The dust settled from the battle with the Inquisitor and his goons, and the party tended to their wounded. Haddin was bleeding out, and while he was on death's door, his apparent hold on Crystin broke. She begged the party to get her away from the farm and away from Haddin, as he was controlling her. She implored us to take her, with or without Haddin. As soon as her father's wounds were closed (yet he remained unconscious), Crystin returned to her demure and quiet self.
The party discussed their options, and decided the best course of action was to take Crystin with them, but to leave Haddin at the farm, bound but alive. The group feared what Haddin could do to control individual minds while within the Fire Forest.
Each member had their rest, and in the morning, the party left the farm, carrying a bound Crystin. They quickly arrived at the Fire Forest and quaffed the potions of fire resistance, and trudged into the blaze.
Not long after entering, the party came across a few bodies. While they were ripped to pieces, they turned out to be alive. One of these undead bodies begged for death. Myetharia delivered a killing blow, but the body soon returned to life. Moving on, the party saved a mephit from being attacked by fire bats, discovered the same inability to bring finality to their enemies (though cold attacks seemed to have a strong effect).
Continuing on, the party found a bridge over a blazing gorge, with a wagon that had fallen off and was smoldering below. They safely crossed the bridge and continued on safely.
Eventually, the party discovered a dark figure, following them. Before they could get a clear view of the person, they seemingly teleported away in a blast of fire. Shortly after this event, a hound delivered a humanoid femur to the group with a message written on it. “Leave the case’s contents. Cooperate and we might find an arrangement to spare your lives. Carry this with you if you wish to bargain.”
The group took the bone with but left nothing behind to continue on.