8. Fancy Meeting You Here

'You didn't do it?' I just watched you torch a darksp-he probably means the templars, Rahna you idiot. Still the look I'm giving him must be something, because he hastens to add to his denial.

"Oh, don't get me wrong; I'm not broken up about them dying, to be perfectly honest." He grins and motions to one of the dead templars. "Biff there made the funniest gurgle when he went down."

I smirk and somehow manage to hold back the laugh bubbling up in my throat. I think I'm going to like you. "Not too fond of them, I take it?"

His grin widens. "Oh, I know, I know, most people enjoy being kicked in the head to be woken up each morning. Me, I'm just so picky. You may call me Anders, my dear lady. I am a mage, and, sadly, a wanted apostate."

I feel my eyebrow quirk at that, though it makes sense. Aren't apostates usually also blood mages? I'm ashamed of the thought-and the way I almost automatically scan his arms to see if he has the healed scars that were prevalent on Jowan's-as soon as it enters my mind. In all honesty, Jowan's the only apostate I've known who's also a maleficar.

"An apostate? At Vigil's Keep?" Mhairi frowns.

Anders gived her a flirtatious smile. "You weren't here when we arrived. I'm sure I would have remembered such a lovely woman as yourself."

I can't help but chuckle at that as I introduce myself. "Rahna Tabris. And I don't really care what you were." My best friends are a blood mage and an assassin. What's an apostate added to the mix?

He raises an eyebrow and give me the same grin. "Pretty and pragmatic. A striking combination. Look, I suppose I could help you with the rest of these darkspawn... or you could just let me go. They'll send more templars to find me eventually, they always do."

'Always do'? Are we talking serial escapist here? I find the idea-and Anders himself-incredibly entertaining. "I could definitely use some help," I chuckle.

He nods. "Then you have it."

"Are you sure about this, Commander?" Mhairi protests.

Anders shrugs. "I can't say that I'm fond of these darkspawn, even if I'm no Grey Warden. Let's deal with them now, and we can discuss what comes later... later."

"Sounds like a plan to me." I gesture toward the door at the opposite end of the room. "Let's go." We need to keep moving if we want to save as many people as possible. There are enough people I was too slow to save on my conscience.

oOo

The three of us make our way around the pallisades to the lever that raises the gate. By the time we reach it, I'm already working on various arguments to get Anders to stay even after we finish dealing with these darkspawn. He's saved my neck a couple times, and, well, you can never have too many healers around. He also has this habit of getting closer to the heart of the fighting than is sane for a mage. If he sticks around, I'll be sharing that Arcane Warrior knowledge I found in the Dalish ruins with him. If he's gonna get right in the middle of the fighting, he needs to be wearing something better than those robes.

This, however, will have to wait because there's still darkspawn to kill, starting with the trio of hurlocks charging up the stairs. I recognize the beginning words of the spell Anders is summoning and hold Mhairi back as the icy magic blasts the darkspawn. Frozen as they are, it's the work of a mere moment to dispatch them.

That problem taken care of, we head into the main part of the keep, finding a few more terrified survivors along the way.

"Get to safety, quickly!" Anders hollers at one cowering woman as he stuns the advancing darkspawn. She scrambles past me and Mhairi without a backwards glance. The warrior and I manage to take out two of the darkspawn before the mind blast spell wears off.

Unfortunately, one of the surviving ones is an emissary, and the first thing it does after regaining itself is trap me in the grip of a crushing prison spell.

"Commander!" Mhairi hollers in alarm, slamming her shield into the emissary as it starts summoning another spell.

"Watch out," Anders warns. The shockwave that results from a force field meeting the crushing prison sends the lone remaining genlock flying. It slams into a wall hard enough I hear its neck snap. I kneel where I dropped for a second, gasping for breath and trying to calm my racing heart. Few things scare me like that spell.

"Commander?" Anders offers me a hand up.

I take it. "Thanks."

He shrugs and grins. "That's what I'm here for."

"Anders to the rescue?" I joke, picking up my swords.

"Something like that," he laughs. "Can't leave the damsel in distress, now can I?"

"Call me a damsel again and the results won't be pretty," I retort, grinning despite myself. Not since Zev left for Antiva has someone managed to keep up like this. It's fun.

"Commander, we need to keep moving," Mhairi urges.

"I know, I know," I sigh. "Come on, you two."

oOo

If I had made a list of people I expected to run into here, the red-headed dwarf who breaks off from fighting long enough to wave would have been near the bottom. What the sod is Oghren doin' here? I shake my head. I'll worry about it later.

"Andraste's knickerweasels!" Anders curses under his breath behind me as one of the genlock archer actually proves to be a decent shot.

"Don't just pull it out!" I yell at him as he reaches for the arrow jutting out just above his elbow. Andraste's...what?

"I know, I know!" He snaps off the back end of the arrow and tosses it to the side before blasting the genlock responsible with a lightning bolt.

After we finish killing all the darkspawn, I sheath my swords and turn to look at Oghren.

"Hah, there y'are!" he bellows with a laugh. "I knew you'd show up!"

"Oghren?" I demand, grinning like a madwoman. Fancy meeting you here...

"Thought I'd try my hand at becoming a bona-fide Grey Warden," he chuckles, only sounding the tiniest bit drunk.

Mhairi shakes her head. "He was here when I left. I can't believe the Wardens didn't kick him out."

"Heh. If it isn't he recruit with the great rack," Oghren leers.

She makes a noise of disgust. "Yes. A prize for the Wardens, to be sure."

"I know, I know, too good to be true, right?" the dwarf gloats. "Hey, who's the mage?" he asks when he notices Anders. "Boyfriend? Should I leave you two alone?"

I'm torn between burying my face in my hands and laughing hard enough to bust a lung. I settle for a sigh instead.

"Wow, a dwarf that smells like a brewery," Anders mutters, most of his attention focused more on getting the remaining half an arrow out of his arm. "You never see that anywhere."

I can't help but giggle. These two will be fun together.

"Huh, a mage comedian," Oghren grunts. "Thought those normally died young."

"Alright, alright," I interrupt. "It's good to see you again, Oghren."

"I find that hard to believe," Anders grumbles as he heals the nasty wound the arrow left through his arm.

"As do I," Mhairi agrees with a grimace.

That's because you don't know him like I do, I chuckle to myself. He grows on you.

"Oh, before I forget, Commander-" Oghren laughs. "Gonna take some gettin' used to, callin' ya that. Before I forget, someone else tagged along. Wouldn't letting me sodding leave without 'im."

"Who-" My question is interrupted as just over a hundred pounds of damp, tawny fur barrels into me and gives my face a rather enthusiastic bath. "Maker's breath, down boy!" I manage through the laughter shaking me. The mabari backs off, tongue lolling, still looking absolutely overjoyed to see me. I sit up and hug him. "I missed you," I admit, pulling back and ruffling his ears. He gives a happy bark in return, his whole back end wiggling. I turn to Mhairi and Anders, who are both staring at me like I've lost my mind. "Meet Dog, you two."

"Dog?" Anders gives me a Look. "You named your mabari Dog?"

"I'm horrible with naming things, " I protest. "Guess it's a good thing I'll never have kids."

"Still, Dog?" He looks like he's trying not to laugh.

"Hey, mage-boy, if you can come up with a better name, be my guest," I shoot back.

"Wow, you really are horrible with names if 'mage-boy' is the best you can do," he grins.

I huff in exasperation. "Come on."

"Aye," Oghren nods. "Let's introduce some darkspawn arses to my foot." He grins. "Only polite thing to do."

Maker, I've missed you, Oghren.

oOo

Watching Mhairi when we find Rowland is heart-breaking. I can read the sheer panic in her movements as she kneels, begs us to do something for this man, her friend.

Anders barely looks at him before wincing. "He looks beyond healing magic. Maybe a shot of whiskey for the pain?"

"I like the way you think," Oghren snorts.

"Stop joking! This isn't funny!" Mhairi cries. I do have to agree with her on that; she's watching a friend die, the last thing she needs is Oghren's off-color and usually inappropriate humor.

That's when I feel it. Whisper-quiet and barely there, but slowly growing. Rowland is tainted. If left unchecked, he'll become a ghoul before dying the slowest, most horrifyingly painful death imaginable. I swallow hard and utter one of the most difficult sentences of my life. "Put this man out of his misery."

"What? But-" Mhairi begins to protest.

Rowland grabs her arm. "It's...okay, Mhairi. I'm not...not getting better." He cries out in pain, his jaw tightening. "D-Darkspawn...that way..." he manages, nodding down the corridor. "Went...after the...seneschal..." his last sentence fades into a rasping gurgle.

Mhairi fights back tears. "I will avenge you, Rowland," she whispers, closing his eyes. "I swear it." Dog whines and nuzzles under her hand, looking at her with liquid eyes that say 'I understand'. She smiles sadly, roughs his ears, and stands. "Come on. Let's not keep these bastards waiting."

I nod. "Couldn't agree more."

A/N: I was totally right: Anders and Rahna are a blast to write together. He shall be a permanant member of her party(he woulda been anyway, but shh). And yay for Dog! Yes, that was really the name of her mabari in Origins. I was in a hurry at the point when you get the mabari for a non-HN, so I just called him Dog. We shall see if Anders can come up with anything better. Oh, and I promise, I'm not planning to stick exactly to the in-game dialogue ever time it occurs. The stuff I kept in this chapter was too awesome to cut. I mean, c'mon, Anders. =)