Soundtrack:

Beyond the Veil ~ Adrian von Ziegler (The Tower of Magi)

Daughter of the Moon ~ Adriana Figueroa (Wynne's Theme)

It was nearing nightfall when we reached the docks leading to the Tower. We walked down to the Templar standing guard at a boat. "You!" he called, pointing at us. "You're not looking to get across to the tower, are you? Because I have strict orders not to let anyone pass!"

"I am a Grey Warden and I seek the assistance of the Mages," I responded.

"Oh, you're a Grey Warden, are you?" He crossed his arms. "Prove it!"

I pulled the Mages' treaty from my pouch. "I have these." I showed it to him.

"Yes? Oh, a Grey Warden seal. Aha! So you're claiming to be one of those."

"Didn't I just say I was?"

"You know, I have some documents, too. They say I'm the Queen of Antiva. What do you think about that?"

I only raised a brow. "Not much. You're obviously a Templar."

"And if you can't prove you're who you say you are, I'm not letting you in. Anyway, it was nice chatting with you. Now, on your way. Right now. Go."

My eyes narrowed at him. "I warn you. My patience is wearing thin." The Templar saw my vallaslin and suddenly looked uneasy and a little scared. Being a Dalish was coming in handy in scaring the Dread Wolf out of Templars.

"Uhhh... is that bad? Look, I'm, uh, just trying to do my job. I'll take you right now... just like you wanted."

I smiled, which seemed to unnerve him even more. "Yes, please do."

We climbed into the boat and the Templar took us across to the Tower. I caught an attempt at hiding a smile coming from Alistair and an amused look on Sten's face. Morrigan just looked crabby. Big surprise there.

~~~

We walked into chaos. Templars were running amok and in various directions. We approached a man with the air of authority whom I assumed to be Greagoir, the Knight Commander of the Templars and the man that Alistair said we would have to speak to in order to get to the First Enchanter, the Shems' version of a Keeper, for lack of a better comparison.

"And I want two men stationed within sight of the doors at all times. Do not open the doors without my expressed consent. Is that clear?" he was saying to another man.

"Yes, Ser." He marched off and Greagoir turned to us.

"The doors are barred," Alistair observed. "Are they keeping people out? Or in?"

"Now we wait and pray," Greagoir commented.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"We are dealing with a very delicate situation. You must leave, for your own safety."

"No," He rose a brow at me and opened his mouth to speak. I didn't allow him the chance. "The Mages have an obligation to the Grey Wardens."

"I am weary of the Grey Wardens' ceaseless need for men to fight the Darkspawn," he sighed. "But it is their right. You'll find no allies here. The Templars can spare no men and the Mages are... indisposed. I shall speak plainly. The Tower is no longer under our control," He motioned to the doors into the Tower. "Abominations and demons stalk the Tower's halls. The Circle is lost. The Tower has fallen." Of course. The first sign of an Abomination and the Templars run like scared little girls.

"How did this happen?"

"We don't know. We saw only demons hunting Templar and Mage alike. I realized we could not defeat them, so I told my men to flee."

Alistair put these men to shame. With all their airs and words, these Templars were cowards. I was actually glad that Alistair didn't take his final vows to be one. I have yet to see him run from a fight. And I doubted that I would unless I told him to.

"What can we do to help?"

"I have sent word to Denerim calling for reinforcements and the Right of Annulment." Sounded like Greagoir wanted to leave the Mages to their fate.

"What good will that do?" I didn't know what the Right of Annulment was but I was sure it was bad news for the Mages.

"The Mages are probably already dead," Alistair said. "Any Abominations remaining in there must be dealt with no matter what." I was sure there were survivors. There was always someone who would beat the odds. I was living proof of that.

"The situation is dire," Greagoir said. "There is no alternative. Everything in the Tower must be destroyed so it can be safe again." Talk about extremes.

"The Mages are not defenseless," I countered. "Some must still live."

"If there are any alive, then the Maker Himself has shielded them. No one could have survived those monstrous creatures. It is too painful to hope for survivors and find... nothing." He was the one who locked everyone inside. It sounded to me that he didn't want survivors.

"We'll look for survivors."

"I assure you, an Abomination is a force to be reckoned with."

"So is she," Alistair stated.

"And you will face more than one."

"I have confidence in our abilities," I said.

He could see there was no talking me out of this. "If you succeed, I would owe you much. Enough that I would pledge my Templars to your cause. Without word from Denerim, I must determine our course. Surely destroying Darkspawn is a worthy goal."

"We have an agreement, then?"

Greagoir nodded. "A word of caution. Once you cross that threshold, there is no turning back. The great doors must remain barred. I will open them to no one until I have proof it is safe. I will only believe it is over if the First Enchanter stands before me and tells me it is so. If Irving has fallen," Greagoir shook his head. "Then the Circle is lost and must be destroyed. May Andraste lend you her courage, whatever you decide."

Greagoir went on to see to his men and I turned to the others.

"If any of you don't want to go in, tell me now," I said.

"I'm with you," Alistair said before I'd barely finished. I was glad he wouldn't abandon me now, proving that he was a better Templar than the ones who'd taken their vows.

"As am I," Sten said.

"You'll need me if you're planning on going on this suicide mission," Morrigan said.

"I am with you," Leliana said. "I did not ask to join you to cower in fear at the gates of Kinloch Hold."

Tristan barked. I knew he'd stick with me.

"Let's go," I said.

"Maker protect us," Leliana said.

"Creators, guide us," I breathed a prayer.

The two Templar guards opened the doors for us and we passed into the Tower of Magi. The doors closing behind us sounded ominous.

~~~

Bodies littered the halls, both Mage and Templar. The place looked like a battlefield. I had never heard silence so loud in my entire life. It was unnerving. Even the ruins silence didn't affect me like this. I was actually glad when Leliana broke it to ask Morrigan if Flemeth was really her mother. We searched rooms for survivors, but found only the dead. Students slain as they were fleeing to safety. Templars slain defending themselves. Mages slain as they defended their students. So much death was here. We had been searching for sometime before we came to a door. I cautiously opened it, to find an older Mage standing off against a demon. She was wearing red robes and her white hair was pulled back into a short tail. There were several children huddled against a wall with two more Mages standing in front of them in protective stances. The old Mage sent a blast of pure white energy and the demon fell. She turned and I recognized her from Ostagar. She recognized me in turn.

"It's you!" She seemed surprised to see me. I took a step towards her. "No... come no farther. Grey Warden or no, I will strike you down where you stand."

"Wynne?" I remembered the name she'd given me in our brief conversation when I was looking for Alistair at Ostagar. "What are you doing here?" I thought everyone at Ostagar had been killed. I was just as surprised to see her as she was me.

"I am a Mage of the Circle. More importantly, why are you here? The Templars would not just let anyone by."

"I am helping Greagoir resolve the Circle's difficulties."

"So you do serve the Templars just as I feared."

"I'm not going to kill survivors if that's what you mean."

"Do they have the Right of Annulment?"

"No, but Greagoir expects it to arrive soon."

"So Greagoir thinks the Circle is beyond hope. He probably assumes we are all dead. They abandoned us to our fate but even trapped as we are, we have survived. If they invoke the Right, however, we will not be able to stand against them." Just as I thought. Bad news for the Mages.

"What happened here?"

"Let it suffice to say we had somewhat of a revolt on our hands, led by a Mage named Uldred. When he returned from the battle of Ostagar, he tried to take over the Circle. As you can see, it didn't work out as he had planned. I don't know what became of Uldred but I am certain all this was his doing. I will not lose the Circle to one man's pride and stupidity."

"So what do you intend?"

Wynne turned and motioned to the door behind her. The door had a pulsing blue light over it. "I erected a barrier over the door leading to the rest of the Tower so nothing inside could attack the children," She turned back to us. "You will not be able to enter the Tower as long as the barrier holds but I will dispel it for you if you join with me to save the Circle."

"We need the Mages, so I will help you."

"Once Greagoir sees we have made the Tower safe, I trust he will tell his men to back down. He is not unreasonable."

"Greagoir will only accept it if the First Enchanter says so."

"Then our path is laid out before us. We must save Irving."

I looked at the children, who were still along the wall but no longer cowering. "Will the children be safe here?"

"Petra and Kinnon will watch them. If we slay all the fiends we encounter on our way, none will get by to threaten the children."

"I suppose that could work."

Morrigan turned to me. "You want us to assist this preachy schoolmistress? To rescue these pathetic excuses for Mages?"

"Morrigan," I sighed.

"They allow themselves to be corralled like cattle, mindless. Now their masters have chosen death for them and I say let them have it."

I nearly outed her as an Apostate right then. "I have made my decision. We will help Wynne." Alistair's eyebrows raised, perhaps a bit surprised at my smarting off at Morrigan. Morrigan scoffed and threw up a hand.

"Have it your way."

I shook my head. Wynne turned to the others. "Petra, Kinnon, look after the others. I will be back soon."

"Wynne," Petra said. "Are you sure you're alright? You were so badly hurt earlier. Maybe I should come along."

"The others need your protection more. I will be alright. Stay here with them. Keep them safe and calm."

"Then let's be off. We've talked away enough time."

"If you are ready, let's end this."

"I'm always ready." That drew a smile from Alistair. I started to follow Wynne when Petra took my arm.

"Keep an eye on her for me," she said. I saw the worry on her face and I wondered what had happened earlier.

"I will. You worry about the children. I'll take care of the rest of the Tower."

She gave a small smile. "I feel she'll be in good hands." Petra went and joined Kinnon and I saw the tender touch on her back.

"She'll be fine, Petra. She has Grey Wardens with her."

I joined the others at the door.

"Here we are," Wynne said. "I am somewhat amazed at myself for having kept it in place this long."

"You did what you had to, Wynne."

"It made me very weary at times but I had to stay strong to keep us safe. Be prepared for anything. I do not know what manner of beasts lurk beyond this barrier. Are you ready?"

"I am."

I could feel the others shifting behind me. Tristan took a step forward and laid his ears back, ready to charge at anything.

"All right. Be one your guard."

"That's what we do."

Wynne reached her hand out and the pulsing blue light came from the barrier and into her hand. A few seconds later, it was gone. We cautiously went forward and into the rest of the Tower.

~~~

At the first corner, an Abomination came running towards us. This one was nothing like Conner. While Conner's demon controlled him from the Beyond, this demon had taken up residence and transformed its host into something horrifying. We attacked. For all its bulk, it was easy to kill. It fell and I turned on the next one. An explosion ripped behind me and threw me forward. I was dazed but still managed to kill the Abomination assaulting me. It, too, fell and I discovered the source of the explosion. The dead Abomination exploded, sending me back a few paces. I shook my head to clear it and the ringing in my ears.

"Are you alright?" Wynne asked.

"I'm fine."

Alistair landed on his back from an Abomination's explosion. Sten and the Mages were the only ones who had remained on their feet during the entire fight.

"Okay, then. You fell one, run like hell away from it."

"Agreed," Alistair said, he, too, shaking his head.

Everyone was on their feet now and after Wynne made sure no one was seriously injured, we continued on. We came upon several more Abominations and having learned our lesson from before, no one was caught by their exploding bodies. We cleared a library and then went on to the second level.