The Village Barbecue

By Lokyr Goldendale

I hear the call go out, the Lalotai islands and its people are under attack! A bit surprised, I track down whoever oversees organizing the adventurous rabble to find out more. Learning that fire elementals seem to be the main opponents, I quickly gather what I can for the fight on short notice. Water, wind, and ice spells were chosen, fire-retardant boots, filter mask, and hot weather clothing were bought, and water skins were filled. I wish I could have done more to prepare, but there was little time.

I do not run but move with purpose towards the staging area they were teleporting mercenaries into the fray. As fate would have it, I bump into two of my erstwhile acquaintances – Deimos and Tai. Greeting each other swiftly, we readily agree to team up for this catastrophe. Though as for a plan… there really was not much of one. Deimos seems too excited to do anything more than charge the enemy head-on, while Tai simply says he would be looking for survivors. Disappointing… we will have to work on our teamwork in the future if we want to survive the upcoming expedition to Eatash Alram.

It is not long before our group is called up to the teleportation circle. I secure my filter mask on and with a flash of magic I’ve yet to fully understand, we appear somewhere hot and humid. The scent of smoke is heavy on the air and the sounds of screams are faint. Wooden huts surround us, mostly abandoned. In the distance, three molten giants draw closer. Deimos runs off towards the worst smoke without a word. A nod from Tai before he quickly vaults onto a roof and bounds across the tops of the huts. Taking a quick breath to steel myself, I run in a different direction.

Problems stop popping up quickly. Not a minute into my search, I begin finding buildings with small patches of thatch or wall starting to burn up, probably by some of the cinders in the air. Some of the people are still trying to save some of their belongings, seemingly heedless of the encroaching danger. With an arcane word and gesture, I conjure jets of water to put out the flame, telling the fools to head to one of the evacuation points before they get caught in a burning hut. Most agree, thankfully.

Leaving fools to their fate, I continue. It galls me that they would risk their lives for baubles. It reminds me too much of my own clan. The smoke grows thicker, my sight growing shorter and shorter. The huts I find now seem to be abandoned, though more are now fully on fire. It is spreading, though there is not much I can do with my limited spells. I come across other fools trying to find their way out. I take some cloth from the surrounding huts, soaking them with the water I brought to give to these idiots. They better be singing my praises after making sure their dumb asses did not suffocate. I got them turned in the right direction and continue.

It… it does not get better. I start finding corpses, both suffocated and burning. I can help a few, teleporting between the gaps of collapsed buildings to rescue people inside. More cloth, more water, on to the next one. I spend one of my precious water spells to put out a flailing man, directing another villager to drag him out of here. Villagers are running, chased by some minor fire elementals. One, two, three spells, ice magic snuffing out their weak forms. More cloth, more water. Things are becoming a blur in the ‘heat’ of the crisis. Water is beginning to run low. I can see the fighting now, adventurers against giant fire elementals. The strongest battle the three giants. Wait, is that Deimos fighting two at once? It does not matter. I start grabbing the fallen, removing them from the fighting and checking them over. When I can, I call out to medics or healers who bring spells and potions to stabilize the wounded.

This goes on for… I do not know how long. My waterskins are empty, my filter is beginning to fail, I am pretty sure I have heat blisters all over me and I am reduced to simple cantrips. I am not sure how the fighting fares from where I am, I can barely see past my hands with how bad the smoke is. I start making my way out of the village. Hopefully, most of it will still be standing by tomorrow…