Chapter 73. The Desolation

SAELYNA

I try to find the part of the house that would have been the library, but I can’t. I curse under my breath when ash beters my mouth and it’s all I can do not to scream. Deep breaths, I remind myself.

Then Fareedah sniffs at the air again and my fury switches to an onset of fear. It’s the third time she’s done that since we started the search.

“What is it?” I ask worriedly, stealing a glance back at Cyran where he stands on alert behind us, his bowstring drawn taut with alert. “I think I smell smoke.”

Quain kicks at a pile of ash, squinting down at the white dust that descends on him. “We’re surrounded by the aftermath of an inferno. I reckon you would smell smoke. You’d have to,” he says, not unkindly.

Fareedah’s nostrils flare a bit, but she doesn’t say anymore; she turns back to the debris, her face hooded as it had been since we left Eldad. “Are you alright?”

She smiles wanely. “I suppose I am,” she says quietly. Her gaze turns dist