It was a horrible sight to say the least, and really, most of the people seemed stricken by it. Elrithos, knowing the history of these woods and what he was seeing before him, even Lissandra would be down on her knees in tears. The desert elf got off his horse and silently prayed for the poor souls that had been ravaged by whatever dared to do this. Of course, he couldn’t ignore the words of the Red-Haired warrior or Vordan. He could honestly say he knew nothing of the creatures that might have done this kind of thing, although the dead trees and the burnt ones were probably not done by something said natural. Was it abyssal or undeath? That seemed quite farfetched, then again, not impossible. With that in mind, he remained silent and in prayer.

Vordan heard the Tirian laugh at him. He could go ahead and laugh all he wanted. The mercenary knew he might be way off, but it simply seemed that way. Whatever did this was clearly not of this world. Yes, it could have been it attack, but the dead trees and how things were burnt, it couldn’t simply be an orc attack. Something greater was at work. In all cases, he would be ready. He finally scavenged his bag to get a couple vials and flasks on his belt, made sure they were secure before he closed his bag up and had his crossbow and the ready. It was still relatively fresh, which meant that the attack wasn’t that long ago. Some might say he wasn’t showing much sympathy, and it was true. He wasn’t going to do it until he was safe. He had his weapon raised, simply looking around, making sure nothing would jump them.

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It truly was a quiet ride to their next resting site. Both Elrithos and Vordan had been on high alert since they had seen that mindless defiling of the forest. They couldn’t be too far, and yet, it seemed like they would never come either. They had made it through another day, even if it was one that created heavy emotions. Elrithos did as he always did first, letting the equipment off of his horse and letting it graze on the grass. He had been worried for the wood elf as she seemed pained by what she had seen. He could not blame her, yet it was painful to see her in such a way. It was like robbing graves to these people and it was a great sign of disrespect that no one should dare give. But was he going to talk to her about it? No… It wasn’t time to make the wounds worst. With a quiet sigh, he simply went to the campfire to meditate in silence.

Vordan did as he usually did; retreated to a tree away from the group, in his vials and his book. It seemed to be a recurring theme with him. He was actually quite glad no one would question him about it. IT made things so much easier. He could do his experiments without having people question his work. Wasn’t that just great? Indeed… It was taking advantage of the situation too. Did he feel bad for her? Yes… Was he going to cry and moan about it? No. He had no time for that. And so, he revised his mixture with the blue flame inside, re-reading the ingredients and putting up multiple theories on how the thing worked. It kept him busy for a while.

That changed when he saw that Aaerynn and Tirian walked off to go talk. What now? He wondered… Probably just talking to someone about her situation… But why him? Logically, Elrithos would have been a much better choice than him. Was it for something else? He truly didn’t know, but it was obviously something that didn’t seem to be important for everyone to know. As always. With a sigh, he kept looking around the camp. What a lousy sight. And so, he was left to his things.

---
Elrithos was able to catch some rest from this emotional night; Vordan too was able to catch some sleep. Well, whatever sleep could be caught. It wasn’t long for the desert elf to awake, as he felt something grab him. His eyes shot open and immediately put his hand forth to grab the scrawny arm of a goblin about to slit his throat open… Then he realized there were much more of them beside him coming him to hold him down. That’s when he heard the calls, the taunts. The Aavikanian kicked the first one away and then rolled towards his weapons before getting to his feet at an impressive speed. He immediately went to action as he started retaliating on the goblins attack, holding off what he could on his side.

Vordan didn’t seem to be the main target, and since he was a little ways away, he wasn’t noticed right away. And so, when he heard the screams, he shot to his feet, grabbing his cross bow and swinging his great sword strap over his shoulder. He didn’t have his chest plate on, but still had his chain gauntlet on his left hand. He stepped forward and saw the madness unfold before him… A horde of these creatures were swarming the place. Vordan quickly put down the crossbow as it would be useless and in the way for now. He drew his blade and charged forth to go help the others… but was stopped by two orcs, swooping in for a deadly strike. Vordan parried hard… Feeling a sudden jolt to his heart… He counter attacked and knocked the other two of their feet, stabbing them quickly to finish them off… But he felt a sudden drop in his energy as his knees started to tremble. What was happening?

Goblins came in and knocked him down to his feet, but didn’t stay on him and moved over to the next targets… Vordan couldn’t understand, his vision became blurry and his chest hurt. He tried to make sense of his situation, but his head pounded. He could barely hear what was happening around him, and his eyes rose, revealing the massive creature. A troll… What? Vordan felt like this was a dream… The sensations were so surreal. He saw the arms come up of the beast, and then someone joined him… The Syndarean? Serna? What was she… And then, the barrier came up. He could feel the magic vibrate as the troll hit the barrier. Trolls… Orcs… Goblins… Wasn’t it what… Vordan was completely out of it. He seemed unable to do much as he still couldn’t think clearly with that pain in his chest.

Then, the screams of pain… Serna was… But… Vordan was still so confused and he shook his head. It was then that others came to their aid and that Aaerynn pulled him out of the melee. It was then he realized what was happening to him. The potion… The potion was making him this way. His theory proved right. And he didn’t fulfill it. When he was set down, he closed his eyes and breathed slowly. He didn’t have any of his main weapons, but he had something. He drew his dagger and smashed the hilt against his chest… His heart rate came back to normal within seconds… His vision coming to… His mind taking in all the information. Troll. Fire. Trian. Crackles. His eyes finally focused on the beast coming forth. Blue fire!

Vordan got to his feet and pulled out the vial with the blue flame. That’s what it did! Seeign that no one was paying attention to him; he whispered two words to himself. [b][i][u]‘’Capitulum. Accendo.’’[/b][/i][/u] He then threw the mix towards the giant troll coming towards them… The glass container shattered in mid-air, passed Tirian as a huge ball of blue flame created itself from the shattered container. It engulfed the troll and stick to his skin… The mixture was a flame that sticks to living tissue. It made so much more sense now. And since trolls wore next to nothing… It would be consumed by it quickly… But the other creatures around… Vordan feel to his knees as he felt his magic had drained him again.

Elrithos came towards the group, slicing down any opponent in his way. You could see a trail of littered bodies from where he had been. Miraculously, he had not a single wound on him, even without his armor. He had seen everything unfold and came to the group, speaking briefly. [b]‘’I’ll take care of the rest of them. You guys get back and bandage up.’’[/b] He ran back forth, fighting unlike any other fighter before, his movements precise and deadly.