MoonPriestess30: Thank you for your wonderful reviews, they make me so happy and I decided to whip up this chapter just for you.

Ch24 – Yes, it's been a while. The chain mail is so pretty, I want it.

Ch25 – I'm glad you loved it! I tried to keep to the original

Ch26 – I loved the DLC and so I made sure to add her into this one, adds an extra arc too!

Ch29 – Yeah I thought I'd add him in a bit earlier so it's not so sudden etc. Bit more organic.

Ch30 – I'm putting off that moment like a sweet cigar, thought I can imagine the song from the little mermaid playing in the background. Maybe Isabela can start to sing it?


Chapter 31 – Learn something new every day.

Makatza scowled as she looked around, she paused in their running and breathed in deeply as she came to a conclusion. 'What is it?' Fenris asked her simply as he stopped a couple feet in front of her and looked over his shoulder.

'This is useless, I swear we've been down this corridor about four times! All these passages look the bloody same,' she said looking about. 'Fuck this!' Makatza said annoyed as she glared at the walls.

'What do you suggest we do?' Fenris asked. He understood her frustration but there really wasn't much he could do about it.

'I don't know,' she sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Makatza closed her eyes as she thought and realised that her mana was picking up something. She could ''see'' Fenris, his Lyrium scarring glowing brightly in her mind, if she felt out further with her mana she could sense a mage, the aura was familiar to Garrett. She knelt down and placed her hand on the floor this time trying to control the flow. After a moment or two she was sure that the mage that she could sense was definitely her cousin. 'We need to go left,' she says as she stands.

Fenris raises a brow, 'very well but how do you know?' He asks simply.

Makatza goes a little pink around the ears as she blushes in embarrassment, 'I um... I can feel mana...' she mumbles. '…...and other sources of magic,' Makatza adds as she looks away from him. 'It's only just sort of developed, if I close my eyes and concentrate I can see them. I see normal people as a kind of fuzz the power in their blood calls to me. Mages, I can sense their link to the fade and their own mana pool,' she explains as she walks not wanting to see his expression. He no doubt isn't going to like what she said.

Fenris catches up to her and walks beside her, 'other sources of magic?' He picks out making her blush deepen.

'Yeah.. yeah... like lyrium potions or Merrill's mirror,' she blags really not wanting to go into detail.

Fenris wasn't convinced and could tell by the reddening of her cheeks that she was hiding something. 'Lyrium?' He said softly as he slowed down and forced her to subconsciously come to a stop. 'You can see Lyrium?'

'Um... yes,' she nods as she performs her usual habit when nervous and bites her thumbnail. Fenris isn't put off by it and crosses his arms as he looks at her. She sighs and reluctantly makes eye contact. 'Yes, yes, I can see your markings,' she says finally. 'They stand out okay, they shine, sing almost. Happy now?'

'There is no hiding from you then,' he says simply making her smile. He knew that his markings reacted to her touch and if her mana is intense enough but being able to sense him was a different thing entirely. He can tell that she's nervous and reaches out to gently brush a loose curl aside, 'thank you for telling me,' he says simply. 'Continue left, yes?'

Makatza nodded thankful that he was happy to leave it at that. They continued on their way and found Tallis opening the cell just as they came around the corner. 'Ah and just like that they finally decide to turn up,' Garrett says with a chuckle. 'Did you two lovebirds get sidetracked?'

'Oh sure, nothing quite like spending an hour running through a mansion then watching you two get caught, getting trapped, caught myself and then navigating the maze they call a dungeon,' Makatza snapped. 'Oh who am I kidding? Fenris and I were just in an alcove making out the entire time,' she said making Garrett smile; she wasn't happy about any of this and her words weren't said in humour. 'You have some explaining to do,' Makatza said to Tallis. 'This day has been horrid, I want to go home,' she said tiredly. Fenris put a hand on her shoulder and nodded.

'Hawke I agree, we need to leave this place irregardless of any jewel,' he states.

'About that...' Garrett winced, he had been speaking to Tallis while they were locked in the cell. 'The Heart isn't a jewel, it's a person. Someone very important who's about to endanger a lot of other people,' he explained poorly. 'Tallis has come to stop him, it's a personal thing.'

'Oh goodie,' Makatza said in an exhale of breath. Garrett and Tallis get their weapons back and they make their way through the rest of the Chateau even managing to pass through the vaults where Garrett insisted that they do a little looting. Makatza's skills were used several times as she was thrown, vaulted and generally forced into tricky situations. With a pack heavy with rare valuables and Makatza had even picked up a locket that she found intriguing they found a wall that seemed to have a passage. 'You want to go through there?' She said in wonder.

'Well, as long as you have everything you want from the Chateau, I wouldn't want to test this path more than once,' Tallis says simply with a shrug of her shoulders.

'I'll go first,' Garrett says simply, 'then Katza,' he said to Fenris, he didn't care who came after her just as long as she was safe. The tunnel lead to an underground area, Garrett was starting to get tired and just wanted this all to be over, it had been a hell of a day.

Makatza winced as she pulled herself out the rocks and breathed in deeply. 'Uh, I can still taste that damn cheese,' she complains as she pulls a face. 'I feel like I'm going to be tasting that all year,' she mutters to herself.

'I will not be kissing you anytime soon then,' Fenris says with a chuckle as he walks past making her jump and go inferno red as she steps up to join them. Fenris swore at himself mentally, he hadn't meant to say that out loud and it just slipped.

'I forgot you actually had a sense of humour,' Makatza teased lightly as they came to a more open area with a bridge covering the large, deep wound in the ground. Garrett had paused as something wasn't quite right, Makatza didn't hesitate and began to walk towards the bridge; there was a loud noise and a massive metal gate came down separating Tallis from the rest of the group. 'Shit!' Makatza cursed as a group of people came walking towards them, it was the Chasind that Hawke had met when they first arrived. She was aware of her cousin talking but all she could focus on was the tainted mana she was feeling from the mages that surrounded him. It wasn't a demon's touch yet madness that had seeped into their being. 'Garrett..' Makatza murmured while he spoke to the Chasind. 'They're insane,' she whispered, their warped minds screaming in her own.

'The Circle aren't the only ones who know how to break a mage!' The man shouted at them before they all started to attack. Makatza was firmly pushed to the side by someone as the fight began, she was all too happy to take a back seat in this one as the voices in her head got louder and louder as the more of them were hurt or killed. They didn't seem to be bothered about hunting Makatza, she had ducked down behind a large rock and covered her head with her arms. Tallis returned with a thrown blade at the leader before she dropped into the fray. Silence only descended when the last mage fell, she breathed a lot easier and stood shakily.

'Katza, you look pale,' Garrett says as he moves over to her, his face streaked with blood.

'I told you... they were insane,' Makatza said with a little stutter as she wipes her brow. 'I could hear their mana screaming in my head, the tainted feel of it,' she explained. 'It was so overwhelming.'

Garrett gave Makatza a hug and apologised for everything, 'don't worry we've just got to get out this place and then we can go home,' he says softly. 'Okay?' Makatza nodded and took a deep breath in and out. Tallis came up to her cousin and explained that there was a way out further into the cave. It took only about fifteen more minutes of walking before they saw daylight again.

'See, and there's the way out,' Tallis smiled. 'I told you I had a plan, it was a good plan, the kind that had an escape and everything, so you could go... there are other options though. You've been so reasonable since we were captured, and I was hoping that hadn't changed. What Salit is going to do will harm so many innocents – my people as well as yours. It's my duty to stop him. Even so, I can't do it alone. Not any more.' Makatza sighed as she went and sat down on a boulder while Garrett decided what they were going to do.

'I don't know why he's bothering to ask her all these questions, we all know that he's going to help her regardless,' Makatza said simply as Fenris came near. She looked at him and noticed that he had a cut on his cheek. 'When did you get that?' She asked as she stood up.

'I got it from the Wyvern, a health draught made it heal enough not to be noticeable but I got clipped in the jaw by that Chasind and it seems to have reopened,' he winces. 'It will heal in time, it is not too deep it will not scar,' he replies as he watches Garrett. He freezes as he feels her slender fingers cup his face, he was about to protest when he felt the healing wave pulse through him with warmth. It only lasted a minute before she moved.

'There, much better,' she says simply as she smiles at him.

'You did not need to do that,' he murmurs as he takes in her tired posture. 'You should be saving your strength, no doubt we will have to fight again,' Fenris sighs.

'Some things are more important than fighting,' Makatza said shrugging her shoulder and getting fed up with the twenty questions that Garrett seemed to be asking Tallis she started to walk out of the cave and into the sunshine. Hawke hadn't finished talking to the Qunari but quickly followed his cousin in case she wandered into danger. Unsurprisingly there was an ambush waiting for them all by some lord who felt he had been snubbed in the hunt by Garrett. Makatza scowled and walked up to him pressing her hand against his head and knocking him out with her mana, it's funny what you can do when you're tired, pissed off and hungry she thought to herself. The idea had just come to her while she was healing Fenris, surely it was just a manipulation of blood pressure and hydration? 'Anyone else want to die?' She shouted at his men, feeling great satisfaction as they began to drop their weapons and run.

'Katza, you didn't kill him did you?' Garrett asked, worried.

'Of course not, I just knocked his ass out. He clearly didn't think I was much of a threat as I managed to get quite close,' she shrugged. 'Serves him right.'

'The more and more I see your power Katza, the more worried I get,' Garrett said simply. 'Feels like you're discovering more skills everyday,' he adds.

'Well then soon you won't have to look after me huh,' she says bluntly. 'Come on, I want to go home,' Makatza states.

'Actually we're going to help Tallis with her thing first,' he says with a wince.

'Why am I not surprised,' Makatza said bitterly. She grudgingly follows her cousin along the path, Tallis scouting ahead and Fenris the ever silent companion next to her. They encountered several pockets of what Makatza learned to be Qunari but more specifically Tal Vashoth. To the young woman they were utterly terrifying; standing several feet above her and broad shouldered, these brutes intimidated her horribly. They each carried vicious weapons and looked pretty deadly, more than once Makatza had to heal Fenris, Tallis and Garrett. She attempted to stay out the fights but these Qunari were more thank likely to target her as she was a mage and they saw her as the real threat. It was the last fight that they were in that Makatza got hit with an arrow in the arm, she swore and dropped to her knees as she held her arm trying to concentrate as she healed.

Garrett made his way over to her and protected her from the onslaught getting caught with a spear pretty badly in the thigh. Fenris managed to flank the oncoming wave and soon most of them were dying or dead. Tallis had found one that was able to speak and while she discussed Salit, Makatza went about healing her cousin. 'Katza, are you okay?' Garrett asked, he knew that she was flagging with energy.

'We've not stopped in hours and I haven't eaten,' Makatza says quietly as she starts to repair the damage from the blade. Ignoring her own wound for the moment as Garrett could easily lose a lot of blood. 'My mana may be endless but I'm not,' she sighed as she sat back.

'It'll be over soon, Katza, I promise,' he says softly. 'Do you want to stay here while we go ahead and deal with Salit?' He suggests.

Makatza shook her head, 'no, if something happened to any of you I wouldn't forgive myself,' she said coughing into her hand as she cleared her throat. Garrett nodded and thanked her for the healing before going over to find out what Tallis had discovered. Going by the look on her face it wasn't good. 'Fenris?' Makatza said as she attempted to heal herself, it was taking longer than usual. 'Are you hurt anywhere?' She looked at her arm to see progress.

'No, I am sufficient. Bruises if anything,' he said dismissively. 'You look pale,' he comments.

'I am pale,' Makatza says with a smile, amused.

'Paler than usual,' Fenris chuckles as he rolls his eyes. This woman didn't take anything seriously. 'Instead of worrying about everyone else, you need to take care of yourself.'

'That's all well and good,' she said as she finally healed the stinging cut, 'but unless a squirrel appears and I get good enough at throwing fireballs without setting the mountain on fire in the next ten minutes, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. Or an apple tree,' she adds as an after thought. 'Or something like a honeycomb? I could be like a bear and start tearing into it-'

'You are hungry,' Fenris interrupts.

'No, I'm starving,' she corrects, 'pretty much bordering on the edge of hangry which would explain my short temper and reluctance to heal my bonehead family,' she said as she stood up as Garrett came over.

'He's at the base of the mountain, if we rush we could get there in time,' he says quickly before starting to run down the track. Makatza swore and rolled her eyes in annoyance.

'Of course he is, why wouldn't he be?' She snaps.

She was about to start after the apostate and assassin who were making good distance on them when Fenris held up a hand to stop her. 'Here,' he says simply as he takes something out a pouch that was wrapped in wax paper. She raised a brow and opened it, a small, thick slab of rolled oats, raisins and almonds had been pressed together in honey. 'It will give you energy, take a moment to eat,' he instructs as he avoids looking at her. Makatza could have almost cried, it looked and smelled great. With a couple of bites she wolfed it down and then grabbed her water skin draining half in a rush.

'Ohmyfuckinggodthatwasamazing,' she said in a stream as she exhaled out heavily. 'Did you make that-?'

'Don't tell Hawke,' he said with a half smile as he glanced over at her. She giggled and nods feeling better than she had all afternoon.

'Careful Fenris, your sweet side is showing,' she teased lightly as she closed the skin and hung it off her belt. 'I'll tell Isabela and then your nickname will spread around Kirkwall,' she grinned as she began to gently pick up speed down the trail.

'If anyone is a guinea pig around here it is you,' he says as he follows her. 'Please do not tell the Pirate,' he adds. She laughs and doesn't reply. 'Makatza? Please,' he repeats making her laugh more and a pit of anxiety grow in his stomach.