A/N: Just something I wrote when I was bored. If I get positive reviews I'll continue this. So…yeah.

Disclaimer: Despite playing the Dragon Age games for an ungodly amount of time, I don't own it…yet.

Kael Mahariel was watching his own funeral, as strange as that sounded. For some reason, he didn't pass through the Beyond, never walked with Falon'Din. He was dead, and had a new companion, but wasn't moving on. For now, he watched his funeral as he awaited answers.

As he stood in plain view, invisible to all, he looked over the crowd. Most were shemlin he had met over the course of the Blight, and the majority of the fools disgusted him. They were completely unable to unify without the aid of a Dalish elf, beings they had spat upon before! Instead, they had been caught up in their own petty squabbles, ignoring the Blight that ran rampant for a little more than a year after the disaster at Ostagar. Realizing he had been caught up in his thoughts, he shook his head and looked intently at his companions.

He gave a small snarl as he saw Alistair standing next to the slab of marble that held his corpse. Before the Landsmeet, he had been good friends with the weakling. After the Landsmeet, he began to feel resentment and disgust towards him, after the scene he caused. In fact, the only reason he had allowed the royal bastard to become king was because the Wardens needed all the influence they could get at the moment, and Anora was there to balance his sheer idiocy out.

The fool had abandoned the Wardens when he was most needed, all because of the recruitment of Loghain, who was standing gravely next to Leliana and Zevran. Who- Mahariel thought- was much more useful than the man-child that is Alistair Theirin, the bastard child of King Maric. Loghain Mac Tir was experienced, ruthless, and an astoundingly skilled general. Neither he nor any of the allies he had gathered over the course of the Blight had experience commanding a great number of warriors. Loghain on the other hand, had proven his worth many times as an officer, aside from Ostagar. That fact was what convinced Kael to spare the old man's life. The shemlin had proven to be something of a friend to him in the end, even tried to take the final blow against Urthemiel for him. Although, the elf mused, the old bastard might have just wanted an easy redemption. He tore his mind off Loghain and Alistair.

Standing beside Loghain were Zevran and Leliana, two of his other friends. Although Leliana had spent most of the first week attempting to draw him into religious debates, she had quickly become valued for her skills. Her lock picking abilities were particularly good, and her skills with a bow matched those of the Dalish hunters. She also knew tales of his people that not even his clan had heard. The only hitch in their friendship was when they had spoken of elves after he had broken the werewolves' curse. For nearly a month, they had avoided each other until Zevran knocked both of them out, tied them up, and left them in a tent with each other. Six hours later Wynne had found them.

For awhile Kael had been wary of Zevran, and constantly had a hand on his dagger for the first two weeks the elf had joined the band. The Dalish elf had begun to loosen up a bit around the assassin, and often arranged things so that he, Zevran, and Leliana were on guard duty at the same time. It was far better than being with Wynne. Not that the old crone was even able to take guard duty very often, considering her advanced age.

Standing behind Loghain and his two favorite rogues were other members of the party he was friendly with. While not as close to them as he was to the rogues, or even Loghain, they were still allies and friends. First was Sten. Kael empathized with the giant's devotion to his people and duty. As a Dalish, the clan was the most important thing to him. One of the only reasons he fought the Blight in the beginning was to protect his clan as they travelled north. He had even embraced some aspects of the Qun, although he would never become a devoted fanatic. Duty and becoming the very best one could be in one's position was something he admired, after all. Kael looked at Sten's feet, where Tamlen the Mabari laid with his paws covering his eyes.

He lazily scanned over the rest of his companions, and then at the filthy shemlin that were doing their best to be sad because of an elf's death. As soon as he saw the faces, he listed what he thought of them.

Arl Eamon. A manipulative bastard that attempted to get Alistair- of all people- to take the throne. Sent a child to the stables to please some Orlesian noblewoman he'd taken a liking to. Didn't shed a tear when he heard that Kael forced his wife to kill Connor.

Bann Teagan. Nice, albeit annoying shemlin. Tried to charm Leliana…and failed extravagantly. If Kael remembered correctly, the man had become so terrified of the redhead that he nearly wet himself in her presence.

Kardol of the Legion of the Dead. Powerful warrior and a great leader. Helped to break through the darkspawn blockades and took on two ogres at once to let Kael, Loghain, Leliana, and Wynne into Fort Drakon.

First Enchanter Irving. Grandfatherly old shemlin, although he had a massive amount of power at his disposal. The old man had helped quite a bit during the battle against Urthemiel, as he single-handedly held off dozens of darkspawn that had arrived to aid the archdemon, while his magi did an incredible job of distracting Urthemiel.

Finally, he found the one faction he held no anger at. While the Dalish that fought in the Blight were not his own clan, they were still his kin. The Keeper that had been appointed after Zathrian sacrificed himself, Lanaya, was one of his childhood friends from the Arlathvhen. Thanks to that connection, she had easily believed the truth about Zathrian, and instantly pledged her clan to him, and vowed to gather the other clans of Ferelden for battle.

Lanaya was a very powerful mage, on par with Morrigan even, and she was Dalish. These things made her an incredibly powerful ally. Combine that with her position and the devotion his mere name inspired into the elves who had heard of him, and the Dalish had been roused.

Marethari had also travelled to his funeral, along with several of the most skilled hunters and Ashalle. He longed to be able to reveal himself to the only living beings he gave a damn about outside of his party, but it was impossible. Instead, he merely watched as the funeral progressed, and watched in happiness as King Alistair gave his people the lands of Ostagar and the surrounding area. Undoubtably, Anora's doing, Kael thought. It was impossible for the fool to have gotten over a petty grudge so quickly.

He thought on some of the problems that might occur from this gift. While the Keepers would easily mend the tears in the Veil that would have erupted around the battlefield, the darkspawn might linger in the Korcari Wilds. There was also the matter of the Blight. As it had begun in the Wilds, they were nearly obliterated by the corruption. His people would be living on dead, barren land. The only sources of food would be the beasts that ran rampant on the land, and so many of them had become corrupted. When he slew Asha'bellenar, his band had been attacked several times by blight wolves, and even by two massive bereskarns. Kael had given them relief from their suffering. Aside from hunting, his people would only be able to get food from the neighboring shemlen…who would likely try and kill the Dalish off by starvation the second they could.

For the first time since he was a child, a feeling of pure rage erupted inside him. Although he had quickly regained his composure, the living had noticed the change. Kael saw Greagoir tense up and direct a suspicious stare towards the Dalish. He couldn't hold it against the older man, however. The templar had been practically brainwashed during his training, yet still managed to keep the magi in the Tower safe from the bastards like Cullen. Should he ever see Cullen again, he would tear the bastard's heart out. Morrigan had nearly died from that sadistic bastard, and it had only been the timely intervention of Kael that she had not passed on to the Beyond. The templar had been a second away from cutting her pretty little shemlin head off.

Speaking of Morrigan...Kael turned his head towards the small dog sitting in the corner. He remembered that form well, considering it was the one she had run away in. Strangely enough, he didn't blame the witch. Kael Mahariel was the first person she could actually call friend, and from her view point it would seem as if he wanted to abandon her for glory, or some nonsense. She hadn't truly abandoned him, of course. Aside from being at his funeral, he had seen her stealthily attacking targets, and even the random blast of lightning that had forced Urthemiel to drop Kael as he was being chewed on. No, she certainly hadn't abandoned him.

The funeral dragged on for nearly another hour. When Alistair had finished talking, Anora had spoken a few words. Nothing important, of course, as it wouldn't be proper for the public to know of her deep friendship with Kael. The idiotic shemlin would be astounded! A queen and an elf had known each other as something other than master and servant! What a travesty.

Once the royal couple had left, presumably to either mourn privately or fix the pathetic state the country had been left in, in Anora's case, his companions and those close to him paid his mortal remnants respect. As the first of them began to line up in front of his corpse, which looked rather resplendent in the silverite blood dragon armor, Kael moved behind the marble slab.

It was rather disturbing to stare into your own lifeless eyes. They were the same onyx they had been before he slew Urthemiel, aside from the dull glaze of death. Absentmindedly, he stroked the long, perfect form of Starfang and the wickedly curved dagger that used to belong to Duncan. Kael looked up at the first of the mourners, and was unsurprised to see that it was Leliana. She merely closed his eyes before leaving to sob in peace. He felt vaguely guilty about not training her to become emotionally hardened, but he had wanted to protect that vulnerability, see just one happy soul during the darkness of the Blight. He would never be able to regret that.

Next was Zevran, who actually had small tears in his eyes. Kael nearly snorted. In life, he would have teased the Antivan mercilessly about that for weeks. Like the bard, Zevran did little. His fellow elf pulled out the crow dagger he had stabbed Kael with during their first encounter and laid it next to Kael.

Loghain followed. The grizzled old bastard did what the Dalish expected him to. Nevertheless, he felt honored when the great general saluted his body. Loghain Mac Tir didn't give signs of respect easily, after all.

Oghren, who was sober for the first time Kael could remember, saluted the body as well. After muttering a few words to the body, the dwarf pulled a small flask out of his pocket. Kael nearly groaned when he saw it. Oghren's Special Brew. That infernal…thing left him nearly catatonic for a day, much to the amusement of his party. When the dwarf left- with teary eyes Kael might add- Shale stepped forward.

Shale raised its hand to its chin and held it in a thinking position for a moment. The golem finally said,

"I thank the elf for not being pooped out on me by the archdemon."

Kael couldn't help but snort in amusement. Not that he had expected something emotional from Shale, but it must be a sign of the golem's affection if it had to use something like that.

Sten was next and merely said "Kadan", and bowed. Kael nodded back, although he knew the qunari would be unable to see him. Stiffly, Sten of the Beresaad left the cemetery, Tamlen following behind him. Before the duo left for Seheron, Tamlen let out a mournful sounding howl that plucked at Kael's heartstrings. The dog had always had as much control over Kael as Kael had over Tamlen. They had seemed to have linked minds sometimes, and the mabari was likely confused and lost. Kael merely wished the dog would have a good life with Sten.

Wynne was the very last to see him. She had never gotten along with him, mostly due to her views on the Chantry and Circle, and both had nearly attacked the other several times before they began ignoring each other. Kael only brought the crone on missions that would require healing. As much as the Dalish loathed Wynne, he respected the control and power she had with healing magic. He had been raised alongside Merrill, and had been a test subject for many magical experiments. Kael always had a healthy respect towards magic and the difficulty of controlling it afterwards.

The old crone nodded at his corpse before walking away. Honestly, Kael was surprised she did even that. After she left, the Dalish moved forward to pay their respects. He recognized the chant they were singing, he had been reminded of it many times after Leliana decided to sing it for the camp. When it ended, they bowed and left.

Kael was alone.

"You are not alone, Warden." A soft voice called out from behind him. Kael was not surprised, he had expected this to happen during the funeral. He was shocked that his one friend hadn't attempted to take his mind off of his more depressing thoughts.

"Hello, my friend," Kael said to the being behind him.

"We are bound together, melded for eternity. You will always have my presence at your side."

Kael turned to face the exquisitely beautiful woman. The corners of his lips twitched up.

"I know, Urthemiel. Although neither of us understand what has occurred, we both know that much."

The Dalish sat down on the grassy land and stared off into the sky. Urthemiel copied him.

"That is where you are wrong, Kael. I believe I know the answer."

Kael cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Please tell, then. We might have all eternity, but I would rather not spend it waiting to be illuminated to the secrets of the gods, Urthemiel."

The Old God gave a short chuckle before she continued.

"You are an anomaly. Your body had been used as a testing ground for new magical enhancement techniques. You were implanted with a demon of desire at a young age and forced to completely absorb it into you. At the age of fifteen you were implanted with a legendary pride demon, and you absorbed it. As a result, you became a legend to the Dalish at a young age. Keeper Marethari went into unknown realms of magic with you, Kael. Not even the Tevintar dared to use such magic, so terrified they were of the results. It was attempted several times, of course. They would never leave something that had such potential alone, of course. The very nature of the Magisters demanded it. Most test subjects couldn't even handle the weakest of demons…yet you, Kael, survived the most powerful of the monstrosities."

Kael nodded. He had expected that his…alterations would play some part in this.

"I believe your soul was irrevocably changed by these events, Kael. You were far more than human or elf, yet less than a spirit or demon. The Grey Wardens that slew the…," Urthemiel shuddered, and Kael merely nodded. He knew the Old God had no desire to remember the destruction she had caused nor the sheer agony the taint caused. For the incarnation of beauty to become such a monstrosity was a terrible thing. She dipped her head in thanks and continued.

"They were ordinary mortals. Skilled and powerful, but ordinary. For all I know, my fellow Gods were truly destroyed by the clashing of souls, but I suspect they were merely freed from the torment. Their souls likely escaped their bodies and retreated into the Beyond to heal. I doubt that the soul of a mere mortal could truly destroy that of a God." Once again Kael nodded. It seemed slightly strange to him as well.

"When you freed me from my corrupted shell, our souls clashed like the other Wardens and Gods before us. Unlike them, you were far more powerful than other mortals. Instead of one soul overwhelming the other, our separate souls became bonded together. You are the true form of us, although as you can see," she pointed to herself, "I can leave you so long as you're nearby. We are nearly invulnerable alone. But you are the more powerful of us. You, Kael Mahariel, are an Old God."