"There it is," said Varric, gesturing to the ruined remains of an old keep.
"It doesn't look all that dwarvern," remarked Carver, frowning slightly.
"These are Carta dwarves, so they're more criminals and smugglers than anything else.,"replied Varric. He scratched his cheek thoughtfully with a gloved hand as he added, "They're not usually stupid though. I don't know why they'd attack you."
"They'd have to be stupid to sneak into the Grey Warden keep at Ansberg," replied Carver. "People who fight darkspawn for a living aren't exactly known for their calm, laid-back demeanour."
"Yes,well, they don't seem to be particularly big on brains," replied Hawke drily. "They mistook a mage for me, after all."
"You have a plan then?" asked Varric. "I found their hide-out but my sources couldn't tell me anything else; it's all very... strange."
"Why do you say that? It's just the Carta, isn't it?" asked Hawke, frowning.
Varric shrugged. "As far as my contacts in the Carta know, they shouldn't be here – there shouldn't even be a here. This place is invisible, a big blind spot on the map." He frowned and shook his head uneasily. "Bianca's never been this suspicious, and she's twitchy to start with."
"Does it matter?" snorted Carver. "We just need them to stop trying to kill us!"
"A fine point.," conceded Varric. "So – what's the plan?"
"I vote for just walking in and slaughtering every dwarf in sight, personally," remarked Carver.
"Not... every dwarf," corrected Varric.
"Present company excepted," agreed Carver, a little abashed.
"I just don't like the idea they can get at you, Hawke," said Anders quietly. "It worries me."
Carver turned and stared at him in surprise. "Considering it was you who got hurt, I'd think you'd be more concerned for your own skin!" he remarked. Anders glared at him.
"Yes, well, not all of us are as self-centred as you, Carver," he replied acerbically. "Some of us actually give a damn about other people."
Carver turned and glared at the slender man, opening his mouth to argue.
"Not now, brother," interjected Hawke, clapping a heavy hand on Carver's armoured shoulder as Fenris sank a clawed gauntlet into Anders' feathered shoulder, squeezing it slightly in warning.
Anders stilled and turned away; Carver stared at him quizzically, glancing from the elf to the mage and back as Fenris' hand dropped to touch Anders lightly on the arm. Fenris raised an eyebrow at Anders, cocking his head on one side in unspoken question; Anders slumped slightly, nodded, then glanced over at the keep.
Carver frowned; he was sure something significant had just happened but he was at a loss to explain what. He was missing something here, and the slight smirk on Hawke's lips suggested he knew what it was. Even Varric was giving the mage a knowing look.
"What? What's going on?" he demanded.
"Nothing," replied Hawke. "Let's go."
Anders paused a little closer to the keep, staring up at the crumbling stones. He could feel something crawling in the back of his mind – like a spider scraping its legs over the inside of his brain. It was an old, familiar, sickening feeling, and yet... It was almost like words. He shuddered.
Fenris had grown used to telling the signs, even the small ones, and as Anders hesitated, he laid a hand upon his greatsword. "Mage?"
"Nothing..." His voice trailed off, then he shook his head. "I'm not sure. Maybe nothing." He gestured at the stone walls. "This looks like a Warden keep, though I never heard of one here before."
"Varric said this place does not appear on any map," replied Fenris, not taking his hand from his sword.
"Grey Wardens have their own maps," mused Anders quietly. He walked closer to the stone wall of the keep, pressing his fingertips to the hewn rock. He frowned slightly, then pulled away to follow Hawke, Carver and Varric. Fenris glanced up at the stones, then followed.
Past the outermost ruins of what might once have been a sizeable keep was a series of crude earthworks that looked to have been thrown up some time ago, interspersed with ramshackle wooden fencing and gates. Whatever the Carta were up to here, they didn't expect it to be discovered or to have to defend it much past keeping out wild animals, Fenris surmised. The burning merchant's Guild wagons they'd passed a short while back showed that whatever it was, the dwarves took their secrecy far more seriously than their usual lines of business however, and they would all do well to be on the alert.
Hawke and Carver had unsheathed their blades at first sight of the carnage, and Bianca rested uneasily in Varric's hands as they approached cautiously. Anders had inched up closer behind Hawke, his staff in his hand as he stared about himself; the jittery look in his eyes showed that something here was unnerving him, and he was uncharacteristically quiet.
They made their way along the foot of the ravine, and from up ahead they heard shouts and voices.
"It's the Carta," observed Carver.
"Do you think they were expecting us?" wondered Anders as they approached the ruined stairs leading into the remains of the keep. Hawke paused, lifting a hand, as figures moved out of the shadows towards them. One dwarf stepped forward.
"You've come!" he rumbled. "Both brothers! You're here together – you've come!"
"That would be us then," remarked Carver. Anders stared at the dwarf, a faint look of horror on his face.
"Mage?" asked Fenris softly.
"Maker, look at his eyes!" Anders whispered. Fenris stared at the dwarf and saw what had Anders so spooked; the dwarf's eyes had the milky appearance of one long gone to the Blight.
"Talking darkspawn?" guessed Fenris. Anders shook his head.
"No. They don't feel right. But..." He put a hand briefly to his forehead. "This whole place feels... wrong."
The dwarf was talking again, calling to the other Carta dwarves, all of whom had the strange unnerving milky eyes as the first. "Everyone! It's the children of Malcolm Hawke! They've come to us!"
"Wait – Malcolm Hawke?" exclaimed Hawke suddenly, stepping forward. "What does my father have to do with this?"
"It began with him, and ends with you!" said the dwarf, turning back. "Blood for blood, that's what we were told!"
"Blood again," muttered Carver.
"We will take it!" growled the dwarf as the other Carta members moved forward. "Corypheus will walk in the sun once more!"
They didn't wait to hear more. As the Carta dwarves unsheathed their blades, Anders was already pooling mana in his hand and unleashing a spell as Fenris phased into intangibility, his greatsword in his hands as he leapt forward. Hawke paused only long enough for Anders' spell to encase the dwarves in ice before shattering them with a few well-placed blows; off to one side, he could hear Carver getting stuck in. Varric was picking off more dwarves further away with Bianca as Anders switched to ranged attacks, striking the enemy down with lightning bolts.
Carver suddenly cried out in pain as a Carta blade found its mark; without thinking, Anders sprinted towards him even as the Warden fell, clutching at his hip where an arrow had found its mark. Anders blocked the dwarf's blow with his staff, neatly reversing his grip and slashing the dwarf's stomach open with the bladed end before stabbing the creature in the face. As it fell, he threw himself down onto his knees beside the Warden, healing magic already gathering in his hands as he reached for the wound.
Hawke shook his head as he started to head in their direction, but Fenris was there before him, one clawed hand sinking through the back of the dwarf that stood poised to drive a blade through the unsuspecting mage's ribs from behind. The elf ripped the dwarf's heart out through its shoulderblade and it crumpled with a guttural choking sound. Anders looked around, startled.
"Have a care, mage," growled Fenris before darting off.
"Nice staff work," muttered Carver as he pushed himself back onto his feet. Anders blinked at him, then hesitantly grinned before turning back to the fray.
"Careful, brother," remarked Hawke as he passed the Warden. "He might get the idea you actually like him."
"He- I..." stammered Carver. "He's useful!"
Hawke laughed as he pursued the mage, who was frowning with concentration as he hurled fireballs at a wooden palisade a group of Carta archers were sheltered behind. The whole lot went up in a burst of flames and Fenris took care of the few that survived the conflagration, Varric picking off the ones that were further off.
As they forced their way through the gates into the Carta stronghold, Hawke found himself in the thick of a fierce melee, and he lost sight of the elf within moments. The singing of Bianca as her bolts found their targets informed him Varric was holding his own, and carver seemed incapable of simply shutting up and fighting – his running commentary on the dwarves' lineage and what he was going to do to them helped Hawke pinpoint the Warden quite easily. His brother hadn't become any less boastful or irritating since last they'd adventured together, it seemed. He wondered where Anders had got to – then the three dwarves trying to flank him suddenly fell, twitching and jerking, as the stench of singed flesh filled the air. Lightning bolt. Hawke smiled; the mage was fine then.
And then there was silence apart from their heavy breathing as they stared around.
"Did you hear that?" asked Carver as he shook blood off his blade. "They were after us for our blood. But why?"
"Excellent question," replied Hawke. "Let's ask them. Oh, no, whoops – we killed them all."
"You do have a knack for annoying all sorts, Hawke," remarked Anders. "Deranged dwarves. We can check that off the list."
"The Carta doesn't normally act like this," said Varric slowly as he kicked over a charred body. "They're businessmen." He paused, scuffling at something behind the body. "Hawke?" He gestured at a rock that had been obscured by the body; something had been engraved into the rock's surface.
"'Amgeforn the lonely vigil'?" read Hawke slowly. "'One warrior each generation will be chosen from the warrior caste. He will stand guard until his death. Only the constant vigilance of the Stone's Children' – I suppose they mean dwarves – 'can keep the foulness of Malvernis at bay.'"
"Who's Malvernis?" wondered Carver; Hawke shrugged.
"'The burden of living in exile under the sun is terrible, but this sacrifice, this angeforn, will ensure the sanctity of the Stone forever. Valos atredum, by decree of Paragon Ilona.'" finished Hawke. "How many generations of warriors stood guard here?" he wondered. "And why does that make me nervous?"
Anders shuddered. "Whatever it is, it can't be anything good," he muttered.
"Come on," said Hawke. "I can't believe that this is all there is here. Let's look around some more. One handful of Blighted dwarves doesn't explain why the Carta are after our blood. And I want to know who this 'Corypheus' is."
"Nothing good, I'll wager," Anders said gloomily. "Names like 'Malvernis' and 'Corypheus' don't exactly conjure up visions of kitties and flowers."
They made their way deeper into the fortress.