Andrew woke with the taste of dust in his mouth and the scent of wood smoke in his nose. His head ached, and his body felt like he had done a belly flop onto the hard dirt. He was outside, he thought, and turned his head. His vision was blurry.
A great glob of light burned several feet away. A campfire, from the sound and smell. The air was warm and dry. There was no noise except the crackling of the fire. He lifted himself up onto his knees and tried to blink the dust out of his eyes.
He was sure he was outside, but it was unnaturally quiet. No animals moved, and no storm rained down. He looked once again at the dry dirt in his hands. When he had gone down to the lower ward, there had been a storm coming, but this ground looked like it had not seen rain for days, maybe even ye
