Beginning: Victoria

Chapter 14

The dust has settled and the few mages that survived the blast hurry to put out the flames that consume what remains of the tree village. The enormous trees that once bore lush green leaves now stand bare and burnt. Stairways and ladders dangle with missing pieces making it nearly impossible to climb into the enormous maze of branches. Master Hines returns from the battle field to aid the wounded, as the survivors search through the hundreds of charcoaled corpses that lay sprawled amongst the dead trees. The fire ball created by the beast has devastated Ellinia leaving it a bare sorrowful cemetery. It has been a few hours since the attack and only a few beasts remain in the area to be hunted. The mysterious man mounted on the beast had left and brought with him the majority of his vicious army. The men and women who had fled the village before its destruction slowly made their way back engulfed with the pain of losing their friends, family and homes they had left behind. Most of the fighters that had lost their lives in the attack had been Ellinia born mages. Only a few other classes had remained with their new teammates and not returned to their own home to defend. Sira looks over at her own teammate's grief stricken face and feels her heart sink. She had never heard of such a great disaster ... of such a great loss. No one had survived in the village, including the fire wizard that Valencia had been searching for...Tanner. The only survivors were those fighting near the village or those who had fled before.

Sira and Valencia had been lucky that Arwen had transported them to Marr's forest through the light of the giant blue flower. The hidden forest shook and took considerable damage, but Marr the fairy had a very effective defense around her sanctuary.

Master Hines calls a gathering for the survivors at the edge of town and the tired fighters make their way to hear what news the head mage has to offer. The head mages white tipped hat and long white robes were dirty with stains of blood and dirt from the battle. He looked as tired and sad as everyone else.

"You have all witnessed a great tragedy," the mage spoke. "A tragedy like none other this village has seen. Not even in the wars of past has Ellinia taken such damage. I would like to thank all of you for your help despite your own personal losses, especially those of other classes that chose to stay instead of return to your own towns. Even in such a short time I see that the team system has already had a positive effect in reuniting the people of Victoria Island."

Master Hines looks at the sad faces of the fighters before him. So much has been lost.

"Many lives have been lost in the past 48 hours," he takes a deep breath before continuing. "Family...friends...lovers...strangers that you will never have the honor of knowing ... All have fought valiantly. Their courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten. My prayers go out to you all, for everyone has lost something here today. May you find peace within your heart that their deaths will not be in vain. Although the damage was great, Ellinia is not lost! We will not be defeated that easily. Our trees may be bare, but as the souls of the fallen are placed in the earth life will spring again in our forest."

They were silent. Hines words touched them all. Valencia had tears in her eyes, but she did not cry. She didn't feel like she had the strength to cry.

"With all due respect," says master Hines. "I must get to the business at hand. We have gotten word that the army of beasts has gone to Henesys and Lith Harbor leaving a destructive path behind them. Kerning has a very strong defensive line and many fighters have already gone to aid them. Our orders have been to make our way to Perion to join their fighters. The people of Kerning and Perion have been evacuated, only the fighters remain. We leave in one hour."

Valencia and Sira made their way back to Arwen and sit silently for a few minutes. They hadn't spoken much since they were saved from the blast. Sira didn't know what to say to Valencia to comfort her. Tanner had obviously meant a lot to the cleric. Finally, Valencia breaks the silence.

"Thank you Sira," she says.

"There is no need to thank me," says Sira.

"You have stayed and helped," she says. "I'm sure you are worried about your own town."

"I am worried," she says. "But I will go with the fighters that depart in an hour to do what I can."

"As will I," says Valencia.

"You don't have to," replies the spear girl. "You can stay here and help your friends and family rebuild."

"I want to go," she says. "It's the least I can do to repay your compassion. It's the least I can do to make sure the deaths of these people do not go in vain."

"Zenith and Jaimus..." says Sira. "They said they would return here."

"I will ask Arwen to tell them where we are," says Valencia. "If they return..."

"They will probably have fought their own battle," says Sira.

As those words slide off of her tongue Sira feels a sadness overcome her. The other towns were in the same state as this. They would not have known to take cover when the large beast prepared its fireball. She thinks of Jaimus and Zenith... A tear runs down her cheek followed by another one. She had not cried yet even if the sadness she had felt all day was great. A few more tears continued to fall as she prepared her weapons and potions. She hoped they were alright.