Disclaimer: Bioware owns Dragon Age and all its characters, Sean and Caress are mine
*Trigger Warning: Rape briefly mentioned in this chapter. It is not described so don't worry if this offends you. I simply feel it is necessary to warn people that it is there.
Hawke spent the night at my place after our little adventure with Anders. We didn't rush into things though. We simply slept curled up with each other. It was probably the best sleep I had since I was transplanted in Thedas. Caress was waiting for me in the Fade with an amused smile on her face.
"What's up?" I asked with some suspicion. That smile on a woman could be dangerous and a Desire Demon was no different.
"Your thoughts give you away, my friend. You and the Hawke have come together."
"I didn't realize I was thinking about it." I said in confusion.
"Not consciously. She makes you happy and when you're with her your spirit is brighter."
Okay, that didn't really explain anything and she really confused me with that whole 'spirit is brighter' comment.
"Umm... I don't understand."
"It is not your physical shell I see but your spirit. All beings of the Fade see the spirit of people and not their real bodies. What we see is more the embodiment of who and what you really are."
That actually made some sense in a weird sort of way. I was never going to understand completely how the Fade worked but Caress did her best to teach me. I found a comfortable place and settled in for the night ahead of me.
"So, I have to ask how did Justice sense your presence? I don't know how it works but I certainly didn't expect Justice to know of our connection."
"I'm afraid that is my fault. When I transferred knowledge directly to you it left a trace of my essence behind. That is what Justice was able to sense. He could basically smell the demonic presence on you."
I hummed in thought. It certainly brought up some interesting thoughts. Abominations could find each other. That explained why when you found one there always seemed to be more around. That actually brought up another thought. Caress wasn't a true demon anymore. She was a spirit to me but Justice had clearly become a spirit of Vengeance.
"So the act of joining with a human changes the spirit, doesn't it? You were more like your brethren before you met Illeya and Justice acts more like what you'd expect out of a demon since he joined with Anders." Caress nodded sadly.
"I'm afraid that Justice is no longer what he once was. Justice and Vengeance are two-sides of the same coin and it seems that joining with Anders has turned him into a vessel of vengeance. You will need to watch him to make sure that no innocents are harmed."
That's kind of what I was afraid of. I think it's safe to say that Justice will cross that line and then some when he blows up the Chantry. I had to find some way to stop that. Really what I needed to do was find someway to separate Anders and Justice. Anders wasn't a bad guy and other than hitting on Hawke, he was actually a pretty nice guy. He was losing himself though. Justice or Vengeance was changing him from the fun-loving guy who we all had seen in Awakening. I needed to help him.
"Is there some way to separate Anders and Justice? I remember that the Wardens could save Connor from the Desire Demon. Surely, there must be something we can do."
"I'm afraid that their situations are completely different. Anders and Justice chose to fuse together much like Illeya and I had done. To the best of my knowledge, the only way to separate a man and a spirit when they have fused is death. I am sorry."
"But there still could be a way. Just because we don't know of one doesn't mean we should give up on it. There is still time. We have several years to find a way and I don't intend to waste it."
"Be careful, my young friend. Do not become so wrapped up in improbable endeavors that you forget what is truly important." I smiled at this. I knew exactly what and more importantly who Caress was talking about.
"Hawke. She is what's important. Don't worry, Caress. I won't let myself be consumed by this. I promised myself when this started that I would be there for Hawke and I fully intend on keeping that promise. I have even more incentive now than I did back then."
"I recall a time when you would have said getting home was the most important thing," She said with a smirk.
"Things have changed. I have changed. For the better, I think."
"Good. You will need each other in the time to come. Continue to love and support her like I know you do."
"I will. I've done a lot of growing up over the last year and I've made a life here. A life I won't give up without a fight." I said then. Caress nodded at this as the Fade began to blur out.
"I will see you soon, my friend." Caress promised and the Fade blurred out.
Time had passed quickly while I was in the Fade. I was woken up by lips on my own. My arms went to the small of Hawke's back and I rubbed small circles with my fingers. Hawke broke the kiss with a sigh and I opened my eyes. I smiled up at Hawke as she leaned over me.
"I think I can get used to be woken up like that."
"Yes, I can certainly see the advantages of such an arrangement." She said with a smile of her own. I squeezed her hips affectionately.
"So what's on the agenda for the day?" I asked.
"Ready to leave bed so soon," She asked with exasperation.
"Not at all," I responded. "I just want to know how much time we have to kill."
Hawke's gaze went to my lone window, where sunlight was just starting to come through. She hummed in thought.
"Not much, I think. No doubt, mother would have been up at the crack of dawn making breakfast." I sighed at that.
"What is it with you early risers? Yesterday, I was rudely woken up by Carver and now we don't even have the chance to lay about before we have to go." I said in exasperation to which Hawke laughed. I wasn't going to call it giggling. Hawke doesn't giggle.
"We were farmers, Sean. Early mornings are all part of the life."
"That's what Carver said. I'm not a farmer though. In fact, I was miserable and a terrible worker the few times I worked on a farm."
"Nobody really likes working on a farm but it is something we had to do to survive."
I could only nod in agreement. It wasn't like I had any experience with having to farm just to survive. My old world was entirely different. Machinery did most of the work and all the workers were needed for was picking which was a very boring job. It was then that I started laughing. Where we really talking about farming while we laid in bed half-naked? Hawke gave me a questioning look.
"What's so funny?" She asked.
"Look at us. We are talking about farming ... now of all times."
Hawke looked down at me and my bare-chest and then down at herself. She was only wearing one of my tunics. Let me tell you, I don't think there is anything sexier than Hawke wearing nothing but one of my shirts. Hawke then started laughing herself and for the next several minutes it was all we could do. When Hawke finally got control of her laughter she rose to her feet. She held out her hands and pulled me to my feet. I gave her a quick kiss and then we went about getting ready for the day.
It didn't take long for us to finish getting dressed and we made our way to Gamlen's hovel. We chatted about the previous night and all that we had accomplished. We still had Anso on the docket for tonight but other than that the day was pretty much ours. We stepped into Gamlen's hovel to an argument in progress.
"My children have spent the last year in servitude! They should be nobility!"
I had forgotten about this little quest. It would be interesting to see how this would play out, with both Carver and Bethany still alive. Leandra was definitely happier than she had ever been in the game. Carver was different as well. He didn't really have much resentment and anger for Hawke. This was mostly due to my influence, I think. Being Carver's friend was actually easier than I ever would have suspected. Deep down he's a really good guy who's just trying to find his way in life.
Gamlen tried to weasel his way out of showing Leandra the will but Hawke would have none of that. It was quickly decided that the four of us, at least, would raid the Amell Estate by infiltrating from the sewers of Darktown. One thing I really found interesting about the entire conversation was that Leandra revealed that one of the Heroes of Fereldan was Solona Amell. From the rumors it seemed that there was more than one origin in effect. That made sense to me. It'd be extremely difficult for only two Wardens to end the Blight. Rumor had it that Solona was romantically linked to a Orlesian Bard. I certainly hoped Leliana actually stuck around instead of running off to work for the Divine.
After Gamlen left, to go blow more money at the Blooming Rose, we sat to eat breakfast. Leandra's earlier anger had disappeared and she was in full on mothering mode. She certainly seemed happy that Hawke had spent the night at my place. I think she thought more happened then actually did, which was actually disturbing thinking about it. Carver and Bethany were going all out in teasing the two of us. They also thought we did more than just sleep. Hawke was a pleasant pink from all the attention. I don't know if I could deal with this from my family so I really don't know how Hawke managed. Finally, Hawke had enough though.
"Nothing happened. We just slept. That's it. Drop it."
Of course this brought on even more teasing. Carver even questioned my manhood. Yeah, such a great friend is one, Carver Hawke. I showed him how much I thought of that comment with a single finger. It wasn't something common in Thedas but it was something I taught them to understand. Carver snorted and we went back to our food simply enjoying the familial atmosphere.
Hours later we found ourselves about to enter the Amell Estate. Varric and Aveline had both joined up with us. We didn't even stop by the Clinic to see if Anders' wanted to join us. I think Hawke knew that I'd probably punch him if I had to deal with him so soon.
After breakfast we had split up to gather supplies for our trip out of Kirkwall. It took roughly an hour to buy fresh fruits and vegetables as well as 4 rough canvas tents. I had to talk Hawke into the fourth. I explained it would be a good idea to have at least one spare, just in case. Right now we had 4 men and 3 women add in Fenris and Isabela and we'd need the extra tent. We'd simply have to plan watches out in advance so that there were no problems.
When we went to pick up Aveline from the barracks we also informed Athenril of what had transpired at the docks. Athenril didn't look particularly happy to see me or how close Hawke and I were. I really hope this didn't become a problem. Overall, I actually liked Athenril. She wasn't evil or anything but she was smart enough to see that she could make good money smuggling. She also did quite a bit of good in the Alienage, which was under her protection.
When we finally met up with Aveline she had a smirk on her face that didn't leave her face the entire time. We had met back up with Varric, Carver and Bethany at the Hanged Man and filled Aveline in on all that happened the night before. Aveline frowned at the mention that Anders was an apostate but she wisely kept her mouth shut. There would be no point to setting me off so early in the morning. In fact, it was a bad idea. I hated mornings and when people irritated me early it stuck all day. So after we caught Aveline up we had set out to where we were now.
I really couldn't stand the stench of Darktown. It was sewage mixed with sweat and rotting garbage. I made a mental note to spend as little time in Darktown as possible in the future. Hawke had produced the key and we followed her into the dank, dark hole. The secret entrance to the Estate was well hidden and Bethany had to produce a small flame before Hawke was able to find the door.
"Impressive. This could come in handy when we reclaim the Estate."
"Why do we even care about the Estate? It's not like our Grandparents even cared that we existed." I nudged him with my elbow and gave him a cheeky grin.
"You'll need someplace to live when you're rich and famous."
"True but does it have to be Hightown with all those stuck up nobles?"
"I'm sure there's prime real-estate down here in Darktown or you can buy one of those factories in Lowtown and live out of that."
"That's disgusting," Bethany interjected.
"Seriously though it's the best place to start. Your family already has a claim to the place and that will save you money when buying it. Really, though I think what you should all do is buy some place in the country with some prime land and build an Estate out there. That would be what I would do but then again, I was never one for living in big cities. I preferred small towns, where you pretty much knew everybody."
Both Bethany and Carver nod their agreement to that. They really did like Lothering even though Carver felt like he was trapped there. He was coming around though and was really just trying to find that one thing he wanted to do.
"Quiet. We're getting close to something." Hawke said then.
We pulled our weapons free as quietly as possible as Hawke opened a hatch above us an inch. She looked around the room before closing it.
"There's two men in the room but they aren't really paying attention. They're too busy talking about their latest batch of slaves." Hawke looked around at all of us before continuing. "We came here for mother to get Grandfather's will but I will not leave people to that fate. We free the slaves and kill every one of these slaver bastards."
There was no disagreement among us. Slavers deserved to die. Plain and simple. Profiting on other people's suffering was down right despicable. Hawke let Aveline take the lead as she could protect us while we climbed up the short ladder. Aveline through the hatch open and issued a challenge to the slavers. Hawke scrambled quickly up the ladder followed closely by Carver. With our heavies in the room, I was next up the ladder with Bethany and Varric following closely on my heals. A couple more slavers had come to help their friends but it was over before I had even had a chance to do anything. I turned and offered a hand up to Bethany and then Varric.
"Alright, stay close and check every room. Who knows where they are keeping these slaves."
We did as Hawke said checking every room as we went. Mostly we only ran across slavers and they were quickly dispatched. All in all, Bethany and myself didn't have much to do. Varric could usually take one out with Bianca while Hawke would deal with the other. We moved quickly through the cellar and made our way to a set of stairs. We went up a floor and it appeared there were more slaves in this area. Hawke motioned to me. I looked around the corner and smirked. There was a group of three with their backs to us well within range. I froze them with a Cone of Cold and then Aveline, Carver and Hawke charged forward. Their deaths were painless ... I think. I could never tell if freezing somebody numbed their body or not. Oh well, those are thoughts for another time. Hawke took point and checked the connecting rooms. She tensed up as she opened one of the doors and I rushed to her side.
*Trigger Warning
What I saw sickened me. There was a young woman, a girl really no more than 16, whimpering beneath a man. The red-hair, blue-eyed girl punched and clawed at the man. She was a fighter and seeing the sickening display sent me into action. I pulled my dagger free and rushed into the room. I grabbed the man by the hair and pulled him off the girl. Hawke followed and took the girl and shielded her from what I was about to do. The man tried to fight but I violently slit his throat and tossed him to the ground. I kicked him in the ribs for good measure. Carver followed suit when he entered the room and realized what had gone on. Bethany joined her sister in trying to comfort the girl.
I was shaking in my rage. I don't think anybody else was much better. Aveline may have looked better outwardly but I could tell she was pissed too. Aveline grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me away from the monster. He wasn't a man.
"Don't think about it. It will only make things worse. Come on. Help me check these other rooms."
Aveline was smart enough to know that was what I needed. I needed to get away from this room and that monster. He would bleed out without me watching. We went to one of the connecting doors and opened it. Inside there were cages filled with men, women, children, human, elves and even some dwarves.
"Hawke, we need you." I yelled out.
Hawke entered the room with her daggers out. I probably should have worded that better. We needed her lock-picking ability not her daggers. Hawke started opening the cages and letting the people out. They were cramped into those tiny cages with barely any room to move.
"We need to get these people to Anders," I said then. "They'll need healing."
Hawke nodded her agreement and looked to Aveline and Varric.
"Do you mind handling this? Normally, I'd send Bethany but I think that we should finish this as a family."
"Are you sure about this Hawke?" Varric asked. "We could leave them here and come back for them." Hawke was shaking her head before he finished.
"They needed healing now and that poor girl is in no condition to be left alone."
"She won't be leaving," Bethany cut in. "She'll be staying with us. I've already healed her. She only had superficial wounds and is otherwise healthy."
Every eye turned to Bethany and the girl who was clinging to her. The girl showed no intention of letting go of her either and Hawke could see it was either send Bethany with the girl or keep her with us. Hawke was clearly torn. The girl would be a liability when it came to fighting and we would be shorthanded to begin with. I weighed the options myself and then pulled Hawke aside. I didn't want anybody to overhear what I had to say and so spoke in a whisper.
"I'll stay back and keep them safe. You and Carver should be able to handle the front. If we come across a big group I'll simply hitting them with a Blizzard to thin them out some."
"Are you sure? You'll need to keep your eyes open. They're almost guaranteed to have rogues who stick to the shadows." I nodded in acknowledgement.
"Yeah, I know but I have some advantages of my own. They won't make it through me."
Hawke looked into my eyes and could see the conviction there. I brought my hand up to her face and brushed across her cheek. Her eyes became half-lidded and I leaned forward touching our foreheads together.
"We'll be fine." I said before giving her a quick kiss. We then turned back to the group. Aveline had begun leading the group out of the room and Varric hung back to see what the plan was.
"She can stay with us. I won't send you back, Bethany." Carver looked unsure of this course though.
"Are you sure, sister? It's not ideal to have to protect an innocent while assaulting this place."
"I know but Sean's promised to keep them safe. That's enough for me." Carver nodded in agreement and gave me a small nod in respect.
"See that you do, my friend." Carver said then.
"Have I ever let you down?" I asked back to which he actually chuckled.
"No, I just don't want today to be the day that changed."
Varric followed the last of the almost-slaves out of the room and Hawke led us in the other direction, further into the Estate. We had to backtrack to the main hall and we systematically checked the rest of the rooms. Hawke would open each door and Carver would go in with his sword out. In this way, we were able to make relatively quick time. We cleaned out several small pockets of slavers but we didn't come across any more slaves. It was quite clear that these slavers had no idea about the Darktown entrance to the Estate. If they did we probably would have been cut down before we made it out of that first room.
We came across another set of stairs and I began to realize just how big the Amell Estate truly was. It was built all the way from Darktown up to Hightown which made the place at least double its size then it appeared in the game. We came across a storeroom with the Amell family crest which conveniently had two hawks or maybe they were eagles on it. Hawke also went through a chest in the corner while Bethany and Carver talked about the family crest. Carver actually seemed a bit more interested in his past then he did in the game. Again, I couldn't help but marvel at the changes in him. He really was a different, much more relaxed guy then he would have been had Bethany died. I left the twins to their musings and joined Hawke by the chest as she pulled a couple of things out.
"What have you got there?" I spoke in a hushed tone.
"A few letters to my father and my mother's betrothal picture. I think Bethany would like the betrothal picture and maybe Carver can get something from the letters. He always looked up to father. I think he was disappointed he wasn't a mage because it meant he couldn't spend as much time with him as he wanted. Even still, he used to watch over Bethany's lessons just to be close to father." She spoke back in a whisper.
"I wish I could have met him." I said then.
"He would have liked you. He might have given you a rough time at first but that would have been only to protect me. We were so much a like." Hawke said sadly with a catch in her voice.
I took Hawke in my arms and hugged her in comfort. It was clear that Hawke missed her father. He was, for all intents and purposes, her role model. Leandra had said how much like her father Marian was. It must have hurt so much especially when she had to put on a brave face for the family. When her father died Hawke wasn't really given much chance to grieve. She had to be strong for everybody else but I would be strong for her. She never had to hide how she truly felt to me. I kissed her forehead then and loosen my grip on her.
"Come on, we've got an Estate to finish clearing." I said then to which she offered me a small smile.
"Thank you," she whispered back.
"Whenever you need me," I responded with a smile of my own.
Hawke took the lead once again and it was clear we were getting near the end of the line. There was one big room ahead of us about the size of the main room in the Estate, that connected to the entrance. We entered the room and were approached by a man in robes. I looked over at Bethany and she nodded. We both knew this was a mage.
"Did that rat, Gamlen send you? I knew we should have ... "
I didn't let him finish his sentence as I froze him on the spot. Bethany hit him with a spirit bolt as Hawke quickly disabled the trap that was between us and him. The slaver mage thawed long enough for a look of complete horror to pass across his face as Carver's giant sword swung towards him. The mage never stood a chance and his head was sent flying.
Slavers poured into the room then since their distraction had been so effortlessly cut down. Bethany sent a fireball flying towards a large group and Hawke and Carver rushed forward into the fray. I stayed close to Bethany and the girl. The slavers that were visible never got close to us as Hawke and Carver were decimating them. I kept my eyes peeled though. I knew that there was at least one assassin in this group. There always was.
It was then that I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I spun to face the threat but there was nobody there. Crap, where did the bastard go? I spun around trying to catch sight of him. With him nowhere in sight I motioned Bethany back into the corner and stepped backwards after her keeping my sword between the two young women and the potential threat. There was no way I was going to let either one of them get hurt. Hawke and Carver were still busy dealing with a handful of slavers so this was up to me to deal with.
From a dark corner a flask was suddenly tossed at my feet. DAMN! Smoke obscured my vision and I was forced to turn from side to side keeping both my shield and Frost Bite ready to deflect. Bethany was shouting at me to get out of the smoke but I knew it was already too late for that. The bastard was closer than I had thought and was just biding his time.
The flash of steel out of the corner of my eye was the only thing that saved me. I got my shield up and knocked the dagger to the side. I followed through with a quick slash with Frost Bite but just as quickly the assassin was gone into the smoke again. This was a waiting game we were playing. I had backup and his were getting decimated. All I had to do was hold the line.
The assassin made a couple more feints and I knew that the bastard was just looking for a crack in my defenses. Suddenly the assassin came at me in a flurry of movement. It seemed he was done playing around. He struck with both daggers which I deflected but he kept coming, pushing me back more and more. Unfortunately, the assassin had thrown the damn flask right between my legs and the smoke was literally all around me. I could hear the others calling out to me but there was really nothing they could do. This battle was between me and the assassin and only one of us was getting out of this smoke alive.
The assassin kept pushing his advantage and I had been cut a few times where my armor didn't cover. He was faster than I was that was for sure. I could feel myself tiring though and I knew if I didn't end this soon it would be me lying in a pool of my blood. My movements became more sluggish as I tried to keep up. Each time he cut me it drained more and more of my stamina. Damn! The bastard was using poison and there was only poison that reacted this way ... Crow Venom!
That's it! NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! The next time the Assassin got close to me I kicked him right between the legs! The assassin doubled over in pain and I followed that up with a head-butt that sent the assassin stumbling back. I then smashed his nose in with the pommel of Frost Bite. The assassin flew through the smoke and landed on the ground with a thud. I stumbled forward and stabbed the assassin through the heart. I yanked Frost Bite out of his chest and then stumbled forward out of the smoke.
I dropped to my knees and face planted into the ground.
"Sean!" Hawke exclaimed and rushed to my side. She turned me over and I got out two words.
"Crow ... venom."
Bethany, was at my side in an instant, with the girl right behind her. Bethany dug through her pouch and pulled out an Elfroot potion. Hawke pulled me into her lap and took the Elfroot potion from Bethany.
"Drink this, Sean." She said and her voice was laced with worry.
She tilted the flask up and slowly began pouring the potion into my mouth. I was dazed but still managed to swallow the contents of the flask. My head cleared a little then and I warmth flooded into me as Bethany went about healing my many cuts. I had a pretty good slash across my cheek that was thankfully under my eye. If he had cut me above my eye the blood would have trickled down and obscured my vision.
It took several minutes before the full effects of the potion hit me and I was fully aware of my surroundings. Not that I was looking at anything except Hawke. I was staring up into those eyes that I could just get lost in.
"Are you with us?" Hawke whispered with worry.
"Yeah," I managed to choke out. Elfroot potion tastes like crap and generally leaves a very bad taste in the mouth. Like all good medicine it's how you know it works. "I feel like crap but I'll be fine."
"You had me worried for a minute there," Hawke laughed but this wasn't a haha funny laugh, this was a scared laugh.
"I had myself worried for a minute there, too. If he hadn't thrown that smoke grenade everything would have been fine but he was too quick to react to in the smoke. He pissed me off with the poison though. So I kicked him in the nuts and head-butted him." I was rambling a bit. Sue me, I just had a near-death experience. I think I was entitled to a bit of rambling after that.
In any event, hearing how the fight had ended had Bethany and Carver laughing. Hawke merely shook her head in exasperation.
"What is it with you and head-butting people?"
"I have a hard head. I always win those battles." I said with a smirk. Okay, I think I might have been a bit concussed. Maybe that assassin had almost as hard a head as I do.
"Alright but please try to limit how often you actually head-butt people. I happen to like you the way you are and wouldn't want your brains to be scrambled."
"Scrambled brains suck," I said then. "You're really pretty, you know that? You're eyes are really pretty, too. They're all shiny and blue. Really blue like glittering gems or something."
Yes, I was definitely concussed and Bethany seemed to agree as she again hit me with a wave of healing energy. The fog that, apparently, had been over my head was gone and I was back to myself and a bit embarrassed by my remarks over the past couple of minutes. Hawke was blushing though so my concussed compliments must have been appreciated.
"You like my eyes?" She asked then. I took her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze.
"I love your eyes. I could get lost in them. I have on a few occasions."
"Thank you." She said then and slowly helped pull me to my feet.
She held on to me to make sure that I had my equilibrium back. We took a tentative step together and, when it was clear that I could walk on my own, she gave me a quick kiss before smacking me in the shoulder.
"Don't ever scare me like that again."
"I'll try but I'm a bit of a klutz."
Hawke laughed and then kissed me again before taking my hand in hers.
"Come on, the vault has to be close." She said to the others.
I walked next to Hawke as we went up a set of stairs to a door. Through the door was the vault. Carver went through the chest and, after several minutes of searching, pulled out the will.
"Got it," he said.
"Good, we should bring these back to mother but first I think we need to stop by the Clinic to see how these slaver's victims are doing and I'd like Anders and Bethany to check Sean out to make sure we didn't miss anything."
"Great, we're going to see my favorite person," I said sarcastically as we made our way back out of the vault and through the Estate.
"Look on the bright side, at least he won't be in lecturing mode." Carver responded.
"Have you ever, actually, dealt with any healers, who weren't your family? All they do is lecture. It's like part of the job description or something."
"It's your own fault," Bethany added, "If you had been quicker you wouldn't have been poisoned." I shot Bethany a look of disbelief.
"Do you not see the smoke? It's a little difficult not getting cut and slashed by daggers when you're surrounded by smoke and you're trying to protect people. I'd think you'd be a bit more grateful that I kept you and your new friend safe."
"I am," Bethany responded, "but you are too important to all of us to go and die on us. You're more family to us than Gamlen."
"That's setting the bar high," I laughed. "Not that the sentiment isn't appreciated."
So we made our way out of the Estate laughing and joking as we went. It had been a good day so far. We got the will for Leandra, we freed people from Slavers and I'm sure Anders was loving the fact that business was booming. We still hadn't found out the girl's name yet but I'm sure Bethany would get it from her in time. The girl simply clung to Bethany's arm like she would protect her from anything that came at them. She had a haunted look in her eyes though and I couldn't say I blamed her either. I couldn't shake the feeling that we had picked up somebody who would be more than just a random person we helped save. Bethany seemed really protective of the girl and made sure to keep her distanced from Carver and myself. I couldn't blame her for that. At the moment, any man could set her off after what was done to her. She would need to be nurtured and supported from here on out and if Bethany was willing to be the one to do it then who was I to deny her that.
It would be interesting to see what happened later tonight when we met up with Fenris ... Ah crap, Fenris. I'm a mage, he hates mages. My day might end up being more painful than I had originally planned. Oh well in times like these you simply had to roll with the punches and it was easier when a beautiful woman like Hawke was at your side.
A/N: Wow. Two chapters within a couple days of each other. This chapter really seemed to fly off the keyboard. In comparison, I completed this in about a day while chapter 8 took 4 or so. Originally, I had intended to get through Fenris and Isabela's recruitment in this chapter but this chapter pretty much wrote itself. It became clear pretty quickly that unless I wanted to post a 20,000 word chapter that I would have to split it up into more than one chapter.
Last chapter I made an unintentional error. Anders wasn't supposed to do Inferno it was supposed to be a Tempest. In fact, I actually wrote that both Anders and Bethany did an Inferno which really is a Firestorm in DA2. Sometimes it's a pain trying to remember which mages can do which spells and what they were called from game to game. I apologize for the error as it was something I should have noticed before I posted.
I'd again like to thank everybody who has taken the time to review. It really helps keep the creative juices flowing when you know how much people enjoy the story. I really appreciate the fact that everybody seems to like my style of writing as well as how I portray some characters both those who are directly from the game and the OCs present. So thanks again for all the positive feedback.
