"What do you know of this Fade Sage?" Leon asked as they gathered around the fire for dinner.

Lanaya looked at him. "She has received quite the following, bringing in and sheltering elves who have nowhere else to go. They have built a community the last few years and we often trade with them." She started. "Lady Melya is a good woman, skilled in magik beyond imagination, heals the sick and wounded, helps maintain order within the forest and protects all who reside within its domain. Even us Dalish. Though she is a very strange woman and I've never seen an elf with that appears as she does."

Leon looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Lanaya was about to answer, but she was pulled away for a moment only saying that he would soon find out for himself.

Leon looked at his companions, seeing the confusion and curiosity mirrored in their eyes.

Zevran chuckled. "I always like a good mystery. Though from what I've heard, the Fade Sage is incredibly beautiful. It's said that it is as if she belongs to the Fade itself. Some even say that she was blessed by the Creators, given an ancient and powerful magik that none have seen since the days of Arlathan." He stretched and stood, winking at Cassandra before turning his attention back to Leon. "We should turn in for the night. We have an interesting day ahead of us."

The cries of demons echoed in the distance. Melya wandered through the Fade as she had her entire life. She looked around as she sensed a sudden change in the energies of the Fade, seeing a young man running towards her. The same young man she had seen time and time again for the last two months or so.

"Run!" He called to her, grabbing her hand as he passed by her.

Their feet pounding against the ground, they ran and ran until they reached a portal. The man called to her as she stopped, staring at her hand. The hand he had grabbed her with had left a strange glowing green mark, as if it had been transferred to her. He called to her again, reaching out to her. Grasping his hand, she let him pull her through the portal and as they stepped out she found herself staring at the ceiling of her hut.

"It was just a dream... and no mark..." she thought aloud. "I wonder what the Creators are trying to tell me..."

Leaving her hut and staring up at the sky, she sighed. "The sky is broken, the Veil is torn, the Fade is spilling into this world. Why? What does it all mean?"

"Lady Melya!"

Melya looked down as an elf came up the stairs to her hut. "What is it?"

"There are some people here to see you."

Melya nodded. "The ones Lanaya spoke of?"

The elf nodded. "Shall I inform them to wait for you to join them?"

"Please, if you wouldn't mind. I'll be but a moment."

The elf nodded and left to deliver her message. Melya looked up at the sky, the faint glow of the Breach in the distance peeking out from the gaps in the leaves of the trees above her as it had for weeks. "Perhaps these visitors will have answers."

Making her way down the stairs from her hut and through the throng of dozens of elves that she had taken in over the last few years, Melya headed towards the main hall where she could sense a familiar pair of energies waiting with a trio of unfamiliar energies.

As she stepped through the doorway and made her way down the stairs to the centre of the main hall, Melya regarded the visitors. One was a woman clad in armour, a Seeker by the insignia. One of the three men was a gruff middle aged man in Grey Warden armour, another was a bald elf mage who regarded the temple ruins with great interest and was the owner to one of the familiar energies, the third was an elf flirting with some of the elf maidens nearby. And the forth, Melya felt herself stop short as her feet touched the main level. As she found herself staring at the man, a young man who looked of noble birth and sang with the Fade. When his eyes lifted to meet hers, they widened at the sight of her.

"You!" they both said, their voices echoing through the main hall.

"Herald, you know her?" the woman asked.

The young man she spoke to, the Herald, nodded. "She's the woman I remember from the Fade. The one who I thought came through the portal with me but vanished before I passed out." He looked back to Melya. "You're the Fade Sage?"

Melya nodded. "I am Melya, though the title you use is one given to me by these people." She stepped forward until she came to stand in front of the Herald. "Curious that you are here. Perhaps the Creators have been sending me dreams of our time in the Fade together as a hint of your arrival." She looked down at his hand, sensing the Fade singing through it. "Your mark, it is magik though you bear no magik yourself." She looked back at him. "What is your name?"

"Leon Lindner."

"This woman called you 'Herald'."

"Yes, I'm the Herald of Andraste." Leon said, finding himself blushing beyond belief. "Forgive me, Lady Melya, but you are far more beautiful than I remember."

Melya felt her cheeks burn and she stepped back, focusing her attention instead on his companions. "Welcome to our home, strangers. May I have your names?"

The woman bowed her head, regarding her warily. "I am Cassandra Pentaghast. This is Zevran Arainai, this is Warden Blackwall, and this is Solas."

Melya looked at Solas, sensing something ancient about him. "Your energy is like that of the Creators..." She said, stepping closer to him. "You are more powerful than you let on, Solas." She reached up and placed a hand over his heart. Her eyes widened and she stepped back, bowing her head. "Ghilas dennar. Garas quenathra?"

Solas knew what she had seen, though he was curious as to how she could have known, but he answered her question. "We came to seek you, Lady Melya. We have heard of your power and it would seem that you have gained some rather unwarranted attention from a powerful enemy."

Melya sighed. "Would it have anything to do with the tear in the Veil, the Breach in the sky?"

Solas nodded. "The one responsible is someone called the Elder One. And it would seem that they are seeking you out. Your power and reputation have for exceeded you and reached well passed the borders of this forest."

"And this Elder One I would assume wishes to possess my power?"

"That is what we fear." Cassandra said.

"Then why have you come here seeking me? Do you wish to possess my power as well?"

"We came to offer an alliance." Leon said, stepping forward. "This Elder One is fuelling the war between mages and Templars, is responsible for the Breach and all the demons. They're more powerful than you can imagine and with your skill in magik you may be able to help us defeat them."

Melya looked at Leon, seeing the truth of his words in his eyes. Though when she looked at Cassandra, she saw something different. "Your friend seems more willing to offer an alliance only to keep my power in check. She seems to believe me dangerous."

"You are a mage. The sky is torn, the Veil is wide open for demons to pass through into our world. You are a danger to yourself and to all others as a mage, just as at risk of possession as any other mage." Cassandra said.

"That being said, Cassandra, do not forget that she is called the 'Fade Sage' for a reason." Solas said. He looked to Melya. "We have heard that you can travel the Fade physically and non. I myself can travel in my dreams, but to do so physically is unheard of since the days of the Imperium."

"You speak of the Men who broke the heavens and created the First Blight." Melya said. "Such is the legend of the Chantry." She looked from Solas to Cassandra, then back to Solas. "I can travel through the Fade physically, though it takes a great deal of mana and I do not attempt it unless absolutely necessary. As for your concerns, they are noted. However, I cannot simply abandoned these people." She looked around at the elves gathered. "They are my friends and my family. I cannot leave them unprotected, this forest unprotected." She looked between Leon and Solas. "This forest is one of the most pure and wholesome places of magik. The Veil is thin here, untouched by the spoils of Men and their blundering. It remains a sanctuary for all that reside within it. It gives us shelter, the spirits here guided me to these ruins- guided these people to these ruins- and it is here that we have made a home."

"Lady Melya?"

Melya looked behind her as one of the children stepped forward, clutching a stuffed wolf in her arms. "What is it, Lithra?"

"You should go." the little elf girl said, smiling. "They need your help."

Melya knelt in front of the little girl, stroking her head. "I can't just leave you here alone. Who's going to protect you?"

Lithra giggled. "You've taught us all how to fight, how to protect ourselves. We'll be OK." She looked up as the elf who had brought Melya the news of visitors stepped forward and presented Melya with her pack. "Sethon and all of us want you to go."

Melya looked at Sethron as he handed her the pack. "Are you certain?"

Sethron nodded and smiled. "We will be fine without you, Lady Melya. You've taught us well. We need you, always, but right now they need you more."

Melya looked around at the others gathered, seeing their smiles and nods as they urged her to go. She smiled, then looked to the visitors. "I will go with you. I will help if I can."

"Here, Lady Melya." Lithra said, taking her hand and placing a small stone token engraved with a flower. "Take this. It's a good luck charm to keep you safe."

Melya smiled and hugged her. "I'll come back, once this is all through and the sky is healed once more. I promise." She stood and looked at her friends, her family. "I will come back, I swear upon our ancestors and the Creators." Shouldering her pack, she patted Lithra's head before turning to look at Leon and the others. "We should be on our way."

Leon nodded and led the way out of the ruins. He walked with Melya at his side, glancing at her as she stopped to wave at the elves she was leaving behind. When she stepped just outside of the ruins entrance, she touched the keystone above her and uttered something in elven. He watched in amazement as the keystone glowed and a silvery- gold barrier expanded from it, enveloping the whole of the ruins.

"What'd you do?"

"I can't be here to protect them, but this barrier will keep them safe while I cannot." She said. She blushed a bit when she saw him staring at her. "What?"

Leon blushed a bit himself and smiled. "You're really something, Lady Melya. I look forward to working with you."

Melya smiled at that. "As do I. I am curious about your mark and how it works. Perhaps I can be of help with that as well." She gestured to the path before them. "Shall we?"

Leon nodded. "Let's."