Author's Note: Happy belated Holidays and sorry for the delay. Long story short, I got a new computer for Christmas, due to my old one being on its last legs. I've spent the break primarily trying to transfer files from one computer to the other while simultaneously dealing with long hours at work. I still haven't finished, but I cannot delay posting any longer.

The Dragon Age series belongs to Electronic Arts and Bioware.


Claudia was quickly coming to realize that Kirkwall's landscape was as unpredictable as the people who called it home.

She had only ventured out of the city on sparing missions that required it, often to her dismay. And, each time, she was greeted with something that she didn't consider to be complementary to one another. Kirkwall wasn't quite a peninsula, not geographically speaking. The city sat on the northern shore of the Waking Sea, almost directly across the body of water was the Ferelden city of Highever. However close, the Free Marches was warmer, less desolate in the winter. The Planasene Forest flanked the western part of the city, and acted as the only passage into Nevarra. To the north were the Vimmark Mountains, which served as a physical transition from the lush forestry into the less forgiving deserts that the Free Marches shared with Antiva. Kirkwall itself exhibited the characteristics of each of these. At the base of Sundermount—their destination—the land was arid and dry, yet, the closer to the mountain you got, more foliage grew. Likewise, the mountain itself was teeming with all sorts of flora and fauna that many herbalists sought to explore.

Lucky for them, Aveline had a keen idea as to where they were headed. Claudia wasn't necessarily bad with directions, however, she was unfamiliar with the routes that the guardsmen took when on patrol. More fortunate than that was that their guide knew what she was looking for as far as raiders and bandits were concerned. Granted, the signs for marauders were fairly obvious: camps that were hurriedly set up, and possibly abandoned, overturned caravans that were looted of anything possessing monetary value. That sort of thing.

"What are you expecting to find?" Asked Quentin. He had been clutching his staff for the better part of an hour, always alert for those who might cause them harm. Up until that point, however, they've only encountered a handful of wild dogs—coyotes or hyenas, perhaps—and an odd phoenix or two.

"I'm hoping we find nothing." Admitted Aveline. Her tone, however, said that she doubted such an outcome.

Nearly half an hour of trudging through sand, with only the briefest glimpses of the sea followed. The wind kicked up the sand once in a while, halting progress. Yet, they were determined. Mostly Aveline. She powered through the delays like the true champion she was, often chiding the others for not being able to keep up. Even so, she would often slow down to allow them time enough to catch up to her.

It was during a particularly nasty bout of wind that they received an odd feeling. Claudia noticed it first, having thought she heard cautious steps following close behind. Her body became rigid, alert. Fingers danced over the hilts of her daggers in preparation of combat. Both Aveline and Quentin either noticed the shift in her body language, or had felt it too. They each held tighter onto their weapons, to the point where their knuckles had started to go white.

No matter how prepared they thought they were, they were still ambushed.

About ten men, all clad in leathers, appeared from behind boulders and seemingly from the sand. All of them carried their own weapons and were ready to strike without remorse. Two of them quickly circled around Aveline, who raised her shield to protect her vitals as a precautionary measure. Quentin looked for an escape, but found himself quickly apprehended by four men who acted more like fleshy walls to keep him boxed in. Claudia was outnumbered, just the same. Two men had her trapped between them and a particularly large boulder, hindering any attempt she may have made at flanking any of them. Meanwhile, the two remaining cycled between their three targets.

The two delaying Aveline acted first. One charged, but was quickly met with the full force of her shield. He knocked back several feet after a loud thump. This caused his friend to approach her more cautiously. He tried to find some ground around her, but only moments after she presented his friend with a face full of steel, she slashed her unrelenting sword at him, hitting her mark. The raider recoiled, clutching his wound in an attempt to curb the bleeding.

Meanwhile, Quentin was divvying out precisely-timed blows with the staff, coupled with the occasional burst of violet-hued lightning. His assailants had—correctly—pegged him as the mage of their group, but most likely anticipated that he would be more static in combat style. With a mad cackle, he watched as one of his pursuers fell prey to his lightning as he managed to impale another on the bladed end of his staff.

Claudia only just narrowly dodged a devastating stab to the weak point in her leathers with careful footing. With the confusion that her movement caused, the rogue was afforded enough leeway to weave behind one of the men and perform a backstab. She thanked her lucky stars in a hasty prayer under her breath that her blades went in seamlessly. And, that the other scoundrel wasn't behind her, doing the same. As she rose her blades up to assault the other, he landed a particularly powerful kick to her chest. The rogue stumbled back several feet, having the wind knocked completely out of her.

When the man approached, brandishing his sword with the intention of ending her, Aveline acted quickly. She banged her weapon onto her shield, giving Claudia time enough to catch her breath and sneak in for the kill. As he stalked after the warrior, the woman crept behind him and slit his throat in a practiced manner.

By the time both women were once again ready to join the fray, Quentin had already ended the last of the raiders. What remained of them lay in slightly twitching heaps on the sandy floor, acting purely on the residual magic still encompassing them rather than their own volition.

Aveline wiped off her blade as she looked over the bodies of the fallen, her face etched in a prominent scowl. It didn't take blood magic to know what she was thinking. This wasn't supposed to happen. The route they took was supposed to be safe.

Even while having enough insight to know that their warrior friend was not satisfied with her outcome, Quentin still asked. "Was this route supposed to be dangerous?"

"No." Starkly remarked Aveline. "It's been clear for weeks." She shook her head, eyes glassing over as she gazed at one of their foes with a much deeper concentration. "We should go report this to Jeven."

—Later—

For the better part of an hour, Quentin and Claudia had waited outside of Captain Jeven's office as Aveline gave her report. They remained silent, save for when Claudia picked up on a particularly nasty bit that the captain hissed out and had to share. Yelling followed. A lot of yelling. Soon, their own connection came under scrutiny, causing the siblings to wrinkle their noses in contempt and think of worse things they could do to Jeven, besides clearing an ambush for him.

When Aveline finally exited the office, she was in a rage. The door flew open, practically smacking Quentin in the face, if he hadn't the mind to move when he heard her steel-clad footsteps approaching. She was red from the ears down, but not from embarrassment. She was furious.

The warrior made her way to the duty roster, grumbling something about 'stepping on someone's toes' as she did so. The siblings followed close behind, attempting to peer over her shoulder whenever it wasn't completely obvious.

"Aveline!"

A woman with blonde hair and dressed in a similar regalia to the warrior approached swiftly. A look of relief was on her face, one that caught the three off-guard. "Thank you for clearing the route for me. I don't reckon I would have made it without your help."

"Brennan?" Gasped Aveline. "That was your route?"

"Yeah. Jeven's been having us run the satchel to the outpost during light duty."

"The satchel? Questioned Claudia.

"Updated duty rosters, that sort of thing. Oddly enough, the satchel was heavy this time."

Claudia watched as Aveline's brows furrowed in contemplation. The wheels in her own head were beginning to turn as well, one that made her think that perhaps Jeven wasn't as squeaky clean as his job in the guard would paint him. After all, he did make an awful big deal about Aveline taking on a route that wasn't hers.

"Who did you pass the satchel onto, Brennan?"

"Donnic. I think he just left for his patrol."

Aveline whipped around, facing at duty roster once more. Her eyes scanned the document like a hawk on the hunt. She was so invested in her search that she was unaware of her talking. "Donnic. Donnic. Good man, that one." She said, mostly to herself. Claudia and Quentin each cast each other a suspicious glance.

"We need to go to Lowtown." Demanded the guardswoman. She wasn't about to accept any other answer. "If we hurry, we might make it in time to stop the next ambush."

The three sprinted as fast as they could to Lowtown. Traversing was tricky, due to the quickly-setting sun and people looking to do some last-minute shopping before the stalls closed. Fortunately enough, the armor that Aveline wore carried a certain reputation. One that told people to disperse when they saw her rushing through the streets, closely followed by her two companions. And, to add to their luck, the warrior knew the patrols so well that she had a good idea where Donnic would most likely be ambushed. The pair didn't bother with questioning her; it would just waste valuable time.

Upon their arrival, things did not look good for the man that could only be Donnic. He was surrounded on all sides, slowly backing into a corner, his weapon drawn, but unwavering. Something tripped him up, probably a rock, causing him to tumble to the ground and sending him into an even more vulnerable position.

Before the bandits were able to strike, Aveline charged in, sword swinging like a mad woman. Her attempts were not in vain. The men dispersed from Donnic, instead, latching onto the female warrior and her companions.

The bandits were taken care of with little issue. Aveline was so pumped on adrenaline and anger that she took out the most of them by herself. While she helped Donnic to his feet, Claudia managed to locate the satchel. She was amazed by how weighty it was, especially considering it was meant to be nothing but a couple loose bits of parchment. When she opened it, she was rather unsurprised to find it full of various valuables, many centering on sovereigns and expensive-looking jewelry.

"Aveline." Hummed Donnic, his face calm as he looked into hers. "You are a beautiful sight."

The warrior could only grin like a silly teenage girl. "Guardsman Donnic—"

"—I don't mean to interrupt your flirting, but I think you should look at this."

Claudia received an icy stare from her friend, but was unperturbed. She got their attention, which was all she really wanted. Aveline walked over, taking the bag from the rogue and giving it a good inspection before casting it aside angrily. If the bag full of things of value wasn't enough, the men and women assaulting Donnic looked like members of the Coterie. Aveline seemed to have noticed this already.

"Captain Jeven has been sending guards to their deaths." Growled Aveline. Whatever she was thinking, Claudia assumed it had to do with beating her higher up to a bloody pulp.

"Screw city guard." Hummed the rogue light-heartedly, despite the mood not calling for her humor. "Jeven should be in politics."

"Not now, Claudia." Groaned Aveline. "I'm going to help Donnic back to the barracks and report this to the Viscount at once. Jeven cannot be allowed to continue like this." Prior to leaving, the ginger-haired warrior intercepted the satchel once more. She looked through its contents once again, perhaps considering if it would be crooked to pay them with Jeven's dirty money. Shaking her head, Aveline secured the satchel to her belt, causing Claudia to look at her pitifully. A satchel full of gold would have gone very far to getting her and Quentin declared as partners in Bartrand's expedition.

"Come by the barracks tomorrow." Offered Aveline. "I'll make sure you're paid then."

Claudia could see that Aveline was in no mood for an argument. As such, she pursed her lips and nodded her head, even if fistfuls of coin were just beyond her reach and quickly growing further away. She sighed, knowing that whatever money they were given for their services would pale in comparison to what she had previously had in her mitts. She hadn't even noticed Quentin digging around in the pockets of their fallen enemies until she made to return home. He jogged to catch up, and when he did, dumped a fistful of silver and bronze into her hand. Two stray gold pieces sat in the lot.

"It's not much, but it's a start." Optimistically remarked Quentin.

Claudia nodded, resigning to agree out of sheer exhaustion. "We should go see that dwarf, Varric, tomorrow, though. He might have thought of some ideas by then."

"Agreed."