Dragon Age 2 | The story behind Hawke

Chapter 4- Asha'bellanar

Chapter 4- Asha'bellanar

"It's an ambush!" Isabela shouts. I quickly get my staff out and draw all the mana that I have, feeling the lyrium flow. I throw a fireball at a group of people, making them scream in pain as the smell of burnt flesh fills the air. Carver, which I found, not so surprisingly, at the Blooming Rose, is helping me keep a low profile as I do damage with my ice staff. It's good for a mage to have a staff with the opposite element that he's dealing with – mine is fire, so my staff is ice.

When Varric kills the last one, we all turn towards Isabela. Anders comes by my side, holding his staff in his left hand while his right one barely touches me. "Hiding in the Chantry and sending thugs to finish me off?" she asks as she reads a paper from one of the corpses. "Coward. He'll not get away with this," she says and crumples the paper, throwing it away. "Come on."

Running after her, I tell myself that I need to exercise more often, get in shape. "Mages are not made for running," I mutter, making Anders laugh by my side. I lean myself with a hand on his shoulder as Isabela opens the door to the chantry. "Maker, she moves fast," I say, pushing myself from Anders to get a sprint.

"Isabela. Should've known you'd find me here," a male voice resonates.

She rolls her eyes. "Tell your men to burn the letters next time."

"Castillion was heartbroken when he heard about the shipwreck. You should've let him know you survived."

"It must have slipped my mind," Isabela says, shrugging.

The man chuckles, clearly not amused. "Where's the relic?"

"I lost it. Castillion's just going to have to do without."

"Lost it? Just like you 'lost' a ship full of valuable cargo?" he asks, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. I nod my head to my companions, each of them subtly putting their hands on their weapons.

Isabela seems upset, for the first time. "They weren't cargo, Hayder, they were people!"

"Those slaves were worth a hundred sovereigns a head, and you let them scurry off into the wilds. And now the relic's gone, too. Castillion won't be happy to hear that, I promise you."

Stepping in, I get his attention on me. "Your threats end here." Without another word, Isabela gets out her daggers and shoots it at the man, stabbing him in the heart. "Should've done that a long time ago," she says, getting her dagger back and cleaning it with his coat. "Castillion won't hear about me from Hayder, but he'll find me eventually. I just have to get him the relic. It's simple as that."

"If getting the relic gets Castillion off your back, then I'll help you retrieve it."

She gives me a genuine smile. "I still don't know where it is, but you'll be the first to know if I hear anything. Anyway, thanks for helping me out with Hayder. I think I'll tag along for a while. There might be something I could do for you."

After we drag his body out of the chantry and throw it somewhere in the slums of Hightown, all of us head to their homes. Anders goes back to his clinic, while Isabela and Varric head to the Hanged Man. "What were you doing at the Blooming Rose?" I ask Carver. "Actually," I say when he opens his mouth, "I have a pretty good idea."

He rolls his eyes. "Don't give me that crap, Sister."

This time, I roll my eyes. "Just don't become like Gamlen and spend all of your money on... whores." He doesn't respond, so we just walk all the way to our house in silence. When we get there, Mother and Gamlen are already sleeping, so we just head to our room. Taking of my pouch, something falls out of it.