(No P.O.V.)
And so, with that settled, and some farewell hugs with her family, Esmeralda returned home later, resuming her spot within Logan and the Dragon Infinity Purple Stone of Power, happy that she had given such a wonderful gift to Phoebus and Helga. She will be checking in now and then.
When morning approached, the split groups of United Talons set out, walking most of the day with breaks here and there, and Zuri's group made it to the boundaries of Snow White's ex-kingdom while Emma's group came to be passing by the ruins of Mushroomton. Oh, Silver and Emma was quick to hide the poor boys from the horrific sight, but with a glance between each other, they knew they had to get out of there soon enough by morning on the morrow, their hearts wincing at every glimpse of a dead elf, and anger flaring momentarily when they saw only a few crocodiles dead as well...
Wilden was right...His people truly tried to fight, but lost their lives tragically, but not before killing the few crocodiles that managed to lose their faction of fellow crocodiles who fled with prisoners who has survived the attack. The ruins of Mushroomton was ravaged savagely as well, and Emma seemed to realize that the orcs had a hand in it before attacking her and the team at the bridge.
When late afternoon came, Emma and Silver put the boys to a good night's sleep in the surprisingly untouched chapel, and Emma was most stupefied to see that the orcs didn't ravage the place at all, but Silver told her that chapels/churches and holy ground are like a shield of good magic against them since orcs are made of dark magical lava, having been said to be made by Hades before he was overthrown by Hercules. The orcs got out of control, somehow tunneling from their home caves under Atlantis & the lake into the mainland, and are mostly managed by the threesome women of evil; Medusa, Cruella, and Tremaine, by promising them flesh once in a while.
Emma and Silver knew they couldn't leave the bodies of the elves to the elements or any wild animal...even the orcs if they dared to return again, so with most gentleness and well-meaning prayers, they managed to bring the bodies to the crypt building in the holy ground of the town's cemetery, figuring that the boys' parents could do something about it once they are rescued, and of course, they burned the few crocodiles' bodies in a clearing out of Mushroomton, and doused the ashes when they got done with it.
Returning back to the chapel, they took shifts and went to sleep, sad that another village was just replaceable to those monsters, destroying lives in the midst of it all, leaving tears, horror, fear, loss, and despair behind. Emma knew that her team's vow just got more motivated, and she realized that once the war is over sooner or later, there will be a huge mess behind to clean, repair, and fix...Alas, she knew she nor her team couldn't bring back every life that had been taken away in this dark war, but if rebuilding and healing is the next best thing, there's hope for it.
As for the other group of United Talons, Jasmine and Pippa has sensed some dark magic around the kingdom, but no shield like how Maleficent's fortress had, so, in the cover of night, Logan set out to scout out the kingdom carefully and silently as he's a Night Fury, made for stealth, while Adam used the magical mirror to see if he could get through the cracks of the dark magic into the castle in the distance. He partly succeeded to peek into the main parts of the castle, but he failed to see the dungeons, realizing with quite some alarm that the dark magic is originated from there, understandably reasoning that the prisoners have their own magic, yet it's neutralized, thanks to the dark magic.
Zuri counted their arsenal, and realized that they only have a few pistols and two rifles left after the attack of the orcs have taken them off guard...They should have seen it coming since the bridge linked Arendelle to Andalasia. Luckily, they have a whole load of knives, swords, and even a few crossbows, thanks to the dwarves and Elsa's aid.
Meanwhile, Jason scoured up high from a tree to spot high areas where archers could be lucky to attack from the castle, marking up the map of the castle as he has gotten better at sketching/drawing for Enchantia has inspired him so. As for Eilowny and Jim, they joined Haku into working upon the homemade traps, grenades, and bombs, plus a couple of surprises that Eilowny came up with, with Jim helping modify a part here and there, through he will have to stay close to the group, with one arm out of commission yet he can still fight with a knife.
With Logan returning a while later with recounting the shifts of the guards in different areas, the group went to sleep with appointed watch shifts, knowing that they need to wake before dawn to put their plan into action, while all hoping that Emma and Silver is close by, to help out sooner or later...