The militia men spat on the ground towards the cave saying, "Not anymore. The idiot, Galib's apprentice that is, fled from there after nearly destroying himself and the town."
"If you can convince the fool to return to make amends and continue his training, then do so." Galib let out a tired sigh saying, "If he continues to act as a fool and lash out leaving you no choice but to end his life, then do so."
"I leave the investigation and capture of my apprentice in your hands. As for the goblins, they've picked up on the fact that the village cannot always defend itself with fire." Galib said with a tired sigh. "Fortunately they are slow with their thoughts. They still haven't figured out I'm the one holding them back."
Galib's entire aura seemed drained of energy, His very presence seemed to permeate exhaustion and fatigue.
An old and tired voice came from the man who remained in his meditative stance saying, "I see that Jack has come through then. What progress have you made in tracking down my apprentice?"
There, sitting in meditation on a miniature stone shaped like a mountain plateau , was a gray haired skinny man. His skin was wrinkled and tanned. His motions slow and deliberate as he breathed in deeply. He wore all orange cloths folded around his body to make a robe. He seemed focused on the mountains surrounding the village...
The noise of the tavern was quickly drowned out as Zalara sensed a great well of red mana cutting through the village like a line drawn on a map. Scattered about this line were thousands of tiny blips of red mana, all drawn to this ley line.
"Goblins don't spy, they skulk around for scraps." replied the barkeep as he pulled free of Zalara's grasp. He gestured towards a crowd of militia men singing a song while gulping ale saying, "He's either in that lot or one of them knows where. As for Galib who knows?"
The barkeep was busy moving fast throughout the tavern. He swiped up the coins and laid down a slightly edible stew with a barely room temperature mug of water.
Zalara was surprised to see that inside the palisade wooden walls, the town remained mainly unscathed if you ignored the buildings neared the walls being slightly scorched. There were two militia men manning wagons used as makeshift gates that nodded to her as she moved into the town, the wagons being pushed back into place. A little further into town and she found a tavern bustling with activity and music.
Immediately a small goblin launched itself out of the bushes and ran deeper into the tree line, angling for the base of the mountains. Zalara now noticed there was a char line from a mountain cave down through a portion of the trees the goblin was running through. That char line continued all the way south, likely the devastation left behind in the wake of the Elemental she now carried with her. The goblin seemed intent on breaking away into that mess.
While Zalara is examining the charred spots, she notices motion out of the corner of her right eye. There at the base of the tree line near the front of Falme's road to Estark was a shaking bush. Popping out occasionally was a red leathery arm and clawed hand...
Zalara trips over her feet causing several rocks to slide to the ground. Despite her lack of grace at that moment she was able to clearly see that the smoke was coming from various spots around the outside of the village. Those charred spots held the burnt remains of miniature humanoids...
"Safe journey to you then, child!" spoke the elderly lady as she turned to continue her walk to Estark.
Further down the road, near the edge of the mountains, Zalara could just barely make out what looked like black smoke clouds lingering around what was likely the town of Falme in the mountains.
Galib's entire aura seemed drained of energy, His very presence seemed to permeate exhaustion and fatigue.
He gave her a swift smack on the bum saying, "Hurry now!"
The rest of the militia men quickly burst into laughter and looked like they were about to start another song...
Further down the road, near the edge of the mountains, Zalara could just barely make out what looked like black smoke clouds lingering around what was likely the town of Falme in the mountains.