"Hold still, my pet. This will be very painful," Danarius smirks, looking down his nose at me. I wish he would just get this over with. The leather restraints on my ankles and wrists are cutting off my blood flow and making me uncomfortable. Added to that, I hate when he uses that nickname. My name is _-_-_-_.

He suddenly grips my hair in his hand and yanks, hard, pulling me out of my thoughts. He makes eye contact and begins to stroke my hair.

"Don't wander off. There's no point trying to escape," Danarius looks at his apprentice and nods. "It's time to begin."

I close my eyes. I don't want to see this coming. He already carved the designs into my skin with his magic, making the grooves deep so that it could hold the lyrium. That was torture enough.

…

…

…

Nothing's happe—

My eyes fly open and a scream tears out of my throat. The pain—it's so much. I can't think. I can feel the lyrium start at my chin and burn its way down my neck. It's going too slow—this is never going to end! I can't even scream anymore—it feels like the liquid magic is searing my vocal cords. It trails down and fills the even deeper cavity in my chest.

The tears streaming down my face fill my ears and Danarius's laughing begins to sound far away. I choke, and growl in pain.

"You sound just like the little wolf you are," He continues laughing at my pain. He's enjoying this so much.

I feel the power just barely stir. I manage to phase my hand through the leather cuff, but that's all I can do. I tear at my throat, hoping to somehow get the lyrium out of me. I want it gone. I never asked for this! The pain, the powers, I don't want any of it!

I feel my fingernails break skin and continue scratching. Eventually I feel my flesh squishing around my fingers, and blood seeps down my wrist. Then I feel muscle flexing as I swallow. I ignore the pain—I have to get it out. I need to be free, I need to stop the magic from infecting me. I—I must—

"Now, now, Fenris… Don't be foolish. You will never escape. You will never be free, Fenris…. Fenris…Fenris…"

"—Fenris! Fenris, wake up!"

I fling myself upwards and phase my hand so I can tear out Danarius's throat—he'll never get away with this!

"Fenris, don't!" I stop an inch away from Hawke's throat. Her face looks worried and frightened.

My eyes widen as I realize what I almost just did.

"I… Hawke, I'm…" I open and close my mouth, trying to get enough breath in to speak. My throat hurts. I must've been clawing at it in my sleep.

Hawke's hair sheds water when she shakes her head. She must've just bathed.

"Don't speak, it's okay. You were just dreaming…" She frowns and reaches forward. "You were scratching at your neck in your sleep again…"

"Hawke, I'm so sorry," I pull her closer and bury my face in her neck. I try to hold back the tears but they spill over, making the tear marks already on my face shine more.

"…It was Danarius and the markings again, wasn't it?" I hear her say over my head. I nod, not wanting to speak. I can feel her hand petting my hair and relax a little. The motion always soothes me.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shake my head. I never want to. The memory is still so fresh that my markings burn.

"It's okay now, Fenris. You're safe. You're free."

And as always, I wish I could believe her.