapter Text

There was a gentle knock on the door of the cabin that Vash had made his home, for the moment anyway. It took him a few moments to get his bearings before he was able to open it, one of the messengers was at the door with a letter. Calmly sipping into his hands and before Vash could look back up, he had disappeared into the night. This Inquisition had some strange people in their ranks, some of them were even down right scary at times. The advisors had told him to get some rest, that the real fun started in the morning. He wondered exactly what that meant. What could be more fun than this? He gave a soft sigh before closing the door against the cold and retreating back into his little comfortable world he’d made for himself. The raven was still in the cage and he was wondering who exactly fed it, or was it a different raven?

Sitting down at the little desk, he slowly began to peel open the letter. He didn’t have any family, not that he knew of so who would be contacting him and he couldn’t help but smile.

Adaar,
I heard you were dead, and then a prisoner, and then maybe you fell out of the Fade and landed on your head and forgot who you were. Seriously, stop that. We still haven’t been paid.
Some of our kilth made it out of that giant shit hole full of demons after the explosion. The rest are dead or missing. I don’t know how many were rounded up by angry humans. If you’re not dead and you remember who you are, help me find out brothers and sisters.
Shokrakar
P.S.If you forgot who you are, I’ll remind you. Your name is Adaar. You’re Tal-Vashoth. You didn’t get paid for being blown up.
P.S.S. If you are dead, disregard this message.

He would have to make sure that Leliana got this in the morning. Ready that letter put a wide smile across his lips. His family, the Valo-Kas, had taken him in when he was half dead and didn’t know anything about life. Shokrakar had taught him everything that he knows now; what little he could read, how to write, how to handle his magic and she taught him that it was okay to be angry, sad and even hurt at everything that he was going through. That it took time to heal, even for an ox-man. He’d lost his horns shortly after he’d had his lips sewn. He couldn’t remember what they had looked like before.

Carefully, he folded the letter and placed it in the small pocket of his belt pouch. At least he knew that some of them were alive. He glanced in the small mirror that had been placed in his cabin. He’d never been able to look at himself. The small line of scars that traced both top and bottom lips, the scars that were scattered along his face that told the story of his life. His horns. Some of them were still there. He rose his hands and rubbed the stubs lightly before he wrinkled his nose and made his way over to the bed. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.

…
…
…

The dawn had come far too early for his liking. The weather was still freezing outside and he wondered if the weather was like this all the time. He’d been outfitted for armor the day before, the only thing that they had been able to find to fit him was some old Avaar armor they had in storage. Then he wondered where they had come across it. Sometimes, it’s better not to pry. It didn’t take him long to dress, the only thing it seemed to do was make him appear to be more muscular and more broad than he actually was. Vash wrinkled his nose and grabbed his staff. He was to meet Cassandra in front of the Chantry and something told him that she wasn’t the sort of woman that liked to be kept waiting.

“Does it trouble you?” She wasn’t as harsh to him as she had been in the first few days he’d fell out of the sky on them. He rose his arm, flexing his hand for a brief moment and shook his head.

“We take our victories where we can. What’s important is that your mark is now stable, as is the breach. You’ve given us time, and Solas believes a second attempt might succeed… provided the mark has more power. The same level of power used to open the breach in the first place. That is not easy to come by.”

Vash chuckled to himself, pulling out his little notepad. ‘What harm could there be in powering up something we barely understand?’ It wasn’t written the best in the word, more like that of a small child writing it but she understood. It made her chuckle as well.

‘Hold onto that sense of humor.”

He can’t help the smile that falls on his lips as they head into the war room together. He still can’t shake the feeling that he has seen the Commander before. “You’ve met Commander Cullen, leader of the Inquisition’s forces.”

“It was only for a moment on the field. I’m pleased you survived.”

“This is Lady Josephine Montilyet, our Ambassador and chief diplomat.”

“You’re… even taller than I’d heard.”

“And of course you know Sister Leliana.”

“My position here involves a degree of…”

“She is our spymaster.”

“Yes. Tactfully put, Cassandra.”

He smirked with that but bowed his head in respect to them all. “I mentioned that you mark needs more power to close the breach for good.”

“Which means we must approach the rebel mages for help.”

“I still disagree. The Templars could serve just as well.” This seemed to be an ongoing fight between the two of them. Cassandra sighed softly. “We need power, Commander. Enough magic poured into that mark…”

“Might destroy us all. Templars could suppress the breach, weaken it so…”

“Pure speculation.”

Cullen got a frustrated look on his face. “I was a templar. I know what they’re capable of.”

Vash scratched his head for a moment. This bickering back and forth was starting to give him a headache. “Unfortunately, neither group will even speak to us yet. The Chantry has denounced the Inquisition… and you, specifically.” Vash blinked before pointing to himself. All he did was try to help.

“Shouldn’t they be busy arguing over who’s going to become Divine?”

“Some are calling you… a Qunari… the “Herald of Andraste.” That frightens the chantry. The remaining clerics have declared it blasphemy, and we heretics for harboring you.” Vash sighed. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy but for a group trying to help, it seemed that everyone was against them at every corner.

“Chancellor Roderick’s doing, no doubt.”

“It limits our options. Approaching the mages or the templars for help is currently out of the question.”

He scribbled something on his book. ‘Just how am I the “Herald of Andraste?’ Truth be told, he really didn’t even know what that was.

“People say what you did at the temple. How you stopped the breach from growing. They have also heard about the woman seen in the rift when we first found you. They believe that was Andraste.”

“Even if we tried to stop that view from spreading…”

“Which we have now.”

Leliana deadpanned for a moment. “The point is, everyone is talking about you.” He didn’t know if he liked that or not.

“It’s quite the title, isn’t it? How do you feel about that?”

Vash looked directly into Cullen’s eyes as he asked and did nothing more than shrugged. He didn’t really know how he should feel about it or if it was even true. He didn’t follow any religion if he were being honest.

“People are desperate for a sign of hope. For some, you’re that sign.”

“And to others, a symbol of everything that’s gone wrong.”

That made him frown slightly, brows knitting together He wrote something on his pad and let Cullen look at it. ‘So, if I wasn’t with the Inquisition…”

“Let’s be honest; they would have censured us no matter what.” Well, that wasn’t exactly the answer that he was looking for. “And you not being here isn’t an option.”

“There is something you can do. A chantry cleric by the name of Mother Giselle has asked to speak to you. She is not far, and knows those involved far better than I. Her assistance could be invaluable.” Vash nodded, he hadn’t been out in the field since this happened and he missed the open air of it all. “I understand that she is a reasonable sore. Perhaps she does not agree with her sisters? You will find Mother Giselle tending to the wounded in the Hinterlands near Redcliffe.”

The Hinterlands. He had heard of it before but never had he seen it. “Look for other opportunities to expand the Inquisition's influence while you are there.”

“We need agents to extend our reach beyond this valley, and you’re better suited than anyone to recruit them.” Well, he didn’t know if that were true or not. He couldn’t talk.

“In the meantime, let’s think of other options. I won’t leave this all to the Herald.” The meeting seemed to be over and he was able to slip the letter he’d gotten to Leliana before they headed out. “I will see to it they are recovered.”

He had wrote something quickly in his notes and let Cassandra look at it. She arched a brow before she spoke. “You wish me to be your voice when we are in the field?” He nodded, she almost sounded surprised that he would ask her this. “I will do it.” The Seeker gave him a nod before they headed out of the chantry and to the stables. …
…
…

Leliana wasn’t lying about it being a short distance from Haven. The walk there had taken less than a day and the more they moved into the hills, the more warm the weather seemed to have gotten. Lush forests, waterfalls, mountains. Vash breathed in deeply, letting it soak into his skin. This is what he enjoyed the most, getting out, doing things. It helped him heal. It wasn’t long before the camp came into view, a dwarf walking up to them with a smile across her lips.

“The Herald of Andraste! I’ve heard the stories. Everyone has. We know what you did at the breach.They might not know much about the Qunari, but you’ll get no back talk from anyone here. That’s a promise. Inquisition Scout Harding, at your service. I… all of us here… we’ll do whatever we can to help.” He was starting to wonder about all these stories people were hearing. He bowed to her, returning her smile with a small one.

Varric chuckled beside him. “Harding, huh? Ever been to Kirkwall’s Hightown?”

“I can’t say I have. Why?”

“You’d be Harding in… oh, never mind.”

Cassandra make a noise of disgusted noise but it made Vash snort. Maybe these people weren’t so bad after all. “We should get to business. The situation’s pretty dire.We came to secure horses from Redcliffe’s old horsemaster. I grew up here, and people always said that Dennet’s herds were the strongest and the fastest this side of the Frostbacks. But with the mage-templar fighting getting worse, we couldn’t get to Dennet. Maker only knows if he’s even still alive. Mother Giselle’s at the Crossroads helping refugees and the wounded. Our latest reports say that the war’s spread there, too. Corporal Vale and our men are doing what they can to help protect the people, but they won’t be able to hold out very long. You best get going. No time to lose.”

More people depending on him, more people needing his help. Vash didn’t know it yet but it was going to get a lot worse. They made their way down the path. The mountain arm was making him feel alive again. The closer they got to the crossroads, the more destruction they could see. Groups of dead, mages and templars alike, lying in piles on the side of the path. What a useless loss of life.

“Inquisition forces! They are trying to help the refugees!” They heard the fighting before they made the clearing. This was insane. These were people that were trying to get away from all the fighting just to be thrown back into the mists of it. These people needed to be stopped. The charge filled the air before he even lowered his staff and the lightning hit three plain armored templars and no one else. The amount of power he held to make it hit it’s mark was amazing and it made Solas stop for a moment and admire the saarebas. Just the sheerness of his willpower alone seemed to be amazing. It wasn’t long before the fighting was over. The three small groups fighting one another had been slain and the small group of Inquisition forces were helping to clean up the mess.

Mother Giselle was an older woman, the lines around her face told the story of her life. Vash made his way up the stairs to the cabin, the rest of them falling back to help the soldiers. He was quiet as he approached her, making sure that his presence didn’t spook any of the wounded as the mage healers went to work.

“You must be the one they’re calling the Herald of Andraste.” She had rose from her kneeling position. She seemed kind to him, a gentleness that he hadn’t seen yet in this man’s war. Vash shook his head before writing in his pad. ‘Not through any choice of mine.’ He was slowly starting to get use to the idea of this more and more. It did seem to make everything a lot more clear for people. The Mother tilted her head to him slowly, he was sure she would find out soon enough.

She chuckled softly before speaking, “We seldom have much say in our fate. I’m sad to say. Vash frowned a little at that but she seemed to understand. “I don’t presume to know the Maker’s intentions, young man, for any of us. But I did not ask you to come simply to debate with me.” He sighed softly, letting her look at the paper. ‘Then why am I here?’

She began to walk away, he followed her slowly. It was almost as if she were trying to collect her thoughts. “I know of the chantry’s denouncement, and I’m familiar with those behind it. I won’t lie to you; some of them are grandstanding, hoping to increase their chances of becoming the new Divine. Some are simply terrified, so many good people, senselessly taken from us…” He didn’t understand any of this. ‘But don’t you said with the rest of the chantry?’

“With no Divine, we are each left to our own conscience… and mine tells me this. Go to them. Convince the remaining clerics you are no demon to be feared. They have heard only frightful tales of you. Give them something else to believe.” He sighed softly, making a line against his throat to bring home that they want him dead. “You are no longer alone. They cannot imprison or attack you.” Vash shrugged softly. “Let me put it this way; you needn’t convince them all. You just need some of them to doubt. Their power is their unified voice. Take that from them, and you receive the time you need.” He wrinkled his nose a little. ‘You make it sound simple.’

She arched a brow as she read his words. “I honestly don’t know if you’ve been touched by fate or sent to help us… but I hope. Hope is what we need know. The people will listen to your rallying call, as they will listen to no other. You could build the Inquisition into a force that will deliver us… or destroy us.” She looked around for a moment. “I will go to Haven and provide Sister Leliana the names of those in the chantry who would be amenable to a gathering. It is not much, but I will do whatever I can.”

Vash watched as she walked away. Rubbing the back of his head, all he could think about was that is all they can ask from anyone.

Chapter Text

Josephine had hired a scholar. Vash wrinkled his nose as the somewhat simple man walked through the gates of Haven and into the chantry. He didn’t have to question what he was for. Carrying books under his arms and a servant carrying a small trunk behind him. He’d been watching them through the small window in his cabin and huffed. He wasn’t embarrassed by the fact that he wasn’t the best at reading and writing but he also understood that this ‘job’ that had been thrust on him demanded a certain degree. Mostly the paperwork that was piling up on his desk.

Adaar,
Katoh came back looking like she’d crawled out of a dragon’s mouth. Some of the other’s, too. Most of them wounded. All of them angry, but alive. Alive is important. They said they were sprung from some noble’s dungeon by people in eyeball armor. I assume that’s your doing. Thanks.
Shokrakar
P.S. Good work on not being dead.
P.S.S. We still haven’t been paid.

He allowed himself to laugh now that he was alone. It was a deep rumble in his chest and he wondered if that was what his voice sounded like; deep, comforting. The letters from Shokrakar always made his heart sing. She was the closed thing to a Mother that he had.

He was making his way up to the chantry. A morning meeting with his advisors on the best way to approach in Val Royeaux. He honestly didn’t know many nobles, but the ones that he knew here seemed to be pompous at best. The rukkus from in front of the chantry took his notice. It was nothing more than a group of mages and templars that had joined the Inquisition with a larger group of gathers. There always seemed to be some unrest, no matter which side it was from.

“You’re kind killed the Most Holy?”

“Lies… your kind let her die.”

“Shut you mouth, mage!” The templar was drawing for his sword. Vash was prepared to unsheathe his staff but Cullen was already there, stopping the madness. “Enough!”

“Knight-Captain.”

“That is not my title. We are not templars any longer. We are all part of the Inquisition!”

Vash couldn’t help but really wonder how this was going to work; there seemed to be so much hate, from both sides. He was pointing his finger at both parties and the unrest had seemed to settle down a bit.

“And what does that mean, exactly?” Always someone to fan the fire.

“Back already, Chancellor? Haven’t you done enough?”

“I’m curious, Commander, as to how your Inquisition and it’s “Herald” will restore order as you’ve promised.” We’d probably be doing better if you weren’t an arse. The crowd had seemed to gather behind Roderick. Apparently they were looking for answers as well. “Of course you are. Back to your duties, all of you!” There was something about the Commander that people respected. Vash was still trying to figure out where he knew him from. The crowd seemed to slowly un-rally as he walked up to them. He still didn’t like the Chancellor.

“Mages and templars were already at war. Now they’re blaming each other for the Divine’s death”

“Which is why we require a proper authority to guide them back to order.”

Vash snorted before Cullen spoke, “Who? You? Random clerics who weren’t important enough to be at the Conclave?”

“The rebel Inquisition and it’s so-called “Herald of Andraste”? I think not.”

Vash shrugged a little before he wrote something down and handed it to Cullen. ‘The Inquisition seems about as functional as any young family.’

Roderick scoffed. “How many families are on the verge of spitting into open war themselves?”

“Yes, because that would never happen to the Chantry.”

“Centuries of tradition will guide us. We are not the upstart, eager to turn over every apple cart.”

Vash grunted, a scowl on his face. He was hoping that they could find a solution to this madness. The stuff of nightmares would be finding a cathedral full of chancellors instead of people that were actually trying to help.

…
…
…

“Having the Herald address the clerics is not a terrible idea.”

“You can’t be serious.” Vash knew what Cullen was thinking, and in a way he was right.

“Mother Giselle isn’t wrong; at the moment, the chantry’s only strength is that they are united in opinion.” Cullen shook his head before rubbing the back of his neck. Vash could understand the frustration.

“And we should ignore the danger to the Herald?”

“Let’s ask him.”

Suddenly eight pairs of eyes were looking at him and he didn’t like the weight that came with their gaze. He looked over at Cassandra, gave a small grunt and sighed. “He does not believe this will solve the problem.” Vash nodded to them all. She had become rather good at reading him.

“I agree. It just lends credence to the idea that we should care what the chantry says.”

“I will go with him. Mother Giselle said she could provide us names? Use them.”

“But why? This is nothing but a…”

“What choice do we have, Leliana? Right now we can’t approach anyone for help with the breach. Use what influence we have to call the clerics together. Once they are ready, we will see this through.”

He had never thought that Cassandra would be the voice of reason, but it seemed to be something they all agreed on. They would go to Val Royeaux and address the chantry. Vash seemed to be the only one excited about it. He’d never seen it.

…
…
…

The city was nothing like he had ever seen before. Buildings that rose into the sky, surrounded by blue water and all you could smell in the air were flowers. The gold trim was sparkling in the sun and it seemed as if the whole city was bathed in some form of divine light because of it. But it was also filled with nobles, people that would love to see what they had started failed and people that wanted nothing more than to help feed the chaos in the world right now. A few people were walking toward them as they approached. One of the masked women had gasped and ran away. Mostly people just stared. He was use to that.

“The city still mourns.”

“Just a guess, Seeker but I think they all know who we are.”

“Your skills of observation never fail to impress me, Varric.” Vash chuckled.

They were almost in the gates when a scout ran up to them, out of breathe it would seem. “My Lord Herald.” She bowed, kneels dropping to the stone. He would never get use to that.

“You’re one of Leliana’s people. What have you found?”

“The Chantry Mothers await you, but… so do a great man templars.”

“There are templars here?”

“People seem to think the templars will protect them from… from the Inquisition. They’re gathering on the other side of the market. I think that’s where the templars intend to meet you.”

“Only one thing to do, then.”

Vash sighed. This was giving him a headache. Why couldn’t it be so simple as to try and find someone that wanted to help heal the rift in the sky and put things back in order. It didn’t mask the fact that this place was beautiful. The way that it was decorated and even if the people were snobs, he was going to make the most of it. He didn’t know how this was going to pan out, but he’d faced worse things in his life.

A stage had been set up for the Mother that they were meeting. A group of people gathering around her as she preached her words. Some of them were agreeing with her, others were in deep thought trying to form their own opinion on the situation. This wasn’t going to go well but as he looked around, he didn’t see any of the templars… yet. As they walked to the stage, that’s when he saw them standing around. Most of them had their arms crossed and looking less than amused.

“Good people of Val Royeaux, hear me! Together we mourn our Divine. Her naive and beautiful heart silenced by treachery! You wonder what will become of her murderer.” So I am a murderer now? “Well, wonder no more!” The crowd seemed to mumble among themselves loudly. She rose her arm and pointed a finger at him. “Behold the so-called Herald of Andraste! Claiming to rise where our beloved fell.” He crossed his arms against his chest, standing his ground. For too long he hadn’t been able to defend himself against anything in his life, until now. “We say this is a false prophet! A wicked Qunari sent to subvert the Maker’s word?” Now he wished that they would have actually found against calling him that, even if it did give people hope. There was a scowl that crossed his lips, a loud grunt that they would be able to hear and shook his head.

“The Inquisition seeks only to end this madness before it is too late.”

The crowd was muttering again, mulling things over it would seem. They heard the sound of armor on stone. “It is already too late!” She pointed to the small group of templars that were headed to the stage. “The templars have returned to the chantry! They will face this “Inquisition,” and the people will be safe once more.” Well, shit.

Out of nowhere, one of the templars hits her in the back of the head, causing her to cry out and crumble onto the stage. Well, that wasn’t necessary. Vash didn’t understand of this. Weren’t templars suppose to protect the chantry? And apparently Cassandra knew who this was, even if he didn’t.

“Still yourself. She is beneath us.” The templar that had moved to help her looked at the other with a deep sense of confusion. He looked at Vash and the Qunari felt a shiver run down his spine. Something seemed off.

“Lord Seeker Lucius, it’s imperative that we speak with…”

“You will not address me.”

“Lord Seeker?”

“Creating a heretical movement, raising up a puppet as Andraste’s prophet. You should be ashamed. You should all be ashamed! The templars failed no one when they left the Chantry to purge the mages!” He pointed his finger directly at Vash and the Qunari frowned. “You are the ones who have failed! You who’d leash our righteous swords with doubt and fear! If you came to appeal to the chantry, you are too late. The only destiny here that demands respect is mine.”

Vash arched a brow. Just another pompous human then. Or maybe something else. There was something in this Lord Seeker’s eyes that didn’t seem right. Vash just couldn’t put his finger on it. He wondered if appealing to the templars would be better. Cullen did join them, right? Then the Seeker turned his attention back to Vash and smirked. “You’re a mage! Whatever ties you think you have are worthless. Everyone in the Inquisition is made traitors just by being in your company!”

“But Lord Seeker… what if he really was sent by the Maker? What if…?”

“You’re called to a higher purpose, Do not question.”

“I will make the templar order a power that stands alone against the void. We deserve recognition. Independence! You have shown me nothing, and the Inquisition… less than nothing. Templars! Val Royeaux is unworthy of our protection! We march!”

And with that, they left, charging out of the city and leaving everyone shocked in their wave. This was getting more strange by the minute. “Charming fellow, isn’t he?”

“Has Lord Seeker Lucius gone mad?” Cassandra frowned a little. “He took over the Seekers of Truth two years ago, after Lord Seeker Lambert’s death. He was always a decent man, never given to ambition and grandstanding. This is very bizarre.”

“People change, Seeker.”

Vash shrugged a little, giving her a small look of sympathy even if he didn’t really know how to do it. “I wouldn’t write them off so quickly. There must be those in the Order who see what he’s become. Either way we should first return to Haven and inform the others.”

The group nodded, but there was something that he wanted to do first. He brought out his little note pad, moving to walk onto the stage and sit cross-legged before the Mother that had fought so hard to make others believe something was right. No on was right right now.

She had gotten up slightly, still holding onto her side. “This victory must please you greatly, Seeker Cassander.”

“We came here seeking only to speak with the Mothers. This is not out doing, but yours.”

“And you had no part in forcing our hand? Do not delude yourself. Now we have been shown up by our own templars. In front of everyone.And my fellow clerics have scattered to the wind, along with their convictions. Just tell me one thing.” She looked toward Vash before she spoke again. “If you do not believe you are the Maker’s chosen, then what are you?”

He wrinkled his nose before writing something down and letting her read it. ‘I’m just a Qunari, in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

“That is… more comforting than you might imagine. I suppose it is out of our hands now. We shall see what the Maker plans in the days to come.”

He nodded softly, leaving the Mother to her prayers. Two people got their attention before they got ready to leave. Red scarfs and a noble woman’s messenger. He would deal with them later. His head was starting to hurt, along with his hand.

His mind going over all the information that had been presented to him at this point. He was wondering if he would ever get to see these mages everyone was talking about when…

“If I might have a moment of your time?” She came from around the corner, almost as if she had popped out of thin air. It caused all of them to turn and look at her, even if Vash didn’t have a clue who she was.

“Grand Enchanter Fiona?” Cassandra seemed a little shocked to see her.

“Leader of the mage rebellion. Is it not dangerous for you to be here?”

“I heard of this gathering, and I wanted to see the fabled Herald of Andraste with my own eyes.” She an elf was the leader of the rebellion. In a way, Vash wasn’t surprised. He’d heard stories of how they were treated almost as badly as mages in the Qun. “If it is help with the breach you seek, perhaps you should look among your fellow mages.”

Vash crossed his arms at that. Fellow mages. He had nothing in common with other mages except for his magic. Fiona looked at him for a moment with a tilted head. “You have more in common with us than you think, even more so than a group of templar thugs. Consider this an invitation to Redcliffe; come meet with the mages. An alliance could help us both, after all. I hope to see you there. Au revoir, my Lord Herald.” Ugh. Not her too.

“Come. Let us return to Haven.”

…
…
…

Before going back to Haven, they had stopped to pick up a rather chatty elf and a mage that seemed to have a lot of standing with the nobles. He was interested to hear more from her about these loyal mages. Vash believed that mages should be free. It had a lot to do with what he had been through but they were people, just like anyone else. He hadn’t been able to do much studying on his circle but that was going to change. He was exhausted by the time that they had made it back to Haven, walking slowly with Cassandra and mulling things over. He’d had to process a lot of information in the last couple of hours and it was making his head hurt even more. Well, he hadn’t ate either so that probably had something to do with it as well.

“It’s good you have returned. We heard of your encounter.”

“You heard?”

“My agents in the city sent word ahead, of course.”

Cullen had his arms crossed. “It’s a shame the templars have abandoned their senses as well as the capital.”

Vash grunted softly and shrugged. The chantry was no longer a threat and that was what mattered at the moment.

“And now we have an opening we need to approach the templars and the mages.”

“Do we? Lord Seeker Lucius is not the man I remember. “

“True, he has taken the Order somewhere, but to do what? My reports have been… very odd.

“We must look into it. I’m certain not everyone in the Order will support the Lord Seeker.”

“Or the Herald could simply to go meet the mages in Redcliffe, instead.”

“You think the mage rebellion is more united? It could be ten times worse!”

Vash sighed softly. All this bickering was getting on his nerves, and even that was an understatement. How were they suppose to work together when most of the time, they couldn’t work together.

“We shouldn’t discount Redcliffe. The mages may be worth the risk.

“They are powerful, Ambassador, but more desperate than you realize.”

He arched a brow at Cassandra’s words. He’d been in danger since he was born. What would adding more fuel to the fire cause. “If come among the rebel mages were responsible for what happened at the Conclave…”

“The same could be said about the templars.”

“True enough. Right now, I’m not certain we have enough influence to approach the Order safely.”

“Then the Inquisition needs agents in more places. That’s something you can help with.” Vash wrinkled his nose. Of course it was.

“In the meantime, we should consider other options.”

They all seemed to go their separate ways, leaving Vash and Leliana standing in the hall. He couldn’t understand why they were at war with each other. Sure, they all seemed to want different things but wasn’t the main goal bring peace. He sighed softly before the spymaster spoke.

“There is one other matter. Several months ago, the Grey Wardens of Ferelden vanished. I sent word to those in Orlais, but they have also disappeared. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t even consider the idea they’re involved in all this, but the timing is… curious.”

Vash crossed his arms but arched a brow.

“The others have disregarded my suspicion, but I cannot ignore it. Two days ago, my agents in the Hinterlands heard of news of a Grey Warden by the name of Blackwall. If you have the opportunity, please seek him out. Perhaps he can put my mind at ease. And if he can’t, there may be more going on than we thought.”

Vash nodded as she walked away. Looks like their trek through the Hinterlands was going to take awhile.

Chapter Text

The Hinterlands
Dusklight Camp

It was late when they arrived back in the Hinterlands. The wind lightly blowing as Vash came from his tent and sat down on a log by the fire. So many things were running through his head; mostly it was how to save the world and the burden of command that had been thrust upon his shoulders. There was a shuffle of noise beside him and a bowl came into his view. Varric was handing him some of the soup that he’d made for supper. The dwarf sat down beside him, staring into the fire as well.

“So, now that Cassandra’s out of earshot, are you holding up all right? I mean, you go from being the most wanted criminal in Thedas to joining the armies of the faithful,” Varric sighed softly. “Most people would have spread that out over more than one day.” Vash lightly shrugged his shoulders. He had no clue what was happening anymore. He turned his head toward the dwarf and gave a crocked expression. “That makes two of us. For days now, we’ve been staring at the breach, watching demons and maker-knows-what fall out of it. “Bad for moral” would be an understatement. I still can’t believe anyone was in there and lived.” Vash had laid his half-eaten soup on the rock in front of him. Nothing better for a make-shift table.

‘Why do you stay?’ He tucked the paper in his lap and took a drink of water.

Varric chuckled, “I like to think I’m as selfish and irresponsible as the next guy, but this...Thousands of people died on the mountain. I was almost one of them. And now there’s a hole in the sky. Even I can’t walk away and just leave that to sort itself out.” Vash wrinkled his nose, he still wasn’t sure that any of this was really happening. ‘It’s like being in a dream you can’t wake up from.’ “If this is all just the maker winding us up, I hope there’s a damn good punch line coming. You might want to consider running at the first opportunity. I’ve written enough tragedies to recognize where this is going. Heroes are everywhere. I’ve seen that. But the hole in the sky? That’s beyond heroes. We’re going to need a miracle.”

They weren’t quiet for a long moment. Vash letting his words soak in. He’d never seen himself as a hero, just someone doing the task that was presented in front of him the best that he could. He remembered having good and bad days, losing his men and having to deal with the actions he’d made. He made a small scuffle against the log before he wrote something down and let Varric read it.

‘Tell me about that red lyrium. He heard Varris sigh. “My brother Bartrand and I sort of discovered red lyrium during an expedition in the Deep Roads. We located an ancient thaig, so old it barely looked dwarven. There was this idol there, made of it. Bartrand brought it back to the surface and, well, everything’s gone downhill from there.” Vash arched a brow, watching Varric with careful eyes as he took a sip of his own drink. “It’s lyrium like a dragon is a lizard. It’s not just a different color, it had a whole host of weirdness all its own. Believe me, I’ve written to every mining caste in Orzammar. No one’s seen this stuff before or knows where it came from.”

‘It sang to me at the temple.’

Varric scoffed, “Regular lyrium can mess you up pretty badly, but you have to ingest it for that to happen. Red lyrium messes with you mind when you’re just near the stuff. You’ve heard the singing, you get violent and paranoid. And then it does… creepy shit. Makes things float. Brings statues to life. I’ve had a few alchemists studying it in shifts.” Varric rubbed his hand down his face. “My brother had kept a sliver of it when he sold it. I’m pretty sure he held onto it because it was already “talking to him.” That little shard drove him mad.” Varric was staring into the fire now, almost as if he weren’t really there. “After his death, I found it hidden in his house. We brought the shit to the surface, Bartrand and I. I wanted to find out if there was a way to shut it up.” So he was blaming himself.

Vash gave him a look of sympathy before taking a last drink of water. They had a long day ahead of them tomorrow. He pointed to the bedroom and then pointed back to Varric. “Yeah, I could use some rest myself.” The dwarf rose. Vash could tell that this wasn’t really his favorite subject, even more so when his brother was brought into the mix. The Qunari made his way back into his tent, laying on the fur covered cot and stared at his palm. The anchor flared in his hand, bathing the small space in bright green. It didn’t hurt, not really. It was more like a dull throb at the moment, like having an ache in your tooth and not being able to get rid of it. Rest would be uneasy, but he was learning to deal with it.

…
…
…

The trek to Redcliffe village didn’t take as long as they had thought. The sun shining through the trees and giving the path an almost out of world glow to it. There was a soldier that came running, yelling something about a rift and demons. Vash looked at Cassandra before she sneered. Something was off about this rift, some marks sped time itself and others slowed it down. His mark pulsed strangely and it burned when he closed it. He gave a small grunt when it was over. “We don’t know what these rifts can do. That one appeared to alter the time around it.” There was something strange going on here and maybe they could get the answers that needed from Fiona.

“Maker have mercy! It’s over? Open the gate!” The chain rattled loudly as the iron gate rose. Inside they could see several groups of soldiers and a few of the rebel mages themselves. They were approached by a scout, but he didn’t seem to amused. “We’ve spread word the Inquisition was coming, but you should know that no one here was expecting us.” Vash couldn’t help but arch a brow. If no one was expecting them, then who was wearing Fiona’s face.

“What about the Grand Enchanter?”

The scout shrugged. “If she was, she hasn’t told anyone. We’ve arranged use of the tavern for the negotiations.”

“Agents of the Inquisition,” an elf spoke as he ran up to them. “My apologies! Magister Alexius is in charge now, but hasn’t yet arrived.” Who? “He’s expected shortly. You can speak with the former Grand Enchanter in the meantime.” Well, that was strange. There was something going on here that seemed to have everyone one edge. The elf turned before he disappeared, leaving them with more questions then answers.

“The veil is weaker here than in Have. And not merely weak but altered in a way I have not seen.”

“We should talk to the Grand Enchanter.”

Vash nodded before they continued down the path. There was a lot of unrest in the air; several small groups of mages talking among themselves. It almost seemed like they didn’t even noticed they were there. They could hear the gulls calling as they made their way up the wooden stairs to The Gull and Lantern, such an odd name for a pub. He’d read some of Redcliffe’s history in one of the tomes under the Chantry but there wasn’t much on what had happened to it after the blight. Cassandra stayed close by, knowing that he would need her to speak for him the best she could. She did declare this after all, he was just the front man.

It was noisy, for the most part. A bard’s sweet voice rose into the air and several people had stopped what they were doing when they walked in. Dust reflected the light as it flowed through the air and added a certain glow to the place.

“Welcome, agents of the Inquisition.” Vash bowed his head to her in respect. “First Enchanter Vivienne.”

“My dear Fiona. It’s been so long since we last spoke. You look dreadful! Are you sleeping well?”

Fiona shrugged lightly, “What has brought you to Redcliffe?” Was she being serious? Vash grunted before writing something down and handing it to Cass. “He wants to know if this is a test. You invited us here when we met in Val Royeaux.”

Fiona looked between the four of them with a confused expression. “You must be mistaken. I haven’t been to Val Royeaux since before the Conclave.” Vash arched a brow, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she wasn’t who they’d met. “We met you as the templars were leaving, Grand Enchanter.”

“The templars left Val Royeaux? Where did they go? That sounds… why does that sound so strange?”

Vash was starting to get frustrating with this. She either didn’t know what was going on or she was seriously playing with all of them. You can’t just forget something like that… unless. “Whoever… or whatever brought you here. The situation has changed. The free mages have already… pledged themselves to the service of the Tevinter Imperium.”

“Fiona dear, your dementia is showing.”

“An alliance with Tevinter? Do you not dear all of Thedas turning against you?”

“I understand that you are afraid, but you deserve better than slavery to Tevinter.”

“As one indentured to a magister, I no longer have the authority to negotiate with you.”

So they were ignoring the breach, the help that they needed, helping to save the world. This was… Vash felt the annoyance bubbling inside of him. What was she thinking? A scowl crossed his face before he gave a low growl. Joining the Imperium before the corpse of the Divine was even cold. What would she think? Fiona looked at him for a moment before she spoke again. “Most of Thedas blames us for the Divine’s death. The templar attacks grew worse, and we mages had no allies.” She looked torn, worn out by all of this. “Either my people made a last stand here in Redcliffe, or we took the only offer of help extended to us. I had to save them. I had no other choice.” Well, you did, you just didn’t wait for me.

The tavern door closed loudly behind them, Vash turned to see a man dressed in traditional Tevinter armor and it made his blood boil. He remembers that armor, remembers having to fight at the command of his Arvaarad; all the blood and death at his hands. His brows narrowed as the man approached them.

“Welcome, my friends! I apologize for not greeting you earlier.”

“Agents of the Inquisition, allow me to introduce Magister Gereon Alexius.”

“The southern mages are under my command. And you are the survivor, yes? The one from the fade? Interesting.” Vash didn’t understand what was so interesting about it. He crossed his arms against his chest once more. He looked at Cass for a moment.

“We’d like to know more about this alliance between the rebel mages and the Imperium.”

“Our southern brethren have no legal status in the Imperium. As they were not born citizens of Tevinter, they must work for a period of ten years before gaining full rights. As their protector, I shall oversee their work for the Imperium.”

“When exactly did you negotiate this arrangement?”

Alexius looked at Cassandra with a curious eye as she spoke for the survivor. It was interesting to him that he didn’t speak for himself. “When the Conclave was destroyed, these poor souls faced the brutality of the templars, who rushed to attack them.” Alexius turned to Fiona and gave her a gently look, but Vash didn’t trust this. “It could only be through divine providence that I arrived when I did.”

“It was certainly… very timely.”

“What is the Imperium’s gain in all this?

“For the moment, the southern mages are a considerable expense. After they are properly trained, they will join our legion.”

Fiona spoke up behind him, arms moving in a wild fashion. “You said not all my people would be military! There are children, those not suited…”

Alexius turned to her, almost as if her outburst had angered him. “And one day, I’m sure they will be productive citizens of the Imperium, when their debts are paid.”

Vash was wondering just exactly where the Arl was. It was strange to him that a man like him would just abandoned his lands over this. Cassandra seemed to understand better than most. “Arl Teagan did not abandon his lands during the blight. Even when they were under siege.”

There was a strange smirk that crossed Alexius old face before he spoke. “There were… tensions growing. I did not want an incident.”

The Qunari didn’t know what to think of all this. He gave a grunt before he rose his arm and pointed it in the direction of one of the empty tables. “Right to business! I understand, of course.” They moved to sat down, Vash actually glad for a chance. He had been having some trouble out of his left leg since all this had started and he wondered if it had something to do with his hand. “Felix, would you send for a scribe, please? Pardon my manners, my son Felix, friends.” Felix bowed to them and recieved them in return. They weren’t savages after all. “I am not surprised you’re here. Containing the breach is not a feat that many could even attempt. There is no telling how many mages would be needed for such an endeavor. Ambitious, indeed.”

Vash moved in his chair a little and shrugged, giving the Magister a small grunt and a wicked smirk crossed his lips. He was a Qunari, they didn’t think small.

“There will have to be…” Felix had came back into the tavern, limping and holding his leg. Vash wondered what was wrong and as he fell, jumped to his feet to catch the younger man. In the process, Felix had slipped a note into his hand without his Father’s notice. Was it all just a ruse?

“Felix.”

“My Lord, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

“Are you alright?”

He was holding his arm close to his stomach. “I’m fine, Father.”

“Come, I’ll get your powders. Please excuse me, friends. We will have to continue this another time.” He walked away, Felix limping behind him. “Fiona, I require your assistance back at the castle.”

“I don’t mean to trouble everyone.”

Alexius turned to face them. “I shall send word to the Inquisition. We will conclude this business at a later date.” They both left, leaving even more questions and Vash narrowed his brow. He remembered the paper that had been slipped into his hand, reading it carefully the best he could. He let the rest of his party look at it.

“Did the magister’s son give you that? Why would he help us?”

Well, it could be a trap. There was no telling what would happen at this point. “We will be on guard.”

The tavern was once again filled with music and people talking to one another. Vash decided to ask around, see what some of the mages that were here thought about this whole situation.

“We don’t need your kind here. Your Inquisition’s just templars by another name.” There was a woman speaking to him from behind, but when he tried to turn around, he felt a strong pull of magic keeping him in place. “My name is Linnea, just Linnea. Don’t ask what circle tower I’m from, because we’re done with that. We’re all free mages now.” No… you just think you are free. “We’ve bought the chantry’s lies about Tevinter for long enough. It’s just because they’re ruled by mages. No one wants us to look at them and say, “Their mages are free, and the world hasn’t ended.” Vash arched a brow. She did have a point, but even the Imperium had it’s problems. He wanted to know why everyone still thought they were part of the chantry, even when they had been denounced by them.

There was a sigh that escaped his lips as he walked away before another mage got his attention. This one had a strange marking on his forehead and he spoke in a rather monotone voice. “Magister Alexius wishes only mages to remain in Redcliffe. He will approve of you. He does not approve of me. Many villagers have already left to escape his ire.” Vash couldn’t help but tilt his head and give a low grunt. “He does not life to be reminded of what mages can become. He says all tranquil must leave Redcliffe, but who would take us in?” It finally dawned on him. He hadn’t met many tranquil in his time. His finger slowly rose to point to his own forehead where the others brand was. “My talent for magic was… insufficient to protect me from demons. Rather than risk me becoming possessed, the circle removed my connection to the fade. My magic is gone, along with my dreams and desires. Those now in Redcliffe prefer not to see us.” Vash felt felt so sorry for this man. ‘How long have the Tevinters been here?’ The mage tilted his head as he read the note. “Magister Alexius arrived at nightfall, two days after we retreated from the Temple of Sacred Ashes. He forced anyone without magic out of the castle, save those he required to serve him. Even the arl was sent away.”

Vash looked at Cassandra for a brief moment, she was taking in everything the mage was saying. This was strange indeed. “A moment. You are a member of the Inquisition, are you not? I am an alchemist. You must require potions. If the magister will not have me here, perhaps I can offer my services.” Vash smiled softly at the man and gave him a bow. “Thank you. While one lives, it is good to believe there is still a use for one’s talents.

He couldn’t lie and say that it didn’t feel good to help these people. Most of them didn’t even know what was really going on. Another mage stopped them at the door. “Inquisition, huh? I wish to Holy Andraste you’d gotten here sooner. These Tevinter’s make my shoulder blades itch.” Vash cocked his head to the side. “Something’s not right about that lot. They’re not like us. Magic or no. I’d rather count myself among decent folk than stand with magisters. One minute, we were bracing for the templars to attack. The next, we had a magister ally. It was a stroke of luck that’s given us an edge… in a way. Out of the frying pan…” Vash nodded to the mage before he took his leave. He now had a plan forming in his mind. He had to help the mages. Templars be damned.

He knew the Tevinter’s weren’t probably happy that he was asking questions. He just couldn’t bring himself to care.

Once outside the tavern and back into the fresh air, he felt like he could breath again. To say that he didn’t like closed up spaces for very long was an understatement. It had a way of making his skin crawl and memories of a life forgotten to creep up on him. As they walked down the wooden stairs, they were approached by yet another mage.

“Andraste’s ashes! They don’t even sing the right chant! And they sacrifice children, don’t they?” Vash arched a brow. What on earth was this man talking about. “I don’t know how the Grand Enchanter could think of accepting their offer. I hope that you can get us out of this bargain. Before we’re all shipped off to the Imperium like cattle.” They walked off heading toward the chantry.

“It seems as if no one really wanted this. But it also seems that no one really knows how it came along.”

“Most of them seem to want to go back to the circles. And here everyone thought they were horrible places. We need these mages.”

…
…
…

They spoke to the young, nervous elf that had met them at the gate and it was enlightening to say the least. Most of the mages he’d spoken too merely wanted to be free, free to start families and have a life. It didn’t seem like that strange of an idea then when he was enslaved to his own magic. They had circles. They should count themselves lucky, but he refused to let himself think that way. That life was in the past.

They slowly made their way through the chantry doors and in an instant, his anchor was springing to life with the same burn that he had felt at the gate. Another mage, this one was beating the shades back with his staff. Vash could tell that his mana was low and he was doing his best to stay alive. Handsome, he thought but he couldn’t afford to let himself be distracted at a time like this. Vash had never really been able to look at people until he himself was free. He didn’t like to be touched so relationships were somewhat out of the question.

“Good! You’re finally here! Now help me close this will you.”

Maybe this mage had some answers. It didn’t take them long before they sprang back into action. Solas had taken the moment to give this mage a lyrium potions to help with his drained mana. The shades and terrors were made quick work of as his lightning rained down and from underneath. It was a sight to behold, he knew, with what little training he had received in his short amount of freedom. He felt the burn as he rose his hand, the anchor connection with the rift and it exploded in a shower of green sparkles around the room. It made him feel tired, more so than the others and he couldn’t explain why.

He could feel the sweat on his brow and how his pulse was more quick than normal. He shrugged it off. He had more important things to worry about.

The mage turned. “Fascination. How does that work, exactly?” He rose his arms slightly and chuckled at Vash’s confusion reaction. “You don’t even know, do you? You just wiggle your fingers, and boom! Rift closes” He arched a brow. Even not being able to speak, this new mage seemed to understand. “Ah. Getting ahead of myself, again, I see.” He bowed. “Dorian of House Pavus, most recently of Minrathous. How do you do?”

“Another Tevinter. Be cautious with this one.”

Dorian smirked, “Suspicious friends you have here.” But Vash couldn’t help but notice how Dorian eyed him, almost as if he were trying to figure him out. He was sure that the silence coming from him made people curious. “Magister Alexius was once my mentor, so my assistance should be valuable… as I’m sure you can imagine.”

He was expecting Felix to be here. He held out the note in his hand. “I’m sure he’s on his way. He was to give you this and then meet us here after ditching his father. He was suppose to forlorn illness. He’s had some lingering illness for months. Alexius is no doubt being a mother hen about the situation.”

Vash crossed his arms against his chest and turned to Cassandra. “He wants to know if we can trust you. Most of the mages from Tevinter are magisters.”

“All right. I will say this once. I’m a mage from Tevinter, but not a member of the magisterium. I know southerners use the terms interchangeably, but that only makes you sound like barbarians.”

Vash shrugged a little. None of this was making sense to him and it was starting to make his head throb. “He use to be my mentor, but he hasn’t been for quick sometime. Look, you must know there’s danger. That should be obvious even without the note. Let’s start with Alexius claiming the allegiance of the mage rebels out from under you. As if by magic, yes? Which is exactly right. To reach Redcliffe before the Inquisition, Alexius distorted time itself.” He wrote down a quick note. ‘I hope that’s less dangerous than it sounds.’

Dorian read the note and arched a brow, clearly he didn’t know all the details about the survivor himself.

“More.”

“That is fascinating, if true… and almost certainly dangerous.”

“The rift you closed here? You saw how it twisted time around itself, sped some things up and slowed others down. Soon there will be more like it, and they’ll appear further and further away from Redcliffe. The magic Alexius is using is wildly unstable, and its unraveling the world.”

Vash couldn’t help but scoff a little. ‘I’d like more proof than “Magical time control! Go with it!.”’ It was a quick note and Dorian didn’t look amused by his little jab. His face turned even more serious than before. “I know what I’m talking about. I helped develop this magic. When I was still his apprentice, it was pure theory. Alexius could never get it to work.” Dorian rubbed his chin. “What I don’t understand if why he’s doing it? Ripping time to shreds just to gain a few hundred lackeys?”

“He didn’t do it for them.” Felix had finally appeared but no one had heard him come in.

“Took you long enough. Is he getting suspicious?”

“No, but I shouldn’t have played the illness card. I thought he’d be fussing over me all day.” Felix turned to look at Vash. “My father’s joined a cult. Tevinter supremacists. They call themselves “Venatori.” And I can tell you one thing; whatever he’s done for them, he’s done it to get to you.”

Interesting. ‘Why?’

“I work against him for the same reason Dorian works against him. I love my Father, and I love my country. But this? Cults? Time magic? What he’s doing now is madness. For his own sake, you must stop him.”

Once again, someone’s life was placed on his shoulders. He sighed softly to himself.

“It would also be nice if he didn’t rip a hole in time. There’s already a hole in the sky.” This didn’t make a lick of sense to him.

“They are obsessed with you, but I don’t know why. Perhaps because you survived the Temple of Sacred Ashes?”

“You can close the rifts. Maybe there’s a connection? Or they see you as a threat?”

“If the Venatori are behind those rifts, or the breach in the sky, they’re even worse than I thought.”

“You know you’re his target. Expecting the trap is the first step in turning it to your advantage. I can’t stay in Redcliffe. Alexius doesn’t know I’m here, and I want to keep it that way for now. But whenever you’re ready to deal with him, I want to be there. I’ll be in touch.”

Vash kinda figured that that was coming. Dorian turned and started to walk away, “And Felix? Try not to get yourself killed.” He sauntered away with all the flare that they would expect from someone like him.

“There are worse things than dying, Dorian.”

And suddenly, they were alone again. He rubbed his temples lightly, the sooner that they got back to Haven, the quicker this mess could be worked out.

Chapter Text

They needed a plan. Vash was an advocate for mages to be free, not locked in Circles and having the chantry dictate their lives. This wasn’t the most popular opinion among his companions or his advisors, but the Qunari couldn’t bring himself to care. He knew what it was like to be imprisoned, to have your magic used against you and others. Mages were people too and the quicker people came to realize this, the better off they would be.

“We don’t have the manpower to take the castle! Either we find another way in, or give up this nonsense and go get the templars.”

“Redcliffe is in the hands of a magister. This cannot be allowed to stand.”

“The letter from Alexius asked for the Herald of Andraste by name. It’s an obvious trap.”

Vash couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose at Josie’s words. Of course it was a trap, but it didn’t matter if it were. He gave a grunt, rose his hand to brush it against his shirt and blew on the knuckles afterwards, giving a small grin.

“He’s so complimentary that we are certain he wants to kill you.”

Josie sighed, “Not this again.”

“Redcliffe castle is one of the most defensible fortresses in Ferelden. It has repelled thousands of assaults. If you go in there, you’ll die. And we’ll lose the only means we have of closing these rifts. I won’t allow it.”

Vash raised a brow at that. If he wanted to take the castle, no one was going to stop it, not even Cullen. He crossed his arms and gave the Commander a stern glare.

“And if we don’t even try to meet Alexius, we lose the mages and leave a hostile foreign power on our doorstep.”

“Even if we could assault the keep, it would be for naught. An “Orlesian” Inquisition’s army marching into Ferelden would provoke a war. Our hands are tied”

“The magister…”

“Has outplayed us.”

“We cannot accept defeat now. There must e a solution.”

Vash sighed, running his hand over his face and staring at the map in front of him. There had to be a way. All they were accomplishing at the moment was which one of his advisors had the bigger set of balls, and right now; all of them seemed a tad wrinkled. Vash knew going into this that they all had their own agenda, even if it was to see the same goal. There had to be someway into that castle. He wrinkle his nose before he scribbled a note. ‘Is there another way? A sewer? Water course?’

“There’s nothing I know of that would work.”

Leliana gasped. She remembered the secret passage from when she traveled with the Grey Warden. “Wait. There is a secret passage into the castle. An escape route for the family. It’s too narrow for our troops, but we could send agents through.”

“Too risky. Those agents will be discovered well before they reach the magister.”

“That’s why we need a distraction. Perhaps the envoy Alexius wants so badly.”

“Keep attention on Adaar while we disable the magister’s defenses. It’s a gamble, but it might work.”

Vash was just about to agree to the plan when the door to the war room creaked open, hitting the wall. They really needed to get that fixed.

“Fortunately, you’ll have help.”

One of Leliana’s scouts came waddling up behind him, “This man says he has information about the magister and his methods, Commander.”

Dorian looked up at him before standing beside him. Cullen looking between them with a narrowed brow. If there was one thing Vash had learned, Cullen didn’t like unannounced people strutting into the war room. “Your spies will ever get past Alexius’ magic without my help. So if you’re going after him, I’m coming along.”

Cullen sighed softly, “The plan puts you in the most danger. We can’t, in good conscience, order you to do this.” Vash arched a brow. No, he wasn’t having anyone order him to do anything. “We can still go after the templars if you’d rather not play the bait. It’s up to you.” The qunari shock his head and pointed to the map. No, they would go after the mages. They had to.

…
…
…

It was a two day trek back to Redcliffe village even with horses. The weather had turned somewhat fowl, rain pouring down and making the air more cold than normal. Having camped at Dusklight, it seemed like the one that would take the shortest distance to get to Redcliffe itself. Dorian seemed to keep to himself, only speaking to Varric every-so-often and Vash wondered if that was a personal choice. It was clear that Cassandra didn’t trust him and Sera was too busy being, well, Sera. It left Vash mostly to himself, jotting down things in the journal that Josie had given him. She had told him that sometimes it helped to write down ones thoughts. It helped to keep them from getting too muddled.

Once they made it to the castle, the weather had seemed to clear and Dorian took his leave. Several Inquisition scouts going with him. Vash had nodded in his direction when they had departed, doing the only thing that he could do to wish all of them a safe travel until they met again, even if he knew it wasn’t going to be that long until they met again.

Walking through the heavy wooden doors, the castle didn’t seem to have a right smell to it. Something was off. His magic screaming at him to get out now. A man walked down the stairs toward them, eyeing them all before he turned his attention to Vash.

“Announce us,” Cassandra’s voice was strong as she spoke for him. It was something that she was getting use too.

“The magister’s invitation was for Master Adaar only. These others will have to remain here.”

“We are his attache’s,” Cassandra have moved to stand beside him, arms clasped behind her back as Vash gave a grunt. “We must accompany him.”

The man in front of him narrowed his brows, looking between the three of them. Vash gave a small shrug before the man nodded and they were lead up the stairs to the throne room. Alexius sat with a large fire burning behind him, legs crossed and he had an odd sort of expression on his face. This didn’t feel right at all.

“My Lord Magister, the agents of the Inquisition have arrived.”

Alexius rose, “My friend! It’s so good to see you again,” he paused, an unhappy expression took over his face but briefly. “And your associates, of course. I’m sure we can work out some arrangement that is equitable to all parties.”

“Are we mages to have no voice in deciding our fate?”

The room felt as though it was getting more warm by the minute. “Fiona, you would not have turned your followers over to my care if you did not trust me with their lives.” Vash took a moment to look toward Cassandra before she nodded. “If the Grand Enchanter wants to be part of these talks, he has welcomed them as guests of the Inquisition allowing her to do so.”

There was a small amount of fire in Alexius eyes, clearly this wasn’t going the way that he wanted it too. She nodded her thanks, clearly not thinking that the qunari would extent such an invitation.

Alexius turned before sitting back down on the throne, one legged hooked over the other like it was when they had arrived. He didn’t sound pleased when he spoke, “The Inquisition needs mages to close the breach, and I have them. So, what shall you offer in exchange?”

Vash handed a small note to Cassandra who arched a brow. “Are you sure?” The qunari merely nodded in reply. “He was hoping that you could tell him more about the Venatori since he’s been hearing so much about them lately.”

Alexius tilted his head, “Now, where could you have heard that name?”

Before anyone of them could say something, Felix spoke, “I told him.”

“Felix, what have you done?”

“You’re son is concerned that you’re involved in something terrible,” Cassandra’s voice rang through the hall. She was there after all and knew the look that Vash was giving her. This all seemed to be a mess, and Alexius seemed nervous about something but known of them could place it. Alexius arched a brow, “So speaks the thief. Well, not in so many words. Do you think you can turn my son against me?” He looked at Felix before he rose, voice filling with anger. “You walk into my stronghold with your stolen mark… a gift you don’t even understand… and think you’re in control?” The few steps that Alexius took toward them were mirrored by Vash. He wasn’t about to let this madman harm anyone else. “You’re nothing but a mistake.” He arched a brow at that; he’d honestly been called worse things in his life.

He touched his chest with his hand before pointing to the mark. It didn’t seem to be glowing at the moment and he wondered if all this magic floating around had something to do with this. Alexius seemed to hold some answers as to what was going on, if he’d just come out and spill.

“It was to be a triumphant moment for the Elder one, for this world!”

“Father, listen to yourself! Do you know what you sound like?”

“He sounds exactly like the sort of villainous cliche everyone expects us to be,” Dorian had made it through the passages just in time. Speaking as he came from behind one of the pillars. His hair slightly mussed but he didn’t seem to be bothered by it, yet.

“Dorian.” Alexius didn’t know whether to be shocked or more anger. Here was his student and his son siding against him. “I gave you a chance to be a part of this. You turned me down. The Elder One has power you would not believe. He will raise the Imperium from its own ashes.”

Vash sighed as Sera gave a giggle beside him, “He says blah blah. My cult is better than yours.” Cassandra slapped her on the arm before she gave her a cross look. “Wha… everyone is thinkin’ it. Gah.”

Dorian couldn’t help but take the bait, “Well, you know, it’s a chance for the Imperium to really one-up that whole “starting the blight” thing.”

“He will make the world bow to mages once more. We will rule from the Boeric Ocean to the Frozen Sea.”

“You can’t involve my people in this!,” Fiona had found her voice once more. Vash felt by for her if he were being honest with himself. She couldn’t have foreseen it coming to this but she shouldn’t have been so quick either.

“Alexius, this is exactly what you and I talked about never wanting to happen!,” Dorian spoke up, trying to reason with him. “Why would you support this?” He had moved, turning his back toward them. He was starting to act like a caged animal with nowhere to go but in his own corner to try and protect himself.

“Stop it, Father. Give up the Venatori. Let the southern mages fight the breach, and let’s go home.”

“No! It’s the only way, Felix. He can save you!”

“Save me?”

So this is why he was doing it. The real reason had finally came out. He was a Father simply trying to save his son, just going about it the wrong way.

“There is a way. The Elder One promised. If I undo the mistake at the Temple…”

“I’m going to die. You need to accept that.”

There was something different that flashed in Alexius eyes. Something dangerous at Felix’s words. “Seize them, Venatori! The Elder One demands this man’s life!”

The hall quickly filled with the clatter of soldiers, taking their stance between the pillars. Before any of them could act on the order, the sounds of flesh ripping; gasps of breath and bodies falling to the floor with a thud filled the air. Alexius looked around in shock. His men now lay on the floor, their blood staining the stone.

“You… are a mistake! You never should have existed!” Where had he heard that before. The small hairs on the back of his neck rose and he could feel his magic bubbling beneath the surface. No one had talked to him like that since he was a slave. Alexius hand rose in the air, an amulet floating in the air directly above it, glowing the same green as the rifts.

“No!”

Before he could react himself, Dorian had rose his staff, a ball of light filtering from the end and hitting Alexius hand. It was in that split second that Vash knew they were fucked as a glowing green vortex of light opened in front of them. They were all knocked back with the force of it until the world around them went black. It felt like he was being sucked into a wind tunnel. Flashes of the past in his mind, even if he tried to close his eyes, it didn’t do any good. He heard screams, not knowing if they were the screams of his companions or his own. He felt sick, his mind dizzy and as quickly as it began it ended.

…
…
…

He felt water under his feet. The sick feeling had ended as quick as it began. He didn’t have time to let his eyes adjust when…

“Blood of the Elder One.”

“Where’d they come from?”

They? Did the others manage to make it through the vortex with him. He closed his eyes against the sudden pain in his head and found it hard to breath. They weren’t even going to give them time to regain themselves before they started to attack. He didn’t have time to raise his staff before a fireball whizzed past his head, setting the two guards on fire. Their screams filling the small space and echoing off the walls. Both of them seemed to crumple against one another, twitching as the last signs of life left their burnt bodies, smoke rolling from the breathing holes in the front of their helmets. The air filling with the scent of burnt hair. Whoever this was, this mage was powerful.

It takes a moment for the pain in his head to stop throbbing. His hands on either side of his head and his forehead pressing dangerous close to the water. Now was not the time to be having a panic attack. His breathing is harsh, his chest heaving and when he feels the hand on his arm, he wants nothing more than to lash out against the person who owned it. A low groan comes from his lips before he hears a soothing voice beside him, “Breath, Adaar.” It filtered through the screams in his mind, the rattle of chains, it was that voice that seemed to calm him down.

“We are going to get out of this but I need you to trust me.”

He rose to his knees and opened his eyes, looking around the same cell. Dorian. He had made it through the vortex with him. Was he the one that had fired the guards with fire? Where was everyone else? He heaved a heavy sigh as he rose to his feet, slightly unsteady and looked around the room. Water, and red lyrium growing out of the walls. Well, this was the stuff of nightmares.

“Displacement. This is interesting,” he could hear Dorian mumbling beside him when the mage felt he was well enough to stand on his own. “It’s probably not what Alexius intended. The rift must have moved us… to what? The closest confluence of arcane energy?” He knelt, searching through the dirty, blood stained water. What was he looking for? The last thing that Vash remembered was that they were in the castle hall.

Dorian rose, “Let’s see. If we’re still in the castle, it isn’t… Oh! Of course! It’s not simply where… it’s when!” Vash arched a brow. “Alexius used the amulet as a focus. It moved us through time!” The large qunari crossed his arms, but he couldn’t hide the confusion in his eyes.

“Now I know what you’re thinking, and normally, I would say no. Obviously, Alexius has taken his research to exciting new heights. We’ve seen his temporal rift’s before. This time we simply… passed through one.” He paused for a moment, “Let’s look around, see where the rift took us. Then we can figure out how to get back… if we can.”

Vash gave a small grunt before shrugging his shoulders. He didn’t understand what Alexius was trying to do. Get rid of him for good maybe? Dorian tilted his head, almost as if he understood the qunari’s confusion. “I believe his original plan was to remove you from time completely. If that happened,” Dorian looked up into Vash’s face. “You would never have been at the Temple of Sacred Ashes or mangled his Elder One’s plan. I think your surprise in the castle hall made him reckless. He tossed us uti the rift before he was ready. I countered it, the magic went wild, and here we are. Make sense?”

Vash gave him a quizzical look before he sighed softly. “Looks like I’m going to have to find some other way to read your thoughts, yes. I don’t even want to think about what this will do to the fabric of the world. We didn’t “travel” through time as much as punch a hole through it and toss it in the privy.” Dorian’s face took on a soft look, “But don’t worry, I’m here. I’ll protect you.”

Vash wanted to scoff at that but he simply nodded. The thought of actually having someone protect him other than a means to help them seemed… well, it seemed strange to him. Dorian had touched him during his panic attack and Vash didn’t find the need to fry him on the spot. He felt uncomfortable with it but not to the point of harming the other mage. Where he had touched his arm through his leathers still seemed warm to him. How unusual. He gave a small shrug before he nodded. What would happen if they couldn’t get back?

“Then we get comfortable in our new present.” The fact that Dorian could read him so easily made him feel even more curious about the mage. No one had been able to do this with him without asking some form of odd question about why he didn’t talk.

They had to find a way out of this room. Searching around the water until they found a key to the door. Away from all this red lyrium that was quickly starting to make his head throb, in the depth of his mind, he could hear the song that Varric was talking about. It sounded like the humming of a mother, comforting her child. He had to find out if his companions made it.

The red lyrium seemed to be all over the castle walls, there wasn’t a room they went into that was covered with it’s fiery crystals. “Alexius has made a dreadful mess of this place, hasn’t he?” Vash chuckled a bit. Leave it up to this mage to critic during a time like this. “It use to be covered in the tackiest carvings of wolves and dogs I’ve ever seen. This is not an improvement.” Vash shook his head but couldn’t help but grin. He did seem to make this a tad bit easier.

They continued their walk, up stairs and through halls. Vash didn’t know if he wanted to touch anything. Too afraid that there would be a transfer of the lyrium and then he’d be screwed. He didn’t need it messing with his mind more than it already was.

“Have you always walked with a limp?”

They had made their way into an opened area with cells on either side. One of the mages that they had met in Redcliffe was being held inside. He was chanting and you could tell by that distant look in his eye that he wasn’t even there. “Andraste blessed me. Andraste blessed me… My tears are my sins, my sins, my sins… Andraste guide me. Andraste guide me.” His name was Lysas and this was not how Vash remembered him. Maker, what was going on here?

“Andraste blessed me. Andraste blessed me.”

“Come. You can’t save him now.”

Vash frowned at that but he knew Dorian was right. The only way they were going to be able to save any of them was if they stopped this from happening.

Chapter Text

“We walked and waked where willows… No. Where willows wail, we waited… No. Where willows…? Ugh.” When they walked into the room, Vash knew it was Sera. She had survived. She was talking to herself which wasn’t out of the normal. “Remember, stupid. They can’t take that.” The room she was in was ankle deep in water, a steady stream was flowing from a hole in the ceiling. The wall of the cell she was locked in was covered in red lyrium and Vash couldn’t help but wonder if it was a bit much.

When they walked up to the door, she shook her head and started to step back. “No. No. No. You can’t be here! You’re dead, and they don’t come back.” Her eyes weren’t her own; filled red and they almost had a red ghostly haze to them. He narrowed his brow, running his hands up and down his body to let her know that he was indeed there.

She frowned, “Like I’m going to believe some demon or whatever!”

Dorian appeared beside him, “Oh, for the love of…” He rolled his eyes, causing Vash to smirk. “No one’s dead! Alexius used time magic!”

“Talk sense or shut it! I can’t think about him.” She paused for a moment before she spoke again. “You might not know. There were so many...The day you died? I ran out of arrows making them pay. Then it didn’t matter anymore.”

Vash arched a brow. So they saw him die. He didn’t really know how to process all this information. To them, they had traveled through time but to everyone else…

“The Elder One killed the Empress. And then invaded. With a demon army. Demons everywhere. Everything is gone. Or red. And I just… I want to hurt them. If you’re really here, I’ll frigging die to spit in their faces.”

He couldn’t help the small smile that crossed his lips. He wasn’t expecting that sort of respect from Sera, they hadn’t really spoken that much. Once they were able to get the cell door opened, they went in search of Cassandra. The one that he had placed so much trust into to begin with. When they reached one of the door’s, he could hear her from the other side.

“The light shall lead her safely through the paths of this world and into the next. For she who trusts in the Maker, fire is her water.” Even know, her faith was still strong; even after all that she had been through. She had the same glowing red haze around her, much like Sera but hers was far stronger. No doubt they had tried to break her.

“You’ve returned to us. Can it be? Has Andraste given us another chance? Maker forgive me. I failed you. I failed everyone. The end must truly be upon us if the dead return to life.”

He frowned at that. He wanted to scream at her, ask her if she was alright because she looked hurt. Of course she looked hurt, idiot. They all were. He walked closer to the cell, placing his hands around the bars. No, he couldn’t look at her with pity. She’d kick his ass if he did that.

“Nothing you do can help me now,” she must have seen it before he could mask it. “I’ll be with the Maker soon.”

“Alexius sent us forward in time. If we find him, we may be able to return to the present.

She rose from the floor, hope filling her red eyes. “Go back in time? Then… Can you make it so that none of this ever took place?”

Vash gave her a grunt and nodded. He knew that Dorian was right. There was a way to reverse all this and make it right again.

“None of this will happen. Andraste, please let that be true.”

He couldn’t help but smile. They were finally back together. Now they just needed to get out and get to Alexius.

“If you want Alexius, he’s locked in the throne room. Never leaves, guards say.”

Vash arched a brow at that as Sera spoke. They were making their way back of the stairs when a weak pulse of magic caught his attention. So many rooms, so many stairs, so much red lyrium. His headache was throbbing now, not to the point of pain but more to the point of just being really annoying. They had somehow gotten turned around when…

“You’re alive?... How?... I say you… disappear…. Into the rift.” Her breath was labored as she spoke, pressing against the wall. Maker… was that really Fiona. “This is what’s left… of me.” “Harvestmere… 9:42 Dragon.”

“Nine forty-two? Then we’ve missed an entire year.”

Vash grunted before Cassandra spoke up. “We have to get out of here. We have to go back.”

“Please… stop this from happening. Alexius… serves the Elder One. More powerful… than the Maker… No one… challenges him and lives.” Well, he hasn’t met me yet. He was going to do everything in his own power to stop this from happening. He made a vow there to set things right.

“Our only hope is to find the amulet that Alexius used to send us here. If it still exists, I can use it to reopen the rift at the exact spot we left. Maybe.” Vash turned to him when he said ‘maybe’ and shook his head.

“Good.”

“I said maybe. It might also turn us into paste.” Vash arched a brow. He really didn’t want to be turned into anything, including paste. He remembers having to eat it when he had his lips sewn shut. It wasn’t very fulfilling.

“You must try. Your spymaster, Leliana… she is here. Find her. Quickly… before the Elder One… learns you’re here.” And with that Fiona passed out, or at least Vash hoped that she did. This was starting to be a trail on it’s own. If this was indeed what would happen if the Elder One succeeded in his plan, then Vash had to take him down. His mark glowed softly as they made their way back into the hall that would lead them further into the castle. He could feel the magic of the rifts coursing through his veins; the same burning sensation as in Redcliffe. They had to find Leliana. They had to make this right.

“If red lyrium is an infection… Maker, why is it coming out of the walls?” He wasn’t sure if he really wanted to find out.

…
…
…

It didn’t take them long to make it to the floor where Leliana was, nor did it take them long to figure out that it was torture chambers. After they had heard one of the chantry mothers being fired alive, it was a sound that Vash would never forget; her screams. It was a painful way to die, and it was one that no one should have to suffer through. They did find a key and they wondered if it opened one of the rooms that held Leilana. What kind of shape would they find her in? As the others, or did this Elder One save the special treatment for her.

“How did the qunari learn of the sacrifice at the Temple? Speak!”

“Never.”

A sharp slap to skin. It had to be with something other than his hand. She screamed out in pain and Vash felt like the door to where she was being held was a million steps away. “There’s no use to this defiance, Little Bird. There’s no one left for you to protect.” But there was. There was everyone to protect and she would draw her last breathe to do so.

“You’re wasting your breath.” Another loud slap, another cry in pain and Vash began to fumble with the key.

“Talk! The Elder One demands answers!” If they believed him dead, what did the answers matter now.

She gave him an angry little laugh, “He’ll get used to disappointment.” Slap; she screamed out in pain once more before he finally got the door to open and he was horrified at what was inside. It almost remembered him of the night that he got his tongue removed and his lips sewn shut. This… this was too much, but he shut the memory down. This wasn’t the time or the place for this.

The guard had run his fingers along the table, picking up a knife. With one hand, he cupped the side of her face, thumb pressing against her eye and the other held the knife to her throat. “You will break!” Even now, she was defiant.

“I will die first.”

Vash all but ran into the room. The vint that had held her captive turned and Leliana’s eyes grew wide. Maker… Her skin was wrinkled, she looked so much older. How long had she been here, being tormented on his behalf, did she even know he was alive? You could tell what she had endured and it was written all over her face.

“Or you will.” She took the guard by surprise, legs wrapping around his throat as she tried to get him in just the right spot. He struggled, gave a strangled gasp, but it didn’t take long for Leliana to snap his neck, his body falling to the ground with a thud.

“You’re alive.” Vash rushed around the body, looking for the keys that would unshackle her wrists. She sounded surprised but there was none in her eyes. She was much more thin then he remembered. Starvation was often used as a tactic to get people to talk. He gave a small grunt and patted her on the shoulder. “You’re safe now,” he could hear Cassandra talk behind him.

“Forget “safe.” If you came back from the dead, you need to do better than “safe.” He wrinkled his nose. He kept forgetting that to them, in this timeline, he was indeed dead. “You need to end this. Do you have weapons?” He gave her a nod. “Good. The magister’s probably in his chambers.” She moved past them, slowly as she regained her legs and leaned down over a chest.

“You… aren’t curious how we got here?”

“No.”

“Alexius sent us into the future. This. His victory. His Elder One… it was never meant to be.”

Vash knew that Dorian was just merely trying to explain what happened, he just went about it the wrong way. The qunari gave a grunt, a look of sympathy crossed his face and she understood.

“We have to reverse his spell. If we can get back to our present time, we can prevent this future from ever happening.”

Leliana frowned softly, “And mages always wonder why people fear them… No one should have this power.”

“It’s dangerous and unpredictable. Before the breach, nothing we did…”

Suddenly, her face turned dangerous. “Enough!” That single word was laced with enough venom to drop someone dead if she wanted. “This is all pretend to you, some future you hope will never exist. I suffered…” She paused for a moment, face twisted with anger. “The whole world suffered. It was real.”

Vash was still trying to wrap his mind around all this. Why was Leliana so much more worse than the others? Was it because of what she was? These were questions that would most likely haunt him the rest of his days. With her quiver and arrows strapped to her back, she joined them. He needed to get out of here. Quickly.

“What happened while we were away?”

“Stop talking.”

“I’m just asking for information.”

“No. You’re talking to fill silence. Nothing happened that you want to hear.”

…
…
…

Fade rifts. They seemed to be everywhere. Closing the first one seemed to make him lose his breath more quickly than before. It was still swirling with time magic and made his whole body burn. The second one was after the docks, when they had made it into the courtyard. Maker, the sky. It almost looked like it reflected the fade. The second fade rift had caused him to sweat. Having to close so many of them that close together.

“This is madness. Alexius couldn’t have wanted this.”

But it was the third rift, straight after the second that caused the Qunari to fall to his knees as it closed. The air filling with green sparks that floated all around him, a groan escaped his lips as he cracked his left arm against his stomach. Heavy breathing, eyes closed tight against the burning pain that was traveling up his arm. “Are you going to be alright?”

The concern in Dorian’s voice as he knelt beside him, not knowing if he was allowed to touch. Vash opened his eyes, slightly wet with tears that refused to fall as he swallowed the pain down. “If you need a moment to rest…” Vash didn’t give him a chance to finish, Dorian moved as he rose to his feet, shaking his hand to try to get some feeling back into it that wasn’t pain. He gave a heavy sigh before moving up the stairs and back into the castle.

“I am not a child! I can resist you!” He knew that voice.

“I am you.”

Connor Guerrin, he remembers meeting with him in Redcliffe. That is his voice.

’You should talk to the magister. You’re the rightful heir to Redcliffe. In Tevinter, they would never take that away just because you’re a mage.”

”After what I did.. I’m not even sure I should be here.”

”It’s not your fault. It could’ve happened to any of us.”

”It doesn’t help. That’s why people hate us.

”But…”

”Just stop. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Vash remembered hearing about what had happened to Redcliffe village more than ten years ago but to actually see the boy in person. There were few accounts as to what actually happened to him. Some had said that the boy had died, others said that he had been sent away to the circle. Now, he was standing there in the flesh. He slowly walked up to him, handing him a note asking if he was indeed Connor. He didn’t mean it to seem as rude as it did.

”You’ve heard the story, I guess. I can’t believe the Queen thought Redcliffe was the right place to send the mages. I mean, it was nice of her to offer refuge, but… I don’t think people here wanted me, or anyone like me, in this town ever again.”

Cassandra spoke, “You aren’t in favor of the alliance with Tevinter?”

”Alliance.” Is that what they’re calling it? That magister threw my uncle out into the street! He signed us into servitude! This is my home, Redcliffe, Ferelden. No matter what evils I’ve done, I would never have invited Tevinter here.”

”He was behind the siege of Redcliffe ten years ago?

”That’s me. The boy with Redcliffe’s blood on his hands. I wouldn’t have come back but I had nowhere else to go. When we closed the Circles, every city shut it’s doors to us. There was nowhere else to go. I hate it. I can feel the blood on the stones, even if I can’t see it.”

”Where is Arl Eamon?”

”After the landsmeet, he stayed in Denerim. I couldn’t be his heir, not after what happened, so eventually he passed the title to Uncle Teagan. I was living in the Ferelden tower when the Circles dissolved. I voted against it, but… At first, it seemed all right. No one was summoning demons. They just wanted to oversee themselves. But then the magister came and… it’s wrong, what they do in Tevinter. We are monsters. We need to be controlled. If it wasn’t for me… every family in this village wouldn’t be missing a son, a daughter, a spouse. Please, talk some sense into the Grand Enchanter. Selling out to the Imperium won’t win us any friends. We have to find a way to make peace.”

“No!”

They opened the door in time to see Connor’s body burst into flames. They could have saved him. No… they will save him. Vash had to remind himself that this real. Well, it was real, but it could be stopped.

“It was an act of courage. He knew there was no other way to resist. He resisted that demon to the last.

A somber feeling fell over him as they continued there way into the castle.

“What became of Felix? Do you know?”

“Yes, I know.”

“And you’re not going to tell me?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

The great hall where the throne room was location was filled with demons and Venatori, and another fade rift. He could feel the energy pulsing through him as he twirled his staff, letting it land on the floor with a thunderous sound as lightning pooled around the demons. The tendious of light seemed to spread on the floor and fried a solider that was standing too close to them. Vash didn’t know how many more of these rifts he was going to be able to withstand. The others seemed to join in the fray, even Leliana who looked too weak to even move.

When it was over; he’d rose his arm and swallowed the pain down, giving a connection and the rift closed with an angry boom. After it echoed through the room for several minutes; Vash looked around, trying to find the door that lead to the throne room. This one was different. They had picked up a red lyrium shard off of one of the vint mages and it seemed to be reacting to it.

“Maker’s breath! Where did Alexius find this? How did he even move it here? How desperate and paranoid must he be?” His servants must have a way through. He has to eat. Let’s look around.”

Now they were on the search for little red shards. Lovely. Vash didn’t know how much more of this he could take, his body was already starting to feel exhausted even if he wasn’t suffering from mana drain. There were four smaller groups of vints that held the shards they needed to open the door. By the time the fighting was over, Vash had to gingerly lean against his staff for a brief moment, trying to control his breathings. “It’s almost over.” He heard the soft velvet voice beside him and gave a nod. He knew all of this was killing him, and his mind had already told him that it was going to be a slow and painful death.

…
…
…

When they finally entered the throne room, Alexius was standing with his back turned to them, eyes fixed on the fire. The room was warm but the smell of decoy was enough to take your breath away.

“He wants you to look at what you’ve done. All this suffering,” Cassandra spoke the words without missing a beat to what Vash wanted. After all this time, she remembers.

“For my country, for my son… but it means nothing now.” That’s when they noticed Felix kneeling beside him. He didn’t even look human. “I knew you would appear again. Not that it would be now, but I knew I hadn’t destroyed you. My final failure.”

“Was it worth it? Everything you did to the world? To yourself?”

“It doesn’t matter now. All we can do is wait for the end.”

“It does matter. He says that this can be undone.”

“How many times have I tried? The past cannot be undone. All that I fought for, all that I betrayed, and what have I wrought? Ruin and death. There is nothing else. The Elder One comes; for me, for you, for us all.”

No one had noticed Leliana had moved, sneaking around in the shadows until the heard Felix’s cry out in alarm and she reached down, jerking him standing with a blade to his throat. Everyone knew that Felix was the way to get to Alexius but he didn’t do anything. Had this made her so hard as to harm an innocent.

“Felix!”

Dorian’s eyes filled with fear and realization now. “That’s Felix?! Maker’s breath, Alexius, what have you done?” Anger in his voice as he spoke. No matter his feelings right now for Alexius, Felix was his friend; almost like a brother to him.

“He would have died, Dorian! I saved him! Please don’t hurt my son. I’ll do anything you ask.”

Vash gave a grunt before looking back toward Cassandra. “Leliana, let Felix go. He’s an innocent.”

The spymaster’s face was calm, but there was a storm brewing behind her eyes. “No one is innocent.”

As the blade sliced across the soft flesh of his neck, Felix gave a gasp as the blood sprayed from the wound. His body landed with a sickening thud on the stone.

“No!” It was the last push for a man already on the edge.

“NO!”

She was knocked back with a spell from his staff and the chaos began. He was ranting, mumbling spells and Vash could feel his power. The fight was long, painful. He’d opened two fade rifts in the hall and with his energy already drained, it took everything in him to close them. Three healing potions just to make it through this fight. Out of nowhere, he felt the mind blast spell and was knocked flat on his back, feeling like all the air had been sucked from his lungs. He thought he could hear someone shouting his name but he couldn’t be sure. A jar of bees had broken somewhere behind Alexius and his screams filled the hall before he fell. His body twitching and covered with a million tiny rising bumps. It was over…

Dorian had knelt over his mentors now lifeless body. “He wanted to die, didn’t he? All those lies he told himself, the justifications… He lost Felix long ago and didn’t even notice. Oh, Alexius... “

Vash did the only thing that he could. A look of sympathy flashing across his face as he tilted his head slightly. He’d never had any family that he could remember.

Dorian gave a small smile, “Once he was a man to whom I compared all others. Sad, isn’t it? This is the same amulet he used before. I think it’s the same one we made in Minrathous. That’s a relief.” They began to move together, toward the throne room. “Give me an hour to work out the spell he used, and I should be able to reopen the rift.”

“An hour? That’s impossible! You must go now.”

The castle began to tremble beneath them. Crumbling stone falling from the ceiling and they could hear a roar coming from outside. Vash couldn’t help but wonder what was going on now, even if the three women before him already knew. “The Elder One.”

“Frig. Frig! That’s how they won. How it won!” Cassandra and Sera both turned to face one another, both of them nodding in some unspoken agreement. “If you can make it right, make it never happen. It’ll fight. We’ll fight.”

Vash looked at all three of them with shock in his eyes. He couldn’t let them kill themselves for him.

Leliana frowned slightly. “Look at us. We’re already dead. The only way we live is if this day never comes.” Cassandra and Sera moved to the doors and shut them behind them. “Cast your spell. You have as much time as I have arrows.”

There was almost a pout that crossed his lips before he moved backwards back to where the throne set. Dorian was already working with his magic, making the amulet glow a pale green as it began to float in the air. He’d told Vash not to move, that the anchor in his hand might help move things along more quickly. They could hear Cassandra and Sera fighting outside, see the dust filter down from the ceiling.

“Though darkness closes, I am shielded by flame.” She rose her bow, ready to strike at whatever walked through those doors.

Those doors burst open, Sera’s lifeless body being thrown to the stone like nothing more than a doll. One arrow hit a vints in the shoulder, taking him down.

“Andraste guide me. Maker, take me to your side.” She was releasing arrows as quickly as they were coming into the room. Vash looking on in horror, fidgeting at his spot. He needed to help. She cried out as an arrow struck her shoulder, she faltered for a brief moment before going back to work.

“You move, and we all die!” He felt the hand gripping at his wrist, heard the panic in Dorian’s voice and the fear on his face.

She had ran out of arrows, now she was hitting vints with her bow and slicing their throats with her knife, but how long could she last. The swirling green vortex behind them was getting bigger, growing stronger with each passing second. The last thing they remembered seeing was Leliana being captured, looking at them disappear before her eyes went black.

Chapter Text

They were back. The room was the same as they had left it. What felt like hours to them had only been mere seconds in the real world. How was that possible? Vash stepped out of the vortex like a madman, puffed up and bigger than life as Alexius fell to his knees.

“You’ll have to do better than that.”

Vash looked at him with a scowl before leaning down on the now broken magister’s level. A single note in his hand. ‘Put aside all claim to Redcliffe, and we let you live.’

Alexius read the note with a sigh, “You won. There is no point extending this charade. Felix…”

His son moved, slowly and knelt down with the rest of them. All this was done to make sure that his son didn’t die. “It’s going to be alright, Father.”

“You’ll die.”

“Everyone dies.” There was a look of sadness that crossed his expression before he lowered his head. Several Inquisition guards behind him, gently picking him up from the floor and hauling him away. Vash would have to deal with that later. Alexius couldn’t come to terms with losing his only child. There was an old saying that no man should outlive his heir, even if Felix had already welcomed it with open arms.

“Well, I’m glad that’s over with.” Vash shook his head with a smirk, nothing was ever truly over here. The sound of heavy armor boots echoing through the now still hall broke them all out of their trance. The men taking positions between the pillars with arms clasp behind their backs. Well, shit. “Or not.”

“Grand Enchanter Fiona.” Her voice was filled with fire. Her face masked in nothing but anger.

“Queen Anora!” Fiona looked like a wounded dog as she walked toward the Queen. Vash had never met a Queen before. He didn’t know whether to bow or well, anything really. He wrinkled his nose a little and sighed.

“When I granted your mage’s sanctuary, I thought it was understood that they would not force my people from their homes.”

“Your Majesty, let me assure you, we never intended any of this…”

“Your intentions ceased to matter when my people were threatened. I am rescinding my offer of sanctuary. You and your followers will leave Ferelden at once.”

Vash had moved to stand beside the now cowering Grand Enchanter. “But… we have hundreds who need protection! Where will we go?” He tapped Fiona lightly on the shoulder before handing her a slip of paper. ‘The Inquisition might be willing to take in the mages.’ He still needed their help to close the breach, to right this wrong.

She arched a brow, “And what are the terms of this arrangement?”

“Hopefully better than what Alexius gave you. The Inquisition is better than that, yes?”

Cassandra spoke up, hand rose in the air, “I know you are a mage, but consider how these rebels have acted. They must be conscripted, not coddled.”

“After this? Stick them up a tower.”

“It seems we have little choice but to accept whatever you offer.”

A wide smirk crossed his lips as he quickly scribbled a note and passed it to Cassandra. She made a slight disgusted noise before she read it. “We would be honored to have you fight at the Inquisition’s side as allies.” She wrinkled her nose and looked up at him. “We will discuss this, later.”

Fiona bowed, “I’ll pray that the rest of the Inquisition honors your promise, then.” They better. With the breach threatening all of Thedas, they couldn’t afford to be divided now. They knew they couldn’t fight it without them. He knew that any chance of doing so required their full support.

“Whether you accept the Inquisition’s alliance or not, you will leave my kingdom.”

Fiona bowed her head, “We accept. It would be madness not to. I will gather my people and ready them for the journey to Haven. The breach will be closed. You will not regret giving us this chance.”

…
…
…

Several scouts and soldiers had been left at Redcliffe to help the mages ready themselves for travel. It wasn’t a long journey, not by much, but they had many older women, men and children in their ranks. Vash had even stayed behind with them to help ready some of the wagons and help secure loads. In all honesty, he wasn’t ready for what his advisors where going to say when they got back. Knowing that Leliana was one of the people that agreed with him that mages should be free. To his surprise, Dorian had actually stayed behind to help as well. All thought it seemed that manual labor wasn’t really something that he was use too; when he wasn’t complaining about the weather, he was grumbling about getting dirt under his nails. Vash couldn’t help but laugh at him and the other mage would pout.

When they finally arrived back at Haven, night had fallen on the town. The moon hanging low and bright in the sky. He needed rest, needed to eat and he could feel like sleeping for days was the right thing to do. He could already hear the arguing when he reached the chantry doors and before they even had time to close…

“What were you thinking, turning the mages loose with no oversight? The veil is torn open!”

He couldn’t help the frown that crossed his lips, arms closing over his chest. Cassandra had learned that it was most likely a way to protect himself. Mages weren’t monsters. They knew very well how to control themselves without any outside help. It was usually ones of weak mind or that didn’t have anything more to lose that made deals with demons.

“Self-control is not the issue! Even the strongest mages can be overcome by demons in conditions like these!” It was almost as if Cullen was reading his mind. Why was he being scolded for doing what they wanted in the first place. “You were there, Seeker! Why didn’t you intervene?” He didn’t believe that he’d ever seen Cullen so upset. He would have to find out why.

“While I may not completely agree with the decision, I support it. The sole point of the Herald’s mission was to gain the mages’ aid. And that was accomplished.”

“The voice of pragmatism speaks!” He wasn’t shocked when he saw Dorian sneak out of the shadows. “And here I was just starting to enjoy the circular arguments.” He leaned against the wood of the pillar as Cassandra turned to him. “Closing the breach is all that matters.”

They had all gotten a taste of the consequences if they fail here. Vash was going to make damn sure that that didn’t happen.

“We will not fail.”

“We should look into the things you saw in this “dark future.” The assassination of Empress Celene? A demon army?”

“Sounds like something a Tevinter cult might do. Orlais falls. The Imperium rises. Chaos for everyone!”

“One battle at a time. It’s going to take time to organize our troops and the mage recruits. Let’s take this to the war room.” Cullen looked at him but with a lighter stance this time. “Join us. None of this means anything without your mark, after all.” That’s really the only reason they needed him, wasn’t it? He knew that he wasn’t the best of company. He looked down at his palm, a light glowing green pulsing from it and gave a slow nod. All he really wanted to do was sleep.

“Meet us there when you are ready.” Did Josie just give him a window to not have to rush in?

“I’ll skip the war council, but I would like to see this breach up close, if you don’t mind.”

He was shock. He didn’t think that Dorian would stay after all this. He looked at the other mage with curious eyes and all Dorian could do was laugh. It was a sound that Vash could get use too. “Oh, didn’t I mention? The south is so charming and rustic. I adore it to little pieces.” Vash couldn’t help but smirk, extending his hand in welcome. To be honest, there wasn’t anyone he would rather picture himself being stranded in; future or present. “Excellent choice! But let’s not get ‘stranded’ again anytime soon, yes?”

“I’ll begin preparations to march on the summit. Maker willing, the mages will be enough to grant us victory.”

…
…
…

He was running, although he couldn’t quite figure out what he was running from. The fog was too thick in the forest. There was a pain in his leg, right above the knee. An arrow had been launched and landed there, he was pretty sure that it was covered in poison. He could feel the toxin rushing through his veins before he couldn’t take it anymore, body tired as he slumped against the nearest tree. Fog warriors. That had to be the only thing that had stopped them. Now, he was confused; eyes opening and closing shut as he panted against his thread sewn lips. He had to find a way to get out of this getup. A grunt as he tried to pull off the mask but to no avail, he couldn’t get to it move.

He could hear the language of his people being shouted through the trees, but they couldn’t see him, not with all the fog that blanketed the area. The air itself was thick with moisture and heat. He had to get out, had to get away, had to keep running.

He awoke with a start, sweat pouring off his skin as he lay there breathing heavy and trying to get the dreams out of his mind. For a mage, nightmares weren’t all that uncommon. His hand slowly rose to his lips, feeling nothing more than the scars that the thread had left and a sigh escaped his lips. He was in Haven. People needed him. He was safe. It didn’t take him long to rise from the bed, it giving slightly with his weight as he looked around for a fur and wrapped it around his shoulder; walking out into the chill of the night air.

It must have been early in the morning, the little town was quiet except for a few of the guards talking quietly among themselves, nodding to him in passing. They had gotten use to Adaar making his rounds in the early morning hours and had learned not to question it anymore. “Scandalous seeing the Herald of Andraste out in the wee hours of the morning with naught but furs on.” Vash arched a brow, turning his head in the direction of Dorian’s voice. He really didn’t have any room to talk, being that he had a thick woolen blanket draped over his own. Vash shrugged softly. “Ah. Yes. I couldn’t sleep as well and since the tavern is locked up tight, I’m merely walking around, trying to get tired once again.”

Vash nodded before he sat on a log in front of one of the slowly dying fires, his eyes darting to the breach before a sigh escaped his lips. “Worried about it all I see.” Dorian didn’t seem to mind as he sat beside him. Vash was slowly learning that he didn’t really mind the company of this man. His palm seemed to spark on its own but there wasn’t any pain connected at the moment. It was merely reacting to the breach and it’s temperamental pulsing. “So… I assume you’re Tal-Vashoth or something like.” Leave it to Dorian to break the comfortable silence.

Vash looked over at Dorian with an arched brow. It wasn’t hard to see really. He’d cut off his own horns when he’d escaped from the Arvaarad. They still hurt from time to time but it was a pain that reminded him of what was. Dorian chuckled, “If you weren’t, you would have split my skull open at our first meeting before I said a word.” Vash flinched a little at that but didn’t know if Dorian noticed. He was looking up at the breach. The green hues swirling around in his brown eyes.

“Centuries of warfare with the Qunari do lead to this state of affairs.” He would have found it odd if Dorian hadn’t encountered Qunari before. The Tevinter and Par Vollen was talked about in all circles of life. “Qunari raids are rather old hat for anyone from the Eastern Imperium.” Dorian snuggled deeper into his own furs as he spoke. “Although the attacks aren’t quite the rampaging wars of ages past. Now we’re like two angry Dowagers who only remember to spit at each other when they pass on the street.” Vash couldn’t help but snort at that.

He made a small grunt, getting Dorian’s attention and waving his hand up and down his body. “Did I ever meet any of your kind personally? None who weren’t rushing towards me with a sword. I was too busy running in the other direction to say hello. I’ve met some Tal-Vashoth in my time, however. Mercenaries, and a few merchants. They’re not the same as Qunari. Might easily be a different people altogether.”

He was surprised to hear Dorian say that. Not many people were able to tell them apart. All they say were horned ox-men and automatically went running afraid that they would be converted. He tilted his head, wondering if no one in Tevinter had problems with Tal-Vashoth. It wasn’t that easy to get along. Even in his company before all this, people would look at him and run away screaming. He mostly wondered if it had anything to do with his face.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that they don’t. Prejudices are deeply rooted back home, but I have more sympathy than most. I also have an appreciation for an entire people who are so… muscular. A personal failing, some would say.” Vash let out a laugh at that, but his laugh sounded so much different, mulled almost and he quickly clasped his hand over his mouth. He couldn’t let his guard down so easily but Dorian just looked at him and smiled brightly.

“You really should laugh more. It’s not a horrible sound.” He shook his head and watched as Vash’ cheeks turned a small shade of pink. Not having a problem with others wasn’t a bad thing. “A philosophy that I have learned to live by is if you don’t have a problem with me, then I have no problems with you. And I have no issue with a Qunari being Inquisitor either, none that specifically involves you being so very, very large.” He rolled the last word and Vash felt like his face was going to melt off. He’d never really had anyone flirt with him before, at least not that he could remember.

“If I may ask,” Dorian paused for a moment before he spoke again. Making sure to have Vash’s attention. “I’ve heard stories about what they do to their mages, Saarebas I believe they are called. Why can’t you speak, other than having your lips sewn shut?”

He knew the question was going to come up sooner rather than later, he just didn’t know who was going to be the one to ask him. Vash sighed softly before he opened his mouth, letting Dorian see the nub that remained of his tongue. He could see the mage wince slightly. “I see.” He closed his mouth, silence once again falling over them. “Well, at any rate, I see you as an okay sort. Tongue not needed.” He smiled softly before he rose. “I do believe I shall try and get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow.” Vash gave him a small smile as he lightly laid his hand on his shoulder before walking away. It was the first time he hadn’t flinched away at contact.

Chapter Text

The morning had come, slow it would seem and the birds were lightly singing outside his window. This was morning of truth. He had sent Cassandra, Varric and Sera to go and investigate the Bull’s Chargers on the Storm Coast. Vash knew all about him regardless of what the messenger had told him. The Iron Bull was well talked about among the Qun. Vash just wasn’t sure if he were ready to meet the Qunari yet. They would have time for that.

“You were saying something about… Cullen?”

The war room had an almost somber feel to it this morning. Even the cold had managed to make it’s way in this room and plant it’s roots. His advisors were talking among themselves as he plotted out their next course of action with nobles that needed his help.

“Hmm? I… yes. Haven has limited space for our soldiers to train. Perhaps we could set up something over here…” Vash arched a brow as he pointed to a spot on the map that was just outside the town. The time was growing near for them to try and close the breach one more. The woman and children, along with the sick had already made it to Haven. The stronger of the mages had made it that morning.

“The best of the mages are ready, Herald. Be certain you are prepared for the assault on the breach.” Vash didn’t think he would ever be ready for it, but now was a better time than never.

By mid-morning, the air was filled with magic as they made their way up the path. Dorian seemed in awe of it all. Wanting nothing more than to study it. He was walking rather close to the Qunari after their early morning talk. So Vash hadn’t scared him away. Cassandra and Solas were a few steps behind them, talking to themselves mostly. He could feel his palm pulsing the closer they grew to the breach itself, but the pain had nulled itself. How? He didn’t really know. He was more quiet than usual as they walked his mind going over everything that had let to this point.

When he stood in the valley, his palm sparking as the anchor came to life, he couldn’t help but feel the weight of it. The magic that throbbed through his veins. What would happen after this was all over? Cassandra had moved to stand beside him, her eyes watching the mark almost as much as he was. It was now or never. He slowly began to move toward the rift. Cassandra watching him with dark eyes.

“Mages!,” her voice rang out strong through the valley itself.

“Focus past the Herald!,” then it was Solas. Clearly they were trying to get their attention but the mages were already focused on the task at hand. Let his will draw to you!”

The rift had seemed to have gotten stronger in the months that it took to get to this point. It took everything in him to make it to the rift itself. It was swirling with anger green magic, he literally had to raise his arm to shield his eyes from the light. You have one job, Vash. The mark was crackling, its own green magic was spreading up his arm and causing it to tingle with pain. Vash didn’t know what was going on behind him. He heard the first mage cry out, slamming the end of his staff on the ground followed by the others. The air crackled with magic and when he knew he was close enough, he rose his arm into the air. The anchor connecting to the rift and he could hear a sharp gasp from Dorian behind him. How he heard it against the noise, he will never know.

There was a thunderous crack, the shock wave from closing the breach had knocked them all backwards. The air smelled of sulfur and something he couldn’t quiet put his finger on. Vash couldn’t hear the groans from the people behind him, his ears still ringing as he slowly began to get to his feet. His mark was still glowing a bright green, there was a swirling wave of magic surrounding his body and he could feel the panic start to bubble in his chest. It felt like the first time he had ever used his magic, the first time he had ever gotten angry enough at someone to kill them. The first time he was free from his shackled life.

Cassandra walked over to him, he allowed her to put a hand on his shoulder before he rose to stand. “You did it.” Vash looked at her, the disbelief and the relief on her face were one in the same. He had done it. Everyone around him erupted with cheering and praises of his name. The breach had finally been sealed. Haven was safe.

…
…
…

When night had fallen on the town, the celebration had started. Free drinks were given round by Fissa and everyone seemed to be in merriment, dancing to the flute player. The breach in the sky still swirling above them, but it was closed. Vash was doing nothing more than looking at them. He’d never seen this before in his life. There was a light snow starting to fall as Cassandra walked behind him.

“Solas confirms the heavens are scarred but calm. The breach is sealed.” Well, that’s a relief. He really didn’t want to do anything like that anytime soon. “We’ve reports of lingering rifts, and many questions remain, but this was a victory. Word of your heroism has spread.”

He looked at Cassandra with questioning eyes, opening his arms and waving them around. It wasn’t just one person, they all did this. Nothing more than luck had put him at the center.

She chuckled, “A strange kind of luck. I’m not sure if we need more or less. But you are right. This was a victory of alliance. One of few in recent memory. With the breach closed, that alliance will need focus.”

He was just about to comment on it when they heard the pounding of drums in the distance, chants echoing through the mountains. Vash rose his head in time to see torches, hundreds of them littering the mountain paths out of Haven. It was always something. The bells began to toll from the chantry. People that were just moments ago celebrating seemed to scramble. What now?

“Forces approaching! To arms!”

He could her himself groan as Cullen yelled over the bells. Couldn’t there just be one night when the sky wasn’t falling.

“What the…? We must get to the gates!”

Before he knew it Cassandra had run off with her sword drawn and Dorian was beside him, breathing heavy. “Never a dull moment for Southerners, is there?” Apparently, he had been in his cabin; having his own drink and reading. Most people still didn’t trust him, even if Vash did. Slowly, they began to make their way to the gates, people screaming all around them and trying to find the best places to hide from the force marching toward them.

“This bonds poorly.”

“Always something. You’re… “important”... go protect us.”

Still something else that rested on his already weary shoulders.

“Cullen?” Cassandra had already made it to the gates before them. Already looking toward their Commander for answers.

“One watchguard reporting. It’s a massive force, the bulk over the mountain.”

“Under what banner?”

“None.”

“None?” Josie didn’t know whether to be shocked or intrigued.

Vash was too busy looking at the gate. There was an odd glowing orange light coming from the small space between the wooden doors and the ground. Then… bang. Bang again…

“I can’t come in unless you open!”

He rushed to the gates as one of the guards pushed them open. A rather heavy set soldier was walking toward the gate before he made a strangled noise and fell to the guard. It seemed that a rather skinny kid was using his body as a shield, with a hat on that seemed bigger than necessary. Vash and Cullen rushed out of the gate toward the boy, looking at the dead soldiers around him. Vash was impressed.

“I’m Cole. I came to warn you. To help. People are coming to hurt you. You probably already know.”

Vash honestly didn’t have a clue what was going on. In a panic, he tried to calm his face but he knew that there was no way this person could understand his signs… somehow he did. He wanted to know what this was and what was going on.

“The templars come to kill you,” it was spoken in such a low, eerie voice Vash didn’t even know how to react. It was calm in comparison to how this ‘Cole’ was speaking just moments ago.

Cullen sprang to life beside him. “Templars!” Just using that tone of voice caused Cole to jump back slightly. “Is this the Order’s response to our talks with the mages? Attacking blindly?” Cole had used his hand to reach out and touch the tip of the Commander’s sword before he spoke. “The Red Templars went to the Elder One. You know him? He knows you. You took his mages.”

He was dancing around slightly before he pointed to a high point above the village, one Vash had walked too. “There.”

Cullen’s face went white. “I know that man… but this Elder One.”

“He’s very angry that you took his mages.”

Oh, piss. He looked at his Commander, hoping that the man could give him some sort of plan for this. Haven was never going to withstand this, even he knew that. “Haven is no fortress. If we are to withstand this monster, we must control the battle. Get out there and hit that force. Use everything we can!” He drew his sword, turning to the small group behind him. “Mages! You… you have sanction to engage them! That is Samson. He will not make it easy! Inquisition! With the Herald! For your lives! For all of us!” There was a round of cheers and yells that sprang from all of them, ready to fight for their lives.

Use everything we can. As the templars rushed them, his magic flooded the small plain. Dorian and his fire soon fried almost everything in sight. They heard the rope give and a boulder went whizzing through the air. “Almost ready! Keep them off of us!” They were the first line of defense to help keep these people safe. Vash would do everything in his power to do so.

“Centered and clear! Firing!” The boulder whizzed through the air once more. They were all direct hits. “They felt that! We’ll reload… You get to the other trebuchet! It isn’t firing!”

Figures. They rushed up the path. The soldiers that were guarding this trebuchet had already been taken down and it was overrun with red templars. He twirled his staff in the air, lightning flowing from the sky and frying several of them where they stood. Electric shock. Nothing better. Out of nowhere, a templar charged at him, hitting him full force with his shield but he did nothing more than stagger backwards before getting his footing once again. Ox-men were hard to knock down.

Maning that trebuchet was a lot harder than Vash had thought. His strength had already been drained slightly due to the fighting and the wheel itself seemed like it was a challenge. But he had to admit that if he had a rock that big sitting in a sling, he’d be hard to turn too. He couldn’t help but grunt with each turn, sweat beading on his forehead until it had enough tension to release the wheel and let the rock go flying. It hit the mountain right on point, raining snow and rock on the path below and burying the force that marched. The soldiers behind the cheering until they heard a roar from the sky. A dragon appeared out of nowhere, raining a breath of red fire down on them and destroying the trebuchet.

“Today is now well beyond making sense!”

Dorian more or less said what they all were thinking, getting up off the ground and dusting themselves off. They couldn’t stay here out in the open, not with a dragon now flying around. Vash couldn’t help but feel excited, he’d never seen a dragon before.

“Everyone to the gates!,” Cassandra had finally found her voice again. Vash noticed she was quick to drink a potion and flex her sword arm. This was going to be a very harsh battle.

“Blasted shoulder! Herald! Help me with this door!” The smithy was having trouble getting into his cabin. Heavy crates in front of the door and it didn’t take long for Cassandra to burst them apart, the door flying open. “Good one! Just grabbing essentials! Won’t die for the forge!”

Cassandra nodded to Vash as they made their way back to the gates. Cullen seemed to be ushering everyone back in. “Come on! Through here! Move it! Move it!” The gates slammed shut behind them, the dragon roared as it flew over head. “We need everyone back to the chantry! It’s the only building that might hold against… that beast! At this point… just make them work for it!”

“Haven must excavate to the chantry!”

This had been his home for months now. The place he’d felt the safest. The cabin’s where slowly burning to the ground and he and his group were working hard to save as many of the townspeople as they could. All the while fighting off the red templars that seemed to have the strength to jump the fence that surrounded the village and attack them. Maker, they seemed to be coming from all corners. Once Vash knew that everyone was safe and accounted for, they made their own ways back to the chantry; not only to regroup to to figure out some form of plan.

“Move! Keep going!” The chancellor’s voice sounded strained to Vash’ ears, that’s when he noticed him holding onto his stomach, blood spreading across his white robes. “The chantry is your shelter!” The doors shut behind them, Roderick falling into Cole’s arms as the boy helped him to a chair.

“He tried to stop a templar. The blade went deep. He’s going to die.”

“What a charming boy.”

Soldiers and scouts were moving about, as were his advisors. “Herald! Our position is not good. That dragon stole back any time you might have earned us.”

“I’ve seen an archdemon. I was in the fade, but it looked like that.”

“I don’t care what it looks like. It has cut a path for that army. They’ll kill everyone in Haven!”

“The Elder One doesn’t care about the village.” Vash arched a brow. “He only wants the Herald.” Well, he kinda figured that. He cocked his head toward Cole who seemed to understand his thoughts. He really wanted to know what this Elder One wanted with him. “I don’t. He’s too loud. It hurts to hear him. He wants to kill you. No one else matters, but he’ll crush them. Kill them anyway. I don’t like him.”

“You don’t like…?” Cullen threw his arms in the air. “Herald, there are no tactics to make this survivable. The only thing that slowed them was the avalanche. We could turn the remaining trebuchets, cause one last slide.”

Vash wrinkled his nose. He knew they were overrun. He knew that to hit the enemy where it would hurt, they would have to bury Haven.

“We’re dying, but we can decide how. Many didn’t get that choice.”

They didn’t see the looks that Roderick and Cole were giving one another. “Yes, that. Chancellor Roderick can help. He wants to say it before he dies.”

“There is a path. You wouldn’t know it unless you’d made the summer pilgrimage, as I have.” He slowly rose from his chair, standing in front of Vash one last time. “The people can escape. She must have shown me. Andraste must have shown me so I could… tell you.” Vash tilted his head toward the dying man. “It was whim that I walked the path. I did not mean to start… it was overgrown. Now, with so many in the Conclave dead, to be the only one who remembers… I don’t know, Herald.” That shocked Vash slightly. It had been the first time he had said that to him without any malice. “If this simple memory can save us. This could be more than mere accident. You could be more.”

Vash turned to look at Cullen, arching his brow. Would that work to get them out alive.

“If he shows us the path, but what of your escape?”

Vash turned away from him, closing his eyes. His escape didn’t matter. His life didn’t matter. These people… the people that had come to treat him like family, that he did matter in life. That’s what mattered. Cullen seemed to understand. “Perhaps you will surprise it, find a way…” Cullen moved away from him, hurried and talking to the soldiers. “Inquisition! Follow Chancellor Roderick through the chantry! Move!” His hand never moving from the hilt of his sword.

“Herald… if you are meant to do this, if the Inquisition is meant for this, I pray for you.”

Vash nodded to the dying man. He’d never been much to believe in any Gods with everything that has happened in his life, but if the prayers of the man that stop so strongly against them in the beginning matter, he would take it.

“They’ll load the trebuchets. Keep the Elder One’s attention until we’re above the tree line. If we are to have a chance… If you are to have a chance… let that thing hear you.”

Vash nodded as the Commander took his leave.

Chapter Text

“We will exact a heavy price. They will not take us easily.”

Vash couldn’t agree more. The moment they stepped out of the chantry, they were met by red templar forces. The air was filled with black smoke and even in the opened air, it was making it hard to breath. Tents, building; everything was burning or already gone. The only thing that stood untouched was the chantry. His lightning rained down from the sky, as did Dorian’s fire. Cassandra never seemed to bat an eye as Solas placed a barrier spell around her. They were a well oiled machine, even in the short time that they had known each other

He remembers this trebuchet as one that was being built when he had first reached Haven. The paths around the village where littered with bodies; enemies and friendlies alike. So much death, destruction but they were doing what they needed to do; provide a distraction so that the people could get out safely. The moon looked almost red as they made their way down the path to where they needed to go. Vash couldn’t even stop to feel how exhausted he was, his mind set on the task at hand.

This trebuchet was much larger than the others. Turning the wheel to spin the damn thing around was going to take time, time that he felt known of them had left. “There’s our glorious end! All it needs is aiming.” Even Dorian sounded like this was taking a toll on him. Vash didn’t waste any time, rushing up to the wheel and turning it as the others fault off the hordes of red templars that rushed at them. They fought like men possessed, like nothing scared them. What could you do against an army like that.

It was almost over. It was almost ready, when out of nowhere came a behemoth of a red templar. His hands were nothing more than crystal claws and it seemed that he had the stuff growing from every inch of his body. Skin grey, he didn’t even look like a person anymore. Maker’s breath. He rose his arm in the arm, it came back to Earth with a thunderous crash and red lyrium crystals seemed to sprang up in a circle around him. Vash was knocked backwards by the sheer force of the blow to the ground. Dorian was leaning heavy on his staff.

In a split second decision, he shoved the last of the healing potions into Dorian’s hands before he returned to the wheel. Cassandra had taken the killing blow as the behemoth fell to the ground with a sicken thud. He looked back as Dorian drank the foul tasting potion and gave him a nod.

Vash was struggling with the last few turns of the wheel. His strength was slowly starting to drain more and more. With one final grunt, the damn thing was finally turned where they needed it to be, now all they had to do was fire it. The dragon flew overhead, a roar letting them know that she was indeed still there. She turned direction and started to fly straight for them. Vash moved backwards with his arms spread out beside him as the rest of them retreated. He had to remind himself that they didn’t want his companions, only him.

She rained down red fire, causing several of the barrels setting around to explode. He would wonder why those were there later. He flew threw the air, landing on his shoulders on the hard, frozen ground. This was it wasn’t it. He rose just in time to see him, this Elder One, walking through the flames toward him. How was he alive? He looked like a skeleton with skin that had just been thrown in random places, his body covered with red lyrium crystals. The others had seemed to make it away, the dragon bounces up the only escape path out of there. She towered over him, lifting her massive head and roaring to the heavens. Well, shit.

“Enough!” He rose his arms, a blast of air kicking up the dirt around him and caused Vash to turn around to face him. He couldn’t help but cover his eyes. “Pretender. You toy with forces beyond your ken. No more.”

Vash stood straight, holding his ground. He wasn’t afraid of this creature. He refused to be afraid. There was too many resting on his shoulders for him to fail now. This one could understand his thoughts as well.

“Words mortals often hurl at the darkness. Once they were mine. They are always lies. Known me. Know what you have pretended to be. Exalt the Elder One! The will that is Corypheus! You will kneel.” He pointed his bony finger right toward Vash and it did nothing more than fuel his resolve. He refused to kneel for anyone. Shaking his head in a defiant manner, the Qunari stood his ground.

“You will resist. You will always resist. It matters not.” He rose his hand and almost by magic, an orb appeared in his palm, going a dull red. “I am here for the anchor. The process of removing it begins now.”

He shot out his arm, a stream of red light flowing from it as his own began to glow. Trembling with force as it rose into the air, pain shooting up his arm that forced him to his knees. It was burning, nothing more than white heat. “It is your fault, “Herald.” You interrupted a ritual years in the planning, and instead of dying, you stole its purpose.” He was holding his arm by the wrist now, willing it to stop. “I do not know how you survived, but what marks you as “touched,” what you flail at rifts, I crafted to assault the very heavens.”

He cried out in pain, the anchor turning that sickening shade of red as the dragon seemed to coo beside him, almost as if it were taking pleasure from his pain. He felt sick to his stomach, all of this was too much at once. “And you used the anchor to undo my work! The gall!” He wanted to cry out but couldn’t, wanted to know why this was so important that someone had to die for it. Wanted to know what it was suppose to have done. He continued to hold his wrist, just wishing that this man would go ahead and kill him.

“It was meant to bring certainty where there was none. For you, the certainty that I would always come for it.”

Before Vash knew what was happening, he was picked up by the wrist and dangled in the air like he weighed nothing. How was this even possible? “I once breached the fade in the name of another, to serve the Old Gods of the empire in person.” He was looking at the mark in his palm with a disgusted look on his face. “I found only chaos and corruption. Dead whispers. For a thousand years I was confused. No more. I have gathered the will to return under no name but my own. To champion withered Tevinter and correct this blighted world. Beg that I succeed.” He was now right in this creature’s face. “For I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty!”

Then he was being thrown, hurled through the air like nothing. He cried out as his back hit the wood of the trebuchet hard. “The anchor is permanent. You have spoiled it with your stumbling.”

Vash scrambled for a sword that was lying on the platform, sure he didn’t have a clue in hell how to use it, that didn’t really matter. They stalked closer toward him. “So be it. I will begin again. Find another way to give this world, this nation… the God… it requires.”

This man was arrogant, and he talked too much. Vash couldn’t help but look up toward the tree line, waiting for some sign when… a flaming arrow was shot into the sky. That the heavens. He could finally stop waiting. “And you, I will not suffer even an unknowing rival. You must die.” One day, Vash came to think, he was going to die, but it would not be this day.

He stood with the sword in front of him. He expected him to fight, but that wasn’t the reason that Vash kept him talking. Now his time was near. In a sudden movement, he kicked the wheel; releasing the rock. It went flying through the air as he started to run. The force of the avalanche knocking him over and throw a hole in the walkway.

…
…
…

”You must be still, young one.”

Panic ripped through his body but the voice that spoke to him was soft, almost motherly. He felt pain. That’s when he realized that whoever was helping him had cut through the middle of the thread that was closing his lips. “The skin has grown around the thread. We must first cut it apart before we can pull it free. Another way will cause more damage.” He couldn’t help but whimper as he felt the first cut, the first pull and felt the first string being pulled free. Then he felt something warm against the hole. “Healing magic. Be not afraid, my child. We will not harm you.”

He wanted to believe that. Wanted to feel safe after what he’d just been through. “We removed the arrow from your leg. Also was able to free your skin of most of the poison. It was nasty.” He finally was able to open his eyes, looking around the small hut that he was in. There was a small fire that burned in the corner as he hissed in pain. Another thread being removed. He remembered that the process took hours, the older woman taking several breaks as she complained that sitting like that for too long was taking it’s toll on her back. She seemed to be alone. “I am sorry that you had to go through this, child.” That’s when he looked at her own lips, saw the same marking and he knew. She had sat back down when Vash reached up his hands and touched her lips. “Yes, I was once just like you. Rest, dear child. It will take them time to heal.”

The anchor flaring was what woke him up from his dream. Opening his eyes and he had apparently fell into a cavern of some sort. His entire left side throbbing as he gasped for breathe. It even hurt to breath. He rose from the ground with a pained gasp, holding his stomach with his right arm. A few broken ribs, a new limp to his left leg. Lovely. This wasn’t how he expected this to happen, but at least he was alive. Once standing, he looked around; trying to gather his surrounding. The way behind him was blocked, moving forward seemed like the better idea, no matter how badly it hurt.

It felt as though it were taking forever, but the longer he walked the better he began to feel. His leg seemed to be the only hassle to it. “There.” He finally saw light at the end of the tunnel but as he approached, several demons stood in his path. Staff at the ready, Vash made his way toward them. That’s when he noticed his mark doing something strange. It seemed to hum with a new found energy. He raised his hand as he got hit square in the chest with a wrath’s ball of energy and his hand exploded. Emitting a glowing green light that seemed to open a rift and suck the demons back into the fade. At the same time, it also managed to get rid of the ice that was blocking his passage. Well, that worked out in his favor but it left him feeling even more weak.

The wind was howling, snow blowing harshly as he stepped out of the safety of the cavern and into the elements. How was he ever going to get through this alive? He groaned softly as he stepped down, shielding himself with his marked hand and his other protecting his ribs from the cold. The wind whipped at his face as he began to shiver. Spending time in the wild for months let him know that that wasn’t a very good sign. He looked to one of the campfires that had been left behind, it was long since cold. Now he had the joy of trying to find the path he was walking on to start with.

Labored breaths began to fall from his lips. The sounds of wolves howling in the not so distant. He was shivering more but he knew that he couldn’t stop. Not yet. His thoughts kept drifting back to the conversation he’d had with Dorian. The way the mage smiled and seemed to fill him with a panic that he liked, but was totally unfamiliar with it. Dorian hadn’t treated him any differently once he had showed him he lacked a tongue. Vash shook his head. No, he couldn’t think like that.

It was a soft little nudge that seemed to keep him going. Heading toward the summit of the mountain as he noticed another little campfire. He looked behind him for a brief moment, noting that the sky looked like it was on fire. He was shivering worse now, his body was starting to shut down but he had to keep moving. This camp fire was still warm, the embers still glowing softly against the cold. Was he almost there? He looked up for a brief moment, seen smoke rolling from the valley belong. Did he finally find them? He all but dragged his leg behind him, trying to run through snow with a bum leg wasn’t the best idea. It wasn’t until he saw the tops of the Inquisition tents that had been set up, the wolves started howling once again.

“There! It’s him!” Cullen. He finally allowed himself to fall to his knees, cradling his left arm close to his body.

“Thank the Maker!”

And his world, for more times than he could count, went into total darkness.

…
…
…

“What would you have me tell them? This isn’t what we asked them to do!”

“We cannot simply ignore this! We must find a way.”

“And who put you in charge? We need a consensus, or we have nothing!”

“Please, we must use reason! Without the infrastructure of the Inquisition, we’re hobble.”

“That can’t come from nowhere!”

“She didn’t say it could!”

Vash had rose off the bed, leaning on his elbow and looking out at his advisors. Mother Giselle sitting on a stool beside him and it looked like she was silently praying. Probably wanting them to shut up like he did. His mood was foul once he woke, his head throbbing but at least he wasn’t in pain anymore.

“Enough! This is getting us nowhere!”

“Well, we’re agreed on the much!”

“Shh. You need rest.” He arched his brow at her. That was impossible with them yelling right outside his tent. They had been at this for hours. How was he suppose to rest? “The have the luxury of this, thanks to you. The enemy could not follow, and with time to doubt, we turn to blame. Infighting may threaten as much as this Corypheus.”

He shook his head, sighing as he rose to sit on side of the cot. It almost looked like it would break under his weight. He didn’t need another headache, he already had one.

“With our situation… your situation… it is complicated but they know. Our leaders struggle because of what we survivors witnessed. We saw out defender stand… and fall. And now, we have seen him return. The more the enemy is beyond us, the more miraculous your actions appear, and the more our trails seem ordained. That is hard to accept, no? What “we” have been called to endure? What “we” perhaps, must come to believe?”

He narrowed his brows. This all happened because of fanatics, arguments against the next world and people that wanted to change it for their own needs. It had nothing to do with the faithful. Somehow she had to had to know that. He shook his head before he rose from his cot, still lightly holding his left side. Something needed to happen, and it needed to happen soon. They had all seemed to lost their hope, and even he knew that that wasn’t a good thing.

Shadows fall
And hope has fled
Steel your heart
The Dawn will come
The night is long
And the path is dark
Look to the sky
For one day soon
The Dawn will come

He was taken aback by the song. Even more so when everyone started to sing along with her. The words powerful and it seemed to move everyone.

The shepherd's lost
And his home is far
Keep to the stars
The dawn will come
The night is long
And the path is dark
Look to the sky
For one day soon
The Dawn will come

Before he knew what was going on, people were kneeling before him, still singing their song. He didn’t really know what to think of all of it or if they really believed that he was sent by Andraste.

Bare your blade
And raise it high
Stand your ground
The dawn will come
The night is long
And the path is dark
Look to the sky
And one day soon
The dawn will come

“It’s all one world, Herald. All that changes is out place in it.”

He watched as she walked away, no doubt to help comfort that masses before he heard Solas voice behind him. “A word?” Vash arched a brow before he began to follow. A torch that had been placed at the edge of the camp lit to life with blue flame as Solas hovered his hand over it. “A wise woman, worth heeding. Her kind understand the moments that unify a cause. Or fracture it. The orb Corypheus carried, the power he used against you, it is elven.” Vash tilted his head at that. How did he even know?

“Corypheus used the orb to open the breach, unlocking it must have caused the explosion that destroyed the Conclave. I do not yet know how Corypheus survived… nor am I certain how people will react when they learn of the orb’s origin.” He arched a brow again, a stern look on his face. He was wanting to know exactly what this was. “They were foci, used to channel ancient magicks. I have seen such things in the fade, old memories of older magic. Corypheus may think it Tevinter. His empire’s magic was built on the bones of my people. Knowing or not, he risks our alliance. I cannot allow it.”

It was interesting to Vash that now Solas was bringing this up. It appeared to him that he knew this information all along. If Solas was so worried that this was going to reflect poorly on the elves, then he needed to prove himself. If he had something that would help them, now was also the time to play his hand.

“Judging by the faithful, now is the time.”

The morning came, despite the snow, the weather seemed to have fared. Most of the came had been picked up. They didn’t know where to go. They didn’t know what to do. Vash sighed softly. “By attacking the Inquisition, Corypheus has changed it. Changed you.” He had looked behind him once or twice, making sure that the group was keeping up. Most of the old of sick were being carried by large beast or walking the best they could. Small children were running around and playing in the snow. “Scout to the north. Be there guide.”

Solas may have been pointing him in the direction, but it was up to Vash to get them there. After all, this was his, wasn’t it. Over rocks, when the path was lost to them he would help them across. It seemed like it was endless. A week had passed before they were finally starting to run out of mountains to climb. They were running out of food, but at least melting snow had given tem water to drink. Leliana had sent a few of her raven’s ahead to help with the search. When they had finally found a dirt path again, they were all relieved.

“There is a place that waits for a force to hold it. There is a place where the Inquisition can build… grow…”

Solas had finally moved to walk beside him. He had moved ahead of the group, up a steep rock that seemed to be hanging over a ledge. His limp was still there as he walked up the rock face, he didn’t know if it would disappear this time. His eyes opened wide in shock when he saw it.

“Skyhold.”

It was a massive keep, nestled against a mountain and more or less built into one. It was… huge. It had seemed to have been abandoned for quite sometime, at least that’s what Solas had told them all. But to Vash, it was beautiful. As cold and frozen as they were now, he knew that none of them could wait until they had some walls between them and the blowing cold. The bridge between the two watchtowers seemed to be still intact, but even from a distance, you could tell it needed repairs.

…
…
…

He had met with his advisors on the outside, in the courtyard. The grass was still green and it had several trees growing within the grounds. Even in such harsh conditions, life found a way. He had been inspecting the state of the bridge, looking over some of the review plans to get some of the castles more bad parts back up to par. When that meeting was over, he opened the door and stepped out into the first air. The first thing he took notice was Cassandra waving him over. She had been talking to the rest of his advisors so this was going to be interesting.

“They arrive daily from every settlement in the region. Skyhold is becoming a pilgrimage.” She started to walk. Vash following behind her, listening. “If word has reached these people, it will have reached the Elder One. We have the walls and numbers to put up a fight here, but this threat is far beyond the war we anticipated.” He arched a brow. That was a little bit of an understatement, Cass.

“But we now know what allowed you to stand against Corypheus, what drew him to you.” He held up his hand, looking down at his palm. It was nothing more than a small glowing light in his palm, almost as if the skin itself was closing shut. “The anchor has power, but it’s not why you’re still standing here.” They were still walking and Vash didn’t know where she was going with this. “Your decisions let us heal the sky. Your determination brought us out of Haven. You are the creature’s rival because of what you did. And we know it. All of us.” Leliana was standing at the top of one of the flights of stairs that lead into the castle, holding a very large sword in her hand. Vash tilted his head as Cassandra continued to speak.

“The Inquisition needs a leader; the one who has already been leading it.” Whoa, now. He looked at the sword before looking around, a look of shock on his face before he saw the small crowd that had seemed to gather below them. He was a Qunari, not to mention a mage. There was no way the people had agreed to this. Not when all he heard when he was in Haven was that mages were meant to serve man.

“You.”

He swallowed against the lump in his throat before clearing it. He wasn’t even human. He gave a crocked little look before pointing to his horns or rather, what was left of them. “We want to make official what is already the case.” He wrinkled his nose, causing Cassandra to sigh softly. “I am aware of how this looks. Yet you are not your people, you are an individual. Perhaps this is part of your strength.” She turned, arm stretched out toward the sword and Vash slowly walked over to it. “Without you, there is no Inquisition. We all must accept that. But how you lead us, that is entirely up to you.”

A Qunari mage at the head of the Inquisition, what will people think. He was really starting not to care what people though.

He couldn’t help but pause for a moment to think about it before his massive hand reached down and gently took the blade from Leliana’s hands. He took in a deep breath, not a Qunari but a mage. A mage standing for what was right, helping defeat evil standing with them, not over them.

“Wherever you lead us,” Cassandra spoke softly behind him. She walked to the edge of the walkway. “Have our people been told?” Her voice rang out down below, strong like she had always been.

“They have, and soon the world.”

“Commander, will they follow?”

“Inquisition, will you follow?” There was a loud eruption of cheers below. “Will you fight?” Another eruption of people saying “yeah” to his question. “Will we trumphi?” There was clearing so loud that it was deafening. “Your leader! Your Herald! Your Inquisitor!” And at just the right moment, Vash held up the sword and he thought people were going to lose their minds. He’d never seen such a power before, and him at the head of it. People were actually happy that he had taken on the roll, they weren’t bothered by his race or the fact that he were a mage.

Now, the real fun began.