Ah. Venn nods at Wenduag, watching carefully. (She doesn't smile. It won't help.)

She doesn't say anything just yet, but even Wenduag can tell she's going to. 

"You're going to get everyone killed," she says flatly. "The fewer people you take with you, the fewer will die. You won't take the weak ones or the fools, the ones we can spare; you'll take all our best hunters. Then you'll die, and then we'll starve to death."

She goes back to sharpening arrows.

Headtilt. "I told your chief I'd only take you and Lann, if you wanted to come." And you obviously don't. "Are you really trying to tell me that he's the only thing standing between the tribe and starvation?" (She's going to ignore the implication that the quest is hopeless, for now.)

As she waits for Wenduag's answer, Venn pulls one of the quivers full of arrows off her back. (She doesn't have her bow on her, so it's a confusing thing to be doing, but not a very threatening one.)

"You'll take him. He'll try to take more. If they have any sense they won't listen." Scrape scrape scrape. "If we're lucky it'll just be him. The Shield Maze isn't safe, girl. It's not like one of your overlander houses." She's heard enough from Lann about that.

She's lived down here her whole life. ...all of them have, except Lann.

Venn doesn't say anything right away. She pulls three arrows from her quiver, and offers two of them to Wenduag, fletching first. 

Wenduag looks at them, taking them. Runs her eyes over the hammered metal, the fletching. Hands them back.

Yeah, she notices they're better than what she can make. What's the girl's point?

Venn just shakes her head. "They're yours to keep. Payment for your help today, if you want to think about it like that." 

She twirls the one she kept. "Arrows like these are cheap, up there. There's people who spend their whole lives making 'em, hundreds of arrows a week, and they sell them to hunters and soldiers and adventurers like me." Twirl twirl.

"Overlander houses don't exist because it's safe up there, Wenduag. There's dangerous monsters everywhere; more of them coming through the hole in the world every day. We have houses and food and arrows anyways, because there's more people up there than you've ever met - over a hundred people for every member of your tribe, just in the city above us. And when you have that many people, some of them can spend their lives building houses, others making weapons and armor. And the strong ones, the fighters, drive off the monsters for the rest of them, and as long as we're good enough to survive, we get stronger still." There's a sureness in her voice that's almost intoxicating.

The dangerous monsters are winning. "You won't be strong enough to survive." She shoves the arrows into her quiver and turns to leave.

Venn shrugs. "I'm in no hurry to see the next life, but I'm not about to spend the rest of this one trapped down in here, waiting for a savior or the end. That angel gave me his power for a reason, and I intend to use it as best I can." 

Her voice turns curious. "What's in there, Wenduag? What have you seen in the Shield Maze, that has you so sure this is hopeless?"

Savamelekh.

"Traps, demons, monsters," she says flatly. "It might as well be the Abyss." That's true, at least. It's just that she can manage, in the Abyss...

Wenduag will start stalking off.

Venn's voice carries easily, following Wenduag as she leaves. "A warrior with your skills could easily become a force to be reckoned with, with the right allies. But whether or not you're there with us tomorrow, I won't let Lann bring anyone too weak to make it." 

She twirls the arrow in her hand one last time before sliding it back into the quiver.

Wenduag will keep stalking off while she tries hard not to think about things.

She's already committed, right? Right. It's too late for any decision she makes to make a difference, unless it's just getting her killed, too.

Right.

Right?

"...and as for Camellia... well, she mostly acts like a stuck-up noble, which I can work with, but..." Venn sighs. "I just keep thinking about all that blood she had on her, when we found her? And, I'm no medic! But."

Anevia's nods. "But her killing Aravashnial wouldn't explain much, would it? She'd do it with a stab through the heart, we've seen her fight. He looked mauled."

Shrug. "Yeah, it's confusing. ...I feel like we should maybe try and keep a close eye on her, though."

And then she sighs. "I talked to Wendaug. She's seen something out there in the Shield Maze that has her scared shitless, though she wouldn't admit it or tell me what. I don't know what to make of it, frankly, but... I don't expect to see her tomorrow."

"I've got a bad feeling about her, too... I'm sure Camellia wants to get out of here, but I don't know what Wenduag wants, other than for us to never have come down here."

Venn's actually pretty sure she knows the answer to this one, after the talk they just had. "She respects strength," she says, frowning as traces the implications. "Which means... there's something in there that's strong enough to scare her, despite her considerable skills with the bow. We're going to need to be careful, tomorrow."

(There's no worry in Venn's voice, just steady determination. They have the strength of an angel on their side, and she feels a warmth in her chest, what she's sure is the tug of destiny. They will make it through the Shield Maze; of this, she's certain.)