As the scouting party approached the fire several things became clear. For one the source was a village, though you wouldn't be able to hear it from the deathly silence. The second was that this was unlikely to be a dragon attack as there was less fire than one would expect of such an event. A single look down the main road showed the scene Alice wished she had not seen coming. [i]Seen coming, but couldn't have prepared for.[/i] A voice spoke somewhere in her head, though it took her a few moments to comprehend it. Bodies lay strewn and tossed aside all around, so many... She'd rarely seen a battle so devastating, and never against such hapless combatants. A dog lay in two pieces over there, a child leaned up against the wall with their father shot down in front of them, the grey eyes staring blankly at the fallen guardian, at least where they weren't being picked at by flies. She became aware of the fact she was shaking her head, her eyes surveying the scene but her neck and head moving to try and reject the it all in a primitive gesture.

She got a hold of herself, closing her eyes and clasping her hands out in front of her. They shook greatly, though as she gripped she slowly felt the blood return along with her true senses. She had been trained for this, she had been dazed by all this. Many spells had the same effect, and she was glad she had her training to latch onto. She became aware of the ringing in her ears and the pressure built up in them and her temples, but slowly that subsided too, or at least suppressed. She re-opened her eyes, and this time treated the scene with the melancholy needed. A sweet scent lingered upon the air, she noted and connected it mechanically to the bodies left out. She took a step forward and swayed, feeling bile rise. She may have disconnected her mind from body, but her body was far from connected from the world. She once again steadied herself and proceeded forward slower this time, staying alert.

This place had been raided by some sort of humanoid force, dragon's claws were much larger than the gashes and gouges left upon the unfortunates (which she did not look upon too closely still, her stomach making sure it was felt in her chest at every eye movement). There was no doubt that this raid was for more than just riches though, for one there would be survivors otherwise. For two, these bodies were displayed. Alice began to theorise this might be the work of Dark Elves, who delighted in such acts as these, but these weapons didn't fit her knowledge of the people. She conceded her knowledge was limited though, and there was no doubt that attacks like this would become commonplace whether orchestrated by Elves or not should the party fail in their quest.

Onwards through this terrible place she drove, not looking back for her companions but instead dead ahead, exerting no small amount of willpower to maintain even a small level of composure. She was sweating, she knew that, and the pressure was rising back into her head again. The back part of her head starting mumbling prayers to Ragnarok to receive these souls, working away like an itch and unwilling to fall in line with the rest of her unfazed mind. Then she spotted someone, a scavenger? Certainly not a raider, she knew that much. They would have moved on by now, and be travelling in a pack. She called out to find her throat hoarse, but audible. [color=royalblue]"Hello?"[/color] she swallowed and proceeded, [color=royalblue]"Friend or foe?"[/color] though she likely knew which. [i]Neither[/i]. She noticed the pressure had disappeared again and she had full feeling, her body snapping to attention in the face of a situation


[@POOHEAD189][@Banana][@BCTheEntity][@Fetzen][@Sypherkhode822][@Ink Blood]