It was difficult to argue with Kell. Not because she was tired, or that she did not want to spend her time with him bickering; those were true, of course, but not the crux of it.

It was difficult because Kell was right.

Neria felt the burst of anger, the emotion. She did not try to quell it. Instead, she settled with it, with that ache and that burn, and let it wash over her.

"I imagine it feeds Asora. We are building faith in some manner. Gods can create mana by existing but only if they are strong enough. And they do not become stronger without followers and faith." But Kell would feel the unasked question: if that's true, then why am I killing the people who would follow me?

She left it at that, though. Neria shook her head. "Perhaps it's feeding us in other ways. You speak of tolls, and some of these... Some people are taking their fees from others. I am, unfortunately." Something else shimmered, pained. Neria pushed it aside.

Softly, she said, "I'm glad you left. It's... I never cared what it would ask of me, what this path would demand of my flesh or my soul. I care how it hurts the others, how it hurts the people of the world. And you--" Her voice caught. "It's hard enough watching him suffer. If I had to see you go through the same, or Rhy, or Hakkyuu..." And there was anger there, at long last, beneath all of the hurt and the exhaustion.

"If I had to sit here, powerless, while the world demanded more and more of you and the others... Asora asked too much."