Chapter 2
"Valenya! Sweetheart! Get up now!"
Reluctantly opening her eyes, Valenya looked around her room, focusing her eyes on the lanky figure of Father, whose expression was panicked and worried.
"Father? Wha-"
"No time to explain; you'll see soon enough!" Father shouted, dragging her from her bedside and throwing her armor on the bed in her place. "Put this on and meet us outside-armed-in ten minutes. Hurry!"
Obeying his orders and forcing herself out of her groggy state of mind, Valenya removed her nightdress and latched her armor on, making sure that if fit tightly and correctly before setting out. She bounded down the stairs and grabbed her weapon, gripping tightly onto the handle while she kicked the door open roughly. Running out to meet her parents, Valenya got a good taste of exactly what they pictured in her worst nightmares.
Everything was burning.
The trees, the grass, and the little town that they had worked so hard to save below the hill was lit on fire. Wild strands of flaming hair danced across the rooftops in a threatening display, leaving absolute destruction in their wake. The sky, now a violent shade of terrible red, was painted with thick clouds of ash as the smoke could be seen rising in waves of gray from the buildings she had known all her life. Her vision blurred, tears streamed down her cheeks and into her armor, and the whole world as she knew it seemed to slow. Then the sobs came, obscuring her vision further even though she never wanted to see the sight at all.
All at once a weight enveloped her, hugging her tightly to his body to try and comfort her shaking limbs and breaking heart. No matter how much she cried, or how tightly she was pressed, the overwhelming grief still poured out of her, as well as memories now confined to only her mind. Still weeping and wet, Valenya glanced upwards to see Papa's arms wrapped around her figure. But even as she stilled, a hand, which she did not notice until then, held tightly to her shoulder, scraping against her plating and holding her steady.
"It's all gone, the Templars left not long ago." Papa said, scanning his eyes over the landscape for any sign of relief.
"Were they after you? Both of you?" Valenya sniffed, wiping her eyes and releasing his hold.
Papa, unsure of how to answer her question, turned to Father for any signal or direction he could sense. Seeing his stare, Father sighed and held Valenya's hand." Tell her everything, Hawke. Don't hide it anymore."
Gazing back at his loyal daughter, Papa did.
Denerim was a disaster area, and that was an understatement. Dead bodies lay in the streets, causing the living to wade through a sea of death to escape the crazed Templars. The only sounds that filled the air were the sounds of swords clashing and innocent people screaming.
Hawke and Fenris had no choice but to keep running. Glancing back behind his shoulder, Hawke caught sight of another Templar barreling after them, helmet badly beaten and armor dented and dirty. "YOU WILL PAY FOR EVERYTHING!" the man screamed, throwing off his helmet and charging even faster towards the battle-weary duo. With one graceful motion, however, Hawke flung a dagger over his shoulder and the weapon grounded itself into the Templar's head.
"We need to keep going, Hawke. Lothering is still another day." Fenris shouted, urging Hawke to follow him out of the city.
"What about the King? The Queen? How will we know whether they are safe?" Hawke panted, racing back to Fenris's side as he finished the sentence.
"From what I saw, they were headed directly for the Amaranthine Ocean, along with about 1,000 soldiers," Fenris breathed," They will be safe in the hands of their guards."
Hawke paused, plotting out the rest of their escape." Very well then."
They took off again, bounding down the worn road and never slowing their pace. With that many Templars still searching for the Champion after the Chantry's initial collapse, nowhere in the city would it be safe for anyone, let alone the two most wanted men in Thedas. The maze of streets continued on, ever winding through the battle-torn town that now lay deserted of all citizens. The only people they could find were dead corpses, and Hawke dare not try to loot them while running for their lives. Line after line of houses stood, ominously silent in the chaos around them, while the faces of dead men and Templars leered up at them with cold, glazed eyes and frozen mouths. This was far worse than Kirkwall.
Hawke couldn't understand why they would bother to attack this city when it was him that they were after. Did the King and Queen have anything to do with his presence in Denerim? All he knew was that they had received a letter from Aveline and Donnic telling them to meet at the Pearl that night, however these plans were probably abandoned as of late. Was it too late to try and search for them?
Then suddenly, Fenris froze, looking around him with wary eyes. Hawke stopped too, breathing heavily while listening for any signs of intruders. A rough shuffling sounded from behind them and Fenris jumped at the sound, hands shaking his sword. In response to the quiet noise, Hawke slowly turned around, weapon ready, and didn't see anything.
"Show yourself!" Fenris demanded, his face frozen in open hostility. They both braced themselves further as the shuffling sounds continued to erupt, suddenly fading from their hearing.
"Is est quis?"
Hawke yelped in surprise and looked over to find a badly injured woman crumpled on the ground, holding a small bundle of fabric tightly in her arms while her legs were completely buried. He could tell that her strength was failing quickly, and the two rushed to her side and brushed away the large pile of dirt covering her legs. But as they gently remove the ash and dust, she only looked at Fenris, who stared back with a very serious demeanor about him. Why had this woman spoken so strangely?
"Save nate, quis." She whispered, handing Fenris the tiny bundle and crying silently. "Sit vivamus; sit a vitae casus habemus."
"Salva nos custodi illam, domina. Requiem in pace." He responded, slowly and sincerely, taking the baby from her weak hands while she smiled peacefully back.
" Debeo vobis Omnia." She replied, leaning back against the wall in exhaustion. "Semper ero vobiscum meum puella; Ego semper amabo te, filia."
With those last words, she closed her eyes and stopped moving, ending her life for the chance at her child's future.
Fenris looked down at the infant, barely able to breathe, while the tiny child slept soundly in his arms. Though he could not describe it, a wave of intense feeling came over him, washing aside his fear as if it were a distant memory. This little baby, whom he barely knew, had already lost its mother. He had to keep it safe; no child's life should ever be spent on war.
"Fenris?" Hawke asked carefully," Was that woman speaking in Arcanum?"
He glanced at Hawke." Yes" he said simply, unsure of how else to respond.
"Well, what did she say? Is it a boy? A girl? Does it have a name?"
"As of now, she is nameless. What she was called before she will never be called again."
It was true, that woman had spoken his mother tongue in perfect grammar, but shouldn't that have troubled him? This child could likely be a scion of a magister, yet he did not feel resentment toward it. Why did he want to protect this child? Why had these feelings come over him because of her arrival?
He should have killed the babe and the mother when he had the chance. He should have never seen them lying here on this lonely road. He should have never heard that cursed language be uttered from his own lips ever again. But that was before; this was an entirely different matter. Should he leave the child to die alone? Should he kill her now or leave her with the insane Templars? Couldn't he just run away from this place, be free of the burden of having this tiny life at his side?
No, for if he were, not only would he break his own pride, he would break his own heart.
Fenris's intense pondering was interrupted by the noise of Hawke's shuffling feet as he moved closer to the baby. Hawke glanced at Fenris, trying to read the expression on his face while also trying to study the face of the tiny infant that he held. Ever since he first laid eyes on the child, he knew that he would protect it from this day forth, however at first he could not discern the expression that Fenris was showing. He could only decipher it when the baby first opened her brilliant blue eyes, and that was when the whole future fell right into place.
"You love her, Fenris."
"What?" he responded, green eyes wide with shock.
"You do; it's all over your face."
He looked at the baby again and sighed," Only you would have known that."
"At the very least, say it to me" Hawke encouraged.
"Say what, exactly" Fenris replied in a monotone voice.
"You know, I love you!" Hawke exasperated "Fathers say things like that to their daughters!"
His green eyes widened even farther" You're suggesting that I'm a father? Don't you think this is a little soon?"
"Say it Fenris."
"But"
"NOW. Don't lie to yourself."
Fenris glanced at Hawke, then down at the child, and exhaled," Amo te."
Even though the child could only have been a few months old, she seemed to understand his words perfectly. Even as they continued to run, the last two sentences of the mother's final words still rang in his head. But even as they raced through the deserted town, barreled down the road, and off to Lothering, he realized that those few phrases could never be more true.
"I will always be with you, my girl. I will always love thee, O daughter."
I decided to substitute Latin for Arcanum, so as you can guess, what Fenris says to baby Val is the translation of what her mom says to her before she dies.
I LOVE reviews! Any advice would help!
TtR,
