Title: The Great Escape I: Apostates And Sympathizers

Pairing: Jowan/f!Surana friendship.

A/N: What if the PC was a blood mage, too? What if Jowan escaped with her instead of abandoning both his best friend and Lily to their fates? Please review if you like it. Or not.

)O(

~ Part One ~

Emma had heard the rumors that he was a blood mage. And now Jowan was in a relationship with a woman who was practically a priestess. This was, obviously, forbidden. She wondered if Lily knew the truth. Why would a Chantry girl agree to escape with a blood mage?

No, Emma sees the love in the human woman's eyes. She is blissful in her ignorance. She has no idea the company she travels with. It isn't fair, but Jowan never has been very good at thinking things through. That's why she has a bad feeling that this plan is a trap.

Emma had passed up the chance to betray him. She could have marched into the First Enchanter's office and told him everything. She could have explained in detail exactly what he and Lily were planning to do and her part in it. But then what kind of a friend would she be? The elf can't let them take Jowan's emotions. That is beyond cruel. Besides, she is a Harrowed mage now, and they don't make Harrowed mages Tranquil. It just isn't done. So even if they are caught, Emma only has a death sentence to look forward to, which is preferable to that kind of torture.

As she stands there in the Phylactery Chamber, she wonders how exactly this doesn't qualify as blood magic. The templars use the mages' blood to track them down should they turn apostate. They are hypocrites.

And Emma is just a tiny, cynical woman.

Jowan lets the fragile glass vial slip from his fingers. It shatters on the ground. The spell is broken. He is free at last. Emma wishes she could say the same.

Suddenly, she wants to leave this room more than anything.

The moment they emerge from the basement, Emma knows something is terribly wrong.

Everything happens so quickly. One second, Greagoir is yelling while Irving stands there and frowns like a disappointed father, and then the templars are closing in on Lily...and...

"I won't let you touch her!" Jowan shouts, stabbing the blade down into his own hand with as much force as he can. He cries out in agony and begins to manipulate the blood, knocking Greagoir, Irving, and the templars back several feet. Lily is stunned. Emma had seen this coming.

Lily doesn't want anything to do with him, now. She could love him as a mage, but not as a blood mage. All of them are hypocrites.

Then he turns to Emma. And for the first time, she sees just how terrified he is. There is no getting out of this.

"Come on!" he says, frantically, pulling her along by the hand. His hand is still bleeding, she can feel it. Something about this is not right. They just keep running.

Somehow, perhaps by magic, they make it out into the blessedly cool air of Ferelden. Her robes are soaked, either from the swim across Lake Calenhad or the rain that pours down on them now. Emma's head is spinning and she desperately wants to stop and catch her breath. But they can't afford to stop now. The templars still know where she is and it is likely that they are on the trail at this very moment. The thought makes her run faster.

They don't stop running until the sun is beginning to fall out of the sky, which is now streaked with shades of orange and purple. The rain has stopped. Time even seems to stop. The world goes very still and Emma and Jowan allow themselves a brief rest.

"Emma-" Jowan starts, shattering the perfect silence that up until this moment had only been disturbed by their ragged breathing.

"Shut up." she orders, careful to keep her voice quiet. "There will be time for those kinds of conversations later. Right now we have to focus on survival."

"I was just going to ask if you were hungry." he lies.

"Starving," she says.

Emma tells him to get a fire started - which isn't difficult for a mage - and goes off to find something remotely edible. Her search isn't helped by the fact that it's autumn and everything is dying. Animals have already gathered up the last bits of food for the long winter, leaving nothing for humans or elves. Ferelden has always been known for its inhospitable winters. In a few weeks, snow and ice will blanket the ground and they'll freeze to death.

She'd read in a book once that the dwarves ate nugs, which apparently were adorable and delicious little things somewhere between a pig and a rabbit. What she wouldn't give to have one now. Unfortunately, all Emma can get her hands on are a few elfroots, some questionable berries and half of a dead bird.

"I never thought I'd actually miss the food at the Tower." Emma says as they pick at their own small bounty of semi-edible ingredients. If they'd had a large cooking pot, they would have thrown everything in it and waited until it looked even more unappetizing, as was Ferelden custom.

"Yeah," Jowan answers, obviously uncomfortable with any mention of the place that once was their home and prison. Then he falls silent again, and Emma knows he is thinking about Lily. He feels as though he has abandoned her. He cares for her still and wants to know if she is all right, despite the fact that she now hates him for being a maleficar. Jowan then asks suddenly, "What are we going to do?"

Emma figures now is as good a time for this conversation as any. There's no reason to avoid it.

"I don't know," she admits first. "But we need to destroy my phylactery. If we don't, then it will be too risky to stay together. Not to imply that there aren't any risks in going to Denerim and breaking in to the Chantry's secret stash of phylacteries..."

And just like that, they have a plan. It's a desperate, insane, and altogether stupid plan but they have no choice. She'll be a marked woman until this is done. What do they have to lose anyway?

"I'm not going to let them take you." he declares. He won't lose another person he cares about to the templars. And if by some miracle from the Maker, or more likely one of the elven gods, and they actually are successful in this mad scheme...Well, they will have to disappear. Leave the country; maybe go to Tevinter or the Free Marches. Somewhere that looks more kindly towards apostates. But Emma supposes she's getting ahead of herself.

"I know." she replies.

That night, the elf stays up and keeps watch while Jowan sleeps. It's only fair since she is the one being hunted, not him. Well, that's not entirely true, but she is the one more likely to be found first anyway.

Emma's pointed ears perk up when she hears a rustling in the trees. Probably just a wild animal, she tells herself, but she grips her staff just in case. Her heart starts to pound in her chest when she realizes the sound is getting closer. Magic surges through her veins, waiting to be manifested into a bolt of lighning to strike down her mysterious foe.

"Show yourself!" Emma orders, hoping her voice sounds vaguely threatening instead of just as frightened as she feels. The noise wakes Jowan, who jumps to his feet and reaches for his own staff. He assumes, as she has, that the templars have found them.

"Have no fear, I am not a templar."

A man materializes from the shadows before them. He is clad in simple leather armor, his hands held high to show that he does not have a weapon, and a good-natured smile on his face. Emma doesn't know what to make of him.

"Then who are you?" she demands.

"I'll get to that." he says hastily. "Just, please, lower your staves."

Emma still isn't sure if they can trust this man, but she does as he asks because she is still a mage and thus does not require a staff to kill something or someone, blood magic or no. Jowan reluctantly does the same. Then the man begins to speak.

"Thank you." he says, still smiling. "Now, I'll get right to the point: I represent a collective of mages interested in going about their lives without the constant scrutiny of the Chantry. When I saw the light from your fire, I thought perhaps you folks could use our assistance. Not many people choose to go camping this time of year, especially not with darkspawn in the forest."

It's a miracle, she thinks at first. But then it occurs to her that this could very well be a trick. He could be a templar in disguise. Though, she had never know the templars to do things like that before, so why would they start now?

He offers to take them to a safe house the Collective has established in Denerim. When they arrive they can discuss the matter of her phylactery. Suddenly the plan doesn't seem so crazy with an entire guild supporting them. Emma agrees to make the journey in the morning, but reminds herself that she must stay alert. This could still be a potential ambush.

Jowan is wide awake and decides to take watch while she and their new arrival get some much needed rest for the many hours of walking they will face tomorrow. It will take days to reach the city...

Emma closes her eyes and slips into the Fade, content in the notion that Jowan really will never let the templars take her.