"I'll take you up on the drink," Mesaraih responded. "But I'm afraid my luck is a bit more valuable than this bet."<br/><br/>He reached over to take back the dagger Tal had offered him, taking a dramatic sniff off the blade. "Sorry," he said, in a mock apologetic tone. "It's been too many days since I've smelled any kind of decent food. Wanted to make the memory of this day last."<br/><br/>Valehna stirred in place at that moment, but kept her eyes closed as if she were still sleeping.<br/><br/>Mesaraih turned towards Ester, who had just woken up. "What's it called? Archdemon, right? Yes, that sounds right. The archdemon leader of the darkspawn dragon thing just came and killed a bunch of rock wraiths. Then its army marched through the tunnels we came through."<br/><br/>He stopped talking after that. He would have said more, spoken for longer, but he began to feel somewhat self-conscious. After everything that had happened between him and Ester, he simply didn't want to air his thoughts out anymore.<br/><br/>Valehna finally began to stand up. She wasn't sure how long she had slept for; it could have been only a small nap. Either way, she felt good enough to keep moving, and so she began to gather her things about her. Once she was ready, she walked over to the hole in the wall, looking down at the now empty battlefield where the red and blue pillars resided.<br/><br/>"I'm taking a closer look," she announced, jumping down onto a jutting ledge beneath her.