Wylde Magic | Book 3

Fifty Two: A Grave To Stand By

The first thing we did when we reached our destination was to explore.

Morning light freely fell over the rare clearing in the Wyldes where the ruined kingdom now rested. While little could be seen above the grass, if you walked along the right spots you could find where buildings had been. If you were lucky, you could even find a cobbled patch where a street once lay.

It was a surprisingly emotional journey for me to walk the ruined land. Teyber and the other elven children did their duty as they scouted, but I could tell they were just as affected as I was. For a stretch of land in the middle of the unclaimed Wyldes, it was calm here. A peace settled over it from lost centuries of care and love.

Liana had built up a fire where we could warm ourselves and provide a central place to explore from. I wasn't missing the Summer lands by any means, but it was certainly colder now outside of them.

Teyber's scouts had brought food with them, which we were grateful for. We left Thanantholl with almost nothing, and my bag of witchcraft was no good for eating. Spaulder went off into the trees alone for a while, coming back with a full belly. I didn't want to ask him what he found in there, all I know is that it put up enough of a fight to land a few light scratches on the great dragon's muzzle, and that in itself was a feat.

Once we were fed and warm, our investigation into the area was well and truly under way. More than once I saw the elven children pausing in awe of something or other they found. Remnants of a heritage long lost. I suppose I did the same, but at least I had the comfort of Puko on my shoulder to ground me. The heft of the large bird was warm and reminded me of loved ones.

The biggest excitement of the morning came when my boots scraped the side of a carved bit of stone. The sight of it caught my attention and I bent down, running my fingers along it as I brushed away the grass that clung to the delicate crevices. The movement caught Teyber's attention.

I pulled at the grass, trying to uncover what the carved stone had been. The motions chased Puko to the skies rather than sit on my shoulder and weather my bothersome digging and pulling. I didn't get far before it was covered in more dirt than grass, the Wyldes truly reclaiming what once belonged to it. Teyber's light steps came my way as he kneeled beside me.

"What do you see?" he asked softly.

"I'm not sure," I murmured. "It's covered, but whatever it was, it warranted a lot of work in its design.

He helped me scrape away the dirt and plants until we uncovered more of the carvings. Teyber grunted as he yanked back a stubborn vine, and he paused to stare at it for a long moment.

"What is it?" I asked.

He hummed, tracing his fingers along a two-sided tree. The carving of a living tree, roots included. But where the roots should have ended, they grew again into a new tree mirroring the first, only this tree was barren and dead.

"This is a grave," he said finally.

"A grave?" I questioned, looking up to see Schula and Liana walking our direction. "I thought they burned the dead here, just like we did back in the mountains."

"We do," Schula said, stopping on my other side to look at what we had found.

"The elves do not," Teyber said. "This is the door to a mausoleum."

I raised my head, looking around the carved stone to see what it might entail. Bits of stone poked out where the raised corners of the door's frame might be, and it was definitely big enough to walk down into if the door were uncovered.

"I've never encountered such a thing," I said. "Why, if you buried your dead, would you want to get into the grave with it?"

Teyber shook his head, brushing the dirt from his knees as he stood up. "No, a mausoleum isn't a simple grave. It is... like a chamber of underground graves. The dead are laid to rest in carved stone beds with lids. There will be shelves with parting gifts and possibly portraits of the dead inside."