A Long Way to Go (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

The Heart of the Many

There was a set of ruins toward the bottom of the mountain, and even from a distance, they could see the group of Qunari warriors who stood there.

Tallis stopped, staring down the hill. "That's Salit," she said in a soft voice. "The one in front."

"What are you going to do?" Hawke asked her.

"I'm going down there to stop him."

Behind her, Hawke heard Varric mutter, "It's about time."

She heartily agreed. "Good. Let's get this over with."

Tallis nodded and disappeared into the trees.

"She appears intent on an ambush," Fenris said.

Hawke sighed. "Yes, she does. Come on."

"We're joining the ambush?" Varric asked.

"Of course not. We're going to put an end to this." Hawke strode down the hill, entering the ruins to find Duke Prosper hectoring a large Qunari, who was simply standing there and staring at the duke as though he was a particularly annoying small child.

Both of them turned to look at her as she approached, Fenris and Varric behind her.

Prosper frowned. "Champion. I should have known you would turn up."

"How else could I thank you for your fine hospitality?"

"Remaining in it would have been a start," Prosper snapped. He was coming toward her when a clash of swords behind him arrested his attention. Tallis had snuck in while he was distracted by Hawke and was in the middle of neatly decimating his guards.

The Qunari looked at her impassively. "Tallis."

"Kill her!" Prosper screeched.

Tallis stopped in front of the Qunari, looking up at him with sadness on her face. "I said I would stop you, Salit."

"And I said I would slay you if you tried."

They looked at one another, very clearly understanding each other, while Prosper, behind them, puffed himself up and announced, "If anyone is going to do any slaying, it will be me!"

But Bianca had something to say to that; a quarrel embedded itself in the duke's shoulder, sending him staggering backward. Salit and Tallis were facing off, their focus on each other, his sword and her daggers.

Hawke and Fenris drew their swords and stood back to back, ready to take on the rest of the Qunari and Prosper's men, but neither group seemed particularly interested. The Qunari were taking their cue from Salit, who was focused entirely on Tallis, and Prosper's men saw Prosper trying to draw his sword with the crossbow bolt hampering his movement and seemed undecided whether to aid him or flee.

Fenris turned the tide when he activated his lyrium markings; Prosper's men would clearly rather face the duke's wrath later than Fenris's right now, and they broke almost as one man and ran for the exit, Prosper shouting after them.

With a small, very pleased smile, Fenris began stalking toward Prosper, who backed away and away until he was at the very edge of the cliff. "Do you yield?" the elf asked him.

"Never!" Prosper took another step backward and slipped, his arms windmilling frantically. He caught himself with his left hand gripping the stones.

Hawke crossed the ruins to look down at the duke.

"The empress will hear of this!" he promised her. "Orlais will burn Kirkwall to the ground!"

"Over a fop like you?"

He actually gnashed his teeth. "All of you will die screaming. I swear it!"

"You're really not in a position to make threats," she pointed out. "Personally, I would have tried begging for mercy."

Fenris looked at her, frowning. "I only wish that were true."

Hawke gave him a small smile. He wasn't wrong; she had never begged for mercy yet, and probably would never have given someone like Prosper the satisfaction. She looked down at the duke. "I suppose I have to haul you up now."

Prosper almost looked grateful as she reached down for him, but he also must have relaxed his grip, because he suddenly lost hold of the stone and fell, his shout of surprise and horror echoing off the rocks.

As she watched, Hawke tried to summon the will to care, but she couldn't seem to find it in herself. She couldn't remember ever having watched someone die with so little emotion; probably somewhere in there was a lesson for her, she thought.

A strong arm slid around her waist, and she turned to look at Fenris. "Let's go home," he said.

"Yes. Let's."

"Oh, thank the sodding Maker," Varric said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I thought you'd never be ready to go."

Behind them, the Qunari were filing out of the ruins silently while Tallis knelt next to the still body of Salit. She was murmuring something in Qunlat as Hawke came up behind her.

"Did you get what you came for?"

"Too much," Tallis said bitterly. She stood up, brandishing a scroll. "The Heart of the Many. Names of men, women, and children with ties to the Qunari all over Thedas."

Hawke looked at the scroll. Perhaps she ought to be taking that; perhaps it was a weapon against the Qunari should they rise up against the rest of Thedas. But, again, she couldn't seem to find it in herself to care ... not enough to fight Tallis for the scroll, anyway.

"Thank you," Tallis said, as though she had read the dilemma in Hawke's eyes. "I couldn't have done this without your help." She reached into a pocket and drew out a large ruby, tossing it to Hawke. "Before I forget, that's for you."

"Payment?"

"You could say that. Under my original plan, that was going to be the jewel you found while I went off to find Salit."

Hawke turned the jewel over in her hand. "Isabela might like it."

"It seems rather gaudy," Fenris pointed out.

Varric laughed. "Elf, have you met Rivaini? She eats gaudiness like that for breakfast."

Tallis watched the byplay and shook her head. "I wish you all luck in ... whatever you do next. Maybe we'll meet again sometime."

"Just for the novelty, next time, try telling the truth," Hawke said.

With a nod, Tallis turned and left, leaving the three of them there in the ruins.

"Hawke, if it's all the same to you, I'd just as soon not go back to Prosper's house and have everyone asking us where he is."

She chuckled. "No, I imagine the questions would rather delay our journey home."

"So we walk?" Fenris made a face.

"Unless you'd prefer the carriage." Hawke said it lightly, but remembering the difficulties he'd had in the carriage, she really wasn't certain which he would prefer.

He thought about that for a moment. "If it gets us home faster, perhaps it would be preferable."

"Good," Varric said in relief. "Glad to see you're both seeing reason. Now, let's get to the stable and get the carriage and get out of here!"

"After you." Hawke let him go first and followed more slowly, Fenris's arm around her, feeling a bone-deep weariness that even the thought of home and friends and garden couldn't assuage.