The explosion had thrown Torrens back as much as it did the priest of Caldor, although unlike the Caldorian priest he was immune to physical injury, so he was able to stand back up again. Standing and intact though he was, the effort exerted and the blow taken had reduced Torrens' incandescence below visible levels in this fire-lit alley and his hue had changed to a appreciably darker shade of red. He noticed that the priest was on the brink of death- his body not torn apart by the explosion but his head mortally wounded from and impact against a wall. He also saw the priest utter one last spell. His eyes followed the flow of smoke to a point above his head, where it formed an utterly monstrous black cloud. Torrens had barely started running when the cloud dived, but he was not able to outrun that beast and was swallowed whole.

Blackness. The thick layer of soot, tar and ash covering his entire body made it impossible for Torrens to see and dulled the rest of his perception. However, the priest had erred in assuming this would kill him, or even harm him. Torrens did not store his energy has live fire, and so required no oxygen. Instead, it was stored as thermal energy, which could not be smothered or destroyed, only lost and transferred. One interesting side effect that he noted was that the covering over his body acted as an excellent insulator, such that almost all his passive heat loss had stopped. However, the insulation also meant that he couldn't conjure any fire or absorb heat from outside. It would have to go.

Being blind and having his movement restricted made any attempt at doing anything very difficult, and that the enchantment on the smoke lingered for some time made it impossible for him to make any progress for about a minute. However, with the caster dead and the smoke dispersing, the magic soon began to fade, and it was not long before Torrens had managed to scrape enough tar off his face for him to see again.

Having reached that milestone, Torrens was able to assess the situation. Single-handedly, he had managed to kill what must have been one of the town's champions, and of that he was proud, but the main battle was not over yet. Athinar was fighting a mighty knight, and much of the guard force and priests remained. However, in this state Torrens could not help. He was too weak, and needed to recharge first. Spotting a nearby column of smoke lit by a large fire from below, Torrens approached the burning buildings, scraping off more of the tar as he went. Into what had been some hall he entered, basking in the inferno which had earlier engulfed the building. As he absorbed, the fire grew ever hotter and hungrier in order to keep up with demand. After only a minute the building had been so consumed by this fire that it collapsed and the fire died down as fuel ran short.

Refreshed, and mostly clean, Torrens jogged back to the main street. By now the champion Athinar was facing would probably be dead, and all that should remain would be the guards and ordinary priests, which would not present a major challenge. Shukra's orcs might have managed to make it to the battle by now as well, which would make even shorter work of the remaining resistance. But Torrens didn't mind having to go to do this bit of cleaning up. It should be easy enough to be enjoyable, even.