The last Shadow Sect meeting had Dorian tasking everyone in Kirkwall to gather support for a strike against the enemy. They had one shot, so they had to go in hard and take them out fast with as much magical artillery support as possible. If they were facing an Ash Hills, the corruption would be difficult to combat without mages or templars.

  Alistair felt hopeful that Hawke and Fenris could gather the heavy-hitting guards for the physical threats and evacuations.

  He and Fiona had the harder task of tracking down and convincing old Gallow Templars to join the cause: the little that were still alive and uncorrupted.

  Kirkwall was now, mostly, a mage-free society with the few dotted in hiding around the Free Marches. The few in the city, like Merrill, were healers at best, operating a word-of-mouth clinic in Lowtown.

  With the Chantry more of a greeting card presence in Kirkwall and the Templar order defunct, the Gallows had been shut down and sealed off for good reason. Nearly all the templars there had been corrupted by red lyrium, so they met nightmarish deaths as Corypheus's thralls. Those that weren't corrupted became absorbed into Aveline's guard or distanced themselves completely. One of the former templar-turned-guard had given Alistair directions to a small group hiding out in the Wounded Coast. He had hopes that if anyone could show them a way forward it would be him.

  "Are we sure we want to bring them back to the nightmare they're trying to break away from?" Fiona didn't hide her concerns in seeking out the gallow templars.

  They had been walking the shoreline to stay out of bandits ranges.

  Alistair paused and faced a calming sea where daylight was sprinkled across the waters. "The sea looks calm on the surface, but we all know that dangers lurking beneath." He faced her. "At one point, they can't stay out of the fray without being pulled back in against their will. Such is the way of Thedas. At least, this way, we're giving them the choice of how they want to fight."

  Fiona smiled with pride for her boy. He had gone through so much pain, but it's what made him stand before her wise and with a strong resolve to do what was right. Since giving him up, she had constantly tracked news of his life; a few times sneaking out to see him training as a templar. But when he became part of the order, it had been difficult to keep track. And she had her own circle problems, which bogged her down.

  "Oh, for..." Alistair cursed when he felt sticky bird poop drop on his hand. "Which bird decided it was funny to poop on my head?!"

  There was a mad squawking in the distance, like the seagulls were laughing at him. He grumbled and washed off the mess with sea water.

  "And here we were having a serious moment." He dried his head with his arm.

  Fiona chuckled and handed him a cloth.

  "Thanks mother." He grinned.

  She turned away, hiding her happiness at hearing her son's acknowledgment. But her happiness transitioned into a frown when they saw unnatural storm clouds hovering over the section of beach and cliff ahead.

  They sprinted for the looming danger, running up a sandy hill path to reach a cliff wall and going around it to enter a wide clearing and stone cottage, where four men were cutting down demons pouring out of a static rift midair along the sea view of the area.

  "They just keep coming!" Keran yelled and panicked when he saw his sister stumbling and scrambling back from a shadow wraith's approach.

  Alistair applied his skill to revitalize the fighters energies and Spell Purged the weaker demons. He grabbed his greatsword with fierce might and slammed it down on the shadow wraith about to attack the woman. Its form scattered with magic from the greatsword's spirit rune. He gave the woman a cocky wink as he sliced through and cut down oncoming hag and spirit demons.

  Keran gasped when he saw Fiona and Alistair rushing in to dispel the horde and clear the threat. He yelped when Alistair's sword whizzed past his ears for the dead space at his back, revealing a stealth-hidden venatori mage holding a rift orb. The greatsword pierced the mage between the eyes to instantly kill him. Alistair walked past the dead body, yanking out his sword. He raised it high, gathering his power, and shattered the orb.

  Keran hurried to check on his sister. The other three fighters gathered to him with their weapons still drawn.

  "Stinky, munchkin creeps!" Alistair spat at where the venatori mage's body was returning to the Fade. He calmed himself and went to greet the people he and his mother had saved.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  "Stay back!" Keran raised his sword, but his sister gestured for him to lower it.

  "They just saved us Keran." Macha calmly stepped forward: a woman of short blond short hair and pretty to the eyes, dressed modestly and with a compassionate composure. "We thank you good Ser. My name is Macha and this is my brother Keran. These three men are Dylon, Price and Hank. To what brings you here?"

  Alistair stared at the muscly blond man with piercing blue eyes and scruffy beard to match the state of his own. The man was dressed in unmarked dull and dark heavy armor, which had also seen better days being worn thin and having hefty dents on the faulds and pauldrons.

  The other three men, dressed in similar armor, looked no better. His eyes narrowed when he saw they still carried their Templar shields, the edges were naturally chipped with the order's symbol faded and some parts scratched off, but the metal was polished; still showing a will to keep fighting.

  He retired his greatsword to his back holster, prompting Fiona to do the same with her enchanter staff.

  "My name is Alistair and this is my mother Fiona."

  "Alistair?" One of the men stepped out with awe. "Surely not the veteran of the Fifth Blight?"

  "Oh Maker, wait honor brings a great hero here." Macha's voice trembled, uncertain on how to address him.

  Alistair chuckled. "You know there are a lot of Alistairs in Thedas, I just happened to be a Grey Warden Alistair among the thousands of others." His expression sobered when he added, "What attacked you is what drew us here. We've been hunting down Venatori using orbs to open static rifts. Our task is to eliminate them and the threat."

  Fiona cast an odd glance at Alistair, then sighed, her boy had learned to be cunning for an opportunity. It made sense to approach them this way. She wondered if Anri's strategic style was rubbing off on him.

  "Static rifts?" Keran gasped.

  Alistair gave him the friendly footnotes version, which was still scary enough for them to process.

  "Maker! Then you have my thanks Ser Alistair."

  Keran invited them to stay with them for the night and share their campfire.

  "If you're the Alistair we've heard in the tales, I heard you were once part of the Templar Order," Keran said as he stoked the fire with his eyes reflecting the flames.

  Alistair sat on the opposite bench from the man to observe his expression. "Well, I did train as a Templar but became a Grey Warden before I took my official vows."

  "It's an honor to share a campfire with you. I ran from Ferelden when the Blight hit and came to Kirkwall like the Champion," Hank said, a man of low-cut dark hair and many small scars on his cheeks, which were hardened slightly from many days weathering the Wounded Coast's harsh sun.

  "The Champion." Keran sighed. "For a while I was angry at him, then I learned what happened to the Gallows."

  Alistair took out his refilled flask of spirits and offered some to Keran, who nodded and took a swig.

  "Good drink," Keran said as he licked his lips and handed the flask back to him.

  "You were all templars?"

  The men nodded.

  "Hawke saved me when he had been investigating what was happening to my peers. He told me to stay away from the order because of it." Keran eased back on the bench and glanced up to the starless sky.

  "Saved our lives he did." Macha interrupted.

  The man was lucky to have a caring and devoted sister to keep his humanity in check.

  "What are you planning to do now?" Hank asked.

  Fiona and Alistair shared a glance.

  "We're sorry to ask, but," Fiona said with cordial tones, causing the men sit up right and give her their full attention. "Eliminating the Venatori here wasn't our only objective. We were suggested to seek your aid."

  She carefully explained the situation of the Sundermount Deep Roads entrance and the Venatori's rift orb production line possibly being there. "Either way, we've seen signs of many mages traveling toward that area."

  Keran frowned and nodded. "I'll do it. You need templars to dispel magic."

  Hank nodded. "And there's no mages left to cover this need, except for milady."

  Macha looked worried at seeing the men willing to throw themselves into the fire. Alistair reassured her that, since the men were willing to help, he could teach them some skills that they would not have learned due to their junior ranks of the order before it was destroyed.

  This naturally had the men eager and excited. Fiona promised her that she would do her best to keep Keran and the men safe.

  Macha chuckled finding it a funny and wonderful thing that a mage was willing to go out of their way to protect a templar. Maybe the world wasn't completely bad after all.

  She glanced at Alistair starting up a training session with the men. "He's really your son?"

  Fiona nodded. "Odd isn't it? A mage mother and templar-warden son."

  "It's wonderful. I'm sure this is what Andraste would have originally wanted." Macha smiled. "If templars and mages were allowed to remain in their families from the start, helping each other nurture and protect themselves from magic, we might not have had to face such horrible nightmares."

  "Yes, it could've made some people's lives happier." Fiona felt warm at seeing her son being the teacher and commanding respect.

  The training and talk lasted well into the evening. In the morning, everyone packed up the camp and began their journey to the Sundermount strike zone.