Not ordinarily averse to bats any more than to other beasts, Soren has a terrible feeling about these particular bats, particularly having seen the mysterious watching woman, likely Strahd's agent who had coordinated the Vampire Spawn attack, disappear in a cloud of such bats just a few minutes ago.

With a sinking feeling, Soren thinks:  And so the darklord gets what he wants in the end... all his plotting with Lady Wachter to use us as catspaws, then the attack of the undead abominations...  Ireena, or 'Tatyana' as the Vampire Spawn claimed to be searching for... she is out in the open now, no longer defended by any structure that vampires cannot enter, nor by anyone besides us in our weakened state.  Not that it would matter if we were at full strength.  I remember the darklord's rage during the storm our first night in Vallaki.  He will jealously take her for his own, now that his scouts see her...

To both the traumatized guard and the traumatized mastiff respectively, he reiterates, first in Common, then using Speech of the Woods:

"You must leave this man-den now lest you be consumed by the hungry fires spreading from the kitchen."

But he has no time to force them to save themselves.  Soren continues his all out dash wrapping around the Baron's manor south, then west along the southern walls, aiming to rejoin his companions at the back of the house.  He still plans his likely futile attempt to use Mold Earth to throw damp soil at the flames in an effort to slow their spread.  He has even less hope about what he suspects is about to happen with Ireena...

As he re-enters telepathic range with Nettle, he suggests that she steer well clear of the bats and dodge to keep herself safe.

Hot, acrid smoke begins shoving its way inside Giles, he begins to cough and he gets down low, kneeling and looking at the baseboards to see the way out.  This is hopeless, this whole house is going up in flames!  He sees Burr make his way out, and he does a forward roll toward the door, getting singed by some of the fire on his left.  He makes it outside, coughing and staggering, then stands to his full height, rushing over to Ireena, Burr and Lady Bauer.  

*cough* *cough* *cough*. “Soren, Viktor, Zefla, did they make it out?” *cough* *cough*  He stands with his hands on his knees, arched over as he tries to get his breath and maintain a safe distance from the house engulfed in flames, smoke starting to make everything unclear.  

(Failed Dex save of 7, taking 6 damage.)

Soren, Giles and Burr have all made it outside into the cool night, able to cough out the worst of the smoke and fill their lungs with clean air.

Inside, Zefla is still surrounded by thick black smoke that makes seeing difficult and breathing almost impossible.  At least she is a little further away from the heat of the fire now.  Throwing open the hall door, she sees a dark room, sparsely furnished with four beds and dressers.  A guest room, or perhaps servants' quarters.  There is no one inside now.

[Soren is now a turn ahead of everyone, so Zefla, Giles and Burr can act or just chat while we wait for the last of this to sort itself out.]

Burr looks around for a clear path back towards the inn unless Giles or the two ladies have a better suggestion for a destination.

Perception- 8

Giles runs to the door that he just exited, he cups his hands and shouts into the house, "Zefla, don't come this way, blocked by fire and smoke, come out of the house on the other side!"  He turns to Lady Bauer, Ireena and Burr and says "Let's run to the other side and get them out of there.  Ireena and Bauer, you need to keep your faces hidden, we are out in the open, exposed.  Can you pull your cloak around, cover your face, hide your appearance!  Let's go to the front...."  Giles starts to dash around to the other side of the house.  

The smoke getting bad and breathing getting more difficult, Zefla decides it is time to leave.  She runs towards the front door, seeing the confused guard and mastiff, "We need to leave, now!  The house is on fire!!"

Seeing those two reminds her of the annoying kid in the attic and she worries he is still up there since he wasn't with the two women.  Running up the stairs at the front of the house, she starts shouting his name.  She also tries speaking to his mind with her halfling ability, Viktor!  The house is going to burn to the ground, get out!!

If she doesn't get a response, she will continue to the trap door, he wasn't going to burn alive on her watch.

Giles and Soren see each other racing around the house in opposite directions.

Ireena and Tourmaline share a glance and then both pull up their hoods, the human woman more easily disguised than the broken-horned and red-skinned tiefling.  They stick close to Burr's side.

Burr can't see much from inside the walled back gardens of the Baron's manor.  There is no sign of activity, montrous or human, around either the Baron's burning home or the manor-turned-prison next door.  As for the rest of the town, Burr can only listen for clues.  Nearby, the streets are eerily silent, the mob having fled in the wake of the vampire spawn attack.  The air carries the acrid tang of smoke from the manor, and the steady crackling roar of the flames grows louder with each passing moment.  Sparks occasionally drift over the garden wall, carried on the swirling night wind.

Burr senses no immediate danger in the surrounding streets—no movement, no growls, no footsteps—but the disquieting sounds from the town suggest that safety is tenuous at best.  From deeper in Vallaki, faint echoes of distant shouts and screams break the quiet.  Alarm bells ring sporadically, their urgent clangs reverberating like panicked heartbeats.  Somewhere, distant, a voice calls out a warning, but it’s impossible to make out the words over the rising din from the fire.

Inside, Zefla runs up to the landing on the stair case and sends a telepathic shout to Victor.  Victor’s telepathic reply comes through in a flustered and indignant tone, his thoughts a jumble of panic, frustration, and arrogance:

 The sound of stomping feet and frantic muttering echoes faintly from the attic as Victor continues his feverish attempts to pack.

Burr begins moving off towards the Inn with the two women, waving to Giles and Soren to follow.....he's confident the quick and talented Zefla will catch them up shortly.

He's not overly bothered if Viktor gets out......something about the boy creeps him out...a certain callousness.....the type that sees others as tools rather than people.

Giles continues to dash to the front of the house, turning behind him, hoping the others are following.  He spots Soren, saying “Viktor! And Zefla!  Have you seen them?  They’ve got to get out!”  

"There may yet be others of the Baron's pack trapped in the burning man-den," Soren yelps frantically to no one in particular, his wide eyes reflecting he fire.  "Siblings, a mother, uncles and aunts, other servants like the two we saw in the kitchen?  D-does Viktor know?"

He plans to use Mold Earth to do what he can to put out the flames piecemeal with mounds of (hopefully) damp soil.  Still, the cantrip requires line of sight and he cannot yet see the back door.  Assuming Mold Earth lacks force (and/or range) to smash the window 30' to his west and send the pile of soil through it, Soren dashes 60' west (past Giles), hoping to gain a view of the back door.

If Soren passes Burr and Ireena, he whispers at them, somewhat cryptically:  "Beware and stay hidden.  The bats are swarming, like the ones we saw the female spy turn into at a distance out the window.  The darklord seeks... the one the undead abomination asked after. Tatyana."  (He looks at Ireena).

Nettle continues to dodge and eye the gathering bats, while keeping her distance.  She telepathically suggests to Soren likely areas of wet soil that would be good candidates for his Mold Earth-based firefighting efforts next turn.

Frustrated with Viktor's response, Zefla dashes and dashes again to the trapdoor to get to Viktor's lair.  She's going to try and assist him in getting things out.  On the way yelling, "The house is on fire!  Get out!  Get out!"  In case there are any others still hanging around.

Soren skids to a stop near the back of the house, the blistering heat forcing him to keep a safe distance.  The back door has become an inferno, flames twisting and roaring out like a dragon's breath.  The smoke is an impenetrable wall of black, spewing sparks and ash into the air.   He feels more than sees his owl familiar circling above.  Nettle wheels through the cloud of bats , creating a small window of reprieve.  The bats cause it no injury, fluttering away from the owl but not leaving the vicinity of the burning manor.

Burr leads Ireena and Tourmaline at a hurried pace along the side of the manor, toward the city streets.  Ireena glances nervously over her shoulder, her face illuminated by the glow of flames, but she keeps pace.  Tourmaline stumbles slightly, wincing from her injuries but determined to keep moving.  Suddenly, with a resounding CRACK, a kitchen window explodes outward, shards of glass spraying across their path.  Flames surge through the shattered frame, licking at the night air.  The trio recoils briefly, heat blasting against their faces, but Burr keeps them moving on through the smoke.  They have a long run ahead of them for the presumed safety of the Bluewater Inn.

At the front of the house, away from the worst of the flames, Giles slows as he takes in the bizarre scene before him.  One of the Baron’s mastiffs, fur smudged with soot, is bracing its powerful body and dragging a guardsman—half-dazed and sluggish—away from the fire.  The guardsman weakly resists, a hand fumbling at the dog's grip, before being pulled a little further.  Whether from shock, stubbornness, or some deeper influence, the man refuses to fully give in to the dog’s efforts.  He seems like he wants nothing more than to curl up into a ball and sob right on the steps.  The mastiff growls low and determined, its teeth gripping the man’s sleeve as it pulls again with all its might.  There is no sign of Zefla or Victor here.

Upstairs, the heat is unbearable.  Smoke chokes the air and stings Zefla’s eyes as she races down the hallway.  Every breath feels like swallowing ash, and her lungs burn with the effort.  She skids to a halt at the top of the rear staircase, greeted by a wall of flames roaring hungrily up the steps.  The fire is alive, crackling and snapping as it devours the manor.  Zefla’s path to the bedroom—and Victor’s attic—is blocked, but she can see beyond the flames.  The choice is stark: she can turn back or she can leap through the fire.  It’s a dangerous gamble, but the attic is Victor’s last known location, and time is running out.  If she delays even a moment longer, the fire may consume the room entirely.

[If Zefla wishes to jump through the fire, she must make a DC 15 DEX save taking 8 fire damage on a failure or 4 on a success.]

Zefla has tears streaming down her face as she tries to stand the smoke and the heat.  Seeing the inferno before her and the possible jump to the attic, she hates to leave Viktor, but she has no choice.  After fighting with Izek, the fire could take her out easily and then she would be consumed by the flames.

Turning on her heel to dash towards the front door, she telepathically reaches out to Viktor again:

Soren swallows, tasting bile at the back of his throat as the roaring flames drive him back.  His hands tremble and his breath comes in shallow gasps.

Self-imposed DC15 WIS Save to overcome his primal fear and attempt to fight the fire using Mold Earth:  13 (fail)

He knows he should at least... TRY!  There might be those in need of saving inside the house, not just Viktor, the mastiff and the catatonic guard.  Zefla too, as far as he knows.  Other innocent humanoids, other innocent beasts.  Yet as he attempts the somatic components of the Mold Earth in a desperate effort to hurl damp soil at the inferno, his quavering fingers fail him, and the cantrip fizzles like a teardrop upon a bonfire.

Choking back a sob of frustration and shame, Soren flees instead.  As he had long ago through Neverwinter Wood.  Abandoning the victims to the hungry flames.  Dashing to catch up with Burr, Ireena and Lady Bauer.  Nettle keeps pace through the air behind him with her 60' fly speed, trying to gauge whether the bats seem to be focusing at all on Ireena in particular, or just swirling around the burning house, relaying what she sees telepathically to Soren.

Nettle's Perception (with advantage due to Keen Hearing and Sight):  21

[Taking place in the middle of this round, during Soren's turn...]

Soren's attempt to douse the inferno falters as the flames seem to surge defiantly, roaring louder as if mocking his efforts.  The fire consumes his focus, his resolve shattering under its relentless onslaught.  And then, as his panic overtakes him and he turns to flee, a voice snakes into his mind like smoke through cracks in stone.  Deep, ancient, and resonant, it is both a whisper and a roar, a sound that seems to speak from the heart of the inferno itself.

 And then it is over, the memory fading as fast as a bad dream, as Soren flees behind the others as they move away from the burning manor.

Giles finishes running around to the front, looking for anyone moving outside first, spotting the mastiff and the weak guard, but not approaching them, but rather ignoring the two of them.  Instead, he moves to the rope that is hopefully still hanging from the window, calling out "Viktor!  Come down, now!  Don't make me come up there and get you!  You are going to burn alive if you don't get out of that house, RIGHT NOW!"  He sends his telekinetic mage hand up the rope, ready to steady it for him to climb, grab him or steady his balance if needed to help Viktor's climb down.  Giles tries to look in the door, also calling out "Zefla?  You in there?  Get your ass out of there, now!"  

The air near the front of the Baron’s manor is choked with heat and the acrid tang of smoke.  The fire’s dull roar dominated the night, punctuated by the occasional crash as parts of the rear of the building surrender to the flames.  Burr, Tourmaline, and Ireena have already begun their retreat, moving swiftly down the streets in the direction of the Bluewater Inn.   

While Giles and Soren meet near the manor’s front door, Zefla stumbles into view, coughing as she emerges from the inferno.  Soot streaks her face as she gasps for fresh air. 

Nearby, the mastiff—a massive, loyal beast—stands protectively over the last, dazed guard, dragging him further from the burning house.  The guard’s feeble attempts to resist are useless against the determined dog.

For a moment, the group stands in uneasy silence, the fire's chaos growing louder behind them.  Then a faint sound draws their attention upward: movement at the shattered attic window.

Victor Vallakovich appears, his silhouette framed by the flickering glow.  Smoke curls around him like a halo.  His arms are laden with books and bundles of papers, and a bulging backpack is hung precariously from one shoulder.  He pauses, looking down at the ground below with visible frustration, before unceremoniously tossing something from the window.

The party flinches, expecting more debris, but instead, three skeletal cats flailed as they tumbled through the air.  They hit the cobblestones below in a clatter of bones, their brittle forms breaking apart on impact.  The strange creatures quickly reassemble themselves, each piece snapping into place with precision.  Once whole, the cats sit for a moment, licking at imaginary fur as though the fall had been a minor inconvenience.  Then, silent as shadows, they skulk away into the night.

Victor grabs the rope and swings out over the window’s ledge and begins his descent, his movements hurried and uneven.  As his boots finally touch the ground, he glances back at the inferno consuming his ancestral home.  The smoke billowing from the windows and the glowing embers drifting skyward painted his face in shifting shades of orange and shadow.  His expression is difficult to read.

He turns abruptly, fixing his gaze on Soren.  His voice, though steady, carried a sharp edge of impatience.

"What of my mother?"

Soren shakes his head violently like an abruptly muzzled carnivore in a futile attempt to rid his mind of the accursed, searing voice roaring inside it.

No.  No!  All living beings have the right to live free of sweeping doom, whether from searing fire or cold undeath.  You cannot be the answer!  You cannot...

By the time he arrives at the front of the house, Nettle winging through the air behind him, the druid is shaking visibly, the whites of his eyes prominent.  His troubled psyche is soothed slightly as he sees his other companions and the loyal mastiff dragging the catatonic guard from a fiery death.  Using Speech of the Woods, he addresses the noble dog with both respect and condolence.

You honor your decimated pack with your steadfastness.  Yet I fear too few of them remain for you to protect.  You are a free beast, as we all are, and can make your own way, though if you would join our pack, I would welcome you.  Still, you should know that more peril likely lies ahead for us all.

Soren is snapped out of his canine overture by Viktor's impatient question.

"Your... your mother, Viktor?  I was afraid there might be others still inside.  Both Zefla and I called out for survivors to flee the fire and we saw some do so.  Where is your mother's chamber in the man-den?  Does it open to the outside so she can escape as you did?"

If Viktor indicates where the mother's room might be, Nettle immediately flies around the house (120' flying dash with flyby if needed) to scout it if it is along the exterior or any other location she could see.  Soren would also begin moving in that direction, praying for Silvanus' Guidance.

Breathing in the cool night air, Zefla leans against one of the trees in the front yard and watches the house burn.  She hears Viktor ask after his mother, but considering he cared more about his documents than his mother just moments before, she honestly couldn't give a sh*t.  

After a moment she notices that Burr, Ireena and Bauer aren't around, and inquires about them.. through a couple more coughing fits.

Victor shakes his head.  “No.  She wasn’t in her chamber tonight.  She was hosting one of her insipid wine parties in the dining room. A flock of ladies-about-town gossiping over vintage reds, no doubt.”

The dining room.  Soren and Zefla, both had seen the interior of the dining room.  Inside they had glimpsed a handful of lifeless bodies strewn across the floor and table, their blood staining the elegant rugs.  They had been slain by the vampire spawn, their party cut short in a burst of senseless violence.

Victor continued, oblivious to their thoughts.  “I tried to take the upstairs hall to escape, but it was choked with smoke.  My parents’ room was empty, so I turned back and climbed out the window.”  He gestured curtly toward the smoldering house.  “If she’s not among the survivors you saw, I can’t say where she is.”  He looks out over the dark town.   "I'm not sure who she would turn to for shelter after something like this..." he says, seemingly pondering that question.