Vhal-Sar was burning.
From where Simon floated above The Wall, he could see the whole city laid out below him like a painting someone had set on fire.
Smoke rose from a dozen places at once. Thick black columns twisted into the sky and joined together above the terraces, blotting out the light. Beneath them, flames spread from building to building, licking up walls and bursting through windows.
On the middle terrace, one of the high bridges had collapsed. Its golden railings lay twisted across the street below, half buried under broken stone. Something was moving beneath the rubble.
Near the trading district, a blue-roofed hall had caved in on itself. Merchants and servants spilled out of the surrounding streets, coughing, covered in ash, some carrying others who weren't moving.
And everywhere, there were screams.
