The Bone Pit

Anders decided that he hated mines. The Deep Roads made him feel claustrophobic, and are full of darkspawn; this mine was claustrophobic and full of dragonlings. Not much of a difference in his eyes. Even though he was brought on just for his healing abilities, he couldn't avoid the fighting if he wanted to. Every turn they took revealed more of the beasts.

"Why are there so many baby dragons here?" Carver asked after their most recent bout, wiping sweat from his brow.

"I'm not a gambling man, but I would bet good money that there's a mother somewhere deeper in." Anders replied with fake levity.

"Don't say that, now there will be one for sure!"

"Where did you think babies came from?" Anders huffed back.

"Oh you condescending little-" Carver started before Marian interrupted.

"Enough! Now is not the time for your squabbling! There are dragonlings everywhere, no sign of survivors, and almost certainly a proper dragon. I don't know about you two, but I want to survive and leave this blighted mine!"

"Yes, sister. Sorry..." Carver mumbled, blushing slightly.

"I'm sorry, love. It won't happen again... on this trip at least." Anders responded contritely.

"Good! Now, let's hurry up and be done with this place so I can go home and see my baby."

They came to a small clearing, a gab in the stone ceiling allowing for natural light and plants. In that clearing was a survivor, filthy and hysterical. Anders did a quick healing on him, and that seemed to help him calm down enough to speak.

"Hubert can shove this job up his arse. I was expecting to be a miner, not dragon food!"

"Do you know if there's a mother dragon here?" Marian asked calmly, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know if it's the mother or the father but there is definitely a dragon here."

"Thank you for the warning. The path out is cleared behind us, get out of the cave and we can all travel back to Kirkwall together once this dragon is dealt with."

"Thank you serah, thank you so much." He smiled at Marian then ran past them.

"Well, let's get a move on, shall we?" Marian addressed her group as she led the way towards the only path remaining.

-

The battle was grueling, the dragon well-fed and motivated to protect its young gave it even more of an advantage over them. But overall they were making progress at least. Anders heart froze in fear and anguish when the beast picked Marian up in its jaws, easily piercing her through her robes, and shook her violently before throwing her to the ground.

Anders ran to her side, dropping to his knees beside her. He pulled her robes open roughly so he could get to the wounds, deep jagged holes in her abdomen that were bleeding heavily. He set to work on trying to repair the damage. If it had been just a few inches higher the beast would have pierced her lungs, and she'd have drowned in her own blood immediately. He could see in his peripheral that the dragon had set its sights on the mages. He panicked, unsure of what to do. If he stopped healing Marian she could die of blood loss, but if he didn't stop the dragon would incinerate them both. He forced him to pull away so he could protect her, desperately hoping he had done enough to give her time.

"I am so sorry, Marian. I hope you can forgive me." He whispered to her as he stood. He pulled on his mana, readying himself to cast a freezing blizzard on the monster when Carver got in the way and shoved him down onto his ass.

"Focus on Marian! I'll protect you!" He yelled before turning towards the dragon, staring it down.

Anders had only a brief moment to be shocked before snapping himself out of it and returning to his healing. He tensed as he heard the dragon rear up to attack, and heard Carver cry out moments later.

With the combined efforts of Carver, Aveline, and Varric, they finished off the beast, the heavy thud of its body reassuring Anders as finished healing Marian. He looked up to see Carver staring at his sister, the lower half of his face burnt horribly.

"Maker, what happened to you?"

"I took a fire blast to the chest, my armor protected me, and I put up by arm to block my face but I didn't do a good enough job I guess." Carver shrugged.

"Why didn't you dodge?"

"Because I was protecting you two. If I moved you'd have been hit with it, and neither of you bother to wear proper armor, so you would have just caught fire and died."

"Oh... Thank you Carver."

"Yeah, well... I already lost one sister. I don't need to lose the other." He was looking right at Marian as he spoke. She was deathly pale but alive, and that made his pain worth it.

Anders stood and set to work healing the burn, shushing Carver whenever he tried to object. Before long his skin was almost as good as new, now only tinged red. Once he was done Carver bent down and scooped up his sister, her body limp in his arms. He carried her out of the mine without a word, and Anders carried his pack in addition to his own without a word. They gathered up the surviving miner and began the journey back to Kirkwall.

Carver never once complained about carrying his sister, and was reluctant to take any breaks. They made it back to Kirkwall in the evening, and Carver headed straight home with his now rousing, but incoherent, sibling. Varric and Aveline parted ways, asking to be updated on Marian's condition. Anders went ahead and opened the door to the small home for Carver, hearing his daughter crying as soon as he did.

"I'm so glad you've made it home safely, there's only 2 bottles of milk left and I... MARIAN!!" Leandra cut herself off as she cried out her daughter's name, running to Carver to investigate.

"Hello Mommy..." Marian sighed dreamily when she saw Leandra, reaching out weakly to grab her.

"You haven't called me that in years. What happened to her? Why is she covered in blood?!"

"Dragon bit her, if it weren't for Anders she'd have died." Carver responded quietly.

"If it weren't for Carver, she and I both would have died while I was healing her."

"A dragon? Maker preserve us... Let's set her on her bed so she can get some rest.

"I'mmm not tiredddd." Marian whined drunkenly.

"Hush, darling, it's bedtime." Leandra pet her daughter's hair. Marian nodded and snuggled into Carver's chest. He set her on her cot and Leandra tucked her in, kissing her forehead. Marian was asleep almost immediately. Gamlen followed Anders into the bedroom and handed the screaming child to her father.

"Leandra's got milk heating up, had me holding the kid while she dealt with it. Your problem now."

"My daughter is not a problem, Gamlen." Anders snarled at him, hugging his daughter to his chest and rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"Yeah well, not to you maybe." He turned to leave the room then stopped, looking back over his shoulder. "You're not so bad, boy."

Anders had to assume that was Gamlen's version of accepting him into the family, and sighed softly when he left. Leandra brought in the warm bottle of milk for him then shut the door behind her, allowing the little family some privacy. He sat on the foot of Marian's cot and set to work feeding Elizabeth. When she stopped crying long enough to open her eyes her demeanor changed almost instantly. She looked up at her Dada adoringly, drinking down the milk he offered without a fight.

"I have missed you so much, Liz. So has Mama, but she needs to sleep right now. When she wakes up I'm sure she'll give you all the kisses."

Liz just smiled up at her father and reached for his hair. He offered it happily, not caring about the slight pain at his scalp as she tugged on his honey-blond locks.

-

Marian awoke early in the morning with a start, her last memory being grabbed up in the jaws of the dragon. She looked around at the familiar environment, Elizabeth in her crib, Anders sleeping on the floor beside her cot, the sound of Carver snoring above her. She sat up and gasped sharply in pain, putting a hand to her abdomen, which was wrapped in bandages. She nudged Anders with her foot, sitting on the edge of her cot. Anders awoke after a few hard prods, glaring up at her for just a moment before realizing it was her.

"Marian! Oh thank the Maker..." He sighed, getting up onto his knees and hugging her lightly.

"Anders, what happened? I thought the dragon was going to eat me, then I passed out. I don't remember anything else."

"It bit you, shook you around and threw you. If it weren't for Carver protecting us I wouldn't have been able to save you."

"Really? You and Carver working together sounds impossible."

"We both love you too much to let our personal differences get in the way. Even Gamlen said I wasn't so bad."

"Wow, now I am in shock." She chuckled and pet his hair. Elizabeth woke at the sound of them talking and rolled over so she could get a look at her parents through the bars of the crib. She smiled and squirmed as she recognized her Mama, making shrill happy sounds.

"Help me stand, I'd like to feed her."

"Of course, we'll get you both into a chair by the fire." Anders stood and helped Marian up. He then scooped up Elizabeth, tucking her into one arm as he offered the other to Marian for stability as they walked. Once sat down he handed their girl to her and smiled as Marian carefully exposed her breast to feed the baby.

"I have some requests for me to do jobs that are here in the city. Once I am well I think I'll focus on those." Marian mused to herself. Anders nodded, fully approving of this plan.

"I think the first should be the dwarf merchant that wrote to me. He just wanted us to retrieve a package that wasn't delivered."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, my love." Anders smiled and leaned in to kiss her, his heart filled with his love for her, and his joy at her survival.