Dawn Brings Questions

Brindle watches silently as the weapon he had been sent here to retrieve slowly begins to fall apart. Piece by deadly piece clatters across the surface of what housed it, before each one is caught by some arcane wind, carrying it through the air and into the book held by the tall devilish creature the other's have been calling Gig. With a heavy heaving Dwarvish breath, Brindle sighs in relief, knowing that this weapon had no place and no proper wielder here on Arhor'ha... Wherever it was now, it would surely be no more danger to them.
Looking around the battlefield before him, Brindle seems caught in a dumb stupor. The world appears out of focus and in a tinge a touch colder than normal for his eyes. He is surrounded by allies in this last fight, and yet... He cannot help but feel empty and alone after all that just occurred. Two...Three... Four... Five... Five dead, and I am no closer to my freedom, he thinks sullenly. Walking toward Alexander's fallen body, Brindle sighs heavily once more as he looks down, "We were all fools..."
He shuffles forward a little more, doing his best to stand tall, he bows his head to Elara and Cassandre each in turn. "I am... Sorry that none of you could have made it here sooner. Sorry that any of us even came here at all." Time begins to pass, and Brindle's eyes are infrequently drawn away from Alexander. He watches the others on the rooftop as they go about their own matters. What seems like hours of passage has been mere minutes in reality. Reaching a hand into his coat pocket, the cold hard surface of stone surprises him at first, it suddenly registers in his mind and he withdraws a small stone figure. A bird with wounded wing and blazing sun carved into it's chest. He stands, eyes staring between this figure and the spot on the roof where the weapon once stood. Solemnly he turns, raises his chin, and begins the march toward the others.
He approaches Gabe, Cassandre, and Elara. After the events of the evening, his age begins to show through the wrinkles across his round face. He looks down to Gabe, offering an opened hand toward him, in it sits the figure. With a careful and measured tone, Brindle speaks, looking between the three of them, "Your friend grieves. I didn't feel right about interruptin," He glances in the direction of Safina before continuing, "This... I made it, but it belonged to Alessa. I want him to have it. As... As a reminder that the direct approach may not always be the right one, but that we should always work to right the wrongs of this world regardless."

Gabriel, after conversing Gig and returning a black pearl given to him by the devil, looks up at Brindle. The gnomish boy’s eyes seem far more comfortable and inviting than his before as if this entire ordeal of death and sacrifice was a gateway to something more. Madness perhaps?
The gnome looks at Brindle and takes the figure, examining it carefully with his tiny rat companion, Yorkie, eagerly watching the figure with curiosity. After a moment of analysis the boy looks up at Brindle and places the figurine back into his capable and reliable hands.
He pats the back of his hand comfortingly before saying,” I think you should hold onto it for now. It’s a good lesson... Not just for Safina, but for a lot of people I think...”
Gabriel glances around at the battlefield around him before returning his gaze to Brindle and asking,” What are you and Mr. Gargax going to do now Mr. Brindle?”

A little taken aback by Gabriel's new demeanor compared to the nervous gnome he had originally met downstairs, Brindle accepts the figure back, slipping it into a pocket at the side of his coat. He stops and considers Gabriel's words carefully, "Yes... A lesson even I could learn from."
Brindles face contorts into a quick grimace in response to the boy's question, it quickly disappears but not without being noticed. "Well, that is a question I've been considering since you lot first walked down the hallway downstairs. What now? This foolish plan was sold to me as our last shot at throwing off our oppressors, and I believed that it was with all of the strength of my heart." Brindle's face looks defeated at saying this, his shoulders hang low suddenly as he continues, "I'm afraid that I am at a crossroads today. Either I return to Nexus, continue to work with the Freedom Fighters, and likely die with a knife in my belly... Or I continue to wander and search for a new place where I can live peacefully. You don't happen to know a place like that, do you?"
His hand still sits in his coat pocket, the figure turning end over end in his stubby Dwarven fingers.
The boy taps his nose with his index finger while playfully tapping his foot, as if trying to remember the rhythm to some sort of song. Yorkie mimics her larger friend by also tapping her tail and rubbing her fur. "Hmm.... No. Well at least not now, but if you're going to wander why not wander with some friends," the gnome suggest as he looks at Brindle with a benign smile," The roads are less lonely when you travel with a friend or maybe four potential friends."
"Wander. Now doesn't that sound like true freedom." Images shown to him by the forge come to mind. Endless, eternal. Living aboard an airship free from the rules of any city-state. A thoughtful smile crosses his lips just briefly, "The lord high lord travels with you as well? I've always wanted a cat that cleans up after itself." The Dwarf let's out a hearty belly laugh at this, considering Gabriel's offer, "Where is it you wander too?"
The morning sun breaks over the horizon and lights up the sky with soft oranges and purples. Its rays shine through the faint clouds in the distance as the stars slowly fade into the dawn. Elara stares off to the horizon in the direction Gig vanished from the ledge of the forge. Her thoughts racing from the words Gig had said and the realization of the book he had in his hand. Her head drifts upwards once more to watch as even the brightest stars in the sky fade into the morning light before the painful silence from the party is broken. She listens to Brindle and Gabriel speak.
"Wander. Now doesn't that sound like true freedom." She hears Brindle say.
There is a faint breeze that hits across her face and she closes her eyes. “…Is it though?” She says in a trance like response, as though her thoughts are very much elsewhere. She continues to let them speak before opening her eyes and turning to face towards the rest of the party. “It is called starset lake. I thought I could find answers there.” She pulls out the wanderer’s guide to Arhor’ha. A dark blue book etched in a gold trim of stars and planets. Her eyes glance across the way towards Safina who holds Solsera in his arms. There is a pause in her voice before speaking again. “…Though, I don’t ---I don’t know if we will be greeted with answers or more pain…” her eyes narrow and a somber expression passes across her face.
Brindle looks thoughtfully down at Notte, nodding his head in agreement, "His own cat indeed. They are all special in that way." Bringing himself back into the present, he looks to Elara as she begins to speak.
"Starset Lake, I do not think I have ever heard of it." A knowing frown appears on his face. Retrieving his bow from the ground, he places its end ontop of his boot, flexing the bow stave to slip the bowstring loose. As he slips the bow into its sleeve, he clears his throat before speaking, hoping to appear more educative, "I've done a fair bit of searching for answers in my life miss; I can tell you from experience that you'll never get answers to any questions you don't ask, and rarely will you find an answer that you are happy with for very long. That pain you're hoping to avoid is just part of being alive. It always comes when the sun hangs highest in the sky and you've forgotten to keep checking over your back."
Elara kneels to reach a level closer to Brindle and Gabriel. She rests her staff on the ground next to her. The small bell that hangs from it chimes faintly as it hits the stone rooftop of the dawn forge. Her hand comes up to pat Gabriel on the head before looking to Brindle with curious eyes. “I’d rather be given some form of an answer then nothing at all. Well, I say that now but maybe its for the better. If everything was laid out clearly for us, we’d never have the desire to seek and wander.”
She stops patting Gabriel on the head and her hand rests back down on her lap, folding her hands together. “Had I not questioned this world, I would not have met you all here before me now. This isn’t an answer, but a discovery within my many questions. That’s…something.” She smiles faintly but the expression in her eyes is of worry and fear. “I don’t think any of us know what we are doing. We stumbled together and set out on this journey with different desires and aspirations, different questions and perhaps painful answers.” Her eyes shift to Safina then back to Brindle. “However, it is a little easier when you are with friends. Maybe along the way you will find what you’re looking for as well?”
Brindle looks thoughtful of her reply, smiling as he straightens up the rest of his belongings. "Even if it is painful, finding those answers is the only way to truly move forward." He slides his side satchel behind him, unfolding three simple legs that stick out from the edge of the bag as he sits down softly to rest his legs. "That is what my life has been this past... Oh, 70 years; moving from one question to the next, experiencing a new unhappy answer each time. I do not regret these things, it is simply a way of living."
Looking out over Elara's shoulder, Brindle watches the sun slowly rise in the morning sky. "I enjoy finding answers to these questions; whether they are my own or another's. I will come with you. There isn't anything left for me in Nexus." He glances to his side, looking toward Gargax who is likewise loosening straps and massaging sore muscles in his legs and shoulders. "He was handy with a blade, and he seemed a trustworthy enough soldier. You may want to see if he will come along as well." Brindle turns his head once more, smiling up at the three around him as he says this.

“Do you think he’ll be mad if I’m the dipple-omat,” Gabriel asks after Elara pats his head. He stumbles over to Elara’s side and gives her a reassuring hug, wrapping his small gnomish hands around her while Yorkie peaks out of Gabriel’s pocket. He still looks at Brindle, awaiting an answer, but sits on the ground next to Elara after giving her a hug.
His hands, as if with a mind of their own, takes out his spellbook, a large assortment of old and new scraps of parchment with varying degrees of ink, and start to arrange pieces of the paper into some type of order.
Brindle leans forward on his camp stool, looking into the distance in thought. "Maybe... he'll take it best if it comes from me. I have traveled with him the longest, it's the least I owe him. Where will you go after this lake?" He wiggles his toes inside his boots, stretching them as one does after a long day of walking, this being the first time he's allowed himself to truly rest since first arriving at the forge. "I care not either way, I so rarely have a destination for myself; Gargax may wonder though."
He looks down at the little book in Gabriel's hands, seeing the handiwork of it he is reminded of his own dwarfsmanship. From a pocket he retrieves a small chisel and an unworked piece of alabaster, as they speak, he begins carefully shaping the stone in his hands.
Gabriel shrugs as his hands arrange a certain pattern of paper together and the parchment pulls his attention away from Brindle for a moment. His hazel eyes squint at the page before becoming wider, understanding the flow of arcane symbols as they form into a coherent form. “Slow...,” the young gnome whispers as his hands reach to his head, pluck a thick strand of his white hair, and place it in between the page to act as a bookmark.
His attention returned to Brindle, “Not sure, but I’m positive Elara’s book might have a cool place to go to.” He gives Elara another hug as he mentions her name.
“Gargax is welcome of course. That is, if he wants to. I can imagine it hard to not know where to go… Hearing how you speak of Nexus, I would be uneasy returning there alone as well.”
Elara watches as Brindle sits on a small camping stool. He pulls out a small chisel and she listens to them speak while her eyes follow the handy work of his craft on the stone in his hands.
“That is…impressive.” She acknowledges towards Brindle.
The arms of a small white-haired gnome wrap around her waist and she looks down. “…the book.” She says softly. “The book speaks of a place of fire. Somewhere in the mountains. One that spoke of a red fire like bird that seemed to have granted the writer of this book and her party life. They had a member unfortunately die, and they were brought back….” Her eyes flicker back to Safina across the way.

At the mention of a firebird Gabriel blurts out,” A PHOENIX!!!!!!!” He starts jumping up and down , closing his book, and tucking it back into his bag.
“Elara can we PLEEEEAAAAASE go there?! Please, please,please,please,please,please?!?! I’ve ALWAYS wanted to see one of the Elder Elementals!”
He exudes a vibrancy and childish glee that befits a more mundane child being tempted with the prospect of their favorite toy. Except instead of a wooden action figure this white haired munchkin desires to see a physical representation of primal fire.
Her eyes quickly snap back to Gabriel who is frantically jumping around. Her hand comes up and grabs him by his clothing, pulling him back down. There is a short silence in the air as she gathers her thoughts. “There is death around us Gabriel…Do you not understand?” her eyes show pain. Maybe if she did something differently, maybe if she was there beside Solsera, maybe if she helped Safina somehow, the outcome would be different.
Why couldn’t I do anything? I felt you, but then I didn’t. The thought runs through her head. A soft whisper of her subconscious in her mind that seems to echo over and over. Did I do something wrong?
She pats Gabriel on the head. “I'm sorry.” She looks down. “A phoenix. Yes. That’s right…. Elder Elemental?” She asks, trying to pull herself from her internal thoughts.

Gabriel stares at Elara. His eyes are dull, the energy that overflowed within him now cut short. His eyes narrow slightly.
“Death is always near us. Out of everything we’ve seen with each other, do you think I don’t understand? I... I couldn’t help it but you don’t know Alexander... He chose this and he got what was coming to him. Blue knew what was happening and he died to stop others from dying. He charged Gig as he tried to protect his order and he died. His was awesome and awesome people shouldn’t be remembered like... like they’re just part of a group. THEY! WERE! PEOPLE! They did what they wanted and this... THIS ,” he points around to everyone and everything,” is a part of life... I... I JUST-WE!”
His speech progressively becomes slower and slower until he stops talking all together. Thoughts are forming, ideas a growing, and a new person grows as Gabriel ponders his own words. He hadn’t thought when he spoke, he simply let the words flow. After a moment, Gabriel looks at Elara and sits in front of her. Yorkie crawls on top of his head and just sits there.
“What’s going on Elara,” the young gnome asks, seeing how disturbed and unsettled the elf before him truly is,” What’s wrong?”
Taken aback by Gabriel’s outburst, Brindle halts working on the figure. He slips the chisel into its proper slot in his leather tool roll and wraps the stone in a rock blanket before tucking it away in one of the pockets of his coat.
He looks at the pair quietly, absently rubbing a corner of his lapel between two fingers, “The boy’s chosen a tough life for himself, to be away from the protection of civilization at his age. Hardens you. He’ll grieve in his own way when it’s time.”
Brindle looks slightly surprised at having said this, he buries himself further into the seat as Gabriel sits down in front of Elara and he remains quiet as they talk.
Elara’s eyes grow wide as she watches Gabriel burst out with emotion. Where did this come from? This isn’t the shy quiet gnome she met at the tavern weeks before. It has taken her by surprise and shock as she sits there listening to his words. There is frustration that grows inside her chest as he continues to shout.
“War machines, souls, devils, the forge, the cult, what’s happening in nexus, what Elohim as done…. You want to just accept these things as they are? Accept that these are part of life when they clearly are not? Had these things not existed… PEOPLE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE GABRIEL!” Her returning yell to the white-haired gnome booms across the roof of the forge. Its cut short by Gabriel taking a seat in front of her. “I’m sorry…” “Nothing, nothing is wrong.” She says faintly under her breath. She looks past Gabriel to Brindle. “I’m really sorry.”
“People would still be dead too Elara. M-maybe not from the things you said, but people would still be dead. You’re thinking of the bigger things, but what about the little guys? People are always dying Elara, and most of it is out of our control,” he speaks reassuringly, showing no sign of contempt towards Elara for yelling at him because he notices the pain, the confusion, the feelings of negativity within her.
“But you want to know what’s in your control,” he asks as he leans forward, his hazel eyes focused as if staring into her heart,” Telling the truth. You’re kinda like me. Confused right? Besides Yorkie I didn’t have anyone to talk to about how I felt, but now I do and so do you.”

The sun has risen over the horizon by now. The sky has slowly changed from dark purples and oranges, to bright yellows and blues. Soft, wispy clouds slowly travel overhead as the caw of morning birds echo through the wilderness. She pulls backwards slightly as the little white-haired gnome leans forward in her direction.
“Telling the truth…” She thinks for a moment. “I just thought I could have done things better.” She forces a smile across her face. “"Confusion is an understatement at this point, but as you said its out of my control…Its fine, Really!” She pats him on the head once more.
Gabriel just keeps staring at her, unconvinced at her response or at the least unsatisfied. His hazel eyes start to narrow as he stops leaning forward. His eyes, like a magnifying glass, seems to zoom towards Elara and see into the oceans of pent up emotion behind her forced smile. He still waits, unblinking, his mouth scrunched up and cheeks puffed up slightly.
“Is it about Celestian,” he asks, emphasizing Celestian. A bit of fear seeps into his voice, but he tries his best to maintain a straight face,” I noticed your magic was a little weird when you released that bolt of energy. Did something happen?”

Elara’s eyes widen and her hands that have sat on her lap this entire time clench the fabric of her robes. There is a long deafening silence before she speaks. “It’s about a lot of things Gabriel…” Her eyes look up to the morning sky and she watches the clouds float overhead. “It’s not something I can say. I can’t tell you something I don’t understand myself.”
“He is the only one that can answer these questions…but I can’t seem to reach him. Though, I continue to try.”
She looks back down to Gabriel and smiles brightly towards him. “I am sorry I yelled at you. I think we all could use a good meal, and a nice rest. This has been quite an event…” She reaches out and pulls him into a hug.
“Thank you…”
Gabriel lets himself be pulled into a hug, his arms wrapping around Elara’s waist as he hugs back while Yorkie snuggles into the hug. “Your welcome,” he mutters with a hushed sadness though his thoughts are entirely different,” I’m sorry that I didn’t know what I was saying. I didn’t think. The words just... just came outta me...”
He waits until Elara lets him go before picking up the pieces of chiseled stone near Brindle’s feet. “I don’t like it when small things aren’t organized,” he says, not making eye contact with Brindle. He goes to sit with Yorkie on his shoulder, flipping through and arranging his spellbook while stacking the pieces of stone into neat towers.
Brindle watches on in silence, making no attempt to hide that he's been listening to the entire exchange. As Gabriel leaves with the bits of stone, Brindle says quietly to him, "Good lad, never be afraid of speaking your mind." He reaches back into his pocket, withdrawing the stone and chisel once more and continues his work. clack clack Casting glances out of the corner of his eye toward Elara as bit by bit the stone begins to take shape.
A minute passes by in silence before Brindle speaks up, "Thank you. For your compliment. It's the only work with stone I do anymore. Anything more and it brings on too many old memories." Placing the chisel between his teeth, he takes out a small gouging tool and makes a few deep grooves across the stones surface. "Zat bhuk ov yores..." Realizing the trouble of speaking around a chisel, he puts it on his lap instead, "The boy said we'd follow... your book?" clack clack clack.
Elara watches Brindle chisel away at the stone in his hand. Precision and craftmanship of someone who has been doing this for a very long time it would seem. Her eyes follow the little bits of the chiseled stone that break off and scatter across the roof they reside on. He speaks and her eyes glance back to meet his. Acknowledging his comment on old memories. “Oh I see.…” She pauses for a moment. “You are welcome. I find it fascinating to watch. It’s quiet a talent to see someone take but a stone and shape it into something more. I am curious to what the finished product will be?” She says with a head tilt in his direction. She adjusts her legs so that she is sitting cross-legged on the ground, placing her leather bag on her lap.
Brindle speaks again and she looks down. “I don’t think…that’s entirely the plan. Just locations I personally must go to at some point. They are writings from a previous follower of my deity. I wanted to see the places the women who wrote this book spoke of and write my own. It speaks of a few places, Starset lake is one of them. A lake touched by the Star wanderer himself that is said to shimmer like the heavens above. I thought I may find answers there.” A broken piece of the stone stumbles and rolls on the ground, hitting against her boot. “From there who knows…but it makes me a little nervous given the events from today. The unknown I mean.” She inhales and lets out a sigh. “I feel like others might want to find answers as well, ones they didn’t know they needed to find until today.” Their conversation pauses as across the way Safina lets out a horrible yell. It booms loudly across the rooftop and into the wilderness as he sits far off from the party leaning over the body of Solsera. Elara grips the sides of her leather bag on her lap. She shuts her eyes tightly, listening to the mournful yells of her party companion in the distance. “…I wish there was something I could do or say.”

"Ty?" was the last words that Gargax uttered as he looked at the figure behind the burned bandages. The old soldier loosens the straps on his steel, massaging out a bruise and checking for breakage as early as he can. Self care has seen this veteran through more than a single skirmish. His face is a map of many campaigns, though his eyes don't leave that of Tarkin's. Nor does his sword leave his grasp.
"Tarkin," replies the silverdragon born. It becomes more obvious the more he tries to deceive the old man. Tarkin disappeared as an old man. This dragonborn is still young. Crazier things have happened, but some weapons are the best tattoos of their wielders and Ty Targarius has a silver greatsword with amethyst gems inlaid as a beauty of a blade. The dragonborn raises a hand to his face to realize his bandages have burned away.
"Mm, nay, I know you and I'll naught have further deception this day," Gargax says as the deafening wail of a man in mourning greets the morning sun. He heaves a deep breath with a wet cough to clear the pathway. "You owe me that," the man spits out the phlegm towards the bloody body, "and him."
'Ty' looks down to the face of the now dead Alexander. Dropping to a knee, the large man runs a hand over his eyes. "I led you down that path, but you chose to walk it. I owe you nothing." The eyes on Alexander close as Ty stands, turning to face a Cassandre in her turmoil. "You look like you have something to say to me." Violet eyes flick over to Brindle. Then Elara.

Cassandre stares at him, all emotion drained from her face. "You killed Troy" she softly says, more to herself than to Ty. "You killed Troy!" She yells, anger taking over her body. "And I was trying to help you! All this time... You.... And you saved me..." Her mind is racing, not knowing what emotion to access first, or how to move forward.
Her eyes dart between Ty's face and his sword, each time flashes of images appearing in her mind. Flash. Ty stabbing Troy in the air. Flash. Cass and Ty stabbing Alexander in the air. Flash. Flash. Flash. It's almost too much. Cassandre's knees give out, and she almost falls to the floor, using her sword as a crutch for support.

A silver dragon has an affinity to that which is cold. Ice. Ty's violet eyes have an armor of frost between him and the faltering knight. Watching someone fall apart with just the mention of his name. As she gives out, Gargax gets a look as if to say 'Was that necessary?'
It is Gargax, not Ty, that comes over to Cassandre for support. "Take your time," are the words that are not expected when everything has been go-go-go. The next building. The next enemy. The next objective. It catches up with you.
Ty heaves a breath as he goes over to where the war machine once was and checks his watch. Less time than before. What He said was correct.
What a cold dawn this day has broken into.

Cassandre looks to Gargax, "Thank you". She straightens herself up, embarrassed at her weakness. "You can't be weak," she thinks to herself "not since Troy died. Weakness will get you killed.... Weakness will hold you back."
Her posture changes, back straightens, but she still relies on her sword for support. A forced facade of strength shows on her face. "Your army said you left them behind. What happened, how are you here?"

Gargax is a few years older than the human side of her parents. Cool gruncle perhaps. "Wounds don't heal with haste," the old soldier offers. When Cassandre gets her bearings, the man returns to tending to his own injuries with care to take his own advice.
"I don't owe you any answers," the silver dragonborn says as he watches the sun rise. There are only so many more of these he is going to get to have. "And even if I did, would you believe what I told you?" He holds his hand up to the morning light as his silver scales become ethereal. The bones can be seen as lines between stars in a constellation. With a snap the flesh becomes material once again in a shot of pain.
A pause. "I Wandered here from Far, Far away," Ty says.

As Brindle and Gabriel speak, the conversation is yet again broken by the fall of their comrade Cassandra shouting and falling to her knees. Elara’s head picks up, looking over to find her fallen in front of Tarkin. Not knowing what has occurred, she quickly stands to her feet. Snatching her staff up in her left hand she glances down to Brindle before making her way hastily to Cassandra.
Elara’s eyes shift down from Cassandra gathering herself back to her own feet by the strength of her sword and Tarkin looking off to the sunrise. “Cass….” Elara says faintly from behind her as she approaches carefully. “What is it? What’s wrong?” She places a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes wide and of concern.
Cass gathers her thoughts "He's not Tarkin, he's Ty. He killed...." Her voice trails off, tears forming in her eyes. She shakes her head, "I don't know how he's here."
Her hand falls from Cassandra’s shoulder while her eyes remain fixed on the man standing across the way. “Ty?...”Elara says in his direction before shifting her focus back to Cassandra. “Killed? Killed who---” She pauses for a moment. Realizing at that point what she asked and who she was referring to. “…..Ty…Tarkin…WHO ARE YOU!?” She shouts at him, concerned for her friend next to her. The stresses of the events have taken hold of everyone. Elara tries so desperately to be there for them all while battling her own thoughts.
Upon hearing the revelation of Tarkin’s true identity Gabriel locks up at first but slowly he will close his spell book, tuck it away, and stay seated as he places the last piece of chiseled stone into a pile.
“Ty,” Gabriel says slowly before turning around and walking close to Cass and Elara, trying to act as a second support for Cass in addition to her sword,” Ty Targarius... You’re a part of the Targarius House...”
Gabriel’s words have a sort of underlying malice towards them, like a newborn snake just learning of its venom. He stays close to Cass while Yorkie hides in his pocket. He looks between everyone quickly, starting with Brindle, then Cass, then Elara, then Safina, then Gargax, and finally settling on Ty.
The voice of a woman accusing him of being a murderer. Another for offending a friend. Another for deserting command. Yet another for his birthright. Ty doesn't respond to anybody for a good, long time.
Turning around the large dragonborn hefts his greatsword with one hand, no longer a stranger or a potential ally. "I'm leaving," he says with an unforgiving frost to his voice. "And pray we never cross paths again," he says as he heads towards the four. Past them, giving a sidelong glance to Cassandre and Elara.
The dragonborn lifts his sword and makes way for the exit. His deep, frustrating voice lingers as he speaks “And pray we never cross paths again.” He says in passing. Elara stands there next to Cassandra as he walks past. A moment of slowness as she collects her thoughts before turning around. “You approached us outside the dawn forge, you approached us in the hallway below. Now you stand here before us once again for reasons I don’t quite understand. Is it so wrong that we want answers? Is the truth that terrifying to speak of or is it easier to walk away? Her fists tighten, the questions and mystery of the world continue and continue to build. “Just once, just once can someone give us an answer.” Elara looks over to Cassandre before looking back towards Ty walking away.

Cass puts her hand on Elara, "stop. He saved me. He saved us. We have questions, yes, but right now is not the time for the answers." She looks tired. She looks at Ty. "I never thanked you for saving me, and for that I'm sorry." Looking back at Elara, Cass fights back her tears, using everything inside her to keep her from falling apart. "Can't you see he's on borrowed time? He deserves a chance to recover from the battle."
Elara feels Cassandre’s hand on her shoulder. “…You’re…right. I’m sorry…” Her eyes look to hers, seeing the pain in her face. “I just want something answered, for anyone. Anything to be answered for us. Some positive out of all this.” She looks down.
Its too late. Something Elara said. It set him off. Tension.
"I didn't save you, you saved yourself," Ty says first to Cassandre as there is this lingering rage in his fist. A phantom of something cold and hot like a star burning in the vast abyss of space. He stops.
"And I didn't approach you outside of the forge for anything more than to find out why Gig is so interested in you," the dragonborn says as he turns to stare dead at Gabriel.
"And I didn't approach you in the halls except to broad my search to a cure for this damn condition," he shifts his gaze to Elara.
"Answers?" he scoffs, looking at Gargax, "The fact you STAND on the GROUND you are in now is testament to those before you that paid." He steps towards the group. "Shedding blood." Step. "Shedding pride." Step. He points back at the group with the sort of rage you expect out of an adult dragon, "And you have the audacity to claim you have a right to answers you can't find yourself? No. You are just looking for a place to sort your pain. Someone to blame." He stops.
"You want to blame someone? Blame yourself. Or your god."

She takes a half step backwards. Clenching the staff in her hand out of panic. What have you done Elara? She thinks to herself. This rage is terrifying, and it causes her to immediately regret opening her mouth to begin with.
He stops once more and speaks, "You want to blame someone? Blame yourself. Or your god."
The words strike like a spear into the depths of her soul. Her eyes widen and she stands in silence. The wind blows and the small bell that hangs in the center of her staff chimes faintly. She stands there without a response.
Gabriel, seeing the situation spinning, twirling, whirling, devolving into a scene he had replayed in his mind for a majority of his life. And it's in this moment that the gnome takes a stance. He stops thinking. He acts.
While still holding onto Cass, he tries to reach for Elara in order to bring her back to reality. He stretches a bit and wraps his tiny fingers around the cloth of her robe. He tugs on her robes to get her to move. He doesn't know why, but he feels like this is a moment where someone shouldn't feel alone. When the world slows and freezes around them, the last thing they need to be is alone. Empathy for the broken. Empathy for the last. Gabriel tries harder to get Elara to come back to Cass' side.