Sabine tried to twist away when Kaleeth took the woman in her claws. She only succeeded in stumbling back until she was on one knee and scrambling to her feet in time to see the Imperial woman rise.

Charging a spell to render the woman unconscious in one hand, Sabine tried to stand straight and step forward, but instead ended up yelping and clutching her own side. The mace hit had thrown a sting up her entire body that caused her to stagger once more. She was having trouble breathing now.

The delay was all the Imperial woman needed to conflagrate her entire body. Sabine took steps back in the sudden horror of what she saw. It was not the gore or the burning individually that disturbed her, it was the mix of pain, madness, and laughter as the woman fell apart before her eyes. Sabine's shallow breathing quickened and her eyes bulged. She took a step back as the woman approached.

"Sabine! Put out those fires! Retrain her!" Fendros' distant voice as he began to jog towards them was no help. Sabine couldn't save this woman if she wasn't paralysed in shock. "Sabine!" Fendros shouted louder.

Sabine took another step back and found herself up against a rock by the cliff face. She felt the stone behind her and dreaded touching the approaching woman.

She fell on her front another pace and a half away.

"Damn it!" Fendros closed the distance too late. He stood over the flickering corpse and sighed. He was not armoured -- rather he was dressed in his city clothing, but he had his bow and chitin arrows on his person all the same. Quickly moving on, he half-turned on his heel and barked out. "Right, get the survivors stable and bound! Bring them here!" He did not face Sabine. "We can use the wagon to transport them to the meeting place! Is anyone injured?"

Sabine looked at the ground in front of her, feeling ashamed. "Sorry," she said quietly.

Fendros returned his attention to her with what was outwardly a calm face. However, the way he quickly strode up to her hinted at frustration. His voice seemed calm enough, even slightly sympathetic. "What happened, Sabine? I thought you were going to stay near Kaleeth? Why didn't you follow her?"

"I could not drink my potion. The blizzard would have struck me. I needed to stay in the eye..."

"What? You brewed that potion specifically. Why didn't you take it?" Fendros craned his head down to one side.

Sabine shook her head and didn't look up. "I did not have the chance. I needed to charge my spell and..."

Fendros interrupted again. "Sabine, look, that was a dangerous risk you took. You're a skilled mage, but you're not invulnerable. You could have been trapped if there was more than one mage amongst them and...Are you alright?" Fendros narrowed his eyes at the worsening of Sabine's shallow breaths. She was nearly sobbing.

"I was struck," Sabine croaked.

"Oh...Sabine, let me see..." Fendros' voice was far softer.

Sabine turned, finding it easier to hide her tears from the shame and the previous horror with her back to Fendros. She lifted the back of her tunic to reveal the welt the mace had left. "Broken bone," Sabine added with some strain.

Fendros didn't even wince. "Don't just stand there, Sabine, get yourself fixed up. Do you need any help?"

She shook her head and began to charge healing magic in a hand to reach to her back.

"Very well. See to yourself and then go help the others heal the wounded." Fendros ruffled Sabine's hair and left her to it. When he turned around, he next addressed Malithus. "How many have we got so far?"