Soon the one road would diverge into the three that all looked equally unwelcoming, and Cecilia remained on her horse as Ragnar spoke. She didn't fancy the idea of splitting up. There were so many ways that it could go wrong, that one group could easily be overwhelmed should there be danger while the others were left unaware. It was the very last thing that she would've recommended, but her words were caught in her throat as Callion had already started the trek down the path furthest to the left. Eccentric bastard. She grimaced as she dismounted her horse, leaving her staff behind and ensuring that everything was secure before tying it to the fence post as well. She watched as Mara soon followed Callion, trailing slowly behind him.
Why the two of them would ever be paired up together was lost on her, but she made no move to stop either of them.
Ragnar was the next to step forward, and Garos was close behind. After Ragnar gave a slight nod in their direction, they were off down the middle road, leaving Cecilia and Thomas to the road that went furthest to the right. She gave a heavy breath of resignation as she turned back to her horse and pulled out a piece of parchment that was supplied to her by the king before folding and stuffing it into a satchel that was strapped on her side. She was going to write down every detail of this town and whatever was plaguing it, undead be damned. Cecilia also took one of the many vials that she had packed in order to take samples of whatever had proved itself interesting while they were in the village. Thomas opted to leave his bow behind, given that the close quarters of the village would make it difficult to put it to good use, and instead took his short sword and dagger.
With irritation beginning to makes its way into the features of her face, she spoke to Thomas as she started down the only road left for them to take, "Well, I suggest you don't drag your feet if you want to keep up. I won't have you slowing me down." There was a harsh bite to her words, entwined with impatience and annoyance, that wasn't necessarily intended, but was present all the same.
"Whatever you say." he muttered, shoulders hunched, seemingly trying to make himself smaller, less visible. Whether Thomas felt slighted or not was a question left unanswered; he stayed as silent as he was since they had first met in the king's castle, and followed behind her without protest. She wasn't exactly wary of him even though he was a prisoner. In reality her main concern was that he wouldn't get himself killed in a fight. Still, the fact that he managed to get captured for whatever he did wasn't exactly helping his case.
As they continued down the decrepit roads, Cecilia couldn't help but think back to the slums where she was raised in Rinarwin. This village had the same air about it now; deject, derelict, a general sense that the world would be better off had the place not existed at all. It was painful to see that a village could be so easily reduced what could now be compared to a ghost town, and somewhere in all the debris there had to be a clue to as to who, or what, could've done this. As Cecilia and Thomas continued on the path into the village, there was clear evidence that there had been a fire that had burned and ate away at some of the buildings, leaving behind blue embers that were still burning weakly, but just enough to still be glowing.
It was clear that magic, or something that had similar qualities, had been involved. After all, she had never heard nor read of any naturally occurring fire that left behind blue embers. But the fact that some embers were still alight meant that the fires must've occurred fairly recently. Well, there was always the chance that the possible magical qualities of the fire kept the embers burning, and it wouldn't be too far fetched to assume that fires could start up again if whoever orchestrated this whole thing deemed it necessary. She knew better than to touch the charred pieces of wood that still glowed blue, but even still it was insanely tempting to so she could examine it in entirety. But against her better judgement, she grabbed the vial she had taken earlier and with a small handkerchief she had on hand, she moved to grab a small fragment of the wood. Immediately she was stopped by Thomas.
"Um...I don't think we should be touching this stuff, especially in a village that's as deserted as this one." Thomas himself stood far away from any of the blue embers, and raised an eyebrow at Cecilia as he waited for a response.
"Hush, I'm not going to be holding it for long. I just want a small sample. Plus, if anything happens to me...well, at the very least we'll have a good idea of what could've happened to the people in this village." Unfazed, she grabbed the charred bit. There was a strange pulse of cold that crept up the nerves of her arm, even with the handkerchief acting as a barrier in between. It did seem to have a unexpected velvety texture to it, despite being a piece of burnt wood. Forcing herself not to drop it on instinct, she quickly placed it into the vial before covering the opening and storing the vial away. If she was lucky, the sample she took wouldn't disintegrate into thin air or burst into flames.
"Now that that's taken care of..." Cecilia took out the piece of parchment she had folded up earlier and started a rough sketch of the current state of the village, including annotations that confirmed the rumor of there being blue fire, and the possible arcane nature of it as well. She didn't have time to put as much detail into it as she would've liked to, but that could always be added later. Behind her, Thomas shifted on his feet, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings and a cautious hand on his hip next to his short sword. After a moment passed, he spoke up, "We should get going so we can meet up with the rest of the group. I don't think it's a good idea to stay in one place for too long while were here."
Cecilia gave a slight nod as if she fully heard and understood his words, but stayed were she was, writing down everything they had seen so far in the village, before she eventually folded the parchment back up and stored it away before heading further into the town and towards its center. There were no signs of anyone who survived what had occurred in the village, but what was also curious is how she hadn't seen any bodies yet either, though there was an unmistakable smell of death and decay that indicated they were present, perhaps buried under rubble away from sight. However, she and Thomas wouldn't make it far before they would hear the sound of an explosion in the distance. Muffled as it was, it was still stood out among the silence that permeated throughout the rest of Oakheart.
She immediately started towards the town center at a faster pace. "Come now, we should focus on figuring out what that was and if the others areβ" she paused as she heard the sound of movement. The slight shift of a plank of wood had caused it to fall over and clatter against the stone path. And following that came the sound of other things. Bones creaking and cracking at their joints, clearly too decayed to be supporting any form of weight, and a low, guttural groan which could only be described as ghastly. One of the undead abominations that the king had spoken of, which only further confirmed the rumors. Thomas immediately drew his short sword and stood at attention. From the sounds that had started to come from around them, there would soon be more coming out of hiding as well. Cecilia cursed as she drew her rapier"Of course, it's only natural that this would happen now that we're all split up."