I could be very stealthy... in a city. Or on a ship. Or anywhere where they weren't leaves, sticks, and assorted other crap that coated uneven ground. Out here in the wilds of nature I was only slightly more subtle than a rampaging Darkspawn.

Unless I cheated, which I did every chance I had.

Blue sparks swirled in rhythmic patterns around me, trapping the sounds I was making from getting more than a foot or two away. A fun little spell that Merrill and I had stumbled into in our exploration of manipulating noise with magic, and one we'd both realized the utility of. I'd spent a few months focusing on perfecting it, working with her whenever I could pull her away from her Eluvian for a bit.

Long story short, even when I stepped right on a twig, its harsh snap making me freeze... the two men with their backs to us heard nothing at all.

Poor bastards.

The pair of them were leaning against a low berm caused by tree roots, speaking quietly, nodding to one another as they surveyed a distant camp. Merrill and I had already checked out the same group; a small collection of tents and what looked like a group of traveling Carta. They had a couple of very battered wagons with what I was pretty sure was lyrium of some kind, and tents that looked ready to be burned as disease hazards.

Gross, but not exactly interesting.

Well, apart from the fact that they were camped close enough to the road to see and attack anyone going past. Which was why we'd tied our ponies to a tree well off road, then spent all morning trying to find a way around them. That careful trek had allowed Merrill to spot these two lurking about, and we'd wasted little time in ghosting around to get behind them.

Merrill bit her lip, twirling her staff slowly to bring the blade we'd affixed to the ready while I got my fancy sword secured in my hands as well. Both of us slid to a stop just a few feet back, settling our balance. A single look was all we need to know the other was ready to strike.

Taking a final breath, I burst forward in a sudden motion, keeping the spell in place, giving them no warning of our approach.

My target didn't so much as twitch as we came close, not hearing us coming until we were right on top of them. The kick drove him face-first into the dirt, and a quick shove of my knee into his back kept him there. He still tried to throw an elbow back, to twist away, at least until my long blade came to rest against his neck.

"...really? That's the best you can do?" I couldn't stop the smirk, "You got fat and slow, Varric."

The flailing abruptly stopped, then was replaced by muffled swearing, "...damn you Buzz!"

Chuckling, I eased back, letting him spit out bits of dirt and grass. He poked his head up above the berm one last time, as if making sure the Carta hadn't heard.

"Relax." I chuckled, "You could scream at the top of your lungs and they wouldn't hear you. New spell that we came up with last year."

He finally turned around to take me in, his face that of a man who couldn't decide if he wanted to hug me or punch me. Despite my joke he really hadn't changed all that much, if at all. The armor under his old coat looked new, but Bianca was still right next to him, along with plenty of knives on his belt. Still the same old Varric in other words.

In the end my old friend settled for both; thumping me on the hip with a fist before pulling me into a quick embrace.

"Always giving me heart attacks." He grumbled, unable to stop his grin when we separated, both of us making sure to stay low. Just to our left, I saw Merrill ease her spear away from Anders throat, giggling wildly at his gaping expression.

Varric looked me up and down, nodding in approval. "Damn. You look a lot better than I remember. Like the new haircut."

"And you got fat." I said again, glancing at Anders. "And you've started going gray, Blondie."

Anders huffed. "Good to see you're still as irreverent as ever, Maeve. Full sound proofing on this spell? Does it cut off external sound as well?"

"Oh no, we can still hear just fine." Merrill beamed, crouching down so that we could all sit or crouch behind the small mound of earth. "It took us a few months, but we did get it working. Though we usually use it to sneak up on Tevinter sailors, not friends. At least once Maeve got bored of making Isabella bang her head into ceilings."

Both men chuckled, though neither of them really relaxed.

That alone told me that this wasn't just a regular group of Carta smugglers over there. Something else was going on, or Anders and Varric wouldn't be this keyed up. It also made me wonder just where Fenris was.

Sobering up a little, I moved forward, Merrill doing the same as we joined the boys in taking a look. Poking our heads up let us see the distant camp, men and women shuffling about as they kept working on whatever they were making for lunch. The sole dwarf on sentry duty was shuffling around, but looked drunk. Or high.

Definitely strange. The Carta might have been a criminal organization, but they were a strict organization. They didn't put up with their watchmen being drunk on duty. As in, anyone stupid enough to do that would have their throats slit as a warning to everyone else, and a new person would be given that duty.

Especially when they were moving something as valuable, and volatile, as lyrium.

"Where's Broody?" I asked, quieting my voice even if I was keeping the spell going.

"With the horses." He replied. "Just on the other side of that hill. You have mounts?"

I nodded, pointing back to the east. "Tied them in a copse of trees, just a few hundred yards back that way. What are these idiots up to? We were looking to sneak around them, only saw you when we tried to find a path on this side."

His strong jaw clenched for a moment, then he gave the details.

"Few friends of mine in Kirkwall's branch of the Carta said a group of them went rogue a while back, not long after my dear brother vanished. Not many, just one smuggling caravan coming in from Starkhaven, but that more and more of them have been wandering off since then." His eyes narrowed. "They didn't think much of it, people desert all the time, but that changed when they started working the lyrium trade."

I clicked my tongue, thinking it over. "You've got to be pretty suicidal to consider that a smart business decision. Why do you think Bartrand is involved? Wait, let me guess. They're acting weird?"

Anders' expression twisted unpleasantly, "Extremely so. Varric's contacts in the Carta and Coterie started having run-ins with them last summer. Everyone we spoke with agrees that they all seem to constantly be lyrium addled, but are somehow not dying from it. A few were captured, but they didn't give up anything about where they're based or how many of them there are."

"Doesn't sound like much." I tried.

"It gets worse." Varric shook his head. "The ones my editor let me interrogate didn't seem to notice I was there. They just kept babbling that they needed to get back to 'The Red Song'."

It was my turn to grind my teeth, Merrill saying quietly, "The idol?"

"That's my thought." Varric said, taking a deep breath before letting it out in a heavy sigh. "It's pretty easy to imagine Bartrand stumbling through the woods, running into some Carta smugglers. Getting himself knifed and one of those damned fools picking up his precious treasure."

It was easy for me to imagine too, though a dark part of me was relieved that Varric already seemed ready for his brother to be dead. That might make things a little easier.

"Right." I said, nodding once. "Then I vote we take them down, and we find out what happened to him and the idol. And hopefully smash that idol into tiny pieces, then we melt those pieces with fire, and then we bury those ashes as far underground as we can."

"That's the plan, we were just waiting on you all to show up." He agreed. "There's fourteen of them down there, at least as of this morning. We've been stalking this group for a couple of days now. They're not exactly observant, so we should be able to get close even without your little silent trick."

I glanced at the camp again, looking it over. "If we're attacking, we're going to need Fenris. Are we going to move in from here, or is there better angle?"

"Here's the best spot we've found." He replied.

"All right." I glanced around him, "Lethallan? How about you and Anders go fetch Fenris, and get all of our horses in one place. Varric and I can keep watch here."

She was already scooting back, "I'll get them, lethallan. Come on Anders!"

Looking amused at her cheer, or her pseudo-order, Anders eased himself away from the berm as well.

Watching the pair of them run through the tree, not making a single noise in the process, was as eerie as it had been since we'd finalized the spell. You'd think I'd have been used to it, but no. There were just some things that your brain just wasn't able to really process.

"...creepy." Varric muttered, apparently agreeing. "What did you two actually use that for?"

"Swimming across a harbor, climbing into a 'Vint slave-galley, and slitting throats." I replied.

He gave me a somewhat startled look.

I could only shrug. "The north's got lovely weather, don't get me wrong, but it's no paradise. I know for sure that the Qunari have some kind of bounty on my head now, and I think Tevinter has the Crows stalking me. Isabella's bounty is actually official though, and yes, she's smug about being worth more than me."

Varric snorted. "Sounds like Rivaini. How's she actually doing?"

"She's... more relaxed these days." I said, turning back to the camp again, watching the Carta as I spoke. "Not the fake, skin-deep relaxed like she was here. Honestly, truly relaxed. It was good to see. I think getting her ship back, being free of the death mark, it's left her a lot healthier mentally than she was."

"And you two...?" His voice trailed off.

My eyes rolled, "We didn't fuck, no. You didn't win the bet, and you won't anytime soon."

"Hey, just asking. I know what she's like." He stretched out his arms, then casually shifted to lay on one side, trusting me to keep watch while we talked. "How are you doing?"

"Surviving Thedas one day at a time." I replied.

"Enjoying being the pirate?"

I shrugged. "I did for the first cruise. Don't tell Isabella, but after that it lost most of its appeal. Sure, it's nice to only really go after bastards who really deserve it. Not having to worry about keeping an Alienage safe, or about my what Templars might think, or about what Hawke might think. But it was still... I dunno. I'm getting tired of having to kill people, Varric."

My small glance saw him looking at me, expression sober. When he spoke again his voice was quieter, gentler. "Sorry for pulling you back into this, Buzz."

"Don't be. Bartrand and that Idol are loose threads we have to deal with." I sighed, turning back to watch the Carta's camp. Most seemed to be working on lunch, leaving us without much to worry about. "Our plan's to handle this with you, then meet up with Isabella in Kirkwall by Summerday."

"The crew will be happy to see you. Probably won't be as happy that you're not staying."

I grunted. "Not as unhappy as Isabella is going to be."

His voice turned curious. "Not leaving with her again?"

"That was the original plan, but Longing finally got me the key to Merrill's Eluvian." I said. "Don't tell her that yet, though. I need to work out how to give it to her that doesn't see her try and kiss me."

"Ah. She's...?"

"Crushing on me?" Another sigh came out of my lips, breaking my words apart. "Yeah. Not sure what to do about it."

There was a long pause, then he asked another question. "You don't like her that way?"

"Not sure." I admitted, "But... I don't know, Varric. It's... shit. What are they doing?"

Our discussion went on hold; the Carta began stirring, and we both focused just in case they'd spotted us. They didn't seem to have, but their watchmen went back into their camp to join the others in some kind of circular formation. At a distance I couldn't tell what they were actually doing, but from the swaying and distant sound of chanting, it was some kind of ritual.

"Creepy." Varric muttered.

I could only agree, watching as the group broke apart again. Mister Drunken Sentry started shuffling around the camp again, while the others all seemed to sit down. Eating, probably. Eating actual food... maybe. Hopefully. I really, really hoped it was actual food in those bowls, something I was far less sure of than I would have been a twenty minutes ago.

We kept up our observation until the Carta split apart, heading into their various tents or the bedrolls just thrown onto the ground. The other half of our party arrived around then, Merrill appearing on my right, while Fenris and Anders appeared on Varric's side.

Fenris and I exchanged a quick nod, but that was all the greetings we had time for. Varric got him caught up to speed, which I appreciated.

He then turned to me, and asked, "So, Buzz. What's the plan?"

Yeah. Didn't appreciate that nearly as much.

"Still not our leader." I growled.

"Well, Rivaini isn't here." He smirked, "As her loyal first mate, that makes you next in command. Come on, step up."

I scoffed. "Remind me to hit you later. Fine. Merrill? You remember that Qunari camp that we attacked last fall?"

She frowned, thinking about it, then nodded hesitantly. "I remember, lethallan, but didn't we have all of Isabella's pirates with us for that one?"

"There's also fourteen addled dwarves instead of a few dozen angry Qunari." I countered. "I think we can make it work."

"Oh, true." She perked up. "Teams?"

I mulled it over, glancing around to try and get a better look at the terrain. After a minute or so I made my decision. "I'll go right. Fenris, Varric? See that other little ridge? Get behind that and wait for the signal, then come up and over it. Merrill, Anders, you two get the central role. Give us a half hour to get into position, then get things started."

"Okay." She said, fingers drumming on her staff. "Oh! Anders, that means we throw lots of magic at them to draw them out, then everyone else attacks from behind them if they come at us. Or their sides if they try to stay in place or run away, I guess. The Qunari charged us though. Really rather frightening."

I fought down a grimace at the memory. Thirty-ish furious Qunari sprinting at you, at full speed, in the dark, wasn't something you forgot easily.

Sure, our ambush had worked then, but it had still been terrifying in the moments before Isabella's crew had swarmed in from the flanks.

"A lot fewer of them this time." I assured her. "And we've got Anders to patch us up if they get lucky."

She perked up, beaming at the Warden. "True! We really missed you. I'm still terrible at healing, and Maeve can't figure it out at all."

Loftily ignoring Anders' mutter about that not being surprising, I waited for Varric and Fenris to get moving before slipping away on my own. My silencing spell kept up its minor drain on my mana as I moved, making sure that none of the enemy could hear me.

I may have been silent, but I wasn't invisible. It took me a good quarter of an hour to sneak around to one side of the camp, hiding behind a group of trees that seemed to fighting over a space. Once I was in place I finally let the spell drop, exhaling in relief as the slow but steady pull on my mana finally ended.

I probably wouldn't have much left in the tank, magically speaking, but I honestly doubted I'd really need much for this fight. Not with the others ready to jump in as well.

Settling in to wait, I kept my sword sheathed for the moment. Few things were more out of place in the wild than bared steel; one of my lessons Isabella and her crew had given us on raiding. It did make me wish I'd brought a bow with, though. As uncomfortable as my unexplained skill was, it was a weapon I really needed to force myself to carry more often.

Merrill announced the opening of the battle in her usual style; a bolt of lightning snaked out from her staff to slam into the sentry, the camp's sole guard convulsing as the electricity raced through him. He dropped, smoking, clearly dead, while the thunder echoed in the trees.

I held my breath in the stunned silence that followed, waiting to see how the Carta would react.

The collective howl that came from the camp, and a surge of dwarves rushing out in a mob was pretty much the best case scenario... even if it made me even more warier than I'd been when Varric had first brought up the Red Song.

None of them were shouting orders.

None of them were grabbing proper weapons and armor.

They were just screaming and charging with whatever they'd managed to grab.

I finally pulled my elegant sword out, holding it low, waiting for the right moment. It came with Merill's second spell cutting down three more of them; one probably dead, two yowling and thrashing, and then I sprinted around the tree to come at them from the side and from behind.

That worked out because Fenris was already coming in from the other side, glowing like always, and had begun drawing their attention. Or maybe it was the fact that Bianca was singing, her bolts thudding into bodies as Varric cut loose from a good shooting position up and behind the enhanced warrior.

I heard Merrill's magic ringing, smelt the flowers of it as she reached out into the soil before her. The ground heaved up, rising into a low ridge, slowing their rush uphill and grouping them enough for Anders to cut loose. His heavy rock drowned out everything else; his telekinetic blast pushing the Carta further back.

Leaving them struggling, and perfectly distracted when I came hurtling into their back ranks.

My long blade, Meredith's beautiful gift, carved through the first man like butter. He didn't even had time to scream before I finished the slash, disemboweling him from behind, his flailing body hitting the ground.

Spinning around it, I fell into a lunge, opening a second Dwarven throat before he knew that I was there.

Carta number three must have heard mesomehow, because he whirled around, setting his stance as I recovered. He let out a challenging bellow, heavy ax rising to block my opening slash. Our weapons locked for a moment, letting me see him... and God but I wish that I hadn't.

His hair and beard were wild, unwashed. His veins were bulging out of paper-thin skin, teeth were visibly rotten, and his eyes were...

...fuck!

His eyes were a glowing crimson..

"Shit." I hissed, twisting at the hips to shove him a few inches to the right, his heavy weapon overbalancing him when he didn't let it go. That left me free to whip the edge of my sword across his face, sending him reeling, and wide open for a quick thrust to find his corrupted heart.

"Red lyrium!" I bellowed, "They're high on it! Don't touch them!"

Fenris had already beheaded one, and looked like he'd nearly cut another in half. That had gotten his huge sword stuck in the woman's corpse. He compensated by simply slamming his boot into another man's chest, knocking him back a pace for Varric to put a bolt into.

A real Carta group could have still made a fight of it, even with nearly all of them dead or wounded. Could have at least made us work for it. This lot weren't up to much more than howling and coming at us with their fingers, tree branches, and old cooking knives.

I cut down another woman, shielding Fenris as he retrieved his weapon, Varric let Bianca out down the last pair still trying to rush around, to get at him... and then there was nothing but the dead and the mostly dead.

Merrill and Anders crept downhill as we all stood around, breathing heavily. My lethallan glanced at me for instruction, and I gave her a quick gesture. The motion had her nod, then start using the blade on her staff to finish off the enemy wounded.

"Hey!" Varric complained, tromping down from his shooting position. "We need to question them!"

I shook my head. He must not have heard my shout, not surprising considering all of the noise in a fight. "Look at them, Varric."

He eyed me, but walked over to look at the nearest corpse. A kick turned it over onto its back, letting him get a good look at the man's face.

"...Maker's balls." He added a few more choice words, trailing off, simply shaking his head.

"Yeah. Let's not touch them if we can help it." I said.

"...shit." He groaned. "Agreed. I'll check them for letters, but let's not have anyone else risk getting that close from here on out. And I'll burn these gloves after, along with their bodies. Daisy? Can you move them with magic or your staff?"

"I can help." Anders spoke first, "Staves only though, we should save mana in case we run into more trouble tonight."

"Good thinking. Let's get it done, and remind me to stay upwind when we burn them. Broody?" He glanced at me, "Check the camp?"

"Sure. If there's lyrium I'm going to have to back off though. Still knocks me for a loop." I warned.

"Yeah, just find what you can."

I nodded, finding a rag in a pouch to clean my sword with. I walked as I worked, carefully approaching the misshapen collection of tents, sleeping bags, and wagons. A single cooking fire was already sputtering down to embers, a heavy black pot hanging drunkenly above it.

Tossing the rag aside, I got the blade settled back into a ready stance. My feet guided me in slow, careful steps into the camp. I stared at everything I could; the spilled bowls with some kind of stew on the ground, the molding, rotted nature of the blankets, and the general stench of the place.

What I didn't hear was the overpowering song of lyrium, or anything even remotely like it. I didn't feel any magic on my skin, or taste it on the air.

All my deep breaths did was let me smell rot, offal, and burnt meat...

...but my long ears were staring to hear a classical orchestra, making draw up short with a frustrated growl. "Dammit. Lyrium's still raw."

Biting my lip for a long moment, I shook my head and whispered the old words to bring my barrier up. The comforting blue sparks of my own spell cut off the lyrium's deadly whisper, some of the tension leaving me with its absence. It would hold until I was done, but I wouldn't risk going anywhere near those wagons.

Backing away from them, I headed for the nearest tent instead. Using my sword, I cautiously opened up the flap. When no one emerged screaming, I poked my head in to find a couple of ratty blankets and little else.

"Not even a bag." I muttered, "Damn. Come on, one of these has to have something for us."

I prowled about, kicking open the few sleeping bags, turning over food bowls. They'd apparently been eating mostly raw venison from the looks of it, and from the carcass I found inside of one of the tents. They'd still been eating the meat even as it had begun to rot, which turned my stomach and had me moving on quickly after that.

Naturally it was the tent closest to the wagons that proved to have anything of note.

A small desk with a candle held a bound journal and loose sheets of parchment, all covered in charcoal scribbling. I shoved it all into an empty pack that had been kicked under the chair, then beat a quick retreat as I felt my mana beginning to exhaust itself.

I returned to the others just in time to see Varric finish rifling through the pockets of the last of them, a note joining a thin journal he had tucked under one arm. Once he was done, Anders and Fenris used their weapons to carefully roll the body over to join the others. Merrill was already hard at work throwing sticks and debris over them, something I got started on helping.

Soon enough the kindling and branches were burning, the bodies underneath starting to catch as well. If the smell hadn't driven us off, the red sparks coming up would have all on their own.

A short stop at the wagons let Varric and Fenris check them for any kind of further information, the rest of us waiting upwind from the camp.

"Nothing." Fenris reported on their return. "A small fortune's worth of lyrium, nothing else."

Anders scowled at the wagons, "None of this is right."

"No shit." Varric huffed, offering me the journal and scraps of paper. "Here, for your bag. What did you find in there?"

"Not sure yet." I admitted, "No obvious maps, and no idol either. Here's hoping we can actually read what's on these, find a clue as to where they're operating from. Getting their lyrium... none of the stuff in the wagons was red?"

His head shook once, "I'd still be running if it was."

A good point. "Then I think we head back to the horses. There's a shelter just a few hours east that Merrill and I stayed in last night. We can ride back there, stay warm. Read the papers in the morning and finish catching up before we go hunting for more lunatics in the wild."

A glance around didn't produce any disagreements, and so we set off to find out just what the hell the Lyrium Idol had caused in the years since we'd last seen it.