She had volunteered them to go into the caves that were too weak to have the whole party venture down when the scouts had come back proclaiming the main road was blocked. She led the way always at the front. Anders stood at her heel again and he walked with Varric. None of them talked, however. They didn't want to invite the Darkspawn to them, nor did they want to risk a cave in from their voices. She kept glancing back at him, probably checking on him but there was something else in her eyes he never saw from her before… was that fear?

They heard the growls before they saw the Darkspawn, but they knew they were close. He saw her lunge through the air, digging both of her blades into one Darkspawn's chest before he saw the others rush at her. Varric was already firing at them and he watched one after the other drop dead around her. Anders' body started to glow blue as he tapped into that abomination, firing fireballs at the enemies in front of them. Hawke didn't even flinch as they ran at her she just slashed them aside, kicking them out of the way as she walked into the clearing. He rushed around the corner as she disappeared behind it his great sword swinging at the spiders that were crawling out after them. She was on a mission and he saw why. She was stalking her prey. A huge Ogre was trying to get into a rock crevasse and she was eyeing it up. It was foolish to attack an Ogre by herself. He wanted to call out to her but if he yelled the Ogre would turn its attention on her. She jumped up onto the nearby rocks to jump onto it's back. It screamed and tried to shake her but she dug her blades into his back.

"HAWKE WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Anders screamed out as they had cleared the area. The Ogre was moving to slam her into the nearest column. Anders moved quickly moving to throw a fireball at it.

"Are you stupid you might hit her!" Fenris growled at Anders pushing him aside so that his fireball hit the ground.

Anders got up looking like he was going to start a fight with Fenris but he just ignored him staring back to this mad woman riding an Ogre's back. She removed her daggers, jumping up from its shoulders to allow it to slam itself into the wall. It made a mad grab for her but she drove her blades into its skull with a sick crunch. It screamed as it fell with Hawke swiftly maneuvering herself to its back as it fell. It thudded to the ground and she looked over at the rock cracks like nothing had occurred.

"It's alright to come out now, Sandal… You can just go back the way you came. It's safe now." She was covered in Darkspawn blood, and she was wiping it from her face to clear her eyes.

Sandal clapped. "Pretty lady good." She chuckled at him and then went to move on as the others just stared at her.

"Hawke what in the Maker's name was that about?" They had run to catch up. "Did you become possessed?"

"I really don't like darkspawn… but I loathe Ogres." Fenris figured that was part of her story about fleeing from Ferelden. He made a note to ask her about that, but he was afraid she might snap like she did when she saw that Ogre. "This isn't over though… I don't see Darkspawn up ahead, nor do I hear them… This isn't good."

She was tired, and she held a slight limp as she walked. Fenris came up to her side and put her arm around his shoulder. "You're straining yourself." The look on her face was priceless as she stared shocked at him.

"I could just heal it for her."Anders had come up next to them.

"You need to conserve your mana…" Hawke was protesting his help and Anders' help. She wanted to be the big strong leader but she winced as she tried to pull away. He pulled her closer keeping most of her weight on him.

"We could just rest." Varric interjected.

"This isn't the place for that either. We'll just push on." As their leader said they walked on. They came to a clearing with stairs leading up to a longer hallway and she frowned, pausing in where she stood.

"This isn't good."

"What do you mean, Hawke?" Varric piped up.

"There's a dragon here." Her face had gone pale.

"How can you tell? It looks like an empty space to me." Anders was being a smart-ass and it didn't suit him in Fenris' opinion. She had already told Anders how she was a hunter for the Dalish, and Fenris sure wasn't going to argue with her opinion.

"Remember the Bone Pit? This is the same." She pushed away from Fenris to walk forward into the clearing. "That's why there has been no Darkspawn… the dragon has been feasting on them." Her speech was cut short as a roar was heard and then the flap of wings.

The Earth shook as it landed in front of them. It wasn't a high dragon, but it was a fully grown dragon. It tilted it's head as it looked at Hawke and screeched at her, she stood her ground however as she looked at it.

"Well, I hope you all are prepared for this…"Hawke was smirking at the dragon like some maniac before she charged at it favoring her one leg as she ran up to slash at its stomach. It reared and tried to crush her but she jumped back, she wasn't quick enough the second time as it slashed her with its claws sending her sliding across the floor.

"Hawke!"They seemed to scream in unison.

Anders was keeping it at bay with lightning strikes as Varric peppered it with arrows. It was clawing at the wounds they were giving it as Hawke lay limp on the other side of the room. Fenris was running towards her as the dragon reared its head to look as Hawke as she went to stand. She was on her knees as it went to blast her with fire. Fenris ran forward tackling her out of the way and sliding across the floor with her as the dragon sputtered the last few flames where they once had stood. She was breathing heavily, and she was bleeding from her side where the dragon had made contact with her.

"Just hold on, Hawke." His voice was hard as he saw her blood on his hands. She loo ked at him and smirked though as she stood up, holding her hand to the wound to her side.

"Nothing to worry about." She looked over at Anders and the Varric as the dragon turned its attention to them. "ANDERS." She was screaming across the room at him and he turned those eerily glowing eyes onto her. "Concentrate all your mana into an arrow and shoot for its chest." The dragon didn't know who it wanted. It kept looking back and forth between the two groups and puffing smoke out of its nostrils as Anders started to channel mana into himself.

She tightened her curaiss in an attempt to stop the bleeding as she looked at the beast. "Fenris… Ma'arlath.." and like that she ran forward grabbing her blade from the ground to rush forward at the dragon. He followed after he taking a different path from her to swing around to its other side. The dragon screeched and stood up on its hind legs to blast them with fire but she dug her blade into its thigh making it cry and thrash.

"Anytime now Anders!" Her voice broke through its painful screams and she pulled her blade out and jumped away from it, dancing away from its strikes. Her command made the room turn white though as a beam encased itself in the dragon's chest, ripping it open and spilling it's contents all over the tiled floor. Fenris and Hawke both jumped away as the dragon made its dying thralls, trying to claw at its open chest before it collapsed.

He saw Anders collapse and saw Hawke limp over to him and Varric. He followed sullenly, his head a flurry over what she had said. He felt sick seeing the blood trickle down her pants but he felt sicker at the words she had said. I love you. He wanted to say it back but there was tightness in his chest, was he allowed to feel such feelings? Did she truly mean it or was it just something she thought she should say as she rushed to her death. She had thought she was going to die, or else she had so much faith in Anders that she threw her life into his hands. She collapsed next to Anders and winced as she went to grab her side.

Varric was looking at the path ahead, past the dragon's corpse. "That's the path we're going to want to take. It will lead us past the blockade. We should tell Bartrand."

"I'm not going to be able to walk back without Anders healing… and I assume that Fenris won't be able to drag me and Anders back. We'll rest until Anders wakes up.."

Fenris knelt down besides her. "You're going to bleed out before that happens…"She laughed at him. "What's so funny?"

"Your face, you look like I'm already dead." She touched his face lightly with the hand that wasn't covering her side. "Look, I'm going to be fine. I killed an Ogre… I can survive this." He just stared at her, tense as she touched him. It sent shivers down his spine, he was so afraid of being touched but she was so warm. "If you are that worried, go into my pack… there is a healing ointment and some bandages…"

He did as she said, digging through her messy pack. She didn't have anything organized, she was a mess. He brought the bandages back and the lotion and he saw Varric sitting next to Anders as Hawke took her top off slowly. Some of the leather was digging into her cut and she picked it out slowly. Varric looked away and Fenris blushed.

"You boys act like you've never seen a woman's stomach…" She was smirking though she was half wincing when she did so. Her cunning banter was lost beneath her pain as he looked at the deep incision. It was true though, her chest was bound so it wasn't like he was seeing anything scandalous. It was deep and it looked painful.

"I'm seeing more of you than I've ever wanted to see, Hawke." Varric said dryly.

"Oh come on. I'm much prettier than the women at the rose."She laughed brushing him off as she took the ointment from Fenris' hands and poured it on her wound. She gasped a little but dropped the empty vial. "Fenris, please can you tie the bandadges and make it tight."He did as she told and he seemed to take the breath out of her. She bent over slightly to hold her wound. "Well… maybe not that tight.." They sat there in silence for a few as Hawke thought about something. She was sitting there engulfed in whatever was going through her head. "You are going to hate this… but I want the two of you to go back and bring Bartrand here. I'll stay here with Anders. Both of us are in no shape to walk back."

"You have to be mad to think we'd leave you here." Varric was obviously worried,perhaps Hawke had lost too much blood and there was hardly any circulating in her brain.

"I refuse to leave you." Fenris stood her ground crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can still fight.. we've cleared the area.. bring Batrand and the party here. This is an order not a request." She had steeled herself, narrowed her eyes and shut down any smiles or amusing comments. "If Anders wakes up he can heal me, and we don't waste time if you guys hurry."

They both grit their teeth but in the end they had caved. He looked back to see her reaching in her pack to pull out a small vial, she pulled the cork off with her teeth and then poured it's contents down her throat… Varric started talking to him and they passed the time listening to his bawdy jokes as they walked back. It was better than worrying if any Darkspawn had eaten Hawkehe assumed, but only a little better.