Five caves, four groups of darkspawn, three rockfalls, two packs of deepstalkers (and one splitting headache on Anders' part) later, they finally found Sandal. As they'd passed further into the Deep Roads, Anders had found himself growing more and more distracted by the glowing blue veins of lyrium that snaked through the rock almost like something living, the glow from the crystals bathing the dark tunnels in an eery yet almost tranquil blue light. It made his blood sing; between the lyrium and the pounding in his head, it was becoming harder and harder to think straight and his gaze was often distracted. He didn't see the worried looks the others gave each other; he barely even noticed when Fenris' gauntleted fingers curled about his wrist, drawing him away when he seemed to drift too close to the enchanting yet toxic mineral.
The lyrium was forgotten as they emerged into yet another cave to a most unexpected sight.
"Well, I'll be a nug's uncle," said Varric slowly as they stared at the dwarf youth, surrounded by the bodies of dead darkspawn. "Isn't that Bodahn's boy?" They blinked at the sight of Sandal, idly scratching his backside unconcernedly as he stared up at what appeared to be the glowing, petrified form of an ogre.
Hawke stared around at the dead bodies, toeing one with his boot before descending down to the floor of the cavern, Varric a step behind. Bethany stumbled as she followed; Anders caught her arm absently.
"Careful, Bethany," he murmured.
"Caught my foot," she muttered. She gave him a brief smile that didn't quite reach her eyes as she turned to follow Hawke, going to stand beside him. Anders frowned slightly as she pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes briefly. Maybe the Deep Roads was giving her a headache too - or perhaps it was proximity to all the raw lyrium. Maker only knew it was certainly making his head throb. He shrugged and followed after as Fenris brought up the rear.
"Hello," said Sandal, his voice slow and almost dreamy as he gave them a vacant smile.
"He survived this entire time!" said Bethany, impressed.
"Talk about dumb luck!" Anders exclaimed, eyeing the ogre with curiosity. Hawke nodded and gave a low whistle before moving forward to crouch in front of Sandal with a friendly smile.
"I'd really like to know how you managed to kill all of them!" he remarked as Sandal gave him an answering smile, then held out a small stone. As Hawke took it and turned it over in his hand, staring at the glowing silvery glyph inscribed on one side, Sandal grinned.
"Boom."
Hawke's eyebrows rose, and he glanced at the petrified ogre. "And how did you do that?"
Sandal looked at the ogre. "Not enchantment," he said, then turned away.
"Smart boy," murmured Varric speculatively, as Hawke glanced down at the stone in his hand. The dwarf jerked his head after Sandal, who was heading towards a cave exit on the other side of the cavern, "Come on, we still need to find a way past that collapse," he added.
They found a short flight of cracked stone steps and headed up, finding themselves in a large passage, paved with cracked stones. They'd barely taken a few steps into the hallway when Anders felt the telltale itching in the back of his skull suddenly intensify. "More darkspawn," he called out as he unslung his staff; Bethany groaned beside him as she readied her own staff. She looked a little nauseated; he couldn't say he could blame her. As the hurlocks lurched towards them, their breath rank and fetid, he felt more than a little queasy himself. He was low on mana, but he didn't dare take more lyrium so soon. He reached for a blast capsule, and the fight was on.
They fought their way through two more waves of hurlocks before they had reached the end of the passageway, which opened out into a large hall. By the time they had dispatched the last of the darkspawn, even Fenris was looking ready to drop. Hawke called a halt, and they made their way over to another flight of stairs to sit, catch their breath and a bite to eat.
Anders dropped gracelessly down onto a step with a low groan and lowered his head to his hands to massage his temples. The last of his mana had fizzled away during the last fight, leaving him hollow and empty inside and more weary than he could ever remember feeling. His head throbbed in time with his heartbeat, and when Fenris handed him some cold rations he thought he might throw up at sight of the unappetising waybread and dried sausage. He accepted them with a cautious nod however, and began to eat without appetite.
The white-haired warrior folded his legs gracefully and lowered himself onto the step next to Anders, busying himself with his own food. Anders was only vaguely aware of his presence at first; he could see an intruding vein of lyrium across the hall, its blue glow tantalising in the darkness. It seemed to sing silently; and he felt his blood stirring and quickening in response. A glimmer of quicksilver in his veins; not enough, by far.
Fenris' fingers closing over his own brought him back to awareness with a start. He turned his head to find himself being regarded by intent green eyes. Fenris' fingers tightened briefly, and Anders dropped his gaze to their hands. His own was laid over the lyrium pouch; he had no memory of having reached for it. He glanced up at Fenris, startled.
He saw no censure or anger in Fenris' eyes however; only deep weariness and - was that... concern? A flicker of sorrow? Anders swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, I just... I, I'm sorry -"
Fenris laid a finger upon his lips, silencing the blond apostate, then replaced his finger with his own lips. Anders froze at first, startled; then he let his eyes fall closed as he leaned into the kiss. He felt Fenris' hands gently cradle his face, warm and comforting; and then the thrill of lyrium's kiss flooding his body like white fire, his magic reawakening at its song. He moaned into Fenris' mouth as he clutched at the elf like a drowning man clinging to a branch for dear life. He couldn't think; as their lips parted, he couldn't speak. It was all he could do to simply remember to breathe.
"Broody, what in -" Varric's voice was gruff and startled. Anders managed to open his eyes; the cavern was lit up by the blazing silver light of Fenris' brands. The blue glow of the raw lyrium veins in the rock was drowned out by the shining brilliance of the elf's power.
Fenris let the brands fade slowly as Anders exhaled a shaky breath. "Thank you, love," he managed finally, his voice little more than a husky whisper.
"Yes, well," Hawke finally interjected, clearing his throat. "Perhaps we ought to push on. The sooner we find a way round that rockfall, the sooner we can be back at camp."
"A dragon. Of course there's a dragon." Hawke's voice was flat as they stared up at the immense beast.
"We're hundreds of feet below the surface! How on earth did a dragon get down here?" exclaimed Bethany as it soared around the lofty ceiling of the vast chamber.
"Less wondering, more smiting!" yelped Anders as the dragon abruptly decided swooping on the small noisy humanoids was the order of the day. Evidently it had woken up cranky. Anders couldn't say he entirely blamed it, even as he readied his staff with one hand and reached for an ice blast capsule with the other. Fenris' kiss seemed to have reawoken some small dregs of his power, but he might need that to heal the others after they survived this fight.
If they survived it, he silently amended as they were all forced to dive aside to dodge its searing fiery breath. He hurled the capsule and had the satisfaction of seeing tendrils of ice swiftly curl about the dragon's limbs as it fell crashing to the ground; his satisfaction was short-lived as it whipped its head around and fastened its enraged gaze upon him and inhaled.
"Andraste's flaming arse!" he exclaimed as he dove to one side; a wave of heat washed over him as flames roared over the spot where he had been standing only a few seconds before.
"No, but it was nearly yours, Blondie!" called back Varric as the dragon was effectively distracted by a volley of crossbow bolts to its own nether regions. It reared up and turned to glare at the dwarf as Bethany's bolt of ice hit it square in the chest. Hawke darted in from the shadows to hamstring the beast - or would have, if his blade hadn't skittered ineffectually off the beast's scales.
"Oh hah hah, very fun-" began Anders sarcastically, then broke off as the dragon turned and glared at him. "Ohhhh shit."
The dragon reared up with a roar, flapping its wings as it glared down at the small figure of the blond mage; there was a streak of brilliant white light and then the dragon shrieked in fury before spinning around. Anders threw himself to the ground to avoid being knocked flying by the beast's tail; as he glanced around, he could see Bethany had done likewise.
Fenris was laying into the dragon with his immense two-handed sword; the dragon inhaled sharply before unleashing another blast of flame at the elf, but it passed harmlessly through his incorporeal form as he phased his body, becoming a ghost of pure light as he darted forward. The blade of his sword was all too corporeal however as it sliced deeply into the reptilian hide then wrenched its way through muscle and sinew. Momentarily solid for a moment, Fenris reversed his stroke to hew again at the dragon.
The dragon spun, cat-like, and lashed out with a talon. Fenris was sent flying.
Anders sprang to his feet, launching himself at the dragon with a scream. He leapt towards the dragon's back and swung his staff overhead then buried the blade deeply in the monstrous reptile's spine. He clung on as it reared, bellowing in pain and fury; there was a flash of light as Bethany's spell exploded across the dragon's flank, a ball of flame singeing its hide. One of Varric's bolts found its mark and the beast reeled, blinded in one eye, even as Hawke drew back his arm then snapped his hand forward, his blade flying straight and true to bury itself in the dragon's throat.
Anders grimly clung on as the dragon staggered; bracing himself, he wrenched the blade, twisting it in the wound. He could feel the staff shudder as the blade ground against bone. Abruptly the monster's hind legs gave out and it collapsed to the ground. Hawke leapt atop the beast and plunged a long knife deep through its one remaining eye. It gave one last shudder and then lay still.
In the immediate aftermath of the dragon's demise, the cavern seemed overwhelmingly quiet; the silence disturbed only by the sounds of their ragged breathing. Anders fought to catch his breath, suddenly all too aware of numerous bruises and aches all over his body. He clutched the haft of his staff still, half afraid he might fall over if he let go. He glanced around.
Hawke was helping his sister back to her feet, as Varric bent down to retrieve his bolt from the eye of the dead dragon. Sandal was staring at the beast with wide eyes. Anders glanced around for Fenris.
He felt his blood run cold as his eyes fell upon the still form of the elf. Fenris was sprawled upon his back, unmoving, his face turned away; the snow-white locks of hair were soaked a dark red with blood.
"No," breathed Anders, then again louder, "No!" He leapt down from the dragon's corpse and raced to Fenris' side, throwing himself down upon his knees carelessly as he reached for the unconscious elf. "Don't be dead, please, please don't be dead," he muttered fervently to himself as he carefully turned the elf's face towards him. He stared down at the pale blood-flecked face, and felt a chill.
Fenris wasn't breathing.