Oh, a Fenris-chapter. Where it all began... I love imagining and toying around with the past of people that is not known to us. Also, FanFiction does not want to accept new documents for editing for some reason, so I just copied and pasted the one-shot in one of my old files. I've beaten the system, go me! Anyhoo, hope this one-shot will be to your enjoyment.

Cheers,

AngelT

Born of Magic

"Hey Leto, you lazy son of a mongrel, wake up already!" someone kept prodding him constantly. The elf grunted and dug his face deeper in the pillow, shutting off the early morning light that was peaking through the window.

"Edeon, we had a deal…"

"You should know better then striking any kinds of deals with me, friend." Edeon started to pull on the blanket, letting cold air slip inside the cocoon of bed-sheets Leto had weaved during the night.

"I should know better indeed." He had finally swung his legs over the edge of an uncomfortable wooden bed and pushed the small skinny red-haired elf away. "Edeon, you are like a bug. Small, annoying and I can't get rid of you." Leto yawned widely and ran fingers through his raven-black hair, trying to bring it in a plausible state. The pest just smiled and skipped from one leg to another.

"Theresa sent us to the market. Master Ahriman has a feast later today and the cook needs fresh supplies."

Leto jumped on one leg, trying to fit another one in his pants. He was still half-asleep and this seemed to be proving itself as a difficult task. After all the struggles with the pants were finally over, he threw on a long linen shirt and his utility belt.

"Shopping. Do I look like a woman?" he grumbled what he thought was under his breath. But either Edeon had the ears of a fox or it was louder then he expected.

"A little, maybe."

"What, you have to respond to everything I say?"

"Pretty much." Replied his companion airily and flung a strand of hair over the shoulder like a high-class coquette he was.

Leto, Edeon and their families all were slaves to Magister Ahriman - an influential persona in the city of Qarinus. The two men knew each other since the day they learned to walk and talk and had been inseparable ever since. Some would call them friends, even though their friendship was a strange one. Leto was an observing type. His words carried weight and stung badly when he wanted them to. He was easily irritable and spent most of his life being angry and annoyed by something. Edeon, on the other hand, was a spunky character with a happy-go-lucky attitude to life and, what seemed like an endless amount of cheer that was closely bordering with being an annoyance to everyone he ever came across. Leto and Edeon shared the room and most of the tasks assigned to them. Perhaps it was because no-one else was willing to endure the presence of a small and relatively talkative elf that, while doing his job well enough, could drive anyone mad within a short period of time.

Like that, with Edeon chirping happily and Leto pretending he was all alone and had nothing to do with the guy that was hopping and skipping somewhere behind, they passed through the spacious kitchen and into the lush green gardens. Leto spotted his sister and mother quick enough, two women were busy weeding out one of the flowerbeds. Varania looked up and waved to her brother to come closer, putting the small rake she was holding aside.

"You are up early today. Wasn't there a deal or something?"

"There was." Leto shot a sulky stare in Edeon's direction. "Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking. I worked my ass off doing his chores, as we agreed, and bastard just chose to ignore it."

Varania shrugged her shoulders and gave her younger brother pitiful stare.

"You really are naïve sometimes."

"I am not naïve!" objected Leto angrily and flushed. "I just… believe in people, apparently." He had finished quietly, realizing how pathetic it sounded.

"And you should do so, son." Their mother, who was listening on their conversation had finally put away own garden instruments and approached her children. "It is difficult to believe in people sometimes as many of them will use you in their own advantage. But not all. "

"Mother, I don't need your lectures." Answered Leto aggressively, he felt like a little kid, standing there in the middle of the garden, being told how to live in the presence of his sister and his friend.

"Don't talk to mother that way!" exclaimed Varania and made an attempt to push her sibling in the chest.

"Calm down, Varania." Their mother grabbed the girl by the shoulder and pulled her backwards, to where they were both working till the moment Leto and Edeon had entered the scene.

The two men proceeded to the entrance as well, with one of them still emitting almost visible waves of anger.

"Hot thing your sister is, literary. Just look at her go! I would not mind to have a piece of that!"

Leto turned on his heels and grabbed Edeon by the collar, bringing the pest to the level of his own face.

"I will tell it one time. You talk about my sister this way – I'll beat it out of you. Repeatedly."

Edeon squinted as if he almost expected Leto to punch him in the stomach but the blow did not come.

"I thought you don't get along…"

"She is still my sister." He put his companion back on the ground roughly. Edeon grunted and rubbed his neck: a collar left a red circle where it burrowed in the skin. "So there. You look at her, talk of her or think of her in a wrong way… You know you had it coming."

They had finally reached the market area. It was still early but the place was already buzzing with slaves. It was as they say – the early bird catches the worm. With the help of the fists and elbows the two men started to make their way through the crowd, occasionally stopping at the stands they needed. Leto himself had no interest in picking out the best food or beverages. He would never taste them to begin with and it all looked the same anyway. Edeon, on the other hand, lived and breathed the complicated system that was 'market'. He knew exactly what to pick, how to define whether the product was good and how to strike the best bargain. His dream was to become a chef and he was persistently, even though slowly, working on it.

Quite some time later Leto, who felt like a mule and probably looked like one as well, what with all the baskets and boxes he was carrying, dumped all the produce on the kitchen floor, at Theresa's feet. She thanked him and informed that Master Ahriman gave him the rest of the day off. The only thing he had to do was to wash himself with care as the master wished him to play the role of the doorman during the feast. Leto could not complain. The day off from the dirty chores was so rare it was almost as Maker's blessing.

"You look handsome." His mother smiled brightly readjusting a tacky bowtie that was a part of doorman's uniform her son had to wear this evening. Leto grumbled something about looking like a fool but did not comment beyond that. He probably still felt a bit guilty about snapping at his mother when she meant well. "Perhaps if you act like a nice boy someone will buy you off our master. You deserve much more then a life of a cleaner and handyman."

Once again Leto did not answer. He had a point to make but he though it would be better to not argue, for once. His mother wished him no harm, but ever since their father had passed away it was his task to look after their small family and he would not want to change masters without securing a better place for his mother and sister first.

He met Edeon on the hall; his friend was being a servant tonight and was dressed as fancy as Leto was. Though perhaps not as colorful.

"Because, of course, they have to see me miles away." He thought grimly and shook his head in disapproval.

"I can't believe I am serving today!" Exclaimed Edeon, his green cat-eyes flashing with excitement. "They may even give me some scrapings of their food."

"Is it all you ever think about? Girls and food?" commented Leto dryly, while settling down at his post and throwing an occasional glance towards the entrance. Guest would have to start arriving soon and Edeon had to disappear into the kitchen before that time.

"You got me. Two best things that are even better when combined."

Leto stared at him intensively, asking himself why he is still listening to this blabbering idiot when Edeon had finally said something interesting.

"You know who is amongst the guests? Magister Danarius. They say he is pretty big news and came here all the way from Minrathous. Imagine that! I wonder why?"

"A big shot Magister in the hole like this…We should keep our ears open. Something interesting might surface."

The feast was taking a turn for the better as more food was coming and the expensive wine had loosened the tongues of the guests. Edeon and several other servants were roaming around the table, helpfully refilling the glasses and plates when it was asked of them. Leto was standing by the door almost looking like a statue of himself, listening to everything that was going on but so far it was nothing he had never heard before: blood magic, slaves and basking in own glory. This is when Danarius had suddenly stood up, a small smile playing on his lips and looked around.

"My friends, I am happy to be seeing you today in good health and state of mind. But my concern for you was not the only reason for my visit. I had discovered the means to do something glorious. Something that was done by the few and seemed to be long forgotten. I had tracked every single piece of knowledge there was, pieced it together and had come to the conclusion I will be able to create what you know as the Lyrium Ghost."

A whisper of surprise raised up in the air as none of the magisters could believe what they had just heard. And neither could Leto. He had no clue what Danarius was talking about but it sounded important and it was, looking at the reaction of other guests. He had turned all ears, trying to absorb every little piece of information that could be worth remembering. Meanwhile, Danarius continued.

"This, of course, will be the highest honor and no simple peasant can get it. I need a skilled warrior, someone who will be able to take a place besides me, as a bodyguard."

"But how are you planning to weed out the undesirables?" One of the magisters had finally come to his senses. He still looked shaken up from the announcement but the curiosity had prevailed.

"Good you ask." Danarius smiled widely. "I will hold the tournament. Similar to the one those dirty dwarves are so proud of over at Orzammar. The one who wins this 'proving' will be the one who will become the next miracle born of magic." Danarius had paused for a dramatic effect. "And my personal war hound."

Those words echoed in Leto's head long after the party, thrown by his owner, had ended. He could not fall asleep and kept trying to analyze his feelings on the matter. It was the chance, no doubt. But could he abandon his family for it? Perhaps if he talked to them… Mother would understand. Varania would not. She'd guilt him into staying and Leto was not sure her reasons would be noble. Family or not but no slave is happy when the other one gets a better treatment and a better master.

"You're going to sleep or what?" sounded from another side of their small room.

"And this is your problem because…" Leto was surprised that Edeon was not sleeping and seeing his third, no doubt dirty, dream.

"Hey, I am just saying. I was there as well; I've heard what Danarius had said." Edeon lifter his head from the pillow and put a fist underneath to support it, blowing the hair out of his face but without any success. "It seems your kind of stuff, everybody and their dog can see you were cut out for something greater then just scrubbing the floors in this hole."

"I can't leave my family here, you know that. This has ended the whole affair even before it could have begun." Leto dropped back onto the bad and angrily started mashing the pillow into the right shape. Edeon kept watching his friend in silence and was estimating if it was worth mentioning something he had overheard during the dinner. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to get away but he was not a fighter and besides he thought his life here was not all that bad. Someone like Leto, though, could grab that chance and use it well.

"Listen, I've heard something else tonight. Something that you might have missed. There is another small reward for the one who wins the tournament. A person will be granted one wish and, as long as it is not their own freedom, it will be fulfilled."

Leto, who had just settled down, jumped up again.

"You sure?"

"Yep, sure as I can be."

"It means if I win I can ask Danarius to take my family with me! Or even better, grant them their freedom."

Edeon cackled softly in the dark and started to finally settle down for the night.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, you did not win yet."

There was a long pause in which there was not a single sound coming from Leto's side of the chamber. Edeon thought that perhaps his friend had fallen asleep, exhausted by the eventful day. He was ready to get to the whole sleeping business himself, when his friend's figure had suddenly appeared in front of the window, illuminated by the soft light of the moon. He looked up to the skies, his figure nothing but a fathom in a ghostly light of the night and clutched his hands in the fists.

"But I will win. I swear to the Maker I will."