Chapter 2- A Father's love…

The sun was setting on Anders second day spent with the Hawke siblings, the one family and only friends he had made since he escaped from the tower for the first time. At a small pond near the house, the Hawke sisters and Anders were wading and splashing each other in the cool waters as they laughed giddily. Carver was nearby, setting up kindling and small sticks in a tepee formation, waiting for his sisters and the apostate to come back.

His small head kept turning back towards their house off in the distance. Candle light was visible through the kitchen windows, so he knew that mother and father were home. But it had still been quite some time since supper and when Carver dropped off his warning letter to Father's chambers; The one about an apostate boy, the bounty hunter and possibly the templar's that were hunting him, and the danger that his presence was causing to the family of mages. Worse yet, apostate mages, so why hadn't father come yet?

Carver looked back towards the pond and saw his sisters and Anders returning, they were still laughing, and it made him shudder. Not being a mage, Carver wasn't at as much risk as his sisters if anything bad happened. But he was still quite shook up by what happened at the town square earlier, when the black rider grabbed him and made his announcement about his hunt. Even more, he wondered why news of that didn't even faze his mage sisters?

Hawke grabbed one of the towels nearby and tossed to Anders, she grabbed the next one and tossed it to Bethany. She then wrapped herself in the last towel, another reason why Carver didn't join them, they had only brought the three towels normally reserved for Hawke, Bethany and himself to avoid suspicion from their parents.

As they were approaching Carver, they saw him with a bow drill, trying to start a fire for them. They waited only a few seconds more before Hawke sighed, stood up and pushed Carver aside.

"Allow me!" she insisted, then threw her hands towards the sticks, and streams of fire flew from her fingertips and ignited the kindling. And in no time at all, their fire was roaring and shooting flames high into the air.

"Sis!" Carver shouted angrily, "You're using magic so carelessly! If Father ever-"

"Father's not here right now, little Carver!" Hawke laughed as she rubbed the top of his head, "Besides, we're out in the middle of no where, so relax!"

Carver fixed his hair and sighed, "So careless…"

"Hawke… Bethany… I just wanted to say… thank you for everything. I've had so much fun with all three of you!" Anders said happily. But then his smile faded and a look of sadness washed across his face, "All the other kids back at the tower only want to study and learn spells… no one ever wants to play with me like you do. It's nice to have friends for once… and get to experience all of this new stuff out here…"

Bethany smiled and shrugged, "This is nothing! You've only got to experience a small portion of what sis and I get to enjoy everyday."

Hawke nodded, "Yes! There's still so much more that we want to show you!"

Anders shook his head, "No… I should be going… Long road ahead…"

Hawke wrapped an arm around Anders and pulled him close, "Please… just stay one more night…"

Bethany sat next to him on the log, leaned over and tapped the side of her head against his, "We're having just as much fun with another mage our age as you are!"

Anders tapped his chin, "Ok… It is getting kind of late…"

"It sure is!" Hawke replied as she slapped him on the shoulder, "Hope you're alright with sleeping in the barn again?"

Anders smiled, "I am… It's very warm in there."

Carver clenched his teeth, turned his head and grumbled, "It's not fair… I feel so worthless…"

Sometime later, Hawke and Carver quickly doused the small fire with water as Bethany and Anders were walking back towards the house. Once it was out and all of their stuff was gathered, Hawke and Carver ran to catch up with Anders and their sister.

Through the trees a ways off, a black rider was peering through the lens of a long narrow spy glass as he observed these four children. He smiled evilly as he collapsed the spy glass into its compact form and put it back into his large shoulder pouch.

"At last, I have found you! Not only that, I've found even more apostates! Oh, that will make the reward that much better!" he said excitedly, he had beaten the competition and found not only the boy, but two other apostate girls.

His put two fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. Overhead, his black falcon screeched, then came swooping down through the trees and landed on his glove covered forearm. He then quickly scribbled a note onto a tiny piece of paper, folded it up and placed it into a small metal cylinder attached to the falcons leg.

"To the tower!" he commanded as he shot his arm up towards the sky. The falcon screeched loudly, then started to flap towards the night sky.

It had barely reached the tops of the trees before a sudden bolt of lightning struck it and it shrieked in pain, then fell from the sky and slammed into the forest floor, its whole body charred black.

At the same time, the black riders horse was so surprised by the sudden flash and boom that it reared up on its hind legs and whinnied loudly. "What the?" The black rider cried out as he struggled to get his horse back under control. Once he had, he looked back and saw his charred Falcon lying on its back, dead. He growled and looked back up and spotted a man dressed in a black hooded cloak, riding a white stallion off in that distance. He had one arm extended out and blue electricity was flowing and crackling loudly along his fingertips.

"I'm sorry… But I cannot allow you to do anything that will endanger the lives of my children…" the hooded rider spoke in a deep, low voice.

"Who the hell are you?" The black rider demanded to know.

The other rider pulled his hood down and glared at the black rider, "Malcolm Hawke… and those were my children that you were just spying on."

"Apostate children?" the black rider said, "My, my… that must be difficult, having to keep them hidden from templar's and people like me all the time."

Malcolm smiled, then turned his palm upwards and a small ball of fire appeared and burned brightly, "No harder than keeping myself hidden for this long!"

Even for as far away as he was, Malcolm saw the black riders eyes widen in surprise, he then replied, "Well… this is even more of a surprise, finding an adult apostate!"

Malcolm nodded, "Tell me, what would the Templar's pay more for? A young apostate, fresh out of the tower… Or an adult who has avoided the tower all his life… until now?"

The black rider ran his gloved finger across his faceplate, "For you… I'd get three, maybe even four times the reward!" He then drew his sword and held it high, "I'll not miss an opportunity like this!" And he kicked his horse in the sides and charged towards Malcolm.

Malcolm quickly turned his horse around, kicked it in the sides and began to flee… away from his daughters and his house, all the while the black rider rode hard behind him, waving his sword in the air while yelling like a mad man.

The chase lasted more than a five minutes hard ride by horse, through the woods until they came upon another lake, much larger and wider than the pond next to the Hawke household. Malcolm's house reared up and whinnied as it approached the water, and just as he tried to turn it around to ride along the bank, the black riders horse crashed into it and he grabbed Malcolm around the waist as he flew forward. He, the horses and Malcolm then fell into the water together.

The horses neighed and climbed out of the water and ran off, but Malcolm and the black rider hadn't yet resurfaced. Soon, both men broke through the water, and were locked in hand to hand combat. The black rider had Malcolm in a rear choke hold and wasn't about to let go, not until the mage was unconscious and unable to use any magic spells against him. As the struggle continued and Malcolm was beginning to black out from lack of oxygen, he turned one palm towards the water and electricity crackled and sparked all around his hand.

"You wouldn't dare!" The black rider challenged, "You'd surely fry yourself along with me!"

Malcolm wheezed and gagged, but managed to say, "For my children… I'd gladly… risk it!" He then thrust his electrified palm into the water and both he and the black rider convulsed and shook as the electricity coursed through it.

Thankfully, Malcolm had master control of his spells and had only used enough of a shock to get free. The black rider was covered in plate armour, so he got it worse, that was for sure. Still, he cursed and tore off his helmet and breastplate, now only covered chain mail and a chain hood.

Now free, Malcolm scurried back onto shore, and charged up another spell between the palms of his hands. It was an ice spell, and he hoped to freeze the bounty hunter while he was still in the water. But as soon as he turned, he felt something pierce his leg, right through the side of his thigh. He cried out in pain, dropped his hands and clutched his leg, completely losing the spell. He looked down and saw a small crossbow bolt embedded in his flesh. Before he could react, he heard fast approaching footsteps, and as soon as he looked up, he was smacked across the face with a metal gauntlet. As he staggered in a daze, he was lifted above the black riders head and thrown back into the water.

Malcolm now lay mostly submerged in the water, face down as cold water lapped against his face. Suddenly, the black rider jumped on top of him and tried to apply another choke hold, he didn't want to kill his prize, so he continued to try and subdue him.

The two men rolled and wrestled in the water, and each time Malcolm's head broke the waters surface, he shouted, "Horus! Horus~!"

Overheard, a large black Hawk screeched loudly and spread its wings, then dove towards the ground in a steep dive. It extended its sharp talons outwards and grabbed the black rider by the face, saving its master, Malcolm Hawke.

The black rider screamed in pain as the Hawk tore at his flesh with its talons and pecked away with its sharp beak against his forehead. Just as he fell back into the water, the Hawk flapped its wings and took to the sky. The black rider rolled over inorder to push himself up and get back onto his feet. But just as he pushed himself off the lakebed, he was mounted from behind and pushed back down into the water. His head was then held under the water as he kicked and struggled to get back up. But Malcolm remained on top and pushed his face into the rocks and sand, keeping him under. This man was a threat, not only to himself, but to his beloved mage daughters, and had to be eliminated. The black riders arms and legs thrashed and kicked even more wildly as Malcolm used all the strength he could muster to prevent him from getting a single breath of air.

The black rider only kicked and struggled for a few seconds more, then became still. His legs kicked a few more times out of involuntary muscle spasms after he had finally drowned, then it all stopped entirely.

Still, Malcolm waited a few more seconds, just to be sure. He then fell back and breathed a sigh of relief, at least one of the threats-the major one-was gone now. Still, this had only bought time for the Hawke family. The Templar's were still out there, and Malcolm knew they would still be coming, even without the help of this bounty hunter.

Malcolm Hawke then looked up towards the sky as he heard his Hawk chirping loudly, he then held out his arm and it landed perfectly on top of it and continued to chirp while tilting its head side to side. Malcolm smiled and pulled his arm towards his chest and stroked his feathery breast with the back of his fingers.

"Thank you… old friend…" he said, he then sighed loudly as he looked over at the dead bounty hunter lying face down in the water nearby. "I promised myself that I wouldn't kill anyone here in Ferelden… This is starting to look just like Kirkwall all over again…"

Malcolm then set about the grizzly task of destroying the body to try and hide the evidence. It was a dirty, messy job, but he would gladly do it to protect his children and his wife from the wrath of the templar's.

A short while later in the Hawke household, Leandra was sitting in the living room, folding the clothes from off the clothesline. Just then her husband came limping through the backdoor, clutching a badly wounded leg.

"Malcolm! Are you alright? What happened?" Leandra cried as she jumped up from her chair and grabbed a kitchen cloth and pressed it against his bleeding leg.

"I… broke a sacred vow… Leandra…"

Leandra gasped, "You provoked the templar's?" Malcolm shook his head, "You used magic against the children?" Again he shook his head, "You… killed someone?" Malcolm nodded his head.

Leandra held a hand against her mouth, "Why? What happened?"

"I did it to protect our children… The girls have taken in an apostate boy from the circle tower, as an act of kindness… but they have no idea of the danger that they've gotten themselves into…"

"Templar's?" Leandra asked with dread in her voice.

Malcolm nodded and Leandra's face turned pure white, "What should we do? Should we pack up and leave?"

"There's no time… The bounty hunter that I killed was only a scout for the Templar's that are on their way to Lothering as we speak." Malcolm sighed and looked over at his wife with sad eyes, "You know what we have to do… Leandra."

"Malcolm… you can't mean-"

"It's either that boy, or all of us, Leandra. I already sent Horus to the tower with an urgent message for Marcus. I can only hope he gets it and comes here before it's too late."

Leandra gasped, "Marcus…? But he's a templar!"

Malcolm shook his head, "Yes, but he's also Maurevar Carver's old friend. And he's our only hope now."

Leandra trembled greatly as she hugged herself, then said, "Wait! Can't we just warn the boy, give him some coin and send him on his way? How can we give him up to the Templar's?"

"I had to kill that bounty hunter because he knew our family had helped that apostate boy, so the only witness is gone. But the Templar's will still be tracking him through his phylactery, and what do you think they'll do if they track him to our house and discover that we are helping him and giving him shelter?

All we can do now is try to show the templar's that we acted to help them in their hunt and hand the boy over. Otherwise… we'll be guilty of aiding an escaped apostate and that will bring the full wrath of the Templar's down upon our family."

"But the children… what about them?"

"Carver already knows about this. He was the one who warned me. And I'm sure that Bethany will have just gone with her big sisters decision, as she always does. But she'll listen to reason.

It's Hawke that will be the one we have to worry about the most."

"Do you have an idea how angry she will be once she learns of this?"

Malcolm closed his eyes and sighed, "I know… But if having her hate me for the rest of her life keeps her safe from the templar's… then so be it…"

Leandra walked over and hugged Malcolm and began to cry softly against his shoulder, "Makers breath, I hope you know what you're doing…"

A short while later, Carver, Hawke, Bethany and Anders were back in the barn. Anders was covered back up in his wool blanket and resting against the pile of hay. Only now, the overhead door had been opened and the three mages were looking up and admiring the stars overhead. Carver was keeping watch once more.

Anders sighed happily, "I had forgotten how pretty some things outside of the tower are…"

Hawke laughed, "You mean the stars?" she asked, "You don't get to see them often I take it?"

Anders swallowed hard, "Well, there's that… but I was thinking of something even more pretty…"

"Hmmm… what do you mean-" Hawke asked as she looked over and saw Anders staring at her, even in the dark, she could see the brightness of his cheeks.

"So very pretty…" he said with a smile.

Hawke blushed as well, but couldn't reply. Bethany groaned loudly and stood up, "Oh stop it you two! You're making me sick!" she teased.

"Bah, you're not the only one…" Carver said in disgust, though he wasn't joking.

Bethany then tugged him by the arm back towards the house, "Come on, let's leave the two love birds for a while."

Once they were gone, Hawke and Anders looked up towards the stars and remained silent, neither could think of what to say. Hawke decided to show Anders a trick to break the awkward silence, so she reached out and her index finger began to glow. "Look up there!" She instructed, she then traced out the big dipper constellation and it was visible now thanks to a magical glowing line. The two of them laughed and Hawke traced out some other constellations for Anders to see, though he was too busy looking at Hawke, admiring her more than the stars.

Back at the house, Bethany and Carver had just gone through the front door and were retiring back to their own rooms for the night. But before they could do so, Leandra called the two of them into the living room next to the kitchen. Bethany instantly gasped as soon as she saw her father, bruised up and sitting in a chair, leaning forward as Leandra wrapped his head in long white dressings and tied them into place.

"Father! Father!" Carver and Bethany cried out one after the other as they ran up to him. Carver hugged him first, then Bethany.

"Sit down, kids… there's something that we need to discuss," Malcolm instructed and his kids instantly obeyed, "Now… we need to talk about that apostate boy that you and your big sister are hiding in the barn."

"But, Father, I-" Bethany started, but stopped as soon as Malcolm raised his hand.

"I know all about how you found him and everything else that's happened up until now. I know because Carver warned me."

Bethany gasped as she looked over at Carver, he clenched his teeth and looked away, "I had no choice… you and sis were ignoring all my warnings."

The shame and guilt of lying all this time quickly overcame Bethany and her eyes well up with tears, then flowed down her cheeks. "Father-" again Bethany was silenced by her fathers raised hand.

"We don't have time for this. We need to act before the templar's come, which will most likely be tomorrow. So I need the two of you to listen to my plan very carefully."

"Yes, Father!" Caver quickly replied.

Bethany looked out towards the barn, sniffled loudly and wiped away her tears, before replying, "Yes… Father…"