Chapter 52
9:33 Dragon
Slopes of Sundermount
The abandoned slaver den that Fenris had scouted out was no more than two hour's travel from the Dalish camp and the white-haired elf led them at a blistering pace, still appearing dissatisfied with how the events had unfolded with the Keeper handing the arulin'holm to Merrill. Out of breath and trying to keep up with Fenris, the others had only a few opportunities to exchange a few words, but being concerned for Merrill's state of mind, Riona looked to pick up the conversation while they were briskly navigating the narrow passages leading away from the Dalish camp.
"I notice you keep pulling it out and looking at it, as if to make sure it's real," Riona said, seeing that Merrill was possessively holding the arulin'holm again.
"Yes, I suppose I am," Merrill admitted. "I can't quite believe you made the Keeper part with it. I'll never be able to make it up to you."
"Nonsense," Bethany cut in, smiling. "I just hope you'll be careful with it. Maybe we should be there when you try to use it?"
"I would not oppose that," the elf nodded gratefully. "There should be no danger, but one can't be too sure. This thing is as old as Arlathan and the eluvian itself, I wouldn't be surprised if we only knew of very few capabilities of the arulin'holm."
"But you are sure that it will help you fix the mirror, right?" Bethany asked.
"Well... I don't know for certain. But it is from the same ancient age of our people. If I am to repair the eluvian without the demon's help, I have to try. You agree with that, surely."
"Absolutely," Riona nodded. "Still, I can't imagine it's an easy decision to make. Fix the eluvian and be forever banished by your clan. Forsake your life's work and ambition and get accepted..."
"Do you think I would be accepted even if I gave up my research, my blood magic?" Merrill replied angrily, but Riona knew it was not aimed at her. "I often felt alone even before I found the shard and started to dabble with blood magic. I was loathed by all and everyone when my decision to resign as the First was made known to the clan. If I crawled down on my belly to them right now, what do you think I can expect?"
"Humiliation? And I am not advising that you should subject yourself to it," Riona shrugged. "Though it felt as if Marethari genuinely cares for you and wishes you the best, but... why turn the clan against you as she has done?"
"And then there's the matter of the... spirit influence that we felt, even without Merrill's interfering," Bethany reminded them. "We still don't know where that came from..."
"Indeed..." Riona said, then suddenly a thought occurring to her. "...they said he was sleeping. Maybe... no, it couldn't be, could it?"
"What are you thinking, sis?" Bethany looked at her oddly.
"Feynriel," her reply was curt, as Fenris decided to stop at that moment, pointing ahead.
"There's the entrance," he indicated a barely visible crack in the cliff side, bushes and large ferns growing around it and disguising it very well. "We should be careful. There were many such holdings once, especially in the mountains, where individual slavers kept private pens," Fenris explained. "They were designed to protect against raids by fellow slavers. No doubt it's why Hadriana chose this place."
"Well, she shouldn't be expecting an attack, really," Riona said.
"Unless you've not been careful in your mission of spying, Broody," Varric chuckled.
"I have," Fenris snapped. "If this will turn out to be a waste of time, it won't be because of me." With that, he started to inch closer to the entrance, the others following. In order to preserve secrecy, there were no guards placed outside of the holding, but they were certain to find the den very well defended on the inside.
At first this didn't prove to be true. The first two rooms, walls of red granite blocks with grotesque drawings of the Old Gods of Tevinter on them, turned up empty, it did not look as if any slaves had been kept in the cells alongside the wall either. As they moved further, however, they came upon a grizzly scene of a man's dissected body lying on a table, drained of all blood.
Fenris briefly touched the desecrated flesh, with an expression of grim satisfaction stating that the slavers were still present in the compound since the corpse wasn't even cold yet. "See for yourself, the legacy of the magisters," he said briefly, walking away from the table.
Riona only looked at the victim briefly, and Merrill turned away quickly as well. "They sacrifice the unwilling?" the elf stated the obvious without thinking, rattled by the grim sight.
"Is that so hard to believe? You're only a step away from it yourself," Fenris snapped, walking over to the door leading further.
"That's not true," Merrill said, looking close to tears. "Why do you keep saying that?" She turned to Riona. "Why does he keep saying that?"
"Believe what you will," Fenris shrugged. "In my experience mages always manage to justify their need for power."
Riona walked up to Fenris, and gave him an angry stare. "You will stop harassing her like that. I mean it!"
"I don't understand how can you still defend her, after what a blood mage did to your own mother," Fenris gave no sign of deferring to Riona's order, simply walking away and opening the doors leading deeper into the compound.
"Do not speak of my mother!" Riona hissed after him, clenching her fists tightly.
"Easy," Varric whispered to Riona as he passed by, briefly laying his hand on hers, a gesture missed by the others. "We're here to fight slavers, not each other." Riona held her breath for a while, then exhaled heavily, following, Bethany and Merrill behind her.
Shortly afterwards they came upon the first group of slavers, seated around a table and lazily playing cards and drinking, but the surprise element of their attack rather failed when a sneaking Bethany stepped on a pressure plate and nearly incinerated Merrill with a jet of flame, suddenly streaming from the nearby wall. The slavers tried to rally, but Fenris fought them like an elf possessed, limbs flying left and right as he tore through their ranks, quickly ensuring that none of their opponents managed to escape to warn Hadriana or anyone else about their sanctum coming under attack.
The next group met a similar fate, being rather surprised at the sudden appearance of their attackers and even less prepared to do battle than the previous opponents, possibly because they had been in the process of having some fun with an unfortunate blonde-haired elven girl. They fell quickly, but as Fenris and Varric were mopping up the last stragglers, they heard the sound of doors on the opposing side snapping shut, as someone had seen them and now rushed off to inform their mistress about the arrival of Riona and her friends.
Riona, Bethany and Merrill meanwhile aided the poor girl as much as they could, helping her get dressed, Riona offering her a healing potion more as a means of doing something to help her deal with the immediate shock. Interrogating the young woman was not possible in such state, though her own confused mutterings disclosed at least some facts that painted a clear picture of what had happened here. The girl's name was Orana, and her father had served as Hadriana's cook. Apparently, earlier Hadriana had found something wrong with the soup her father had prepared, and Riona immediately got a sinking feeling in her stomach as she realized to whom the mutilated corpse of the blood sacrifice had belonged. With Orana's father out of the way, there was no one to protect her, and the guards had not wasted any time in acting on their basic desires.
The girl broke into crying and lamentation, once she learned that Riona's plans definitely included eventual execution of Hadriana, she at first begged them not to hurt the magister, tearfully explaining that she would have nothing to do, no one to serve, if Hadriana were gone. She claimed to be a good cook and diligent at cleaning the house, asking if Fenris would then be her new master, an idea that made Fenris look positively horrified.
"This gives me an idea," Riona suddenly said, an idea forming in her mind, as she looked at the sobbing girl. "I could take you with me."
The girl looked ecstatic at being considered as useful, while Fenris looked thunderous. "I didn't realize you were in the market for a slave," he glared at her.
"Oh, please," Riona sighed. "I'm going to give her a job. With a salary and everything. I'm not one of your bloody magisters, why won't you believe me!"
"...I'm sorry," Fenris said awkwardly. "I misunderstood you. You would be doing a noble thing by taking her in with you."
"Thank you," Riona said, managing a smile, as she felt herself relax a little. She turned to the girl again. "You should wait for us outs-..." then she realized that the mangled body of what might have been the girl's father was in the way between them and the exit. "Uh, on second thought, wait for us here. We should be back soon."
"V-very well, Mistress," Orana managed, a little fearfully. "...what is 'salary'?" she looked for an explanation from each one of them in turn, even Fenris smiling a little at the question.
"Let's move onward," he said then, leading them towards the doors that someone had left through to bring news to Hadriana, but fortunately they hadn't thought to bolt or barricade the exit, so the group of five ended up in another empty corridor, an ambush likely lying in wait for them.
As they arrived in a large hall around the next corner, it became clear that Hadriana had used the time to prepare well. The blue robed magister was encircled by a sphere of protective magics, shielded by six of her bodyguards, two snarling mabari hounds and several shades guarding their flanks. "You've made a grave mistake in coming here, slave," Hadriana spoke coldly, ordering her troops to attack, herself starting to channel a spell.
The mabari broke into their charge quickly, but Fenris would not be denied of his vengeance. He danced past the first charging animal, taking its front paws off with a powerful swing, then quickly bending low and raising his sword to cut open the second mabari from its muzzle to tail during a jump. The dead animal fell at the feet of Merrill and Bethany, making both young women cry out from the terrible sight. Riona also felt momentarily paralyzed, her imagination supplying her with a mental image of her beloved Spot in the place of these unfortunate beasts that Hadriana had sent at them.
A powerful projectile immediately lifted Fenris off his feet and carried him several yards before crushing him against the wall with a pained groan. Riona and Bethany did a good job of slowing the enemy advance with their frost spells, while Merrill made vines spring from the gaps between the granite tiles and seize the ankles of their attackers, rooting them to the spot, as Varric and Bianca worked tirelessly, picking off one victim after another.
When the battle seemed almost under control, Riona suddenly felt herself hit by the same dreadful spell that Quentin had used against her months ago, paralyzing her in place and making all her innards twist and pull as if someone's hands were inside her, tearing her apart from the inside. Bethany and Varric were caught by the spell as well, only Merrill remained unaffected, but she was facing two of the guards on her own and Fenris was only now slowly starting to gather his bearings.
Then there was a quiet groan behind their backs, and a sound of a dagger slicing unprotected flesh. A quiet word from Merrill followed, and shortly after one of the soldiers menacing her suddenly turned on his comrade, putting a sword in his gut. Hadriana did not have time to react to the sudden realization that she was not the only blood mage on the field of battle, as the next spell coming from Merrill stunned her, rendering her immobile and helpless. Having gotten up to his feet, Fenris charged the magister, punching her in the face and knocking the staff away from her hands as Hadriana landed on the stone floor, defeated. The battle had been won.
"You don't want to kill me," Hadriana wheezed, backing away from Fenris, as he slowly moved towards her.
"There is only one person I wish to kill more than you," the elf said sharply, making the frightened magister appear almost as scared as Orana had looked minutes ago.
"Please... I have information you will find useful," Hadriana begged. "I will give it to you in exchange for my life."
"I don't think so. The location of Danarius won't do me much good," Fenris shook his head. "I think I would rather prefer to slay his pet pupil."
"After we have interrogated her, right?" Riona intervened. "Right?" But Fenris gave no indication of having heard her.
"You have a sister," Hadriana said suddenly. Riona could swear she saw Fenris stagger from surprise. "I know where she is. You wish to reclaim your old life? Let me go and I will lead you to her." She eyed Fenris frantically. "So... do I have your word?"
Fenris sat on his knees next to Hadriana. "Yes. You have my word," he said heavily, in a tone that made Riona wary.
"Fenris..." she said, warningly. Again, there was no reaction from the elf.
"Her name is Varinia, she is Qarinus, serving a magister named Ahriman," Hadriana rattled off quickly.
"Not a slave?" Fenris demanded.
"No, she is a servant girl, not a slave," the magister replied hurriedly. "Do you believe me? Can I go? Please, say you believe me!"
"Yes... yes, I do believe you..." Fenris said slowly, his body starting to glow in that familiar blue color of lyrium as he brought his hand to Hadriana's chest, the mortified woman looking at him in helpless desperation, realizing his intent.
"Fenris! STOP!" Riona shouted, but to no use. Fenris thrust his hand forward, deep into Hadriana's chest, slowly crushing her heart, and doing so less than mercifully. Riona had never heard anyone scream in such indescribably excruciating, tortured pain, that seemed to last for eternity and the memory of which would contribute for many sleepless nights to come. If she hadn't been so incredibly angry at Fenris, she would probably be sick in the corner much like Bethany was right now, or at least looking vaguely green in the face like Merrill.
Finally, Fenris released Hadriana's body, letting it topple on the floor, an expression of utter horror etched on her once beautiful face. "We are done here," the elf said, getting up from the floor and turning to leave, suddenly finding Riona in his way.
"No, we're not done here," she snarled, reaching out to grab him by the hand, but finding her own wrist seized roughly and then pushed aside. "I'm talking to you, Fenris! Face me when I'm speaking with you!" she shouted, seeing that the elf was about to walk away. "Face me, coward!" these words did catch his attention.
"Not big on your promises, are you," Riona said, forgetting to be afraid of the menacing elf, as Fenris stormed back towards her. "I wonder how far is the day when you decide that I deserve a similar fate. Or Bethany. Or Merrill."
"Her deal was worthless," Fenris spat at Hadriana's broken body. "Everything she said was probably a lie. A trap constructed by Danarius to lure me out of hiding. And even if it isn't a trap, I can't do anything about this 'sister' of mine anyway, if Hadriana knew about her, then Danarius would too, and he would be watching her." He paced back and forth angrily. "No. All that matters is that I finally got to crush this bitch's heart. May she rot and all the other mages with her."
"It's not just the promise to her that you broke, I couldn't care less about that," Riona said. "But you promised me that you would not kill her before I had interrogated her. You broke your word to me, and that is important."
"What would you possibly want from a Tevinter magister?" Fenris asked. "I've seen enough today to realize that you hardly need more encouragement. What possible knowledge could you hope to extract from someone as vile as Hadriana?"
"I'm frankly getting sick of your attitude and putting all mages in the same basket," Riona snarled. With a corner of her eye she saw Varric, a worried expression on his face. She realized that he hadn't put Bianca away just yet. "Drop it already. We're not like your magisters."
"Oh really. And who should be our example? Anders?" he swirled around and turned towards the other elf. "Merrill?"
"Blood magic doesn't have to involve sacrificing innocents," Merrill said determinedly, ignoring her fear.
"Pfah, the mages will always justify the need for all this," Fenris said angrily, sending Merrill backing off and into Bethany's protective arms. "Even if I would find my sister, I am sure the magisters have already corrupted her." He turned back at Riona again. "What has magic touched that it hasn't befouled?"
"Fenris?" Riona asked, her voice shaking, barely keeping from exploding in shouting. Varric and Fenris both took a step towards her, but likely with different intentions. Bethany and Merrill continued to hold each other, as the tension rose to unbearable levels, but Riona's last words put an anticlimactic resolution to it all. "I have only two words for you. Get lost! And don't come back before you have reconsidered your attitude."
Fenris made another step towards her, his hand on the sword hilt. Varric inched a little closer, raising Bianca slightly. Riona held Fenris' burning gaze without any fear, which surprised herself, until Fenris let out a bitter chuckle and with a dramatic gesture threw his sword down at her feet, quickly storming away. If Riona hadn't jumped aside at the last moment, the sword might have very well taken off half of her foot.
Bethany was the first to let out a big sigh of relief. "You know, for a moment there I really thought he was going to try to kill us all."
"I don't think that was far from happening," Varric shook his head sadly, then staring at Riona. "You really have a certain knack at setting off Broody's rants. How you manage it, I'll never know, but it's admirable in a way... if perhaps, foolish."
"I'm not just going to stand there listening to him badmouthing all mages, harassing Merrill and then smile at him and nod that we should just agree to disagree," she said, still angry. "He's just plain wrong, and damn if I'm going to be silent about it!"
"We know you won't, Hawke, and we love you for it," Varric grinned.
Riona suddenly felt very tired, as she took seat on the cold granite floor. "I really don't want to be fighting with him, I really don't," she sighed. "But... what am I supposed to do? I know where he's coming from, but... that doesn't make him right."
"Sorry, sis," Bethany said apologetically, finally releasing the still shaking Merrill. "I guess it was just not meant to be."
"What?" Riona stared at Bethany.
"Well, I think you can cross him off your list of suitors after this, don't you think?"
"...oh. Right," Riona finally realized what Bethany had meant, then chuckling, more from the amused expression on Varric's face. "Yes, I imagine that's over with. And we should probably finish up here and leave. Beth, Merrill, could you go back and check on that elven girl? Orana? Varric and I will see if we can find anything interesting among Hadriana's possessions."
"Will do, Ri," Bethany nodded. "Maybe we should take her outside?"
"Uh, maybe not with the body of her slain father in the way. Could one of you..." Riona started, but noticing that Bethany and Merrill both immediately looked very ill-at-ease, she had to turn to Varric for aid. "Could you dispose of the body, please? I'll clean up here on my own."
"If you're sure," Varric said, looking a little unwilling to leave her alone.
"I'm sure," she replied, managing a smile. "I will be fine. There is no need to fuss."
As the others finally left her alone, Riona started to dig through the sacks and crates, left behind by the slavers, wishing she truly felt as fine and unaffected as she had claimed earlier. Even if she knew in her heart she had only defended what she believed was right, her truth had potentially turned a trusted friend into an enemy. In her heart, she hoped Fenris would return to apologize, even as she understood that the chances of it happening were... slim at best.
