[i]Terra[/i]
	Terra led Shiro to the guildmaster to talk about joining. When she came back out she looked around at the others in the room. Unfortunately, she didn't see Ander anywhere. She sighed, irritated a little bit and looked for something to do to keep her mind off of it until Ander came back. She looked up at the quest board and saw that the quest Isek ripped off earlier was posted on the board again, albeit a little more wrinkled now. Her head was tilted slightly as she read it since it was a little skewed. She then took it down from the board and looked back to everyone who would listen. "Does anybody want to go check this out? I think Isek went out on this one alone, but it sounds like it might need more people."
[hr] 
[i]Dremmick[/i]

	"Well, I would make him go alone," Dremmick said then looking over to Ris, "Kidding, I'm kidding....mostly." They were walking up to the guild now and Dremmick almost had his hand on the door to open it for Ris when he stopped for a moment and sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?" he asked. He backed up a bit and looked around. "Smells like smoke, which I guess is normal at night, but it seems more than usual." Then he saw it, in the far distance there seemed to be a soft glow, out in the forests around the town. It was far off, but at night, the light was easy to see. Dremmick pointed to it and asked Ris, "Isn't that close to where that guy's mission was? That doesn't look like a campfire."
[hr]
[i]at camp with Isek[/i]

	"Defenses," Jerrin repeated, "The only defenses we can muster up while on the road like this is to circle the caravan and put up a watch. Sometimes we are able to afford local mages to help protect the caravan like today, but our only other tactic is to split the caravan into sections so that all of our good aren't attacked at once. We are merchants after all, not soldiers. He then took another drink from his tankard and set it down. "Come, I will show you around the camp so that you may get familiar with it, It's fairly simple really." He started to lift the tent flap when he saw someone approaching. "Geoffry? What the devil." He looked back at Isek and explained, "He's the water mage I hired to watch the east camp.

	As he led Isek out however, there was already someone running up to them with fear in his eyes and covered in ash. "Geoffry, what happened!?" Jerrin exclaimed.

	"The east camp! It....its gone! It was attacked, and before I could do anything it was gone! It was terrible, they are all gone! In an instant! GONE!" the man was shaking and couldn't seem to get over t what happened.

	Jerrin grabbed the man by the shoulders and got eye level with him."Geoffry, I'm gonna need you to calm down and explain what happened."

	Geoffry took a few deep breaths to try to calm himself but it didn't help much. "I never saw it clearly. Whoever it was was covered up head to toe.. i-i-it...burned everything and cut down anyone else still able to fight or flee. When I tried to fight back or put out the fires, I-I couldn't use my magic at all! I still can't! IT'S GONE! When it attacked me, it grabbed me by the neck and as if it were flying, a-and it slammed me into the ground dragging me through the dirt, and then threw me aside into the woods. I think it forgot about me, so I ran here to warn everyone." He then fell to the ground and started sobbing. "I COULDN'T PROTECT THEM! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

	Jerrin's face was much more serious now. He himself took a deep breath as he clenched his fists. "Whoever these bastards are, they will pay.... Geoffry... Go on home. There is no need to endanger you further." He gave the man some money for his troubles, plus some for what happened to him. "That should pay for an inn in Magnolia and transportation back to your city. I apologize for what has happened to you. You may leave."

	"T-Thank you! I will warn the other guilds of what is attacking you, surely they will send you proper aid." He then bowed quickly and scuttled off towards town.

	Jerrin then solemnly turned to Isek. "I will understand if you do not wish to stay, but I hope you will still help us." He shook his head. "I will fire a flare into the air to call for all personnel to pull back to this spot. Since whatever this thing is is after people and not our goods, I will have to abandon our original plan and bolster our forces here." He then went back to his tent and returned with a flare gun. It was something simple that worked off of a small fire lacrima. He shot it into the air, sending a small yet vivid ball of light up, and it the popped in the air leaving a small light burning over where it exploded. "Since the north group is the next closest wing of out caravan, I'll need yo to escort them here, and then the east group if they have anyone left."
[hr]
[i]east camp[/i]

	A man was dragging himself towards a tree, covered in burns and ash. When he finally got there, he turned and rested his back against the base of it. His vision was blurry and he felt weak, but just before he had closed his eyes, he saw a figure in tattered black clothes appear in his sight. He shot straight up, ready to defend himself, but  he was too weak and fell to a knee. when he opened his eyes after the surging pain he saw a boot, and startled, he fell back against the tree. "You! You monster! You've killed everyone!"

	"What is your purpose here?" the figure said.

	"We're merchants! That's all!"

	"YOUR'RE LYING!" the mysterious person said as it grabbed the man by the throat and picked him up. "I know what you are... now tell me... Who is leading you? ANSWER ME!"

	"G--g---go to hell," the man said as he spat in his assailants face. He would use magic to attack the strange person, but he didn't have the energy left in his body.

	The dark clad figure changed hands, this time grabbing the man by his face, covering his mouth and letting go of his throat. "Wrong answer." The figure then shot fire from the hand he was holding the man in, engulfing his head in flames. There was nothing but the horrid smell of burning flesh and muffled screams.

	In the final seconds of the man's life, he noticed two things. The person's sleeve was ripped, and it revealed a guild mark. the [i]Fairy Tail[/i] guild mark. When the dark figure finally let go of the dead man, the person ripped what was left of their sleeve off, revealing a gauntlet under the sleeves. It then used a strip of the sleeve to wrap around it's arm and cover the mark. The figure then removed the gautlet and stored it in a satchel, leaving just the fingerless glove on the arm that ran up to the elbow. 'Two more camps before the main camp,' it thought, however, a flare just shot up into the sky. "Dammit, I have to move faster."