In the last, long minutes before morning, Jeremiah noticed the first hints of an orange glow on the horizon. He turned north, confused, and strained his eyes against the murkiness of night. Then, to his left, the sky grew lighter with the coming sunrise.
Now he could see the thick plumes of smoke rising in the distance, billowing out from their source in a sooty haze. In a panic, he rushed to break camp as the sun finally began its slow climb into the sky. Questions bombarded him, but he ignored them. There wasn’t any time.
The city was burning.
