Hawke had never been a particularly musical person. It wasn't that she disliked it; just that she never really had an interest in it. As a child, the choice between singing and sword fighting had seemed an obvious one to her. Plus, she had never been particularly good at it. Time was better spent on something she actually had a talent for.
The only sound in the low-ceilinged room was that of quick, ragged breathing. The dark smoky atmosphere was cloying, stifling. Nothing moved.
Then a leg fell off one of the dead spiders and Hawke, Bethany, Fenris, and Sebastian returned to themselves, jumping into action.
Hawke sniffed, spit, and wiped a mix of sweat and blood from her forehead. Then, shoving her broadsword into a crack in the ground, she perched on the cooling abdomen on one of the arachnids.
"Why is it always spiders?" Bethany observed, tapping one of the creatures with her staff "I don't understand where they keep coming from!"
"It's better not to question it." Hawke rubbed her neck. "Do they have anything good on them?"
This last was directed towards Fenris, who was searching the bodies. He shrugged, tossing a few bloody coins at Hawke.
She inspected them, exclaiming "Ahh! But here's the real question; why do these magical spiders have money on them?"
"It must come for the same place they do." Bethany raised her eyebrows.
"Economy doesn't work like that, silly."
Hawke was about to launch into a lecture, but was stopped just in time by Fenris shooing her off her corpse-come-bench.
When he had extracted three silvers from the monster and Bethany had preformed a few quick healing spells on any minor injuries received during the battle, the party was ready to move on.
Through the door they went, then back through the door they went, because it was the wrong door.
Fifteen minutes and twice as many spiders later, the party reached the ultimate room. It was huge, bathed in pink light, and almost totally empty.
When Sebastian had given the okay on traps, they all entered, standing in a line before the small, round dais.
"It's very quiet," Hawke raised her eyebrows "Where's the demon?"
As soon as she said this, the dais began to twist, shaping itself into something that looked vaguely like a human woman. The lady sauntered forward, stopping uncomfortably close to Hawke.
"That was a joke, you can go now." The Champion corrected herself, scowling and crossing her arms defensively.
The demon laughed musically. "Oh, you are hilarious. But I am no joke. I come to you with an offer."
"We don't accept," Said Hawke. Behind her, her friends nodded. "Go back to whatever it was you were doing or we'll have to kill you."
"But you haven't even heard it yet! You see, if you just do one teensy thing for me, I can make everyth-"
Without even waiting for the demon to finish, Hawke had drawn a knife and stabbed the creature where a human heart might have been. It screamed like a child's flute, high and piercing, writhing and spitting purple blood. Then, just as Hawke was drawing her sword for a final blow, the demon abruptly imploded.
"My knife!" Hawke roared, seemingly unperturbed by the unusual event "It took my knife!" She scowled "That was a favorite one."
"Aren't you a bit more worried about where it went?" Sebastian asked "I'm not an expert on demons, but I think there's normally a corpse with these kinds."
"It's probably just some stupid demon thing to get rid of the attacker's weapon, or whatever." mumbled Hawke dejectedly. "Alright, everyone look for the thing."
She mounted the steps where the demon/dais had stood and picked up something small. "She said a thin golden ring right?" The rest of the party nodded, and Hawke held up a piece of jewelry that fit the description "This looks like it, let's go."
They did, but not before a shiver had passed through their collective spines.
***
"That was a lot more trouble than it was worth." Hawke commented, shoving her hands into her pockets. They had returned the ring to the woman who had requested they find it, been paid a pittance, and shooed away. No explanation, not even a thank you.
"It always is." Fenris scowled.
"At least those spiders had a lot of coin on them." Bethany commented.
"The only bright spot in my otherwise dark life." Hawke replied. When this comment was not met by grins, Hawke continued, rather loudly; "Oh, it looks like we're here!" For, indeed, they had reached the Hawke Estate. Hawke bent in a low bow "Here we leave you, my friends. May your lives be-"
"Goodbye Hawkes." Fenris did not break stride, nor did he seem to notice the face the champion made at his back. Sebastian stopped for a moment to smile and wish them goodnight individually, then hurried on to catch up with the elf.
Yawning, Hawke plodded inside. She was five steps up the stairs before she realized Bethany had not followed- her sister was still outside, staring in the direction Sebastian and Fenris had gone with a slightly dreamy expression. When Hawke called Bethany, the girl jumped and looked around guiltily.
Hawke decided not to read too far into it, chalking the oddness up to a long day.
After dinner and a much needed bath, the Hawke sisters stood on the landing, saying their goodnights. Just as they were about to depart, Bethany turned around.
"Do you hear that, sister?"
Hawke listened. Underneath the normal city noises, there was something else. "Music? Someone must be playing in the area."
"I've never heard it before. They're very good."
"Hm. Goodnight, Bethany."
"Goodnight, Sister."
They went off to bed, each humming a song they had never heard before.