Before heading to Darktown the group had made their way to the Hawke Estate so Lillian could retrieve her bow and arrows. She always kept a handful of daggers and throwing knives on her person, but unless she knew she was going to face battle she left her trusty bow at home. It was her most prized possession and her strongest form of combat, but sometimes it wasn't worth the hassle of equipping the bow and quiver when the cult-based assassins of Kirkwall could be easily dispatched with the throw of her daggers. Blood mages were an entirely different matter, however, and had to be approached with a certain type of caution.

Darktown was a rather large area, and it took a little while before the group discovered anything of importance. At first Lillian had been unsure, but when she heard one of the boys call the other by name then she knew they were exactly what she had been looking for. Motioning for the others to follow, Lillian made her way to the two boys who sat on the filthy ground conversing with one another.

"Come on, Cricket. It's not a good idea to stay here anymore. Evelina will -"

"Evelina, hmm?" Lillian knelt down in front of them so she would be eye level. She cast them a small smile, surprisingly sincere for all the anger she had experienced earlier. "I don't suppose you mean Evelina the mage?"

The red-haired boy immediately crawled behind the older one, eager to hide from the presence of a stranger. But the older boy, one Lillian remembered to be Walter, held his ground and cast her a steady glance. "I remember you," he started. "You gave us a handful of sovereigns a while back. Lady Lillian Hawke, right? The Champion of Kirkwall?"

Lillian kept a patient smile on her lips. "You can't answer a question with a question, it's poor manners." Walter flushed in embarrassment, but Lillian pressed on. "But yes, I'm afraid I am the champion you speak of. And I need to speak with Evelina, do you know where I can find her?"

Walter hesitated for a moment. "I don't think that's a good idea, messere. She's not... fit for company."

"I understand that Evelina has... changed since you saw her last." It was a bit unsettling that the boys were acting so afraid. It was one thing to fear for the life of their surrogate mother, but this kind of fear was something else entirely. From what she remembered of Evelina, the woman wouldn't have harmed a hair on their heads. But if she was a blood mage and being possessed by a demon then anything was possible. "I'm here to help Evelina, that's all."

Cricket suddenly jumped to his feet. "You can't see her!" He turned his attention to Walter. "They can't see her, she'll do mean things again!"

In the blink of an eye Cricket darted off. Walter scrambled to his feet and hurried after his younger brother, calling after him to slow down. Lillian huffed and stood up once again. She cast a look back to her group. "Well, who's up for chasing some kids around the sewers?"

Isabela's nose crinkled immediately. "Please tell me you're joking."

Lillian shook her head. "You saw those kids fly down there like there was a demon at their heels. They're frightened, and they're returning to the only mother they know." They had to be returning to Evelina, Lillian was sure of it.

Isabela tried to argue against it more, but Lillian moved to follow the boys and Fenris and Sebastian were right behind her. Farkas was the only one who stood at Isabela's side, but he was giving her a look that seemed to scream "Well are you coming?" Isabela sighed and followed after the group, giving Farkas a false glare. "Even you take her side in this. Why would you want to go down there? Aren't you afraid of getting your fur dirty?"

Farkas merely snorted in response.

As it happens, the sewers weren't as dreadful as Isabela had imagined. The thought of parading through knee-high filth hadn't really bothered Lillian (not to say she would have enjoyed it), but she was secretly appreciative of the fact the sewers were more like the upper part of Darktown. The only difference seemed to be rivers of polluted water that rushed through some of the rooms, though there were small bridges to lead them safely over it. The smell in those particular rooms made Lillian's eyes burn, but they made their way forward nevertheless.

"Thank the Maker this seems to be a one-way in and one-way out kind of place," Sebastian commented as they passed their way through a large empty room. "I doubt even Farkas would be able to sniff out their trail with all of this filth down here."

Lillian was about to respond, but at that exact moment a loud hiss rang through the room, echoing off of the empty cement walls. The group froze in place, their breathing stilled as they waited for the inevitable. Not but a moment later a rage demon and a handful of shades materialized from seemingly nowhere. The group reacted immediately. Fenris pulled the greatsword from his back and charged the rage demon fearlessly with Isabela hot on his heels, daggers drawn. Sebastian had brought out his bow and began slinging arrows at the two shades who were advancing on Isabela while Farkas took on a third shade by himself. Lillian set her sights on the last two shades who seemed to have locked in on her and Sebastian who were standing out in the open. Sebastian saw them and nodded his head in their direction as he reached for another arrow from his quiver. "Hawke." he warned.

"I see them." she said mildly, still not forgetting how he had sided with Meredith earlier. In a swift movement Lillian drew her bow and had an arrow already in position to fire. She waited only a second before she let the arrow fly, watching in amusement at it hit one of the shades with a thump. The shades set their focus on Lillian alone now, and hurried towards her as fast as they could manage. But with a few more arrows they fell dead before they could even reach her. Just as she lowered her bow the fight with the rage demon and the other shades had finished, everyone seeming relatively unharmed during the skirmish. With a small smile Lillian collected her arrows, picking up a few of Sebastians that she found along the way. When all the arrows were collected and the others had sheathed their weapons Lillian handed her fellow archer his arrows, only grunting as he gave her his thanks.

"Well, it seems we're on the right path." Fenris mused. "They know we're here."

The group pressed forward once again, coming across only a trap or two that Lillian easily dispatched with deft fingers. After awhile (and a few more rather weak skirmishes) Lillian was certain she could hear voices up ahead. As they got closer she recognized those voices; Walter and Cricket, and it sounded like they were arguing. Sure enough, as she rounded the corner she saw that the boys seemed to be arguing about whether they should run or not. Walter was the first to acknowledge her. "Lady Hawke, I -"

"You need to leave!" Cricket cut him off. "Or you'll make Evelina very angry. She's mean when she's angry."

Out of no where Evelina appeared, standing behind the boys with a poisonous smile on her lips. Farkas immediately let out a growl, and Lillian let a soft growl leave her as well. No one snuck up on her, it was impossibly difficult to do. Evelina was no assassin, leaving magic to be the only explanation. Her sudden appearance seemed to startle the boys as well, as they shot off in a run to get away from her. But in the blink of an eye she was suddenly in front of the boys, effectively cutting them off. "My dear boys," Evelina purred. "Why are you running from me?"

Fed up with the situation, Lillian cut in. "It couldn't possibly have anything to do with you being a blood mage." Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, and it seemed to catch Evelina's attention as her head whipped in Lillian's direction. "That would make too much sense, wouldn't it?"

"You!" she snarled. "You have no business being here!"

Lillian gave Evelina a level look. "I have every right to be here. You're endangering the lives of the boys you call your children. Let me help you and -" But she was cut off by a shrieking laugh from Evelina.

"Help me?" she mocked. "You mean drag me back to the Gallows to be turned tranquil!" The crazed woman stepped away from Walter and Cricket, marching towards Lillian with a fire in her eyes. Farkas let out a snarl and snapped at the air in front of him in warning, but the mage paid him no mind. Lillian regarded the woman cautiously, aware that there would only be a second's warning if she resorted to blood magic. "I would sooner die than return to the Circle!"

Evelina pulled a dagger from her belt and sliced open her hand. It was all the warning they could hope for. Lillian slipped a throwing knife from her glove and sent it flying Evelina's way just as her body morphed into an ugly abomination. The blade stuck right in the creature's empty eye socket, causing the abomination to cry out in anger. She slipped out another throwing knife just as the abomination summoned a dozen lesser demons to the room.

"Run!" Lillian called to the boys. "Find somewhere to hide and don't come out until I get you!" The boys did as they were told without a second of hesitation.

The demons descended upon the group, but they were more than ready for them. Fenris focused on keeping Evelina's attention while Sebastian and Isabela whittled down the lesser demons. Lillian used up her supply of throwing knives to weaken Evelina as much as she could before she drew her daggers and followed Isabela's lead by slicing away at them. There were far too many of the lesser demons to waste arrows on, and she didn't have the luxury of plucking arrows from dead corpses during battle. She danced across the battle like a shadow, her blades sinking into demon flesh while she gracefully danced her way around the claws and limbs that tried to strike her. The battle seemed to drag on, as if for every demon they killed two more spawned. But finally it seemed they had exhausted Evelina's supply. The four of them turned their full attention to the abomination, Lillian drawing her bow at long last. She nocked an arrow and drew it back, taking aim. Fenris made his charge, Isabela not far behind him. Sebastian had mimicked Lillian's action and everything seemed well... until Lillian felt a sudden shift.

One second everything was fine, and the next it felt like the air had been knocked right out of her lungs. A crushing force seemed to fall upon her, and all she could manage to do was let out a small cry as her bow fell from her hands. Her body seemed to collapse to the ground of its own volition, and she thought she heard Isabela call out her name. Had she? It was so hard to hear anything, her head was filled with a buzzing sound, and the only thing Lillian could really focus on was breathing. It was labored breathing, but she couldn't manage much more than that. A sensation of dizziness began just before there was a loud crack following by a harsh hissing sound. The crushing force that had been pinned on her lifted a second after that, letting Lillian breathe normally once more.

"Lily!" Isabella cried. She darted right for Lillian's side and helped her sit up, concern written all across her face. "Are you alright?"

Lillian gave the pirate a playful glare. "Oh, yes. I'm fine; great, actually! I only had to suffer through a damnable Crushing Prison. No big deal." The females broke out into laughter at this, leaving Fenris to roll his eyes as Sebastian gathered his arrows. When the laughing ceased Fenris held out a hand to help Lillian to her feet, one that she gratefully accepted. "Thank you, Fenris."

He merely gave a 'hmph' in response.

Things settled down after that. Evelina had been killed and Lillian found Walter and Cricket hiding in the next room over, huddled under a rusting piece of machinery. She gave them a handful of sovereigns and told them if they ever needed anything, all they had to do was seek her out. The boys seemed relieved that someone was offering them help, and there was a strange prickle in Lillian's heart as she watched them dart off. After that the group headed back to the Hanged Man, though their pace was slower than before since Lillian had to take her time, not having fully recovered from that awful spell. When they had arrived it was well past nightfall. As they entered the barman told them Varric and the others were up in the dwarf's room, and so they made their way up there straight away.

Lillian swung the door open and blinked a few times in surprise as she took in the sight before her. "I see you guys didn't have an easy time either." Aveline and Merrill were covered in blood, though Anders was currently tending to a wound on the guard-captain's arm. Varric sat in his mighty chair looking relatively unharmed, if not a little tired.

Merrill's big green eyes turned to Lillian, a small frown forming on her lips. "It was awful." The sorrow in her voice made Lillian believe it.

"You tell me yours I'll tell you mine?" Lillian offered with a half-smile.

And so Varric told her all about what had happened in the alienage. When they first went there Huon was no where to be found, but they spoke to his wife who claimed Huon had stopped in to see her after the templar's had interrogated her. He promised he would come back to get her so they could live happily together once again. But the wife was convinced he wasn't the Huon she had known before the Circle had taken him. She told them to come back at nightfall, as Huon would likely come for her then. And so they had. When nightfall came they went back to the alienage only to find Huon had killed his wife before he resorted to blood magic to try and kill them all. It was similar to the situation Lillian's group had come across. And in the end they had managed to kill Huon.

After Lillian told the others what had happened with her group, she gave a tired sigh and glanced around the room. Everyone seemed so tired, she knew she was aching and exhausted. Aveline was hurt too, which only made it seem practical to be done for the day. "Well I don't think any of us want to see another blood mage tonight," She doubted they'd be any good in a fight against one right now anyway. "I think we can put off meeting with the de Launcet's until tomorrow. Sound good?"

There were nods of approval throughout the room. With the matter settled everyone went their separate ways, Fenris walking with Lillian and Farkas back to Hightown. They spoke a bit on the way to Hightown, but Lillian was too busy thinking on how comfortable her bed would be. She just couldn't wait to curl up under the covers and fall asleep.

A/N: First off I wanted to say I've been writing up chapters for this story practically every day. I have the next few already completed, but I was torn. I didn't want to post them all back to back, so I've decided to post a new chapter every other day. This way it doesn't end too quickly (not that it would, I plan on it being a lengthy story).

Secondly, I'd like to thank those of you who are taking the time to read my story. It feels good to log in and see so many people reading it, and even better when I see people following it! And I wanted to give a shout out to Musicalrain. :) Your reviews have been giving me the little push I need to stay motivated, and it makes me excited to post new chapters. 3 So thank you!