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Firstfall 9:45 Dragon (10:01 SE) - The Warden (7)

  The sorrowful song became louder as Fenris guided Hawke along fade streams. The lyrium in Fenris's blood allowed him to map out the Fade Channel and light up the pathways for Hawke, like a thread guiding the needle.

  As they neared the fiery spark they saw it was a silverish orb of light. The song resonated so loudly from the orb's fiery heart.

  "I think this is Alistair's soul song. I'll try to reveal the bindings." Fenris's voice flowed through Hawke's being to give him confidence.

  Fine threads of silver-blue light moved through the ambiguous smoky atmosphere to reveal seven spirit-chains of silver around the orb.

  "I'm getting a feeling that this orb is Alistair's soul in raw form. And these must be his Chains of Sorrow that bind him. It's up to you now Hawke."

  "How do I do it?"

  "I should be able to make a chain you need to break stand out. Try to break it with your spirit hands. I really don't know much else. Be careful. I'll guide and protect you as long as I can."

  "Fenris I... well, I love you... if..."

  "Hawke. Save your words for after we defeat the demon. We need to do our parts now."

  Hawke assumed a brief moment to steel his will and focus on his task at hand. The bracelet on his hand glowed bright with its light touching the orb's surface to reveal the first chain to break. He firmly grabbed it and felt his spirit being drawn into a memory.

  Chain of Abandonment

  Hawke saw Alistair as a boy working contently as he mucked out the knights' stables. He was humming a ditty tune and stopped when he saw the shadows of two knights appear before him on the ground. He turned to greet familiar faces, unsuspecting of their reasons for approaching him. They were both dressed for battle and standing with formality.

  "Your horse will be ready soon." Alistair innocently reassured them and eagerly went to check the reins on the nearby horses but was stopped when one of them warmly told him to come forward.

  "Alistair, what do you think of the Chantry?"

  "Chantry, where all those stuffy old women go?"

  The knight let out a bitter laugh and sigh.

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  Hawke entered the stable and saw the rage demon's orangey aura cast on the knight who was talking to young Alistair.

  "It's a place for everyone, even little boys who need a home." The knight's expression was outwardly pious and reluctant, but the corner of his lips twitched with a sinister smirk.

  "A home? But my home is here." Alistair frowned, not understanding.

  "Not anymore. Arl Eamon told us to take you to the Chantry who look after orphans and other children."

  "Orphan? But I was told my home is here!" Alistair was becoming confused and flustered, not understanding why the man he came to see as his father was sending knights to take him away.

  A distorted and disruptive melody echoed through the stables, which was making Alistair's body react with a sudden change of emotion before the knights. He became confused, afraid and aggressive.

  "I'm sorry Alistair, but Arl Eaemon told us to safely take you to the Chantry."

  "Told you?" Alistair's aura swelled with anger. "He couldn't say it to me himself!"

  "I'm sorry." The knight said again.

  Alistair's emotions flared up with disbelief and anger. "No. It's a lie, he wouldn't send me away!"

  Hawke felt this was the moment he needed to make a difference. So he stood next to the boy and went to touch his arm, only to realize he was nothing more than air.

  "Fenris?"

  "I think you're just an observer here. Let me try something to at least give you a voice to his song. We need to do it quick, the rage demon's chains are getting stronger."

  Hawke felt his spirit empowered by Fenri's strength, which flowed through him via the bracelet. He leaned in close to the boy's ear: relying on instinct, he began to sing his mother's soothing lullaby. He poured out all his feelings of being loved by his mother and how much she had sacrificed her life to make sure he was safe and raised well.

  The lullaby of a mother's love flowed through Alistair, fighting against the disruptive Song of Abandonment the rage demon was attempting to sow through his memory. Hawke kept singing the song with all his feelings so that it eventually overpowered the rage demon's disruption to make the next words out of the knight's mouth calm Alistair down and give him better meaning.

  "It's because Arl Eamon wants to see you safe that he entrusts you to a safe place. This castle has many dangers that can harm a boy. He's only being the father he knows how to be to a boy he sees as his son." The knight reassured Alistair who was instantly appeased by his words.

  "Arl Eamon sees me as his son?"

  "A son he cares for deeply."

  Alistair no longer felt angry and confused. Rather he accepted it as the decision of a man who wanted to keep him safe.

  "Can I write or come to visit?" He hoped.

  "Of course. He would like that." The knight smiled warmly. "He would tell you himself, but he's doing what he can to make sure that your journey is safe."

  Alistair felt at peace and followed the knight's lead.

  Hawke's vision focused on the Chain of Abandonment that was burning his spirit-hands. He called upon his strength to grip it tight and snap it in two. The severed halves wiggled and roamed with the intention to link to the other chains still wrapped around Alistair's soul core.

  Fenris's threads wrapped around the severed chains to hold them back. Hawke wasted no time in tackling the next chain.

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