The silver orb swelled and wiggled about like it was trying to take another shape.

  Hawke wondered if this is what Fenris had meant earlier. Fenris highlighted the next chain to break, he gripped it and slipped into another one of Alistair's memories. As he was doing so he felt a weak sensation of angst try to take hold of his energies.

  The Rage Demon was now aware of their presence and gathered its energy around three chains to defend against Hawke's efforts.

  They turned and twisted about each other to form a tight braid and fortified control over the Soul Orb.

  Hawke was full of determination. A cry of angst was felt from a distance. His desire to save Alistair equaled the Rage Demon's want to retain control.

  Did my resolve strike a nerve? Hawke's spirit became more steadfast as he focused on the memory.

  Chains of Distrust, Suppression and Unworthiness

  Alistair was now a young man in early adulthood. He was practicing combat with other Templar trainees who were excited about the upcoming tourney to honor the Grey Wardens. He felt confident he would do well, having spent plenty of free hours on his own to practice his swordplay with his greatsword. It helped him cope with his boredom for Chantry lessons.

  "I can prove myself at the tourney," he said to himself as he sheathed his sword to prepare for the tourney the next day.

  When that day came, Alistair couldn't have felt more empowered to prove his worth as more than being the ward of an Arl. It was a day he showed his strength to stand on his own merit.

  But then his fight with Ser Eryhn came and he was utterly defeated by a skilled woman. He had given it his all and it still wasn't enough.

  "Am I not cut out for this? I was told I can be the best templar if I give my everything. But my best couldn't defeat a woman." Seeds of feeling unworthy and helpless on how to overcome his failure stirred within Alistair.

  As he rested on a chantry step with his head hung low, he began to doubt that efforts paid off.

  "Is it Alistair I see?" Alistair heard Ser Kalvin's say his name and rose to greet him.

  The man was a perfect image of a Templar in uniform and had the skills to match. He was the example Alistair took inspiration from.

  "Ser Kalvin." He respectfully greeted the man.

  Hawke stood behind the Templar to witness the scene unfolding. His eyes narrowed when he saw the orange hue from Ser Kalvin's aura.

  "Why so down?"

  Alistair sighed. "I lost a bout to Ser Eryhn. I'm sure I saw the Revered Mother giving me dagger looks at my loss."

  Ser Kalvin nodded, masking a sinister grin. "No one is born to be great, Alistair. Some of us just need to survive."

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  Alistair frowned. He was told he was made for a great destiny. Yet, so far everything he did was at the level of sub par. Was he truly unworthy to live up to people's expectations?

  A scratchy and awful tune rebounded around Hawke's senses, trying to shake him off Alistair's chain and control the flow of unworthiness being sowed. Now was the time to counter, but with the rage demon's tune disrupting even his own focus he was struggling to think.

  "Fenris! What do I do?"

  The song grew louder and became like an unbearable itch.

  "What do I do?" Alistair asked the same question to Ser Kalvin, which gave Hawke a profound moment of truth.

  Without further thinking he opened his mouth and began to sing the bard's song, I Am the One, empowering the tune with his sense of certainty for his own actions that aided the Mage Rebellion. Feeling his desires and determination to protect his sister from Templar insanity, the man he loved and what he held as important to himself that belonged to no one. As he injected more of his feelings about being true to himself and what he wanted to believe in, rather than being told he had to believe, the rage demon's scratchy tune began to fade and become background noise.

  Hawke saw the templar's orangey aura change to a calm blue-white and sighed with relief when the next words from the man's mouth were more inspiring.

  The conversation renewed Alistair's will to fight but for what he felt mattered more than honoring expectations. He left the area but Hawke was still rooted to the Chantry courtyard.

  "Fenris, why aren't I moving?"

  "The rage demon's chains are getting larger and stronger. I'm struggling to hold the broken ones back. You have to fight his hold and hurry, we're running out of time."

  Hawke bellowed with frustration when he couldn't break away from the scene. So he stopped and decided not to think or try to feel.

  He closed his eyes and focused on the noises he heard, sifting through sounds until he heard a faint, consistent hum. Locking on to that hum he was able to pick up Alistair's Soul Song and follow its trail. It pushed him into another of Alistair's memories.

  In this memory Duncan was explaining the Grey Wardens to Alistair and the weight of carrying a heavy destiny.

  "We make the sacrifices no one else will make and pay a heavy price. But it is also a reminder of what is most important to us. Being a Grey Warden is a choice we made for ourselves." Duncan wisely informed Alistair who stared at him with respect and appreciation of the man's insight.

  For the first time, Alistair believed he could make a choice for himself and fight for a cause that he really believed in.

  When he saw the tell tale orangy aura around Duncan, Hawke had to steady his emotions with thoughts that calmed him lest his spirit become fodder for the rage demon.

  The following words out of Duncan's mouth were an attempt to sow seeds of distrust and suppression for Alistair's birthright and hopes of being greater than other people's expectations for him. They were strong and powerful words from someone Alistair deeply admired. Hawke had to act fast, so he went with pure instinct.

  He felt a song of ages well within him, which he sang to counter the demon's dark and disruptive tune. He fed all his memories of being the Champion of Kirkwall into his song and injected it with his reality of being more than a title. A man is everything and yet he is nothing, but it's the space between the swings of identity is what truly defines the man. He fed his experiences of being empowered by his own actions, defining his own values and determining his own meaning of respect.

  His Song of Ages was so powerful it silenced the rage demon's song. So much so that Alistair's mind held thoughts about what he felt he should trust and be weighed down by. He made the decision himself to carry the burden of a cause he genuinely cared about.

  The atmosphere wavered in and out of focus. Hawke felt his spirit being attacked with waves of energy.

  He hastily slipped into a meditative focus with Fenris's loving face as his guide. But the rage demon had caught up with him and wasn't going to let him go. He attacked Hawke's spirit form with waves of scratchy, nauseating and irate melodies.

  Hawke kept holding on to Fenris's image and the feeling of love they shared together. Love was a far more powerful force than rage, so eventually the wave attacks weakened and he was able to move on.