It's all right, Ashgan; you warned me that it would be like this for a while, and since the only one you've really been playing with is me, nothing in particular has been delayed besides Jillian's own storyline. I don't terribly mind inactivity as long as it's expected so that I can compensate for it, if need be, or just know that I don't have to worry. Frankly I'm just thrilled to be able to continue that part of the story at last! Personally I think I like Jillian and Gerald's story better than the companions' story at the moment, actually, because the two of them are so horrendously ill-equipped for the situation they're in and, despite doing their absolute best - Gerald mainly by analyzing how they could be as useful as possible, Jillian with sheer raw magical power - , they still lost. The companions have had it rough, sure, and have accumulated more than their fair share of physical and mental scars, but they've always managed to beat the odds. Don't get me wrong, I like that as well... it's just that there's a certain beautiful realism to the fact that sometimes your best attempt is still not good enough, and that even if you're the good guy, even if you do all the right things, one little detail can make the difference between triumph and defeat, in this case the fact that no one managed to reach Kevalorn.
Another thing that excites me about this is that it's so very different from what happened in a similar scenario in my novel! The battles were similar yet opposite, with vastly different outcomes that will affect the Planes on a huge scale. One of the main characters of the novel died in this battle, actually, along with several story-driving NPCs... not to mention that the Anaxim Forest has been destroyed and Hazzergash is still at large. It's entirely new terriroty for me. I love it!

And you picked a near-perfect time to end your hiatus too, with sartorous making his return and all.
Speaking of which: @sartorous: Yes, which I would prefer... that is the question, is it not? Slowing the story even further by playing out a sequence between Salas and Crone, possibly even desynchronizing his and Jillian's timelines even more than they potentially already are, or allowing a quick processing and conclusion to that part at the cost of a semi-important character only committing generic actions during it...
Neither option really appeals to me, actually, so I suggest a third one: Salas was injured severely enough during the battle (he could possibly even have been hit by one of Kevalorn's attacks but narrowly survived) that he lost consciousness and has been comatose in Gariel Downs since then. Crone will then find him like that, as the forest still burns around them, and therefore opt to evacuate him first - teleporting to the Jillian/Gerald scene - and [I]then[/I] healing him, enabling him to regain his health and consciousness. That would negate the need of an IC sequence taking place in the burning/burnt Anaxim Forest altogether, as it would just be a matter of me writing a post of Crone arriving and healing him (it may take a couple of posts at most, but it should be quick), and then you reassuming control of him as he regains consciousness.
How does that sound?