You wave your goodbyes to the poor immolated dryad and hike back through the gorge to the village. The village is much as you left it: singers in the tower and other Seela going about their business.
Both Tiljann and Vuhl witness your return and as you head back into Papuvin's cave for a brief rest, Torrent drops down onto a pallet and asks: "Well, what now? Alric seems to want to draw the blade, and I take it, given that he has now bonded the fate of the first tree to his very soul, Hrimr agrees. I expect we'll receive visits from that idealistic young woman and the morbid Vuhl any time now. So, where does everyone else stand? Personally I want out of here and would prefer if these villagers did not have to die in the process. I say we take a swim and free the beast. If it cannot then persuade the Seela to cease their song and the entity to depart peaceably, then I say we slay it. What say you?"