Author's Note: I spent a little free time recently making notes on the original story to help ensure continuity. Finally had some time to write this chapter. It's a bit longer than the others but hopefully it's also a little more action-packed. Enjoy, and as always, feedback is welcome!
"BARTRAND!" Varric's voice cried out among the loud clanging of bolts wildly hitting the stone door as he fired aimlessly with Bianca, "I swear, I will find that son-of-a-bitch - sorry mother - and I will kill him!" He continued firing wildly - Fenris and Anders took a few steps away to avoid being hit by a ricocheting bolt.
"Varric." Hawke's voice was firm, yet calm. He continued cursing under his breath and firing bolts, "Varric!" Hawke's voice grew louder but remained calm. Still ignoring Hawke, Varric begin picking up loose stones and throwing those at the door instead, as he had completely emptied Bianca. Hawke took one step closer to him and grabbed his arm as he reached for another stone, "Varric!"
He froze, looking down at her hand on his arm, eventually letting it fall loosely at his side, the stone slipping out of his grasp. Hawke released her grip as he slid to the floor on his knees, hugging Bianca tightly against his chest. The silence in the room was deafening.
"There is no sense in wasting our ammunition," she glanced around the room, relieved to see that most of the bolts had survived his outburst. She began working her way about, gathering up the bolts as she continued to speak. "And we're wasting precious time that would be better spent finding our way out of here." Her voice was eerily calm, rendering the rest of the group speechless. In silence, Fenris joined in collecting the remaining bolts from the stone floor. He handed them to Hawke, who in turn handed them to Varric. He glanced at them wearily before sighing, reloading Bianca, and pulling himself back up to his feet.
Hawke was now turning her attention to the tripwire she had triggered, using her scissors to dismantle it the rest of the way and tucking the wire and parts into her pack. Without looking at anyone in the group she began making her way to the back of the room where they had spotted a small door earlier.
"You all know as well as I do," She turned back momentarily to address them, "time is of the essence." The thought sent a chill down Fenris' spine. Being in dangerous situations did not generally shake him, but the idea of dying of thirst or starvation deep underground drove him to near panic. He watched Hawke as she confidently strode toward the door. I am not sure whether to admire her, or be terrified. He thought grimly.
She began to push heavily on the door, moving it open before the others were able to reach her and help.
"We don't even know where we are…" Anders glanced through the open doorway into the passageway that loomed before them. Thankfully, it was well-lit from the red lyrium veins.
"Doesn't matter," Hawke remarked, "We have no other option. We move or we perish." Varric glanced at Fenris as his jaw dropped. Fenris looked back at him and shrugged, his expression one of equal incredulity. The group ventured into the unknown, working hard to keep with Hawke's brisk pace.
Maker. Andraste. Someone. If you're there, please. Grant me strength. This is not how it's supposed to end. Hawke fought back tears welling up in the back of her eyes as she continued several paces ahead of the other three. Surely you have not brought me this far for me to die in an abandoned thaig deep under Thedas. If for no one else, please bring us to safety so I can protect my family. They need me. Hawke's mind wandered to Bethany being locked up in the circle, her mother deteriorating under the weight of the loss of her remaining children. She clenched her fists with new resolve, blinking away the tears, and charging onward.
It felt like many hours had passed when Fenris finally spoke up.
"Hawke." She continued on without so much as a hesitation in her step. "Hawke," he said again, a little louder this time.
"What?" she turned around, her eyes piercing. He was taken aback by her coldness. Once her eyes met his gaze, however, her expression softened a little. "Sorry, Fenris," she sighed, "What is it?"
"It might be wise to stop for a moment," he motioned back at the others. Varric was hunched over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath as Anders stood next to him leaning heavily on his staff.
She paused before finally conceding, "I suppose you're right. We ought to eat something anyway, we'll need our strength." The group gathered together and sat down, backs against the passage walls. Varric and Anders were sitting across the way from Fenris and Hawke.
"We need to carefully ration the food we have," Hawke reminded them, glancing at the bundle of sandwiches in her pack that mere hours ago had seemed like far too much food for her. She tore one of them in half and tucked the rest back in her pack, "Water, especially."
Anders spoke up at her mention of water, "I know a spell that can help at least prolong the onset of dehydration." Fenris was about to mutter something sarcastic but thought better of it, I have always acknowledged that magic can have its uses. At least this will keep us alive long enough to have a hope of getting back to Kirkwall. Then I can return to hating him.
"Thank you, Anders - if you would." Hawke nodded her approval. He set down the portion of sandwich he'd begun eating and walked to each member of the group, calmly laying a hand on their foreheads as they felt a cool wave wash over them. He did the same to himself before settling back down to finish eating. He and Varric began quietly discussing a recent game of Diamondback, trying to distract themselves from the immediate situation.
Fenris took advantage of the opportunity to turn and address Hawke one-on-one for the first time since they had entered the thaig. "Are you alright, Hawke?" He ventured. For some reason, he felt it was inappropriate to use her first name. She slowly let out a long, quiet sigh.
"No, Fenris," she rested her elbow on one of her legs, which were crossed as she sat on the floor. Letting her head drop into her hand she closed her eyes. "No, I'm not alright." He desperately wanted to reach for her. To hold her, to squeeze her hand. Anything to comfort her. But it seemed as appropriate to him as throwing his arms around the Revered Mother at that point. He hadn't seen her take on such an authoritative stance since last addressing the Arishok.
He decided instead to take a different approach, "What can I do?"
"We just need to keep moving, until we can find some sign of a way out of here." He took that to mean that she needed his assistance in this, and that she was relying on him to maintain his normal confidence and strength of will. I'm not sure I can even manage that for long. I feel more trapped her than I ever did with Danarius. He kept his thoughts to himself and only nodded as she looked up at him pleadingly. "I can do that, Hawke," He smiled, trying to offer her some reassurance. "I told you I would be here when you need me." She smiled back, albeit weakly.
The group trudged on as the hours passed.
"Maker," Anders' normal whine was beginning to return, "How long has it been?" No one responded, either because they were afraid to consider the real answer to his question, or they simply wanted to avoid stirring up an argument. Anders seemed to care little.
They were now coming up to junction in the corridor; they could no longer move forward but had to choose the left or right passage. "Great, what do we do now?" Anders muttered.
Hawke noticed that the passage to the left went only a few yards before reaching a closed doorway. The passage to the right lead to another junction. "Let's try this way first," the door seemed to offer greater promise of an exit. No one argued.
The door swung open easily and an eerie blue glow hung in the room. Hawke jumped a little when she saw a figure looming on the far side of the room. She sighed in relief as she realized it was only an old, silent stone golem. The group cautiously ventured into the room, but it was largely empty, save for a few small chests and boulders that must have come down from the ceiling ages ago.
"This doesn't seem to be a way out," Hawke sighed, "We'd better head back out to-" she froze as she felt the temperature suddenly drop in the room and shadows began rising from the stone floor.
"Shades." Fenris clenched his teeth and drew his weapon from his back. Anders and Varric positioned themselves swiftly behind the other two before Varric caught sight of a large boulder next to him and scrambled to the top of it to gain an advantage.
The shades were upon them swiftly as Hawke and Fenris kept pushing them back, trying to corner them. They were down to just two remaining and Hawke and Fenris each turned their attention to one of them. Fenris was just bringing down his final blow when Hawke's shade suddenly darted away and disappeared into the golem.
Suddenly, the golem began to glow - the same eerie blue of the room they were in. Hawke's eyes grew wide as it shifted, pulling itself up to its full height, stretching its arms.
"Move, Hawke!" Fenris whispered hoarsely, but she was frozen. The creature loomed over her drawing its arms above its head. Hawke suddenly snapped back to full attention and managed to roll away just as the mighty stone arms came crashing down. Fenris shouted to the creature, drawing its attention before it could turn to follow Hawke. Anders cast various ice bolts, weakening and slowing it until Fenris was able to deal several damaging blows. Hawke was behind it now, exploiting the weak points at its shoulders and knees. Finally it let out a deafening roar as Varric fired a lethal shot through the back of its neck. It dropped to its knees and crumbled into a heap of stone and rubble on the floor.
There was a few minutes of silence as everyone stopped to catch their breath. Finally, Fenris spoke up, breaking the tension, "Excellent shot, dwarf." Varric patted Bianca all too lovingly, "That's my girl."
After a brief respite to stop and drink a few precious sips of water each, Anders offered to heal Hawke's knee, which she had bruised and scraped up pretty badly when she had rolled out of the golem's deadly reach.
"No," she waved him away, "You need to conserve your mana. Don't waste it on a few minor scrapes." But she groaned as she applied weight to her leg, pulling herself up from where she had been sitting. Andraste's dimpled ass, this hurts! I just need to walk this off, though, and I'll be fine. Her thoughts did little to convince herself. She glanced back at Anders, catching his doubtful gaze. "No." She said firmly again, responding to his unasked question.
Hawke turned to the rest of the group, "Let's head down to the opposite end of the passage and see where the next junction leads. We can't waste time." Fenris and Varric also rose from where they had been examining a few of the items. Fenris slipped a small object quietly into one of the pouches on his belt and moved ahead to follow Hawke out of the room with the others.
It took only a few minutes to reach the other end of the passage, where they quickly realized that there was no passage to the right, giving them only one option. It was a relief to not worry about choosing the wrong direction.
The left passage quickly opened up into a large room with an enormous multi-tiered staircase that descended toward a second and more narrow passage below. This room was also lit by the red lyrium veins in the wall, and now by Fenris' soft lyrium glow that was triggered by the veins. As they entered the room they were once again surrounded by shades, but without a golem to possess this time, the demons were quickly slain and the group continued their descent.
Varric finally spoke up, voicing what the others had been worrying about, "I don't get all the demons down here, especially with the lack of corpses or darkspawn about." He glanced back at Anders nervously, but Anders quickly put his fears to rest. "I sense nothing," the mage assured him.
"Well, we can worry about that back in Kirkwall," Hawke said, her voice a bit lighter than it had previously been. She was beginning to feel a little better as they progressed through the thaig. "In the meantime, we keep moving."
They continued down the final flight of stairs when a rumble and the sound of crumbling rock caught their attention. Hawke's eyes darted around the room, expecting to see a golem they had somehow missed, but instead her eyes caught a strange yellow glow coming from the passage they were trying to reach. Bizarre figures drew up out of the ground, each with a skeletal rock center that glowed pale yellow, surrounded by stone boulders that formed the vague shapes of arms and legs. The creatures seemed to burn from the inside. They were smaller yet swifter than stone golems, and did not appear to be the result of possession by shades.
"Here we go again…" Hawke groaned, wielding her daggers and readying herself for the onslaught. Fenris was quickly ahead of her clearing a gap for her to flank the group. Anders continued relying on spells of ice, which seemed to be remarkably effective against the unknown monsters they fought. Many of the weakened ones shattered under Fenris' blade as he cut through the group. Hawke finally swept up behind the last one as it was turning its attention toward Varric, who had sent a bolt that embedded itself in the creature's leg. Hawke swiftly thrust both daggers between in the vulnerable core of the creature as it uttered a haunting cry and crumbled to the ground with the rest.
"Bloody flames," Varric stared at the piles of rock that were now scattered across the bottom floor of the room, "What were those things?"
"I was rather hoping you would know," Hawke looked at him, her eyes every bit as wide as his. "You're the dwarven expert, after all." He rolled his eyes at her, "You know I don't actually know anything about the Deep Roads that you haven't heard yourself. Rock wraiths, maybe? But those aren't supposed to actually be real..." His voice trailed off as he considered the possibility. Hawke shrugged at him and they all began to move forward again, cautiously tiptoeing through the remains of whatever they had just killed.
The group was now more on guard as the four continued through the passageway, encountering more shades and strange stone creatures. The fought their way back into a large cavern that had a natural stone bridge leading through to the passage on the other side. As Fenris struck down the final creature, Hawke heard a strange rumbling voice from behind her that caused the ground to shake beneath their feet, "ENOUGH." The voice spoke.
Hawke whipped around, daggers flashing, but she froze when she found herself staring up at yet another of the stone creatures - this one much larger than the ones they had previously fought off. One skull-like, oblong bolder rested at the top of it, giving the appearance of a head. The creature rose to its full height, nearly twice as tall as Hawke herself, and continued to address them. "You have proven your mettle. I would not see these creatures harmed without need."
Hawke was the first to respond, her voice shaking a bit, but her confidence growing, "I should say that being attacked on sight gives us plenty of need." Fenris tensed at her defiant remark. Marian, what are you doing? He wanted to lecture her. This is not a being to be trifled with. We know not what power it has. But he remained silent, fearing angering the creature.
"They will not assault you further," the creature replied calmly. Fenris relaxed, but only slightly, as it continued speaking, "Not without my permission."
"What manner of creature are these?" Hawke motioned toward the rock corpses that littered the ground. She knew she was being bold but her instinct told her she should not display any sign of submission.
"They...hunger." The being replied, its voice sending a chill down Hawke's spine. She heard Fenris shift his weight as he often did when he was preparing himself to draw his sword. She did not risk sparing him a glance, however, as the creature continued. "The profane have lingered in this place for ages beyond memory, feeding on the magic stones until the need is all they know." It motioned toward the red lyrium veins that surrounded them.
"The lyrium?" Hawke's eyes opened wide, "That's what sustains them?"
The creature ignored her question and continued, "I am not as they are," for the first time it showed hesitation, "I am...a visitor."
"It's a demon." Anders spoke up. "It has come to feed." Hawke could read the building rage in his voice. She knew the group was on edge, ready to take this creature down.
The demon regarded Anders carefully, "And I would not see my feast end…" its voice carrying a threat as it turned its attention back to Hawke, addressing her again. "I sense your desire," Hawke grew uneasy, I really, really hate demons, she thought to herself but said nothing, letting the demon speak instead. "You seek to leave this place, but you will need my aid to do so." Hawke's eyes grew narrow, Ah yes, and here comes the catch. She suddenly remembered her father's constant warnings about not dealing with demons, but also his reminder that demons were not infallible, and could be out-maneuvered. She decided to test this.
"Why do we need your aid to leave?" she challenged.
"Hawwwke," she heard Varric urge cautiously, quietly. She ignored him. She immediately sensed the creature growing pleased as it drew itself up a bit taller and spoke in an easier manner, "There is another door that leads into the paths far above us. That is what you seek. It has been sealed however, and cannot be opened without a key." She heard Varric absentmindedly fumbling around with his lockpick set behind her. The demon noticed as well and chuckled, "No, child of the stone, it is not that kind of key." Varric stopped moving as it addressed him directly.
Hawke shifted her weight, placing a hand on her hip, trying to show the creature that her patience was wearing thin. I hope this is working… She thought as she continued her attempt to draw out the needed information. "Go on." She tilted her head back.
"I know where the key is. Do as I ask, and I shall tell you." The demon stared down at her. She knew time was up; it wanted her decision. Well, at least we know now there is an exit, and that we need to find the key. That is certainly more than we had before encountering this demon. She fought a tugging within her, tempting her to agree to the deal as she thought back to her earlier, silent prayers. No! Her resolved strengthened as she thought of how her father would answer this creature. Fenris saw her move her weight to her back leg and he immediately knew her intentions, he readied himself and nodded to Varric and Anders who did the same.
"We do not deal with demons." Her voice was unyielding and emotionless, sending a chill through Fenris' spine but also a wash of admiration for her strength and resolve. He had no time to think on it further though, as the demon took a step forward. "Most unwise." It hissed as it raised its arms to call up more shades behind them.
The group was surrounded as the demon's stone form changed into that of an abomination. It lunged for Hawke, but she dodged it quickly, swiftly sweeping her leg under it to catch it off balance, but not able to make it fall. Rage grew in her as she recalled how it had tried to tempt her, using the memories and desires for her family against her. In one fluid motion she rolled up behind the creature, raising both daggers, burying them deeply into the demon's neck. She pulled herself up while gripping the daggers tightly and wrapped her legs around its abdomen to prevent herself from being thrown off as she continued pressing her weight down, driving her weapons further into it, down through its ribcage. It writhed and threw its arms about trying to reach its back and grab at her, but it soon succumbed to the pain and fell forward as Hawke released the daggers and lept back away from it. Once the demon had fallen to the ground she ran forward and pulled her daggers out of the corpse, heading toward the group that was turning to focus on the shades.
By the time Hawke reached the others, they had already felled half of the demons. Once she joined the fray, they made short work of those that remained. As the last creature dropped in front of Fenris, Hawke paused to try to catch her breath, her chest heaving with adrenaline from the fight. Still gripping her daggers, she raised her forearm to wipe the sweat and dirt from her brow as the group stood staring at her.
"What?" she asked breathlessly, mildly annoyed by their sudden attention.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side," Varric said as he slung Bianca over his shoulder. She glanced quizzically at Fenris. He only raised an eyebrow.
"What?" She repeated, her irritation showing. As he walked past her he paused and only said, "I never knew how….interesting it could be to watch someone slay an abomination." He eyed her up and down in an intentionally obvious manner, smiling to himself as her cheeks grew suddenly red. Pleased with her reaction, he continued on leaving her again breathless, but this time for an entirely different reason.