Under the request of Saliman, Hem stays at the School and works to heal those wounded in battle.

One day while wandering around the nearly empty Turbansk, Hem meets an orphaned girl called Zelika, whose parents were killed by the dark army of the Nameless One.

As Hem, Saliman, Zelika and Irc travel South to remain safe from the Black Army, they pass through an ancient underground city.

At the nearest hideout yet to be discovered by Sharma's army, the Pit, they stop.

When the chance came, he was already in the city where the Iron Tower was, and he found out that he had been tracking Zelika's brother all that time.

They met up with Saliman later and Hem is told that Zelika never even set foot in the camp—they had found her body mauled in the woods and did the best they could to honor her death.

It is speculated that Zelika and Hem might have loved one another, but their time together is cut short when she attempts to rescue her brother, Nisrah.