A/N: New chapter finally! A bit of a delay on this one as well, as I was finishing up a gift fic which I have posted as a separate one-shot. It covers some of Ayla and Alistair's time during Awakenings and will be canon to their story, so if you're curious about what they've been doing between the events of Together and when they show up later in this story, check it out and let me know what you think :).
As for this chapter, we finally get to the Deep Roads here, and there will be at least one more Deep Roads chapter if not two, so I hope you all enjoy!
Thanks to everyone who has favorited, followed, and read the story so far - I'm glad you're enjoying it!
As always, extra special thanks to my awesome reviewers: BrotherCaptainShepherd, LostSpace, Ioialoha, Lethal Dragon, guest Judy, Tactus501st, Alkeni, WolFang1011, SophusMao, and Ben Gibbard. I can't reply to you directly Ben, so I'll say it here: I'm really happy you're enjoying everything I've written so far and your reviews and comments always make my day :).
PLEASE REVIEW EVERYONE! ANOTHER GIFT FIC WILL GO TO THE 100TH REVIEW!
Disclaimer: As always, any characters or dialogue you recognize belongs to Bioware. The rest is mine!
Chapter 11: The Deep Roads
"Hawke! This is a pleasant surprise. What brings you by the barracks?" Aveline stood up from the desk in her surprisingly large office lined with bookshelves, coming around the corner of the long desk and smiling at Brianna in greeting before she leaned on the edge of it. "I haven't seen you in a couple of months now."
"I know, I know," Brianna said with a sigh, smiling at her red-headed friend as she halted a few feet away. "I should have been up here to visit you before, but I thought you'd be too busy re-organizing the City Guard after you replaced Jeven. And I did send you a couple of offers to join our Wicked Grace games at the Hanged Man, which you turned down."
It was Aveline's turn to sigh as she nodded. "I know, Hawke, and I'm sorry. I have been busy. Jeven left things in such a mess that it's taken me quite a while to straighten it all out. I think I've nearly gotten it figured out now, and I have had some help from some of the other guardsmen. Maybe some night soon I can finally join you at the Hanged Man."
"So the guardsmen have been reacting well to you as their Captain?" Brianna asked curiously, and Aveline nodded, looking pleased. "Whatever happened to that one we saved from Jeven's ambush? Donald, was it?"
"Donnic," Aveline corrected her almost instantly, and her freckled face turned a light shade of pink as she went on, "He's doing very well. He's been . . . most helpful, actually."
Brianna had actually remembered Donnic's name perfectly well, along with the dazzled expression on his face when Aveline had charged to his rescue that night; she'd only pretended not to remember in order to see Aveline's reaction, which didn't disappoint. She grinned slyly at her friend. "Has he, now?"
"Yes, and not in the way you're thinking," Aveline added sternly, though her blush deepened, if anything. "I swear, you can be as bad as Varric sometimes. What did you come up here for, anyway?"
Brianna smiled, deciding to let the subject drop for now. She was simply pleased to see Aveline displaying any sort of interest in another man after what had happened to her husband Wesley during their escape from Ferelden, but she also knew that Aveline might not be quite ready to move on, and so she wouldn't push the subject. "Well actually, I came here to ask you for a favour. I've finally got enough money to join the expedition, and I'm meeting up with Varric shortly to discuss things before we go to see his brother Bartrand. The expedition leaves in less than a week, and I was hoping I could ask you to look in on Mother sometimes while I'm gone. I'll be away for at least a month, I think."
"Of course, Hawke, I'd be happy to make sure Leandra is doing well," Aveline replied instantly. "Does this mean you're planning on taking Carver with you?"
"I'm not sure," Brianna admitted, pacing away from Aveline and along the length of the red carpet covering the flagged stone floor of her office before she whirled and paced back to her friend. "He's very determined to come, but Mother would be so upset with me if I took him along. I haven't been able to decide yet."
Aveline frowned. "That's not like you, Hawke."
"I know." If there was one thing she never usually had trouble deciding on, it was who she wanted around to back her up on a job. But when it came to her family and her mother especially, it became so much more difficult to make a decision, particularly when she knew on some level that her mother still blamed her for Bethany. She shrugged helplessly at Aveline. "It's just hard to decide which one of them I want to hate me."
"Don't be ridiculous, Hawke. Neither one of them will hate you." When Brianna simply raised her eyebrows at Aveline, her friend went on, "You're exaggerating. They'll be disappointed at the most, and they'll get over it. Whether it's Carver or Leandra you end up disappointing, they will eventually forgive you. You know, I saw Carver in the marketplace the other day. It seems like he's grown up a bit in the past couple of months. For one thing, he didn't pester me about joining the guards again. Does that have something to do with one of your new companions he was mentioning?"
Brianna smiled. "He has grown up a bit recently, hasn't he? I think it might actually be due to two of our new companions." She told Aveline about Carver's attraction to Merrill, how he'd taken to walking the elven mage home and even asking others for help when it came to her. "I think she's been really good for him. He'd never willingly asked for my help before until she came along." She then told Aveline about Mardin as well, not everything, of course, but about how he'd been a Captain himself before coming here and had taken to training with Carver and Fenris nearly every day. "The training has been good for Carver as well, I think. He seems more confident, less . . . resentful of me, I suppose."
"He did seem to be much less of a tit," Aveline agreed, and Brianna laughed; Aveline's blunt honesty had always been one of her favourite things about her friend. "It's probably good for him to be out of your shadow, and to have somebody else to look up to at the same time. Do you think this former Captain would be willing to help train some of my guards, as well?"
"He might. You could ask him when we get back from the expedition. I am taking him with me, and Varric, of course. They're the only ones I've decided on for sure," Brianna told her. "Isabela, our other new addition, isn't interested, and I don't think Merrill will do well underground. You're obviously too busy, so that just leaves me with Carver, Anders, and Fenris for my other choices."
"You know I would come along if I could, Hawke, but now that I'm Guard Captain, I can't afford to be away for that long," Aveline said regretfully. "As for Carver, though, if he wants to come along, I think you should bring him. If the only reason you're not bringing him is that you're worried about him getting hurt, or what Leandra would say, that's not fair to him. If you think he wouldn't be useful, then leave him behind. But otherwise. . ." she shrugged her plate-clad shoulders. "He's not a child, Hawke. It's not up to you to make his decisions for him anymore."
"I'll think about it. I'm going to meet with Varric and Mardin right now, to plan out the expedition. I'll probably end up deciding then." Brianna knew, however, that Aveline had a point. She wasn't debating leaving Carver behind for any strategic reason, only because of what her mother would say and because of the image of Bethany dying at the hands of an ogre that wouldn't leave her mind. They might even run into an ogre on this expedition; they were going down into the Deep Roads, after all. But Carver wasn't a child, and he had decided to come along on his own. Was it really her place to protect him from his decisions any longer? She shook her head. She would see what Mardin and Varric said first before she decided anything for certain. She looked back at Aveline. "Anyway, whether I take Carver with me or not, I would still appreciate you checking in on Mother. And once I'm safely back with all my treasure, we'll celebrate at the Hanged Man."
"Of course. Send me word when you leave, and I'll make sure to find the time to look in on Leandra," Aveline said with a nod. "And send me word when you get back, also, and I'll find the time to come down to the Hanged Man. If you insist, that is."
Brianna grinned at her friend. "Of course I do. And thank you, Aveline."
"Anytime, Hawke," Aveline told her. "You don't even have to ask."
"I really do appreciate it. But I'd better be going now; I don't want to be late to meet Varric." Brianna gave Aveline a quick wave and a salute. "Goodbye, Guard Captain!" She laughed when Aveline shook her head in exasperation before she slipped out the office door, closing it carefully behind her.
It didn't take her long to make her way through the early morning crowd in the Keep and back down to Lowtown, where she headed promptly to the Hanged Man and up to Varric's suite. Mardin was already seated at the long table with Varric, eating from a bowl of mystery meat stew while Varric drank from a mug of ale. Varric raised the mug to her in salute as she took the chair opposite Mardin. "There you are, Hawke! How's our favourite Guard Captain?"
Brianna stared at Varric in surprise. She hadn't told anyone she'd been going to visit Aveline this morning, as it was a sudden impulse that had struck her at breakfast when her mother had asked how long she'd be gone on the expedition. "How did you know I went to see Aveline?"
Varric snorted, setting the mug down. "Please, Hawke. Information is what I do."
"Ah," Brianna said, suddenly understanding. "You have a spy following me around."
"I am insulted that you would even imply such a thing," Varric said loftily. "I don't have a spy following you around." When Brianna simply stared doubtfully at him, Varric grinned. "I have several."
Brianna laughed, shaking her head at the dwarf. She didn't doubt his statement was entirely true, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to be mad at him about it. "If you must know, Aveline is doing quite well. She's nearly got all of Jeven's mess cleaned up and might be able to join us for a celebration when we get back."
"Well, we'd better get planning then, hadn't we?" Varric shuffled through some papers on his table, frowning before he apparently produced the one he wanted, pulling out a stub of lead as well and looking up at her. "Have you decided who you're bringing along?"
"Not entirely," Brianna admitted. "Any thoughts on that?" She looked to Mardin as she asked, noticing that he did seem a bit subdued lately. She tried to firmly repress the part of her that missed his smooth confidence, charming words and heated looks. It was his own fault if he was feeling bad, and she hadn't even begun to decide if she was ready to give him a second chance or not. Besides, she had much more pressing concerns at the moment.
"Well, as I said, I don't know much about the Deep Roads," he answered her with a shrug. "In terms of planning a mission, though, it's best to take someone with you who knows the lay of the land and what to expect."
"That'd be Blondie, then," Varric said. "Nobody knows the Deep Roads better than a Warden. He isn't too keen on the idea, but if you asked him, Hawke, I'm sure he'd agree."
Brianna nodded slowly, considering the idea as Mardin added, "And if it's as dangerous down there as you say, and we will be down there for some time, it would be best to have as much healing magic as we can. It would also probably be best to make sure that everyone you do bring along works well together."
"You mean Fenris shouldn't come if Anders does," Brianna supplied. The more she thought about it, the more the advice seemed sound; it was difficult enough to keep them from ripping each other's throats out on regular jobs. She didn't want to imagine how difficult a few weeks trapped down in the Deep Roads with them would be.
Mardin nodded. "I like Fenris, and he's a very skilled swordsman, but it wouldn't be worth playing peacekeeper the whole time. Anders would be of more value."
"What about Junior?" Varric asked, looking up at Brianna expectantly from his paper.
She hesitated, glancing back and forth between the two. "About that . . . I haven't really decided if I'm going to bring Carver along or not."
"He is the logical choice," Mardin pointed out, though his gaze was suddenly sympathetic as it met hers. "We'll need his sword if we're not bringing Fenris along, and he gets along well enough with Anders, doesn't he?"
She nodded reluctantly. "He does, it's just that . . ."
"You're afraid Mama Hawke will kill you if you bring him along?" Varric finished for her, and she nodded again, sighing.
"She's very against the idea. She reminds me of that nearly daily," she told Mardin. "She doesn't want anything to happen to him, and well . . . neither do I."
"He wants to go, though. He seems very excited about it . . . and the decision is his. Look, I know it's hard." Mardin reached out and laid his hand gently over hers, which were gripped together tightly on top of the table as she struggled to make up her mind. He wasn't wearing his gloves at the moment, so the warmth of his calloused hand enveloped her usually cold hands as he squeezed them lightly. She was surprised at the sudden feeling of comfort that washed over her as he went on, "Do you think I wanted to send my sister out on any risky missions after she joined the Order? But joining the Order was something she'd decided to do for herself, and it wouldn't have been fair to her if I went against that decision by making sure she stayed behind. It also wouldn't have been fair to the others if I'd endangered them more by keeping her safe. It killed me a little inside every time, but I had to be the Captain first before I was her brother."
His words brought back their earlier conversation about Bethany, and about accepting that their younger siblings were capable of making decisions of their own. She let out a long breath, realizing he was just as right as Aveline had been, and what's more, he understood how she felt about it in a way that Aveline didn't. Yet he was still telling her that she had to put logic first, before emotions, if she was going to lead properly, and she knew it was sound advice, as much as she hated it. She couldn't stop herself from unfolding her hands and threading the fingers of her right hand through his, needing the comfort it gave her. He looked startled at her action, his eyes flashing up to hers, suddenly that softer, deeper blue she had only seen once before. She liked it just as much as she had then, though, and she smiled gratefully at him, squeezing his hand lightly. "You're right," she said softly, "and honestly, Aveline said the same thing – that if Carver has decided to come, I should only tell him no if I don't think he can help. And I know he can."
"Well, then, I'll add Junior to the list." Varric's cheerful declaration was like a dash of cold water on Brianna's senses as she suddenly remembered she and Mardin were not alone; she quickly snatched her hands back to her own lap, trying to suppress the blush that wanted to rise on her cheeks.
"Uh, yes," she agreed quickly, her eyes darting once again between Mardin and Varric. Mardin, of course, didn't look embarrassed at all, while Varric was smiling slyly. Trying to distract her dwarven friend, she went on, "I'll bring Carver along, and Mother will just have to accept it. Eventually she'll stop being mad at me – I hope. So, it will be you, me, Mardin, Anders, and Carver."
Varric apparently decided to go easy on her, for he simply nodded and continued, "Right, now that's decided, let's figure out what we need to bring along before we go see Bartrand."
The three of them spent a few more minutes discussing what sort of supplies they needed to bring along before Varric declared it was time to go meet Bartrand. They made their way to Hightown, Varric leading them to a marbled courtyard out in front of a building flanked by large statues of dwarves. In front of the statues was a dwarf with blonde hair much like Varric's, directing several dwarven workers in moving and packing various supplies. He turned as they approached, and Brianna noticed that unlike Varric, he sported an elaborate mustache and beard, braided on both sides. He wore a heavy tunic of red, black, brown, and gold, covered in a variety of buckles, and his pale blue eyes narrowed suspiciously as the three of them stopped a few feet away, Varric out in front. "Varric, where have you been? And what are you planning?"
"Bartrand! " Varric exclaimed, waving his hands. "So suspicious! I have, in fact, brought us our future partner!" He gestured to Brianna, who nodded in greeting to the other dwarf, who looked anything but happy to see her.
"What? Partner! You stupid, nug-humping dirt farmer!" Bartrand snapped. "Why did you go promising something like that?"
"Because if we don't get this expedition moving, brother, then we won't have any profits to argue about, will we?" Varric said reasonably.
"Hmph." Bartrand deflated somewhat as he looked at Varric. "Maybe you have a point."
"I feel comforted by all the love here," Brianna said dryly.
"What I'd love is the coin to back up my brother's confidence," Bartrand retorted. "How about it, human? You have fifty sovereigns?"
"We are talking a full share here, right?" Brianna asked, not yet reaching for the heavy pouch she wore on her belt, which contained all of her hard-earned money from the past several months.
"If you have the coin, sure," Bartrand said with a careless shrug. "You'll get a full share."
"It seems like an awful lot of coin for an expedition," Brianna prodded. Though she'd already known how much she needed, of course, she wanted to hear what Bartrand's reasoning was for the amount.
"We're going lower into the Deep Roads than anyone's ever dared. Who knows what we'll find down there? But that means food and equipment and hirelings," Bartrand explained, his eyes narrowing in annoyance as he added, "None of that comes bloody cheap."
Brianna nodded, satisfied with his reasoning as she took out the pouch and handed it over, letting the full weight of it thump into Bartrand's outstretched hand. "I do have your coin, in fact."
Bartrand opened the pouch up almost instantly, his eyes doing a quick sweep of the contents before he looked back up at her. "You're joking."
"What did I tell you, Bartrand?" Varric asked, his voice full of pride. "Not bad for a human."
"All right, partner. Full share of the profit between you, me, and Varric," Bartrand said as he gestured between the three of them. "Now we just need a decent entrance into the Deep Roads."
Having expected this as well, thanks to Varric, Brianna dug the maps Anders had given her so long ago after they'd first met out of the pockets of her robes, handing them over to Bartrand as well. "These might be just what we need."
"What's this?" Bartrand studied the maps carefully, turning them first one way and then the other. "Three . . . four entrances into the Deep Roads, all in the Free Marches? Where did you get these?" He looked up at her with a sudden flash of respect in his eyes.
Brianna shrugged, not wanting to give Anders away. "I have my sources."
"Well, color me astounded!" Bartrand exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "We just pick the most promising one and go! Time to wrap up any business you have in the city, my friend. We'll be gone for several weeks at least. We'll be leaving from this courtyard at dawn, six days from now. You'd best be here and ready to leave."
"We will," Brianna promised, and with that, Bartrand turned and headed back over to his workers.
Seeing that they had apparently been dismissed, Brianna shrugged and turned to leave as well, Mardin and Varric following. She looked over at Mardin, realizing he'd been quiet the whole time, only to see him frowning deeply. Before she could ask him what was wrong, Varric piped up from her other side. "You did it, Hawke! We're all going to be rich!"
"I certainly hope so," she answered, smiling slightly at Varric's enthusiasm. "I couldn't have done it without you, though."
Varric waved her statement off, looking a bit embarrassed. "I just told you what tools you needed. You're the one who got them."
"With a lot of help from you," Brianna pointed out. "And everyone else, of course."
"Varric," Mardin began, interrupting whatever the dwarf had been about to say in reply, "I hate to ask you this, but . . . are you sure we can trust your brother?"
Brianna whipped her head around to look at Mardin, surprised as she suddenly realized why he'd been frowning. True, Bartrand had not given the impression of being a nice or likable sort of person at all, unlike Varric, but could he actually be dangerous?
Varric looked equally surprised as he glanced at Mardin, frowning. "Bartrand set off those instincts of yours? Really?"
Mardin nodded. "Nothing specific, just a . . . general feeling that he wasn't trustworthy."
"Oh." Varric's expression cleared, and he shrugged. "It's probably just because of money. Bartrand's cheap, and he might try to cheat us out of our fair share. Not to worry, though, I'll keep an eye on him. He's not a fighter, though. The only danger he might be to us – especially with you and Hawke around – is to our coin purses."
Brianna let out a sigh of relief, satisfied with Varric's explanation; a greedy dwarf was easy to believe, and now that Varric had pointed it out, she certainly couldn't see him trying to attack any of them, or succeeding in an attack even if he did try it. After a moment of studying Varric's face, Mardin nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer as well. "I'm sorry," Mardin added quietly. "I know he is your brother, but I needed to know."
"No, don't worry about it." Varric waved his hand, not looking offended in the slightest. "Bartrand might be my brother, but he's not exactly my favourite person, either. Anyway, we should start getting everything ready. Hawke, you need to talk Blondie into coming, and I'll see about getting those supplies together."
"Right," Brianna nodded as they prepared to part ways at the steps down into Lowtown. "I'll let Carver know he's coming, as well, and get together whatever supplies I can. Let's just hope that six days is enough to get everything ready." And that we actually find something down there. She didn't think she could bear it if the expedition was a dead end, not after so much time preparing for it; she only hoped that they would find the treasure down there that she needed to provide her family with a better life. She prayed to the Maker that everything would go well as she waved goodbye to Varric before heading off to make her final preparations for the expedition.
"So are you ready?" Bartrand demanded as Brianna approached him in the courtyard six days later, with Carver, Mardin, Varric and a reluctant Anders in tow. "It's a long trek. If you have any other supplies that you need, you'd better get them now, because we're not coming back."
"We're ready," Brianna told him firmly. She'd gone over everything time and again in the last six days to ensure they had as many supplies as they could possibly carry without being overburdened, and that everyone was as prepared as could be. She'd had plenty of time, considering she hadn't taken any other jobs during those days and her mother hadn't spoken to her after she'd revealed her decision to take Carver, so she was quite certain there was nothing left to do. "Let's get started."
"Then let's not waste any more time," Bartrand declared before he turned to the assembled workers behind them, shouting to all the dwarves to line up and listen. They all scrambled into place behind Brianna and the others as Bartrand paced back and forth, addressing the assembled crowd. "We've chosen one of the hidden entrances. The Deep Roads there will be nice and virginal, ready for a good deflowering."
Mardin snorted behind her at the same time as Varric chuckled softly, whispering, "Now there's an interesting image."
Brianna shushed them even as she suppressed a smile of her own, shaking her head at them as Bartrand went on, "It'll take a week for us to get to the depth we need, and there are bound to be leftover darkspawn from the Blight. Big risks, big rewards."
"I don't mind the risks as long as the rewards are just as big," Brianna told him, hoping that however risky this venture might be, they would all get through it.
"Oh, they will be," Bartrand assured her, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Now, before we . . . wait." He suddenly cut himself off as he looked over the heads of the assembled crowd. "Who invited the old woman?"
Brianna turned to look in the same direction, and sighed as she saw her mother approaching, her faded yellow and blue dress flapping in the early morning wind as she hurried towards them. "I'm sorry to interrupt, ser dwarf, but I need to speak with my children."
"Fine, just make it quick," Bartrand grumbled, waving his hand at them.
Brianna led her mother over to a corner of the courtyard, several feet away from the others, as Bartrand continued his speech, Carver following her. As soon as they were safely out of earshot of the others, Carver turned pleading eyes on their mother. "Mother, no. We talked about how important this is."
Their mother ignored him entirely, turning her gaze on Brianna instead, for the first time in several days. Her blue eyes were full of worry and desperation, her face lined with the sorrow of the last few years, as she demanded, "Are you really planning on going through with this? On taking Carver with you on such a dangerous expedition?"
Brianna sighed, wishing that her mother hadn't had to endure so much that it had made her hair gray and her face so lined before her time – and that her mother would for once attempt to understand the choices she'd made. "We've talked about this, Mother, over and over. I can't leave Carver behind. I need him. Besides, it's his choice to go, not yours or mine."
"I'm going," Carver added firmly, though he sent Brianna a grateful look, which made her wonder if it was the first time he'd ever done so. "It'll be fine."
"It's not fine!" their mother cried, throwing up her hands, tears starting to spill down her face. "You can't both go! What if something were to happen to you?" Brianna noticed with a slight twist of bitterness in her heart that those last words seemed to be directed mainly at Carver before her mother turned to her, adding with a slight venom to her tone, "You I understand wanting to do this. But leave your brother here, I beg you!"
"I said I'm going," Carver told their mother again, his tone one of unshakable conviction. "You are not going to convince me otherwise, Mother."
"We need to go," Brianna added softly, seeing that Bartrand had wound up his speech and Varric was waving frantically at them.
She started to move towards the others, Carver following her, but their mother raced into their path, planting herself directly in front of Carver, crying out, "Carver, I beg you! Don't go! Don't do this!"
"Don't worry about me so," Carver told her gently, taking hold of her hands in his. "I can take care of myself, you'll see."
"It will be okay," Brianna assured her. "We'll be back before you know it, with plenty of riches to reclaim your former home."
Their mother looked up at Carver in mute distress, tears pouring out in earnest now, before she shook her head and let go of his hands. She shot a glare at Brianna that pierced through her heart before she stalked away without a further word.
Brianna sighed deeply. "Maker. Let's hope she gets over hating me by the time we make it back."
"She doesn't hate you, she's just mad right now, that's all. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you when we return," Carver reassured her.
"I hope you're right," Brianna muttered.
"Well, you were right about Merrill forgiving me for that whole Feynriel incident, and I'm right about this," Carver told her firmly.
Brianna smiled, remembering how Merrill had indeed given Carver a tearful hug goodbye last night at the Hanged Man, and how very red her little brother had turned at the gesture, though he'd looked quite pleased as well. "I suppose that's true, so long as Mother is as forgiving as Merrill."
"Personal drama over with?" Bartrand shouted at them, and Brianna nodded, picking up the pace to rejoin them as Carver hurried along with her. "Then let's get underway," Bartrand finished as they reached him.
"Been a long time coming, eh, brother?" Varric said, grinning.
"That it has. The Deep Roads await!" Bartrand marched ahead of the group, gesturing to everyone to fall in line behind him as he began to lead the way out of Hightown towards the gates.
"Are you all right?" Mardin asked Brianna quietly as they followed Bartrand through the city.
She looked up at him, noticing the concerned look shining out of his eyes as they remained carefully fixed on her, and felt more grateful than she would have expected to be, especially after the look her mother had cast her earlier. "I will be, once we all come back safely, hopefully with large piles of treasure, and Mother forgives me."
"She will. Parents can never stay mad at their children." He laughed softly. "Father could be scary sometimes, but he always got over it. She will too, I'm sure. And . . . I'll do everything I can to help you protect Carver, and bring back what you need for your family. I swear it."
Brianna felt herself shaken by his vow, by the intense conviction in his gaze, and by the warmth that swelled up in her heart in reaction to it. "I believe you. And . . . thank you."
He simply nodded in reply, and Brianna found she had to turn away from the intensity of his gaze, her pulse speeding and her blood heating. Maybe she could find it in her heart to forgive him after all, and give him a second chance. She would decide once they were back safely. If the expedition succeeded, she would be able to give her family everything they needed, as he'd said, and she would finally be able to focus on what she wanted. If she was lucky, she might end up with a far better future than she'd ever hoped for. And if she wasn't lucky . . . well, she would simply have to find a way to deal with that, she thought as they left the city, starting on their journey towards the Deep Roads.
It had taken them a week's travel to even reach the entrance to the Deep Roads Bartrand had selected on the map, and it had taken another week for them to reach the depth they were currently at. The first week had been nothing, an ordinary week on the road that had reminded Mardin of his time with the Order. This past week down in the Deep Roads themselves, however, had been one of the worst weeks of his life, most likely only second to the week Ayla had been missing before he'd found out where she had gone.
Anders had tried to tell him what the Deep Roads were like in that final few days before they'd left Kirkwall, and had even related to him how Ayla felt about them. Even with that explanation, however, what Mardin had imagined came nowhere close to the reality of it.
First and foremost was the complete lack of fresh air to breathe in; the air down here was hot and humid and hung about one like a heavy blanket you could never push aside. Mardin felt that he could have cheerfully killed someone just to breathe in fresh, crisp air. Then, too, there was the constant and overwhelming stench of death and decay and rot everywhere that had him in a near constant state of nausea, and almost unable to identify any other smells properly unless they were quite fresh or particularly strong. He had also not realized how very much he would miss the sun and sky and the feel of nature around him, or how caged in he would feel by the rock walls surrounding him, but worst of all was the fact that his instincts kept him on constant alert, for there was danger everywhere they went down here. He did his best to hold it together, though, for he was determined to keep his promise to Brianna. He would get her and the others out of here safely and with the riches she needed for her family, no matter how much he hated it down here.
He kept reminding himself of that promise constantly; of how upset she'd looked when her mother had confronted her over bringing Carver along, and how badly he'd wanted to make her feel better. It was one of the only things helping him keep his sanity down here whenever he felt overwhelmed, like right now when Bartrand had called a halt and he was doing his best not to breathe through his nose for fear he'd vomit.
At the precise moment when he thought his stomach might lose the battle, he heard the sound of running footsteps echoing off the cavern walls around them and looked up from where he was seated on one of the rocks to the side of the path to see one of the forward scouts running up to Bartrand. "There's been a collapse – the way forward is blocked," the scout explained hastily as he stopped in front of Bartrand.
"What?" Bartrand snarled angrily. "Is there some way around?" He began to advance toward the scout, who backed up nervously, shaking his head.
"Not that I've been able to find," the scout stammered. "The side passages are too dangerous."
Bartrand nodded, studying the other man for a moment before he suddenly punched him hard in the face, knocking him to the ground. Mardin frowned, his nausea forgotten as he got to his feet; the uncomfortable twinge in his gut that looking at Bartrand caused him from the moment he'd met the dwarf had only been getting stronger the deeper they went, and was at nearly alarming levels now as Bartrand leaned over the man, growling, "Useless! What am I paying you blighters for?"
Mardin moved to intercept Bartrand as he charged at the other workers, but Varric stepped quickly in front of him. "Come on, Red. He doesn't mean it; he's just frustrated. I'll take care of it."
Mardin looked down at Varric for a long moment, and the pleading expression on the dwarf's face before he finally nodded. He liked Varric, and he didn't want to sabotage his friendship with the dwarf over Bartrand's unorthodox leadership. He would simply have to keep a closer eye on the other dwarf and hope that the shouting and occasional punch was as bad as it got.
"Set up camp!" Bartrand shouted as Varric went up to him. Mardin sidled a little closer so he could overhear their conversation, wishing as he did so that he possessed his sister's hearing. He noticed Brianna coming up next to him from where she'd been seated further back, talking to Carver, just as Varric asked, "Problems, brother?"
"Sodding Deep Roads!" Bartrand fumed, pacing back and forth as the workers scrambled to set up camp in the cavern they were currently holed up in. "Who knows how long it'll take to clear the path!"
"Shall we not try to find a way around, instead?" Varric suggested quietly to his brother while Mardin strained to make out what he was saying. "Seems like the logical choice."
"You think I'm an idiot, Varric?" Bartrand demanded, whirling on his brother. "The scouts say the side passages are too dangerous!"
Mardin frowned, not liking how angry Bartrand looked or how close he was to Varric at the moment, and obviously Brianna agreed, for she walked up to Bartrand quickly, saying calmly, "Good thing we're not scouts, then. Isn't that what we're here for, to handle the dangerous stuff?"
Varric nodded, looking relieved at her intervention as he added, "We'll take a look. If we come running back, screaming, you'll know staying put was the right decision."
"Fine, fine!" Bartrand threw his hands up impatiently. "Find a way around. Just do it quickly!"
With that, he stormed off towards the back of their group, nearly running into Carver and Anders who were moving to rejoin them as he went. Brianna looked down at Varric, raising her eyebrows, and Varric simply shrugged.
"You're sure it's all right, Varric?" Mardin asked him quietly. He didn't want to keep pushing, but Bartrand seemed unstable at best.
"It's fine," Varric said, nodding. "He's always been like this when things don't go the way he wants. As soon as we find a way around, he'll cheer up. So let's go."
"No point in just sitting and waiting here," Brianna agreed. "Let's go up ahead and check out one of those side passages."
The five of them had just started to leave the area when another dwarf hurried up to Brianna, this one with sandy blonde hair and a red and gold tunic. Mardin recognized him as one of the merchants who'd come along to help keep them supplied; Bodahn, if he remembered correctly. "I hate to add to your burdens, my friends, but I fear I must. I fear my boy, Sandal, wandered off. He's somewhere in those passages, right now!" Bodahn gestured frantically behind him at the winding tunnels beyond. "I beg you, keep an eye out for him. He just . . . doesn't understand danger like he should!"
"When did you last see him?" Brianna asked gently.
"Not a half hour ago! I turned my back to hand out rations, and he was gone!" Bodahn explained anxiously. "He gets so easily distracted. Ah, I should have been harsher with my warnings!"
"His trail should still be fairly fresh, then," Mardin said when Brianna looked up at him expectantly. "I just might be able to track him; it's hard to say down here, though."
Brianna nodded, turning back to Bodahn. "We'll bring him back in one piece, if we can. It's awfully dangerous for one person out there alone."
"Thank you, serah," Bodahn replied gratefully. "I just can't believe he's run off like this!"
"We'd better move quickly," Varric said, and Bodahn nodded, stepping aside to allow them to continue.
Mardin took point as they began to make their way through the caverns, doing his best to try to pick up a scent trail beneath the overwhelming stench as they moved along. It didn't take long before he had to admit defeat, however, and they elected to simply keep a close eye out for the dwarven boy while they searched for an alternate route.
The tunnels eventually led to a paved section of road, crumbled and dusty from disuse, and they followed it for a good distance before Anders called out a warning. They were attacked shortly after by a band of darkspawn; fortunately there were only a half-dozen of the creatures, and it didn't take long before they were victorious. Though this wasn't the first band of darkspawn they'd encountered, Mardin still found himself unnerved by the grotesque creatures and the sheer perversion of nature they represented. He was only too happy to leave their corpses behind as they continued their way along the many ancient roads and crumbling staircases. They encountered a few more bands of darkspawn and some abnormally large spiders as well before they finally came out into a large cavern to witness the strangest sight yet.
There, in the midst of a pile of darkspawn bodies, stood a lone dwarf, seemingly unharmed and cheerfully whistling a low tune to himself. They all halted in shock for a moment before Varric said in awe, "Well I'll be a nug's uncle. Isn't that Bodahn's boy?"
"It must be," Brianna agreed, starting towards the dwarf again. He turned towards her as she approached, grinning widely at her, his blue eyes shining as he offered a simple, "Hello."
"It is!" Carver exclaimed with a laugh as the rest of them followed Brianna over, and Mardin noticed that the young dwarf was wearing a red and gold tunic that matched his father's, and even had similar sandy blonde hair, though he sported no beard. "The great warrior stands victorious!" Carver added, studying the circle of darkspawn around the young boy.
The dwarven boy simply smiled innocently at them, and Mardin frowned, wondering just how he'd managed to kill so many darkspawn without a scratch on him. And more importantly, he thought, his gaze darting to an ogre several yards beyond Sandal, how had he frozen that ogre in place in what appeared to be some sort of blue crystal?
"I'd really like to know how you managed to kill all of them," Brianna said, echoing his thoughts as she smiled down at Sandal.
Sandal held out what appeared to be a rock engraved with some sort of rune to her, and after a moment's hesitation, Brianna took it carefully from him. "Boom," Sandal told her with a grin.
Brianna nodded, looking beyond Sandal to the ogre just as Mardin had. "And how did you do that?" She gestured to the ogre.
"Not enchantment," was all Sandal said before he walked past them, taking the tunnel they'd entered the cavern from.
"Do you think he'll find his way back okay?" Brianna asked as they watched the young dwarf leave.
"Well, if he's capable of doing all this, I'm sure he can find his way back," Mardin said with a shrug as he watched Sandal trundle off, still curious as to how a dwarf with no weapons had managed to defeat so many darkspawn so easily.
"He's a smart boy," Varric agreed. "And we still need to find a way past that cave-in. Come on, let's go."
They started forward again, skirting carefully around the frozen ogre before continuing on down the next tunnel. It took another couple of hours of making their way through more tunnels and caverns before they finally came upon an elaborate, well-constructed room full of statues with a flight of stairs leading up to a large set of double doors. "Ah, here we go," Varric said in satisfaction as he looked over at the map Carver was carrying. "This goes right where we want it to. Let's go back and tell Bartrand. He'll be so pleased."
They hurried back to camp as rapidly as they could, discovering once they'd arrived that Sandal had indeed made it back safely, which led to Bodahn thanking them profusely while Brianna tried to explain that Sandal had actually saved himself, though Bodahn seemed deaf to her words as he claimed that he owed his boy's life to her. Varric, meanwhile, went straight to Bartrand to tell him they'd found a way around, and soon enough, the entire camp had picked up and moved beyond the cave-in to the next section of the Deep Roads.
Once they were beyond the entrance they'd found, they stopped for a few hours of rest before moving on again, and the very next day, they finally found what Mardin assumed they had been looking for; an elegantly detailed set of ruins built into a cavern wall ahead of them, looking not unlike a castle with its spires and towers, though it glowed with an eerie red light that most definitely did not belong to any torches. Mardin should have felt awe looking at it, for he could see that emotion reflected on the faces of his companions, but he could only feel a sense of impending doom and a strong desire to turn back and go the other way. In fact, he could not recall the last time he had felt so panicked, yet he didn't know why. It was just a ruin, and the whole of the Deep Roads was dangerous; how could this particular area be any worse? He had no explanation for it, so he said nothing as the others stared.
"Holy shit," Varric said at last, his tone one of utter awe.
"Is this what you were expecting?" Brianna asked, glancing over at Bartrand, who had joined them at the bottom of the path leading up to the ruins.
Bartrand shook his head slowly. "I thought . . . an abandoned thaig, something old, but . . . what is this?"
"It looks almost like a castle of some sort," Brianna answered. "How did you even know it was here?"
"Old scavenger tales," Bartrand told her, still not tearing his gaze away from the ruins before them. "After the Third Blight. A week below the surface, they said, but nobody believed them . . ."
"Looks like they were right," Varric offered.
After another long moment of looking, Bartrand turned back to the workers behind them, shouting, "Make camp here! We need to look around."
"We'll go on ahead and explore it a bit," Brianna said, and Bartrand simply nodded, waving his hand at her as he moved to direct the workers setting up camp.
"You know, I've never seen anything like this before in the Deep Roads," Anders murmured to Mardin as they climbed the path behind Brianna and Carver, Varric bringing up the rear. "And I have to say, I don't really like the look of the place."
"Neither do I," Mardin admitted. "It feels wrong, even more so than the Deep Roads themselves, but . . . how could it really be any worse?"
Anders frowned. "I don't know, but let's hope we don't find out. I hate the blighted Deep Roads enough as it is."
"Me too," Mardin muttered in agreement, and they continued on in silence after that, Mardin sincerely hoping that his instincts were steering him wrong this time.
The first part of the ruin they entered when they reached the top of the path was nothing more than hallways, and it was some time before they finally found an ancient looking door, which led to yet another hallway, this one more intact than the previous ones and lined with immense black statues. At the end of this hallway was a large, thick door of heavy stone that took all of Mardin's strength to push open.
The room beyond was large, filled with a strange red light that seemed to come from the top of a long flight of stairs that led up between cracked and crumbling pillars. Brianna led the way up the stairs, and at the top, they discovered what looked like an altar of sorts. It was nothing but a plain slab of stone with no decorations on it, and the only thing that lay on its flat surface was an idol constructed of a dark red crystal that glowed with that same eerie light. It seemed to pulse as Brianna approached it, and Mardin felt suddenly sick to his stomach, the hairs on the back of his neck rising up as a sensation of panic overwhelmed him. "Don't touch it!" he cried.
Brianna whirled to look at him, stopping just short of putting her hand on the idol. "Why not?"
He shook his head, feeling so violently ill that he couldn't find words to answer her. She hurried over to his side, reaching up to press a hand to his forehead, which he suddenly realized was clammy with sweat. "Are you all right?" she asked anxiously. "You look terrible."
"I'm . . . I don't know," he managed, struggling to find words, let alone say them out loud as she gently brushed the hair away from his forehead, her violet eyes shining with worry.
He was so distracted by the feel of Brianna's cool hand on his forehead and the spreading warmth of her healing magic that he didn't immediately notice that Varric had approached the idol until the dwarf said in a tone of awe, "Is that . . . lyrium?"
"It's definitely magic. And not the good kind," Anders answered, frowning, darting a glance between Mardin and the idol.
"I think Mardin's right, we shouldn't touch it. There's something . . . wrong with that thing," Carver added, looking concerned, and Mardin nodded in agreement, still finding himself unable to speak properly, wondering why Brianna's healing spell seemed to be providing no relief to the feeling of sickness permeating his body. In fact, he was starting to struggle for air as well, feeling as though something heavy sat on his chest and would only allow him short, shallow breaths.
Varric, however, seemed both oblivious to his struggle and to anything the others were saying as he picked up the idol. It stopped its pulsing in Varric's hand as he studied it closely, his eyes gleaming. "Doesn't look like any kind of lyrium I've ever seen, that's for sure."
Mardin noticed at that moment that Bartrand had come through the door at the bottom of the stairs where they had come in earlier, and Varric turned to him, grinning as he called down, "Look at this, Bartrand. An idol made out of pure lyrium, I think. Could be worth a fortune."
Bartrand whistled lowly, looking up at the idol with an expression that Mardin could only describe as pure greed as he answered, "You could be right. Excellent find."
No. Something is wrong, so very wrong. Why can't I say anything? Why can't I move? How am I supposed to protect them like this?! Mardin could feel the uncomfortable twinge in his gut that Bartrand had always brought out piercing through him tenfold now, so strongly that he wanted to reach for his sword, but he couldn't. He felt entirely frozen in place, unable to move or speak as Bartrand reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Not bad," Varric went on, nodding at his brother. "We'll take a look around, see if there's anything further in." He tossed the idol down to Bartrand at the bottom of the stairs, who caught it neatly.
"You do that," Bartrand replied, almost absent-mindedly as he turned and headed for the door.
As the idol got further away from him, Mardin could feel slow, tingling life returning to his limbs, and words suddenly burst forth from his mouth, though he had no idea where exactly they came from. "Brianna, the door!"
Brianna's eyes widened, and she spun away from him, abruptly cutting off her healing spell as she looked down to the bottom of the stairs to see that Bartrand was starting to swing the door shut. She raced towards him, Anders and Carver hot on her heels, Mardin stumbling after her as soon as he was able to move his feet, but they were all too late. The door slammed shut with a terrifying finality, leaving them trapped within.