XVII

They needed to be moving faster. Grey struggled to keep the pace up, but the size of their group made it impossible to keep a reliable speed. Dusk was beginning to settle in as they reached the outskirts of the Boneyard.

“Here we go,” said Max standing beside him. The entire party had bunched up together now. There was a massive amount of heat emanating around them from all of the torches and lanterns. The sun had not set yet, but Grey knew when it did that they would be a beacon of light in a dark night. The clouds had rolled over the sky dampening the afternoon and would no doubt carry into the night. The moon would glow against the overcast, but its light would not reach the ground.

Grey held an unlit torch loosely at his side and shuffled forward with the crowd. “You are going to have to lead the way,” he said to Max. “I don’t know where we are going now.” Max nodded and they continued on.

The ground became a mix of dirt and broken rock. It was a gravel-like surface that crunched under Grey’s boots.

The trees remained as spread out as they had been, but the metal spires started to appear as well. So far, they were shorter than most of the trees, but just as thick. Grey walked up to one and ran his hand over the thick metal. It was solid, and cool to the touch. The group shuffled past him quietly as he examined the smooth surface. Looking ahead, he could see the larger spires stretching into the sky far above them all. The sun was setting and the metal towers cast long shadows against the trees and hills behind them.

“What do you think this place is?” said Grey after he had caught up with Max at the front.

“I’m pretty sure it’s an old city of some kind. Look here,” he pointed ahead at a large pile of rubble and metal.

Grey did not make much of it at first, but he slowly put the picture together.

“It’s a building,” he said. There was the skeleton of stone walls and windows in the rubble. Square windows were cut out at even intervals, and the inside was held together by a lattice of metal scaffold like structures. The tallest metal spires were the corner pieces to the old building. The roof and upper floors had long since fallen away creating the piles of rubble and rock within the stone structure. Ivy and grass sprouted from the cracks in the walls and cascaded from the windows.

As they walked further on, Grey saw more obvious signs of architecture. Very old stone and metal buildings some of which could have been five or maybe even ten stories tall.

“They’re massive,” said Grey, craning his neck to look up at the metal structure high above them.

Max glanced up as well and said, “When I was very young, I would come here and explore with my father. It’s where we found most of my books, you know. Buried deep down under the rubble. There was always plenty to find here. But I don’t think that it’ a safe place. I never felt comfortable in the shadows of those towers.”

“You never said anything about this,” said Grey, still marveling at the growing collection of towering stone buildings.

“You never asked,” said Max.

“You made it sound like some kind of hunting ground,” said Grey, “or a grave site.”

Max just shrugged, and cast his eyes around warily. The people all around them looked this way and that, constantly checking the abandoned windows around them. As they drew closer to the center of the old city, the towers closed all around them and the terrain became more treacherous.

They climbed over piles of rubble and rock twenty feet high, and were sometimes forced off the main stretch between the buildings and had to clamber through cracked walls and tattered floors inside some of the towers.

Trees had burst through the stone walls around the bases of the old buildings, cracking sections in half. Inside some of the old structures, Grey could see floors stacked on top each other, climbing higher and higher into the sky. The deeper they got into the Boneyard, the taller the old building got. He stopped and stared open mouthed as they reached the tallest building yet. Stone walls stretched up for a hundred feet, and the metal lattice work kept climbing after that. A trees had somehow rooted itself near the top, and was leaning over the path.

He stopped to watch the branches sway in the breeze so far above him. He smiled in spite of himself, wondering how perfect the circumstances must have been for that tree to plant itself in the rubble tower a hundred feet in the air.

“What is it?” said a light voice beside him. Grey looked to see Elli standing beside him looking up at the tree as well.

“It’s incredible,” he said looking skyward again.

“There are more.” she said moving closer to him and looking around, “How are you so calm right now?”

Grey looked farther down the gravel path towards some of the other metal ruins and saw more trees loosely holding on to the decaying metal towers, or else sprouting through old windows and cracked walls.

“This is some kind of place,” he said. “I have never seen anything like it. Nothing even…” Grey stopped as a thought came to his mind.

“Grey?” said Elli close beside him.

He said nothing. He looked straight ahead seeing the clear path cut out between the rows of buildings. They were walking down a street. An old city street between the buildings. Grey set off on the outskirts of the group and Elli followed him.

“Grey…” she said, as he quickened his pace. Grey limped forward gently moving his way past the women ahead of him who were looking left and right nervously, holding lanterns aloft. He reached a sort of junction or intersection and looked left and right. The same lines of old buildings stretched left, right, straight ahead, and back.

“Grey I’m…”

“It’s a grid,” said Grey, turning on the spot and looking down one street and then another. Trees were spread out everywhere along the path, growing in random spots and up the sides of the metal spires, but he could see the pattern now.

“What do you mean?” said Elli, arms folded, looking around nervously.

“It’s just like Burk. I mean, it was a city like Burk. With roads and streets. Look,” he said pointing down the street. “They go north to south,” he turned to point down the other streets. “And east and west,”

“So?” said Elli. They had fallen behind most of the others. The road ahead of them was rocky and steep. Most were still trying to climb up the rubble surrounding the metal spires. It looked like the earth beneath the road had exploded upward sending jagged pieces of rock and rubble up at random angles.

“This place is just like Burk,” he said again. “It’s just bigger. A lot bigger, and a lot older,” said Grey

There was a high-pitched scream ahead of them. Elli jumped and grabbed hold of him. Her fingers squeezed painfully on his burned arm. Grey spun on his heal ran towards the back of the group, pulling Elli along behind him.

The pair of them fought their way up the rubble through the crowd. It was difficult, however, because everyone had been thrown into a sort of panic and were closing in tighter with one another. Grey pushed and shoved his way through the tangle of arms, legs, and livestock all stumbling and showing around. Grey roared in pain as elbows and shoulders jabbed him in the stomach and ribs.

He broke into an open circle of people at the front of the congregation panting heavily and holding his aching side. Max was there saying, “Everyone calm down, calm down and stay quiet: quiet now!”

“What difference does it make?!” someone shouted.

There was a general upheaval of barely contained panic running through the crowd now, but Grey calmly looked into the center of the circle. Sitting in the dusty earth was a small pile of bones and a human skull laying on its side. The greyish color of the bones almost blended into the color of the ground beneath their feet. Grey knelt down in front of the bones as Max raised his hands and tried to keep everyone calm. Grey glanced around and saw some of the girls who had bows looking around nervously at the trees and buildings towering above them.

Grey took a handful of the dusty gravel and rubbed it over his hands. There was an uneven mix of pebbles, rocks, and what looked like shells of all things, all resting in a fine grey powdered earth like material. Grey rubbed the powdery dirt between his fingers. It was soft to the touch. He had the impression that it must be some sort of pulverized rock. If it was not mixed so heavily with the normal dirt from the area, the whole ground might sift around like some sort of soft sand.

Elli put her hand on his shoulder and he stood up slowly. His legs shuddered and his side burned, but he tried to ignore it. Elli’s hands were there to help him up.

“Be careful,” she said softly. Women were arguing all around them but Grey could still make out her voice. “We are almost through I think. I hope.” Grey looked around at all the panicked faces around him and felt trapped in. He moved his way to the edge of the group. Elli followed him, as well as Sasha.

Grey leaned against one of the metal cold spires and sighed. “I thought you said that there were no bones here.”

“I didn’t say that. I said that we didn’t hunt this far east. I think the beast got whoever that person was,” said Sasha, pointing back to the pile of bones behind them.

“Stop it!” said Elli, folding her arms around herself. “This place is scary enough without people talking about that stupid beast in the wood.”

“Grow up, Elli,” said Sasha.

“You grow up!” said Elli, her cheeks flaring red. “Only children believe in monsters! At least I am scared of something real! The savages that live here can actually hurt us, you know!”

“There is no one else out here! We would have seen something by now!”said Sasha.

“If there isn’t anyone here then what happened to all of the people that tried to get through to Stonebrook!?” Elli shouted back.

The two continued to argue, their voices getting louder and louder. Grey ignored them. His eyes looked to the rubble around them. More bones littered the area. They were scattered over the rocky ground, some broken and splintered, some dried out from the sun and held together by thin bits of leathery skin. Grey pushed off the metal spire and knelt down looking at another human skull laying on its side a foot away from his boot. Its hollowed eye sockets gaped at the dark sky above and the jaw was open in a silent scream. Some of the teeth were broken. Grey could see the spine it had once been attached to a few feet away.

A sour smell touched Grey’s nose. His body tensed, and he grabbed Elli’s arm. She glared at him as Sasha sent another retort, “You wouldn’t know anything about it, would you? You haven’t stepped foot outside the gates since…”

Grey grabbed Sasha’s arm as well and started pulling the two of them back to the crowd. “Elli, grab a torch,” he said. Sasha was fighting to get free from his grip.

“Get off me!” she shouted, and he shoved her towards the edge of the group.

“Get your bow ready!” said Grey and pushed Elli into the crowd as well.

A resounding roar echoed off the old building walls and metal spires around them. Silence took hold in an instant hush. Another roar followed. Then another. There were multiple animals calling back and forth to each other. Their calls sounded almost lazy and heavy, but immensely powerful.

“Light your torches,” Grey shouted, reaching back and pulling his own unlit torch from his pack. Max was a few feet away from him looking left and right in confusion. Everyone was bunching together in a silent panic, eyes darting left and right. Grey shoved the end of his torch into the nearest lantern held aloft and caught a light. Then he walked over to Max and grabbed his arm. Max’s face snapped onto him and he stared wide-eyed.

Grey jerked his head and started walking, holding the torch up. Max followed. Grey could feel the group moving quickly behind him. The sky was getting dark fast now. Dusk had settled over the Boneyard.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

XVIII

Darkness came quickly. Grey had been right to think that the night would be extra dark. The clouds shielded the moon from sight. There was nothing but a white hazy glow far above them. Their torches and lanterns only penetrated the darkness so far. The grumbling roars and growls of the animals continued all around them in the dark. Grey strained his eyes for the better part of an hour trying to see anything outside of the glow of their party.

Women started to scream behind him. Others were pointing out into the darkness saying that they had seen something moving. Then Grey started to see them as well. Just bright floating eyes peeking at them through the dark. The eyes glowed bright white and would float and disappear whenever they animal looked away. They appeared all over; from the edge of the rubble path along the tree line, between gaps in the rocks that littered the road, above their heads atop larger boulders and jagged pieces of rubble shooting out of the soil.

Grey tried to count the pairs but it was impossible to keep up with the number of them that would come and go and lope across the path in front of them.

Grey could hear the livestock getting restless from all of the growling and roaring from the animals in the dark. The cows especially were beginning to make a huge racket at the center of the crowd. Those women holding their ropes were having trouble leading them forward.

Some of the animals out in the darkness where getting more confident and would dart forward into the light of the fire, or else stride lazily just outside the ring of clear light so that they could see their silhouette against the dark night like a solid shadow.

They were all large and a dark brown in color. They walked on four legs like a wolf but had at least twice the weight and girth. They had long tails with a tuft of fur at the end. Grey could see their breath fogging on the cool night air, and he could see lines of drool falling from their large canine teeth. They all had large paws and a heavy, loping, gate and walked with their mouths open. Their snouts had long whiskers and when they stepped into the light, he could see that their eyes looked black and cold.

Even though the women around him were working themselves into a deeper and deeper panic, Grey was able to stay calm. These animals were intimidating in size and number, but they did not seem ready to attack. Not yet. They seemed almost curious, in a lazy sort of way. As they got closer to some, Grey saw that the roars that had been sending chills down their spines were nothing more than yawns of some of the fattest and laziest of the beasts. They just laid there and blinked slowly at them as though they were falling asleep.

Some would walk with the crowd for a while and then just lay down and let them move on. Grey even saw one of them come to the edge of the firelight, just to sit down and watch them as they walked by. Its features looked calm: its hackles were down, its shoulders were square, and its mouth closed.

“How much farther?” said Grey, as Max came up beside him holding a torch over his head.

“Not far,” said Max in a shaky voice. We need to turn north up ahead and head out into the wood.

The group was moving slower and slower as the livestock became harder to handle. The animals following their progress continued to grow in confidence. A few would crouch low to the ground and pounce forward at those people closest to the edge of the group, but would always turn bearing their teeth and growling menacingly as fire was brought down near their furry faces.

Grey could see more bones on the ground now. He stepped over deer antlers and cracked ribs and leg bones. He saw more human remains; skulls, ribs, jaw bones, hollowed out hip bones.

Elli was beside him again. She stepped on the top of a human skull and it crunched under her foot. She jumped and screamed, her hand not holding her torch seized him again. She almost slipped on the powdered remains of the crushed skull but Grey caught her pulling her upright. She buried her face in his chest, tears soaking into his shirt.

“We’re going to die here! This is it, isn’t it?” her voice was low, but it was clearer to Grey then the continuous rumble of growls from the surrounding beast, and the whimpers and moans of the women around him.

He took a shaky breath, held it in his tight chest, and exhaled a cloud of mist over the top of Elli’s head. Terrified faces surrounded him. Tear soaked cheeks and trembling lips.

“This is the end,” said Elli softly into his chest.

“No,” said Grey, leading her forward. “Not yet. Come on, keep moving.”

“I can’t, Grey!” she said, sobbing even harder. “I can’t…”

“Yes you can,” he said. “Stay close to me.”

The air was putrid. There was a mix of decay and sweat mixed with feces and rotting flesh. Grey found it hard to breathe.

Then the whole group came to a dead stop.

“Keep moving!” shouted Max. Grey fought his way to the very front with Elli close at his side and saw what had stopped everyone. The animals had blocked the path in front of them. Four of them were now walking back and forth across the path in front of them, eyeing the closest women hungrily.

The animals on all sides of them continued to growl and roar lazily, and then livestock in the center of their group continued to squeal adding to the racket. Max was at his side again holding the torch out, looking at the animals before them blocking the path.

“What are they?” said Grey.

“They look like big cats,” said Max. “I think I have read about animals like them before, but I can’t be sure.”

“What do we do?” said Grey.

“I don’t know. They seem confused for now, but I do not think that will last long. Pretty soon their confidence will return and I don’t know how long we will last.”

A deafening roar shook the night. Grey felt every one behind him shuffle even closer together. The big cats circling them tensed as the roar echoed through the night. They all seemed more alert, down on their haunches, ready to spring.

Grey looked left and right at all the animals now moving with greater speed around them snarling and snapping their jaws, their claws flicking dirt into the air. Ahead of them, an even bigger monster emerged into the firelight.

Grey held his torch higher trying to cast light on the lurking figure. He did not have to wait long. The beast emerged into the light of the fires slowly. It was the largest of all the animals around them, its fur a richer gold color, its eyes black, and its neck covered in a giant main of tangled hair. Grey could see its black claws digging into the ground as it lumbered forward, a low growl humming from its chest. The animal looked right at him at the head of the group and moved forward slowly.

“Max,” said Grey, not breaking the gaze of the beast. “Tell them to let go of the ropes!”

“What?” called Max behind him.

Grey reached up slowly and pulled the knife out from over his shoulder, not breaking eye contact with the beast. “Tell them to let go of the livestock. Let them run!”

The beast snarled at him, slowing its advance, sizing him up. Grey watched him bend lower on his haunches, getting ready to fight. Grey could sense a great deal of movement behind him, and then saw the monsters surrounding them spring into action all at once.

They moved with an explosive agility, leaping forward across the soil. Grey glanced behind him and caught a brief glimpse of cows and sheep sprinting into the darkness, and of teeth and claws leaping onto their backs and bringing them down in clouds of dust.

The amount of noise was unbelievable. Grey could hear women screaming, cows and sheep squealing in terror, bones crunching, teeth biting, and the monsters around them roaring in triumph.

Grey’s eyes were back on the beast, which roared at him again. He felt the hairs on his neck and back stand on end. “Max!” Grey shouted.

The beast charged. Grey waved the torch through the air and brought his knife swinging down towards the beast’s face. But he missed.

The animal roared and hissed as it ducked away from the fire and clawed at the air. One of the beast’s giant claws came fearfully close to knocking the knife free of his hand. Grey was backing away and the beast was circling him, crouched low to the ground. Pandemonium had erupted in the night. Squealing and screaming still tore at his ears as well as the sound of monsters gorging on flesh. Firelight was dancing over everything as people began to run.

“Stay together! Stay together!” someone was shouting.

The beast snarled and lashed out with his claws again. Grey was too far away for him to reach, but he still jumped back and rammed into something. It was Elli. She screamed and Grey turned just in time to see her tumble out of sight down a steep drop beside the path. Her torched tumbled out of her hand and snuffed out. She disappeared into the darkness below.

The beast pressed his advantage moving in closer in short powerful steps. Grey swung and missed again, his blade and torch flying through the air.

The beast sprang forward. Grey barely had time to dive out of the way. He rolled over in the dirt and his torch flew out of his hand. He sprang to his feet and saw the tufty tail of the beast disappearing down the drop towards where Elli had fallen. Grey sprinted towards the edge of the rubble road, scooping the burning torch up with one hand, and jumped.

He fell long enough to realize it was going to be a painful landing. His boots landed hard on jagged rocks and he tumbled against the rocky surface. His body screamed in pain as he rolled onto the level soil at the bottom of the drop. Dust billowing around his face, Grey could make out Elli ten feet away from him, huddled against the base of a metal spire, knees pulled tight against her chest, the beast slowly advancing on her, drool dripping from his lips.

His side searing with pain, his lungs burning, Grey pounced forward with all the power his shaking legs could manage and dove in between them. The beast roared again, rearing back on his hind legs, raising his claws high over his head.

Grey jumped to his feet swinging blindly with the torch and the knife. The blade connected with a thunderous clang that shook the night. He had struck the side of the metal tower. The sound reverberated in Grey’s ears painfully. He staggered, trying to stay balanced, looking for the beast in the dark night.

Amazingly it had backed away and was shaking its head and moaning, hot air misting out of its open maw. It backed away awkwardly and pawed at the air. But then it shook its head a final time and its black eyes locked onto him again. It crouched low on its haunches, ready to pounce, snarling and baring its teeth.

Grey hesitated for only a second and then swung his blade as hard as he could at the metal tower beside him. Just as the beast was about to spring forward, the horrible clanging noise washed over them once more.

The beast fell back, pawing at his ears again and moved away. Grey hit the metal tower again, driving the animal back. The beast roared at him in frustration, still backing away. Grey held his torch high. As the final ringing note from the tower ceased, the beast ready to strike.

Grey stuck the tower as hard as he could, feeling the blade of his knife chip against the hard metal, and the beast turned its back to him and bounded away. He could hear the thunderous growls of the beast even after it was swallowed in shadow. Grey waited by the metal spire for a moment longer after it had disappeared, waiting. He saw a pair of glowing white eyes appear in the darkness ahead of him as the beast turned back to look at him one last time. Another roar rent the night. Then the eyes blinked once, and then they were gone.

Elli stood up shakily and wrapped her arms around him. She cried into his chest, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. Grey, breathing hard, still held the torch high above his head. His other hand held the knife loosely at his side. He was not sure what to do now. He looked down at the mess of blond hair huddled close to his chest. He dropped the knife, and wrapped his arm around her, holding her tight.

XIX

Daylight felt good. Behind them, the mountains were nothing more than black outlines against a dark blue sky, the moon glowing above them through the haze. The clouds that had brought so much darkness the night before now glowed pink and orange as the sun rose in the sky ahead of them. They were caught in the perfect center between night and day.

Not a single person had been hurt. All of the livestock was lost but that was a small price to pay for their lives.

“We should be there soon. And then we can rest,” said Max, breathing heavily and leaning against his walking stick.

Grey said nothing. He limped forward, every step sending pain all through his body. His feet ached, his legs buckled underneath him, his side continued to burn and sting, and every breath felt labored. All around him, he saw exhausted faces. The whole grouped edged forward silently as the sun continued to climb above them.

Around them, the rolling hills became grassier and the trees became more and more sparse. Murmurs began to swirl through the crowd and grew into excited exclamations. Grey looked around in confusion and then realized what was happening. The fields and hills had given way to crops. They had found a heavily trodden dirt path on an uphill grain and all around them were irrigated rows of seedlings and sprouts.

For the first time, Grey fell behind as the group surged up the hill. Women were rushing past him and joyous shouts reached him from those who had reached the top. Even Elli left his side and ran with the crowd to catch sight of what lay beyond the hillside.

Grey was one of the last to reach the crest. A half mile away down a small gradient was a large stone wall. Leading into it was the river coming in from the north. The gates were open and they could see people moving about their lives in the morning light. Grey could see white smoke issuing up over the wall from fire pits and ovens deep within the city. The cool breeze brought with it, the sweet smell of baked goods and sweet honey blossom.

“We made it!” said Max beside him, as the crowd began to move down the hill towards Stonebrook. “I can’t believe we made it.”

“Give me your water,” said Grey, turning away and looking north up the river. The water gleamed and shimmered in the sunlight.

“What?” said Max “My water? What for? We made it.” said Max, but he unshouldered his pack and pulled out a leather sack of water.

Grey took it gently in a shaky hand and pressed it to his lips and drank. The water felt good against his dry throat. He coughed, water dribbling down his chin.

“Thank you,” he said, nodding to Max.

“Grey!” Sasha was coming back up the hill towards them, accompanied by Elli. “What are you two waiting for? Let’s go!” she said, beaming at them. Her face fell as she and Elli reached them. “What’s going on?”

“I have to go,” said Grey, unshouldering his pack as well and dropping it on the ground. He opened it up and placed Max’s water sack alongside his own.

“Where?” said Elli. Grey tied up his pack again and straightened up slowly. “No,” said Elli shaking her head. “No! No, you can’t go out there again! Send someone else to find Kate! We can go into Stonebrook and get help! You can’t go out there again, Grey, look at you! You’ll die if you keep doing this to yourself!” There were tears in her eyes as she glared at him. “Come with me!” she said, grabbing him. “Come with us! You can be safe here! You can have a home here!”

Grey just looked at her as a tear fell down her cheek. He looked at Sasha beside her. She too looked distressed. She met his eyes for only a moment, fiddling with the bowstring strapped over her chest. Max held onto his walking stick with both hands and looked down at his feet.

Elli sniffed, whipping the tears away from her cheeks. “I thought you said this is where you were supposed to be. You have come so far just to get here. Why won’t you come with me now?”

He looked at her waiting for him to say something, but he did not know what to say. He looked over her head to the stone wall again, and the women from Northanger making their way into the city. “I will be back,” he said, slowly. “But I need to finish something.”

“Grey…” said Elli, but she looked lost for words.

Grey shouldered his pack again looked upriver, north towards the eastern end of the mountains. Sasha put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a half smile, and stepped aside. “We’ll be waiting for you,” she said.

Grey nodded and took his first step away from Stonebrook.

“Grey,” said Max.

Grey turned to him. He had one arm wrapped around Elli, who cried into his shoulder softly. Her arms were wrapped around him and her face obscured by her long golden hair and white scarf. Max extended the walking stick towards him. “Kate said that her rout is part of a water runoff from the eastern valley in spring. Follow the river and look for a dry riverbed leading up into the valley.”

Grey took the walking stick with both hands and leaned on it heavily. He was surprised at how much it alleviated the pain in his legs and side. It made his arms ache even worse, but he thought that was a good trade-off. Grey nodded to them one last time, turned and headed for the river: Upstream to the north, and then he would turn his way towards the setting sun in the valley. He was heading west.