A LARGE DESERTED SQUARE sat in front of the Baltonian keep. Nearly a dozen bodies in various stages of decomposition hung from tall wooden spikes around the outer edge of the square. Jack walked slowly into the center trying not to vomit from the stench of death. He stared at the bodies. Some were burned beyond recognition; others appeared intact with no ascertainable cause of death.
He spun slowly to gaze at the large iron spiked doors of the keep. No guards stood watch. His eyes traced the outline of the building. It had a stout base with a round turret rising from the center. The living quarters stood directly behind the keep. Its tall jagged spires reached toward the sky as if to snatch the clouds and to suck them into its depths.
A woman with long flowing blonde hair appeared on a h
