Promises: Chapter One

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine but Bioware's.

Fenris swung his sword in a great arc around him, sending the slavers who had tried to surround him flying. Two of them landed with a sickening thud, never more to rise. The third, however, was not so lucky. Fenris stalked forwarded. He would not suffer a slaver to live. With one slice of his sword, he separated the slaver's head from his body.

A quick scan of his surroundings confirmed that all the slavers were dead, with only the girl they had captured still living. The elf slung his sword on to his back with a sigh. Now came the part he hated. When he had heard about the small band of slavers in the area ferrying their captives to the capital of Tevinter, he hadn't decided to pursue them out of any goodness in his heart. Rather he knew that any slaver he killed now was one less that his former master could throw after him later.

Rescuing the girl was an unintended consequence. It wasn't something that he regretted—quite the opposite actually—but he really didn't have the time for the sort of extended thanks that others he had rescued in the past had been eager to heap upon him.

Still he couldn't very well leave the girl lying there all tied up and blindfolded to boot. As Fenris got closer, it became apparent that the captive was not a girl but rather a young woman, although she couldn't be older than twenty. She flinched as he approached her. "Hold still," he commanded gruffly. "I'm here to help." He knelt down beside her and ripped through her bindings with practiced ease before removing her blindfold.

The former captive blinked up at him a couple times before speaking. "Oh thank you," she said. "I don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't saved me."

"I imagine you would have already been further on your way to slave auctions of Minrathous, where you would have been sold to the highest bidder," he told her.

She winced. "True that. Though I was trying not to think of it. I was hoping that perhaps my father would have—but no. Of course not. He has Mother and the twins to think of," she said half to herself, a mournful expression covering her face.

Fenris had no interest in staying here and listening to her regrets as his greatest concern was staying one step ahead of Danarius. "I do not recommend lingering here. Who knows when reinforcements may arrive?"

"Oh! Of course. That's a very good point." She gingerly rose up on her feet. He followed suit, wincing as he tried to put weight on his right leg.

"You're hurt!" the girl exclaimed. "Here let me—" As she leaned towards him, a blue light appeared in her hands and Fenris knew just what it was that he had saved.

"A mage!" he all but snarled. He shrank away from her touch. "Stay back!" he growled.

"Yes, I'm a mage. That's why they caught me." The mage sighed in exasperation. "I know, I know. You can't trust a strange mage and all. But I'm not going to hurt you. You saved me. I owe you my life. Why would I do that?"

The mage's voice was soft and alluring, but he knew better. "You could be possessed," he muttered.

"If I had made a deal with a demon, I hardly think that there would have been any slavers for you to kill when you arrived," she pointed out. "It's not that I didn't have offers. But I don't know about you but I would rather be a slave than an abomination. There are some things worse than slavery or death."

Her words rang with truth. It would have been all too easy for the mage to bargain with a demon for her freedom, and indeed she admitted that some tried to tempt her. Despite that, she had chosen not to give in to temptation and instead remained a captive. It was admirable really. Fenris did not know if he would have had the same strength of resolve if he were in her position.

"Now stop being so stubborn," the mage scolded him. "You were the one who pointed out that we need to get out of here before reinforcements arrive. We'll be able to get away much faster if you'll just let me heal you."

"There is no we," he snarled. He jerked away from her. The last thing he wanted was to be saddled with a mage. Fenris limped gamely on and out of the slavers' holding cave, ignoring the stabbing pain running up and down his leg. He had dealt with worse injuries before, and he would survive this too.

Fenris discreetly looked behind him and swore. The mage was still following him.

The silly mage had been following him ever since he had released her from her captors. He had shown patience with her at first. As much as he had wanted to shout at her to stop following him, he had not for there was only one way out of the cave they had been in. She had continued to trail after him once they exited the cave, but he had reasoned that she simply was following him until they reached a road. Three hours had passed since then, however, and she was still hot on his tail.

It was enough to drive him mad.

Normally he would have been able to break out into a run and leave the slow-moving mage far behind him. However, the pain in his leg got worse with every step. Running was out of the question when it was all he could do to hobble. With it getting dark, it was looking less likely that he would be able to get away from the mage trailing after him.

Well enough was enough. He would just have to confront her now and convince her that she really didn't want to continue following him like this. He spun around dramatically, intent on pinning her with a deadly glare. Unfortunately, Fenris' leg decided to give out on him then and there, and he wound up landing on his ass.

"Ah! I was wondering how long that leg would last," the mage said cheerfully as she neared him. "You know, without proper treatment, it may abscess and wind up falling off completely. You wouldn't like that, now would you?"

Fenris merely glared in response. It was so like a mage to rub in the fact that his leg was not getting any better.

"Look, I get it. You don't like mages. Rather the opposite in fact. And from your markings, which I bet were inflicted by a mage seeing how they're lyrium and all, I gather you have good reason not to trust any of us," the mage told him.

"Given that at any moment a mage can give into temptation and fall for a demon's sweet words, becoming an abomination and bringing pain and misery to all those around him, only a fool would trust a mage," he bit out.

To his surprise, she didn't flinch at his words but rather nodded. "Wise man. A mage indeed must always be vigilant. That was the first lesson my father taught me," she replied. "While magic can be a terrifying force in all its fury, it is also capable of many great and miraculous deeds. And you, my friend, are in need of healing right now, healing which I'm only too willing to offer."

"I am not your friend," he grumbled.

She laughed then, a merry sound that filled the air around them. "You may not consider me to be your friend," she said with a smile on her face, "but I consider you to be mine. I'll always be grateful for you saving me the way you did."

"I didn't go after the slavers to save you, but rather to save myself the trouble of having to deal with them later," he admitted.

"Perhaps. But you could have left me there, which you didn't. Now will you stop being so stubborn and let me heal you?"

"If I agree to let you use your magic on me," Fenris said slowly, "will you then stop following me?"

"Yes," she said so quickly that he didn't believe her. However as it was clear that he was in no condition to get away from her, much less from any slave hunters that might have been sent his way, he nodded his head once and submitted to her magic.

To his surprise, the mage's reaction was to hang her head as though she was embarrassed. "I'm sorry," she said, biting her lower lip. "But I'm afraid that I'm not so skilled that I can heal you without touching you."

"It's fine," he told her. He gritted his teeth, mentally girding himself for the touch of her magic upon his skin and his soul. Her touch was feather light, her fingers ghosting over his thigh as she traced the outline of his wound. A moment later, a soft blue light filled her hands as she worked the magic necessary to heal the injury. The combination of her touch and her magic set his lyrium brands aflame, sending a warm coil of arousal tumbling through his groin.

The mage completed her healing not a moment too soon. "There," she said, innocently unaware of the effect she and her magic had had on him. "All better," she proclaimed.

Fenris gingerly got to his feet, testing the leg. It was better just like the mage had said. "Thank you," he said roughly. "Any debt that was between us has now been settled."

She snorted at that. "I hardly think so. You saved my life. I just healed your leg."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. My life was in danger albeit not imminent. I have it on the best authority that if I didn't have that wound treated, my leg would've fallen off," he said, a slight upward quirk to his lips. It pleased him that he was able to turn the mage's words against her.

"I might have been exaggerating there. Like I said, I'm not the most experienced of healers," she protested.

"Be that as it may, I choose to take you at your word. And now I shall take my leave of you." Fenris paused. He found himself hoping that this innocent, little mage wouldn't fall into the hands of slavers again for she deserved better than that. "Good luck," he told her. Then he turned around and left.

He had not gone fifteen paces when he realized that she continued to follow him. Fenris closed his eyes and sighed. "I thought you promised that if I let you heal me, then you would stop following me," he remarked over her shoulder.

"That I did," the mage agreed.

"That's what I thought. So do you care to explain why you haven't stopped?"

"But I have stopped. I'm not following you anymore. We're simply headed in the same direction."

Both of Fenris' eyebrows shot up. "And where would that be?" He doubted that the silly mage even knew where they were. She was more of a mageling than a mage, he decided. Still dangerous, but innocent and pure in a way that the magisters of Tevinter could never be.

"Away from here!" was her cheerful reply.

Fenris let out a low growl. The little mage didn't know when to stop. He whirled around to face her, though this time he was able to complete the move without falling down. "You do not want to follow me, mageling, for your own sake," he said fiercely. "I have stayed my hand for now as you have had no truck with demons or blood magic, but I warn you if I catch one whiff of either I will gut you in the space of two breaths."

The mage simply looked up at him and smiled. "Promise?" she asked.

Fenris was taken aback. "What?" he stumbled out.

"I asked if you promise to kill me if I fall to temptation. Not that I really need confirmation, I guess. You would do exactly what you said," the mage stated. "Which is good. Being on my own these last couple of weeks, having to listen to demons in my ear constantly, telling me that I could be free of the slavers if I only bent just a little…no mage should ever be alone, not like that. A mage needs someone who will put an end to her if she ever becomes a threat to those around her."

"That's what circles and templars are for," he told her.

"But there is no circle near us, is there?" she pointed out. "Besides templars…I've been running from them all my life. I don't trust them, not the way I trust you."

She looked up at him with those big blue eyes of hers, and Fenris' heart caught in his throat. He couldn't find it in him to deny her, not when she looked at him like that. Besides it seemed as though she wasn't about to take no for an answer. Continuing to argue the point would only delay them further. He sighed deeply and then gestured for her to walk beside him.

Fenris told himself that he was just trying to be responsible and not leave a mage out in the open, where she could cause so much trouble if she ever gave in to despair. He could take care of her if anything should happen, unlike any peasants that she might run across. Yes, that was it. The flutter of butterflies in his stomach was due to the burden of watching over her that he had accepted—only that and nothing more.

A/N: This is from a fill of mine on the kinkmeme, which has unfortunately become a bit of a monster. I thought I might as well post it here on ffn, especially seeing how reliable LJ has been of late. The original prompt is replicated below.

Prompt: You see a lot of AUs where Hawke is a mageister and rescues Fenris from Danarius. I want to see Fenris have a chance to rescue Hawke. Telvinter slaves do look and go after mages like Feyrinel and Fenris kills slavers. Seeing Fenris sweep down and rescue Hawke and her refusing to leave his side makes my heartache.