Three Battles_Cold Bones Warm Heart

The two robed skeletons advance on me, brandishing maces that had been concealed in their robes.

I wanna try something. I can control my bony body bits when they’re separated from me. Even when I’m all smashed up. Can I make my hands break off and fly at these boneheads?

I will my hands to break away and take my enemies by surprise. Both my skeletal hands break away from my wrists and fly through the air at the robed skeletons, balling themselves into bony fists and socking each of the skeletons in the jaw and making their skulls spin round from the impact.

“That hurt me more than it hurt you,” I scolded them. “Are you going to renounce Zarath and join me? I wanna prove that more of us skeletons can be good.”

The skeletons try to grab at my disembodied hands, but they’re too slow and my hands are too nimble. They fly into the air out of reach.

The two skeletons begin a dirge like chant. With a sinking feeling somewhere in the space inside my ribcage, I recognise it as that horrible ode to Zarath that the living corpse was droning on about back in the cityport:

“What is fear? I know it not!

What is death? The mortals’ lot!

Zarath! Zarath! Zarath!

Lead us on, oh mighty one,

Over bodies of the slain.

Blood will swell into a lake,

Scorching fires blaze in my wake!

Kill! Kill! Kill!”

They brandish their maces at me.

“You will soon be reduced to dust,” says the first skeleton. “Then Zarath will lead us to despoil the lands. We will slay every flesh carrier in sight, including your husband and children.”

“Then you leave me no choice. Hands, get them!”

My hands are hovering high above us, but now they plummet down and seize the maces from the followers of Zarath, wrenching them from their grasps and then bringing those weapons down hard upon the skulls of their owners…

The skulls crack and the fire in the robed skeletons’ eye sockets goes out. They both collapse to the ground. Just piles of bones now.

I sigh. “Threatening Jaime and the kids… They just threw their unlives away.” My hands fly towards me and reattach themselves to my wrists. I flex my bony fingers. All in order. I pick up one of the maces and take it with me. It looks more useful to use against bad skeletons than my dagger.

I set of north again and suddenly I hear a woman’s voice calling for help. It’s coming from a bunch of trees near the foot of a hill. I look down. It’s a young woman tied to a tree. She has a bright green face that looks almost luminous in the dark.

I don’t wanna frighten her. “Don’t be afraid, I call. I am your friend. I know I look scary, but I’m not. Honest.”

I scuttle down the hill and stand in front of her and the moon comes out from behind a cloud and casts a ghostly light over the scene. The moon is unusually bright tonight. The silvery light shines off the woman’s green nose and cheeks as she gapes at me.

“Please, please trust me. I’m gonna free you. Um… look, I won’t come any closer if you don’t want me to. My hands can do the job.”

My skeletal hands break off my wrists and one of them grabs my dagger. Between them my hands cut through the bonds holding the green faced woman to the tree and then scuttle back to me and reattach themselves. The woman massages her wrists and stares at me with wide hazel eyes. It looks like she’s wearing a mask out of a very smooth, green, shiny material.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“Um – Hi?” I say, trying to break the tension. “I’m Seren. What’s your name? Who tied you up?”

“Hi Seren.” The woman does an awkward curtsey. ”I’m Jenna. I was robbed by goblins. They stole everything I had and tied me to the tree. I – I,” she touches her green cheek. “This mask is actually a harmless sort of parasite that grafted itself onto my face and won’t come off.”

“Well I think you’re pretty,” I say. “Um… as for me… I’m dead, as you can see. I’m an adventurer by profession and my previous mission cost me my life. I’m haunting my own skeleton. My spirit, that’s me… I’m in my skull. You can see my ghostly eyes looking out at you. So that’s how I look like a skeleton with blue eyes.”

Jenna flicks a strand of hair away from her green face and strokes her cheek pensively. “Yes, your possession has changed your skull. It looks round. More like a smiley face than a skull. And you’ve kept your hair around you by sheer willpower.”

“I guess I have. Everyone knows me by my long red hair. Wanna come with me? I can protect you if the goblins come back.”

And I’m a bit lonely, but I don’t say that out loud.

“Sure,” says Jenna.

We set off through the hills and Jenna tells me about herself. “I’m a herbalist by trade. I hoped I’d find some rare specimens in these hills, but it’s been a bit of a disaster really. Do you still do adventuring, Seren?”

“Yes, I’ve got a husband and kids to support. I’m on a really big, dangerous mission right now and I’m the girl for the job. I’m uniquely qualified…” I decide to trust her and I tell her all about the mission and how I’m on a quest to stop the evil Zarath who is on his second power grab.

“Oh!” Jenna clapped her hands to her mouth. “Then the rumours are true. Foolish treasure seekers did break into the crypt where Zarath was entombed and let him out by mistake.”

“He can only be killed with his own sword. I’ve got to find it. The curse he left on the sword will turn the wielder into a skeleton if they kill him – not something I have to worry about. Hm. I also don’t have to worry about food, so I didn’t bring provisions. Are you hungry?”

Jenna rubs her green nose with one of her gloved fingers. “Well… a bit.”

“We’d better look for something for you to eat. I expect you know edible from inedible berries. Hang on a minute…”

In the distance I can see the glow of what looks like a fire, but it’s too dark to see who might be sitting by it. “Maybe they have some food they’d be willing to sell?” I jingle my money pouch. “Please wait here and I’ll go and see.”

I close my eyes and will my head to break free of my body. My skull spins around and then breaks free of my body and rises into the air. Jenna gives a little cry. “Don’t worry,” I call. “Body – Guard Jenna and make sure nothing hurts her. I’ll be back in a moment.”

I float over to the top of the hill with the glow of the fire. As I float nearer, I hear a man’s voice call out through the dark: “Die, evil spook.” I hear the flight of an arrow whistling through the air towards me before it pierces my eye socket! My eyes are ghost eyes. I don’t actually have eyeballs. I don’t feel anything from the arrow, but I am really upset!

I fly towards him like a meteor, my hair streaming out behind me and the arrow shaft still sticking out of my eye socket.

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?” I yell.

The man swipes at me with his dagger, but I float just out of reach. He is a handsome guy, with a large moustache, dressed in a dark green tunic.

“The undead are evil,” he says simply. “I fight for the forces of good.”

I swoop down near his face. “I AM NOT EVIL! I AM ON A QUEST TO KILL ZARATH!”

“Zarath?” The man flinches at the name. “Wait, what happened? Did that monster make you undead?”

I glare at him as best as I can with the arrow shaft still sticking out of one of my eyes.

“No, I died on one of my previous missions. I only do good. I have a new friend who will vouch for me. But first, let’s lose this?”

I snatch his bow with my teeth and rise up into the air with it as he calls out in protest. I float over to my body and drop the bow for it to catch.

“Are you alright?” says Jenna nervously as I attach myself to my body. I pull the arrow out of my eye. “Yeah, but that guy by the fire is a bonehead. Let’s talk sense into him.”

We approach the fire. The guy gives Jenna a curtsey. “Well met, maiden. I am Synt.”

“Hello! I’m Jenna. This skeleton is really good,” says Jenna. “She rescued me.”

“How can we be sure?” He points at his fire. There’s a duck roasting over it on a spit and a pan of wild mushrooms cooking over the embers by the fire. “You are welcome to join me for roast duck, but the skeleton had better leave.”

I fold my bony arms. I just wanna cry, but I’ve got no tear ducts. I really wish I was back in Jaime’s arms. I need the comfort right now. I glare at Synt. “I’m gonna raise my kids to be fair and not to be mean bigots like you… Wait, what’s that?”

There is a hulking mass lumbering through the dark. It has a roughly humanoid shape, but it’s made of rock! Its flint like eyes gleam red in the firelight.

“A boulder beast!” Says Jenna. “They’re demons that animate statues sculpted by evil wizards!”

The boulder beast brandishes its club like fists and in a grinding voice it chants: