Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon age or anything associated to it.
Chapter Two: The Expedition
Today was the day that the expedition was supposed to leave. Elyssa, Varric and their other companions were making their way across Hightown to where Bartrand and the other men were gathered getting everything ready for the journey. Bartrand's eyes met hers across the way and narrowed at the sight of her. Obviously Varric had forgotten to mention that he had made her a partner in the expedition. Oh well, it wasn't her problem, Varric had already promised, plus she had the money that she knew would be what got her into the expedition.
Elyssa paused in front of the older dwarven brother and crossed her arms staring him down.
"Not you again! What are you doing here?" His gruff voice demanded as he took in the woman that was standing before him in her black smugglers robe and pants, her dark haired tied loosely back at her nape. Ice blue eyes stared up into eyes of almost the same shade and just as fierce. This woman was a force to be reckoned with.
"Is that anyway to great your business partner?" Her soft voice charmingly said to him as her eyes twinkled. She was a sassy thing. He hated sassy women.
"Business Partner! Are you Crazy woman?" His gruff voice shouted puffing up his beard a bit. Varric pushed through with Bianca in her rightful spot on his back, looking a bit sheepish.
"You see Brother Miss Hawke is going to be our business partner in the expedition." He smirked and rubbed his chin before continuing. "We needed someone else to help fund this operation."
"And I have the money to help you." Elyssa spoke up, smoothing down the front of her black robe. Bartrand's face perked up at the sound and thought of money, the wheels spinning in his dwarven head. He could make this work.
"You do?" He thought about it for a second. "Fine, everything will be split between Varric, you and me." He of course was thinking different thoughts than that. "Now all we need is to find a passage down into the deep roads."
"Honestly, I don't know how you planned an expedition without a path. But, I shall come to the rescue. These might be useful." She pulled out the maps that Anders had given her and handed them to Bartrand. He quickly looked them over, his face growing more excited each moment.
"Three, no four entrances! We'll just have to pick the best one and follow it. Okay men, and ladies, are you ready! There will be risks, and there will be rewards."
"Risks, Rewards. Perfect." Elyssa spoke up with a small smirk.
"That's the spirit! Okay now…wait a moment, who invited the old woman?" Elyssa turned to see her mother walking towards them with a sad look on her face. She and Bethany broke away from the others and walked towards their mother.
"Please tell me you aren't taking Bethany with you. You I can understand needing to do this, but not your little sister." She was wringing her hands and giving El that sad, needy look, telling her, no begging her not to take her sister with her. Bethany quickly spoke out telling her mother that she wanted to go with her and that she needed to do this but El knew their mother was right. Bartrand spoke up though telling them that she and Varric could only bring two others along with them. Elyssa turned back to take a good look at her friends before looking back at her mother and nodding her head.
"Don't worry mother, I won't take Bethany with me. Anders and Fenris are going to be coming along instead." Leandra's face broke out in sweet relief at her daughter's words and she hugged the woman briefly before turning to her other daughter who was slightly put out with her sister.
"I hope you aren't doing this just to protect me." Bethany spoke up giving her sister a searching look.
"Don't worry, you wouldn't want to come along, besides I need Anders, he's a grey warden who can sense darkspawn and Fenris is an amazing fighter. No room for you. I'm sorry." Came her reply. She was being mostly honest, but she wouldn't need Fenris if Bethany was there. She just wouldn't let Bethany know that though.
"Okay, be careful. I love you, El." Bethany replied hugging her sister and turning to walk away with her mother. Elyssa on the other hand turned back to the group where Bartrand was sneering at her.
"Family Drama over I hope." He then turned away and El went to join her three companions that were left as Bartrand Marched them forward.
It took them a week to get deep enough into the deep roads to find the lost thaig that they were searching for. Problem was there had been a cave in and their way was blocked so they set camp for the night. Elyssa, Varric, Anders and Fenris sat around the fire talking as they waited for their dinner to be ready.
"So, Anders, tell me about Ser Pounce-a-lot." Elyssa spoke with a smile as she turned to the other mage. He thought for a moment before he decided to speak up.
"He was given to me as a gift from Gabriel, the Commander of the Grey, while we were in Amaranthine at Vigils Keep. That's the Grey Warden headquarters in Fereldan. It was given to us after Gabriel defeated the blight and put Alistair on the thrown." His voice sounded sad, lonely. El took the moment to look at him closely before she continued on.
"You didn't really seem like a cat person to me, what made you like cats?" It was an honest question though she wasn't sure she was prepared for the answer he was going to give.
"Before I became a grey warden, I was being brought in by the Templars who just happened to stop at Vigils Keep for the night. Their bad luck, my good luck." He laughed slightly and fiddled with the cup in his head as if wondering if he should continue.
"I had escaped from the Circle seven times before I became a grey warden, and each time they would lock me up. The last time I was locked in the tower for a year in solitude. My only friend through those years was a cat who lived in the tower. He made it not so lonely. He was the only thing I missed about the place." His eyes glistened slightly before he shut them and turned away from her. Elyssa sat back and stared up at the sealing in contemplation. How horrible that must have been for him, to be locked up for so long. She didn't know what life was like inside the tower for she had always been an apostate under the care of her father. There was nothing she could really say to the other mage that would make things better so she just patted his leg and turned to the silent elf on her other side.
"Fenris, what are you planning to do with the mansion?" She spoke of the mansion that he had acquired from his old master, Danarius. Well more like he had killed all of his master's men and taken it for himself when the man had fled back to the Imperium.
"I plan to stay in it." His deep voice replied in that same monotone. Seriously the only time she heard him have any emotion was when he was really worked up about his master. The guy needed to lighten up, which was hard she knew.
"No, what I meant is, are you going to fix it up? You are planning in staying in it for a while right? Maybe I can help you." She felt the need to help her friend after all that he had to suffer at the hands of magi. She wanted to show him that not all magi were evil beings. She didn't think she was at least.
Fenris turned his face towards her, his light golden eyes peaking out behind his silver hair. Her breath caught as the full intensity of his gaze caught on her. This man was so gorgeous. "I suppose that would be acceptable." He replied before turning his face back down to the floor dismissing her.
Elyssa sighed as she finished her dinner and set everything aside for the cook to pick up later. She stood and brushed the dirt off her bottom before stepping over her comrades and heading towards her tent, completely unaware of the eyes that followed her.
She stripped from her smugglers robes, boots and gloves and folded them up setting them at the foot of her bedding. She fondly ran her hand down the Magister's scythe that she had bought at the Black Emporium. It was a beautiful weapon, and deadly, the end sharp enough to remove a man's head in one swift swing. She smiled softly before laying it lengthwise beside her and pulling the blanket over her and blowing out the candle. Tomorrow they would search for another path.
Elyssa pulled on her boots and gloves and quickly wrapped her belt around her waist before grabbing her scythe and placing it in its holster on her back. She wrapped up all her bedding and tent and placed it in a backpack before heading off to meet up with her companions. Varric and Anders were greedily stuffing food into their mouths while Fenris watched them, a disgusted look upon his face. El laughed softly before sitting down between Anders and Fenris and grabbing an apple to eat. She took a bite of it and quickly licked up any juice that tried to escape. After chewing she started to speak.
"So, after we are all finished eating I think we should head out to look for another path through the dark roads. I want to find it today so that we don't get even more mixed up than we already are." She reached out and grabbed the last piece of meat on Anders plate and shoved it into her mouth. He shot her a pout making her giggle as she handed him another apple.
"Sounds like a plan, Hawke." Varric agreed with her as he too laughed at the grey warden's actions. He grabbed his bag up; made sure Bianca was well in place and stood. "Well let us be on our way." Ander's of course protested this as he scurried to grab everything and keep his food in his hands as well. He was quite entertaining.
The four set off on their path and soon found a pathway that looked to be promising. They took it, Elyssa in the lead fighting off any darkspawn that were in their way. It wasn't far into the passage that they came upon Sandal, the young dwarven enchanter.
"Hello" He said in his high-pitched voice as if there was nothing unusual about all the darkspawn bodies lying around him.
"Sandal, good job." Elyssa told him with a smile as he explained in about two words how he took out the darkspawn. And then she noticed the huge ice ogre and smiled.
"And how did you do that?" She asked.
"Not enchantment." He smiled and then turned to walk back down the path they had just taken.
"Smart boy." Varric said before whistling and turning back to their path. Elyssa turned to follow with Fenris and Anders following in the back. It was an hour later when they came upon a large group of darkspawn taking up a small cavern on the path. Elyssa sighed, she really hated these stupid ugly creatures.
Elyssa unleashed a large firestorm upon the heads of the darkspawn before they even knew she was there, though from what she knew they could sense the taint that was in Anders. "Burn you sons of bitches." She whispered as she shot out a large fireball on top of Anders tempest storm. The darkspawn were obliterated in a matter of seconds thanks to the attacks of the two magi.
"Well that was easy." Elyssa announced as she placed her scythe back on her back and dusted of her hands. "Now back to exploring." She set off down the path searching the bodies of the darkspawn and taking anything of valuable that they might have. "Looting, looting, looting, I love looting." She sung quietly under her breath. It wasn't until Fenris snorted in what sounded suspiciously like laughter that she knew she had been found out.
"Nice song." He spoke in his deep baritone with a slight tilt to his lips that she was sure was a smile. She blushed before snorting back at him.
"You're just jealous that you didn't think of it first." And then she gathered her loot, stuffed it in a bag and stormed off leaving the silver haired elf chuckling behind her.
"I think I've found something Hawke, come have a look at it." Varric yelled from a little up ahead and she hurried to catch up to him. She wasn't prepared for the sight that would great her eyes. The beautiful red glow of the primeval thaig stared back at them as they stood there in awe.
"Well gentlemen, I think we found our passage to the deep roads." She took one last look before turning around and heading back down the path to tell Bartrand of their find.
Elyssa happily grabbed Fenris and Anders by the arm and dragged them down the path knowing that Varric would follow behind. It was time for them to search the chambers and hopefully find some very valuable stuff to loot. She was hoping to make enough money on this expedition to buy back her grandparents estate for her mother.
"Say El, have you noticed that Sebastian wears the face of Andraste on his crotch?" Anders suddenly asked as he looped his arm through El's. She gave him a startled look before actually thinking on it. She tried to picture Sebastian and after a moment she realized that His belt did indeed have Andraste's face as its buckle. The thought made her giggle.
"I asked him about it once; he told me his father had the armor made for him when he was sent to the chantry. I just figured the Maker wouldn't really appreciate him shoving his bride's face between his legs every day." She couldn't help it; she burst out laughing startling all three of her male companions, each of them giving her a different look. Anders was one of happiness at making her laugh, Varric's was amusement, and Fenris' was annoyance though she couldn't fathom why he would be annoyed with her, she hadn't done anything to him today. Her thoughts though distracted her from what was going on for the next thing she knew Anders had thrown up a wall of ice in front of them and was pulling her back.
"Hurry, we have to kill the darkspawn before anymore of them attack!" He yelled as he cast another spell, shooting lightening at the closest darkspawn before freezing the next. Elyssa pulled her staff out and spun it around taking off the head of the closest darkspawn while firing a ball of fire towards a group that Fenris was taking on. The blast hit and they all flew back giving Fenris the chance to easily dispatch them. She spun around in circles firing spell after spell at the oncoming darkspawn.
"Fenris duck!" She yelled as she shot off a winter spell as the elf fell into a graceful crouch and her spell hit the Hurlock dead on freezing it solid. "Score!" She did a little dance and replaced her staff as Varric finished off the last of the darkspawn with an arrow between its eyes. "I think that was a job well done my dears. Now back to the matter at hand." After looting the bodies she happily made her way into another room which was quite large with a set of stairs leading up to an alter.
"Would you look at that." She made her way up the stairs Varric close on her heals as they all stared at the idol laying on the stone slab.
"It's an idol made of pure lyrium." Varric said as he examined the idol. Elyssa shook her head and answered him.
"It's not like any lyrium I've seen before." Varric agreed and yelled for his brother to come have a look at their find. Bartrand was quite excited at the thought and as his hands held the idol that his brother had just tossed him a new glow entered his eyes.
"We'll look around a bit more, see what else we can find." Varric told him.
"You do that." Came Bartrand's quite response as he turned and headed out the door. It was as El turned that she realized that the door was closing behind the dwarf.
"The Door!" She yelled out as she rushed down the stairs hoping to make it in time. But it was not to be. The door shut a second before she reached it.
"Brother, the door closed behind you." Varric yelled out thinking that his brother would open the door back up. That was not to be though.
"You always were observant little brother." Came Bartrand's muffle reply.
"You can't leave us locked in here!" Varric yelled. But of course Bartrand didn't care. He had his own greedy motives in mind that were more important than the life of his brother.
"I'm sorry brother, but I am not willing to split the money three ways. Not to mention the location alone is worth a lot of money." He then turned and walked away leaving the three men and one woman locked in the room.
"There's got to be another way out of this room. Everyone look around." Varric demanded of them as he too moved around the room hoping to find another exit from this room that would be their death. It was moments later that El came upon the door that was hidden behind the alter and shouted for her companions to tell them the good news.
They made their way through the path the new door opened up too hoping that it would lead them out of the deep roads and to ground. It wasn't long though that they came upon shades and rock like creatures that Varric told her sounded a lot like the Dwarven legend of rock wraiths. Oh lovely, dead things inhabiting rock. What next, a demon?
She regretted thinking that as moments later they came up a large rock wraith that was actually a hunger demon that had been drawn to the caverns by the hunger and need of the trapped souls. Not that she particularly cared. She hated demons, but she didn't have much of a choice.
"You need me if you wish to leave here." The demon announced. Oh joy, they had to rely on a demon did they, well she was going to find out why.
"Why exactly do we need you to get out of here alive?" She asked it, going along.
"Because mortal, I know where the key is to the door out of here and you do not." It replied.
"Okay, I'll bite, what do you need us to do?" She really hated consorting with demons, but she really liked living more. So she would do what she had to, everyone be damned.
"Kill the guardian." Sounded simple enough, but of course it wasn't. They made their way to the room that the demon said would house both the guardian and the key.
"What is this place?" Elyssa asked Varric as they entered.
"This is the vault where they dwarves kept there…" He didn't get to finish though as they heard the sound of rock moving behind them and all four turned to see a huge rock wraith gathering rocks to it. Being the smart people that they were they scattered and began attacking the wraith. The two mages took shelter near a large column and fired off shots while Varric stood close to another with Bianca and Fenris shot in every few seconds to land an attack with his large sword. The wraith got tired of this quick and began to glow a soft purple as it began to charge up for an attack. Seconds later lightening shot out in all directions, the columns the only thing protecting us from its shock. As the Wraith started to reassemble Elyssa got in close, knocking back a small wraith with an ice spell and bashing another with the end of her staff. Once she reached the wraith she swung with all of her might bringing down the scythe and cutting through the core of the wraith shattering it. It died and seconds later the room was filled with rubble. They had done it.
"Nice shot Hawke." Varric congratulated her as he sauntered up next to her and took in the treasure that the guardian had been protected. He let out a whistle and rubbed his hands together in joy.
"Look at all of this treasure, it would fetch us a lot of money topside." He told her thinking of all the things that he would be able to buy with the riches he would have. But the demon showed up to ruin his dreams.
"NO! The key is yours, take it and leave me with the treasure. It is mine!" The demon roared at them Varric leaned in close to remind her of the wealth. She smiled.
"Do you mind?" She asked the dwarf who smiled in return.
"Not at all." He pulled out Bianca and quickly fired an arrow getting the demon directly in its core and destroying it. They took care of the other wraiths that had tagged along, gathered up all the treasure they could carry with them, and headed out the new door.
"How long do you think it will take us to reach the outside?" Elyssa questioned of Varric.
"If we are unlucky a week…" He replied.
"And if we're lucky?"
"We'll come across Bartrand's corpse along the way." They shared a laugh and were on their way.
They did end up making it to the surface about five days after setting off, though they never did come across Bartrand or any of his men. They were all happy to be home, but Elyssa was in for a surprise when she walked in her door.
"What's going on?" She demanded of them as she shut the door behind her. Templars had gathered in the living room and her sister was garbed in Circle robes with her head lowered as she stood next to Knight- Captain Cullen.
"These gentlemen are taking me to the Gallows." Bethany answered her with tears in her eyes as she tried to look anywhere but at her sister for fear that she would do something to make things worse.
"You're just going for a look around right?" Elyssa joked to her sister as she too fought back tears, knowing that she had to let her sister go or things would be worse, they would both end up in the Gallows and their mother and uncle persecuted for harboring apostates.
"Since your sister has cooperated so nicely, we are going to ignore the fact that you have been keeping her here and let you off." Cullen told her as he gently took hold of her sister's arm. Elyssa nodded to him, showing that she understood he was letting them off easy, he knew she was a mage too. She respected this templar, he was a good man. And so with a heavy heart she hugged her sister good bye and whispered that she loved her before standing back and letting the Templars escort her out the door.
She hugged her mother to her tightly as the woman broke down in tears, knowing that she couldn't cry just yet. She ha d to be strong for the woman in front of her.
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