Desperate times call for desperate measures

Twenty four hours had passed and unfortunately Lucid's situation had not improved. During that time I thought about the Phrat'ii ritual that Slender wanted to perform, and the soul she would be bonding with Lucid in order to save him. I knew for sure i was against the Phrat'ii killing innocents and stealing their souls. Although, for the first time in my life i had to contemplate the lines i would cross to save a friend, and i had begun to see my fellow companions as my friends. I came to the conclusion that i wanted Lucid to live, even if it meant using Phrat'ii magic to save him. Plus i figured it was better for the soul to be used to save a life, rather than giving a Phrat'ii warrior more power.
 
Slender informed us that she wanted to perform the ritual on Lucid that morning. I felt a majority of my companions did not object to the ritual being performed, also i had not seen any indication from Chief Bran that he would stop it. However, Gurval was definitely against the ritual and i got the impression that Arthom was against any use of Phrat'ii magic, even if it meant saving Lucid.
 
I went with Syrus and Zyanna to visit Lucid, when we got there Gurval was already in the room and Slender was in the corner, glaring at Gurval. I figured she was annoyed at Gurval for hindering her plans to begin the ritual. We discussed with Gurval our thoughts about Lucid's situation. I let him know when it came to my friends i would do whatever it took to save them. Gurval said he would not stop us visting Lucid, however if we tried anything else there would be a problem. Shortly after Zyanna whispered something to Gurval which caused him to suddenly bolt out of the room. I wondrerd how long Zyanna's charm would last and then Arthom came into the room, looking at us suspiciously as he entered. The vines that Syrus had cast in front of the doorway probably aroused his suspicions. At that point Lucid began coughing up blood and Arthom went over to tend to him. Seeing Lucid suffering strengthened my decision to not infere with Slender's plan to carry out the ritual.
 
A few minutes passed and then we heard Gurval swearing in the distance. I left the room followed by Zyanna and Syrus , last thing i wanted was a major fight with Gurval. We already had one team member hanging on by a thread and i was not even sure if Velanna was safe back in Dabh. We started walking away from the room but then Gurval caught up with us and we could see he was very annoyed. Arthom and Ko Rava had wandered over and as we tried to calm Gurval down Ailil then approcahed, and told us he had a message for us from Mura. It turned out Mura had a taken an invisibilty potion earlier and whilst we were outside arguing, Slender had peformed the ritual on Lucid with Mura's help. Mura had also left us, deciding to live a simple life as a bartender back at the Sideway's inn. I was sad to hear that she had left, but understood that she had to follow her own path.
 
By this stage Lucid had fully recovered and came to find us. I noticed there were dark splotches on parts of his skin and he seemed to have a slimmer build compared to before. Other than the physical differences he did not seem to have changed, but i knew only time would tell. Also i was curious to see what powers he had obtained from the soul that was now merged with his. We did not get a chance to celebrate Lucid's recovery though cause Nakah then turned up stating there was another torn leyline that needed to be fixed right away.
 
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We stepped out of the portal Nakah had summoned and found ourselves on a winding path, on top of a misty mountaintop. Snow blanketed the grounds and a swift, cool breeze blew around us. We walked along the path and eventually came upon a grand temple.We entered the temple and as we walked through the hall i saw the walls were adorned with artworks depecting various events. Along some of the walls were shelves filled with various scrolls and at the end of the hall were stairrways leading to other levels of tthe temple. The temple had a calming atmosphere and i got the sense that there was great knowledge stored within the walls. We suddenly heard the main temple doors opening and turned around to see a built, purple skinned elf walk into the temple, the same purple skinned being who had knocked Gurval into that pitt. That pale, skinny dwarf called John, who had been trapped in that pit with us, was chained to a leash which she held in her hand. I never thought i would see them again and was surprised to see them here out of all places.
 
I aimed an arrow at her and demanded to know what she was doing here. She told us her name was Roza Baze and that she had come for the dragon egg. I told her we did not have the dragon egg even though i knew Ko Rava currently had it hidden in her bag. Roza started walking towards us and responded that she knew we had the egg. She then held up an small orb which glowed when it was pointed at Ko Rava. I asked Roza what she wanted with the egg and she explained that even though she was sent by the Phrat'ii to find the egg, she planned to keep the egg to avoid it falling into the wrong hands. My companions and i tried to convience her that we had no ill intentions with the egg but she did not believe us.
 
We then heard a noise in the distance and saw a robed Mokuna walking towards us. He had a calm, wise aura bout him, the same type of aura i felt around the elders of my tribe. He told us his name was Master J'fif and that the temple was dedicated to Alpha and the Parthenon. He then asked us why we had come to the temple. Nakah told him all about the torn leylines issue and he did not seem to be suprised with this information. He advised us that he had also noticed the disturbances with the ley lines. We had a brief discussion with him about the Gods and then he suggested that we go with him to meditate. I got the impression that Roza had no intention of fighting us for the egg at that moment so it was probably safe to take some time to meditate. Plus she had not taken offence when Master J'fif had told her to stand down earlier.
 
Only myself, Arthom, Zyanya and Syrus went along with master J'fif to meditate whilst the rest of us hung with some of the other monks from the temple. I had hoped to have Gallant by my side when i meditated but the monks were concerned he would make a mess, so I had to leave him outside at the front entrance. We began the meditation and i tried to calm my mind, but thoughts of my tribe and family's expectations kept coming to the surface.