“Don’t you know where we’re going?” I ask, not loving that idea.
“I’ve never been this far inside their territory before,” he says, which fills me with no more confidence.
In the end, he leads us down a valley, promising we’ll find the fort on the slope of the other side. The gloom intensifies the further we walk down, and I find I’m straining my eyes in the darkness. I’m tempted to use my light to better illuminate our way, but that will probably act as a beacon to every demon out here so I make do.
When we reach the floor of the valley, we all halt.
Before us, scattered all across the floor of this great valley, are bones. Bones as far as the eye can see. Like a graveyard where no one has actually been buried. Only there’re not only skeletons of people. There are horses too. Horses and dragons – at least three of them, laid out across the valley floor.
“What the fuck is this place?” Dray says, even his perpetual cheerful mood slipping. “Some kind of demon feeding ground?”
Beaufort takes a step forward. “These are old bones,” he says. “Very old.” He takes another step forward, crouching down over a skeleton lying on its back, gazing up at the black sky with its hollow eyes. Alongside the bones lies a rusted sword, five bony digits wrapped around its handle. Beaufort examines this sword, then looks up at us all.
“I can’t be certain,” he says, “but this could be the site of the battle of Hundersome.”
“The what?” I say, allowing Dray to pull me even closer.
“It was a great battle between the realm and the demons. The battle was lost, we conceded the land. It’s been in the demon’s’ hands ever since. It was in the aftermath of the battle and the subsequent fall out that the border, the academy, and the four Quarters were established to better protect ourselves from the ongoing threat.”
“How long ago was that?” I ask, wishing I’d been taught more about this.
“Just over five hundred years ago,” Thorne says, bending down to examine the sword. “That sword bears the mark of the emperor at the time.”
“You’re all such nerds,” Dray mutters.
“So many people killed,” I murmur, peering out across the valley of bones. “And our powers were stronger back then, we had dragons!”
“There were more demons back then,” Beaufort says. “Since the formation of the realm as we now know it, they’ve had less opportunity to feed on us.”
I frown. That makes no sense.
“Your mother said the threat was growing. That the demons are becoming more powerful.”
“They are in recent years. They’ve learned how to break through our defenses. As you saw yourself, they’ve learned to penetrate deep into our territory.”
“Bardin’s probably taught them,” Dray says.
“Or re-programmed them,” I say, hoping I’ve understood a little of what Beaufort explained to me.
“Perhaps,” Beaufort says, “or perhaps they’re growing in intelligence.”
I don’t like the sound of that. And I really don’t like this place.
“Is there a way around?” I ask.
Beaufort shakes his head. “No, the only way to reach the fort is across.”
I peer across the valley floor, searching for the other side. It seems so far away.
“Let’s get this over with.”
Not only is it creepy and spooky, picking our way through the litter of bones is hard work. Twice, I misjudge my footing, my boot coming down hard on a bone and it cracking under my sole. Once I trip on a long bone that catches on my foot and Dray slips too, skidding on what must have been a knee cap.
Halfway across the valley floor, we reach the first of the great dragon skeletons and I can’t help but stop. It isn’t as big as the dragon under the Great Hall back in the academy but it’s still much larger than Blaze. I walk around the hulk, running my gaze over the remains and looking for obvious signs of how it might have died – a severed neck, a sword plunged between ribs? But there are none.
As I stand there and observe the once great dragon, the magic inside me tingles and without thinking I reach out and touch the skull of the dragon.
Beside me, all the three Princes yell at me to stop, Dray diving towards me. But it’s too late. My fingertips connect with the bone and there’s a bright flash of light. I can’t tell if it comes from me or some place else, but immediately the bones around us tremble and vibrate.
