But
it seemed to Hanson that only the oldest and ugliest buildings were
still standing. Honest stone and metal could survive, but the work of
magic was no longer safe.
One of the remaining buildings seemed to be a hospital, and the empty
space in front of it was crammed with people. Most of them seemed to be
dead or unconscious. Squat mandrakes were carrying off bodies toward a
great fire that was burning in another square. Plague and pestilence had
apparently gotten out of hand.
They flew on, beyond the city toward the construction camp that had been
Hanson's headquarters. The roc was beginning to drop into a long landing
glide, and details below were easier to see. Along the beach beyond the
city, a crowd had collected. They had a fire going and were preparing to
cook one of the mermaids. A fight was already going on over the prey.
Food must have been exhausted days before.
The camp was a mess when they reached it. One section had been ripped
down by the lash of wind from a huge piece of the sky, which now lay
among the ruins with a few stars glowing inside it. There was a
brighter glow beyond. Apparently one blob of material from the sun had
been tossed all the way here and had landed against a huge rock to
spatter into fragments. The heat from those fragments cut through the
chill in the air, and the glow furnished light for most of the camp.
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