The boy cowered in the dark basement, hearing the shouts and screams of battle going on outside. His mother had shoved him down there when the intruders had arrived, forbidding him to come up till she gave the all clear. He was so frightened, not only of the terrifying sounds above, but of the darkness that surrounded him. He wished for a small bit of light, and was surprised to see a tiny globe of light appear before his eyes. Delighted, he watched the globe, transfixed and mesmerized. It was several minutes before he realized that it had gone silent above him. He started to rise and see why it had gone so quiet, but then remembered what his mother had said about leaving the damp, dark basement. So he waited, watching the tiny globe of light, for the all clear from his mother, that, unfortunately, was never going to come...

As Penny entered the small village, she was bombarded with horrific sights. All around her were burning buildings, and scattered in the street were bodies, bloody and horrible. Not much was left standing, just a house here and there, and even those showed massive damage from fire. She dismounted from Aerylon and dropped his reins, and slowly, solemnly walked through the village, hoping to find someone, anyone still alive. As she strolled through, she saw as many dead warriors, in full armor, as she did the poor villagers that lay dead on the ground. It was obvious to her that the village had given as good as it got, and she managed a sad smile at the tenacity of the people of the tiny town.

She strode up to the only structure that bore no damage at all, puzzled as to why it was untouched by the battle or the many blazes about it. As she neared the door, she saw a woman lying on the threshold, also untouched by fire, with no obvious wounds to indicate how she had died. She went to the door, and attempted to open it, but was promptly knocked off her feet by a powerful warding spell. Returning to her horse, she retrieved a crooked stick, seemingly ordinary, but charged with powerful magic. She carefully returned to the small house, and cast a spell of divination, to determine the strength and type of warding on the door. Learning that the protection was a simple deterrent that a child could cast, she quickly removed it and entered the small house.