The four adventurers continued through the thaig, encountering no further demons. They finally reached another door that opened to a large cavern. Massive columns were evenly placed throughout - they were clearly decorative with no functional purpose. Red lyrium veins weaved through the rocks on the walls and some twisted around the capitals of the crumbling columns. The high ceiling was jagged rock, as though the architects of the thaig never completed it. On the opposite end of the enormous room was a large door that glittered blue with magic.
"That looks like the exit the demon spoke of," Hawke pointed across the room, "But where is this bloody key?" She began to doubt her decision to kill the demon but stopped herself. No, it was the right choice. Father would be proud. Even if we die down here, it was the right choice.
"Maybe in one of those chests?" Varric interrupted Hawke's thoughts. She looked at where he was pointing and, sure enough, there was a little alcove near the door that held several chests of varying size and design.
"That looks promising," she agreed as the group headed toward the alcove. After sifting through the chests she heard Varric loudly announce, "Ah-ha! This must be it!" Hawke turned around and saw Varric holding up a beautiful brass key; its bow was an intricate leaf formed from the same piece of brass from which the key was carved. Varric walked over to the door and tried the key. Sure enough, it was a fit, and the blue glow sparkled and then quickly dissipated. The door was very heavy, though, so the other three headed over to help open it.
As Hawke walked along she laughed smugly, "I knew that demon was lying to us. We didn't need its help after-" She stopped dead in her tracks as the ground began quaking, moving beneath her feet. She had to widen her stance to prevent herself from falling over. Varric nearly toppled into Anders, who grabbed the dwarf just in time. Fenris was bracing himself against the door.
"Dammit, Hawke," Varric yelled over the rumbling, "You just had to open your big mouth."
Hawke turned to glare at Varric but instead a movement from the floor in the center of the room caught her eye. Boulders began rolling into the middle of the room, building up one on top of the other until they formed an enormous, humanoid mass - the height of the entire party combined. As a final rock rolled to the top to form a head of sorts, the core of the rock creature began to glow red.
"That...can't be good," Varric muttered as he stared up at the monster looming over them.
"MOVE!" Hawke yelled as she ran to get behind one of the nearby columns. The other three crouched next to her, already breathless.
"How the hell do we kill that thing?" Anders asked as he cast a protective bubble around the group.
"The same way we kill anything else," Hawke drew her daggers from their sheaths. "You two should be safe up there." She glanced at Anders and Varric and then nodded toward a large rock platform behind them, "If you need to, you can get back behind this pillar again." Anders and Varric hurried to climb to the top of the rock while Fenris and Hawke charged out from behind the pillar, Fenris shouting as he ran to draw the creature's attention away from the others.
Fenris kept the giant busy, hacking and slashing at its legs as Hawke got behind it and began stabbing at possible weak points. Anders did his best to slow the creature down with ice damage but it seemed much less effective than with the smaller rock beings they had encountered earlier. The only time the creature showed any indication of pain was when Varric would manage to get a bolt past its guard and into its glowing red core. It wasn't enough though.
"This isn't working, Hawke!" Fenris shouted as he jumped out of reach of a giant rock arm swinging towards him.
"I know!" Hawke shot back in frustration. "Let me try something. Distract it again!"
Fenris gave her a wary glance but was too exhausted to argue. He threw some more swings at the giant as it turned towards him. Hawke begin to scramble up its back to reach the exposed portion where she could get at its core. She began to draw back one dagger as she held onto a boulder that seemed to take the place of a shoulder blade, but she wasn't fast enough. The creature spun quickly in an attempt to see what was behind it and Hawke lost her balance. She managed to land on her feet, however, and quickly ducked behind it again.
"Again!" she yelled to Fenris, "I almost had it." She attempted again with the same result, and then a third time. This time, however, the creature managed to fling her off its back with one of its rock arms and she skidded across the floor, letting out a cry of pain as a sharp, sudden shock of what felt like electricity coursed through her shoulder.
Hawke saw Fenris began to move toward her but she waved him away frantically, "I'm fine!" She forced herself to stand, fighting against the searing pain. The creature was lumbering back toward Fenris again, giving Hawke a chance to get her bearings. She glanced at Varric and Anders who were both looking exhausted. Varric was clearly getting low on bolts and Anders equally low on mana. She glanced back and Fenris again, seeing he was as winded as she was. Finally she caught site of small narrow rock near her that formed something of a ramp and she quickly formulated an idea.
Catching Fenris' attention, Hawke shouted, "Get it to come toward me."
He looked at her incredulously as he continued blocking the incoming attacks, "Are you crazy?!"
"Just do it!" she shouted impatiently. Fenris shrugged his shoulders and made his way to to the other side of the creature as he began luring it back toward Hawke's position.
Taking several steps back from the ramp, Hawke crouched slightly with her weight on the balls of her feet. Watching carefully as Fenris and the creature grew closer, she carefully timed her attack. Finally, when she felt it was finally close enough, Hawke sprinted off and took a running leap off the ramp, letting out a loud cry as pushed her feet off. Once airborne, she swiftly drew back both daggers and arched her back to build up momentum. The creature had been looking down at Fenris and by the time it noticed Hawke and tried to draw up its arms to stop her, it was too late. With a mighty shout Hawke thrust both daggers into the center of the glowing rib cage. Crying out in agony, the creature threw both arms out to its side and tilted its head back. It began glowing and crackling with red light as the entire room lit up brighter.
"Get out of there, Hawke!" Varric shouted as he scrambled down to get behind one of the pillars. Hawke couldn't hear. She was frantically trying to pull her daggers out of the beast when suddenly there was a loud crackle and an explosion, sending her flying back into one of the columns. She hit a spot that was several feet off the ground and fell the rest of the way, landing flat on her back. The room was filled with shards of rock flying past, one of them leaving a deep gash in her cheek and another in her left arm. But she couldn't feel it; she wasn't moving.
Once the dust began to settle, Varric, Fenris, and Anders scrambled out from where they had hidden themselves from the explosion.
"Hawke!" Varric shouted as soon as he saw her lying on her back, sprawled out and lifeless. Fenris' heart leapt to his throat as he ran over to her and threw himself on his knees next to her.
"Marian!" he grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her up. She was still motionless. Dammit. This is not going to happen. This is not happening. Fenris was frantic. "Come on, mage, what are you doing?" He turned but saw that Anders was swiftly downing a lyrium potion. Tossing the vial behind him he rushed forward. "What's the matter with her?" Fenris stared at Anders as he began checking her over, his hands just above her body as he ran across her head, her chest, her abdomen. Finally he reached her back. Pressing one hand on the center of her back and the other hand on the front of her ribcage, Anders released a healing spell. A warm blue light washed over Hawke and within seconds, she let out a sudden gasp, her chest heaving and her eyes springing open in shock. Anders had sat back in exhaustion once he saw she was breathing.
"Marian," Fenris said again, softly this time. He pulled her up closer to him and firmly pressed his hand against her forehead, brushing her damp hair out of her face. "Amatus. Festis bei umo canavarum," he continued to whisper lovingly as she looked up to meet his gaze, still trying to reorient herself.
"What happened?" she groaned weakly.
Tears were welling up in Fenris' eyes as he replied, "I thought I had lost you." He continued to brush her hair back from her face, wiping smudges of dirt and blood away from near the fresh cut.
Hawke opened her mouth to begin asking a second question but suddenly Fenris was pulling her up closer and before she knew it, his lips were pressed firmly against hers. He kissed her gently, but there was desperation in it. As if he could keep her alive if he just kissed her long enough. It took Hawke a split second to register what was happening but once she did her heart rose in her chest and she reached up to wrap her uninjured arm around Fenris' neck, kissing him back tenderly.
After a few moments they were interrupted by Varric clearing his throat loudly from behind them and the two suddenly remembered they were not, in fact, alone. Drawing back slightly Fenris smiled at Hawke, a bit of color rising to his cheeks. She smiled back. Then, with a twinkle in her eye, she smirked and said, "Well, it looks like my plan worked." Fenris laughed and drew her up into another embrace.
The group sat quietly as they each ate another half of a sandwich. They were all exhausted and still shaken from the last fight. Despite their fatigue, however, they were all feeling much more hopeful now that they had found the exit back to the main caverns of the Deep Roads.
"So what's the plan now...girly?"Varric turned to Hawke, taking a large bite of his sandwich. Hawke quickly picked up a nearby pebble and chucked at him, hitting him square in the chest. "Ow," he complained, rubbing his chest, "Don't damage the goods!" She rolled her eyes at him.
"Well?" he repeated, "What's the plan?"
"I say we get the hell out of this thaig and then figure out what we're going to do. I don't want to spend any more time in here than we have to," she shuddered.
"Agreed," Anders chimed in, sounding more cheerful than he had all week.
"All right then, let's move," she tucked her bundle of sandwiches away as Fenris stood up and reached out his hand to help her up. Rotating her sore shoulder a few times she sighed, "Maker, what I wouldn't do for a hot bath. Fenris, I'm commandeering your tub when we get back to Kirkwall. Say goodbye to it now." He chuckled, forcing his mind not to wander at the thought of her once again in his bathtub. Even still, he couldn't help but notice the sly glimmer in Hawke's eye as she spoke to him. Yes, she will certainly be the death of me.
Making their way back through the door they found a giant spiral staircase awaiting them.
"Well," Varric whistled, "When the demon said the exit lead 'up,' it wasn't joking." The staircase spiraled away into the darkness. Once Anders lit his staff, they began to make their way up.
"I've counted 183 steps so far, Hawke," Varric panted from behind her.
Hawke sighed, "That's really not helping Varric. Anyway, I can feel a breeze now. We must be close."
"That's what you said half an hour ago." The dwarf grunted, but Hawke ignored him. It turned out she was right, however; fifteen minutes later they had reached a landing with an old, wooden door. The door creaked and groaned on its rusted hinges as Hawke pushed it open, revealing a large passage in the Deep Roads.
"Sweet blessed Andraste, at last!" Hawke dropped to her knees in exhaustion. The other three followed suit and sat down next to her, pausing to take a quick drink of water.
"Perhaps we should stop here and get some rest," Fenris suggested. Hawke wanted to argue that they should push on but she knew that she didn't have it in her to last much longer. She was struggling just to keep her eyes open.
Hawke remained silent while Anders and Varric heartily agreed. "Come on," Fenris offered Hawke his hand again. He pulled her up and wrapped her arm around his shoulder as he helped her walk toward a shallow cave in the far wall of the cavern. Anders and Varric followed.
"I don't sense any darkspawn nearby," Anders looked around, "But I'm afraid I couldn't tell you if there are spiders or not…"
"We can take turns keeping watch. I'll go first," Fenris volunteered.
"You don't have to-" Hawke started to protest but gave up when she saw the stern look on Fenris' face. Ugh, he's right, as usual. I'm positively beat. She sighed instead and dropped to the ground in the alcove.
"We should be protected here," Fenris said, looking around the small opening. Hawke was already busy fashioning two traps from the parts she had stored in her pack. Too tired to move, she handed them to Varric so he could set them in front of their campsite. Anders placed a few wards for good measure and he and Varric curled up on the ground, their backs to the wall of the cavern.
Fenris glanced over at Hawke, who was staring out into the darkness, hugging her knees to her chest. "Come here," he offered gently, crossing his legs as he sat. She moved over toward him and leaned up against him.
"I have a little gift for you," Fenris continued as Hawke blinked in surprise.
"How did you manage to get me a present down here?" She turned to look up at him.
"To be fair, I looted it," he laughed, "But I figured one good turn deserves another." He tugged at the chain of his medallion and she smiled. He reached into a pouch on his belt and opened his hand to reveal a stunning silver ring. It was covered in lovely, winding filigree surrounding a few small inset gemstones that were deep blue in color.
"It's beautiful," she whispered as she picked it up gently from his hand and twirled it between her fingers to get a good view of it, "Although…" she slipped on several fingers, discovering it was too big even for her thumbs.
"This probably once belonged to a dwarf," she laughed.
"Ah, I assumed that would be a problem," Fenris smiled. He turned to her and reached his arms around her neck to unclasp her necklace. His sudden nearness brought to mind their kiss earlier and Hawke immediately blushed, turning her face away in hopes that Fenris wouldn't notice. He seemed concentrated on releasing the clasp, however.
Once the necklace was free he slipped the ring on the chain and helped her refasten the necklace. The ring felt cool against her collarbone. She gingerly plucked it up and admired it a moment longer under the soft glow of Anders' staff. Fenris wrapped his arm around her, giving her a squeeze as he helped her lower herself until she was lying on her side with her head resting in Fenris' lap.
"Thank you," she said softly. He began gently combing his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face and tucking some loose strands behind her ear.
"You're welcome," he replied, then continued, "Now, I think it's been far too long since you've written in your journal. So, go ahead. I'm listening."
Hawke glanced up at him and smiled, "I don't even know what day it is anymore."
"Pick one."
She laughed, "Okay...uhm, eighth of Justinian nine thirty-"
"You're quite optimistic," he cut her off with a chuckle and she shrugged.
"Don't talk back to me, journal." She poked his knee in admonition and then cleared her throat, "As I was saying, eighth of Justinian nine thirty-one Dragon. I killed some kind of enormous rock monster today, I'm eager to hear Varric's retelling though, and whatever crazy name he comes up with. Although, I'm not sure how anyone could improve on the truth of the events..." her voice dropped to a soft murmur as she continued, Fenris still stroking her hair, until she eventually gave in to the languor and drifted off into a deep sleep.