HAWKE

Bethany.

They took Bethany.

Those blighted templars and mages took her. After all I've done for both of them.

And for what purpose?

To get to me.

The mountain of stairs leading out of the Kirkwall docks blurs before me. The rage, the guilt, the unending worry merging together in a relentless spiral inside my head. It's like I'm caught in an emotional whirlpool. Spinning. Deepening. Darkening. Drowning. A heavy weight plops down into the pit of my stomach, churning the otherwise priorly calm waters there with nauseating force.

"We'll find her, Hawke. We'll save her," Serena whispers comfortingly at my side—Fenris, Zevran, and Varric not far in tow behind her.

"She shouldn't need saving. She should've been safe!" I snap back, shaking my head.

Serena doesn't say anything else.

She merely purses her lips and shrinks back, slowing her pace to walk closer to the others.

Andraste's mercy, this is all my fault. I should've been paying attention. I should've been keeping her under guard, even when at the Circle.

Instead, what have I been doing?

Off playing errand boy for everyone and their mother, trying to protect other mages?

"Shit." I bury my hand in my hair and ruffle the strands. Once I've gotten the burst of needed energy out, I glare straight ahead, to the top of the steps.

This crosses a line.

There's no going back from this. Ever.

Maybe Anders was right. Maybe this whole city is too far gone. Maybe I should leave.

Regardless, Keran, Orsino, Meredith, Thrask, all of them better hope that by the time I get to the Wounded Coast, there's still time for saving my sister. If not, there will be blood to pay, and I won't discriminate against who.


SERENA

An uneasy silence lingers over the heart of Hightown in front of Hawke's family estate.

It's been a long, terrible day, full of drastic twists and turns. But thankfully, we were able to retrieve Bethany with minimal bloodshed, all thanks to Alain for reviving her from Grace's spell with blood magic. Hopefully, the Knight-Captain keeps his word and shows the man mercy. He deserves that much, despite letting himself be led around. Something I wouldn't have been able to say for Grace or Thrask, had they survived the stressful encounter. Those two simply went too far, and they were too far gone.

I sigh and continue to stare at the moonlit front door Hawke and Bethany disappeared behind a few moments ago.

You'd never guess Bethany was kidnapped by her bubbly small talk on our way back, except for perhaps the slight strain of nerves on her lips. But Hawke . . . He was uncharacteristically silent, adding in only a few curt, harsh comments directed at the templars and mages involved alike.

The thought of it and the dead, absent look in his eyes when we said our partings invokes a dreaded feeling in my gut. One I can't shake. An unease that just keeps building, like somehow I can tell something big is about to happen. That this might've been the one thing before it all collapses. For good reason, on Hawke's front.

They took his family. His family! That's already been under threat multiple times before, and used blood magic on her.

Nothing I can say or do will make this sound better.

But what does that mean for this city?

What does it mean for Hawke?

For all of us?

Two possibilities play out in my head. Neither ideal with either Hawke succumbing to rage and abandoning the city or confronting one or both sides. Actions that would undoubtedly prompt war and escalate to utter chaos. The result uncertain.

"Worried, my dear?" Zev steps up enough to crane his head around me.

I gulp, lick my lips, and nod to both him and Fenris, who are keenly watching me.

"There's change in the air," I whisper as a slight howling gust, whirls through Hightown, rustling my hair as well as the nearby bushes.

And with it, everything will follow.


HAWKE

First, I'm scrounging around, fighting smugglers, carta, and crazed apostates for some sela petrae piss thing in the sewers. Next, I'm fighting of a herd of poisonous spiders in the Bone Pit to harvest some precious drakestone.

And now, he wants me to distract Grand Cleric Elthina? While he runs off inside who knows where, doing who knows what? Because he won't tell me anything other than it's what must be done? And that Serena and the others can't know?

What in the Maker's balls am I supposed to talk to her about anyway?

Mages?

Why?

Why is he doing this? Why won't he tell me anything? Why did he lie about there ever being a potion in the first place?

And why in Andraste's flaming sword am I allowing him to blackmail me into this with his moral ultimatiums? After everything I've done for him?

I groan and trudge up the Chantry's inner steps. Each one feeling taller and more tiresome and irksome than the last.

The inner sanctum's quiet today. No templars roam about. Only Elthina's reading in her usual spot at the top of the stairs, under the golden statue of Andraste. I walk up to her, taking in her pulled back grey hair, silver eyes, and their almost haunting contrast with the reds of her robe.

Her gaze rises from her book to meet mine, and I freeze. "Maker's blessing, Champion. Have you come to pray?" She stands.

I gulp and look off to the side. "Um. Not quite." I glance around the room, searching for any sight of Anders, finding nothing. "I've uh . . . come to ask if you've thought about which side you'll take? Between the mages and templars?"

Right. Sure. Let's go with that.

Elthina sighs, her eyes growing tired and slightly critical, as I expected. "It's no secret that you count apostates among your friends, Champion." She scowls at me with the same knowing look in her eyes that she's given me before on this topic. "You have done much to fan the flames of rebellion here. We must give Meredith and Orsino time to work out their differences. No good can come of showing favor to one side."

"Couldn't you solve this problem if you just spoke out?"

Anything but just doing nothing.

"How would that help?" Elthina tilts her head at me. "Both sides make good points. Both have flaws." She shrugs and crosses her arms. "For a thousand years, the Chantry has had to find the balance between them. That hasn't changed here."

"The Maker created mages! Why doesn't He protect them?"

Elthina lowers her head. "I feel for the mages, I do." She frowns. "I would not wish to be locked in the Gallows. But I cannot take sides. We are all the Maker's creatures, but magic allows abuses beyond the scope of mortals. I only hope I can balance the needs of everyone. For if it comes to war, it is the people of this city who will lose."

I'm about to snap at her, to tell her they are already losing due to her lack of action, of forethought, but then hurried footsteps race up the steps behind me.

"There you are.+! I've been looking for you all over." Anders smiles at me softly, sweat dripping from his brow. His expression then goes blank, emotionless, but still evidently full of quiet disdain, as he nods his stiff acknowledgment to Elthina. "Your grace," he mutters, the tiniest hint of malice clear on his tongue.

Elthina holds her ground and pivots toward him. "Your soul is troubled, child. I hope you found a balm for it here."

"I'm sure I will." Anders smirks. He then glimpses at me, then at the stairs.

"We'll be off then for the day. Thank you for your time, your Grace." I bow my head to Elthina.

"Maker watch over you." She nods with a raise of her hand, and we make our way down the steps.

"I cannot tell you how good it feels for a spirit to fulfill its function," Anders whispers giddily close to my ear as we near the Chantry door. "The waiting is over! I am finally seeking justice! And he is exultant. There is no ecstasy humankind can feel to match."

"Are you going to tell me what you did?" I glare over at him the second we push the Chantry door open and exit out into the warm afternoon sunlight.

Anders stops and frowns. His prior elation in his tone and face: gone in an instant. "You are Kirkwall's Champion. You can better aid our cause in that role than by aligning yourself with me too closely here."

I scoff and rub a swift hand through my beard. "Every time you refuse to tell me, I have to imagine something crazier," I warn, giving him my harshest pointed look, hoping to persuade him.

"This isn't a fight for sane men," he persists. Expression unmoving.

I hold eye contact with him for a long moment. No opening reveals itself in his stare.

"Flames and damnation . . . Fine! Don't tell me then. Do what you want." I shake my head and storm off.

I march my way through the corridors of Hightown, forgetting Anders, ignoring any watchful, chatting passerby, zoning out from everything. Only focused on getting home as fast as I can to crack open our finest bottle of wine and drink myself into a numb, thoughtless, stressless stupor.

Curse it all.

This was never what I signed up for. What my family signed up for.

No more.

I can't-

No more.

Head pounding from a mounting migraine that's been stalking me for days now, and muscles clenching, threatening to strike out with kicks or fists, I slam open our front door with a huff and stomp into the estate. Bodahn peeks over at me from his sweeping spot over by Titan and the fireplace.

"Oh! A letter came for you when you were gone, my Lord. I put it on your table. It seemed important," he tells me.

I halt my advance into my study and squint back at him. The affable dwarf smiles, an understanding twinkle in his eyes, and bows his head, then goes back to his sweeping.

I glance over at my letter desk—the piles of papers scattered across its messy surface at the foot of the stairs, with one small envelope placed neatly on top. The red, official seal visible from where I'm standing.

Blast it all.

I stomp over to it and pick it up. Desperate to get this over with to get on with my other plans.

Orsino?

I scan the seal, recognizing it immediately.

What in the blazes could he want now?


Author's Note: Next few chapters will be longer than usual as we finally reach the conclusion of the DA2 arc. As such, there will likely be a little delay. But expect quite a few changes with Serena involved. Everything's coming to a boiling point now, and I'm so excited to connect all the major arcs into this moment, to show how they all fit together (and how they'll link in with DAI). Thanks again for reading! Stay tuned.