Broken. The last connection he had with his family was broken and lost, taken by the black, just as his family had been. Kallo sat motionless for several minutes, enveloped in silence as he stared blankly at the broken shard of his sword, held carefully by Levani's creation. With a slight groan, he slowly got to his feet and moved towards the golem, his steps slow and pained, until he stood before the construct, his hand outstretched to slide along the piece of blade, an intangible weight pressing down on him. “I'm sorry brother.” The words were quiet, almost a whisper, threaded with a deep, raw sadness. “It's time for you to rest now.” Gingerly taking the shard from the golem, as though it were a piece of fragile glass, he turned and walked away from the golem and Levani, stopping at the foot of a large, broad leaved tree. Using his bare hands, he silently scraped away the dark, damp earth, creating a shallow hole, a grave of sorts, and gently laid the shard in the hollow, followed by the pendant he fished out from under his shirt. “May the goddess grant you shelter from the darkness.<i>Eile dearthair easca.</i>” Having spoken his blessing to his brother's soul, gone as it was, Kallo slowly filled in the small hollow, covering the broken shard of the blade and the golden pendant that had belonged to his brother, giving his brother the grave he had never been granted.<br/><br/>After several minutes of kneeling in front of the buried blade and pendant, collecting his thoughts and calming the turbulence in his mind, Kallo finally got to his feet and made his way back to Levani, his pale eyes glassy and distant. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking that bit of blade from the field of battle lass. That was my brother's sword... the one he held when the dark lord consumed him.” Taking a seat next to her, absently picking up the cup of tea, he offered her a weak smile, an attempt to show his gratefulness to her. “That was the last piece of my family that I had. I would not dishonor the blade by reforging it. My people believe that a weapon only breaks when it's purpose has been fulfilled and there is no more use for it. To attempt to repair that blade would be akin to stitching my brother's corpse back together and attempting to reanimate him. It would simply be an abomination, a corrupted shadow of it's former glory.”<br/><br/>With eyes cast down, staring blankly into the liquid that filled the cup in his hands, he carefully considered Levani's answer to his question about the ancient creature, his thoughts turning to the warning his goddess had given him. “Lass... I know you hide something from me. I am grateful that you haven't lied to me, and I do not wish to push, but you must know that I'm not blind... that I'm not ignorant to your carefully chosen answers that artfully skirt the truth.” Pausing, to consider his words carefully, he brought the cup to his lips and tipped it back, draining the warm tea quickly, grateful for the warmth it spread through his body. “I trust that you will tell me in time, however long that may take.” The now empty cup was set to the side as he lifted his pale gaze to hers, icy blue matching golden pools. “Unless you are consumed by darkness... I don't give a damn who, or what... you may be. I... I just wanted you to know that I choose to be at your side because you mean a great deal to me. You have reminded me that life is worth living... that it has a precious hope to it, even when surrounded by the blackness that threatens everything.” A bit of warmth filtered into his pale orbs as he spoke, his melancholy lessening it's grip.<br/><br/>Shaking his head, a wry smirk curling the edges of his lips, he turned his gaze to scan around the forest, trying to hide the embarrassment he had began to feel while speaking of his feelings, something he was not used to doing. “So... that enormous creature was only a symptom? Of course... it would've been too easy if that were the cause.” Glancing over to his companion, then down to his stained clothing, he hooked his fingers under the edges of his shirt and gingerly pulled it off, eager to be rid of the stench of the corruption that had soaked him. Purple and blue bruising had already begun to spread under his skin, covering most of his torso, the darkest patches centered around his left shoulder and the left side of his rib cage. “I'll be honest lass, our next course of action should be to take a day and lick our wounds. I am in no shape to fight right now.” Arching a brow at Levani as his pale orbs scanned across the nicks and scrapes that covered her body. “I'd say you aren't in much better shape than me.”<br/><br/>With a bit of a pained groan, Kallo shifted in his seat till he was facing her and pointed to her armor, motioning for her to remove it, as he had done. “We both know I'll heal without much help, but we need to take care of you lass. Off with the armor and let me have a look at your wounds. I'm sure I can find a few ingredients around here to make a salve from to help you mend quicker.” His tone was gentle, yet firm, giving her little option to argue against him. “I noticed you found water for tea, so let's get that armor off of you and get the both of us cleaned up. Then we can see about some salves or the like, yes?” Now that his attention was focused on Levani, his usual, calm and friendly demeanor returned to him, the sadness in his pale eyes disappearing almost entirely.