Once Una stopped retching—and it took a lot to turn her stomach these days, so this was saying a lot—she stood there for a moment bent over at the waist, resting her hands on her knees and trying to get her breath back.

And that was when a little burst of flame popped up out of the ground right in front of her. If her reflexes had been any less good, it would have singed her eyebrows (or more) right off. Instead she fell backward onto the muddy ground, startled and with just a few frizzled strands of hair in her face.

"What the hell is this place?"