Promises: Chapter Eight
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine but Bioware's.
There was a dark cloud hanging over the assassin's head as they fled the small town. Both Fenris and Hawke lingered behind the blond elf as he muttered angrily to himself while making wild gestures with his hands. Zevran was unhinged from his encounter with Lorenzo, and it was not the time to be in his line of fire.
The three of them didn't pause to rest until it was almost midnight. It was impossible to set up a proper camp in the dark. They made do with sleeping on the bare ground after agreeing to a rotating watch just in case they were followed by any of Lorenzo's men.
As they stopped so late, they didn't set out again until it was almost ten in the morning. By then, the assassin's bad mood had dissipated. Zevran was back to his usual self, animatedly chatting with Hawke as the two of them walked along side by side while occasionally directing an overly flirtatious remark at Fenris.
Fenris noticed, however, that Hawke didn't seem to be as comfortable in the other elf's presence any more. It was a subtle change, and only one who knew her was well as Fenris did would recognize it. They had seen a different side to Zevran back in that tavern, a darker side. While Fenris had always suspected that the other elf was more than the cheerful fool he pretended to be, Hawke had been more accepting of his charade. Now the veil had been lifted from her eyes. While she still chatted the day away with the assassin, she was more reserved and did not volunteer information non-stop the way she had before.
The assassin might have already known everything worth knowing about them by that point, but still Fenris took comfort in the fact that his mageling was no longer so trusting of the other elf.
Despite their late start, Zevran insisted on breaking for lunch at the usual time. "Only a fool would press on in this heat," he claimed as he lounged under a tree.
Fenris scoffed openly. "And of course it's not as though we're in any particular hurry," he stated flatly.
"That is where you are wrong, my friend. Time is of the essence. However, I am certain that we will make better time by not running ourselves into exhaustion," was the assassin's smooth reply.
There were times when Fenris really hated working with stubborn people. This was one of them. He couldn't remember the last time he was able to get either of his traveling companions to take his advice.
"Let it go, Fenris," Hawke murmured to him as she sat down beside him. "Think of it this way—if we had stayed at an inn for the night like we had originally planned, we would probably be further back than we are now. Besides I have to admit that I am a little tired."
Fenris took a good look at the mageling and saw that she was speaking nothing but the truth. She did look worse for wear. The harsh pace the assassin had set for them the night before as they left town had clearly taken its toll on her. So Fenris stifled his remaining objections and kept watch over the tired mageling as she drifted into a nap after eating a light lunch.
The mageling was noticeably refreshed when they continued on their journey once more. There was a lightness to her step that had been missing before. They didn't get far, however, when they ran into a group of fifteen or so men. Fenris recognized them immediately as slave hunters from their garb.
"Well, well it seems our luck has finally turned," said a large man in front of the pack. "It looks like we've run into the elf that Brax has been after."
"But which elf is it, boss?" another man asked. "We're supposed to bring back a tattooed elf that has fair hair and tanned skin. Both elves fit that description."
"Which just means we're even luckier than I first thought," his boss replied. "The elf Brax wants has to be one of 'em. And look—they've a pretty little piece of fluff with them. I don't think this day can get any better." The leader of the slave hunters unslung a wicked looking axe. "Let's get 'em, boys." That was all the signal needed for the slave hunters to charge the odd trio.
"Not even an introduction? How amateur. I can't remember the last time I had the misfortune to meet someone with so little style or grace," Zevran said mockingly before vanishing into thin air.
Fenris allowed himself one brief curse in Arcanum before drawing his sword. His markings flared to life, illuminating his surroundings, as he phased into that space between the real and the fade that he knew so well. As he set himself up in his battle stance to meet the initial charge of slavers, he was enveloped by his usual battle calm. While battle might get others' hearts racing, it had an opposite effect on him. He became cool and collected, and this enabled him to better see the flow and direction of the fight. Fenris gripped his sword tightly, already mentally mapping out the moves he would make.
The leading rush of the hunters was barely ten feet away from him when fire erupted from both above and beneath them. The putrid stench of burning flesh filled Fenris' nose, almost making him gag as a small, sarcastic part of him reflected that Hawke was bad at cooking just about everything. Her fireball sent several of the men staggering although none of them fell.
Unfortunately the leader of the slavers had witnessed the entire thing. "They've got a blighted mage!" he shouted as his subordinates regrouped. "Ignore the elves! Take the mage down before she fries us all!"
A half dozen of the slave hunters recovered enough to attack once more. Fenris stepped forward, engaging as many of them as he could with his greatsword, but still two slipped past his guard and headed towards Hawke. Fenris hacked away at the hunters facing him, quickly felling them only to be hit by an onslaught of arrows as the slavers' three archers had him in their sights, leaving him hard-pressed to come to Hawke's aid.
A gesture of the mageling's hands had one frozen in mid-step but completely missed the other slaver, who was now so close to Hawke that she didn't have the time or the space to cast another spell. Though he could not spare a glance back at her, Fenris could feel his mageling's panic rising as he retreated back to her as fast as he could while parrying arrow after arrow.
Then the slaver threatening Hawke slumped to the ground with both of Zevran's daggers buried deep in his back. The assassin offered Hawke a roguish wink before vanishing yet again only to reappear to take down the frozen slave hunter with a flurry of strikes. Safe from immediate harm, Hawke curled her fingers inward, lightning sparking from their tips. Then with a flick of her wrist, she sent the lightning arcing through the air towards the archers, the bolt leaping from one to another and ending their attack on Fenris.
By now, Zevran had finished dismantling the man frozen by Hawke. He walked up until he was just behind Fenris and surveyed the slave hunters who were left. The remaining hunters had formed a small half circle around their leader. The assassin rolled his eyes. "You know there is such a thing as making it too easy," he noted as he pulled a small flask from his belt. He tossed the flask at the slavers, stunning them all at once.
The slave hunters didn't put up much of a fight after that.
Fenris and Hawke found out that Zevran was just as accustomed to looting corpses as they were. "Do you think someone told them where to find us?" Hawke asked as the trio rifled through pockets looking for coin and valuable trinkets.
"I wouldn't put such a dirty trick past Lorenzo, that slimy old bastard," Zevran replied. "However, I know he's scared shitless of Brax and his ilk. He would want no contact with the master slaver, not if he could avoid it."
"He might have been trying to curry favor with Brax," Fenris pointed out.
"While I cannot rule out that possibility, I do not think so. Lorenzo is too wily a character to get into bed with such a violent man like Brax. And I mean that literally as well as figuratively."
"One track mind much?" Hawke noted snarkily earning her a laugh from the assassin.
"Little one, you will find that most men spend most of their waking hours thinking of one thing and one thing only," Zevran began.
"And then there's the blond fool before us who hardly thinks of anything else," Fenris put in before Zevran could complete that thought.
"What is this I hear? Was that a joke from our grumpy companion?" Zevran looked over at Hawke, disbelief written all over his face. "Tell me I'm not hallucinating," he demanded of her.
"You're not hallucinating. Fenris does have a sense of humor." She smiled over at the elf fondly, and Fenris ducked his head so she wouldn't see him blush. "But to bring your one track mind back to my original topic, Zev, I think it might be prudent if we take a less direct route to Antiva City, especially if Lorenzo knows that is where we are headed. It can't hurt to be careful."
"You are as wise as you are beautiful, little one," Zevran said, bowing gallantly. "You might regret saying that, however. I do know alternate routes—three of them in fact—but none of them are as easy as this one."
"Our current path can hardly be considered easy if we're going to be harassed by slave hunters all along the way," Fenris noted.
"All true I'll allow you. But don't think that I haven't noticed that you always agree with Hawke," said Zevran. "For example back when I suggested we take a break you were all against it until she wanted to stop too. I know she's prettier than me but you could agree with one of my suggestions once in a while. You know try something different and break up the monotony of always going along with whatever Hawke says."
Fenris didn't deign in replying to the other elf's complaint. Hawke, on the other hand, laughed merrily. "Oh Zev, believe you me, Fenris and I don't always see eye to eye," she told the assassin.
"That would be easier to believe if I could see some disagreement between the two of you in action," Zevran replied. He threw up his hands in acquiescence. "But enough. I know when I am outnumbered. Since my trusty—and more to the point dangerous and deadly—companions feel it is best that we take another path, we'll do exactly that. I don't want to hear any complaints later on though about it being tough," he added with a wag of his finger.
They finished going through the slavers' belongings, finding little of note. Both Zevran and Hawke were disappointed that they didn't find any additional notes or letters on any of the men, but Fenris could only feel relief. If they had found new documents, it would have simply been another chance for Hawke to discover that he didn't know how to read. Maybe it was vanity, but that was one thing he didn't want her to find out about him for it would certainly diminish him in her eyes.
The new route Zevran took them on required them to backtrack for the better part of the next hour. Then he took them off of the road they had been on and then first through an open field and later a thick forest. The going was rough just as the assassin had warned and their pace was slowed by that, but on the bright side, they didn't run into any other slavers.
It was getting dark when Fenris' ears picked up the sound of water rushing by. The twitch of Zevran's ears betrayed that he heard the same sound. "We'll be stopping shortly," the blond elf announced. "I'm not very fond of trying to ford through the rapids without light to see."
Soon enough the small group came to a great river. "We'll camp on the banks tonight and look for a way across tomorrow," said Zevran. "That is unless of course the two of you decide to take leave of your senses and gang up against me in this too."
Fenris decided to let Hawke take care of that silly remark. The mageling rolled her eyes. "You are fond of being ridiculous today, aren't you? We're not going to argue with you on the rare occasion you make sense, Zev. If anything, I feel like throwing a party to celebrate this moment. Who knows when it will happen again? Anyway I think we're best off with cold rations tonight again. I know you're disappointed in my not cooking but I think it's best that we not start a fire. It might attract too much attention."
"Hmm," said Fenris, "I am struck with the sudden urge to disagree with you and insist that you cook…just to try something different like someone recommended I do earlier today."
Zevran fixed them both with a steely glare. "I give up. There is just no winning against the two of you when you are like this," he declared dramatically. "I will scout around to make sure that no one has followed us while you two make camp."
"Personally I think that's just a convenient excuse he uses to get out of any real work," Hawke said after Zevran was out of sight.
"That would be keeping with what we know of his character," Fenris agreed. "However I suspect that we will be able to set up for the night quicker without him around to muck things up."
It took hardly any time at all for Hawke and Fenris to set up the make-shift bedrolls they had been using. Normally the bedrolls would have been arranged around their fire, but seeing how they were going without a fire to keep them warm this night, the two of them decided that putting the bedrolls in a straight line would suffice. Fenris made certain that he was between Hawke and the assassin. He knew that Hawke was rolling her eyes at him, but he didn't care. If the assassin ever did decide to betray them, Fenris was better equipped to react to a surprise attack than Hawke was.
Of course, that was something else for Fenris to take care of. "Are you hungry now?" he asked Hawke. "Or would you mind a bit of exercise before dinner?"
"I can wait to eat. What do you have in mind?" was her reply.
"It occurred to me that while I bought you a dagger to defend yourself in close quarters, I have been most remiss in showing you how to use it," he told her. He frowned, silently berating himself for not doing this sooner. "It would have come in handy today, I think."
The mageling wrinkled her nose and pouted. "And here I had thought you had forgotten all about that."
He raised an eyebrow and looked down his nose at her, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "And here I thought you knew me better than that by now. There was never a chance I would forget about something so important." He looked critically at her then, his eyes narrowing as he realized that her dagger did not appear to be on her belt. "Where did you put it anyway?" he asked her, his tone sharp. "It's not on your person."
"That's because I put it in my pack where it would be nice and safe," Hawke said.
"And of no use to you whatsoever. Let this be your first lesson. You have to keep your weapon of last resort close at hand at all times. Neither a slaver nor a templar is likely to pause to give you a chance to rummage through your bag for it."
"I know that, Fenris." The mageling gritted her teeth in aggravation.
"I would believe that if you had your dagger available rather than tucked away where it will do you no good. Go on then. Get it out. I want to give you a brief lesson while it is still light."
Hawke huffed with annoyance but trotted over to where they had laid their packs on the ground. It took her some time to find the dagger Fenris had so kindly purchased for her with what little coin he had. He rather thought that she was purposefully dragging her feet when it came to locating the weapon. However, he did not remark upon her recalcitrance because Hawke would take advantage of any comment of his as an opportunity for further procrastination by way of arguing with him about whether or not she was moving slowly on purpose.
He knew his mageling well, and Hawke was nothing if not predictable at times.
After what seemed to be an eternity, Hawke finally stumbled upon the dagger. "Here it is," she said as she walked back over to him. She thrust it into his hands, hilt first.
"Thank you," he said dryly. "So is it safe to assume that you know nothing of the basics when it comes to handling a blade?"
"The only blade I've ever really worked with is a kitchen knife." She snapped her fingers at him. "And don't. Just don't even think about using that as a diving board for a smart comment about my cooking."
"I wouldn't dream of it. Seeing how you haven't ever used a dagger before, we'll start at the very beginning with how to hold it properly."
As things turned out, Fenris had to start by showing Hawke how to properly draw the blade before moving on to how to hold it and then finally how to use it. Though she had never used a bladed weapon before, Hawke was a quick study. He only had to demonstrate basic maneuvers a few times before she was able to mimic his moves nigh perfectly. He found himself quite satisfied with her progress. Fenris was about to show Hawke an intermediate move when the time the third member of their party returned.
"What is this?" Zevran exclaimed loudly, effectively interrupting the lesson. "You are trying to teach the little one how to use a dagger? And without me?" He shot Fenris a look of disdain. "If anyone should be teaching Hawke, it should be me seeing how daggers are my specialty."
"There are a lot of things that seem to be your specialty," Hawke noted with a sly grin.
"What can I say? I'm a man of many talents."
"But little modesty," Fenris said.
"Ha! False modesty is so unbecoming, don't you think? But that's beside the point. Now that I'm here I can take over Hawke's lesson while you fix us dinner," the assassin proclaimed.
"No."
Zevran sent his eyes skyward. "You, my friend, take great enjoyment in being difficult, but even you can't deny that I know more about this particular subject than you. Besides your method of teaching is crude and ineffective. You can't just show the little one what to do. You have to step in and guide her, show her how to move by letting her body follow yours. Perhaps you do not have much experience with such one-on-one instruction, but I assure you that I do." There was a large, shit-eating grin on the assassin's face as he finished with a flourish.
Fenris bit back a barely concealed growl. There was no way he was going to let Zevran take over Hawke's lesson after that speech. He knew exactly what sort of intentions Zevran had, and they were hardly honorable. Fenris eyed the other elf. Should he even try to convince the assassin that his offer was not only unnecessary but most unwanted, or should he save himself the headache and just knock Zevran out using the flat of his blade?
A peal of laughter cut through his brooding thoughts. "Oh Zevran," Hawke said, chortling merrily all the while. "Who do you think you're fooling? I mean honestly…you have to step in and guide her," she said in a passable imitation of the elf's voice. "For someone who claims to be an expert seducer, that wasn't very smooth at all."
"Besides which, I don't know why you even bother," she went on. "I thought I made it clear to you that I'm immune to your charms that time you tried to join me when I was taking a bath in the river."
Fenris' head whipped around to glare at the assassin. When did that incident happen? This time he actually did growl as he realized that he hadn't been keeping as close an eye on his mageling's interactions with the assassin as he had thought.
Hawke glanced over at Fenris upon hearing his voice. "I'm sorry, Fenris," she said with a smile. "I don't think I'll be able to concentrate after this. How about we eat now? I'm starving."
Hawke sheathed her dagger with a fluid grace she didn't have an hour before. She began ambling back to the spot where they had left their packs. As the two elves watched her, Zevran muttered half to himself, "This is why I hate traveling with couples. They never think of anyone's needs except their own."
Fenris opened his mouth to deny the accusation that he and Hawke were a couple but closed it. A denial would only encourage Zevran's efforts to seduce both of his companions. However, Fenris couldn't help but get one last jab in at Zevran. "I suspect you're able to take your needs in hand," he said as he turned to follow Hawke.
That earned him an utterly disgusted glare from the assassin, who stalked away back into the woods, cursing with each step.
Author's note: My thanks to everyone taking the time to read my fic and especially to those nice enough to review it.