This isn't going to be easy or fun for you, but it is regrettably necessary. You're going to not only have to convince her that she shouldn't pursue this path, but also push her away in general.

"Lena, you won, be happy with your victory. I know you'd like to kill every eternal out there, but it just isn't feasible."
"I won? My family is still fucking dead!"
"And? You think you're the only one who's ever lost something dear to them? Going on a vengeance crusade still isn't going to bring them back and it's just going to get you killed!"
"What the hell else do I have to live for?!"
"What do you have to live for? You're still young for one thing, you've got your whole life ahead of you. Yes, what happened was tragic for you, but you've grown stronger because of it and you survived the ordeal. Now make the most of it. Live your life. Find someone to settle down with or whatever it is normal people do."
"Normal people…do you really think I can go back to a normal life? Be someone's little housewife?"
"Okay maybe not normal…look I'm just saying you going on some fool errand of trying to kill every one of those assholes claiming to be eternals is going to get you killed. Not all of them are going to be as inept as the ones that were hanging around here. The other ones? They're constantly at war and are battle hardened. I guarantee they'll be much tougher opponents and much more organized."
"But wouldn't you be there to help? You could train me more and…you could start up a rebellion in Quala! Just like you did in the old days you told me about!"
"Ha ha. No, those days are long over. I've told you that before. I'm not going anywhere and I'm not training you any more. You are not meant for this sort of life. I helped clear out this swamp and now I will probably go back to my previous life of solitude."

Lena begins to tear up again. It's obvious she doesn't like where this is going.

"You're kicking me out of your home aren't you?"
"(Sigh) You had to know this arrangement wasn't going to last forever. I know you'll find some place to be I mean I'm sure you'll be treated very well by most people considering you just helped remove their oppressors."
"Save me your words, (sniffle) I thought we were…a team…I thought you cared…just go away. Leave me alone."

You don't say anything else, because saying anything else is just going to make things harder and likely make things worse. So you just leave.

It feels like forever getting back home, but eventually you do and head straight to the garden.

"I'm back home, just like I said I would be. I even brought you something." You say and put some blue flowers you picked on your way back home on her grave.

"Oh Lena? Yeah she's gone. I think its for the best she didn't live here anymore y'know? Dendrin already impedes on us enough. Didn't need her around too."

"I mean if she'd stayed she would've just been miserable here and eventually we would've ended up going to Quala like she wanted and she would've gotten herself killed. At least this way, she won't do it now…well I suppose I can't be sure of that, but I think the fact that she waited for me instead of charging into Brutus' place by herself is a good indication. Showed me she's always heeded my advice and not only that, she's not as overly confidant as I thought she was. Without me around she'll eventually abandoned her need for vengeance and settle into the normal life she was supposed to lead. She… deserves it, don't you think?" you say with your voice quivering a bit.

You begin to wipe your eyes and sniffle a bit.

"No, of course I didn't love her! What kind of opportunist would I be if I took advantage of some girl half my age that had a shitload of emotional baggage and a fragile personality? I'd be no better than those wannabe eternals that's what. Besides, I didn't think of her in that way, I just…look I'm tired all right? I'm going to bed."

You leave the garden and collapse on your bed. It takes awhile but eventually you start to fall asleep hoping that you don't have to put up with any smart-ass comments from Dendrin anytime soon.

He has uncharacteristically heard you for once because he leaves you alone for quite some time.

You briefly consider doing what you told Lena not to do and that's go kill eternals in the Quala region, but really that bores you already. Besides, you feel it isn't going to be quite as much fun anymore without Lena around.

It suddenly occurs to you that you should do some travelling again. You don't have much else to do, so why not? Still, this will always be your home no matter what. You won't leave for good. You just need a change of scenery.

You decide that you'll travel not to places you've already been or already know about, but to parts unknown, namely Delerg itself. Despite it being part of the Empire, much of it still remains unexplored. You decide you might as well stay relatively close to home if you have the intention of coming back.

You pack up some gear and get ready to go, of course saying good-bye to Talia and telling her you'll return eventually.

Year 50

Passing the time by exploring uncharted parts of Delerg has kept you a bit busy over these past few years. It's amazing that nobody had done it before, but the stories about the Delerg swamp being much more hostile the deeper you went were true.

You travelled north for quite awhile, but eventually the swamp thinned out completely until it turned into vast bodies of water. Going further would've required a boat and you didn't really have any wish to do that once you saw a glimpse of some of the things lurking in the water.

Travelling east was an ordeal that you nearly didn't survive. The swamp became more jungle like and it almost seemed as if the land itself was protecting something or otherwise it just didn't want anyone going further east. You did battle with several beasts that you'd never seen before and probably nobody else from the "civilized" world had either. It wasn't just beasts that were hostile, or even the plants, but also a short dark race of humans. Their small stature didn't make them any less dangerous. Eventually you had to turn back because of the constant attacks that even you couldn't keep defending against. You swear the trees must've been spawning the little bastards.

Thankfully as an eternal you're somewhat resistant to poisons, because it served you well during that time.

Still if you stopped doing something just because it nearly killed you, you wouldn't have accomplished anything in your life. So eventually you travelled south and beyond the swamp and jungle you discovered a whole new land, yet very much the same as the one you're familiar with.

Four tribes, two of them human, one elven and another one reptilian, all of them warring with each other and all of them fairly hostile towards you when confrontation was your only option with them.

From what you could figure out, three of the factions were all displaced by the Empire in some way when it still existed. The reptilian tribe apparently was nearly exterminated by the shadows in the earlier days of the Empire as they once lived in the Delerg province. (Which explains why they were especially hostile towards you)

You explored as much as you could and eventually departed leaving the factions to their private war.

Naturally the whole time you were exploring you were periodically returning back home. Delerg itself never changed, it was the same quiet place it always had been. Every once in a while you'd attempt to trade goods in Sinkhole for the rare items you might need, people never accepted any payment you might offer and instead just handed it to you for free. Nowadays you're considered the last shadow protector of the land and well respected. Of course you aren't the only one.

Lena is also well respected thanks to her deeds. Her assumption that she would never be able to fit into a normal life again were wrong as she did find someone to settle down. Though she was right that she would not be a simple housewife and is a hunter and trapper by trade. You know she lives in one of the smaller villages, probably much like the one she grew up in, but you've never spoken to her directly. You see no point in dredging up the past and you have both gone your separate ways now. You're glad that she managed to move on, which is more than can be said for others…

"Why have you been writing a lot lately? Never known you to pursue such interests." Dendrin asks.
"I dunno. Why not? Not like I'm currently wandering topside at the moment and I already read all the books here. Figured I'd write about stuff I encountered or did on my last travels."
"So you're writing a book?"
"More like a personal journal. Not like I'm going to share it with anyone."
"So why do it?"
"As I said, why not? Don't you have something better to do?"
"Not really, though I thought you would be considering the impending invasion."
"Invasion?"
"Yes, the invasion. I know you've been running all over the place lately, but haven't you been keeping up on the local discussions, I assumed you had since I know you do visit Sinkhole on occasion. One of those eternals or several of them apparently have figured out this place has no active resistance of any kind and would be easy pickings."
"Oh that. Yes I'm aware of what's going on and I've been preparing for the inevitable."
"What? Your usual training? You really think you're going to be able to pull off what you did before by yourself? You do realize that if this place is invaded again, it won't be occupied by the ones that were here before?"
"Yes, I'm well aware and as I said, I'll be ready."
"Are you planning on leaving?"
"No, but I'm glad you've still got faith in my combat abilities…as I asked before, don't you have something better to do?"
"I might have to find something better to do soon if you aren't around anymore." Dendrin says.

You wake up.

You're also left to ponder his "concern" for you. He's right in that if there is an invasion, it'll most likely be a proper army like when the Empire occupied Delerg.

So what can you really do about it if it does happen? Leave? You're past thinking like that. This is your home until the day you die.

Fight? You probably will eventually just to break up the monotony, but you doubt if you'll be able to keep your "secret" home a secret. Ever since you made your reappearance it's a well known fact of where you live by most of the Delergites. Even the group of eternals you got rid of before eventually figured it out, though by that time they were too damned scared to ever launch any sort of offensive.

The other problem to this is you are starting to feel your age. It's partly why you stopped your exploring and returned home to rest. Fighting your own extended personal war by yourself for any reason is getting to be less of a viable option especially if this potential invasion force is dead set on keeping the province. And it isn't like anyone else is going to help…

Well perhaps one person might, but the situation would be vastly different and she has her own life now, though you wonder what sort of life that might be when the invasion comes.

The only other option you have is to just lay low in the temple and never come out when the invasion arrives. You could easily seal up the entrance that even if it were found, it wouldn't be easy to get in.

You lay low

You had a brief revival of the "glory days" when you first fought along side Lena. And while it was fun while it lasted, you believe you're done with such things now. A storm is coming and you're not going to stand in its path because it'll ultimately be a fool's game.

You take steps to seal up the more accessible entrance to your sanctuary. It would take quite the effort to try to break in now, but you doubt if anyone will make the effort. You've been in this situation before and you handled it just fine. You can easily do it again despite what Dendrin might say.

You do wonder how Lena will handle the situation. She'll probably fight, but if she's learned anything, she'd do better to flee with her family. In any case you've made your decision and you return to the familiarity of the garden.

"Looks like I'll be spending a lot more time with you again Talia, just like the old days."

Year 65

Several years have passed and you still haven't a clue what's been going on the surface nor do you care anymore. You haven't even made the attempt to even take a peek, you've kept your entrance sealed and haven't dug out any new ones. As predicted nobody has attempted to intrude on you, so why bother leaving?

Throughout the years you've been trying to keep your mind occupied with your conversations with Talia and even Dendrin when he sees fit to speak to you anymore. You also continue to write in the journal you keep, but if anyone read it now, they probably wouldn't understand any of it as your thoughts have become disjointed and not of a sound mind.

You babble a lot to yourself nowadays, and not just in the usual way you do with Talia. Over the years you've actually been including others, such as arguing with Cyrus on a regular basis about how his tactics will not work against an Empire encampment or laughing at Murk on his latest tale of how he's failed to woo Bianca.

In other words, you've practically gone mad. One moment you're fully aware of your surroundings and living in the present, the next you're living in the past again. You've created your own reality and aren't leaving it anytime soon. Dendrin tries to snap you out of it, but eventually he realizes the futility of the task and stops speaking to you altogether. Hardly matters as you've got more than enough disembodied voices in your head to keep you company.

You continue like this for a few more decades until you eventually die as the mad hermit you are, and like most mad hermits, you leave no lasting presence in the world.