The Wizard of Kirkwall

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age or The Dresden file. They are rightful the property of Bioware and Jim Butcher.

Author's note: Sorry this rewrite took me so long but life decided it didn't want to be easy and so is now giving me a hard time, not to mention the large amounts of writers block. But you're not here to read about my excuses so let just move on to the story already.

Chapter 1: No Rest for a Wizard

Given the way my life has typically progressed, I probably should have guessed that What Came Next was pain. A whole lot of pain.

I tried to take a breath, and a searing burst of agony radiated out from my chest. I held off on the next breath for as long as I could, but eventually I couldn't put it off anymore, and again fire spread across my chest.

I repeated that cycle for several moments, my entire reality consumed by the simple struggle to breathe and to avoid the pain. I was on the losing side of things, and if the pain didn't exactly lessen, it did, eventually, become more bearable.

I felt the rest of my body next. I was lying on something firm and uneven. It wasn't a torment, but it wasn't precisely comfortable, either.

Using my fingers, I examined the texture of what I was lying on. Or at least I tried was something wrong with them. They were barely able to move. And it wasn't just them. My entire body was in the same condition. It was as though someone had replaced my bones and flesh with lead weights, heavy and inert, and my tendons and muscles were too weak to break the inertia. With a little persistence and effort though, I was able to eventually identify the surface that I lay upon as dry, hard packed earth.

That didn't bode well for me as that indicated which afterlife I was in. Heaven is always portrayed as residing up in the skies not down on the ground.

My eyelids were in the same condition as the rest of my body. They didn't want to move. I don't blame them, I wasn't exactly eager to witness the hellish sights that were sure to greet me. In the end I was able to force them open.

Bright sunlight assaulted my eyes, its intensity causing me to cry out in pain. Swiftly, I shut my eyes again.

Hold on. Sunlight? In Hell?

I don't recall the bible mentioning there being any in the fiery pit of damnation. Yes, I have read the bible even thought I don't believe in the religion. I've had too many run-ins with archangels and the Denarians to not have done my homework. Plus knowing the Carpenters and Father Forthill has resulted in me being rather well versed in biblical literature.

"Maker's breath!" exclaimed a startled voice. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought you were nothing but another corpse."

I opened my eyes again, only this time I did so slowly and gradually, giving my eyes plenty of time to adjust to the sun's brightness.

I was lying on a narrow trail in what appeared to be a barren scorched wasteland. In the distance rose a large pillar of smoke that was easily visible against the wan, onion coloured horizon.

Next to me knelt a beautiful young woman, in her early twenties at most, with pale skin and stunning ice blue eyes . Her slightly messy dark hair was trimmed in a bob cut with side swept bangs that framed her face and fell in into her across the bridge of her nose was a streak of red tribal paint. Her slender frame was clad in ornate medieval leather armour that did little to hide the pleasant feminine curves of her body. Slung across her back was a large longbow and a quiver full of arrows.

Beside her was a large dog that resembled an American Bandogge Mastiff on steroids. It had a coat of short tan coloured fur and small dark brown eyes that showed a keen intelligence, far more than that of a regular canine.

"Where am I?" I asked the woman. This obliviously wasn't Hell. The surroundings more closely resembled the aftermath of a forest fire rather than the afterlife of the damned, and while the woman kneeling beside me was beautiful, she was no angel.

Unfortunately, like my previous attempts at using my body, my tongue and lips responded sluggishly to my commands, causing my words to come out as a unintelligible mumble.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" asked the woman. "All I was able to make out was the word where."

"He's probably asking where his clothes went," suggested a man's voice.

From where I lay I was unable to see the speaker and so was forced to move my head around in search of him. Doing so made my head feel like it was about to fly apart every time I twitched it, but I persevered.

The owner of the voice stood a few feet behind the woman. He was a tall pale youth, I guessed him to be around about eighteen, with parted black hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a simple yellow and white sleeveless shirt that showed off his muscular frame and brown pants with matching knee-high boots. Fixed diagonally across his back was a wide two-handed broadsword that was almost three quarters his height in length.

Flanking the young man were a pair of women.

One of them was a practitioner as she had what I recognised to be a wizard's staff slung across her back. She was in her late teens, with pale skin, golden brown eyes and shoulder length black curls framed her face. She wore a white corset with long silver sleeves that left her shoulders bare, matching silver pants and a red with purple embroidery neckerchief. Belted around her middle was a sheet of chain mail that reached nearly all the way down to her knee-high boots.

The other was middle-age, pale, with clear blue eyes and shoulder length dark grey hair that was pulled into a loose tail at the base of her neck. She was dressed in garments that resembled those worn by women during the Middle Ages, a light brown dress with matching corset and neckerchief. Judging by her age and how the other three possessed a number of her features she had to be the trio's mother.

The teenage boy's words caused the female archer to flush a faint pink. "I didn't steal his clothes," she protested, shooting him a fierce glare. "They were already gone when I found him."

A quick glance down at my body confirmed that my clothes were indeed gone. Strangely, I still had my silver pentacle amulet, which was a relief though as it was the only keepsake I had of my mother. While I was gazing down at it, I noticed something.

Running in a straight line, from the hollow of my throat all the way down to my belly, was a scar. I had gotten it when Quintus Cassius had tried to filet me with a hook knife.

The thing is it shouldn't have been there.

As a ghost I didn't possess a physical body so my skin should have been as unblemished as a newborn's.

I quickly check the rest of my enough,all the scars that I had accumulated over the years were once more etched upon my body. Their return meant that I had a physical body again. That could only mean one thing.

Somehow, I had been brought back to life.

"I don't understand" I muttered in confusion. "I should be dead."

When I had gone through that black door back in Chicago Between I had been expecting either pearly gate or fire and brimstone. Finding myself miraculously alive again and in the company of people who looked like escapees from a renaissance fair was not something I had anticipated.

Evidently my speech must having grown more coherent as the woman kneeling beside understood me this time.

"Perhaps the darkspawn were only interested in taking your clothes and not your life," she suggested humorously.

Darkspawn? What the hell is a darkspawn?

Don't get me wrong—I'm a wizard. I know plenty about the supernatural. Hell, I could list enough various entities and creatures to fill an entire book, but this one was a new to me.

That's the thing about the supernatural realms, they're far bigger than the material world. I could spend the rest of my life learning about new beasties and barely scratch the surface.

"I didn't realise that the darkspawn had such interest in fashion," the teenage girl remarked dryly.

"Marian, go see if any of those corpses have clothes that will fit him," instructed the middle aged woman.

"Sure thing," replied the kneeling woman. "I can check if there's anything of worth on them while I'm at it." She straightened and walked out of view, the large dog trailing along after her.

"Just be quick about it, sister," urged the teenage boy."The darkspawn isn't going to wait while you fill your coin purse."

"Sorry about having you wear a corpse's clothes but the only clothes we have are the ones on our backs," explained the middle aged woman apologetically.

"It's fine ma'am," I replied. As I wasn't an exhibitionist, I found being stark naked in front of these people extremely awkward and uncomfortable. So to be clothed, even if they had worn by the recently deceased, would be a huge relief.

There was a problem though. I wasn't capable of dressing myself. I couldn't even muster enough strength to cover myself with my hands let alone perform the arduous task of getting dressed. Which meant I would have to ask one of them to do it for me. Great. As if things weren't awkward enough.

"Hey, Conan," I called out to teenage boy.

"My name's Carver," he informed me.

"Um. I hate ask this but could you assist me with getting dressed? The thing is I can barely move and I can't exactly have one of the women help me out with this."

"I've got a much better idea," he said. He turned to the teenage girl next to him. "Bethany, do you have any elfroot potions?"

"Only one," she answered, handing him a small glass sphere filled with a red liquid.

Carver walked over and knelt down beside me."Here, drink this," he ordered, raising the bottle to my lips. "This potion will restore some of your strength."

While I was hesitant to drink an unfamiliar concoction I complied and swallowed the contents of the bottle.

It tasted like ordinary herbal tea but as it went down my gullet, I could feel the power in the brew spreading out into me, active and alive. My fatigue quite simply vanished and energy came rushing back. The pain receded down to levels that I could manage. The soreness lifted from my muscles, and my cloudy thought processes cleared as though someone had flushed my brain's neural network with caffeine.

"Alright, I think these should fit," Marian said, returning with an arm full of clothing.

"Thanks," I said gratefully as I stood up and accepted the clothes from her. "I really appreciate the help all of you have given me."

I dressed, the clothes were ill-fitting, stained with blood and stank of rotting flesh, but it was better than nothing.

"We haven't been properly introduced yet," said the middle-age woman once I had finished dressing. "I'm Leandra."She waved a hand at the others. "And these three are my children; Carver, Bethany and Marian."

"Call me Hawke," Marian said. "Only mother calls me Marian,"

Her dog, which had returned to his previous position beside her, let out a bark.

Marian, or should I say Hawke, smiled and rubbed the dog's head affectionately "And this here is my mabari, Wrex."

"I'm Harry Dresden," I introduced myself. "Now that we're all acquainted, can someone tell me where I am? My brush with death has left me rather confused."

"We're in the Southron Hills, near the Kocari Wilds." Bethany answered.

I didn't recognise either one of those names but before I could inquire further Carver spoke.

"Enough of the chatter already," he growled impatiently. "We need to get moving before the darkspawn finds us."

The words were barely out of his mouth when a wave of invisible energy, cold and foul, flooded over my magical perceptions, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end.

"Too late. We're about to have company," I warned them.

Hawke reacted swiftly to my warning, unslinging her bow and notching an arrow. "Where?" she demanded, her eyes scanning our surroundings.

"Ahead of us, coming down the trail," I informed her.

Sure enough, a dozen individuals wearing dark, rusty spiked armour and scale mail hoods came into view. While I didn't recognise them they had to be these darkspawn creatures these people keep mentioning.

They had sunken and deathly pale skin, like that of a corpse. With their lack of eyebrows, lips and exposed rotted grey teeth, it gave their faces a near skeletal look. But the thing that was frighting about them wasn't their appearance but how their aura felt to my magical senses. It was wrong. Fundamentally, intensely wrong. I could feel it tainting the very essence of the world around it with its mere presence.

And there was something else as well. A faint malevolent voice. While its words were indistinct, the intent was clear. They were orders for the darkspawn.

I positioned myself in front of Leandra and drew in my will,preparing to protect her with defensive magic if need. While the spell would be less effective than my trusty shield bracelet, it should be more than enough to handle whatever these darkspawn could throw at it.

I need not have bothered though as the approaching darkspawn chose to completely ignored Leandra and me in favour of focusing their attention on Hawke.

Those that were armed with crossbows levelled them at her and let loose a volley of arrows. However, thanks to my warning, Hawke was ready. With practice ease, she nimbly sidestepped the deadly projectiles; cause them to sail past her harmlessly.

"With your aim, I bet you guys couldn't even hit a Bronto," she called tauntingly to the darkspawn. "You're better off sticking to swords, at least then you'd actually stand a chance of hitting something."

Seemingly taking her at her word, a number of the sword-wielding darkspawn let out shrieking howls and charged towards her in a mad headlong rush. But before they could reach her, Bethany thrust out her right hand and with a fierce cry sent a basketball-sized comet of fire flying toward the oncoming group of darkspawn.

I frowned slightly. Bethany's magic was rather strange.

Magic, in its simplest form, is the energy produced by life. Usually, when you work a spell, you reach out into the environment around you and pull in energy. It flows in from everywhere, from the fabric of life in the whole planet.

Except Bethany didn't do that. Instead of drawing in power from the material world, I felt her draw it from the spiritual world instead. Her magic still relatively worked the same way mine did, just that she got the energy from a different source than I did.

Regardless of the source energy that was fuelling it, her magic worked just fine. Her fireball sailing forth with a howling whistle of superheated air and smashed into the charging darkspawn. It detonated with a loud whump, erupting in an explosion that sent them sprawling.

"Nice one, Bethany," Hawke complimented. "Carver,deal with them before they have a chance to recover while Bethany and I take care of the archers. Wrex, look after mother and Dresden."

Working together, the siblings made short work of the darkspawn. Carver cut down the disoriented darkspawn with methodical efficiency while Bethany and Hawke picked off the archers with their fireballs and arrows.

I was quite impressed with the trio's skill and teamwork. It had only taken them about a minute to kill all of the darkspawn.

As for the darkspawn themselves, as supernatural monsters go they weren't very impressive. They lacked the superhuman strength and speed that most monsters possessed. Nor were they very resilient, falling victim to mere arrows while many supernatural creatures were easily capable of withstand gunfire and magical assaults. While they were competent enough to use weapons, they did so in a crude fashion, showing that they possess only limited intelligence. Aside from their corrupted aura, the darkspawn, in terms of pure physical attributes, seem to more closely resemble humans rather than creatures of the supernatural world.

Bethany let out an exasperated sigh. "Must you loot everything you see?" She asked her older sister, who was currently checking the darkspawn corpses for anything that may be of some value.

"Of course. To the victor go the spoils," Hawke replied, dropping a few bronze coins that she had found into a purse tied to her belt.

"Need I remind you yet again that we need to go before more darkspawn show up," Carver said, his voice annoyed.

"Alright Carver, no need to nag," Hawke said, reluctantly halting her looting spree.

"It would probably be best if I take point. Since I'm able to sense darkspawn I can give us ample warning of their approach," I said.

"You can sense darkspawn? Is such a thing even possible?" Leandra asked, her expression skeptical.

"He could be a grey warden," Carver mused. "I've heard that they're able to sense the presence of darkspawn when they're near."

My brow furrowed in confusion. Was he referring to the Warden of the White Council? While the Wardens were known for their signature grey cloaks I've never heard anyone use the term grey warden before when referring to them.

Hawke shook her head. "Unlikely given that they had all perished at Ostagar."

Yet another name that I didn't was troubling. While I was no geography expert I should at least have heard of one these places.

"Perhaps he managed to escape. After all you and Carver did," Bethany pointed out.

"Sorry, but Hawke is right," I said. "I've never heard of this Ostagar before let along been there. But I don't see what being a grey warden has to do with the ability to sense darkspawn. Anyone with magical talent should be able to sense their presence."

"Anyone with magical talent," Leandra repeated thoughtfully. "You're mage then?"

I nodded. "I prefer the term wizard though."

"Is what he says true?" Hawke asked Bethany.

"I don't know," Bethany admitted. "Father's lessons didn't cover darkspawn. But if he is telling the true then he's our best chance at escape."

"Hold on, how do we know you're not using some kind of dark magic like blood magic to sense the darkspawn?" Carver asked, his expression suspicious. "Maybe that how you can sense darkspawn even though you're not a grey warden."

I understood his apprehension. Those willing to use black magic could do some very nasty stuff to you if they managed to get a hold of blood and there would be let you could do to stop them.

"You needn't worry, I'm not using dark magic," I reassured Carver.

"And we're suppose to just take your word for it?" Carver asked.

I shrugged. "If you wish to stand a better chance of survival, then yes."

"Well, dark magic or not, I'm willing to accept any help we can get if means our survival," Hawke said.

"And if he's delusional and he can't really sense darkspawn?" Carver wanted to know.

"Then we're no worse off than we were before."

Carver looked like he wanted to argue but his mother cut him off.

"Trust your sister's judgement," Leandra advised."She knows what she's doing."

Carver expression showed that he didn't agree but he offered no further objections.

Hawke gestured at the rough trail ahead of us. "Right then, lead on Dresden."

"Wait! Where are we going?" Bethany asked.

"Away from the darkspawn. Where else?" Carver said sarcastically.

"And then where? We can't just wander aimlessly."

"So long as we wander aimlessly away from the horde, I'm happy," Hawke chimed in.

"We can go to Kirkwall," Leandra suggested.

I suppressed the urge to sigh in irritation. I was beginning to get fed up with all these unfamiliar terms and places. It made me feel as though I was some clueless idiot.

"Kirkwall?" Hawke exclaimed, surprised. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"There's a lot of templars in Kirkwall, mother," Bethany noted apprehensively.

Briefly, I wondered why that fact made her nervous.

"I know that, but we still have family there – and estate," Leandra reasoned.

Bethany sighed. "Then we need to get to Gwaren and take ship."

"If we survive that long. I'll just be happy to get out of here," Carver said grimly.

"So which way is it to this Gwaren?" I asked.

(~)

It didn't take long for them to lose their scepticism regarding my claim of being able to sense darkspawn.

Utilising my wizard's senses, I was able to navigate a way through these hills that didn't result in us encountering too many darkspawn. Those that we couldn't avoid were dealt with easily enough in ambushes that the siblings were able to set up thanks to my forewarning.

Unfortunately due to the knowledge that darkspawn couldn't get near us without me detecting them Hawke decided that it was fine for her to scavenge for loot again despite the rest of her family's complaints.

While Hawke was busy picking over their corpses Bethany came up to me and asked,

"So, if you're not using dark magic how exactly are you detecting the darkspawn?"

"I'm using my wizard's senses to detect any magical energy in the vicinity. If I find one that feels cold and vile then it's a darkspawn," I explained.

"And anyone with magic can do this?"

I nodded. "Yes. It's really basic stuff. I find it surprising that you don't know how to do it."

"I guess my father never got round to teaching me the skill," she said with a shrug.

"I couldn't help but notice that he isn't here. Did the darkspawn...?"

Bethany shook her head. "No, he died three years ago," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry. It was insensitive of me to ask." I apologised.

"It's fine. I've had enough time to come to terms with his death." Her expression grew troubled. "But I'm worried that any one of us could be joining him soon."

I have what might be considered a very out-of-date sense of chivalry when it came to women, although others claim I'm simple chauvinistic. Whatever you called it, the thing is I could never stand it when a woman is suffering, and as such I never ignore a lady in distress.

"I won't let anything happen to you or your family, I promise," I said, trying to reassure her.

She gave me an appreciative smile. "Well, you're certainly doing a fine job so far."

"Dresden, how's the trail up ahead?" Hawke asked, joining us now that her looting was finished.

Extending my senses as far out around us as I could, I found a group of about fifteen darkspawn a little further up trail.

Before I could inform Hawke of this one of darkspawn abruptly vanished from my magical senses.

I blinked in surprise. Were some of the darkspawn capable of veiling? I suppose it was possible. In one of our previous encounters there had been a darkspawn that could wield some kind of black magic.

The established method for wizards to see through veils was the use of the Sight, also known as spirit vision, inner sight, or the Third Eye. The Sight lets you perceive the world around you in a vastly broadened spectrum of interacting forces. It shows you the world the way it really is, matter all intertwined with a universe of energy, of magic. The Sight can show you beauty that would make you weep, and terrors that would turn your hair you see, the good, the bad, the insanity-inducing—it sticks with you forever. You can't ever forget, and time doesn't blur the memories. It's yours. Permanently.

It was because of that fact I was reluctant to use my Sight. Wizards who run around using their Sight willy-nilly wind up bonkers. But if I didn't use it then they would be able to sneak up on us. For all I know there could be a bunch of them behind us right now, about to stab us in the back.

As two more darkspawn vanished from magical perception a thought occurred to me. If I couldn't use my vision why not use my hearing instead.

I closed my eyes, and Listened. Listening is a skill I'd picked up when I was a kid. Not many people have worked out the trick of it, blocking out all other sound in order to better hear one sound in particular. It isn't as much about magic, I think, as it is focus and discipline. But the magic helps.

What I heard were the sounds of a battle. A cacophony of clashing metal, inhuman shrieks and cries of exertions and defiance.

It appeared that someone was fighting the darkspawn. The ones that had disappeared from my senses weren't veiling themselves but instead were being killed.

Opening my eyes, I announced, "There's someone up ahead fighting darkspawn."

"Are we to sneak past them while they're distracted? Or rescue whoever is in trouble?" Carver inquired.

"Rescue, of course," Hawke chose without a moment's hesitation.

My eyebrows rose in surprise. I hadn't pegged Hawke as the hero type. She seemed just so...roughish. It's one thing to help out your family, but to be willing risk your life to save a total stranger? That takes a special kind of person. My respect for the woman rose.

"I don't know. While I'm uncomfortable with leaving someone at the mercy of the darkspawn, I don't want you three risking lives when we have the option of avoiding a battle with those creatures," Leandra said, conflicted.

"We'll be fine mother," Hawke assured her. "After all, Ser Dresden here promised to keep us safe."

"Same strategy as before?" Bethany asked her sister. "Sneak up on the darkspawn and kill them before they even realise we're there."

Hawke nodded, "It's worked on all the others. I see no reason to change it now."

(~)

We made our stealthily along the trail, careful not to alert the darkspawn of our plan.

When we reached the site of battle I noticed that there were in fact two people fighting the darkspawn.

One was a young man with grey green coloured eyes and short black hair with the fringe spiked up. He was clad in ornate steel armour that was embossed with golden symbols of holy design. Strangely, he wore what appeared to a red and black kilt that nearly reached his ankles. In his hands he wielded a sword and a large shield bearing the symbol of a divine sword.

The other was a woman. She had pale skin with a light dusting of freckles. Her orange hair was fixed in a loose shoulder length ponytail with a thin leather headband tied around her forehead to keep her fringe out of her face. Her eyes were a pale green and were very determined. She was dress in light brown pants, knee high boots. Over her white long sleeveless shirt she wore a leather singlet with diamond shaped metalled studs woven in at regular intervals. Tied around her upper biceps were matching brown leather band. Unlike her companion, she armed only with a broadsword but she proved to very proficient with it, easily dispatching her opponent with brutal efficiency.

But before the siblings could implement their plan, one of the darkspawn managed to creep up behind the young man and lash out at him with its sword.

Preoccupied with cutting down another darkspawn, the man was caught unawares and suffered a server gash to his shield arm. Grunting in pain, his shield tumbled from his grasp and hit the dirt with a clank. Stumbling, he tried to back away for his attacker, but a heavy boulder blocked his retreat. He attempted to ward off the thing by levelling his sword at it but the darkspawn was undeterred and continued to stalk towards him.

With a yell, the red haired woman came to his rescue, launching herself at the darkspawn and taking it off its feet in a tackle. Pinning it beneath her, she began laying into the thing's face with her fists. While it was stunned from her powerful blows, the woman seized her sword and beheaded it. "You will not have him!" she declared, her tone fierce.

Scooping up the man's shield, she rushed to his side and hoisted him onto his feet. "They will not have you." She told him resolutely as the two gazed at each other for a moment, their expression tender. She then turned to survey the darkspawn surrounding them. "Not while I breathe."

The darkspawn pressed in on them, baying for their blood, only to be caught off guard by the siblings' surprise attack. Unprepared for the abrupt assault, they swiftly fell victim to the siblings combined attack of sword, arrows and magic.

With the battle being over, the redhead woman took the opportunity to bandage the young man's arm. "Stop squirming, Wesley. You'll make it worse." she admonished the wounded man as she fussed over him.

He ignored her in favour of glaring at Bethany. "Apostate, keep your distance."

"Well, the Maker has a sense of humour," Bethany said with small dry laugh. "Darkspawn, and now a templar. I thought they all abandoned Lothering."

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

"Wesley," interrupted the redheaded woman, her tone pleading.

"That woman is an apostate. The Order dictates..." he said again, approaching Bethany threateningly.

I blocked his path, fixing him with an icy glare. "It was pretty clear to me what her intent was, seeing as she just save you and girlfriend life, you ungrateful ass," I told him, my tone as hard as granite. If all templar were like this guy then I can see why Bethany is reluctant to go to Kirkwall.

"Dear, the man is right," agreed the redheaded woman. "They saved us. The maker understands."

The man stared at me for a few second before stepping back, the tension leaving his body. "Of course," he said as returned to stand next to the redheaded woman.

"I am Aveline Vallen," said the redheaded woman. She gestured to the man beside her. "This is my husband, Ser Wesley. We can hate each other when we're safe from the horde."

"You're quick to offer your allegiance," Hawke noted, her tone suspicious.

"Another blade between us and the darkspawn? Yes please." Carver said.

"So long as the horde is their first concern," Bethany commented.

Wesley expression was conflicted. "My duty is clear, but that..." he hesitated before reluctantly going to saying, "Is for another day. If we are granted that opportunity."

"We will be fine. We all will," Aveline said.

"How bad is that wound?" Leandra asked Wesley. "We may have some potions that can help."

"I think my shield arm's is a loss, even with healing," he answered glumly.

"Then you will have mine. As always," Aveline told him, briefly placing a comforting hand on his shoulder before turning to address us."For now, we move with you. North is cut off. We barely escape the main body of the horde."

"Then we're trapped!" Carver exclaimed. "The Wilds are to the south! That's no way out!"

"We have no choice," Hawke stated. "I doubt even Dresden will able to sneak pas tus that many darkspawn undetected. We go south."

(~)

As we made our way south, the atmosphere in a little band grew so tense you could cut it with a knife.

From what I could tell, the source of the tension was due to Wesley being a templar. Going on his use of the term apostate, I was guessing that Wesley belonged to some religions order that had the misguided belief that magic was wicked. With Bethany being a mage, there was bound to be friction between our two groups.

I wonder how he'll react when he finds out I'm a wizard.

We had just reached the summit of a small plateau over looked by a large cliff, when I detected a darkspawn approaching rapidly. The thing must have been massive as the ground literally start to shake from its pounding footsteps as it drew closer. With surprising speed it reached the summit and came charging towards us.

"Incoming!" I yelled, barely able to dive out of its path in time to avoid getting trampled.

Hawke, Bethany, Wesley and Aveline follow suit, leaping clear before the darkspawn could crush them beneath its feet.

Coming to a halt in the middle of the plateau, it let out a fierce bellow. The thing resembled an ogre from the Nevernever only with large gnarled horns. It was about ten feet tall and built like a brick house. Strapped all over it large body were large pieces of crude armour while wrapped around its waist was a large loincloth. The thing wasn't armed, but that made little difference as it could probably pick up a minivan with one handed and crash it like a soda can.

Casting its beady little eyes about, it noticed Carver and Leandra cowering nearby and lumbered toward them.

Carver, acting like the typical irrational teenager he was, recklessly rushed forward to confront the monstrosity. "You soulless bastards!" he cried and swung his blade at the monster.

The darskpawn blocked the blow with an armoured forearm, causing the sword to glance off harmlessly in a shower of sparks. With one massive hand, it snatched the hapless teen and hoisted him into air.

With grisly foresight I saw what it intend to do. But there was no way in hell I was just going to sit back and let a mother's child be killed right in front of her.

As we traveled, I had let the siblings do all the fighting so I could conserve my magical strength in case of an emergency like this. However, in my weakened state I wasn't sure if I possessed enough power to take down this thing. I would have to use one of my trump cards.

I extended a hand towards the monster and focused all the will I come muster into it. "Forzare!" I roared, and infused the spell with a portion soulfire.

Soulfire was the angelic equivalent of the Hellfire, fires of creation rather than those of destruction. With it I could enhanced any of my spells. But as the name implied, I was using my own soul as source of energy, so I had to careful with its use. If I poured too much into any given working, it could kill me.

You can imagine the darkspawn surprise. One moment it was about to smash Carver on the hard unyielding earth like an egg, only to find itself pounded into dirt by my giant magically conjured silver fist. Talk about irony. Or was it karma?

With a savage grin on my face, I bellowed, "Hulk smash!"

The thing was tough though. I could feel it biting and clawing at the construct that trapped it. While the pain of it was a small thing, the sensation was unpleasant as hell.

I glanced at Carver, who sat in the dirt where the darkspawn had dropped him, staring at the giant silver fist in disbelief. "You might want to move back," I advised him.

For once he didn't argue. He scrambled to his feet and made his way over to Leandra, who embraced him tightly in relief.

Using my conjured fist like a sledgehammer, I pummeled the thing until it was about six feet under. Satisfied that it was undoubtedly dead, I return my attention back to others to find them all staring at me with a stunned expression on their faces.

"By the Maker," Bethany whispered in awe. "What kind of magic was that?"

"Just a little something I picked up over the years," I lied. I wasn't about to tell her that it was a power granted to me by an archangel.

"A little something you picked?" Hawke repeated, deadpanned.

"Blood magic, no doubt," Wesley accused, distaste evident in his tone. "The darkspawn appear to be doing a fine job of driving you apostates out from your hidey-holes."

"Firstly, that wasn't blood magic," I snapped, annoyed by his bigoted attitude towards magic. "And secondly, I am not an apostate. Just nonpartisan. Theological Switzerland, that's me."

"What?" Wesley asked, clearly confused.

"I don't care what magic you used, you saved my son for which I am grateful." Leandra said,coming up to me and giving me a fierce hug."He is too, even if he would never admit it."

"We should go," Aveline advised. "Where there's one darkspawn, there are more."

"She's right," I confirmed, checking our surroundings with my wizard's senses. "There are a lot of darkspawn heading our way. There's too many to fight, we'd be swamped by sheer numbers."

Aveline stared at me in bewilderment. "How could you possibly know that?"

Oh, right. Aveline and Wesley weren't there when I told the others about my wizard's senses.

"I'll explain later; we need to go before — shit," I cursed as waves of darkspawn began clambering up the sides of the plateau.

"Well, this doesn't look good," Bethany said, her tone bleak.

"Looks like running away is no longer an option." Carver said, readying his sword. "We'll have to fight our way through somehow."

"Another one of those giant magical fists would certainly be handy right about now,"" Hawke quipped as she drew her bow.

I shook my head. "I haven't enough magic left in me to light a candle, much less conjure giant fists."

"Best keep clear then," she cautioned me. "Aveline, my siblings and I will handle it from here."

The four of engaged the darkspawn but it quickly became apparent that we were only delaying the enviable. Dozens of darkspawn had fallen, but that meant little. Their numbers had not been diminished by any significant measure. They could fight as hard as they wanted—but despite everything, in the end it was going to be futile.

"There's no end to them," Bethany cried out in despair.

Her anguish cut me like a knife, the overconfident promise I had made to her about not letting anything happen to her or family replaying in my head.

If only there was some way we could give the darkspawn the slip but didn't see how it would be possible with our backs up against a cliff, surrounded on all sides.

A solution came to me then, one so simple I couldn't believe I didn't think of it sooner. I could open up a Way to the Nevernever for us to escape through.

I was about to consult the red jewel affixed in the centre of my pentacle amulet for a safe escape route, it containing my mother's vast knowledge of The Ways, when I sensed above us a mass of nauseating energy so thick and heavy that it made my hair stand on end—a dead giveaway of a hostile supernatural presence.

Seconds later a low thunderous growl filled the air, causing everyone to freeze in place, even the darkspawn.

We all turned towards the source of the sound. Perched on the cliff top behind us was a massive pair of folded maroon wings. With a whoosh, they unfurled to reveal a freaking dragon!

The thing was the size of a small plane, and like prehistoric birds from the Jurassic period, possessed a blend of avian and reptilian features. With a deafening shriek, it dove off the cliff top and swooped down towards us.

We hit the deck as it soared past, fire spewing from it maw, setting many of the darkspawn alight. As it went, it swept others up in its claws and mouth before dropping them from a fatal height.

With a heavy thud, it came down to land in the middle of the plateau. It ignored us, choosing to focus solely on the darkspawn, spitting fire at them and lashed out with its tail and claws.

In seconds the slaughter was over; leave the dragon standing alone amidst the flames, a dead darkspawn clutched in one huge claw.

It regarded us for a moment, before being engulfed in a bright swirling light. The light shrank in size until it faded away to reveal a well aged woman.

Her face was mostly smooth, possessing only a few age lines. Her eyes were the colour of amber, like those of an animal, and were ringed with maroon eye shadow. Her pure white hair was stylised into horns, like those of her dragon form, with a flowing mane that reached just past her shoulders.

Her maroon outfit was a sleeveless low cut leather dress with a long train and black wore a matching collar that encompassed her entire neck. Extending from its ends to cover her shoulders were large black feathers. Encasing each one of her limbs was study steel armour. A steel tiara, one that matched the bony crest the dragon had, rested on forehead while small matching steel hooped earrings with a dangling fang hung from her ears.

Discarding the dead darkspawn, she approached us; calmly walking through the still burning fire. She stopped just shy of us, and with an amused smirk remarked, "Well, well, what have we here?"

Hell's Bells, this day just keeps getting better and better.

If anyone would be so kind as to let me know of any grammar or spelling error, I'll be grateful for the help.