Chapter 8
The Lyrium wolf
Fenris is finally here! Sorry it took so long :(
Big big thanks to my beta reader, Enchantm3nt!
His lip curled into a sneer as he drank the swill that this tavern called ale. He was sitting in the shadows, back against the wall as he watched the door impatiently for the dwarf. He had planned the entire thing carefully, knowing that the hunters were hot on his heels, hunting him like he was game. His gauntleted fingers tapped impatiently on the table, the dwarf was late. He had one very simple job to do, he just needed to point the mercenaries they had hired in the direction of the house, once that was done he was supposed to come to the Hanged Man to inform him. So where is he?
He had ambushed the dwarf some days ago, having spotted the skittish man staring up at the sky in horror. Anso was his name and he had nearly leapt out of his skin as Fenris grabbed and threw him into the shadows of the alleyway. They had come to an agreement. Anso was to hire someone to help him get rid of the slavers on his back; in return Fenris wouldn't throw him into the sky. Not the nicest of arrangements perhaps, but a necessary one, there was nobody in the city he could trust so a well-placed threat was necessary. He was done running; it was time to face them.
Anso had met him in a dark alley a few days later telling him that the infamous smuggler, Hawke, had taken up the job. Anso had assured him that Hawke was more than capable to take on any challenge. Fenris was relieved that it was someone of this status; they would need all the skill they had to defeat the highly skilled hunter regiment.
He had heard the merchants and civilians of Lowtown praise the smuggler's skill, in fact wherever he went the name Hawke was on people's lips. According to the people of Kirkwall, Hawke had entered the city on a dragon after killing a darkspawn ogre with their bare hands. Fenris did not believe something which sounded so outlandish but he had to admit that he was already impressed by Hawke's reputation. Hawke sounded like a man to be reckoned with.
Fenris had done nothing but wait in the shadows, keeping a watchful eye as the hunters slowly closed in. All of their past efforts had been in vain, for six months they tried to capture him but he had always eluded them. Tonight, finally the hunt would end and it would be with their blood and not his.
The dwarf came in through the door, bulging eyes scanning the room. Fenris stalked over to him and pulled him into the corner, making him squeak in surprise. "Well?" he asked, making the dwarf flinch.
"Hawke has just gone down to Alienage n-now," the dwarf stuttered, looking at the great sword that Fenris had on his back and then back to Fenris' face.
Fenris nodded at him and left the tavern, he prowled through the streets, for once he was the hunter and not the hunted. Much to his satisfaction he could hear the clash of metal and screamed Tevinter curses leaving the hunter's lips, as he approached the Alienage.
He turned the corner and found a backup regiment of the hunters lying in wait, ready to charge into the Alienage. The fools all had their backs to him as he charged in, his brands flaring their usual blue. He cut through them like they were butter, all but one falling to the floor with little resistance. He recognised the lieutenant staring at him in shock, his sword dropping to the ground as he pissed himself.
Fenris bared his teeth to him. "Back to me," he ordered and the man slowly turned around. "Now walk silently forward." The man obliged, taking the steps slowly down to the Alienage. Fenris put his hand on the man's shoulder, halting his movements as he listened to the conversation taking place below.
"Lieutenant! I want everyone in the clearing, now!" someone bellowed.
Fenris smirked and plunged his sword into the back of the lieutenant and pushed him forward, the man staggered down the steps, blood gushing out of his wound. "Ca-Captain," the man gargled before flopping to the floor, dead.
Fenris stalked down the stairs, eyeing the carnage below with satisfaction. "Your men are dead, your trap has failed. I suggest running back to your master," he said as he stared at the shocked and angry face of the captain.
"You're coming with me slave," the captain hissed venomously, whilst making a grab for Fenris' arm.
Anger bubbled to the surface and the familiar burn of lyrium sparked again.
"I am not a slave," he snarled. His hand lit up and he plunged it into the man's chest and ripped out his heart. He held it for a moment in front of the captain, who stared at it, horrified, before he too joined the lieutenant on the ground. Fenris tossed the heart aside, and turned to the group of mercenaries he had hired.
A man was standing at the head of the group, a huge greatsword strapped to his back as his coal black hair fell over his frowning face. He was standing in front of someone defensively, as was the dwarf with the crossbow to his right and the guardswoman to his left, shield braced and ready for another fight. Who are they protecting?
The last thing he wanted was to start a fight with the people who had just helped save his life, he wasn't sure what the reason was for their hostility but he would need their help in order to deal with his former master. He suspected that Danarius had accompanied these hunters to the city and Fenris would be a fool to try to fight him alone. The magister could summon demons and shades with a flick of his wrist, or a slit as the case may be. There was strength in numbers and these mercenaries had more than proven their worth, hopefully whatever valuables Danarius had brought with him would serve as a suitable payment to them all.
He glanced at Hawke; the strong warrior was still scowling at him. Fenris straightened and relaxed his shoulders, hoping he looked less threatening. "I apologise. When I asked Anso to set up a distraction for the hunters I never thought they would be so… numerous. Your reputation exceeds you, Hawke.
The dwarf started to cough as if to hide a chuckle, the guardswoman looked at him sternly. Fenris was not stupid; he could sense there was something up.
"Varric, if you write this down in one of your stories so help me Maker I will shave your chest hair!" a woman's voice squeaked from behind the trio.
Fenris cocked his head in confusion, what was going on?
Fenris watched small white hands divide the dwarf and the warrior from their wall of protection. She walked forward towards him, and Fenris then understood.
Hawke was a woman.
It unnerved Fenris slightly that she was female. Maybe it bruised his ego to hear that the brave warrior that had slain an ogre on her own, fought countless enemies without a scratch and was a beacon of hope to those who were stuck in the poverty of this hell of a city was a woman. He noticed the stern gaze the guardswoman was giving him she had obviously sensed he had not pleased her with his surprise at the gender of his saviour, though he hardly cared for her or her feelings towards him. He did not care what anyone thought of him, he lived in a pit of hatred and self-loathing and he was perfectly happy in said pit.
He looked back at Hawke again and Fenris noticed that she too had white hair, not as white as his was but almost there. He noted how the red streak in her fringe contrasted with her pale skin and green eyes. She looked almost ethereal.
"I take it that these men were looking for you then?" she asked Fenris, obviously becoming impatient whilst he was processing that the legendary Hawke was a female rogue.
"You are correct. My name is Fenris; these imperial bounty hunters were seeking to recover a magister's lost property, namely myself. Thankfully, Anso chose wisely," he remarked, eyeing the corpses of dead hunters once more.
"Well, if I killed a few slavers then I am happy to oblige anytime," she said fiercely.
"I have met few in my travels who help without seeking personal gain," Fenris murmured, bending down to the Captain's dead body.
The dwarf shifted his weight awkwardly to each side of his body until Hawke turned round and laughed "Go ahead, Varric, I can sense you're dying to," turning back to Fenris as the dwarf scurried off and began looting corpses. She looked down at him with curiosity, as he searched the Captain's affects and found a note.
It was as if they had known another way to get to him even beyond the void, he thought staring at the folded note, it was mocking him as if they had all known he could not read and hadn't bothered to keep anything hidden because Fenris was a stupid slave. He started to descend once more into his depths of hatred but he remembered that Hawke was still watching him.
He passed her the note, not wanting to disclose to a group of strangers that he could not read. She looked at him for a moment and then passed it off, unfolding the note and reading out loud.
"Bring him back unharmed, knock him out if you must but do not kill him. Bring him to me straight away. Danarius, "she read, passing him back the note.
He looked up for one moment and stared into her green eyes, a lighter shade than his own. He quickly looked down in shock of a strange undercurrent emotion that had ran through him as their eyes met, ignoring it straight away. He would admire the wine, but never allow himself a taste.
He could also appreciate why Hawke was so deadly and well known, no one would ever expect such a small young woman to do the dirty jobs that were for mercenaries. He looked at her pale skin and large eyes staring at him in curiosity. No, people would expect a young woman such as herself to attend dinner parties and be married off to some noble. Fenris was hardly shocked these days and yet here he stood before a woman who was renowned by the poor in this city as deadly and yet she looked like she belonged on the waist of some rich man with a keen eye for pretty things.
Venhedis! Stop admiring the wine fool! Snap out of it!
"It seems my former master is here. If you would, I require your assistance in destroying him limb from limb," he said almost feral, letting the hatred of Danarius consume all of his thoughts.
"Lead the way, I…" Hawke had started to speak but the warrior had interjected before she could continue, he had let out an exasperated gasp of air.
"Sister, Mother will not be happy if we are back late again," the warrior said, his gaze narrowing on Fenris.
So the warrior before him was indeed a Hawke? It made him feel better for his foolishness before in assuming that Hawke could never be a woman.
He understood perfectly, as he studied the Hawke sibling. He knew that if he had a sister he would protect her until the very end, although if his sister was anything like the rumours about this woman-Hawke- he couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor man for even trying. She seemed like she could handle herself quite well.
"Look Junior, your sister knows what's best for her, if you're so bothered why not just go home?" the dwarf asked, returning from looting the bodies.
"Varric, I would if she stopped putting herself in the company of men such as this," he said, his hand waving slightly at Fenris as if he wasn't even there. It annoyed him that the man was so rude but Fenris bit his tongue at the insult, remind himself once again that if the tables were turned and he was protecting his own sister he would definitely keep her away from a fugitive slave such as him. But that was not the point, Fenris was becoming impatient with the debating, Danarius could be making his getaway as they argued and Fenris would rather try and face them alone and die then miss him at all because this group of strangers was having a domestic.
"We are helping this man and that is final," Hawke stated as the squabbling broke out, and just as she said it the group ceased to argue and agreed with her.
She had called him a man. No one had ever called him a man; he was used to be called elf, knife ears, slave but never man. She was the first person to ever regard him with such respect, Fenris was shocked once again.
"Thank you, we must get going before he leaves," Fenris said, his eyes meeting hers once again.
"Lead the way," she replied back her voice almost a purr, creating waves of shivers down his back.
And so he ran through Lowtown and towards the mansion that Danarius had claimed in Hightown, all the way he could feel her darting with him in the shadows. He could tell she was skilled in hiding in the shadows and most people would render her invisible but Fenris had spent six months of having to be paranoid of everything and everyone, he was hyperaware of everything around him; down to the last granule of dirt on the floor.
He stopped at the mansion door, waiting for the group to meet him. The dwarf and two warriors ran towards him with heavy breaths as if they'd been trying to catch up the entire time, but there was no sign of Hawke.
He heard the slipping of a few loose roof tiles and watched as female rogue landed at their feet, she had flipped herself from the roof of the mansion with great ease. Her expression was calculating as she turned round and looked at Fenris, and he understood why she had such a reputation.
"The mansion looks abandoned, sconces were lit a few days ago but they're burning out which would suggest no one's been here for a day or two," she whispered looking round at her companions who were nodding with acknowledgement.
"My former master is a trickster, he would have you think it of that way," Fenris said gruffly at the rogue.
"Indeed. Lead the way please," she said to him, obviously noting his discomfort.
They entered the mansion but as soon as they had come to the first hallway, they were attacked by shades. As Fenris fought he noticed that the group were well organised and fought together as a team, aiding one another. The dwarf stood back and tried to cover them with his repeating cross bow, firing shots at shades that got too close. Hawke and her brother worked as a team, he took on the front assault where she covered his back, slicing and stabbing wherever she could. The guardswoman covered them both with her shield, bashing all those who tried to break through her defence. To work as a team was foreign to Fenris, he had been on his own since his eyes had first opened.
It seemed that the deeper they went into the mansion, the more demons and shades appeared guarding his former master relentlessly. Fenris roared in impatience after they had finished off the last shade "DANARIUS! SHOW YOURSELF!"
But there was no answer; it fuelled him with hatred and anger that the coward would send demons to smite him instead of fighting him himself. They opened the entrance to the main hall, Hawke shadowing him with her daggers when they were ambushed by an army of demons. Shades and rage demons stood ready for battle, led by an arcane horror. Fenris had seen his fair share of these in Tevinter; magisters summoned them daily. They did not have any quarrel with blood magic or demons there.
He readied himself for the fight, clenching the hilt of his greatsword as he charged in to the fray of demons, the image of Danarius' heart in his hand motivating him to continue fighting.
He sensed Hawke darting in and out of him slashing at what she could, then the next thing he knew she was no longer with him and attempting to aid the dwarf who was being outnumbered by the shades that were descending upon him. Fenris scanned the battlefield and noticed the younger Hawke sibling was being backed into a corner by the arcane horror and a legion of shades all trying to claw at him and send the man to the void.
Fenris ran towards the fellow warrior to aid him but soon enough he had become overpowered too, he began to glow and slashed his sword trying to take as many down with him. He became savage, letting his need for survival take control. The shades had begun to claw at the other warrior and had pulled him to the floor whilst they clawed and scratched at every inch of him.
For a moment he thought that he was going to die, and that the shades and demons would take him and Danarius would rip his skin from his body in triumph. But before he could think anymore he heard Hawke scream at the sight of her brother being mangled. The Arcane Horror advanced on Fenris, its hand moving towards his throat whilst the shades circled him. At least he had died a free man. He closed his eyes, waiting for death.
He dropped to the floor with a bang, his eyes opening and for the third time that night Fenris had been shocked.
Each and every shade was either impaled by an oversized icicle, or frozen by the cold. In the middle of the hall he saw that Hawke had collapsed, the trail of ice ending with her.
Faasta Vas! A mage!
He got up from the floor and peered at Hawke. A mage that denies her magic, he thought noticing how weak it had made Hawke as the guardswoman ran towards her and helped her up. She looked exhausted from that spell she had cast. She was definitely an odd mage, the first one he had ever met who went to such extraordinary lengths to hide what she was, but a mage nonetheless. Any mage was susceptible to becoming a power hungry monster; they were untrustworthy and dirty to him. Yet, looking at Hawke he did not see her as dirty, but he did not trust her one bit. He would have rather died than owe his life to a mage!
Her brother got up next to him, covered in blood. He grabbed a potion from his belt and gulped it down quickly whilst he began running to Hawke. She staggered when he helped her up, she took a few short breaths and let go of her brother's grasp.
She did it to save her brother, not me.
He did not care for the mage or her entourage, his hunger for vengeance fogging over what had happened. He ran towards the room at the top of the hall, his hunger for the death of Danarius shadowed the welfare of anyone to Fenris. He smashed the door open with one swift kick of his foot, making the door swing open and bang against the stone wall.
The room was abandoned; it looked like no one had been there for months. Disappointment sunk into his gut as he checked the shadows in search for his former master as if there was a small chance he would be there. But Fenris knew Danarius and knew that he would have been in the centre of the battle, he would not hide from the opportunity to cage Fenris once again.
He returned back to the mage-Hawke- and her followers; the battle had taken all of his energy to fight. And now he was bound in shackles once more because this mage had saved his life, he could run away; he wanted to. Would she stop him? Would she enslave him to herself? He needed to go, that was what he knew.
"He is gone…It does not matter any longer, I assume Danarius has left valuables behind, you are welcome to them. I need some air," Fenris said as he approached the group, the mage was sat on one of the benches near the windows; the guardswoman knelt down next to her speaking with her whilst the warrior and the dwarf were speaking to each other in whispers. As he walked past he heard the warrior whisper "we don't need another Anders…"
He walked out into the night air and took a few deep breaths processing what had just happened. His former master still walked free and Fenris had been deceived by another mage and now owed her his life. He thought about running for a moment, and then remembered what the past six months had been like running from the hunters, he had to hide in the dirt and eat scraps of food he found on the floor, this was not the freedom he escaped for. He looked back at the door for a moment; maybe it would be better to make a stand. His former master would know he was in Kirkwall; he would wait for the bastard in his own mansion. He would sneer at Danarius as he walked in; sitting on his armchair like it was a throne. He would destroy him.
If he stayed he would have to repay the mage a debt, he may not have many things but if he did not repay her then it would haunt him that a mage had saved his life. He did not like being one upped by a mage.
From the corner of his eye he saw the mansion door open and Hawke and her companions walked out towards him. She seemed to be back to normal, walking towards him at a regular pace.
He spun around as she approached, readying himself to fight. He wanted to be able to control his hatred but he could not.
"It never ends. I escaped a land of dark magic to have it hunt me at every turn. It is a plague burnt into my flesh and my soul and now I find myself in the company of yet another mage! I saw you cast that spell. I should have realised sooner what you really were," he spat at Hawke, hatred lacing his words.
She raised an eyebrow to him, but said countered his insult with nothing. Her face was a mask of indifference and calm, although he hated to admit it this worried him more than the hatred he expected to be spat back at him.
Fenris thought for a moment, looking at this woman who had not one sign of magic in her as she stood with her twin daggers on her back. It was strange to him that a mage would hide their self so much to the point where they did not even use their magic to aid them in battle.
He asked, "Tell me then. What kind of mage are you? What is it that you seek?"
She looked at him with a coy grin on her face "Find out," she replied
He stared at her in frustration, was this just a game to her? Why was she so light hearted about the situation? It angered him that she joked about such things. Mages were not to be trusted. He bit his tongue, not wanting to release a triad of swear words from his mouth. Instead he decided that he would say something diplomatic, he was too tired for another fight this evening.
"I imagine I appear ungrateful, if so I apologize. Thank you for aiding me in the mansion," he replied, his body going stiff as he fought himself not to insult her.
"I do not use such extreme lengths often, to many people I am a lovable rogue not a…"she trailed off as if she did not want to label herself as such. She was indeed an odd mage.
"I still owe you a debt, here is the gold, as Anso promised," he said, she shook the pouch of gold away as he tried to offer it to her and he put it on his belt once more. The dwarf groaned as she did so.
He cursed and complimented her at the same time for her generosity; however that still meant that he owed her some form of debt and if she would not take the gold he had been saving then he had nothing left to offer her but his sword. It made him queasy that he would offer to aid a mage, but he stifled the sickness in his stomach with the thought that he would do it for the greater good and strike her down should she show any signs of being plagued by demons. He argued with himself for a few more moments and then decided his fate.
"I thank you, should you find yourself in assistance I would gladly render it," he said, not truly believing his own mouth.
"You didn't seem all that thrilled with me a moment ago," she replied
"You are not Danarius, whether you are like him remains to be seen," he said sharply, it was indeed a fact.
"Very well, I thank you," she said bluntly.
The dwarf coughed at her and she looked at him and back, realisation colouring her face and making her green eyes go wide.
"If you would like, we plan on journeying to Sundermount tomorrow, would you join us?" she asked, looking at him with wide green eyes.
Several arguments happened all at once in his head, but he silenced them all with the conclusion that when he had repaid his debt he would leave the mage be.
"I shall," was all that he could muster, there was something about the mage that made him shiver and he did not like it one bit.
"You can meet our group at the Hanged Man, although this does relieve Aveline of her duty thought I'm sure she's fine with that," Hawke said, cheerfully winking at the guardswoman who smiled at her.
"Captain Aveline, Hawke," the red haired woman corrected her.
"I know of this place, I shall see you there," he stated coldly at her, he would not begin to trust this mage. He would repay his debt and leave her alone to her… magic.
"Indeed you shall," she said, walking off having the last word.
He went back into the mansion, the ice had melted leaving a pool of water and the bodies had disappeared as if the fade had clawed them back into the void. He climbed into the bed in the main room and remembered the trail of engorged icicles and dead demons that had been in the mansion not twenty minutes ago.
Tonight had been very strange indeed.