Chapter 23
Aftermath
Nothing further was said between the four remaining humanoids as they stared at each other in awkward silence. The silence probably did not last very long, but it seemed like it had been hours. Parcella stared off into space while Esmerelda, Slinky, Kandar, and Cyrillus looked at each other with inquisitive stares.
Esmerelda viewed the area around Finkle’s home from where she was standing by the edge of the swamp and moaned. It looked like a war zone, with deep gouges in the earth that were filling up with water from the moor. Tree limbs had been broken off and were mixed in with the soggy earth. Royal tents had been destroyed and left where they lay, along with a campfire, which miraculously survived but had dwindled to a smoldering heap of ashes.
Esmerelda could
