Kalestiya stopped in her tracks and watched the intense scene unfold before her eyes. The burly man had stopped the guards blade with his bare hand. What a display of raw power. She noticed a black liquid pouring down from the sword and dripping from the tip. Was it blood? So he was wounded after all?

Shortly after pushing the guard away from him, Kalestiya was surprised to see everyone around her, kneel down. She was slightly confused and wondering what was happening. Was this some sort of custom in this region? An female figure, what appeared to be an Elf, walked up to the burly man and exchanged words with him.

While their conversation ensued, the man's attention veered toward her, and from his pack, he retrieved an object. Simultaneously, a haze seemed to envelop her thoughts, the familiar tendrils of a foggy sensation creeping in. A voice, almost spectral, echoed in her mind.

"Suvryael fe der Lerm..."

His deep voice pierced the reverie, snapping her back to the present. "I believe this belongs to you," he uttered, his outstretched hand cradling an artifact she instantly recognized. Its ominous aura seemed to pulse in rhythm with her racing heart. A hitch in her breath and an audible gasp underscored her sheer astonishment.

"N-no... this cannot be..."

A sense of dread seeped through her veins, entwining with the tendrils of panic that gripped her. A torrent of thoughts surged within her, a floodgate of questions and apprehensions. Could this man be another agent of the Children of N'jal, a relentless pursuer from the mountains? Was he driven by the desire for vengeance, propelled by his master's demise? Apprehension tightened its hold, a vice-like grip that urged her to take a hesitant step backward. Caught in a tangle of haze and escalating fear, her mind wrestled with the artifact's inexorable pull.

"Suvryael fe der Lerm... Veom pe'ev"

A clash of instincts urged her to run, yet an unexplainable force held her in place, trapped in an irresistible grip beyond her control. Kalestiya could only muster a small step backward. "Are you here to seek vengeance for your master?" she inquired, her voice tinged with a mix of desperation and resignation.