Darkness Falls
Hawke lounged beside the lake with her book. Bethany was practicing her magic quietly, burbling the water and launching stones. Papa had gone some ways up the bank to find fish for their supper away from her noise. Hawke let her head fall back enjoying the peace. Once they reached Denerim, they wouldn't have a moment to themselves and the gently blowing leaves took her waking eyes to the fade and sleep.
Bethany shook her shoulder. "Rose." The shaking grew more frantic. "Hawke!"
She sat bolt upright at the terror in Bethany's voice. The sun was beginning to set but it was too early for any night predators. She scanned the area, settling into a crouch and wishing her daggers weren't with the horses. "What?"
Wide blue eyes bored into hers and her voice shook. "Templars." She pointed away from the direction of their camp but Hawke could now hear the clank of armor in the bush.
Hawke swallowed down her fear. Lake Calenhad was always a calculated risk, but the Templars rarely patrolled their own shores unless someone had escaped. She took Bethany's hand. "Follow me and stay quiet." She led them quickly and quietly back to their campsite, plan after plan forming in her head only to be tossed aside. She let go of her breath when Malcolm was readying the horses.
Relief etched across his face. "Thank the Maker. There are Templars headed towards my fishing spot, I was getting the horses and then coming to get you."
Bethany began to cry as Hawke spoke softly. "There's a second group behind us."
He shook his head and tossed Beth up on to Red. "Then we ride. Hey." He brushed a tear from Beth's cheek. "What do I always say during your lessons?"
She sniffed and sat straighter in the saddle. "Fly free."
He smiled and tapped her nose. "Fear is not freedom." Hawke went to mount up behind her as a young boy dashed into their clearing. He froze, staring at them from behind blond hair. He was dripping wet but there was no mistaking Circle robes. Malcolm stood between the children. "Who are you?"
His eyes flickered from Malcolm to the girls. "A Mage. I'm escaping. I swam."
Malcolm nodded. "There's two groups of Templars coming." Hawke mounted up and he held out his hand to the boy. "Come on, you'll be safe with us."
The boy hesitated and the first Templar entered the clearing, his sword raised. Hawke grabbed her reins. "Papa!"
"Go, girls!" With a backward glance, Hawke sent Red galloping into the underbrush. The sounds of battle followed them.
At the first creek, she turned Red inland, keeping him on the rocks. It was a risk, one wrong step and they would be in the water or worse, Red would be hurt. But she let him pick his way as quickly as he dared. Bethany sobbed quietly in her arms. "Hawke, we have to go back. We have to save Papae." She tightened her arms around her but kept silent. They rode until darkness fell and she took them out of the creek and into a glen. She slid off the horse and held her arms up to Beth who thumped into her. The sisters held each other tightly for a moment before Hawke let her go and then started taking the tack off of Red. Bethany watched her with somber eyes. “What about papae?”
Hawke sighed. “I don’t know.” Bethany sniffled and fat tears began rolling down her cheeks. Hawke dropped the gear on the ground and let Red go so he could roll and eat. The little girl curled up on the ground, her silent crying making her whole body shudder. Hawke chewed her lip and hooked her hair behind her ears before kneeling beside her. “When the moon is high we will go back. The rule is if we get separated to go back to Lothering. If he’s not there, we will head home.”
“But what if he is?”
Hawke pulled her sister into her lap. “Don’t say that, Beth. It’ll be alright, you’ll see.” She started petting her hair and rocking them.
She cried harder. “We’re all alone.”
Hawke gave her a hard shake. “So? We have each other. I will always keep you safe.” Bethany met her sister’s stormy eyes, sea eyes their grandma called them, with all the power of the sea behind them. “I will always keep you safe.”
“Promise?”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
Bethany made a face. “You told me Carver was adopted.” Hawke snorted and she smiled. “But not when it mattered. Tell me a story?”
“I don’t tell stories anymore, remember?” Beth’s face fell and she hurried on. “But I’ll sing.”
They rode back to the campsite in silence, the moon shining overhead giving them plenty of light. The campsite was destroyed. Ice barriers were still melting, fire scorched the ground and trees, the bitter sulfuric smell of lightning lingered still in the air, and in the center lay Papa, so still and ghostly in the light. Hawke swallowed hard. “Stay on Red, Bethany.” She slid off and walked slowly to him.
His hair had come free from its tie, a dark halo around his pale face. Hawke knelt, reaching out even though she knew his skin would be cold. “Hawke?” Bethany’s voice trembled. Wounds marred his flesh and clothes but there was no blood, just the barest scent of iron that stuck at the back of her throat.
“Oh, papa.” She wrapped her arms around herself a moment before straightening and casting her gaze about for their saddlebags. They were half hidden behind an ice barrier but she grabbed them and made her way slowly back to Red and Beth. She settled the bags against the big horse and tried to find her voice. “He’s gone, Bethany.”
The little girl nodded and slithered off the back of the horse. Hawke didn’t try to stop her as she approached his body. Her voice rang clearly in the night as she bowed her head.
“Maker, though the darkness comes upon me,
I shall embrace the Light. I shall weather the storm.
I shall endure.
What you have created, no one can tear asunder.
Who knows me as You do?
You have been there since before my first breath.
You have seen me when no other would recognize my face.
You composed the cadence of my heart.
Through blinding mist, I climb
A sheer cliff, the summit shrouded in fog, the base
Endlessly far beneath my feet
The Maker is the rock to which I cling.
I cannot see the path.
Perhaps there is only abyss.
Trembling, I step forward,
In darkness enveloped.
Though all before me is shadow,
Yet shall the Maker be my guide.
I shall not be left to wander the drifting roads of the Beyond.
For there is no darkness in the Maker's Light
And nothing that He has wrought shall be lost.
I am not alone. Even
As I stumble on the path
With my eyes closed, yet I see
The Light is here.
Draw your last breath, my friends.
Cross the Veil and the Fade and all the stars in the sky.
Rest at the Maker's right hand,
And be Forgiven.”
She lifted her head. “Fly free, papa. We will see each other again.” A burst of magic left her and his body was engulfed in flames. Tears streamed down Hawke’s face as Bethany walked back to her. She scrambled up Red’s side and hauled herself into the saddle. She gazed down at her sister, her face serene. “We need to leave, sister.”
Hawke nodded numbly and climbed up behind her. Bethany handed her the reins. “That was perfect, Beth.” The smaller girl nodded and Hawke clicked to the horse, sending them into the night and towards Lothering, towards what was left of home.