"Remind me why we're going to an abandoned mansion in the middle of the woods again?" Anders asked petulantly as the group trudged through branches and bracken. There were nine of them in the party; Diana Hawke, the auburn-haired archer led the group with Fenris close at her side. Her little sister Bethany, now a Circle mage brought up the rear, with Isabela strolling just ahead of her. Merrill seemed completely at ease, and could have gone further ahead, but chose to stay back with the pirate. Sebastian and Aveline managed to keep up the pace despite their heavy armor, striding just ahead of Anders and Varric.
"Because it belongs to my mother's family; ergo, to me. I want to see if there's anything worth keeping; or better yet, worth selling." Diana Hawke said.
"But why are we going?" Anders persisted.
"Because you all offered to, remember? Quit whining, we're almost there." Diana didn't look at the mage; who pouted. Varric nudged Anders with his elbow.
"Come on, Blondie, we might as well make a party out of this. Isabela and I brought the booze." He nodded to the Rivani woman a couple of feet behind them. She waved back, a large bottle of rum in her hand, nearly smacking the elf girl walking beside her in the head.
"I just have a bad feeling about this." Anders said uneasily.
"We're going somewhere with Hawke. Of course you have a bad feeling about this." Varric slapped his shoulder. "Don't think so much."
"I suppose you're right." They continued walking, as they had been since they left civilization hours ago. It was now mid afternoon, and the sun was already going down, casting odd shadows through the trees. Fenris stopped short as he saw one of the shadows move.
"What was that?" He said in a low voice.
"What was what?" Diana asked looking at him. He was busy scanning the forest, and it was Merrill who made a small noise and pointed over Diana's shoulder.
"I think he means me." A dry, crackling voice came from behind the rogue. Diana slowly turned around. A very old woman with hair styled into dragon horns stood behind her, a stern look on her face.
"Flemeth." Diana said shortly. "I didn't expect to see you."
"Few ever do, child. Now, what was I here for? Oh right. A question. What are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same of you."
"And you will get no answer."
"Neither will you, then."
"Insolence. I like it." Flemeth chuckled. "A warning,then. The road ahead is treacherous. Be careful"
"Of course we will." Diana snorted. "We're in the forest. There's bound to be bandits, and bears and things. We can handle it."
"I'm sure you can. I'm sure you'll encounter nothing more than a few stray animals and petty thieves along the way and a house in dire need of cleaning. But if you meet more than that, don't say I didn't warn you." Diana looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at her companions. When she turned back to say something to the witch, she was gone.
"Well, that was creepy." Anders said.
"I wonder what Asha'bellanar was doing out here?" Merrill wondered aloud. "Do you suppose she has a house out here as well? I wonder if she's had problems with wolves and things?"
"Merrill, the woman can turn into a dragon. I seriously doubt she has problems with animals." Diana said.
"Diana?" Bethany asked querulously.
"Yes, sister?"
"How did she know about the house?"
They reached the house sometime after dusk. The door creaked loudly as Diana pushed it open. It was dark inside, the windows were completely boarded up. Anders, Merril and Bethany lit illumination spells and revealed a dirty, dust-and-cobweb covered room. Pieces of the ceiling were either on the floor, or threatening to fall down. The first room was completely devoid of furniture.
"Charming place you have here." Isabela said sarcastically.
"Quiet, you. It's not that bad." Diana said, though she looked around uneasily.
"Yeah, Fenris's mansion is worse off." Aveline said. The white-haired elf looked offended.
"And my brother's old place in Hightown." Varric added. "So what do we do now?"
"Well, it's getting late, and this is a rather large place. I say let's clear out a space, and we'll bunker down for the night. We can look for stuff in the morning." Diana moved toward the fireplace and blew off a dusty log. She brought out her fire starting kit, and tried unsuccessfully to light it. Bethany sighed and flicked something at the fireplace, setting it ablaze. Diana looked up at her with a sheepish grin. Meanwhile Anders had found a broom from somewhere and was sweeping away the dust and cobwebs, while Fenris and Aveline picked up fallen pieces of ceiling. The rest of them rolled out their bed rolls around the fire place. With the cleaning up finished, they set a large pot of stew on the fire to heat and Isabela and Varric passed around the drinks.
"So who wants to listen to a story?" Varric said after the whiskey had been passed around a few times. There were a few groans, but Merrill clapped her hands excitedly. The dwarf only smiled and started talking.
"This one happens to be true; passed down to me from another who had come into these same woods. No shit, there I was, in the Hanged Man, just minding my own business some years back when some human comes running into the bar like the Archdemon itself was chasing him. He grabs my coat and says 'Please, you gotta help me!' 'Friend,' I say; 'what's your problem?' I call the bartender over and get the man a shot. He downs it faster than a fish drinks water, and then he tells me. There is a dwelling in the woods that nobody has been in for many years. A group of migrants stumble upon it on their way to Kirkwall. They decided to stay the night, but soon they start hearing things. Footsteps, like someone is upstairs, or the slamming of doors. This guy that I'm talking to says he heard voices that don't belong to them. One of them decides to go investigate; he goes up the stairs to search for the voices. He doesn't return. Another one goes up the stairs. She doesn't return. And so it goes, one by one, until finally only this guy I'm talking to is left. He goes up the stairs, and what should he see, but all of his friends, dead. In pieces. There's arms and legs, and heads and blood and he can't tell which is which. Then he see it; it looks like an elf, only kind of invisible-like. It says 'You have trespassed over an ancient Dalish burial ground. You must pay!' It's eyes turn red, and it reveals fangs and claws sharper than any sword. It's teeth drip with green goo. Now this guy, he turns and runs. And he doesn't stop running until he gets to me. 'Please,' he swears 'this thing has been chasing me for days. You gotta hide me.' So I do the proper thing, and I pay for a bed for him, have a few more drinks, and get a good night's sleep. I wake up the next morning, and check on the guy. He's not moving, so I walk in closer. And I just about jumped out of my skin with what I saw; there he was, pure white – his skin, his hair, and his eyes. They were wide open, and he looked scareder than I've ever seen anyone look, and he was dead. There wasn't a mark on his body, but he was dead, and bloodless to boot. In the end; the elf-ghost got him. So beware abandoned houses; you never know what kind of evil lurks there."
"Did that really happen?" Merrill asked. The elf was clinging in fear to Isabela, who put a protective arm around the slight figure.
"I told you it was a true story." Varric said sagely.
"You're so full of shit." Fenris snorted. "Dalish ghosts. Is that really the best you can come up with?" Varric only smiled in response.
The bottles emptied quickly, even with a few of them not partaking of any alcohol, and soon the party had retired to their bedrolls and fell asleep to the crackle of the dying fire.
Isabela didn't know what time it was when she woke; she only knew that it was dark, and there was a rhythmic thudding going on upstairs. It was too dark to really see anything; she wondered if Diana and Fenris had snuck off to have some fun. And they didn't invite her, how very sad. To be on the safe side, she decided to grab one of her daggers. She was nonplussed to discover that none of the were within reaching distance. Perhaps they were still in one of her bags; although she almost always had one on her. Finding them would be too much effort, so she crept quietly out of her bedroll and headed up the stairs to investigate. It was nearly pitch-black, with only a bit of moonshine to light the way. Isabela moved slowly, her eyes adjusting to the dark. She reached the top of the stairs to see long hallway with many doors on either side. There was a small bit of light coming out from the bottom of one of the doors, and as Isabela got closer, she realized the thudding was coming from the room. Slowly, very slowly, she pushed the door open. Her eyes widened in fright, and her mouth opened to scream.
"Hey, has anyone seen Isabela?" Diana asked the next morning, once everyone was awake. The morning light streamed through the windows where Anders was busy taking down boards. Aveline was crouched over the pot, reheating some stew for breakfast.
"That whore? No." Aveline said without turning around.
"She's probably just getting a head start on treasure hunting." Varric said.
"We're all supposed to go together." Diana harrumphed. "I don't want her stealing everything."
"She won't; there's no way she can lift a couch by herself." Varric reassured her.
"That's very comforting."
"She's going to miss breakfast. Soup's hot!" Aveline called.
"Oh goody. Stew." Bethany grumbled. "And I thought Circle food was bad."
Once they finished their leftovers, Diana assigned everyone to teams.
"Okay, we'll split up into three groups; and don't forget, we have to keep an eye out for Isabela. I get to punish her when we find her."
"Careful, Hawke, she might like that."
"Not the punishment I had in mind Anders." Diana shot a glare at the mage. "Group one gets the basement; I don't think there's much down there, so that's going to Sebastian and Merrill. Main floor will be Varric, Aveline and Anders, and I'll go up to the second floor with Fenris and Bethany. Any problems?"
"Yeah, just one. I can't find my bow." Sebastian said.
"Huh, that's weird. I was just going to say I couldn't find my sword." Aveline said.
"My staff is gone." Bethany added. Varric rummaged frantically through his pack.
"Bianca's missing!" The dwarf cried.
"ISABELA!" They shouted all at once.
"Must have been playing a joke." Fenris scoffed.
"Some joke." grumbled Aveline.
"She's touched Bianca. That's it... she's doubly dead when we find her." Rage suffused the dwarf's face.
"Come on guys, we've got a job to do, and a pirate to find." Diana said. The three groups went their separate ways, each mage leading the way. Despite their lack of staffs, they all managed to conjure a light to explore by, though it was nowhere near as powerful as it could have been without their focus.
The stairs to the basement were few, and old and rickety. They creaked with every step the elf and Chantry brother took. Merrill was uncharacteristically silent on the way down. The floor of the basement was made of loose dirt. Merrill brought down her ball of light. There were no tracks, and not much of anything else either. There was a glint of something in the corner. Merrill and Sebastian went to examine it, but were stopped dead by a loud scream from upstairs. Without thinking, they turned tail and headed back up the stairs. The unholy noise continued. They followed the sound up to the second floor and down the hall. They were the last two up – everyone was already up there; dumbstruck while Bethany screamed and screamed.
There was a hook in the ceiling with a heavy rope attached to it. The other end of the rope held a body, a familiar figure to everyone in the party.
"No..." Merrill whispered. They had found Isabela. She dangled from the rope, her dusky skin turning grey in death, her eyes wide open and terrified, even as they glazed over in death. Her mouth was wide open. Bethany's screaming continued. It was Fenris who reacted first. He strode over to the mage girl, and slapped her across the face. She stopped screaming and started to shake uncontrollably. Diana seemed to wake as if from a horribly nightmare, and grimly, methodically, went to cut down Isabela's body. Anders moved to her side automatically to help bring the body down. They laid Isabela on the ground, and Diana knelt beside her head. She closed the unseeing eyes, and kissed the grey cheek.
"Sleep well, my friend." Diana stood up. "Come on, I think there are some sheets or something downstairs. Let's get them and come back to wrap her up." She and Fenris and Anders ushered everyone out of the room.
"So, she just... killed herself?" Bethany asked, still shaking.
"That's what it looks like." Fenris said quietly.
"But why? Why would she do something like that?"
"I don't know." Nobody noticed that Sebastian had stayed behind. He clasped his hands together and bowed his head.
"Draw your last breath my friends.." He started the familiar Canticle of Trials over her dead body.
There was another earpiercing scream from above as Diana and Fenris went back up to get Isabela. This time it was Diana screaming. Everyone came running. Next to Isabela's body was Sebastian. His throat was slit, and red blood gushed out of the wound, pooling around him. His blue eyes were paling with the loss of blood, but he was choking, still breathing, still alive for the moment.
"Diana.." He said horsely, her name barely came out. Diana rushed to his side.
"What is it?"
"Revenant..." he whispered. All of the light went out of his eyes. He closed them slowly, shuddered, and laid still. Fenris knelt beside female rogue, one tattooed-covered hand on her back.
"What did he say?" He asked gently.
"He said revenant." She said, rubbing away tears with her arm.
"That can't be right." Anders said, concerned.
"So did Isabela not kill herself then? Or did Sebastian kill himself as well?" Merrill asked, confused.
"I don't know." Diana shook her head. "But we should get out of here."
"Agreed." Aveline said. The remainin seven people ran towards the front door. It was locked.
"Oh shit. Oh shit. Ohshitohshitohshit." Varric said, chest heaving up and down as he pounded on the door. "What the fuck?"
"Fuck, I knew this was a bad idea." Anders said.
"Could this really be the work of a revenant? I thought revenant's only came out when you broke their phylacteries?" Merrill said.
"And they don't lock doors, and they don't steal your weapons, and they don't make your friends kill themselves." Diana said, leaning against the door.
"Our weapons!" Varric exclaimed. "Whatever it is still has Bianca?"
"How in Andraste's flaming panties are we going to get it back? We don't have any weapons!"
"We still have mages." Fenris pointed out. "And my fist."
"But we're only half as effective without our focus." Merrill said.
"It's still better than us." Aveline retorted. "Diana, Varric and I don't have anything.."
"Stay calm everyone. There's got to be a way out of here. There's got to be something we can use in lieu of weapons." Diana commanded. All eyes scanned the room. There wasn't much; only the pot they used to cook stew in and their bedrolls and packs. "Okay. Just... keep calm. We'll figure something out." Aveline grabbed the empty pot, holding it in front of her like a shield. She led the way into the next room, hoping to find a way out. One room led to another – anything that could prove to be an exit was locked tight and surronded by a strong barrier.
"Maybe..." Varric gulped. "Maybe there's a way out of the basement. If we're lucky. If we're not, their may be a Deep Roads tunnel. If we're really unlucky..." Nobody wanted the dwarf to finish that sentence. With Aveline still leading the way, and Merrill and Anders providing light, they made their way down to the basement. Merrill saw the same flicker of something in the corner, and she sent her light over to it.
"Hey, I found this earlier with Sebastian before..." She stopped, remembering what happened after. "Before... Isabela."
"It's okay Merrill. We should at least check it out." Diana patted the elf girl's shoulder awkwardly. They followed the light over. Merrill got down on her hands and knees. She raised a broken piece of glass over her head for everyone to see. Anders took it from her.
"I think... it's a phylactery tube..." There was no more time to go into it. A shadow descended over them. They turned around to see the revenant behind them.
"Shit!" Varric swore. The thing was huge, bigger than any revenant they'd faced before. It seemed to watch them from the shadows. The party reached for weapons that were not there. Merrill dropped the illumination spell first in order to cast a spell; a wave of energy that ripped through the revenant. But whether it was because Merrill was weakened, or the revenant was immune, it did not affect him. Bethany let off a spell as well, while Varric and Diana prowled uselessly behind Aveline, unable to help. In his black armor, in the shadows, Fenris was almost impossible to see, but he was starting to glow. He pulled back his hand; about to punch the revenant. Quicker than a flash, the revenant was on the elf; slashes appeared on Fenris' body as if out of nowhere. It was over before any of them could react. Fenris was down, and blood poured out of him. Diana raced to his side, ignoring the threat of the revenant. She held his face, and called his name, but he was already gone.
"Guys, we've gotta go! Now!" Aveline pointed up the stairs. She still held the pot out in front of her. Anders threw a spell at the revenant to distract him. Bethany and Merrill hauled the weeping Diana bodily upwards, tearing her away from the dead Fenris. Varric was already at the top of the stairs, holding the door open. Aveline threw the pot at the revenant, and started to run. The Hawke sisters and Merrill dashed through, with Anders close on their tail. Varric continued to hold the door open, but they could hear Aveline screaming below.
"Oh Maker, no!" Anders said.
"We've got to help her!" Diana shouted, and she struggled against Merrill and Bethany. The screaming stopped. Varric waited a few more seconds, and then slammed the door behind them. They heard nothing coming up the stairs, but they all stared at the door.
"What's going on? That's not a normal revenant." Merrill said.
"Yes, because we kill most of the ones we encounter as soon as we release them." Anders said. "That glass was old. Really old. Who know how long it's been broken? Who knows how long that thing has been hanging around?"
"So its... gotten smarter? Trickier? And it wants to kill us." Diana sighed. "Maker, I should have known better."
"It's not your fault Hawke..." Varric started to say.
"Yes, it is. If I hadn't thought to come; we wouldn't be trapped with this thing. Isabela, Fenris, and the rest wouldn't be dead!" She nearly cried. "It's all my fault!"
"Come on... there's gotta be something. We can't give up now." Bethany pleaded. "Please, Diana, we need to get out of here."
"Why do I have to plan everything? I just... I just can't..."
"You can, sis. It's what you're good at. Now come on, all of us have to work together." Bethany said. "If only we had some weapons, or I had a staff." She pounded her hands on the table. Diana startled at the sound, and then looked at the table.
"Bethany. You're brilliant! You don't know it, but you're brilliant!" She ran over to the table, pushing Bethany aside. The rogue flipped the table onto it's side, and pushed it towards the basement door.
"That should hold it for a bit. I haven't met a revenant yet who can go through doors." She grabbed one of the low table legs in her hands and stomped on it with one foot until it broke off. She grinned, and handed it to Bethany. "Sister, your staff." Bethany looked confused, but Anders and Merrill were already breaking off table legs of their own.
"Hawke, that is genius! Now if only you could find Bianca for me, we'd be all set." Varric cheered. Diana smiled, and held up a hand.
"We still need to get out. Unfortunately, I think we need to split up again."
"Why?"
"It'll be faster that way. We can cover more ground. And when the revenant gets out... which it will... it can't attack all of us at the same time that way." The rest of the group looked uneasy, but they couldn't argue with Diana's logic. "Okay. Anders, you stay down here with Varric; Merrill, Bethany and I will go upstairs." She broke off the last table leg and handed it to Varric. "Here, it's not Bianca, but it'll do."
"What about you, Hawke?"
"I'll manage." The three of them disappeared, and Varric and Anders resigned themselves to searching the main floor.
"Come on Anders, you're good at escaping. What do you think?"
"I think this is worse than solitary and the Deep Roads combined." The mage's face was grim, and his hands shook as he pushed open the door to yet another room. It appeared to be some sort of study – there were empty and cobwebbed bookshelves lining the walls, and a single broken desk. A dead end. Anders groaned in frustration.
"Easy, Blondie.." Varric whispered. "There's still a few places we have to check, and maybe the grrls will find something upstairs."
"Or maybe there's nothing, we're stuck here, and we'll die in the dark like rats; attacked by an overly powerful revenant." The mage's eyes took on a light blue glow, getting stronger as he continued to rant. "We're out of weapons, out of luck, four of our friends are dead, and we're stuck in a situation you and Diana can't talk your way out of. FACE IT, DWARF..." They were interrupted by a creaking sound behind them. "REVENANT" Anders shouted in Justice's voice. Varric covered his eyes as the possessed mage let off a blinding ball of light. There was a loud, high scream.
"Anders! Calm down!" Shouted a strong female voice. The light began to fade, including the glow around Anders. When their eyes adjusted, Bethany and Diana were standing in the doorway. Lying facedown on the floor in front of them was Merrill. She wasn't moving. Bethany rushed to her side, and put two fingers against her neck. She looked back at Diana and shook her head, then turned to Anders with hate in her eyes.
"What have you done?" Diana whispered fiercely. Anders stumbled back a few feet.
"Justice... I couldn't... I didn't... it wasn't my fault!"
"Merrill's dead, Anders. It's bad enough we're trapped with a spirit, and you let Justice take control?" A looming shadow stopped the rogue woman from saying more. Anders backed up a few more feet, straight into the bookshelf. Bethany and Diana moved quickly away from the door, towards Varric who was brandishing his broken table leg. The revenant paused over the elf's lifeless body, while the four clumped closely together. It hovered there, seeming to examine Merrill, while those still alive just watched in horror. Anders stepped away the bookshelf and waved his makeshift staff. The bookshelf wobbled and swayed precariously. The mage loosed a large fireball directly at the revenant. It went up like a oil-covered torch. At the same moment, the bookshelf fell on top of Anders.
The firey ghost was on top of Anders like a flash; setting his feathered cape aflame. Ander's eyes went blue, then pale while his skin crackled and burned. His screams were inhuman Bethany waved her stick and sent a blast of white light at the revenant. It collapsed on top of Anders. Diana and Varric stared at Bethany.
"You... you hurt it." Diana nearly cheered. "Bethany, you've saved us!"
"But I didn't save Anders." The mage was still crushed beneath the bookshelf; the revenant on top of him; his flesh nearly melted. He stirred and moaned.
"Kill me." He pleaded, looking with red eyes at Bethany.
"I can't..." She looked to Diana and Varric, who only shook their heads.
"You're the only one who can, sweetling. Varric and I don't have anything strong enough." Diana said sadly.
"Please..." Anders croaked.
Bethany closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She lowered the table leg directly at the mage's head. Tears streamed down her face as she sent a bolt of electricity through Anders. He twitched once and was still. Varric let out a strangled gasp.
"Hawke, look!" He was pointing where the bookshelf once stood. Apparently the bookshelf had been hiding a secret door; but whether it was to salvation, or just another room was anyone's guess. He ran over and twisted the handle, pushing it outwards. Daylight streamed in. "We've found our way out!"
"Thank you Anders." Bethany whispered quietly. The dwarf held the door open; the Hawke sisters got outside quickly, and turned to Varric. Behind him, the revenant loomed once more; it did not move smoothly; the fire and Bethany's spell had caused major damage.
"Varric! Behind you!" The dwarf turned around to see the creature looming behind him. Instead of running, he started wailing on the revenant with the club, beating it back into the house.
"Run!" He roared. "Save yourselves!"
"Bethany, light the house on fire." Diana said in her sister's ear.
"What?"
"Let's burn this thing, and whatever's keeping it here, to the ground."
"What about Varric?"
"I'll get to him. We'll distract the thing, and get out at the last second. Okay?" Diana put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You have to do this."
"Okay..." Bethany sounded unsure. Diana gave her a swift hug and ran off to join Varric.
"Don't forget to run!" The rogue threw a quick grin over her shoulder. Bethany took a deep breath, and sent a fireball into the building. She watched as the building went up in flames. She waited a heartbeat, but there was no sign of the dwarf, her sister, or the revenant. She saw the roof start to crumble.
She ran. She couldn't see a path; she had no idea where she was going, all she knew was that she had to get away from there as fast as she could. She didn't look back, she just kept on running. After what felt like hours, she stumbled over a large dirt path. Wagon wheels had left deep divets, and there were signs of fresh use. Bethany could go no further; she stumbled on the dirt road and collapsed.
She woke up a long time later, in a strange, small bed. Blankets covered her, and she looked around, startled. Two pairs of large eyes loomed over her.
"Are you alright, shemlan?" Her eyes focused, and she saw two elves standing over her. The Dalish, they must have found her. "You've been out for a week."
"Have you seen a dwarf? Or... a woman who looks like me? Only with lighter hair?" The elves exchanged worried glances.
"No, shemlen. We have seen no one else." Bethany burst into tears. The elf nearest her laid a hand awkwardly on her shoulder.
"Is there anything we can do?" Bethany shook her head, unable to stop crying. The elves quickly and quietly exited, leaving the poor girl alone with her grief. She mourned her friends; bawling until her pillow was soaked. Exhaustion overcame her, and she was asleep once again.
It was evening the next time she awoke. She heard a thump in the dark.
"Elves?" She whispered. Something loomed over her bed. "Hello?" There was a low moan. Bethany lit a small illumination spell. A hooded, ghostly figure stood in front of her; she quickly covered her eyes and screamed.