Claiming Control

Chapter 10: Nevarra

Sophia came to with a groan, shaking, her entire body aching with pain. The first thing she noticed was the sound of rattling metal as her cheek slid against a wood texture. Other sensations soon registered; freezing metal shackles biting into her wrists and ankles, a metallic taste in her mouth, and a sense of motion. A large bump slammed her head against the wood, which she attempted to raise through a wince.

It was bright. Too bright. Gradually the light settled, and she could see the other occupants in what looked to be a traveling metal cage.

Claus was the furthest away. His calves and feet were inflamed, covered in angry red blisters, and Sophia knew the shackles around his ankles must feel like hell. His face didn't show it. His mouth was straight, his eyes hard, and the angle of his chin was defiant. His arms were wrapped protectively around a sleeping Kathari, his bound wrists resting on top of her swollen stomach. Kathari face was streaked with dirt, a cut extending from the sole of one her bare feet, her lip split. Other than that, she seemed no worse for wear.

Ash was holding herself tightly, her bound hands clutching her legs against her chest. Sophia's attention was caught on the elf's fingernails and hands, cracked and caked with dirt. Her faced was lined with tears, but none of that distress was present in her expression. In fact, Sophia could see the woman looking around at their guards with careful consideration.

Fenris looked like a barely contained wild animal, cornered and ready to pounce. He was crouching, his muscles tense, the chains connecting the shackles strained. He was the most obviously injured; blood seeped through the holes in his armor onto the wood floor, and his hands were so covered in red, Sophia could barely see the lyrium markings.

Two members of their party were obviously absent.

"Belen? Mahanon?" Sophia tried to ask the group, but the sound was so raspy, it was barely intelligible.

Three elves turned as one to look at her as Sophia attempted to sit up. The looks they gave her were not encouraging- Ash was dispassionate, Claus looked like he was hanging onto his sanity by a thread, and Fenris snarled.

Kathari answered, opening her eyes, her face solemn. "They were left behind. Left for dead. Belen had already bled out, pined to the tree, and Mahanon... wasn't moving."

Dead? He… she remembered. The icicles protruding from Belen's chest, his eyes unmoving, face slack. But Mahanon- she felt a heartbeat, she knew she did. So there was a chance he was still alive? Although who knew what they did to their bodies…

Sophia could feel her face contort. Stressed. Guilty. God. This was her fault, wasn't it? The reason they were all here like this. Shit.

Still. Only one thing to do for it now.

"What now?" Sophia asked, looking at each of the elves in turn.

Fenris looked tense and angry. "Did you have something in mind?"

Sophia turned to Ash. The only one who seemed to be actively looking for a way out. "Ash?"

Ash's lips were pursed, her dirty fingers clenched over her knees. "We are being escorted by a large group. Well trained, well-armed, and made up of more than just mages."

Sophia looked around the outside of the cage, and noticed that their forces were not evenly distributed around them. A majority of the group seemed to be in front of them. She also noticed that everyone was using horses, including their moving slave pen. Startling the horses might be a good place to start.

She didn't realize she was murmuring her thoughts out loud until Fenris responded to them. "Perhaps, but we would need to be capable of escaping first." He pulled on his shackles to enunciate his point.

Sophia looked down at the shackles. These were not the same kind used by Danarius, which were reinforced with magic. These were screwed shut with metal and locked with a key. It looked like it could be picked. She asked Ash.

The elf frowned in consideration. "I would need something to pick it with."

Sophia could feel her the pins in her hair, put in that morning, still pulling slightly at her skull. "My hair pins?"

Ash's eyes brightened. "Might work."

Claus spoke up, stressed. "We would need to do it without them noticing. And find a way to open the cage. We don't have the time, and they're not stupid."

"They don't let us out at all? Even to relieve ourselves? How long have we been traveling?"

Fenris frowned. "We were captured yesterday. They did let us out last night, briefly, but we were heavily guarded. And might I mention that they took our weapons."

Sophia looked at him. "Do you know where they put them?"

His smile was sardonic. "With the supply cart, I imagine. Which they are pulling at the front of the group."

Sophia looked around at the terrain outside of the cart. The dirt was sandy, the plains made up of rolling hills, and there was minimal tree cover. Not at all good for escape. "Is there a clear leader who makes all of the decisions? Or does it seem like everyone is acting independently?"

Fenris' eyebrow raised. "It almost sounds like you've been captured before."

Ash smiled in her direction. "She was. Gave Danarius the slip, but ended up on the roof. Threw herself off of that old tower so she wouldn't be subject to experimentation."

Sophia looked at the blonde elf curiously. "I did?" She couldn't remember.

Fenris was curious too. "That old tower was at least 70 feet tall. How did she survive?"

Ash's smile fell. "Danarius made a pact with a demon. The… thing caught her before she could reach the ground."

Fenris snorted and snarled at the same time. "Or course he did."

"Has he made deals with demons before?"

Fenris stared at her, his expression disconcerting. "He has. The kind of blood magic he… indulges himself in requires it."

The thought upset Sophia, but she pushed it into the back of her head. Now was not the time. "Is there a leader?"

Claus answered. "Yes. A Pentaghast, riding in the front. But everyone else has received clear orders to ensure our capture and transport to their capital. I don't think they would be afraid to act independently."

Sophia nodded, biting her lip. "How are we all doing? Anyone injured?" She then looked straight at Fenris. "And if so, how badly?"

Claus looked like he was biting his tongue, water forming at the corner of his eyes to illustrate his pain. "I don't think I can walk."

Sophia scooted herself forward to look more closely at his feet. A majority of the blisters were centered around the ankle and lower calf, although the streak of red, inflamed skin did extend down to the bottom of his feet. This needed immediate medical attention. The burn needed to be chilled, disinfected, and wrapped in sterile bandages. Most of which could be found in her pack, but the bag was not on her.

"Did they put our packs by our weapons?"

"One can only assume."

"Anyone else? Fenris? You look like you are still bleeding."

The elf in question stared at her for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to tell her. He eventually said, "They killed my horse, and I fell under it as it was falling. Broken wrist and a couple of broken ribs. They knocked me out with a blow to the head, so I suspect a concussion."

Sophia knew (somehow) that serious complications with a broken rib included a collapsed lung or bleeding in the chest. She scooted towards him, now, and asked, "How is your breathing?"

The man tensed defensively. "It's fine."

Sophia came up next to him, and reached a hand out to his chest to see if she could feel any obvious abrasions. He backed away defensively. Sophia frowned at the man, and then stared at his lyrium markings around his face, suddenly more visible, feeling strange… The markings felt strangely powerful, and she wanted to touch them. She needed…

"Sophia. Back up." Ash's voice was firm.

Sophia blinked, like she had just woken up. "What-"

Ash frowned. "We don't fully understand your markings, Soph. But touching him could kill him. Or you could corrupt the lyrium. Don't touch him."

Sophia bit her bottom lip nervously, and scooted back. She put her hands up in front of both elves as a sign of surrender and apology. "We need to make sure that the broken ribs haven't caused any fluid to build up in his lungs, or blood to pool in his chest. If his lung collapses, it could become too difficult for him to breathe. And make it more likely for him to contract pneumonia."

Fenris' eyes narrowed. "Pneumonia?"

"An infection of the lungs. Which leads to more liquid and mucus to fill your chest and causes you to, effectively, drown."

They all looked at her with expressions ranging from disgruntled and suspicious to horrified.

"I will check," Ash volunteered.

Fenris looked like he was about to argue, so Sophia interceded. "We could ask you some questions first? To see if further investigation is needed."

The man nodded warily.

"How is your breathing? Are you able to take deep breaths? Is there pain radiating anywhere in your chest outside of the broken ribs?"

Fenris tried to take a deep breath, but ended up coughing and wheezing. Not a good sign. "It hurts," he offered.

Sophia frowned and turned to Ash. "See if you can hear his breathing."

Ash put her ear right up into Fenris' face, which made the man frown. She then shoved her ear against his armored chest, pulling at the armor slightly. "It is hard to hear, but I think his cough is wet."

So, assume worst case scenario, because she didn't have the medical expertise to know the difference. How would they get a hold of medical supplies? She thought about what their captors wanted with their bodies. Dorian said the corpses were mummified, and then used as a host body. She imagined that process would be difficult to conduct if the corpse was gravely ill, and the organs infected.

That gave her an idea.

Sophia scooted to the back of the cage and called out to a pair of mages following on horses right behind the cart. "Hey you! Come here!"

They sneered, but didn't bother to come any closer. Sophia could feel the elves behind her tense.

Sophia pointed to Fenris. "That man is bleeding out. His lungs are infected. He won't last much longer, and the infection will spread. That would hardly suit your purposes, would it?"

The sneer of one of the mage's deepened. "And what do you claim to know about our purposes?"

Sophia winked at the man, the endorphins pushing a false sense of bravado. "I can only guess."

The mages looked at each other silently for a minute, before one of them nodded and galloped to the front of the group. He returned with a small group, one man in particular at the front leading the way wearing elaborated armored robes. He addressed the mage. "What is it?"

The mage looked towards her pointedly. Sophia interceded. "That man has broken ribs and a collapsed lung. It is infected. He will die soon and the infection will spread."

The man narrowed his eyes at her. "Why should that be a matter of concern to us?"

"You have gone through some effort to capture us. Alive. I assume we have some purpose to serve for you still."

The man pursed his lips, contemplating. "Perhaps. What do you suggest we do about it?"

Here it goes. "You could bring me my pack. It contains medical supplies that I could use to address the problem."

The man stared for several moments in consideration, then turned to one of his men. "Retrieve her pack. Go through it and ensure it is devoid of anything but medical supplies."

They eventually gave her the pack through the bars of the pin, noticeably lighter, but Sophia just gave the men a nod of acknowledgment. The Pentaghast waited as she dug through her pack and got out supplies. An elfroot-prophet's laurel infusion and long, thick cloth bandages went to Ash, and Sophia scooted closer to Claus while retrieving a balm for burns and bandages. She looked in the bag for her alcohol, and noticed it missing.

Irritated, Sophia called out to the mage that went through her things. "Where is the alcohol? I need it to disinfect the wounds and stop the infection."

The man's brows raised in disbelief. "You expect me to believe that?"

Another mage approached the man with a sneer and whispered in his ear. They had a small disagreement, before the bottle of alcohol was produced and given to her through the bars.

"Thank you."

Sophia could hear Ash unbuckling and unstrapping Fenris' armor. Sophia herself uncorked the top of the alcohol bottle and poured some down Claus' calves and feet.

He screamed. Sophia ground her teeth and patted the area dry, trying to block out the screams. Next, the balm, which she smeared as tenderly as she could. And then bandages around his feet and calves, awkwardly wrapped because of the shackle, but bound tightly (although not tight enough to constrict the blood flow). Sophia then gave the elf the alcohol bottle with a smirk.

There was an audible protest from some of the men outside of the cage, but they were ignored as Claus took a healthy swig and gave her back the bottle. Sophia held it out to Ash, who gave her back the elfroot infusion. Sophia heard Fenris hiss through his teeth in pain as the alcohol was spilled over his torso, and gave Claus the remainder of the health potion. Claus finished the bottle and gave a sigh of relief.

Sophia turned just in time to see Fenris' torso gleam, from the alcohol, blood, and lyrium, and then twisted to look at the men outside the cage. She gave them a raised brow. Several were watching very intently, including the Pentaghast.

Alright. Time to move forward with her plan.

"Like what you see?" Sophia stated, trying to make the statement sound as provocative as possible.

Several of the men's face crumpled in disgust. Others just stared at her. Sophia gave them a nasty smile. "Can't help but be curious. To stare that intently? You would either need to be sexually attracted to the man, or a sadist."

"And if I like pain?" one of the mages gave her a nasty smile in return. No one in the group around their cage moved.

Alright. Plan B.

Sophia winked. "Then you would be my kind of man. Are any of you healers? I would like to ask someone questions about his condition."

The Pentaghast looked at her curiously, and gestured for someone to come forward. The man that eventually approached them was dark-skinned and lanky, his robes voluminous against his small frame. He approached with his hands clasped nervously in front of him.

Sophia smiled at the man. "Hi. I just wanted to establish that the potion we used would be enough to address his internal issues. I'm afraid I am not extremely well-versed in medicine- just enough to know first-aid basics- so I can't be sure."

The man looked solemn, still clutching his hands. "What kind of potion?"

"I believe it was an elfroot base, but was infused with prophet's laurel. Would that be effective enough?"

"What is the extent of his injury?"

"Broken ribs, bruised muscles, fever. We think one of his lungs collapsed, pierced by the rib, and is filling with liquid- he can't take a deep breath, and his coughs are wet."

The man's brows furrowed in consideration. "Do you have any other draughts?"

"A potion infused with dawn lotus?"

"Hm. I think you should supplement with that potion. To be safe. The injury sounds serious."

"Thank you. And I wanted to ask you one other matter of some importance…" Sophia leaned closer to the man through the bars, and gestured for him to come closer. The man didn't move for several moments, his expression bemused, but gradually leaned forward cautiously. Sophia whispered.

"We passed through a Dalish clan on our way to the refugee camp that was suffering from the plague. Half of the clan was dead, the other half grievously ill. We left as soon as we realized, of course, but… how would we know if we caught it? How soon would it take for symptoms to manifest? I am feeling a bit feverish, you see, but that could just be a mild infection from my wounds."

That was no lie, actually. She was feeling warm, the liquid running down her back a sign that the scabs from the wound on her back had broken, and pain radiated from the area in a way that made her suspect infection of some kind.

The blood drained from the man's face and he noticeably paled. "P-plague?"

"They were fevered, weak, some coughing up blood. Neck swollen. Am I wrong?"

"N-no. T-that sounds right."

"So, how many days?"

"B-between today and t-tomorrow?"

Sophia smiled. "Alright. Thank you. I will keep an eye out and let you know if something happens. I would hate to infect you all."

The man nodded, and then practically flew to the side of the Pentaghast. The leader looked disturbed to hear the man's stuttered news, and then conflicted. He shot Sophia a searching look, which she met solemnly before turning back to rifle through her bag. She got out the other potion and got Ash's attention, who had just finished wrapping Fenris' torso. She crawled closer to the elf and gave the elf the potion. "Did you hear?"

Ash was very quiet. "Plague?"

Sophia looked back into her bag and made a show of going through it. "Would they leave us?"

Ash snorted. "I should think so. But how?"

Sophia found a lyrium potion, and tilted the opening of the bag so it was slightly visible. "Rashvine nettle."

Ash's eyes widened in understand. "Soph, that could be dangerous."

Sophia snorted. "More dangerous than being catered off the Nevarra City to be killed and mummified?" She looked up when she heard a horse trotting up to the cage, and saw the Pentaghast approach.

"You are feeling ill?" He looked nervous.

Sophia scooted right up to him from her side of the bars. She gestured to her forehead. "Would you like to feel?"

The man's hands clenched and his face distorted as he attempted to decide what to do. He eventually took off one of his gloves, looking wary and suspicious, and reached forward to feel her forehead. Once he registered the obvious fever, he brought his hand back to his chest quickly in panic. He took a deep breath, as if grounding himself. "No other symptoms?"

Sophia shook her head. "Not at the moment. Though I promised your healer that I would inform him if that changes."

The Pentaghast nodded. "Please do." He still looked uneasy as he gestured to the men and galloped to the front of the group.

"Sophia?" Kathari sound worried.

Sophia gave the woman what she hoped was a reassuring smile, and turned to Fenris. "How are you feeling? Is your breathing any better?"

Fenris was staring at her through narrowed eyes. "It is. What are you plotting?"

Sophia smirked at him. "Escape, of course. Although it would look more realistic if it wasn't just me. Ash?" She turned to the only other member of their party that wasn't injured or pregnant.

Ash understood immediately. "Regeneration Potion?"

Sophia nodded. And then explained her plan to the elves in whispers. "In a course of treatment in Tevinter we discovered that I am severely allergic to Rashvine nettle. And the symptoms I experienced include a swollen neck, fever, vomiting, stomach pain, shortness of breath, and coughing. It should be close enough to pass for the plague."

Ash's lips were pursed. "If you don't die."

Sophia smiled sardonically. "There is that. Regeneration potion makes Ash sick to her stomach and shake from muscle convulsions. It won't be pretty, but I am hoping it will be enough to convince them."

Fenris nodded. "What should we do?"

"Try to look as sick as possible? We need to sell severity and infectivity in order to get the group to abandon us."

Kathari spoke up. "I'm surprised they haven't already. Plague suspicions are usually treated with a great deal of caution and superstition."

Ash shook her head. "These two are worth a lot to the dying king. Pentaghast wouldn't dare abandon them on suspicion alone. I imagine failure to retrieve them would have some not-so-pretty consequences." She turned to Sophia. "Using a lyrium potion might not be the best source of the herb to use, considering your markings. Do you have any Mighty Offense Tonic?"

She did.

As a group, they decided to wait until they could see a source of water, knowing they would need the liquid in order to survive. Sophia knew from reading about the geography of Thedas that a river ran from the the south of Hasmal towards the capital of the country, and figured that they were probably heading towards it for ease of transport.

Sophia was right. As soon as the group received word of the approaching river (which Sophia was happy to see was lined with lush vegetation), they acted. In order to be as inconspicuous as possible, Sophia dripped the tonic on her fingers and absentmindedly put her fingers in her mouth, making a show of picking her teeth.

Fenris gave her a look. "That is disgusting."

Sophia shrugged, attempting to ingest a safe amount of the potion. She noticed Ash copying her attempts.

Fenris rolled his eyes, before grabbing the bottle of alcohol and giving it a healthy swig.

It did not take long for the affects to become obvious. One moment Sophia was feeling fevered and pained, leaning against the bars of the cage, and the next she was on the floor of the cart, hyperventilating, trying to breathe through the nausea. She could feel her throat tighten, the skin on her forearms becoming itchy, and started to cough. It did not take long for vomit to follow, which she had just enough awareness to aim outside of the cart.

She caught sight of Ash out of the corner of her eye. The elf shook, her face red and eyes glossy. She vomited shortly after Sophia.

Which caused Kathari to be sick to her stomach. The pregnant elf leaned over Claus and threw up what little food they had been given. The two men watched this all with fascinated disgust until Sophia made a noise through her delirium and gestured to the floor of the cart. Both men fell, and Sophia could see Fenris shaking, struggling to breathe.

She hoped that was act.

That was the last coherent thought she registered. After that, the world became a vision of swirling colors, nausea, and pain. Voices broke through the haze in her delirium.

"Come on out of your room Sophia, there is more to life than fencing and video games. Your father wants to go fishing."

"Again? He never catches anything."

"No reason not to go. We won't be around forever, you know."

"I heard you were fighting again at school."

"They were beating up Henry again. What was I supposed to do?"

"Not pick fights with a group of older boys twice your size? Your mother is worried, you know. And the doctor said you will have that scar above your eye for the rest of your life."

"I don't care about scars, Dad. It's not right. Why is Jeff such an asshole?"

"It's not that simple, Soph. I'm sure he has problems of his own."

"You didn't see what he did. He doesn't deserve your consideration."

"And you are fit to make that judgment? You know he lost his mother a few months ago? And his dad is still overseas."

"So? He should know better."

"Where's your compassion, Sophie-bee? You don't know what else he has to deal with. If he asked for help would you help him?"

A pause. "Soph?"

"Maybe."

"Don't be so quick to judge. You learn in life that everyone has problems, and everyone's suffering in some way. Some just aren't as good at dealing with their pain."

"I heard your date didn't work out. Again."

"It's not my fault, Amanda. You should have seen the guy. It wasn't a date, it was an interrogation. I could practically see him mentally checking off questions from one of those cheesy online checklists."

"Some men know what they are looking for."

"And don't know how to look for it. Is there something wrong with me for wanting some natural chemistry? If felt so forced."

"What, are you expecting instant attraction and reciprocation? And with your weird tastes?"

"My taste in men is not that weird. I just want to find someone that shares my interests."

Snort. "If that was really the case, you would still be with James. Admit it, you are a bit shallow."

A pause. "What is wrong with wanting to be attracted to your person? Or are you implying that I can't afford to be shallow?"

"Of course not, Soph. You know I think you are gorgeous. I just want you to admit to the impossibility of your ideal man."

"My interests are not that unconventional, Amanda."

"Pft. Yeah right. I mean, the fencing is alright. Even your interest in video games, although you can get a bit obsessive. But your tendency to read textbooks when you eat breakfast? To pick fights and get into intense political debates with complete strangers? Your habit of drawing diagrams of your favorite military strategies when you're bored? Wait… that's what you were doing last night on your date, wasn't it? Drawing on your napkins again."

"It's not my fault he was boring."

"Jesus, Sophia. Yeah, I would stop blind dates if I were you."

"So, who's your favorite companion in Inquisition?"

"Have you finished playing it already?"

"Oh, hush. I didn't have anything else to do this weekend. Well?"

"Cole? I think. It sounds like poetry every time he opens his mouth, and his floppy hat is so endearing…"

"And he's blonde…"

"Please. I can guess which blonde you have your eyes on."

"Mhm. Can you blame me? I don't know what the hell happened between Dragon Age II and Inquisition, but fuck, Cullen got sexy."

"If you say so."

"I do. You should have seen the cut scene after they did it. The man is cut. You romanced Solas, right? How was that?"

"Heartbreaking."

"Really? He was kind of hard for me to like. Weird and arrogant. But I get it. You and your elves."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You just have a tendency to play elves. And romance elves. Nothing wrong with it…"

"I like them."

"I said there was nothing wrong with it-"

"You were implying it."

"It's cute. Didn't he turn out to be an ancient elven god? Fen'harel or something? That's hot."

Snort. "Of course you would say that."

"Got to love those antiheros. Have you heard about Asunder?"

"A little bit?"

"Your opinion of Cole might change if you read it. Look into my eyes, so I can feel real as I cut your throat! Hahaha."

"He's a sweetie."

"Are you pouting? God. So weird."

"But we're still friends."

"What can I say? You spice up life."

"Good job Sophia, now parry…"

"Are you sure you don't want to have dinner? Just a quick bite around the corner?"

"Nala! Come here, sweet girl!"

"No! Solas, how could you? Don't be afraid to love! Your plans don't make any sense!"

"Send a few men in and take her to the chamber. Chain her to the table."

"Girl! I had to sacrifice fifteen people to bring you this side of the Fade. You will come down and allow me the benefit of my investment."

"Give her more elfroot infusion! Now! No, you fucking imbecile, the green bottle!"

Sophia's world became black.

Sophia came to with a start, breathing heavily. The first thing she became aware of was the realization that she was no longer moving. The next was the rancid smell of stomach acid that seemed to permeate the air around her head.

Wrinkling her nose, Sophia opened her eyes and registered that it was both nighttime and unnaturally quiet. Raising her head, she could see that all of her companions were prostrate on the floor. Sophia kneeled through vomit in order to reach Ash's side and attempt to find a pulse.

It was there.

She hoped they were all sleeping.

She didn't want to think about her memories. Try to piece together the meaning and the implications of why this, and why now. Later. She would think about it later.

Looking out of the cage, she couldn't see anyone. One side of the cage was against a hill, a wall of dirt blocking all visibility. The other side led into some woods, and was devoid of people.

They needed to move. The thought popped into her head suddenly, urgently, and she struggled to remember what to do next.

Sophia tried to move her bangs out of her face and realized that her hands were bound.

That's right. They needed to escape from the shackles. She shook Ash, and was relieved to hear the woman wake. "Mmm?"

"Ash! We need to leave. Just in case they come back, or someone else comes to get us." Sophia's voice slurred, and she considered the fact that she might not be at her best. She hoped the others were well enough to make up for it.

Ash opened her eyes, which were red and bleary. "M'kay."

"Can you open the locks?"

The elf nodded unsteadily, and reached for Sophia's head of hair. She pulled out a pin clumsily, ignoring Sophia's yelp of pain, and began to fiddle with the lock. The occasional tremor jostled her hand out of place, and the elf cursed as she reattempted to pick the lock.

It was a few minutes before the lock clicked open and the shackles fell to the floor, and all Sophia could think of during that time was that her breathing seemed loud. Like, unusually loud. The sound of the metal against the floor woke the other occupants of the cart, who shoot up in sudden awareness. Sophia looked at them as she held her bound wrists out to Ash. "Good morning, ducks. We need to leave."

It took a moment for everyone to gather their bearings. In that time, Ash unlocked her shackles (noticeably quicker than her first attempt), and moved onto Fenris. The male elf gave their ill faces and the disgusting wood floor a dispassionate look. "This was a careless plan. We are lucky it worked out the way it did."

Sophia ignored him.

Fenris spoke up again while Ash was kneeling between his feet, picking the lock around his ankles, "And I can't help but notice that we are without food, water, and weapons, and lost in a foreign territory."

Sophia moved to grab her bag, making sure everything was still inside. "There should be water nearby. And we know that Hasmal is about a day away on foot. We can resupply there."

Ash spoke up from in front of Kathari, releasing the shackles from around the woman's feet. "Are we sure it is the best idea to return to the place where we were kidnapped? What if they come back, notice we are missing, and attempt to retrieve us?"

Sophia noticed pieces of vomit in her hair, and cringed. Perhaps they could find a place to wash up? "Do you have another idea? It is the nearest city. The next closest would be Tantervale, which is on the other side of the river and at least a week away."

Fenris spoke up. "I need to get back to the refugees."

"We can do that. Although I doubt they have returned to the city so soon after the attack. Do you know where they could have retreated to?"

Fenris nodded. "There is a small settlement close to the river to the south of Hasmal. They are probably there."

Claus cried out in pain, and Sophia turned to see the elf grinding his teeth as Ash removed the shackles from around his ankles. Kathari spoke up from his side, sounding concerned. "I don't think he can walk."

She walked up to Claus thoughtfully. And then gave her bag of medicines to Ash. "Can any of these be administered topically and used to help repair the damage on his feet?"

Ash made quick work of her search, tilting the edge of the bag so that she could see in the contents in the moonlight. "Here."

After they applied the poultice and Sophia had re-wrapped both legs and feet, Claus was able to at least stand and walk slowly.

Sophia grimaced as she considered their next course of action. "Water first. So we can wash up and replenish our fluids."

Ash nodded. "The river will be South. Where is South?"

Kathari spoke up. "Eluvia should be in the South this time of year," the elf paused and looked around the sky intently. "I will need to see the sky from on top of the hill."

Ash nodded again and moved to pick the lock on the metal cage containing them.

"Where did you learn to pick locks?" Fenris sounded curious.

"I was trained."

"Really? From what I can remember, Danarius is hardly the type of man to support educating slaves. Especially in something like lock-picking."

"There was an incident a few years ago. The cage of one of his experiments was unlocked by a guard, who turned out to be the woman's brother. After that, Danarius decided to throw away all of the keys except his in order to prevent a repeat incident. And ensured I was trained to pick them open and close so that I could tend to them."

"You tend to his experiments? So you aid him in his experimentation?"

The lock to the cage clicked and Ash spun around, her chin jutted out defiantly. "I attempt to aid the poor souls who are suffering."

Sophia came around next to Claus and wrapped his arm around her neck so that he could comfortably lean on her for support and balance. They made their way to the edge of the cart.

Ash looked at the group, avoiding Fenris' gaze. "Let's go to the top of the hill."

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age.

A/N: Let me know what you think.