Chapter 14: Satisfaction

Marian sent out a shockwave throwing back the first row of demon spawn. Fenris had acquired two borrowed swords on their path through the manor and with lyrium fueled rage he now brandished both of them mowing down the second row. It's her, it's her, it's HER, he chanted in his head. As soon as he had felt the sickening misery that was her magic, as soon as he smelled its caustic stench, something tore open inside of him. Violent hatred poured out of the tear in his very soul and he was electrified in anticipation of finally getting to rip that bitch to shreds.

The two of them fought back the Fade monsters in a savage mess of ichor, ash and blood. Fenris was vaguely aware that Marian saw the change in him. A small part of him wondered what she thought of the tortured smile on his face; of the sight of him salivating like a rabid dog at the thought that on the other side of these demons was Hadriana. And he could smell her fear.

The cool waves of Marian's magic enveloped him. She was trying to calm him, fortify him, heal him but he would not have it. His lyrium pushed back at her magic, burning brighter and shutting out everything besides his hate. The hoard of demons was thinning now, and Fenris advanced through one of the doors; his eyes and ears wildly searching for his prey. He was in a suite of rooms that had clearly recently been used for ritual blood magic. Barricades had been hastily positioned against doors and magical wards were sparking and crackling as the lyrium in his limbs pushed them aside. He was hurling furniture out of his path when Marian came up behind him. Her hesitant hand hovered near his arm but she dared not touch him.

"Fenris," He heard his name, but it was muffled by his wrath and he threw another chair across the room. "Fenris," again he heard and this time she grabbed hold of his arm. Where she touched him the lyrium died into dullness and he actually felt it shift in his arm, just like she had told him it did. He stilled his body and the pounding of his heart stilled with it.

He took a breath and looked at her. She saw him start to come back into his sanity and continued to speak. "Do you know the mage responsible for all this? This magic feels vile." She stepped back from him and seemed to concentrate on the air around them.

"Her name is Hadriana. She was Danarius's apprentice. She is vile. And I'm going to rip out her heart." That was as much as he could bear to tell her right now. He resumed clearing their path.

"This is not the magic of an apprentice. We must not take her lightly. There are others with her, I can tell. Other mages...other demons...helping her." He paused briefly and nodded his head once in acknowledgement. He would not be reckless, but no number of mages or demons was going to save her from him. She seemed to accept his determination, but she also offered him a warning.

"Only the living know victory, Fenris."

xxxx

Hawke followed Fenris as they moved through an unnatural labyrinth of rooms and hallways. The veil was thin and out of the corner of her eye she would occasionally catch a ripple of the Fade peaking through into the real world. She knew they were being led around a path manipulated by magic, but Fenris would not be deterred or diverted. She breathed evenly in and out, in and out. She focused on her control. She was going to have to be the rock to still Fenris's crashing waves if they were to win this battle.

They kept turning endless corners and she felt as if they and part of this edifice had actually been pulled partly into the Fade. Half formed walls, staircases suspended in air and broken bits of mundane household items were all twisted and made strange by having passed through the veil. They eventually came to a black wall that seemed to stretch infinitely in every direction, the expanse broken only by a single narrow door in front of them.

"She's here" Fenris snarled and he kicked open the door. The black wall faded away and the scene shifted around them in a cloud of mist. For the first time ever, Hawke wished she had her father's staff in her hands. She called forth her magic in readiness as the mist cleared.

They were surrounded. There were half a dozen mages with half a dozen different spells swirling around their staves, and behind them was a tall woman in the robes of a magister and a pride demon looming behind her. A horrible nauseating laughter escaped the woman's red lips as she addressed Fenris.

"Welcome home, little wolf."

xxxx

Fenris realized it was not a boast what Marian had told Varric about her power. Of all the mages in the room, she was the first to act. She seemed to throw out several spells all at once. He saw walls of rock shoot up from the floor blocking the line of sight of the enemy mages. Columns of flame fell downward from somewhere above them and licked at Hadriana's underlings. And she spared a spell for him. This time he allowed it and he felt fortified and his mind cleared.

Fenris saw Hadriana shrink into the distance and the pride demon advanced on them, lesser shades materializing around it. In sharp contrast to the determined madness of moments ago that drove him here, Fenris now felt as if he was the very being of control. He owned his actions; he owned his lyrium and demons fell against the sharp precision of his attacks. Even as he used it, he knew this control was not his. Not when that depraved harpy was just within his grasp and the animal inside him begged to tear her apart. Marian was sharing her control with him and stealing away the unstable vexation that filled him.

The two of them were holding back the assault but he knew they were not gaining any ground. He looked to Marian, concentration carved like stone on her face, black eyes now red with fire, sweat dripping from strands of loose hair as she used her power with her bare hands, no staff to aid her, to hold back the magic of their enemies and strengthen him at the same time. The pride demon seemed to recognize what mage in this room would satisfy it the most and the thing began to focus on Marian. He could hear the dark whispers of desperate pleas and demon promises. Marian stopped her casting and her eyes went back to black as she stared down the demon. Fear suddenly gripped Fenris as he felt her magic recede from him. She's resisting he thought, but for how long?

He ran towards her, not really knowing how he was going to intervene. He leapt into the air thinking he was going to throw himself at the demon, but in midair he heard her voice thunder all around them.

"No" She said and the pride demon was thrown back to the corner behind where Hadriana stood. Fenris landed atop Marian instead and his arms went around her as they landed on the floor where he rolled them behind the temporary safety of one of the protruding rocks.

He grabbed her shoulders. "Are you alright?" his voice sounded more frightened than he had the intention of showing.

The insane woman in his arms actually smiled at him. "I'm fine." She was calm personified. If he was a different person he would have feared for their enemy in that moment. But he wasn't, and he didn't. "Fenris, I can end this now. I can do something that will send the demon back into the fade and...incapacitate the mages here." There was something she wasn't telling him and he gave her a look that told her she needed to come out with it.

Meanwhile, the mages had apparently regrouped and Marian had just enough time to disperse a wave of lighting directed at the rock that shielded them. "Look," she spoke hurriedly "when the mages in this room go down, just be ready to kill them all no matter what, alright?" Another wave of lighting came, this time shattering their cover. He grabbed her and rolled them behind another obstacle.

"Fine, I'll be ready." He did not like surprises.

"Can you keep them off of me for just a few moments?"

He nodded and jumped out from cover. He darted around shades and spells and tried to throw back the hoard that was trying to close in on Marian. He kept one eye on her as he was fighting and he saw her start casting a spell. The lines of an intricate rune lit with blue light started to form on the ground beneath where she crouched. Her eyes were closed and her lips moved in a silent chant. He turned to cut down another shade and when he turned back to her, the rune was complete and she stood to her full, though slight, height. She extended one arm, hand out, fingers spread wide. She opened her eyes and when her fist closed he heard a loud and resonant deep boom and he felt as if the breath was knocked from his chest. His lyrium flared brightly in response and he recovered quickly. Not so for everyone else in the room.

The mages were collapsed on the ground, grasping at their chests and seeming to choke for air. The lesser demons screamed and then were sucked away. Their strange surroundings twisted and morphed back into the semblance of a normal room with solid walls. The demon of pride shook and shuddered and then it too seemed to get sucked back through the rapidly closing veil. Fenris hesitated at the sight of what was happening until he noticed that Marian was also prostrate on the ground clutching at her chest her face a shock of agony.

He moved quickly to assist her, but she held out a hand to stop him and managed a hoarse plea. "Kill them, Fenris, hurry..."

He came back to his senses and shot into action. In six fluid movements, six mages lay dead on the floor. A sword through a chest, two severed heads, a heart outside its body and two broken necks and then there was just one left.

xxxx

Hawke had closed the veil and temporarily severed them all from the Fade. She was starting to recover from having her magic ripped from her just as Fenris finished off the last of the magister's apprentices. She saw him pause and then stalk towards the still prone and choking form of Hadriana. Hawke rose on unsteady feet and was able to stagger over to the two adversaries. The other woman saw Fenris coming and started scrambling backwards on the floor until her back was against the wall.

Fenris towered over her and to Hawke it looked as if he was savoring the feeling. If she was a different person she would have pitied the fear she saw in his prey's eyes. But she wasn't, and she didn't. He reached down slowly and grabbed her by the neck lifting her partially up from the floor. She saw him slowly flex his muscles around her throat as she clawed madly at his gauntlet.

Hawke could feel waves of satisfaction emanating from him. Hadriana's eyes were wide and nearly popping out of her skull. Hawke thought her nearly dead already, but somehow she managed a strained petition.

"Wait, please, you don't want to kill me!"

"There is only one person I want to kill more. But you'll do for now." He kept squeezing.

"..Si..Sister..he ha-has your sister.." The squeezing stopped, but he did not let go.

"What did you say?" He pulled her close to his face.

"You have a sister. She was free, but now he has her. I can tell you more. More of your past. I can help you. Please!"

Fenris was still. Hawke saw him teeter on the knife's edge. Then she saw in his eyes which side he would come down on. Fenris spit in the face of the mage in his grasp and the sound of her spine breaking split the silence.