Chapter 7 · Rust and Relic - Chapter 7: The Dead Stay Busy

"You're not going in there."

Liv stood in front of the collapsed gate like she owned it. The old hill fort sagged into the ridge above us, stone walls chewed up by moss and a century of rain. The kind of place people avoided because the dead hadn't finished their business.

"I need rope," I said. "Iron. Anything that didn't rot."

"Then you need a different ruin." She didn't move. Her axe hung loose in her left hand, blade still dark from yesterday. "This one's got a name."

"So do I. Aiden. Nice to meet you. Now move."

She didn't smile. "Bonewalker sent his people here six years back. They went in singing. Came out quiet. Two of them didn't come out at all."

The shard pulsed warm against my ribs. I pulled it out and the progress bar flickered into view. Upgrade materials: 47%. The same number it had been since we left Greta's camp three hours ago. Every scrap of rust and bronze we'd scrounged from the trail added maybe a percentage point. At this rate I'd be collecting nails until spring.

"Look," I said, "I get it. Cursed ground. Angry spirits. Bad vibes.