That's what chain lightning traps do. They're very dangerous and one of the most feared things on CoA for a reason. Stay further back. Put up elemental protection and a constitution buff on yourself at all times during questing. These are things that can minimalize and out right prevent something like that occuring. Just being a caster and standing in the back isn't always enough to 'be safe' on a quest.
As for the 'only 3 people on', well that's unfortunate, but it still boils down to adventuring by yourself vses having a group. Back in the day, people use to farm solo all sorts of things, and it wasn't good for the server. You should try to get one of those 3 people to help you, and if you can't, you just need to understand there is a very large risk in traveling alone.