Chapter 31

He was staring up, so I stared up. Like he said, there was now a light in one of the tower windows, not white, but a strange flickering orange. A sense of foreboding came over me, something I’d not felt in centuries. “Fire,” I whispered, still unsure if I was actually seeing what I was seeing.

“No,” said Dara. “Can’t be.”

But it was. And it wasn’t alone. Soon enough, more lights came on, shining in windows all around the square, both high and low, but all from above. “That explains it,” I said.

“Explains what?” asked Ricky.

I tried to move in reverse, but the throng was too thick. “Explains why you were the only crumb we found.” I turned his way. “We were looking in the wrong place.” I pointed all around. “Should’ve been looking up, not down.”

Just then, one of the lights came hurtling our way, a flaming torch landing with a dull thud to our left, lighting a long desiccated zombie, then two, three, like so much kindling. Poof! they went.