Kael watched as Erina's body turned to ashes under the intense flames. He stood there from sunset till it was late in the night when the fire died down and what was left was her ashes. He collected her ashes in an urn and sprinkled it in a nearby stream. At first he thought of gathering all the bodies of everyone that had died and also cremate them but he refused. He wasn't anybody's hero and that was the job of the High Concord to carry out after all not everyone was nice to him and aunt Erina .
The High concord was a governing body of Eryndor which supervised all major activities in Eryndor. It was made up of regional lords, Envoys of elder races, independent city delegates and Observers which was headed by the High Arbiter who was not a monarch but mediator. They had different envoys In all parts of Eryndor carrying a sigil of a griffin carrying a burning flag and book.
Kael went ahead to carry Reyner and his family members bodies and also cremate them, sprinkling their ashes in the same stream he sprinkled Erina's. He had done his part and he was going to leave the rest to the high Concord. He searched every rubble he came across, about the rotting bodies. He found a makeshift backpack, packing any essentials things he could find. He packed food and precious jewelries he could sell for money.
"I think I'm robbing the dead" he said to himself expressing no emotions as he searched the rubbles
"But the dead don't own anything unless inherited off" he continued. After an uneventful looting, he couldn't make of much; he had enough food for 5days if he ate j little quantities, he found only 6 jewelries he wasn't sure if they were even worth it, he found a dagger which Reyner kept in the forgery. Kael pushed his luck still looking for anything he could grab.
"neigh!" the sound of horses approaching grew closer and Kael his from the incoming intruders
It was a group of 8 in which all of them horses and were clad in full armor
" this place looks terrible, what an eyesore' one of them uttered in disgust. Looking at the sigil they wore, they were the soldiers of the High Concord.
"Call for backup Henry, we need to bury these people" the only person without a helmet spoke
"We also need to determine the cause of this destruction" he continued
"Yes, Commander Harwick" Henry responded
"Gilbert,Plen,Varrik, Corbin,Guhm and Boxer gather up all the bodies and bury them. Also search for any survivors" Harwick commanded.
"Yes Commander Harwick" they responded in unison
Kael watched closely some blocks away, he hid behind one of the few buildings which withstood the mass destruction.
"Looks like those shits have come over" he told himself
Despite the High Concord following a strict, honesty and trustworthiness doctrine some bad minded people found their way into the army which was responsible for orderliness in Eryndor. The High Concord supervised and sponsored the army under the name of 'The Ashen Host'. Some of the soldiers harassed people of Eryndor and therefore earning bad reputation with the people
Seeing these people arrive, Kael knew that being the sole survivor of such a cataclysmic event would only spell trouble for him. He grabbed his backpack and started walking slowly so as to avoid attention. He ducked, he hid, he crawled so much just to be able to move away unnoticed. He had never had fighting or survival classes so he did what he could do according to his guts.
"cling!" Kael bumped his head into something and instantly covered his mouth
"Huh" Gilbert looked In the direction of the noise.
"What's that?" Plen asked
"I don't know, I'll go check it out" Gilbert replied drawing his sword as he approached Kael
"Shit!" Kael exclaimed. It was seconds before this guy called Gilbert would see him. He had to think fast, he then grabbed stones nearby and threw it in different directions avoiding the sight of Gilbert. The stones collided with different things producing different sounds in different directions
Cling!clang!clung! Kael then immediately made for it in a different direction grabbing his backpack despite slowing down his speed. Soon Gilbert appeared but Kael was out of sight
"Commander Harwick!" Gilbert screamed
Harwick immediately left what he was doing and quickly run towards Gilbert as he reached Gilbert he saw Gilbert pick up ashes from a burned down wooden altar. Sniff! Gilbert who was a dog demi-human sniffed the ashes
"Dwarven remains and…" Gilbert paused and continued sniffing, "up North is another but is hybrid, mix of elf and human
"That's mean someone survived right?" Harwick questioned
" Yes! Commander Harwick and they burned bodies of this particular individuals, whether alive or dead I do not know" Gilbert replied but continued sniffing the air.
"there's also one more" Gilbert continued
"Another burned individual?" Harwick questioned
"No Commander Harwick, he or she is moving south and at a slow pace . I suggest we locate that individual fast the Nimbra Ruins are nearby and they mess up my sense of smell" Gilbert replied
"Everyone stop what you're doing" Harwick commanded
"Ready the horses, we are moving south and fast" he finished. Gilbert stood up put his sword back in his sheath while grabbing a handful of ashes. He looked south and had a confused expression on his face
***
"shit,shit, shit" Kael repeated as he ran as fast as he could while carrying his heavy backpack. He was thinking of ditching the bag but that will make matters worse as they had fingerprints on them. "I shouldn't have cremated them now they're definitely after me." Kael ranted. He had stopped running thinking see nothing and go back to work but seeing them stop what they were doing and go in the same direction he went made his heart beat increase. He had underestimated the Ashen Host and now he might be caught and questioned but he still had hope because what lied south of the village of Nimbra was the Nimbra Ruins.