The sound of oxygen filling and exiting my lungs was all I could hear while Coin kept looking at me. I was aware of other people talking around me, but their words only formed jumbled background noise. I couldn't even tell apart who was speaking in a raised voice and who was trying to calm things down. My entire focus was on the Saarebas in front of me.

Coin's eyes couldn't be seen through his mask, but his face showed emotions I couldn't describe. Pain? Disgust? Relief? Though I had no idea why would he be relieved to see me again.

"What makes you think that I'd agree to anger the Arishok by doing something like this?" Roghart growled, catching my attention. "This qunari has to be from his flock, right?"

I whipped my head at my brother, shocked to hear how familiar he seemed to be with the matter. The fact that the Arishok was in the same city as me had already threw a hard punch against my face. By keeping it a secret from me, Roghart might as well have struck my other cheek.

The tangled mess in my belly twisted even more when I realized that Roghart couldn't have been the only one who had known. Whether it was due to pure fear of the topic or my carelessness, I hadn't heard any news of the qunari during the time I had spent in the underground. However, my brothers, Isabela and even Anders couldn't have lived in the city without any knowledge of the horned beasts. The idea of even Jethann hiding such crucial information from me made me sad.

Roghart may have been trying to protect me, but his decision had been a wrong one. I would only be protected if I knew exactly where my enemies were based.

Petrice cocked her head and smirked. "It's what 'the Hawke' does in Kirkwall," she replied. "Helping the innocent and the weak is your job. You have changed the city more than you'll ever know and aiding Ketojan is a huge step towards the largest ordeal the city must face."

"What ordeal?" Isabela scoffed.

"That the qunari can and must be opposed. No-one can blame Ketojan for wanting to be free and only you can be discreet enough to grant that wish to him. By releasing him from the influence of his clan, the people of Kirkwall will see the cruelty of his kin and we will have a common goal to achieve. It's not a lot, but we must work towards what is right."

It was an obvious trap, but I was more interested in the mystery of encountering Coin than the details of the Sister's scheme. Coin I knew wouldn't hesitate to protect his tribe, yet there he was, alone and separated from the others. There had been moments when Coin had actually rejected a direct order, though he had always been aware of the consequences of his actions. The harder I thought about it, the more inexplicable his presence became.

As I slowly eyed Coin again, a thought occurred to me. Out of all the possible words to depict the aura around the Saarebas, there was one I had dodged on purpose because I would never equate him with it: weakness.

My lips parted a little as I tried to put the pieces together. Coin evaded humiliating situations, forcing himself to break every limit a mage should follow in order not to turn into a corrupted abomination. Out of all the Saarebas of my tribe, he had been the strongest. I had never witnessed him running out of mana and every new scar on his body boosted his power. If he had no time to cast a spell, he let his huge fists to take control and his bloodlust was as fierce as any qunari soldier's. I had seen him rip a branch from a tree and beat an enemy to death with it.

My knowledge of Coin told me that he had a proper reason to be in the same room with a human templar and a Chantry sister. I had nothing but hate to show to the qunari, but Coin and the other Saarebas' had been my only family during my years of imprisonment. He may not have sought me out specifically, but he must have been looking for something.

I tapped Anders' shoulder and he turned around, starting to call my name before I stopped him and signed, We go. Then I pointed at Coin and repeated my message.

"Are you certain?" Anders asked, his voice full of uneasiness. "After what you've told me, I'd say the last thing we should do is to wander around with a qunari."

I know him, I attempted to explain and signed Coin's name to Anders. The way Coin observed the Mages' Cant made me believe for a moment that he understood it and I felt awkward correcting the mistakes I did with his name.

Surprisingly, Anders didn't protest aloud, but worry had painted his face and all I could do in response was to keep looking him in the eye and not show any hesitation. I saw how his expression went from confusion to shock, like he had just realized why I knew Coin. His eyes darted at the qunari and Roghart and he raised his hand in order to sign something to me, but gave up before I could decipher anything useful. When it became evident that I wasn't going to lose the staring contest, Anders sighed silently and rubbed the back of his head, clearly not approving my plan.

Not care about her, I clumsily signed as I quickly tried to clarify my point. I have to help Coin.

Anders met my serious gaze again, but he seemed a bit more relaxed. "Hawke," he turned to my brother, "we should be the ones to solve this. At least then the Arishok wouldn't have the whole city to blame."

Roghart glared at both Anders and me, but his look was softer than earlier, like he now considered us even because both of us had erred in our actions.

"I agree," Isabela added. "The situation could get quite ugly if we let some random bunch of greedy mercenaries handle this."

"I know," Roghart spat and glanced at Coin with overflowing doubt.

"So we have a deal then?" Petrice chirped.

"Yes."

"Good. You can use the trap door in the next room to access the underground warrens where there are no guards and I won't be linked to this." As Petrice was heading back to her bodyguard, she stopped to grin at us over her shoulder and said, "Good luck."

#

Not even the barren tunnels of the underground could erase the last image I had of Petrice. Her almost mocking sneer wasn't the only factor why I assumed her intentions weren't anything good. Helping a Saarebas to escape his tribe wouldn't produce anything positive for neither party. I would have most likely been the main target of my tribe's pursuit had Isabela not stolen the Tome of Koslun. The qunari were relentless and didn't easily give up something valuable to them. No doubt the tribe wouldn't waste weapons and armor on retrieving Coin, their strongest mage who didn't need red lyrium to turn whole villages upside down.

Our journey was a quiet one. Coin had stopped staring at me and calmly walked close to my brother, clenching the hanging chains to reduce their clanking noise. Isabela had made every effort to enlighten the mood, but even she had her limit when no-one responded in laughter. In my opinion, she was awfully intimidating when silent. Nothing would distract her from sneaking behind an enemy and slice their throats in an instant. The general aura surrounding us all could be described as dangerous. One misjudgment was enough to cause any of us to jump and attack, ally or not.

Just when I had finished my thought, there was a touch on my shoulder which made me take a hasty step forward and spin around. Not even Anders seemed surprised of my reaction.

"Are you really fine with this?" he whispered, his eyes targeting Coin.

He and others were good, I tried to explain with as few gestures as possible.

"By others I assume you mean the mages of the tribe."

I nodded and although Anders shone of uncertainty an unconvinced person possessed, he didn't continue the conversation. How I felt about the Saarebas compared to their masters was not a topic I could clarify to Anders during a stroll. The fact that he cared delighted me and perhaps one day he'd be the first to hear the full story of my past. As Anders kept his distance from Coin and watched my back behind me, I trusted him more than my own family. Oddly enough, such a thought didn't bother me at all.

Roghart halted and raised his balled hand to make us do the same. I peeked past Coin and saw a group of armed men glaring at us right next to the underground exit we had planned to take. Their leader with thick red mustache gestured one of his companions to follow him as he slowly walked to us, a pompous grin on his ugly face. Everything about the group reeked of illegal activity.

"I think you have taken the wrong path, my friends," he snorted and I noticed his right hand was positioned like Isabela's, ready to draw a dagger.

My brother smirked and he didn't take a battle stance, as if he was making fun of the outlaws. "Pretty sure this is where our map led us, unless there's another less crowded way out of the city through the underground?"

The leader realized that he was being challenged and he quickly glimpsed at his men to ensure they didn't take Roghart's bait. "So, a smart one eh?" he said in an offended voice. "Let's make this simple then: either you get out of my sight or blood will flow."

"Sure thing," Roghart said with a shrug. "So I suggest that you move your ass and let us through."

I knew Roghart was still upset with me. I couldn't figure another reason for his unnecessary threats. He acted as pissed as a cat that had been tossed in a large bucket of water after a good nap.

Or maybe I didn't know my family at all. Maybe I understood Anders and Isabela more than the people whose blood I shared.

When I looked at the annoyed leader, it wasn't his animalistic gaze that stirred me, but the change in his pose. I stood beside Coin, though the gap of empty space between us was quite large and the mustache man had stealthily moved an inch too close to me. I couldn't have been the only one who had observed him, but the situation prevented me from taking a look at Coin and see his reaction. My eyes had to be on the man.

The grin on his lips was persistent as he swayed towards Coin. His right foot was still in my territory and he could throw himself at me easily. I dared to quickly glance at Coin, but more time was required to read his expression. The mask made it even more difficult for me.

"Your pet here doesn't scare me, just so you know," the man snarled as he scanned the Saarebas before he shifted to look at Isabela. A long moment passed until he found the willpower not to gape at the pirate's chest any longer and when his eyes rolled to look at me, my nose wrinkled at the sight of his hungry, beastly stare.

"I wonder if your allies are as fearless as you claim to be," the leader spoke the words to my face. "Or are you willing to risk their lives to feed your pride?"

Coin took a small step forward, his chains letting out an eerie chink. The sound reminded me of a qunari executor's blade being unsheathed, ready to pass on the judgment. It would have been somewhere on the top of the list of the most terrifying sounds a person could produce if I had to assemble one. The noise had always been related to something final and Coin's low growl and flexed muscles were no less intimidating. I couldn't tell exactly what had angered him, but Coin had most definitely raised his guard up and I sensed the magic boiling inside him. No matter how hard I fought not to recall some events in the past, he caused me to see the battlefield again. The pieces of corpses exploded by the power of red lyrium were clear as a yesterday's memory in my mind again. I concentrated to erase the vision, but instead it was replaced with an image of Coin, surrounded in a magical aura and his burnt victims piled all around his huge figure.

"Uh, boss," the leader's comrade said carefully. "I think the horn-head doesn't like you insulting his masters."

"Oh, is that right?" the ugly man turned to Coin. "This pretty one here is your master?"

Although I wasn't going to make the error of slapping the man, my hand rose slowly as a reflex. The irritation that had warmed my body was struck back when all of a sudden there was a glinting blade across my throat. My breathing stopped, like I was playing dead while standing up.

"Cancel your spell if you don't wish to spend the rest of the day mopping your friend's blood off the ground," the leader commanded Anders when the air around his palm started to swirl with freezing energy. The edge of his dagger brushed my skin as he glared at Roghart and Isabela. "Don't think even for a second that you would be faster than me."

Do as he says, I wanted to tell the others, but only because I looked for a better opportunity to escape and counterattack. As I watched my brother clenching his fist and Anders' squinting, I also heard how the leader's armored leather glove had stopped gritting. To me, it meant that he wasn't squeezing the grip of his weapon so firmly anymore. If his arm moved even a little further away from me, I could duck and get out of his range. My plan was going to work if nothing alerted the mustache man.

He sneered at Coin, who hadn't shown any sign of retreat nor combat readiness. "You want to be free, don't you?" the leader asked quietly. "Let me grant you your well-earned freedom, my friend."

With no warning, the man was hit by a strong magical force and sent flying. The loud low boom of the spell caused my ears to ring for a second after it had been cast right beside me. I saw Coin's spread fingers, shaking as an after-effect of casting magic so abruptly.

"You fucker!" the leader yelled as he scrambled up. "Kill them! All of them!"

"Reneka, get behind me!" Roghart ordered while drawing his sword and I happily complied.

"Leave the lesser boys to me, Rogue," Isabela said and shot a glance at me and Anders. "Keep the archers off us!"

I counted five melee fighters and three men with longbows, two of which who were already aiming their arrows at Coin. Distracting them was the priority in my opinion, but when I began to evoke the flames of a fireball, I was interrupted by a heavy hand that grabbed my shoulder. My spell was aborted and the archers fired at us, but the same hand that had stopped me was raised to greet the whistlers of death with a barrier that blocked the attack.

Coin released me when the shield he had erected vanished and grunted. My guess was that he was still being bound by his Arvaarad and thus couldn't speak properly, but when he pointed at the archer who was the closest to him, I figured he had picked his target and wished for us to eliminate the others.

Anders seemed confused, but his concentration was quickly fixed when the bows were about to be reloaded. He launched a chilling sphere at his opponent and I prepared to teleport myself. Anders' stunned gasp was the last sound I heard before time slowed around me and I felt my body being pulled at high speed. The archer next to the man Anders had frozen was still in the middle of aiming when I appeared right in front of him. He was left staggered and I blasted him with a similar shock wave Coin had created earlier. The force snapped the arrow in two and the archer was separated from his weapon.

Disoriented, he shook his head and drew a dagger from its scabbard behind his back. Clearly the man wasn't made for the melee combat, but I treated him as a warrior like my brothers were. With no armor on, I tried to mimic Isabela's movements she often exploited against raining blows. Enemies always underestimated her and hoped to cut her bare limbs, but Isabela dodged most of the attacks and made it seem like dancing.

I wasn't Isabela nor as nimble as a cat, but memorizing the patterns helped me evade the first thrusts when my opponent charged. He was better than I had expected and more courageous than his leader. Although he was unsure with a dagger in his hand, he didn't let it put him at disadvantage. On the contrary, the man leaked of determination and his instinct of survival was strong.

My moment of admiration was brutally shattered when I hadn't taken note of our environment and the possibilities for dirty fighting it supplied before it was too late. A handful of sand was flung into my eyes and the sudden blindness stripped me of my guard. I wobbled a few steps back and heard my name in Anders' voice. Listening to him and not the rustling ahead of me was a serious lapse from an experienced fighter like myself.

Without my sight, I could only pick a random direction. I protected my throat by pressing my chin against my chest and jumped to my right. I hadn't forgotten that we were fighting on a higher ground near the underground exit, but one meter fall was the least of my worries. Distress cost me speed and the bandit managed to gash my shoulder, missing the collarbone by an inch or two. I cried from pain and covered the wound under my palm as I rolled off the platform, shivering from both the heat of the injury and rage. I was mad at myself for being a fool and embarrassed that Coin had to witness it. He had accepted me as a member of the tribe only because I had proved my ability.

My body hit the ground, but I bit my lip and quickly got on my feet when the enemy jumped after me, his weapon ready to be swung in an arc. He hit the empty air where I had been and the stinging in my wound caused me to grimace. I created a gap between me and the bandit, breathing hard as I glared at him and the men Roghart was battling against with Isabela. Only the leader and two of his fighters were left, plus the archer I had faced.

I turned my gaze and was puzzled to find Coin at my side. All my senses had been used to watch the archer who was searching for a weak spot in order to begin his attack, so I hadn't detected the qunari despite his heavy chains. My confused stare moved from Coin's face to his arm when he extended it and a ball of lightning started to crackle on top of his hand. He didn't complete the spell, just waited silently and glanced at me.

"Ah!" a weird sound came from my mouth when I perceived Coin's plan. I let go of my shoulder and followed Coin's lead. Our stances were exactly the same and our spells were cast in harmony. The lightning formed a circle of bright light, too intense to be gazed upon.

Usually, such a powerful spell was impossible to target on specific individuals, but two Saarebas mages were more than sufficient to bend that rule. Our fused energy made the archer gasp in horror and I intended him to be the first to taste it. As Coin raised his arm, I copied him and bolts of burning thunder struck the remaining enemies, silencing their shrieks beneath the rumbling noise. Roghart grabbed Isabela and pulled her back and I could hardly blame him. Spells that affected a destined area couldn't be ordered not to affect the possible allies. Mages rarely cast magic other than rituals in groups, so everyone's shocked expression was to be expected.

Once the spell was over, there was nothing else left of the bandits than corpses, hissing from severe burns or blood streaming from their cuts even after death. Coin relaxed and so did I, though it only meant that I was reminded of the pain. My torn shirt from where I had been injured must have alerted Anders as he was the first one to approach me and Coin in haste.

"Maker's balls, what was that?" Isabela said, sheathing her daggers with suspicion, like she couldn't believe the fight had been finished.

I gestured Anders to stop and showed him the bright greenish glow I had summoned. The light was warm and when it touched my wound, it hurt as little as a mosquito bite. I healed slowly because of my inexperience, but I liked to think that I had learned well. The earnest look Anders gave me enhanced my thought and I proudly inspected the pale scar that was left behind as a reminder of how I had improved as a mage.

Roghart waited until I wasn't bleeding anymore before frowning at Coin. "A little warning would be nice the next time you decide to start a fight," he growled.

"Disapprove if you want, but he saved Reneka," Anders stated. "Besides, you were the one who set the stage in the first place."

Coin was still unable to speak, so I couldn't get answers from him. The Saarebas' often looked out for each other because they had no-one else, not for personal reasons. I wasn't a member of the tribe anymore and Coin had no obligation to protect me. When I was young, he had despised me the most, though he had been too proud to ever express his opinions. Life as a qunari mage was all he had known and serving loyally was the only way to stay alive for his kind.

Why did you protect me? I asked with no voice.

Roghart sighed, mumbling to himself as he walked to the exit. He had witnessed me in an all-out battle before, but I realized the first fact he knew about my strength was that it had come with a price. I wouldn't be able to change his point of view and making him imagine himself in my place would only color the brand of doubt he had marked me with.

There was a soft pat on my back from Anders as he passed me with an encouraging smile. He and Coin required no convincing, but I wasn't going to leave the people without arcane arts to dark. My power was too alien to dress into words, so I had to master the skill of display if I wished for my family to believe in my own independence.

It's not like I had the tools to give an in-depth lecture anyway.

#

Seeing the sunlight lifted my spirits, but only for a short moment. In the distance, I could already detect an unknown group we were not expecting. The underground path had led us to a small cave at the Wounded Coast and Coin was the first one to halt abruptly when our feet landed on the hard rock and the wind from the sea hit our clothes, causing them to flap restlessly. If not for Coin's chinking chains, I would have sat down to enjoy the serenity.

I narrowed my eyes and gasped when I identified the tall, red-tattooed soldiers as qunari. My speed dropped instantly, but I was pushed from behind. After picking whether or not I should avert my gaze from the qunari, I looked up over my shoulder and saw Coin's stern face underneath his mask. He leered at the soldiers, but something about it indicated humility.

"What should we do, Rogue?" Isabela asked, her fingers curling anxiously.

"Is that a serious question?" Roghart snorted and marched forward. "We have three mages among us. If they take even one wrong glimpse of my sister, they're dead."

Although everyone had known about the qunari in Kirkwall, none couldn't have guessed that they were my tribe. Anders was the only one to whom I had revealed the bits about Coin and he hadn't shared the information with the others, probably because he didn't want to make that announcement without my consent. Roghart was clearly suspicious though and I knew it wouldn't take him too long to put two and two together even without my help. I hadn't specified the nature of my tribe to anyone, which made me understand the harmful side of my secret. If my past wasn't clarified to my family, they would continue to shield me from every qunari and treat all of them as a threat against me, just like I mistakenly did.

The forgiveness I briefly felt quickly turned into burning hate when we got closer to the qunari and it was Coin's Arvaarad who took a step to us. The warriors under his command had their arms folded, but I knew better than to assume their relaxed posture would give us more time to react first.

Coin stopped in front of me and growled, like he wanted me to stay in cover. I sensed how lyrium was swirling inside him, though his aura was defensive. Anders hadn't let go of his staff since we got out of the underground and I noted his white knuckles.

Without delay, the Arvaarad dug out Coin's control and pointed him with it. I stirred like a threatened fox, but Coin remained as immobilized as a trained mabari waiting for its reward.

Was this what Coin had waited for? To be leashed again?

The Arvaarad spotted me through the visor of his helmet and gnarled in a deep, quiet voice. "By bringing these two runaways to me, either you have been harboring them or you are merely after a bag of coin," he looked around before setting his eyes on Roghart.

My brother scoffed. "I wouldn't take your coin even if you offered. What you intend to do with the qunari is not my concern, but handing him or Reneka over to the qunari was not what I agreed on. I've smuggled this package out of the city and how he survives from now on doesn't involve us any longer."

"You talk like you're familiar with our companions," Isabela suddenly said.

"I am the Arvaarad, the handler, of this Saarebas," the qunari declared and waved the control rod at me. "The human one is not my responsibility, but I have the authority to watch over them both until we have returned to the tribe."

"'Watch over'?" Anders spat, clearly figuring out the true meaning behind the words. "You're a fool if you think we will let you."

The Arvaarad lowered his arm and faced Coin. "Saarebas!" he shouted. "Show me where your loyalties lie! Show me that you know your place and still serve the Qun!"

While it was shocking, I wasn't too abashed when Coin fell on his knees with resolution and refused to meet his Arvaarad's eyes. His faithfulness vexed me, but it made me wonder if I would have behaved the same had I been born and raised as a qunari Saarebas. There was some kind of uncertainty in Coin's movements, however. He hadn't opened his fists and while he didn't look up, he kept glancing the ground, like a child who was trying to find ants.

"See?" the Arvaarad unmistakably targeted me with his smug sneer. "A good soldier of the Qun understands."

"Does he even have a choice?" Anders didn't bother to conceal his wrath while speaking.

"Mages are not people, so they do not choose anything," the qunari tensed, the leather belts holding his shoulder pads gritting as he moved dangerously close. "He has no other life than being a tool and he must always remember that he will never be anything more."

I didn't like to admit it, but when I felt the presence of Justice for a second, it frightened me and I wanted to tell Anders he shouldn't fall to the enemy's provocation. Of course a fight couldn't be evaded, but I had fought while being consumed by all the wrong emotions. It was a state of mind I didn't wish Anders to have, especially not him. Selfish or not, I wasn't going to let him become as weak as I had been, when everything and everyone I couldn't explain had ended up burning in the flames I had conjured. After learning healing magic and having more to live for than survival, I had changed and my happiness was not going to be tainted by watching the people I cared about take the incorrect turn at the crossroads.

Putting my hand on his right arm that gripped his weapon was the only way I thought I could calm Anders. My fingertips had barely touched the sleeve of his jacket when he swiftly buried my hand under his without looking. I felt something jump inside me from the sudden reflex, but Anders seemed to ease up and his intense breathing turned into composed inhales. The situation induced such comfort in me that I forgot about the qunari and the stare of death the Arvaarad was giving me.

"I am no fool," the qunari handler hissed. "You are a Saarebas like her and I will take you all to be executed. It is all you bas deserve."

"If it's blood you're after, you should have only said so from the beginning!" Roghart bellowed and drew his sword, striking the sand where the Arvaarad would have stood had he not evaded in time.

The Arvaarad hollowed in his language, commanding his men to either capture or kill the mages while dealing with the rest. I quickly approached Coin, but he grunted from pain as the Arvaarad bound him with the control rod. I launched a flaming spell at the qunari, hoping that it would dispel the effect. The Arvaarad dodged and put the rod away behind his back, making it even harder to release Coin. His long greatsword had too much reach and I didn't dare to go into a melee with him.

It angered me to think that one simple toy was able to disarm a person of his ability to fight back. As the collar choked Coin and suppressed his magic, he gazed at me and the soldiers, like he wanted me to concentrate.

I ducked when one of the qunari threw a spear at me, although the weapon was stopped early by Anders' barrier. He cursed at my attacker and set him ablaze, not caring to hasten his death before targeting another warrior who was clutching two javelins prepared to be flung in the air.

Seeking for a vulnerable opponent, I spoke a spell in my mind and laid my eyes on the qunari who was about to charge Isabela. The pirate captain was already holding three beasts at bay, so her brief smirk at me was more than thankful when I caught the qunari inside a spiritual cage that inflicted only pain to its victim.

A clash of blades caused me to spin around to encounter the Arvaarad who battled against Roghart, his immense strength gradually pushing my brother back. The Saarebas handler was capable of fighting any sort of enemy and his unnaturally fast movements made it tedious for me to aim my spells. A cut Roghart got on his side didn't help me at all and I started to search for other options to assist him.

Coin's control rod was in my sight, but the Arvaarad would have chopped me into pieces of meat before I could got near him. The item hanged from its leather holster and wishing for it to drop was as unlikely as hearing a cry of surrender from a qunari. The Arvaarad was too large to be frozen and thus slowed down. Watching Roghart block a swing after a swing, I knew I had wavered too long and had to snatch the rod despite the risks.

When my brother managed to hold the qunari still by pinning the creature's sword down, I rapidly drew a small symbol in front of me and glared at the ground beneath the Arvaarad's feet. Closing my eyes was necessary in order to focus and I was lucky I hadn't been disturbed until the spell was ready. My arm made an arc towards the qunari and a single triggering word in my head produced a glyph shimmering in green under the target.

The Arvaarad staggered, disoriented and the glyph activated. It flashed and the qunari was left gaping in rage when the spell paralyzed him. Roghart needed a moment to comprehend the situation, but I dashed as soon as the Arvaarad's limbs didn't move. I grabbed the control rod and exited the qunari's space with a hurry, not trusting my skills in such magic to lightly walk around him.

Coin forced his chin up, ignoring the pressure that tormented every motion a Saarebas might attempt to perform under the influence of a control rod. In my hands, the rod was more like a staff like Anders owned due to its size and I had to hold it firmly when it vibrated near Coin. The functions were too familiar to me and I easily dispelled the energy surrounding Coin after remembering the correct command.

"You...abomination!" the Arvaarad screamed as the spell began to wear off.

Roghart thrust his sword through the qunari's stomach and withdrew it while stepping back. The wound would have been fatal to the most, but despite the gurgling and bleeding, the Arvaarad was determined not to collapse in front of the people he thought to be lesser than him. His dark eyes didn't seem to be able to see his enemies anymore and I felt no pity for a man who enslaved others simply because of a talent they feared.

As the only remaining qunari swallowed the blood streaming from his mouth, Coin rose up and looked at the final moments of his handler. For the first time since my escape, I heard him speak. He thanked the Arvaarad and slayed him with a brutal spell that crushed the opponent's throat, though for the Arvaarad such a death was a blessing. His kin were despised to the point where people would prefer to let them suffer till the crows pecked their faces off.

Sand swept on my shoes when the qunari fell on the ground with a loud thump. My heart was beating hard and I sighed. Coin took off his golden mask and revealed the stitches over his lips, as well as scars I didn't recall him having.

"It is done," he said, silently.

"If you can talk now, then perhaps you could explain what the hell is going on?" Roghart demanded.

"A trap to you, like you might have guessed already," Coin answered, looking at the wide sea. "To me, salvation."

Stunned, I gave the most puzzled look which he met.

"The Arishok has failed his duty," Coin said, his yellowish eyes locked on me. "I cannot serve a leader who has lost his purpose and who has become weak, so I didn't return after the storm separated me from the tribe."

Cussing that I had no writing tools, I signed a message to Anders and pointed at the Saarebas. His brow furrowed and he reluctantly agreed to translate.

"Reneka wants to ask about what happened," he told Coin, not showing any friendship towards the horned man.

My method of communication didn't seem to interest Coin as he made no comment of why I didn't write on the ground like I had used to back at the tribe. "The Arishok has become obsessed of retrieving what was stolen from him, including you," he shot a grave glance at me. "He won't lead the tribe out of the city before he's got what he wants."

I turned to Roghart and he required no aid to put the pieces together. Even after lowering my gaze, I could sense the jolt that had washed over him. Surprisingly, Isabela stared at the qunari like a vicious feline at the cost of being identified, though I doubted any other than the Arishok and his warriors could recognize her. The Saarebas were not known for being part of the discussions and we had been left behind with the Arvaarads when the Tome of Koslun was being retrieved.

"The qunari in Kirkwall, your people...," Roghart breathed, each of his words having a weight of a thousand blades pointed at his enemies. "My hunch was right. You are the ones who kidnapped my sister?"

Coin's silence didn't emit guilt or consent, but it answered Roghart's question well enough. "The Arvaarad don't need to rationalize themselves to us, which is why I cannot give you a reason for what occurred. In fact, I am in no position to respond to your queries any longer, as this is as far as I go."

A cold shiver raised the hair on my skin, confusing me of why I got a melancholy sensation. Coin's chains clattered in a tempo that could have been from a funeral song as he paced towards a hill ahead. A sound came from my mouth and Anders caught my hand, shaking his head when I ogled at him.

"The Arishok is deaf to any suggestions," Coin spoke as he walked. "I cannot follow a leader who makes my collar feel like a prison. I am of the Qun and can't live free without my Karataam. My life belongs to the tribe and the Arishok and if I don't think sacrificing myself for them is a right course, there's nothing but a dead end for me."

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard!" Anders protested. "Is that what you think of Reneka as well? That she should die rather than be free?"

I bit my lip and released myself from Anders' hold. He called my name once as I ran to Coin, blocking his path and looking him straight in the tired eyes. My knowledge of the Qun didn't help my opinion of Coin's plan. The qunari were extremely faithful and he had always hated me for not accepting my fate and live like all the Saarebas did instead of whining and crying. His past self never rushed to my aid if I ran out of strength, yet he had protected me against the bandits and his Arvaarad.

Blinking twice, Coin kept the eye-contact, displaying no signs of retreat. "No," his voice was almost kind. "She's not of the Qun. She's...something more."

His statement had left me so bemused that I hadn't noticed his extended hand and the necklace he had in it. It was a simple leather cord, but I could detect some powerful force in its core, like there was a vortex that sucked all my attention. I hadn't seen the talisman on Coin or on the other Saarebas before and I speculated that their collars had always concealed them.

"Allow me to give you a piece of advice," Coin said to my brother. "Never, ever let Red go all out."

I lifted my gaze to ask Coin what he meant, but he used the opportunity to stoop down and string the talisman around my neck, his thumbs brushing my skin slightly. "However, if you really must someday," he whispered into my ear quietly, "then you should be equipped like a Saarebas when the worst comes to pass."

I trembled and my lips parted, seeking for a response though I had no voice. Not once during the years of my capture had I thought that I belonged to the qunari. The tribe was the courtyard of my prison and my collar had been the cage. Learning their language wasn't a privilege, but a coercion. I didn't choose to kill the enemies of my tribe. It was a job that had ensured my life if I performed well.

But the Saarebas had been my family. They weren't as comforting as mother and my brothers and I don't believe I could have survived if they had treated me with silk gloves. I shared my moments of weakness with them and we laughed in a joint choir. Our meals were finished together and the damp, cold sleeping quarters were tolerable because we all slept there. The Saarebas followed the Qun and prepared to die for their people, but none had tried to convert me. Coin's words had always been the harshest and not even he had ever turned against me.

I crouched and wrote 'why' on the sand, choking back tears that I shouldn't show to a dedicated man who had a clear purpose.

"Why I must die?" Coin clarified from me and I nodded. "Simply because it is what the Qun demands and you know it. Still, had my Karataam survived, I wouldn't have changed my mind. I don't see a road to follow and I know you understand this."

I hadn't forgotten any of the talks between me and Coin, mostly because it had been so rare for him to speak to me alone at the tribe. No matter how patriotic he had sounded at times, all his speeches contained the same wisdom the qunari women taught their young. I might have chosen him as an example for me to achieve had I not been imprisoned.

"Why have I helped you?" Coin suddenly asked my question and I sprung up to hear his reply. "You are the one who named me as a 'person with two sides'. Our last meeting was unexpected as my only goal was to kill my Karataam to die with them. Now, I can say that because this encounter confirmed you are alive, it was all worth it."

My teeth clenched and I stood like a statue when Coin turned his back at me and faced the sunset. No-one had interrupted him and Roghart's blaming leer had softened. Their mere presence improved my mood and I wanted to thank them for witnessing Coin's final resolve.

A wave struck the rocks of the hill as Coin inhaled and spread his arms. "Red," he called, "killing Spark and the others is the same as freeing them from the tribe under the current circumstances. Do not hesitate and do not pity us."

In an instant, Coin was engulfed inside high flames and the heat reached me, releasing the secret tears I had been holding back. It had been Coin who had evoked an oppressive feeling in me of being weak when I had been thrown into the room the Saarebas shared. Oddly, it had been him again who had drawn that same emotion from the depths of my consciousness and I truly hoped watching him burning alive would be the last time I had to feel such anguish ever again.

There had to be and end to the misery I kept teasing myself with. I wanted to search for a balance of how to live happily while remembering my past.

Without taking a look, I knew Anders had closed the gap between us, his eyes at Coin who had fallen on his knees after the fire had purified his soul and removed it from its vessel. I wanted to squeeze Anders' hand, but it would only prolong my crying. I had decided to get rid of my weaknesses one at a time, so if I couldn't help my tears from welling, that had to be allowed for me to gain strength.

Like Coin had commented, I wasn't of the Qun. I was permitted to cry for a fallen soldier despite him being a mage. I had a permission to honor the man who might have only pursued his beliefs, but had impressed people by doing so, duty or no.