Thank you for the reviews and such! I really appreciate it! Oh, by the way….I don't own Dragon Age. Bioware does. Saura however, is mine! Enjoy!

Chapter 2:

Weeks had passed since that night, but Saura's embarrassment remained. Several minutes after Fenris and the women had disappeared inside the tavern, Saura had resorted to jumping off the patio to avoid further embarrassment and ran away with her tail between her legs. Not her finest moment, she confessed, but what's done is done. Two nights after the encounter Saura had returned to the tavern in hopes of seeing him again so she could apologize for her forwardness, but he'd never shown. In fact, she hadn't so much as caught a glimpse of him since then, but word on the street was that he was still within the city.

Saura sighed and attempted to shake Fenris from her thoughts. How pathetic, she thought. Instead she needed to focus on the task at hand.

In order to pay for her room at the inn, Saura had decided work was necessary. She'd gone traveling through the city streets only to find there was an abundance of work she could pick up. Saura was delighted to do most any job and jumped at any chance that presented itself. Mostly they were trivial things such as unloading cargo for merchants, but on occasion someone required the use of her warrior skills. She was currently employed under such circumstances to one of the wealthiest merchants in the city- Karl Marzemer. He required hired help to ensure his cargo made it safely into the city from the town next over. Bandits were known to intercept caravans and make off with the goods, and just recently, the bandits have been more active than ever. She had been hired as an extra sword to ensure the safe delivery of his goods. The coin was well worth the annoyance at having to travel the distance to the small town called Arkhan. It was a day's journey and Saura was heartily glad she'd made it to the village and found the caravan without incident.

Saura noted with a smile that the city was now within a couple hours' distance. However, this was the territory the bandits were known to strike at, so she kept a keen eye on her surroundings as they traveled. She was currently placed on the left side of the large wagon. She watched the two massive horses plod along their course in an almost lazy fashion. Three other swordsmen were positioned to the front, right, and rear of the wagon and she was quite glad for the distance. She wasn't in the mood for small talk, and one of the men kept eyeing her in a way that made her skin crawl. He'd attempted to engage her in conversation during rest stops and she would offer him short, but polite answers. Nonetheless, he seemed to inch closer to her the longer he tried to get her to talk and she'd almost been forced to threaten his life if he took another step closer. Luckily she'd been spared having to do this by the call to proceed again.

Now here they were within a couple hours of their goal and traveling at a good pace through the hilly terrain. Saura kept eyeing the jagged rock faces with suspicion, knowing that they would be the perfect cover for a band of thieves. They were entering a small valley with steep, rocky inclines on either side. Massive boulders were scattered across the landscape and as Saura peered up her side of the chasm she caught herself nearly reaching for her blade. She gave herself a mental slap and reminded herself that any such movement would alarm the others. And yet she still couldn't shake the feeling that they were walking right into an ambush. So she did the only thing she could, and kept alert eye on her surroundings.

Sure enough, just as they entered the center of the ravine Saura caught the glint of the suns rays off a blade behind a boulder nearly halfway up the edge of the incline. She had enough time to draw her sword and yell- " Ambush!" before the arrows started raining down upon them. She knocked an arrow away deftly by raising her blade to eye-level and keeping a steady hold of it. Saura was quick on her feet and darted off to her left behind the cover of a nearby boulder while she sought out her first target.

There. A hooded rogue was charging at her, his two vicious looking daggers held out in front of him. She met his attack with grace and deadly precision and knocked his blades away with a single arching swing of her sword. While he attempted to regain footing, Saura kicked out with her foot and knocked him to the ground. She thrust her sword deep into his chest and didn't linger to watch the crimson blood pool around him. Instead she turned back briefly and noticed with a jolt of alarm that one of her fellow warriors had been slain—the one with the uncomfortable looks. That left three of them against… 1,2,3,4,…7 bandits that she could immediately spot.

Shit.

Saura scaled the boulders like a lithe dancer and caught an archer by surprise as he aimed a killing shot at the driver. She sliced through his neck as if it were made of no more than butter, and grimaced as warm blood spattered her arms and face. She turned to target her next victim, only to find another of her companions lying motionless on the earth.

Double shit.

Saura needed to get closer to the wagon now as her defensive team lay dead. She needed to protect the cargo at all costs. Unfortunately that would also mean she'd become a sitting duck for the archers above. They had little choice however, and Saura sought out her remaining companion—a man with a rugged beard and build. He was further up the side of the ravine than her so she called to him, uncaring whether the bandits heard the instructions or not—

" Take out the archers! I'll cover the wagon!"

He grunted in what she assumed was ascent and made his way toward the final archer. Saura hopped from boulder to boulder and slid just in front of the terrified horse. One of the horses lay dead, with an arrow imbedded into its skull. The remaining horse was struggling against its bindings and as it reared up the wagon threatened to tip over. Saura did the only thing she could think as she gazed into the poor creatures frightened eyes and set it free. She cut through the leather reigns and unhooked it from the cart. The horse needed no further encouragement and bolted off into the hilly terrain.

Saura turned just in time to meet the attack of a bandit wielding an enormous mace and shield. She just caught a glimpse of two other bandits making their way down the steep incline toward her as well and made it a point to try and finish her current opponent off fast. Indeed, somewhere in the back of her mind Saura was aware that she needed to finish off this big guy in a matter of seconds before the other bandits descended upon her. Survival would be slim-to-none if she had all three to contend with at once.

The bandit struck out first with a mace nearly the size of her entire body. She dodged easily and returned the blow with a swing of her blade. However, the sword merely struck the bandit's shield with a resonating thunk. The vibration of the impact traveled up her arm and had her gritting her teeth in pain. She withdrew as quickly as she could by jumping back a pace just in time, because the bandit swept the mace through the air in the exact spot she'd just been with force that had her hair nearly standing on end. Unfortunately for him though, Saura had found her opening and didn't hesitate to take it. He was very powerful, but not quick enough. She struck hard into his left side, which was wide open during his attack. He was knocked breathless and his wooden shield clattered to the ground uselessly. She put all her force into the killing blow and avoided as much of his blood as possible.

" Just in time." She muttered, turning to face the remaining two rogues. They were equipped with daggers of various lengths, so she immediately registered that she had the length advantage. However, as quick as she was, she knew never to underestimate a rogue's agility. She could tell they were rogues by the way they moved with such stealth, and braced herself for attack. They were upon her all at once, one choosing to attack from the front, and one at her back. She dipped low and swept her blade out behind her unexpectedly. She was sure it would catch him off guard because he hadn't been expecting her to spot him. Indeed, she knew in milliseconds she'd been right. Her blow caught him mid shin and his screams echoed loudly across the ravine eerily.

Meanwhile, the rogue out in front jabbed at her with both daggers. She managed to avoid the left, but the right caught her upper arm and pain erupted, radiating down the length of her arm. Now she was pissed. Saura brought her sword back and focused all of her strength into one deadly swing that resulted in body parts flying through the air in all directions.

Saura took two seconds to breathe before turning to look down upon the first rogue. He was convulsing in agony and gripping his mutilated leg.

" I'm very sorry you've had to suffer. I'll end your pain now." She whispered, her heart clenching in her chest as she put the man out of his misery. He may have been her adversary, but she did not like to see any living being suffer. Being a warrior, she'd had to harden herself to the horrors of the battlefield. However, she absolutely abhorred suffering and because of this, when she struck out in battle she intended the blow to be fatal, so as to make their deaths as quick and painless as possible. Death still occurred, but her method helped her sleep a little better at night knowing their deaths weren't long or drawn out. What she'd done to the rogue would surely haunt her in her dreams tonight. She was rarely forced to do something like this, but as terrible as it was, it was also unavoidable.

Saura stood and was brushing the blood from the blade of her sword on a patch of withered grass when an explosion of pain in her right shoulder had her breath stopping. She nearly dropped her sword to the ground in her agony and looked down to find an arrow imbedded deeply into her flesh. She raised her head to find the archer nocking another arrow, and in a white-hot burst of pure instinct, she realized that he was preparing for the killing shot. No….no! She could not fail! She would not! But she was so far away….

Saura's survival instinct kicked into hyper gear and adrenaline pumped through her veins in such an amount that she was able to temporarily block out the searing pain in her shoulder. Her pupils dilated to a size that nearly covered the sky blue of her eyes as fear overcame her. She took two giant steps forward, trying to lessen the distance between them as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. Then she planted her feet and hurled her sword through the air with all of her remaining strength. She knew the chances were slim, and yet this was her only option if she wished to survive. Saura watched her blade slice through the air as if time had suddenly slowed to an irritating crawl. She prayed fervently to the Maker to let the sword hit its mark, and almost unbelievably, Saura watched as the blade cut through the archer's heart. He fell pathetically to the ground in a heap.

Saura was gasping for breath and with her left hand, she brushed away the sweat that was beading on her forehead. She allowed herself a look around at her surroundings and gasped at what she saw. Bodies littered the earth, including all of her companion warriors. She walked around to the front of the wagon to find an arrow sticking out of the driver's forehead.

"Maker's breath." Saura whispered shakily. She was the only survivor. The severity of the situation was slowly beginning to sink in as she went to retrieve her sword. All enemies had been disposed of, but still. What was she going to do now? Without a horse she had no hopes of getting the merchandise to the city. If she left it, who was to say more bandits wouldn't be lurking nearby to loot it as soon as she left? But what other choice did she have? She needed to get back to the city as soon as possible to get her shoulder looked at. The adrenaline was beginning to ebb, leaving in its place a good amount of pain.

Saura chanced a look down at her shoulder and hissed in agony at the simple movement. Blood was running down her right arm, creating a beautiful design of dark crimson. She needed to get the damned thing out and as unappealing as that sounded, she knew it was necessary. Saura was well aware that the blood loss would increase significantly without the arrow to stem the flow, but her pain had reached an unbearable level. Her thoughts were becoming hazy and she scrunched her eyes shut to try and get her brain to function normally. But after a second of this she abandoned the effort and went to the nearest bandit and tore off a large piece of fabric from his shirt. Then she sat herself down on a boulder and took a deep breath. Saura gripped the shaft of the arrow with both hands and yanked as hard and as quickly as she possibly could. Her screams rang through the ravine for minutes and tears streamed down her cheeks. Blood dripped down her chin from biting down on her lip in pain. The arrow came out cleanly, if not reluctantly, but at least the hard part was over. She sat there for several minutes gasping for breath before she made any further movement. Finally, Saura clumsily looped the fabric under her shoulder and in a half hazard fashion tied it with her left hand and teeth. The cloth should staunch enough of the blood for now so that she could make it back to the city in one piece.

When Saura went to stand however, the world began to tilt alarmingly. Quickly, she shut her eyes and took a couple deep breaths. Tentatively, she opened her eyes and took a couple steps forward only to find that her movements were weak and clumsy from loss of blood. Shit.

" Come on Saura!" She groaned. She started off reluctantly without the merchandise in the direction of Nevarra City. It was the longest trek of her life, and after a half hour of grueling walking, Saura's vision began to blur. Once again the ground tilted and with a small gasp Saura collapsed to the ground.

" No." She hissed, running a hand over her wound. It was sticky and wet with blood. Damn! She was so close! So close to the medical attention that she so desperately needed. The roadway was abandon and she lay upon the hard earth attempting to catch her breath with no luck. She felt as though her lungs had dropped into the soles of her feet and every ragged breath she took was a desperate struggle. Saura was going to die out here alone and insignificantly. She shook her head and grit her teeth at the thought.

"Andraste's Ass!" She cursed breathlessly. Saura knew she only had one option left now. She refused to die out here like this. There was still something she needed to do before she could die. His face swam in front of her eyes in a strange dream-like cloud. He looked down at her with the same malicious, uncaring, feral gaze he'd focused on her all those years ago. She shook the image away at once, but the rage she felt propelled her into action. Fresh tears threatened to spill over onto her cheeks but she refused to give in to the weakness as if he were actually present and watching her. She would never allow him to see any weakness. Instead, she prepared her mind for what she was about to do. The ache that had been building up inside her small frame seemed to leap up all at once as she held her hand inches away from her injured shoulder. Saura focused and suddenly felt tingling warmth radiating from her hand as she conjured the healing spell. Her body quivered as it gave in to the release of magic after so long, and she bit her lip to keep from moaning. She could feel her flesh beginning to knit itself under the healing heat of her spell. It was an odd sensation, although she was grateful for it now. And then as quickly as the spell had manifested, it ended, leaving her gasping. It wasn't nearly enough, she knew. But if she kept walking…

"Apostate bitch!"

Saura went to look toward the cry, but was never able to. Something heavy collided with the back of her head and everything went black.