Arsenne says quietly to Eirina and the others : "O.K. I'm really not good at this, but I'll give it a shot."

He approaches Zefferin and says: "Look, I'm ready.... we're all ready to just be here and support you. Or return here to support you after we have finished exploring this place. We can't neglect our immediate mission. People's lives may be at risk, and we don't even know it. And we would like your help."

He looks at Zeferin. He looks back at the others for reassurance. And he continues: "Look, ummm, the questions that you are asking are good questions. They are hard questions. The fact that you are asking them means you are a good person. And lot's of good people have asked the same questions when they have found themselves in similar situations. There are tons of books that have been written on the ethics of killing."

He pauses, tries to gauge some sort of reaction, and continues: "I don't remember the names of most of these books, or the substance of the arguments, but I remember this one particular book ... a beautifully embossed cover made of fine deer leather dyed a deep blue and lined with silver thread. And just inside the cover, introducing the first chapter, there was this amazing painting of a confused-looking Paladin or knight who had a small angel on each shoulder, and each was giving him advice, and you could tell they were giving him conflicting advice and he did not know what to do."

He eyes look off into the distance : "I don't remember all the boring text, but the image painted a thousand words for me and I remember it well. If it had been a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, then it's clear which advice he should take. The angel's, of course. He can decide with confidence and move on. But in this case they were both angels, so that made it much harder to decide, and that indecision made him confused and slowed him down and distracted him. In the next chapter, we see an image of the same fellow lying on the ground with a lance through his chest, and the two little cherub angels are still arguing in the foreground. Again, I don't remember the text, but the image is clearly embedded in my memory, as is the message: When facing lethal combat, you cannot let yourself be distracted by ethics. Those discussions can go on forever. You need to finish your fight, by whatever means available, protect yourself and your allies, hope that your actions are virtuous and that you will do more good than harm, and then move on."

He looks back at Zeferin: "You did good. Those goblin-monkeys had ambushed us and attacked us without even giving us a chance to talk or come to an arrangement. Could we have acted differently? Of course! Could things have turned out differently? Of course! But that's not the portrait that Shelyn painted for us. You moved quickly & decisively to protect us. Had it escaped, it may have come back at night with a dozen friends and tried to kill us in our sleep. We just don't know. But from the little I remember of the actual 'text' part of most of those books that my tutors forced me to read, it is the well-earned right and privilege of every combatant feel relief at having survived combat and having protected his friends. You have that right, as do we all."

He glances back at the group, then asks Zeferin: "Now, will you pull yourself together and join us? We have several more buildings to explore, and could very likely use your help."

He stands up and offers a hand to Zeferin to pull him up as well.