The Champion and the Dalish

Chapter One

Welcome to Kirkwall

Kirkwall has certainly have been an interesting experience to Hawke.

One day he was just an apostate that was hiding away from the templars in their small village with his sister, his brother joins the army to "make a man" out of himself, and then suddenly the Blight comes knocking on his door and then off they go, to the city of Kirkwall.

If all honesty, he partly wished they choose another location, maybe the Anderfels, Antiva or sod, even Orlais would have been a better option. No, instead of them, his mother was certain going to a city where the templar practically rule the bloody city was a much more welcoming idea as opposed to staying in a small village where they'd blend in easily!

So no sooner did they arrive, the Maker's sense of humour truly shined upon him where he learned his uncle not only LOST the damn estate, but then he ended up with his brother to work for mecenraries for a bloody year. He was grateful for the day when he and Carver could leave that life behind, until the realized now they were easy prey for the templars without status or even a proper job!

He never forgot that look his "loving" brother gave him that day…

So, they spent days to weeks looking for jobs that could help them build up the gold for the estate, but unfortunately, being lovable Ferelden boys they were, Free Marchers weren't very welcoming folks in this city.

Still, at least they have a goal now to grab some booty.

After a failed attempt to get into Bartrand's expedition and nearly loosing what little coin they had, they met the younger brother of said dwarf, Varric Tethras.

Of course the fact he not only said he'd take them on board, but even offered them positions of being partners, sort've screamed danger to the mage, in comparison to other options however, what choice did they have?

With that said and done, the Hawke brothers began a long and difficult task of collecting coin. That was, until he remembered a promise that should be kicked out of the way as soon as possible and decided to keep his promise.

So there he was, along with his younger brother Carver and Varric, heading to the small camp that was occupied by the ever evasive Dalish elves.

He wore his usual battle mage armour, a long silver robe with chain-mail within it, a blue sash around his waist while metal covered his leather pants, leather boots with metal tips. His arms were covered in silver metal, lighter than usual steel, his father's staff strapped to his back. His sky blue eyes were full of life, his short black stubble recently trimmed and his unkempt hair blew in the wind.

'So this promise you made, remind me why it's involving the Dalish?', the dwarf asked, walking by the elder Hawke. 'Not sure if I am honest, she just told us give the amulet to their Keeper Marethari and no more', Hawke replied with a shrug.

'You never asked why?', Varric asked, a smirk forming on his face. 'Well who am I to question a mage who can turn into a big Darkspawn burning dragon?', Hawke replied with a toothy grin. The dwarf laughed at that and shook his head with a grin. 'I think it's safe to say anything you do will be anything but boring Hawke'.

He heard Carver groan silently and saw his brother sped up ahead, apparently wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. Hawke shook his head at his brother impatience, if the Dalish see a rushing at them, then Hawke may end up carrying a punctured Carver back home.

The camp was small, plenty of elves walking around and going on their business, but two guards that stood in front of the entrance quickly turned their gaze to steel at the sight of the three. 'Hold Shem, your kind aren't welcomed here', the guard said. Hawke raised his hands with a smile. 'I am well aware humans aren't your favourite people and all, but I'm here to deliver an amulet to Marethari', he replied, hoping to evade having a few arrows in his body.

At the mention of the Keeper, the other elf beside the guard leaned into his ear and whispered. He looked back at her and Hawke in shock, before muttering something about an elf delivering the amulet. They gained entrance to the camp, with a promise of any misbehaving and a guarantee of arrows in their faces.

The trio entered the camp, and after being directed, they found and spoke with the Keeper. Turns out, the delivering was only part of the deal between Hawke and the Dragon Mage as the Keeper had asked him to perform a ritual that must be done by her First and requires them to travel to the top of Sundermount.

Despite that, Hawke agreed once she explained her First would perform the rite for him, they just needed to ensure she lives long enough to reach the top of said mountain. However, that was only part of her request.

'When this is over, I want you to take her with you', she said, her voice was laced with regret. 'To Kirkwall? Are you sure that's a good idea?', he asked, being a mage is one thing in that city, but an ELVEN mage? You may as well wear a sign around your neck that says " I AM A MAGE!", it'd make little difference.

'Not at all. But she has made her choice, I can do no more than abide by her decision', she said. She directed the trio to the upper path to the mountain, where her First should be waiting for her there.

Nodding, Hawke led his group up to the mountain. 'Dalish elves don't usually leave their clans to go cities like Kirkwall, wonder what this one did to get kicked out', Varric added. 'She said she's made her choice, guess they may be at odds or she wanted to leave all together', Hawke reminded, though the dwarf's words lingered.

Upon reaching the corner, he saw an elf crouched down, a bright greenish white light shined in front of her, twinkling as she tilted her head at the spikes of light. Hawke felt strange magic from it, not like the usual ones his father used to teach him and Bethany back in the day, maybe it was elven magic?

However, before he could get closer and see whatever it was, the elf turned her head slightly and saw them from the corner of her eyes. As she stood up, the spell vanished with the light, the buzzing sound that echoed in his head vanished with it.

'Oh, you must be the one the Keeper spoke about, Ane'thra', she said, giving them a kind smile as she approached them. Then before he could get a word out, her face turned into nervous and then words seemingly flowed out of her like a river. 'I'm so sorry, I didn't ask your name, unless its rude to ask a human's name', she stuttered.

"Maker's breath we're not going to eat her", Hawke thought to himself, trying his best not to chuckle at the poor woman. 'I'm Merrill, which you probably already knew, I think, or maybe-

Hawke placed his hand on her lips, silencing her rambles. 'First: Nice you meet you too Merrill. Second: It's not rude to ask a human's name. Third and finally: My name is Hawke, the other human is my little brother Carver, and the dwarf is named Varric', he said, easing the elf's worries. She looked at his hand holding her flood gate of a mouth. 'I'll remove my hand, but when I do, take a breath and relax, we're not going to do anything we'll regret to you', he soothed.

Once he removed his armoured hand, the elf took a breath and shyly nodded at him and his group. 'Sorry', she said weakly, scratching her cheek with a tiny hue of pink forming on her cheeks. Now that she wasn't rambling and he wasn't too busy trying to calm her down, Hawke took note of…well her. She was a petite woman, smaller then most elven women Hawke saw back in Lothering, her clothes were mixed with chain-mail, he guessed that was her armour.

The next thing he took note of her was her face. Bony would be a good description of the elf all together, yet the tattoos were strangely attractive, he remembered his father had told him the Dalish had these tattoos to symbolize their gods, he think hers was Mythal, but he'll have to ask later if that was the case.

Her hair was braided in two rows with three in each row, black as a raven and short, but what held his glance the most was, her eyes. Elves usually have the most breath taking eyes then humans and dwarves, but hers were as if made of emeralds, beautiful and rare.

'D-do I have something on my face?', she said, suddenly self-conscious of herself. 'No, sorry I uh, just, you know, I was wondering about the tattoos', he said, quickly recovering from his admi-uh observation of said elf's tattoos. 'Oh, umm they're called Blood Writing, they symbolize our adulthood', she explained, her nervous look vanished when he brought up the tattoos.

'Can we go now?', Carver asked, his patience at an end of his brother's awe-stuck look on the elf, not that he wasn't admiring her. 'Right, right, ritual and all that, umm can you explain on the way?', he asked, as Merrill led the trio up the mountain.

At the gate

After an uneventful trek up the hill and ignoring the asshole Dalish hunter, the four reached the barrier that blocked intruders.

Hawke felt a powerful essence from the barrier, old magic that screamed in his mind. He felt it the moment he exited the cave, which means either the Dalish put it up to protect their people's burial ground or against looters.

'We're here', Merrill said, but her tone spoke of apprehension, fear and anxiety mixed in one. She looked down and up again, slowly approaching the barrier, drawing a small knife. Suddenly Hawke tensed up, he could feel his body stiffen when he saw the knife and the way she held her hand out, she couldn't be…

She ran the knife down her palm and within seconds, a dark red mist like aura surrounded her and shot towards the barrier, evaporating it in seconds. She sighed deeply as she turned to the others, sheathing her knife in her small sheath he just noticed tied to her hip. 'W-What was that?', Carver asked, shocked and unless Hawke was mistaken, scared of the spell she displayed.

Merrill looked away, obviously she wasn't fond of the spell either but…

Suddenly the answer came to him.

This was way the Keeper is sending her away, she was a blood mage, ones who use dark magic that requires blood, be from the user or the victim or sod even allies. Hawke remembered his father's lectures of that magic, he made the two Hawke children swear on their lives to NEVER use such vile magics no matter the cost.

It was a lesson Hawke took to heart that day, he saw the disapproval in his father's eyes when he asked about it once and the look alone made him regret opening his mouth to such a foolish question.

'A very interesting spell', he said, hoping his brother's lack of knowledge would come to play here. Merrill looked at him in shock, he guessed she was thinking he'd come out and say it was straight up blood magic, the one thing his father made them swore they'd never resort to. Now wasn't the time to get into a magical debate though, if he wanted to he would've done so earlier, but right now the ritual has to be done soon so they can get to Kirkwall.

'Y-Yes, a simple spell, come', she said hastily, walking to the burial ground with Carver in tow, his young brother wasn't as subtle as he believed as Hawke saw his brother's eyes lingering on the rear of the elf. 'Blood magic', Varric said, his voice heavy with light worry. 'You could tell?', Hawke asked, surprised the dwarf among them knew.

'Doesn't take a mage to know what that type of spell it is Hawke', he said as if it was common knowledge, which in truth it was. 'Well for her sake, I hope it remains uncommon', he said, following them into the graveyard of elves.

Back in Kirkwall

Cryptic messages, five sovereigns for the trip and an Dalish blood mage, what more could you ask for?

Plenty, but that's not the point. The point was no sooner did they return, Merrill gathered her things and bid her clan farewell and planned to head to the city alone. Well that WAS the plan, until Hawke led her to the city and even provided escort and protection against unwanted company, bandits, muggers and annoying chantry preachers.

They arrived at the alienage, not exactly a good place but for Merrill, all she cared about was a roof over her head and no more. Glad to know she wasn't a spoiled brat. That didn't help much though when reality kicked in the moment she saw the terrible state the place was, how little respect the elves had and just how poor their lives were. She was aghast by the sight, not that Hawke could blame her, Maker even the elves back in Lothering had the high life compared to the ones here.

Still, she thanked them, and even offered her services to him, lending a hand or two if he ever needed her. Now Hawke was iffy with the blood mage thing already, but after spending time with the elf, who knows maybe he'll get used to it or sod, maybe she'll stop using it.

Merrill's Home

Not exactly the prettiest house to own in Lowtown, but a home was a home for Merrill. According to the dwarf named Varric, he'd found this place in one of his old contacts and handed it to her, no charge! He was a kind man she noted, small and friendly like a puppy.

The house itself wasn't as bad as he said to his credit, it was big enough for her, more than big enough in fact, she had so much space. Furniture was pre-owned by the previous owners she guessed but after some cleaning and dusting it'd be good as new. The bed though, was her biggest issue.

It was a straw bed that irritated her, it reeked of vinegar and other unpleasant smells, plus it was as wet as a dish rag. She was sleeping on the chair or table tonight. She sat down on the said chair, tired from all the cleaning and dusting she was doing for…all day. She just realized how dark it was from the windows, which bothered her because now it was too late to do any work on her…project.

Then, her belly grumbled and roared for nourishment. She got up, only to fall back on her rear in dismay when she forgot to buy some food for dinner. Speaking of buying, the elf reached in her pouch and checked what coin she had left. Much to her disappointment but obvious disappointment, she one had a hundred silvers left for herself.

It would be enough for the week, but that meant for the week, beyond that. Just as she lamented, the door knocked. She tensed up when she heard it, Hawke and Varric's warnings echoed in her ears of muggers and robbers. She gulped nervously, looking at her staff in case she needed to blast a rock to someone's face until…

'Merrill? Are you awake?', a familiar voice called out. Her fears vanished the moment the Ferelden accent tickled her ears, a happy smile formed on her lips. She approached the door and opened it, revealing Hawke, wearing his armour and carried his staff on his back. What she took note of was the small basket in his right hand.

'Oh you're awake, wonderful', he said kindly, showing his white teeth as he grinned at her. She smiled sweetly at him as she stood aside to allow him in. Then it hit her that she wasn't expecting him to come to her door at this hour of the night and found the place a mess. 'Ooh Creators, I didn't, umm, I'll find a relatively clean spot for you!', she said looking around franticly for ANYWEHRE that was at least clean. Until Hawke sat down at the table on the wooden stool, not bothered by the mess as he placed his basket on the table.

'Relax Merrill. I came to visit you, not inspect the dust bunnies', he said kindly, he found her nervousness adorable when she got like that. Merrill visibly relaxed when he assured her worries. She sat down on her chair, mentally wishing she offered him this much more appropriate chair for her guest. 'C-Can I get you anything I have…water', she said, once more her stomach was neglected and she forgot to get some nourishments. 'Don't worry bout me, but I was more concerned with you though since you didn't really have anything brought with you', he said, eyeing her growling stomach. She turned dark red when her stomach craved food within, wishing she could tell it to shut up.

Hawke however chuckled at her. 'Seems like your stomach agrees with me', he said, a playful smirk danced on his lips. She flushed at this, and was debating whether or not to punish her gut for speaking against her. 'Which is why, I brought something for you', he said, revealing the contents of the basket. Bread, cheese, chicken and several other portions of food were within, sealed with a special bag he bought from Hightown that apparently keeps meat and other products nice and fresh for several days.

Her eyes widened at the food, never seeing so much in one place. Hawke smiled at her reaction, before handing her a fork. 'Dig in', he chimed kindly.

Later

Merrill can safely say one good thing about humans, they have good food. She cleaned up the mess on her table with Hawke removing the left overs and placing the large portions in her small pantry in the back room. She subtly rubbed her small stomach, never being so filled up in her life and feeling positively full an tired at the same time.

'Well that was a nice meal wasn't it?', Hawke said, sitting back down with her as she finished wiping the crumbs off her table with a smile. 'Thank you for the dinner, I'll make it up to you', she said kindly. Hawke waved her offer off. 'Merrill it was no trouble, plus I did come here to talk with about the expedition', he said.

She looked at him tilting her head slightly to the left. 'The Deep Roads yes?', she asked. 'That's right, I was hoping you'd help me with it. We need to gather up the coin in order to get on this deal, so we're gonna be doing a few jobs here and there and I was hoping you'd partake in it'. Merrill could feel her shoulders tense. She remembers what Darkspawn do and what tales of the Deep Roads created, and even after the Blight it would still be infested with legions of those monsters.

'A-A-Are you sure? They're not exactly safe', she said worryingly. 'Had a feeling they weren't. But Varric assures me Bartrand isn't grasping at straws, he says it's a guarantee. We go down, fend off a few nasty spawns here and there and ta da, richer than any noble in this city', he said with a massive grin. He faced Darkspawn before anyways, so an entire place full of said beasties wouldn't bother him since he'd be with Varric and a few others too.

Merrill twiddled her thumbs. She has no doubt about Hawke and if she was honest he made it sound like a regular walk in the park. Plus she felt safe around him, in addition to Varric and his brother Carver, maybe living in this run down city wouldn't BE so bad.

'If you're sure…I'll help', she quipped. A large thankful smile appeared on his face as he stood up and hugged the tiny elf. 'Thanks, I've seen your talents, they'll make things a whole lot easier for us!', he said, grateful for the support, plus another mage around him made him feel a little normal. Merrill's cheeks went red from the strength of his arms, they felt warm around her petite body and somehow, safer then earlier.

'Oh and just to be sure, you're getting a share of the treasure we find down there, fifty fifty!', he said. She was getting paid as well? This human was the real deal!