We could find on no map a Haven anywhere in the mountains. We were going to have to rely on Genitivi's journal for directions. Surprisingly, Genitivi's directions were very accurate. We found the village of Haven and approached it. Haven was nestled in the mountains themselves. The higher up we went, the colder it got. We were stopped by a guard at the entrance to the village.

"What are you doing in Haven, knife ears?" he asked. "There is nothing for you here."

"I have business here," Alistair said, seeing that he wasn't going to speak to an Elf.

"No, you do not. I would have been informed if someone was expecting a visitor."

"Then excuse us and allow us to pass through."

"You may trade for supplies at the shop, if you wish. Then I suggest you and your companions leave."

Alistair looked at us as the guard walked away. "Did it just get a lot colder?" Alistair asked. "Or is it just me?"

"They are hiding something," Morrigan said. "'Tis obvious, is it not?"

We walked through Haven. There were no streets, just icy and worn paths. Tristan ran into a house and we followed. We found the mabari licking what looked to me to be an altar of some kind. And it looked to be covered in blood.

"Stop licking that, Tristan," I said.

"I was not expecting to find something so... unsettling," Leliana said.

"Used for food preparation, perhaps?" Alistair suggested.

"I don't think so. Even a raw halla doesn't bleed that much," I said.

"I was trying to be optimistic. The other explanation is slightly more disturbing."

"That is human blood," Morrigan said.

"And she goes for the slightly more disturbing option."

"That's not what I wanted to hear," I said.

We stepped outside and heard a child chanting. "Come, come, bonny Lynne. Tell us, tell us where you've been. Were you up, were you down? Chasing rabbits 'round the town. Come, come, bonny Lynne. Tell us, tell us where you've been."

"That's not unnerving at all," Zevran said.

"Come, come, bonny Lynne. We've a bed to put you in. It is soft, it is warm. It will shelter from the storm. Come, come bonny Lynne. We've a bed to put you in. Dear, dear, bonny Lynne. Sleeps the peaceful crib within. A mossy stone, a finger bone. No one knows but Lynne alone. Dear, dear, bonny Lynne. Sleeps the peaceful crib within." I approached him as he chanted. He looked up as I approached. "Who are you? You shouldn't be here."

"Where is everyone else?" I asked.

The village seemed to be empty save for the guard and the boy. He pointed up the hill. "In the Chantry. Mother wanted me to go to the Chant, but she doesn't get to tell me what to do anymore! I'm sick of listening to Father Eirik along with the babies and the girls. Soon I'll be old enough to go up the mountain and...," He trailed off as if he were about to say too much. I had never heard of a male priest being referred to as Father only Brother, but I was more curious about what was up that mountain.

"Go up the mountain?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. It's just nicer up there. You wouldn't understand. Lowlanders don't belong here."

We went in the direction the boy had indicated.

~~~

We were halfway up when we were attacked by several villagers. Three had maces and were swinging them wildly.

"Holy Andraste!" Leliana cried.

I ducked from a would-be blow and got behind my attacker, stabbing him several times before he fell. Alistair and Sten cut through the other armed villagers like they were nothing. Zevran was proving himself by surprise attacking the other villagers as they went after the Mages. They soon lay dead from his blades.

"Is that how Fereldans welcome strangers?" Zevran asked.

"Not normally," Alistair responded. "There's something not right about this place if they're attacking people just because they are outsiders."

"You think?"

We faced a few more before finding the village shop. When we entered, there was no one to be seen. Alistair, Morrigan, and I went into a back room to see if we could find the shopkeeper. What we found was what was left of what used to be a man.

"Creators!" I cried as I knelt next to him.

"Realin, look at the crest," Alistair pointed out. A castle tower on a red cliff. This was one of Arl Eamon's knights.

"He must have gotten too close in discovering what Haven is hiding. Keep your senses about you." I stood and we left the shop and were ambushed by more berserking villagers. I took an arrow to the right shoulder in the first wave of surprise. I cursed and pulled the arrow free.

"Realin!" Alistair cried.

I rushed forward, taking the head of a berserker as I passed by, ignoring the screaming pain. Alistair and Zevran were on either side of me, the Grey Warden using his shield to make a path and the Crow's blades a blur. We fought our way up the path. We reached the Chantry and luckily there were no villagers to attack us here. Blood escaped down my arm from where the arrow had pierced my shoulder.

"How's the shoulder?" Alistair asked.

"It works," I said.

He reached up and started to unbuckle my shoulder guard.

I grabbed his hand. "What are you doing?"

"Let me look at it, you stubborn Elf. Let Wynne do something, at least."

I let go of his hand and allowed him to remove the shoulder guard. Wynne placed a hand on it and I felt the pain ebb and the wound close. I nodded my thanks and we entered the Chantry.

As we walked in, a man with grey hair and a grey beard and wearing robes was standing in front of a small group of villagers. On either side of him were guards.

"We are blessed beyond measure," Father Eirik was saying. "We are chosen by the Holy and Beloved to be Her guardians. This sacred duty is given to us alone. Rejoice, my brethren, and prepare your hearts to receive Her. Lift up your voices and despair not, for She will raise Her faithful servants to glory when Her--" Eirik saw us then and stopped his Chant as I pushed past the gathered villagers. He narrowed his eyes at me and I met it with an icy glare of my own. "Ah... welcome. I heard we had visitors wandering the village. I trust you've enjoyed your time in Haven so far?" Really? The villagers here had attacked us for no reason. And I wasn't going to be cordial at this point.

"You killed the knights of Redcliffe. I saw the bodies."

"This, my brethren, is what happens when you let an outsider into the village. They have no respect for our privacy. She will tell others of us if we let her. Word will spread and then what?" He pointed at me. "You, knife ears, do not understand our ways. You would bring war to Haven in your Elven ignorance."

If he was trying to rile me, it was working.

"What have you done with Brother Genitivi?"

"We don't owe any dirty knife ear explanations for our actions. We have a sacred duty. Failure to protect Her would be a greater sin. All will be forgiven."

The villagers scattered as the guards drew their blades and Eirik reached for his staff. A Mage Priest? What in the Creators' names was this madness? Alistair and Zevran went to one side while Sten, Leliana, and Tristan went the other way. I brought my blades down in an arc, leaving deep gashes crisscrossing Eirik's chest. I dodged the energy blast he attempted to use on me and he took a pair of his guards out instead as I flanked him. From behind, I shoved both my blades through his back. I kicked him off my blades and slashed a guard's throat with my left blade as he charged me.

"Not bad for a dirty knife ear, hmm?" I said to his corpse.

"I must say," Zevran said, cleaning off his blades. "You Grey Wardens surely handle yourselves quite well in difficult fights."

"You should know, Zevran."

"Mm. Point taken."

Alistair and Leliana walked out of a side room as I crouched next to Eirik's body and took a medallion from around his neck.

"He's not in there," Alistair said.

Zevran pointed at a brick wall across from them. "He could be behind that wall," he said. "Where else could this fellow hide someone he didn't wish to be found?"

"A false wall," Leliana said. "A perfect hiding place."

I stood and examined the wall. I'd read how to open one of these a long time ago. I ran a hand across the bricks until I found one that felt loose. I pushed it and the wall slid open. I looked at the others and we went in. There was an older man with a receding hairline lying in the middle of the floor. This had to be Brother Genitivi.

He raised his head as I approached him. "Who are you? They... they've sent you to finish it?"

"Brother Genitivi?" I asked.

"You're...," I knelt next to him. "You're an Elf." There was a look of relief on his face. "You're not one of them... Thank the Maker." His voice sounded pained.

"My name is Realin," I said. "We're here to help you. I thought I would never find you."

"I suppose it's not my time... though I've begged for death many times over the past few... nggh!" He took my arm and I helped him into a sitting position. He motioned to his left leg. "The leg's not doing so well and... I can't feel my foot."

"Morrigan, Wynne."

"The leg is simple to fix, but the foot..." Wynne shook her head. "Even with my skill, it may have to come off."

"I was afraid you might say that." He sighed. "If the foot goes, it goes. There are more important things than an old man's feet. I don't have time to rest now. I'm so close. The Urn is just up that mountain."

"How do you know?"

"My research led me to Haven... and I have heard the villagers talking. I know the Urn is here. Haven lies in the shadow of the mountain that holds the Urn. There is an old temple there, built to protect it. The door is always locked but I know what the key is. Eirik wears a medallion that opens the temple door. I've seen what he does with it."

I held out the medallion I'd taken from Eirik's body. "This medallion?"

"Yes, that is your key. Take me to the mountainside and I will show you."

"Are you sure you can make the journey?"

"It's not that far and...," Genitivi paused. "Will you let me lean on you? For the Urn, any pain is worth enduring."

I turned and nodded at Alistair and Sten, who left the room, with Tristan following them. They returned a few minutes later.

"It's clear," Sten reported.

"Alright. Let's go." I helped Genitivi to his feet and he leaned on me.

"I'll try not to slow us down."