Chapter 17: Blood Brothers

Carver could only stare aghast at the carnage around him.

He…he still could not believe what he had just seen! It had been bad enough to have Lin and…Arika turn against them, but then…then…

Carver shuddered.

He had been covering Isabela, making sure her duel with Arika was one on one. The carta dwarf he had been fighting had been tough, but nothing he could not handle.

That …that was when the blood had washed over his opponent, that is when the dwarf had let out the most bloodcurdling scream.

The blood magic had turned him to a withered husk in seconds, everything the dwarf was, was absorbed by the deadly spell. The dwarf's life, his blood, his very soul was pulled into the red swirling vortex.

The dried out corpse collapsed to the ground, wrung of everything of value.

Carver turned angrily; he thought that Merrill had…

What he saw stopped him mid-thought.

Garrett floated in the air, his eyes blazing with fel flame, the blood magic swirled around him, the wound he had suffered healed in seconds, and that was not all.

Garrett Hawke seemed revitalized; he looked like he had been resting comfortably at home for several days.

Both Carver's magic sense and his Templar abilities were screaming at him.

Wrong…BAD...WRONG...BAD!

Garrett touched down lightly, he soft sigh escaped his lips.

He seemed almost pleased with himself.

Carver glared at his older brother!

Garrett…what have you done?!

IOI

They were still trapped, the magical barriers would hold until the streams were restored to their proper order.

Varric and Merrill were working on that, the dwarf telling the Dalish which control to turn.

Fenris stood guard over Arika and Lin. He and Carver had bound their arms and legs the best they could. Until Corypheus was dealt with, they could not trust either of the women.

Arika had groaned; she was starting to wake.

Merrill whispered a quick spell and touched the reaver's forehead.

A silly smile split the Arika's lips as she fell into a very deep sleep.

"I am sorry, Lethallan," Merrill whispered to her new friend.

Carver glanced over at Garrett; he was tending to the unconscious Isabela.

Hawke looked up at his younger brother, he had least had the decency to look ashamed of himself.

Carver stalked over to him.

"Junior, don't," Varric warned.

Not that Carver was in the mood to listen.

He wanted answers from his dear brother.

He intended to have them.

IOI

"Are you here to lecture me, brother?" Hawke asked.

"Someone should," Carver replied.

"It isn't what you think," Garrett whispered.

"Blood magic is blood magic," Carver growled.

"Okay, maybe it is what you think." Garrett quipped.

The young warden was not in the mood for jokes.

"Father would have tanned your hide if he had seen that."

"Yes he would have, but, I think with everything that we have seen here, it is clear that Father had used blood magic himself in the past."

"That is not the point brother," Carver snarled, "You…"

"I was dying Carver," Hawke said flatly, "If I had not used that blood spell, I would be dead, killed by your Lover I might add."

Carver flinched, the thought of losing his brother, to have him be killed by the woman he loved…

It was almost too much to bear.

"How long have you been dealing with demons?" Carver asked.

"I haven't been," Garrett reassured him.

"Then how did you learn to…"

Carver's eyes narrowed, he looked over at Merrill.

He knew exactly where his brother had learned blood magic from.

"Don't blame her," Hawke said quietly, so that the Dalish would not hear, "She did only what I asked."

But why?" Carver begged, he wanted…needed to understand all this.

For the sake of Father's memory, if nothing else.

Garrett frowned, he reached down and touched Isabela's cheek, her head was resting in his lap.

He gently stroked her cheek with one callused finger.

"We were beneath Kirkwall," he beginning, "Helping a friend of ours named Sebastian, one of the noble families were trying to kill him. They had unearthed a Tevinter ruin beneath their estate. A desire demon had been imprisoned there, it…it have consumed them all, made them want to kill Sebastian."

"That does not explain the blood magic, brother."

"Please, let me finish," Garrett said angrily, "WE fought our way to the demon, the matriarch of the family had been an apostate, she had been using the demon to augment her powers, and had become possessed herself."

Garrett shuddered; the memory of that day was not a pleasant one.

"Isabela had tried to attack the woman," he whispered, "She…she attacked Isabela with a spell, it drained her of her life energy, she was dying Carver. Normal healing would not work, the life energy was just gone, it could do nothing to rekindle that flame."

"So…Merrill showed you a spell that could," Carver said.

Garrett nodded.

"We cast it together, using our blood, the lady, the demon, and the shades they had summoned were destroyed almost instantly. We…we poured the energy into Isabela," Garrett smiled wanly, "We saved her life that day."

"At the cost of part of your soul," Carver said crossing his arms.

Garrett snorted.

"Tell me Carv," he sounded annoyed, "What if it had been your Arika? What if she had lain their dying, the last embers of life fading from her body? What would you have done to save her life? What would you have done to save the woman you love?"

The young warden hated to admit it, but it was a good question, if Arika had been…

Wait…what did Garrett say?

His elder brother chuckled.

Yes, Carver," he said shaking his head, "I love Isabela. I have loved her for years. She…she made me feel like myself again for the first time since the Blight. Since…"

Garrett could not finish the sentence, and he did not need to.

Carver knew what and who he meant.

Bethany.

"I make no excuses for what I have done," Garrett said coldly, "If the Templars catch me, they will kill me on sight, but I would do it all again in a second if I had to, she is worth it Carv, I…I would die for her."

Carver was not quite sure how to answer; did Isabela feel the same way? Did she know the sacrifice that Garrett had made for her?

Would she care?

Did it matter?

"Hey Hawke," Varric sang out.

"Yes," Garrett called back.

"I got it," the dwarf said twisting one of the levers.

The magic streams changed to a uniform white color.

The barriers fell.

They were free.

Garrett cast a rejuvenation spell on Isabela; the pirate queen had lost a great deal of blood during her fight with Arika.

The spell would get her back on her feet.

Carver headed back to check on Arika and Lin.

Hawke smiled, Isabela looked so beautiful laying there, so…at peace.

She could not hear what he was about to say, that was…for the best, perhaps.

"I love you," he purred.

He kissed her tenderly on the lips.

The pirate's eyes fluttered open.

She grinned at him.

"Not a handsome prince," she smirked.

"Nope. You will just have to settle for a scruffy Fereldan apostate," he responded.

"I think I can live with that," she said gamely, "It worked for you Mum after all."

The comment had hit a little too close to home for both of them, they both started blushing.

Chuckling, Hawke stood up.

He helped her to her feet, she was still a bit unsteady, but at least she was mobile again.

She glanced over at where Carver was tending to his fellows.

She frowned.

"Is he alright?" she asked.

"He will be," Garrett promised her, "Once we kill Corypheus."

The pirate queen smirked. She liked the sound of that.

"So, what are we waiting for," she said, "Let's finish this."

Garrett smiled.

He could not agree more.

IOI

Carver knelt next to where Arika and Lin were laying; Merrill's sleep spell would keep them out for hours.

By then, this should all be over.

Carver touched Arika's cheek, he hated that there was nothing he could do to save her.

"Fear not boy," Larius babbled, "Once the beast is dead, dead, dead. His song will stop; the girl and the elf will be freed from his control."

Carver found himself praying that the old warden was right, for the girls' sakes.

He leaned down and kissed the reaver's forehead, she murmured in her sleep, but otherwise did not respond.

"I have to go," he whispered, "Be a good girl and stay asleep until we return."

He rose, shooting one last glance at Merrill and Fenris.

The two elves had agreed to remain behind and watch over the sleeping wardens.

"Don't you worry Carver," Merrill said gamely, "We will keep Arika and Lin safe."

"The witch speaks true," Fenris nodded, "We shall protect them with our lives.

Carver nodded in thanks, he was glad that his friends would watch over the two important women in his life, his love and his best friend.

Hopefully they would be able to return in victory.

Of course, their force had been halved in strength. Only he, Varric, Isabela, and Garrett remained, Larius was coming to, but how much help could the tainted commander be?

It was far from a perfect world, but never the less they had to push on.

The lives of the others depended on it.

IOI

Janeka had been busy during their fight with their fellows.

The blood mage was taking no chances, she had split the fade along their path, demons and shades blocked the way.

Carver, with his warden and Templar training, took point. He missed Fenris and Arika's blades, but the fury he felt at seeing his lover turned into Corypheus's puppet drove him forward.

They still did not know what this Corypheus was, but Carver no longer cared.

He was going to pay for mind controlling Arika.

He was dead, whatever he was, he was dead. He just did not know it yet.

A revenant rose with its sword and shield, Carver smited the demon, and pushed it back with a wicked series of blows. Isabela and Garrett were tied up dealing with an arcane horror.

Carver reached out with his Templar abilities.

He drained away the horror's mana.

Isabela drove her daggers into its back.

The creature turned to dust, squealing like the damned.

The revenant tried to take advantage of his momentary distraction…

Just as Carver had planned, he sidestepped the creature's attack, before it could recover from over extending itself; he cut its head from its body.

The creature crumbled into dust.

Carver grinned; he imagined that that thing had been Corypheus.

He still heard the song, but it seemed that anger was an excellent shield.

The beast had nothing to offer Carver now.

All he desired was to free Arika, and take the beast's head.

That was one thing that Corypheus could not offer him.

"Not bad Junior."

He turned Varric was retrieving several bolts he had fired into a crumbling shade.

"My skills have tripled since joining the wardens Varric," Carver said proudly, "and that is not me bragging, that is fact."

"I can see that," the dwarf nodded, "So tell me, why did you not join your friends in crazy warden town?"

Carver's brow furrowed.

"Corypheus wants me to hurt Garrett, the song is ordering me to, but whatever this thing is; it forgets that I am a Hawke. I would never raise my sword against my own brother, no matter how much he deserves it sometimes."

"Glad to hear it," Varric replied, "I wonder sometimes, if Bartrand had been a better brother, would I have turned out as I did, or would I be just as much an arrogant bastard as he was."

Carver snorted.

"If your brother had been better, I would likely not have ended up being tainted," Carver said with a wan smile, "Of course, then…I…I never would have met Arika. It is strange, when Garrett first gave me to the wardens; I never expected that I would start liking it. It is funny, the work we do is dark and bloody, and most would not want the responsibility, but I…I have found myself among them."

The young warden grinned. He stood up straighter, his bearing proud.

"I am Carver of the Grey Wardens, and I would never want to change that."

Varric smiled, his inner author already penning this tale for his audience.

The people back in Kirkwall were going to love this shit.

"Congratulations Junior," he grinned, "You just graduated from being a character in children's stories."

Carver gave the dwarf a look somewhere between amusement and annoyance.

He smiled wryly at his friend.

"Maker, I hate you dwarf," he chuckled.

"I love you too Junior," Varric grinned, "We've all missed you."