47
By the time Jon and the Carradorian troopers reached the source of the flash of black light, daylight was almost gone. There were two black, seared patches on the ground and the remnants of one, maybe two, shredded dark grey cloaks. Trevor lit one of their lanterns to study the ground in the fading light. He circled the whole clearing, squatting down from time to time to check particular spots. Then he walked a short way to the east examining the footprints, before reporting to Reece.
“Sir,” Trevor glanced at Jon then back to Reece, “two things. The abductors were joined from the east by at least five more people. But more importantly, I think the children are no longer with them.” He waited for the exclamations to subside before giving the reasons for his conclusions. “I don’t know
