Umbren had just finished setting up his bed roll when the disciples paid them all a visit.

The first one they saw was Lady Morta with Lord Mortis trailing behind her. She waved at them with a warm smile, "Has everyone gotten comfortable yet?"

"Yes, my lady," said all the Hands, some more stiff than others.

Lady Morta waved her hand, "There's no need for any formalities."

Some of the more rigid hands glanced at Umbren and Relam when she said this.

After noticing this Relam smiled awkwardly, "Don't let us get in the way of your conversation, act like we’re not even here."

Some hands relaxed at this while others actually became more alert.

"Come with me."

Umbren was surprised by the voice behind him, and as he turned around, he found that it belonged to Lord Mortis. His tone suggested that Umbren didn't have an option.

Umbren nodded, "Yes my lord," and stood up.

Relam also got up with a relieved look on his face.

"Not you Relam." Mortis said with his back turned towards him.

Relam's face turned desperate and he started fidgeting with his hands "But... my lord you must have something to talk to me about, right?"

"No, but Morta can probably find a lot of things to talk about with you."

Just then Morta called out, "Relam what are you doing over there, come and sit." Her tone was a friendly one

"As you wish my lady." Relam walked towards the group defeated.

Umbren looked back at Relam, "With all due respect my lord, won't Relam disturb Morta's conversation with the Hands?"

"Morta will make them all comfortable in no time."

The pair walked to the disciple's campfire. It lay beneath the covering that the giant rock provided. Lord Mortis took a seat against the rock while Umbren sat across from him on the other side of the campfire.

Lord Mortis picked up a stick and started to poke at the flames in front of him. "Aren't you going to ask why I brought you along. I know you're curious to know." His tone was more relaxed than before.

"I was going to, but I didn't know how to ask respectfully, my lord. Though I still don't know what you expect of me." Umbren sat with a perfect posture, careful not to offend his lord.

Mortis looked at Umbren as if peering into his soul, "Hmm, what do I expect of you? I don't even know that yet...but before that I would like to talk about that incident. I don't believe I was able to get my real opinion across before."

"And what is your opinion my lord?" Umbren said with curiosity in his voice.

"Yorburn was a great leader, but a horrible strategist. I hoped keeping Faldrid with him would prevent any problems, but in the end that unfortunate ordeal came to pass. Which was all Yorburn's fault due to his lack of precaution."

"Surely you can't blame a dead man for everything. I told you it was my fault, didn't I." Umbren's voice trembled

Lord Mortis broke out into a violent laugh, "I do remember you telling me that. I can't believe I almost forgot that ridiculous reason you gave. You're still even wearing your hood." His laughter grew as he noticed this

It was true. Umbren hadn't taken his hood off yet. Quite frankly he hadn't even noticed, and still has no urge to take it off.

Rage brewed inside Umbren. He clenched his fists in an attempt to quell it. "Lord, I told you why it was my fault. I was seen by the enemy giving away our presence. There is no need to blame a dead man."

"Yes, but don't you think that Yorburn should have thought of the possibility that there might have been enemy scouts in the area. Also having a whole force of the Black Crescent knocked out by the Luxcians influence is an embarrassment. He should have been prepared for an attack on the mind, but he wasn't. Imagine what would happen if Faldrid didn't have scouts watch over the mission and report to me when it failed."

Lord Mortis kept going, "I also had forgotten about Miglo when we talked before. I don't have any doubt that part of the blame is also on him. He most likely let the hatred for the enemy get the best of him.”

Umbren's teeth were still clenched and felt as if they were all going to shatter in a few seconds. "All I'm asking is that we let the dead rest in peace."

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Lord Mortis smiled and leaned towards the flame, looking into it. "How did you feel when they died right before your eyes?"

Umbren unclenched his fist and he wore a look of surprise on his face, "huh?"

"How did you feel when you saw that? How did you feel when you saw the tent filled with the corpses, which you thought died by your hand. Tell me."

Umbren chuckled uncomfortably, "What kind of question is that."

"It's just like any other question. What did you feel? Did you feel intense sadness, regret or rage." Mortis' expression turned almost menacing as he put an emphasis on the last point.

Umbren put his hand to his forehead and shook his head. "I'm afraid that I don't exactly remember my lord."

"So that's how it is." Lord Mortis said disappointedly, leaning back on the massive rock behind him

Umbren was confused by his disappointment, "What do you mean my lord."

"I can see into your soul. You may think you can trick me, but you can't. You can't just get over what happened to you after a night's sleep, and a bad one at that. You're running away from thinking about what happened. You became unstable even when I asked you how you felt about it. At this rate you won't survive this coming mission."

Umbren stared at him in astonishment. "How could not letting my emotions get the best of me lead to me dying.?"

Mortis smiled as if remembering something comforting, "Revenge is amazing. isn't it?"

"--," Umbren had no words.

"Now let me ask you again, but a little different. Do you hate the luxcians? Do you hate them for slaughtering all your brothers and sisters, or do you simply forgive them." Mortis asked with a challenging look.

Umbren's shoulders slumped, and he glanced towards the ground. He honestly didn't know. He had been haranguing himself for the disaster, that he hadn't even thought of the luxcians. Did he hate them? Should he?

Umbren looked up, and had an assertive look in his eye. "I don't know. I remember that I wanted to kill all them at the moment, but I also remember being really afraid. Fearing what had happened to the others, fearing that I had caused it all, fearing that I would die. But right now, I don't know what I think, or what to think. I don't know what you expected of me, but I won't be able to meet them."

Lord Mortis met his glance with an identical one, "You don't know what to think? No, you're just running away from formulating your thoughts on the matter. Are you afraid that you'll be overcome by them? Are you afraid of the conclusion that you'll come to? Or simply that it will change who you are depending on what you end up thinking."

The pair stared at each other for a long minute with challenging gazes. For that one minute the whole world faded away, and each of them was waiting for the other to say something. Maybe in hopes that they will bring this conversation to a conclusion and prove the other wrong. However, that didn't happen.

Lord Mortis looked to the stars with an annoyed look on his face. "I see, how disappointing. You're dismissed."

Umbren got up, and bowed, "It was a pleasure."

Mortis waved his hand without glancing at him, as he left.

As he neared the edge of the fire's reach, Mortis called out to him. "I liked seeing a glimpse under that mask of yours. Be sure to get rid of it quickly, then we’ll talk again."

"Same to you."

Umbren took a breath in and out and regained his composure, and started off towards the Hand's fire. He wondered if Relam had fared well in his participation in the Hands' talks. He was eager to find out. Though he would have liked to have been there to witness it, he didn't really know what he was supposed to get out of his talk with Lord Mortis, and he would rather not think about it. As he was on his way to the campfire he ran into a figure.

"Why does our lord take such an interest in you." Alsarie said with venom

"Aah, Mistress Alsarie it is nice to see you again. Is there anything I can do with you." Umbren smiled.

She still wore her green robe, but she had her hood down, which gave Umbren a better look at her hair which was no longer covered up, and hung loosely over her shoulders.

"I believe you heard my question."

Umbren didn't know why Alsarie had become so hostile. She was much more friendly earlier that day. Was she just acting then?

"I don't know any more than I did on the ride here."

"Is that so? Even after having a personal conversation with him?"

"I don't know if you could call it a personal conversation, but I still don't know what his goal was. Though why are you asking all of this right now? You seemed to have your mind made up when we talked earlier."

Alsarie's gaze was locked on Umbren, and had an air of intimidation to it. "Yes, I did, but the question gnawed at me. Until I just couldn't take it. What promise does our lord see in a rookie whose first mission was an utter failure? You perhaps got some intimations towards the reason for this, during that conversation. You looked quite disturbed by what our lord was saying."

Umbren's eyes widened, and the smile disappeared from his face as he looked towards the ground. "What do you mean 'you looked quite disturbed,' how would you know that?"

"Did you really think that with all my questions, that I wouldn't try to pursue answers? Of course, I would spy on your conversation, but unfortunately I couldn't get into earshot because our lord would have sensed me." Alsarie shrugged her shoulders, and wore a wicked smile.

Her stare harshened, "And besides do you think I could have left our lord alone with someone like you. After what happened, I wouldn't be surprised if you were unstable. I'm sure that he would have been able to handle you easily if something happened, but even if our lord had been so much as cut, I don't know if I would be able to bear it.

As Alsarie made her intentions clear to Umbren, he noticed the bow slung around her back, and was stunned with disbelief.

Alsarie started walking closer to Umbren, "But I guess nothing happened, which is a relief. Wouldn't you say?

As she arrived right next to Umbren she whispered something in his ear, "But you best control your emotions in front of our lord.”

After she finished whispering, she walked by him. It took Umbren a while to recover, but he finally managed to get something out, however weakly. "Is that a threat?" But he got no response in return.

Umbren stood there for a while listening to the breeze and the rustling of small animals in the grass. After a moment he started off towards the Hands' campfire. However, just before he reached it, he heard the whines and rustlings of the Attoka near the campfire. It sounded as if they had been possessed by some violent demon.