It was about an hour later that they landed in the village. Or, more accurately, the burned and blasted remains of a village. It was impossible to tell from a glance if animals had been there. The chaos of footprints, scorch marks, craters, and dried blood made sure of that. Every building had either burned or had large sections blown out of it. No bodies littered the ground, nor bones. Either somebody had cleaned up, or whatever had rampaged through the area had made sure there were none. Doors, where they remained, hung open, or were flat in front of the places they should have lead in to. Curtains fluttered through gaping holes in walls, where they hadn't been devoured by flame. Scents wafted from inside, mixing with the outside air to make one awful, pungent bouquet. The tang of blood lingered in the air, mixing with the smells of smoke and iron to create the aroma of catastrophe, only made worse by the occasional accents of flowers, burned cooking, and damp cloth. There wasn't a single whole building left, not even a small cottage. From the way random objects were strewn about on the ground, the insides were probably just as bad.
Marik's eyes were tightly shut, and it wasn't from fear, but from expectation. He knew what he would see when he opened them. Even as he tried to remember what it had looked like before... before this, the smells brought back the awful reality of its current state. He curled in on himself, then told himself Lizair would probably need to know things about this place, about what should have been. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Focusing only on what was immediately in front of him, he grabbed his packs, and started climbing off of Serana.
Marik's eyes were tightly shut, and it wasn't from fear, but from expectation. He knew what he would see when he opened them. Even as he tried to remember what it had looked like before... before this, the smells brought back the awful reality of its current state. He curled in on himself, then told himself Lizair would probably need to know things about this place, about what should have been. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Focusing only on what was immediately in front of him, he grabbed his packs, and started climbing off of Serana.
