The templar actually blushed when Matril brushed the hair back from his face. The young man really was kind of adorable, with those youthful freckles and bashful eyes. "Maker, the lieutenant will kill me if he catches me fraternizing on duty."

"You can always tell him you were trying to lure me into a false sense of security." Matril winked. "Doing your duty to make sure I'm not some wicked maleficar..." He ran a hand down the other man's cheek.

He chuckled. "Mages don't usually carry bows." The templar swallowed. "I, umm..."

"Good to see so many templars around." He leaned forward just slightly, enough that his breath would tickle the templar's hair. "Makes me feel..." He smiled wickedly. "Safer. But surely you aren't on duty all the time?"

"I..." The younger man blushed even redder. "I don't get off duty until supper."

His right hand cupped the man's neck for just a moment as his left hand retrieved the key off of the templar's belt. "Well then, I suppose I'll have to be patient." He licked his lips and saw the other man's eyes widen. "Until then."

He kept his walk a bit reluctant, conscious of the other man watching him until he was around the corner. Matril tossed the key up in the air once, caught it, and tucked it into his belt before heading back to meet his contact. Maker, but those little Chantry boys were just too easy. Come to think of it, if the rest of the evening went as smoothly, he might actually come back and look the guy up.

#

Mat ran a hand through his shaggy hair. He should head back up, do the job he'd been hired to do. But someone had told him his sister was here. Which was awkward, considering he didn't actually have a sister. But then, Otwin Trevelyan did. Bloody hell, he should have picked a different name. "You told me no Trevelyans would be here."

"Sod it, how were we to know where the sister was? She was on the run. Her kin are looking for her in Antiva." Bridget shrugged. "Will she recognize you?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I only met her the once, and that was a few years ago. But she's going to know I'm not Otwin." He growled. "And so will anyone she describes Otwin too." He sighed. "I'm going to end up turned into a nug."

"Look, get in, get out, get moving. I'll meet you back in Jader for the exchange."

"He won't be back in his tent until this evening. You need me before then, I'll be at the bloody tavern." He ruffled Bridget's hair before leaving, dodging the kick she aimed at him in response.

#

One thing he enjoyed about the Qunari was how few of them wore shirts. His new drinking buddy was fairly easy on the eyes, and not bad at conversation either. He was considering making a pass when a qunari woman showed up and started chasing the guy out of the tavern.

It occurred to him that if the job went bad, hiring a bodyguard might not be the worst idea. He paid for the drinks, then followed the big man back up towards the temple. At least the yelling woman was sister, not wife. And there was apparently an entire group of them. It wasn't like he was actually going to pay them, after all. Let them go after the Trevelyans for the money. It would serve that bloody Lukas right to have a bunch of angry oxmen at his door.

"So if I did want to hire your group to..." A sound reached Mat's ears. "You hear something?"

"Someone shouting." The big man immediately went on alert. He gestured. "I'll take the stairs, you check the corridor."

The last thing he needed was to run off and play the hero. Heroing paid for shit. "Er..." But then, arguing just wasted time. "Okay."

He had started down the corridor when he saw his boss. Shit. He turned, and headed back for the stairs.

#

There were swords pointed at him.

"Who are you?"

He blinked up at the red haired woman. It was hard trying to force his mind to pay attention. "Mat."

"Mat?"

No. Shit. That wasn't right. He was... Who was he supposed to be? "Trevelyan." Too late to say Otwin. "Matril Trevelyan."

There was a mark on his hand. And they were accusing him of being responsible for... "What do you mean the Conclave was destroyed?" That hadn't been the plan. He was just supposed to steal some dwarven relic. Nothing about the relic... It was just some paragon thing.

The seeker dragged him out and showed him a hole in the sky. And asked him to help close it. "So if I do what you want, will I live through it?"

"We have no way of knowing." Cassandra narrowed her eyes at him.

That sounded ominously like a no.

#

The bridge collapsed, and they both fell. Green light shimmered nearby, and a demon rose out of the ground. Cassandra drew her blade and went to meet it. Mat scrambled backwards. Her back was turned. Time to get the hell out of here and... shit. Another one. He hid, and found a bow. Now he just needed to... The demon was after the Seeker. She'd be killed. And most likely, he'd get blamed for that too. He notched an arrow, and came up out of his hiding place.

#

"Drop your weapon. Now." And she was pointing a sword at him. It was going to be that kind of day, clearly.

"If you're going to lead me through a demon-infested valley, you'll have to trust me." Despite there being no arrow notched, he lowered the bow. But he did not relinquish it. Bloody hell, there were demons falling out of the sky.

She took another step towards him, anger on her face. "Give me one reason to trust you."

He'd just saved her life. "Because my life is on the line."

Cassandra stared at him, and then sighed. "You're right." She sheathed her blade. "I cannot protect you, and I cannot expect you to be defenseless." She took a few steps up the mountain before turning back to him. "Your life is threatened enough as it is."

Well, this just kept getting better. Maybe shooting her when her back was turned wasn't that bad an idea. Except that if he tried that, there would be no way he'd make it off this mountain alive. The more opportunity he got to talk, the more opportunity there was to get out of this in one piece.

#

More demons. More dwarves. And a mage. Yay. Whatever the thing was on his hand was successful at closing the rift. Which meant they needed him alive. Always a good sign. Especially since he was fairly sure Cassandra wanted to kill him.

Mat ran his fingers through his shaggy blond hair and tried to make since of what they were saying. The elven apostate seemed to know what was going on. The dwarf was Varric Tethras, who was apparently also a prisoner. He wasn't sure if the fact Varric was also armed and completely unafraid of Cassandra was a good sign or a bad. Well, the Seeker hadn't killed the apostate... Solas... yet either, so, good?

Maybe he'd get out of this with his head still attached to his neck. It wouldn't be the first time he had to break out of a prison cell.

#

He sealed another of the rifts, saving the lives of several Inquisition soldiers. "Whatever that thing on your hand is, it's useful." Varric shrugged as he stowed his crossbow again.

It was. He looked down at the glowing mark. And if he was the only one who could help, well then... Matril looked back up at the Breach in the sky. Assuming he survived that, this had some potential. How much would folks pay to have the rift in their courtyard removed?

And if he was the only one that could seal rifts, they couldn't exactly execute him now, could they?

#

Chancellor Roderick glared. "I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution."

"Order me?" Cassandra glared right back. "You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat."

They argued, and it was clear they weren't going to stop anytime soon. Somewhat against his better judgment, he drew attention back to himself. "I believe the plan was for me to fix a hole in the sky?" He waved the marked hand.

"You brought this on us in the first place." The chancellor pointed at him before turning back towards Cassandra. "Call a retreat, Seeker. Our position here is hopeless."

"We can stop this before it's too late." Cassandra folded her arms.

And they started arguing again, this time on how to actually get to their goal. To his surprise, Cassandra turned towards him. "How do you think we should proceed?"

"Pardon?" He raised an eyebrow.

Solas's voice came from behind him. "You have the mark."

"And you are the one we must keep alive." Cassandra gestured. "Since we cannot agree on our own..."

Charging with a bunch of soldiers sounded like a good way to end up with holes poked into his favorite skin. "Through the mountains. We need to work together. You all know what is at stake here."

Cassandra looked unhappy, but she actually moved to obey. Matril looked down at his hand again. Interesting.

#

The path through the mountains involved a lot of climbing. The labyrinth beneath the temple was more extensive than he'd been told. If his contacts had been able to get him the full schematic, he'd have had that stupid relic and been gone two days ago. Tan had been crap for the information this go around. Matril took a look around. Tan had been up at the temple. One good thing to come... A chill went down his spine. Bridget had been there too.

He shook his head, notched an arrow, and put it through a demon starting to come down the hall.

#

More demons below, attacking Inquisition soldiers. He drew back the bow and fired an arrow into a demon that was raising its claws above a downed soldier. Cassandra nodded to him before charging in. As soon as the demons were dead, he raised his hand once more, sealing the rift. It tingled, making his palm itched. Wiping it on his tunic didn't really help the matter.

The soldiers were surprised and grateful at the rescue. He bowed to their leader. "Your people fought well. I'm pleased we had the chance to come to your assistance."

Solas seemed to be of the opinion they would face no further demons. Matril just hoped he was right. He wasn't happy about the idea of a demon getting close enough to attack. Cassandra was holding them at bay well enough thus far, but he liked to keep his enemies as far away as possible.

#

He stopped short at the first sight of the temple. It had been magnificent, when he and Bridget had first come up the path. The ancient building had stood, majestic against the mountain. Matril had been moved enough by the sight to actually join that evening's prayers. He was surprised to feel anger rising inside him as they walked through the remains. Andraste's final resting place, defiled by...

"That is where you walked out of the Fade and our soldiers found you." Cassandra waved a hand as they passed the remains of an archway. "They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was."

Matril glanced in the direction, but nothing about the location held meaning for him. He wasn't sure where in the temple they would be at the moment, if it had still been standing. A woman... A dwarven woman would have been remarked, so it couldn't have been Bridget. He had no idea what other woman it could have been.

#

"The Breach sure is a long way up." Varric shook his head.

"You're here. Thank the Maker." Matril turned to see Leliana leading some soldiers to them. The woman's presence made him just a little nervous. The others might not notice a small misstep, but the Left Hand of the Divine certainly would. He'd rather not come further under her scrutiny.

"Leliana, have your men take up positions around the temple." Cassandra gave the order before turning towards him. "This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?"

"I will do all I can." Matril looked up at the Breach. "Though I am not certain I can reach that far."

"No." Solas shook his head, and indicated a rift down in the remains of what had been the temple's great hall. "This rift was the first, and it is the key. Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach."

"I pray you are right." Matril nodded to him.

"Let's find a way down." Cassandra began heading through the ruins again. "And be careful."

#

"Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice." The words seemed to come from the very air around them. It was more than a little disturbing. The number of soldiers really didn't do much to assuage the urge to turn and flee. It was more the knowledge that they'd likely kill him if he tried that stopped him.

Solas suggested it was the voice of whoever had created the Breach. The man really wasn't much of one for comforting thoughts. Neither was Varric, for that matter. "You know this stuff is red lyrium, Seeker."

"I see it, Varric."

"But what's it doing here?"

"Magic could have drawn on lyrium beneath the temple, corrupted it..." Solas shrugged.

"It's evil." Varric shook his head. "Whatever you do, don't touch it."

Not something he needed to be told twice. Matril gave the red stuff a wide berth as he passed. The voice came again, and then a woman's voice. "Someone help me." He stumbled. He knew that voice.

"That is Divine Justinia's voice." Cassandra stared.

#

"Someone help me." The voice came again.

"What's going on here?" Matril went still when he heard his own voice echo from the air.

Cassandra whirled in his direction. "That was your voice. Most Holy called out to you. But..."

Sound came again, and then images followed. The shape of a tall man, something in his hand. The Divine, floating, trapped by magic. And his own image, opening the door. The Divine yelled at him to run, to warn them, just as the tall man ordered his death. And then the images vanished once more. Cassandra walked towards him, stopping only a pace away. "You were there. Who attacked? And the Divine, is she...?" Cassandra started to reach out as if to grab him, but pointed back at where the images had been instead. "Was this vision true? What are we seeing?"

"I don't..." Matril searched his mind, but the last thing he remembered was going in the opposite direction to avoid Bridget. He heard something and then... "I don't remember."

"Echoes of what happened here." Solas was looking up at where the images had been. "The Fade bleeds into this place." He shook his head. "This rift is not sealed, but it is closed, albeit temporarily. I believe that with the mark, the rift can be opened, and then sealed properly and safely. However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side."

"That means demons." Cassandra began getting the soldiers into position. "Stand ready." She turned towards him.

He shifted his position slightly, making sure she was between him and the rift. Then he raised his hand.

#

Of course, it couldn't be just any demon. It had to be a huge one with horns and spikes jutting out of it at all angles. Matril rolled out of the way of a blast. That threw lightning. He came up and fired another arrow, moving to find cover. Cassandra and the soldiers had it under control. "We must strip its defenses, wear it down." Cassandra directed the other soldiers.

His palm itched. He looked back up at the rift, and took a deep breath. He sent energy into it, causing it to swirl violently. The giant demon stumbled, and the soldiers were able to close in. He grabbed for more arrows, and began firing, trying to find anything resembling a weak point.

A few more demons escaped the rift, forcing him to dodge attacks. One of the soldiers got her shield between him and the shade, and took a hit that had been meant for him. She stumbled, and he put an arrow through the shade before it could take advantage of her position. She sent him a grateful look before getting her feet back under her.

The demon faltered, and went down. Cassandra waved in his direction, then pointed at the rift. "Do it."

Matril took a deep breath. He lifted his hand. The rift began to contort. He gritted his teeth, putting more energy into it. Stars began to dance in the edge of his vision. The rift shuddered, and then it was almost like something snapped back into him. He felt himself falling, and then nothing.