Prologue: The Summoning

The abandoned warehouse wasn't that different from any other old warehouse by the docks. It was plain, filled with crates and dust. The smell of decaying bodies was thick in the air.

To be fair, it wasn't the only building in Kirkwall to be filled with corpses. That wasn't actually something that set it apart from the rest.

All the same, Hawke prided herself on being a woman of action. If Kirkwall had a problem with refugees being kidnapped off the streets for nefarious purposes, she didn't sit and think about how horrible Kirkwall was to live in, she gathered a team of competent people and set out to do something about it.

Like Aveline, the woman-shaped battering ram and member of the City Guard. Or Bethany, Hawke's baby sister and a skilled mage. Or even Isabela, the pirate and duellist.

The four of them had fought their way through the warehouse, getting attacked by cultists and blood mages in turn. The templars that had asked them to look into matters were nowhere in sight, letting Hawke's team do all the dirty work.

They were by the door to the innermost room, (and wasn't it always the last room with these people?) when they heard the sound of chanting.

Hawke made eye contact with each of her companions in turn, making sure that they were focused, as she counted down from three with her fingers.

They surged through the door with practised organization, the physically weaker members of the team hiding behind Aveline.

Hawke brandished her sword in preparation, only to stop.

They were too late.

Everybody they were there to save, all those missing homeless people, were already dead. Seals were written on the floor with their blood. In the centre stood the leader of the cult, laughing maniacally.

Isabela tried to throw a dagger into his back, but it was blocked by magical electricity. Green lighting erupted from the seal, arching over the room and gathering to form a hole in space.

"A Rift in the Veil." Bethany's mumbled words were filled with equal parts dread and awe.

Hawke was about to ask her how to stop it when a lone figure stepped out of the Rift. The weird lightning cracked and disappeared, repairing the hole. A cold wind blew through the room, smelling like nothing Hawke had ever smelled before. She had to brace herself against it to keep her balance.

The sudden loss of light made it had to see, but Hawke determinedly blinked away the spots in her vision without averting her eyes from the thing that had entered.

At first glance, it looked almost human.

It was a young man, with white hair very unsuitable for its apparent age. Like the demon, or whatever it was, knew how to mimic human appearance but had forgotten how ageing worked for mortals.

However, any pretence she could entertain of it being a human was pushed aside when she saw its eyes. They glowed from within, matching the awful green colour of the lightning that had invited it into their world.

Chills went down Hawke's spine as the creature glanced at them, those dead eyes taking in the room with a cold precision. It reminded her of a bird of prey, knowing the mouse it was hunting wouldn't be able to get away or hide.

Now she had adjusted to the light, she could tell that the entire being glowed with power.

That was never a good sign.

"Great King! I have made this sacrifice in your honour, to summon you to this world!" The cultist leader stopped laughing, falling to his knees in a bow in front of the entity. "Please kill these non-believers who have come to stop your glorious rise!"

The Being-From-Beyond-the-Fade's eyes narrowed, his hands clenching in anger.

Hawke prepared for a fight.

"You killed these people?" The Creature-Not-of-This-World's voice echoed, even though the room was much too small to carry an echo.

"Yes!" The cultist smiled as his accomplishments were acknowledged.

"And those four came here to stop you?"

"Yes!"

Bethany prepared a magical shield to help them against the attack that was sure to come any second.

The Thing-That-Came-Through-the-Rift's hands glowed blue with ice magic.

Aveline widened her stance as she braced herself, holding up Wesley's old shield. (Which only reminded Hawke that those useless templars still hadn't arrived, and that they could use their help.)

The Demon-From-Across-the-Veil gathered his magic, casting Winter's Grasp on the cultist leader – tying him down with ice, but not killing him.

It was at that point that Hawke realised that the Creature's obvious anger wasn't directed at her tiny group.

"You can't just kill people!" The Creature gestured widely, as if trying to encompass the entire room of corpses. "What's wrong with you!?"

The cultist didn't seem to have an answer for that one.

"And you think I'd help you kill some more people!? You're not only a horrible human being, you've got me confused with the old King! You know, you're probably better off with me, he would have ended you for this! Send me back home right this instant," demanded the Creature-Who-Hawke-Might-Have-Made-Rash-Judgements-About.

"I can't!" The cultist leader squirmed under the glowing stare. "Not without making another blood sacrifice!"

"Of course not." The Creature looked very unamused. "What did I expect?"

Hawke looked at the Creature. She should probably say something. Going the aggressive route seemed pointless, and while there was a bad joke in her head trying to get out... The diplomatic way seemed like a good way at that point.

She took a step forward and opened her mouth to say something, when those lousy templars finally arrived.

In typical templar fashion, they took one look at the scene before attacking the otherworldly creature in the center of the bloodbath.

Contrary to expectations, the Creature merely rolled its glowing eyes and dodged the attack by flying out through the ceiling with a type of annoyed calm that made it seem like it did that every day.

Hawke wasn't sure what to think about that.

AN: The Fade is a realm with a green-tinted sky and floating islands, populated by spirits and called "The Land of the Dead" by the Qunari. I don't think I'm stretching things when I make it the same place as the Ghost Zone. Further, the Rifts in Inquisition remind me of the natural ghost portals in Danny Phantom. (I haven't finished Inquisition, which is why this fic is for DAII)