The rooftops of Lowtown proved to provide a better hiding place than any dark alley. I had a good few of the city, every corner was in my sight, and any slaver was being watched without him even realizing it. I could hear their frustrated conversations, they had been searching the city nearly all night by now, but none of them ever thought to look up. I glanced over my shoulder, an action that was becoming habit over years of paranoia. No one was coming up the rusted metal latter that had provided my hiding spot.
I crouched down and glanced at Anso again. The dwarf wrung his big hands together once more, his back towards me. The dwarf had been surprisingly cooperative with me, though when I had approached him; his eyes were constantly looking at the sky. The fear of falling up… I shook my head and paced to the other side of the rooftop. A small horde of slavers stood searching the alienage, they were yelling commands to one another, pointing in various directions and sending the men running up into the deserted Lowtown streets. Their cluelessness was almost amusing to watch, and there was something gratifying in being able to watch them look so confused and so frustrated.
A small yelp from Anso pulled my attention away from the slavers and back towards the dwarf. He stood, wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers, and looking up at a small group of people. Three women, a young man, and a dwarf- they must be the distraction I was promised. It was hard to fully make out what they were saying; the woman spoke quietly, so the conversation seemed very one-sided. I only managed to make out the words "lyrium" and "alienage". I looked over my shoulder in the direction of the alienage, and back to the woman. By then, she and her companions were already making their way there.
I looked down at Anso again, and he saw me out of the corner of his bug-eyes, before giving me a quick nod. The distraction was in place, and the plan was in motion. I took another few steps over to look upon the alienage once more. The woman and her companions had run into the slavers camped out in the alienage, and seemed to be taking out every last one of those insufferable Tevinters. I watched the young man for a moment; he swung a giant blade rather carelessly around, knocking down everything in the sword's path, and almost taking the head off of the dwarf. It would have been a cringe worthy accident, and that dwarf should consider himself lucky.
A blast of fire caught my eye, and my head whipped over to the young, dark haired woman who had been speaking with Anso. She spun a long, wooden staff around in her hand, and fired at the incoming slavers, taking most of them out with blasts of mana and ice. A mage. Of course she was a mage. Of all people for Anso to find, it had to be another damn mage. I immediately turned my attention back to the young man, careless with his blade, and the tall, red haired woman fighting not too far from the mage woman. Her form was more graceful, yet she was taking down many slavers with a few whips of her blade. The last woman slashed a pair of twin daggers around as she jumped and spun. I was almost surprised that the small, exposing clothes that she wore had not ripped or burst yet.
When the last slaver fell, the mage brushed her dark bangs out of her face and turned to the house, ushering for the others to follow. The door shut behind her quietly, and the city fell into an eerie sense of quiet and calm. I heard more voices just below me, more slavers, no doubt. I glanced warily over the side of the roof, and down to them. "Looks like whatever happened is done now." One of the hunters said, as he lead another patrol of slave hunters towards the alienage. I wasn't sure of the number of men they had brought to retrieve me, but counting those the small group had killed, and those approaching the alienage now, it had to be at least forty.
"Do you think it was the elf?" A woman asked. The first man shook his head.
"Doubt it. One lanky elf against nearly twenty seasoned hunters? There's simply no way."
"He's eluded us for this long." The woman said.
"What? Are you afraid of him?" The first man mocked. "He is a slave, what harm could he do?" I clenched my fists and watched them approach the carnage in the alienage. I felt content in seeing the looks on their faces when they saw their fallen comrades.
"What? H-How could this have happened?" The man exclaimed, kneeling before the man laying at his feet. "They're all… dead." He stood and looked to the house. "Surround the house, make sure no one leaves this alienage without shackles!" The hunters gathered in a mass around the house, waiting for me, it seems. After a few minutes of intense silence, the door opened, and the mage woman lead her party out, but stopped abruptly when she saw the horde of hunters at the door. She arched an eyebrow, and looked more frustrated than scared. The hunters, on the other hand, just looked confused.
"Wait, that's not the elf!" The woman said, pointing to her.
"Doesn't matter!" Another yelled. "We were told to kill anyone who enters the house!" He drew his blade, as did the others. An amused look crossed the mage's face, and she drew her staff.
"As you wish." She said, accepting the challenge the hunters had offered her. She threw her arm to the side, and the first line of hunters caught fire. Her companions ran to deal with the rest. I could not help but to watch the mage, her brow was furrowed with concentration as she focused herself on taking out every last hunter who approached her. Ice, fire, and mana flew from her hands and staff, hitting its target nearly every time. I shook my head, she was going to hurt someone one of these days, even if she does not realize it.
I heard more footsteps below me, on the other side of the building. I ran over and looked down. The hunter lieutenant lead a small party of only five hunters towards the alienage. I looked over my shoulder at the party's progress. They were already outnumbered as it was, and a mere five men could mean the difference between their lives, and their deaths. I ran to the latter, slid down, and drew my blade.
The first guard had not seen, nor heard my coming, and my blade was through his chest before he knew it. The others turned, hearing his gasp, and narrowed their eyes. I swung my long-blade at the first to approach me, cutting through him quickly. The next deflected my hit, only to be rewarded with my foot against his stomach, and sword through his back while he was doubled over. The next ran at me and swung his sword right for my head. He would have decapitated me, had I not ducked at the last second. I turned quickly, slashing at his leg, and then at his head. The last hunter shot an arrow at me, his aim off, and his arrow hitting the wall behind me. I looked at my sword, and then up to him. The closer I got to him, the better his chances were at hitting me, but his hands were shaking from obvious fear- he couldn't hit me if his arrow was pressed against my forehead. I ran at him, knocking the bow out of his hands, and shoving my blade through his gut. I straightened, but felt cold metal against my throat.
"Not so fast, slave." The lieutenant snarled. "Drop the sword." My eyes flickered to him, and to my bloodied sword. This man obvious had no idea who he was dealing with, and his over-confidence both infuriated and amused me. I let my blade fall, and clatter against the stone, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guard smile menacingly. "Good, this makes it a lot less painful for you."
"But not for you." I said calmly. I could feel the glow building on my markings, the adrenaline and strength pumping into my veins and muscles, and small burning sensation I have grown so accustomed to beginning to build up in my system, and show on my skin. Soon I was alight with the blue glow of lyrium. I clenched my hand into a fist and brought it backwards towards the guard. The side of my fist connected with his chest, just over his heart, and the wet, disturbingly warm feeling spreading up my arm as my hand found its way through.
The lieutenant's eyes went wide with pain and shock; he gasped, and doubled over, holding his hand over his heart, and staring at me, eyes wide with disbelief. I pushed him away, and he stumbled around the building, towards the alienage. Hesitantly, I followed about a foot behind, so I would not be seen, and still have a small window of time to escape, had the mage and her companions failed in bringing down the hunters.
"Captain!" The lieutenant cried. He stumbled again, before falling onto his face. The area was silent for a moment, all sounds of battle had ceased, and there was no exclamation from the hunters. I took my chance and stepped into sight. There was only the captain, the mage, and her friends.
"Your men are dead, and your trap has failed." I said, matter-of-factly, as I stepped down the stone steps into the alienage. I caught the reaction of the mage out of the corner of my eye. She had taken on a protective stance, her body shielding the young man behind her. Her bright eyes were sharp, watching every move I made with no expression except distrust. The captain's jaw dropped.
"Stop right there slave!" He snapped, grabbing my arm. I felt the familiar rush of lyrium, it was proving difficult to control. The anxiety of recent events and fogginess of my own thought made control impossible. The fact that I was also unarmed did little to help the situation. I turned, again thrusting my already bloodied hand through the captain's chest. He let out a shocked, tight breath, and his body relaxed.
"I am not a slave." I snarled. I looked to the small party staring at me wide-eyed. I noticed the wide eyed look on the mage, her staff gripped tightly in her hand. I lowered my own hand, trying to calm myself down before speaking to her. "I…apologize." I said calmly. "When I had asked Anso to provide a distraction for the hunters, I had no idea they would be so numerous." I noticed the mage's grip on her staff relaxed, and she looked from the dead captain to me.
"Those men were after you, I take it?" I asked. I could make out genuine curiosity on her face.
"Correct." I answered. "My name is Fenris. Those men were imperial bounty hunters from the Tevinter Imperium. They were seeking to recover a magister's lost property…namely myself." I said, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. "They had been trying to lure me into the open. Crude as their methods were, I could not face them myself." The numbers had been even greater this time, meaning Denarius was beginning to lose his patience at my not being found. This had been an ongoing situation I was finding myself in for over a year now. All the running and hiding…I was beginning to fear it was driving me mad. The woman nodded, looking me up and down, and I noticed her shoulders slumping as she began to relax.
"My name is Marian…but I prefer Hawke, if you don't mind." She looked to her companions. "This is my brother, Carver, and my friends, Aveline, Varric, and Isabela." I nodded, and took not even a moment to study her. A mage, more than likely and apostate. Short black hair, and bright blue eyes, with a smudge of what appeared to be red war paint across her nose, giving the appearance of a gash. "If those men really were after you, I'm glad we could lend a hand." I took a moment to let words sink in before responding. This was something I had not heard in a long time…her attitude towards her assistance to me was surprising, to say the least.
"I have met few who have sought anything more than personal gain." I looked at the ground, then back to Hawke. I glanced at the door to the abandoned house that held the chest. "If I may ask, what was in the chest? The one in the house?" Hawke followed my gaze, and her eyes met mine again.
"It was empty." She said unsurely. I sighed, feeling my shoulder slump with disappointment.
"I suppose it was too much to hope for. Even so, I had to know." I shook my head, noticing the mage's confused look.
"What did you think was in it?" She asked, blinking.
"I-nothing. I was expecting something else but…I shouldn't have. It was bait, nothing more." Thankfully, she let the subject drop.
"You know, you didn't have to lie to get my help." She pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.
"That remains to be seen." I said, crouching before the captain and beginning to loot through his things. If the hunters had found me in Kirkwall, Denarius probably knew I was here too. Hopefully that bastard magister even came with them. I rummaged through the small pack on the captain's belt, and pulled out a letter, which was from Denarius. I read over it quickly, skimming over the lines I deemed "unimportant". Hawke watched me, one dark eyebrow raised. "Just as I thought." I crumpled the letter in my hand and straightened up. "My former master accompanied them to the city." I said bitterly between clenched teeth. Hawke opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. "I know you have questions, but I must confront him before he flees." I looked from Hawke to her companions. "And I will need your help." Hawke put her hands on her hips.
"I take it you want to do more than just talk." She said a spark of amusing flickering in her eyes. I could feel my face darken.
"Denarius wants to strip the flesh from my bones and has sent so many hunters that I have lost count. And before that, he kept me on a leash like some, Qunari mage." I spat angrily. "So yes, I intend to do more than just talk." Hawke looked to the others, and seemed to ponder this herself before she answered.
"I suppose…if it means killing more slavers." She smirked a little. Just like a mage, looking forward to harming and killing, even if it was slavers. I nodded anyway; I could use all the help she could provide me, and after all, she was the first person who had ever agreed to helping me, instead of just attempting to turn me in with the promise of coin in return. I had to find some gratitude in that, even for a mage.
"I will find some way to repay you, I swear it." I said. "Denarius has a mansion in Hightown, meet me there as soon as you can. We must enter before morning." Hawke nodded, and I turned quickly, leaving the alienage before she had a chance to change her mind…or for more hunters to find us.