Legions of Bone: Dragon Rider Book 3

Chapter 35: There Are Lies, But Where?

"He's a necromancer, he doesn't have feelings."

Dragon Bait peered around another tower of books. Nevaeha realized he was searching for something. "What is he looking for, do you think?" She glanced at Milo. "He doesn't seem like the type to read."

Milo gave her a look that said this is why he doesn't talk to you.

She pursed her lips.

Dragon Bait flipped through several books, shaking them like he expected something to fall out.

"I know." She huffed, fed up with the boy. She said to Dragon Bait, "What are you looking for?"

He didn't look up. "A spell to get you two to shut up."

Nevaeha paused, thinking of what to say when the doorknob twisted and the front door cracked open. Milo and Nevaeha tried to sit up and appear productive.

Norah kicked the door shut, two duffle bags in her hand and another strapped to her back. She was caked in blood and dirt and gods know what else. Norah stopped, her eyes slowly sliding between the three of them--as cold and dark as the ocean floor.

Nevaeha stumbled out of her chair, muscles shrieking. "Oh, my gods! What happened? Are you okay?"

"Nothing to me," she said coolly. "Grab as many bags as you can carry."

Nevaeha stopped, looking at Milo beside her. "What?"

She tossed the bags into the corner, gold and jewelry tumbled out. She unstrapped the duffle bag, dumping more loot onto the floor--this time the contents being swords and arrows and books.

Nevaeha's jaw fell, confusion jumbling all her thoughts. "How-"

Dragon Bait carefully, but quickly pushed the heaps of stuff to the side, grabbing a bag with gleaming eyes.

"Bags are over there." Norah pointed to a corner. "Grab all of them. Let's go before more get back."

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Her throat was dry. Her lungs burning as they ran through the forest.

Scylla wasn't large enough to carry all of them, so Norah made them run.

Nevaeha's heart thundered in her chest. This was action. Real action, not training or drills or getting her ass kicked.

The forest grew dense, the trees so close and slung with vines the group was split.

Norah slowed to a stop, and Nev followed her gaze down between the cracks of earth. It looked like a cut from a blade, now rotting with moss and stuck with leaves and sticks. And when Norah began dropping into that crack, wedging her feet between rocks, Nev followed.

Scylla waited in the sky as Norah had instructed, circling. Watching.

Rain dripped into Nevaeha's hair, the place smelling of mold and leaves and rain. Nev envied Dragon Bait's smooth grace as he hopped from rock to rock, his fingers seemingly knowing where to go without actually looking.

Nev glanced down, seeing Norah and Dragon Bait reach the stony bottom. Milo looked up at her, just as Nevaeha jumped the last step and landed. "Are we fighting anything?"

"Only if the rest come back."

They traveled through, an awful stench overwhelming her until she gagged. The tunnel opened into a cavern.

Her stomach twisted, bile stinging her throat.

The entire ground was littered with bodies. Nevaeha had to reach for a rag in her armor to put against her nose. Most of them were old, the bones picked clean and splintering. Other bodies looked no more than a few days old while others still oozed blood.