Part 1

The Fade is the realm anyone can travel to in their dreams, the first realm created by the Maker. It's told that it was once populated with spirits, until the Maker became unsatisfied and created another world, the world where everyone lives. But the spirits remained, and grew jealous of the new land, and through that jealousy they became twisted into demons, creatures embodying sin.

To use magic, to cast any sort of spell, a person needs to be able to channel energy from the Fade. It's not something everyone can do, and to have such an ability is a terrible risk. For demons notice when someone draws power from their realm.

And in order to exist in the physical world, demons need to possess a host.

Killian Jones has seen such an abomination, but he knows that a mage doesn't need to be possessed to be dangerous.

He's seen it before, seen a man give in to desperation and temptation and want more. He remembers what happens when someone is willing to do anything to get what they want.

Every day he remembers seeing Milah controlled like a puppet, and it's because of this that he joined the Templars, pledged to protect the mages from themselves. And more importantly, protect the world from them.

He's spent years training and praying, taking the strictly regulated substance, lyrium, that gives him the power he needs to stop mages, and earlier in the week, he stayed up for a night vigil and made his vows to serve the Maker and protect the world from the dangers of magic.

Killian Jones took his vows only days ago, and he's already the designated murderer at a Harrowing.

He had been excited when he was stationed at the Circle, because surely that meant that he was good at what he was doing. It proved he hadn't been wrong to stop following in his brother's footsteps, asking for a martial education instead of being sworn into the Chantry as a cleric.

He hadn't thought it through. The Circle might be the home of mages, a place to train them without risking others, but they still need to be watched carefully. Tested.

This test, it sends the mages into the Fade, sends them to temptation to see if they'll give in, if they're strong enough to remain themselves when faced with the offer of anything they could want in exchange for their bodies.

And today it's his job to strike them down, should they fail. If they writhe and scream and mutate into monstrosities.

Or if they simply take too long to succeed.

He goes with a group of templars into the Harrowing Chamber and waits for the mage apprentice to arrive. The others are there in case he can't do it, in case he's overwhelmed by the abomination.

They're not there for the possibility he just can't do it. Can't kill someone.

Two templars bring the mage in, and he can't look away. She looks terrified, her eyes wide, her hands shaking slightly, her face white, but she's beautiful. It's not just her appearance, though. There's a strength in the way she holds herself. Even though she's scared, she's standing tall and determined, trying to hide her fears from everyone there.

Killian can see them. He can see everything she's trying to disguise.

And he desperately wants her to pass this test, because she already looks lost and he doesn't want her to lose herself completely. He wants her to survive. He doesn't want to watch another woman fall prey to magic, to be destroyed by it.

He doesn't know what he'll do if she does fail and he has to take her life away.

"You're Emma?" One of the other Templars asks, and Killian realises he was supposed to know that, because he's meant to be taking the lead with this, but she's distracted him from the moment she was brought through the door.

"Yes, Ser." she answers, and her hands may be shaking but her voice isn't. "And I'm ready for my Harrowing."

"Are you sure?" The man asks, and Killian notices how her lips tremble, distress clear in her sea-green eyes. Then she blinks and the look is gone, her expression hard and resolute.

"She's sure." Killian says, and it's the first time she truly looks at him. She's surprised, her mouth open just the smallest bit, and he has to smile at her, speak to her. "You can do this."

Emma tilts her head, doesn't say anything, but he can read the question in her eyes. You think so? He nods, just tilts his head up and down in the smallest of movements, but she sees it and she actually smiles.

They wait for the First Enchanter to bring the potion that will send Emma into the dreamworld. Even though Emma wouldn't have been informed that she would face this test until she was brought to the room, she seems calmer now, no longer shaking.

When First Enchanter Regina arrives, she strides into the room as if there's nothing important happening, as if she isn't arriving to watch one of her students survive or be executed. She hands over the blue potion, Emma holding it steady, and then leans against the wall, arms crossed and clearly wanting to be anywhere but here.

Killian doubts anyone wants to be there, but Regina's boredom and apathy can hardly be reassuring for Emma. Because he knows that all Emma truly understands about this test is that the one's who fail it never come back.

He sends her one more reassuring smile and then she drinks, her eyelids flutter and she pitches forward, Killian reaches out to catch her and lower her gently to the stone floor.

Apparently, allowing them to sleep on a bed for such an ordeal would be too much of a kindness.

Then it's up to the Templars to wait, to keep vigil over her until she wakes, or becomes something else entirely.

And so he watches, refuses to look away. Emma looks peaceful, even though he knows that she isn't, the determination she had worn now absent from her expression. With every breath she takes, a strand of golden hair dances above her lips, and he wants to reach down and brush it aside, but he can't.

Another templar, Greg, is in charge of keeping time. He'll tell them when she's been under too long, when it's too late, and Killian already resents him, knowing that with one word, he can sentence Emma to death.

Greg won't look away from the clock. Killian's just glad he's not the one designated to kill, as he's heard that no mage has returned from a Harrowing where Greg is in charge. And although many mages do fail, that's a higher number than usual.

So Killian watches her carefully, wants to see the instant she succeeds and returns to him.

Although he knows she's only sleeping, the lyrium-induced sleep looks different. She's completely still, and if it wasn't for the slight movement of her chest with each breath, she could easily pass for a corpse.

With each hour that passes, he grows more and more worried that she'll never wake. That her eyes will never open and look at him, that he'll have to take his sword and plunge into her chest, kill her before she even has the chance to become a monster.

And with each tick of the clock, Greg's grin widens, and Killian hates him.

Greg's almost shaking with excitement. Killian knows they've been standing there for a long time but he still has hope. And even as he thinks the word, she stirs and sits up, her face pale and clammy, yawning, but awake.

And the first thing she does is look up and smile, weakly, at him.

He just knows it's her, she's safe and she's strong and she did it.

He doesn't even realise it at first, but he's reaching down to help her up. She looks at him and his hand, and then she brushes it aside and pushes herself to her feet, stumbling only slightly and then standing tall and proud.

Killian doesn't know what he would have done if she'd slept for just a bit longer, if Greg had announced she'd been sleeping for too long and was too much of a risk. He's only been a Templar for a few days, but this woman is already making him question things that he had never doubted before.

But he has to grin at her. This time, when she smiles back, it's blinding. All he can do is blink at her, stare at her until he hears someone clearing their throat.

"It looks like you've passed." Regain says, looking and sounding far more disbelieving than Killian thought she had any right to. There were enough Templars, like Greg, hoping Emma would fail that she didn't need her own superior doubting too. "Well done."

Again, he sees Emma's mask falter slightly and he clenches his fist.

Then Regina holds out a silver ring, one he's seen on the finger of every mage who has passed the Harrowing. It's a beautiful ring, glowing more brightly due to the lyrium infused through the metal, shining even in the dimness of the room.

Emma's meant to take it, but he plucks it from Regina's hand before any of them have a chance to think it through. He sees Emma's brow furrow, stretching her hand out towards him but instead of giving her the ring, he finds himself taking her hand and then he slips it onto her finger himself.

"Ser Jones?" Regina asks, her tone scolding. "I know that you've only just joined our order, but remember your place."

But Emma's looking at him with wide eyes and an unsteady smile, and her hand is soft in his, and she looks more shaken now than she did when she first awoke.

He doesn't understand how anyone can be so beautiful.

"I could have done that myself, Ser." Emma tells him quietly, and she reaches down to move the ring to a different finger, giving him a steady, measuring look.

She's led away then, before he can do anything else idiotic, one templar gripping her arm and Regina striding alongside her.

Greg pulls him aside, his lip curled in a look of utter dislike. "What was that, Jones?" he hisses. "You know the rules. No fraternising. Not that you'd want to be seen with creatures like that, right?"

"They're people, Greg." he replies, ignoring the man's scoff of disbelief. "And I know the rules. I'm not some wide-eyed recruit anymore. I am well aware of what I can and cannot do."

But he looks after Emma again, and she's looking back at him, and she's smiling and when he's looking at her, he can't bring himself to care about the rules.

Except the vow he made wasn't just to the Templars, but to his god, so he can't break that promise. Not even if he wants to.

So this is my new story. I hope you enjoyed it and I'd appreciate any reviews! My first priority is the False Queen so I don't know how regular updates will be. This AU is set in the universe of the Dragon Age games, by Bioware, but hopefully the world is understandable for those who haven't played the games!

Thank you to BlackDragon733 for beta-ing and NeverlandAwaitsUs for checking that I was getting things right!