Soon she was approaching from behind the mages. Slashing one's throat from behind was enough to draw their attention. Shades were surrounding Markl. Sicilia noticed the warriors were long dead and one mage lie with them. She wasn't sure how many shades and demons he'd already fought through. Dashing in, she ripped through a handful of them just as more were called forth.

Once Sicilia relieved her companion of some of the shades, she took on two of the mages, leaving the leader for last. One went down quick enough. The leader joined in fighting her after summoning another mass of shades. She sent a blow into the other's chest; the blade scraped against bone as she jerked it from his dying body. Alright, just you and me.

The leader's eyes narrowed as he searched her eyes for signs of an incoming attack. Sicilia was quick; she lunged ahead and sent a deep cut down the mage's side before his spell could hit. He doubled over before sending his staff swinging behind him, hitting her thigh. The impact was hard, but not hard enough to hinder her speed.

A smirk crossed his face as he changed his tactics. She dodged the incoming swings. In a massive step, he held his staff in both hands to send it down over her head. Her daggers crossed to catch the weapon above her. A frost formed on the blades and she put all her force into throwing him back. Another combination of attacks were quickly dodged until the mage gained enough space to effectively cast.

He sent her reeling with spell that she could only describe as a stone force. She had turned, taking the brunt of the damage with her left shoulder. Sicilia knew it was dislocated. Any movement with that arm was useless so she dropped her dagger and collected her senses before his next attack. With only one arm, she needed a strategy. Thinking quickly, just as he made a move towards her, she dodged and sent a slice down his back.

Markl's battle cry was heard a few feet away. Sicilia knew the shades numbers dwindled. She watched as the mage cried out and crashed to the ground. Stomping on his hand, she tore the staff from him and kicked the middle, snapping it in half. The mage grabbed at her other ankle to pull her down. Just as he made it to his knees, she took one last swing as his neck. The blood spilled down his plum colored robes; his hand grasped at the wound. His mouth moved inaudibly as his face drained of the last bit of color.

Feeling a pain coursing through her arm, she saw a lifeless body before her. With only a dagger in her hand, she watched as the ground began to mold shapelessly. A bubbling ensued as heat resonated from the pit. Hands shot up to grip the ground around them. A mass of flowing molten lava emerged from it's depths. The rage demon, she thought as goose bumps crawled across her flesh. Every orifice of the demon spat fire. It edged closer to her; she was frozen.

Suddenly realizing it's closeness, she jerked away. The hand rushed through the air, enveloped in flames, and grabbed her right thigh and began to pull her towards him. A smell of burning leather was immense as the demon wore a menacing grin. She could feel the slow burn, the blistering, and the pain as the flesh beneath its grasp burned away. She screamed and sent her blade rushing into the demon's molten head. The hand let go of her, leaving a trail of smoke. The lava sank into the pit and the flames died down. Only a smoldering ground and her dagger were left behind; the metal glowed white hot.

"Sicilia!" It was Haiden's voice screaming for her. He had finally come to their aid.

"I'm fine. Help Markl!" she screamed in return. She drug herself towards her other dagger. Taking it into her hand, she growled from the pain in her leg and the thought that she could only watch the battle between them and the shades.

Just when her body began to tremble from the pain, Haiden sent the killing blow to the last two shades. Markl had collapsed onto one knee; only his sword, driven into the ground, was holding him up. His body was beaten, cut, and bruised. Haiden tried to catch his breath as he stumbled towards her.

"Sicilia, are you alright?" His eyes went to her leg. "Damn!"

"I'm fine. Go get the book. It's not bleeding so I just need to clear off some of the leather and wrap it. Thanks to that fucking thing, it's already cauterized." She managed a shaky laugh.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" She nodded. "I'll hurry." Haiden ran off in the direction he came.

"Markl, are you ok?"

"Better than you are," he said walking to her. "You need some help?"

"Probably. First, can you hold my arm out and hit here?" she asked pointing to a spot on her shoulder. The hit was followed by a crunch, then a dull pain. "Can you get the cleanest shirt from one of these guys and rip it into a strip for me?" When Markl had set off to find her a makeshift wrapping, she leaned forward and, screeching at the pain, pulled her right boot off. She positioned her blade under the inseam of her pants and sliced it open up to the top of the burn. Slowly, she pulled at the leather, gasping when a piece pulled at her skin. The pieces that didn't pull free easily, she cut short. They didn't have time for her to cut every piece of leather from her skin. A few places had began to bleed.

"This is the best I could find," Markl said placing the fabric on her other leg.

"That's great, thanks. I don't suppose you saw any elfroot around did you?"

"I'll go look."

Sicilia slowly began to pick through the black pieces; it was hard to decipher what was flesh and what was burnt leather. A few places she cut free before Markl returned with a muddy root ball. He quickly grabbed his canteen of water and handed it to her as he began cutting the root apart. The water she poured across her thigh was both painful and cooling. The heat was still emitting from her leg and she realized she had been sweating.

The tremors died down as she began chewing the elfroot. When the root became pulp in her mouth, she spit it out and smoothed it across her thigh. The hand shaped burn was completely covered in pulp by the time she added the last bit. Sicilia began wrapping the cloth around her leg. Markl helped her tie the wrap tight when Haiden finally ran to them, tome in hand.

"Alright, now, I need help standing," she said through clenched teeth.

"No, I'll carry you." Markl didn't wait for her to protest before latching one arm around her back and the other gently underneath her knees.

"Markl, you're hurt, too. I don't want you to have to carry me the whole way." Sicilia gasped when she was lifted from the ground.

"Markl is the only one who can carry you for a whole day." Haiden positioned the book under his arm and picked up her daggers.

"Consider it like this. I'm just keeping you from slowing us down," Markl joked. Sicilia laughed even though every step he took was painful for her.

I survived, for now. Sicilia knew that the worst was yet to come. When they reached the Qunari camp, removing all the leather from that wound was going to be hell. It was going to be painful, bloody, and would probably cause her to pass out or even go into shock. Not to mention, there was the healing process; infection could set in. This was far from over.

By morning, the pain had increased. She suffered through it knowing that soon they would be safe to rest. The only thing that kept her going was the relic Haiden carried in his arms. She'd been through a lot to get that thing and she wasn't about to give up now. Since they weren't trying to be stealthy, they walked a little faster. Even when they became hungry, Haiden just ran off to find some berries and ran back. Sicilia would use her free hand to feed herself and Markl.

The sun was beginning to set and the Arishok was worried. He paced in his tent, not wanting his men to see him so uncontrolled. The Ashaad that he always entrusted missions with had asked for orders concerning the relic. He had been taken by surprise when the Arishok told him that it had already been handled, but was understanding. The Arishok had taken a risky step for the Qun and the return of the relic.

Yes, he trusted this woman. It actually wasn't the tome he found himself worried about. He knew that no matter what, one of her companions would return it to them. When she had told him about her dream and the possibility of her death, it hadn't hit him, but now, he found himself confused. Death in battle was something that he would hope for. Fighting for the Qun is the one way he wanted to take his last breath.

He sat on his bed, taking a breath and massaging his temples. Thinking for a while, he came to a conclusion. It wasn't her death itself that worried him; it was that he wouldn't get to fight alongside her. She had become a friend to him, he had to admit. He longed to fight at her side, she was as much of a warrior as any of his men, his brethren. Basalit-an. Kadan. However, he also would not get to talk to her, argue with her, see her, or touch her again.

When she had touched his arm at the coast before she left, it had sent a shockwave through his being. Even now, he could feel it's after effects. He wanted to feel it again. It was this realization that pulled him outside. It was dark now and she would be returning with the relic soon.