His embrace instantly changes to a protective stance, as he instinctively tries to shield her from this new unknown threat. They hear the footsteps above them and as their eyes automatically turn upward towards the sound they can see the dust and dirt trickle from the undersides of the floorboards coinciding with the vibrations from the movements up above. Although they can tell there are many pairs of feet, the noise that drifts down to them does not sound like the heavy tread that would belong to fully armored men. It isn't until Anders hears the splintering of wood and a crash as though something fragile and heavy had been tipped over and allowed to break on the hard wood floor that his growing suspicions crystallize into certainty.

Looters...

His mind at first welcomes the fact, as it will add more believability to the ruse they had laid out for the Templars to discover. It is only when his gaze shifts back to Hawke's face,and he sees the horrified look in her eyes, that he belatedly realizes what effect this is having on her.

Her hand falls naturally to where her sword should be as her mind suddenly understands what is happening upstairs. She does not need to see the scene unfolding to know that the vermin from the underbelly of Kirkwall have taken advantage of this situation to make a profit for themselves. They are up there right now pawing through her belongings, taking the small items they can sell and destroying anything else that doesn't have value to them. Items she and Anders had given each other over the years, silly trinkets that held sentimental value, the possessions that had belonged to her mother, the only things that are left of her now. All of these things will soon be gone.

She had known in the back of her mind that this would happen when she agreed to leave with Anders, but at that point it had been a distant event that she assumed would happen after they had already departed the city. To have to helplessly stay down here and listen as her home is destroyed above is nerve-racking, but there is nothing she can do. It would be risking the safety of the others if she succumbed to the urge to race upstairs and confront the thieves. She is startled back to the here and now by a gentle hand on her neck and as she glances up at Anders she sees his warm brown eyes fill with understanding.

He knows what it is like to have everything familiar taken away. He can still vividly remember the day the Templars came to his family's house to drag him away from everything he knew, his belongings, his family, his whole life.

"Stay with me my love nothing can be gained by going back up there now" he softly says to her as he brings his hand up to rest warmly against the back of her neck.

The sounds are intensifying upstairs as more arrive to fight over her possessions. Hawke shakes her head to clear it of the mental image and tries to refocus her energy on what is more important right now.

"They might venture down here, we need to move everyone into the passageway" she throws back over her shoulder as she quickly grabs the clean clothes that are laying over the top of one of the boxes and throws them on as she watches Anders do the same. Now fully dressed, Hawke gathers her tarnished and stained armor from the floor and quietly places it in large bag thinking to herself as she does so that she will need to clean it soon before the blood starts to oxidize on the metal and rust sets in. She sees the hated black mages robe nearby on the floor where Anders had thrown it when they had stripped out of their filthy clothes from the battle and she grabs it and stuffs it in the bag with the armor intent on burning it the first chance she gets.

Making her way over to the concealed door in the far wall she takes out the small key and places it in the lock, instantly hearing the click of the tumblers as they move into the correct position allowing the door to swing open into the darkness beyond.

"Anders" she calls softly to him "Can you go ahead and light the way?"

He quickly recites the needed spell and his staff flares with a soft white light as he walks ahead into the passage. Hawke glances behind her to see the others quickly approaching as the sounds from above grow louder. She is the last to enter the space as she stays in the doorway waiting to make sure everyone is safely in before she lets the door close behind her.

He hears the door as it swiftly shuts with a soft click and almost instantly the hated feeling of being trapped floods his mind. He tries to concentrates on the warm glow of the light as he feels his heart rate speed up in response to the signals of fear from his mind, but the light suddenly flickers and extinguishes as the concentration needed to maintain the spell slips away from him. The irrational fear in him quickly grows in the sudden darkness until it completely fills his mind. He hears shuffling off to his immediate right and suddenly someone grabs hold of his arm in the darkness eliciting a sharp stifled yelp from the mage.

"Anders, are you ok?" A disembodied but familiar voice whispers out to him as he feels her other hand reaching out for him in the darkness, but without the ability of sight, her perception is off and instead of placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder she inadvertently smacks him squarely on the nose instead.

"Owww" his somewhat muffled response comes out of the darkness, the light flaring back into existence as the fear loses its grip on his mind and his concentration returns.

"Sorry" Hawke replies,barely managing to keep the proper expression for apologizing on her face, as all of her suppressed stress bubbles to the surface in the form of a small nervous bark of laughter.

"I think I'm maimed for life" Anders continues as he cradles his nose in his hands. She is just about to respond when she hears a flurry of movement from up above like many pairs of feet running towards the back door. There is only a second of brief silence before that noise is almost instantly followed by the heavier sound of what can only be the tread of many pairs of booted feet echoing sharply down from the entryway of the estate.