For two days, the group made their way through the forest without any incident. The trees were tall and dense, casting a cool shade over the forest floor. Lith and Arin walked together, Niall scouting ahead and Drogan leading the way with the three healthy remaining mercenaries protecting them all. As they traveled, they talked about everything from the best way to prepare rabbit stew to the legends of ancient dwarves.
As they drew closer to Dunsmoor, the forest began to thin out, and the group could see a clearing up ahead. Drogan quickened his pace, eager to reach the village and restock their supplies. Niall fell back to join Lith and Arin, who were trailing behind.
"Are you excited to see Dunsmoor?" Niall asked, grinning.
Lith nodded eagerly. "I can't wait to see what kind of supplies they have," he replied. "And I've never been to a another village before."
Arin chuckled. "I remember my first time in a human village," he said. "I was so nervous, I nearly tripped over my beard."
Niall laughed. "I can't imagine you being nervous, Arin," he said.
Arin shrugged. "We dwarves aren't exactly used to mingling with humans," he said. "But we manage."
As they neared Dunsmoor village, Lith caught a whiff of burning wood on the wind. At first, he dismissed it as a distant smoke from the chimney or a controlled burn. But as they got closer, the smell grew stronger, until it was unmistakable. The village was on fire.
They could see the windmill at the edge of the village, its charred remains a blackened skeleton against the sky. As they rode closer, they could see that the entire village was in ashes. Houses, barns, and even the church, all reduced to smoldering piles of wood and ash.
Lith was in shock. He had never seen anything like it. Lith could see that the whole village was in ashes. The buildings that had once stood tall and proud were nothing more than piles of blackened wood and rubble. Even the trees around the village were blackened, their leaves gone and their branches charred. "What could have happened here?" he muttered, his voice barely audible over the crackling of the flames.
Drogan's face was grim as he surveyed the destruction. "This is bad," he said, his voice low and tense. "Real bad."
Drogan rode ahead of the group, his face set in a grim expression. The others followed behind him, their eyes wide with shock and horror at the devastation that had been wrought upon this once-peaceful village.
Arin's face was etched with grief and anger. "Dwarvenkind does not tolerate this kind of destruction," he growled. "Those responsible will pay."
Niall's eyes darted back and forth, scanning the village for any sign of life. "We need to check for survivors," he said urgently.
As they dismounted their horses and jump from the wagons they approached the ruins of the village, and the magnitude of the destruction became even clearer. The streets were littered with debris, the buildings were reduced to rubble and ash. The silence was broken only by the crackling of the flames and the occasional creak of a charred beam settling into the ashes.
"Hello?" Niall called out, his voice echoing off the ruined walls. "Is anyone there?"
But there was no answer, only the sound of the fire and the wind.
Lith felt a sense of despair creeping over him. This village had been home to dozens of people, maybe even hundreds. And now it was gone, destroyed in a matter of hours.
Lith could feel a sense of anger and sadness rising within him as he looked around at the destruction. How could someone do this to innocent people, he wondered. Who would be so heartless as to burn down an entire village, killing everyone in its wake?
The group stood there for a few moments in stunned silence, taking in the full extent of the devastation before them. And then they started to talk, each one trying to make sense of what they had just witnessed.
"What could have done this?" he asked, his voice shaking with emotion.
Drogan looked at Lith grimly, his eyes taking in the devastation around them. " I don't know, bandits, most likely," he said simply. "It's the only thing that makes sense. I do not see any signs of a monster horde attack. No accident could cause this level of destruction either. And we don't see any survivors around here."