A/N: This is a sequel to my previous Dragon Age Origins story, Together or Not At All. I don't think you will need to have read that to enjoy this story, but it would definitely help, especially as I plan to have characters from that story show up later on in this one. This will follow major events of DA2, while skipping over minor side quests, but will also have extra content between missions and original things involving my OC. Will eventually have lemons, but they will be marked for anyone who doesn't want to read them.

For those of you who have read my previous story, this takes place about two years after the end of that story. I'm basing this on a rough timeline of Awakening events taking place over about a year, and then giving Anders some time to get himself possessed and come to Kirkwall. I will likely be messing with DA2's timelines a lot, starting with the fact that they've already been in Kirkwall about two years and haven't gone on the expedition yet. I also don't intend to have two 3-year time jumps, as I just don't find it likely that absolutely nothing interesting happens in all that time - twice. If I do have time jumps, they'll be a lot shorter.

As a side note, I do plan to do some flashbacks to the events of Awakening, I just haven't decided whether to do them as separate one-shots or inserted into chapters in this story. If anyone has an opinion on that, or on certain events from Awakening they'd like to see, let me know.

PLEASE REVIEW - A GIFT FIC WILL BE AWARDED TO THE 50TH REVIEWER!

Disclaimer: Don't own Dragon Age 2 or any of its original characters or dialogue, just my own characters and the rest of the story.

Somewhere We Belong

Chapter 1: A New Home

"We have a message from Cranin, Captain. He asks that you meet him at Starwood Point by noon." Lorcan finished off the message with a salute, standing just inside the door of Mardin's office at the headquarters of the Order.

At last. Mardin stood up, nodding at the tall, wiry man with the hawk-like nose and dark hair that had been his lieutenant ever since his sister had disappeared nearly three years ago. "Then it must finally be time for me to leave."

Mardin crossed to the wall, taking down his longsword and his shield that bore the symbol of the Order, the crossed swords backed by the spreading white wings, strapping both on. He already wore a light chainmail shirt beneath his sky-blue tunic bearing the same symbol, and light bracers and greaves strapped to his arms and legs. He took off the gold armband that marked him as Captain, which also bore the Order of Avallonne's symbol, and moved around his desk, holding it out. "It's yours now, Lorcan."

Lorcan shook his head. "No, Captain, you'd best keep it. I'll have a new one made, like we did when Ayla disappeared." He tapped the silver armband on his left arm, that had been made to replace the one Ayla had been wearing the day she had gone missing.

Mardin hesitated, still holding the armband out towards Lorcan. "You know I'm not coming back." Cranin had been very clear about that when Mardin had begged to be allowed to go; this was to be a one-way trip. He would never return to Fallor, and neither would his sister.

"All the same, you should keep it," Lorcan replied firmly. "Best to have a reminder of where you came from, and who you were, Captain."

Mardin shook his head, unable to stifle a smile as he put the armband back on. "That's another thing. You don't need to call me that anymore; you're the Captain now, not me."

Lorcan shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, you'll always be my Captain, whether you're here or not, ser. So you'd best deal with it until you leave."

Mardin smiled, genuinely touched at his Lieutenant's loyalty as he took one last look around the office. The room was now bare except for the desk; he'd packed up all of his other personal items days ago while he waited for word from Cranin. "Well, if you insist."

"I do, Captain." Lorcan gave him an unrepentant grin when Mardin rolled his eyes at him. "Final orders, ser?"

"You should inform the others after I leave that you'll start the trials for a new Lieutenant in a week. That will give them time to nominate a few candidates. Move your things into the office in the meantime, and get a new armband made. As for the patrol scheduling and everything else, you already know what to do there." Mardin clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "You've been a great Lieutenant, Lorcan. Thank you. I know I'm leaving the Order in good hands."

Lorcan saluted. "I'll do my best, Captain. Now you should go find your sister; Cranin doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"You would think he was a Messenger of the Goddess, or something," Mardin replied wryly. "And I will find her, you can be sure of that."

"I am, Captain," Lorcan said as Mardin walked past him to the door. "Good-bye – and good luck."

Mardin turned in the doorway, snapping his own salute. "Good-bye, Captain." He grinned as the other man laughed. "Until we meet in the World Beyond."

Lorcan nodded formally at him. "Until then."

Mardin left, walking down the stone hallway of the headquarters towards the front entrance. This time of day, most of the warriors were out on patrols or training, so he only passed a few members in the hallway. They snapped to attention as he went by, hands over their hearts, and he nodded at each in turn, but didn't pause on his way to the door. Now that the time had finally come, there was no point in delaying any longer.

He reached Starwood Point only an hour later; it was not far from headquarters, in the middle of Realta Woods. Starwood Point itself was a large, perfectly circular clearing in the center of the woods, and in the exact middle was the Starwood Tree. It shone with the blinding silvery light of the star that it was named for, and as such was nearly impossible to look at directly. It was also blessed with a purifying spiritual magic, so that no demons or monsters could approach it, and indeed, it was uncomfortable for most humans to get close to as well.

Cranin, however, was standing only a few feet away from it when Mardin stepped into the clearing. Being a Messenger of the Goddess and a Unigician, a naturally born shape-shifter with both the ability to shift into a unicorn and blessed with a great deal of magical talent, made him about as pure of heart as it was possible to be. At the moment, he was in human form, though Mardin could still see a bit of his golden horn sticking out of his forehead between the shaggy blonde locks of his hair. As a naturally born shifter, as opposed to a made one like Mardin himself, Cranin could never fully appear as human; the horn would always be present. And, as always when he was in human form, he wore his green robes trimmed with gold with the symbol of a golden fox emblazoned on the front that marked him as the Goddess's chosen Messenger. Mardin wasn't certain Cranin owned any other clothing; certainly he'd never seen him in anything else.

"Cranin." Mardin stopped a few feet away, wincing; he could already feel the uncomfortable stinging from being so close to the tree as he bowed to the Messenger. "Is it time?"

"It is indeed," the Messenger replied, nodding. "It has been discovered at last; the place and time in the world where your sister is that we can send you without causing an imbalance. Where you arrive, you will have a destiny of your own to fulfill; one that will keep that world from slipping further into the darkness that is trying to claim it. You must be aware of what this means; your sister is not likely to be in the place where you arrive. Nor can you simply abandon your destiny there to go looking for her."

"I know," Mardin said, a trifle impatiently. Cranin had gone over this before, many times in the past three years since Ayla had disappeared. After a week of frantic searching with every warrior in the Order backing him, Mardin had gone to the castle and demanded an audience with the Messenger. It was then he'd discovered that his sister had been transported to another world, to fulfill some mysterious destiny there if she so chose. Mardin had demanded to be sent after her, but Cranin had refused, saying it was not even certain yet that Ayla would remain. A few months later, Cranin had sent word that she had accepted her destiny and elected to remain in this other world, forever. Upon hearing this, Mardin had repeated his demand to go, and eventually, after lengthy consultation with the Goddess, Cranin had given in. Apparently, the Goddess had foreseen that Mardin would eventually have a place of his own in this world, one where he would not cause an imbalance as one born to another world. They had only to wait for the opportunity, and then he could go. Many things had been stressed to him in the time they'd spent waiting, and the facts that he would never return and he must make sure to follow his own destiny had been chief among them. His mission to find his sister was to remain secondary to his primary mission, which he would only find out when he got there. "I can do both, I promise you. I will keep my focus on my destiny, and only look for her when I have time."

"See to it that you do so," Cranin said coolly, giving Mardin a piercing stare with his golden eyes. "It is of grave importance that the balance of that world is kept from sliding into darkness. For if it falls completely, so do all the worlds."

Mardin met the Messenger's eyes firmly. "I will do whatever I have to. I always have."

Cranin nodded after a moment. "Then we shall begin."

The Messenger began chanting in the ancient language of the Goddess, loudly and rapidly. Mardin only knew a few words of it himself, not being a mage, so he didn't bother trying to follow Cranin's spell; he merely stood, waiting and watching for something to happen. He didn't know what to expect when the portal to the other worlds finally opened; Cranin had been close-mouthed about that, as he was about so many things.

At first, nothing happened, but as the chant continued, the ground began to shake and the wind began to pick up, more and more, until it was swirling around the inside of the clearing. Then, a golden light began to appear just to the left of Cranin, in front of the tree, growing steadily larger as the wind howled around them. By the time the wind was so strong it was nearly blowing Mardin off his feet while the ground rocked beneath him, the light had become the size and shape of a large door, and Cranin had stopped chanting.

"It is time to go, Mardin Trichlor," Cranin shouted over the roaring of the wind. "The portal will bring you where you need to be. Where you arrive and who you meet after your arrival will be your clues to your destiny. You must not fail."

Before Mardin could even reply, the wind grew so strong that he was blown off his feet. To be more precise, he was essentially picked up by the wind and thrown at the door of light in front of him. Part of him still expected to go straight through and land on his face in front of the tree, or worse yet, hit the tree, but he didn't. Instead, he found himself in a black void, unable to see anything at all, not even his hand in front of his face. He could only sense and feel things around him; he was being tumbled, end over end, pushed and pulled in so many different directions he had no concept of whether he was upside down, right side up or sideways. He could feel a pressure on him as well, as though he was being squeezed, and the pressure grew steadily greater, until he cried out from the force of it, and still it kept pressing down. He started struggling to breathe, and could feel himself fading in and out of consciousness until he blacked out entirely.

When Mardin came to, it was to find himself laying face-down on sandy ground. He pushed himself slowly to his feet, waiting for some kind of soreness, but he felt surprisingly fine, for the most part. He shook out each limb, testing it, but found nothing wrong aside from a mild headache. Well, besides the fact that he was hungry and thirsty, that is.

He looked around him, taking stock of where he'd landed in this new world. He appeared to be on some sort of beach, albeit a very rocky one. He was surrounded by sand, jagged rocks, and equally rocky hilltops all around him. Some bits of greenery could be seen here and there between the rocks, but it was largely all sand. It appeared to be midday in this world, too, although Mardin had no idea if that meant no time had passed since he'd left home or a whole day had passed. At any rate, the sun was blazing warmly down out of a cloudless blue sky, so at least the weather was good. He took an experimental sniff; there were too many smells to process properly, even with his heightened sense of smell, but he could definitely scent the ocean nearby, as well as rocky ground and plants and . . . he wrinkled his nose. Some people were nearby. They didn't smell very good, but Cranin had said the people he met after arriving would be part of his destiny, so he'd best go take a look.

He made his way towards the smell of people, following the sandy trail between the jagged rocks, wiping at the sweat on his forehead as he went; it was surprisingly hot out. Finally, he rounded a bend and came upon a large clearing in the maze of rocks, filled with a dozen rough-looking men, wearing varying degrees of leather or splintmail armor, and armed to the teeth. They had a small campsite set up, and some of them appeared to be counting out money or dividing items, while a couple of others were standing guard, and some were cooking over a small fire. These couldn't be the people he was supposed to find, Mardin thought, frowning. He had a bad feeling about them, and like any shifter, he knew to trust that uncomfortable gut instinct.

"Who are you?" one guard demanded belligerently. "You ain't one of ours. No one else is supposed to know we're here."

"Well – " Mardin began, unsure of what to say, but he was interrupted before he could come up with anything.

"Who cares who he is?" a man by the fire said. "He's not one of ours, and he's armed. Kill him."

"Good to know everyone's so friendly around here," Mardin muttered under his breath as he drew his sword and shifted his shield into place. His first instincts had been right; these men had to be bandits or something of the like, and there were few things in life he liked better than killing bandits.

He met the first guard who'd spoken with a blow in the chest from his shield, sending the man flying across the clearing and crashing into some of the other men as he grinned ferally at the other guard, launching into an attack. Increased strength was one of his shifter advantages while in human form, along with his sense of smell, and it was one he fully enjoyed using in battle. It only took a few swings of his sword before the guard was so overwhelmed that he was easily able to run him through; but by then, the other men had surrounded him.

He frowned, debating trying to shift; he was unsure if it would work here. Cranin had been unclear about that, but if it did work, it would take him at least a good thirty seconds to shift, in which time he would be defenseless. It might be more trouble than it was worth to attempt while he was surrounded, but neither was he certain he could best this many men in straight combat. He had just about decided to try it anyway as he danced about, avoiding blows and slamming men aside with his shield, when he smelled something else on the wind.

He'd barely had time to process that it was other people before a fireball slammed into the back of one of the men to the side of Mardin, lighting the man up as he fell to the ground screaming. This was followed by the appearance of four people coming around the bend; one appeared to a strangely glowing man with a greatsword, another a dwarf with a crossbow, a third a young man with another greatsword, and finally a young woman with a staff, who sent a blast of ice into another man right in front of Mardin, freezing him solid. Mardin grinned, slamming his shield into the frozen man and busting him apart in a shower of ice before swinging at his next opponent. It appeared he wouldn't have to shift after all.

With the help of the four surprisingly effective newcomers, it became a simple matter to defeat his attackers. When the last man had fallen, struck by a crossbow bolt to the back while Mardin ran him through from the front, Mardin turned to face the new arrivals, nodding at them as he lowered his sword and shield. He didn't put them away just yet, however. He had a good feeling about these people, but that didn't mean they would feel the same about him. "I thank you for the help," he said formally. "That would have been a tricky fight alone."

The young, dark-haired man with the greatsword, dressed in a heavy grey tunic with a golden collar that left his arms bare, snorted. "You expect us to believe you could have defeated them all yourself?"

"Well, it wouldn't have been easy, but I think I could have managed," Mardin said easily, ignoring the jab. "Still, this was much simpler, so thank you, again."

The woman strode forward to face him, and Mardin noted with interest how the men fell in behind her. She was their leader, then, and a beautiful one at that, he was pleased to see. She had rich, chocolate-brown hair that fell to her shoulders in waves, startling violet eyes, and lush pink lips in an angular, pixie-like face. She was slender and willowy, yet still had some nice curves outlined by the tight black and red robes she wore. In front, the robes ended just above the knee, allowing for a high pair of leather boots, but in the back, they were longer, flowing out behind her as she walked. She held a golden staff nearly as long as she was tall in one hand, with a wicked looking blade on the top. "You're most welcome," she said as she stopped in front of him, smiling wryly as he pulled his eyes up from the impressive length of her legs to meet her gaze. "Mind telling us what you were doing fighting the Flint company?"

"Oh, were they a mercenary company?" Mardin asked, shrugging. "I had thought they were bandits; but then, some mercenaries are little better than bandits. Anyway, it was a complete accident. I was merely making my way along the path when I ran into them and they decided to try and kill me. I apologize if you wanted to interrogate them," he went on, sheathing his sword and strapping his shield back on, having decided an attack was not imminent. "When I get attacked, I tend to kill first and ask questions later, I'm afraid. Or never."

The woman grinned, her eyes lighting with amusement, and Mardin felt an intense surge of desire that surprised him. Many male shifters had a weakness for pretty women, liking nothing better after a fight than to bed them, and Mardin would be the first to admit he was probably one of the worst. Still, there was something about her that affected him more strongly than he would have expected. Perhaps her enticing scent had something to do with it; it was a mixture of citrusy fruit and vanilla, as near as he could tell, and it was already driving him crazy.

He tried to keep a firm rein on his unruly lust as she said, "I can see that. My name is Brianna Hawke. This is my brother, Carver" - pointing to the young man with black hair – "and our companions, Fenris" - pointing at the man who'd previously been glowing – "and Varric." She finished by pointing to the golden-haired dwarf, whom Mardin noted with surprise was beardless, now that he could see him closer. He did, however, appear to have a great deal of chest hair showcased by his half-open red and gold tunic.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Mardin answered formally, sweeping them a bow. "I am Captain Mardin Trichlor, of the Order of Avallonne, at your service." He winced as soon as the sentence was out; he was so used to introducing himself that way that it had come out automatically. He'd wanted to try to blend in as much as possible, but it seemed that would be unlikely now. At least he'd not slipped entirely and added his shifter name to the introduction.

The dwarf chuckled. "You're not from around here, are ya, Red?"

Mardin frowned slightly at the obvious reference to his flaming hair before shrugging it off. "Is it that obvious?" he asked instead.

"Oh, definitely," Varric said cheerfully. "I know everybody there is to know in Kirkwall, and I'd remember if I heard any stories about you or this Order of yours. Judging by the way you went through those poor saps, I'm sure there must be stories. So where are ya from?"

"I'm from a country called Fallor," Mardin replied hesitantly. Part of him wanted to give them a false name, but he didn't know the names of any countries in this world in order to properly lie about where he was from. Cranin had not known anything about this world, or if he had, he'd never told Mardin. He decided it would be easier to tell the truth as much as he could, in case he slipped up later, and that he would just have to hope this world was large enough that not everyone would know the names of all the countries. The only thing Cranin had told him was that some worlds did not know about the existence of other worlds, and might have difficulty accepting where he was truly from. He was supposed to keep it quiet until he knew for sure whether he could tell them or not.

"Never heard of it," Varric replied briskly. "What about you, Broody?"

A long-suffering sigh came from the elf that the question was apparently directed to; for Mardin could tell that he was indeed an elf, now that the tip of a pointed ear was visible among Fenris's strange white hair. The glowing, Mardin decided, must have come from the odd white tattoos snaking along all the visible parts of the elf's body. The majority of his body was covered in some type of form-fitting, spiked black armor with equally spiky gauntlets. Oddly, he appeared to be going about barefoot rather than wearing any boots. The elf studied Mardin for a long moment before shaking his head. "There is no such country near Seheron, nor any other place I have been."

"It's not anywhere near Ferelden, either," Brianna added, clear curiosity in her tone.

"It's quite a small country, and very far away," Mardin said quickly. "I wouldn't be surprised if none of you have ever heard of it."

"Then what brings you all the way to Kirkwall, and the Wounded Coast?" Carver demanded suspiciously.

"I'm looking for my sister. She went missing almost three years ago." That much was true enough, Mardin thought. He just couldn't tell them that he also had to find some sort of destiny here that he was strongly beginning to suspect these four were a part of before he went looking for her. "I have no idea if she's here, though," he added reluctantly.

Brianna frowned. "Why come all this way if you had no clues to bring you here?"

"Well, coming here in general was sort of an accident, too," he confessed. They would find out soon enough that he'd basically been dumped here with nowhere to stay, no supplies and no money. Cranin had said the less he brought through the portal with him, the easier it would be, so he had nothing but his weapons and what he wore. He would need their help, meaning there was no point in pretending that he'd arrived here on purpose and was prepared. "I actually had no idea where I was until you said it."

"But how did you get here? Were you shipwrecked?" Brianna asked, studying him carefully as she strapped her staff to her back.

"Uh . . . yes, I was." Mardin latched onto this idea with relief. It was the best and, at this point, likely the most plausible explanation for why he was here on a coastline with no idea where he was. "I'm afraid all I have is what I'm wearing. I lost everything else, money and all, and I have nowhere to stay."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." Brianna smiled at him sympathetically, and he thanked the Goddess that no one was asking him any more detailed questions right now that he couldn't answer as she went on, "We can help you."

"How?" Carver demanded in obvious exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air. "We barely have any place to stay ourselves right now, Bree!"

"Well, no," she admitted reluctantly, "but surely Fenris can spare a room in that mansion he's staying in, at least for now. Can't you, Fenris?" She turned to look at the elf, and though Mardin couldn't see the look she was giving him, he could see the slight softening in the elf's stern façade.

"I suppose he could. For now," the elf conceded grudgingly. "As long as you are prepared for the possibility of attack at any moment. The mansion belongs to my former master, and he could come some day to try to reclaim it."

Former master? Though Mardin was curious as to what Fenris meant, he decided not to push it for now, instead saying, "I'm always prepared for an attack, and I appreciate your generosity. If there's anything I can help with in exchange, I'd be more than happy to provide my services." It was about as close as he could get to outright asking if they had some sort of destiny he could help fulfill.

Brianna's face brightened at his words. "Actually, I'm planning an expedition that I could use some help with. Right now, we're taking on various odd jobs to raise the funds for it. That's actually why we were here, tracking down the Flint company." She nodded at the bodies around them. "They killed Starkhaven's royal family, and the last living member wants revenge. There's one more group of them we have to find. But we're also out here hunting down Tal-Vashoth. A lot of the work we're doing involves fighting, and since you seem to be handy in a tight spot, we could really use you. Of course, you'd get a cut of each job, too. And I'll help you look for your sister, when we have time. Somebody around Kirkwall might know something."

Mardin stared at her, surprised that she'd even offer to help find Ayla. It was generosity that he hadn't expected; payment and a place to stay were more than enough in exchange for a sword hand. "You don't have to do that," he told her. "I'd be happy for the help, of course, but it's more than a good enough deal as it is."

She shook her head, looking determined. "You don't know anyone around here; you need the help. If my sister was still - that is –" she cleared her throat, blinking, and Mardin didn't miss the sudden brightness of her eyes. "Family is important," she finished at last, and Mardin darted a quick glance at Carver, who was looking away, his jaw working. Clearly there was a story there, but he wouldn't pry. Not yet.

"It is," he agreed softly. "Thank you for the offer. Anyway, you said you were looking for . . . Tal-Vashoth? What are they?"

"They're outlaws of the Qunari," Brianna explained, and Mardin tried to look as though this made sense to him as she went on, "A dwarf named Javaris hired us to get rid of them hoping it would please the Arishok, and he would get the recipe for the Qunari's explosives because of it. They're supposed to be somewhere along this coast. It seems to be a favourite place for mercenaries, outlaws, and bandits to have picnics." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, why not? There's all the fresh air, an ocean breeze, probably some unsuspecting travellers to prey on – what more could they want?" Mardin answered, grinning, and she shook her head at him, though she looked amused. "Anyway, I'd be happy to start by helping with these Tal-Vashoth. Lead the way."

She nodded. "All right. Let's take whatever we can use here," Brianna said, turning to the other men, "and we'll head further along the beach and see if we can find any sign of them."

The others nodded, and begin to efficiently check the bodies over for money or any useable items. Mardin took the opportunity to unabashedly help himself to a water skin and some of the food the mercenaries had been about to prepare for themselves while he waited for the others to finish. Once they were done, the party began to head back the way Mardin had come, following the winding path along the rocky coast, climbing higher into the hills.

As they went, Mardin fell back next to Varric and questioned the dwarf as to whether he'd seen or heard anything about Ayla, figuring that this would be his best place to start. He described Ayla at length, only to have the dwarf shake his head. "Sorry, Red, I haven't heard anything around Kirkwall about her either," he said. "I don't think she's here, unless she's not the type to stand out much."

"Oh, believe me, if she was here, you'd know it," Mardin replied. If there was one thing Ayla was definitely good at, it was being right in the middle of trouble. "I suppose I'll just have to keep asking around."

"Well," Varric said thoughtfully, "you could try asking Blondie. He just got to Kirkwall a couple of months ago from Ferelden, and he used to be a Grey Warden. They travel around a lot; he might have heard something about your sister."

"He means Anders, a mage that helps us sometimes back in Kirkwall," Brianna supplied over her shoulder, smirking at the dwarf as she went on, "Varric has difficulty using people's actual names."

"Bah, don't listen to Hawke." Varric waved his hand at Brianna. "She's just jealous that I haven't given her a nickname."

"Because they're so original?" Mardin said dryly, winking at Brianna when she laughed.

"What, you don't like Red?" the dwarf asked. "What about Captain?"

Before Mardin could reply, a shout came from the path up ahead, and Brianna held up her hand to halt everyone. An incredibly large, horned man came down the hill, warning them about the Tal-Vashoth up ahead, and Mardin could only guess that this man had to be one of the Qunari that Brianna had referred to.

These Qunari had to be a type of race that Mardin had never seen before, he realized, one that did not exist in Fallor. There were elves and dwarves to be had back home, but he'd never seen anything like the man that was speaking to Brianna right now. Aside from the two large horns running back along his head, his white hair and strangely grey skin, the man was a good deal larger than any human. Mardin himself was one of the tallest and largest men in the Order, as well as taller than any of his current companions, though he only had a few inches on Carver and Fenris, and yet he was at least a head shorter than this Qunari, not to mention smaller overall. He wasn't used to being so much smaller than someone, and honestly found it a trifle intimidating.

After delivering his warning about the numerous Tal-Vashoth lying in wait up ahead, the Qunari walked past them and left, declining to help with the attack, and Brianna directed all of them to continue up the path. True to the other Qunari's word, they were attacked by three more of the monstrous race further along the path. Mardin met one of the Qunari head on while Carver and Fenris matched up with the other two, leaving Brianna and Varric to attack from a distance. Not for the first time, Mardin found himself incredibly grateful for his increased strength as he fought; it was a big help in matching the outlaw blow for blow. Fortunately, the Qunari warrior was rather slow, as well, and in the end, Mardin took him down without suffering any serious injuries himself, as did the others in the party.

The rest of the fight against the Tal-Vashoth went much the same; they made their way further inland along the twisting path, coming across the outlaws in bands of two or three at a time, and with the combined efforts of the party, they defeated them without too much difficulty. It was the cave they came across at the end that proved the most difficult, as it held nearly a dozen of the Qunari outlaws. Mardin was tempted to shift, but not knowing how his new companions would react, since shifting wasn't always well received even back home where it was common, he restrained the urge. He made sure to use his strength to full advantage, however; at one point, he succeeded in sending one of the Qunari flying backwards into two others.

Still, had it not been for Brianna's rather impressive magic, ranging from fireballs and ice spells to paralysis spells and healing spells, Mardin was quite certain they would have lost. As it was, the fight was a near thing, as he or one of the others barely avoided crushing blows from the Qunari warriors. He did pick up a few injuries, as did Fenris and Carver, but between Brianna's healing spells and the healing potions the others carried, everyone's wounds were closed over by the end of the fight.

Once they were certain the cave was clear, Brianna declared that they were done for the day and the party headed back to Kirkwall. By the time they reached the sprawling, multi-level city, it was nearly dark, and Brianna directed them to the mansion Fenris was staying in first, in the area of Kirkwall known as Hightown. Once they reached the mansion, a rather large building of grey stone tucked away in a corner of Hightown, accessed by a heavy wooden door, Fenris entered promptly, telling Mardin he could come in when he was ready and pick whichever room he liked.

"We'll need to go see the Arishok tomorrow morning to tell him about the Tal-Vashoth," Brianna told Mardin as Carver and Varric headed off towards the area known as Lowtown, where the Hawke siblings and the dwarf lived, shouting back at her to catch up as they went, "but after that, I can take you to meet Anders and see if he's heard anything about your sister. And then, if you don't mind, I'd like you to come along with us to Sundermount. We need to look for a camp of Dalish elves so I can deliver something to them, and the rest of those mercenaries are supposed to be somewhere on that mountain, so I'm sure we could use your help."

Mardin nodded. "Of course. As I said earlier, I'm happy to help with whatever you need. And if there are any services I can provide for you personally, just let me know." He grinned at her, stepping just a little bit closer to her and that delightful smell of hers.

She raised her eyebrows at him, a smile twitching at the corner of her lips. "Oh? Is there something else you're good at besides fighting?"

"Warming your bed?" he suggested, restraining the urge to touch her until she actually said yes. "I can promise you I'm good at that."

She flushed bright red at his words, but recovered quickly, saying dryly, "I'm sure you are, but I'm afraid I have to turn down your generous offer. I barely know you, after all."

Mardin was just on the verge of asking if that mattered when he saw by the look in her eyes that it obviously did, at least to her. He frowned. This, too, must be something that was different from back home. In Fallor, it didn't generally matter how well you knew someone; so long as you found them attractive and they weren't mated to someone else, you were free to ask them to share your bed whenever you pleased, and they were free to accept or turn you down. He had heard, however, that some of the other countries back home were not quite so liberal with their mating practices, and it appeared this new world was not, either. That was unfortunate; he wasn't used to going without a good post-battle romp, and he so very much wanted to romp with this pretty mage.

"My apologies," he said easily, trying to cover up his disappointment. He'd just have to try again later, he decided; it didn't look like she was completely against the idea. "I didn't mean any offense, I assure you. I suppose we're just a bit more forward with such things back home. If you change your mind later, though, let me know."

She shook her head, smiling wryly at him. "I'll keep that in mind. And don't worry about it; if I was offended, you'd know it. Anyway, I'll be back early in the morning to get you and Fenris, so be ready, okay?"

He nodded. "I'll be waiting when you get here. Good night – and thanks again."

"You're welcome," she replied, before turning to leave, calling a good night to him over her shoulder.

He stayed where he was for a long moment, watching the lovely sway of her hips as she walked away. Getting her in his bed was apparently going to be a challenge, but since when had he ever backed down from one of those? Especially when the outcome promised to be so rewarding. At least his new destiny looked to be interesting, he mused before turning and heading into his temporary new home.