Belan 30

Dearest Diary,
It's been quite some time since I last wrote to you about my curse. Decades in fact! How time gets away from us. I have long since made peace with it, and I've forgiven my parents for their choices. They did what they had to do and the deals they made let them survive in the Silent Lands, until they reached the safety of Azul. I wouldn't be alive at all, otherwise, and at least this curse conveys youth, beauty and power for the duration of my life (and 45 years is more than most get in the Silent Lands).
I had made my peace with it, and yet I couldn't resist when given the opportunity to ask if I could save myself from the curse. Here's what the Fates told me:
 
"The curse can be broken at the heart of the Tenebrous. The time of the unborn is not yet at hand, but a gift of life can save both you and this world from a darkness that would one day eclipse the power of even the New Shadow. You will find your cure waiting for you at the center of a crystal, beneath the blackest of sands, guarded by undead with spectral wings. Exchange life for death here and free. Freedom comes at its own price, however. Know that she who holds your curse will seek you out to claim her price, your death."
 
It doesn't take an academy professor to see their answer as no answer at all. They expect me to die at the Tenebrous (and I certainly won't be able to sacrifice anyone else). Which is fine. I expected to die there anyway. So much for prophecy and fate. Maybe I could have been a fortuneteller in a past life. That being said, I have no idea when I'll even get a chance to reach the Tenebrous. I am less than a year away from when the curse claims me and find myself on the other end of the Silent Lands. And I doubt I'll be able to convince my current companions to come with me anytime soon. They keep finding new problems that "only" they can solve.
 
Heroes.
 
Especially, this new warrior that's joined us. I think I heard him suggest killing the Umber Lords so the gods could return to the Silent Lands. Someone clearly doesn't understand how the the Silent Lands were created.
 
Take this business with Chione and Azavox. They ventured off into Mount Kema to save the former and it sounds like they plan to go below to destroy the latter. I certainly have no business climbing an icy mountain, so I opted to remain behind in Sandur, in the company of some of it's hunters. I think once they return, I'll try to convince them to use one of their tree teleports to take us somewhere closer. I'll take my leave of them then and being my final preparations for my expeditions. Overall, I've enjoyed my vacation, but it had to come to an end eventually. I expect my companions (especially poor Olma) and their meddling will lead them all to early deaths, but I wish them luck all the same.