Chapter Text
It wasn’t often that Isa found herself in the Anderfels on a contract. Sure, she would go to check in on the remainder of the Wardens that she had met during her time fighting the gods. Davrin lived with his uncle in Arlathan with the rest of the griffons, but Isa enjoyed checking in on Antoine, Evka, and Greta when she could. Not to mention Lace would spend a majority of her time in Kal Sharok as well.
However, Isa was tasked to hunt down a former Warden who had gone mad, for a lack of better term. Without the blight and the darkspawn to hunt down, the man had taken to hunt down people instead. Evka and Antoine had tried their best to reach and detain the man, but he proved to be elusive and hard to catch. So, they turned to the one of the few people they knew who could find and take out the Warden turned murderer.
It was a job that Lucanis would have gone with her on, but it had been scheduled during a Talon meeting that Viago had helped him schedule several months prior. Therefore, she was venturing there alone to meet with another Warden that Evka and Antoine worked closely with instead. It wasn’t something that either of the Crows preferred, but a contract was a contract. Even if Caterina had some words of warning before Isa left. Something about Wardens being a siren song for Crows. Lucanis told Isa not to worry about it.
Now, she was searching the area for her secretive partner that she was supposed to find. Evka said that the person she was looking for would be easy to find, and she had sent a letter ahead of time, so he knew to expect the Crow. The man had practically volunteered when Evka brought it up among the former Wardens that she worked with still, and Isa was glad she was working with someone who was eager for justice, whatever that meant for the guy.
Her Warden partner had gone on ahead, wanting to get a head start on finding the murderer. Evka pointed her deep into the Anderfels mountains, and Isa did her best to follow the trail that she pointed out. Luckily, Wardens weren’t known for covering their tracks or moving stealthily through the land. She was able to find evidence of a person camping with a smothered campfire that couldn’t have been more than a day or two old.
As she crested a hill, she saw an armored human man with fiery red hair at the bottom of the path. He matched the description that Evka gave for her temporary partner at least. She made sure her hood was still in place, but she did lower her mask. While they were going to be working together, Isa liked the idea of teasing him a little bit.
She strode down the road silently, noticing that the former Warden was looking at the path as well, searching for tracks or clues. Carefully, she walked up behind him, peering over his shoulder before glancing around.
“Seems like you’re making headway,” Isa commented, startling him out of skin.
The man nearly lost his balance as he turned to her with wide eyes before cursing under his breath. He glared at her for a moment, and she noticed a few straight-lined scars over his right eye. They seemed superficial, though, as his hazel eyes met hers.
“Crow de Riva, I presume,” he grumbled irritably.
“Isabella de Riva, indeed, at your service,” she chuckled, bowing dramatically at the waist.
She saw him stand to his full height in her peripheral, but she didn’t realize how tall he really was until she tried to meet his gaze again. This man was easily over a foot taller than her, and she grimaced. Isa wondered if he was almost as tall as Taash.
“Most call me Isa, though,” she admitted, trying to keep her smirk. “And you are? Evka didn’t give me your name.”
“Thorne. Henry Thorne,” he answered reluctantly. “I don’t like when people give my name to strangers, and she’s willing to work with me on that.”
“Then we aren’t strangers anymore?”
“We’re working a job together. That’s hard to do if we’re strangers.”
“A fair point,” she replied. “So, what’s the plan here?”
“Tracking him down?”
“Anything to add?”
Isa folded her arms as she stared at him. Henry glowered a little before exhaling shortly. He turned slightly, facing the direction he had been in when she had surprised him. He pointed down the path as she followed where he gestured.
“From what I can see, someone came through here recently. Given from the reports in the region, our killer was here recently as well. The villagers said that he was traveling on foot, and he was alone. If he acquires a horse or something, then we will be in trouble,” he informed.
“Then we need to catch him before he attains one,” she agreed with a nod. “So, we just need to get to follow the tracks as close as we can? We should have brought a dog.”
“We’ll manage,” he shrugged.
“How fast can you go?”
“I think these mountains will surprise you.”
Isa nearly laughed at that before she lifted one shoulder playfully, looking up at him.
“I haven’t met someone who can keep up with me yet,” she remarked, silently wishing Lucanis was there to argue with her. “Willing to try?”
“And if I outpace you?” he hummed.
“If you outpace me, then I’ll eventually catch up,” she answered, waving her hand at him dismissively.
Henry nearly rolled his eyes while Isa broke into a run, staring at the ground as she followed the tracks. He exhaled, thinking that she would burn out after the first incline. He decided to jog behind, expecting her to slow.
However, he was shocked and concerned when she didn’t. The Crow kept her pace as she went up and down the mountain trails, and now he was worried that she would fall over dead before she took a breather.
It was nearly an hour when she finally stopped, finding something of interest on the side of the road. Henry caught up to the Crow, hearing her deep labored yet controlled breaths. She held up an old broken satchel with old flecks of blood on the leather before she inhaled.
“Do you recognize this?” Isa asked.
Henry only stared at her, blinking twice.
“That’s why you stopped?” he countered.
“Yes. Is this evidence?” she continued. “I don’t know Warden issued items. The Warden I knew wore some Warden things, but he tended to blend elvhen items with his wardrobe as well. Plus, this has blood on it as well.”
“I thought you were taking a moment to rest,” he practically hissed.
“No need to rest,” she informed irritably. “Can you answer my question or not?”
“It is Warden issued, yes, and it likely means we’re on the right track,” Henry replied bitterly. “Now let’s take a moment before your lungs give out.”
“They won’t.”
“They-”
“The blood looks pretty fresh, though. Maybe a day or two. Look,” Isa interrupted, taking a moment to look at the bag.
“If I look at the bag, we’re taking a moment here,” he told her.
“No time,” she reminded him.
Henry snatched the bag out of her hands before examining the stained leather. The blood was still flaking off rather than just stained on. It was fresher than he expected, and it meant that they were gaining on him.
“See? No time,” she repeated, seeing the understanding in his eyes.
“We have a little time with you running around like a maniac,” he complained.
Isa laughed under her breath while he handed the satchel back to her. She looked it over again before she frowned. The bag was old and the strap was broken, but it otherwise was in good condition. She looked it over, seeing that the strap was cut instead of worn.
She quickly went over the different idea of why it would be cut in her mind. It wouldn’t be too heavy or bulky since it was empty, and it was light and thin enough to be ergonomic. Even the blood could be washed off or even buffed out if needed. She glanced around to see if there were any other items that would have fallen out, but there was nothing, just the old satchel.
“What?” Henry asked, more delicately this time.
“The satchel is odd,” she answered, gesturing to the clean cut.
Henry frowned, finding it odd as well. The bag was old, but not old enough where the strap would snap so cleanly. This had been done with a knife and quickly, too.
“Do you think he was robbed?” he wondered.
“No, I think he did it,” she whispered as she reached for her hip.
Isa kept her hood up as she grabbed both of her daggers, slowly scanning the trees for movement or signs of activity. Henry frowned, connecting the dots.
Their target had laid a trap, but he had yet to spring it. Isa just couldn’t figure out what was taking so long for him to decide to strike.
She felt an arrow fly past her head, watching it be embedded in a tree in front of her. Isa flipped to see a man hidden in the trees with a bow aimed at her, frustrated that he had missed while she was distracted.
Henry drew his sword and shield as Isa stepped towards her current partner. He glanced at her, surprised by the sidestep.
“The contract said to find and bring to justice. Are we talking breathing or cold?” she asked quickly. It had been a question she had meant to ask earlier.
“If he dies, he dies. Otherwise, we’ll bring him back to Evka,” Henry replied darkly.
Isa dipped her head once before rushing forward towards the trees with Henry close behind her. Their target sneered, aiming with another arrow, but panic started to affect his aim. As the Crow drew closer, the killer discarded his bow and grabbed his knife from his belt, wildly swinging at her.
She sighed inwardly, seeing the mad anger and bloodlust in his eyes, and she just wanted him to stop. To see him use her weapon of choice like a brute object was more offensive than if he had hit her with the arrow earlier.
Isa easily deflected the knife while Henry shouted at him to surrender. She could hear him call the killer’s name, but she didn’t catch it. She was too focused on keeping the bastard’s knife away from her skin.
The killer shouted back at Henry, mentioning something about how he should have minded his business. Isa ignored the conversation until the killer stared her in the eyes, pointing the knife at her instead of swinging it. She frowned while he slowly grinned.
“I think you would like quite nice without your skin, little lady. If your bodyguard wasn’t here, I would have you laying the dirt while your blood ran down the mountain,” the killer taunted.
“Little lady?” Isa scoffed, smacking the knife with her dagger. She knew she would need to resharpen it later. “You have no idea who you’re talking to, brutto pezzo di merda (you ugly piece of shit). You are going to wish you hadn’t said what you did.”
“Oh, what are you going to do?” the killer sneered.
Isa didn’t even dignify him with a response as she threw her dagger at his shoulder. The killer tried to deflect it, but his reflexes were too slow, and it embedded in his flesh. With a shout, he dropped his weapon, gripping the hilt protruding from his shoulder.
The Crow huffed, grabbing a poison dart before sticking that into him as well. Henry lowered his sword to the killer’s throat as their target stared at the dart in his arm.
“What is that?” Henry asked.
“Poison. Insurance in case he did something stupid,” Isa answered with a shrug.
Henry glanced at her as she held up two vials. She shrugged, pocketing them again.
“My blade had the base poison, and I nicked him when he started swinging. Nothing lethal,” she admitted before smirking at the killer as he fell to his knees. “Unless the second is introduced, which I added to the dart in your arm. Then you have about ten minutes before you perish.”
“So, his something stupid was to threaten you?” Henry sighed.
“Of course not. He recognized me,” Isa answered plainly.
The killer snarled with a dark laugh. Henry looked back at him before glancing up at Isa.
“I was hoping you would make your way back to the Anderfels, Rook,” the killer growled, his voice starting to sound strained. “Pretty little Crow, prancing around the Wardens as if she owned the place. I wanted to take your head during all the chaos you caused, but there never was a chance. Never thought I would see you again. Didn’t think you would come out for me.”
“Rook?” Henry whispered.
Isa huffed before lowering her hood. It wasn’t that he would recognize her with hood anyway, but it felt symbolic in a way. She had no reason to hide.
“Come now, Thorne, you surely know your savior. The one who saved Thedas from the Evanuris,” the killer announced. “You didn’t think to ask why a Crow would bother to come all the way to the Anderfels? Why would First Warden Ivo invite an assassin in the first place? Unless she wasn’t a full assassin.”
“I am a full assassin, stronzo (asshole),” Isa hissed angrily.
“The assassin who saved the world,” the killer sighed, turning to Henry. “Most of the world thinks that Rook died, you know. She disappeared right after the battle, but all her team returned back down from the battle. Not Rook.”
“I was indisposed,” Isa whispered through clenched teeth.
Isa yanked her dagger out of the killer’s shoulder, causing him to lose his balance. The killer fell forward, but he didn’t have the strength left to hold himself up. She wiped the blood on the back of his clothes before she sighed, walking back towards the road.
Henry waited to make sure that the man was dead before rejoining Isa on the path. She stood with her arms folded, her hood still down. He walked over to her, surprised that she was still waiting for him.
“Job’s done,” she mentioned when she saw him.
“It is,” Henry nodded. “Didn’t realize I was being partnered with a war hero.”
“I’m not a war hero,” Isa groaned.
“You could have fooled me,” Henry chuckled, sheathing his sword at his hip. “Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t Evka tell me Rook was coming?”
“I’m not a fan of strangers knowing that name,” she explained. “I wanted to disappear after the battle, like he said. I wanted to go back to the life I had before.”
“Were you able to?”
Isa paused as she took a deep breath. She turned to him with a slight smile, lifting her shoulders with her arms still folded.
“More or less, I suppose. I’m still a Crow who has contracts to complete,” she admitted before smirking. “Even though those circumstances have changed.”
“Getting better jobs now?” he asked, starting to walk back towards Lavendel.
“Kind of. I get better pickings, I guess,” Isa hummed. “I know the First Talon rather well.”
“Ah, so the famous Rook and First Talon romance wasn’t just gossip, then?”
“Didn’t realize that we had gossip going on about it.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. Now people are wondering if Rook will come and get the First Talon out of the new marriage contract he’s found himself in,” Henry mentioned with a smirk. “Sounds like Rook already has.”
“I promise, Lucanis is exactly where he wants to be. He makes that very well known,” Isa reassured, sighing with a smile.
“Very good to hear.”
“Although, I am curious. I did think that I met most if not all of the Wardens in the Anderfels. How come I never saw you around while I was fighting the gods?” she wondered.
“Oh, I went against the former First Warden’s orders a while ago, and he sent back to Ferelden to work down there for a time. I think it likely saved my life,” he explained. “When I heard about Weisshaupt, I made my way back here to help with the aftermath. I think I arrived a few weeks after your battle with the twin dragons or whatever.”
“Ah, so you were barely in the area when things went to shit.”
“Yeah, made it to Lavendel when the sky turned red. I stuck around to help where I could when half of us went to the Battle of Minrathous, too. I didn’t think I could help against the gods since I was gone for so long. I had no idea what was happening, so I figured that I would fight the blight like I always did.”
“Now that the blight’s gone, what are you doing now?” she asked carefully.
“I’m going to stay with Evka and Antoine for a while, I think. I want to keep helping people where I can, and I have a few skills that I learned from the Wardens. It’s strange to think that the Grey Wardens aren’t going to be around for much longer without the blight, but it’s for the best. A world without blight is the best version of the world,” Henry shrugged.
“You certainly have a knack for tracking and deducting,” Isa pointed out. “I have a detective friend in Minrathous if you ever need work in a city.”
“I’m surprised you aren’t offering me more Crow work. Was I not good enough for your standards?”
“I find that most Wardens are off put by Crow contracts, or work, as you said. Although I think I would enjoy working with you again. You might give me a crick in my neck, though.”
Henry belted out a laugh at that, surprised by her comment. He hadn’t noticed that she practically had to stare straight up to look at him, but she was over a foot shorter than him. She was lithe and nimble, which was needed for a Crow. It made him wonder just how far he could throw her if he needed to. He doubted that she would enjoy that, though.
“Well, I’m not thrilled with the idea of killing every target, but you did ask if this was going to be a detaining or killing mission. I suppose I could be convinced to work with the Crows depending on the contract,” he admitted.
Isa grinned at him before nodding.
“If I come across any more in the area, I will let you know. Or if Evka sends me out this way again, you should let her know that you’re interested to work with me,” she pointed out. “Oh, and I could introduce you to Lucanis. He usually accompanies me on these contracts, but he happened to be busy this time.”
“I’ll let Evka know,” Henry smirked with a nod.
Isa smiled, glad to hear it. She rambled on about how he would enjoy meeting Lucanis, even if Henry silently disagreed. While Isa seemed kind and agreeable, Henry was aware of the general dislike between Wardens and Crows, mostly coming from the Crow side. Of course, the Talon could be different. The former Warden would just have to wait and see.