Chapter THIRTY-EIGHT
It didn't take much convincing to get Anders and Varric involved. The lost-cause case of Isabela was something Anders couldn't refuse and Varric was always up for a good tale of intrigue and treachery. When they reached the foundry, however, they had a Qunari squadron to deal with.
"Halt! You will surrender the relic!" one of the leaders of the group of Qunari bellowed at them as they walked up.
"I don't have your stupid relic," Isabela exasperatedly responded.
"The bas has no honor! Kill it!" the Qunari squad leader shouted.
"Just once. I'd like to visit a Lowtown foundry and not have to kill anyone," Aria groaned, unsheathing her daggers.
"It's a foundry, Hawke. They're all the same. Killing people is the only highlight to being here," Varric dead-panned next to her, launching a hail of arrows into the Qunari's ranks.
Aria sneered in response and jumped into the fray where Fenris and Isabela were already engaged. A Sten soldier Qunari singled Aria out for combat and drove her away from the rest of the fighting. Aria nimbly evaded his attacks with the spear he wielded. She lashed him across the back of his leg, hamstringing him. When he fell, she drove her dagger through his skull and was on to the next.
The skirmish didn't last long. Their party was just as big as that of the Qunari. It wasn't a fair fight really; most of these Qunari youngsters had never seen a real battle. Proud and skilled as they were, they were no match for the baptised-by-fire, seasoned-by-combat competency that every single one of Aria's companions possessed.
As Aria surveyed the damage done, Isabela paced around the dead Qunari, her expression worrisome. It didn't suit the rogue pirate renegade. Aria tried to lighten the mood.
"If the Arishok asks why we killed his men, we'll say it was an accident," Aria sarcastically chimed, walking towards the foundry steps once more.
"Er…yes," Isabela said, straightening to look Hawke in the eyes. "About that. The relic belongs to the Qunari, and there's a small chance they might want it back.
Aria was aghast. "Do the Qunari look like sharing types to you? Of course they want it back!" Aria boomed.
"I've a confession to make, Aria. Because you're my friend. My best friend, in fact. I knew all along what the relic was. I didn't want to…worry you, what with all that's gone on recently—"
"The point, Isabela. Get to it," Aria crossly interjected. Anders chuckled behind her.
"Right. Well, the relic is a Qunari handwritten text by that philosopher of theirs… Keslan, Cousland… Whatever his name is," Isabela gushed uncomfortably.
"Koslun?" Fenris rasped in his velvet over crushed diamond voice, quirking one brow. He spoke as though he knew a great deal about the subject and he seemed both intrigued and angered.
"That's the one!" Isabela replied, snapping her fingers, her expression brightening.
"The founder of their religion? The most revered being in their history? That text would be sacred beyond measure!" Fenris retorted, disgusted with the level of ignorance Isabela displayed.
"I stole it from them, they followed me here to reclaim it. And that's why they're still in Kirkwall," Isabela returned fire, her sins now confessed in earnest.
Aria rubbed at her temples for a moment, working hard to quell the sudden rage that threatened to overtake her. The effects of the alcohol were wearing off and now she was getting the headache. She fought the itching in her fingers that demanded they wrap themselves around Isabela's pretty, dusky throat and squeeze til the lights went out of her chameleon-esque eyes.
"And they can't leave without it!" Aria finally managed. "All of this could have been avoided!"
Isabela winced at the chill in Hawke's tone and she looked as though she were but a child, a child being reprimanded severely.
Aria softened slightly. "How did you nick the relic from the Qunari?"
"The Arishok never had it," Isabela clarified. "The Orlesians did."
"Figures," Aria snorted. "The Orlesians have their sticky little fingers in everyone's pies."
Isabela continued. "They had plans to return it to the Qunari. I simply had to waylay the Orlesian convoy before it met up with the Arishok and his men. Getting the relic was easy. Getting away from the Qunari was the hard part."
Seeing holes in Isabela's many tales, Aria was reluctant to believe all of this just yet. "I thought you and the Qunari were caught in a storm."
"The storm was only half of it," Isabela replied. "I also had the Qunari dreadnought stuck to my behind like a bad rash, spitting fire and thunder at me."
"It seems the relic would be useless to the Tevinters. It's a Qunari religious text—it only has meaning to them," Aria mused aloud, though she knew a text like that could be worth quite the pretty penny in the right hands. Or the ultimate insult to the Qunari. Maker knew the Tevinters were especially good at that.
"The Tevinter Imperium has been at war with the Qunari for centuries. If the Tevinters get the relic, it will strike a blow to Qunari morale. That's probably what the mages want," Isabela confirmed Aria's suspicions.
"If we get it back, there's the chance we could kill two birds with one stone. Resolve Aveline's upstanding issue with the Arishok, and get the damned horn-heads to leave," Aria suggested.
"That's the wisest course of action," Fenris agreed.
"I'm for it," Varric chimed in.
"Having less of a population that would see mages gagged and bound and whipped? Yes please," Anders said from beside Varric.
"I need it so I can stay living! Castillon will kill me!" Isabela pleaded.
"Venhedis!" Fenris spat then turning away to punch the wall behind him. "Do you ever care about anyone but yourself!?"
"If I don't, who will?" Isabela yelled at him.
"This isn't helping," Aria wearily stated then, rubbing at her temples.
"Look," Isabela sighed. "The book is in this building. I'm not letting it slip away again," she said, her voice taking a deathly serious timbre.
Fenris snorted but didn't say anything, his back still turned. Varric looked between Aria and Isabela as if he was watching a terribly intense game of chess being played, eager to see the next moves. Anders glared disapprovingly at the pirate captain. When Aria was silent for too long, Isabela continued.
"It's the only thing that will get Castillon off my back. Please, Aria. Give the relic to me."
"The artifact belongs to the Qunari!" Aria shouted, her rage winning over her desire to help her friend for the moment. "Let them leave with it. I'll deal with Castillon if it comes down to it."
"There are people in this world that not even the dauntless Aria Hawke can defeat!" Isabela retorted. "Don't you understand? The relic is the only thing that will keep Castillon from feeding me to the sharks!"
"And what of the people who will die, the innocents, the ones who haven't even got a clue all of this is going on? You would let hundreds suffer all over something that was never yours to begin with?" Fenris snapped, stalking up beside Aria and facing Isabela.
"We can handle the Qunari," Isabela hopefully stated, but that hope did not reach her eyes.
Aria was silent again, looking between them all. Varric was still observant. Anders looked pissed. Fenris was, as usual, quite incensed. Aria walked away from them, her hands resting on the back of her head as she paced. She always did the right thing, didn't she? And where had it gotten her? She'd lost her family. She had a fortune, but it was hollow. And who was to say the Qunari would leave—and stay gone? Surely the Arishok would make a plea to return in force. He hated all of Kirkwall. Aria had the feeling that no matter what she did, he would still find justification for war. In all reality, it was a miracle he hadn't already.
"If we give the Qunari the relic and they leave, what's to stop them from coming back in force a few months from now to take Kirkwall?" Aria asked everyone and no one, her eyes fixed on a flock of gulls lazily circling above them. They knew soon they'd be eating well, she gloomily thought.
"If you present them with the relic on the premise that the Qunari never return to Kirkwall—they're honorable. They keep their word," Fenris said then, glaring at Aria. He gave her that look that said she was making a mistake, and that he highly disapproved. He was closer to the Qunari way of thinking than he'd ever admit.
"You aren't seriously going to let her keep it?" Anders butt in. "Aria, are you daft?"
Isabela looked stunned. "Hawke, I promise. You won't regret letting me keep it."
Aria rounded on the pirate rogue. "I already do. Let's get this damn book first. Then we'll decide what to do with it."
They entered the foundry and came upon the exchange. The Tevinter mages stood near a suspicious looking man, with shifty eyes and a weak chin. The mages were dressed in fine robes and each possessed a lethally powerful staff. Aria groaned.
"Where is the relic?" one of the mages demanded of the man, a woman who looked to be of great wealth and power.
"I…I have it…right here," the shifty man said.
And then, as always, all hell broke loose. Another squadron of Qunari came through the back alley of the foundry. They flanked the Tevinter mages, who prepared for battle. Aria threw up her arms and silently cursed the Maker for his divine sense of humour.
"The Tome of Koslun will not fall into Tevinter hands!" the leader of the newly arrived band of Qunari yelled out.
"Blood and spite!" the leader of the Tevinter mages spat, launching into battle.
Just as the fight began, the man who claimed to have the Tome of Koslun bolted for the exit. Aria turned to try and stop him, but he launched past her. Isabela was not so easily evaded.
"He's getting away!" Isabela forlornly cried, abandoning them to the Tevinter mages and Qunari squad.
"I'll reserve the 'I told you so' for later," Fenris dourly snarled from next to Aria as they faced the mayhem breaking out before them.
"I'm going to skin her and use her as a throw rug," Aria spat, joining the fray before them.
"Not if I get to her first," Varric muttered, launching a hail of arrows at the Qunari and mages battling in front of him.
The skirmish lasted nearly two hours. In the end, her own band of misfits was victorious. She did suffer a broken collarbone courtesy of a Sten and had to have Anders remove several arrows. Her armour was decent at stopping them, but still their broad heads sank well into her skin. Fenris was worse. Varric was hardly touched. Anders's condition could not be assessed—he was glowing too much.
Wounds healed courtesy of Anders, and pride barely intact, Aria and her party raced outside in the direction Isabela and Wall-Eyed Sam had gotten off to. Isabela had been thoughtful enough to leave a hastily penned note next to Sam's corpse.
Aria,
I have the relic and I am gone. I've lost too much over this blighted thing to let it go again. I know it would be nobler to return it to the Qunari, but that would require a better soul than I possess.
For what it's worth, I'm sorry I lied to you. Again.
Isabela
Aria crumpled the note and threw it into the nearest torch sconce. She watched it burn, tasting the bitterness of defeat hot and metallic on her tongue. Now she would have to face the Arishok. Now the Qunari would burn down Kirkwall. The Qunari did not care who they killed in their role of the Qun. They did not care for those who they considered weak. Kirkwall was, in short, doomed.
"C'mon. Let's go watch Aveline piss off the Arishok. Do you think he'll go easy on me, seeing as how he seems to somewhat like me?" Aria mused as they started for Hightown. Her stomach was doing somersaults and she felt very ill. It might have been nerves, or it might have been the copious amount of alcohol she'd recklessly imbibed. Didn't matter either way, really.
"With your charm and good looks… He might let you be a plaything for the mages," Varric glibly put in his two coppers' worth.
"That's reassuring," Aria quipped, rubbing her belly.
"He isn't entirely unreasonable," Anders tentatively ventured. "If you can manage to do all the talking, Aria, you might be able to keep it from escalating. Aveline…Aveline is not so good at tact."
"She's as subtle as a lightning strike," Fenris agreed, glaring at the mage still.
"Balls," Aria spat. "For the record, I would like to be cremated. Fuck all what is done with my ashes."
Fenris and Anders both glared at Aria. Varric chuckled.
"I could make a fortune off selling them as a cure all to illness and misfortune," Varric glibly stated.
Aria laughed. "Send a stipend of all profits to Bethany please."
"Of course, madam!" Varric feigned hurt.
"Ugh. Let's get this over with," Aria groaned. "Maybe the world will surprise me."
They all but ran to the Keep. Aveline waited for them with a full complement of guards, Donnic at the forefront. He nodded at each of them in passing. Aveline's face fell when she saw them approach. Aria shared a look with her, one of circumstances dire.
"Hawke," she tersely said as the three of them reached her.
"She ran," Aria said with a shrug. "No surprise. But hey, I tried."
Aveline glared at the rogue and slowly shook her head. "How you've managed to stay alive this whole time is beyond me."
Aria instantly discarded her cajoling demeanor and her eyes shot amber sparks. "That you still draw breath is testament to my ability! Lest you forget," she icily boomed; several of the soldiers in the ranks flinched.
Aveline glared at her but said nothing. Instead she motioned violently forward with her arm and the men at the front marched. Movement behind them caught Aria's eye as they moved ahead, and she turned. The Viscount stood in the doors of the Keep, his face drawn and his eyes fearful. He nodded at Aria and she returned the gesture. Then, he shut the doors. Aria heard the bars fall into place a second later. He was preparing for siege. The situation grew darker by the moment.
Aria decided then that perhaps she should take some precautionary measures. As the guardsmen marched past her estate, she ran inside to alert Bodahn. Aria told him to bar her own door and hide in the cellar. She gave him the key to the sewers that led to Anders's clinic. Bodahn, Gamlen, Orana, and Sandal went to the cellar as soon as they'd done as Aria instructed. If anything happened, they'd be able to escape. Aria made it clear that under no circumstances were they to stand and fight.
She caught back up with the guardsmen as they descended from Lowtown to the docks. They stopped outside the Qunari compound at Aveline's command. Aria joined the group of her allies at the front gate, where one of the Qunari guards had just sent a messenger inside. Great. The Arishok would now know Aveline meant business. That headstrong woman was going to get her killed, Aria balefully thought as she reached them.
"Hawke… This could get messy," Aveline apologetically said.
"Of course it will. Everyone in the city knows you're about to piss off the Arishok. Let's be done with it already, shall we? If my head's still on my shoulders by supper time, I'll consider myself a very lucky sort indeed," Aria lightly replied, checking her daggers and her throwing knives. She then counted the healing and stamina vials on her belt.
"This isn't a game, Hawke!" Aveline shouted at her. If ever Aveline had been frightened in her life, this was it. Aria wasn't having it.
Aria stalked up to her and stood nearly nose-to-nose with the Guard-Captain. The redheaded stalwart woman was only a couple inches taller than Aria. But where Aria had stealth and swiftness, Aveline possessed sheer brute strength. Aria was not afraid of her. What she was really afraid of lay in wait for their inevitable provocation.
"You believe I think this is a game?" Aria softly asked, her tone subzero and malicious. "I know what is at stake here."
"Then show it. Your little remarks are getting quite irksome."
"Your very presence is irksome," Aria retorted. "Soldier up, Aveline. It's time to pay the piper." Aria pointed to the guard and then curtsied facetiously at the Qunari guard.
"I request an audience with the Arishok," Aveline said to the guard.
"He will allow it," the guard said, "But not in this number." He indicated the complement of guards Aveline had brought with her.
"I will only bring my friend here, and a small complement of my guard. Is that few enough?" Aveline asked, motioning for Donnic to hold.
"It is," the Qunari guard replied. "Enter."
Aria watched the doors swing open and tried to gauge the Qunari soldiers' mood as she followed Aveline into the compound. Fenris tried to follow, but the guard stopped him.
"Just them and the guards. You others stay," the Qunari snarled.
"It'll be fine," Aria said with more hope than she really possessed.
Anders and Varric exchanged worried glances. Aria shook her head slowly. She then turned and fell into step behind Aveline and the guards.
They approached the Arishok and the cold fingers of terror curled around Aria's spine. She could very well die today, she realized for the thousandth time since she'd woken up this morning. Aveline hastily stalked up to the Arishok's perch, where he stood waiting, a great axe slung easily over his shoulder. Aria was reading the signs. He had never been standing whenever she'd approached him before. She looked back at the gate at Fenris, then at Varric and Anders. Their faces all bore the same grim expression.
"Shanedan," the Arishok cordially greeted them, his flinty gaze shifting for a second to Aria before he regarded Aveline at the forefront.
"Greetings, Arishok," Aveline said with surprising civility. "We come regarding the elven fugitives that took refuge here."
He held up a silencing hand. "Irrelevant," the Arishok indifferently replied to her query. "I would speak to Hawke about the relic stolen from my grasp."
Aria fought the tremor that went through her when he glared at her. She stepped forward, mustering all of her formidable courage, with added anger at Isabela helping to fuel her fire. "One of my former companions stole it," she managed to snap at him.
The Arishok seemed to relax slightly at this. "Her part was clear. Your admission is… Welcome."
"An issue for another time," Aveline cut in then, and Aria shook her head to try and get her to shut up. She stubbornly continued despite the obvious warning from her friend. "We're here for the fugitives."
The Arishok looked at her as though she was an annoying mosquito, begging to be smashed. "The elves are now viddathari. They have chosen to submit to the Qun. They will be protected," he admonished, the threat in his tone not lost on Aria.
Before Aveline could botch this anymore, Aria stepped in. "Pardon my interruption, Arishok, but given what little I know about this situation, could it be possible the elves came to you as a shield from the law?"
"They have chosen, and so have I," the Arishok answered Aria, his voice low and dangerous. "You have not hidden the abuses of your zealots, or the corruption of this city. You will understand why I must do this." He motioned to the guards behind him and Aria could see two elves being led in. "Let us take a look at your 'dangerous criminals'."
The elves came forward, their jewel-like eyes holding nothing but anger for Aveline. Aria shot Aveline an assessing glance. The woman seemed nervous and her eyes grew wider. The same stench of rat Aria had smelled this morning when she'd been grilling the woman about this situation resurfaced.
"Speak, viddathari. Who did you murder and why?" the Arishok simply commanded of the elves.
The elder looking of the two young male elves stepped forward, his eyes still on Aveline. "A city guard forced himself on our sister. We reported him—or tried to. But they did nothing about it, no matter what we said. So my brothers and I paid him a visit."
Aria looked expectantly at Aveline, arms crossed over her chest.
"That doesn't excuse murder!" Aveline tried to salvage the situation.
"Are these elves telling the truth?" Aria demanded then, before the Arishok could say anything. His expression seemed somewhat pleased.
"There have been rumours," Aveline attempted to save face. "I will investigate, but they still took the law into their own hands."
"Sometimes that is necessary," the Arishok coldly stated.
"Like you avenged the Viscount's son? It wasn't right then, and it's not right now," Aveline snapped back.
"I would have done the same thing in their shoes," Aria added her two-cents, much to Aveline's ire.
"Hawke, that's not helping!" Aveline said in desperation.
The Arishok spoke again. "Their actions are mere symptoms. Your society is the disease," he said with vehement distaste. "They have chosen. The viddathari will submit to the Qun and find a path your way has denied them." He now stood nearly toe-to-toe with Aveline, who jutted her chest out and squared off with him.
"You can't just decide that. You must hand them over," Aveline challenged.
They stared each other down for a few seconds, then the Arishok walked a few steps away. He kept his back to them for a moment, and when he faced them again, it was Aria's attention he sought.
"Tell me, Hawke. What would you do in my place?" he asked of her.
Aria's mind scrambled for an answer, calculating what her beliefs were, what was at stake, and how to beat a hasty retreat should this all go south, as it most definitely was already doing. Everyone turned to her, expecting an answer soon.
"Why not just leave? The relic is no longer here. Is that not what you are charged with?" she sidestepped gracefully, hoping against hope it was enough to change the collision course upon which they were now all headed.
"I cannot leave without the relic, and I cannot stay and remain blind to this dysfunction," he stated, his voice hard as steel. "There is only one solution."
Aria felt dizzy and fought down the bile that instantly rose in her throat. She knew then that they had failed. War was about to happen.
"Arishok, there is no need for…" Aveline started to try and placate the Qunari leader, but he motioned her to shut up with the wagging of a finger.
"Vinek kathas," he spat as he turned away.
Aria instinctively drew her daggers and started calculating exit routes. She moved to engage a Sten, but Aveline hooked her arm and dragged her into cover. A spear narrowly missed her abdomen and an arrow bounced off her chest plate.
"Not here!" Aveline shouted, motioning for the remaining guards to all to fall back on her. "Too open!"
As they made their escape, Aria turned back and locked gazes with the Arishok. His cold silvery eyes were full of sheer hatred. She glared back at him. She'd tried to help him, tried to find another way, something without bloodshed for him or her. And this was her thanks? No, Arishok, I will not die today, she thought, lifting her chin in defiance. He smiled wickedly.
"Hawke!" Aveline shouted at her, motioning for her to follow the Guard-Captain through the gate.
They ran blindly into Lowtown, the guards scattered as the Qunari unleashed their fury on the poor. Aria fought tears of rage as she listened to the screams of the dying. The air was quickly filling with smoke, and there were the sounds of battle all around. Here she was, running like a coward.
Aria, Aveline, Varric, Anders, and Fenris regrouped behind a warehouse near the docks. Aveline was furious. Fenris silently watched and listened to their surroundings. Anders assessed injuries and healed them, however minor. Varric stood in silence, his head hung low in defeat.
"Let me guess: Our friends from Par Vollen decided to take over afterall?" Fenris sneered as they gathered themselves.
"The Qunari are assaulting the city, and fast. The Arishok planned this for who knows how long," Aveline coughed.
"Alright, Aveline, strategy time," Aria spat through gritted teeth, her eyes darting around them, worried about possible ambushes.
"We need to help these poor people," Aveline wheezed, still catching her breath from running like their asses were on fire.
"Obviously. But if the Keep falls, helping this lot is useless," Aria replied.
"Ugh! What a mess!" Aveline lamented, throwing her hands in the air.
"Go rally your guardsmen. We'll all rendezvous at the Keep," Aria said then, motioning for Varric, Fenris, and Anders to join her.
"And then you'll do what, exactly?" Aveline challenged.
"I've learned it's best to not make plans. They just get unraveled and chaos ensues anyway. Rally your guardsmen," Aria commanded. She was in control now, Maker damn them all. Aveline's brashness and unyieldingness was to blame. Not to mention the fact that this all could have been avoided if she hadn't been covering for a racist, rapist guard. No. Now, it was time to do things her way.
A few guards were hiding just around the corner from them, and Aveline guided them down one of the back alleys. She cast a baleful glance back at them before she and her guardsmen disappeared from view. Aria turned to her other companions.
"Let's make for the Keep. Maybe we'll be able to get there in time to secure the Viscount," she gently commanded.
They fought through small bands of Qunari soldiers, who had garnered several elven converts to bolster their ranks. It pained Aria greatly to fight them; they didn't deserve to die like this. She dealt them as little damage as she could, seeking only to disarm or render them unconscious. Aria spared no quarter for the Qunari they engaged, however.
As they reached the slums where Gamlen's house stood, strangely armoured men engaged the Qunari as well. They joined the fray with the other men, managing to clear the neighborhood of the conquerors in just under an hour's time. When the battle was done for the moment, Aria and the leader of the new group of men introduced themselves.
"You have our sincere thanks," the leader, a Grey Warden by the looks of the armour up close, said, grasping Aria's forearm. "This attack was…most unexpected. I am Stroud, and we are Grey Wardens."
She grasped his in kind and nodded.
"I cannot believe the Qunari would dare such an attack. This will lead to war with the Free Marches for certain," Stroud continued. He motioned his men to form up and he bade her follow. He was on the move again already. "I fear pressing matters take us elsewhere, but we can spread word to the other Free Cities. Perhaps they will bring aid."
"There's something more important than an invasion?" Aria incredulously asked, feeling the chill of terror closing around her spine once more.
"The Qunari are of far greater concern to you, I am certain. But we must return to our mission," Stroud hastily replied. He did stop and fish something out of the satchel he bore. "Here," he said, holding his palm out. "Take this. It is all we can spare, but perhaps it will be of use."
Aria held out her palm and he deposited two heavily enchanted rings in it. She looked down at her hand in disbelief. How could two rings be of any use in a war?
Stroud turned once he reached the gate between the neighborhoods. "Maker watch over you, my friend."
Aria didn't look up. She fought the panic that threatened to raise her bile. The ringing in her ears grew less, and she started to regain focus. Now was not the time to lose it. People were dying, she told herself. Every second she stood here like a ninny, a life could be lost.
They regrouped, joined by a couple guards whose regiments had been scattered. The extra muscle was much welcomed. They fought through Lowtown, and finally three hours later, they clambered up the steps to Hightown. Just as they came into view over the top step, Aria crouched down and motioned for everyone else to do the same.
She pointed straight forward and motioned for them all to look. Two Qunari soldiers were dragging a noblewoman along, much against her will. The woman screamed and cried out, trying to fight off her captors.
"Parshaara! Quit your struggling, woman!" one of the soldiers barked at her.
Aria slipped from shadow to shadow behind them, daggers drawn and ready to use. She moved ahead them, Fenris and Varric silently in tow. They emerged in front of the soldiers before they could leave the Hightown Bazaar.
"Then the Arishok failed to take you captive," the brawnier of the two said. "Unfortunate."
The woman made her escape, screaming all the way down the steps to Lowtown. Aria jumped into battle, the ruckus drawing more Qunari soldiers to the scene. Anders remained at a distance, focusing mostly on healing and area spells that dealt all sorts of fire and lightning damage. Varric darted in and out of the fray, running interference for Aria's and Fenris's assault.
A Saarebas showed up just as Aria drove her dagger through the back of the last Karashok's neck. The Saarebas mage unleashed a spell that sent a momentarily crushing wave over them. Aria landed hard on her belly, the wind knocked out of her. She struggled to grab the blade that fell from her hand. The Saarebas rapidly approached, mana swirling malevolently in its palms. It lifted its arms and suddenly stopped the spell.
A split second later, a large sword went clean through him, its enormous blade stuck out of the Saarebas's chest for a moment, and then he fell. As his body slipped down toward the stones, his head flew off from a cleanly delivered blow from that same sword. Behind him stood a stern, cold, but oddly beautiful woman in very expensive looking templar armour. Aria knew who she was immediately, though she'd never met her in person and had only seen her from afar. The woman wore the armour well and was obviously good with a sword. A few templars raced up behind her and Aria hopefully looked around for signs of mages. There were none.
"I am Knight-Commander Meredith," the woman proudly stated, offering Aria her hand. Aria accepted the help up and stood before the woman. Her pale blue eyes narrowed on Aria. "I know you. The name Hawke has turned up in my reports many times. Too many."
"Perhaps we can save the interrogations for later," Aria glibly stated, taking a couple steps back. Her foot hit her dropped dagger and she stomped on the handle. It flipped in the air and she deftly caught it, then sheathed it on her back with her other one. "I'm more worried about the Qunari at the moment."
"It's obvious what they're doing," Knight-Commander Meredith tersely replied. "The Qunari are taking people into the Keep and may already be in control. We will need to deal with them."
Aria followed her gaze up the steps into Hightown—where a group of Qunari soldiers wrested another woman from her home and started dragging her away. A nobleman followed them seemingly willingly. Fury rose in Aria at this and she brandished her daggers again. She inspected the blades a second and saw they were badly nicked from heavy battle. Aria grabbed her whetstone and sat on the steps, much to Meredith's ire.
"Why are they taking hostages?" Aria queried, working the blade of her on-hand dagger. Fenris sat next to her and started doing the same with his own blade. Varric started going over Bianca. Anders kept his staff hidden.
"They're going to take everyone of import and put them in the same place," Fenris answered Aria's query, nodding politely at the Knight-Commander, who had taken marked interest in the elf for the moment. "Those that agree to convert, live. Those that don't…"
"Charming," Meredith sneered at him, then looked to Aria, her gaze expectant.
Aria sighed. "Yes, yes. I'll help. But if my hunch is correct, the Arishok is in the Keep. Can't very well fight horn-head monsters with dulled blades, now can I?"
"You have a reputation for a smart mouth, Aria Hawke," the Knight-Commander threateningly stated. "See that you use it wisely."
It was then that Aveline and a complement of battle-weary guards ran up the Hightown Bazaar steps from Lowtown and joined them. Aria continued working on her blade, as did Fenris. Anders melted into the ranks with the guards, further distancing himself from the one human being in Kirkwall that Justice wanted dead most.
"Ah! Guard-Captain!" Meredith chimed, walking towards Aveline. They embraced forearms in greeting.
"Knight-Commander! I am happy to see you," Aveline wearily replied.
"We need to get to the Keep," Meredith said then, waving her templars over to form up with the guards. "Hawke, you and your companions will head to the Keep. We will rally the rest of our men and meet you there. These creatures will pay for this outrage."
Aria and Fenris continued fixing their blades while Aveline's guards and the templars moved with Meredith. Aveline gave them orders to follow Meredith. When they were out of earshot, Aveline rounded on Aria.
"You would do well to show her respect."
Aria snorted. "When she's earned it."
"Hawke! Now is not the time—"
"Now is the time. Aria's right to question that monstrosity of a woman," Anders cut in, materializing from the shadows. "And that was too close for comfort."
"Aveline, why are you here? Go with your guards," Aria wearily said. She started whetting her offhand blade.
"Meredith is in control. And you need all the help you can get," Aveline earnestly replied. "Honestly Hawke, when did we become enemies?"
"In your own words, Captain, now is not the time," Aria sighed. Her offhand blade wasn't as badly dinged as her main. She worked on it furiously to quickly get it sharp.
"I'm on your side, believe it or not," Aveline said then, sitting next to the rogue. She started whetting her own blade.
"In all these years, have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?" Aria asked of her, swirling her freshly sharpened blades in complicated kata. Her wrists were sore. Her arms were sore. Her body ached. Her temples throbbed. And this day was far from over. Her eyes went to the horizon to the west, where the sun was setting beneath a heavy blanket of clouds. It was going to start raining any moment—a blessing, as half of Lowtown was on fire.
"I have questioned your actions… But no, you've never given me cause not to trust you. I don't know whether it's stupid luck or skill…or both, but you nearly always manage to get by," Aveline quietly stated, satisfied that her blade was in sharp condition.
Aveline stood then, as did Aria with a hand up from Fenris. Varric and Anders joined them. Aria looked up the stairs to the dwarven merchant's guild and heard the sounds of fighting. Aria motioned them to follow her. "Let's get to the bloody Keep and give these horn-heads the whatfor."
They fought through pockets of resistance and took out several members of the Carta as well. Everyone was trying to capitalize on the chaos. The thieves' guilds were ransacking, the Qunari were taking hostages and killing those who resisted, and as they came upon the square before the Keep, Aria recognized the telltale signs of mage battles. Scorched rock, upturned earth, lightning fried corpses, Qunari frozen solid where they stood.
Aria and her companions joined the fray and started defending the weakened mages who still stood. Corpses lay all around and Aria feverishly checked every single one. The battle ended for the moment as Fenris slew the last standing Qunari in the vicinity. Aria ran over to where an elven mage had fallen and was now trying to rise. Aria offered her hand and helped haul him to his feet. She then realized by his decorum and his staff that this was First Enchanter Orsino.
"Many thanks, my friend," he grunted as he struggled to keep his footing.
"How many are there?" Aria worriedly asked, looking at the many fallen. Her eyes searched for short dark hair and big, brown doe eyes. "Is Bethany with you?"
"The others!" he gasped, turning to survey the damage. "Surely they cannot all be…" He knelt beside a corpse in defeat and his voice was sad. "Gone. I told them to run…"
"First Enchanter Orsino," Meredith's steely voice greeted their ears then. "You survive." The bite in her tone showed no love lost between the head of the templars and the head of the mages.
"Your relief overwhelms me, Knight-Commander," Orsino replied, unsuccessfully keeping the sarcasm from his tone completely.
"There is no time to talk," Meredith barked. "We must strike back, before it's too late!"
"And who will lead us into this battle?" Orsino challenged. "You?"
"I will fight to defend this city! As I have always done!" Meredith hotly answered.
Orsino shook his head and his eyes bespoke fury. "To control it, you mean! I won't have our lives tossed to the flames to feed your vanity!"
"Well this bickering certainly isn't helping," Aria cut in.
"And what would you have us do, Hawke?" Meredith rounded on her.
"I'm quite fond of living, however much it hurts at times. We need to get to the Keep. If they're smart, they'll overthrow the leadership first and use it to break morale," Aria curtly responded, meeting Meredith's icy gaze with the full fire of her own amber one.
"Hawke is right," Orsino backed her, and she was surprised he knew her name.
"I concur," Meredith said. "Let's get closer and see what we're up against."
Aria nodded at Orsino and followed Meredith up the steps to the plaza that lay just before the final ascent to the Keep. They all kept to the shadows out of sight of the Qunari guards posted at the door. Fenris stayed nearer to Aveline at this juncture; he wanted no part of Orsino. He regarded the mage as if he was a dangerous predator, and Fenris was trying to ascertain if that predator was currently hungry. It was an unexpected dagger to Aria's heart, but she buried it. As everyone was so fond of saying tonight, now was not the time.
Aria crawled up to the top step and slid to a standing position behind a pillar. She quickly peered around it and took a head count. Twenty Qunari soldiers waited in front of the Keep's doors, their eyes alert and constantly scanning. She slid back down to a crouch and stealthily made her way back to where their group of about 15 armed companions waited.
Orsino's gaze fell when Aria shook her head. "There are a great many Qunari at the Keep's entrance," he spoke for her.
"Then they've already taken it over. Clearly they've been planning this for some time," Meredith quietly raged.
"Did you see any of my guardsmen?" Aveline worriedly asked Aria. Aria slowly shook her head.
"This is the only way in. We must assault them now, before their numbers grow," Meredith vehemently stated.
"Are you mad?!" Orsino heatedly whispered. "They have hostages! We need a distraction."
"I am in charge!" Meredith snarled, straining to keep her voice down. "I refuse to play games! We attack!"
"And lose more men? You've seen how they fight," Aria interjected. "I'm in favor of a diversion. Draw them away so that others can slip past. Minimize casualties, maximize gains of ground."
Meredith leveled her icy gaze on Aria. "You would side with a mage!"
Aria strode up to her, ochre eyes flashing. "I'm on Kirkwall's side. Whose are you on?"
The Knight-Commander's gaze softened. "I only wish to defend this city!"
"Then set aside your anger at this and be rational," Aria countered.
Meredith sighed. "What would you have us do?"
Aria looked to Orsino. He smiled at her and waved them all to take cover.
"Allow me," the master mage blithely said. He stepped out into full view of the Qunari and launched a stream of magical attacks. The Qunari gave chase, racing past the hidden group of soldiers. Meredith waved Aria on and took her men to flank the Qunari as they went after Orsino.
Seeing her chance, Aria raced up the steps to the Keep. She slipped silently through the tall, heavy doors that stood slightly ajar in the wake of the other soldiers. Aveline, Anders, Varric, and Fenris were right behind her. They quickly surveyed the damage. Corpses lay in every corner, noblemen and women, children, guards, and templars alike. Rage boiled Aria's blood at the blatant, calloused disregard for life. Most of these people weren't warriors. They didn't know how to fight. They were innocent, unarmed, just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Qunari sentinels stood on the landings of the Keep's great hall entrance. Stunned by the initial scene, Aria couldn't get hidden quickly enough, and the battle began anew. She took on two Karashoks while Varric and Anders launched their ranged attacks. Fenris slew three Sten in the time it took Aria to kill one Karashok. Aveline ripped through at least five of the soldiers, and they pressed on to the Viscount's throne room. They slaughtered the remaining Qunari outside the throne room's doors with extreme prejudice, and entered.
Several terrified people had been herded into the throne room's wings, guarded by their stoic, hateful Qunari jailers. The Arishok stood in front of the Viscount's throne, his guards surrounding him. The commotion they'd caused with their entry had given the Qunari leader time to prepare.
"Here is your Viscount!" he boomed, throwing Dumar's severed head down the steps towards Aria. Several of the people in the hall keened, horrified.
"You dare!" a young man screamed, bravely stepping forward from the throngs of the terrified. "You are starting a war!"
A Karashok moved behind him and snapped his neck where he stood, further demoralizing the crowd. People scattered in terror, screaming and wailing. Aria strode forward, fury radiating from every pore. They didn't deserve this. The Qunari had no right to do this. They'd made the choice to stay in Kirkwall when they could have gone. This was going too far. She seethed with every step, the berserker rage she'd only experienced once before brimming just beneath the surface.
"Look at you! Like fat dothrasi, you feed and feed and only complain when your meal is interrupted!" the Arishok boomed. "You do not look up. You do not see that the grass is bare! All you leave in your wake is misery! You are blind! I will make you see!" He smiled wickedly at Aria and her companions as they strode forward. "But we have guests!"
The Arishok tromped down the steps, every movement rippling muscle. His eyes spoke hatred. Aria fought the terror he always instilled in her, leaning on the crutch of fury for strength. He was a beast such as nothing she'd ever fought before.
"Shanedan, Hawke. I expected you," the Arishok greeted her from the third or fourth step up from the hall's main floor. "Meraas toh ebra-shok. You alone are basalit-an. This is what respect looks like, bas!" he boomed, addressing the throngs of hostages, gesturing to Hawke. "Some of you will never earn it! So tell me, Hawke. You know I am denied Par Vollen until the Tome of Koslun is found. How would you see this conflict resolved without it?"
Aria moved to speak, a litany of curses waiting on the tip of her tongue, but there was a commotion behind her. A Qunari soldier fell, a dagger buried in his throat. And for a moment, Aria thought surely she really was dreaming. Isabela strode in, an enormous book under her arm.
"I believe I can answer that," the rogue pirate captain purred. She stopped next to Aria and winked at her before handing the book to the Arishok. "I'm sure you'll find it mostly undamaged."
The Arishok reverently held the book in his hand, smoothing his gauntleted fingers over its surface. "The Tome of Koslun," he breathed.
Isabela turned to Aria and smiled. "It took me a while to get back, what with all the fighting everywhere. You know how it is," she glibly said, drawing the other rogue in for a quick hug.
Aria fought tears. She had never thought in a million years Isabela would do something like this. It went completely against her nature. Aveline gaped at Isabela in shock. Varric and Anders guffawed with joy. Fenris stood silently behind Aria, arms crossed. He did quirk a smile at the pirate, but it was gone quickly.
"Heroic acts of sacrifice?" Aria chided. "Oh, people will talk."
"This is your damned influence, Aria. I was halfway to Ostwick before I knew I had to turn around. It's pathetic," Isabela snapped back at her.
They abruptly returned to silent attention when the Arishok handed off the Tome to one of his Sten. "The relic is reclaimed. I am now free to return to Par Vollen—with the thief."
"What?!" Isabela and Aria both said in unison.
"Oh, no no no," Aveline bellowed. "If anyone kicks her ass, it's me!"
Aria gaped in shock at the Guard-Captain. Fenris stifled a cough. Varric and Anders both laughed aloud. Isabela blew Aveline a kiss.
"She stole the Tome of Koslun. She must return with me," the Arishok snarled, shouldering his wicked greatsword. Aria's eyes surveyed the weapon and fear lanced through her again.
"Sounds like you have something…very specific in mind," Aria hedged, swallowing the lump that had risen in her throat.
"She will submit to the Qun and the Ben-Haasrath. More than that, I will not say," the Arishok smoothly replied in his terrifying deep voice.
"You have your precious damned relic. She stays with us—penance for the grievous unjustices you have wrought in this city. You forfeited any claim you may have had on her when you attacked me," Aria snapped back. He didn't realize just what a monumental act Isabela had just committed. And he would answer for his crimes against the innocent, the helpless. Aria felt the fear fading, replaced with something far stronger. She was in the right. She was true.
"I'm sure he'll take that well," Varric coughed, sidling up to Isabela. He subtly grabbed her hand. "Rivaini, you might want to move a bit this way."
Isabela sidestepped with him, and it positioned them behind Aria, Aveline, Fenris, and Anders. A lot of fighting prowess to get through in order to claim her.
"Then you leave me no choice," the Arishok growled. He rounded on Aria. "I challenge you, Hawke. You and I will battle to the death, with her as the prize."
"No!" Isabela screamed, running back up beside Aria. "If you're going to duel anyone, duel me!"
Aria held her arm out, pushing Isabela slightly back, her eyes locked on the Arishok. She glared at him, amber eyes spitting righteous fury.
He glared at the pirate. "You are not basalit-an. You are unworthy."
"Don't you have what you came for?" Aria shot at him.
"You know we do not suffer thieves," the Arishok sneered at her. "She cannot walk away from this insult. I will take her. If you object, duty demands that we fight."
Aria took a challenging step toward him. She silenced all the fear in her. She silenced the doubt. And this wasn't just for Isabela. No. He'd be back, if she didn't kill him here and now. "All right. Let's dance."
"Meravas! So shall it be!" the Arishok shouted with joy. He stepped away and his guards started preparing him for battle.
Isabela dragged Aria to the back of the hall, tears in her ever-changing eyes. "Hawke—you can't do this for me. I won't let you do this for me."
Aria gripped her by the shoulders. "Isabela, this is all a ploy. A means to an end. It was never about you and whatever happens, this is not your fault. This is about him," she snarled, gesticulating towards him with an undrawn dagger, "A demon come to bend us all to his will. I will not have it. Not now, and not ever."
Fenris and Aveline grabbed Isabela then and hauled her away, as the Arishok was already preparing to attack. Aria readied herself, lowering into a defensive stance. What had made her even agree to this madness? Single combat? A duel? And if she lost, everything in this city was lost, not just Isabela. The Arishok would not stop, she realized. He would never stop threatening this place until he no longer drew breath. She fought the sheer panic that nearly made her dry heave. Thousands of lives now rested on the outcome of this one battle alone. But she knew, deep in her heart, that justice was on her side. She'd been fighting all day, true, but at least now all she had to do was one more battle. Just one more fight and this would all be over. Years of mounting tension, of uncertainty, of unrest—vanquished with the ending of one last duel.