"There is no need of repayment my friend. This weapon benefits us all. Knowing you are an ally for the road ahead makes this a worthy investment."   Kal wipes the sweat from him brow and lays the hammer next to the Anvil.   "A drink Callum?"   Nomads brow raises   "I overheard the conversation with you and the priest. I believe my recent visions and dreams connect with your past. A drink?"

Callum regarded his friend for a moment, curious as to how he could have avoided the formidable magic Corvix had brought forth, but then remembered who he was speaking to. He nodded over his shoulder for Kal to follow him, the pair making their way to the adjacent room where he had water and more appropriate refreshment waiting. He poured them both a glass of water in clay mugs first, the pair wiping the sweat from their brows after a hard day's work on such a fine blade, then downed the glasses in a single gulp. After that, moved to his pack and pulled a bottle of mead, the very same Illidrex had given him for such an occasion. He topped their glasses off again, toasted his friend, then drank deep.   "Recent dreams and visions..." the paladin started. "And they link to my past. I suspected there was some intersection of our history, but I still can't place it. My memories are as jumbled as yours in that capacity. Where do you think had dealings before?"   The wizard took a drink of his own, then finished his glass and beckoned for a refill, which Callum was glad to supply. "Aside from Celestia, I think it has to do with what happened in Hell. I was there too."   Callum sighed. "Then I'm truly sorry. That's no place for an angel, fallen or otherwise."   "Maybe," Kal replied. "Though it's just the place for an agent of destiny. I think we're both exactly that."   "How so?" Another drink as he prompted the summoner to continue.

Swift and calmly Kal flicks his hand and a clear blue sheen extends from his cuff. Slowly the light blue sheen becomes opaque as it surrounds the two in a bubble.   Kal - "Sounds can not pass this ward. As a precaution I do not want this conversation to leave this circle. I am not afraid of our friends but the potential of our enemies to be listening in."   Callum nods his head and take swig of his drink.   Kal - "Putting my visions together is like a puzzle. In that puzzle I am missing pieces.... how many, I do not know. One thing is for certain I have seen us fighting along side and I can not help but think it to be real. The moment we meet on the road to water-deep. Was the moment I knew you to be a comrade. But I could not put my finger on why."   Kal takes another swig "I believe we were sent to hell for a higher purpose. Maybe that purpose is only known by our true gods, maybe you already know why.   Callum in deep thought takes another swig   Kal - "But I was there with Zariel when I fell......I remember the pain like it was yesterday...... I am afraid of my history in hell. For I believe I was sent to do terrible things.... But then I beg the question, why do I stand here now with good people alike?"

Callum reflected on his own past while considering Kal's. The searing pain and consuming fire were always jarring to him, though no less fragmented. Asmodeus used his own fury against him, and that which was ordained by Heaven to inflict righteous wrath was maligned to transform him into something akin to Zariel's perversion. Kal's experience sounded similar, though at Zariel's hands.   "The more I consider the day we left, the more questions I have," the fallen angel started. "Perhaps we were misguided in our intentions. But there was more to it than that. There were layers to those intentions, some of which I knew nothing about until after it was over. Even Asmodeus was given pause at how effective we were, though he would only allow Heaven a presence in Hell if it served Hell's ends. If you were sent for a higher purpose beyond that of our mission to cleanse Hell and the Abyss...was it all part of the same war effort, just on a different front? Was it all to bring us to where we are now?"   Kal could only shrug, looking into his cup as he considered his own answer. "I'm still trying to remember all of it. It wasn't about fighting the corruption in the same way Zariel or others like her were planning to do. But it was something..."   "If you're questioning the purity of your own character as I suspect you are, you needn't worry, Kal," the paladin redirected him. "We're not evil, though I think we're all playing with fire. Now more than ever given the threats that are looming against us and our world. For all I know, what we did was just a smaller part of a larger conflict that we've only recently discovered. Our tactics are adapting, as we are. Our hearts and souls aren't."   "Elaborate on that."   "Bolas and Atropus. They will consume everything, even the Nine Hells and Celestia. The Lord of Blades would disrupt the very flow of fate itself if he has his way. And Vecna's return...Asmodeus himself is scared of the destruction awaiting the world he's so carefully formed, as he should be. Heaven should be too."   Kal raised an eyebrow at that. "Why is that?"   A long drink. "Because where will Vecna look next? When conquest is the mission, there is no point where enough is enough. Not to those who conquer for power's sake. And that is why I trust you and will help you in your search for truth, Kal. You're not with us for power. You don't seek power for the sake of it, but only as a means to find that truth that has brought both of us together in common cause."   The wizard grinned at that, raising his glass then joining his friend in another swig. "But what of you? You'd simply go along with this despite the danger?"   Callum shrugged. "Only recently I discovered I was free, at least to some extent, from my past. My means are no less questionable than yours as I explore that freedom, which I hope will be for the good of all. I'll never be at peace with enlisting demons or fiends for help, but I can respect the truth that such methods can accomplish much in the name of good despite the risk. I just won't be summoning any demons myself anytime soon."   Kal chuckled at that, his friend joining in the mirth. "Do you think we can be redeemed? That we'll find peace?"   The smile faded from Callum's face as he considered the question for some time. At length, he sighed, then shrugged again. "I asked a similar question to someone who stood up for me when I thought no one would. Sadly, I agree with him. No, not in the same sense many others would see it. I think our redemption is ongoing, decided by the choices we make from here. I think the peace we'll find exists in the moments between our search for it. And maybe that makes both all the more precious, given our pasts."