Chapter 7

Bones Beneath the Mountain

Evelynn woke up warm for the first time in days.

That alone felt suspicious.

For several long seconds, she stayed buried beneath ridiculously soft blankets, staring at the dark ceiling above her while the events of the past week slowly returned one painful piece at a time.

The sacrifice.

The journey north.

The Dragon King nearly crushing her throat.

The palace.

The fire.

Right.

Not a nightmare then.

Unfortunately.

A sharp wind rattled the enormous windows beside the bed. Snowstorm again. Apparently the north only had three weather options:

Snow.

More snow.

Violent death snow.

Evelynn groaned softly and rolled onto her back.

The mattress was criminally comfortable.

Dragon luxury was honestly offensive.

A quiet knock came from the outer door.

Then Serin’s voice.

“Are you alive?”

Evelynn blinked toward the ceiling. “Emotionally? Hard to say.”

A pause.

“…I’ll take that as yes.”

He entered carrying a tray of food while Evelynn reluctantly dragged herself upright.

Fresh bread.

Hot tea.

Eggs.

Actual butter.

Evelynn narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the tray.

“You dragons fatten sacrifices first?”

Serin sighed tiredly. “Please stop saying things like that where the guards can hear you.”

“Why? Does it hurt morale?”

“It gives them headaches.”

Good.

Evelynn accepted the tea gratefully.

The warmth helped immediately.

At least until she noticed Serin watching her strangely.

“What?”

“You’re calmer than most people.”

“Well,” she muttered into the tea, “I already survived being strangled by your king. Everything else feels less stressful now.”

Serin looked like he genuinely didn’t know how to respond to that.

A loud horn echoed faintly through the palace outside.

Deep.

Ancient sounding.

Evelynn frowned. “What was that?”

Serin hesitated.

“Morning patrol.”

“That sounded bigger than a patrol.”

Another pause.

Then quietly:

“Dragons.”

Right.

Still not used to that.

Serin collected the empty tray afterward and paused near the doorway.

“You should stay within the east wing today.”

Evelynn immediately became suspicious.

“Why?”

“The palace is large.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Serin avoided eye contact entirely now.

“There are places humans should not wander.”

Well.

Now she absolutely wanted to wander.

The moment Serin left, Evelynn lasted approximately twenty minutes before boredom won the battle.

In her defense, the palace was enormous and she had questions.

Also, nobody had technically locked the doors.

Terrible strategic decision.

Wrapped in a heavy dark cloak, Evelynn slipped quietly into the corridor and started exploring.

At first, everything looked similar.

Long black hallways.

Golden lanterns.

Too many stairs.

Seriously, dragons were obsessed with stairs.

But eventually the palace began changing.

The further she wandered from the eastern wing, the older everything looked.

Less polished.

More ancient.

The walls here were rougher stone, carved with massive faded symbols she couldn’t understand. Fewer servants passed through this section too.

And the silence felt different.

Heavier somehow.

Evelynn slowed near a narrow archway where cold air drifted upward from below.

Stairs.

Stone steps disappearing deep underground.

Of course.

Nothing good had ever started with mysterious underground stairs.

Naturally, she went down anyway.

The temperature dropped sharply the deeper she descended. Soon the warm palace air disappeared entirely, replaced by cold stone and the faint smell of ash.

The staircase seemed endless.

Then Evelynn heard it.

A sound.

Low.

Deep.

Almost like distant thunder.

Except rhythmic.

Breathing.

She froze halfway down the stairs.

Another low rumble echoed through the darkness beneath her feet.

Not thunder.

Definitely breathing.

Evelynn’s entire body went tense.

Every survival instinct she possessed screamed at her to turn around immediately.

Instead, she kept going.

Bad habits.

The stairs finally opened into a massive underground cavern.

And Evelynn stopped breathing.

Bones.

Everywhere.

Enormous skeletal remains stretched across the cavern floor beneath the mountain like the ruins of dead gods. Massive ribcages curved toward the ceiling. Giant skulls rested half-buried in stone and ash.

Dragon skeletons.

Real dragon skeletons.

Some were so huge Evelynn couldn’t fully comprehend their size.

One skull alone was larger than a house.

“Oh my God…”

Her voice disappeared into the cavern.

Tiny.

Meaningless.

The air felt ancient here.

Like the mountain itself remembered something terrible.

Golden fire burned quietly from iron braziers placed throughout the cavern, casting long shadows across the bones.

Evelynn stepped carefully between enormous ribs and fractured wings, unable to stop staring.

Some skeletons looked ancient enough to crumble.

Others…

Not so old.

A terrible thought hit her suddenly.

These weren’t trophies.

This was a graveyard.

The low rumbling sound came again.

Closer now.

Evelynn turned sharply.

Darkness stretched deeper into the cavern ahead.

Then she saw movement.

Something enormous shifted far beyond the firelight.

Her heart nearly stopped.

A dragon eye opened briefly in the dark.

Huge.

Golden.

Watching her.

Evelynn stumbled backward instinctively.

The creature exhaled once.

Hot air rolled through the cavern like smoke.

Then slowly—

the eye closed again.

Sleeping.

Or deciding she wasn’t worth eating.

Honestly unclear.

Evelynn backed away very carefully after that.

And nearly walked straight into a wall covered in carvings.

No—

not carvings.

Murals.

Ancient wall paintings stretched across the cavern stone, faded with age but still visible beneath centuries of smoke and ash.

Evelynn stepped closer slowly.

The first mural showed dragons flying above burning cities.

War.

The second showed humans kneeling before dragon kings.

Then the third made her stop completely.

A woman.

Human.

Standing beside a dragon crowned in black fire.

Around them, golden flames curled together like they were connected somehow.

No.

Bound.

Evelynn frowned.

The human woman wore something around her neck.

A silver pendant.

Moon-shaped.

Exactly like hers.

A cold wave passed through her body.

“No…”

She stepped closer to the mural.

The painting was damaged near the edges, but the pendant remained visible beneath the ash and age.

Impossible.

Kael’s words returned instantly.

That necklace belonged to someone who died centuries ago.

Evelynn’s pulse quickened.

Who was this woman?

And why did she have her mother’s necklace?

A low growl suddenly echoed through the cavern again.

Closer.

Much closer.

Evelynn turned slowly.

The darkness beyond the braziers shifted.

The same massive golden eye opened again.

This time fully.

Watching her directly.

And somewhere deep within the cavern—

something enormous began moving.