Hellstrom’s bear was sitting right where he had left it when he got back to the lookout. He immediately knew from his bear that whoever was coming was not coming any closer, as if they were afraid to come closer that they were. Hellstrom stood at the edge of the overlook looking out to the horizon. Hellstrom waited until he heard the light footsteps of Emalia coming up from behind him and he smiled slightly as she sat down on the edge of the lookout at his side.
Emalia started trying to talk to Hellstrom but he remembered something that Elbryan had said to him earlier. "Would you mind if we went someplace different?" Hellstrom asked, and after Emalia agreed Hellstrom thought for a moment and opened a door to the dense forest of Darrowmere. Emalia and Hellstrom stepped through and Hellstrom closed the door and it disappeared.
The talked for a while. Hellstrom offered to throw aside matters of faith as Elbryan had advised. Emalia looked hopeful for a second until Hellstrom reminded her that on the day when the swords were gathered he would be standing there as the RoK was destroyed. This dropped her gaze back to the ground. Finally she agreed to try. Hellstrom smiled for the first time since she had shown up on the lookout that day.
The talk continued for a bit longer and Emalia decided that she needed to rest. Hellstrom nodded and Emalia departed through her magic to where Hellstrom knew not. Hellstrom decided to stay in Darrowmere for a while. He hunted down some of the local wildlife and built a fire and roasted some squirrel, though it tasted like ash. Things with Emalia were not good. But it was a step in the right direction.
