Hearthfire, 3E410 - A choice to live

"Why did you join Grey Wardens?" Lucanis tried to sit up, then settled on propping himself up on an elbow. "Since we're stuck here with nothing to do, let's get acquainted," he smiled.

"It was an accident, really," Anders smirked. "I didn't think of it at all. I got blighted. The choice was to die or to join Grey Wardens."

"So, blight does not always mean death," Lucanis looked up. "But you worked very hard to prevent it getting into my blood. Why?"

"Blight does mean death," Anders shook his head. "It takes longer with Grey Wardens, but the result is the same. We all hear the song one day..."

"The song?"

"The song of the Blight. The Call of the Black City. The moment you join Grey Wardens, your life is forfeit."

"It's no different than joining the Crows," Lucanis shrugged. "Especially if you are born into it, like me."

"The Crows don't fight darkspawn," Anders objected.

"Not if we can help it," Lucanis smiled. "But tell me about that accident that made you join Grey Wardens. Unless you'd rather not talk of it, of course."

"Well, I was imprisoned, waiting to be executed or made tranquil, which was probably worse... I was starving, too... They weren't taking any chances with a blood mage," he smirked. "I thought it was another feverish dream - someone coming to rescue me... but no, it was Wolf."

"You dreamt of a wolf?" Lucanis sounded surprised.

"No, it was his name - Wolf," Anders smiled. "The Hero of Ferelden, the Conqueror of the Fifth Blight, Warden-Commander Asgarsen..."

"Lord Inquisitor Wolf Asgarsen Trevelyan," Lucanis nodded.

"No, not yet, it was just after the Blight. The Grey Wardens Order of Ferelden had just been reinstated. It had exactly two Wardens - Wolf and Alistair... yeah, those were the days..." He sighed and smiled to the memory.

"I've heard of that, didn't think it was true."

"Oh, it was true... there was another Grey Warden, a three hundred year old mage... Avernus... he's still alive, and Maker help you should you cross him," he smirked. "But he likes to keep to himself. The song is often loud in his ears, he says..."

"And so Warden-Commander came to visit you in prison," Lucanis prompted Anders to continue.

"Wolf, yes," Anders looked at him seeing someone entirely different. "I was asleep, he woke me up. Said it was time to go. Go where? I could barely move, I was so weak. They no longer bothered locking my cell, there was no point, I could not walk on my own... He said if we didn't leave, they would come for me to make me tranquil, that everything was prepared... He put my hand on his wrist... it was scarred. But he was not a mage! 'Can you perform your ritual without a staff?' He asked. What ritual? I was confused. 'We have to go, you need strength,' he insisted. He wanted me to use his blood!" Anders looked up, meeting Lucanis' gaze. "It was either that, or die or be made tranquil..."

"I know what I would choose," Lucanis nodded.

"Do you? I never used someone else's blood before! Only my own..." Anders paused, running a finger over the scars on his wrist. "Always my own... taking someone else's blood is exactly what is wrong with blood magic!"

"But he insisted."

"That we should leave. He was not giving up on me... I did wonder why... he later told me."

"And so? You took his blood," Lucanis prompted him again.

"Just enough to cross the lake," Anders nodded. "I knew exactly where to go, how much strength I would need to get across... I'd escaped a dozen times from that dungeon already, over the years..."

"What..?"

"The Circle Tower in Ferelden - that's where I grew up," Anders smiled. "I came to like that place in the end, even miss it. It was a prison of course, but it was also home..."

"That is weird."

"It's weird being a mage."

"So. You took his blood and escaped," Lucanis was speaking softly, giving Anders the time to relive the memory. "And arrived some place safe?"

"The Soldier's Peak - an old Grey Wardens' fortress up in the Highlands of Ferelden. I don't remember much of the trip. We stopped a few times, Wolf insisted I repeated the ritual, took more of his blood... then... I passed out, I think. I remember getting cold, so cold... especially once we got to the mountains... I was told later they strapped me to his back, covered with blankets to keep me warm... I... I still can't believe it." Anders looked up, Lucanis was watching him.

"He decided to keep you alive and he did everything in his power to make it so," Lucanis nodded. "It's like a contract."

"But a contract with whom? And why?"

"With himself," Lucanis shrugged. "Did he see you as his child, perhaps? His son?"

"No, he didn't," Anders smiled. "No. It wasn't that." He paused, then continued with his story. "We made it to the keep, there was no longer any need for blood, there was food and warmth and I should have recovered... but I was dying instead. I could feel it."

"The Blight?"

"Exactly. His Grey Warden taint. I didn't even know you could get infected."

"So then - what? They snapped their fingers and you became a Grey Warden?" Lucanis shook his head.

"Well... no. Avernus boosted my health - without blood magic. I could take my chances, the taint is not the same as the Blight. I could have survived... I could try, anyhow... I refused. I went through the Joining." Anders fell silent. He got up and walked to the opposite wall, picked up a piece of charcoal from the fire and drew the symbol of Joining: two griffons flanking a silver cup. He added a skull underneath. "It's deadly for many, but I survived."

"You could have walked away but you didn't... but why?"

"I don't rightly know, Lucanis," Anders shook his head. "I guess... I wanted to stay."

"I never had a choice like that," Lucanis sighed. "I was born to the Crows. My parents were killed when I was young, I was raised by my grandmother... I am nothing else but an assassin. I don't know how to be anything else."

"I remember Zevran saying that as well," Anders smiled. "He was a Crow too."

"The name sounds familiar..."

"Zevran Arainai, an elf... a slave..."

"From Antiva City?" Lucanis sat up. "Really? He is alive?"

"He was, last time I saw him," Anders grinned. "Always with Wolf. I think they left together."

"Left - where?"

"Left Thedas. Wolf returned home, and Zevran came with him."

"Waaaait... Wolf Asgarsen wasn't a Trevelyan then?"

"No, he was just Wolf Asgarsen, an agent from a far away land... He got recalled after some twenty years in Thedas... and he left... not long ago..." Anders' voice trailed off.

"You miss him."

"I do."

"That's family for you."

They sat looking into the fire for a time, then Anders got up and walked over to Lucanis.

"Lie down, let me see your wound. You've been upright for too long." He gently pushed him down on the pillows. "I'm not giving up on you yet."

Frostfall, 3E410 - To face a god

"Hey, are you alright?" Lucanis touched Anders who was thrashing in his sleep. Anders sat up. "A nightmare?"

"An Archdemon," Anders rubbed his face and shook his head. "We have another Blight."

"What..? You get it from a dream?" Lucanis was perplexed.

"It's not a dream," Anders got up and started making coffee. "We know it's a Blight when an Archdemon rises to lead the darkspawn horde turning it into an army. The Archdemon speaks to all blighted creatures... including Grey Wardens. It's like the song I told you about. This is his pep talk."

"Ugh, sounds disgusting," Lucanis shivered.

"Terrifying, rather," Anders shot him a glance. "Because we look through the eyes of the Archdemon. We see the size of that horde. The horde that is coming for us, the horde that we must stop. The last Blight was before my time... I'd have to ask Alistair. But from what I've been told... this new horde looks worse than ever before."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"It is marching onto the Head Quarters. That's where I'm going," Anders said firmly.

"Then I am coming with you," Lucanis nodded.


"What..? Why? That's Grey Wardens business. No one needs to die in that battle, besides us," Anders shook his head.

"I'm coming, don't argue." Lucanis stood firm, Spite standing next to him, ready to merge in. "When are we leaving?"

"Soon..." Anders sighed. "Oh, if you must... I need to... well... I need to consult Solas..."

What Anders didn't tell Lucanis was that he thought he saw more than just a dragon in his vision. He saw a figure behind the dragon too, and he wondered whether that was one of the escaped elven gods. If they were the ones who created the Blight, it would figure, and it would make it all far worse than ever before. But Anders didn't want to say anything until he was sure. He went to another room and dropped to his knees to meditate. He hoped Solas would answer.

"Ah, there you are!" Solas did answer. "Yes, one of the gods is making her move! She's the one who created the Blight, and she plans to destroy Grey Wardens as a symbolic gesture. She does not need to do it really, but it will be bad for morale of everyone else."

"It's bad for my morale already," Anders said darkly. "But it explains why she'd target Head Quarters. Apart from the fact that the fortress is poorly manned."

"But it never fell before," Solas objected.

"It was never staffed with idiots before," Anders scowled. "They stand no chance."

"And you alone are going to turn the tide of that battle?" Solas laughed.

"No. But it is my duty to try."

"Well, it's your chance to see what you are dealing with, granted," Solas softened his stance. "She'll bring a dragon - an Archdemon, you know this, I expect. That dragon is what grants her immortality. You cannot harm her while that dragon lives."

"So, kill the Archdemon as with any other Blight," Anders summarised.

"Yes... but expect a few surprises. You are facing a god this time, mortal!" Solas glared at Anders, then shook his head. "Oh alright, I'll help you. There is an eluvian in the basement of the Lighthouse, you found it I trust? It will lead you directly to the Grey Wardens fortress. It is one way only, so take with you everything you need. And good luck to you, Warden."

...

"We won't return here, assuming we survive," Anders relayed his conversation with Solas to Lucanis. "We'll pick up all our things... such as they are... we should have one last good meal before leaving... Are you sure you want to go all the way? It won't be pretty."

"I am coming with you, I already said," Lucanis nodded. "You need me to fight that goddess."

"Dragon first!" Spite hissed. "Then we take out the goddess! It's a contract!"

"We'll try," Anders smiled.



...

The eluvian from the Lighthouse deposited Anders and Lucanis in the dungeons of the Head Quarters fortress. They looked around - there was no eluvian to go back. They heard fighting above, the goddess must have already started her assault.

"Darkspawn," Anders flared his nostrils. "The fortress is overrun by darkspawn!" He swore. "There was an attack some time ago, the darkspawn must have been testing the defenses. And found them lacking! Come on! Let's see how bad it is!"

They fought their way through some stray darkspawn in the dungeon and took a grand staircase going up - it looked like the main entrance. Anders had never been to the Head Quarters before, but if that fortress had any sense to its arrangement, there would be an outer wall and a keep in the middle, and the First Warden would likely preside over a large table in the central hall... for all the good it would do him. Anders scowled at the memory of his last encounter with the First Warden but pressed on. "He's likely going to try and arrest me," he scoffed. "Well, let him try. With darkspawn overrunning the fortress, he needs every Warden he can get, rebels included."

The grand staircase did indeed lead to a grand central hall with a grand table in the middle with the First Warden studying the map of the fortress. "A bit late for that," Anders thought.

"Where is darkspawn coming from?" He barked. "Report!"


"From everywhere," someone answered. Several Wardens stood around the table. "We are overwhelmed."

"Nonsense! This fortress never fell before! Not once! And it won't fall in this Blight either! Besides, there is no sign of an Archdemon, this may not even be a Blight!" He barked again and glared at everyone in turn.

"But the dreams..." someone tried to remind him.

"Dreams! Grey Wardens always get those nightmares! It doesn't mean a thing!" He shook his head and slammed his fist on the table. "We'll cut them all down!"

"Wardens! Prepare for battle!" Someone shouted and Anders thought that the voice was familiar.


"Warden Davrin! Get a grip of yourself! I am the Commander here!" First Warden cut him off. Davrin. So he felt the Call as well and got there, like every other Warden in the country.

"Yes, Sir!" Davrin stood to attention.

Anders grew angrier by the minute. All this show... while darkspawn were breaking through the gates.

"We have to act - NOW!" He approached the table. "Darkspawn will soon break through."

"Anders! Warden Anders! How dare you show your face! How dare you..!!! Guards!!!! Arrest him and throw him in the dungeons!!!"

"Well, that was predictable," Lucanis smirked to himself, staying at the back of the room. He noticed several other people that didn't look like Wardens.

"Sir?" Several Wardens standing next to Anders looked at the First Warden in surprise. "Arrest him? Now?"

"You heard me!!!" First Warden continued shouting.

Anders looked around the room. He spotted Antoine and a few other Wardens he knew, he saw looks of incredulity on the faces of others. Antoine nodded. Anders smiled.

"Well, I tried talking!" He took a step towards the First Warden and punched him in the jaw. "But there's no time for that."

It was hard to believe that a fierce warrior such as the First Warden would actually collapse from a single punch to the jaw, but there he was, rolling around under the table, unable to get up in his shiny suit of full ceremonial plate. Anders smirked and looked around. Taash was threatening Davrin with a punch of her own, while the rest of his merry crew were grinning ear to ear.

"Well, what do we do now?" A dwarven woman asked. "You punched the First Warden. But do you have a plan?" She grinned at Anders.

"Err... beat up the darkspawn?" He grinned back. "But jokes aside, we should expect an Archdemon."

"Agreed, we've all had the dream," the woman nodded. "I am Evka. What is your plan?"


"I don't think that Anders has a plan," Antoine stepped in. "But you do, dear. What is it?"

"I do," she nodded. "But he is still in command," she pointed at the First Warden under the table.

"You are in command," Anders shook his head and glared and Davrin who was about to protest. "Because you have a plan."

"Well, if you are all sure..." Evka looked at everyone in the room and all Wardens nodded. "Very well..."

Her plan was sound. They didn't have nearly enough Wardens to defend the fortress, so they decided to let it fall. They would focus their efforts on the Archdemon. A dragon would surely try to land on the tallest watch tower, the one with a large flat roof, and coincidentally, with a dragon trap. That's where they would face him. Whoever survived long enough.

"What about that trap? Can it be used?" Anders asked.

"It was built for the First Blight and never tested," Antoine shrugged. "Not once. We have no clue."

"Then what better time to test it but now!" Anders grinned and Evka nodded.

"We'll try," she agreed. "Good luck, everyone."


Ordinarily Wardens would agree who should slay the Archdemon because that person was going to die. In this case they dispensed with that tradition because hardly anyone expected to live anyway. Whoever gets to the dragon, kills it - it was as simple as that.

Darkspawn were everywhere and fighting was much too fierce for the few Wardens that could fight. They abandoned the keep and focused on reaching the watch tower, but it looked like the darkspawn were being directed to cut them off on every turn. That meant of course that the Wardens were headed in the right direction.

Anders and his team took the lead. Dorian dazzled them all with his battle spells, Emmrich summoned spirits of the dead to help, Bellara shot lightning at every approaching monster, Harding was weaving in and out of battle hardly seen, her bow as deadly as ever. Taash and Davrin took point in melee. Anders was leading the way with his fire and ice and Lucanis took on the largest foes swooping down on them on the spirit wings of Spite. It was a spectacular show, but the best part was still to come.

"Where is the Archdemon?" Davrin scowled at Anders during a pause in fighting. "There's plenty of darkspawn, but that's old news! What if that dragon lands some place else?"

"It cannot land any place else, it won't fit," Anders shook his head. "This fortress was built with a purpose. This tower is the only place..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence - the dragon was upon them, and the goddess rose in its wake.

"The dragooooooooon!!!!!" Davrin shouted and charged. His bravery was undeniable, his recklessness too.

"Davrin!!!" Anders shouted after him. "The trap!!!!"

The plan had been to lure the dragon into the trap, not to spook it off. After a few swings with his sword and a few burns from the dragon's fire, Davrin stepped back, heeding the plan.

Finally, between Davrin and Taash slashing at the dragon's nose and everyone else bombarding it with magic and arrows, the dragon was in position.

"NOW!!!!" Anders bellowed and the Wardens sprung the trap.

The dragon was caught. Great harpoons pierced its body and chains sliced through its wings. Davrin shot to it, aiming to plant his sword in its head... but the goddess behind the dragon had other plans.

"Rise, my pet!" She called to it extending blighted tendrils towards its body. "The Blight will give you new life!"

"And a new head!!!" Taash could not believe her eyes - the dragon grew a second head.


"What..?" Davrin stopped, perplexed. "Two heads..? So which one do I..?"

"Either head will do!!" Anders shouted, trying to snap him out of his indecision. "Take the left one!"

The battle continued.

"Solas did warn me about surprises," Anders swore under his breath. "Maker's arse! Two heads! And I bet when we cut them off, three new ones will grow back!"

He wasn't wrong, it was exactly what happened. Taash's cursing was curdling the air around them, but she was undeterred to remove every head that grew back. Davrin was charging again and again, hoping to be the one to deliver the final blow. When only one head remained and none were growing back, Anders caught sight of Lucanis.

"When the last head falls and the dragon is dead, take a shot at the goddess - it will be our only chance." Lucanis nodded and prepared to leap.

"And now you die, dragoooooon!" Everyone could hear Davrin's cry as he plunged his blade into the final head of the dragon. The dragon went limp and the goddess shrieked. Lucanis lept and Spite carried him right to the goddess' head, daggers extended. He did not miss - he slashed her neck, and yet she did not die.

"NOOOOO!!!" Her cry was heard for miles. She vanished, darkspawn fell and fighting subsided. The Wardens won the battle, if not the war.

"What?!" Davrin glared at the dead dragon. "Why am I still alive? I slayed that beast! I should be a hero! A martyr! What kind of double-crossing dragon was that?!"

"Plenty of Wardens died today," Evka came up to him. "Shut up."

Frostfall, 3E410 - A silver cup

"There you are," Dorian walked up to Anders. "We've been looking for you. But it's hard to find someone in the Fade."

"We were at the Lighthouse," Anders smiled. "We could not leave - Lucanis was injured."

"In the battle against the dragon in Treviso," Dorian nodded. "We figured as much."

"Glad you all made it here."

"Solas contacted me... You aren't the only mage around, it appears," Dorian smirked. "He really is Fen'Harel, you know. As good as a god. Entered my dreams and everything."

"Mighty annoying, if you ask me," Anders glared. "It's worse at the Lighthouse."

"I would imagine it is," Dorian nodded.

They stood in silence for a while, looking over the site of the battle with the goddess' Archdemon. The dragon lay dead, with all its heads cut off, but the goddess escaped.

"I failed," Lucanis approached them. "I did not kill her."

"You wounded her but she did not die," Anders corrected him. "She is a goddess, after all. Now we know it isn't that simple."

"But we killed her Archdemon," Dorian pointed out. "She is now mortal again. She can be killed."

"Then next time we strike several times!" Lucanis said forcefully. "I shall not fail again!"

The Wardens that were still alive, started laying out the dead for the pyre.

"A lot of Wardens died today," Anders watched for a while. "I need to stay and help. I'll find you later."

No one argued. Davrin and Anders joined the other Wardens caring for the wounded and the dead. Anders got busy healing. Emmrich too remained, providing last rites to the dead. Not many of them were Nevarran, but he adapted to serve other traditions as well. Souls were souls, they all needed release.

It's been many hours, and Anders was getting tired. He'd already cut his wrists several times to boost his magic to continue healing. Evka checked on him every now and again, and finally declared that the healer needed healing himself.

"Since you put me in command, this is an order: you must rest," she took his arm. "We have food, someone is actually cooking something... one of your friends, I believe." She escorted him to a make-shift kitchen. Lucanis was stirring in a cauldron over a campfire. There was roast and bread and... coffee.

"I did not know I could cook in a cauldron, but after all it's just a pot," he smiled. "I don't know what it is, but the others say it is stew."

"I'll have coffee," Anders dropped to the ground before the fire. "I am too tired to eat."

"Sleep first, perhaps?" Lucanis handed him a cup. "There are tents over there."

"There are wounded over there," Anders pointed in the opposite direction. "Wounded in need of healing."

"Alright, but you must use my blood from now on," Lucanis straightened up.

"What..? No! No, I won't," Anders glared at him.

"Then sleep. Eat. Rest. The tents are over there." Lucanis stood firm.

People were coming and going, the warmth of the fire made Anders feel just how tired he was. He gave in. Sleep first. Then eat. Then...

"He doesn't know when to stop, does he?" Evka was helping Lucanis move Anders onto a bedroll. "Is he always like that?"

"I think it is in his nature."

...

It's been a few days and things stabilised. The dead had been consigned to the flames, much to Emmrich's dismay at such a barbaric tradition. The wounded either joined the dead or recovered. The fortress lay in ruin, or at least that's how it looked, with its central dome collapsed. There were still enough livable spaces left, but the question was whether the Wardens could bear to stay in it.

"The archives and the vaults are still intact," Evka summarised the situation. "That's the important part. The question is whether we should leave a small contingent of Wardens here to guard it. I don't envy anyone who has to remain..."

To her surprise, several Wardens stepped forward.

"Someone must stay," one of them said. "Wardens will be returning here, it is a symbol of our Order. Yes, the central dome lies in ruin, but the heart is still beating. My wounds are too grave for any serious fighting, but a few stray darkspawn will not take me down. This fortress is a beacon. It must remain lit."

And so it was decided. Wardens whose wounds needed time to heal, would remain. The others would move to an outpost to the East, still in the Anderfels - another Grey Warden fortress that lay abandoned for centuries when it became too costly to maintain. It too was partly ruined, but enough of it still remained.

Anders stood on the battlements looking around. He wished he could have seen the Head Quarters when it was still intact.

"The library was over there," Davrin joined him, no longer clad in his shiny armour. "I think much of it is still intact under the rubble. The dorms are that way," he pointed out another part of the fortress. "They were always like that - half in ruin. Drafty and cold... and I would not have it any other way."

"You trained here?" Anders looked at him. With all the animosity they never took the time to talk.

"Yes, this was my home," Davrin nodded. "For years... First as a recruit, then as a young Warden... training others, no less," he smirked. "It was so quiet... The Blight had been defeated not twenty years before, the Wardens could relax... Yes, something was going on in the South... but you hardly heard of it here."

"It wasn't a Blight, I understand why it didn't make ripples," Anders agreed.

"Darkspawn was still involved, we should not have ignored it," Davrin said darkly.

"We didn't," Anders shot him a glance. "The split in the Order of the Grey started centuries before the last Blight. Regional chapters were not good enough for the Head Quarters..."

"Fortresses being abandoned..."

"Outposts left to rot..."

"Our ranks shrank to nothing..."

"Almost," Anders smiled. "There are still two or three Wardens in Ferelden."

"I read about that... about the last Blight," Davrin looked down and shuffled uncomfortably. "Two Wardens raising an army... I didn't think it was true."

"Yeah... that's what Alistair said when he returned from the Head Quarters having delivered his report... He said he wasn't believed."

"His report must still be here," Davrin looked at Anders. "The archives are largely intact. You could take it back to Ferelden..."

"No, we know what happened in Ferelden. Let the records stay here for future Wardens to find."

"You think we still have a future?" Davrin looked up.

"Has darkspawn been defeated? No. Grey Wardens will rise again, of that I am certain."

Anders patted Davrin on the back. He simply was a young Warden, filled with the glory of the Order, having trained at the HQ. But the glory just lost its luster, and Davrin got a glimpse of the real Blight. "Just a glimpse," Anders thought, watching Davrin brood. "He saw just one real battle... But he is no longer drunk."

"Come on," Anders said aloud. "We should return to Minrathous. Regroup. This Blight is led by gods rather than an Archdemon, but it is still a Blight."

"The Wardens..." Davrin started protesting, but Anders cut him off.

"The same as Wolf and Alistair who raised an army of non-Wardens during the last Blight, we have to get allies from every corner of Northern Thedas to face the gods. Wardens included. But not just them. You can stay here if you prefer, but I must return to Minrathous."

"No... you are right... Warden," Davrin said slowly, then looked Anders in the eye, calling him "Warden" for the first time since they met. "This Blight is bigger than ever."

...

Anders did not hurry to leave. He would not return to the Head Quarters again. Next time he needed to speak to the Wardens, he would go to the other fortress where Evka was leading the troops. Yet something still felt unfinished. "Grey Wardens will rise again," he repeated to himself what he had said to Davrin. "Not if we cannot perform the Joining... Where does Archdemon blood come from?" He wondered. "You only need a drop for each mixture, but even so, it would run out... but it never does. They say it is stored in a vault at the HQ... somewhere here... I should see."

He went to the library - the vaults were said to be beneath it. The library was largely intact, the archives below it too, and the vaults in the depths were as well protected as ever. Massive doors were guarding whatever was inside. It all looked secure, and Anders left - after all, they did have Archdemon blood at Vigil Keep in Ferelden, and if they had it, then other chapters likely had it too, if any other chapters remained...

He passed through the archives, looking at huge bookcases filled with leather-bound volumes and leather-encased scrolls - it all looked secure. There were chests and cupboards as well, all intact. A few items were scattered around the floor, not surprising after all the fighting. Anders picked them up, returned them to the shelves. Books, scrolls, boxes... what an archive should be. Then something else caught his eye in the corner - something made of metal. He picked it up - it was a silver cup. "I drank from this one," Anders froze. It was the cup used in his Joining.

...

"You drank from this cup," Anders heard a voice far away. "Take it with you."

He was at the Head Quarters fortress before it got destroyed, yet it was already in ruin. Grey Warden symbols were crumbling into dust - busts, plaques and statues celebrating First Wardens of all ages. The only thing that remained, was a single griffon crest mounted over the door. "The crest is in my blood, not on my armour," Anders thought. It was something that Wolf used to say whenever people complained that his Wardens did not look the part. Vigil Keep was not covered in crests, and Soldier's Peak had hardly any insignia either. But the Head Quarters... "Oh dear."

Anders walked through a gallery lined with illustrouos suits of armour, each used to belong to a First Warden of the past. Each First Warden apparently fell in battle, yet their armour hardly had a scratch. "Just how deep did the corruption go?" Anders wondered. Real Grey Wardens were not entombed at the fortress. Real Grey Wardens died in the Deep Roads when the Calling blotted out all else, their corpses buried under all the darkspawn they'd slain, consumed by the blight, almost turned into darkspawn themselves... except for that crest in their blood... Grey Warden taint wasn't the same as darkspawn.

"It's time to go, let the past remain in the past," the voice seemed to come closer.

From this moment forth you are a Grey Warden. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten... and that one day, we shall join you.

The words spoken at the Joining rang in Anders' ears. A promise to those who did not survive it. Yet clearly, some were not satisfied with the shadows. Some were seeking glory. Should they be remembered as well? Did they even deserve it? Anders was getting angry. All this guilding! Shiny armours, rich decor, opulence on every turn... how could it have happened? Perhaps it was right that the Head Quarters should fall.

He looked at the cup in his hand. He knew it was the one he drank from - it bore the scars of Ostagar, it was dented and scratched, but the griffon crest still marked it for what it was. Yes, he would take it home.

"Come, let us not linguer in the past," the voice was saying. "Grey Wardens have a duty still. The gods await."

...

"You've been sitting here for hours. I was getting worried." Lucanis sat next to Anders on the floor amidst Grey Warden archives.

"This cup..." Anders was still holding it.

"...brought back memories, I see," Lucanis nodded.

"Yeah... and thoughts..."

"Doubts... But this is who you are. The crest is in your blood, not on your armour."

"The same as yours," Anders shot him a glance.

"The Crows? Oh yes," Lucanis nodded. "I have no cause or duty, but my life is forfeit all the same."

"Have you ever wanted it to be different?"

"I have, which is why I never married," he looked straight ahead, seeing someone in the distance. "My children would have been Crows, my wife too, even though she was no assassin... the woman I longed to marry and never did."

"It's like our taint... Grey Wardens cannot have children."

They sat in silence for a while, then Lucanis moved closer and put his arm around Anders' shoulders.

"We are much the same, you and I," he said softly and Anders felt his breath on the skin. "You like walking close to the edge."

"And you rush head long into danger," Anders smiled.

"Good thing I've got wings."

...

"Right, you come with me," Anders said decisively. "The gods can wait."

"Where are we going?" Lucanis was still holding Anders close, still feeling the warmth of his breath, inhaling his scent, sweet with a biting finish.

"Soldier's Peak..." Anders smiled and kissed him again. "Home. They'll say silly things, but they mean well."

"'A Warden and his Crow' is what they are going to say," Lucanis grinned. "That's alright, I don't mind."

"As long as you are prepared," Anders nodded. "Hey, Spite! Give us a portal."

There was no answer.

"Determination! Come on! There's someone there I want you to meet."

"Avernus?" They heard Spite's hissing voice and a spectral crow landed on Lucanis' shoulder. "It's been a while..."

A portal appeared.

"I did not know Spite could do that!" Lucanis stared at it in fascination.

"Come," Anders got up. "Before he changes his mind."

Frostfall, 3E410 - A Warden and his Crow

"That's the best I could do!" Spite hissed when they emerged on the other side of the portal.

"You brought us to the Circle Tower!" Anders glared at him. "A blood mage and an abomination - and you brought us HERE?!!!"

"The Veil is strong over Ferelden!" Spite hissed. "The mages at the tower weakened it with portals of their own - that's the closest I could do!"

"Anders! Is that you?" A voice behind them made Anders spin around. "It is you! Returned to serve your sentence, I hope?" A templar stood behind them, sword drawn. "You've got guts, I'll give you that, but brains... I'm not so sure!"

"I don't want to fight you!" Anders flared his nostrils but did not ready any spells. "The Circle of Magi is no more, First Enchanter Irving is long dead and the templars no longer serve the Chantry. Let's call it quits. I am only here in passing."

"All that is true but blood magic is still outlawed, as well as abominations," the templar glared at Lucanis.

"He can sense Spite?" Lucanis asked Anders in a low voice. "Really?"

"He is a real templar," Anders nodded. "We still have them in Ferelden."

"That Grey Warden crest will not save you now!" The templar glared. "There is no Blight!"

"Actually, there is," Anders met the templar's stare. "But I expect you don't care. Who is the Knight-Commander now? We could use the help."

"With a Blight? There is a Blight? Or are you just trying to get me to release you?!" The templar started sounding menacing and Anders lost patience.

"Like I said - you don't care," he readied his staff. "Watch out for that darkspawn behind you!"

"Liar!!!" The templar shouted and charged Anders, but Anders dodged and shot a fireball at something behind the templar. He did not lie about the darkspawn. Several were rising from under the ground.

Fortunately for the templar, he wasn't blinded by his desire to arrest Anders. He quickly realised that the fireball wasn't meant for him. He turned around and together they finished the darkspawn.

"The Blight..?" The templar was perplexed. "You better come in, if Grey Wardens need help..."

"No, I am on my way to see Alistair," Anders shook his head. "He will decide when to call in help. This Blight is not like the others. Have you had darkspawn here before? Didn't think so... Keep watch. You'll hear from us soon enough."

With the templar off their backs, Anders and Lucanis took a row boat to the mainland shore of the lake. The Circle Tower was no longer Anders' home.

"A tower on an island in the middle of a lake..." Lucanis was watching it as the fog was slowly closing around it. "And they wonder why mages feel imprisoned," he shook his head.

"We were not allowed to leave the island, templars were guarding it," Anders nodded. "But now that the Circles have fallen, it's supposed to be better for the mages within. Yet you've seen that templar... I wonder if anything changed at all."

"He was going to make you serve your sentence," Lucanis said with caution, not wanting to reopen old wounds. "He didn't mean... you know... the one you escaped from?"

"I wondered that myself," Anders gave him a look. "They were going to make me tranquil for my blood magic... or execute me instead if I was lucky. But I've been to the Tower since then... a few years after the Blight... and no one tried to arrest me or follow up on that sentence. Of course the old First Enchanter was still alive then... also Knight-Commander Gregoir was still in charge of the templars... You know, the people who've seen the real horrors of blood magic as well as the Blight. May be the new governers aren't as nuanced in their judgement."

"But that would mean that all that mages-templar war was for naught," Lucanis shook his head.

"Wouldn't be the first time..."

...

The tavern on the Eastern shore of the lake was where Anders was headed, hoping to get horses there on loan. He didn't exactly bring any funds. The Drydens at the Soldier's Peak used to trade with the innkeep, if it was still the same innkeep as before... So many ifs... Anders hadn't returned to the area in many years. Well, they would find out, he thought and pushed the door.

"Warden," the innkeep greeted him politely seeing the crest on his armour. "What can I get you?"

"Hendrik? Still here, I see, after all those years... I am..." Anders grinned, but the innkeep interrupted him with a grin of his own.

"Anders, my boy! Haven't seen you in ages! All dressed up in company leathers, I see. Well, it suits you." Hendrik busied himself preparing some mystery drink. "Won't be long..."

"Yeah, there was cause for the parade..." Anders answered somber, the scenes of mass funeral at the Head Quarters still rising before his eyes. "And anyhow... well, never mind." He decided not to mention the Blight. Ferelden would take it to heart, and Anders didn't want to worry the people before it was time.

"The Blight is rising again," Hendrik said darkly, setting a mug of steaming something in front of Anders. "We're not blind. And you are back..."

"Alistair's the one in charge," Anders smiled and inhaled the familiar aroma rising from his mug. "You remembered the nutmeg."

"No one has their coffee quite in this way," Hendrik smiled. "But what can I get your friend?" He turned to Lucanis who was watching them with a certain degree of fascination. He'd never been to Ferelden and it wasn't long ago that he met Anders, yet in that short time they somehow became best friends... or may be more. He didn't want to analyse it just yet, instead he allowed Ferelden to take him in.

"Something hot would be nice," he answered. "Coffee if you have it... in a more traditional way," he shot a glance at Anders' mug. "Or else... something else..."

"Is that an Antivan accent I hear?" Hendrik beamed at him. "Then I won't serve you coffee, for ours will taste awful to you. We don't get the good beans down here..." he sighed. "Instead, try some tea."

He went about assembling a "special blend" tea for Lucanis, taking a pinch of dried herbs from various jars and pots lining the shelves. He returned with a tea pot and a jar of honey.

"Let this brew for a bit, then strain it into a cup," he instructed Lucanis placing a strainer next to the tea pot. "Nobody wants dregs in their tea. It may be a bit bitter to taste, so here's honey. I hope you'll like the blend," he smiled.

"Lemon grass, ginger, cranberries... and something else I cannot place," Lucanis inhaled the aroma. "Sweet with a biting finish," he smiled.

While Lucanis was getting to know his tea, Anders asked about horses and Hendrik took him to the stables to make arrangements.

"Never took you for one to fall for a man," Hendrik said when they were out in the yard. "Or is it like Wolf and Zevran?"

"No, Lucanis isn't like Zevran," Anders rubbed his chin. "And neither am I..."

"Best friends, then?" Hendrik grinned. He'd seen it all, having run that tavern all of his life.

"You tell me," Anders faced him. "I'm still unsure what happened."

"Is that why you brought him to Ferelden? To figure things out?" Hendrik patted Anders on the shoulder. "Don't worry, kid. Life is a messy affair. You meet people along the way... and sometimes you get the spark. Like Wolf always carried a torch for you."

"And Morrigan."

"And Morrigan," Hendrik nodded. "For years... Other people just pass through your life... You lose people too... Wolf left, and only Zevran could follow."

"They were best friends, from where Wolf was standing," Anders nodded.

"They were much more than best friends, also from where Wolf was standing," Hendrik corrected him. "It's not about what you do during the night. It's about what you feel. As to how you choose to express it..." he shrugged. "Who cares. Exceptions don't change what you are."

Anders nodded, still looking confused and unsure. He was forty five, yet he felt like a kid of fifteen again. Hendrik smiled. He remembered when Anders was fifteen. That day when he appeared on the doorstep of his tavern, having swam across the lake. The happiness and exhilaration on his face for having escaped, for being free... even though he had no idea what to do with that freedom. He ordered the most audacious cup of coffee he could think of - a special brew, plenty of milk, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg...

He could barely finish his drink and templars were upon him. A year of solitary confinement followed. Anders was no longer a kid when he was finally released back into the tower proper. Something snapped in him during that time. He was not sure what to do next, but he was set on breaking the chains of the Circle of Magi somehow. And then... he took a wrong turn... miscalculated... blood magic was not a way out, it was just another noose.

"Don't overthink it," Hendrik smiled. "Things will fall into place. You've got a Blight to stop, Warden. See that you both still live when the Archdemon is slain."

...

"Ferelden is different to what I imagined," Lucanis said as they were riding towards Soldier's Peak. It was getting dark, they would soon have to find a place to camp. "There are a lot fewer bears than what I was told!"

"Oh, plenty of bears here," Anders smirked. "Look - a cave. It should be safe enough unless there's a bear inside... We better stop for the night."

The cave was safe, discounting a spider infestation. They cleared the spiders and lit a campfire, and Anders produced the pies and ale that Hendrik stuffed in the saddlebags.

"No coffee until we get to Soldier's Peak, I'm afraid," he passed Lucanis the ale. "There should be some up there though, the Drydens keep it supplied..."

"Stop fussing over me, I'm fine," Lucanis protested. "I'll give you a tour of Treviso later, we're not all obsessed with coffee... well... may be not all are obsessed with it as much as I..."

"He drinks coffee to keep me out!" Spite hissed, his spectral crow form landing next to them. "I am supposed to possess him! I am supposed to be in - not out!"

"Shut up!" Lucanis glared at the crow. "I am not this. I cannot be like this!"

"You are trying to stay awake..?" Anders finally understood what all the coffee was for.

"He cannot possess my body when I am awake," Lucanis nodded. "Or rather, I can keep him out."

"You have to sleep though," Anders was turning over the embers in the fire. "And he doesn't... Would he do things to spite you while you're asleep? Justice never did anything like that to me..."

"Why do you think I call him Spite?" Lucanis smirked. "He makes me sleepwalk."

"I found him!" The crow hissed and flapped its wings. "I arranged for your escape! Without me, you would have never sent that letter..!"

"What letter?" Anders and Lucanis asked in unison. "The letter... oh!" Anders realised who wrote that scroll. "We received a letter offering services of a master assassin to slay the gods. We only had to free him and his demon."

"WHAT?!" Lucanis was outraged.

"That was my response as well," Anders chuckled. "I didn't want an abomination on my team, thanks."

"I had to go back to Zara!" The crow hissed. "She perverted me, and yet I had to beg! All for you!" The crow hopped and flapped its wings, landing on Lucanis' shoulder.

"It was for your own sake, not for mine!" Lucanis glared but didn't chase off the crow.

"For you as well! Don't want to possess a twisted host!"

"So it was you who arranged my capture?!" It was now Anders' turn to glare at Spite. "And the dragon?!!"

"I had nothing to do with the dragon!" Spite croacked quite forcefully. "Zara arranged your capture! I merely told her about you and Justice..!"

"Well, then I can see why she would want me in her lab," Anders smirked. "Well played, Spite." He paused, then corrected himself: "Well played, Determination."

"Ahhh... He recognises me for what I am!" The crow jumped off Lucanis' shoulder, transforming into his ghost. "You sleep. I guard the camp."

Frostfall, 3E410 - Soldier's Peak

"You are cold," Anders added a little more wood to the fire but it didn't warm up the cave much. "You will catch hypothermia," he shook his head. "You are not used to the cold."

"No, and I didn't expect to land in a cold climate when I was getting dressed this morning," Lucanis smiled.

"Well, this is as much wood as I dare to add to the fire without us watching it," Anders got up and brought bedrolls and blankets from the saddle tack. He laid out the bedrolls, then proceeded removing his iron breastplate and arm guards, his boots and his armour, only keeping a thin shirt and pants.

"What are you doing?" Lucanis shivered just looking at him. "You'll freeze!"

"Take off as much of your clothes as you dare and join me," Anders grinned and lay down on the bedroll, keeping the space closer to the fire for Lucanis. "Clothing will only prevent you from warming up. Remember I told you how Wolf kept me warm on this very trek during our escape from the Circle Tower? You're about to find out first hand how it works."

Lucanis shook his head and sighed but complied. Anders wrapped blankets around them. It was strange to be so close to someone for whom he "carried a torch", the feeling itself was strange as well... The only other person for whom Anders ever felt anything similar was Wolf... and it wasn't the same. There was gratitude there, but there was also a bond of friendship and understanding. Yes, Wolf saved his life many times, often risking his own in the process, but Anders repaid that with watching over Wolf's blood magic, teaching him, training, advising, healing and also rescuing a few times... Anders wondered how Wolf fared in Tamriel, who would watch over his blood, since both he and Morrigan stayed behind in Thedas. Wolf would need to find someone quickly or face the danger of it running out of control... He had Zevran with him of course, but Zevran was no mage... Would Zevran call him if things got really dire? How long would it take for a message to arrive from Tamriel? How long would it take for him to sail there? Would it not be too late..? Perhaps. But he would leave the moment he got the call, regardless.

Lucanis was asleep. He pretended to sleep at first, for himself more than for Anders. It was so strange to lie so close to someone who made him want to be alive again, even with Spite ever present about his person. He thought he'd die in that prison. When he learned that Spite could not be removed, he resigned to die. He was not going to live as an abomination. But then Anders rescued him - was tricked into doing it, but did it anyway. Insisted on staying together when they stepped through the portal. Then put all that effort into pulling him out of the abyss when death already almost claimed him... How many times did he clean and stitch up his wound? Refused to give up... was that just a healer stubborn not to lose a patient or was it personal? And then that kiss... Whatever possessed Lucanis to initiate that kiss, he still could not understand. It wasn't Spite that time, he was certain. Where was he going with that? He did not want anything more... Anders did not want anything more... yet he responded. And now, being so close, feeling the warmth and breathing in that scent... sweet with a biting finish... why was his heart beating so fast?

Lucanis twitched in his sleep and said something in Antivan. Anders wasn't fully asleep, he stirred, adjusting the covers. It was so strange, all of it. Was he just trying to keep warm a patient who would otherwise succumb to the cold? A patient whose heart was racing... was that fever? Or just a dream..?

It had been the strangest night for both Anders and Lucanis, with so many thoughts rushing through their heads, with sleep and wakefulness intertwined until they could no longer tell what was a dream and what was real. And yet it was a restful night, and when morning came, they felt refreshed and ready to continue their road to Soldier's Peak.

"The fire has gone out and the cave's gone really cold," Anders said noticing that Lucanis too was awake. "This is the hardest part - between the blankets being off and the clothes on," he shivered.

"Let's not rush it," Lucanis closed his eyes again. "Next time it won't be the same."

"Next time..?" Anders wondered for a moment what Lucanis meant, then drifted off to sleep again.

...

Eventually they mustered the courage to throw off the blankets and brave the freezing cold of the cave. They got dressed as quickly as they could and decided to forego breakfast in order to save time.

"The sun is already pretty high on the horizon," Anders pointed at a faint disk hiding behind snow clouds. "If we leave now and not meet too much resistance, we'll make it to Soldier's Peak in time for supper."

Their trip was mostly uneventful. They stopped once or twice for a short rest, they finished all of their remaining provisions and finally saw the turrets of Soldier's Peak glow red in the rays of the setting sun. They rode into the courtyard, the dogs rushed to see who the visitors were.

"Wow, you really do have dogs in Ferelden!" Lucanis exclaimed in surprise as half a dozen of Mabari hounds surrounded them blocking their way.

"It's alright, they know me... I hope," Anders jumped off his horse. The dogs did remember him - the barking stopped, tails started wagging, but several of them still kept a weary eye on Lucanis.

"What in blazes..!" Levi Dryden came out of the keep. "Who's there?"

"Levi?" Anders called. "I don't have an appointment..."

"If it ain't..! I'll be damned!" Levi grinned, squeezing him in a hug. "I thought you've forgotten us completely! Ever since you moved to Vigil Keep..."

"Not a chance," Anders shook his head. "Everything alright here?"

"It is," Levi nodded. "Old Avernus's been a bit odd of late... but nothing we can't handle. Says the song is getting too loud for his ears..."

"That's why I am here..." Anders looked somber. "Another Blight is rising, Levi."

"Ah." Levi sighed. "Well, Warden, I know we are in good hands."

"Sometimes I wish I had your confidence..." Anders looked around, seeing visions only Wardens could see. "But this can easily keep till tomorrow," he smiled. "What's for supper? I brought a friend..."

...

"A Warden and his Crow just like in the old days!" An ageing woman was fussing around Anders and Lucanis, having installed them at a large kitchen table overloaded with food. "I know just what you Antivans like to eat! Zevran made sure of that!"

Lucanis looked a bit overwhelmed but had to admit that the cooking was superb.

"The style of Antiva City," he commented. "Juniper berries and a lot of black pepper. We use slightly different spice in Treviso, but this is Antivan still, to be sure!"

"You'll have to teach me that!" The woman produced a large hand-written cookbook. "Give me the recipe! Treviso style..."

"We'll be staying for a few days at least, Agatha, there is no rush..." Anders tried to get her off Lucanis' back. "We've had a long trip..."

"Oh! Of course! Where are my manners..!" Agatha put the book away. "I expect you'll be using the main bedroom? I'll get the fire going..." She turned to leave, then caught herself. "Unless you want separate rooms? I got so used to..." She cut herself off.

"Just do as usual," Lucanis smiled at her. "I am not Zevran but..."

She smiled and nodded, then hugged Anders really tight and ran out of the room.

"She nursed me back to health when I first got here," Anders smiled, noticing the surprise on Lucanis' face. "And a few times after that... She nursed a lot of people back to health."

"Of that I have no doubt," Lucanis smiled, thinking that whatever Anders said, he wasn't just another patient to Agatha. "You have a beautiful family."

Frostfall, 3E410 - The war council

Alistair arrived the following day. He looked somber but also relieved - all Grey Wardens had sensed the Blight and he was glad to finally do something about it. He went straight to business.

"Let me get this straight," he cornered Anders. "This Blight is not led by an Archdemon? But instead it is led by an elven god?"

"Two elven gods and two Archdemons, but we already killed one Archdemon," Anders nodded. "That's if Solas is to be believed."

"That's too many heads," Alistair was doubtful. "You cannot heave four generals at the head of an army."

"Which is why I don't believe everything Solas claims," Anders agreed. "Two gods apparently escaped: a man and a woman. They were both initially just elven mages, no gods. But then they captured a dragon each, and not just any dragon - those were ancient Tevinter gods. The elven mages somehow subjugated the gods and made them a part of themselves, elevating themselves into immortality and godhood. Hence they are now gods, each commanding a dragon. Kill those dragons and the gods stop being gods and turn into elven mages again. Furthermore," Anders looked at Alistair who seemed more and more perplexed. "Furthermore," he continued, "the woman is apparently the one who invented the Blight. So it is she who commands it, and not her dragon. Her dragon is an Archdemon - but don't worry about that because that's the dragon we killed. Solas also tried to explain where the previous Archdemons came from, but the tale was so woolly, I cannot possibly recall what he said."

"Stop, stop!!" Alistair protested. "This makes absolutely no sense, you get it, right? The elves predate Tevinter! There could be no 'ancient Tevinter gods' back in those days!" He shook his head vigorously, as if trying to get rid of the nonsense. "Stop repeating what Solas said and tell me what you've found out yourself."

"We've seen the woman - the goddess. We killed the dragon that she commanded. Solas says she is now mortal again, but I know for a fact that she commands two more dragons at least. I think it is not important. She apparently invented the Blight, in which case it is she who commands it. This too is unimportant. What is comes down to, is that the Blight has changed."

"We all feel something different in it, yes," Alistair nodded. "So, stripping Solas' tales, what are we left with? How does this Blight differ from the others?"

"It is self-healing and self-replenishing."

"Broodmothers? That's not new," Alistair looked unsure.

"No, no broodmothers. Blighted boils - blobs and blisters of sorts. Similar to demonic growth like what was in the Circle Tower during the blood mage rebellion. These boils produce darkspawn, and some darkspawn produces more boils."

"That's a nightmare," Alistair agreed.

"But the silver lining is that this darkspawn is squishy. Easier to kill than the usual kind, but there's more of it, a never ending supply, and overall it is worse."

"And also - the song has changed," Alistair nodded.

"Ah, you noticed."

"It's kind of hard to miss. It's much more persistent."

"Like we're hearing the Calling."

"This reminds me of the fake Calling we heard from that darkspawn lord during the time of the Inquisition," Alistair looked up. "It must have been terrible for Clarel and her Wardens... her mages mostly."

"You think mages hear it more intensely?"

"I think so."

"We should talk to Avernus," Anders nodded. "That's why I asked you to come here rather than me going to Vigil Keep. I think Avernus will have a thing or two to tell us."

...

"Young Wardens," Avernus greeted his visitors. "Came to see an old man in his tower?"

"How are you holding up?" Anders decided to be polite. "Levi mentioned you might be feeling a bit under the weather..."

"A bit under the Blight, you mean, yes," Avernus grinned. "The same as yourselves, I expect. Perhaps a bit worse since my taint is so old... You want to hear what I make of this one, how it differs from the previous Blights. Well, I've only lived through one - the Fifth Blight, the same as you," he smirked. "The Fourth Blight was over four hundred years ago - that's well before my time."

"True, I haven't thought of that..." Alistair sighed.

"Avernus, you can do better than that," Anders winked. "Alistair here may believe you, but not I."

"What is it that you don't believe?" Avernus raised an eyebrow. "I told the truth - the Fifth Blight was the only one I experienced."

"I don't believe that you have nothing to tell us," Anders stood firm. "About the song. It changed."

"And about Solas, you wish to add," Avernus grinned. "Perhaps. But do this old man a favour - I want to examine your friend first. His spirit... I noticed its presence, but it's bound to its host, at least to a certain extent. That's quite unusual. And I've missed its company for too long."

"Spite mentioned that he knew you..." Anders smiled. "I'll bring Lucanis to visit. That's why we are really here."

"What are you two talking about?" Alistair looked confused. "Is Lucanis another abomination? Really? Do we not have enough to do with the self-replenishing Blight about that you had to befriend an abomination? Anders! You out of your mind again?!"

"Well, I did not plan it..." Anders tried to defend himself. "I actually tried to avoid it, honest..."

"The spirit that possesses Lucanis is called Determination," Avernus intervened. "I've known it for a long time... But something happened. It got perverted - Spite was it? And this peculiar possession... half in, half out... Never seen anything like it." He shook his head and turned to Alistair. "This wasn't done by one of your elven gods. This was done by a modern mage. And unless I am very much mistaken, this mage will be enticed to work for the gods as well. This helps us understand just what it is we are facing. I believe that this Blight is different because it isn't just darkspawn any longer. It is darkspawn with demonic possession."

"Like Warden-Commander Clarel and her mages..." Alistair sighed. "I see where this is going..."

...

"So, you want to understand this Blight..." Avernus looked at Anders and Alistair. They were sitting in the Commander's office in the main keep. "Our duty is to protect the land from it, not to eradicate all Blight in the world," he pointed out.

"I wouldn't mind eradicating it, myself," Alistair shrugged. "Even if I have nothing to do after that."

"This desire is what led Warden-Commander Clarel astray," Avernus said gravely. "We must focus on what's achievable."

"And according to you, the Blight as such cannot be eliminated." Alistair frowned - he didn't like the thought. No one did.

"The Blight is like a disease, it exists on its own now," Avernus nodded. "Regardless of how it started. That elven goddess may think she invented it, but I doubt that... but it is of no importance. You can kill the goddess, but this won't kill the Blight."

"And so it is business as usual - drive the Blight back underground," Anders summarised. "But normally this is done by killing the Archdemon that leads it. It isn't so clear-cut this time."

"That's the trouble," Avernus agreed. "It is no longer a single dragon that you have to kill, it is a hydra with many heads. I talked to Lucanis, I talked to Spite. The spirit of Determination was subjugated using blood magic and bound to Lucanis. Lucanis was then tortured to pervert the spirit and turn it into a demon. Ordinarily the demon can kill the soul of the host and the host and become free once again, but Spite has been constrained. This is no ordinary blood magic - the mage used blighted blood in this ritual. Spite can be controlled with blighted blood - and Lucanis with him." Avernus paused and paced the room. "You know what happened here at Soldier's Peak three hundred years ago," he looked at Alistair and Anders in turn and they nodded. "We were under seige and Sophia made the decision to summon demons. I thought I took everything into account... but there are always too many factors with demons. We could not control them, and demons turned on us." He shook his head. "But Spite can be controlled with blighted blood... or red lyrium, perhaps... an artefact could be enchanted, the wielder does not have to be a mage... You see where this is going, don't you? That mage is as bad as a god."

"And Lucanis is a liability," Alistair looked stern. "If Spite can be controlled like that, then Lucanis does not control his own actions."

"Well, for the most part he does, but it's true that he could be overruled by someone with such an artefact," Avernus agreed. "And Lucanis is likely not the only victim... Spite said he saw other attempts, but the hosts were dead. He also thought that the same mage experimented with making demons directly out of spirits, without a host or possession... Obedient demons, you understand!" Avernus glared at them. "Something that neither I nor Clarel could achieve!"

"And assuming that the goddess controls the Blight, at least to some extent..." Anders said slowly. "If this mage were to share this knowledge, the goddess would add demons to the darkspawn."

"Something along those lines," Avernus nodded. "Which is why I think it is just as important to kill that mage as it is to kill the goddess."

"Agreed," Alistair was taking it in. "But the question remains: how do we stop the Blight? Since there's no single Archdemon at the top."

"It's what Avernus said - it's a hydra. There are multiple heads," Anders looked resolved. "We have to find and destroy them all. That will drive darkspawn back underground."

"Try not to get derailed by Solas," Avernus turned to Anders. "He will enter your dreams again, now that he found a path... And you are easy to find, you light up like a beacon ever since Justice touched you... Listen to Solas but don't believe everything he says. But I don't need to tell you this - you already know it."

"Is he really a god? Solas?" Anders looked up.

"He is," Avernus nodded. "Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf. He isn't just an elven mage, he isn't like the others, regardless of what he says. Mythal is a real goddess too, which is why she cannot be killed. But the others... a god that can shift in and out of godhood, is not a god." Avernus got up, ready to return to his tower. "I talked a lot with Wolf Asgarsen about Fen'Harel. They know him by a different name in Tamriel, but we agreed that it was the same god. Beware of his lies. Wolf never trusted Solas, and neither should you."

"Then we have a plan," Alistair nodded. "Return to Minrathous and find and kill the mage that runs the prison you were in..."

"The portal from that prison led to Treviso in Antiva," Anders objected.

"A one way portal," Alistair pointed out. "You have no leads in Treviso... apart from Lucanis... err... perhaps you're right... Anyhow, I leave it up to you!" He beamed at him.

"Keep Lucanis close," Avernus said with urgency. "Keep Spite close. He can now open a portal directly to here - we need to keep in touch. And should there be any trouble, bring him to me. I think I may be able to overrule that blood magic of theirs... I might know a trick or two still," he winked.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you thought that Anders wasn't making much sense with his explanations regarding elven gods and their dragons, then you'd be right - poor Anders is completely confused! As am I. The story of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is too complicated for me to grasp. It has so many contradictions, so many reversals of the story told in the first three games. I was lost in it... and so Anders could do no better. We decided that it was all Solas' fault, after all, he is the Dread Wolf, God of Lies. I also didn't like how the game ended - it didn't make sense to me. So I'm telling it differently. We have a plan. Now let's see if we can fix the world once again.

She goes to Elsweyr. "He gave Lena a broad smile, nearly disappearing behind it...." Lol. Indeed, Khajiit must have a BIG smile, with lots of teeth. 🐱

Nice, Cartographer's Guild.

http://chorrol.com/forums/index.php?s=&...st&p=340887

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 15 2025, 05:23 PM

I was thinking of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. He used to disappear almost completely, only leaving behind his smile. Alice found it rather unnerving.

Sun's Dusk, 3E410 - Amaya

Anders did not rush to return to Minrathous. The gods could wait another day. He came to Soldier's Peak first and foremost because he needed to get his head in order - too many things happened in recent weeks, too many confusing thoughts had been rushing through his mind giving him no peace. He wasn't a "steady" person at the best of times, what with all the mess in his life, but right now he felt even less steady than normal. If he were to lead a party of adventurers against the biggest Blight in the history of Thedas, he needed to do better than that.

Lucanis must have noticed that something was tormenting Anders, he watched him but stayed out of the way. He was the one new person in the whole keep, and he was an abomination, or a half-abomination, and what's more, the demon inside him was a personal friend of the old mage living in the tower... It wasn't surprising that people stared, that children followed him, then ran away when he turned around - he was a celebrity and everyone wanted a look at him or a word if they were brave enough. And to top it all off, he was an Antivan, the second Antivan that these people had ever seen, and he was a Crow just like the first... Of course, that's where the similarities ended. Zevran was an elven slave, while Lucanis was a human and a favourite grandson of the head of Antivan Crows, soon to take over from her and become the head of the Crows himself. But the people at Soldier's Peak didn't know it, and he preferred it that way. To them he was just another Crow. He did not mind people staring... they weren't unkind. They seemed to have loved the first Antivan, and hoped that the second would be the same.

"Are you an assassin?" A girl of may be seven years old dared a question, with the other children huddling behind her.

"That's right, that I am," Lucanis smiled at her. "Why do you ask?"

"But assassins kill people, don't they? Are you here to kill us?" She did not seem afraid, just curious. Perhaps the concept of death was still abstract to her, Lucanis thought.

"No, I am not here to kill anyone," he shook his head. "Assassins kill people, true, but only very specific people for whom there is a contract. We don't kill willy-nilly."

"He is here with Anders!" A boy hissed at her. "They are friends like!"

And with that the children ran off.

Anders knew most of the children in the keep, although the last time he saw them, they were a lot younger. Had it really been so long? Surely, no more than a year..? He could not remember. Some of those children he saw being born, helped to deliver them even - whenever a healer was needed, the Drydens invariably called on Anders, what with the Vigil Keep being only a few hours away. "I should come here more often," Anders thought watching the children talk to Lucanis. "This place... this is home. I should do my rounds." It was something that Anders took to doing every time he came to Soldier's Peak - check up on everyone's health, Avernus included. Anders had studied healing at the Circle of Magi, and it wasn't limited to magical remedies - alchemy and a thorough understanding of anatomy and physiology was also included. This knowledge was what gave him the confidence to try blood magic... he thought he would always know when to stop. And so now, the same as always, he made it a point to see each person in private and to check on things they'd complain about as well as the things they'd rather not say...

The day was already drawing to a close when Anders finally knocked on the door of Avernus' tower.

"Come in if you must," he heard a somewhat disgruntled reply. He entered and found the old mage reclining in a armchair.

"I am sorry to wake you," Anders smiled. "But since you are awake... tell me how you've been."

"We spent the whole day talking yesterday," Avernus replied in a tired voice. "You know the most pressing matter - the song is getting to me."

"The Blight, yes," Anders frowned. "But it isn't all... What ails you, Avernus?"

"My years... my age," he shrugged. "I wasn't supposed to live past eighty! But do you know how old I am? Three hundred and sixty something now! At three fifty things took a turn for the worse."

It was a topic they often discussed in the past. Avernus used alchemy and magic to reverse some of the ageing and prolong his life, but he never intended to live forever. At first, he wanted to live long enough to see Grey Wardens reinstated in Ferelden, so that he could pass on his research, so that it would not be lost. His fellow Wardens sacrificed for the sake of knowledge... he owed it to them to make sure they didn't die in vain. The fruits of his studies gave Wolf new powers, but most Wardens would not wish to use their blood in combat like he did, and so all they got was a tonic - a rather unspectacular result that surely did not warrant the sacrifice...

"That's the problem with research - you don't know in advance whether it will be worth the sacrifice," Avernus sighed. "We were dying, Anders! We ran out of food! We were cut off from the world, with demons holding our keep! We could not leave this tower!"

"You think it wasn't worth it," Anders was watching as Avernus became more agitated. It was a discussion they held many times, always with the same outcome - there was no way out.

"The Wardens do not wish to use their blood in combat! Blood magic is completely outlawed and rejected, it is much worse than what I had hoped!" Avernus lamented. "I sacrificed my fellow Wardens for nothing!"

"What was the alternative?" Anders already knew the shortcut towards the end of the discourse.

"To starve... or to eat each other and then starve..." Avernus smirked. "You cheated again."

"Was that when you met Determination?" Anders veered from their old routine - they now had something new to discuss.

"Yes... The Veil was so thin here... He appeared among the demons and I was quite surprised."

"Determination was with the demons?" Anders was taken aback. "But surely..."

"Determination wasn't a demon," Avernus said firmly. "The difference is that he never wanted to consume my soul. The same as he won't harm Lucanis either."

"Then Spite is not a demon."

"I agree." Avernus paused, watching Anders. "What Lucanis is going through is very much like what you went through with Justice, especially when he became Vengeance. Not a demon, strictly speaking... but not far off."

"When Wolf asked him to cut the connection..." Anders shot Avernus a glance. "Justice did so knowing full well that it would kill me. But he didn't warn Wolf about it, he only said it after the fact..."

"That comes pretty close to wanting to harm you," Avernus said somber. "But then he sees the world in black and white, there are no nuances, no shades of grey. Most spirits lack the emotional complexity of mortals. Demons, on the other hand... that is a different matter!"

"Some Desire Demons..."

"Don't even start!" Avernus laughed. "I've always enjoyed dealing with those!"

"You summoned them?!" Anders sat up. Desire Demons were some of the strongest and most intelligent among spirits, summoning them was inherently dangerous.

"Once or twice," Avernus chuckled. "Not on purpose. Was trying to summon something lighter... but you can never be sure what you get."

They sat in silence for a while, each watching the other.

"I am not dying yet, do not worry," Avernus smiled. "I'll tell you if there is a real problem... honest. But I do so enjoy our chats."

...

Anders did not sleep well that night. His dreams were filled with flashbacks of Justice taking control of him again and again. To start with, Justice had promised to only take control with Anders' permission, but this promise was broken very quickly because he "simply could not stand by and watch such injustice", as he would always say afterwards. Anders never thought it was right. Perhaps there was no fundamental difference between spirits and demons after all... it was all very much in the shades of grey.

When he finally decided to shake off the remnants of sleep and open his eyes, he found Lucanis sitting in bed watching him.

"The Archdemon again?" He asked. "You were thrashing."

"No, demons this time," Anders shook his head, making an effort to really wake up. "Possession. Justice. Don't want to talk about it. Have we any coffee?" He looked up at Lucanis seeing his face upside down from his perspective.

"Ah... I know what you mean," he smiled. "Coffee. Let me pour you some... I started without you."

"You too?" Anders was sipping hot, thick liquid, almost viscous with all the sugar that Lucanis put into his cup. "Disturbing dreams?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Lucanis shrugged. "Don't want to talk about it."

"Ah."

The keep was always quiet in the morning. The Drydens lived in the other buildings but used the main kitchen to prepare food - Agatha always cooked for everyone. But in the mornings the place was empty.

"We should be returning to Minrathous, no?" Lucanis changed the topic.

"We should be..." Anders focused on his coffee.

"There is no rush." Lucanis got up and added some logs to the fire. "I think you need a rest," he looked at Anders. "A proper rest. Not going around the keep asking everyone how they feel. Not talking to Alistair about the Blight. Not even discussing me and Spite with Avernus..." he smiled.

"But what? I suppose I could read a book..." Anders grinned.

"As long as it is not about magic or anything to do with blood," Lucanis winked. He walked over to Anders and propped some extra pillows behind his back. "There. A morning in bed, I think. Now, let me choose a suitable book - you do have 'useless' books in this library among all the professional literature."

"Useless books?" Anders grinned. "Oh yes, we do have those. I am curious to see which one you'll pick."

Lucanis left the room and Anders stole another moment alone with his coffee. It was doing a pretty good job chasing away the nightmares, and he started to see why Lucanis made it into such a ritual. Before long Lucanis was back with more coffee, some pastry and a few books.

"Sonnets from the Tevinter Nights?" Anders picked up one of the books. "I forgot we had those... Tevinter Nights itself should be here somewhere too."

"Yes, but everyone knows Tevinter Nights - that's just short stories. The sonnets was an Antivan edition."

"Say no more!" Anders laughed. "I know who brought that one in. What else have you picked?" He took another book. "Chantry Tales For the Uninitiated? The Life of a Templar? The Rose of Kirkwall? Those are all... umm... romantic... and awfully sweet! Why, you're worse than Cassandra!"

"Those were the only kind that didn't talk about the Blight, combat or blood magic!" Lucanis protested. "And who is Cassandra?"

"A lady with a rock hard shell and molten lava inside," Anders smirked. "It took Wolf the better part of a year to get past those shields of hers..."

"And I bet it was worth it," Lucanis nodded. "I know the type."

"So, you want me to read you a sonnet, is that it?" Anders picked up the first book. "Since you brought pastry... oh alright. I'm awfully easy to bribe," he grinned, trying not to smear clotted cream all over the pages. "And jam?"

"What jam?"

"Strawberry if you can find it... Agatha hides that one... You can't have scones without jam!"

"Jam." Lucanis returned with a clay jar. "Honey too?"

"Not jam and honey together!" Anders looked up with mocked indignance. "There are rules, don't you know..."

"What rules?"

"Rules of jam..."

"Now I know you grew up in an orphanage," Lucanis nodded. "Err... Tower of Magi... sorry... we're not talking about that."

"An orphanage is an apt description..." Anders sighed. "Well, anyhow. Listen to this..."

He picked a poem at random, just enjoying a lazy morning without any serious business to cloud his judgement. With so much darkness that he'd been through, he knew how to cherish those moments of light.

...

"You have a lot of ink," Lucanis noted, looking at the intricate tattoos covering Anders' arms. "Wings, is it? But different either side... Griffons on the chest of course... All Grey Warden stuff. Except for the one on the back."

"On the back..? I've got ink on the back?!!" Anders cried out, perplexed.

"You don't know?" Lucanis laughed. "Yes, you've got ink on the back! How is it that you don't know?"

"I wasn't exactly sober when I got all that..." Anders shrugged. "What do I have on the back?"

"Oh, you know... It's grand!" Lucanis squinted.

"What? Come on!"

"It's a... Oh alright, it's just some abstract swirl. Pretty small too. Just here," he decided against further teasing and put his hand between Anders' shoulder blades where he had the tattoo.

"Huh... I don't remember getting that one..." Anders sighed. "At least it's not some big boobed woman brandishing a sword... like that one guy got on the neck, you could see the boobs even when he had a scarf on... took him forever to get that removed, I hear..."

"You don't need to get yours removed. I like them," Lucanis grinned.

"Well, if you say so..."

Anders slipped down on the pillows, the book of poetry still in his hand. It was one of those rare moments when the time itself seemed to taste of strawberry jam, may be even with a touch of honey. He closed his eyes. Better not waste it.

He sensed movement and warm breath, he tasted that same jam... and coffee... always coffee... there was no mistaking who that was.

"I'll know you anywhere," he said when the kiss ran out. "I've never tasted anyone quite like you."

"Bittersweet, like a kiss goodbye, I was told," Lucanis smiled.

"Perhaps they thought that because it was a kiss goodbye? You don't taste like goodbye to me."

"Goodbye has a taste?"

"It does... a mouthful of ash... lifeless and grey... Forget it."

They savoured their kiss like one savours a well aged malt, letting it roll around the mouth, inhaling the aroma, allowing new flavours develop with time. And when it ran out, they each felt a trickle of warmth flow into the stomach and into the heart, then spread through the veins down into the fingertips...

"No! No, you don't kiss him!" An indignant high pitched voice broke into the bliss. "Anders is mine!"

"What..?" Anders sat up, hearing his name. A girl of twelve or thirteen stood in the doorway, looking angrily at Lucanis.

"You can't have him! He is mine!" She ran up to Anders, jumped on the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"A friend of yours?" Lucanis smiled somewhat bewildered.

"Amaya!" Anders was trying to get some breath. "Good grief, you are all flustered! I am not going anywhere, don't worry, my pet..."

"You can't..!" Tears appeared in her eyes. "He can't take you away from me!" She was about to start sobbing, and she was trying to suppress that urge.

"He isn't... He is my friend... I'll still keep coming back here... What are you talking about..?"

"This young lady is in love with you, can't you see?" Lucanis said softly. "And she just saw you kiss someone else..."

Amaya straightened up and threw back her head trying to make the tears roll back into the eyes... but they wouldn't.

"Amaya... I had no idea..." Anders blushed, not quite sure what to do. She was still a child of course, much too young for love, yet not a little girl any longer. Somewhere in between... where the intensity of feeling invariably overwhelmed common sense.

"When I grow up," Amaya said with an effort, "I shall marry you, Warden Anders, you'll see. But you must wait for me, you hear?" She made a fist and lightly punched him in the chest. "You wait for me!"

"Ten years from now," Anders spoke solemnly. "Ten years from now we'll speak of it again. You must be at least twenty three to marry a Warden."

"Twenty three?!" Amaya was taken aback. "Ten years?! Who says that?!"

"I do," Anders inclined his head. "I know these things... I'm a healer. Grey Wardens aren't like other people. How many Wardens do you know who marry after they take the Joining?" He looked at her sternly.

"None," Amaya replied in a small voice.

"None," Anders nodded. "Ten years from now I'll explain why. And then... if you still wish it... then we'll talk."

"But you mustn't marry anyone else until then..." Amaya shot another angry glance at Lucanis.

"Lucanis is a friend," Anders said calmly. "I won't marry him because he is a man and not a woman."

Lucanis nodded - he did not wish to get married either. Amaya squeezed Anders in her embrace again, then pulled back. Now that she calmed down, she suddenly became embarrassed for what she'd done - a woman must never go chase after a man, a woman must wait until she is chosen... But it wasn't just any man, it was Anders - her Anders! She had nothing to fear talking to him... And yet these contradictions made her blush and she ran out of the room.

Anders still sat there looking at the door.

"Amaya... I remember when she was born," he said softly. "Her mother had a difficult pregnancy, we weren't sure she would survive... she kept losing blood when it was getting close to term. I spent a lot of time with her... her husband even got jealous," he smirked. "But Amaya was born without issues in the end... the bleeding stopped... her mother didn't die..." He paused. "And then some years later - scarlet fever. A lot of children were ill, but Amaya was near death..."

"And you spent a lot of time at her bedside, making sure she pulled through," Lucanis nodded. "I know this side of you," he smiled.

"And then some mysterious illness a few years ago... I think it was a curse," he looked at Lucanis, the old worry rising again. "I could never be sure that I fully lifted it."

"But the girl recovered."

"She did... but I never found the source of the curse. Who laid it on her and why?"

"Perhaps it was demonic possession," Lucanis offered.

"Avernus would have noticed," Anders shook his head. "She wasn't possessed... even I would have noticed. It was more like poison..."

"May be it was poison."

"But not deadly enough to kill? Just to maim? Why? She's just a young girl! Well, she was then, that's for certain..."

"Is she a mage?"

"She... I don't know!" Anders looked up. "If she is, her magic may be awakening around this time."

"She might have done it herself then."

"She..?"

"She is a little girl no longer. It isn't just magic that is awakening in children around this time. She is growing up into a woman, and she is in love with you." Lucanis said firmly.

Anders sighed. He too saw the change in Amaya, she was definitely growing up. But he was much too old for her surely, he was a Grey Warden and carried the taint, in ten years time he might start hearing the Calling, or he might be dead... and he must never sire children, even if he could... Yet he sensed that the girl's feelings were much deeper than just a teenage crush, and he tried to be gentle. Ten years... did he just make a promise? He'd better keep it then...

"Ten years..." Lucanis seemed to have read his mind. "I get to borrow you from Amaya until then. Have another cup of coffee, Warden."

Sun's Dusk, 3E410 - Back to Minrathous

It was easy to open a portal to Minrathous. The city was overflowing with magic, the Veil above it was thin and Spite opened a stable portal that deposited them in the middle of the Upper District. The Pavus Manor was but a short distance away.

"Ah, my escaped slave finally returns!" Dorian greeted Anders when he and Lucanis entered the salon. "You are giving me a bad name. There's been talk at the Magisterium that I am not a master in my own house," he grinned.

"In your own house you are definitely the master," Anders looked solemly at him. "I'll do whatever you say. But outside of your house... what are these people actually complaining about? There's no slavery outside of Tevinter," he shrugged.

"Yes, well, they are still trying to work that out," Dorian laughed. "Anyway, what news?"

"Avernus thinks that killing the gods will not stop the Blight," Anders grew somber. "He thinks the Blight is like a disease now, existing all by itself. The Wardens will have to drive it underground, as usual. But this time there isn't just a single Archdemon, but a hydra with many heads. How many - we are not sure, but we should remove whichever we can find. We killed one Archdemon, that's good, but we're far from done yet."

"Multiple heads... like on that dragon at the Wardens fortress," Taash shuddered.

"Exactly like that," Anders nodded. "With new heads growing as we slay them. The gods are important, but we can't get to them all that easily. However, the mage that turned Lucanis into an abomination... well, the mage that forced the spirit of Determination into Lucanis... err... making him into Spite..."

"It's alright, remove your kid gloves," Lucanis grimaced. "Zara. You are talking about Zara. The mage that runs the underwater prison, the one that turns spirits into demons and that made me into an abomination. She needs to die."

"She will be hard to get to, but she's a mortal and not a god," Varric agreed. "That's achievable. And then what?"

"And then we'll see," Anders shot him a glance. "I'll need to return to Anderfels, to the Wardens. There are exits to the Deep Roads there. The new Blight is there. Antoine is trying to understand it, I'll need to catch up with him, may be he'll have something too."

"What about the Venatori?" Dorian looked up. "We've been chasing them up for months, but found nothing besides a blood magic network, and not even all that impressive at that."

"What about Neve?" Anders faced him. "You have history with her, I can tell. She is too smooth. I don't trust her."

"Neve is an ice mage," Emmrich joined in. "Quite accomplished - I looked her up. She is with the Venatori."

"What?!" Several people exclaimed in indignation, and angry looks were thrown at Dorian.

"I also only found out after I brought her in," he sighed. "But the Venatori are not all the same... and most of them are fairly harmless. Most of them, I said! Definitely not all. There is one - or more - dangerous faction, and it is those people that we need to pursue. Our mistake was that we simply went after any Venatori, and predictably found nothing."

"Apart from a lot of blood magic," Varric pointed out.

"Well, there's that," Dorian agreed. "But it doesn't help our cause. This is all small fish. Neve is small fish among the Venatori. But I have a feeling that her duplicity is going to cost her dearly this time, and we must use it to our advantage."

"You think that Neve will need protection," Emmrich smiled thinly. "How very magisterial of you, Dorian."

"I think that Neve will receive a visit from the Crows," Dorian agreed. "Lucanis..."

"I can find out," he nodded. "But the Crows too have factions... make no mistake. I shall need to return to Treviso - I haven't actually been there since the prison. I might find out something about Zara too."

"Alright, so what do you want the rest of us to do in the meantime?" Harding looked straight at Anders. "Since you are in charge."

"Nothing just yet," Anders smiled. "Walk with me. I intend to walk the streets of Minrathous and spend coin in many bars. Someone needs to watch my back."

"You will be bait," Harding stared.

"Precisely." Anders made a gesture to stop any protests. "I am a convicted blood mage, posters with my likeness are all over the city. I am also Dorian's slave, and therefore cannot be harmed outright. Lucanis has been seen in my company. I was kidnapped by Zara - we must assume - and taken to her prison. I am definitely a person of interest. Let us hope someone will bite."

...

The following days Anders spent drinking in various bars of Minrathous taking one of the companions with him. He wasn't getting all too drunk, he acted it up quite a bit, he even got into a bar fight once a twice over some nonsense, but none of it was of any interest. And then Dorian decided to try the gay bar of the Mages Quarter - an area populated by people like Neve, noble by birth but without any money to their name. Many of them were Venatori of the harmless variety, but Dorian suspected that more sinister members might be hiding among them.

"Dorian Pavus!" Somebody shouted across the room not long after they entered. "How are you, old boy? Haven't seen you in ages!" A man of flamboyant appearance made his way through the crowd. "You've completely neglected us, you know!" He exclaimed with mock offense. "Where have you been?" He looked around, only then noticing Anders at Dorian's side. "Oh, and who is this?" He stared and grinned. "Is he..? Is he your actual slave? The one slave that Magister Pavus stooped to buying? Eh? The blood mage? I thought he would be younger!"

"Hello, Damien, you haven't changed a bit!" Dorian laughed. "This is Anders, yes. The one and only... and you know very well that I don't go for youngsters."

"Is he good to you?" Damien turned to Anders. "Does he treat you right? Have you bled a lot of slaves for him already?"

"I..." Anders started, not sure what to say. Was that man really so exhausting or was he fishing for something?

"Bleeding slaves is not something we do," Dorian answered coldly and Damien spun around. "I'll have none of that."

"Touchy..." Damien gave him a long look. "Very touchy... you were always squeamish though, so I am not surprised. But then - why buy a blood mage?"

"I didn't buy him for that," Dorian shrugged. "I couldn't let the City Guard skin a friend. I prefer him with his skin still on."

"Oh yes, they don't joke," Damien nodded. "They are quite literal when they talk about skinning people alive..." He inhaled sharply.

"Have a drink, Damien," Dorian poured him whisky. "That is an old story."

Anders was watching the exchange and trying to make up his mind who Damien actually was. A blood mage, he thought, one of many in Minrathous, an old friend of Dorian's, if not a close friend... a past lover, perhaps. They had a history together, belonged to the same club... once... he didn't think it was the case any longer.

"Dorian has always had a soft spot for the underdog," Damien spoke to Anders again. "I've heard of you, of course. I know rather more than an average person here. A healer in Kirkwall. An abomination, now freed. A Circle Mage poised to be made tranquil, but rescued by a Grey Warden... and a Grey Warden himself now of course, that is Anders. And a blood mage. There is nothing you haven't tried, is there?" He stared at Anders again. "And now you are a slave of the one Magister who denounces slavery on principle, while still owning dozens of slaves... yes, yes, family estate and all," he flicked his hand as if chasing away a pesky insect. "But you are not another slave, are you, mage? You sleep in his bedroom and you are now sitting here, at The Gay Vint, at Dorian's side sipping the best whisky in the house..." Damien paused again, sipping his own whisky. "Is it serious, Dorian?" He looked at him. "Is he the one?"

"Let's not go there, old friend," Dorian spoke slowly, emphasizing "friend", and Anders thought that perhaps he meant the opposite. "That's water under the bridge."

"Is it?" Damien kept his eyes on Dorian. "Some say the next one should have been a woman."

"I don't fall for women," Dorian straightened up.

"No, not usually," Damien inclined his head. "But there can always be exceptions... Like Anders here normally prefers women, yet he is here with you."

"There is no woman in my sight and no woman I wish to be associated with," Dorian said very distinctly, but in a low voice. "I have always been against it, and still am."

"It's your loss, you know," Damien shrugged and smiled, taking on a lighter demeanour. "You and she could make the world go 'round... and she didn't ask for much... but you're stubborn, always were," he sighed. "You've got here what she wants. Him and the other... one of your guests... it's quite a gathering you have at the Pavus Manor."

"Dragons are about," Dorian nodded. "We've got a dragon hunter."

"And so I heard," Damien smiled. "She's quite a character, your qunari girl... how you keep her under control, I'll never know."

"I don't, Anders does," Dorian grinned. "She's taken quite a liking to him. You know how qunari can be..."

"Passionate and indiscreet!" Damien laughed. "Oh yes." He drank the rest of his whisky in one shot. "Be well, Dorian, enjoy it while it lasts!" He shot a glance at Anders. "Who knows how long we still have, when all is said and done..."

...

"That was interesting," Anders said softly after Damien left the bar.

"You know who he was talking about," Dorian nodded. "We know each other, of course. Everyone knows everyone else in Uptown Minrathous. He didn't tell us anything new, apart from the fact that they are watching. They are here."

"Is he one of them?" Anders waved his hand to the barman.

"Damien likes to watch," Dorian looked over his shoulder, but seemed satisfied. "All sorts of things, and these days mostly politics and rumours. He is not with any group, but knows them all. We should not trust him."

"What did she want of you?"

"Marriage, what else," Dorian smirked. "Marriage of convenience, she wasn't interested in any aspect of my person, apart may be from my magic. She is so driven... absorbed in her work... obsessed even... Her House wanted a bond with ours. Happens all the time."

"It figures," Anders nodded.

"Come, there are a lot of people here whom I have not seen in ages... I want them to meet my special slave..." He laughed. "I want to make it very clear just why I bought you."

He put his arm around Anders' waist, turning him around and leaning slightly on their high table, then caught the eye of the singer and made a sign.

Where the songs are passionate
And a smile has flash in it
And a kiss has art in it
For you put your heart in it

The band changed the melody as Dorian led Anders around the room and people took to the dance floor.

"Will you permit me?" Dorian smiled, bringing his face quite close to Anders but still not touching.

It was Anders who kissed him first. There were still a few things he had not tried, and Dorian had a point. Besides, who could resist that dark velvet voice that filled the space between chance phrases and long glances in a dimly lit Minrathous bar...

Deixa cantar de novo o trovador,
À merencória à luz da lua,
Toda canção do meu amor.
Quero ver essa Dona caminhando,
Pelos salões, arrastando,
O seu vestido rendado...
Prá mim ... Prá mim!...



~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Dec 12 2024, 02:41 PM

Evening Star, 3E410 - Love stories

Anders was still using the bedroom next to Dorian's, even though they didn't think he'd be targeted by assassins any longer. But there was no reason for him to move out, and so he didn't. A few weeks after he returned from Soldier's Peak, he knocked on Dorian's door when everyone retired for the night.

"May I?" He put his head in when Dorian answered, then entered, seeing him nod.

"Something on your mind?" Dorian watched him walk over to the bed, drop his robe and get in.

"I want to spend the night with you," he said firmly.

"In what way? You are always welcome to sleep here if you're feeling a bit under the weather," Dorian gave him a long look.

"I need advice... and a second opinion," Anders sighed. "I consider you a friend... you have a cool head on your shoulders, you should be able to help me understand... and..."

"It's about Lucanis, isn't it?" Dorian guessed and Anders nodded. "Well, so you met someone with whom you have a lot in common. You became close. Very close may be even. If he had been a woman, you'd long been in his knickers, but he is a man, and you don't feel the urge... or perhaps you do... but either way it doesn't feel right. Am I close?"

"He kissed me... and I kissed him... but neither of us seem to be interested in anything beyond that. I am confused," Anders looked up.

"Well, you're both straight, that's why," Dorian shrugged. "I always have this problem with women. Oh, I met one to whom I felt close, I kissed her and liked it and she expected more... but I wasn't interested. I was still young then, and yes, it is very confusing. My father thought that his blood magic 'correction' spells finally worked... They didn't. She was simply a remarkable woman, that was all."

"And then what happened?"

"Nothing. She wanted marriage and everything that went with that, and I didn't want any of that, so we said goodbye," Dorian shrugged.

"But now I want to know how it feels," Anders looked straight at him. "From someone who knows what he's doing, that is you. Someone I can trust."

"You want me to make love to you?" Dorian raised an eyebrow. "Even though you don't want it? Talking about confusing."

"I want to know," Anders said firmly. "I want to experience it... done properly."

"What I do isn't any different from what you do with women," Dorian shrugged. "It's not me you want," he smiled.

"No, I think it is you I want," Anders insisted. "I am not a virgin... I just never found it particularly pleasant."

"And now you want to change your mind... Remarkable." Dorian moved closer and took Anders in an embrace. "Am I the only gay man that you know?"

"No, you're not," Anders wrapped his arms around Dorian's neck. "But you are the only one that I like seeing naked."

"Are you just saying that?"

"It's true. I've seen a lot of people naked, being a healer," Anders grinned.

"So... if you never wanted to have sex with a man, why did you do it?" Dorian went to the heart of the matter.

"Curiosity, at first," Anders shrugged. "As a teenager, with a friend. I guess we just couldn't get girls to do it with..." he smirked. "We each hated being on the receiving end... and never did it again. Drifted apart, too... Of course, me spending the following year in prison didn't help... but that was unrelated..." He paused, still holding Dorian's embrace.

"That was just teenage experimentation, it doesn't count," Dorian shook his head.

"Yeah, I know. Then later, other times... Sometimes I was drunk, sometimes desperate and sometimes depressed... like, nothing mattered... Other times I wondered if I was doing something wrong, if there was a trick to enjoying it... So I tried a few more times with people I liked... But I simply always found female company more exciting and pleasant."

"You have Lucanis now. You should be talking to him." Dorian was in no rush.

"I shall be... at some point... may be. I don't know how he feels about this."

"Or is it may be that you no longer want just the simple pleasures... could it be that you are after something more?" Dorian pulled away, looking at Anders as if trying to see into his soul.

"Wolf isn't gay, you know?" Anders returned his gaze. "Yet he and Zevran are lovers. Just Zevran, no other man... Did you know that?"

"I did," Dorian nodded. "Wolf went into a lot of trouble one day to prove to me that he and Zevran weren't lovers. So I knew that they were."

"He loved Morrigan, and he loved Zevran... he had so many women over the years as well... but those are the two people he loved."

"He loved you too," Dorian pointed out. "But perhaps in a different way. He meant everything to you... Why did you not leave with him?"

"Someone had to stay and keep an eye on his son," Anders smiled. "Keep him out of trouble." He paused, then shook his head. "I don't know why I stayed behind. Perhaps I needed to face life on my own."

They fell silent for a while, just sitting there, holding the embrace.

"Have you ever loved someone?" Anders asked.

"I have, a while back," Dorian nodded. "It didn't end well."

"Just the one?"

"Just the one... Real love is rare. I was involved with lots of people though, flirted with many... but nothing ever came close to that one..."

"So... I don't feel so out of place then," Anders smiled.

"There is no trick to enjoying it, to answer your question," Dorian said softly. "Some people like it, men and women both, other people don't. I hate it myself, being on the receiving end. There is nothing essentially different between me and you..."

"A thirteen year old girl told me recently that she loved me and wanted to marry me when she grew up... I was gobsmacked," Anders shivered. "I was there when she was born, I pulled her out of her mother's womb, I cut the umbilical cord... I never saw her as a young woman, but she is now growing up... And I felt that her emotion was quite mature. I told her to give it ten years... But what happens then? What if she still loves me then but I cannot stop seeing her as a child?"

"You will have to answer this question then," Dorian was watching him. "You will have to look at her as a woman and ask yourself what you feel. You are an incredible softy, Anders," he smiled.

"Perhaps," Anders nodded and smiled too. "I still want you to do it though..." He kissed Dorian softly. "The song from that bar still plays in my head... Toda canção do meu amor... I want you to do it right..."


~~~~~~~~~~~
The unabridged version is published on my website.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 24 2025, 06:27 PM

Evening Star, 3E410 - Brothers

"We are like brothers though!" Lucanis was adamant. "Illario would not do anything against me!"

"But the facts speak otherwise!" Viago shook his head. "You are deluding yourself, Lucanis! Anders, you tell him! He'll listen to you!"

"Anders does not know our history! He cannot be the judge of this!" Lucanis protested.

"This is exactly why he will be the best judge!" Viago wasn't giving up. "He is impartial! He sees things as they happen!"

"He is hardly impartial," Teia smirked. "But regardless - what do you think of this, Anders? Is Illario a traitor or not?"

"Well?!" Lucanis glared at Teia and Anders both.

"Err..." Anders shuffled uncomfortably. Judging a family feud was no easy matter. "I think we don't know yet. I think we need to find your grandmother," he turned to Lucanis. "We need to determine with certainty how Zara knew where to find Lucanis when she abducted him," he looked at Viago. "And we need to discover who sent the Crows after me. The ones we intercepted had no idea," he added. "I believe this is all connected."

"They were of the lowest rank," Lucanis nodded. "Very green and rather unprofessional. They knew nothing and it seems to me they weren't supposed to succeed. Which is strange."

"To say the least!" Viago shook his head. "Officially, their lives are forfeit now. Why would we want to waste our own assassins, even green ones?"

"Someone wanted to send a message," Teia agreed. "They wanted Anders alive. You don't send green ones if you want the job done properly."

"Well, if we want to find grandmother, perhaps we should search the villa first," Lucanis offered. "Look for clues, and not just about her. Let's see what comes up."

...

Lucanis' grandmother Caterina was the head of Antivan Crows. She disappeared shortly after Anders and Lucanis escaped from the underwater prison. There was talk of an assassination, but as Caterina's body was also missing, people quickly dismissed that theory. No, she had been abducted, but by whom, remained a mystery as no one had claimed it yet. Besides, Lucanis' return to Treviso caused a stir, there was much talk of his spirit wings that many people saw during the fight with the dragon. Everyone agreed that he must have become an abomination, but no one was sure what he could do exactly, what the nature of the demon inside him was, and what it meant for the Crows, considering that Lucanis had been generally seen as the man to succeed Caterina in a not too distant future.

"There is no knowing what we'll find in the villa," Lucanis was saying as they were getting ready to leave. He stood before an open cupboard containing dozens of various throwing knives, daggers and short swords, and he was methodically packing them into folds and pouches on his armour. "We should be well prepared." He shot a glance at Anders who wasn't packing anything into his robe, apart from what he already had. "Are you ready?"

"I only need one dagger, as that is for me," Anders grinned. "And just one staff. I did pack all the potions that I dared... But yes, I tend to travel light."

"Well, if you say so..." Lucanis squinted. He wasn't used to working with mages. This wasn't like going after a dragon - that was just one big chaotic battle without any coordination. What they had to do now was a stealth mission - to infiltrate a private villa and search for clues. Of course, Lucanis had the key to the front door, but he didn't expect it to be accessible. He also had keys to back doors, but even there... if indeed his cousin Illario was holding Caterina in the villa, they would have no advantage from the keys. Lucanis and Illario both grew up there, they both orphaned young and Caterina took them in, they were both her grandsons... so indeed, they were more like brothers than cousins, and anything that Lucanis knew about the villa, Illario knew also.

"If we find Illario there..." Anders paused and Lucanis looked up. "What do you want to do?"

"Not killing him," Lucanis glared. "It depends... Incapacitate him if we have to... But actually... let's hope he won't be there."

The night had fallen and they set out towards the villa traveling through the "upper level" of the city, that is from roof to roof rather than along the streets. They emerged near a canal with several gondolas moored there. The villa was on the other side of the water.


They took one of the smaller boats and crossed the canal, then Lucanis directed the boat into a small side channel.

"There is no need to go through the front door," he smiled. "This is the one entrance that Illario might not know about - he's always been squeamish about rats."

The channel led into a tunnel, the tunnel into a sewage corridor, and from there they pushed a trapdoor and emerged in an old cellar somewhere behind the kitchens. The entrance was not guarded, and they didn't like it. Trying to make as little noise as possible, they made their way through the larders and the kitchens and finally entered the main foyer.

The villa was definitely not empty. They heard noises upstairs as well as further in the depths. Someone was pacing about, not trying to be silent. They heard conversation, footsteps, clinking glasses...

"Is Illario having a party?" Anders mouthed, raising an eyebrow.

"That's not Illario," Lucanis shook his head. "They are not speaking Antivan. Wrong accent."

They moved slowly towards the voices, it seemed the people were on the upper gallery. The foyer on the ground floor was not lit, with just a few oil lamps flickering in the corners. The darkness was their friend, but it could equally be a foe - someone could be hiding there. And someone was.

A blast of icy cold stopped them in their tracks, an ice mine started shimmering by the foot of the stairs.

"Stop!" Anders made a sign, but Lucanis had seen the mine too. They peered into the darkness, trying to find the mage. Anders thought he saw movement, and shot a bolt of lightning. There was a stifled sound and they caught a glimpse of someone... perhaps a woman. She had stood by a door, and now quickly disappeared through it. They heard some faint knocking where she went...

"Servants' quarters," Lucanis breathed, going after her. "Empty now, but watch out for intruders."

The rooms were indeed empty. The knocking sound was vanishing down the corridor, and they ran after it, fully aware and apprehensive that it could be a trap. Perhaps they should have gone up the stairs instead... but it was too late for that now.

"This leads outside," Lucanis pointed at the door behind which the mage vanished. "In the yard, we should be able to catch that mage!"

"Or run into an ambush!" Anders smirked, readying a spell. Lucanis unsheathed his daggers.

They ran out of the building. The yard was fenced off and well lit, which was a common anti-theft precaution practiced around many rich villas. The area was as light as day. There was no ambush, but they noticed movement in the corner.

"Ah-ha! No where to go!" Lucanis ran and jumped, landing nearly on top of the mage and knocking her to the ground.

"Wait! Wait!!" Anders shouted, sending a lightning bolt at the mage and knocking her on the ground too. "We want that mage alive!!"

"Oh... Good thinking," Lucanis stopped at the last moment. "Well... You can thank him that you're still alive," he looked down at the mage. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"



The mage scrambled and sat up, massaging her left leg which had a prosthesis.

"I don't want to fight either of you," she looked at them in turn. "I am an investigator... I didn't know you would come here tonight! The villa is crawling with Venatori."

"Venatori? That explains the Tevinter accent," Anders nodded. "Neve Gallus, I presume? Forgive me, but your viper-shaped prosthesis rather gives it away."

"I am Neve," she nodded. "I was not trying to harm you just now, but to stop you going upstairs. I have information for you."

"Well, then talk!" Lucanis still held his sword pointing at her throat.

"Zara is after you both," she said as dramatically as she could manage from her position on the ground. "It was she who sent the Crows after Anders, but now that the top Crow escaped her prison, she called them off. She is trying to pull whatever strings she has to get you both back, get you locked up again." She stopped talking and looked at them triumphantly as if she delivered the world's greatest secret.

"Yeah, we figured as much," Anders smirked. "Now, what's your actual information?"

"Oh... well... that was it, in fact," Neve suddenly looked a lot less sure of herself. "Like I said, I came here to investigate. But you two showed up and prevented me from getting anywhere!" She glared.

"So this is now our fault!" Lucanis turned pale. "Please forgive me for coming to my family villa to search for my grandmother without your permission!" His voice was ice cold and his sword inched closer to Neve's neck.

"No, no, that's not what I meant!" She protested and finally managed to stand up. "I... No, it came out wrong," she smiled timidly at them. "I want to help you."

"What you want is Dorian's protection," Anders smirked. "Lest the Venatori should find out that you are not entirely faithful to them."

"They know it already," Neve said dismissively, regaining her confidence. "That's why I didn't know they wanted you in the first place. Zara no longer trusts me," she said with disdain. "And this isn't good for the Shadow Dragons."

"Who are Shadow Dragons?" Lucanis asked, but didn't lower his sword.

"Dorian's group," Anders shrugged. "Unofficially. Run by someone called the Viper. They are against slavery in Tevinter. And Neve here is a member. But she is also a member of the Venatori, as we've recently found out. That's all domestic politics, nothing to do with us. Except Zara, of course."

"Yes," Lucanis was watching Neve. "And our investigator here thought she would know all about Zara, but Zara was two steps ahead of her, as it turns out!" He scowled and Neve scowled back.

"Dorian brought her in to search for me when I was kidnapped," Anders nodded. "Which was when he found out she was a double agent. He wasn't pleased, to put it mildly."

"What do you want to do with her?" Lucanis extended his sword a bit further.

"Don't kill her yet," Anders stepped forward. "So, Neve," he moved away Lucanis' sword. "Tell me where we can find Zara."

"You aim high, don't you," Neve smirked. "I don't know where she is, I am not her secretary."

"Oh come now, you can do better than that," Lucanis took a step forward too. "I really want to have a chat with her."

"You!" Neve laughed. "She will have you for lunch."

"Minrathous," Anders answered his own question. "We know she is in Minrathous, when she is not visiting that underwater prison. She must have a portal of some sort to move quickly. The Venatori here must have come through a portal. You too must have used it. Tell us where it is."

"This is like pulling teeth, let's just kill her," Lucanis said impatiently when Neve didn't immediately answer.

"Yeah... you are probably right," Anders nodded and turned around.

"No!" Neve cried out. "I can tell you where the portal is... The back street behind the market, near the docks... it leads to another back street in Minrathous... But I don't know about the prison..."

"Can we even allow her to live?" Lucanis had had enough. "She'll run back to the Venatori."

"And tell them what?" Anders shrugged. "That you and I both live? I daresay they already noticed. She doesn't know anything else. Dorian wanted her alive for something."

"Dorian..." Neve smirked. "That's all we've been hearing from you today. I see he well and truly got you to his side after that evening at The Gay Vint. I bet you didn't tell Lucanis."

"Dorian is the whole reason you are alive," Anders said through his teeth, tying up her wrists. "What a waste of an evening! I hope he's got something good planned for you."

"We've no time left to search the villa tonight," Lucanis nodded. "Let's go. Someone will try that portal with her..."

...

It was already morning when Anders and Lucanis finally returned to his apartment, having taken care of Neve's escort back to Minrathous. Lucanis started brewing coffee.

"Now, that was a waste of time," he swore. "We discovered nothing about my grandmother, and the villa is still overrun by the Venatori."

"Why though, I wonder?" Anders nodded. "What do the Venatori want with Caterina? Or do you think they are after you for Zara?"

"May be, or may be they are after both of us for Zara," he shot Anders a glance. "There's talk..."

"...that where they find one of us, they also find the other," Anders nodded. "Does it bother you?"

"Not unless it gets us killed," he grinned. "But tell me..." he paused to pour out the coffee. "Is it true what Neve said about you and Dorian? That you are intimate?"

"Yes and no," Anders smiled. "We went to The Gay Vint in order to try and learn something, which we did. Also, Dorian wanted to convince everyone that he bought me for sex rather than blood magic or any other reason, and so I behaved accordingly. In truth he bought me to save my life," Anders added by way of justification. "I also frequently sleep in his bedroom, for the sake of appearances... but we are not lovers. Not as such. Although we have on occasion..." he sighed. "I'm making a mess of it, ain't I?"

"That's alright," Lucanis smiled, watching Anders blush. "He is an old friend, yes? Let's leave it at that."

Evening Star, 3E410 - Hello, cousin

The following night Anders and Lucanis set off to Lucanis' family villa again, but now they knew what to expect. The villa was overrun with Venatori, the unfriendly blood mages from Tevinter. It was not clear what they were doing there, and whether they had anything to do with the disappearance of Lucanis' grandmother; it was also unclear what role Lucanis' cousin Illario played in all of this, if any. Those were the questions that they wanted answered.

They entered the same way as the previous night - through the sewers. The passage was still unguarded, which could mean that either the Venatori had no idea about it, or that they didn't care, or may be even that they wanted Anders and Lucanis to enter the villa so that they could be caught in a trap. At any rate, caution was advised.

Like the previous night, the ground floor foyer was empty, with voices coming from the upper floor. This time Anders and Lucanis decided to go through the entire villa, room by room, looking for any clues to answer their many questions. For the most part, the rooms were empty and untouched - the Venatori were definitely not ransacking the house. They were there with a purpose...

Finally Venatori guards started appearing, which meant that they were going in the right direction. After a few simple fights, they ran into a group led by a blood mage, and although Anders and Lucanis still won, the fight was of a different caliber. A search of the room revealed some scraps of paper with what looked like orders for the Venatori to take positions at the villa. Someone was making preparations.

"This doesn't look like a trap for you and me," Lucanis tried to piece together the message on the scraps. "They were going to occupy the villa and guard something or someone further in. May be Caterina? But it is not clear why."

"We should keep going," Anders nodded. "Kill a few more Venatori, may be more senior members of their group have more detailed orders. Prepare for blood magic. They are going to try to manipulate us."

"I killed a few blood mages in my day," Lucanis smirked. "That's why they call me the Demon of Vyrantium. Of course, that was before I got an actual demon."

"Spite can be manipulated too, and through him - you," Anders pointed out. "Remember what Avernus told us. These Venatori orders may well be from Zara, and who knows what sort of enchanted artefacts may be about..."

"Well, what do you want me to do?!" Lucanis snapped impatiently. "If they have magic of that kind, we'll see it. Come on."

They continued going through the villa, they fought some guards and a few more blood mages, but nothing out of the ordinary. They also did not find any further orders or papers of any importance. It was becoming very frustrating.

"Caterina is here somewhere, in this house," Lucanis stood in front of an open cupboard in one of the larger bedrooms. "This is her room, and the clothes in this cupboard have been disturbed. Like someone picked a few to give to her. She never left such a mess in here!"

Anders was going to say that it was probably the neatest room he'd ever seen, but apparently by Caterina's standards it was a mess.

"Someone is keeping her in reasonable comfort if they brought her fresh clothes," he pointed out. "But why? Nobody made ransom demands..."

"We shall know it when we find her," Lucanis said forcefully, closing the cupboard behind him. "The garden wing. No one's been using it for ages. It is out of the way, too. She must be there."

The way to the garden wing was not guarded, and Anders thought that surely it was the wrong direction... but then Lucanis pushed what looked like a solid wall and it swung inwards revealing a darkened room with a single candle burning further in.

"Caterina!" Lucanis said softly but distinctly. "Luca. With a friend." He walked in, watching for an ambush, then jumped, getting hold of something... Anders smirked - the old lady would act first and ask questions later. "Caterina! Grandmother... Look, I am who I say I am. We came looking for you."

Anders was still standing in the corridor, watching a shadow of Lucanis jump back and forth in a dark room. But then he heard noises further in the house, so he too entered and closed the door.

"Caterina!" He called. "I am Anders. Perhaps you've heard of me... or perhaps not. Is Illario with you?"

"Illario!" A lady's voice trembled with anger. "That rascal!"

"Caterina, please put down the stick," Lucanis exclaimed, while still trying to keep his voice down. "I am Luca! Please, grandmother!"

"Luca..." she sighed. "Are you really? I was told Lucanis was dead!"

"Almost, but not completely," Anders grinned, remembering how Lucanis indeed almost died in the battle with the dragon in Treviso... but Spite kept him from dying completely.

"Almost, eh?" Caterina seemed to have stopped struggling because Lucanis stopped jumping. She stepped to the table with a single candle and turned up an oil lamp. "So, let me look at you, one who claims to be my Luca..."

The lamp illuminated a sparsely furnished room with a cot, a table and a chair in a large empty space. A tray with some remnants of food stood on the floor. Caterina turned to Lucanis, still holding her walking stick with a large crow head at the ready.

"But it is I..." Lucanis started saying again, but after a few moments she beamed at him and squeezed him in an embrace.

"My grandson..!"

She held him close, knocking the breath out of him, and Anders thought that perhaps it was her own breath that she wanted to hold... A tear ran down her cheek but she soon regained her composure and let go of Lucanis.

"And so it is you!" She smiled brightly. "Ooh, Illario has a lot to answer for!" She suddenly exclaimed in anger again. "He told me you were dead! That our family was reduced to him and me! That rivals were after us and so he had to lock me up here for my own protection! Really!" Her cheeks blushed with even more anger, and Anders figured she was definitely not a lady to cross.

"But why did you let him, Caterina?" Lucanis was still holding her by the shoulders. "Illario cannot just lock you up in your own house!"

"I did not agree to this!" She shook her head vehemently. "I was drugged! I woke up here! Illario has been bringing me food and fresh clothes... saying that it would not be long, that he was on the trail of a traitor... But I think I know who the traitor is!"

"Why did Illario say I was dead?" Lucanis tried to lead his grandmother to the single chair in the room. Eventually she let him and sat down.

"He lied, of course!" She exclaimed forcefully, but also kept her voice down. "He wants to be the head of the Crows! He wants me to step down! But I shall not step down for him!"

"He wants you to step down..?" Lucanis looked surprised, then shook his head, looking as angry as his grandmother. Family resemblance was unmistakable. "Since when?!"

"Since you disappeared a year ago..." she said softly. "Saying that a rival family is trying to take over the Crows... trying to eliminate us all... which isn't that hard, since it is only I and my two grandsons..."

"He will answer for this!" Lucanis said with a scowl. "We have to get you out of here."

"Well, actually..." Anders, who'd been quiet all this time, decided to interrupt. "Actually, it may be better for Caterina to stay here a little longer."

"What?! Why?" Lucanis cried in surprise.

"We still don't know why this villa is overrun with the Venatori," Anders reminded him. "Are they here to guard Caterina? Or to lay a trap for you and me? Did Illario invite them? Or was that Zara? And if so, is she planning to visit here herself..?" Anders cut himself off as Caterina turned her gaze on him, seeing right through him, he thought.

"Your friend thinks Illario might have been involved in your disappearance," she said calmly. "He is right."

"But we are like brothers!" Lucanis exclaimed and threw his arms in the air. "He would not do such a thing to me!"

"He would, Luca," Caterina said softly but firmly. "And he must have done. Nobody knew about that contract when you vanished... nobody, except Illario."

"But then... he works for Zara," Lucanis said darkly.

"Or has an arrangement with her... A mutually beneficial agreement," Anders shook his head. "She gets you for her experiments, and he gets his grandmother's undivided attention..."

"Your escape forced his hand," Caterina nodded. "I shall not ask now where you've been and how you made it out - that is for later. Now you have to cut the knot between Illario and... Zara, was it?" She looked from Lucanis to Anders and back. "And since the villa is occupied by strangers... I shall stay here for now. Come back when Illario is no longer a threat."

Anders and Lucanis left and decided to clear the villa of Venatori. For one, it was a good cause, and for two, they still hoped that someone among them would have more revealing papers.

They took it slow and steady, clearing area after area and not running ahead until their wounds from each encounter were healed or bandaged. Lucanis was getting impatient at first, objecting that Anders was slowing them down with his propensity to treat every scratch, but after some time he realised that he was not used to long and drawn out campaigns as he always had a single target to kill with each contract, not clear a large villa. Anders, on the other hand, was used to exactly that kind of clearing and knew just how quickly those minor flesh wounds and scratches could accumulate to the point of becoming overwhelming. It was then already morning when they finally stepped outside, but they weren't done yet.

"The gardens," Lucanis smiled. "Always in bloom... flowers change with seasons, but there is always colour..." He stretched, enjoying the sunshine. "Across the gardens is the theatre. We never really were into staging plays, but every villa must have one," he chuckled. "We just used it for parties."

"Is this the last building?" Anders was more concerned with getting it over with.

"No, there's still the pool... right next to the theatre. Don't ask me why!" He shrugged and laughed. "Illario and I always found it hilarious... we'd chase each other between the rows of chairs in the theatre, then plunge into the pool..."

"Where first?" Anders noticed a low building of a pool slightly behind a grand building of a theatre. The pool was barely noticeable, and may be that was the point.

"The theatre," Lucanis started walking. "Let's leave getting wet till last."

The theatre was empty, apart from a few guards. However, the chairs were arranged ready for a performance or a gathering.

"What's going on here?" Lucanis walked around. "It's set out for a celebration, a reception perhaps..."

"Illario getting ready to celebrate him becoming the head of the Crows, perhaps?" Anders squinted. "But there's nothing here. Let's try the pool."

The pool was filled with blood. They froze as soon as they stepped through the door - the unmistakable sweet and slightly nauseating odour hung in the air, they knew the room had a lot of blood before they saw it. It was blood alchemically preserved so it would not congeal. Blood collected for some special ritual.

"Just how many people had to be bled to fill the whole pool?" Lucanis was looking at it in disgust.

"One or two, no more," Anders squatted at the edge, dipping his fingers into the blood, then liking them to get the taste. "This isn't pure blood," he got up. "This is mostly water with enough blood dissolved in it to give it the colour. This has no magical properties - it is too diluted. It cannot be used in a ritual..."

"It can, just not in the usual way," someone said from the other side of the pool. "It does have a rather startling effect, wouldn't you say?" A richly dressed mage stepped out from behind a column, his pronounced Tevinter accent and the style of his robes making him into a Magister.

"So what - you startle your victims to death?!" Lucanis exclaimed with derision. "What are you doing on my family estate?!"

"Ahhh, the Demon of Vyrantium is here, in person!" The mage cried out with joy. "A little early, the party isn't scheduled to start for a few more days... but we can provide lodgings until then."

He shot a lightning bolt across the room and the blood in the pool reflected it like firework.

"I do not want to kill you!" He shouted. "Not yet! Not today! Zara wants you back!"

"But I do want to kill you! Here and now!" Lucanis retorted, starting to run around the pool towards the mage, with Anders following. The mage readied a spell, waiting for Lucanis to turn the corner. Timing was everything.

"No, cousin, not now!" Suddenly Illario entered through a side door and stepped between Lucanis and the mage. He had a peculiar red broche. He touched it, and Lucanis collapsed, unconscious. "He is not dead," Illario said to Anders. "Take him away when he recovers. Never come back." He made a sign to the mage and they both left the pool house.

Anders knelt over Lucanis - he was indeed not dead. His breathing was shallow but otherwise he seemed unharmed. What just happened? Anders wondered. What sort of an enchanted broche was that? It had a tell-tale red glow... was that red lyrium?

Lucanis stirred, interrupting his musings.

"What happened?" He sat up with difficulty. "I saw Illario come in..."

"How do you feel?" Anders was checking his pulse. "Some kind of magic made you collapse. The question is why."

"I feel... alone," Lucanis looked up. "Spite is silent."

"This is not good!" Anders shook his head, worried.

"Why not? May be I am finally rid of him?" Lucanis grinned.

"No, not like this... something else happened..." Anders got up. "Can you walk? We should go."

"I can walk... go where? What about Caterina? Illario? What is going on?!" Lucanis was getting agitated. He got to his feet, but stumbled, and had to hold on to Anders so as not to fall. "I feel... dizzy," he shook his head. "Nothing serious, I'm sure."

"Oh, I think this is serious," Anders said gravely, getting hold of Lucanis securely. "Put your arm around my shoulders and let's go. Everything else can wait. If this is what I think it is, your days are numbered."

"My days were numbered the moment I was born to the Crows," Lucanis smirked, accepting Anders' support. "But alright. Where are we going?"

"Minrathous," Anders replied, leading him out of the villa. "Time to test that portal than Neve told us about. It better be working."

Evening Star, 3E410 - Spite

"Spite took a hit," Anders declared by way of explanation when he and Lucanis entered the Pavus Manor in Minrathous, with Lucanis barely able to walk. "Emmrich, can you discern how bad it is?"

"The spirit possessing Lucanis had been injured? Directly?" Emmrich looked up. "In Mundus? Remarkable!"

"And very bad for Lucanis and the spirit both," Anders nodded. "They had an enchanted red lyrium artefact... I cannot sense Spite at all."

"Yes, yes, of course, that would be most detrimental..." Emmrich scrambled to get his staff. "We need room for this... Come and sit here," he put a chair in the middle of the salon gesturing Lucanis towards it. "It may hurt a little..."

"Hurt?" Lucanis looked around, but everyone else was nonplussed and Emmrich was already absorbed in his ritual. "Just what is he going to do to me?!" He stared at Anders.

"Not to worry, just a simple spirit probe, from what I can tell..." Anders tried to reassure him watching Emmrich's incantation. "But yeah, it can be slightly..."

"Ouch!" Lucanis jumped up, that was hurting clearly more than a little.

"No, no, stay seated..." Anders pushed him back into the chair, gently but firmly grabbing his shoulder. "It's worse for Spite, trust me..."

"If you had told me upfront..!" Lucanis' face was contorted with pain.

"That's why I didn't," Anders tried to speak soothingly, but held Lucanis firmly in his chair. "We have to know where we stand, and this is the best approach."

"So there are other ways to get to the bottom of it without putting me through this torture?!" Lucanis would be getting angry if he wasn't hurting so much.

"Yes, but none as effective or as accurate. It shouldn't take much longer," Anders smiled, watching Emmrich's movements.

"For an assassin, you are not very good with pain, Lucanis," Harding pointed out. "I expected you to have a higher tolerance to it."

"For an assassin!" Lucanis laughed. "I am the one hurting people, remember? Not the other way around! And I don't torture them first! It's all over quickly for them! Not like this!!"

"Alright, it's finished," Emmrich put away his staff. "The pain should subside eventually..."

"Eventually! Sadists is what you mages are!!" Lucanis was properly angry now. "That's why I hate working with mages!"

"It's bad," Emmrich gave Anders a look of significance. "We should confer..."

"Hey!!! Merda!! I'm still here!!!" Lucanis jumped up, now that Anders was no longer holding him down.

"I am sorry for the trickery, my friend," Anders faced him. "But we had to know. You need to rest now, eat, sleep, lie down anyway... I shall join you shortly, I am not letting you out of my sight... I'm sure Dorian won't mind me no longer sharing his bedroom."

"Lucanis - you can have the large bedroom to the right," Dorian came to the middle of the room to play the host. "Emmrich, Anders, Bellara and myself will confer in the library. Davrin, bring us Neve after a bit, she's relaxing in the dungeons, and she needs supervision... at all times, please," he looked at Davrin who nodded. "The rest of you..." he shot a glance at the butler who bowed curtly. "Refreshments will be provided. Don't leave until we return."

He made a gesture with his wrist to signal the end of instructions, and promptly Emmrich, Anders and Bellara got up to follow him, while the others looked expectantly at the butler awaiting refreshments.

"And that is why Dorian is a Magister and I ain't," Varric smirked to himself, uncorking yet another bottle of premium Tevinter whisky.

...

"Zara of the Venatori created an artefact that allows to influence and damage a spirit possessing a host, and do it here in Mundus without going into the Fade to confront the spirit there," Emmrich summarised the situation to the other mages. "Illario used this artefact to attack Spite that is possessing Lucanis. Or rather I should say - Determination, for that is the proper name of the spirit. And no, it isn't a demon."

"That is bad news for Lucanis, but which other dangers does this artefact present?" Bellara looked up. "For those of us who aren't possessed by demons, that is."

"Zara is working to create demons of her own design, either having them possess slaves or even commanding them without possession," Anders explained. "Lucanis was her experiment. It didn't quite work because Spite didn't turn into a demon and does not answer to Zara. However, he still cannot stand up to that artefact. The danger of it is that Zara is building a demon army and that she will actually be able to control it too."

"Does that artefact control Spite and thus Lucanis?" Dorian looked concerned. "Could Lucanis turn onto us? Not of his own free will, you understand, but..."

"...but if he were controlled?" Emmrich picked up his phrase. "No. From what I've seen, that experiment really failed as far as Zara is concerned - she cannot make Spite do things. She can harm him though."

"Then for Lucanis it means that his life is in grave danger," Dorian nodded. "But on a grander scale there's Zara's demon army. Zara must die, and quickly."

"I think we all agree on that," Bellara nodded. "I also think that Lucanis has to be sacrificed."

"No." Anders said with an intensity that made everyone stare.

"You are saying this because he reminds you of your experience with Justice," Bellara shook her head. "I understand. Well, I don't really, I have no idea what it's like to be possessed by a demon... err... spirit... whatever. But I understand why you are so emphatic. But the truth is that Lucanis is a danger to others."

"No." Anders repeated. He was tense, his face was white, he was almost shaking. The reason he didn't say anything else was that he used all his willpower to control his emotions. Bellara was playing with danger.

"Sacrificing members of this group is out of the question," Dorian said with urgency, shooting sideways glances at Anders. "You really don't know what you are talking about, Bellara."

"I think we are digressing," Emmrich also sounded concerned. "The moment we even start discussing sacrificing members of the group for the good of the others, we spell out the death of the group. Can't you see that, Bellara?" He looked at her with that sad and disappointed expression that professors bestow on their favourite students when they commit unforgivable mistakes. "A group where people are anxious to be sacrificed for the good of the cause cannot function!"

"Well... if you put it this way..." Bellara shrugged. "Oh very well. He'll die all by himself soon enough."

"Ah... And that is the first topic on the agenda of this conference," Emmrich cleared his throat. "The second topic is how to kill Zara. But let us first focus on how to save Lucanis."

"What is Spite's condition?" Anders finally managed to speak. "You said it was bad."

"It is," Emmrich nodded. "You know how you can fight a spirit in the Fade and kill it... well, they've done the same thing, but without going into the Fade. Determination is almost dead."

"Almost?" Dorian gave him a long look. "But not completely because he is possessing Lucanis, yes?"

"Yes," Emmrich nodded. "Determination is alive because Lucanis' spirit - his soul - keeps it alive. But this is destroying the soul. Slowly, but certainly. Conversely, Determination has done the same for Lucanis in the past - when Lucanis was almost dead, Determination gave of itself to keep him alive. This is why I am certain it isn't a demon."

"It is a symbiosis then," Bellara spoke again and everyone glared, even though what she said was true. They just didn't trust her to speak.

"The ritual that Zara used to implant Determination into Lucanis, effectively fused them together," Emmrich nodded. "I could see no way to separate them without removing a significant part of each of them in the process. This would either kill them or damage them beyond recognition."

"Such as turning Determination into an actual demon or removing humanity from Lucanis," Anders nodded. "Justice told me about such things."

"Indeed," Emmrich inclined his head. "But even with you, Anders..." He paused, as if contemplating whether he should say what he was going to say. "Justice was never merged with your soul... Yet even after he cut the connection and left, he isn't entirely gone. You have been changed forever."

"I should have been dead," Anders nodded. "It took... well... someone else had to step in and give me something of himself to repair the damage, to plug that hole..."

"But I am not suggesting separating Spite and Lucanis," Emmrich tried to gently steer the conversation in the right direction. "What I meant rather was that Justice still influences the way you think even though he is long gone. And the same is true for Lucanis - Determination makes him more focused, but on the other hand, his life experiences make Determination look for options instead of always taking the shortest route."

"Where are you going with this?" Dorian squinted.

"I think the way for Lucanis to survive is to embrace Determination. To help him. To willingly support him. That will heal the spirit, Spite will be back and will stop leeching life energy from Lucanis' soul."

Emmrich finished speaking and looked at everyone in turn. Bellara shook her head in disbelief but didn't say anything. Anders was looking into the distance as if consulting with someone unseen. Dorian was rubbing his chin, but after a while his expression cleared and he nodded.

"The only question is, whether Lucanis will want to do it," he said. "He wants to be rid of Spite at present."

"It's up to you, Anders," Emmrich spoke softly. "You have gone through the same with Justice. You have to guide Lucanis on this journey. You have to convince him to accept it."

"Or else he'll die," Anders nodded.

"I think everyone is already fully convinced that I am still exclusively gay," Dorian smiled. "You no longer need to sleep in my bedroom." Anders and Emmrich smiled to that while Bellara looked completely bewildered, and everyone laughed at the way she looked. A little light-hearted intermezzo was very welcome.

"Very well, now for the second topic on our agenda - how to kill Zara," Emmrich cleared his throat again. "Or rather, how to find her. The killing part is obvious. Not easy, but obvious."

"Yeah, cutting off her head would do the trick," Anders laughed, remembering Alistair's favourite method.

"What about Neve - can she lead us to Zara? Can we trust Neve?" Emmrich looked at Dorian.

"Neve is now persona non grata with the Venatori," Dorian looked up. "Some sources I spoke to, say the Venatori want her dead. Other sources say she isn't important enough - yet. The Crows have been spotted delivering a letter to her - with a brick through the window. She isn't saying, but we must assume it was a threat to become hunted by the Crows unless she does something for Zara... It's pretty clear-cut as it goes."

"The Crows... no, wait. Lucanis is from the Crows," Bellara shuddered. "With all that Spite business I completely forgot... but Lucanis is a Crow!" She beamed at everyone. "So he would know about this, right?"

"Well..." Dorian chuckled. "The Crows have factions. Lucanis asked around - this isn't official business, this is somebody going rogue, but somebody high up. His cousin perhaps. Either way, Lucanis would not know."

"So, Neve," Emmrich picked up the thread of the conversation. "Can we use her and is she to be trusted?"

"I think so," Dorian nodded. "Let's call for Davrin."

He pressed a button that no one realised was there, and a servant appeared, nodded and left, all within a few seconds. Shortly afterwards Davrin entered with Neve.

"I have considered your request, Neve," Dorian spoke quite formally. "You may stay in this house and under my protection if you disclose your connections to the Venatori - and not just to me, but to the Shadow Dragons, that is, to the Viper. You will then help us find and kill Zara. You must realise that this will completely ruin your affiliation with them and make you into a target, rather more so than now. But, you will be with us. If you refuse these terms, however, you may return to the dungeons, for you realise of course that I cannot release you until Zara is dead."

"Well, the rat will really miss me down there," Neve smirked. "I agree to your terms. My Venatori affiliation is as good as dead already anyway. As for Zara - sorry, I can't help you. I don't actually know where she is."

Dorian laughed to that, long and heartily, as if he just heard the funniest joke of the evening.

"Who do you think I am, Neve?" He chuckled as his laughter subsided. "Try again."

"Well... it's true, I don't know where she currently resides," Neve shuffled her feet. "But I suppose... there are details I can impart upon you... and can find out more, I'm sure... oh very well..."

She came to the table, laying out some notes, marking some spots on maps, producing newspaper cuttings... she had quite a collection of things she apparently didn't know about. With the help of the others from the group, the missing pieces could be found, the picture would clear, and Zara would be within reach.

"One last thing, Neve," Dorian looked straight at her. "Wherever you go, Davrin goes with you. You asked for protection, and he is it."

"Protection and supervision in one," Neve smirked. "Well, Davrin, it looks like we are going to get acquainted..."

Evening Star, 3E410 - A sunset over Minrathous

When Anders entered Lucanis' room, he found him sitting on the balcony watching the sun set on Minrathous, a glass of whisky in his hand. He did not turn to look at Anders, he just kept watching the streets below. A second chair was set out by the table, and Anders took it. He poured himself a glass of whisky and sat watching the streets too.

"You must promise me never to do it again," Lucanis said after a short pause, still not looking at Anders.

"I promise," Anders replied without turning.

"What do you promise?"

"To never put you through a procedure without explaining what it would entail," Anders said softly. "To never trick you again."

"To never decide for me."

"Promise."

"Healers, mages, Grey Wardens - they all think to know what's best for the rest of us. That's why our books are full of contracts on their lives. And you are the worst kind - you are all of it at once." Lucanis took another sip of his whisky, rolling the liqueur in his mouth. Anders did not speak, and after a pause Lucanis continued. "The reason that no more Crows come after you, is that I took that contract. But I am a professional - if I decide to act upon it, I shall not fail on purpose. Zevran failed to kill his Grey Warden because he did not take the time to study his target. It wasn't just your run of the mill Grey Warden, and that's where Zevran went wrong. You are no ordinary Grey Warden either. You are in no danger from me yet, or we would not be having this talk." Lucanis made another pause, still watching the streets below and not looking at Anders, at least not directly. Anders kept silent. "A contract can only be annulled if the contract giver is dead. The contract giver is Zara, I think that was clear. When Zara is killed, you will no longer be a target for the Crows."

Lucanis stopped speaking, and they sat in silence for a time, sipping their whisky and watching the sunset. Then Anders spoke.

"If you are to survive, you have to bond with Spite. You have to accept him. You are bonded now, of course, through Zara's ritual, but Illario's spell all but killed Spite. He is alive because your soul sustains him. You are bonded in such a way that killing Spite in the Fade would kill a large part of your own soul as well. You will no longer be yourself, and I am not even certain you would survive without Spite at all. This was what Emmerich's probe showed."

"I have the right to choose to die," Lucanis replied. "If I choose to die because I do not wish to live as an abomination, you cannot stop me."

"I promise not to."

"Ah, good," Lucanis smiled. "I know of course that you can stop me. Now we understand each other."

"Spite kept you alive after the fight with the dragon," Anders said in a barely audible whisper. "He chose to do it."

"He isn't a demon, I get it," Lucanis nodded. "I killed enough blood mages to know what I am dealing with. I study my targets first, always."

"Do you want me to leave?" Anders looked at Lucanis, for the first time during that conversation.

"No, not tonight," Lucanis met his gaze. "How will I study you if you are not with me?"

Evening Star, 3E410 - Double jeopardy

"Minrathous is moving into the evening," Anders remarked looking at the streets below their balcony. "What say you if we go out for some entertainment? Just the two of us."

"You want to bait the Venatori with a double bait," Lucanis smirked. "Alright, I'm game. But not without equipment."

When Lucanis was satisfied with the selection of daggers and throwing knives on his person and Anders had discretely stuffed his own dagger and Arcane Sphere into the folds of his robe, they left the Pavus Manor and looked around.

"Anywhere in particular?" Lucanis saw several bars dotted around these upper class streets.

"The Gay Vint, I think," Anders pointed it out.

"Shouldn't you have Dorian with you for that rather than me?" Lucanis grinned.

"That was the only place where we got information last time around," Anders shook his head. "It's more about the prestige and the stature than about love preferences. It's also about having pockets full of coin - the place is outright expensive." He checked his coin purse to make sure they could actually afford The Gay Vint. "But yes, it does give you a certain connotation... or would you rather not?"

"You do like to walk close to the edge," Lucanis smirked. "I don't care. Let them talk. There's talk already, seeing how I never married."

"You kissed me. Repeatedly." Anders turned to face Lucanis. "What did you mean?"

"Your blood is sweet," Lucanis smiled. "I don't drink it but I can smell it. Your magic tickles. Yours is a life I would not wish to take, and yet it belongs to me - I have the contract."

"Is that it - I am just a target to you?" Anders' voice fell.

"There's no such a thing as 'just' a target, not for me," Lucanis shook his head. "Not for a long time already. I don't get routine jobs, you know. Every one of my targets is someone special. Besides, I have not yet accepted the validity of the contract on your life. It was issued to a rogue group, that is true - a group that no longer exists, I might add. By all laws and rules, I inherit the contract. But you are right, there's more."

"So, you choose not to answer my question," Anders inclined his head. "Very well. Come - The Gay Vint awaits."

When they entered The Gay Vint, the atmosphere inside was already dim with cigar smoke and foggy with the fumes of the waterpipes. The barman nodded to Anders recognising him from his previous visit, and Anders nodded back, indicating that they would have the same as last time - the best whisky in the house. "Wanted" posters with his likeness had disappeared from the walls, he noticed - undoubtedly Dorian's influence. The band was playing some undefined tune giving the place an eerie feel of neither here nor there. There were a lot of customers - nearly every table was taken. Lucanis pointed out one against the side wall, out of the way yet in full view of the rest of the room, and it was free.

"Ideal," he nodded to Anders.

They sat down and started watching the room. No one turned to look at them, yet they felt eyes from every direction.

"That mage in a blue robe over there," Lucanis discretely pointed across the room. "The one talking to a lady in pale pink... he's been staring at you ever since we entered."

"Yes, I noticed," Anders nodded. "But I've never seen him before."

"Well, he's seen you before," Lucanis smirked. "Or at least he knows who you are."

The band started playing an actual song and some people took to the dance floor, closing the view of the mage in a blue robe. The waiters navigated between the dancers delivering another round of drinks. When the song finished and everyone returned to their tables, neither the mage in blue nor his lady companion were there.

"Next time the band is playing a song, we should dance," Lucanis said quietly. "We now lost our quarry."

"I don't know if they were our quarry," Anders shrugged. "But sure. Moving about without attracting attention may be a good idea." He waved his hand calling for a waterpipe. "We can't just sit here openly watching the room," he smiled.

"I don't see how having a cloud of fog right in front of us is going to be helpful," Lucanis scowled. "What's in the pipe?"

"Tobacco, I suppose," Anders took a puff. "With spice."

"Don't get your head muddled up with that spice," Lucanis took over and had a puff too. "Well, it's mild, at least. And look over there - someone else is watching you. A flamboyant fellow, if I ever saw one..."

"Oh, I know that one," Anders laughed, waving to him. "Damien, one of Dorian's friends. He's the one we talked to last time."

He didn't have time for further explanations as Damien approached their table.

"Nice to see you again, Anders," Damien greeted him, pulling up a chair. "And - Lucanis, I presume? The Demon of Vyrantium himself, here at The Gay Vint? Nothing to worry about, I hope?"

"Lucanis Dellamorte of the Antivan Crows, at your service," Lucanis bowed slightly. "Not on business today, so nothing to worry about."

"A lot of people here are not so sure," Damien drew his eyes over the crowd. "Seeing the two of you together, here on a hunt... because of course this is no social visit." He leaned back in his chair, sipping his whisky.

"I noticed a few glances, yes," Anders smiled. "But then there was a dance and the people in question left by the time it ended."

"Because they noticed you notice," Damien nodded. "You need to be a lot more overt if you want to stir anything up. Because that's what you're here for... a double bait. But no one wants to put themselves in such a double jeopardy, against a blood mage and an assassin of blood mages... it must be terrifying to face the two of you in battle."

"You don't seem terrified," Lucanis smiled, scanning the scene. "Quite a lot of people are watching, to be sure."

"I am not your target," Damien shrugged. "I am also Dorian's friend. Well, close enough," he smirked. "So as a friend... Anders, will you dance with me?" He got up, offering Anders a hand, just as the band started playing another song.

"I'd be delighted," Anders joined him, throwing a glance back at Lucanis who nodded. The song was a mellow one, the dance not too fast and not too close, and the dance floor quickly filled up.

Lucanis watched the crowd at first, but not seeing anything of interest, he shifted his gaze to Anders and Damien who kept to the edge, clearly trying to stay in view and not be lost among the other dancers. They performed a formal routine... well-known steps of "middle class" dance, one meant for people who didn't really know each other. Lucanis wondered who ordered that particular tune... it could have been Damien. Perhaps a change of pace was due. He signaled a waiter, then whispered a few words, the waiter nodded and smiled, and walked over to the band. A few minutes later the previous song ended and the tune blended into a different one, with a piano and a guitar intermezzo announcing the transition. The dance floor changed, some people left, other people joined it, but Anders and Damien stayed, their dance steps adapting slightly to the new tune, but generally remaining the same.

Quem dorme à noite comigo?
É meu segredo!
Mas se insistirem, lhes digo.

The singer's sensual voice sounded secretive and urgent. "Medo," Lucanis thought, picking up the Tevinter lyrics. "She carries it well." He got up and went to the dance floor.

"Allow me this dance," he approached Anders, and Damien bowed out. "I hope you know the steps."

"We'll make them up as we go," Anders smiled. This was a Tevinter tango, not the usual Antivan variety and not sung in Antivan. The guitar was competing with the piano, this was a song of longing for something that never was, and the singer's voice carried the mood, both languid and hoarse at once.

"This is a close dance," Lucanis pulled Anders in the grip of a tango. "We dance like we dance it in Antiva," he led Anders' leg with his, their hips locked. "The same close steps."

O medo mora comigo,
Mas só o medo!

The singer wasn't rushing the song, leaving plenty of time between verses for the guitar and the piano, and thus, when she did sing, her voice became the focus of the tune, an arbiter or a reminder.

E cedo, porque me embala
Num vaivém de solidão,
É com silêncio que fala...

"E cedo," Anders repeated, but took the lead instead. "But we are in Tevinter, we do not dance like in Antiva." With their hips still locked, he now led Lucanis, sliding his leg up and down and moving the lock to the chest, releasing the hips.

There were no particular steps to the Tevinter tango, apart from the basic rhythm. It was a dance of the moment, invented by the dancers for that one time. Lucanis smiled - he always preferred that freedom to the more restrictive ways of the Antivan tango.

"No need to rub your leg against my groin, you know I've got the coin to pay you," he grinned, noticing the change in step.

Gritar? Quem pode salvar-me
Do que está dentro de mim?

People on the dance floor weren't paying attention to other couples, each focusing on their own dance, their own story. People who remained at their tables were watching the dance floor... Were they watching anyone in particular? Some might have been... Which story was being told? Anders felt eyes upon them, and that was what they were there for, that was why they were doing that dance... that was the plan, at least... but as Lucanis pulled him in an embrace and their lips met in a kiss, he forgot about the plan long enough to just hear the singer... Quem pode salvar-me do que está dentro de mim? And when the kiss ran out and the legs carried on making more steps, the lock moved to the eyes, releasing the body to move at will. Anders fell back and Lucanis caught him, twirling out of the way of another kiss, then falling back into a hip lock. The guitar and the piano were having a lengthy discourse, and the dancers had all the time to unfold their stories.

"Next time you sleep in my bed, you sleep with me," Lucanis whispered in Anders' ear. "No more holding back."

"I won't if you don't," Anders smiled. "Just how far do you want to go?"

Gostava até de matar-me.

The singer brought another verse like a cry of desperation and deliverance at once, she really did carry the song.

"How far will you take me?" Lucanis twisted away like he would in a fight, avoiding his opponent's sword, then fell onto Anders, pushing him low, almost to the floor, then catching him at the last moment and pulling him up again, his hand level with Anders' heart...

"Over the bridge," Anders laughed, sliding Lucanis' arms up to wrap around his neck, then taking him into a tango grip with his hands just below the waist. "If you let me..."

Mas eu sei que ele há-de esperar-me
Ao pé da ponte do fim.

The singer's voice trailed off, the guitar and the piano taking over completely, pushing the words away, rewriting the memory for those who dared.

...

"From the gentleman in green at the back table," the waiter put a note on their table, once they were seated again, the dance over. Anders picked up the note and looked in the direction the waiter had indicated - a richly dressed mage in a green robe was smiling at him and nodded seeing the note.

"Meet me behind The Swan in half an hour or so," he read the note to Lucanis. "Bring your friend. It is always better with a threesome."

"We got what we wanted," Lucanis smirked, nodding to the mage. "But I doubt it's about love."

"How far will this go, I wonder?" Anders mused, taking a large gulp of his whisky. "We should be ready."

"We are," Lucanis felt the knives and daggers tucked about his person. "As ready as we can be. Remember our date - I want to see that bridge, with you still among the living."

"And you," Anders gave him a look. "This is every bit about eliminating you as well as me. A true double jeopardy."

...

The alley behind The Swan was of course a trap, but not an overt one. The alley itself was empty, the mage in green was waiting there when Anders and Lucanis approached.

"Please follow me into the house," the mage said politely. "We shouldn't be conducting business in a back alley like some ruffians," he smirked. "We are nothing of the sort."

He turned and walked into the darkness, and Anders and Lucanis followed. The alley gave to a sturdy door, almost imperceptible against the back wall; the door opened to a warm, rich interior, no place for ruffians indeed. They stepped in, the door closed behind them and a mechanism was heard bolting it tight. The trap was sprung.

The mage in green turned around and picked up a staff, two more mages stepped out of the door openings, and several brutes armed with hand scythes stepped out before them, with more brutes undoubtedly waiting behind. Anders took out his arcane sphere, there was no room for a staff anyway. The sphere delivered different spells, but at close range it was a better weapon. Lucanis pulled out two short swords. The game was on.

...

"Why hand scythes?" Lucanis stood over a heap of corpses a few minutes later. "It doesn't seem to be a very effective weapon..."

"These were blood mages," Anders went through the pockets of the three mages, then proceeded testing out their staves. "The scythes were not meant to kill but to wound - to let the blood flow. These brutes were slaves no doubt, they never stood a chance... they weren't meant to stand a chance. They were primed as donors for blood magic already," Anders pointed at some tell-tale scars and tattoos. "Anyway, this was peanuts. I'll take one of their staves, they are not bad. We should proceed inside... I assume you agree?" He looked at Lucanis.

"Of course," he nodded, his face set. "I have the feeling this is Zara's abode..."

The underground complex was quite extensive and going through it was very much like going through Lucanis' villa room by room. Anders made it a point to pick up any potions along the way and to stop and heal every wound before continuing. Lucanis was again getting impatient.

"Let's just get on with it already!" He exclaimed angrily several times.

"No and no!" Anders insisted. "That's exactly what they want! That's why all the hand scythes! They cannot use our blood for magic just now, but they aim to weaken us all the same! Now hold still!!"

Lucanis could not pretend not to see the truth in that reasoning, and so he sighed and held still while Anders was healing every little flesh wound every time.

Eventually they entered a room with a pool.

"Not another pool of blood?!" Lucanis exclaimed in disgust when he saw what was in it.

"How rude of you to interrupt a lady while she's bathing!" A shrill female voice came from further in. "Illario didn't have the guts to kill you, I see," she smirked. "But I have no such problem! Your blood will add to the pool!"

"Zara..!" Lucanis turned to the voice and saw a woman in a red bathing suit rise from the pool... then he looked closer... that was no bathing suit... the blood from the pool was clinging to her skin.

This was no ordinary fight. The pool wasn't deep but the blood in it was far less diluted than at the villa in Treviso, and the woman was using it to replenish her magicka and to heal her wounds. She did not need to have a bleeding slave to perform a blood magic ritual - she had all the blood she wanted right there at her fingertips, and she used it for every spell she knew, nearly exploding the room itself in a blast of lightening.

"Came to play magic with me, Anders?" She cried out and laughed. "By all means! Help yourself to the blood, too! Let's have a party!"

"A party that would have us killed," Anders muttered in derision. "No, I had another strategy in mind..."

Rather than fight Zara head on, Anders decided to try and disrupt her healing and perhaps her ability to use the blood in the pool for her ends. A blood mage that was bleeding, could not heal effectively, that was the drawback of blood magic that won them many battles; but Zara seemed to have overcome that problem with her pool. Lucanis wounded her repeatedly, yet she didn't seem to weaken, and the blood clinging to her skin seemed to close any wounds and prevent bleeding out. How was that achieved? What controlled the blood? Anders wondered while focusing on healing Lucanis and avoiding being hit by Zara's lightening. If he was going to strike, it had to count, otherwise he'd just waste his magicka and break their defence.

And then he saw it: a thin layer of red mist was rising from the blood. At first he thought it was simple fog, but then he noticed three red lyrium crystals installed at the edges of the pool. The mist was magical, maintained by those crystals. He shot a bolt of lightning at one, but the crystal did not shatter - something else was protecting it in turn.

"You think Neve Gallus works for you," Zara sneered, watching his experiment. "She may do, but she is rather a toothless dragon now. She'd been with the Venatori for much longer than she'd been with her new friends, the Shadow Dragons. Neve is an expert in runes like these. Did she not tell you how to disarm them?" She laughed derisively, hitting Lucanis with another lightning bolt. "I'll kill your friend first, then you're next, Anders. You have until he's dead."

"Get the runes!" Lucanis shouted, launching another attack on Zara. "We cannot win while she's healing!"

"As you say..!" Zara laughed, leaving herself completely exposed to Lucanis' sword, receiving a deep wound that should have killed her, then instantly healing with the blood from the pool. "I do rather enjoy this dance!"

Anders climbed out of the pool and approached one of the crystals. Not wishing to waste his magicka, he hit it with his dagger to see what happened. The crystal emitted a soft, high pitched tone, vibrating for a few seconds, the stabilised and became still again. Anders hit it harder, and a fracture appeared, but similarly to Zara, the crystal healed itself. "What is the source of that power?" Anders wondered, looking around. A very faint red beam of light was streaming into the crystal from further in the room. It was very hard to see, but Anders followed it to the wall. A rune was drawn on it, with another red lyrium crystal in its centre. His first impulse was to hit the crystal with his dagger again to test the response, but something stopped him. What if the rune around the crystal was a protective shield? Or a mine perhaps? With the power of red lyrium, it could even knock him out. But how to know what it was? "Neve is an ice mage," Anders recalled. "If she sat up these runes... chances are, they are frost based. Let's try fire." He took a few steps back and shot a mild fireball at the rune. The frost enchantment came to life and all but evaporated it, but a small burn was seen, and would not recover. "So, fire." His next fireball was larger, causing a sizable explosion just above the rune, and the shock wave knocked him back. The rune wasn't giving up easily. Yet another part of it was burned out. "I don't have the time to go slow," Anders shook his head, watching Lucanis dance around Zara, looking pale. Yet getting knocked out by a rune would be counter-productive. He took a few more steps back, up to a column by the pool. "Let's hope this masonry holds," he sighed. His next fireball was massive. He expected a shock wave back and hid behind the column, hugging it tightly. The stone shook but held. The crystal in the centre of the rune shuttered in the blast. The thin beam of light vanished - the first crystal was now unprotected. Not leaving his post, Anders shot a lighting bolt at it, and it shuttered too.

"What?! You naughty boy!!!" Zara yelled, as the explosions reverberated in the room. "You broke one of my crystals!" She shrieked and laughed. "For all the good that it'll do you! Lucanis is all but dead!"

"Not dead yet!" Lucanis called out. "Keep going!"

"Not dead yet, but sounding weak," Anders noted with worry.

He tried to be as quick as he could. Tracking the beam of light from another crystal, locating another rune, finding cover and shooting a massive fireball... two massive fireballs, as it happened, then a lightning bolt at the crystal by the pool. It took a lot of magicka... he didn't have any left.

"You'll be drained of magicka by now, my boy!" Zara shrieked again. "These red lyrium crystals pack a lot of power, and Neve did a good job on her frost runes! Oh yes, she set them up, you figured it out. Well, why don't you use the blood in the pool to power your next fireball?"

"Don't listen to her!!" Lucanis cried from a far corner. "This isn't regular blood! Use your own!"

"Enchanted, perhaps," Anders nodded to himself, running to the final crystal to start the next cycle of tracking and blasting. "One more crystal. Let's hope I won't have to fight after that... this will take a lot of blood." The red lyrium crystal in the centre of the rune was enormous. How many fireballs would it take to burn through? He slit his wrist and started casting. "Four... five!" A massive explosion shook the room and several columns shattered, including the one Anders was using for cover. He was thrown to the floor, he nearly fell into the pool. A thin layer of red mist was still hanging over the surface of the blood-tainted water. The final crystal. Anders sat up and shot a lightning bolt. The crystal vibrated but held. "Self-powering," Anders reflected. "It had to be. The final rune. Well... I still have some blood..." He gathered all of his magicka, made a fresh cut and summoned a thunderstorm. A giant lightning bolt shot at the crystal from above, splitting it in two, then shattering the pieces. The noise was deafening. Several more columns collapsed, and it looked like the ceiling might cave in as well, but it held. The mist over the red water of the pool vanished. The enchantment was broken.

"Oiiii!!!!" Zara's shriek ripped through the thunder. She jumped out of the pool, as the water was of no further use. She was running towards Anders, completely ignoring Lucanis for the moment. He took off after her, but he was a distance behind her, with rubble blocking his way. "You die now, Anders!!!" Zara was upon him, shooting lightning as she ran, but her aim was poor and Anders managed to roll away from the bolts, too weak to stand. He was taking cover behind a piece of a column, his dagger at the ready - he had no more magicka for a spell of his own, but he was rather good with a blade...

Zara leapt, lightning streaming from her fingers, a dagger of her own poised to strike. "You die!!!" She cried one more time.

"No, you die!!!" A hoarse, hissing voice came out of nowhere, Lucanis diving from above... his spirit wings having carried him high. "You die now, Zara!!" His dagger found her heart, he did not miss.

For a moment everything was still. Zara lay on the floor and did not move, the wound in her chest was bleeding out and did not close. Anders sat up. Lucanis unsheathed his sword and cut off Zara's head.

"I don't normally take souvenirs, but this time I'll make an exception," he said, holding up the head and letting it bleed out. "Zara is no more." His spirit wings were still spread at his back. "Contract complete," Spite's hissing voice confirmed. "Partner."


...

"Zara is done," Lucanis planted Zara's head on the table in the salon of the Pavus Manor. "Neve is next."

"Neve?" Dorian looked up. "She was there?"

"She wasn't but the runes were hers," Lucanis shrugged. "Her life belongs to me, I have a contract," he smiled thinly. "Issued by Zara here. And it is up to me what to do..." His smile grew cold. "You tell her that."

"Neve is not to be trusted," Anders stepped forward, pale as a sheet. "We'll talk later, this will wait, won't it, Lucanis?" He shot him a glance and Lucanis nodded. "You and I have a date to keep."



~~~~~~~~~~~
Music by Amália Rodrigues, listen here, the second version with the guitar and piano discourse.

A tango, dance magic at its finest. Thanks for including the Amália Rodrigues link.

Morning Star, 3E411 - Loose ends

"So, you can smile after all, Lucanis!" Harding exclaimed in mock surprise at breakfast.

"Of course I can smile, what are you talking about?" Lucanis scowled.

"I'm just saying..." Harding winked and giggled.

"Nice to see you putting my tutoring to good use," Dorian smiled at Anders. "If you want any more lessons..."

"Oh cut it out, will you?!" Anders glared at them, helping himself to jam.

"They won't if you two keep giving them cause," Emmrich smiled pleasantly. "In a house with this many servants any juicy stories travel fast, complete and in every detail."

"What detail?!" Lucanis exclaimed indignantly. "We aren't doing it when servants are present!"

"There are keyholes, my friend," Emmrich winked. "Augmented by vivid imagination."

"One look at you, Kadash, and I start imagining all sorts of juicy details," Taash laughed, looking at Anders. "Of course, I don't need to imagine them. Memory serves. Do let me know when you want seconds!"

"Did you sleep with everyone here?!" Lucanis glared at him.

"No, not everyone..." Anders shook his head as vigorously as he dared (just how much did he drink last night?).

"Not everyone, but not for the lack of trying," Harding smirked. "He isn't a shrinking violet, if you get my meaning!" She grinned at Lucanis.

"I think he might have noticed any shrinkage," Bellara suddenly joined in. "I know I didn't."

"Bellara???" Lucanis looked genuinely surprised. "Really?"

"What?" Anders shrugged. "We were bored..."

"You better not let him get bored," Davrin delivered his verdict, shooting a glance at Lucanis. "Grey Wardens don't have a good track record when they are bored. Have you tried his Conscription Ale yet?"

"A what???" Lucanis put down his toast and focused on coffee.

"It's a personal liqueur, every Warden has his own bottle," Davrin explained. "A blend of whatever. I hear Anders made his extra strong before coming here."

"Don't touch it if you value your liver!" Varric grimaced remembering his own experience. "How Wardens can stand such stuff, I shall never know! It's like drinking sodding flames!"

"Nothing burns like the Joining Cup!" Anders and Davrin replied in unison and laughed.

All in all, it was a beautiful morning.

...

"Do you need us any time soon, Kadash?" Taash asked Anders when breakfast was over. She had her arm around Harding who was about half of Taash's height.

"Need for what?" Anders looked puzzled. "Oh, fighting... probably not... why?"

"I want to take Harding dragon hunting," Taash grinned. "My axes and her bow... no dragon will be safe from us! Emmrich tells me there are still some good ones in Nevarra..."

"There used to be some good ones in Nevarra until they were all hunted to extinction three hundred years ago..." Emmrich rolled his eyes. "You know that."

"I know," Taash smiled. "But may be we'll find something else to do, should we get bored..."

"Speaking of travels, I'd like to look in on those young griffins, and Azzan wants to stretch his wings," Davrin joined in. "He's fed up with the rat diet in Minrathous," he scowled. "And since you just killed Zara, I figured..."

"Yeah, go on, why not," Anders smiled at them. "It's not like we have any leads right now. Come back though, we're not done yet."

Most people left the breakfast room but Anders and Lucanis were still sipping their coffee.

"We should return to Treviso," Lucanis said after a pause. "Illario has to be dealt with."

"What do you want to do with him?" Anders looked up.

"I cannot kill him, he is like a brother to me..." Lucanis sighed. "No matter what he'd done..."

"He is the reason you now have Spite," Anders gave him a long look.

"I know... and yet..."

"Then let's go and see... Caterina is waiting."

"I have accepted Spite," Lucanis said quietly. "I shall live as an abomination."

"I knew it when I saw your wings," Anders nodded. "You aren't... well... it isn't black and white. I knew a lady who had the Spirit of Faith in her, the same as you. It happens."

"It happened to you as well," Lucanis shot him a glance. "But you wanted Justice out."

"We weren't a very good match..." Anders sighed. "Justice was so forceful, so forthright... so righteous... and I..."

"And you like to walk the edge," Lucanis nodded. "Not just close, but right on top."

"One day it'll get me killed," Anders smirked.

"Not while you are with me," Lucanis smiled. "I really don't care who else you slept with. Let them talk."

"Caterina won't approve," Anders suddenly remembered her face.

"Caterina might surprise you," Lucanis smiled. "Besides, I am no longer a little boy in need of approval."

"Yet you won't punish Illario."

"And you have another cat. Again."

It was true. A tabby kitten found its way into Anders' things. There always seemed to be one around, wherever Anders went. The Wardens had long given up trying to get rid of them.

"Other Wardens have griffins or Mabari hounds, and that's permitted," Anders scowled. "I don't see why I cannot have a cat."

"Because it's soft and fluffy and makes you soft too?" Lucanis repeated the argument that Anders once told him about.

"Ah, you remembered," Anders smiled. "Yeah... oh well."

...

They took the portal to Treviso and stood in Lucanis' family villa a few hours later. The house was silent, there didn't seem to be any Venatori about. They went looking for Caterina, eventually finding her pushing chairs back against the walls in the theatre.

"Caterina, what are you doing?!" Lucanis ran up to her. "All this work... surely, servants can move furniture for you!"

"I am not dead yet and I can do it myself," she answered defiantly. "Luca... you've returned." She put down the chair and squeezed him in an embrace. "I was worried."

"Zara is dead," Lucanis said when she finally released him. "I suppose you know."

"Illario told me, yes," she nodded.

"Where is he?" Lucanis tensed.

"Scrubbing the pool," Caterina grinned. "With a toothbrush."

"That's cruel," Lucanis wrinkled his nose. "Just like when we were kids."

"I did much worse things to you when you were kids," Caterina sighed. "But after both of your parents were killed... all I had left were my two grandsons... I was cruel, I know. The punishment for failing in your training was too harsh. But you are still alive, despite..." She shook her head, regret burning her face.

"It was cruel and I resented you for it," Lucanis nodded. "Illario didn't get punished nearly as much."

"Illario didn't get into trouble nearly as much," Caterina objected. "You were always out, always exploring, pockets full of pebbles, spiders, scorpions even! You neglected your training too much."

"I... tried other things," Lucanis smiled.

"And that is why you are still alive, despite it all," Caterina smiled and hugged him again. "I know what happened, what you have become..." She shot a glance at Anders. "I know that he knows how it is. My Luca... an abomination..." She sighed and shook her head.

"Well, I cannot lead the Crows now," Lucanis said evenly. "Illario will have to do it, to keep it in the family."

"Illario will NOT lead the Crows!" Caterina cried in indignation. "Not after what he'd done." She turned around and paced the room. "No, I cannot permit it. You could lead the Crows of course, but I know you don't want it. We'll give it away. We have cousins. The Crows always change hands, perhaps it is time..."

"Then... I can leave?" Lucanis sounded surprised, hardly believing what he was hearing. "Not leave the Crows, but may be go away for a while..?"

"You want to spend time with your friend," Caterina smiled and frowned at once. "I am not blind, I see what is going on! You never married... In just a few years Mathilde will be too old to have children - you can marry her then, she is still waiting... You could have had a life together! But no, you did not want a family with the Crows..." She shook her head with scorn. "Do you love her still?" She faced Lucanis who looked gaunt, his eyes burning with fever. "I thought as much. That is why you now chose a man. No woman could replace Mathilde." She paused, watching Lucanis. "I too was young once... But the tango is not just for the young."

She walked over to Anders and faced him, he felt her gaze penetrating every secret he ever had.

"Keep him safe, blood mage," she said gravely. "A Grey Warden, you will next go after the Blight... and my Luca will come with you. Do not get him blighted or worse... He is a Crow, not a Grey Warden!" She said with emphasis. "Conscription Rite be damned..." She shook her head and looked away. "But then again, if you Wardens don't stop this Blight... nothing will matter anyway..."

"There is no one in Thedas I care for more," Anders said softly. "But it is as you say - we go after the Blight."

"Come back and see us from time to time," she smiled, putting her hand on his cheek. "Anders... This is the second assassin you Wardens 'borrow' from the Crows, and the first one is yet to return!"

"Zevran? But his life was forfeit..."

"At first," Caterina nodded. "But after that Blight he and his Warden returned and, well, they were very persuasive!" She gave a short laugh. "Zevran is wanted back! But he won't return for as long as his Warden lives... Will you not follow him as well? He left but you stayed behind..."

"I had to face life on my own," Anders smiled.

"With a hole through your heart?" Caterina looked him in the eye. "Aye, life is like a tango."

With Caterina back in control of the Crows, business at the villa was concluded. Yet, when Lucanis turned to leave, Caterina called him back.

"One more thing, Luca," she handed him a note. "Neve Gallus is here, with a plight to annul the contract on her life. Now that Zara is dead, it is permitted. Have you made up your mind yet?"

"Neve is a traitor," Lucanis paled. "Her runes were all over that pool in Zara's mansion."

"But she claims to have set them up before she realised what Zara was doing at her underwater prison." Caterina paused, watching Lucanis. "Before she started implanting demons into people... before you were captured."

"It isn't about me!" Lucanis cried, anger rising in him. "It isn't even about Zara! Neve had a chance to prove her loyalty, to tell us how to find Zara. Yet she flatly refused every time, leading us on a goose chase. She knew about that mansion since her runes were all over the pool!" He glared.

"And so she didn't betray Zara," Caterina shook her head. "Even despite the contract on her life. But she also did not betray you to Zara, even though that was the very reason the contract was enacted. All she had to do was bring you in..."

"But instead we had to walk into that trap on our own in order to find Zara," Lucanis scowled.

"It was your choice to bait her," Caterina objected. "You and Anders are walking too close to the edge..."

"The edge is where the action is, grandmother," Lucanis dismissed the argument, his face set. "The contract stands. Unless you order me to annul it... you are in charge."

"This one is up to you," she smiled. "But if you wait too long, she may turn against you."

"Zara may be dead, but her work is still there," Lucanis shook his head. "Someone else will pick it up and carry on. We need to know when that happens. With Neve in limbo, we'll hear about it. She is bait, Caterina."

"It's a dangerous game you're playing," she sighed. "But that's who you are. Be careful of this one scorpion in your pocket - she will sting you."

"And then she will die," Lucanis smiled. "She has until she betrays us."

"I see." Caterina shook her head and sighed. "Go now, I'll handle the rest. Enjoy Treviso for a while... Grey Wardens gather in the Anderfels, I expect you will soon be off. But there's still time for another tango, Antivan style."

She hugged Lucanis again, and then hugged Anders, quite unexpectedly, and without a word. They said their goodbyes and stepped out into an early evening in Treviso. Music was heard in the distance, coffee aroma was floating in the air. There was still time to relax, Antivan style.

Morning Star, 3E411 - An evening in Treviso

"Coffee?" Lucanis' answer to everything was coffee. "I need to get my head around of what just happened."

"Yeah, that was... unexpected," Anders nodded. From all possible Caterina's reactions to Lucanis' refusal to lead the Crows, acceptance was among the impossible. And yet, she must have decided it already a while back - she would hand over the Crows to some cousins instead of her favourite grandson. But Lucanis didn't want it and Illario was out of the question after all his treason... and Caterina chose to pass the Crows on so that Lucanis could join Anders in the fight against the Blight... "He is a Crow, not a Grey Warden!" That was all she said... Lucanis was not to be conscripted, but other than that... "It is the second assassin that Grey Wardens 'borrow' from the Crows!" Oh yes, Zevran was the first.

Caterina was in no rush to step down though. She would lead the Crows for a while yet, but Lucanis was no longer expected to eventually take over. That meant the world to him.

Treviso was descending into the evening, and Lucanis picked up the pace going straight to his favourite cafe. It seemed the whole city was out and about. The cafe was packed, but someone waved from a back table.

"Viago and Teia!" Lucanis pointed out his friends. "Let's see what they've heard already!"

"Congratulations!" Viago shook Lucanis' hand eagerly, all smiles, with Teia seconding him.

"Thanks, but what exactly have you heard?" Lucanis grinned, thinking they only knew half of the story.

"Why, Zara is dead, of course!" Viago gave him a broad grin. "It's the talk of the town! Well, among the Crows, at least. And Illario's role has not gone unnoticed," he frowned. "Caterina is back, and it won't be long before you're the head of the Crows!"

"Right on the first point, wrong on the last," Lucanis was savouring the pleasure of surprising him. "Caterina will pass the Crows onto some cousins. I will not take over."

"Oh! That is indeed a surprise!" Viago and Teia exclaimed in unison. "But why?"

"You know I've always dreaded this," Lucanis shrugged. "Grandmother spared me that agony."

"Dreaded... if the Demon of Vyrantium ever dreads anything..." Teia shook her head. "But then congratulations are even more in order! We'll have you back on contracts then?"

"Err... no," Lucanis smiled. "Not yet. I'll be joining Grey Wardens going after the Blight. Without becoming a Warden myself, mind."

"You'll be joining Anders here, you mean," Viago smirked. "It's unusual as far as honey moon destinations go... but whatever," he winked.

"Honey moon..?" It was Lucanis' turn to be surprised.

"Oh come now, it's obvious!" Teia laughed. "That's the other thing the whole town is talking about - and not just the Crows! Lucanis Dellamorte is no longer single!"

"That turned a few heads," Viago seconded. "And... well... never mind."

"Mathilda?" Lucanis asked, his face darkening.

"There's talk..." Viago nodded. "You know she recently widowed... by our hand. I suppose she expected..."

"That I marry her," Lucanis said gravely. "I know. I thought of this. I..." He paused, looking away. "It's been over twenty five years... since... we last spoke," he shook his head. "I am not certain whether it is the same woman... or may be the one I still love remained in the past?"

"You could have at least talked to her since her husband's death," Viago pointed out. "It was before your imprisonment."

"But what if she's changed?"

"Then you'll know it," Teia said quietly. "As it is, you are still thinking of the girl from twenty five years ago."

"I haven't spoken to her since she married," Lucanis nodded.

"She had no children," Viago added.

"You should find out," Teia agreed.

"Well... I'm not so sure," Lucanis looked away, focusing on his coffee.

They sat in silence for a while, then a street minstrel brought a song into the room.

"I am sorry, we should not have spoken of this," Viago touched Lucanis' hand. "It is none of our business. We are happy you finally found someone who is not family or a contract. Perhaps the past should remain in the past."

"Perhaps you should show Anders what Treviso has to offer," Teia smiled. "Tortoni has a new band, I hear they are quite good..."

"Tortoni always has good music," Viago agreed. "Even if it is often Orlaisian..."

"Well, what do you expect from an Orlaisian immigrant?" Teia shrugged. "But he knows his cooking..."

"Orlaisians usually do..."

"As do Antivans," Lucanis pointed out. "But why not. Shall we all go? Or do you have plans?"

"No plans," Teia said quickly, shooting a stringent glance at Viago. "Let's go!"

...

Cafe Tortoni was packed as usual, but there was always a table free for the Crows, especially this one Crow that the whole town was talking about - Lucanis. They refused the menu, only taking light tapaz and an invariable bottle of wine - Rioja Reserva, and none of that sweet Tevinter nonsense, as Antivans liked to point out. The night was young, and Tortoni's cellars were well stocked, with Rioja Granda replacing Reserva as the evening wore on.

The band was playing tango. One after the other, with tunes blending seamlessly into one continuous stream of music. There was no singer, the accordion was taking the lead instead. The dance floor was packed as densely as the room, cigar smoke mixing with that of cigarillos, large fans moving it up and away. The dancers seemed to be smoking too... Like at The Gay Vint, most dancers were focusing on their own dance, but the steps were more precise, more measured, as the rhythm of the Antivan tango was sharply punctuated with every beat... One, two, three, turn... one, two, three, turn... After a while Anders started noticing the difference among the dancers. While simple steps were most prevalent, some couples put a lot more variation into their dances, with daring acrobatic moves stealing the show.

"The Crows like to show off," Viago pointed them out. "We train in acrobatics from our youth, for professional reasons, you understand, but it also comes in handy on the dance floor."

"I see a lot of elaborate moves and very little passion," Anders commented, watching the floor.

"It's the music," Viago nodded. "Wait until the singer appears."

Several bottles of Rioja later, there was a subtle change. The accordionist slumped on a stool at the bar, tired after a long performance; several other musicians changed. A saxophone, a violin, a cello joined the jam... and yet the vibe did not change until the singer appeared.

Bésame, bésame mucho
Como si fuera esta noche la última vez...

The famous song walked in and took possession of the room. For a moment the dance floor froze, as if asking itself whether it was ready for real emotion. Some dancers were, others weren't. The time for acrobatics was over. The sax and the violin played a duet allowing the floor to make up its mind.

"And this is tango Antivan style," Lucanis got Anders to his feet. "None of that showy nonsense. Come - we start with the same basic steps..."

The voice, so deep it could be male, was nonetheless unmistakably female, blending the boundaries of perception. A woman in the second half of her life, simple and barefoot, sang effortlessly, her intimate words meant for just the one person in the room... and every person felt she sang to them.

The verses were simple; there wasn't much more to say, that first phrase carried all the love and the sadness at once. The saxophone, the guitar and the piano took turns to continue the conversation - the dance seemed to never end.

"They dance well together," Viago said quietly to Teia, watching Anders and Lucanis. "I wonder what they are talking about."

"Are they talking?" Teia followed them with her eyes. "They don't seem to need to."

"This is a song about losing someone you love, why would they dance to it?"

"May be they don't read too much into the lyrics and just enjoy the dance?" Teia smiled, putting her head on Viago's shoulder. "It's just a song..."

Quiero tenerte muy cerca
Mirarme en tus ojos, verte junto a mí...

"Just a song, eh?" Viago put his arm around her. "Bésame, bésame mucho..."

Anders and Lucanis were moving across the dance floor easily navigating between the other pairs as everyone seemed to be somehow always in step, and there was enough room for all the twirls and dives and even acrobatics, as out of place as it seemed in a tune like that. Lucanis was leading; just like in Minrathous, he let Anders fall in a deep dive, catching him at the last moment and bringing him up in a twirl just as the violin finished its phrase, with the saxophone taking over. And just like in Minrathous, Anders switched the step and took the lead.

"Que tengo miedo a perderte, perderte despué..." Lucanis mouthed with the singer.

"You won't lose me," Anders put out his hand in the fashion of the tango, taking Lucanis' in his. "We walk together." One, two, three, turn.

"To the gates of the Black City," Lucanis pressed his cheek to Anders', taking his lead in this tango. One, two, three, turn.

"As far as need be, I hear the song." A twirl, and back in step. One, two, three, turn.

"This isn't a tango," Lucanis smiled, changing step. "Although you can dance it as one." Another dive for Anders, with Lucanis catching him at the last moment.

"Antivan style," Anders smiled. "Nothing is as it seems."

The guitar won the argument this time, pushing both the saxophone and the piano to the background. It was a tango now.

Bésame, bésame mucho
Como si fuera esta noche la última vez
Bésame, bésame mucho
Que tengo miedo a perderte, perderte después...

"...perderte después..." It was now Anders mouthing the song.

"Not while I live," Lucanis caught him in an embrace, letting the legs do the slow steps.

"Is that a promise?" Anders smiled.

"It's a contract."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Music by Consuelo Velázquez sung by Cesária Évora -
listen here.

Morning Star, 3E411 - Another song

"Here we go again," Anders sat up in bed, having woken up in the middle of the night. "It's time."

"Hmm...?" Lucanis woke up too. "A nightmare?"

"The Blight is on the move," Anders straightened up, every frivolity evaporating from his person. "We leave in the morning, Lucanis. Minrathous, then on to the Anderfels."

"Luca... call me Luca," Lucanis put his hand on Anders' shoulder, sensing how tense he was. "And so it begins."

"The other Wardens will have sensed it too," Anders nodded. "But still, tell Spite to contact Avernus through the Fade... Tell Alistair to be ready."

"Avernus knows," a spectral crow appeared at Lucanis' shoulder. "He sends his regards," the crow hissed. "They will wait for your signal... you move first."

"Linus Kristavssen - that is my name," Anders turned to Lucanis. "I never told anyone. But we go to the land of my birth, and we may not return. I have a feeling this Blight will not be fought in the Deep Roads, but in the Anderfels. The fall of the Head Quarters was symbolic in more than one way."

"We'll do our best, Linus," Lucanis said softly.

"It's strange to hear you call me that," Anders smiled. "I haven't heard that name since I was little... I remember my mother calling me that... just barely, she died when I was too young... I remember my uncle and aunt saying my name... and it isn't something I'm fond of. When the templars took me to Ferelden, I would not tell them my name out of resentment at first, but then they called me Anders - one from the Anderfels - and I thought why not, it was a new start, why not leave my name behind... since my parents were dead anyway. What a thought for a seven year old..." He smirked. "I don't know if Linus is still alive."

"You chose a name that connects you to that frozen land every time someone speaks it," Lucanis inclined his head. "Anders. You carry the Anderfels with you wherever you go, even to your home in Ferelden. The Soldier's Peak is frozen too - it fits. But in the Anderfels you no longer need to be reminded. Linus isn't dead, he's just been waiting to return."

"I want my name to be known in case we perish," Anders nodded. "Anders, Mage of the Circle of Ferelden, Anders of the Order of the Grey of Ferelden, Linus Kristavssen of the Anderfels. That one has no titles."

It was still the early hours of the morning but neither of them could sleep any more. Lucanis got up and started making coffee.

"It isn't the first time you're going after the Blight," he said, shooting a glance at Anders. "But this Blight seems different."

"It is," Anders nodded. "The song has changed - the song of the Blight that I hear, that every Grey Warden hears. This Blight is going to test me on every level - as a mage, as a Warden, as a leader... that last one is a first for me, and that worries me the most."

"A good leader gets help, and that's what you've been doing," Lucanis pointed out. "Your team - yes, it is your team and not Varric's or Dorian's. We follow you, we stay because of you."

"It's ironic, really," Anders smirked. "Because I am Dorian's slave."

"He bought you out to save your life, no?" Lucanis shook his head. "So yes, officially, by Tevinter laws, you are his slave - in Tevinter only. But Dorian does not see you as a slave, and we all know that."

"Yeah... So I had to be bought out, or else I'd be dead." Anders tensed up, self-doubt eating at him. "How many times Wolf came to my rescue? I lost count. Wolf left, and now it's Dorian who stepped in, but the point remains - I have to be rescued. I always mess things up."

"And if you didn't keep sewing me up after that dragon fight, I'd be dead too," Lucanis reminded him. "And when Illario nearly killed Spite. And when we were going through the villa and through Zara's house - without you, I'd be long dead for sure. People need help sometimes," he smiled. "You get in trouble because you always walk the edge."

"Which is not something a leader should do!"

"Oh, I don't know," Lucanis squinted. "It really depends. In the case of this Blight, safety will get you nowhere. You are exactly the right man for the job."

They returned to Minrathous at the first light. The Pavus Manor was still asleep when they entered, and again Lucanis' response was to start making coffee. Soon the residents started getting up.

Dorian was the first to appear and signal the butler that breakfast should be hearty and served immediately. He wasn't a Grey Warden, but he still knew that something was afoot. Davrin arrived the previous evening without saying a word, and that put Dorian on edge.

"It's time," Anders nodded when Dorian asked about the Blight. "We've all heard the song."

"That explains Davrin," Dorian agreed. "But should we send word to the others? Taash and Harding are somewhere in Nevarra."

"I would be much surprised if they didn't turn up here today," Anders smiled. "Neither of them is a Grey Warden, but Harding still has connections, and I think she would have been informed. What of the others?"

"Emmrich and Bellara are here," Dorian looked around as if expecting them to enter the breakfast room any moment. "Neve... what do you want to do with Neve?" He looked at Lucanis.

"Neve is a traitor," Lucanis said coldly. "Set her loose and watch. She'll betray us at some point, and who she betrays us to will be more important than she herself. I shall kill her then."

"As you wish," Dorian nodded. "We shall set her free." He fumbled in the pockets of his robe looking for something, and Anders took advantage of the pause. He embraced Dorian and kissed him, disregarding the surprise.

"Thank you," Anders said. "Master."

"What..?" Dorian looked dazed, it was too early in the morning. "Master..? Oh right, yes, here, this is for you." He finally found what he was looking for - an official scroll with a seal of the Tevinter Magisterium. "I should have done it sooner. I do apologise for the delay."

It was a document declaring that Anders was no longer a slave of Dorian Pavus but a free man, no financial compensation required.

"We never thought you considered him a slave," Lucanis said, seeing the document. "And now it is official."

"That's not what I meant," Anders smiled. "Although thank you for that too."

"He meant us." Lucanis stood right behind him.

"For opening our minds." Anders still held Dorian in an embrace and he kissed him again, looking into his eyes.

"I... well... I am happy for the two of you," Dorian smiled. "Life isn't always clear-cut, is it?" He hugged Anders. "So, what now?"

"Now we go after the Blight," Anders suddenly looked serious. "Are you coming? We could use a mage of your power."

"Like in the old days, eh?" Dorian grinned. "Of course I'm coming. Varric too, he's been polishing his crossbow for several days already. We're with you, Anders," he added reassuringly.

"We should wait for everyone to assemble," Lucanis nodded. "Spite will open a portal to the old Grey Warden Head Quarters. He's got everything ready."

"Well," Dorian looked pleasantly surprised. "I am glad, Lucanis. It could not have been easy to accept."

"You have no idea," Lucanis said with a frown.

...

It was a grey cold mid-morning of the following day when Anders and his team stepped out of a portal in the middle of the ruined Grey Warden Head Quarters in the Anderfels. The portal closed and a spectral crow landed on Lucanis' shoulder. Davrin shot it a sideways glance and shivered. Azzan flapped his wings but didn't take flight. Emmrich smiled and nodded.

"Wardens?" Someone called to them from further in. "Who goes there?"

"Wardens Anders and Davrin with friends," Anders replied loudly. "Good to see someone is paying attention."

"There are just a few of us here," an elderly Warden approached. "Not really fit to fight after... you know," he shook his head. "But we keep watch. You heard the song, I take it?"

"It's hard to miss," Anders nodded.

"You should go to the other Keep," the Warden continued. "Antoine is there, they've had a lot of fighting. The Blight is on the move."

"Why there?" Anders squinted. "And not here, for example?"

"What's here is no longer important," the Warden shrugged. "Not to the Blight, that is. A bunch of old books is all that's left. Oh yes, and the Archdemon blood in the vaults... But if the Blight has a new living Archdemon, they don't care for the old blood in the vaults."

"The other Keep doesn't have anything special, but there are Grey Warden Vaults nearby," Davrin nodded. "The ones that keep the artefacts from all past Blights. They are said to be huge... a fortress in itself. No idea what's in there, we were never allowed in..."

"Who's guarding them?" Anders looked worried.

"No one..." Davrin shrugged. "Well, traps... you can't actually get in."

"Unless you really want to," Anders looked somber. "You've been to the Deep Roads? No? Well..."

"Deep Roads entrances are marked on this map," the elderly Warden handed Anders an old map with hand-made markings. "These..." he pointed out two or three, "...are just near the old Vaults here. There may be some inside as well. Take it. I have no need of it any more, I can find them in my sleep."

Anders thanked the Warden and took the map. He noticed black veins running along the Warden's wrist - he must have been hearing the song loud and clear, yet chose to resist for as long as he could. He didn't have much longer to live.

"Do you have enough mixtures for the pain?" Anders started offloading vials from his pack.

"We do, keep them," the Warden stopped him. "Take them where the fighting is. We'll manage back here. Come bury us if you survive - this is our last Blight."

"You have no mixtures, do you?" Anders squinted and shook his head but put the vials back into his pack. "Keep records. What is your name?"

"Roderik," the Warden replied. "Markus and Linus are back there, they don't walk very well, Anders of Ferelden..."

"Linus Kristavssen of the Anderfels," Anders said softly. "Your comrade's namesake. Tell him... there's another Linus with the Wardens."

"Good luck to you, Warden of the Anderfels," Roderik smiled. "Good luck to you too, Warden Davrin," he turned to Davrin who was listening with horror. "Let's hope you'll live to see black veins appear under your own skin, many years from now..."

...

"That Warden is all but consumed by the blight," Davrin was saying in a hushed voice as they were walking towards the other Keep. "Have you seen his veins? Yes, of course you have..." he shivered. "He must be in agony!"

"And yet he keeps to his duty," Anders pointed out. "Roderik, Markus and Linus... we must remember them."

"I can't imagine what it must be like... the song must be overwhelming," Davrin was still in shock.

"At this stage of blight consumption the pain almost blots out the song," Anders said quietly. "It varies from person to person... but that's what most of them report."

"You've seen a lot of dying Wardens, haven't you?" Davrin suddenly realised that Anders was a healer.

"No, I've seen only some, in the Deep Roads. The ones that went down fighting, at much earlier stages of the blight. I've seen a lot of blighted people though. At some point no mixture is strong enough to stop the pain..."

"What did you do?" Davrin stopped dead.

"It depends what they wanted," Anders stopped too, facing him. "Some wanted death, which I granted, others... well, it depends."

"Others wanted to join Grey Wardens to stop their blight," Davrin guessed. "Which you did not grant?" He raised an eyebrow.

"It's the wrong reason to join Grey Wardens," Anders' eyes were hard. "But it wasn't my decision. I put them in contact with whoever was in charge locally. Not many survive the Joining when they are so far gone."

"And those that do?" Davrin wanted to know. "Does it really stop their blight?"

"It doesn't, no," Anders shook his head. "But it slows it down and takes away most of the pain. It's like they get a boost, like they can go on for a while longer before succumbing to it. Like the Blight in the Archdemon's blood that hey drink combines with their own making them stronger... That's the terrifying thought - self-healing Blight. Antoine has been studying it..."

"Antoine is one of those Grey Wardens who joined because he was blighted," Davrin pointed out, resuming walking.

"Yes, and in Antoine's case my reservations don't hold," Anders nodded. "He is a true Warden."

"As opposed to false Wardens?" Davrin didn't agree with those reservations. "We are all Wardens, Anders, regardless why we joined. Many simply get conscripted by the Rite, whether they like it or not."

"A good Warden-Commander does not force anyone to join Grey Wardens," Anders shot Davrin a glance. "The recruit must understand what he's getting into! How did you get conscripted?"

"I got bored," Davrin shrugged and grinned. "Growing up in the forests of Tevinter... I am Dalish, you see," he stroked his elven ears. "There was nothing to do! It's either hunt the deer or tend to the halla... and I wanted action! Monster hunting! So I came here to the Head Quarters and asked to join. And was accepted."

"I see," Anders didn't sound surprised. "And has it been everything you hoped for?"

"Up until the Head Quarters got clobbered... yes," Davrin sighed. "The actual Blight is ugly."

"It is."

They walked in silence for a while and the turrets of the old Keep were already appearing in the distance when Davrin finally dared to ask his question.

"I know we didn't start out well... I behaved like a dunderhead," he said somewhat awkwardly. "But why did you join, Anders?"

"I was rescued by the Wardens," he answered simply. "I was going to be made tranquil, but one Warden went out of his way to save my life. Then I knew where I belonged."

"Wow! That's romantic..." Davrin whistled.

"It didn't feel very romantic at the time, I assure you," Anders smirked. "But in essence that's what it was," he concluded just as they were walking up the steps of the Keep. "Antoine!" He cried to someone within. "Reinforcements have arrived!"

A tired-looking elf met them at the top of the stairs.

"Hello, my friend," he smiled to Anders. "Come - it's quiet for the moment. Let me tell you about the new song of the Blight..."