Fenris had been relieved when Anso had come to him, to tell him a group of four mercenaries had taken his 'job'. Unknowing, they would provide the distraction- but there had been more hunters than he had anticipated. He set out immediately, determined to get there in time. His hirelings would likely be dead. If he took too long, the hunters would simply retrieve their bait and set the trap anew.
Cutting down their backup had been simple enough. The lieutenant was the last to die. He staggered around the bend into the alienage, trailing blood as he collapsed.
Fenris cautiously turned the corner, and stopped in complete surprise upon seeing all of the forty five hunters lying on the cold stone, blood soaking through their Tevinter uniforms. The hunter captain was on the stairs ahead of him, facing three combatants. A tall orange-haired human woman in a guard's uniform stood at the ready, brandishing a new-looking mace still shining with polish where it wasn't caked with blood, which contrasted sharply with what looked to be a scratched and chipped templar shield. Behind her stood a dwarf in expensive-looking clothes wielding a huge crossbow. At his side was a shorter woman in pale blue robes that matched her eyes, shoulder-length straight black hair who held what looked to be a stick. All three were covered in various splashes of blood and gore.
Seeing the three shift their gaze, the captain turned to his left, putting his back inches from the wall and looked right at him. Fenris lowered his greatsword and spoke, "You men are dead, and your trap has failed. I suggest you run back to your master while you can."
The hunter captain grinned maliciously, "You're going nowhere, slave!"
The shadows on the wall opposite the remaining hunter seemed to move, as a feminine voice asked, "So you are slavers?" A slight figure that had been cleverly concealed in the dark stepped toward the hunter captain. Her face was hidden by her hood, body concealed by a long cloak. Only her voice distinguished her as a woman, her accent Fereldan. She moved to stand a mere foot away from the man who had hunted him. Fenris raised his blade, unsure what was happening now.
The Tevinter man looked at her speculatively, "Yes. I do not carry the coin, but if you help me recapture the slave you will be paid far more than he can offer you." Fenris felt anger and despair, he shifted his footing and prepared to charge down the stairs. He would not go without fighting for his freedom.
Voice charged with anger, she declared "I would never sell another's freedom!" He barely saw her move, but very clearly saw the hunt captain's head sail off, and hit the tree in the centre of the alienage, splattering across its roots. The headless corpse crumpled down the stairs spurting blood. She calmly cleaned blood off what looked to be a sai and sheathed it, barely disturbing her cloak. He was still with shock at this turn of events as the other three put their weapons away and approached the steps. "Well said, Hawke." said the red-haired guardswoman approvingly.
The other three seemed to defer to the woman on the stairs, who had turned to face him. Fenris realized with some embarrassment he was still baring his weapon at his benefactors. He sheathed it and addressed the group,
"I thank you, I have met none in my travels who have sought anything more than personal gain."
The cloaked woman chuckled with good humour. "Well, that I can fix!"
She pushed back her hood, and Fenris found himself staring. She was unquestionably one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, creamy skin with sky blue eyes and jet black curls disappearing under the collar of her cape. She pulled a dark leather glove off her hand and held it out to him. He shook it, still staring as she introduced herself,
"I'm Hawke. Keaira Hawke. This is Guardswoman Aveline Vallen, dwarven scoundrel Varric Tethras, and my sister Bethany Hawke." He tore his eyes away from her to look speculatively at the younger girl. A strong resemblance, even ignoring the unusual combination of blue eyes and black hair, but the younger was cute, pretty even, but the woman who had just saved him was stunning.
He drove these distracting thoughts from his mind and answered, "My name is Fenris. I apologize. When I asked Anso to provide a distraction, I had no idea they'd be so...numerous."
Her sapphire eyes glanced at each of her companions before returning to him. "It appears we're unscathed."
He looked at the corpses strewn about the square, "Impressive. These men were Imperial bounty hunters seeking to reclaim a magister's lost property, namely myself. They were trying to lure me into the open. Crude as their methods were, I could not face them alone." He glanced meaningfully at the headless corpse at the bottom of the stairs before meeting her eyes again, "Thankfully, Anso chose wisely."
Her lips formed a half-smile, "If they were trying to recapture you, than I am happy I helped."
"It would seem the deception was unnecessary. If so, I am sorry. I have become too accustomed to hiding." He paused, his thoughts returning to what he had originally come here for. "If I may ask, what was in the chest? The one they kept in the house."
Her eyes narrowed in confusion, "It was empty."
He sighed with disappointment, "I suppose it was too much to hope for. Even so, I had to know."
She raised one eyebrow and joked, "All this for an empty chest?"
Fenris shook his head, "No, there's more." He strode down the stairs to the headless hunter captain, and pulled a key on a chain from his pocket. On it was the symbol Danarius marked all his property with. A similar one had been branded on the base of his neck. His former master had acquired property here, which he would never do just to accommodate some hunters. "It's as I thought. My former master accompanied them to the city. I know you have questions, but I must confront him before he flees." He stood looked up at her again, "I will need your help."
"Fighting more slavers?" she smiled that little half-smile again, "I think we can help you."
Aveline sighed, "I'd help you burn out a rat's nest of slavers but I'm due for my patrol on the Docks."
Varric looked up at her sharply, "These were your off-duty hours?"
Aveline glanced down at him, "Sure. I usually spend my off-duty hours killing bandits or routing gangs with Hawke."
Varric slowly shook his head "The trend of you scaring the piss out of me continues." Bethany giggled as Aveline rolled her eyes and left.
Hawke laughed then turned to them, "Coming?" Both nodded.
Fenris felt good about their odds of success, and about having others who wouldn't turn on him for coin at his side. Especially good about a particular one...He stopped his thoughts there. She was a human and gorgeous. She wasn't likely to look at him. Not that someone in his precarious position should be thinking about romance. He cleared his mind. He needed to focus on the fight ahead. It would be a challenge.
