The Dragon Graveyard

The forest had changed.

Joey noticed it first.

The trees had become twisted and strangely pale, their branches curling toward one another overhead like skeletal fingers. The deeper they traveled, the less sunlight seemed to reach the forest floor.

Even the air felt different.

Heavy.

Charged.

Joey adjusted the strap holding the cursed machete against his back.

“Please tell me we're getting close.”

Cassandra glanced toward him.

“We're getting close.”

“Good.”

She smiled.

“You're getting nervous.”

“I'm not nervous.”

“You've checked your weapons four times in the last twenty minutes.”

“That's preparation.”

“You're nervous.”

“Fine. I'm nervous.”

Cassandra laughed softly.

“I prefer you honest.”

Joey glanced around.

“There's something weird about this place.”

“Yes.”

“What?”

She looked ahead.

“Magic.”

Joey frowned.

“I know that sounds obvious.”

“It is.”

“Then why does it feel different?”

Cassandra slowed.

“Because this isn't simply an area where magic happens.”

She pointed ahead.

“This is where magic died.”

Joey stared at her.

“That is somehow significantly worse.”

“It is.”

They continued.

---

The first warning came from the ground.

Joey heard a faint cracking sound beneath his boot.

He froze.

“Cassandra?”

“Don't move.”

Joey looked down.

A thin blue line had appeared beneath his foot.

“What is that?”

“Dragonfire.”

Joey slowly lifted his foot.

The crack vanished.

He exhaled.

“Okay.”

Cassandra crouched and examined the ground.

“Old.”

“How old?”

“Possibly centuries.”

“Then why is it still glowing?”

Cassandra looked up at him.

“Because dragonfire isn't normal fire.”

Joey stared at the ground.

“Of course it isn't.”

She stood.

“Step where I step.”

Joey nodded.

They continued carefully.

A few minutes later, the forest suddenly opened.

Joey stopped.

His mouth fell open.

Beyond the trees stretched a massive valley.

Bones covered the landscape.

Huge bones.

Ribs larger than cars.

Skulls the size of houses.

Spines stretching across the earth like fallen stone bridges.

Joey stared in silence.

Cassandra stood beside him.

“The Dragon Graveyard.”

Joey swallowed.

“Those are all dragons?”

“Most of them.”

“Most?”

Cassandra pointed toward a massive skull partially buried in the earth.

“That one isn't.”

Joey stared.

“What is it?”

“I have no idea.”

“Wonderful.”

Cassandra smiled faintly.

“Welcome to the graveyard.”

---

They descended into the valley.

Almost immediately, Joey noticed something moving between the bones.

“Cassandra.”

“I see it.”

Something darted behind a rib.

Then another.

Joey drew his machete.

“Friendly?”

“No.”

“Figured.”

Three creatures emerged.

They looked vaguely like wolves.

Except they were much too large.

Their bodies were covered in translucent scales, and faint blue light pulsed beneath their skin.

One snarled.

The sound echoed through the valley.

Joey tightened his grip.

“What are those?”

“Grave hounds.”

“Are they dangerous?”

Cassandra looked at him.

“They eat magic.”

Joey looked at his machete.

“…Does that include cursed magic?”

“Probably.”

“Great.”

The first creature lunged.

Cassandra vanished.

Darkness swallowed her for a fraction of a second before she reappeared beside the creature.

Her fist struck its ribs.

The creature went flying.

Joey barely had time to react before another charged him.

He swung.

The machete connected.

The creature recoiled with a shriek.

Joey stared at the blade.

“Well, apparently it doesn't like this thing.”

“Keep moving!”

The third creature attacked.

Joey ducked.

Claws swept over his head.

He brought the machete upward.

The blade tore through the creature's foreleg.

It screamed.

Joey stumbled backward.

Cassandra appeared beside him.

“Behind you!”

Joey spun.

The injured creature was already charging again.

He planted his feet.

Waited.

At the last possible moment he stepped aside.

The creature flew past him.

Joey turned and struck it across the back.

It collapsed.

The remaining creature hesitated.

Cassandra's eyes glowed.

The hound backed away.

“Good choice,” she whispered.

It disappeared between the bones.

Joey leaned against a rib.

“Please tell me that was the worst thing we're going to encounter.”

Cassandra looked deeper into the graveyard.

“No.”

Joey closed his eyes.

“I knew you were going to say that.”

---

They continued deeper.

The landscape became increasingly strange.

Small plants grew from the bones.

Some glowed.

Others moved when Joey wasn't looking directly at them.

Once, a flower whispered his name.

Joey nearly jumped out of his skin.

Cassandra laughed so hard she had to stop walking.

“That wasn't funny.”

“It was a little funny.”

“It said my name!”

“Yes.”

“Flowers aren't supposed to know my name.”

“This one apparently disagrees.”

They eventually found a relatively sheltered area beneath the enormous rib cage of a dead dragon.

Cassandra stopped.

“We rest here.”

Joey looked around.

“Safe?”

“No.”

“Then why stop?”

“Because we're exhausted.”

That was difficult to argue with.

They sat together beneath the enormous bones.

Joey pulled out a bottle of water.

Cassandra watched him.

“What?”

“You've become very comfortable carrying supplies into supernatural war zones.”

“I've learned.”

She smiled.

“You have.”

Joey leaned his head against her shoulder.

For several moments neither spoke.

Then Joey looked toward the massive bones surrounding them.

“Do you think the dragon knew it was dying?”

Cassandra was quiet.

“Probably.”

“That sucks.”

“Yes.”

Joey looked down.

“Kind of makes this place sad.”

Cassandra rested her head lightly against his.

“It is.”

A distant roar echoed through the valley.

Both of them immediately looked up.

Joey slowly reached for his machete.

Cassandra stood.

The roar came again.

Closer.

Something enormous moved somewhere beyond the bones.

Joey swallowed.

“Was that another grave hound?”

“No.”

“What was it?”

Cassandra stared into the darkness.

“I don't know.”

Joey stood beside her.

“Then I guess we should probably find out.”

Cassandra looked at him.

“You're learning bravery.”

“I'm also learning that saying things like that immediately before doing something stupid is apparently my specialty.”

She laughed softly.

Then took his hand.

“Come on.”

Together they moved deeper into the graveyard.

Neither noticed the enormous golden eye watching them from beneath a distant pile of dragon bones.

It blinked once.

Then disappeared.

And somewhere far ahead, beyond the remains of creatures that had once ruled the skies, something ancient stirred.

The herb they had come for was somewhere in this graveyard.

But they would have to survive the place long enough to find it.