7
The cat trotted quickly along the forest floor, his mind clear and still, senses alert, following the pulsed, insistent command to track back to where the soldiers had been, back to where the man Jenks had seen the ruined village.
It was easy to find; the trail of memory left by the shared weld helped, but it wasn’t long before the scent of death and smoke was clear enough for his own nose to follow without difficulty.
Wilt stood at the edge of the trees, staring out at what had once been a village. It was changed from the vision the weld had shown him. Low, broken huts, a thin black smoke fuming out from them, the fires that had consumed them almost entirely burned out now. All their fuel had been used up.
He stepped carefully through the remains of the buildings, trying to make sen
