Timid Terror

"Maybe pick up some lemongrass minceroot juice while you are at it. They should have some in the market but they don't tell people it is great for hangovers. That would ruin their trade with the Inns." Jezarine pointed out as Rakot went to leave, "And thank you. For helping my brother. I know what that takes."

It was true that Maghai had been strange for a lot longer than not as his drug useage had created difficulties even when he was young. The Dalish woman felt badly for what this man probably had gone through with her sibling.

Then her brother acted up, being accusational towards Ianto but Ianto's reaction threw her off guard for a moment. She blinked feeling saddened when her friend said "nothing" and her eyes spoke louder than words to the fact that it felt like a burn. Well what did she expect? He was a Templar and she a mage. Ianto probably liked Royce more in that manner than she. He was certainly better looking anyway.

Ianto tried to back peddle but it did not seem to be going all that well as the look her brother gave him seemed to express that he was not sure of that answer, "Leave him alone, Maghai." She said calmly like an adult speaking to a child, "Maghai this is Ianto and Calliara. They are my friends and Calliara is a Grey Warden."

Maghai had hardly listened to Ianto's explanation but did not believe the man any more than before. He ignored Jez's looks and stared at Ianto's chest then his attention was caught by a butterfly for a brief moment before he snapped back to his sister speaking to him. He rubbed a foot against one ankle then the other against another and tried to look like he was offended that she thought he was picking on the other man. This Ianto guy was bigger than him for goodness sakes.

Then he heard the words "Grey Warden" and his eyes lit up with glee as he turned towards the white haired beauty, admiration and hero worship showing like a beam of sunshine had been cast upon the poor woman in his excitement to meet one of the famed wardens. To him a warden was like the best singer in the world, an actor who was beyond belief or drugs ... uh ... medication which gave one the most wonderful feelings in the world.

He rushed over to Calliara, grabbing her hands in his and shaking them avidly, "A real Grey Warden!" He beamed at her, "Oh you are so beautiful! I never thought I'd personally meet a warden! What is it like being out there helping others and being so wonderful?"

Heh...interesting encounter to say the least. Not every day you get to meet a Gray Warden.

Rakot found himself sitting at the counter inside a little pub called "Deshyr's Dozen". It wasn't the best upkept place, the floor, the counter, and the tables were dusty, the stench of booze and vomit was heavy in the air and every once in a while you could see a rat running from one corner of the room to the other. However the owner, Sarin Pil, was a dwarf and a distant relation of Rakot's deceased dwarven former slave owner/adopted-father/business partner, Romek Hemlin. But most importantly Sarin knew his share about brewing proper ale.

"So...boy, you'll be staying long? Want to be of some use to your uncle? I could sure use some extra muscle to soften the competition a bit."

The dwarf spoke in a hoarse tone, looking up at Rakot while wiping a mug with a dirty towel.

"Since when are you my uncle, Sarin?"

"Since Romek gave you his family name, Maker watch over him."

"Heh, so you believe in the Maker and at the same time still call yourself a proper Dwarf?"

"I am a Dwarf, boy, more so than you will ever be. Speak our language and fight like we do all you want, you're still nothing but an imitation."

"I buried Romek in the ground myself, and seems like a good thing I did, if it were up to you, you'd cremate him, and he would never find the Stone. You are pathetic."

"Damn your Stone, and damn Romek for letting you live! I won't have you insulting me under my own roof, boy, hold your tongue!"

The dwarf shouted, Rakot looked at him with a steel gaze, and spoke coldly through clenched teeth, trying to keep his own rage from boiling over.

"You're walking on thin ice old man...Romek was a useless drunk, who beat me all the way through my childhood, right up until the point then I got big enough to fight back. For a long time I was nothing but a slave to him, more so it was his decision that got him killed, but he was my father, he gave me freedom and accepted me into his family and I will not have a poor excuse for a Dwarf like you speak ill of his memory. To call you a Duster, would actually be an insult to Dusters. You've given up your Stone-sense, willingly, because you are a coward. And now you will keep quiet and pour me more ale, because you are a coward. Else I will bring this roof down on top of you. Are we clear, 'uncle'?"

Rakot slammed his empty mug on the counter top. Sarin looked at Rakot for about a minute, as if contemplating if it was worth pressing the matter further, deciding that it wasn't he poured Rakot more ale and went to the other end of the counter without saying a word.

Yes, definitely, a couple more months of friendly family banter like this, and I'll be anxious to go after the darkspawn again just to mend my depression....Moving on to other matters at hand, the ale is good here, but I'll have to go to another establishment to find me a proper wench. Maybe I'll go visit the Pearl tonight...its been a while, interested to see if they still remember me down there.

Rakot continued to sip the ale from his mug.

"Now I have to go figure out what to do next...if any of you ever find yourself in need of a mercenary, I'll be in that pub over there in the corner of the street, neck deep in ale for at least the next few months. Bring money."

Calliara nodded as Rakot left, meditating. That man was useful. He fought darkspawn, he was strong and he was disciplined enough to not kill Maghai in a sudden rage. She had to tell Nygozy about him, if not as a recruit, it could be useful having a warrior like him.

And then Maghai jumped on her and grabbed her hands and started shaking her.

"A real Grey Warden! Oh you are so beautiful! I never thought I'd personally meet a warden! What is it like being out there helping others and being so wonderful?"

Calliara blinked again, surprised at first, but then she managed to smile calmly at him. He was like a child - a traumatized one - and she liked children. The Dalish felt some kind of tenderness

''It is difficult, and not so wonderful, lethallin'' Calliara spoke to him in a soothing, soft voice ''Would you like to come with us? Since you're Jezarine's brother, you're very welcomed''

Ianto had to admit, he was kind of relieved when the bouncy elf redirected his attentions toward Calliara, who seemed much more willing to deal with them. Ianto had never been good with children, even though he'd always liked them, and even if Maghai was clearly pretty damn grown-up, there was no mistaking that kind of personality for anything other than childlike. Jez and bubbly-elf had mentioned something about drugs, or medication - Ianto wondered if that had something to do with it; after all, Ianto had seen the toll that serious, permanent lyrium-deprivation had done to other Templars, and he was certain that other herbs and such could produce similar effects on other people. It almost made him feel bad for the blond elf, except that it was hard to feel bad for someone who was currently jumping up and down and squealing like an over-excited girl.

He did smile, though, and stepped back close to Jez, leaning forward to whisper in her ear. "Jez, you're brother is a nutjob. I'm very sorry to be the one to inform you of this." He nodded his head, mock-solemnly, as he straightened back up, hoping she would take that for the joke it was. As crazy as her brother looked, he'd never really insult someone's family. At least, not to their faces. he paused, then tilted his head, and looked at her (though he didn't lean down again, because this time, it wasn't so much of a secret). "You know - he doesn't look much like you. Are you sure you're really related?" He thought that that might have been one of the reasons he'd had a hard time believing Maghai at first. They didn't look at all like siblings, except for the huge eyes they both had.

OOC: Decided to just continue on in this thread

IC:

On the day after getting rid of Maghai for good Rakot woke up in the Pearl, alone.

Last night's entertainment must have returned to her other duties.

Rakot hopped off the bed, making the floorboards creak under his weight. He pissed in a bucket, got dressed and was about to leave the room then he noticed something amiss. A faint smell that went in contrast with everything else in the room, one that Rakot was sure was not present then he first woke up. Rakot froze in his place, feeling a gaze full of ill intent pointed at his back.

"Turn around, slowly, else I'll unload my crossbow through the back of ya sodding skull."

Said the booming voice coming from behind. Rakot complied, turning slowly, his eyes darting to the corner there he left his weapons, it was empty. Finally he faced his attacker, a one-eyed, beardless dwarf, wearing dark leather armor, with a crossbow held firmly with one hand. The dwarf had a shaved head and his right eye was as dark as the void, while the left socket was empty and dry.

"Tendir...long time no see, though I hoped it'd be longer. Any reason in particular you're risking life and limb by pointing that thing at me or are you just here on a whim?"

Rakot's expression was blank, but the rage was about to erupt out of his eyes. The dwarf grinned.

"Business, Rakot, you know its always about business with me. I am but a humble servant of the established order of things, making sure that everything functions properly. You owe money to my employers, and I am here to motivate you to pay them what is theirs."

"Well then this is simple, go back to your employers and tell them that they made a mistake. I do not owe any money to anybody, I've covered all my debts a long time ago."

"Hahaha...its a bit trickier than that, so I'll break it down for you, duster. You are Rakot Hemlin, the proud co-owner of Hemlin Arms & Armor trading company, your business partner, Romek Hemlin has borrowed a large sum of money from my clients the last time you two were in Denerim. Now the word has reached me that he is dead, as someone bearing the Hemlin family name the debt now falls on you."

This is plausible...Romek did love to gamble, and I made sure that he didn't use any company money for that purpose. Sarin...that son of a bitch, he must have given me up in exchange for a favor. He is dead to me, right now figuratively, soon to be literally.

"Alright then, whats his debt?"

"Four hundred and thirty two thousand gold coins, that's with the compiled interest rate, and a late payment fee added in."

"I should really kill you...but then they'll just send someone else who smells even more like piss and shit. You must have known that I don't have that kind of money, so I am going to assume that your clients had some other form of payment in mind."

The dwarf grinned even wider.

"Good of you to be so reasonable, we'll discuss the particulars at another location. Lets go, I'll keep your weapons for now, you'll get them back once you've been informed of your task."

The dwarf watched Rakot walk out of the door, then lowered his crossbow and went after him.

There in the main hall in the tavern, a dwarf was drinking some good ale. Well, that was what they called 'good ale', he could call it 'medium piss', but it was great for wasting time.

That dwarf was missing half his left arm, but the stump was held inside a methalic bracelet which looked like it could be connected to things. Maybe weapons. He had a bit of overweight, dark red hair and light grey eyes, a long red beard carefully braided and was wearing a massive armor with the Warden crest on his chest.

When he saw the dwarf and the human going down the stairs, he raised his mug

''Tendir! You sodding nug-humper! Long time I haven't seen you. Are you still terrorizing people, or trying to, with your ugly face?''

He watched curiously the man that was going with the one-eyed dwarf. An enormous bull that was obviously furious and without any weapon. So, Gunnar thought he had trouble with Tendir

Upon hearing Gunnar's voice Tendir stopped and turned to face him, Rakot followed suit.

"Gunnar...I am currently doing business and can not stop for a chat."

Tendir said without confidence in his voice, he knew something about the one armed dwarf that unsettled him. Rakot realized what it was rather quickly, that same faint aroma of the taint, the one armed dwarf was a Grey Warden.

"Tendir, we should keep moving, I am anxious to get rid of your company. You can soil your pants at another time, now move it, or I'll snap your neck and make the deal with the next sodding pile of nug shit your employers send after me."

Tendir gave Rakot an angry glare, but then smiled and looked back at Gunnar.

"My associate here is right, we are in a rush, good day to you."

Tendir then hurried towards the exit door, Rakot followed him.

Gunnar kept looking at them until they were gone, thinking.

What the hell, business. Tendir didn't knew what business were even if they sat on his head. What Tendir called 'business', Gunnar called 'harassment', 'assassination', or just being stupid.

The dwarf sighed and ordered another mug of ale. The sodding arm that was not there was hurting again, and he was still waiting for the recruit, Alistair, who happened to be King now, to sent him a message when the Wardens arrive. He wanted to see Bowen and the little Wolf.

Sighing again, he started to drink

A bit over an hour later Rakot found himself in a hallway of the Gnawed Noble tavern. Tendir let him to one of the backrooms and knocked on the door.

"Password."

Said the voice from inside the room.

"Time is gold."

Replied Tendir and stepped aside as the door unlocked, letting Rakot through it. Rakot entered the room, and walked past a heavily armed Qunari mercenary who was posted as a guard. Inside the room he found a set of chairs and a table, all of fine make. Sitting on top of one of those chairs was a human, his manner of dress identified him as a noble.

"Please, sit down, Rakot, make yourself comfortable."

Said the noble, and Rakot complied, pulling up a chair and resting on it.

"Its a pleasure to make your acquaintance, warrior, I must say I have doubted my informants on your ability to take care of some business for me, but now that I see you with my own eyes that doubt is no more."

"Leave your speeches, duster, my patience is running thin as it is, speak your piece and let us be done with this."

Rakot didn't flinch a muscle, as he heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed coming from behind.

"You will not speak to Lord Lorek in this tone, you insolent swine!"

Yelled the Qunari as his blade cut through the air, aiming for the back of Rakot's head. Rakot sharply moved to the side, narrowly dodging it. He then rose up to his feet, while simultaneously turning around, grabbing the Qunari's sword arm, and pushing it away with his left hand. Rakot then used his right hand to deliver a skull shattering punch to the mercenary's face, sending him tumbling backwards, his sword falling to the ground. Rakot caught the blade mid air and with great precision drove it through the Qunari's chest, in between the ribs, straight into the heart. He twisted the blade inside the mercenary's body and then pulled it out, blood gashing out from the wound. He then brought the sword up behind his head, intending to throw it, and faced Tendir who already had his crossbow in hand with an arrow pointing at Rakot's face.

"STOP!"

Yelled the noble, and after a second Tendir lowered the crossbow. Rakot relaxed his throwing arm and tossed the blade on the floor. He then spit on corpse of the Qunari.

"Good dogs you have, loyal, not too bright. But if you're looking for quality in personal protection, dogs are no substitute for men."

The noble gave Rakot a blank stare and continued calmly.

"So it seems...Tendir, if you would make arrangements to dispose of the body."

"Yes, your lordship."

Tendir disappeared through the door, closing it behind him. Lord Lorek looked at Rakot.

"I did not intend for this to happen, this particular Qunari...was with my family for a long time, and it seems his loyalty got the better of him. I take it by the fact that you haven't killed Tendir and myself yet that you do not intend to continue on with the violence. Am I correct?"

Rakot sat back down on the chair.

"Yes, you are correct. I am not here because you are forcing my hand in the matter, I am here of my own free will, because debts are a matter of honor and I shall see this one repaid so Romek's memory can live on unburdened."

"Respect for honor, an admirable trait, one you see less and less...but lets not digress any further. As you know I have a job that needs doing, you are to procure a person of interest for me. It is your good luck that your mark is currently in town so it should not take too much energy to track her down."

"A kidnapping...you have your hand in the slaving business then. Who is the mark?"

"A Dalish elf, a healer of some magical prowess, her name is Jezarine Nyala."

Rakot raised an eyebrow.

Isn't that the name of Maghai's sister? It is.

"Now it does get a bit complicated, as the girl has been spotted traveling in an adventuring party with a Grey Warden. So that's the job, do you have any questions? Otherwise speak to Tendir, he will provide you with up to date information on there she is located, I have my people tracking her every move. You will have everything you need to plan and carry out this operation in any manner you see fit, information as well as men. Tendir will take care of those aspects for you."

Rakot rose up from his chair and turned around. He turned his head to face Lorek.

"I will get you the girl, and Romek's debt will be erased, if you or any of your men ever attempt to approach me afterward I will end you. Now we have an understanding, duster."

Rakot walked out.

((going back in time a bit then I think we can go ahead, if everyone is ok with that ... maybe Jez then Ianto then time warp))

Jezarine moved back a step to look up at Ianto with those big brown eyes and timidly looked back at her brother before saying anything. Calliara seemed to be dealing well with him so she would not worry, "He lost a lot of ... his mind to drugs. It has been a long time since he was alright and I'm sure what he went through trying to find me in that mass grave did not help."

As he asked about their being siblings she shrugged, "Mother was a beautiful golden Elf and father was a dark, normal Elf. Maghai got Mother's hair and light skin while I got Father's dark skin and basic features." She never thought of herself as pretty so this did bother her a bit since her brother got what was always seemingly sought by others.

''You are beautiful as you are'' Calliara smiled at her ''I envy those eyes and your silky hair, mine is always a mess, and you have a sweet, pretty face that fits with your personality. Also, your tattoos are elegant, so there's nothing 'basic' in you''

Calliara grinned, with her hands still being shaken by Maghai, who was now abstracted in a butterfly

''I think it's better for us to go back to the quarters and rest, too much emotions for today. Tomorrow we'll come back and make our shopping, alright? Let's go''

The Templar hummed, giving Jez a meaningful look. If anyone might understand the damage that prolonged exposure to things like lyrium and other potions and herbs could do, it was him. Thankfully, he didn't walk around in a permanent hyper-daze, but he'd had his moments. Crawling through a fall-pit of dead people probably wasn't going to help things on the 'sanity' side, either. "I'm sorry," he said mournfully. "He's your bother - I shouldn't have said such a thing about him. I'm sure he must be very important to you." After all, they hadn't seen each other in years, and she'd spent all that time thinking he was dead - seeing him now must be as shocking as it was happy.

But he had to get his mind out of that rather depressing state. Ianto nodded emphatically, looking at Jez with a brighter smile as he agreed with what Calliara said. "She's completely right, you know. Your mom and dad must have had huge eyes, too, because you both have them. I mean, really - his are more irresistible in a 'I'm crazy, look at me, I demand attention,' but you have them in an irresistible 'I'm so cute you can't possibly ignore me or keep any secrets from me' way." Shit. Did that make any sense? "I mean - you're both pretty. Well, no - wait, no, he's actually what I'd call 'pretty,' too." Ianto paused, considering the prospects of him digging himself even further into the ground. ". . . Yes. What Calli said. Let's go home. Shopping can be saved for tomorrow. You two probably want to catch up, or something." Face red - look away, pretend that merchant vendor over there is really interesting, or something.

"It's ok, Ianto." She smiled up at him, "My brother is difficult to take and it is true. He is nuts. Sweet nuts but nonetheless he is and I'm just glad he's alive and that he hasn't become not sweet. It doesn't offend me."

Jezarine blushed as both Calliara and Ianto told her how good she looked but she blinked as Ianto said her brother was cute too. She looked back at her brother for a moment, his attention upon the butterfly trying to catch it, and sighed before looking back to Ianto, "Thanks, both of you. I think you're right."

In a surprising action to herself she stood on tiptoe and kissed Ianto's cheek, blushed again, timidly looked away then turned, "To the Warden's quarters."

She stayed close to Ianto as Maghai bounced around Calliara asking questions and acting like a depraved puppy.

----

Next morning:

Jezarine woke and noticed her brother sleeping at the end of her bed like a puppy, curled up with his head on her feet as if she were going to disappear any moment. She smiled, feeling that sibling love which always used to come to her whenever around her brother. He was having fun in the palace but as of yet she had not allowed him to see any of the other wardens, keeping him to herself until she felt sure that the others wouldn't kill him on sight for the way he acted. One of her biggest worries was Griffinhart who did not seem to tolerate much. Then again, Magpie was no threat to him so he'd probably just give him that cold eye that he was so infamous for. That could be funny actually.

She slowly removed her foot from Maghai's possession and wrote him a note before changing and looking out the window. It was a beautiful day out there and she wished to take part in it. Mag would sleep for some time yet. He normally was no early riser when he felt comfortable and he certainly seemed to be feeling safe too.

In moments she was off to the palace gardens where she spent some time looking at herbs and other plants. The gardener noticed her and came over, "Is there anything you wish to know? You would be with the wardens, yes?"

"Oh yes!" Jezarine was happy to talk about her trade, "I know all these herbs but was wondering if I could take some for use for the wardens and if I could get some plants to take with me so I can have my own garden at the new location for the wardens. I am probably going to require a lot of herbs. Oh but I don't know if I can do it all myself but I shall have to try."

"If I may be so bold, ser?"

"Be bold." She smiled hoping for being told something interesting.

The gardener smiled back, obviously liking the sweet Dalish, "I do have a couple of gardeners who would be available for work. It may seem ... well, crass for me to indicate one of my own but one of the youth is my only son. Both of them have been completely trained by myself and would be pleased to work for the wardens. Especially for the hero! Would that be of use to you?"

Jezarine perked up and nodded so the gardener waved two young men over, "Well, let me test you for knowledge." She said.

"You will be happy with their capabilities. I will be back to see what you think."

With that the gardener was off and Jezarine started working with the two men, finding out how much they knew and how much they did not know. She was glowing with happiness as she had not had to go out of her way to get what was required and thought Nygozy would be very happy to know that their herbs would be ready for healings as having two gardeners on staff for the healing plants was an immense gain. At least to her it was. Others may not think so but Jez did.

She walked about, pointing out plants and discussing properties, learning about the gardeners and assessing all about them.

Today, he wasn't going to be an idiot. He knew, that wasn't going to be very easy, but he was going to try. He'd put his foot in his mouth enough yesterday to last a life time, or maybe a month . . . well at least a week. Anyway, Jez had a weird day yesterday, and she didn't need any more weirdness from him. He could be normal when he needed to be, after all, though it didn't help that he could never really tell why he was not-normal around people like Jez, and even around that Roy guy. Maybe because Jez was cute, and Roy was annoying, and he got easily flustered around people, even when he didn't mean to be. When it counted, though, Ianto could be serious and level-headed with the best of them, so he would be.

Maybe.

Getting ready in the morning to go shopping didn't go quite as quickly as he'd hoped, but it had still gone well. Because he'd woken later than he'd expected, he dressed faster than usual, and forwent a morning meal for just having a bottle of lyrium potion. And he felt good after that, so finding Jez and Calliara and whoever else was going shopping was on his now-to-do list. Of all the people he was looking for, Jez would be the easiest to find - he knew exactly where she'd be. If Jez could get swept aside in a forest so easily, then the Castle garden, specifically designed to house every herb under the sun, would draw her like a fly to honey.

"Everything is in place, lets grab the broad and be done with this."

Tendir and Rakot lay on the ground behind some bushes inside the garden. They both wore identical black leather armor, and their faces were covered completely with helmets. They spoke in whispers.

"We'll wait to see if two men she is with are going to leave, more bodies means a brighter trail leading back to us."

"Do we have to be wearing these sodding pots on our heads? I can barely breath, and I can't see anything with my one good eye."

"You don't have to see, just wait for my command. I'm not taking any chances, we're taking from the Grey Wardens, they brought down the sodding Archdemon, non of us will last a week if they learn what we're about to do. That includes Lorek and his organization. This armor we're wearing, aside from not revealing our identities, will make them think we're part of some mercenary band. That will lead the Wardens down a path towards a dead end in their investigation, giving your employer enough time to tie up any loose ends so the truth never gets out. By the way, you do realize that you are one of those loose ends he will have to tie up? Same as me."

"Fine attempt, but you won't make me turn on my client."

"I couldn't sodding care less about you or your client, I'm simply stating the facts. He will come after me, and I will be forced to come after him. As for you, this is all just food for thought though I doubt you'll live past tomorrow morning. Back to the matter at hand, you said everything is in place, did you follow my instructions?"

"Yes, there is two more men hiding in the garden to cut the target off if she decides to attempt an escape, both of them are recent arrivals to town that I hired through a mediator. The safe house is also prepared, we grab the girl and keep her there for a few days until Lord Lorek received payment and the buyer arrives to pick her up."

"Good...enough talk, the mark is moving."

The gardeners went away, likely summoned by their father. Jezarine took a stroll down the path deeper into the garden, stopping a few times to check certain plants she found of interest.

"We do this quiet, quick, and clean, send the signal."

Tendir made a sound akin to the roar of a mountain lion. The men Tendir hired ran out from their cover, grabbed the elf, covering her mouth and after a short struggle put a bag over her head. They then ran towards Rakot's position, and pushed Jezarine through a hole in the wall, then went in after her. Tendir followed after them, and then Rakot, placing a stone plate over the hole to make it look like the wall was not tampered with. A merchant cart was waiting for them outside, they quickly tied Jezarine's hands and feet, dropped her inside a large chest and drove away. Everything was done with great precision and in complete silence.

But they smelled

Calliara had been wandering, trying to recover from another bad night. Drake was with Nygozy and everyone was resting or enterteining themselves, so she had a little peace for herself, just for a while.

Until she smelled terror and something unknown and other known scent in the gardens while she was passing by.

The Dalish stopped, and her breathing almost stopped as well. No sounds. No leaves or branches cracking, even the birds were not chirping. Way too much silence for her likings.

And then, suddenly, the roar of a lion. Calliara lifted an eyebrow, her bow already in her hand, and in absolute silence she moved quickly, following the sound, just in time to see someone carrying another someone with Jezarine's clothes through a hole in the wall. It was too late to try something, so she just memorized the scents and looked for someone to pass the message before she left

The Wolf was going to hunt

Something was not right.

Before he'd even gotten to the Gardens, Ianto had known something was wrong. He couldn't hear Jez's excited chatter as she and some garner or other compared herbal techniques, like he'd seen her do on more than one occassion. For Jez to be so quiet - it wasn't right. Maybe she was nervous because of her brother, and was brooding? He doubted it, though . . .

And then he saw Calliara standing there, tense and with her bow drawn, and he knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" He said, voice tense as it had ever been, his own sword ringing in the unnatural silence of the garden as he drew it. And, even though he knew - knew - that he was going to regret asking this, he regretted not knowing even more. "Calliara . . . where's Jezarine?" His voice was low, dangerously close to anger, not directed at Calliara but to whatever unknown threat had moved in on the morning, making Calliara so furious and robbing the Garden of any sign of Jez's over-excited face.

The Wolf looked at Ianto, studying his anger and his pose, and nodded lightly

''Kidnapped. Two men and another two waiting. Through a hole in the wall that they closed afterwards. I'm going after them, pass word to the others. I have their scent and I don't want to loose it''

She hid her head with the hood of her dark blue cloak and started walking to the gates, but suddenly stopped and tilted her head to a side.

''Or you can run, tell some of the others and then come with me''

Ianto was off without a word. Turning back the way he came, he only had to go a little way back into the keep before he grabbed an elven servant around the arm, sorry that he'd startled her but too upset to really care. "You. Warden Calliara and I are leaving. Tell the commander, the healer Jezarine had been kidnapped. I can't tell you where we're going, because I don't know." He waited only long enough for the elven woman to nod, obviously frightened, but as soon as he let her go, she was scurrying off in the direction of Nygozy's quarters, and he was satisfied that she would get the message out.

Right. Now he had some kidnappers to go kill.

"I'm here," he said, no-nonsense as he came back to Calliara in the Garden. His eyes drifted towards the crack in the wall that indicated a hole, where the elven woman had said they'd fled through. "Let's go."

The Wolf just nodded, and guided him out of the estate. They were not running, yet, for she was following the scents and needed concentration that she could not achieve while running

''One of their scents is a known one. I can't place it though, but I know I smelled that before'' She told Ianto, knowing that the boy would be upset thinkin about Jezarine ''I wonder why the hell someone would want to kidnap Jez though''

She could even smell Jezarine's fear, and that made the Wolf feel furious, but said nothing about it to Ianto. Those who had dared to go away with one of her cubs would pay with their blood

"A sodding mountain lion?! One thing I left to you, one thing, to come up with the sodding signal, and you do this?!"

"Calm down, Rakot, it all went according to plan, I don't see anyone following. It'll be hours before they take note of her disappearance just as you predicted."

"The taint, Tendir, the sodding taint! Its smell has unique qualities, it burns your nostrils...and I sensed it."

"So you're afraid the sodding Darkspawn will pop up from under the ground and slaughter us? I haven't ever took you for one with a weak stomach, duster."

"Don't tempt me, Tendir, you only breathe because I allow it. The Wardens, you moron, the sodding Wardens, they have the taint as well. One of them was close enough to spot our escape."

"Hmm, I guess I should have went with the chicken sound."

"Be quiet, and let me think, make sure that one of your men doesn't drive the cart off the road."

The cart continued to speed down the street.

Ianto nodded tersely, listening to what Calliara said. "If it's someone you've met before, then maybe they've been scouting Jez out for a while. In that case, this might be more serious than we'd thought." They hadn't actually been 'thinking' of anything, but as far as Ianto was concerned, that was a moot point - if there were any theories to go with, he'd go with them. "It might be more than some random elven kidnapping." Which were far too common in this city, unfortunately. Slavery wasn't legal like it was in the Tevinter Imperium, but that didn't mean that someone looking to make a quick sovereign was about taking some elf out of the Alienage, or something of the sort. "But, if there were as many people as you said, then it wouldn't have been just a random grabbing, anyway." It hurt, a little bit, to be talking like this, like Jez was just another elf who'd gone missing in the city, but if he became too emotional he wouldn't be of any use to Calliara.

"Thank you for waiting for me," he said quietly. Not that he would have stayed behind, even if she'd told him, but it was nice that she'd taken him, all the same. He was no tracker - everything was up to her until fighting began.

The cart stopped in front of a seemingly abandoned building in one of Denerim's many dark alleys. Tendir jumped out to the ground and ordered his men to pick up the chest off the cart. He then walked up to Rakot who was concentrating his gaze down the street.

"So, this will be our home for the next few days."

Tendir pointed at the warehouse.

"It might not look like much but I got some quality provisions prepared, and we'll have a place to put the girl so she doesn't make too much noise."

"We won't be staying."

"What?"

"You two, put the chest down on the ground."

Rakot motioned to the men, he then turned to face Tendir.

"We take the cart around the back and burn it, and we continue into the sewers on foot. I want you to booby trap the warehouse with firebombs, start with the front door."

Rakot reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of cloth, he handed it to Tendir.

"Here, use this to wipe the sweat off your face."

Tendir complied, with a puzzled look. Rakot took the cloth from him, crumbled it up, walked up to the front door of the warehouse, opened it and tossed the cloth inside.

"What was the sodding point of that?"

"I've spent a year living in the Kokari Wilds at the time the Blight was raging. Hunting the darkspawn and being hunted by them I learned a great deal about the hunter-prey relationship. See, right now we are the prey, but only until the point that we turn the tables. The Wardens will either use our scent, or magic to track us. We can't do anything about magic, however if they track the scent of one of us to inside this building and open the door...."

"Kaboom goes the Warden."

"Indeed, and if their senses are sharp enough to follow us based on our scent, that cloth that stinks of your sweat will prompt them to look inside the building."

"What if they're cautious?"

"There is a certain measure of chance involved, that's what makes it interesting. Regardless we're going into the sewers, it stinks heavily of piss and shit, that will make the job of tracking us by scent a difficult task, it'll be like finding a needle in a haystack. So with any luck, they'll take the course of action we want them to and investigate the house. Now get to work, we need to be done and on our way within the hour."

Jezarine was terrified but when she was attacked she had kicked and bit and tried to fight but there was not only one man getting her down and even her training from the wardens was not going to help her much here. She had panicked which made it difficult and one of the men had accidentally bonked her head knocking her out.

When she finally came to she noticed the smell of excrement even from within the box she was in. She moved about, wobbling the chest about as she did so and made wretching sounds. This was not good. She wasn't used to any smells like this. Where the hell were they taking her? The sewers? Ew. Gross gross gross.

From all the stress and now these horrible scents she couldn't hold it in and threw up. The bag on her head made it so she was stuck with the mess in there with her even as her body was forcing everything out. Jez started to choke, unable to breathe with the vomit pressing into her nose and mouth.

She tried to scream, kick and bang about but nothing was truly working and she was fast running out of the ability to do anything. Jezarine panicked once again and this time used one of the simplest spells there was. Flame blast. There was nothing to lose now. If she was lucky she could at least take one of these creeps with her.