The sky had never looked so black to Ferro before.
Not at night, and not now when it was supposed to be the middle of the day.
The rending of the sky had left a perpetual stream of little motes falling like stars amidst the ash-choked sky.
Following the compass, the girls and he had ridden as high as they could before their mounts refused to take them any further. His eyes had been so fixed upon it that had Malz not mentioned it, he would never have known that it was no longer leading them toward Chainsfree.
"The city is over there!" Malz gesticulated emphatically. "See the glow on the underside of the clouds?"
"I can't. I need to follow the compass." Ferro looked up the mountain ridge, following the thin beam, which seemed even brighter in the dark.
"We should just leave him," Anko hissed. "He can always catch up to us later."
"No!" Malz said. "We don't have enough food or light to mess around. We need to stick together."
