Chapter 50: The Wrong Thing
Reaching the Hanged Man at last, I quickly open the doors. Fenris is already here, with Hawke, Aveline, and Varric. Corff is missing from behind the counter. He's never gone; what's going on?
Fenris growls out, "Shut your mouth, Danarius."
The mage in front of him replies, "The word is master." Oh shit, Danarius?
I release the clasp on my cloak and toss it into the corner. I free my staff from my back and make ready for battle. Danarius runs into the back hallway, and several men attack us. These men must be Danarius's slavers.
I hear Isabela mutter from behind me, "What have we gotten ourselves into this time?"
I call my magic to life, and cast a glyph of warding under Fenris. Surprised by the glow, he glances back, noticing me for the first time before turning back to Danarius. I wince. I hadn't meant to distract him, just help with a boost. That was dumb, Norah. I guess I should have noticed he didn't bring any mages with him. Hawke and Aveline both give me shocked looks. Them I ignore, continuing to brandish my staff.
The slavers are the first to attack. I sling spells from my staff, relishing the feeling of using magic again. A rush of power courses through me, and I cast Haste. Isabela takes up position at my side, but I know now from experience that she moves around the battlefield in the blink of an eye and won't be there for long. Hawke twirls into the thick of the slavers, using her long daggers in the slashing fashion I had witnessed before. Aveline rams her shining shield into a target, knocking him prone, and Varric pins him to the ground with a crossbow bolt from his beloved Bianca. Fenris attempts to get closer to Danarius, but is intercepted by another of his men.
I spot a female elf standing off to the side. She doesn't move, just stands there, looking sadly at the ground. Who is that? Is that really Fenris's sister? My thoughts are interrupted as I parry a dagger slash from my left with my staff, and get a few hits in myself with the bladed end. I cast a spirit bolt, hitting my opponent square in the chest. He loses his balance, slipping to the floor. Grasping a dagger in one hand, I move in and find a vulnerable spot, silencing him forever after one last wet gurgle. I sheathe the dagger again quickly and look for my next target.
Danarius is still standing in the back hallway, out of the fight, a barrier surrounding him. Blood magic from the looks of it. Great.
I work my way closer, but I'm confronted with a shade. It pops out of the ground in front of me, startling me. I dodge backwards, nearly tripping over a chair. This really isn't the best place for this fight.
I charge a fireball spell. I have plenty of anger and hurt to fuel it this time from my conversation with Anders just now, not to mention Fenris coming here without me. Unleashing the spell, I stun the shade with my first shot. Aveline runs in to take over, and I move on inward.
A rage demon rises between Fenris and I, all fire and lava. The Winter's Grasp spell freezes it and holds it steady as Hawke and Isabela put their daggers to good use. Another small movement forward.
Fenris has reached Danarius, but can't get in close due to the barrier. I can see a slight wobble in the magic, and I know what it means. "Fenris, his barrier is weakening. It's going to drop any second now," I call, and give us both a boost with another Haste spell. The barrier falls, and Fenris lays into him with his claymore. I throw a few spirit bolts his way. Danarius is on the defensive, but damn, he's strong. He disappears in another swirl of magic.
He reappears behind me, and I'm taken off guard. Before I can reorient myself, he twists my arm behind my back, and pulls me against him as a shield. My staff clatters to the ground.
I see Fenris's resolve falter, and I give him a tiny shake of my head, and mouth the word "no". Okay, Norah, this is going to be difficult, but you can do this. You're familiar with the spell. Just focus. Control it. I concentrate.
"I don't care what you do to me, Danarius, but you'll get Fenris over my dead body," I declare. That's it, keep his attention on your words, and not what you're doing.
I see Fenris's eyes widen at my declaration, and I smile.
"That can most certainly be arranged, but I believe you have other uses," the mage whispers in my ear. Turning to Fenris, he says,"It appears I was mistaken. I thought it was the other one who owned you, but it seems this one is the one who has your attention. As I was saying, pet," he snarls. "The word is master."
"Not in this lifetime," I spit out. "I'll never help you hurt him. Fenris belongs to himself."
Finally releasing the spell, I feel the cold of magic shoot up my back. It hurts, but I can't stop now. Danarius's body stiffens behind me. I can't move out of his grip, but I can still speak.
"Do it now, Fenris."
He moves behind both of us, and I see the blue glow from around Danarius's body.
"You are no long my master," snarls Fenris, and the glow intensifies.
I hear something hit the floor. The spell fades, and Danarius falls backwards. Unfortunately his arm hasn't released its hold, which means I fall with him, my arm pinned beneath me. I cry out at the pain in my shoulder. Fenris puts a boot on Danarius's chest, and rips the frozen arm free of the rest of the body. I stand, pulling off the offending limb and brushing off my skirt. I shiver. Looking over, I see the chilled lump that used to be Danarius's heart.
I turn to Fenris, but he is already storming over to the elf girl standing on the other side of the room.
"I had no choice, Leto," she says, her stance defensive. Leto? His name is Leto? "He was going to make me an apprentice. I would have been a magister."
"You sold out your own brother to become a magister?" he asks, his tone furious.
"You have no idea what we went through. What I've had to do since mother died. This was my only chance."
"And now you have no chance at all," he growls, moving toward her menacingly.
"Elf," says Varric from behind him. "Don't. It won't help."
"Fenris does as he likes," comments Hawke.
The glow starts again. "I would have given you everything." He moves toward the elf girl.
I'm moving before I even realize it. "Fenris, please don't do this," I say and put my hand on his arm. The magic burns white hot, and I feel a searing sensation in my palm. He thrusts his hand widely, knocking me backwards. I land in an awkward way, hitting my head on one of the support beams. I see stars, and can't seem to focus my eyes. I don't try to get up.
I hear Fenris say again in that angry, gravelly tone, "Get out." I sense motion to the one side. Good, please don't let him hurt her, he'll never forgive himself.
I hear the female elf's voice from behind me, "You said you didn't want this, but that's not true. You wanted it, you competed for it. When you won, you used the boon to have Mother and I freed. But freedom was no boon. I look at you now and think you got the better end of the bargain."
It's probably only a minute or two, but it feels like an eternity before my vision returns and the room stops moving by itself. I hold my non-burned hand to my aching head. Fenris stares down at me. He's covered in blood, and his expression is vague, confused.
"I thought you were going to tell me when you found her," I say to him.
"You were busy with your lover," he says, lips pressed in a tight line.
"I'm not with him anymore...and I told you I would come if you asked me."
He flinches, looks at my injuries, and looks away as if he can't bear to see it.
"Let's go," he says to someone over my head. "I need to get out of here."
Fenris leaves with Hawke and Aveline. Varric stays behind, with Isabela. He tries to help me up. I'm pretty short for a human, but the height difference still makes it awkward. Thankfully dwarves are strong and sturdy.
"Shit, Cookie, you do know how to make an entrance, I'll give you that," he comments.
"Yeah, Varric, I guess I kind of made a mess of things, huh?"
"Things were already a mess. But your timing could use some work," he adds. "You should probably give Broody a while to cool off." I nod in agreement.
I make it to my staff. Picking it up, I cast Heal, and am rewarded with the cool sensation of energy. I sustain the spell for a few seconds. I start to feel the fatigue, and I let it go. I'll still probably have a headache later, but my head and shoulder feel much better.
My hand, however, hasn't healed at all. I look at it, and see the all-too-familiar swirling pattern of vines burned into my skin. I remember touching Fenris's arm right as he tried to attack his sister. The lyrium tattoos. They burned me? I feel like there's something I'm missing. I may have had a tutor from Tevinter, but the magic involved in those markings is beyond me.
"Come on, Cookie, I have some bandages back in my room," he says, looking at my hand.
The comment strikes me as funny. "Trying to get me alone? What will Bianca think?" I ask.
"You're right, she's usually the jealous type," he says, shrugging. "I think she'll make an exception for this." He gestures for me to follow. "We shouldn't be out here, anyway. We'll let them...er, clean up." The room is full of bodies from the fight, and Varric and I have to pick our way around them.
"By the Dread Wolf!" I hear Merrill call by the doorway. She's standing in the doorway. "Norah, what did you do?"
"Not my fault," I say. "I got here in the middle of it."
"What happened?" she asks, concerned.
Isabela gives her a look, "A big old sodding mess made by a stubborn elf, that's what." She walks over to me. "Are you alright, puss?"
"Mostly," I answer truthfully, and glance at my staff, which is still in my hand. Merrill doesn't react, which lets me know she already knew about my abilities. Someone told her, but didn't tell Hawke or Aveline. Interesting.
Varric manages to bandage up my hand loosely, but it still hurts. "You should go see Blondie about that," he advises.
"Yeah, I need to finish my talk with him anyway. But I have news for everyone about Talon. I'll be be back later."
I walk back into the clinic and Anders sighs, seeing me.
"Norah we've been over this, I-" he says but stops and his expression changes. He's looking down at my hand.
"You're injured. What happened?" he says, immediately concerned.
"Anything to get out of talking about us," I lament, sighing in frustration. "Fine. I went to go see Fenris, expecting him to be having a nice chat with his sister. But he wasn't. Danarius was there."
Anders frowns. "That's not good," he says.
"You got that right. It was a disaster. There were slavers, and demons. Danarius himself was one tough son of a bitch. When it was over, Fenris went after his sister, who had tricked him into meeting her. I went to stop him, but then this happened. I thought his markings just made his body intangible. I had no idea it would do this."
"Never a dull moment with you, is there?" he asks. He peels back the bandages, and hisses when he sees the burn.
"I tried healing it with magic, and even drank a potion on the way here. Nothing works," I tell him.
He examines it with a practiced eye. "This looks like spirit damage. Norah...what were you casting at the time?"
"I wasn't, I just wanted to calm him, to make him come to his senses. I knew he'd feel worse if I let him kill his sister."
"Are you sure? Were you holding your staff at the time?"
"Well yes, but I don't see...wait, you think I cast something by accident?"
"It would explain what I'm seeing. Your spell must have conflicted with Fenris's markings somehow."
My mind races, and I'm flooded with memories: a drunken Anders clinging to my hand, Fenris and I sleeping next to one another to keep the nightmares away, bringing Bartrand back from the red lyrium, hugging a grieving Bethany. I'd thought I was just giving them comfort, but all this time, maybe those innocent touches had been something far worse.
"What are you thinking right now?" he asks.
"I think I've been doing it for a long time. I've been using magic on people and I didn't even know it." I'm horrified as I stare at my hand.