A/N: So as my readers may have noticed, I tend to make small changes in past chapters even after I post them. I love tiding up and adding a little more dialogue here and there. I hope nobody minds, so I thought I'd go ahead a let everyone know. Anyways thanks for the reviews and follows, enjoy!

* I've made some changes to this chapter! I just realized it wasn't as dark as I wanted it to be. I may add more to make it all the more dramatic, but only time will tell.

Disclaimer: I am but a lowly fanfictioner, all credit for creation of Dragon Age II goes to Bioware.

Chapter 4: Born from Darkness

Everyone lined up as Bartrand shouted at them for being such 'top-side, land-licking' girls. Fenris growled as the man half his size commented on his skinny frame and styled hair, and Isabela rolled her eyes as Varric's brother tried his best to look up her tunic and ask her to join his caravan. She denied his invitation as politely as she could, and pointed out that she hated caves. Dark, damp and closed were never things that tickled her fancy. Underground tunnels with walls everywhere and cramped space, it was nothing like the open sea. Plus if she got in any danger down in those tunnels, it wouldn't be as easy to escape or flee; two of her very best tactics.

"Who will you be taking? They can't all come…" He eyed Isabela with a lustrous glint in his eyes, "except for her, she can definitely come."

"No thanks." Isabela crossed her arms and eyed Hawke with a stubborn expression. "I'd feel claustrophobic."

Hawke nodded and looked at her companions. Varric would be coming without a doubt, and that left two slots open. She felt Carter's glare boring through her face and knew that he would never forgive her if she left him behind. He had fought darkspawn before and that made him somewhat experienced, but he was such a pain in the ass. Her mother had begged her to leave Carter behind and keep him from the dangers that persisted beneath the surface. She knew her mother couldn't bear the thought of losing all three of her children, and after Bethany… well Hawke understood her fear. Regardless of her mother's fears, Carver would end up doing something reckless and stupid if his elder sister left him behind; he'd probably do something ridiculous like join the Templars. What better way to get back at his apostate sister than to join the very order that would force her to wear the Maker awful Circle robes or behead her for protesting.

"Carter, you're coming with me." Hawke signaled for him to come stand by her.

He smiled smugly and took a spot near his elder sister.

She looked at the remaining people and tried to assess who would be the best option. Isabela still had her arms crossed, and even though the mage really would miss her company, she knew the pirate hated the thought of the Deep Roads. Fenris was already seething with anger at Bartrand's comments and Hawke could do without the constant bickering. Aveline seemed ready to go, but Hawke knew the guardswoman had enough responsibility within Kirkwall and taking her would only delay her promotion to guard captain. Hawke eyed Merril who was off chasing a rather large moth and sighed; Merril would definitely get lost if she didn't chain the elf to her waist. That left Anders and he didn't look all too happy, but he seemed to be the best candidate. As a former Grey Warden he would be familiar with the Deep Roads and darkspawn; he was the one that gave them an accurate map after all.

"Anders, will you come with me?"

Anders sighed but replied, "Of course, Hawke." He stood by her side.

"Are you sure Hawke, I could–" Aveline began.

"I know you have a lot to do before you're made guard captain." Hawke gave her a friendly smile. "You'll have enough on your hands with Isabela being left behind."

Aveline groaned but gave the mage a farewell hug anyways.

"I'll keep low while you're gone." Fenris waved his farewell and received a similar goodbye.

Isabela walked up to the mage and whispered in her ear, "I'll try my best at not getting caught by Lady Manhands over here, and I'll be waiting for you to make good on your promise when you come back a rich woman." She nipped lightly at the mage's earlobe and caused Hawke to blush red but her smirk remained.

"I'll try and bring you back something nice. Not a boat, but something nice nonetheless." Hawke jested before she turned to follow Bartrand.

"Wait a second!" Bartrand eyed the bulking dog that trailed behind Hawke. "What's that thing doing?"

"Feros is coming." Hawke left no room for discussion as she patted the dog's head. "Unless you'd like to be the one to tell him that he can't." Feros bared his fangs at the dwarf and lightly growled.

"Bahhh fine." Bartrand threw a hand up in the air and walked away at a slightly faster pace.

"There's a flare in you Hawke." Varric sounded surprised. "I'm almost certain, if my brother had a tail, it would be curling right between his stubby legs."

"I've picked up a few things from my companions after all." Hawke winked and gave a quick glance toward the pirate who was watching her from a distance– it would be a long trip.

The entrance was easy enough to find with Anders' instructions but the rest of the journey was anything but easy. Spiders lined the very rocks that surrounded them, even Feros, who relished the ability to walk around, whined ever so often at the eight-legged creatures that were equivalent in size. Not to mention it was as dark as night and the lamps provided little support when they managed to get off course. Hawke began to understand Isabela's distaste for cramped areas, especially when she had to uncomfortably press up against her companions and for some strange reason it was always Anders that she was pushed up against.

"So Hawke," Anders drew up right beside the weary mage, "why'd you pick me?"

"Pick you? For what?" Hawke asked absent-mindedly as she climbed down from a pile of rocks.

"The expedition."

"Oh, of course," Hawke brushed off her tunic. "You were most qualified."

"Wouldn't you have preferred Isabela?" Anders tested the waters.

Hawke woke up slightly after hearing Isabela's name and raised a brow at Anders' question. "Isabela hates closed spaces."

"I see…" Anders kept by her but felt an awkward silence settle between them. "I'm glad you chose me even though I despise the Deep Roads."

Hawke smiled back but didn't continue the conversation. Anders sighed and kept his thoughts to himself. The young, female mage was very attractive and even though he wasn't looking for a relationship, he wouldn't mind her attention every once and a while. He had bigger things to attend to with his clinic running at all hours of the day in Darktown and with Justice boiling inside of him. He had seen the playfulness between the pirate and mage on various missions, but she had chosen him to accompany her; that had to mean something. The pirate was simply a passing fancy and Anders could offer Hawke so much more than the sleazy-mouthed slut he knew Isabela to be.

The team set up for camp and lay on the hard rock to end the day's excursion. Hawke lay flat on her back with Feros supporting her head. The mabari kept an eye on the other mage who seemed too close for the warrior dog's comfort. With a slight snarl Anders scooted further away until the mabari stopped glaring at him. Varric watched in silence and scribbled down notes in his pad; Blondie had a thing for Hawke and a mabari was keeping him at bay– priceless. Hawke quickly fell asleep, exhausted by the days trekking and began to dream of the woman she missed the most. Isabela had been visiting her nightly escapades for some time now and for the most part they weren't very innocent. Some nights she would wake up in a sweat and was afraid that she had been making some very inappropriate sounds, but no one had informed her of doing so either out of embarrassment or because they were nonexistent. Carver teased her from time to time, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary and it was nothing Hawke couldn't handle. However it was dawning upon her that she sorely missed the pirate's dirty jokes and sleazy dialogue.

Days passed and the group stumbled upon a problem– the path up ahead was blocked off. Hawke muttered but volunteered to find an alternate solution. To put it shortly the alternate solution turned out to be a hell of a lot worse than a blocked road. Bartrand had betrayed their trust and locked them in a tomb of sorts after being handed a strange relic. By the Maker's balls first a dragon and its spawn and now a psychotic little man locked them in the damned Primeval Thaig. Hawke blasted through the next set of creatures that attacked them out of pure rage and frustration. Varric stood behind the raging mage and made sure to note to never be on Hawke's bad list.

"What the hell were those things?" Anders kicked at the pile of rocks that had just collapsed after being hit by a couple of his spells.

"I've heard of them before but only from men with half their minds completely lost. They call them rock wraiths, Blondie, but sometimes they go by the Profane." Varric offered his two cents.

"Whatever they are they can die, and that's all I need to know." Carver shrugged his shoulders and went after his sister who had already charged ahead.

Varric had to hand it to Hawke. She certainly knew how to unleash her wrath upon her enemies. After the hunger demon had tried to bribe the furious mage into a deal, Hawke hardly responded in a pleasant manner. Instead she opted to send a lightning bolt straight for the creature's head and whirlwind the rest of the unfortunate, smaller wraiths. She was on fire, literally. She sent flame pillars this way and that way, barely missing her brother's nicely combed hair. He scolded her but then thought better of upsetting her further.

Up ahead an even greater enemy awaited and Anders was worried that the mage had worn herself out too early, but much to his surprise she seemed even more relentless than she had been if that was possible. He aided her by handing her lyrium vials ever so often and healed the other members that were dealing with the smaller wraiths. Now here was a woman he could truly admire! She practically glowed with magic as she hit the ancient rock wraith with every elemental force known to the Ferelden woman.

Hawke breathed heavily as the battle came to a climactic end and wished there were more things to electrify, freeze or burn. It wasn't that she felt cheated by Bartrand, but he could have at least swindled them after they were out of the Deep Roads. That damned man left them here to rot and she didn't intend to die such a pitiful death. She made many promises before coming on this expedition and she intended to pay them all– to her mother, to her brother and to Isabela.

"Take a look at this Hawke." Varric called over the mage.

Hawke dragged her feet but as she drew nearer her jaw slightly dropped. Gold stacked upon gold stacked upon precious jewels– they had found treasure! At least the expedition hadn't been for nothing; with even just a tiny fraction of the treasure she would easily by the richest woman in Kirkwall.

"Let's take what we can." Hawke nodded as her brother shoved gold down his pockets.

"That's mine! Leave it and I'll give you the key." A booming voice interrupted their glorious pillaging.

Hawke gave the creature a tired expression, raised her hand, dropped it back down and looked at Varric, "would you mind?"

Varric grinned, "not one bit, Hawke." He raised Bianca and shot the creature clean through it's vulnerable spot. "Let's go." He grabbed the key off the wraith and handed it to Hawke.

Hawke agreed and began to stuff her own bag with goods. As she rummaged through the pile she felt a sharp prick on her fingertip.

"Ow!" She lifted the finger to her lips and sucked on the wound..

"Are you alright?" Anders quickly reached out for her hands but she warded his gesture.

"I'm fine." She cast a healing spell and soothed the pain as well as patched up the tiny cut. "What was that?"

She dug cautiously into the pile that had given her the slight prick and carefully pulled out a pair of beautifully gilded twin blades. They were crafted with such finesse that it was no wonder the blade hadn't poked right through Hawke's finger. Not only was it beautiful, Hawke noticed certain runes carved into the hilt– it had enchantment work done on it.

"These will make a pretty gift for her." Hawke commented aloud and caused the former Gray Warden to frown in dismay.

"You mean for your pirate whore?" Carver asked nonchalantly as he inspected what seemed to be a well-endowed, golden beer mug.

Hawke smirked as she picked up two golden balls off the floor.

"Here brother these are for you. I'm glad we were able to find a matching pair for you as well."

Carver scoffed at the balls his sister handed to him but kept them anyways; they were gold after all.

Varric snickered, as did Anders and the grouped moved on through the newly opened passageway. It was easier traveling through these tunnels than it was through the wraith's territory. They had encountered a few darkspawn, but nothing that the mage and her companions couldn't handle. However that didn't entirely mean it was all meadows and butterflies; in fact there were nights when Hawke refused to even blink. The sounds that echoed through the large underground tunnels were monstrous and unsettling. Even Varric, who always seemed at ease and full of merriment, stopped whistling when the creatures were at their loudest.

Varric had guessed it would take two weeks to reach the surface and the manly rogue wasn't too far off. Hawke wanted to run through the passage, reach the surface and soak in the sun she knew was above them, but too much noise would attract attention and that was the last thing she wanted in the Deep Roads. The other night had been a nightmare, and just thinking about it caused a shudder to crawl up Hawke's spine. After two sleepless nights Hawke needed to rest, and Anders assured her that he would keep watch. She didn't trust his ability to keep awake but her eyes refused to stay open and thus all her objections were cast aside. It felt like a mere second had passed by since she first closed her eyes to rest, so upon finding a darkspawn's fleshy face mere inches from hers, the mage reacted violently. She thrust fire down its throat and very well as damned it to the Golden City and beyond. It had been a small group that ambushed them, but none of the apostate's companions were at their prime. They struggled to keep the rotting creatures away, and even after they managed to defeat the last of them, none could sleep that night.

They were 10 days into their journey when Hawke noticed Carver's lack of crude and hurtful statements.

"Carver?" Hawke caught her brother as he stumbled forward. "Carver!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." He tried to speak with force, but his voice grew weak.

"What's the matter?" Hawke searched for any wounds.

"He's been affected by the taint." Anders spoke up as he helped Hawke set Carver down.

"Bloody darkspawn," Carver spat before he passed out.

"No, I promised mother that you wouldn't die down here. There must be something we can do!" She looked towards Anders with pleading eyes.

"There is one thing. I sensed a group of Grey Wardens nearby. I can lead us to them and they can…" He looked down at Carver. "He can go through a ritual to become a Grey Warden; that is the only way to save him now."

Hawke held her brother and felt his breathing become shallow and haggard. "If it must be done." She picked her brother up with the help of Anders and set off towards where the other Grey Wardens were to be found.

Anders handled the negotiations and Hawke was forced to give them her brother. She cursed at her lack of control, but gave her baby brother a kiss on the forehead. She wanted to cry, to apologize for letting Carver down, but she couldn't. She handed the foreign Grey Warden the golden balls that had been in Carver's satchel.

"Make sure you give him these when he wakes up, he'll want them." Hawke charged him with this last request to which he simply nodded.

After that, neither the rogue nor the mage could carry a conversation with Hawke. She only answered the simplest of questions that pertained to getting to the surface, and refused any other sort of friendly banter. Thankfully the ragged trio made it to the surface in two more days, and Hawke would be able to fully enjoy her riches. As the sun splashed on her face, she winced and shielded her eyes. In the darkness she had been able to hide her tears but in the light there was nothing to shade her sadness and regret. Varric looked at the woman beside him and knew that the Hawke that had entered the Deep Roads had died somewhere along those long forgotten passageways and a new Hawke had been born. Only time would tell what the darkness had birthed.