Chapter 5

Gavin smiled as he watched Varric and Merrill playing with Fang, the dog acting more like a puppy than the fierce warhound he was as he chased after thrown sticks. Aveline and Fenris were involved in a rather heated debate over swords, of all things. He had never really given the subject much thought and found it fascinating that they found so much to argue about. Their decision to spend one more day outside the city was proving to be a good one. There had been no sign of any trouble the day before, and all of them were more relaxed. Growing restless, he decided to get up and take a walk on the beach not far from their camp.

When he reached the shore, he simply stood for a while taking it all in. He'd never even seen the open sea before taking ship from Gwaren, and that hadn't been a pleasant experience. But standing here, watching the gentle waves lap the shore and feeling the warm breeze in his hair, he found the whole experience very relaxing. He thought it would be kind of nice to have a home by the sea.

Sitting down, he removed his boots and then dug his bare toes into the sand, enjoying the feel of it for a long while. Merrill's trilling laugh and Fang's raucous barks drifted to him on the wind and he smiled once more. He'd been pretty mean to the girl, but after he'd explained why, they'd come to a truce, sort of. Everyone was the better for that.

Getting to his feet, he grabbed his boots and began to stroll along the shore, stopping occasionally to pick up an interesting rock or shell. A sudden sharp pain in his foot made him look down and reflexively grab his knife. There on the sand was some kind of scorpion type creature and he quickly stabbed it and killed it. He cursed fluently at the folly of removing his boots. He was in an unknown area with unknown dangers, he should have been more careful. Before he could turn to walk back to camp, a searing pain raced up his leg and he collapsed on the beach. He gingerly picked up his foot and saw an angry red sore on the ball of it. With a sickening feeling, he realised that whatever the creature had been, it was poisonous.

It had only been a couple of minutes since he was bitten, but already he could feel the effects of the poison beginning to race through his system. He'd never make it back to camp in time, so he had no choice but to heal himself. Closing his eyes and slowing his breathing, he focused his magic on his own body, cleansing the poison inch by inch. Finally, after what seemed an interminable amount of time, he could feel that the posion was gone. Gasping, he lay on his back, eyes closed as he waited for the weariness to pass.

The first sign he was not alone came in the form of a branch snapping as someone stepped on it. He got to his feet and turned expecting to see Fenris or one of his other companions. His heart nearly stopped in his chest as he saw three templars emerging from the trees. Shit, he was in trouble unless he could convince them that he was no one of importance.

"Well, well," the black-haired man in the front said, "what have we here."

Without warning, the templar unleashed a wave of energy towards Gavin. As the wave hit him, his knees gave way and his body felt suddenly weak. He collapsed to the sand, struggling to keep his eyes open. Damn the templars and their abilities to nullify magic. He didn't have his pouch with him and so had no lyrium to drink.

"You were right, sir" said another, "he's an apostate."

"Of course, I sensed him using magic," the leader laughed as they approached Gavin where he lay.

Gavin cursed his stupidity and struggled to draw enough breath to call for help, he wasn't that far away from the others. If he failed, then at best he'd be dragged off to the Gallows. At worst, he'd be killed on the spot. His mother would be devestated. The next thing he heard caused his blood to freeze.

"He's quite the looker sir," the blond haired one raked Gavin's body with a lustful gaze as he licked his lips. "What do you say to having some fun first?"

Gavin struggled to get to his feet in a feeble attempt to escape them, but hard hands grabbed his arms and hauled him up to face the leader. He shuddered in revulsion as the leader began to run his hands over him. When they pawed at his groin, he was horrified to feel himself respond and tried to will it away.

"Hah, hah, I think he likes this," the leader leered at him and leaned close. "You do don't you. All you mages are whores at heart. You make it good for us, maybe we tell the Knight-Commander to go easy on you. Fight us, and we'll make sure you die an agonizing death, after we have our fun of course."

Gathering every last ounce of strength he had, Gavin spit right in the face of the leader. He would not give them the satisfaction of knowing just how scared he was.

The leader slowly wiped the spit off his face. Then he promptly back-handed the mage, snapping his head around. "So, you're going to fight us? Good," he grinned nastily.

"Better to make him Tranquil," the templar on Gavin's right spoke up. "Then we can use him whenever we want. He's got a nice tight ass," he finished, grabbing and squeezing at it.

A sudden howl startled all three of them, and Gavin found himself thrown backwards to the sand. He lay there weakly as Fang charged into the clearing, followed by Fenris and Aveline. He closed his eyes in relief as he realized he was saved.

Merrill ran around the fight and to Gavin's side, "Hawke, are you hurt? Are you injured? Speak to me?"

"Fine, just weak," he whispered, not opening his eyes.

Merrill fumbled in one of her many pouches and drew a small vial of blue liquid out. "Here's some lyrium, not much, but it should help," she said as she unstoppered it and placed it against his lips, careful not to spill any.

Gavin eagerly drank it, feeling the weakness in his limbs begin to fade. By this time, the fight was over and his companions were gathered around him. He looked up at them, "How did you know?"

Aveline pointed at Fang, "Your mabari suddenly snarled viciously and took off. We followed."

Gavin sat up and threw his arms around the hound, "Good boy, good dog." The dog responded by washing his master's face with his tongue.

"Can you stand?" Varric asked. "We should get away from here quickly, just in case there are others about."

Gavin nodded and got to his feet, swaying only slightly. As he moved to head towards camp, a moan caught his attention. Looking around, he saw the lead templar begin to stir. A white hot rage flared up in him that the bastard wasn't dead. Without thinking, he lashed out and gripped the templar in an invisible force field, dragging him toward the group.

Waiting until the man was fully aware, he snarled, "How many other mages have you raped? A dozen? A hundred? Answer me," he squeezed harder causing the templar to cry out in agony.

The others were frozen in shock, never having seen Gavin like this before. It scared each of them because they'd had no idea he was capable of something like this. Aveline stepped forward, "Hawke-" she stopped and then gasped as she found herself thrown backwards by an invisible hand. Looking around, she saw the others had suffered in a similar manner.

The templar looked at the now not so helpless mage in terror, "I don't know, please, don't kill me."

Gavin growled, "I'll show you the same mercy you've shown others." With terrifying ease, he slammed the templar several times into the ground, a merciless sneer curving his lips. He continued doing so until long after the templar had died.

Merrill thought she would throw up as she heard the templar's bones cracking and shattering. Hawke seemed to be pummeling the man to death, but with no weapon she had ever seen. Aveline and Varric looked away and stopped their ears. Fenris found himself not bothered by what he saw, having been witness to far worse in Tevinter. But he was a little unnerved by the display of power. When the templar's body thudded a final time to the ground he got to his feet and cautiously approached Hawke.

"Let's leave this place," he said quietly and then had to hold back a gasp as Gavin turned to him, his face a mask of pure rage.

"He would have-, they were going to-" Gavin gasped out.

"I know," Fenris nodded and reached out a steadying hand to him. "Come on."

Gavin closed his eyes and took several deep breaths to calm himself before allowing himself to be led away, the others following silently behind him. He walked in a daze, leaning slightly against the elf, trusting him in a way he'd never trusted anyone before. The knowledge that Fenris understood and wasn't put off was oddly comforting. Once back at the camp, he was pushed down beside the now dead fire and told not to move. He watched as the others began to pack up their things. He saw them eyeing him sidelong and knew they had questions. It was Merrill who finally got up the nerve to ask them.

"Hawke, what did you do?" she said softly. "How did you do...that?" she waived her hand helplessly. The others stopped what they were doing to listen.

"There is a type of magic that is rarely found outside the Circle of Magi in Kirkwall," he answered quietly. "It is called Force Magic, a specialty in this part of the Free Marches."

"What can you do exactly?" Fenris asked curiously. "I've seen a great many things in Tevinter, but never something like this."

"I can manipulate the raw energy of magic with my mind," Gavin continued. "It is wild energy and requires an extremely strong mind to manipulate. You can crush and smash foes, throw opponents around like leaves in a windstorm, and more. Imagine what it would be like to fight an earthquake or windstorm and you have some idea of what I'm talking about."

"So it was this that threw us back from you," Aveline stated and saw him hang his head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that, I just-" Gavin stopped and took a deep breath. "That's one of the reasons I don't like to use it, because it is hard to control."

"How did they get a hold of you anyway?" Varric asked. "How did they even know what you were or that you were here?"

Gavin told them about the creature and how he had healed himself. "They must have been returning from a patrol or something and felt me using my magic. Templar Hunters are trained to be able to do that, if they are within a certain distance that is. If caught by surprise, like I was, it gives a templar the chance to neutralize the magic a mage calls upon. The sudden drain leaves a mage physical and mentally weak for a minute or two, more than enough time to be dealt with."

"And they were going to, you know-" Merrill stuttered and then blushed crimson, realizing what the answer must be as he flushed and looked away.

"Are you strong enough to travel?" Fenris asked as he stood up. Seeing the mage nod, he motioned to the others to get going. When they were out of earshot, he turned to Gavin. "Now I know what power it was that I sensed in you. You are a very dangerous man Hawke, it's good that you realize this."

"My father told me long ago about this and warned me of the dangers," Gavin said as he began following the others. "I still can't believe I let my guard down like that, not after the last time, not after I swore to myself that I wouldn't."

"At the very least, the next time you want to take a stroll on the beach, leave your boots on or ask someone to go with you," Fenris smirked.

Gavin, to his surprise, found himself laughing. "So, you do have a sense of humor after all. Point taken serah."

Fenris merely smiled and walked on.