"Alana, my name is Alana." She answered, her voice loud and clear.
'What? What's her deal?' Ren was astonished. The two were unsure of how to proceed, they did not want to seem like they were retreating as that would show a clear sign that they could not win a fight against her, and she could exploit that and attack them. On the other hand, she wasn't on guard like the two were, not only that, she also had a strange smile.
"What's your name?" she asked, prompting Ren and Tuarine to look at each other wondering who she was referring to.
"You silly." She chuckled, twirling her long black hair.
'What is she on to?' Ren thought. She had dropped her name so telling her his seemed like the right thing to do, but he was not going to ignore that she had just killed most of his teammates, he also had not asked for her name, moreover, Ren was still cautious about giving up his information unless the need arose.
"Giving me the silent treatment huh?"
Ren's brows were furrowed in anger.
"What's this? You killed our friends and you expect we would tell you our names and be friends with you?" Ren spoke furiously. Alana merely shrugged, "You did not tell me they were your friends, and you don't seem to care enough. You are cute when you are angry." She chuckled some more.
"Cute….wh..wh…what?!" Ren stuttered, that caught him off guard.
Tuarine eased herself from her stance, in as much as she wanted nothing more than to bury her fists on the magicker's face, she did not have the energy, and it would seem that danger had passed.
"Nevermind, I'll have Mashiggot get your information. You will be seeing me soon Mr cultivator farmer." She smirked, and threw her arms apart. Ren and Tuarine recoiled, taking up attacking positions in reflex, but instead, lightning struck, and she was gone. She had teleported away.
Tuarine let out a sigh of relief, "What a monster." The magicker had barely fought, they were greatly lucky. She felt grateful that Ren was present, else she would be down with her charred comrades. Now that danger had passed, it was time to address the consequences that they have brought upon themselves. Tuarine fell on her knees, charred bodies of men she cared about laid before her, blackened and snuff of life. She sobbed.
Ren watched uncomfortably. Although the deaths of the men rattled him, he had not known them enough to feel the pain that Tuarine felt. Tuarine had seemed like a great wall, immovable, strong and resolute. It felt strange to Ren to see such a strong woman cry, but after all, she was only human.
He stood awkwardly when he heard moans of pain, someone was alive, and he hoped it was one of theirs.
"Jonan." He mumbled.
The large man sprawled at the foot of the tree that had stopped him. His hair was drenched in blood, however he was conscious, and it looked like he'll live. Ren hurried to him, spotting a bad purple bruise on his right leg.
"Jonan, I am here, it's Ren. Let's get you up." He opened his eyes when Ren uttered those words.
"Did we win? Are the evil…" He coughed up blood.
"Don't speak," Ren urged.
"Are they gone?"
"Yes, they are dead. We won."
A weak smile came on the large man's face, and his head slumped.
"No! No! Stay with me Jonan." Ren panicked but the strong man wasn't dead, he only fell back unconscious. Ren let out a sigh of relief, there had been too much deaths today. He turned to see Tuarine moving about, he was certain that she had not pictured these much deaths. They all had braced themselves for some losses, but seventeen to five, that was beyond terrible. Tuarine dreaded going back to the village, but she had no choice.
She walked to Ren, and saw that her good friend still lived. Jonan was in no state to move however, someone had to carry him home. Ren volunteered, he lifted up the man on his shoulders. He had turned to go back from where they had come when he spotted Tuarine doing the unspeakable.
"What are you doing?!" He blurted. The charred remains of the men were on Tuarine's back, she was eager to lift as many as she could back to the village.
"What does it look like? We bury our dead, I am taking them back to their families. I must pay my respects to our customs. We cannot leave them overnight, foul beasts would feed on them before morning, and that is unforgivable." She had about five charred remains on her back.
"I'll avenge you all. Let's move."
The journey back to the village was a slog. The extra weight, exhaustion and darkness slowed them down considerably. The nightly noises of nocturnal beasts rattled Ren but he managed to maintain his cool, someone depended on him to get to safety, and he would see it through.
After a slog of five hours, they got to Tunish. Eldrad sat out at the edge of the forest with a standing flame torch expecting them.
It was a blessing that Maldrin had two moons, otherwise they would not have made it through the forest. Eldrad spotted them from a distance, and hurried to them.
As soon as Ren and Tuarine saw someone approach them, they both collapsed from exhaustion, they would take it from here.
"Tuarine, Ren!" Eldrad panicked. His heart sank when he got close and got a good look at what was on them.
"Men! Men! Come out from your huts."
He pushed Jonan off Ren, and the charred bodies off Tuarine. He understood immediately that only three of them had survived. He heard a whisper, it was his daughter speaking before she passed out.
"There are others, our men dead in the forest. I am sorry pop." She said, her voice coarse and dry, and she fell unconscious.