“Then it is good that we came to see what is going on,” Jade put in, and if I didn’t know better, I would swear there was a hint of I told you so in her voice. I ignored it and started walking.

As we began seeing more houses up close, I understood why there were people in suits swarming all over the damn place. And it raised the hair on the back of my neck.

The houses were all burned. Some just had a few scorch marks here and there; others were nothing but blackened shells, crumbling to ash. For more than a few, only the foundations were left, blasted cinder blocks and scorched concrete lying beneath what used to be a home. Several front yards held a colorful assortment of lawn ornaments, kids’ toys, and junked cars rusting side by side. They were untouched, as was the vegetation and trees around the buildings. Only the houses were charred to nothing, as if blasted with fire from the inside.

“Jeez,” Ember whispered, her eyes wide as she gazed around at the devastation. “What happened here? It looks like a bomb went off or something.”

“No,” I said. “A bomb wouldn’t just destroy the houses and leave everything else untouched. Neither would a forest fire, or a damn crashing plane. What does it really look like happened here?”

St. George’s voice was grim. “Like this place was attacked by fire-breathing dragons.”

“Yeah,” I muttered as a chill crept up my spine and turned the heat in my veins to ice. “Though, if Talon is behind this, I have no idea what that means. They’ve never engaged in something so blatant. The cover-up would have to be massive, and I don’t see what they would gain from it. If this is Talon...” I shook my head, repressing a shiver. “Something is definitely wrong.”

Voices halted us. Up ahead, a pair of humans in white coats stepped out of one of the more intact trailer homes, arguing with each other, and went hurrying away down the street. Leaving the door wide open behind them.

“Come on,” Jade said. “Let us do some snooping.”

We slipped into the trailer, and I was immediately struck by the smell. The faint, acrid stench of smoke lingered in the air, baked into the flimsy walls and floors. Part of the kitchen wall was gone, blackened and scorched around the edges, and it looked like the flames had spread to the living room. Tables and chairs were tipped over, broken dishes were scattered over the floor and the windows had been shattered. I wondered what had happened to the people that lived here. Had they been eating dinner, or asleep in their beds, when a dragon clawed open their door and turned the place into an inferno? Or had something else, someone else, been responsible?