[h2][b][color=fff200]Sir Aurelian Asellius[/color][/b][/h2]

The door opened by itself.  As soon as the paladin's eyes adjusted, he took a good look at what was inside.  It appeared to be empty at first glance, and aside from some flipped furniture, nothing looked too out of place. 

Just as Kyra arrived, Aurelian spotted something moving in the house.  Upon a closer glance, it was a half-elf child, clearly frightened.  After a few moments of hesitation, she ran towards the two knights and begged for them to find her parents.

[color=fff200][i]Poor thing, who knows what horror she might've been through.[/i][/color]

On one hand, it should be a relief that someone had survived this.  On the other hand, it was heartbreaking to see a small child crying for her parents.  He couldn't be sure if they'd be able to bring them back alive, not until they knew what happened or what they were dealing with.  He greatly hoped, however, that they'd be able to save the mother and father.  After all the children in Coris that became fatherless due to his participation in the war, he wanted to do some good for the people of this country for once by preventing similar tragedies.

There was more to this, though.  The disappearances of the girl's parents, and the lack of physical evidence as to what happened, wasn't too dissimilar to the patrol's disappearance.  It was quite possible that the same culprit was behind both disappearances, meaning that if they found the girl's parents, they'd also find the lost patrol.  If they were lucky, this child would have some information on what did this and what it did with its victims.  In truth, though it didn't matter to much whether or not the disappearances were connected, because Aurelian wasn't going to let this child's plight go unresolved.

[color=fff200]"Forgive me for asking this, but what exactly happened here?  Did you see what caused this, and if you did, what did it look like?"[/color] he asked after Kyra had given her questions, kneeling down and removing his helmet as to appear more welcoming.  [color=fff200]"Please, I know it's painful, but whatever you can tell us could go a long way towards helping to find your parents."[/color]