My name is Lillianna Hawk and I'm possessed by a demon.
No, I wasn't always this way; Varric, Aveline, Fenris and I had just finished a quest for a contact when we were ambushed by yet another band of slavers whom were sent to retrieve Fenris.
"Don't they ever give up?" I sighed as I pulled out my two-handed sword, sizing up the group that had waylaid us as we made our way up the Wounded coast towards the city.
"Who sent you?" Fenris shouted, the Lyrium beginning to glow, as he pulled out his own two-handed sword and pointed it at the slaver that had yelled at us to catch our attention from above. "Was it Danarius? Speak!"
"Does it really matter?" The leader called in a slightly accented tone. He obviously hailed from Antiva, but whether he belonged to a group of assassins or was just a mercenary, I was unable to tell for sure.
"It matters greatly." Fenris growled as he lowered his sword and charged with a roar, the emotion of his conviction towards the defeat of another group of slavers motivating Varric and Aveline to unsheathe their weapons, and then follow myself into a shouting charge in behind him in support.
No slaver survived. Figured. Weaklings…
"One of these days, Danarius will actually send a challenge." I commented as I pulled my sword out of the chest of one of the rogues that had attacked us with a disturbing, sucking sound.
"One of these days, Danarius will have to come for me himself; instead of sending weak nobody's to retrieve me." Fenris spat as he sheathed his sword and looked around at the bodies that lay about us.
'One day, I will be able to keep you safe from them without you having to be tortured every time they come near by the memories.' I told myself sadly, shaking my head. "Let's go. The client will be waiting for us to arrive in Lowtown to hear of our results." I said aloud, moving to walk down the trail towards the plains between the coast and the city. I could feel Fenris' eyes on my back, almost in question. As if he could hear what I had said in my head. It almost made me blush. I haven't blushed since Lothering, too focused on keeping my mother and sister safe from the Templars.
Thinking about Fenris and his plighted history, along with everything he and I had been through, was constantly on my mind since that day. Three years ago, he joined our group because I helped him and offered my continued assistance against the slavers following him, noting that it was similar to helping fend Templars off from Bethany. I am continuously surprised that every time I think about him, even to this day, Fenris' image front and center, my heart flutters like a butterfly's wings against a vicious storm.
"HAWK!" I heard someone shout in the background, shaking me from the thoughts floating through my head, my hand automatically moving to my sword as I turned to see who had shouted my name. I looked at Varric, Aveline, and Fenris, noting that they hadn't moved from the first battle and that they were all looking in the same direction. Following their line of vision, I noticed that a lone mage towered over our party holding what looked like a jewelry box of some kind. I rushed back the short distance towards my team to stand in front of them so as to take the initial attack from whatever power this mage had.
"You have defeated every band of slavers that have been thrown at you," The mage said as he fondled the box in his hands lovingly, his fingers fluttering over the small handles that were tied together with a red swath of cloth.
"Danarius?" I turned my head to whisper to Fenris who was to my left.
"No." Fenris said, "Most likely an apprentice whom wants favor from him or another Magister."
"What do you want, mage?" I said, eyeing him as he stood above us, unmoving.
"The thing everyone who has come after you has sought. There is a great reward for the return of the pet, as you know. Is that why you defend him so, Messere Hawk? Are you intending to return him to Tevinter yourself?"
"Never! Fenris is here of his own free will. He is my friend, so I will defend him against all who try to take him against his will. Even an abomination, such as yourself." Again, I could feel Fenris' eyes on me as I continued looking at the Mage.
The mage spat at me. "Abomination! You know nothing of the art. Would you like to learn, Hawke? I can teach you in ways you could never imagine."
"Hawke, do not trust him. The way he is carrying that box is making me uneasy." Fenris muttered, moving closer to me.
"I agree with Fenris. There is something off about him." Aveline stated as she, too, moved closer to me.
"I remember hearing stories of things in boxes that could come out and grab you when you least expected it. Best be weary, Hawke." Varric said seriously as he moved back so as to get a better shot with Bianka.
"You should take heed from your friends, Hawke. Especially that slave. He knows more than most what Magister's can bind demons to." Fenris cursed and began moving towards the mage on the cliff above as if to attack him.
"Fenris, no!" I said as I turned towards him, placing both my hands on his heaving chest plate, feeling my skin warm. 'Now is not the time!' I chastised myself as I looked up at his olive colored eyes. "Do not provoke him. He is obviously unstable. Mages like him cannot be trusted."
"Unstable, am I? Perhaps I am. You have a sister who is a mage. Do you think she is unstable as well?"
"At times, but what sibling doesn't think that of their own? I keep her in check." I said as I turned to face him, my arms wide enough to keep Fenris back. "You will not come near Bethany."
"Enough of this banter, Hawke. He is a Tevinter mage, and must be destroyed." Fenris said as he pushed past me, his now glowing arm moving towards his sword as he moved to run up the hill to defeat the mage.
"Come no closer, slave. I will open the box and unleash the demon from with in." The mage drawled as he eyed me closely, as if unconcerned by the enraged elf walking towards him.
"I am afraid of no demon." Fenris growled. Feelings of unease washed through me when I saw the box with in the man's arms begin to glow red and shake.
"Fenris, wait! You must stop!" I screamed as I ran to intercept Fenris by grabbing his arm and jerking him back, I moved to stand in front of him. I made the right choice of action. When I reached for Fenris to fling him behind me, the mage suddenly opened his box with a flourish and a bright light erupted from the box. With my left hand already touching Fenris' stomach, I had to use my right hand to block the light from my eyes at the same time Fenris raised both of his hands to do the same.
The next thing I knew, it felt as if all of my insides were being ripped asunder, my bones melted and evaporated. I had been skewered with swords and had magic flung at me countless times over the years I had been either fighting for the good King Cailan, as we made our way from Lothering to Kirkwall, or even since arriving, making a name for myself. But this was like no other pain I had ever felt. Amidst the screaming, roaring through my ears, I could hear a deep whisper in an unknown language that gave me shivers. When the voice stopped, the screaming and the pain continued. I must have managed to retain some conscious though, because I realized that the blood-curdling screams were ripping themselves from my own throat as wave after wave of torture washed through me.
Then as soon as it had started, it was done.
I collapsed to the ground, short of breath, in pain, and struggling to stay awake. I could feel Fenris carefully pick my head up and hold me close to his chest after taking my helmet off. Touching our foreheads intimately, he reached for my right hand to hold it close to his heart. As I look up at the mage above us, I could see his lips moving as if in slow motion as he smiled smugly at me before an arrow penetrated his forehead with a sickening thud, causing him to drop the box with a crash and the red ribbon fluttered down towards us to land at our feet. I changed my line of vision from the fallen mage to look up at Fenris as he bent over me to inspect my wounded hand that he had held to his chest, the sound of hurried steps coming towards us as Aveline and Varric joined us. I was shocked to see his eyes brimming with tears below the shield of his soft, snow white hair.
"You are far too manly for tears." I said thickly, my face graced by a weak smile as I tried to make light of the situation.
"Not when it comes to you, Hawke. You are the exception to everything. Are you alright?" Fenris said, his voice cracking with emotion one rarely heard, and even more rarely saw.
"Never better." I smiled again as my eyes rolled back in my head. The last thing I saw before falling into unconscious, painless bliss was not Fenris as he stroked the hair from my forehead. It was what the mage said before Varric sent an arrow accurately into his cranium.
"Your suffering only begins…"