Heilam's hands clenched into fists.
His shoulders tensed as he looked at the damage around him. Anger flashed across his face, but he said nothing. He swallowed his words and kept walking.
Finally, he stopped in front of a sect building that was still standing, though its walls were cracked and its doors half broken.
"This way, Lord Aksai," Heilam said, lowering his head slightly.
He pushed the door open and led Aksai and Grisham inside, ready to hear whatever Aksai wanted to say next.
Aksai entered the damaged hall and glanced around once before walking to a wooden chair that had somehow survived the destruction. He brushed a bit of dust off it and sat down calmly.
Only after settling in did he look up at Heilam and Grisham.
"I have been away for a long time," Aksai said. "Ten years, more or less. Tell me what has been happening in the Dadangar Subcontinent while I was gone."
Heilam and Grisham exchanged a glance.
Heilam stepped forward first.
