A Burning in the Bones (Waxways #3)

Chapter 46 Mercy Whitaker

46 MERCY WHITAKER

Their search party moved cautiously across the hillside.

No one knew for certain where the chamber was located. They had no information on who might be there to guard the place. Nor did they even know if the dead dragon was truly responsible for the plot that had stolen their city. What if some other perpetrator had created the disease in secret here—and that was the reason the hound had come? She wanted some sign that they were on the right trail. It was Redding who spotted the first clue. “Look at that section.”

All the forests in the area were sparse. Never more than a few trees standing tall together. Redding was pointing to a place where the trees were inexplicably small . There was growth, but it didn’t come close to the rest of the surrounding forest.

“It burned down,” Theo said. “When the dragon buried itself here.”

Of course. The lives of trees were not measured in days— but in decades. Mercy could see that this was the right place. The burn, whenever it happened, had spanned two hillsides and a lonely valley. It was still a fairly large stretch of land, but she was glad to have their search narrowed. Even the air felt fractious—as if time were standing still. Their group widened out their approach, eyes open for any sort of clue. Mercy found herself searching for any sign of the hound.

Where are you? Where’s your master?

It took Margaret tripping over something to find the next clue. She fell and rolled and nearly cut herself with the null blade. Guion and Win exchanged grins before helping the poor girl to her feet—but what she’d tangled in wasn’t natural at all. Everyone circled around as Theo reached down and began tugging something. It was nearly the same color as the ground, and it had very little give. Moss had grown in and around it. Dirt had filled in what holes remained.

“Fabric,” Theo said. “Someone covered this spot with fabric.”

Without a better lead, they passed out the half shovels and began digging. Working away at the spot, removing great strips of fabric that was starting to feel endless in length. The manual labor only really looked natural for Dahvid and Margaret who would use their boots to drive the tools deeper into the ground before sending great chunks through the air behind them. Everyone worked up a sweat before the ground finally gave way to what waited beneath: darkness.

“That’s the main boring tunnel,” Theo noted. “It’s the entrance that dragons leave unsealed when they die—to encourage future visitors. Someone obviously tried to cover it with fabric.”

The tunnel ran diagonally into the earth. The original must have been much wider, but time had slowly sealed in the edges, like a wound patiently healing shut. It was wide enough for two of them to descend, side by side. Standing there made Mercy feel as if she were about to crawl down the throat of some terrible beast. A feeling that was only made worse by the great belches of hot air that kept wafting up from below.

“So, they find this place,” Mercy said. “It’s reported back in Kathor. The city claims it—and then someone says that it’s fake. Everyone starts ignoring it. And someone covers the entrance with, what, some kind of tarp? They didn’t want anyone else finding the place.”

No one questioned that theory. When they all just stood there staring into the dark for long enough, Dahvid broke the silence. “Aren’t we going in?”

Theo shook his head. “I’d rather find a secondary tunnel. This one… it would be like knocking on the front door. The dragon leaves it behind on purpose. It’s enchanted so that he’ll know we’re coming. We want to go around the back of the house. Break into a window, so to speak. There should be other tunnels. Wild animals are attracted to burial chambers for the same reasons that humans are—they are nexuses of power and magic. Maybe we can find an old wolf tunnel or something….”

Dahvid was staring at him. “Why did you make us do all that digging then?”

“Oh.” Theo looked around at their abandoned shovels, the sweaty faces. “Well, we had to at least confirm where the chamber is. Now we know.”

Before Dahvid could reply, movement drew their attention. All of them saw the distant figure at the same time. Or figures, rather. A man stumbled over the top of one of the distant hillsides. Maybe five hundred paces west of their location. He was trailed by three hounds. Mercy let out a massive sigh of relief. This is what she’d needed. Something to go in their favor.

“That’s the houndmaster I hired,” Mercy said, already starting to walk in that direction. “One of his hounds tracked the scent to this location. I’d imagine they can find one of the tunnels you’re talking about, Theo. Far easier than we could. It’ll save us a few hours.”

She’d taken a dozen steps before realizing the houndmaster had not moved. He was just close enough that she could make out his figure, but too far to see any nuance in his expression. As she watched, he raised one hand to his lips. There was a sharp whistle that echoed through the valleys around them, carried by the wind.

All three hounds shot forward.

Running at a full sprint. At this distance, they looked beautiful. Poetry in motion. But she knew from their introduction in the morgue that those creatures weren’t pretty or elegant. They were hunters. Trained to track scents, seek out prey, and kill if necessary. She watched in confusion as their movements triangulated. One dog took the lead. The other two looped wider and she finally realized they were moving to hem something in.

It took Dahvid’s grasp on her arm to realize they were the something. He hissed in her ear to start moving and to start moving now. A final glance showed that the hounds had already covered nearly half the distance. Their great flanks rising and falling. Their eyes glowing like half-dead embers in the fading light. When the terrain took them out of sight, Mercy ripped her gaze away and ran back to the others. A decision had already been made.

Theo didn’t like it, but he didn’t protest, either, because what option did they have? Their crew began the descent into the main boring tunnel. She heard a whisper of magic and saw Theo setting barriers up at the entrance. Something to slow the hounds down once they arrived. Mercy’s heart was beating fast in her chest. Louder than she’d ever heard it before. It took several minutes of dark descent to realize the beating she was hearing did not belong to her. Something else was waiting for them. Down in the bowels of this place.

Thump, thump, thump.

The darkness welcomed them with open arms.