Chapter Three of my original story is out now on FictionPress, enjoy.

Chapter 83: On the Loose pt2

Hanged Man-Day

The gang headed to the Hanged Man to search for Emile de Launcet, they did not have to search long as they spotted the young noble apostate in the middle of the tavern asleep from his drinking. "I'm surprised no one has tried to steal from him dressing like that" Varric said.

"Would you try to steal from a dangerous blood mage?" Ericks asked.

"Hmm, good point"

Ericks walked up to the apostate "Emile de Launcet?" The young man raised his head off the table, his eyes were bloodshot from all the drinking. The rogue flinched and held his nose, the young de Launcet had certainly helped himself to the Hanged Man's selection. It took a second for Emile's vision to adjust before he spoke.

"Hey…how'd you know my name? Did Nella tell you?" Emile asked with a slight burp. "I gave her my Launcet signet ring exchange for a kiss, and tonight, she's going to make me a man."

"I don't think she can make him a man. It's entirely a matter of having the right bits to begin with" Merrill said dryly.

"Subtlety like a brick…how the hell did the templars miss him?" Varric asked.

Anders sighed as he shook his head. "Give him some slack, the man's lived in the Circle his whole life." he said. "He can't function in the real world."

"Round of drinks on me? I'm Emile, as you know. And you are…?"

"Feeling very sorry for you, I'm also helping the templars hunt a mage named Emile de Launcet, and what luck, here you are" Emile quickly went sober when he heard that and stood up to talk to Ericks.

"Oh, buggery! I…I know how this look but I…I'm not a blood mage, all right?"

Ericks crossed his arms and raised his brow. "Oh? Everyone else seem to think you're a blood mage from Meredith to your own parents" he said. "Now why would they think that, hmm?"

"I…uh, might have started that rumor because…because I thought it would make me sound dangerous and…suave." He said. "I've only told people in the tavern. And only women" The gang blinked, they had to process what they just heard…the young de Lancet told everyone he was a blood mage so he could meet women. They thought they have seen all that stupidity could bring but apparently, they were very wrong.

"Wow just…wow" Ericks said incredulously.

"I take back what I said" Anders said. "You idiot"

"You don't understand. I've been in the Circle since I was six. Six!" Emile said. "For twenty years I was locked up. Never had real drink, or…or cooked something for myself."

"Never stood in the rain or kissed a girl…" he said. "I just wanted to live a little…" Emile then sighs. "if you're going to kill me, do it. I'd rather die drunk."

"Understandable but still a stupid thing to do" Anders said.

"Escaping the Circle just to kiss a girl" Varric said. "Heh, he's got guts, that's for sure."

Emile rubbed his head sheepishly. "Well, not just that. I've read so much about the other things you can do with girls" he said. "I just don't want to die a virgin."

"So, what do we do, Ericks?" Merrill asked.

"Meredith takes blood magic seriously; Emile is a dead man or worse thanks to his little stunt" Ericks looked at the young lord. "The Comtesse gave you the money so you could get out of Kirkwall. Stop wasting it".

Emile was taken aback. "You'll let me go?"

"I can tell the templars you're dead, but you have to leave now."

"I...I think there's a ship leaving port tonight. I'll find my way onto it" As he begins to walk towards the door, Emile gives a look back. "Thank you. I'll find some way to repay you some say, I promise" He walks away.

"It's going to be hard for him" Anders said. "It takes years for circle mages that's been on the inside since the beginning to adjust to the outside world."

"We could always stop him" Varric said.

Anders shook his head. "No, this is for the best" he said. "Freedom is hard, but it wouldn't be worth it if it wasn't."

Darktown

The last apostate on the list took the gang to grimy depths of Darktown once again. Her name was Evelina, and she lived among the Ferelden refugees escaping the Fifth Blight. For eight years, Evelina trained in the Circle in Ferelden and on arrival she presented herself to the first enchanter and asked to take her place there. According to the Templar files, she was a great advocate for the young survivors of the Blight and petitioned Meredith multiple times for their financial support. She was last seen in Darktown, most likely trying to check up on the orphan refugees. Templars pursued her but Eveline killed several of them making her the most dangerous of the escaped apostates.

The gang arrived in a place called Dog-lord alley, a less the flattering name the locals the gave due to all the Fereldans living there. Even though it's been years since the Fifth Blight, there was still bad blood between the Fereldan refugees and the local marchers of Kirkwall. This had led multiple Ferelden gangs sprouting up and taking on the more established gangs. The gang went to the children since they would have the greatest idea of where Evelina was. But they found that due to the constant gang wars happening in Darktown, they were very quick to mistrust. A red-haired boy saw them coming and ran behind an older blond-haired boy. He stood up and frowned at the gang.

"We got nothing here you'd want. Get back to Hightown and leave us alone!"

"You're a little young for a blood mage and I thought Evelina was a girl's name" Ericks said.

"I'm not Evelina. I'm Walter. Evelina was our…friend. She was our mother" he said. "She found us when the darkspawn came, when our parents died. She made sure we got to Kirkwall safely."

"I miss her" the younger boy said.

"But when she went to join the Circle here, they called her apostate for leaving the tower in Ferelden. They locked her up."

Anders frowned. "Of course, they did…"

"I had heard that she gave herself up for the promise that Circle help the children here." Ericks said.

Walter lowered his head. "The templars didn't care that children were suffering here. They only cared about capturing Evelina." He said. "If you're asking about her, I take it you're working for the templars."

"I don't work for the templars, they roped me into helping them" the champion said. "But that's neither here nor there, if you tell me where Evelina is, I'll try my best to help her. You can trust me." Walter and his brother gave a pained look on their faces, something happened.

"No one can help her…" The younger boy came from behind Walter.

"The templars made Evelina angry. They made her change" he said. "It wasn't her fault! When it was over, she was ashamed. She ran into the tunnels and hid."

"Shut up, Cricket! Don't tell them that!"

"Evelina's in the sewer tunnels?"

"You can't go there. She'll know we told you and she'll be angry with us!" Walter said fearfully. Cricket started to get scared.

"Angry? I didn't like when she got angry. We…we have to hide!" The young boy ran away and Walter followed.

"Let's head to the sewers" Anders said. "Maker's Breath…I hope she hasn't given in."

The Undercity

Once in the Undercity, it didn't take long for the gang to attacked by demons. They fought their way through and made it across the other side of the sewers where they found Walter and Cricket. "What are you doing here?"

"I…I thought if we warned her about you, she wouldn't be angry. But then she…"

"Walter…" a voice said in a menacing sing-song voice. The young man paled.

"She's coming! Run!" The two boys ran away, but a woman was in the way. They backed away slowly with great fear in their eyes. She wore brownish-grey rags, her hair was tied up into a ponytail giving her a motherly look. But the eyes told a different story, they were empty and full of malice. Their beloved mother figure was gone and was taken over by a demon.

"There you are. Don't run from me, Walter. You know those are the rules."

"Funny, I always thought running away from crazy women was a good thing" 'Evelina's' head jerked toward the gang and her eyes grew dark.

"These are my children. You and your kind abandoned them" She said walking past Walter and Cricket. "You're Ferelden, like us, but you feast on sweetmeats while your people starve in the Undercity" Her voice grew cold and dark until it became demonic, her skin burst as her face grew distorted. Walter and Cricket looked away. The woman named Evelina was gone, replaced with an abomination. "I spit at you, traitor, and on the pathetic templars that sent you."

"Kirkwall should be mine! Then my children will have a whole city to play in!" The abomination summoned demons around it as the gang moved into formation to protect Walter and Cricket. Merrill summoned a lightning storm to stun the demon while Anders cleanse the area of the demons. Varric laid out caltrops to slow down the abomination as Ericks approached with blades dipped in mage's bane. The abomination shot several fireballs at the champion but Ericks was too quick, he primed his daggers for the abomination's neck and with great swiftness, he lunged. The battle was quickly ended, and the gang went back to the children who were still shaken by what happened.

"I don't understand. Evelina loved us. She saved us, why would she try to hurt us now?" Walter asked in disbelief.

"Evelin would never hurt you, child. That was a demon" Anders said. "Remember her as she was…a brave, kind, loving woman."

"I…I will try."

The mage then sighed. "Unfortunately, she is just the latest victim of a bigger problem" he said. "The templars force our hand, they make us take desperate measures…just to be free like all the Maker's children should be."

"Like Evelina did"

"Exactly"

Walter shook his head. "I don't know what we'll do now" Ericks reached around his belt and took out a large sack of coin and gave it to the boy. "You…you're giving all of this to us?"

"Sure, I'm not missing anything" Ericks said. "Just make it last."

"Thank you, messere" the young man said. "I should go buy some food for the others. They've been hungry for a long time" Walter and Cricket walked away.

"Two apostates dead and we let one of them get away, Meredith won't be happy about this" Varric said.

Ericks snorted. "When is the Knight-Commander ever happy about anything?"

"Good point" The gang headed back to the Gallows to make their report to Meredith.

Next Time! As always Review and Comment!