[Valan Quinn]

Chaos. Valan had never witnessed such utter chaos before. It was like a war had descended upon the city of Archadoon- and its inhabitants were on the losing side. The farther he walked from Elmaryia’s apartment, and Elmaryia herself, the worse it seemed to get. He could hear the screams of people all around him and the unmistakable stench of burning wood filled his nostrils. This was bad.

Valan looked above him and saw pairs of screeching beasts, Griffins they called them, dropping monstrous bags of sand onto the flames. When it seemed that the military and other volunteers were finally started to get the fire under control, the human approached the keep. It seemed as that this was the worst area of them all- and for good reason. The crackling of small explosions rang through Valan’s ears. Valan figured that this was the cause of such excessive damage. Fire couldn’t have done this all on its own.

Clutching the leash to Elmayria’s dog, Arria, Valan approached a group of soldiers. He swallowed hard as he looked to his left and saw a legless human body being hoisted by faceless uniforms. ”Oh gods, am I actually walking ‘into’ all of this?”

“Mind you watch the flames. They sneak up on you. Your best bet is to run if you see flames headed your way. Don’t try to save what’s burning. Save what isn’t.”

Valan held the dusty shovel loosely in his hand. “Umm, what about…?” he turned to speak to the solider, but he had already moved along. Shaking his head in disbelief, he tied Arria’s leash to his wrist, and walked next to the handful of other volunteers and soldiers. He sighed and began to shovel dirt onto the mound, attempting to create an earthen barrier to halt the aggressive fires. Arria yelped loudly and looked up at Valan. “I know, girl. I hope she’s okay, too”