The room with the crossbow wielding skeleton had an old key hook on the wall above an empty chest so I took it and continued out into the halls going back the way I’d come heading toward the path that had gone left hoping to find something more.
Thankfully the effort wasn’t wasted and I came across a locked reinforced pair of metal doors that towered a two metres over my head, within the doors was a large dining hall of some kind with a four or five metre long table in the centre surrounded by chairs, some toppled others shattered and most importantly it was dressed in iconography I didn’t recognise.
Banners hung on either side of the room down the support columns with navy blue fabric sporting a golden crown with a light salmon pink sword through it. As well at the back of the hall was an old ruined statue of a robed woman on a large stone block, at the foot of the statue was a chest of some kind that had been shattered with shards of wood strewn about.
The awkward chitter and clatter of ambling animated bones drew my attention to the silhouette of a figure in a set of mostly intact half plate armour, the dark colour of the metal blending into the dark of the room as it revealed itself from behind a column. Its black eye sockets lit up, glowing red jewels refracting the light of two braziers by the statue, in its hands a two handed sword with a warped blade that snaked side to side tapering into a straight tip.
Screeeeecccchhh
As the remnant stomped its way around the table toward me I couldn’t help but wince at the awful sound of the metal grating against the stone beneath our feet, it wasn’t fully able to carry the weapon in its state- but I didn’t doubt that wouldn’t stop it from bisecting me.
The room was covered in all manner of gore and decrepit remains of whatever else had managed to end up in this place like I had before, but I refused to end up like them.
Taking a deep breath I found some confidence buried deep in my heart and took up the initiative to attack first, rushing forward I raised the broken half-sword in front of me with both hands I managed to move fast enough to strike it in the skull sending it teetering to one side-
“-Ahh!” I yelled out in fright as I tried to back off and failed to avoid the sudden and swift attack of the undead.
Cold bit through my knee sending me to the ground with a cry of pain as blood sprayed from my gaping amputation, I tried to scramble up onto my feet only to blink in confusion when my world when white for a moment and then swung around and my face bounced off the stone looking back up at the boot of the warrior. Crimson stained the armour and bones, a limb body dressed in destroyed linen clothing lay limp and my vision faded black.
The realisation that I’d been decapitated so easily setting in only after I awoke some time later in the hall before the door to the dining room.
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Staring down at my hands for a moment the muscles in my body violently twitched bulging for a moment before I found it in myself to stand again, my memory was a haze as the only thing I remembered was that I needed to fight the knight beyond the door.
Flexing my fingers and limbs I stretched and looked around, finding myself alone and trying to ignore a vile frigidness that gripped my heart for a moment before dissipating as I thought about whether or not it was a good idea to even challenge the thing again. Thoughts of how I’d ended up outside, how I still had the sword, my leg and my head notwithstanding as I sighed and pushed the door to the dining hall open again.
The remnant stood on the opposite side of the hall again and shambled toward me at that same slow pace.
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“Uuuurrrraaaahhh!!” I sprinted across the stone tiles and held the sword in both hands again, griping it till my knuckles were white as I smashed the pommel into the wrist of the skeleton in an attempt to make it drop the sword.
With a little extra effort I brought my leg around to kick its un-armoured decaying flesh.
Despite my best the skeleton remained unaffected by the attack and I forced myself back trying this time to avoid getting decapitated the same way, or preferably at all.
“Cunt!” I spat as the rippled edge of the two handed sword grazed my right elbow as I retreated.
When I looked at the wound it wasn’t a graze but a channel carved into my flesh that allowed me to see the bloodied white bone of my joint.
Flaring with searing pain the wound didn’t stop me from lashing out and getting a really good strike on the remnants leg sending it to one knee, but when I tried to capitalise on it and behead it as had happened to me my wrist was snatched out of the air by its fast response and I was thrown back with monstrous strength sending my into the table.
“Achk!” Blood spittle flew from my lips as I felt something crack in my chest.
KaCHunk!
I thanked whatever god would hear my prayer as I narrowly avoided the greatsword splitting me down the middle as it got stuck in the table.
“GrrrraaaaahhhH!” I let out a shout as I brought the broken sword down on the skeleton in its moment of weakness.
Crack and Crunching filled the air of the hall as I shattered half its skull and managed to damage its collar in the gap of the cuirass. I quickly dodged backwards away from it before it lashed out at me or grabbed my shirt to hold me down.
With the distance between us I felt a spark of confidence again, this time because the monster looked like it wouldn't last much longer.
Wrenching its sword from the table it kicked the furniture out of the way and marched toward me swinging wildly before it stumbled over a shattered chair I kicked in front of it in time.
As the skeleton stumbled I rushed in as fast as I could and lobbed its head off with an over extended swing that sent the skull bouncing away and skidding across the ground as the rest of its body followed suit and clattered to the ground.
Thump thump thump
My heart raced.
…
A minute passed and then another.
“Y-yea! Yes! I did it!” A joyous scream leapt from my chest as I damn near jumped in my excitement at overcoming the terrifying monster.
I barely had a chance to notice my sword was glowing dimly in the dark as my attention was focused on the remains of the skeleton, bones and flesh melting into good the armour remained and the sword turned to dust all that was left was the tattered black tunic, trousers and iron plate armour in need of a new owner.
As if to remind me what I had succumb in the fight however my eyes flickered and I hacked up a raging fit of bloody coughs as I toppled backward slamming my skull on the table as I did so.
Death claiming me for the Third Time.