This is getting ramped up to T, at least. You can thank Lyndon for that.
Kormac was furious when Dahlia recklessly allowed Lyndon to be a part of their travels, especially with Leah there. She seemed naive enough to him that Lyndon would take her heart, and they had no time for heartbreak. Of course, he had no time to argue about it as they all rushed to where the spirit of Alaric was standing by the Drowned Temple.
"We need entrance into this temple," Leah said.
"Are you Nephalem?" he asked, his voice echoing between the stairwells and into the cave.
"There are no Nephalem. They're legend."
He laughed. "Ahh, how little you know about the history of your own people. I can let you into this temple, but first you must go into the Festering woods and recover the keys to the gates. It is the true test of the Nephalem to find these keys."
Alaric turned to Dahlia. "You have the power of your ancestors behind you, Nephalem. Let nothing stand in your way."
Dahlia smiled at him oddly. "Nothing stands in the way of my destiny."
He led them to a river, and they all felt the ground shake the closer they came to it. A bridge rose up before them.
"I think we should rest before we go into the woods. We don't know what we'll be facing in there, and I'd like to check on Uncle Deckard," Leah said.
"It's a good idea. We'll be searching all day, and the shard can probably wait. There's no way the cultists would survive looking in the woods," Dahlia said.
The group gathered back to the horadric gate and ported back to town, where they immediately went to Cain's home and settled in for the night. Lyndon was surprisingly curious about what was going on, and Dahlia was more than excited to tell him about her destiny.
"But do you believe what Alaric said," Leah asked afterwards, "about you being Nephalem?"
"I think Alaric might be holding onto history or myth a little too much. I imagine it will be the same for whatever we find in the festering woods. The shards have awoken a lot of the dead, and they might not know what's going on."
"He was right though. There is something... special about you."
"What's special about me is my training and my destiny. Finding the shards so we can give the stranger back his memories is the first step. The second is finding out why he came crashing down as what we thought was a star from the heavens. This nephalem thing is just an old story."
Kormac shifted uncomfortably. He had a sense that she was wrong, and that the nephalem were a long held truth that was starting to come back up, along with the undead. Dahlia was effortless in her power, more than a wizard should have been, even with lifelong training. He stood up and started stripping off his heavy armor, breathing a little easier. It would all become clear once the stranger knew who he was and why he was there.
"So, I think Kormac has the right idea," Lyndon said, "we should all get undressed and get under the blankets." He winked at Dahlia, and Leah stood up.
"I have my own room. I think I'll use it," Leah said, glaring at Lyndon. Kormac smiled a bit, glad that she wasn't going to fall under whatever charm Lyndon had. When she left, he turned to see Dahlia very carefully taking off her own armor, which barely covered her as it was. Lyndon leaned back and watched her until she shuffled under her own blanket.
"Who knew New Tristam could be so beautiful?" he said, stripping down and getting into his own comfort zone. Kormac felt a protective snarl reach his face, and Lyndon smirked and rolled over. "I certainly hope we don't get separated in the woods. I'll be sticking close to the 'nephalem', just in case."
Dahlia yawned. "I wouldn't stick too closely. I sometimes don't know where my lightning could go. It might go right up your ass."
Kormac snickered and leaned against the wall, his usual stance for sleeping. He didn't like being too far from jumping up, just in case. Within a few minutes, he could tell Dahlia was asleep. Her body was completely relaxed, heavily bound to the position it was in. He looked over at Lyndon, who was resting with his crossbow in his hand. Dahlia was the only one who could truly relax in this kind of situation. She was so certain of her destiny, that she didn't think she needed to worry. Kormac glanced at his own weapons and armor, uneasy about the coming day. He knew little of the nephalem, but if what Alaric said was true, they could die at any time in the next day. He could only keep his faith, and he murmured words from his training over and over until he fell into a fitful sleep.