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Ok, chapter 6! Let's do this!

Bioware owns Dragon Age.

Chapter 6:

Waiting for sundown was frustrating to say the least. Saura was both nervous and excited at the prospect of freeing innocent slaves, and to avoid nervous pacing, she attempted to busy herself the entire day. She washed her armor and polished the light blue jewel imbedded into it, which was situated at the center of her chest, where it held in place the two straps of leather that came across her upper chest. She polished her sword and sharpened it until she was certain it would be deadly when connecting with flesh. After that she tidied up her room and finally gave in to the urge to pace a trench into her floor. Finally after what seemed like a decade had passed, Saura looked out the window and noted the low position of the sun. She went over her mental checklist one last time to make sure everything was in order, and then slid her sword into its scabbard, flung it over her back, and walked out the door.

Minutes later she was standing in the center of the old warehouse district watching the few passerbies. She attempted to look nonchalant, which was nearly impossible while wearing armor and a sword strapped to her back. So Saura decided to relocate into one of the shadowy corners of the square when she suddenly felt a presence behind her. Without turning, she knew it was Fenris.

"This way." Was all he said. Saura abruptly changed her path and followed him as he crossed the street and entered a particularly ominous looking warehouse that seemed to Saura as if it had been in disuse for the last Age or so. She couldn't resist the urge to study his back as he led the way. He was very toned, she noted, and admitted that his black armor suited him wonderfully. Fenris is very tall, and with that massive sword slung over his back he looked…impressive. As if he were born to conquer worlds. From this angle she could just glimpse slices of his arms between the armor. There were flowing white lines creating unknown patterns there, and Saura found she wanted to see more of the design.

"Alright, this is it." Fenris said, turning to face her. Saura felt her face heat up as if she had been caught in her idle thoughts. "What is it?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Saura practically squeaked as she spit the word out.

"Right…" Fenris said, disbelief coloring his tone. "Well, this is the warehouse the slavers are going to use to rest up for the night. They obviously cannot do so in the open since slavery is illegal in Nevarra. We'll be waiting for them…preferably up high." He keen eyes scanned the warehouse and he pointed. "There. Those stairs."

Saura followed him up the creaky wooden stairs and scolded herself as she did so. This could very possibly be a lethal battle they were preparing for! She needed to focus, not immerse herself in girlish fantasies!

Suddenly, Fenris stopped as they reached the second floor, which consisted of nothing more than a narrow walkway that led to doors, which were currently closed and wrapped in cobwebs. He was looking over the solid wooden railing and looked pleased with the view, which overlooked the entire ground space. He knelt down and peered through a space between two boards about an inch apart and nodded.

"This spot is perfect. Take a look." Fenris allowed her to do the same. Indeed, the crack between boards was more than enough to view the entire warehouse and would conceal them as well.

"The only question is, can we attack them from this distance and still surprise them?" Saura asked, leaning back against the railing cautiously, nervous if she put too much weight on it she'd break though the ancient wood and fall to her death.

"Maybe, maybe not." Fenris admitted, his eyebrows meeting as his brow furrowed in thought. "Although I cannot see the harm unless they have a skilled archer amongst them."

Saura groaned.

"I fucking hate archers." She absentmindedly rubbed her right shoulder at the thought. She had mostly healed by then, but still found the spot aching none-the-less. Her sudden outburst granted a low chuckle from Fenris and Saura couldn't stop herself from doing a double take.

"That makes two of us then."

Saura grinned.

"Alright then, I'll take the stairs to the left, you the right. We'll flank them and pray to the Maker they do not have archers." Saura said. "And if they do, well…they die first." Fenris nodded in agreement.

After that, it was a waiting game. They took their positions, kneeling next to one another by the one spot they could look down upon the warehouse safely. It may have only been an hour, but to Saura it felt like an eternity. It wasn't so much the anticipation that bothered her as much as the awkward closeness that had her praying to the Maker that the caravan would hurry. They soon found that rickety old warehouses made a lot of noise on their own, and at any sound, the two jolted to look down at the ground space at the same moment and on one occasion they had actually bumped heads. Two times since then they had narrowly avoided that, but instead stopped in enough time to find the others face a mere inch away. Fenris looked unperturbed by this, but Saura couldn't help the color rising in her cheeks no matter how hard she tried. What was she, a school girl? She scolded herself silently. Even in the moments where they sat next to one another in complete silence, Saura found herself noticing strange things…like how Fenris smelled. He had a cool, fresh scent she couldn't place, which mingled enticingly with the leather of his armor. All of which of course mixed with his natural musk…which if truth be told, was what had Saura's mouth drying up. There was something about his scent that had her pulse racing, and her body reacting almost of it's own accord.

Damn it Saura, FOCUS!

Just then, there came a loud creek as the large door to the warehouse opened, emitting the flickering light of torches. The low sounds of hushed voices caught her attention, and one voice rose above the rest, issuing orders to set camp. Saura and Fenris exchanged glances, and Fenris peeked through to take a look. After a moment, he nodded slowly. So it was them. Now all they needed to do was wait until the slavers were comfortably settled and off guard, and then they would launch the attack.

"Take a quick look around, make sure we're alone." The voice said softly, but not softly enough. Saura looked to Fenris swiftly. Fenris shrugged in a baffled gesture and Saura bit back a groan. Why couldn't things ever just go according to plan? Why hadn't they thought of this occurring?

Footsteps on the stairs to the left alerted Saura to the inevitable early encounter with the slavers. The two braced themselves, hands reaching for their swords.

"I've got this one." Saura whispered. "You head down to the caravan." Fenris nodded in his assent.

What happened next was chaos. Saura saw a booted foot as the man reached the top of the staircase. He was a mere five steps away and Saura popped up, wielding her sword with a quick flourish. She thrust her sword out and impaled the unsuspecting slaver before he'd even had a chance to register what had occurred. His dying cries alerted the slavers below however, and a clamor of noises issued from below. Saura turned and took a quick survey of the space that would be their battlefield. She wrenched her sword out of the man's chest cavity and watched as Fenris descended upon the caravan. He was a blur of deadly motion, and Saura found it hard to follow his movements, he was so fast! His strength was unparalleled, and she noted as she watched him slice through a slaver, how utterly graceful he was…as if it were some kind of dance…

Saura was taking the stairs three at a time and jumped over the last five stairs in her haste to assist an outnumbered Fenris. She heaved her sword in a wide arch, which caught two slavers by surprise. They hadn't been expecting another target, and their ignorance cost them their lives. Bodies toppled to the ground lifeless, and she quickly jumped over them and toward her nearest target.

There were even more slavers here than anticipated, Saura thought as she dodged a rogues attack from behind by little more than a breath. Not counting those already dead, there were still seven. Six, Saura corrected as the rogue fell to the earth in pieces. Shit, Saura cursed silently as she looked up. Fenris was surrounded by three slavers and didn't see the archer with their arrow trained on him. Saura didn't think, she just acted. She bolted past the two slavers coming at her, daggers raised. One managed to graze her arm on the way past, but she couldn't feel it with all the adrenaline pumping through her. She could see the arrow begin to fly, and practically jumped into its path. She was at Fenris' side now and knocked the arrow away deftly with the flat of her blade. The arrow flipped through the air, end over end, finally falling uselessly to the ground. Fenris managed to look over his shoulder at her, surprise covering his face before thrusting his blade through the belly of the last of his enemies.

Despite how desperately Saura wanted to reach the archer, the two slavers who'd initially targeted her were upon her again. Their blades met with a sharp clang, and Saura pushed against them with all her might. Somehow, one of the slavers had managed to hook his daggers around her sword and yanked it away. Saura desperately tried to cling to it, but away it went through the air, finally dropping to the ground several feet away.

"Nice try honey!" One of the slavers said with a malicious grin on his bearded face. He and his companion flanked her, but still Saura was deadly calm. She'd already taken an inventory of the buildings layout prior to battle, so she was more than aware of the frayed rope that hung above her head from the rafters. She could reach it if she jumped. The only downside to this plan was that she couldn't see the other end, and fervently hoped it was secured. Well, only one way to find out!

The two went for her, and she jumped as high as she possibly could, her hands grasping the rugged rope tightly. She lifted her legs up just in time and swung back, knocking one slaver into the other with all of her body weight. She let go and fell lithely to the earth. She grabbed a dagger, which one of the two had somehow dropped and plunged it into the nearest slavers thigh. His screams echoed throughout the warehouse hauntingly, but Saura took the opportunity to go for her sword. She slid and grabbed it up off the dusty floor and in an instant was up again and jumping for the slaver she'd stabbed first, wanting to end his pain as quickly as she could. He was dead before his body hit the ground and she turned to the last one, who was holding his chest where he'd been hit. He looked pissed. It didn't matter however, because seconds later Saura had sliced through his heart and his body fell lifelessly to the ground.

Saura was gasping for breath now, and looked over to see Fenris walking toward her, blood spattered across his face. He had taken out the archer without incident it seemed. The way he was striding toward her had her heartbeat quickening again, and she had to quell the urge to ask him how he'd managed to get so proficient. But Saura could already answer that herself based on all the rumors of the man's past. Following the legendary Champion of Kirkwall was enough to gain enough battle experience. But even before that, she knew of his past as a slave to a magister who had used him as a constant bodyguard. No wonder he was so skillful.

But now as he was striding toward her, his eyes were unusually bright, and his tattoos seemed to be glowing a very light shade of blue. He looked magnificent.

"Your tattoos.." Saura whispered.

"I have managed to use these damned things to my advantage in battle. I can tap into their power and fade from sight for moments at a time." As he strode up to her he reached out and went for her arm, but astonishingly, his hand went…. through her! It was the strangest feeling she'd ever experienced. It was as if he were holding onto her humerus bone! She couldn't stop the gasp from escaping her lips, and he let his hand fall back to his side again. She rubbed the spot on her arm he'd just touched. "That little trick comes in handy as well." He said with a smirk as he watched her eyes widen.

"I can imagine!" Saura finally stuttered.

"There were even more here than I'd anticipated. The information I received must have been off in their numbers." Fenris said as he made his way over to the wagon situated in the center of the warehouse. It was heavily locked, as they'd expected, but this was no problem for Fenris. Indeed, he slammed his blade down upon it and the lock seemed to shatter into tiny pieces upon contact. Saura felt her eyebrows rise at his force. He was so powerful it was almost inconceivable! He opened the door to reveal something that had him standing there looking dumbstruck.

"What? What's wrong?" Saura felt her heart drop into her feet, and immediately expected the worst. She made her way over to his side and gasped in horror at what she saw. There were close to two-dozen elves packed in this small wagon, shoulder to shoulder and every one of them was on the very brink of starvation.

"Oh Maker, no!" Saura jumped into the wagon and took hold of the nearest elf- a small, frail girl. She lifted her up easily into her arms and carried her to the opposite wall of the warehouse, where she set her down delicately. Out of the corner of her eye, Saura noticed Fenris had begun to move as well, but Saura locked her eyes upon the small girl in front of her.

"Here, rest. You're safe now." Saura said softly, brushing some of the girl's mousy brown hair out of her face and behind her pointed ear. The girl was young and could not be more than 15 years old. It was peculiar watching her, because it looked and sounded as if she were crying…and yet no tears came. The poor thing was so dehydrated she could no longer produce tears!

"Thank the Maker!" The girl rasped. "And thank you…oh Maker…"

It took only minutes to lay the elves out on the warehouse floor, and both she and Fenris were horrified to find two had not made the journey. They would give them a proper farewell later on. Fenris had barely spoken, but now as Saura looked up from tending a particularly upset young boy, she saw him slam his fist against the side of the wagon. She started, stood, and slowly approached him as if he were a wild animal.

"Do you know where they were to be taken?" He asked, his voice nothing more than a low growl. Without waiting for an answer he whipped around, fury drawing his face back into a frightful visage. She had seen his anger before, but this level of ferocity was unparalleled. "They were to be taken to the Imperium! To be slaves to the magisters! For beings with such power I can never understand their constant need for the assistance of so many slaves." He gestured in a jerking motion at the rows of nearly motionless elves. "Maybe you can enlighten me! Do you require a slave, mage? I'm sure one of them would do nicely!" He was looking at her with such disgust on his face that she stepped back and looked away.

"Fenris, you're angry, so I'll let this slide." Saura turned and walked to the door. " I'm going to get some food for them." Without another word, she pushed through the door and into the darkened streets of the warehouse district. She hoped he hadn't seen just how much his words had hurt her.

She returned as quickly as she could with four loaves of bread, bricks of cheese, and a good array of fruits. She'd spent the very last of her coin to acquire it, but at the moment she wasn't concerned. She had no problem finding work, so she'd be fine. Saura pushed through the door and was surprised to find Fenris still present. He was currently helping an elf to water, which he must have gone out to get while she was away.

Saura set to work immediately divvying up the food between the helpless elves, which greedily gobbled down everything she'd set in front of them before she was even done with the task. Some could not help themselves, and ate so fast that they were promptly sick. Saura went back and cleaned them gingerly.

"Now take it slow this time, hear me? Take sips of water, and when you're sure you can hold that down you can move on to small bites of bread." Saura was telling one boy who looked to be 17. She set the loaf of bread in front of him.

"Thank you serah!" He rasped.

Saura smiled and took his hand in her own.

"Saura. My name is Saura. And I'm glad to have been a help." With one last reassuring squeeze of his hand, she stood and took a quick inventory of the scene. When everything looked to be in order, she intended to go out and find clothing and blankets for the refugees. She was heading for the door when the sounds of soft sobbing met her ears. She turned and saw the noises were coming from a small, balled up figure.

"Hey," Saura crooned, laying a gentle hand on the girls back. She knelt down beside her. " You're ok now. Don't cry."

The girl lifted her head, and Saura noticed it had been the first girl she'd carried from the wagon. Her watery, haunted green eyes looked up into her own.

"I miss my momma." The girl sobbed wretchedly, fresh tears spilling out onto her cheeks. Saura felt her heart constrict at the words, and wanted nothing more at that moment than to scour Thedas for the girl's mother. Instead, she brushed the girls lusterless dull brown hair out of her eyes and wrapped her arms around her in a protective embrace. The poor girl's face was gaunt and her body was so small and emaciated that she almost became lost inside Saura's arms. Her limbs were nothing more than twigs, and as she sobbed, Saura couldn't suppress the worry that those huge, wracking sobs would somehow break a fragile bone. They stayed this way until the girl had quieted and finally dozed off into a heavy sleep. Saura lowered her gently to the ground and went for the door in hopes of finding blankets. A shadow to her right alerted her to Fenris' presence however, and out of the corner of her eye she noted he was watching her from his spot leaning against a wooden crate near the door. She couldn't ignore him any more…

"You're still here." Saura said tensely.

"There is much to be done for them." He stated. There was an awkward silence.

"You're right. I'll go collect blankets." She reached for the door when he stopped her.

"Wait." He said, rising from the crate. He took a hesitant step toward her. "I apologize for what I said. It was…uncalled for. Especially after all you've done."

Saura was unsure of how to handle this apology. She really wanted to yell at him, because he would never know how much his words had stung, but then she turned to look at him fully and saw the sincerity in his eyes as he gazed at her before looking away as if ashamed. She sighed, all anger seeming to leave her at once.

"I look at them and I see myself in all my years serving Danarius. I remember all the times he withheld my meals, merely for the pleasure of watching me squirm." His face took on that furious, dangerous look again, but as quickly as it had come, it seemed to collapse in again, leaving only a look of utter exhaustion. " I should not have directed my anger at you."

"You're right." Saura said bluntly, unkindly. She watched as tension flit across his face. "But…I understand that this must have been difficult for you. " Saura contemplated what those long years serving Danarius must have been like for him. No wonder he despised her for being a magic user. It would be hard not to hold some sort of grudge when you suffered so greatly for such an extended period of time.

Saura's eyes held his and a tentative smile crept across her face.

"Well, we came out of this hero's, let's act like it shall we?" Saura said cheerfully. She watched the ghost of a smile tug at his lips, and considered that her reward for all of this nonsense. She chuckled at her poor attempt at lightening the mood and slipped out the door to search for blankets.