Zal glanced around one final time to make sure there wasn't any stirring bandits, before he answered the summons of both Rhaedin and the old man. However, as he heard about how the Ent was the guardian of the village, his teeth gritted. [i]Why, in the name of all that is worshiped in this land, didn't the [b]fucking tree[/b] save the town himself![/i] But of course, he didn't say this aloud. It wouldn't have been prudent, after all. Not with Rhaedin around and the fact that the townsfolk and others would have immediately leapt to the conclusion that he didn't want to save the village. It would have been a mess that would have required far to much effort to clean up. So, he kept his silence and his complaints to himself, before walking over to the nearest couple of bandit corpses and grabbing them by their limbs(wrist and ankle, to be precise.) and dragging them out. He'd get his amulet from Elrithian later. 

Right now, get rid of the corpses, take whatever Matthias gave them, and then head on their way. And, likely, stop and help other villages who could have been helped by their friendly guardian who was a giant walking tree with lots of fairy friends. Because, that's what they do now. Obviously. Not, you know, help the Angardians stop another war between themselves and the Cherods. With a sigh, the S'ilthra muttered to himself, "I shouldn't have taken this offer. Bad idea all around, I could feel it at the time. But no..I had to take the promise of [i]interesting[/i] events. Well, I certainly got those!"

He fell silent, dragging the corpses behind him. It wouldn't change anything to complain now, even if it did make him feel better. As he was dragging the corpses away from the tavern to be eaten by the local wildlife, he noticed Sid wandering past him. The dog seemed to be searching. Still dragging his morbid burden, Zal followed the path of the his dog while he did so. Maybe Sid would find something interesting. And hopefully far less lethal than a bunch of bandits. Or a monster. [i]That would be the icing on the cake, wouldn't it? A monster, after all this.[/i] Zal's thoughts were broken by the sound of Sid's tail smacking bushes and foliage. Then, he saw the glint of a knife in the moonlight. Before he could do anything more than drop the corpses, however, a loud shout of 'puppy!' broke the silence. 

The next thing Zal knew, Sid was on his back enjoying both a vigorous belly rub and a bit of jerky from the person he had found. Walking over and creating a ball of flames in his hand Zal asked, slightly exasperatedly, "And who might you be?" Sid looked up at him with a none-to-remorseful woof. Then the dog went back to groaning in pleasure.