It was still night in some parts of town; the sun had only just begun to peek its fiery head over the horizon when the first sound shattered the silence.

There was a series of crackles, pops and booms. A giant mushroom cloud went up from the Long Board Tenement House, cloaking the sleepy village in a horrible shadow. The screams of the townspeople swept through the air, carried by the aftershock.

As people came out of their homes to see the scene of destruction, a pack of galdori broke through the crowd, their hair and clothes covered in ashes, coughing and hacking. They were making their way to their aeroship, covering their faces as they ran.

The dust began to settle, and the scene was hideous. Human remains littered the street, and the house itself was still aflame in some parts, charred and smoking in others.

Bear was about four miles from Dorhaven. He'd been fortunate with his traps the previous day and with the fine buck he'd killed he had a decent haul. Some of the meat from the kills were wrapped in paper and stowed in the bag reserved for just such a load. The pelts were packed away in his large pack along with all of his camping gear. The encounter with the Mythic Beast and the revelation it had caused had made Bear restless. He was ready to start on his quest, whatever it may be. Regardless, Dorhaven was his first stop.

Breaking from the trees finally, Bear could see Dorhaven in the distance. At that moment an explosion split the morning tranquility. Bear dropped to a knee and shielded his eyes from the piercing brightness. A mushroom cloud marked the place of the catastrophe. Stunned for the moment, Bear watched the smoke rise over the peaceful little berg. Then he started to run, he dropped his pack and all of his gear. Clutching his weapons Bear flew toward Dorhaven, Quinn hot on his heels. If there was a battle he'd be in it, if not he could help in some way. There were tears in his eyes as he ran.

The small town was in chaos when Bear finally arrived. There were bodies everywhere. People were dashing about, everyone was shouting and confused. A group of men were attempting to put out the fire. Bear noticed an aeroship beginning to rise up out of the town. Galdori fleeing the scene. Bear shook his head and turned his attention back to the disaster area.

Bodies were now being retrieved from the smoking husk of the building and laid out on the sidewalk. Bear could see about forty corpses, blackened and charred; other unfortunate individuals were mere piles of limbs and odd torsos. It was difficult to see the exact death count among the throngs of people, crying, howling, screaming.

"My Herbert!" wailed a woman in a nurses' uniform. "Where is Herbert?" She started tearing through the crowd, and finally reached the perimeter. When she saw the corpses, she began to sob uncontrollably. "Hebert!!"

Bear placed his large hand on the sobbing woman's shoulder. She was sobbing uncontrollably. "There, there love, we'll find him. I'm sure he's around here somewhere, none the worse for wear." He didn't know if it was true but he didn't know what else to say to calm the lady down.

"Do ye have anything of his lass? My friend Quinny here will sniff him out for ya proper quick." He said soothingly, his voice turning into a soothing rumble.

The woman nodded, bewildered at the kindness this grizzled man was showing her; he was huge and might have been intimidating if not for his smile and warm nature. She began to hand him a handkerchief from her coat pocket, but thought better of it, and held it out for the dog to sniff.

"That's a baaaaad idea," said a bystander, looking at Bear. "That bander might find a bit o' Herbert, but d'ya really want to upset poor Miss Erika more?"

Bear made sure Erika hadn't been affected by the comment too harshly then looked up at the speaker. "Hush up now, don't go talkin like that. I wasn't expecting Miss Erika to go running after Quinny to see what he found. I'll check for him while this poor lass sits here and collects herself. If poor Herbert is not in a state for company, I'll let you know Erika, alright?"

"You've got a strength in you my dear, you can come through this. Let's not start off by expecting the worse though eh? So if you want, no hard feelings if you don't, let Quinny get a sniff so I can go find our friend Herb for ya."

The woman had already started crying again, and probably didn't hear a word either of the two men said.

Bear sighed as he watched the woman cry, he felt helpless. His eyes were full of tears as he looked around the devastation. Who could do this to such sweet, simple people.

Bear patted Erika on the back. "If you decide you want my help, my offer stands darlin, you just look for ol' Bear."

He and Quinn walked further in the mass of screaming, crying, shocked people. Not sure where he was going, Bear was sure he could be of help somewhere.