Dirion was standing bewildered at the sight of Fate's speedy transformation. Well he was, now he couldn't see much of anything. Sickening smoke had descended upon him and the bar before he could react. Perhaps the funnel of air caused by the purple magic? Who knows. Letting out a hard gasp and cough Dirion covered his mouth and nose in the crook of his arm. When Dirion ceased coughing for a moment he heard the gags of the other patrons. One caught his ears more than the other's, a more feminine one. If he stopped to think for a moment he would remember that there was more than one woman in the bar. But, the first conclusion he jumped to was the lady he heard was Wink. And banish him to the darkest depths of hell if she died too from this mess.
Dirion tried to yell through the smoke,
"Wink!" Though the words died halfway through his mouth at the hands of another vicious cough.
He ducked down to the floor to try and escape the smoke. His eyes were stinging and watering, but Dirion tried to look for Wink through his blurred vision. He couldn't take anymore of the smoke though and had to close his eyes tight. He then started searching frantically with his hand for anyone, anything. He wasn't sure where he was. He had been crawling for a bit and felt lost. His hand felt the touch of skin and grabbed on. He realized that the person was moving and stood up to a crouch and followed, still blind from the smoke.
Dirion felt like he may pass out soon, his lungs ached and hurt and all he could smell was the putrid concoction of smoke. As he started to grow weaker he gave a deep breath and felt fresh air flood his lungs. He savored the breath for as long as he could and opened his eyes. He looked to see the savior he had to thank was- Busker. The Barkeep's skin felt cold and grim. Dirion pulled his arm away from the man quickly and averted his eyes to the woman. To his relief it was Wink.
Dirion sat down in the grass next to Wink and spoke in the middle of a cough,
"Wink? Are you okay?" He put his hand on her arm to.. Try and calm her he guessed? Dirion didn't know what to do.
Dirion looked out across the horizon and saw the world on fire.
Weeell, that's probably a bit dramatic. But you get the picture. Now that he was breathing and heard something besides the crashing of the Bawdy Dog, which had just collapsed behind him, Dirion heard the far off screams coming from town. What could it be now?
Dirion could see people walking towards him. It was too dark to see who they were but Dirion felt unsettled at the sight of them. They were slow, slower than a snail's pace, and when the world is burning to the sound of screaming anyone that simply walks away should worry you. Either these people were the barbarians that burned down the village, or it was something else, something darker.
Dirion scrambled up as fast as he could from the ash covered grass, though at this point he had used all his energy. He looked around and noticed the more people had gotten out. Another young girl and the noble boy. Dirion felt a glimmer of hope to see that people had made it out, but then he heard Busker's horses whinnying in panic and felt the dread find it's way back into his heart.
They had injured, plus the slow moving Busker. And though he didn't know how Wink felt he was loathe to leave the man in this state. Dirion knotted his hands in his hair and looked around for any answer to their desperate situation. He saw none. He had a sword. He could fight if he needed to, probably wouldn't last long due to the spirits still in his system. But it would give everyone else a chance to get away. Perhaps Busker could help, and maybe the dwarf. Busker still seemed to care for Wink, in a grim way. And the short man seemed like he wanted to prove himself to Wink. That would certainly be one way to do it.
Right before his heart resigned to his death Dirion spotted the cart, their salvation the gods willing. His heart did a skip for joy when he saw it, he knew what they could do.
He yelled to everyone,
"We need to get moving! We're still in danger!He then turned to Wink, the young girl, and the noble. He asked them as gently as he could while his heart was pounding. Though they would certainly hear the panic in his voice.
"If you are well please get the horses reigned and ready for a quick cart ride. He then gestured towards their getaway vehicle. Coughing the last of the smoke from his lungs quickly he continued,
"I would do it but a- a drunk like me won't be still enough to do it." He finished with a sad smile. He meant for it to be small bit of humor, though he wasn't very convincing.
He was right though, there was no way he would get it done fast enough. But pulling the cart though? That was just pure strength, and with the adrenaline pumping through his body he felt like he could take on anything. Well, besides the advancing group of.. whatever they are.
He ran to the cart and grabbed it like a life-preserver. With a pause he thought that there could be more people buried inside. But he did his best to banish the thought and bury the guilt. Wink and Busker were his priority. He got back to work, and as he started pulling it towards the road he could feel the splinters shooting into his hands. Of course bloody Busker would cheap out on even his transportation.
"Everyone else pull the cart onto the road!"@Mokley @karamonnom
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