Selyna knew what it was like to have one's hopes and dreams destroyed in an instant.  She knew what it was to have one's life quest made impossible.  She knew how her young charge felt.  But worse than this..she did not know what to do.  

The village had been decimated.

It had happened not recently, but not long ago, either.  The remains of the burned huts, simple structures of a simple people, had long since stopped smoking; the forest had begun to move in upon the ruined dwellings.

Trall moved forward as though in a trance, a horrid nightmare, surreal, his expression distant and shocked.  Together, serpent and boy, they moved down the road into the village.

The scent of burning and death had wafted away, but some of it remained, lingered, like a bad memory.

Without warning, Trall veered to the right, to where he saw something in the bushes.  Selyna followed, silently.  What he saw...

It became instantly clear exactly what had happened to the poor, unfortunate soul lying concealed beneath a flowering bush.  There wasn't much left, only the remains of charred bones, dragged here by whatever scavengers called these woods their home.  Pushing a branch aside, Trall uncovered the leering, hollow eyed stare of a cracked skull, charred and blistered.  A spider scurried out of its eye cavity.

Trall said nothing, simply standing, continuing on past the shattered fragments of pottery and discarded baskets, past more bones, past the first blackened huts.  His expression turned cold, emotionless.

Somewhere beyond the village, the water of the nearby river sloshed quietly by the bank, and a bird sang.

TempestDra