My Dear Commander

Goodbyes

Cullen entered a room where the other red templars were drinking at. He saw Bull and Dorian who were also wearing red templar armour and corrupted. He walked over, remembering them from somewhere but he was unsure where.

"What's up Cullen? The beer here tastes like shit" Bull said.

Cullen sat down and sighed, "something doesn't feel right."

Dorian nodded, "We felt the same way but I'm sure we're meant to be here."

Cullen nodded and began to take a drink. A commander walked into the room and everyone stood and looked at him. He walked to the centre, looking around.

"Men, this will be our final day in Orlais. We have camps set up in Ferelden. We will storm once we're ready!"

The crowd erupted in cheer but Cullen looked confused. He turned to Bull.

"What now?"

"Don't worry about it. We're a powerful army."

"Hmm.." Cullen replied before taking another drink. He was sceptical.

Time pass

Lavellen arrived at the castle. She only cared about destroying red lyrium once and for all to save everyone else from it's destruction. She jumped down in front of a group of red templars, immediately casting spells to kill them. She stormed through the castle, killing every enemy she saw, anger burning deep within. She was stronger which was powered by the hate she felt.

A scout stumbled into the room and ran to the commander, "sir, we have an intruder!"

"Sound the alarm. Men, let's kill this sorry bitch!" He commanded.

The soldiers got their weapons and split up into teams to try and stop the intruder. Lavellen marched through the halls, casting deadly spells at each templar who dared to challenge her. She kept going, red templars falling in her path. The commander found her and they fought. He shot an arrow at her which just missed, only cutting her cheek. She growled and sent a fireball his way, to which he dodged. She stormed over and started hitting him with her staff before setting him on fire. He screamed in agony, burning alive. Soon, she was surrounded.

Cullen, Bull and Dorian felt wrong, like they didn't want to fight. They got up and fled, not wanting to fight. Plus Dorian was a little too drunk to fight properly. They heard screams of men dying then an angry yell from a woman. She seemed familiar to them but they couldn't remember at all.

Levallen finally destroyed the red templars. She fell to her knees, feeling weak. He wanted to see her friends again, to be held by her husband. She started to cry as she felt guilt for their deaths. Suddenly, she heard the snow crunch in the distance. She looked up and saw them, walking closer with their weapons drawn. It was Bull, Dorian and Cullen but they had shards of red lyrium growing out of them. She got to her feet, trembling.

"Guys, it's me! Remember!" She yelled.

They came closer, looking sternly at her. She knew what had to be done, what she had to do to stop this once and for all.

"Tell Fabian that I love him, won't you?" She said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Cullen stopped and stared at her. The other two looked at him. He started to see flashes of his life, of the man he used to be. Not some red templar but a loving husband and father. He looked at his sword and noticed the wedding ring on his hand. He dropped the sword and gripped his head, grunting. He was trying to resist the lyrium, to stop himself from hurting her. Dorian gave him more red lyrium, the man fading from memory. Cullen picked up his sword again and they marched over to her.

They came a few feet from her and stood ready, watching her every move. She gripped tightly onto her staff, memories of her life flashing before her. She took a deep, shaky breath, then she looked Cullen dead in the eyes. He looked back, the guilt starting to eat at him. She raised her staff, ready to end it all. Bull ran at her, about to swing until she slammed the staff onto the ground. Suddenly, everything went white.

Varic, Blackwall and Cassandra had just arrived after the plea that Lavellen sent out to them. They were ready to fight, but heard a loud explosion in the distance. Suddenly the whole sky went white and they covered their eyes from the blinding light. Soon, they uncovered their eyes and saw that the red lyrium shards had been destroyed and were now blue, the normal lyrium. They immediately ran towards where the explosion came from.

Cullen slowly got up from the floor, aching. He slowly rubbed his eyes and looked at his hands. They were normal. He remembered who he was and what had happened to him. Guilt rose inside him as he didn't want to walk away from her to try and save Bull and Dorian. Bull and Dorian both got up, aching as well. They realised they were normal and hugged each other.

"She saved us!" Dorian yelled.

"Where is she?" Bull asked.

They looked around then spotted Cullen. They went over to him then searched for her. Cullen noticed her on the ground and sprinted over by her side. He tapped her face then he held her in his arms. He kept shaking her, desperate for a response to no avail. Bull knelt beside him and put his hand on his shoulder, feeling remorseful. Dorian wiped a tear from his eye and held her hand.

The other three soon arrived then joined them, "What happened?" Varic asked.

"She... she... saved us... gave her life.." Cullen replied. He buried his head inher chest and began sobbing.

The others sat in silence, mourning her death. Lavellen had a special necklace on, the one that Cullen gave to her for her birthday. Cullen noticed that in her pocket was a special medallion which he got from his brother when he first became a templar, and had given her for good luck. He sobbed louder, repeating 'no' as he tried everything he could to revive her but with no progress. The others tried to comfort him as best they could, but failed...

Time pass

Cullen's family and everyone who worked the Lavellen was stood around her body. They had placed her on some wood. Cullen pulled out a piece of paper, his hands trembling violently from the sadness that stabbed at his heart.

"I first met her at Haven... she had helped me and some of my men fight off some demons and closed a fade rift... she closed the breach twice... lead an amazing inquisition to stop evil and save this world... she was the love of my life... the only woman who... who..." Cullen wiped some tears away and kept reading, "Who I ever loved dearly... she made me happy... gave me a reason to wake up in the morning... she got me through an addiction... bad choices.. made me a better man.. I.. I'll never forgot her... and I promise to raise our son to be like her.."

Cullen broke down in tears, sobbing loudly. His mother came over to comfort him, slowly guiding him back into place.

"May her soul reach the Maker, and she stand by Andraste herself." Liliana said before setting fire to the corpse.

They all watched, heart deep with grief and regret, wishing they could've saved her. Mother Giselle began to sing "The Dawn Will Come" and others soon joined in, getting nostalgia from when they first sang it after Haven was destroyed. The dawn will come...

The end!