To be honest, they had forgotten all about Fenris in the wake of the disaster.There were other, bigger considerations. The Champion of Kirkwall's demise could well break the very fragile peace between Orsino and his Circle and Meredith and her Templars. Hawke was a figure of admiration on both sides, and one of a very few voices of reason who was still trying to broker agreement between all sides. At the same time, she had been working to establish a new Vicount in the city, with the goodwill she had earned from the Hightown nobility by defeating the Arishok and saving all their lives. Even the City Guard paid her respects, due to her close friendship with the Guard Commander.News of the Champion's death would generate chaos. Maybe even open warfare in the streets of Kirkwall.Which was why they – they being primarily Aveline, Varric, and Sebastian, hurriedly gathered in the Hanged Man that night – decided to keep it to themselves, for now. Hawke was out of the city adventuring often enough that there would always be good reason for her absence. Only her friends knew of her disappearance, and that was how it would stay. At least until a new course of action could be determined that would not involve everyone fleeing the city.This deception, and the discussions about a way forward, would keep her companions occupied in the days after Hawke's death. In such matters, one could be forgiven for not remembering the moody, taciturn elf.

And, in the immediate aftermath, there was Anders to worry about.

Anders roared into consciousness several minutes later as though no time had passed. Held down by Varric and Merrill, he cried out for his beloved Hawke in a broken wail.

"Blondie, I'm sorry, she's gone…" Varric said sorrowfully. He held the skinny mage to the hard stone, hoping to keep him there until he calmed down to a less explosive state.

"Lie still, lethallen, catch your breath," Merrill said soothingly, through the tears that coursed unchecked down her face.

"Let me go," Anders demanded frantically. "Let me go."

The Fade Spirit with whom he shared his mortal body, Justice, surged once more to the forefront and flung the elf and dwarf aside like so much kindling. He flew to the edge of the abyss in a haze of blue light, his face almost completely obscured with the light of the Fade that poured from his eyes.

His arms lifted, and a surge of raw energy flooded into the crevasse, lighting it down and down and down. The blue light captured straggling Dragonlings clinging to the sides of the cliff, and the flutter of wings where Drakes sailed below. But the bottom of the crater, if there even was one, was so far below that his magic disappeared from view before alighting it.

Fenris, still crouching at the cliff's edge, watched this quietly. His eyes scanned the cliffside for any sign of Hawke. Any small scrap of hope.

But there was nothing.

"This is not correct," Justice thundered, in a vaguely baffled tone. "This cannot be the Champion's end. She was to stand beside Anders to the very last."

"I'm sure she would have," Merrill offered timidly, creeping up beside him.

"Be silent, blood witch." Justice cocked Anders's head to the side, as if listening to his own words echoing through the cavern. In fact, he was listening to another voice inside his head. "But I cannot give you the body now. You will do something foolish with it."

Varric and Merrill exchanged pained looks.

"Only if you promise to return us to Kirkwall intact. Dwarf, witch, you will watch him, will you not?"

"Of course," Varric said dully, unable to muster his usual enthusiasm. "We don't want to lose any more people today."

The blue light of Justice faded, and Anders dropped to his knees, robbed of all strength. Immediately Merrill and Varric were at his elbows, attempting to pull him up. The suffering mage shook them off. He stayed there panting, his hands and knees numb against the cold stone. A broken sob rose from him, and Anders reached into his coat.

He pulled from an inner pocket a glittering amulet, one that no one had seen him wear, but he had always kept close to his heart. The chain of it rattled in his trembling hand. Then he flung it over the cliff's edge. They all could hear it plinking against the cliffside, fainter and fainter, until it was gone and all was silent again.

"Sadie," Anders wailed suddenly into the dark. "Sadie, I'm so sorry. My love. I'm so sorry."

Tears coursed down the mage's face as his two companions hauled him to his feet and slowly lead him away, for the long journey back to Kirkwall.

As soon as the sun hit their faces, Varric remembered.

"Wait here a minute," he told Merrill. "One minute." Then he hurried back down into the Bone Pit.

His eyes readjusting to the dark, he could just barely make out the outline of the elf still crouched at the cliff's edge.

"Elf. We're going."

Fenris did not acknowledge his presence in any way. In fact he had not heard Varric at all, or noticed them dragging Anders away. There was only a dull roaring in his ears as he stared down into the dark.

Varric looked nervously back at the cave's entrance. He couldn't leave Merrill to handle Anders alone, and they had to hurry to get him back to Kirkwall before dusk set in.

"Broody? … Fenris?" The dwarf shifted anxiously from side to side, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. All he really wanted to do was go back to his suite at the Hanged Man and hold Bianca and drink until he forgot that his best friend in the whole world had just died. "Look, you'll have to catch up, all right?"

Fenris said nothing in reply, didn't even move. Varric was tempted to go down and sit there too, but there was Anders to think of.

"Don't stay too long, okay? Once the sun's down those dragon chicks will come crawling back."

He felt bad about leaving him there, but what could he do? Everything was a disaster. Anders was sobbing when Varric came back up to the surface, his head between his knees.

Varric didn't feel much better, but unfortunately, somebody had to be the grown-up here. "Let's go, Blondie. Your clinic and your patients are waiting. Daisy, give me a hand."

Together the three of them stumbled back to Kirkwall, leaving Fenris alone in the Bone Pit.