Chapter 21
Torben
I follow Feray and the others through the house, the floorboards creaking beneath our feet.
Feray leads us to the next location, her steps deliberate and heavy with purpose.
My bear stirs uneasily within me, reluctant to embrace the idea of destroying her father's old home to uncover the clues he left behind.
Tearing apart this house feels like desecrating a grave.
It's a sacred place filled with memories and history.
The wolves boarding up a house after someone dies is similar to what bears do.
Instead of making the entire house unusable, we close off the bedroom of the departed, preserving their essence.
Feray pauses, staring intently at the paneling under the staircase. I see the moment resolve hardens in her eyes. With a determined growl, her claws sink into the wood, ripping it apart. Each splintered piece reveals a growing darkness behind it and yet another door hidden from view.
Easton steps forward, an orb of fire hovering above his hand, casting flickering light into the newly exposed space. I scan the area and notice a nail high above Feray's head. A key dangles from it, catching the light. Stretching up, I retrieve it and offer it to her.
She beams at me, gratitude and determination shining in her eyes. She places the key in the lock and turns it. The mechanism whirls and clicks, unlocking the door and allowing it to swing open with a groan.
"I wonder what's down there?" Feray murmurs, peering into the darkness.
"I'm not sure, but it smells wet, whatever it is," I reply, my nose wrinkling at the damp, mildew scent.
Easton takes the first cautious steps into the stairway, a small ball of flames dropping from his hand. It falls for about ten feet before hitting standing water with a sizzle.
"It's going to take me a while to dry it out, depending on how deep it is," he says, continuing his descent.
"Why is there water on this level and not the deeper one?" Feray asks, her gaze shifting between me and Diaval.
"Maybe there's a natural spring that was too close to where your dad dug?" I suggest.
"We're in the tundra," Diaval states, his eyes fixed on the water.
"It should be frozen solid this close to the surface.
There's a reason the water is still liquid.
Be careful of anything living in the water.
" No sooner does Diaval mention it than Khal steps forward, stripping off his clothes in preparation to shift and explore.
Khal's shift takes him quickly, and his huge basilisk slithers into the darkness.
Several hisses and loud splashes echo around us.
The water ripples like waves on the ocean.
"We need to go after him," Feray says, starting down the stairs.
"No." I grab her and throw her over my shoulder.
"Torben, let me go... Khal needs help!" She pounds her fists against my back.
"Easton, can you check on him?" I turn to him, and he nods. This time, he shifts with his clothing and takes off in the last direction we saw Khal go. The fire from Easton's phoenix lights the way, illuminating several statues of creatures I've never seen before.
"Well, that's odd," Diaval says as he descends the stairs.
"What is?" I stare at the creatures, noticing they are bipedal and grotesque.
"The first one closest to here is a Bheur Hag. The others are lesser hags under its control," Diaval explains clinically.
"Why would my father put them down here?" Feray asks, settling down as she watches the statues warily.
"They kill and eat their invaders. Basically, they are the perfect guard dogs." Diaval states plainly.
Khal and Easton make their way back.
"What did you find?" I ask Easton as soon as he shifts back.
"More research and skulls. He has a viable dragon egg in the lab." Easton looks at Diaval, and I see a flicker of emotions move over his face—surprise, concern, and anger.
"He what?" Rage contorts Diaval's features, his usually composed demeanor slipping.
I set Feray down quickly, and she rushes over to Diaval. "Let's learn why he has the egg, and if it truly is viable, we'll take it with us. We can raise it if its family is dead." Feray gently caresses Diaval's cheek, trying to soothe him.
I move past them and into the chamber. Various tables fill the open area, each one displaying an assortment of skulls.
The first table catches my eye with a Kodiak skull and a label reading "Child of Earth," listing the strengths and weaknesses of my species.
Her father was cataloging different species to better understand how the star works.
Diaval stands frozen, staring at an egg on a pedestal. Feray walks over and snuggles close. "What species is it?" she asks softly, reaching out to caress the scaled surface.
"Possibly earth-dragon, the last of its kind," he replies, his tone devoid of emotion. I sense a deep betrayal in him, a bitterness toward Feray's father for hiding the egg.
"Is there anything we can do to help you or it?" I ask, watching the way his fingers trace the bronze scales.
"I think it's viable, but I'm not sure. It's been ages since I've seen an egg," he murmurs.
"Can I have it?" Feray extends her hands.
Diaval glances from the egg to her and back again before handing it over.
Feray raises the egg to her ear, her eyes closing as a serene smile spreads across her lips.
"I hear its heartbeat. It's slow, but it's there.
" She offers the egg back to Diaval and looks up at him.
"How do we hatch it?" Her question makes everyone stop and turn toward him.
"You would raise a hatchling that's not yours?" Diaval's soft question surprises us all.
"I was raised by witches. Why wouldn't I raise it?" Feray's enormous heart makes me love her even more.
"We'll all help with it," I offer. In sleuths like mine, the village shared the responsibility of raising all the cubs.
"The short version is I would need two fire sources to get it to hatch," Diaval says. I turn to look at Easton.
"My fire is yours, old friend. I helped you hatch; why wouldn't I help this little one?" Easton says with a warm smile.
My eyebrows shoot up, and my mind races, doing the math. Diaval is over nine hundred years old. Easton has to be at least a hundred or two older than that, minimum.
"I see that look, Torben. Stop trying to figure out my age. I'm older than Diaval; leave it at that." Easton winks at me before moving away to examine the research.
Feray smiles, offering Diaval a pack that was on the counter. "This should do for now." She kisses his cheek, a tender moment that makes Diaval's usually stern face soften. She then moves off to search the downstairs.
I watch Diaval stare at the egg, his gaze intense and filled with a mix of hope and fear. He wraps it in material he finds on the counter before placing it carefully in the bag.
Turning away from him, I walk back to the table that had the bear skulls on it. It's a surreal moment, seeing what my bear's skull would look like after death. An icy shiver runs down my spine.
"Creepy, isn't it?" Khal says, coming up alongside me.
"You can say that. Does he have a basilisk skull here?" I glance around the room, not seeing anything serpentine.
"No, none of mine, Easton's, or Diaval's species here. The only thing that is dragon in origin is the egg." Khal shrugs, then motions to Diaval. "It hit him hard, finding the egg."
I nod. "It was definitely shocking to find it."
"I found something!" Feray shouts, holding up three sandstone cylinders.
"If I'm translating this correctly, Dad bought the egg from a merchant who was selling it as a statue. He knew it was a real egg by scent." Her voice wavers as she hands the first cylinder to Diaval.
"He was waiting for a response from Vasserdell to see if they were going to send someone to retrieve it. No response ever came." She hands the second cylinder to Diaval, who looks solemnly at her before going to explore the rest of the room.
"The merchant found it by a pile of dragon bones in the mountains, along with pottery and several pieces of jewelry. With the size of the dragon, he thought it was an offering." Feray reads from the last cylinder and looks up at Diaval, who nods slowly before walking away.
"Your dad tried to do the right thing," I say softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"I guess he was hoping a dragon would be called to investigate," she murmurs, shaking her head. Her eyes drift over to Diaval, who clutches the bag to his chest as if it might slip away. Her gaze then shifts to the table, settling on the massive Kodiak skull.
She looks back at me. "Yeah, it's surreal, isn't it?"
I huff out a laugh, trying to mask my discomfort.
"A room full of only wolf skulls was worse, I think." Feray shrugs, running her hand over the skull. She studies the suture lines, her brow furrowing with each pass of her fingers.
"What's on your mind, little wolf?" I ask gently.
"The notes here say that this is an extinct species of bear. Yet..." She spreads her hand across the skull plate between the eyes and looks up at me. "Your bear's skull is the same size and has the same distance between the eyes."
She squints, tilting her head as the pieces come together. "Easton, I think we have a problem..." Her voice carries across the room, drawing the attention of both ancients.
Their gazes fix on her, the weight of her discovery hanging heavily in the air.