While Dak and Leyla no longer worked for the Red Iron, Meeran would occasionally send letters regarding potential sources of employment. One of them was for a dwarf named Anso.

It wasn't hard to find the dwarf; every 30 seconds, he kept looking around as if expecting trouble to arrive.

"Are you Anso?" Leyla asked.

The dwarf nearly jumped about ten feet in the air. "Sweet mother of Partha! You can't just run up on someone like that!" He looked them over, his eyes going from Leyla to Dak, to Varric and finally to Anders. "Are you… the ones that mercenary told me about? The one looking for work?"

"We used to work for the Red Iron if that's what you mean," said Leyla.

"Yes, it is! What I mean, that is." Anso sighed. "My apologies, human. I haven't been on the surface very long. I keep thinking I'll fall up into that sky any minute."

Varric chuckled. "Bartrand used to be like that. Got jumpy every time he stepped outside."

"I'd pay to see that," Dak smirked.

Anso shook his head. "But I digress. I need some help. Rather badly, in fact. Some products of mine have been… misplaced. The men who were supposed to deliver it decided not to. If you retrieve my property, I could reward you handsomely…?"

"Just what did these men steal?" Dak asked suspiciously.

"Did I say steal? I don't know if I would go that far. They seemed like perfectly reasonable smugglers. They smiled and everything. The goods are valuable, however. And illegal. Any of my clients wants them very, very badly. You know how these templars can be."

Leyla was immensely glad that they decided not to bring Aveline along. "You're smuggling lyrium to the templars?"

Lyrium was a powerful substance that assisted mages with their magic; it was also rumoured that templars used it in order to enhance their abilities to utilise magic. As a result, the chantry had a great monopoly on it, and it was Orzammar's greatest source of income.

Dak groaned. "Of course he is. That's just bloody great."

"Shh… By the Paragons, not so loudly!" Anso panicked. "My word. I'm not cut out for this. I should have taken that job sweeping stables like Mother insisted."

"We'll get it back for you," Leyla assured.

"Here we go again," Dak sighed.

"Oh, thank goodness!" said Anso with relief. "The gentlemen conduct their business at night in a little hovel within the alienage. If you have to kill them, then I guess it can't be avoided. But I'm sure they'll be reasonable."

They found the hovel easily enough and easily dispatched the bandits guarding it. However, when they found the cheats, they found it was empty.

"So we went through all that trouble to find an empty chest?" Dak asked.

"The bright side of anyone getting in trouble for smuggling lyrium," said Leyla.

"I feel so much better," said Dak sarcastically.

"We better go and tell Anso the bad news then," said Varric.

Dak, however, had a bad feeling about this, and when they stepped outside, his bad feeling turned out to be warranted. He had half expected them to run into bandits or templars outside, but instead, they ran into soldiers and judging from their attire, they were from the Esnsal Imperium.

Judging from the looks of the soldiers, they, too, were surprised to see them as well.

"That's not the elf! Who is that?"

"It doesn't matter. We were told to kill whoever enters the house."

Leyla quickly responded by raising her hand, unleashing a firestorm, and Anders jumped in with a powerful blizzard. One of the soldiers immediately charged in, raising his sword, but Dak quickly moved in and blocked his strike. Varric held back and fired several bolts before any of them could react.

"I think that's all of them," said Dak as he looked around.

However, another soldier arrived, emerging from the alienage just as they were leaving. "I don't know who you are, friend, but you've made a serious mistake coming here." He called over his shoulder. "Lieutenant! I want everyone in the clearing. Now."

A single man stumbled in at the command, bleeding heavily. "Captain…" he said before tumbling to the ground.

An elf in spiky black armour stepped over the corpse. "Your men are dead," he said as he walked down the stairs. "And your trap has failed. I suggest running back to your master while you can."

"You're going nowhere, slave," the captain snarled, grabbing the elf by the shoulder.

Suddenly, a strange light erupted out of the elf, and then he simply reached into the captain's chest, and it sounded as if he just crushed his heart from the inside.

"I am not a slave," the elf spat as the captain collapsed.

"Looks like we've been played," said Dak.

Leyla then realised that this entire job had been nothing but a distraction.

The elf glanced around at the scattered bodies. "I apologise. When I asked Anso to provide a distraction for the hunters, I had no idea they'd be so… numerous."

"You were responsible for this?" said Leyla.

"I'm the reason you are here, yes," he said, looking at her directly in the eyes. "My name is Fenris. These men were Imperial bounty hunters seeking to recover a magister's lost property, namely myself." He gestured. "They were trying to lure me into the open. Crude as their methods were, I could not face them alone." He gave Hawke a respectful nod. "Thankfully, Anso chose wisely."

Leyla looked at all the bodies on the floor. "That seems like a lot of effort to find one slave."

"It is."

"Does this have something to do with those markings?"

"Yes. I imagine I must look strange to you. I did not receive these markings by choice. Even so, they have served me well. Without them, I would still be a slave."

"Well, these aren't the first slavers we've dealt with," said Leyla.

"Always nice to clear out a bit of scum," Dak agreed.

Fenris looked at them curiously. "I have met few in my travels who have sought anything more than personal gain." Fenris hesitated a moment. "If I may ask: What was in the chest? The one they kept in the house?"

"It was empty," said Dak.

Fenris looked disappointed. "I suppose it was too much to hope for. Even so, I had to know."

"You were expecting something else?" Leyla asked.

"I was, but I shouldn't have. It was bait, nothing more."

"So what was all this about?" Dak asked.

"A reckoning," he said simply, then bent down towards the captain's body. He began scrimmaging through his pockets until he found a piece of parchment. "It is as I thought. "My former master accompanied them to the city." He then looked up at them again. "I know you have questions, but I must confront him before he flees. I will need your help."

Leyla looked at Dak. "What do you think?"

"The slavers may be after our friend over here, but they can also be preying on the refugees. Getting rid of them would help a lot of people," said Dak.

Behind him, he was sure Carver was shaking his head. However, he couldn't let slavers wander around the city, taking innocent people. "If it means fighting more slavers, I'll help you."

"I will find a way to repay you," Fenris promised. "I swear it. The magister is staying at a mansion in Hightown. Meet me there as soon as you can. We must enter before morning."

He then turned and left.

"How do we find ourselves in these situations?" Dak sighed.

"Maybe you have a strange kind of luck, Chase," Varric chuckled with amusement.

"Yeah, the bad kind."

"It's like you said we can't let these slavers run wild," said Leyla.

"Yeah, but I didn't think they would have a magister with them," said Dak.

"Do you truly want an Esnal magister wandering around Huttsgalor?" Anders asked. "It will certainly get the templars' attention, and no doubt they'll execute any mage who they think is a blood mage."

"He's right," said Leyla.

Dak relented. "Then let's go and meet the elf."

They met up with Fenris just outside the mansion in Hightown.

"He's got a point," said Hawke.

"No one has left the mansion, but I've heard nothing within," he said, looking up at the windows. "Danarius may know we're here. I wouldn't put it past him."

Leyla looked at the mansion grimly. "He may have prepared some magical defences."

"They will not keep me from him."

"Then let's go knock on the front door," said Dak.

Fenris nodded and kicked the door down. "Danarius!"

However, instead of encountering the magister, they encountered shades. Leyla quickly created a wave of ice, freezing them in place, and Dak then jumped in, smashing them to pieces with his sword. Fenris just stood there and stared at Leyla, but he followed Dak's example and smashed them with his greatsword. Anders destroyed the rest of them with some fireballs.

"He sends spirits to do his fighting for him," said Fenris, shaking his head. "Danarius! Can you hear me? Your pets cannot stop us."

Leyla suspected the magister was nowhere near the mansion, but they kept looking. So far, they only encountered more shades, a couple of rage demons, and an arcane horror. There was no sign of the man.

"Gone. I had hoped…" Fenris looked dejected. "No, it doesn't matter any longer. I assume Danarius left valuables behind. Take them if you wish. I… need some air." He pushed past and left the house.

While everyone else was busy taking everything that wasn't nailed down, Leyla followed Fenris outside. She found him leaning on a pillar at the front of the mansion.

"It never ends," he said when he noticed her. "I escaped a land of dark magic only to have it hunt me at every turn. It is a plague burned into my flesh and my soul. And now I find myself in the company of yet another mage." He turned to face her. "I saw you casting spells inside. I should have realised sooner what you really were. Tell me, then: What manner of mage are you? What is it that you seek?"

"I don't know. What do you think I seek?" Leyla asked.

"You are skilled—I know that much."

Dak then suddenly appeared behind Leyla. "If you have a problem with my sister, you have a problem with me."

Fenris sighed. "I imagine I appear ungrateful. If so, I apologise, for nothing could be further from the truth. I did not find Danarius, but I still owe you a debt. Here is all the coin I have, as Anso promised." He handed Leyla what looked to be six silvers and four coppers. "Should you find yourself in need of assistance, I would gladly render it."

Leyla looked at him curiously. "You didn't seem all that thrilled with me a moment ago."

"You are not Danarius. Whether you are anything like him remains to be seen."

Leyla found this entire situation rather unusual; she wasn't exactly an expert when it came to the slave trade, but the sheer number of men that this Danarius sent after for a single slave was rather dramatic.

"Your old master must want something more than just a runaway slave," she said.

"He doesn't want me at all, just the markings on my skin." He held up an arm, showing the white tattoos. "They are lyrium, burned into my flesh to provide the power that Danarius required of his pet. And now he wishes his precious investment returned, even if he must rip it from my corpse."

"Perhaps you can find a way to pay him back?" said Dak.

"I will pay him back—in blood," he said, clenching his fists. "You have no idea what he's done to me, what I went through just to get away."

"Hey, we were only trying to help," Dak snapped.

"I… I'm sorry. That was unworthy of me," said Fenris apologetically. He then looked at him with a firm expression. "The truth is I know nothing of the ritual that placed these markings on me. It was Danarius's choice, one he now regrets."

"I'm planning an expedition I might need help with," Leyla mentioned.

"Fair enough." Fenris gestured at the mansion. "Should you have need of me, I will be here. If Danarius wishes his mansion back, he is free to return and claim it." He gave a small bow. "Beyond that, I am at your disposal."

Dak looked at Leyla questionably. "You sure you want him coming along? I think it perfectly clear what he thinks of mages."

"After what he's been through, can you really blame him?" Leyla asked.

"No, but what if he tells the templars?"

"I think he has a great deal of integrity; I don't think he'll turn us in on a whim."

Dak didn't seem convinced. "If you say so."

"So that's how the Champions met Fenris," said Cassandra. "I must admit from everything I've heard a man, I'm surprised that he allied himself with Leyla."

"I think he mostly hated corrupt mages rather than mages in general," said Varric.

"I've heard rumours that he is busy hunting down slaves preying on refugees."

"Sounds like him; I take it you've tried to make contact with him."

"We've tried, but he seems to be skilled at eluding our agents, and we're not even certain he is in the South at the moment."

Varric looked at the Seeker, intrigued. "With so much chaos running across the land, I'm surprised you have the manpower to send out for a manhunt."

Cassandra looked at him dryly. "We don't, which is why I call them off and focus my attention on you."

"Lucky me."

"Now, continue your story."