*******************Group A (Brisa, Argurios, Jatan, Aiden)*******************
[img]http://i.imgur.com/8lECyY5.jpg[/img]

The cool of evening was a vast relief to the four children crammed into the small boat.  The adrenaline of their escape had worn off, and while the crash hit each of them differently they all felt it.  Brisa felt like she had just been present at the casting of a vast magic, like when she helped Autry enchant her house for protection.  Every bit of her was drained away and she slumped in the boat.  She was bone weary, her eyes barely open, and her chin rested on the satchel she still clutched tightly in her arms.  

The river was wide, the current slow and sluggish, but it was steadily taking them away from the danger of Loudwater.  That was all that was important at the moment.  After they had piled into the skiff, packed rather tightly together with the bags of gear that Argurios had procured, they had pushed off from the bank.  The current had grabbed them and slowly pulled them further away.  Brisa didn't look back, afraid of what she might see.  

The river ran through the edge of town, and since the kids were still in danger of being caught, they pulled the oilskin tarp over themselves and huddled, best they could, in the bottom of the boat.  It was hot, sticky with humidity, and terribly uncomfortable.  Fortunately the river was doing the work and they could sit in misery without speaking or moving much.  Anyone who saw them would just think it was a boat that was adrift, and while they might have once leaped in to tow it to shore, the townsfolk were simply too distracted at the moment. 

So for three-quarters of an hour the children drifted downriver, in silence and steaming discomfort, hidden under the tarp.  When the finally felt it safe the pulled back the tarp, breathing deeply in relief as the fresh air cooled their sweat soaked bodies.  Tired and pain filled as they were however, and with the humid heat of the river soon pressing upon them, they remained lethargic.  They had been injured, some quite badly, during the escape from the city and that and the stress had taken its toll.  It was not until the sun began to set that they started to revive.  Soon it would be dark, and drifting in the dark would be problematic...if there were rapids, or rocks, or worse in the water.  They would have to do something to be safe through the night.  

**************************Group B (Mia & Divine)**************************
[img]http://i.imgur.com/GBnuHgd.jpg[/img]

The City of Scomber had fallen silent, unnaturally so.  Once a bustling city,  situated on prime trade routes, it was now silent and still. Not a being moved, even the animals had deserted it.  All that lay within its walls now were the few dead, and the ghosts of memories.  It was far too large a city for its demise to go unnoticed, however many of the cities and towns nearby were experiencing some of the same problems.  The distances to the unaffected settlements were vast, and the news wouldn't travel as fast as one might think.  So for now the lonely city stood on its own, the last two children left alive having deserted it themselves. 

It was two days of steady travel on the Black Road, east and north, following the path the priests had been known to take.  For that was the only thing out of the ordinary, the only thing different in all the time, that could possibly be connected to the unknown attack.  If attack it could even be called for there were no signs of a struggle, no indications of resistance.  Everyone had simply vanished.  Save three, three were undeniably dead.  But the rest...the rest might still be alive, somewhere, maybe.  If they looked maybe they could find answer; and the best bet was to start with the strange visitors.  

Though neither was used to traveling, the wide trade road was easy to follow and the trees were thin enough that clearings could be found with ease.  Additionally as it paralleled the river fresh water was always in abundance.  The weather had been comfortably mild, the days got a little warm and the nights a shade too cool but overall it was not bad.  That left only food, and though they had supplied themselves before they left, the food had to be rationed for who knew when the next town would appear on the horizon.