Major Interaction:  [@Hokum]

Ren let a sad smile curve his lips, his head shaking in disappointment as the ragtag team they put together reared their heads into the chance to jump into the breach once more.  Hadn't they just wrenched themselves from the jaws of the dead just a breaths ago?  Hadn't they danced with death already?  There were only so many times that Morrun allowed mortals to spit upon his sandals, and when the god of death swung his scythe on the defiant, he slashed hard.  Death scared Ren, because his soul waltzed upon that thin line between here and the hereafter for times too many to count.  His ability activated unconsciously when his body is brought to the brink of death.  And, whenever he came close to that Blessed Sleep, miniscule stains of fear crept upon his heart as to what laid beyond his grasp.  Slowly, these tiny flecks of terror coalesced into a trauma of dangling over the edge once more.

Heren knows how many straws Morrun was going to give him; although, Ren felt that with every escape from death, his rope grew shorter.

Ren stood up with a grunt, steadying himself as he observed the orc and another man take the lead as they stared down the abyss gaping back at them from the now open catacombs.  The lad took in a deep breath as if to fill his lungs with whatever remaining cool air he believed he would experience.  As he felt the air escape through his scarred lips, Ren glanced at the archer who now stepped forward to join the ensemble attempting to enter the darkness.

[i]Back into the shadows, then.[/i]

In all fairness, this ragtag group of strangers, meshed together in an entangling mystery beyond life and death, were destined to the forks of doom if Ren would have to put it bluntly.  However, the lad knew that Heren would not have intertwined their paths if they were not meant to achieve greater things...  together.  Ren believed that each of them clawed out from the dark tendrils in their own lives.  Each of them had walked through the shadowy tunnels.  If anything, they could have meant to be the light after the dark for each other-- [i]os elk tarnen beoren[/i].

A certain electric rogue came to mind, and at this thought, Ren faced Devlin whose fingers gripped expectantly at her blade.  Perhaps...  just maybe.

Ren returned to her side before placing a gentle hand on her blade, lifting it up slightly until the sword hovered between their eyes.  Orbs of purple gazed into lilac once more before Ren, using his free hand, began to sign.

[i]'You be the blade to cut the dark.  I be the shield to cover the light,'[/i]  He grinned at her before turning to the catacomb entrance and letting go of her hand.  [i]'Let us bring every single one home.'[/i]