Feelings of warm breezes brushed past my face as I began to awaken. The floor I slept on provided a excellent counter to the breeze by chilling the side that laid on it. Breaking the small bit of crust, I opened my eyes slightly careful to not repeat past mistakes of being blinded. The same stone grey walls from when I fell asleep greeted me once more. Light from the entrance of  cave shone on top of me. Rolling onto my back, I look up at the ceiling in time for a drop of water to splash onto my forehead. Using my metal arm to clear out the remain junk that had formed on the ends of my eyes during sleep, I slowly sat up. For a brief moment I stopped and stared at my newest limb. I could still feel the sensations of having no arm despite the fact I could see this robotic replacement.

I gave a brief sigh. One day...

I stood up and began my usual routine I had developed over the few months I had been in Equestria. I stretched out each of my body parts and cracked every joint. Proceeding towards the small bag that contained a great deal of the recent memories and trophies that I had 'obtained' during my short time in this land of techni colored ponies. Sinking my arm down into the bag I felt around for an apple that I could munch on. Satisfied with the fruit I had collected from my bag, I gave a glance around the cave for my companions.

"Must of gone outside or somethin..." I whispered to myself.

I took a large chunk of the apple before walking to the entrance. Light filled the opening of the cave for a short while almost as if it was the end of the tunnel. Three shadowy figures stood in the center of the entrance not moving at all. I walked a bit closer to the trio before calling out to them.

"Hey guys! What's up this morning?"

Fenrir looked back me. "Celt, you remember the dragon from yesterday?"

"Yah?"

"Was it capable of breathing fire, correct?"

I took a moment to think before responding. "Yah, I think it could. Why?"

He turned his head back. "Hmmm, as I thought. Look..."

I marched a little further out of the cave. The blinding light subsided leaving only the lush canopy of the forest in view. I looked around for a moment seeing what the three might be so worried about until I froze. A large column of ash grey smoke rose into the sky like the specter of death. I filled the sky with a dark cloud larger than any bonfire could.

I look over to Owl quickly. "Owl, is there a village over in that direction?"

"Only the Sef Tribe village."

"Do you think..." Owl nodded his head.

I scratched the back of my head. "How many lived there?"

"5-6 families at most. They weren't a very large village. We sometimes traded with them so I don't know much."

"What do you suggest we do Celt?"

I looked at Fenrir. "What do you think we should do?"

"I'd say leave them. It was a dragon and I highly doubt there would be a survivor."

"Celt, " I looked down at Twitch. "I think we should go and try to help them. Even if it is a slight chance."

"Owl?"

The cat rubbed the back of his head, "I can't say. I have no real opinion one way or the other. It's your choice Celt."

I gave a long sigh and looked at Twitch's face. He was obviously unnerved at the potential destruction we might have caused. Holding my head in my palm I gave a few moments to think.

If we go there it will only take longer to get the ingredients... but if I don't I might be leaving others to die from my mistake. Is this what those teacher were blabbering on about 'life altering decisions.'? Ok, Craig, we gotta keep going they are probably already dead, so there is no point in going over there.

"Alright guys, let's pack up. We're going to go give a visit to the Sef tribe to see if they need help."

Damn it, Craig.

The other three took a moment to snap out of their trance before heading into the cave to pack up. Standing on the grass just looking at the smoke as it rose so high, all I could do was think. "Is it my fault they might be dead?" kept running over and over through head like a broken cassette tape. I eventually snapped out of it in time for my companions to finish packing up. Both Twitch and I hoped onto Fenrir's back settled into our usual sitting areas. Quickly jolting forward Fenrir was off, not too long after Owl was running right beside of us. The strides of the wolf began to take a rhythm as they usually do. I took the time on his back to think about what we might have done.

Why did I say that? I mean, like Fenrir said, it's a dragon there is no way there could be survivors right? And besides it's not like we could help them anyway. I'm not medic. Fenrir's a bloody wolf of ancient worries die on a daily basis. Twitch is... Twitch and Owl is a hunter whose only medical training is where to stab someone to kill them the fastest! Ok, calm down Craig, all you have to is tell them what you really think. I thought.

I felt a nudge on my back. I spun around and saw Twitch sitting there. A mixture of sadness and guilt had taken over his face. His entire body was slumped down and for the first time I could really see that he was just a kid.

"Celt, do you think we can help any survivors there might be?"

I put on a fake smile and look at the child. "Don't worry Twitch, I'm sure we will be able to help them. Though I have to ask why you want to save them so much with such low odds."

"I think everyone should get the chance to be rescued..." He looked down at Fenrir's fur.

Shouldn't push the subject right now. We don't have time for a sappy background story. "Alright, we'll try to help anyone we can."

"Ok."

Fenrir continued to dash through the forest weaving through the trees as he always does. The closer we came to the village the smell of smoke and ash became stronger. Less animals became visible either due to the village being there or whatever had caused the smoke. Soon we entered a large clearing, the smoke's source not to far away.

In the center of the clearing was a large pile compose of the individual bodies of many of cat people. A roaring blaze had consumed most of the bodies leaving the skin charred. Around the bodies were several ruins of what would have been houses. Very few of the buildings were left standing and those that were had large slash marks and blood covering them. I shut my eyes for a moment hoping that it's all an illusion but when I opened them the remains of the village remained as they were. Hopping off of Fenrir when he came to a stand still I approached the village. Fenrir followed behind me his face of neither sorrow or joy but just neutral. I held back the reaction to vomit at what I was seeing as I took out my crossbow.

"Owl, do you think another village will come to bury them?"

"More than likely one of the other tribes will give them a proper burial. Though they might take a day or two."

I sighed. "Nothing we can do about that. I'll put em out so they don't cause a forest fire."

I entered the village's boundaries and aimed my crossbow at the bodies. Noticing my hands shaking I attempted to steady my aim. Come on Craig you've seen worse... You saw that weird light creature's memories. Just relax and play it off like normal. I breathed slowly making my hands shake slightly less. I slowly whispered the word "Aqua" into the air. The moisture from the forest itself began to form on my crossbow. Going from a liquid form to a almost solid crossbow bolt. Breathing once more I squeezed the trigger letting the bolt fly into the fire. A large hiss of steam erupted from the fire as it went out from the magical water. The smell of burnt flesh still filled my nostrils as I put my weapons back into it's place.

"Alright, let's go..." I turned back to Fenrir.

"Wait... shouldn't we... you know... at least look for some survivors? Maybe a few of them found a hiding place."

"Twitch, you must realize how small the odds are. There is no conceivable way they could have survived. Let us go and honor their memory as true warriors."

Owl walked around the village a little. "Actually, Mr. Big Bad Wolf, there is a chance that they survived. The Sef tribe used to dig emergency tunnels for escape. If we checked in some of the buildings we might find an entrance and maybe even a survivor in those tunnels."

"See? There is a chance, so we can't just leave them in there. They might be hurt and need our help."

"Twitch, just accept that sometimes people ca..." I placed my hand on Fenrir and shook my head.

Fenrir looked at Twitch for a moment and sighed. "Fine, let us begin searching for them."

We began systematically searching in each building whether fallen or not looking for a entrance to the tunnels. The majority of the buildings had nothing of notice within them and some had a few bodies that had escaped the burning. The bodies were usually either crushed by the rubble or had a hole through their chest making it very unlikely that they could have survived very long. Searching through every building until we finally found the thing that we were searching for. A large wooden trap door buried under a rather large building became visible after Fenrir pulled a wall off of it. The was nothing noticeable about the trapdoor itself. A large wooden slab with a big metal ring attached to it. We stared at the doorway for a moment.

"This it, Owl?"

"Yup..."

"So there might be a survivor down there?"

"Possibly..."

I sighed. "Alright let's open her up shall we?"

Reaching down and grabbing the hand, I yanked open the door. A ladder connected to the edge of the trap door and descended all the way down to the bottom of the tunnel. We peered down into the tunnel system only to see a small cloaked figure laying on the floor near the base of the ladder. The form shifted around but remained in the same place.

"Hello down there!" I shouted at the form.

The cloak rose up and turned around to look up at me. The figure remained hidden under her robe, all that was visible from the darkness were two yellow eyes peering at me.

"Oh thank goodness! Someone finally came to help me." A feminine voice rung out.

"Yah... do you know what happened to the tribe that lived here?"

She form looked down. "No... I was told to hide down here while they dealt with something."

"Huh... anything else? Do you know if the thing they were dealing with was a dragon?"

"I think so... I heard large steps and screaming. When the noises stopped, I wanted to peak outside but something heavy was holding the door shut."

Twitch pushed his head up to the door. "Is there anyone else down there?"

"No... I was the only one they told to stay down here."

"Only you? That does not seem very wise of the elders of the village."

"I'd have to agree with Fenrir. Why only you?"

"Well I was one of the only things in the village knew medicine so I suppose they wanted to keep me safe just in case?"

"Right." I looked at her but she kept her face hidden under her cloak.

The figure began to clamber up the ladder. Creaking with each step she took the ladder nearly broke. Owl offered her his hand to aid her in getting out which she politely accepted. Shifting his weight to help pull her out of the hole, Owl fumbled backwards almost falling over. The figure still hiding her face with the shadows created by her hood brushed off some dust. She turned towards me and offered her hand.

"I don't think we properly introduced ourselves. I am Elizabeth D. Bellum, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr...."

Something is right about her... "Adam Bugbear..."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Adam. Who might you're friends be?" She looked behind me.

"The wolf is called... Skoll, the bug...Hadi and the cat is... Filcher."

She giggled a little. "Are you sure? It sounded like you were making them up on the spot."

"What, no, I would never lie. I just had to take a moment to remember their names. We haven't been together for long so it's a bit hard."

"Oh, it must be nice to travel in such a large group. I only have Mortimer to talk to."

Twitch walked up to her. "Who is Mortimer?"

"Oh, Mortimer is my crow friend. He's just over there." She pointed a finger over to a crow perched on a table on top of one of the only intact huts.

The crow looked down at us from it's perch. Small crimson eyes were the only thing to off set the ebony feathers that coated it's entire body. Not moving a single muscle the bird appeared as though it was a statue. Elizabeth whistled sharply causing the bird to swoop down onto her shoulder.

She petted the crow on it's head. "Oh, Mortimer! You had me worried for a while you know. Don't you ever do that again."

All four of us leaned in waiting for the crow's response but all we got was silence. "Does... he talk back to you?"

"Oh, no. I sometimes pretend he does so it's a little less lonely."

"Right... could you give a second?"

"Don't mind me. Me and Mort will be here when you come back."

I walk all of us over behind one of the buildings out of the sight of Elizabeth and Mortimer. I checked around us to make sure they hadn't followed us before speaking to my companions.

"Ok, what should we do with her?"

"Leave her, we don't need more dead weight. No offence, Twitch."

"None taken... but I think we should at least help her get to the next village or town. We might have caused this entire town to die so it might be the least we could do."

I sighed. "Let me guess, Owl you say you have no opinion one way or the other."

"You would be correct."

I hate them so much...

"We might as well take her with us. Safety in numbers and all that. Come on let's go tell her."

We marched back to the hole only to see Elizabeth sitting there. She remained hidden under her cloak with Mortimer on her shoulder.

"Well Elizabeth, we've decided to help you get to the next village safely. That is if you want to travel with us."

"Oh my really? Thank you, thank you, thank you! I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come along and help me."

"Yah... well let's get going." I turned toward Fenrir ready to get on his back to leave.

"Celt, the sun almost down. We might as well set up camp nearby to conserve energy."

I gave another large sigh before turning back to Elizabeth. "Change of plan. Let's stay in the jungle by the village until tomorrow."

"That sounds lovely! I've never been camping before!"

"Ok, guys and girl let's set up camp..."

Next Chapter: Prepare for a big surprise (29) Estimated time remaining: 33 Minutes