The terrain changed, woodland becoming rocky and steep, the road beneath their feet shattered and broken, with Hakara straining to keep up. Rock walls loomed out from nowhere, almost a relief after the eerie mist. Statues lined the walls and floors, woodland creatures frozen in positions of flight or terror, victims of the mist. Semari leapt up next to one, giving it an experimental prod, Stathis’ hand dropping to her sword, in case it animated to attack them. It remained resolutely motionless, whatever magic was on them permanent, or that they would only respond to something else.

As they moved into the canyon, the mist remained behind them and blocking their exit. With no other choice, they followed the steep path upwards, Semari leading the way, carefully checking around corners. A moment after she moved out of sight, she fell back into sight, scrabbling backwards.

‘Dragon!’

Stathis drew her sword and charged, hoping it would be a small one, or at least willing to talk rather than kill them all. She ran around the corner, shield raised, Parth close behind, sword in hand.

Giant fangs the length of her arm filled her vision, a gigantic maw lunging towards her. She struck, hoping to buy herself some time, blade slicing through the air, hitting something solid with a loud, dull sound. Parth stabbed, metal ricocheting off and unable to penetrate. Stathis ducked to the side and swung again, without any more effect than before. She paused for a moment, giving time for the others to catch up, just as Semari let out a battle cry and punched it, before staggering backwards, shaking her fist in pain.

The lantern light illuminated a stone dragon, poised to bite, wings and tail raised, but unmoving. The thing was too detailed, too vivid in pose, to just be a statue, but a vigorous period of poking from Semari didn’t stir it to life, so the thing didn’t seem likely to animate and eat them. Was the mist powerful enough to petrify a dragon? They were supposed to be resistant to most forms of magic. Hopefully the damn thing wouldn’t wake up anytime soon.

Although the path continued around, on one side there was a drop away to whatever was waiting out there, unseen. Vague shapes shone with reflected moonlight beneath them, amongst the darkness, and a green star hovering somewhere ahead of them. Stathis glanced up – although there were stars in the sky, they were different than she was used to, and the moons were in different positions, spread widely across the sky rather than close together. The place must be a pocket plane or something else out of phase with the normal world – as long as they could leave, it shouldn’t be a problem.

‘We’ll camp here, we should be able to see better in the morning. Janaxia, you’re on first watch, wake Parth when you’re done, then it’ll be me.’

Janaxia used the excuse of being on watch to get out of putting the tents up, taking a seat in one of the dragon’s paws, making herself comfortable. It didn’t take long to put them up, even in the darkness, with the legs of the dragon body making a convenient tethering point and roof. The grass beneath was even nice and soft, much better than bare rock – even with her armour, Stathis slept until awoken by Parth, taking her turn on watch some time before the dawn.

Stathis yawned and stretched, easing out the kinks from sleeping on the ground, trying to stay awake. It made a decent camp, with the dragon a sturdy roof, canvas strung between the legs and a decent amount of space beneath, even if the roof was low. As the sun rose, it illuminated a large, domed valley, surrounded by steep mountains, the inside filled with a sea of forest, green stretching across the entire basin. A few buildings could be seen peaking above the treeline, elegantly-worked stone obviously of elven craft, although even from this distance, the lack of maintenance could be seen. In the centre of the valley was a castle, surrounded by moats and defensive walls, all overrun with more greenery.

The sunlight shone off a castle, a network of buildings surrounded by a wall and moat, the centre a massive round tower with, various smaller towers branching off it. Large enough for a decent garrison, at least when it had been populated. And a decent-sized town, although most of it was impossible to see amongst the forest. Looking more closely, Stathis began to see a pattern amongst the greenery, slightly different colours where there had probably been roads, a few walls just about peeking above the treeline, outer walls and gates, now buried amongst the woods, squares and curves amongst the forest. Well, if it was this dilapidated, then there was probably no-one left alive, just spirits and old traps left behind. This might just be an easy job – find the vaults in the castle, load up and get out.

In the daylight, the stone dragon was even more impressive – as the others readied themselves, Stathis measured it, the body a full forty paces long, even before taking the tail into account. It had been frozen in place in the middle of fighting, if the way its wings, head and tail were positioned was any indication, tail ready to strike, mouth open to bite, or spit something lethal. In the centre of its face, between large, unblinking eyes, was a smoothly curved gem, some draconic version of jewellery. From the size, it could easily swallow someone whole, if it didn’t simply bite them in half! As long as it stayed stone, then it was fine. While the others awoke, she began wrapping rope around its legs, binding them to the ground, snarling the creature’s wings. A precaution, but they could always get the rope back later, and Hakara had bought a lot of the stuff.

Semari had climbed on top of it, taking a position on the thing’s neck, where she could grab hold of its long horns and pretend to be flying. And also pretend to rain fiery death upon any that opposed her, to judge by her shouts and battle cries.

Stathis went to join Parth who was squatting on the edge of the cliff, shading her eyes with one hand as she scrutinised the valley.

‘See anything?’

‘Forest.’

‘Anything else? Looks like there was an entire town here. Reckon it’s worth heading straight for that castle in the middle, or are there some other buildings to go check?’

Parth considered, before pointing to a few-random seeming locations scattered amongst the greenery. ‘Barracks. Temple. Outer palace.’ Only this last was visible, a quartet of towers reaching upwards, all sprouting from the same central building.

‘That sounds promising. Any ideas about defences? Might be some beasts around – place doesn’t look big enough to support too much nasty stuff though. Other then that bloody unicorn.’

‘No tracks, no food. But life.’

Parth was right – the usual wilderness sounds could be heard, birds singing, a squirrel rustling in the undergrowth, before running up a tree. ‘Might be wolves? Maybe a troll or something, but I can’t see this place supporting anything bigger. Although there could undead of some kind? Do elves leave undead behind?’

There was a very long pause before Parth answered. ‘Rarely.’

‘Well, you’re up front – anything else we should know? Traps, defences?’

‘Likely ceased. Except the castle.’

‘OK, thanks. Keep an eye on Hakara; she’s new at this, although she’s managing OK so far.’

Parth nodded, returning to her scrutiny of the forest and the ruins, a sombre look on her face. Hakara was rummaging through her pack, an impressive array of mundane gear piling up next to her before she pulled out a bulky book. Unlike Janaxia’s, this one was far more mundane-looking, with ink- and mug-stains covering a worn leather cover, corners tipped with brass. She opened it, flicking through and mumbling to herself, occasional sparks of mystical energy flickering, hands idly tracing glyphs and runes into the air.

Sometime afterwards, Janaxia roused herself, not emerging from the tent until after the usual ripples of doom had emanated forth, and she deemed herself suitably attired, this time with a grey cloche that sat loosely on her head to cover her horns, somewhat out of keeping with the rest of her black and crimson leathers, her own tome strapped to her waist.

When she was done with her studies, Hakara examined the dragon, scribbling down some notes as she did so. ‘An elderly male fire dragon, I think – Miss Janaxia, what do you think? The horns look more like those of a fire drake to me, but a forest drake can often look similar, if they clean themselves of moss and other growth.’

‘Of course. Although we must hope that it remains petrified. Have you prepared appropriate magics for this environment?’

‘Oh yes. A variety of spells.’ She began listing them, Janaxia nodding along, as Stathis herded them both towards leaving. ‘If you two are done looking at the petrified dragon, let’s go! And keep an eye out for that damned unicorn. Semari, get down here!’ Semari leapt from her perch, and they were ready to go.

The path down to the bottom had once been a grand road, but most of it had fallen away, leaving little more than a narrow track, with the occasional statue (an actual one, although finely carved) staring blindly at them, others fallen and shattered, or broken over the centuries. The sky above them was a deep, brilliant blue, barely a cloud to be seen. It was almost relaxing, with Parth vanishing off for a moment before coming back with a handful of berries, each sweet and bursting with flavour. The road gave some direction through the thick woods though, otherwise they’d be blundering without any guidance.

A fragment of building gave them a temporary vantage point, showing just how little distance they’d made. Closer now, other stubs and shards of buildings could be seen peeking above the trees, some looking more intact, most nothing more than stray pillars or piles of bricks, no other sign of whatever else they had once been.

‘This is getting us nowhere. Parth, take Semari and go scout ahead. The outer palace I think you said, that thing?’ Stathis pointed at a tower, just about visible above the trees. ‘We’ll hack through the woods, at least the unicorn won’t be able to charge if it appears again. See if there’s anywhere to rest there.’

‘We’ll grab any treasure we find!’ Semari and Parth started ducking through the trees, rapidly vanishing from sight.

Off the road, they had to push through heavy foliage, plants crunching underfoot, trying to keep away from anything with thorns. Hakara stuck close behind her, head continually scanning around, although the woods were thick enough that someone could be standing within a few yards and be completely unseen. They encountered shattered and melted fragments of buildings, stone melted into a blackened heap, now grown over with plants, only a corner of wall still intact.

Hakara poked the ruined walls with her knife, the ashen surface quickly giving way. ‘Intense fire; that dragon must be a red one. Or there’s something else that caused this, although I really hope not. To melt elven stone takes intense fire, far more than any mundane process can create.’

‘Let’s just hope that thing doesn’t animate or wake up or whatever. Anything that can fly in this terrain would be a nightmare, especially if it sets the trees on fire’ said Stathis.

Janaxia was moving carefully, trying to avoid getting pricked by anything. ‘Maybe the angel will appear once more? It has intervened twice before, after all.’

‘I think Redcastle was probably due to the Casket of Zakran, rather than you. After all, Galondwyn was present, and if she’d broken the casket, that would have ended really badly. She was barely defeated! And I’m still in hock to the Knights of the Sun for their damned armour.’ Stathis shifted the subject. ‘We should move faster, unless we want to camp out for the night and risk getting run through with by a horn.’

That served to spur Janaxia to faster movement, and mercifully no further questions about angelic warriors. Eventually she would have to tell her, but it would be damn awkward. Maybe get her blind drunk first? Or when she was blissed out after spending time with Carissia? She shook her head – that was a problem for later.

Hacking through the woods took most of the afternoon, the sun starting to dip out of sight beneath the hills, shadows rapidly lengthening when they managed to cut through into a clearing. Semari yelled at them from above, jumping up and down and waving. She was standing on a half-broken balcony, thick ivy growing up the sides of the building.

‘Entrance down there!’

She was pointing downwards, towards a crack in the building. Janaxia could easily fit through, Hakara having to drag her pack behind her, before Stathis pushed through, stone scraping her armour as she squeezed herself through the narrow gap, the horses to graze for themselves.

Inside, the building was mostly intact, if dilapidated – the stone walls were covered with chipped and faded paint, every surface bearing remnants of some scene or other, elves relaxing, studying, practising weaponcraft or spells. One scene covered the entire wall of a performance chamber, massed ranks of armoured fighters and war-mages lined up, parts of their armour still shining with thin silver leaf etched onto the wall. They were arrayed against just three figures, each wreathed in a spiked halo of darkness, their features impossible to discern against the black. Parth was trying to scratch off the silver leaf, carefully collecting the flakes and compressing them together, having managed to collect an amount almost half the size of a coin.

A raised stage sat beneath the painting, balconies from other chambers overlooking it, and with a narrow staircase up to some kind of dressing room. In there was a large wardrobe and several chests still in place, although falling apart as soon as Semari poked them, their contents little more than dust, although there were at least a few gems, Parth pocketing them.

By now, the shadows were growing long, and the fallen-apart furniture proved to be fine kindling, smoke drifting through a window, the glass long since gone. Just outside was a short drop onto a tiled roof, then other roofs and walls, still relatively intact. Everyone settled to their business, Hakara studying again, Semari immediately catnapping.

Stathis turned to Janaxia. ‘You should clean your sword-wand thing. It’s got unicorn blood on it.’ Janaxia took her sword out, magical energy washing over the weapon, lifting the blood off it and casting it into the fire. ‘If you’re going to fight close up like that, you need to learn how to actually fight. Stand up, let me show you the basics.’

After some grumbling, Janaxia was coerced into getting up and gripping her weapon. Stathis grabbed her shoulders and pulled them into the proper position. ‘The control comes from your wrists, don’t just chop away. And don’t lean too much into it and overextend.’ She stood behind Janaxia, carefully making sure she wasn’t going to be stabbed in the face with a horn, putting her arms around Janaxia to make sure she had proper stance, adjusting her grip on the sword and making her start with some practice exercises, basic overhead swings and sideways slices, pushing and pulling Janaxia into the correct positions to start with. The start of a glow came to her cheeks, Janaxia clearly unused to actual physical effort rather than standing at the back and flinging out magical attacks.

Between her studies, Hakara looked up, accepting some food and water from Parth. ‘If you don’t mind me asking, how did you meet up? That must have been quite a story!’

It was as though the temperature of the room had suddenly dropped. Semari half opened her eyes and growled. ‘Fucking mess.’

Parth spat into the fire, her face fierce. ‘Never trust a bearded elf. Bastards, the lot of them.’

Janaxia gave a delicate shudder. ‘The affair was rather unfortunate, yes. Very much not my finest moment, and I would rather prefer not to remember it. All very messy and awkward.’

‘Yeah, it was pretty bad.’ Stathis winced at the memories. ‘Anyway, Semari, you’ve already slept, so you take first watch. Hakara, what made you choose to come with us?’

Semari grumbled, but wandered over to the doorway as Hakara answered, looking glad to move the subject on. Not something she could have known about, but the whole affair had been a catastrophe. And not even a profitable one!

‘It seems the easiest way to gain practical experience. To return to the Barinian Academy is expensive! I’m hoping to get enough money to return, and continue my studies, and I don’t have the social connections for any good positions.’ Parth held up the compressed disc of silver leaf, offering it to Hakara, although with a pained expression on her face. ‘Thank you, Miss Parth, but I hope we’ll find rather more. The central keep should be the best place, I would expect. I will prepare spells to deal with sealed doors and the like. Miss Janaxia, what spells have you prepared?’

‘The usual ones, of course. For dealing with whatever we might find in such a place as this.’

‘Spooky and creepy ones, she means!’ Semari’s voice came from out of sight, as she patrolled the hall outside.

Janaxia bridled, her lash turning faintly crimson, before Stathis stepped in to intervene. ‘Janaxia will deal with any combat concerns, so if you can prepare for anything else, that would be appreciated.’

Then Stathis settled down to sleep, making sure her sword was in easy reach, just in case, as Parth took up a perch by the window, bow close by, Hakara returning to her studies.