"Maker's breath…" Bethany muttered in a daze, and stared at the wyvern with wide eyes. "How are we supposed to take that down?"
Sebastian could not help but silently agree with the woman, as he stared in amazement at the sheer size of the beast. Hawke's plan had worked well, if not a bit too well. After finding a good, secluded spot to pile up the meat, blood, and with the help of Tallis'… unique talent to mimic sounds, they'd managed to lure a wyvern the length of several men and as tall as one, even on all its four legs.
Looking at it, he could only think back to the missing dogs they'd found earlier that day.
The archer acutely remembered how Hawke had used the only dosage of anti-venom they'd managed to prepare after finding one of the hounds poisoned in the woods. Their owner had been overjoyed to see both of them back, and Sebastian did not in any way regret saving the animal's life, but he could not help but wonder at the possibility that one of them would get poisoned, and the rest would have no way to help prevent a horrible death.
"Sebastian, a little help here!?" Hawke shouted, more than slightly agitated, as he barely evaded the wyvern's sharp teeth. The archer snapped out of it immediately, and managed to fire an arrow directly into the beast's eye with not one second to spare. It roared its pain and anger and just barely missed slamming its full weight into Tallis' form.
The elf, who had failed to predict the wyvern's speed of response to her backstab, thanked Sebastian with her eyes, and moved to Bethany's side quickly, from where she could more safely throw her knifes for just as much damage.
The mage shared a look with her brother, nodded her head in the direction of their opponent, and raised her staff high above her head, summoning ice out of the ground around the wyvern and trapping it in place. Not even waiting to see that, Hawke acted out without delay and moved towards the immobilized beast, weapons pointed and ready to strike. The man attacked with impressive speed and hit the weak points on the wyvern's neck before it could try and stop him. That, in turn, gave both Tallis and Sebastian the opening they needed, while Bethany focused on keeping her ice in place.
The wyvern fell with a heavy thrum, her flesh bruised and crushed against the spikes of magical ice and Sebastian's arrow still firmly lodged in its yellow eye.
For a second, the prince felt a twinge of pity for it, and muttered a quick prayer under his breath for the creature's soul. It was the best he could do.
Before the wyvern's body even had the chance to start cooling, they found they had more company, this time of the human side, yet just as unfriendly. "Well, if it isn't the Fereldan… termite." A man they could only assume was another Orlesian noble, if for nothing else than for his heavy, biting accent, approached them. He came surrounded by his men, all of them dressed ostentatiously in gleaming, silvery armour and cloth of a dark, purplish colour, the colour of a well-irritated bruise.
The dark haired noble started talking mockingly. "They say that you are the Champion of some miserable city in the East." He puffed his chest and eyed Hawke arrogantly. "Quite an achievement-" The word rolled strangely off his tongue, pronouncing a long 'shh' sound where the 'ch' needed to be. "-I'm sure." He stopped and placed his hands on his hips, a warning in his cold scowl.
"I suggest you run along with your servants while you have the chance." Hawke frowned at his choice of words, his amusement at the man's behaviour leaving space for anger. "This wyvern was mine to kill, not yours!" The Orlesian then declared, voice rising with his indignation, and he gesticulated wildly at them, not unlike a petulant child. His soldiers stood stoically by his side; their headpieces, made to resemble impassive, metal faces, that reminded Sebastian of those of dwarven statues, gave no hint to their expression.
As if he could not see the immaturity of his actions, the noble than threw an all-out tantrum, stomping the grass furiously and shouting at them. "Mine, mine, mine!" He repeated till he composed himself again. "I paid good coin to be the one to win this contest." He admitted shamelessly, and stomped his foot down one last time. "It was my turn!" Sebastian had a hard time believing such a man could be a Baron - for that he was, if his memory served him right - and not realise the embarrassment he brought upon himself by acting so.
Hawke, too, could only shake his head at the man and look at him in disbelief. Surely, he had to be joking if he thought he was going to let him take credit for the kill, after they'd fought so hard for it. With that in mind, he just barely kept back a sarcastic smile. "Oh, I didn't realise the Duke was offering charity to his more…useless guests." The man flinched back in anger at the Champion's tone, and Hawke's eyes only glinted more sharply. "My mistake." He conceded with a jeer.
The noble only flailed his arms more, acting horribly offended. "I will not accept such talk-" The Baron's voice got shriller and shriller as he spoke. "- from a mongrel!"
It was then that Tallis considered it appropriate to intervene, and she stared at the man in something akin to pity. "You do realise this man has nasty little thugs like you for breakfast, I hope?" She raised an eyebrow at him defiantly, and Hawke turned the elf's way with an almost imperceptible, amused smile on his lips. He shared a mischievous looked with her before turning back to face the Orlesian with a very serious, still face. "Only…" He spoke gravely, "When we're out of pancakes."
That was probably the tipping point for the Baron, who turned red in the face. "More insolence, from a knife-ear, this time!" He stated, enraged, and spread out his arms in a gesture that made it clear how little patience he had for anymore disrespect. Inevitably, the talk ended with him pulling out his weapons, and ordering his soldiers to do the same. "Kill them all!" He said. "We can say the wyvern was too much for them."
Tallis smiled wickedly; she did not care much for the man and his foul word at all, and she took pleasure in the chance to teach him and his lackeys a lesson. Hawke, sharing the sentiment, charged with an impressive cry and, completely ignoring the silver-clad soldiers, headed straight for their patron. The baron choked back a scream, turned, and failed to counter almost all of Hawke's quick dagger slashes. Alarmed, the few soldiers who were not otherwise occupied by Tallis, Sebastian and Bethany tried to get to the noble, but he was brought down before they could even reach him, grovelling on the ground, out of breath, with Hawke's unperturbed figure towering over him. Out of breath, the Baron managed to get on his knees with great effort, and his men wisely retreated and backed down from a fight they were obviously unequipped for.
"Now, what is going on here?" Someone asked in a booming voice as soon as the air cleared, and, dressed in his fine hunting outfit and accompanied by his well-armed entourage, Duke Prosper himself made his presence known.
"Prosper!" The Baron swiftly addressed him, as soon as he managed to get into a standing position. "This scum of a man tried to steal my rightful kill." He accused before he could even breathe properly.
The Duke, much to the other noble's dismay, did not seem very impressed with his claim. "Now, is that any way to speak of the Champion of Kirkwall?" He asked calmly, and Hawke, unable to resist, smiled charmingly at both men. The Baron looked ready to split him.
"This is your fault for inviting a stinking termite in the first place!" He gesticulated widely with his arms again, frustrated. "Your mother would be ashamed!"
The Duke smirked and laughed shortly, not at all concerned. "Says the man whose mother has slept with half a city." He didn't look back to see the Baron's offended, red face, and simply apologised to Hawke for having kept him waiting.
"What would you have me do with him?" Duke Prosper than asked, innocently enough, but there was a hint of sadism in his grey eyes. Tallis noticed, and was a bit disturbed by it.
"You're not suggesting…" She trailed off, her brows furrowed.
The Duke shrugged. "Why not?" He asked in turn. "You believe he would have stopped short of murder, given the chance?" Tallis fell silent at that, and looked at Hawke in worry.
"Something on your mind, Tallis?" Hawke asked, curiously.
She took a deep breath. "Just let him go; he's not worth your time, Hawke." She urged, looking more than a little uncomfortable to be one in the centre of attention all of a sudden.
Again, the Duke was simply amused by it all. "My word, such mercy!" He laughed.
Deciding to ignore him, the elf just kept looking at Hawke. "He can't be more than he is, that's it. We've bested him already."
Hawke thought about it for a second, and answered in his usual, joking manner. "His blood smells worse than the wyvern's. Best keep it where it is." He said simply, dismissing the idea of killing the cheat effortlessly.
The Baron left without a fuss, and without showing any gratitude, not that anyone had expected him to.
"Congratulations on finding the wyvern." Prosper offered after the man was dealt with. "It looks like a fine one indeed." He looked at Hawke, pleased by his handiwork. "There will be a celebration in the Chateau's Courtyard, do attend when you are ready."
Then, the Duke very enthusiastically suggested that the party went back to the chateau to change out of their bloody, muddy clothes for the festivities, and reminded Hawke that all he needed to do if he needed anything was ask. That being said, he took his leave and gathered his men, while Bethany was suddenly reminded of one of the inconveniences of the life of Circle mages.
Taking a look at her dirty robes, she sighed, realising the mistake she'd make wearing her best, and one of the only two, sets of travelling clothes on the day of the actual hunt, not that she could have possibly known what was going to take place. Naively, she'd assumed she would have time to change before heading into the woods.
"Is everything alright, Bethany?" Sebastian, always so alert and thoughtful, asked her after noticing her sour look.
"It's fine." She assured him, waving her hands in a gesture that betrayed her lie. "I was just thinking I'll probably be horribly underdressed in my robes, that's all." Her voice was a bit higher than normally, and she forced out a tight laugh. In all honesty, she was a bit bothered by the fact she'd been caught so unprepared for their trip, especially since she could so easily remember how much she'd dreamt of going to an Orlesian party in her childhood.
Sebastian frowned, but let her lies stand; she was, after all, not obliged to share her worries with him. For some reason, that bothered him more than it should have.
They walked in silence, unaware Hawke have noticed Bethany's strange mood as well, and had overheard their conversation.
An idea blossoming in his mind, he jogged casually towards the Duke's retreating figure, ignoring his companions' curious looks. Hawke caught up with him with ease and pulled the Orlesian aside for a brief moment.
"Actually…There is something I would like to ask of you."
The Duke only smiled. He enjoyed having people owe him favours, especially when they themselves did not know it.