The Dalish Warden (The Daughters of Thedas Book 1)

19: A Dark Revelation

As we cautiously left the landing and headed across the room we were in, we were suddenly surprised by a man's voice. Leliana nocked her bow with a speed that put a seasoned Dalish archer to shame. And yes, I put myself in that category.

"Please refrain from going into the stockroom. It is a mess and I have not been able to get it in a state fit to be seen."

We all spun around only to see a Mage standing by what I assumed was the stockroom. His voice was very calm considering.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised he wasn't hiding, or dead.

"I was trying to tidy up but there was little I could do."

"Aren't you afraid of the Abominations?"

"Of course. I am defenseless and if I ran into one, I would surely perish. I tried to leave when things got quiet. That was when I encountered the barrier. Finding no other way out, I returned to work." The emotionless way he spoke was a bit unnerving.

"Owain, you should have said something! I would have opened the door for you," Wynne said, sounding very motherly.

"The stockroom is familiar. I prefer to be here."

"How can you be so calm?" I asked.

"He is one of the Tranquil," Wynne explained. "The Tranquil do not have emotions." Lucky him.

 "I would prefer not to die. I would prefer it if the Tower returned to the way it was. Perhaps Niall will succeed and save us all."

"What's this Niall trying to do?"

"I do not know but he came here with several others and took the Litany of Adralla."

"But that protects from mind domination," Wynne's voice sounded surprised. "Is blood magic at work here?"

"I do not know,"

"Niall was in the meeting. He would know. Blood magic... I was afraid of this."

"We'll be able to handle it, I'm sure."

At least I hoped we would.

"We should find Niall. The Litany will give us a fighting chance against any Blood Mages we encounter."

"I wish you luck," Owain said. "Perhaps this will be over soon and things will return to the way they were. Goodbye."

We left the area where the stockroom was and I heard voices. I held my hand up and listened.

"What are we doing?" a female voice asked. "Have you thought about it?"

"We're making sure no one disrupts Uldred's plan," a male voice answered. "I thought that was quite clear."

"But he's not Uldred anymore. I never wanted it to go this far."

"Neither did I but this is what we're faced with and--" We had edged closer to the voices as the conversation had gone on.

"Quite! Both of you!" a second male voice said. "I think I heard something. Keep your eyes open."

Somehow they'd heard us. A male Mage came racing out of a room firing blasts at energy at us. I dived to the side and ran forward. I cut him down and turned on the other two, with Morrigan right behind me. The man fell and the woman dropped her staff and fell to her knees.

"Please. Please, don't kill me!" she begged.

"The people you killed didn't want to die either," I said.