[b][u]The Hegemony of Dal'Guatha, The Ruins of Trenon[/b][/u]

The smell of burnt flesh and wood affronted her senses, while the air felt full of ash. Neither were present, such was the nature of the spell that had ripped through the town. It was if the damage remained in another realm, just beyond the grasp of those on the current plain. It wasn't the weirdest experience Maria had undergone in her years as a student of the arcane arts and it barely phased her, it would have been far worse to deal with actual fires and corpses, she felt. Hopefully imaginary ash couldn't poison you either.

The wind was real though, and the loose robe wrapped around her form rippled with it, her face only visible through the gap of her hood, even if with the rush of air pressing her clothing to her, the form beneath was not hard to guess at. Even with the vast amount of magical displacement in the air, the draconic illusion she wrapped herself in remained without flaw, it was an easy spell, and one she was particularly apt at. A courtly fashion she personally reveled in. Now wasn't the time to contemplate such matters, instead, they were here to deal with a crisis. Legionnaires fanned out in front of her, royal guards trained by countless drills and battles moved ahead of the royal figure, sweeping through the ruined village in search of any threat. She had already guessed there would be none, baring the individual at its centre.

"What have you done?" It was as much an accusation as a genuine question, while there was no evidence of such, the entire population of the village was gone, and already the blame was circulating, that the Hegemony's most unhinged magical user had finally put the lives of its citizen so far behind his own studies as to slay them for the purpose of either his own enjoyment, or some twisted experiment. The fire of her eyes burnt into the back of the crouched figure, although he allowed a handful of dirt to drift into the wind before he turned and stood to respond.

"Myself? Nothing, I am just as interested in what events transpired as yourself, most interested." He frowned slightly as he looked around, nostrils flaring at the uneasy, and false smell created by the arcane power infusing the village.

"Interested? I am appalled, these were loyal citizens of the throne, gone, this is not some twisted game to play with me, you may be my greater in our studies, but I will bring the wrath of the Hegemon upon you, do not doubt it High-Magos." There was an element of emotional struggle in her voice, she had often looked for guidance from the strange but wise draconian and she couldn't quite ignore their growing friendship, despite the evidence surrounding them.

"They are not 'gone', they are dead." He approached her, momentarily halted by two of the legion, she dismissed them, not that they could have halted the high-magos if he'd have been willing to go through them, although, given the situation, he refrained from approaching her beyond a few meters, instead throwing a clear blue orb to her, which she caught and examined. The sight sent a chill up her spine, visible within the orb was another version of the village, in which the fires and ash were real, and corpses lay all around.

"It seems a highly powerful magic user 'has' been experimenting, a very useful enchantment, if it can be refined, to imprison individuals, perhaps that is what they were trying to do, perhaps they wished to kill, I shall have to investigate matters further."

"They will think you did this, I am not sure this is not just another trick, and I am not a distrustful citizen, that and your lack of....empathy, will not aid matters." She handed him back the orb, crossing the distance to place it in his hands, ignoring the usual decorum when facing a potential threat, she highly doubted she would still be alive if a being of his power had wanted to kill her at this stage. To their credit, her accompanying guards still trained the weapons on the robed male figure, it would not have done for them to have become complacent.

"Do not seek to tell me how I feel in regards to these lost souls, there are many reasons why I must look into this. Let the smaller minds of the world gossip, I have never concerned myself with such things, I don't believe I shall start now."