Chapter 26: The Hawk and the Gryphon

Anders was having a really bad day. Just a really bad day that made him wish he were born a thief, a beggar, just anyone except a bloody mage on the run from Templars, who just happened to patrol the outside borders of Amaranthine.

He barely managed to sneak into a vacant hovel that was seemingly abandoned by its previous occupants. The bed wasn't even made and the bowls left on the kitchen tables signified that whoever was in there had to leave quickly.

He ducked underneath a window just as heavy footsteps came by and a shadow lit across the table, blocking the sunlight that streamed into the room. His heart was racing rapidly and he could feel the heartbeats thrumming in his veins. It sped up as those same footsteps came back to the window, where he lay hidden. Please, move on! Just keep going! Keep walking damn it!

"You hear something?" A voice murmured and there was a hiss of steel. Anders trembled as the shadow hadn't moved. Then without warning, someone had kicked the door open and it banged against the wall. Anders cursed at his stupidity in not watching his back as often as he should.

As the Templar had a helmet on, the mage couldn't see the wild, satisfied look on the man's face. All the mage saw was the raised sword. Anders rolled out of the Templar's sword that came down upon him and then stumbled out of the doorway only to collide with another Templar.

"You idiot!" Another Templar shouted at his partner, who cursed as his prey struggled uselessly in the Templar's grip. "We're not supposed to kill him!"

"Shut up! They're mages, the filth of the Maker who don't deserve to live," Knight Ryela hissed angrily. He swung his sword back and lunged at the mage.

Anders' eyes became as large as saucers as he saw death coming from him. There was nothing he could do. The Templars had cast a particularly powerful anti-magic field spell on him and he moaned as he tried in vain to call the magic back to him, even as the sword struck for him.

"Brother, I told you we should have headed straight for Kirkwall!" A strange voice called out in a haughty tone. "Now, we've got these Templars to face!"

The Templar that was busy trying to skewer Anders alive stopped and he whirled around, his sword and shield held protectively in front of him. Both he and his friends were shocked to find a large group of people blurr into being. Then, realizing that the people had mages with them, they all shifted into a defensive stance. The one who held Anders captive threw a fist at Anders' cheek, effectively knocking him down and stunning him in the process. One of them raised a hand to call forth another anti-magic spell only to be knocked out by Anders, who clambered to his feet, his fist a bloody mess as it made contact with metal.

"Shit! That hurt!" The blonde mage yelped, prompting a very strange expression from one of the taller mages.

However, the seriousness of the situation called for their complete attention. The five Templars that had cornered Anders were now circling around the four newcomers and Anders thought it strange for an old woman to be among them. Who are they?

Two mages were the immediate focus of all eyes while a young man clad in heavy armor and wielding a two-handed sword was in front of them. The Templars at once lunged for them. The leader of the five went straight to the male mage, one that Anders thought was very attractive and felt strangely pulled to him.

"Don't!" Anders called out to them. "They're innocent!"

His pleas fell on deaf ears as the skirmish commenced with the first strike. The taller of the two mages sidestepped the oncoming thrust and squatted to the ground, throwing a leg out and kicking the templar down. The man with the sword ducked underneath a sweep only to plunge the hilt of the sword deep into the man's gut. The force of the blow was felt even through thick armor and there was a strangled gasp from the Templar as he gulped for air. Carver quickly grabbed the gasping templar by the throat and pushed him down to the ground, thus knocking him out for good.

"Arren! The anti-magic field is gone! Now's our chance!" The female mage shouted out and Anders let out a whistle when both mages had rock armor on. Whoever these people were, they were used to fighting Templars and fighting together. He could only watch as the pair then synchronized their spells, timed perfectly with their warrior. The male cast a frozen spell on a Templar that was sneaking up behind Carver while the female mage threw out a rock only to shatter that said Templar into pieces.

"We're killing Templars now, brother?" The warrior asked the male mage. He parried a strike from the Templar and struck him on the side of the temple with the hilt of his sword.

"In this situation, they were willing to kill one man. I don't think they intend to taking him alive or us for that matter," the male mage called out.

When all was said and done, Anders was amazed to find that all but one Templar was dead. The only one alive was ironically the only one who didn't want to kill Anders.

He saw the group gather around the elderly woman, the taller male asking if she was ok. When given a satisfactory answer, he suddenly turned to him and both gasped at making eye contact, as something was irrevocably forged between them.

-O0O-

Seek out the caged one...

That's what the little boy had said to him. Arren knew without a doubt that he had found who he was looking for and he was already smitten with this blonde man.

Once he made sure that his entire family was ok, he then turned to the man they had rescued and he almost stumbled forward as the weight of this man's memories bore him down. Anders as a little boy crying out for his parents. The dark prison of the Circle of Magi and the leering grins of those who stood guard over them. Then the thrill of the escape that had almost failed if it weren't for them. It was too much for the kind-hearted man and there were furious shouts of his name. In the midst of the noise, another voice called out to him and he gasped as he saw the shape of a large gryphon hovering right behind Anders. It reared its head back and the screech deafened him, until he lost all hold on reality and slumped into warm arms. Aien no volla...ivye poelna ikra...

"Arren?" Bethany cried out, terrified to hear those screams of pain coming from her older brother. She watched as the man they rescued also screamed, clutching at his head. Something was happening. Carver was just about ready to stab the blonde mage but her hand thrust out in front of him, restraining his bloodythirsty instincts.

"Stop! Carver! We didn't rescue this guy just to kill him!"

"But he's killing him!" Carver bit back, his sweaty hands clutching tightly at the hilt of the sword.

"No! Look!" Bethany, his idiotically sentimental sister, pointed out to the duo. No longer screaming, the taller blonde was cradling their own brother in his arm. The other hand was out and on his chest, holding him the way a lover would. His entire frame then glowed blue and before long, Arren's own body was bathed in that same blue light. Soon, he was breathing more easily and the brows relaxed as their brother entered into a peaceful sleep. Who was this guy?

They were about to ask him for his name but another groan caught their attention. It was the downed Templar, rousing from his senseless state. Carver, not willing to risk their family getting caught, brushed off his sister's insistent hand and strolled to the groaning templar. Bethany shouted at him, thinking that her own brother was going to kill an unarmed man. Her twin merely brought down his gauntled fist across the rousing man's cheek.

There was a horrible snapping sound and Bethany gasped, her hands going to her face in shock at what her brother did. Her mother, however, scrambled to the templar's side and placed two fingers on his neck.

"He's still alive. Carver just knocked him out, that's all."

Carver snorted. "That's all? Mother, we're royally fucked."

A loud slap echoed in the air and Carver touched his cheek, shocked that his own mother would lay a hand on him.

"Eighteen years of caring for you and your sister," Leandra hissed at her son. "Both your father and brother sacrificed much for us and all you do is complain! Buck up and be a man! Be a Hawke!"

Carver was struck speechless at his mother's temper. She's right. I need to be a man. But it's hard when you're always in your brother's shadow.

"Now, let's move into that house and sort some stuff out."

"What about the Templars, mother?" It was Bethany who had asked that question. Leandra paused for a moment and she glanced at the dead Templars plus one alive. They couldn't stay here, at least not risk having to fight another patrol of Templars.

"We'll bury them," she sighed. She had never wanted this life for her kids, never. But you didn't want to be alone, like your sister, Nia Amell. Her husband's voice rang out. She who has lost everything to the Circle, her husband and her kids.

They were all so engrossed in their predicament that they nearly forgot about the pair.

-o0o-

Warm. I feel so warm and safe. Those were Arren's thoughts as he was slowly bringing himself out unconsciousness. The first sight that greeted him was a pair of honeyed brown eyes and they glistened at him happily.

"Hey," the man breathed out, his arm tightening a little bit around his chest. It didn't bother him though. He rather liked it in fact. "You ok?"

"Yes," Arren replied back and his yellow eyes blinked rapidly, trying to clear away the blurriness. When his vision cleared though, the man's face was devilishly handsome, almost sinful. That long nose, the full red lips, the strong jaw all made this man even more handsome in his eyes. An odd strength could be felt within the man's body and Arren knew that he had found his destined lover. His own mother, when later told about this, absolutely gushed with joy and his sister Bethany embraced him within her arms, saying congrats.

"You didn't have to do that. Now, because of me, all of you are in trouble." The man's brows furrowed in worry. Those eyes, no longer happy, were thoughtful and almost troubled.

"Ok, mister," Bethany said to the man holding her brother almost lovingly. "You can let go of my brother, now. We have to be on the move now, thanks to your Templars."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the mage apologized and he slowly got up, all the while still holding unto Arren's hand. He clutched at the other mage's hand and gently pulled him up, only to have Arren fall into his chest. Arren blushed slightly. What? What is this feeling? I've never felt like this before...

"Come on, you two!" Carver yelled, ruining the moment and earning another jab in the ribs from his sister. "What? You said so yourself that we have to keep moving! Plus, we've already lingered here too long, especially after digging graves for those we killed."

The foursome plus the man they saved started to move again. It wasn't until the sun was nearly setting that they finally could see the tall bell tower of Amaranthine from a mile away. They stopped by another empty house, glad that no Templars were found nearby.

"Great," Carver puffed out, his hands on his knees, panting as they had just ran for the past ten miles, trying to head for the city before dark. Their mother was made of stronger stuff than most forty-year old mothers, but she too was greatly exhausted. Her face was quite pale, despite their intense journey, and she seemed to be wheezing slightly.

"Mother?" Arren asked her, a gentle hand placed in the middle of her back.

"I'm alright, son," she panted and gulped. Then her breathing calmed. "Just a little winded, that's all."

"We're almost there. Sun doesn't set for another candlelight or so," the other man informed them and he peered off in the distance. From his position, the only things he could see were the thick walls of Amaranthine and the bell tower. It was still too far away to see the gate guards that were usually posted there day and night, to prevent any unwanted scragglers from coming into the city.

"It's a good thing Amaranthine is not exactly close to the Chantry, despite them having one," the same man said.

"What do you mean 'not close' to the Chantry?" Bethany had heard of Amaranthine, how it was the jewel of Thedas while Denerim was the crown of Thedas. Due to it being the first port of Thedas, a lot of imports would go through Amaranthine first and the people there had first choice to the items being sold to the Fereldens. However, Amaranthine was also known for being more opened-minded to magic than its sister cities and its not so tolerant attitude of Templars rounding mages had challenged the authority of the Chantry, which resulted in them sending more and more of Templars. Unfortunately, that just ended in a minor civil war and the Chantry didn't want to completely lose the only city that was in direct contact with Kirkwall. Thus, they withdrew the majority of their Templar forces, leaving only a handful to handle issues within the Chapel.

"It means, Bethany," Arren was smirking now at his sister, "that we can take a ship from Amaranthine to Kirkwall without any problems."

Carver snorted at that statement. Trouble always followed the Hawkes, no matter what. As he stared off at the gates, he just hoped that it would stop stalking them when they leave Ferelden behind. Then again, when he looked back at their newcomer, who was eying his own brother, perhaps it was too late to hope for that.

-TBC-

A/N: I forgot to thank those who recently added this story to their favs/alerts list: Swallows a lot, JaenelleSen, Trouble At T'Mill for their favs list; Calcium FIST, Swallows a lot, Youko'sgirl16, aero-shock, and Yalmark for the alerts list.

Review responses:

the kid: Yeah, sorry if this story was kinda slow in the beginning. Things really are starting to heat up from now and I'm looking forward to hearing from people, hopefully...No problem about the request. Maybe I can do a poll after the Fergus one is done. Alistair will feel the affects of his mark in the next full moon, which will give Hadrian plenty of time to fall in love with him. I've already typed up three hawt scenes with just those two.

Aki: Yep, Leliana, being ever the shrewd Bard that she is, never misses anything. Otherwise, she wouldn't have survived for so long playing The Game back in Orlais. Question is, how will Sten respond? Not very nicely, I think. I'm very happy that you enjoyed the Black Book. I'll keeping posting more chapters so long as I get requests for it.

YoshisSupport: Don't worry. Hadrian will fall in love with him. It helps if there's a certain pointy-eared Assassin in there trying to make moves on him. He'll appear in the next two or three chapters, after the Circle of Magi is done.

Please, everyone, for the love of FANFICTION, review! Pretty plz? I'm begging here... Here's an incentive: every fiftieth reviewer gets a special request for THE BLACK BOOK fic, a collection of steamy one-shots for the DA games. How's that sound?