Kane's horse nearly threw him coming over the ridge above Dustbridge.
"It's not burning," Kane shouted back to the others, relief and confusion tangled together. "Look, the smoke, it's coming from the training field, not the town."
They rode down fast, and the scene below made Kane's stomach twist all over again. A large section of the field had scorched black, dark scars burned into the earth in a rough circle, and Reeve stood at its edge, blade drawn, breathing hard.
"Reeve!" Kane shouted, dismounting fast.
"I'm alright," Reeve called back, though his voice carried real strain. "It's not me. It's this."
Kane reached him and saw immediately what he meant. The scorched ground pulsed faintly, dark light rising in slow, uneven waves from the center of the burned circle.
"What happened,
