A/N: So, finally, what we've all been waiting for. The third part of Mark of the Assassin! This concludes the DLC itself, but there will be a companion piece soon detailing what happens to Hawke directly after this- you'll see what I mean when you reach the end of this story.
Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews, guys! I think I usually forget to thank you for the time you take to comment on my stories. It really makes my day when you do, even if I don't get around to answering all of them personally. Just know that I really appreciate it every time someone clicks that 'Alert', 'Favorite,' or 'Review' button.
Also, if you want to check it out, I wrote an actual SHORT story for Easter, but I published that separately from here. Anyway, so, thanks for reading, and without further ado, the MotA part 3!
Mark of the Assassin: Part 3
"I have a question. When I told you what I was, you said you didn't care." Tallis hesitated. "Was that true?"
Hawke sighed. Great. She was stuck in a cell with this Qunari assassin and a major hangover, and the Qunari assassin wanted to play 20 Questions. This definitely wasn't on her list of top ten things to do when she had free time.
Then again, she had free time so rarely that she doubted if she could come up with ten things to do in her free time.
Well, number one would definitely be hang out with Fenris... But she did that on a daily basis, so would that count?
"I'd've said he couldn't compare to your awesomeness, but that would've seemed petty," Hawke drawled; her head hurt too badly to think of anything more clever. Tallis chuckled wryly, although Hawke didn't miss the odd look she shot her out of the corner of her eye.
Meanwhile, Hawke's untrustworthy brain was trying to run down two paths- her conversation with Tallis and things she would do in her free time- although it wasn't working out very well.
Two: burn Anders's manifestos. She got a warm feeling in her belly just thinking of it. There must have been more of those things littering her mansion than there were rats in Merrill's shitty excuse for a house.
"I really am sorry about all this. It didn't work out like I planned... obviously," Tallis told her with a grimace.
"What was your plan, exactly?" Hawke asked, forcing herself to focus on the matter at hand.
Three: give Fenris more reading lessons. Unless that counted as falling under number one? Anyway, they had unfortunately slacked off with the lessons as the tension in Kirkwall grew closer to breaking point, a source of great annoyance to the both of them. She missed the late nights they would spend together poring over the letters
"The one I expected to find was named Salit, a member of the Ben-Hassrath, the... Heart of the Many." Tallis faltered slightly and flickered another glance at Hawke, who arched an eyebrow, recognizing the name of the jewel Tallis had claimed they were searching for. Then she scowled with pain, pressing a hand to her forehead, when the act of lifting a single eyebrow shot fire through her skull. Stupid Orlesians and their strong wines. Stupid chevaliers who loved hitting people over the head... "I was told he's here to sell secrets to the Orlesians, and I came to stop him. I... suppose I was misinformed," Tallis went on regretfully.
"Well, isn't that just a bite in the ass," Hawke grumbled under her breath, still rubbing her head. Maker's breath, I've drunk poisons that left my mind clearer than this. Naturally, that only made her think of a new activity to add to her list.
Four: learn some new recipes for poison. She sometimes tired of using the same old poisons. It was fun to come up with her own, though, usually by mixing two kinds of potions together. Those could have interesting effects, especially when mixed in with certain spells, as Anders and Merrill would attest. She smirked slightly at the thought.
"You mentioned the Heart of the Many before, but you said it was the name of the jewel," Hawke probed, only half-paying attention.
"It's also what Ben-Hassrath means. Some people say we're enforcers that keep the Qunari in line, but that's not necessarily true." Tallis hesitated again. "It's hard to explain."
"Try," Hawke snapped, the edges of her temper flaring. She was tired of playing games, tired of being lied to. She wanted answers.
Plus, her hangover was contributing to her anger. Also the fact that she couldn't seem to focus her mind.
Five: write letters to all her old friends and family. At least, what friends she had left. Leliana, mostly, but she'd also heard a rumor that she had a cousin in the Fereldan Circle of Magi who had joined the Grey Wardens recently. What was her name? Amell, surely. Hell if Hawke could remember the girl's first name in her current state. Perhaps this cousin knew the Hero of Ferelden...?
"We're... the soul of the Qun. We keep its spirit alive and protect it... from both outside and from within." Tallis sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Not every Qunari agrees, though. Nor do they always do what is best for all... The Ben-Hassrath remind us of our common goal."
"You make them seem almost peaceful," Hawke noted, arching a brow, able to pay attention for a brief moment.
"It's not always meant to end in violence. There are other paths. They do not all need to lead to the same destination." Tallis paused, gazing at the ground. "I probably don't sound very convincing."
"The way you're talking... it sounds like you're one of these... Benn-Hassrath." Hawke stumbled a little over the unfamiliar word, but she really tried her best to pronounce it well in her hungover state. It probably came out rather slurred. Well, the elf seemed to understand what she meant, at least.
"I was... or, I was. Whether I am again... I guess that remains to be seen." Tallis shrugged unhappily.
"Is that why you're here? To redeem yourself?" Hawke asked curiously.
"Not to them," Tallis replied vaguely. "Doubt is the path one walks to reach faith... To leave the path is to embrace blindness and abandon hope," she added thoughtfully.
"Another Qunari proverb?" Hawke guessed wryly. Tallis's gaze twinkled with amusement for the first time in several minutes- which was good, because the dreary stuff was starting to wear on Hawke.
"'She who swallows wisdom in tiny chunks avoids choking,'" the elf quoted, and Hawke smirked.
Six: Look up more proverbs. They sounded smart.
As it appeared that they weren't going anywhere anytime soon, Hawke racked her brain for something else to talk about. Naturally, she landed right back on Tallis and their current predicament.
"So you came to stop this Salit from betraying your people?"
"Yes, but... this isn't a political mission, like you're probably thinking. It's personal." Tallis looked grim again.
"Personal how?" Hawke inquired.
"Salit was the one who recruited me into the Ben-Hassrath. My tutor. He convinced me I could make a difference with the Qunari," Tallis answered, her gaze flickering with nostalgia.
"But you said he was selling secrets," Hawke reminded her, her icy gaze hardening.
"He is. Or, he intends to, as a final act of defiance... I can't let him do this, not when he'll hurt so many others in the process," Tallis insisted.
"You mean more Qunari?" Hawke guessed.
"Not every Qunari is a soldier, you know," Tallis replied, her gaze hardening as her speech grew more passionate. "There are tens of thousands of Qunari out there- artisans, craftsmen... People who have never hurt anybody. They don't deserve what Salit is going to do to them," she persisted hotly. Hawke nodded slowly, as if she understood, although this was only making her head swim worse than it already was.
Maker, where are the others? Hopefully Bethany can heal my head...
"So did you really involve me just because I have an invitation?"
"You were the only one on the invitation list who didn't have a close connection with the Montfort family," Tallis pointed out, arching an eyebrow, as if surprised that Hawke hadn't guessed this already. "But you're also the Champion of Kirkwall... and a Fereldan with no reason to love Orlais."
"I haven't much of a reason to hate them, either," Hawke retorted. "Ferelden's war with Orlais ended before I was born. We've coexisted peacefully with Orlais since then."
"Not quite so peacefully as of late, if what I've heard is correct," the elf replied quietly. Hawke's mouth opened into a slight 'o' of surprise at the insinuation that Ferelden and Orlais were at each other's throats again, although now she did recall King Alistair mentioning something about Orlesians "swooping down on Ferelden". Hm. Now that she thought about it, she really didn't know all that much about the war between Ferelden and Orlais all those years ago.
Seven: Read up on history. That could be useful; it sounded like it was about to repeat itself. You'd think some people would learn...
"Well, whatever. Politics are too delicate for me to discuss, they give me headaches," Hawke decided. She glanced up at the ceiling, grimacing, and tried to guess what time it was. "I suppose the good news is, with all this extra time, I could learn to knit," she mused. Hm, that can be number eight on my list... Mother always wanted me to learn how to knit.
"Could you make me a sweater?" Tallis asked hopefully.
"No."
"Damn." The redhead sighed. "Well, the first order of business is to get out of here before His Grace decides we'd taste good in his soup. Any ideas?"
"Well, the others will be on their way here by now," Hawke replied confidently. She lay back on an uncomfortable mattress of straw on the floor, content to wait for Fenris and the others. Her head hurt too badly to try any stunts herself.
"If you say so," Tallis sighed, sitting down and leaning against the wall.
"Bloody runaround twisted shite of a maze," Bethany swore colorfully.
"Ooh, looks like our little mage has learned a few new words," Isabela chortled. Naturally, she was the only one who wasn't particularly perturbed by wandering lost around the dungeons of Chateau Haine.
"Not everything in the Circle is high literature," the mage pointed out.
"And I suspect most of that you got from Isabela," Fenris guessed. By unspoken consent, the three drew to a halt. Isabela's gaze darted around, probing the shadows like a cat, although her stance was still; Bethany's arms were crossed, a glower fixed on her pretty features, as she tried to work out which way to go; and Fenris was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, eager to find Hawke. "Now what do we do?" growled the elf, almost totally certain that they'd searched every square inch of this damn dungeon.
"Well, I could guess the color of your underclothes again," Isabela replied cheerfully, picking a seemingly random corridor and starting down it.
"What's that?" Bethany asked, not five minutes later. She had stopped beside a little chest and was peering down at it curiously. The lewd rogue knelt beside it, smoothly picking the lock.
"That was so easy, it was almost insulting," she mused, picking up a few familiar-looking knives from the chest and rising to her feet. "Since we've got Hawke's and Tallis's armor and Hawke's daggers, these must be Tallis's knives and Hawke's extra weapons." It was no secret to them that, besides her two daggers, Hawke kept several other small knives hidden on her person, especially when she wasn't wearing her armor. Isabela recalled loaning Hawke her thigh sheathe right before they had left Kirkwall.
"We must be on the right path, then," Fenris estimated, his face passive but his leafy gaze glittering with anxiety.
"Hopefully," Isabela agreed, her tone uncharacteristically wry. They continued walking, their pace faster than it had been earlier.
"Alright, I'm tired of waiting," Tallis declared. For all Hawke knew, it could have been hours or just a few minutes later, but it had been long enough for her to fall into a light doze. She forced herself to sit up again, pressing a hand to her head, and watched between narrowed eyelids as Tallis picked the lock on the cell door and it swung open.
"You couldn't have just done that before?" Hawke asked dubiously, rising unsteadily to her feet. Tallis shot her a humorous glance.
"Well, you said your friends were coming," the elf pointed out, stepping out into the corridor on light feet. Hawke stumbled after her, grimacing. Before they could say or do anything else, they heard footsteps echo down the hallway in front of them; Tallis tensed and Hawke shifted warily from foot to foot, in no condition to fight. The world swayed in front of her, and her head pounded. The ground tipped and she stepped sideways, leaning against the wall to keep from falling over.
"Hawke, there you are!"
Hawke found herself gathered up in warm arms, and she pressed herself close against him despite the cold armor. Her head spun horribly.
"What happened? We searched all over for you," he breathed into her ear. Then he pulled back, holding her at arms-length, and frowning at the top of her head, which he could see easily because of her size. "You're hurt."
"Yeah, the chevaliers conked me hard before they dragged us in here," Hawke answered ruefully. She lifted a hand and touched her head gently; her fingers came away red.
"Here, let me," Bethany offered softly, stepping forward. Magic shimmered from her fingers as she healed Hawke's wound. Mercifully, the pounding headache went away, so finally she could think and see clearly again.
"Oh, thank you, Bethany," Hawke sighed, rubbing her head, but there was barely a bruise remaining as evidence of the hit she'd taken.
"You're welcome, sister," the mage answered with a small smile.
"What happened?" Fenris repeated. Hawke glanced back at him; he was scowling darkly, his eyes hard as emeralds.
"We got caught by the Duke, who revealed that Tallis is a Qunari assassin," she answered, her brows furrowing somewhat. "Apparently she's searching for some Qunari who's trying to sell secrets to the Orlesians, not a jewel."
"Oh, so you were actually paying attention," Tallis answered, sounding pleased.
"I usually do, contrary to popular belief," Hawke replied, amused.
"You're Qunari?" Isabela stared at Tallis and gave an involuntary step back.
"Yeah, and I'm aware that you guys don't have a happy history with them," the elf responded with a grimace.
"Isabela especially," Hawke commented, although this time she wasn't really paying much attention. She was holding Fenris's hand, gazing up at him with a small smile playing on her lips. Her broody elf was looking thoughtful; his expression sent tingles of delight up her spine.
"Well, I guess it makes sense now," he decided, looking unfazed by Tallis's revelation. He turned his gaze back down on Hawke; now it was darker with concern. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Positively spiffy," she answered with a slight grimace. It wasn't the complete truth, though; her head still spun a bit, and there was a slight ache in her stomach, but she attributed it to her hangover, or maybe she was just hungry. His brow furrowed, although he didn't question her anymore.
"Thanks for coming to rescue us," she added, more quietly, her gaze shining with intensity. She rose up on the balls of her feet to give him a quick peck on his lips, which immediately turned up into a slight smile.
"You would have done the same, I'm sure," he answered humorously. "I never thought we'd have to come rescue the mighty Hawke from a dungeon."
"Yes, and I expect a very satisfactory reward!" Isabela interrupted, stepping in between them with mischief gleaming in her eyes.
"Ah, just wait till we get back, Isabela." Hawke winked at the rogue, and she was rewarded with her armor and weapons being returned to her. Hawke and Tallis gratefully retreated to remove the uncomfortable noble clothes and replace them with the armor.
"Right, now that's out of the way," Hawke said once she was back in her armor, feeling more comfortable with the familiar weight of her daggers in her hands. "I guess we have to go back through the castle now," she added reluctantly.
"There are some tunnels that lead from the dungeon out onto the mountain," Tallis suggested then. "We can take those, if you'd rather avoid needless bloodshed."
"That would be preferable," Hawke agreed without really pausing to consider it. "Lead the way."
"We're still following her? Wonderful," Isabela grumbled under her breath. Tallis ignored her and led them on. By unspoken consent Hawke and Fenris waited for the others to pull ahead before taking up the rear of the party. Hawke slipped her daggers back into their sheaths and reached for Fenris's hand, lacing her fingers in between his. They strode along that way in silence for several minutes before he spoke up.
"You frightened me," he told her quietly.
"Me?" Hawke asked, startled. "Well, that's a first."
"Before we found you, there was a moment when I..." His voice broke off, and her heart clenched in sympathy. "Don't do that again," he added roughly, exasperation coloring his tone. Unable to speak for a moment because of the sudden lump that rose in her throat, she only squeezed his hand comfortingly.
"I won't," she whispered hoarsely after a moment. "I'm sorry."
He drew to a sudden stop and yanked her to his side, pressing his lips against hers firmly.
"An underground lake." Hawke whistled with amazement. "I could use one of these." She was rewarded with one of Fenris's crooked smirks, and her heart skipped a beat. That could be number nine on my list. Yeah, I'll build a lake! Sandal would have so much fun with that.
"The hell?" Isabela agreed, her lovely almond eyes looking puzzled with a perfect eyebrow arched over them.
They were still in the stone tunnels that led out of Chateau Haine; Hawke's best estimate was that they'd been traveling through these tunnels for around an hour, and already she was beginning to feel more than a little claustrophobic at the thought of being inside a mountain. It could be worse, though; she could have been in the middle of the Deep Roads again. She shuddered inwardly at that thought.
They stood on a little wooden bridge, and Hawke had paused to step close to the edge of the bridge to look at what the bridge crossed. It was a fairly large lake, with stalactites and stalagmites poking out of it and down towards it. A stone column partially blocked her view.
"The Retreat needed to house hundreds- if not thousands- of people during the Blight. Can't do that without fresh water," Tallis pointed out.
"Oh, no, how could I have totally not guessed that?" Hawke commented dryly, still a little pissed off at Tallis for lying to them.
"So they built a lake underwater," Fenris mused, ignoring Hawke, his dark eyebrows furrowed.
"It must've taken them a long time," Bethany remarked, peering at the water and stepping back with a shiver. Isabela snorted.
Hawke cast an anxious glance at the ceiling, studded with spikes of rock; she, too, shivered and started moving again.
"Come on, let's get out of here," she stated.
They hadn't gone a hundred feet before they were attacked by the Duke's Chasind guard, whatever his name was. Tallis had gotten trapped on the other side of a gate and run off, so Hawke, swearing colorfully, darted into battle with Fenris and Isabela at her sides.
And then, about midway through the battle, a knife sailed out of seemingly nowhere to imbed itself in the wooden bridge, right next to the Chasind man. He shot it a surprised glance before shaking himself and glancing up; Hawke followed his gaze to see Tallis crouched on top of a boulder with a wicked smirk.
"Missed! That would have been a nice shot, too!" Tallis complained.
"Maker's balls, Tallis, even I could have thrown a knife better than that," Hawke heard Isabela growl under her breath. She didn't think she'd ever heard Isabela growl.
"Did you think I was leaving?" the elf went on, glancing over at Hawke and winking before she dove into the fray. Hawke sighed with a mixture of relief and annoyance, but she continued fighting.
They took out the Chasind guy quickly enough, but the main problem was the mages he'd brought with him.
"Where the hell does this guy find mages?" Hawke wondered aloud to Fenris as they waited for the final mage's magical shield to fade.
"Hawke, you especially should know that apostates wander all along any country," Tallis pointed out, and Hawke just sighed again. They took out the last mage right away, as soon as his barriers faltered.
"Well, that was bracing," Tallis mused, crouching beside the mage to see if he had anything good on him.
"I thought you'd left!" Hawke accused, her icy gaze narrowing.
"I found a way around," the elf answered with a breezy shrug as she rose to her feet. Her gaze sharpened then, and she turned to look at Hawke full-on. "I told you I'd get you out of here, and I meant it."
Well, Tallis may not be completely right in the head, but at least she's got her priorities straight. Hawke exchanged a glance with Fenris, and to her amusement, he appeared to be thinking the same thing; he had a single eyebrow lifted, his mouth quirked in a bemused but humorous smile.
"Let's keep going, the exit can't be much further," Tallis added.
"Maker's breath, finally!" Hawke would have sprinted right out of there if Fenris hadn't pulled her back so they could finish looting the bodies. She found a nice staff on that final mage and gave it to Bethany; the Chasind man had an ax, which she gave to Fenris, and a key for the gate that Tallis had been trapped behind earlier.
They continued on. The tunnels grew narrow again, and bright; Hawke found herself shivering, although it wasn't particularly cold. As a matter of fact, the tunnels were warmer than they had been before the big lake.
"You alright, Hawke?" Tallis asked concernedly. The others watched with similar expressions.
"Just a little cold," Hawke lied cheerily, restraining her growing impatience. Maker's breath, they acted like she was a temperamental mage that was about to turn them all into large toads if they didn't appease her. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"Would you like to stop?" Fenris asked her, his gentle tone slightly lowered.
"No, I'm fine," she snapped. "Let's just get out of these blasted tunnels." He looked unconvinced, but he nodded anyway.
They continued on through the tunnels, fighting through more ghasts in a cave that was noticeably brighter.
"And there's the way out," Tallis announced, once the ghasts were all dead. She stood at the other end of the cave, facing away from Hawke; in front of her were two tunnels, one to the left and the other to the right. She turned to face them again with a wry smirk. "See, I told you I had a plan. It was a good one, with an escape and everything." Hawke leaned over to peer behind Tallis, down one of the tunnels.
"Not a monster lair. That is a good sign," she remarked wearily. She thought she felt Fenris stiffen slightly at her side.
Tallis also glanced back at the tunnels. "So, you could go. There are, however, other options..."
Isabela, standing at Hawke's side, shifted, looking a little eager.
"Don't get too excited," Hawke warned her with a smirk, and the pirate shot her a pleading glance. Hawke rolled her eyes teasingly and glanced back at Tallis. "Such as staying here? I suppose there's room for a cot, but where would we put the dinner table?"
"On top of the ghast corpses," Bethany suggested with a small smirk.
"Well, that would keep all the nobles away, at least," Hawke mused.
"Look, Hawke, you've been reasonable ever since we were captured," Tallis told her, her misty gaze narrowing intently. "I'm hoping that hasn't changed. What Salit is going to do will harm so many innocents- your people, too, not just mine. It's my duty to stop him. Even so, I can't do it alone, not anymore."
"After everything you've already done, why should I help you again?" Hawke asked, more curious than accusing. She already knew she would help, unless Tallis gave her a really pathetic excuse; after years of living in Kirkwall, watching innocents being killed and harmed- "collateral damage," as some said- was just unbearable. It made her feel sick and helpless. She did the best she could to keep her city free of crime, but she was just too late for some people. She didn't regret those she had killed; she regretted the ones she hadn't saved.
"Because... I've got your nose." Tallis grinned, reaching out toward Hawke's face and pulling her hand back again, holding up her fist and somehow reassembling her fingers so it looked like a nose. Hawke snickered, forcing herself to think positive again, although her heart still felt heavy..
"The Qun taught you that, I suppose?" she asked, smirking.
"If I was following the Qun, I would actually have your nose," Tallis pointed out. At Hawke's expression, she sighed. "I suppose that doesn't help. If I had my way, you would never have been this involved in the first place."
Hawke considered that thoughtfully before asking her next question.
"What did you have in mind, exactly?" Tallis looked pleased.
"Well, we can go back, have some tea with the Duke, get to know one another. Then, just as he starts to trust us, you slip a bag over his head, and we drag him to Antiva," the redhead suggested with a teasing smirk.
"No, not Antiva, you fiend!" Hawke teased, wagging a finger at Tallis. "It's too full of assassins, and... Antivans."*
"Or we could find out when Salit is arriving, and stop him before it's too late," Tallis finished, still snickering.
"That sounds like a better plan," Hawke agreed, growing serious again. "You certainly know how to argue. But my options are...?"
"Follow or don't. It's that simple." Tallis turned to face the path on her right. She added over her shoulder, "I get the feeling that you're an exceptional person, Hawke. Here's your chance to prove it." She started down the path.
Hawke hesitated, glancing toward the left path- which, judging by the sunlight streaming through it, also led outside- before following Tallis down the right tunnel with an exhausted sigh.
They moved on along the mountain trail. Hawke was so relieved to be back outside that she nearly fell to her knees and kissed the ground; ever since the Deep Roads, being inside for extended periods of time- whether it was inside her mansion or inside tunnels in the middle of a mountain- bothered her. A lot. She'd never mentioned her newfound feeling of claustrophobia to anyone, but she guessed that Fenris knew; she tended to grow twitchy at those times, and being as he watched her like a hawk (ha, a hawk) he could probably guess.
At any rate, her shivering stopped almost as soon as they made it outside, and she sprinted out of the tunnel with a delighted whoop, causing Isabela and Tallis to howl with laughter while Bethany and Fenris just smirked. Hawke frolicked around for several minutes, until...
"Oh, shit." Hawke paused in her revelry when a flash of movement caught her eye, and she peered farther down the mountain. Fenris was at her side in an instant.
"What is it?"
"Qunari." Hawke pointed. Sure enough, several giant, blue-ish kossith with horns were meandering along down there, looking threatening with giant spears and axes and hard-packed muscles.
"Tal-Vashoth," Tallis corrected, also moving to their side.
And then they were attacked by another wyvern. After that came more ghasts.
"Just how many of these creatures live on this mountain?" Fenris asked, glowering at the ghast corpses with annoyance as he bent down to clean the blood off his blade.
"Be thankful they're not high dragons," Hawke pointed out dryly, doing the same.
"Hmm. Good point."
Naturally, they were attacked by the Tal-Vashoth a few minutes later. Hawke spent as much of her time dodging thrown spears- where the hell do they carry all those spears, anyway?- as she did backstabbing the kossith and swearing under her breath. Once she even had to tackle Bethany, who was concentrating on a spell, to the ground, because she didn't notice the spear sailing toward her. It just brushed against Hawke's calf, although she was wearing leather armor so it only left a bruise.
"I am sick of fighting Qunari," Hawke declared, straightening, once they were all dead.
"Tal-Vashoth," Tallis and Fenris corrected her together.
"Whatever," Hawke growled. "They're all huge, scary, and horny." Isabela sniggered. Hawke shot a rude gesture her direction, grinning despite herself, and the pirate queen just stuck her tongue out in response.
"I've seen and killed enough of them both to last a lifetime," Hawke concluded, grimacing.
"Let's just keep going. The sooner we get out of here the sooner you'll be able to stop seeing them," Tallis promised, rolling her eyes.
"Good idea," Hawke grumbled. She stumped on, trying to ignore her exhaustion.
They were attacked by one more group of Tal-Vashoth; afterward, Tallis knelt by their dying leader and exchanged a few terse words with him in Qunari. She discovered that Salit was just about to meet with the Duke near the base of the mountain. Hawke, grimly determined, led them on.
They nearly walked in on the meeting with the Duke and Salit, but Hawke gestured for the others to pause at the edge of the clearing. The Orlesian was meeting with the Tal-Vashoth in some kind of ruins; the ground was cracked stone, with plants poking through, and on one side were some broken walls. Opposite the broken walls the stone ended suddenly, and Hawke realized that it was a cliff. She pointed it out to the others, gesturing for them to be careful, and they nodded.
As they approached, Salit was handing a scroll to one of the Duke's soldiers. The scroll turned out to be nothing more than a list of names. Evidently the Duke was hoping for some kind of weapon, so naturally he was terribly pissed and a little bemused. Hawke chose that moment to stride in with her little flock.
"Your Grace," Hawke called neutrally, stepping into the ruins where the meeting was being conducted.
"Champion. I should have known you would turn up," Duke Prosper drawled, turning to her, his voice full of venom and malice.
"You know I have an excellent sense of dramatic timing! And good hair," Hawke added as an afterthought.
"Joke while you can, you will not find it funny for long," spat the Duke.
They heard a grunt followed by the unmistakable sound of a dagger sinking into flesh, and Hawke turned to see Tallis standing over a dead man. The elf jumped back to crouch on the broken walls of the ruins, holding her daggers tightly and glowering at the Tal-Vashoth.
"I said I would stop you, Salit," she growled warningly.
"And I said I would slay you if you tried," Salit answered harshly.
"If anyone is to do any slaying, it will be me!" the Duke declared. He pulled out some sort of device that looked almost like a crossbow and aimed it at Salit. He pulled the trigger; green goo hit the Tal-Vashoth on the shoulder, causing him to stumble back several steps. Startled, Salit peered down at it, looking a little confused. It didn't appear to hurt him.
Hawke heard a terrible roar, and her blood ran cold. Shit.
Leopold leaped over the edge of the ruins then and roared once more before jumping down to grab Salit in its powerful jaws and squeezing the Tal-Vashoth to bits. Hawke could only stare in horror.
"Kill them all!" the Duke yelled to his bodyguards, backing away.
Swearing, Hawke leaped back, away from one of the guards who raced at her. Fenris immediately engaged the man and took him out several seconds later. Already, Isabela was nowhere to be seen, and Bethany was standing behind Hawke, shooting spell after spell into the battle. Most of the Duke's guards had engaged with the Tal-Vashoth, although a few of them were running toward Hawke and the others. She momentarily lost track of the Duke and the wyvern as she danced across the ruins which were now a battlefield, her daggers flashing.
When she glanced up again, Leopold was striding along the broken wall of the ruins, roaring with fury, while Duke Prosper stood underneath him, hurling oaths and accusations at Hawke, which only served to amuse her. The amusement vanished when she saw that the wyvern was also hurling something at the combatants; more goo, this time orange, hit the ground, and she saw several of the Tal-Vashoth get hit with it. When they started stumbling about and writhing in pain a few minutes later, she realized what it was: poison.
"Stay out of the orange stuff!" she shrieked to her friends as she danced away from one such puddle. "It's poison!"
"Got it!" Isabela called as she slit one man's throat and darted away. The others were too busy to acknowledge her, but she knew they understood.
Soon enough, Mabari hounds had also entered the fray. Hawke, thinking of Fang, who she'd left at home, regretfully killed the ones that hurled themselves at her. Fenris sprinted past her then, and with a start she watched him and realized that he was attacking the Duke. Damn, why hadn't she thought of that? She raced after him, hurling a dagger at the man, who, surprisingly nimble for his age, dodged.
And then Leopold jumped into the fight.
Duke Prosper catapulted himself onto the wyvern's back, cackling maniacally. He had his crossbow of green goo again and was hurling it at Hawke and her friends, who dodged it as best they could.
"The green stuff is a target for the wyvern! Don't let it hit you- stay on the move!" Isabela called then. Hawke signaled her thanks to the rogue as she danced around the battlefield, searching for some way to kill the Duke and the wyvern. She paused to make a quick assessment of her team: Bethany was now standing back in the trees as she used her spells, downing lyrium potion after lyrium potion, looking exhausted. Fenris was hacking at the wyvern and the Orlesian, dodging the wyvern's deadly fangs. Isabela was, unsurprisingly, doing her own thing, and Tallis was hurling daggers again. Their movements were still crisp and sharp, but Hawke could tell that their strength was flagging after the long day. We have to end this quickly.
The wyvern, on the other hand, was moving surprisingly slowly; he was bigger than the previous two that Hawke had killed, but he seemed to be a little weaker, as if his strength was also flagging. With was strange, because it had been several minutes before the other wyverns had started to look like this when they had been engaged in battle. Hawke's eyes widened when she recalled the poison that she'd slipped into Leopold's food when she and Tallis were sneaking through the chateau; so it really did work. She congratulated herself for her excellent forethought.
"Hawke!" Fenris roared suddenly, and she glanced up to see his expression fierce with anger and... terror? "Watch out!"
Then something hit her in the shoulder, and she stumbled back, looking down. Oh, SHIT.
Duke Prosper had hit her with his green goo.
Leopold was already looking at her like she was a big snack, and she immediately sprinted away. The wyvern leaped after her, his jaws closing on the spot where she had just been standing; she felt its hot breath, felt one of its teeth scrape against her arm and break the skin, but she had mostly avoided it. She continued to race away from it, and it followed her for several minutes while Fenris tried unsuccessfully to bait it away before she drew to a halt, panting, unable to run anymore. It was fortunate that the green stuff faded just then.
"Sister!" Bethany was beckoning her over from under cover of the trees. "Are you alright?" The mage's face was pinched with concern.
"Yes. No. We have to end this, Bethany," Hawke insisted, her eyes wide with urgency.
"I know, sister. But stand still for a moment so I can heal you."
Hawke was a little surprised. The worst injuries she had were a few scratches and bruises, which she could have fought through any day, but she acquiesced, disgruntled. As Bethany used the few healing spells she had on the rogue, Hawke's gaze was trained on the battle; Duke Prosper had taken to throwing things on the ground, which proceeded to blow up a few minutes later. Oh. Flame bombs. Isabela was shouting a warning to the others as she danced away from the bombs; Fenris was glowing blue with his lyrium markings as he attacked the wyvern, but even from this distance she could see the sheen of sweat on his face; and Tallis was aiming one of her daggers, carefully preparing to throw. She saw Leopold leap toward Fenris, who was standing at the edge of the ruins... right in front of a cliff. Fenris jumped out of the way, but an idea had occurred to Hawke.
"Alright, drink this." Bethany thrust a potion into Hawke's hands. She swallowed it without a second thought and raced back into battle.
"Hey, you! Jackass!" The Duke swung Leopold around to face her, his face glowing with hatred. Hawke sneered at him and darted toward the edge of the ruins, where Fenris had been standing just a few minutes ago. "I'm over here! Come get me, you stupid, flowery Orlesian!" She hurled a few more insults as she danced around at the edge of the cliff.
"Be careful, Hawke!" Fenris called. Everybody had stopped, watching her with concern, as if she had lost her mind. Everybody but the wyvern, that is.
Leopold hurtled toward Hawke, its eyes glowing with hatred that matched the Duke's. Hawke made no movement to dodge right away, her lips drawn back in an angry snarl. The Duke's expression changed from furious to dubious, and then horror as the realization dawned on him. He tried to pull the wyvern back, but Leopold's momentum hurled them forward; Hawke rolled out of the way; the wyvern sailed over her head and over the cliff with one final roar of anger.
Fenris darted over to her.
"Are you alright?" he asked urgently, reaching out a hand to help her up.
"Yeah. Fine," Hawke panted. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she leaned on him as they made their way over to the edge of the ruins and peered down. Duke Prosper was dangling from the cliff edge by one hand, glowering up at them, looking both terrified and irate at the same time.
"Keep away from me, you Fereldan turnip! The empress will hear of this! Orlais will burn Kirkwall to the ground! All of you will die screaming, I swear it!" the Duke shrieked maniacally. Hawke's icy gaze snapped with contained fury, but fear formed a knot in her belly, caused her heart to speed up. What have I done?
"I would have tried begging for mercy, but that's just me," Hawke drawled, stepping away and giving no indication of her inner horror. I hope I didn't just start a war.
"You... filthy... whore!" spat the Duke. Isabela and Fenris came up beside Hawke to gaze down at him spitefully. She glowered down at him as well before she turned and strode away, unable to bear the sight of him anymore, shaking her head with disgust.
"Thank you for the lovely party, I'll treasure the belt," she called over her shoulder. The Duke yelled with incoherent anger and she heard an ominous crack as his fingers slipped. He hit a pile of rocks directly beneath him before he fell to his death.
"They never learn," Fenris spat, turning to catch up with Hawke.
"Looks like the duke... has fallen from grace."
A twisted, humorless smirk was on her features as she approached Tallis, savage glee gleaming in her gaze.
The Qunari elf was kneeling beside Salit's body, holding the scroll. She murmured under her breath in Qunari before rising to her feet, her misty gray eyes wide with shock and horror.
"If the duke only knew what he nearly had in his grasp," the elf breathed, half to herself. Then her gaze lifted to meet Hawke's as she added, "Thank you. There's no way I could have done this without your help."
"What is the scroll?" Hawke inquired curiously, gesturing to it.
"It is a list of agents throughout Thedas, Qunari like myself. Qunari with children, wives, families. If this had fallen into the wrong hands..." Tallis shuddered. "Many innocents would have been slaughtered, people who don't deserve it. The Ariqun believes they knew the risks, but what about those innocents? I... I couldn't let this happen."
Hawke opened her mouth to ask something, but her vision swam suddenly and she blinked to clear it. Her head began to throb again, and she felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach. Fenris's arm was around her waist again, and he was peering at her anxiously, but she forced herself to focus, despite the dizziness.
"Maybe those agents should be discovered?" Hawke asked, speaking with slight difficulty and hearing herself as if her voice came from a tunnel.
"I believe in the Qun, but I'm not doing this to protect the Qunari. The list doesn't distinguish innocent from guilty, it doesn't show the friends, lovers, children who..." Tallis shuddered again, a hard gleam in her eye, and declared, "Nobody should have it."
"Sister," Bethany whispered, laying a hand on Hawke's shoulder. Hawke shrugged it off irritably, and she could almost hear Bethany's scowl.
"So what now? You aren't just going to leave, are you?" she asked, a little disappointed to see the elf go. On second thought, she just wanted to get this all over with so she could go home and lay down in her comfy bed. Hopefully that would help her feel better.
"You think I would fit into your merry entourage?" Tallis snickered, evidently unaware of Hawke's inner turmoil.
"Quite well, actually," Fenris commented dryly, his arm tightening around Hawke's waist. Concern seemed to roll off him in waves.
"Let's see... are you possessed? Consorting with demons? A pathological liar?" Isabela ticked off, watching Tallis from under her eyelashes.
"I have six toes on my left foot," Tallis offered.
"Close enough!" Isabela sniggered.
"Maybe some other time, Hawke. I still have a few things to do... but I am grateful. I want you to know that," Tallis told her sincerely.
Another thought flew through Hawke's fuzzy mind: The tenth thing I would do in my free time is find Tallis again. Then she felt as if her mind had switched off and been wiped blank as a sheet of untouched paper, and all she could do was blink dizzily.
"Oh, before I forget!" The redhead tossed something on a chain to Hawke, who just stared as it flew through the air. Fenris's hand shot out and he caught it for her, arching an eyebrow. "That was going to be the Heart of the Many," Tallis told her, brows furrowing slightly. "You would have found a jewel, I would have killed Salit, and everybody would have been happy. Guess nothing ever goes how it's supposed to, does it?" The elf laughed wryly, turning to leave. "Thanks again, Hawke. I'll see you around."
"See you, Tallis," Hawke managed. "I hope." The Qunari elf smiled at her the last time before striding off into the trees. Hawke's throat suddenly felt very dry, and she uttered a hacking cough.
Hawke wanted to watch Tallis leave, but her head was hurting worse than ever, her vision swimming so badly she couldn't see straight, her heart pounding furiously. She leaned against Fenris, panting heavily.
"Hawke?" he asked, concerned. Then he seemed to take a second glance at her and he snapped worriedly, "Rathina!" She couldn't acknowledge him.
Her vision went totally black, and she collapsed into his arms.
*Did anyone get my allusion? I was referencing Duncan in Dragon Age: The Calling.