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"He said that he couldn't make that type of commitment because his duty is to the pilgrimage if the shield isn't here," Echo explains. She can't really hide the fact that she is a little annoyed by this. "It seemed just like an excuse to me, though."

Leonor raises a brow. "You think he was lying? I'm not sure paladins can do that. What other motive could there be then?" she asks.

"Keep in mind that I'm still getting to know him," Echo points out. "So all of this is just conjuncture on my part, but I think he doesn't want to return because of something that might have happened in his past," she explains thoughtfully.

"Ohhh," Leonor says in understanding. "I got that feeling, too. Whenever I would ask him about his life in Praven, he always changes the subject on me."

"Whatever it is, he is hiding from it and he is using his duty as a paladin as his excuse." Echo shakes her head at the idea. "He is probably going to have to face whatever it is one day. Part of me wonders if he lost someone."

"I wondered that, too," Leonor says. "I don't know who, though. He doesn't talk about his family or friends back home. It could be just about anyone, I suppose."

"I get the feeling it was a child," Echo explains. "Maybe his own child, or a little brother or sister. It was just how he acted when we saved Sophia. He was so protective over her."

"It's possible," Leonor agrees. "The poor man. He has so much pain in him. I wish he would open up more."

"It takes a certain amount of trust in another person," Echo says. ~And he is probably the closest thing I have to a friend,~ she thinks to herself. She shakes her head out of that thought process. "I should probably check in with him, at any rate. Whenever your daughter wants to learn some magic, just send her my way, okay?" she says with a little smile before she walks off towards Hollidan, Keet in tow so that he doesn't get lost in the crowd.

"Yay, magic!" Sofia exclaims. "Pow, pow...boom!" she says, mimicking throwing fireballs from her free hand. She giggles.

Moving through the crowd, Keet in tow, Echo makes her way up behind Hollidan, who is near the front of the masses.

Echo grins slightly at the antics of the little girl. Though, that quickly fades as she comes up behind Hollidan. She leans over his shoulder a little bit, and says, "Boo."

Hollidan looks back over his shoulder toward Echo. "Are you a ghost now? Should I attempt to turn you?" he asks jokingly.

"You could give it your best shot," Echo says with a smirk. "But I would consider myself more of a vampire than just a simple ghost."

"That would explain the pale skin," Hollidan admits. "I think vampires are even harder to kill than ghosts, which is kind of weird, when you think about it."

"With ghosts being incorporeal and all, yes I suppose it doesn't make a lot of sense," Echo says. "It is all a holy thing which I don't quite understand completely myself anyway. Maybe they are harder to kill because they are more sentient than ghosts."