Igna lowered her gaze to the road as the group continued to walk through the forest, they had barely been walking five minutes, and the Sorceress remained silent as she begrudgingly trudged over the dirt path, trailing Eodor, whom quite contentedly maintained his cheerful stride. Igna continued to stare at the dirt under her feet as she moved, thinking to herself as she wrapped her arms around herself. Besides, what was there to look at? The entire path was concealed under the large trees that loomed overhead, barely allowing any sunlight through the thick leaves and branches that where interwoven with each other. From the darkness she could tell it was late Dusk, they probably would not reach the fortress before nightfall, however there was something... odd in the air, a subtle scent that suddenly seemed to grow stronger with each step they took towards their destination.
"What's that smell?" Jeffery suddenly asked, befor his eyes went wide with realization, just as Igna snapped out of her thoughts, her own eyes going wide in panic. "Smoke, a lot of it! My Fortress!" The Socereress began to run as quickly as she could, joined by the others, Eodor losing his pleased jaunt as he easily kept up with the woman. Jeffery trailed close behind them, running until his breathes had grown strained from the effort, and from the sheer amount of smoke flowing down the road as they grew closer, finally arriving at the gates to the Fortress as Igna dropped to her knees.
"NO!" She screamed, watching helplessly as her home was destroyed, while Eodor and Jeffery stood close behind her. Eodor could not help but feel a twinge of sorrow for Igna, despite the trouble she caused, the fortress was everything she had, and all of their lives had been changed in more than one way recently. All of them where snapped from their thoughts at the sound of heavy boot steps on the earth behind them, followed by the deep whinny of a horse. Jeffery was the first to turn to face the source, whom turned out to be an incredibly tall man, standing at least seven feet, wrapped in a heavy black cloak, his large leather boots adorned with fangs, and two very large daggers strapped to the sides. His skin was pale, and his eyes cold as her spoke in a deep, gravely and sinister voice.
"Well my my my, The Bitch of a sorceress and the Incompetent Prince are back, with friends! But while the cats are away, the rats will come out and destroy everything they leave behind......"