"Move in and save them!" Seeing the gate breached, the Flaming Fist soldier blackened by smoke immediately ordered his subordinates to charge inside. Ethemon looked at the inn about to be swallowed by the flames and signaled Karlach and Lae'zel to rush to the kitchen to salvage whatever food hadn't been burned to ash. Shadowheart and Wyll followed him to rescue people, while the fragile duo, Gale and Astarion, were told to stay outside for now.
They pushed their way through the raging fires. Minor explosions and tremors shook loose clouds of dust at regular intervals. To protect everyone from burns, Shadowheart frequently cast *Create Water* to cool them down, but the fire covered too much area; the meager amount of water she could summon was nowhere near enough to extinguish it.
As they rushed up to a second-floor room where the temperature was climbing steadily, Wyll searched with frantic determination, as if he felt nothing at all. Even the black smoke stinging his eyes and bringing tears to them could not stop him.
Chapter 53