Chapter 33 – Bartrand the betrayer.
So, we're closing in on act one finally! Sorry for dragging it out this long, I just don't like doing nasty things to Carver!
Thank you so much for your reviews, follows and favourites. Thanks for just reading it in fact! You guys are amazing! I know I say it every time I update, but it is truly a honour to have such lovely readers!
A big thanks to LostSpace, for her wisdom and excellent beta skills!
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The Ancient Crypt door swung shut with a thud before Hawke was even halfway towards it, her exhausted legs not running at their normal speed. The group was silent as the dust motes settled all around them; each of them processing the revelation of betrayal that had come in the form of Varric's older brother. She had seen the gleam in the older Tethras' eyes as he drank in the sight of the idol; which turned out to be the central hub for the singing they had heard since they had delved into the tunnels closer to the crypt.
She hit her fists on the door in frustration; of course they'd been betrayed. What else could happen? This was what always happened; betrayal by life, death, templar, mage, by everything.
Varric didn't seem to understand what was going on, his reaction delayed as he spoke to his brother on the other side of the door.
"Bartrand, it's shut behind you!" Varric exclaimed, not realising his brother's intent.
"You always did notice everything, Varric," Bartrand's smug voice echoed through the door.
"Are you joking? Are you really going to screw over your own brother for a lousy idol?" Varric asked, exasperated in his realisation.
"It's not just the idol, the location of this thaig is worth a fortune, and I'm not splitting it three ways," Bartrand replied from the other side of the door. Hawke clenched her hands into fists, rage overcoming her.
"BARTRAND! BARTRAND!" Varric screamed, listening to his brother's footsteps becoming more distant as he deserted them in the thaig.
"And now what do we do? Any ideas, sister?" Carver asked, looking around the room as if there would be a convenient sign telling them which way to go.
"How would I know? I planned for huge darkspawn attacks, not two faced dwarves," Hawke said, her frustration adding tension to her temper.
"Fenris, does your hand thing work on doors?" Anders asked, using Fenris' name in his panic.
"Unless I wish to become part of the door, then no, it does not. Why do you not seek counsel from your demon?" Fenris snapped, looking around at the orbs that Anders had summoned; which were the only thing lighting the Ancient Crypt.
"There has to be a door, a way out, something. You know what to do, don't you sister?" Carver pleaded, looking at her in hope.
Hawke almost cried at the sight of him. She had no ideas, no nothing, but he didn't have to know that. Maker, none of them had to know that. If they knew how many times she just wandered in blind to battle they would probably stop joining her in her work so often.
"I swear I will find that son of a bitch-sorry mother- and I will kill him!" Varric exclaimed.
"Stay here, I'll search," she commanded, gliding into the shadows with ease. She could work with the shadows. She had no fear of the darkness, but did not like the unknown that accompanied them. She turned as a light followed her around the walls, but the humming of the lyrium already confirmed it was Fenris.
"You did say that I would be useful in the dark, Hawke, did you not?" he asked, his voice only slightly hinting humour.
"Indeed I did," she said, looking around the walls and searching whilst he followed her.
"I bet you're thinking you've got the worst luck ever, aren't you? Enslaved, escaped, and then locked up down in the Deep Roads with us. I bet you wish you never agreed to work with me that day, don't you?" she said, her voice full of feigned wit and cheer as she searched for a door.
"I enjoy following you," he stated, his voice solemn.
It took her aback, his words. They rung with sincerity and it wasn't something that she was accustomed to, nor was it something she had expected him to say right at this minute. And yet he did, his words simple but expressing to her a thousand things.
Of all the things to think about right now...
She almost jumped for joy when she found the door, and beckoned everyone closer to walk into the unknown…
….
The good news was that as they moved further in, the darkspawn hordes seemed to decrease. The bad news was that the further they went in, the singing grew louder and the apparently fictional creatures, called rock wraiths became real.
She looked around the makeshift camp they had prepared whilst stirring the deep mushroom soup Anders had prepared for them. Varric sat in the corner of one of the walls they had chosen to hide near. As much as Hawke wanted to go near him, she did not trust her temper at that moment. She knew it wasn't Varric's fault, but whenever she looked over at him, she could only see Bartrand. She was furious at her own failure. How could she tell Carver she had no idea what to do? How could she look at him and tell him he might not ever see Merrill again? She couldn't, and she wouldn't. She prayed that luck was on her side.
Fenris seemed indifferent as always, glaring into the unknown and occasionally at Anders. Anders seemed haunted. He was mostly silent ever since the bastard dwarf had betrayed them, only ever speaking when he needed to. She couldn't blame them, not a single bit. She felt exactly as they did, exhausted and infuriated with Bartrand and his greed.
She viewed her brother intensely, watching as he looked at the small fire they had made. He was obviously thinking hard, which was strange for Carver. Normally, he would stare peacefully into whatever came into his view, but now his brow was furrowed and he chewed his bottom lip. Worry did not look good on her brother one bit. She wanted the old days when the only thing that bothered Carver was that, for the twentieth time that month, he'd been kicked out of the Blooming Rose before even getting a handful of the brothel girls.
"Do you remember when I came back that night? I was covered in blood and my leg was oozing green. When Mother thought I'd lose my leg and never walk again because of the infection?" Hawke asked her brother, wrinkling her nose at the old memory. It was always fresh in her mind however. It still haunted her dreams.
Carver winced, but replied, "I told you that you would always be okay, because I'd always be there for you and I would always look after you."
"And what happened then?" Hawke asked.
"I kept giving you the potion and the salve for your scars, and then after a few weeks you asked to go outside and you learnt to walk again. Me and Bethany helped you as much as we could," Carver replied.
"But Beth never had time like you did. Mother was always dragging her around after Father died to keep her company. She needed someone just like I did," Hawke said.
"I don't understand where this conversation is going, sister. Care to explain why we're currently reminiscing of what was one of the worst times in your life?" Carver asked bluntly in his hushed tone.
Every now and then Fenris would look over from where he was keeping watch and she was sure he could hear little snippets with those sensitive ears of his.
"When I was scared, you were there for me and you brought me back to life. I promise you, I will get you out of here alive. And then you can get out of my shadow and make the name Hawke something that isn't famous for a crazy rogue mage smuggler with a habit for mentioning tea and biscuits," Hawke replied, smiling at her brother. Carver smiled back, and she was relieved to see his smile again. It was like pulling away some of the tension that pushed down on her stomach.
"I look forward to it, sister," Carver replied.
…
"Enough. You have proven your mettle. I would not see these creatures harmed without need," the stone effigy bellowed. The glowing orb that Hawke suspected to be its eye narrowed on them as they walked towards it.
"Of course, demons. I was just waiting for the demons. I was thinking about the whole expedition and we've had dragons and darkspawn but not demons…" Hawke mock sighed as they advanced, trying to keep the group's morale up with her usual wit.
Fenris growled as they grew closer, but Hawke continued forward. She advanced so she was a mere few yards away and surveyed the demon with dislike, but continued her pleasantries. Some demons did not care for conflict. They asked to be left alone if they were happy with their current victims.
"You are the first thing down here that hasn't attacked us," she said, looking at the glowing orb that stared right back with feigned amusement.
"They will not assault you further, not without my permission. I sense a burning in your soul, brighter than your companions. It…disconcerts me," the demon bellowed its reply, filling the silence with its loud echoes.
"What are these things? I mean, I was kidding when I said they were rock wraiths but now… now..." Varric spoke for one of the first times since his brother had left them, viewing the demon with curious eyes. If Hawke knew Varric as well as she thought she did, she would wager he was thinking that the demon could help them out of here. It was out of the question, not to happen now or ever. A demon would never be happy with what it first offered, and neither were the recipients. Greed was always in the favour of the demons.
"They hunger," the demon stated, "the profane have lingered in this place for ages beyond memory, feeding on the magic stones until the need is all they know."
"They eat the lyrium down here? That shit is what sustains them?" Hawke asked incredulously. No wonder they were all fucked up and made of stone.
"I am not like them. I am a visitor," the demon continued, but Hawke stopped its chat with a raised hand. The demon paused at her hand, though its orb like eye seemed to narrow at her act.
"I know fully well what you are. You are not a visitor. You are a demon, most likely feeding on their hunger," Hawke said, straightening her back in an attempt to make herself seem taller than she was.
"See, that's the arrogant cow of a sister I love," Carver whispered to Varric, who would normally have bellowed out a laugh as loud as the demons booming voice, but instead rewarded Carver with a snort.
"I would not see my feast end," the demon replied, its monotone voice beginning to drone.
Hawke viewed the demon for a moment, thinking about her possible responses to the demon. She could, of course, merely walk past it and carry on as she was, she could accept whatever it was offering her or she could slay it so that it would feed no longer. The latter seemed the most practical to her. The consequences of letting a demon roam free in the Deep Roads would not be one she could take on with ease.
"I sense your desire to leave this place, but you will need my aid to do so," the demon continued, as if it sensed Hawke's inner argument.
"Don't bloody do it, demons will trip you up every time," Anders interrupted, viewing the demon with concerned eyes.
"Will I need your aid? You see the idea of working with a demon is not appealing to me whatsoever. I have ethics, even in the Deep Roads. You've already confirmed that there is a way out, and that's past you. So I think we'll decline your offer and take the one where we do get out, just without your help, and everything else trying to kill us," Hawke said, her voice becoming bitterly sweet.
"Well, it'd just be weird if things didn't try to kill us, right, Hawke?" Varric asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm, but not as cheerful as it was normally.
She turned the corner of her lips upwards, attempting a grin.
The demon looked at her for a moment as if considering her refusal.
"Most unwise," it replied, raising its stone arms ready for battle.
Hawke flicked out her daggers knowingly, and grinned at the demon.
"That's what they keep telling me."