The lumbering brute rushing towards them gave Furnace considerable alarm.
Regardless what the double headed giant was planning, at this rate he was going to step on on Furnace's sword!
What a fool he had been for dropping it. Furnace shouted a warning "Don't walk there!" but the monster did not take note.
Without a though Furnace ran at him, or rather, the sword arms outstretched. He reached out with heat and cinders as he let magic flow forwards, setting fire to the corpses and rubble between him and the Ettin.

Torn armor, lost chains maxes and blades, scraps and rubble. The battlefield was littered with things that burnt and things that melt.
Red glowing landmines of liquid metal scattered across the field the Ettin was charging into. The epicenter of scorching pain placed several meters above the now glowing blade of Furnace. The growing ball of fire stood imposing in the path of the Ettin, at chest height and bright enough pierce eyes.

Unfazed by the heat and nimble enough to skip and jump between the molten death traps, Furnace bounded forwards, leaving a trail of glitter in his wake as kicked up sand turned to glass.
He didn't know if the creature was going to be willing to burn himself, all he had eyes for was his blade.

"We can't fight this many, we need to get to the townsfolk and leave."

Carver couldn't see the man who was shouting to him, but from the voice and the crossbow bolts that appeared in the chests of several goblins, he guessed it was Kelvin.

He was just preparing a response when the world caught fire.

A great roar came from the battlefield as piles of scrap metal melted into pools of lava. He could feel the heat even from here - if he stayed around this inferno, the knight would be cooked alive in his armor in a few minutes. Obviously, this was the work of whatever spellcaster had singed him earlier - now they were poised to burn the whole town down.

The scope of the battle had changed, he realized. There was more power at play here than the party was prepared to handle. Carver hated to run, but laying down his life now would be a pointless waste. The battle was lost; now he just needed to get everyone clear.

A proposition that was very suddenly made drastically more difficult when the gnome bounded into the heart of the fires - towards the Ettin. He was moving fast, faster than Carver could have managed even without armor. Well, he'd just have to hope the gnome slowed down, then.

He turned to Kelvin. "Get to the others, and get them and as many people as you are able out of the town and into the woods! Keep them safe! I'm going after the gnome! We'll meet you out there!"

With that, Carver took off running as fast as the sun's energy would allow him.

The town has been 95% destroyed

NPC survivors: 2

((Music))

The Ettin stayed it's course, roaring trough the blistering pain and swinging around a heavy flail.
Furnace pushed on also, along with the floating inferno before him.
Like a fiery game of chicken they rushed at each other.
With a groaning sound chains snapped as links softened and a glowing hot flail head plummeted into the crowd like a meteor strike.
Furnace shouted in dismay as he saw the brute step on his sword, kicking it into the dust and burning his foot in the process.
"Mine!" With a primal yell he threw himself forward while the flames launched into his point of focus.

Stepping on sharp and rapidly heating metal gave the brute pause for a moment, he lifted his foot but the softened metal had embedded itself and curved into the foot. Funace dove under the foot equal his size and grabbed hold of the hilt. With all his might he pulled the blade free, leaving conciderable traces of steel in the giants bare foot. The Ettin was thrown off balance and missed a swing with his club. Howling in pain the massive four eyed monster hopped on one leg. The earth shook each time his broad foot slammed down.

Furnace slashed wildly with the white hot metal, blood splatters in his eyes clouded his vision, so if it had any effect he didn't know it.. A piece of leather came flying by and whipped him on the left arm, reactively he grabbed the belt and was pulled up by the momentum of the flailing and spinning giant.
In a split second he saw himself fly past the man's chest, two heads stared at him with faces of rage, pain and frustration. The Ettin swung at him with the flail, Furnace grabbed and barely held on the pole, had the flail-head still been there he would have been hit right across the.. well everywhere as the flail-head was about his size.

Furnace dangled on the broken flailpole like a mariomet on tangled rope. He had no chance to think about how he got here, or what he was doing. All he knew was that this person needed to stop moving right now, if he was to make it out of this intact.
The Ettin trashed and shook the stick in an attempt to flick the annoyance away, unable to stand and in considerable pain. Furnace held on barely by wooden pole he felt turning to coal.
All around him he saw the bodies of creatures lying perfectly still, the one thing they all had in common was that they were damaged.
Perhaps enough pain will make you sleep? A long shot, but worth the try.
He clumsily held on to the sword with one hand, unable to swing it while being slung around.
The ground suddenly came a lot closer as the Ettin had worked out the brilliant plan of smaking him into the ground. A dull crack and a thurough jolt of pain informed Furnace that he was broken. Not burnt or cut, but broken. Like wood. Furnace didn't know that was possible. It was certainly an intresting development. Rushing wind and a confused sense of direction suggested he went up again. He opened his eyes to see a glimpse of the backs of two heads, and beyond that, red ground. Furnace felt himself become weightless, he felt tired. He let go of the staff and saw the Ettin become a little smaller before moving past him as he fell to the ground and rolled away.

He wiped the blood and ash from his eyes to see he had lost control of his furnace, the ball dissipated while small flames slowly spread across the battlefield unchecked. He felt like he'd channeled negative energy into himself by accident again. It made him nausious and sad somehow. But he did have his sword, as damaged as it was gripped tightly in his hand.

Between the legs of the Ettin he could see Carver aproach, weapon drawn. He wondered why Carver was zigzagging like that. And how the Ettin stood at that angle. And why those stars showed up in the daytime this time. Why he was so sleepy. Slowly Furnace slipped into unconciousness.

"Get to the others, and get them and as many people as you are able out of the town and into the woods! Keep them safe! I'm going after the gnome! We'll meet you out there!"
”Don’t die, Sun worshipper. We are going to need you.”
Kelvin nodded affirmatively, and turned away, only to find himself facing another force of goblins. They weren’t in a hurry, he was clearly outnumbered. He leveled a flat gaze with them, and slowly reached into his belt pouch and pulled out the dynamite, lighting it’s fuse easily in a nearby blaze. Thanks, little guy. Kelvin held it up and looked at the fuse mildly as it slowly burned down, the enemies creeping closer. He waited until just three wraps about the thumb of fuse were left before throwing it in an arc over the group, aiming for the center before turning and diving diving to the ground, hold an armored corpse up in front of him in protection.

A moment later, the blast seemed to shred through the air like a rabid animal through rotting leather, deafening and overwhelming even the sounds of the horde. Instantaneously, a wave of force pushing out bits of enemy, dead, armor, and dirt picked up Kelvin and his ‘body’shield, throwing them back a good ten feet.

He didn’t hesitate or stop to survey the damage, instead stumbling upright and charging straight through the temporary cloud of dirt and smoke and out the other side, only pausing to shoot those directly in his path. Once outside of the main crowd, Kelvin continued his run through the outskirts of town, only pausing to pound on the doors that were still closed. This could mean the insides were untouched, and the people as well.

”Out! We must abandon the city! Follow me if you want to live!”

Kelvin barely paused as he reached the woods proper before turning, running just within the cover of the trees along the border of the town. That ditsy mage had fled this direction, though if she was smart she would have kept going once she was out. If not her, maybe he could find Separ. It didn’t seem likely though, he must have been near the center of the chaos when it started.

Alula wasn't looking all that well.

Despite not sustaining a single bit of damage from the horde of goblins, she was fading fast. Or something was. She wasn't hovering quite as far off the ground, and several time she actually touched her feet to the ground as if trying to rebalance herself. She didn't speak to Vis, although she occasionally glanced over her shoulder, reaffirming for herself that the half elf hadn't moved or died.

And when Alula did speak it was in a strange language, no longer the common tongue. All of her words seemed disjointed and spacey, as she kept watch and made sure no straggling goblins spotted the spot where Vis was recovering.

Her glowing was fading as well, no longer as bright and blinding.

She could hear someone moving through the trees, and struggled to lift her staff and aim an attack. She never fired however, as she recognized Kelvin. The girl lowered her staff, muttering weakly.

"A man who tangles with death and yet never stays."

Once Alula had stopped turning around, Vis disappeared into the forest, giving the Oracle a wide birth so she could not spot him. He felt a bit more steady on his feet but still a bit shaky. He walked and then he started to jog and by the time he reached the edge of the forest he was sprinting, it seemed that magical healing had a delay when it came to pain reduction.

Once at the edge of the forest, Vis dropped to a crouch and winced, clutching his side an clamping his eyes shut, ‘so much for magic pain reduction.’ he thought to himself as he sank out of the tree line and into the outskirts of the town. As he snuck through the town, he heard yells and cheers as raiders celebrated the destruction of the town and the occasional scream of terror.

Slowly approaching the area of the bakery, Vis felt his heart sink to his stomach, there was a rising cloud of smoke coming from where he remembered the bakery to be and once he came around to the street where it operated, his hopes were dashed.

The building was blackened and charred, and the windows were smashed along with the doors. Vis crept in and went straight to the kitchen and tears stung his eyes as he saw the table flipped over and the hatch wide open, stumbling to the entrance, he hissed down into the basement.

“Any one thare?!” He got no reply, so he stuck his head in and illuminated the room with his green eye, he recoiled instantly and hurled not the floor, heaving until his stomach was empty. Every one was dead and the coppery smell of blood was all that came from the room down below. But Vis had to have hope, he climbed down into the space and regretted it as he splashed into a puddle of crimson. He looked around and bathed everything in a green light, they were all dead, butchered and their limbs strewn everywhere.

He was about to leave when he heard a meep, he turned to where he thought he heard it and saw the baker woman who had told him of the basement. She was beckoning weakly towards him, Vis quickly went to her side and dropped to his knees and gripped her hand.

“I’m thorry,” he whined, tears escaping his eyes, “please forgive me-“ her weak smile cut him off and she gripped her hand and nodded towards a crate in the corner.

“look after-” she rasped, Vis was about to ask what her what he was meant to look after but her eyes had already closed. He clamped his eyes shut and fought back more tears, before rising and approaching the box.

Lifting open the lid he was surprised at what was in side

Carver was burning. The heat from the inferno was cooking him alive inside his armor, and in a strange place in his mind outside lucid thought, he felt a brief pang of pity for all the roast chickens he had eaten in his life time.

A thunderous crack filled his eardrums, and a shockwave pushed into him from behind, bowling him off his feet. Perhaps Kelvin's work, or another display of power from the spellcaster? He hoped for the former as he struggled, unsteadily, to his feet. He was torn for a moment between continuing or returning to try and help the others. The gnome was in the most pressing danger - he carried on his course.

He could scarcely see from the blood and smoke in his visor, and so he held it as an act of divine providence (or perhaps profound luck) when he almost literally tripped across a small form laying prone in a pile of rubble. Either this was the gnome or a strangely-proportioned child; either way, they very certainly needed to be removed from this situation.

The ground shook nearby, and Carver just made out the silhouette of the Ettin a few meters away. A mighty blow landed, and Carver's armor was rained with chips of wood - apparently, the Ettin hadn't noticed the Paladin, and was preoccupying itself with destroying the village.

Carver, with as much stealth as a burning man clad in full plate armor could muster, bent over the gnome. He was agonizingly aware of the fact that his armor was more than hot enough to burn skin at the moment, so he grabbed a nearby curtain that was only burned a little, stamped the fire out of it, and swathed the unconscious gnome in it like the world's largest baby. Then, once more that day, the knight ran.

He ran until he could breathe without smoke filling lungs, until the cracking of burned wood faded into the distance. He coughed, still holding the gnome to his chest. His burns ached, hiw wounds bled, and his eyes told him that they wanted to close. He told them to shut up.

There were trees here. Carver coughed again, and called out hoarsely: "Alula! Kelvin! Separ! Are you there?"

Alula had noticed as Vis tried to sneak away. The half elf wasn't exactly graceful, crashing through the forest on weak legs. Her magic really only worked its best when the injured person stayed still, like she had requested of Vis. She wasn't sure why Vis wanted to return to the destroyed town, and yet she didn't seem to care. At least, most of Alula didn't care. There was the gentle, frantic, voice in the back of her mind. Begging herself to pursue the man before he got himself hurt again.

“We have healed him once. It is his own fault if he returns to the fighting. We can no longer afford to endanger the girl.”

And then an explosion shook the ground. The force of it, even from so far away, shook Alula. She lost focus for a moment, almost loosing her trance. It took considerable effort to keep herself hovering above the ground, and the light in her eyes continually flickered out.

“We are loosing energy. We should not have healed the half-elf. We leave ourselves vulnerable. We should leave before anything dangerous continues.”

But before the girl could float herself away from the burning town, as well as the new companions she had acquired, something stopped her. A voice. And it said a name. Her name. Her real name. Her eyes flickered for a few moments, like a strobe light, before illuminating again. The paladin was in distress, and he was holding someone of equal distress. She hovered her way over to him, appearing between trees like a ghost.

“The girl is unharmed and she is glad to see you are alive.”

Alula looked around, back towards the town.

“The half-elf ran back in, if you are wise you will not follow him. You should sit down, and wait for the commotion in the town to die down.”

The Ettin watched as the people had raced out of the town, but he was to be tending to his burned and scarred foot to chase after. The rest of the raiders cheered and began looting the rest of the town. As Vis opened the crate, he heard a wimper and saw a small girl sitting inside.

The half-elf was still in the town, with the fire and the Ettin and the raiders. Maybe there were others, too; townsfolk who were still alive but couldn't make it out on their own.

Carver set Furnace down gently and turned around. "He's hurt," he murmured to the girl. "He needs... help... I'll be back in a few... minutes."

He took a step, then another, then a third. This wasn't so hard. Walking was just step after step, after all. Vis and the others were practically rescued already. He was getting quite close to the town now, he was certain - why, he could see the lights from the fires right in front of his eyes. Now he just had to find the half-elf, and everything would be grand.

All these thoughts and more ran through the knight's head as he collapsed to the ground at Alula's feet, about a meter away from where he had placed the gnome.

Carver tried to push himself back up as he'd done so many times during the day, but found he hadn't the strength. Failing that, he began to crawl, hand on knee, back towards the village. This was somewhat slower, but slow and steady won the race. The half-elf would be rescued, as sure as sure could be.

The darkness closed in on the knight slowly and then immediately. A few feet later, he stopped crawling.

Alula was here, but no one else. She was muttering about something though. Seemed to be running out of floating magic too. This wasn't great. If he was going to die with someone, it should be someone more sane than himself.
”We need to get moving further from -” And here came Sir Carver. Praise the Sun.... or not. The lump dropped off the wounded midget and then tried to crawl off back to town. Typical paladins; never there when you needed them. Kelvin rolled the armored figure on his back and unlatched the helmet, hissing at its heat as he slid it off. The other man would need to breath. Kelvin left him and eyed the gnome. Nothing he could do there.

”It is dangerous, but we can't afford to carry all of these.” Kelvin turned to Alula. ”I am going to work on a rough shelter, but don't light any fires. We don't need any attention.... besides, with any luck all the invaders will stick around to loot and be off by morning.”

With that said, Kelvin went about gathering fallen branches and using the shears to clip some bushes. It was just a puzzle, and he was good at those. First, pick an area with close trees, and then use the larger branches as a frame that supports itself. Next, layer on some of the medium sized ones to obstruct vision more, and use the bushes as a light covering to conceal the constructed nature of it all. Luckily, he already had visualized what he wanted.

He stood back to look it over, sighing. What he wouldn't give for a saw. It was basically just two rough walls of foliage facing town, with no roof. It was shelter from prying eyes at least. If it started to rain he could put up his tarp. First though... Kelvin moved to the paladin and grabbed him under his arms. Damn was he heavy. He gritted his teeth and dragged the man tug by tug behind the shelter. He picked up the gnome as well and laid him down carefully next to the knight.

”I have half a mind to just leave.” Kelvin grumbled and let his bag down off of his shoulder, slumping to the ground and examining his crossbow for damage. ”So, madam oracle of the flashy lights, I would suggest you take a nap. It only takes one of us to keep watch.”

The girl was panicking again.

"please. he is hurt we have to help him. He brought this upon himself. Paladins are reckless monsters. He's a sun lover, no reason to help."

She looked down at Furnace as Carver attempted to crawl away.

"This one is even more reckless. But he is already watched over, he does not need our help."

Kelvin was a nice change of pace. He was uninjured and willing to make a shelter for the hurt. Alula didn't offer to help, knowing that she wouldn't be able to do much anyway. His actions were well placed, as if he had done this before. The shelter would provide enough for the weak, hopefully the others would find them. And yet the girl still panicked.

"please can't we try and heal them? The little one is going to be fine, and we refuse to waste energy on the sun monster. please. And besides we need to reserve the last of our energy on protecting you."

Alula turned to Kelvin, bright eyes burning.

"We cannot rest until the danger has passed. It is too dangerous for the girl. And she wishes to see the safe return of her companions before she sleeps."

She paused, turning away from Kelvin and looking out into the woods for signs of the others.

"and besides. The moon is not out yet."

At first Vis was shocked, 'a little girl?!' he wasn't sure how to react to the presence of the red-headed child in the crate. So slowly he leaned in and extended a hand, "My name with-" he was cut off by the feeling of cold steel pushed up against his diaphragm, the blade finding it's way between his arm segments.

"W-where's momma?" stuttered the girl, looking up into Vis' eyes with a pair of broken ones, tears running down her white face and leaving red streaks, "What did you do to her?!" Vis gulped and slowly brought his hand to her one, she flinched and pushed the blade a little harder but from how tensely she was holding it, he knew she wouldn't stab him. Vis placed his hand on her knife holding hand and shook it softly so that the knife tumbled form her trembling fingers.

Slowly her lips started to quiver and she burst into tears, clutching onto his arm and weeping into it, gasping for breath and crying. Vis didn't know how to react, "I wanth you thoo clothe your eyeth, ok?" he asked her gently though his scarf, she nodded and clenched her eyes closed, she knew what was outside, the stench if death made it clear, but she couldn't bare looking. Vis slowly dropped his other and in and picked her up, grabbing her from under her arm pits and lifting her out, carrying her on him in a way where he could keep an arm around her and she could clutch into his with her arms and legs.

Vis emerged from the basement and hushed the little girl, remembering the soft curses of his mother's handed mimicing it in her back, making her quiet down. Soon they were in the forest and the moment they were out of earshot of the town, she spoke, "What happened to momma?"

Vis pondered an answer for a second and tried to answer in a way that would be softer on her, "She ith thick."

"Will she get better?" asked the little girl, Vis shook her head and her body slumped against his and she fell quiet until she spoke again, once they were deeper in the forest, "Im Khat."

"Vith." Replied Vis, hoping she would understand that it was Vis with an 'S' and not a 'Th', she nodded slowly and clutched onto him as she heard voices. Vis broke into the clearing where the others were and he held her tighter, out of some deep instinct he had not felt before. Vis looked like hell, his legs were drenched in blood and he was covered in ash but otherwise he was ok.

Alula could tell that Vis was approaching far before he entered the clearing. And yet she was confused. He carried an extra burden with him, of which she did not know. Alula growled. Her staff keeping her propped above the ground. She rubbed her forehead weakly. Her powers were already in a weakened state. If she tried to find out what was happening with the half elf before she was given a chance to rest she would be putting Alula in danger.

"The half elf returns."

She spoke clearly, over her shoulder at Kelvin.

And when Vis broke through the trees to the clearing Alula's expression changed, rather rapidly. Her eyes flashed like strobes. Her face changed from rage, to horror, to joy and then back to expressionless. The half elf had a child. She couldn't tell if his actions were selfish or selfless. To save a child and then bring her into the danger. The oracle remained still, letting Vis approach the group.

"This miserable world is full of wonders and tragedy, and to none is it more apparent then the children it holds."

She looked up and down Vis, his injuries seemed to be contained and fine. Her healing would be able to hold him over for awhile. What she was really worried about was the girl. Her physical injuries were few, she would be able to heal them easily. But the worst was her emotional damage. Alula could feel every grip of sadness, every anxious shake. She felt them and they felt like her own.

She felt a loss for words.

"The others are resting over there. You should join them."

Khat held on tighter to Vis when she heard words, afraid. Though she barely knew the man that she was currently clutching on to, she felt safer with him then she felt in the crate and that satisfied her. "I'm noth thired." Said vis looking into the eyes of the floating oracle with a look of wonder. She looked so strange in this elevated form, Vis looked down at the child in his arms, "Her name with Khat." he stressed the 'T' sound, biting into it so that it sounded like a 'T' and not like a 'th'.

Khat lifted her head form the half-elf's shoulder and looked up at Alula with wonder, her mouth slightly ajar as she tilted her head up to bask in her aura, "Vis, what is she?" she asked, her eyes turing form awe to scrutiny.

Vis stopped to think for a moment, that was a good question and he didn't know how to answer it, "How abouth you athk her?"

"What are you?" she asked, holding onto Vis tighter again and anticipating what the strange floating woman might have to say, she sniffled, trying to find a way to distract herself from her sadness.

When Vis informed her that he was not tired she was ready to leave the conversation. She turned away, perhaps to go check on the others. She wasn't particularly good with children. Or really anyone for that matter. It didn't help that she wasn't entirely herself at the moment. She inwardly cringed when she heard the child and Vis whisper back and forth to each other. She wanted to know what she was.

She turned back around, looking slightly irritated.

"What we are" she spoke in a pointed voice. "Is a being more powerful then you coul-"

She suddenly stopped talking, her expression changing again from anger to a look of tranquility and kindness. She drifted slightly closer to Vis and Khat. She touched her feet gently to the ground, soft bursts of light floating through the grass. She crouched down in front of Khat, wanting to make herself on the same level as the child. The powerful and kind voice spoke through Alula.

"My dear child, what we are is not so important right now." She smiled softly. "Time will tell. What you need to know right now is that the girl is rather excited to meet you." She slowly stood up, more soft bursts of light erupting as she pushed herself back into the air. "There will be more time for talking once all this...destruction...is over."

She moved away from the girl, giving a final smile to Vis and the girl, before her expression changed to one of disinterest again.

Furnace found himself floating in a delicous bowl of warm soup. Birdcalls and muffled screams played on loop in the distance.

"hello again. It has been a while has it not?"

Furnace recognised the voice well.
"It sure has. I've seen so much since last time."
"I predicted your freedom did I not?"
The hollow voice grinned without mouth or body, yet it's emotions were clear to Furnace.
"You did! And I discovered plants. And food, and friends, and fights and-"
"Fights. Yes."
The voice interupted Furnace sternly.
"And now you've gone and broken yourself you fool."
...
"I discovered that too. I can just repair it right?""And what if you break yourself too much one day? To an extent you can't be fixed?"
...
"I hadn't thought of that. What happens then? Will I remain broken?"
"That is something you will have to find out. Remeber you are more similar to these new.. friends of yours than you are to me."
"The friends have given me names for me to call them by. Will you give me yours?"
...
"Not until you know your own. Little Furnace. For now go do what you do best. You have barely used any of your potential. Nor have you even
touched your negative reserves."
"What good is the negative energy!? All it does is hurt!""Ask... the Taster of Smiles."

"Who is the taster of smiles!?"
Furnace cringed trough the second part of the last sentence. A sharp sting in his shoulder informed him he was awake. Covered in sweat and panting from the exhausting pain he crawled out of the cloth he was wrapped in. As he looked around he saw trees and some of his new friends.

He had no idea where he was. But judging by the marks on Carvers skin and armor he had been near him. Was he broken? Was he going to stay broken? He crawled over to the damaged paladin and unceremoneously let himself drop next to him, laying on his back with his good arm on Carver.

Slowly he let energy flow from his hands and onto the fallen knights burns. Jolts of golden bright danced along fields of blistered skin until layers reattached, senew regrew and colors turned the right shade of bronze pink.

Meanwhile Furnace looked to the other side the strange scented man build something impressive.
"Hello again. I'm awake and soon I'll help you build.. that..
But first can you help me?"
With his head he nodded at his bloody arm.
"I need to repair this. But as is the core will not attach properly. I don't want a crooked arm because I fear it won't work as well. Can you hold it while I pump it full of positive energy?"

When Carver came to, he was struck by the sensation of not being on fire. He took a moment to appreciate how fine it was to not be immolated, then sat up quickly, his head swimming.

He'd passed out. Weak. Selfish. Failure. Carver shook his head in an attempt to clear his brain of these thoughts. There would be time for self-loathing later, but not after everyone who could be saved had been.

The knight examined the structure he'd been hidden behind for a moment. It was well-constructed, though obviously done in a hurry. Carver suspected Kelvin might be behind its creation - he wasn't sure who else could have thrown it together. He felt a pang of gratitude for the man who had risen to the occasion when Carver's strength had failed him. His was a noble example, indeed.

He rose, shakily, and brought his gloved hands up to touch his unhelmed face. No burn marks. Alula's handiwork, or maybe Furnace's - once again, those he was meant to be protecting seemed to be protecting him. He'd have to do better.

His head pounding, Carver stepped back into the clearing and was struck by two sights. One, Furnace was conscious, and conversing with Kelvin a short distance away; and two, Vis had returned, bringing with him someone new - a child, staring at Alula with rapt wonder.

Kelvin and Furnace's efforts required thanks, thanks he would be sure to give them sooner rather than later. However, for the moment Carver was concerned with the health of the others - Alula, who had displayed such uncharacteristic power, and the girl, whose home had obviously just been burned down.

"My lady!" he called out to Alula, managing not to wince from his soreness as he sauntered over to her. "Are you unharmed? I must offer my most sincere apologies for collapsing, as I did. It was... unbecoming of a knight, and will not happen again."

He gave a warm smile to the girl and dropped down to a crouch to look her in the eyes. "And who's this one? Child, do not fear. No harm will come to you, not now. I am Sir Carver, Knight of the Sun, and I am very pleased to meet you."

Suki grimaced as she sat up. Alright, it seems she was going to have to drain someone soon. As she thought about this, her eyes had drifted over towards the man who had carried her out of the town. No, best not to take him yet...perhaps she'll find someone soon. Besides, he did not look like he could take a kiss from her and live, even if she wasn't trying to kill him.

Muttering softly under her breath, "Saving someone like me was a waste of time.", she glanced back towards the rubble of the town. Her scythe was still back there. Although she could probably summon and assign an undead to bring it to her, not did not seem like the right time to do so. Turning towards Separ, she smiled. "I'm pretty certain that Kelvin and the paladin would keep everyone else safe. After all, you've only just gathered us today. It would be a horrible joke of the divines to kill us all off." Attempting to reassure the man, Suki looked around.

Now that they were semi-safe, they would probably have to find the rest. Although running away now, while the paladin wasn't around, wasn't such a bad thought either.