Alpèasak died, the Yilanè died. From the fields to the ocean the flames raced, burning everything before them. The clouds of smoke rose up to the black clouds in the sky and the roar and crackle of the flames drowned the cries of the dying.

The hunters sprawled on the ground, blackened by the fire, exhausted. The armed Yilanè they had been battling had either been killed or driven back into the flames. The fighting was over—the war was over, but they were too tired to understand this yet. Only Kerrick and Herilak stood, swaying with fatigue but still standing.

“Will there be survivors?” Herilak asked, leaning heavily on his spear.

“I don’t know, possibly.”

“They must be killed as well.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Kerrick was suddenly sickened by the destruction of Alpèasak. In his need for revenge he had not only killed the Yilanè—but this wonderful city as well. He remembered the pleasure he had taken in exploring it, in discovering its secrets. Talking with the males in the hanalè, watching the myriad animals that filled its pastures. No more, gone. If there had been a way to kill the Yilanè and save the city he would have taken it. There had been no way. The Yilanè were dead and so was Alpèasak.

“Where will they be?” Herilak asked and Kerrick could only gape, too tired to make out his meaning. “The survivors. You said there might be some.”

“Yes. But not in the city—that is gone. Some in the fields with the animals perhaps. On the shore, the beaches, they might have survived there. When the flames die down we can go see.”

“That will take too long. I have seen forest fires before. The big trees will smolder and burn for days. Can we get to the beaches along the shore?”

“Yes, there are sandbanks most of the way, all of them exposed at low tide.”

Herilak looked at the sprawled hunters, then grunted and sat down himself. “A short rest first, then we go on.” Above him lightning flashed and thunder rumbled distantly. “Ermanpadar likes the murgu as much as we do. He holds back the rain.”

When they finally went on they skirted the blackened, smoking trees, then made their way beyond them through the unburnt fields and pastures. Though the smoke had disturbed them at first, the animals in the fields here now grazed quietly. Deer bounded away at their approach and gigantic horned and plated creatures watched them pass with little curiosity. When they came to a stream of fresh water they found it covered with floating ash; the hunters had to push it aside to drink. The stream led down to the sea.