Liz stared at Fenris, astonishmed, and said, "I haven't the faintest idea why there's a Templar out there."

He approached her with a snarl. "Do you not? That's why you didn't want me to come in, right? Because your friend and his cronies are magicians."

"A magician? Ben?" She snorted briefly. "He didn't even work any magic at cards, he was that bad at cheating..."

"Don't lie to me!"

She froze as his voice echoed loud and sharply in the cave. He had begun to glow and seemed suspicious and tense. A voice deep inside her warned her not to tease him, but she - once again - did not listen.

"Did you not say you would protect me, Ser Bodyguard?" She brought her face right in front of his, her eyes narrow. "Yelling at the cave so definitely EVERYONE in and out here can hear doesn't seem like the best way to do it..."

"Lizzy!"

She drove around and saw Ben limping into the cave, his tanned face wearing a broad smile.

"Damn it, you came. I knew I could count on my girl."

His broad Starkhaven accent immediately brought back memories of the place where she was born, of lukewarm ale, nights in haylofts and humid, happy evenings around campfires and -

"Ben, damn it, what have you done now?" she hissed, allowed herself to be embraced and then immediately pushed him away again. "There's a Templar out there..."

His eyes narrowed. "A Templar?"

"Yes," growled Fenris and slid in next to Liz. "Who are you hiding?"

Surprised and slightly irritated, Ben mustered him and then slowly asked, "Who is this guy?"

"This guy is the last thing you're going to see if you don't give us an answer," she said candidly.

Ben's eyes grew big, then he thought for a moment, and finally settled on "Lizzy, what can I say... I did it for love."

Liz groaned and threw up her hands. She could no longer count on one hand how many times she had heard this sentence from him. "Could you elaborate on that a bit further, please, Ben?" Somehow she sounded like she had pebbles in her mouth.

"I don't know if you've heard, but the circle in Starkhaven burned down and the mages were taken to Kirkwall." He scratched his head and ended: "Lizzy, when I saw her with the Templars, I just had to help her!"

She was staring at him. "Ben, don't tell me you helped magicians escape to free a girl you've never even talked to in your life!" Now it was she who screamed, and in the most violent Starkhaven dialect. He turned pale, knowing that it only happened to her when she was really angry.

"That's enough," growled Fenris and turned away, "I'll get the Templar!"

"No!" Her hand was on his arm before she could think of anything better. He spun to her, grabbed her wrist and tore it away from his skin.

"Don't touch me!"

"Hey, keep your hands off her," Ben who a) had not much in a survival instinct because b) he had survived some big time shit said in a threatening voice. Liz silenced him with a gesture of her hand as she looked at Fenris. Maker, he seemed as angry and hateful as she had only seen him once, two weeks earlier, when he had hunted down the slavers. She had thought he had begun to trust her a little, but now he looked at her as if she was the enemy par excellence. Anger, disappointment and a completely irrational feeling of vulnerability closed her throat.

For a few seconds Liz kept staring at him, then made a decision and very slowly and very thoughtfully she reached out her hand and put it on his arm again. He froze.

"Fenris, I swear to the Maker, when this is sorted out, I'm gonna take his stupid ass and beat it back to Starkhaven." She kept her voice soft and light, almost as if she wanted to calm a troubled animal. "But until then, I would ask you to do nothing and... trust me."

He snorted. "Trust you."

"Yes. You have no reason not to. In the time we've known each other, have I ever made you feel that I wouldn't stand by you?"

Something changed - hardly noticeable - in one face. Maybe she had just imagined it, but the fact was that he still hadn't taken his arm away from her and slowly let the air escape.

"Damn it, Liz, are you WITH that freak?" Ben's voice sounded horrified.

This time it was Liz turn to snort. Iwish... Although right now she'd rather slap the elf than kiss him.

"Call me freak again and you're a dead man," Fenris growled and resigned.

"Yes, Ben," the words just slipped from her. "That's a term of endearment only I can use."

Before they could deepen the subject, they noticed a movement out of the corner of their eye and drove around at the same time. A magician had appeared in the back of the cave, stared at them hurriedly, then slit his wrist and raised his hands.

"Damned Blood Mage," Fenris growled and shot forward...

... straight into a horde of skeletons rising from the gravel-covered cave floor.

"Friends of yours, Ben?" she hissed as she drew her daggers, helplessly gazing at the fighting crowd. Fenris was quick and merciless and hacked at the attackers like a berserk, but there were simply too many. Liz, however, with her two short daggers could do absolutely nothing against creatures that were only bones, and Ben was no help at all due to his injury.

Her gaze glided to the ceiling of the cave, from which several stalactites were hanging down. An idea formed in her head.

"Help me up, Ben."

He followed her look and immediately understood what she was planning. Without further ado, he made her a robber's ladder and hurled her up the distance she had to cover to find a foothold on the cave wall. With a curse she slipped down a few centimeters, as the surface was slippery and damp, then caught herself again and started climbing. She felt for protrusions, pushed her fingers into cracks and pushed herself up the cave wall more and more. A large spider felt disturbed by her penetration of its territory and scurried over her hand, but she didn't even flinch. Again and again her gaze glided down to Fenris, who was fighting for his life. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest.

When she reached the ceiling of the cave and found some support, she fumbled under her tunic and reached into one of the many bags she had sewn in. Then she took out a small bag of powder and opened it with her teeth. She suppressed a sneeze as the acrid smell of the saltpetre mixture penetrated her nose. Beneath her, Fenris let out another battle cry and then hissed in pain. Liz worked her way slowly over the ceiling of the cave until she was almost parallel to the ground. Then she pushed the bag under the stalactite that towered directly over the battlefield, fished a small flint from her trouser pocket and hit the rock with it.

No spark was produced. Fenris stumbled beneath her, barely dodging the blow of a jagged, ancient blade. Cursing, she struck the stone against the rock again, again and again, until a spark flashed up and jumped onto the bag.

Liz let go with a warning shout at the same moment the saltpetre ignited and the explosive mixture took full effect. A thunderous noise could be heard and the whole cave seemed to rebel. Then the stalactite broke and crashed down on the skeletons. She saw Fenris dive to the side, landed next to him, rolled off and lay on her back.

The first stalactite was followed by a second.

Oh, not good actually, not that good.

The cave ceiling collapsed. She heard someone screaming - probably herself - until the sound of falling debris swallowed every other sound. Fenris threw himself over her and put his hand on her head to protect her. Rocks hit him in the back and rammed his body against hers. She felt him flinch and heard a groaning sound coming from his lips. Then it became dark around her and dust started to trickle down on her.

Maker... Maker alive. Immediately panic set in Liz' gut, and she began to move against the stone, against Fenris, uncontrollably and tense. Her lungs stopped breathing as she felt a thousand tons of rock pressing against her. There wasn't much to be afraid of, but this was something that came close to her worst nightmare. Maker, air, she needed air...

"Liz, hold still!" Fenri's dark voice echoed above her.

"No, no, no, no, I can't, I have to get out of here,I have to - „

"Liz, we're trapped, and if you keep fidgeting like this, we're gonna be dead too."

Oh great, that's really very reassuring, Mr. Elf... The problem here was that she was about to hyperventilate. She knew that she had to calm down, but she couldn't think straight, except that she had to get out of here...

"Lizzy?" That was Ben's voice, which sounded muffled to her ear.

"Ben?" she gasped. "Ben, get us out. Please..."

"I'm, uh, working on it. There's a lot of gravel on you, but at least the skeletons are gone." He grunted when he did something, and Liz could hear something crumble.

"Be careful, you damn fool!" Fenris growled.

"In case you've forgotten, freak, you're in need of my help right now!"

Liz's head went up and banged against Fenri's chest, causing the elf to make a growling noise. "Ben, I swear I'll kill you when I get out of here," she hissed. "Have you forgotten that this is all your fault?"

Silence followed. She wasn't worried that he might have left. He wouldn't abandon her. But he was probably concentrating now.

Haven't you thought that before? whispered a gloating voice in her head. And then you were all alone...

Hastily and frightened Liz pushed the thought aside and let her head sink back again. The little argument with Ben had had one good thing: She had calmed down a bit and managed to bring down her panic. The disadvantage was that she now perceived Fenris, who had been pressed close to her, with excessive intensity. She knew that if he had had enough freedom of movement, he would have moved away. That he did not was not a good sign.

"Are you hurt, Fenris?" she whispered.

"I don't think so," he replied, "at least not seriously." He remained silent for a moment, only to add: "That was most foolish!"

"Exactly what of the many things I've done in the last half-hour?"

"Everything," he replied, "but especially blowing up the cave."

"I hadn't intended to blow it up," she hissed. "And since Ben is obviously not dead, it's still standing. So don't be so melodramatic."

He snorted. She was close enough to him that she could feel his warm breath on her hair. "Melodramatic is probably the woman who wants to follow her idiot childhood friend into a cave full of renegade magicians. Not me."

This guy seriously overestimated some things about himself. Like his attitude. Still, this time, Liz held her peace because he was right. She really didn't know what got into Ben, acting so irresponsible. Yes, he had always been spontaneous and impetuous, but this behaviour was the last straw.

Dust was trickling down on them again, and then some bigger stones came after them. Liz squeezed her eyes together and pressed her forehead against Fenri's chest, wringing down the renewed panic. By the Maker, she was so scared.

"Sorry," Ben's voice said, followed by "Who the hell are you?"

She and Fenris raised their heads at the same time when Hawke's voice answered: "Oh, we were just on a really nice trip to the beach when we heard the news that some renegade magicians are hiding in this cave..."

"Hawke!" Fenris almost yelled. "I'm not surprised you showed up!"

Silence. Then, stunned, "Fenris?"

A hysterical laugh burst across Liz's lips, and she could almost see Fenris' frown. This whole thing was just ridiculous. She hoped she would have the chance to laugh about it one day.

"I could use help getting them out of there," she heard Ben say.

"Oh how sweet, have you two lovebirds made your nest in a cave together," Isabella's voice sounded.

"Shut up, bitch," hissed Liz. "Why don't you use your hands for something useful for a change and get us out of here?"

She could almost see the other woman pursing her lips. "I don't know, Lizzy darling, is that really how you ask to be freed from a mass of rocks..."

"Isabela!" Hawke's voice said. "Enough talk, let's get her out of there."

Liz lowered her head back and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw that Fenris had begun to glow slightly. She could see his face over hers. He had sweat on his forehead, and his mouth was tense. Her breath stopped from sudden worry.

"You are hurt," she said reproachfully.

He closed his eyes and shook his head reluctantly. Slowly and carefully she moved her left arm and let it move up his back. A large stone had fallen directly onto his hip and pressed him against her. She tried - unsuccessfully - to push it off him.

"Further up," he gasped after all and pressed his forehead to the ground next to her head.

She stroked further up and flinched when she felt moisture. A splinter was sticking out of his shoulder blade.

"You unspeakable, stubborn, stupid man," Liz murmured, grabbed the stone splinter and then tried to pull. Fenris grunted in pain, but visibly relaxed afterwards. Liz pressed her hands against his shoulder blade and tried to relieve the pressure of the loose stones lying on Fenris's back and reinforcing pressure on the stone splinter without actually taking it all out of the pulled her other arm out from under her back and laid it on his hair. It was a reflex, careless and instinctive. Gently and calmly she stroked the light strands of hair.

In retrospect, Liz could absolutely not guess how long it took the others to uncover them. At some point the first light flooded over her and she greedily sucked the fresh air into her lungs. Fenris turned his head, and her hand slipped from his hair. Their eyes met.

Another stone was removed. She blinked as brightness streamed over her. Hawke's sweaty face appeared. He frowned anxiously when he saw Fenri's back, then lifted the heavy stone from his hip. Immediately, the elf took a deep breath and lifted himself up. His signs glowed stronger again and betrayed his pain.

"Anders, we need you here," cried Hawke. Seconds later, the magician appeared and cursed when he saw Fenris sitting on a boulder, breathing heavily. Bright light streamed from between his fingers as he began to heal the other man who seemed too tired to actually yell about it.

Ben pushed himself into Liz's field of vision and extended his hand towards her. She accepted his help and let him pull her up. Then she pushed him away and made his face familiar with her fist.