Fenris had spent days at Anna's side, how many he did not know, and was surprised that Danarius had not been by or sent some of his lackeys to fetch his errant slave boy back home for a suitable punishment for his behaviour. Then again, his master had probably expected him to be forced to return eventually and was anticipating his doing so. Therefore Fenris stood, in the cold night, just outside the door of a house that had once upon a time been a safe haven and was now the precipice of his own private hell. He forced himself to think of Anna in her hospital bed, so pale and so lovely even with the horrific scars covering most of her body. She had looked like an angel amongst the white sheets, and he had to do this for her. She had faced a dragon alone and she had slain it; he could face his master's wrath.
He opened the door and slowly entered the hall. It was still, silent, but the calm only served to put him on alert; his senses sharpening to a knife-point, ready for whatever would come at him from out of the shadows of the barely lit entrance hall. He listened carefully for any sort of noise alerting him to another's presence, be it breath or footsteps, but there was nothing. Just this uncomfortable feeling of being watched. Slowly he made his way down the hall, frozen feet sinking into the lush carpet blanketing the marble floors. Somewhere in this house his master awaited his arrival, and he would surely not be pleased. The question was, whether to attempt to avoid the man or to face him head-on in his rage and get it over with. The punishment was unavoidable, after all. He wondered what it might be. Would her be hung by his arms and whipped bloody? Burned? Electrocuted? It did not matter. There was no pain, no degradation, no agony he would not suffer for Anna, could not endure with her image in his mind. If he could only hold fast to Anna, even hell itself would be something he could brave without fear. She was his angel of light, his protector and his guardian. But right now she lay weakened and she needed him to be strong. He would be strong for her.
With great reluctance, he entered the grand hall that lay beyond the entrance hall. It was Danarius' favourite room with its high elegant ceiling, stained glass windows and imposing throne at the furthest end. Fenris was not in the least surprised that his master sat upon said throne, like a vengeful god awaiting his faithless servant.
"So" he said with a voice that could have chilled on ice giant, "the lost lamb returns home at last." Fenris froze in dread. This voice was sweet in a way he had learnt to recognize as a thin mask for a rage that he had not been the target of for a very long time - only once since the last time he had made one of his more successful attempts at escape and managed to get to the harbour before his pursuers caught up with him. The night after he had lain with Anna for the first time, at the inn where they had met. The inn where he had learnt her warmth, learnt what it meant to not only give a woman pleasure but to find his own pleasure in her.
He raised his gaze slowly, not wanting to see the nightmare he knew was about to unfurl, but he thought of Anna and forced himself to be brave. She deserved someone who was brave, like she was. His master's eyes were two thin pinpricks of rage, like molten lava and unbending stone and a never ending hatred. All of it directed at him.
"You defy me at every turn. First you rut with that Fereldan bitch, then you sneak out not once but several times to rut with her again and again, panting after her like a brainless mutt after a bitch in heat. It is sickening. And I will not allow it."
"Anna has won our freedom" he said, even though his mouth was dry and his tongue swollen with dread. "You yourself saw that she won the threefold challenge, it has been recognised by the council that she faced your challenge and won. You have no hold over me anymore."
"Don't I?" Danarius laughed, and the sound sent a chill down Fenris' spine.
"You forget, little pet, that it was I who allowed you to live when I could have gotten rid of you like the useless mutt you were. I turned you into a weapon of unmistakable power, I gave you a purpose higher than any slave ever could dream off. And you reward me by wanting to run off with a Fereldan whore."
"You gave me purpose? An agony unimaginable whenever you decide to do any sort of spell in my presence? To be a living source of lyrium for a power-mad bastard who tortures his servants for kicks?" Fenris heard his voice raised in anger and wanted to cower in the dark, but the image of Anna burned too brightly in his mind to allow self-preservation to win. Instead he wielded his anger like a shield. Like the shield she was created to be. "You tortured me beyond endurance, turned me into…" He made a helpless gesture towards the scars littering his body, "into this, and expect me to what, be grateful? You who torment my every waking moment, who deny my meals, beat me when it suits you and whore me out when you feel like rewarding your bitch of an apprentice for having proven herself to be just like you? And you expect me to be grateful?" Fenris spat out the last word, hands clenching into fists in his rage. He could feel a hum that by now was familiar as bright blue flames erupted from his fists, trailing up his arms until his entire upper body glowed with a familiar blue-white light. It burned in his veins like dragon fire when the lyrium inside him responded, but he did not care at this point. This bastard would not have any power of him anymore! He was Anna's now. He belonged to his templar.
"How dare you turn the powers I gave you against me!" Danarius raged, raising his staff to attack the insolent elf who stood before him, an unnatural glow in his eyes. Fenris looked like an abomination fresh from the fade, with every vein in his body burning bright white and his eyes shining like white orbs of pure power. His fists were clenched and ready to strike, his lips were drawn back into a snarl of rage. He looked like a rabid animal, and there was only one way to deal with a rabid animal. Put it down. Danarius gathered his power, aiming for the heart beating wildly in the slave's chest.
Fenris saw the attack before it erupted, but as he had never received any training to control the powers he carried within him he had no way of countering. He threw himself out of the way, expecting an explosion. It never came. He looked up from his position on the floor and stared in amazement at the shape that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. In the middle of the hall stood a knight in full armour, a helmet covering its face, a heavy two-handed sword raised over its head in a pose that was both protective and ready to attack. The knight glowed bright yellow, like the sun breaking through the clouds. Or, to be more specific, like Anna's hair when the sun shone in through the windows. That's when he understood. The figure standing between him and Danarius like a living shield was Anna. It was his templar, coming to his aid. Fenris got to his feet, feeling the bond sing triumphantly inside him. Suddenly he felt like he could take on an army of golems and win. He walked towards Danarius, grim determination in his eyes. The knight moved forward too, still keeping between the mage and the elf. Danarius fired again, but as before his attack was absorbed by the knight as if it had been nothing. Fenris kept advancing, fury boiling in his veins as he looked at his tormentor. This would end here, tonight. He was going to end this. And then he was taking Anna onto the nearest ship out of this blasted country and going… somewhere, away, somewhere they could be free and together. Like they would never be in Tevinter. The closer he got to the knight the more the pain in his veins seemed to lessen, it was still there but it did not matter as he advanced on his previous master, his eyes promising hell to pay. Danarius started to back away, throwing spell after spell at the elf with increasing desperation, but each spell he threw was absorbed into the golden knight's glowing sword.
Fenris could see the panic in the magister's eyes as he realised that no matter what he threw at the slave advancing on him, the spectre of the knight that still seemed to be shining would take the damage and nullify it. He lunged for Fenris in a desperate attempt to injure him physically, but Fenris had anticipated such a move and simply stepped out of the way. His still glowing hand darted out and gripped Danarius' arm with all his strength, getting a twisted satisfaction from hearing the bone snap. The magister cried out in agony and his free hand flared up with a fire ball as he aimed for Fenris' face. He never had time to launch the attack.
Without thinking, Fenris hand launched himself forward as if by its own will and without as much of a whisper it buried itself in the magister's chest. Then there was a rip and a chunk and the cracking of ribs, a horrifying squelch and the noise of a dying man trying to scream, but choking on his own blood. Fenris yanked his hand back, ripping out the man's heart in the process. Danarius made one last gurgling sound as he fell to the floor of his precious great hall, the expensive carpet darkening with blood. Fenris swayed in his place, feeling lost and slightly confused as to what had just happened. The bright light emanating from his lyrium infused veins vanished as quickly as it had begun, and he sank to his knees, panting with exertion. He looked up at the golden knight, which seemed to flicker in and out of sight. Then, he heard a voice he had for a time been afraid he'd never hear again.
"Well, that was rather anticlimactic." Anna said dryly as she vanished, as swiftly and silently as she had appeared.
Fenris made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob as he threw the bloody heart as far away from himself as he could. He stared at his master's corpse in a mix of wonder and horror. He had dreamed of killing the monster of his nightmares so many times, he had lost count of the ways. But to actually have done it was almost impossible to understand. Suddenly he wanted to be with Anna, to lie in her arms and listen to his heartbeat. He slowly got on his feet, legs trembling with exhaustion. He was covered in blood and… things he'd rather not think about, and to be fair all he cared about now was sleep. He wanted to sleep. And in the morning, he would take Anna away. Far away. Where, did not matter. It was over, she had won his freedom and he had slain the monster. It was time for their happy ever after, now. Like in the fairy tale he vaguely remembered someone reading when he had been a child. It might even have been his mother.
He walked up the stairs leading to his master's bed chambers slowly, wearily, on legs that ached and screamed at him to let them rest. He leaned heavily against the wall for support, his eyes insisting on falling closed. But there was a smile playing in the corner of his mouth, and as he sank onto the cot, still covered in blood, he whispered; and I lie so composedly now in my bed, knowing her love, that you fancy me dead1.
Fenris closed his eyes and slept, content and safe like a child. He dreamed of Anna.
1 Edgar Allan Poe; "For Annie"