Thank you FenZev for your kindness and betaing!

Chapter 1

An Unexpected Intruder

Even before Fenris entered his mansion, a horrid burnt smell began filling his nostrils. He slowly stepped into the foyer, quietly drew his greatsword, and immediately fell into a combat stance. The elf grimaced when he saw the main hall was suffused with black thin smoke; this might be a trap to lure him into an obscure space while his attackers, possibly slavers, waited in ambush.

For all of his long years of escape, he'd never seen such trick from slavers before - after all they were not widely known for their brainpower, crude as their methods were. Fenris tightened his grip on the hilt and followed the direction where smoke and smell were strongest, which led him to the kitchen. This manoeuvre was getting weirder and weirder; perhaps his consecutive escapes might have driven these particular slavers half crazy? The door to the kitchen was wide open, so Fenris carefully hid behind the doorframe and peered through a layer of thick smoke, preparing himself for a fight. However, what laid before his eyes left him absolutely flabbergasted. He sheathed his weapon and calmed himself, now knowing that the situation was not as deadly as he suspected.

Or he might be entirely wrong, since "luck" would never be his middle name.

"What are you doing here, Ena?"

His question startled the intruder. The redheaded girl turned around and gave him a bright smile, but she didn't bother to stop whatever she was doing. "Oh, hi Fenris! I'm making a firebomb. Found a recipe for this very wicked potion a few days ago. It's nearly done now though, won't be long."

Fenris walked into the kitchen, and taking a closer look, he could see that Ena's face was not only covered with smoke stains, but some of her short hair had been singed. "That explains the smoke and smell, but what are you doing here, in my house?"

Ena looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Well, my house is made of wood and you know that wood is highly flammable material, right? I can't set my house on fire now, can I?"

Fenris let out a soft grunt and crossed his arms. "So, you just let yourself leisurely into my house instead?"

Ena snorted. "Don't be absurd, of course not. Jonah let me in," the girl said, finishing the answer with her most cheeky grin.

"Jonah?" If Fenris' brows were not raised and nearly varnish to his hairline before, now they surely were.

"That corpse in your hall. Not at all a chatty chap, that one."

Her explanation caused him a heavy sigh and a rub at his temple. Great, now she named the bloody corpse as well. Today was proving to be absolutely wearisome. Hawke had asked him for his help with a job on the Wounded Coast earlier that morning, and now this. It wouldn't have been so bad if that scruffy mage didn't tag along. Varric's inane probing was just mildly insufferable, but that abomination...

Fenris closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he saw Ena raising a round vial containing a bubbling fiery red thick liquid. There was a narrow line of a burn on her forearm, but she seemed oblivious to her injury. Grinning at him, Ena gave one of the vials a gentle shake. She let out a snigger when she caught an alarming look on Fenris' face. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe, as long as you don't drop it on a hard surface."

"How very reassuring." Fenris snorted, but his eyebrows were still pulled tight, and his gaze never left the offending object in Ena's hand. She began to fill other vials with the explosive liquid, a thin vapour floating from the uncorked ones. The girl gave him a jolt when she suddenly thrusted one of the filled vials in front of his face.

"Here, you can have one, or two, or three, or as many as you like. I made quite a lot," Ena said with a laugh, as if they were discussing having tea and a biscuit.

"I am a warrior. I don't need your nefarious rogue tricks." He grumbled and took a tiny step away from the vial.

Ena didn't notice his hostile stance, or maybe this petite human girl was making fun of him? "Come on! If you use a firebomb, then you have something to outdo Anders when he throws his fireball magic. It'll be fun!" As she spoke, she was waving more vials with the horrid liquid sloshing dangerously in her hand.

"I do not need to compete with that abomination," Fenris growled menacingly, and thankfully that was enough warning for her to give up and put the vial down.

"Alright, alright," she conceded. "No competing with mages, I get it. No need to get your knickers in a twist, Fenris." She wrinkled her nose at him and shrugged his offence off with ease.

When all the innocent-looking glass vials were filled and transformed into deadly firebombs, Ena started packing them away and began cleaning up her mess. The tabletop was spotted with burns here and there, not that Fenris minded since he barely used this part of the mansion. Even though Ena didn't ask for his help, he found himself helping her with the clean up. They chatted away merrily while they were working - well, it was Ena who did most of the talking, while Fenris randomly offered a short response or a grunt.

When they were finished, the warrior and the rogue wrapped up their chat as Fenris saw her to the door. He was already planning on retreating to his bedroom, having a long bath, and opening a bottle or two of wine, when suddenly Ena drew up short just before she left the mansion and turned to face him, her expression serious.

"Oh, one more thing! Can I grow Rashvine Nettle in your garden too? I want to make a dispel poison, and can't find it at any bloody herbalist stalls here. Massive thanks!" With that, she waved her good bye and stepped out into bustling Hightown before he could formulate any response.

"Fentis bei umo canavarum!"

Note: A pronunciation of Ena is "ey + nit" (the feminine of the name Aidan meaning "little fire.")

The title of the story is a lyric from Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys.