Making my way inside, the one skeletal gargoyle paces me hovering about twenty feet up and behind me. I don’t know if it’s me or if it’s because I’m being a straggler and not keeping up with the group.

Looking back over my shoulder, I can see and hear the swarms of skeletal gargoyles attacking those that ran. Most of the swarm followed them leaving those of us alone that turned to fight or at least stood our ground.

With a final glimpse before entering the Tomb, I can see the wilderness coming alive with all the skeletons converging on that area. Noting this skeletal gargoyle's eyes are starting to turn red I turn and step in.

This section of the Tomb opens up like a low-domed arena with the area being lit through crystals or slits high above in the ceiling of the dome.

I see his shield first and quickly move to stand next to my protector who has again positioned himself near the center of everyone.

The Raiders hush as a low vibration can be felt through the ground, drawing weapons and assuming guard positions.

“Prove that you have the endurance to enter and survive!”

After a moment I hear the first Crunch of bone under a boot. “Damn trash mobs!” Echoes off the dome ceiling. The crunch of bone under a boot or being smashed by a club begins intermittently, then increases in frequency like popcorn starting to pop.

“There’s a coin in its head!” I hear a woman scream with glee from somewhere as one of the little skeletal beasts gets close enough to us for it to be crushed and driven into the ground by a shield plant from my protector. “Leave it! It’s a distraction!” He says as he notices that I noticed a small gold coin on the ground.

The excitement among the Raiders is quickly growing. I watch out of the corner of my eye as I see more than a few Raiders stop to pick up some coins. I almost falter from the distraction. Fear helps me return my focus to what’s in front of me as more and more of these little skeletal critters are making their way into the Raiding group.

Boom… A small explosion goes off near one of the side walls. Angry shouts of “Hey!”, “Hold!”, “Moron!”, “Idiot!”, fill the dome along with the smoke from the event and the nauseous smell of what was burnt.

“Wa…” I yell out, losing my footing for a moment. The bones and loose coins littering the floor are causing me issues trying to move and evade. I change my tactics and defend my protector’s back, keeping my feet and my footing as stationary as I can so that I do not lose my footing.

Soon I am just swinging wildly, bashing things off of myself with my shield, just trying to stay standing and not be overwhelmed. They're not large or strong, I’m not sure if I’m even getting hurt at all. But there are just so many of them.

Crack...CK…CK… The arc of electricity jumps and makes its way across the floor. Even though it felt like a small Taser and stunned me for a second, no one complained as it gave us all a few moments of rest.

Breathing heavily and my arms beginning to burn, I’m still OK. This does seem to be a test of endurance. As long as I can keep moving they are easy enough to shrug off and smash. There is a small fortune of gold coins at my feet, buried among all the bones. I don’t even consider picking any of it up, as I don’t want to risk getting buried or overrun. I have no idea what some of them were in life, I’m just glad that their numbers are starting to dwindle.

Soon the dome goes quiet as the last of the little skeletal creatures are smashed and the vibration can be felt through the floor.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I’m starting to feel nauseous like I’m seasick and the room starting to spin.

“Enter and survive!”

I see the floor start to move sideways under my feet. “Brace yourself!” My protector grabbed me by my bicep, holding me steady. “Do not let yourself get buried!” Bones and gold coins are sliding faster and fast to the side. The floor is tilting, one side dropping down. “Stomp your feet! Stay on top! Climb!”

We start moving and sliding. I start running or climbing on all fours as I am able. I lose my shield and the weapon I was holding. My protector is unable to keep up and is slowly going down with the flow of the bones and gold coins. I try to help him, but he just pushes and shoves me forward with enough force that I am once again on top of the sliding mass.

I hear the crash of the bones and the clinking of the coins as they are going over the edge of the floor. The bodies of Raiders flow past me as the sliding mass starts to wane, the floor continuing to tilt. Watching one of the bodies slide past, my eyes lock with those of my proctor as he gives me that look that he isn’t going to make it this way. Throwing his arm and shield under himself, he rides the shield over the edge.

The floor continues to tilt. There are more than a dozen of us left. I see that some have anchored themselves to the tilting floor with spikes or daggers driven into the rock. Some are clinging somehow. A few are flying, looking about with nowhere to go.

As the tilt of the floor reaches 30 degrees there is nothing left for me to run on or cling to. I turn over, sit on my palms and lean back, trying not to slide. I can start to see the top of the pile of bones and gold coins piling up from below.

At 45 degrees I am just sitting on my hands and the floor continues to tilt. I see the look in the other Raiders’ eyes as they do not know what to do either. We are looking up and around as we can hear the flying skeletal gargoyles that are returning.

I see my path forward and make my decision. I push myself up and start running to the side as much as possible. Reaching one wall I push off of it and run back the other way, running for the top of the pile of bones and gold coins.

Jumping off the edge of this floor, I tried to run and make my way down the side of the mound. It doesn’t happen anything like that as I just sink to my chest like I was jumping into a child's ball pit.

“Ha!”

“Haha!”

“Idiot!”

The Raiders hanging and clinging to the tilting floor are laughing at me in the absurdity of the moment. But I can see under the floor now, and how the path continues. I pull, push, and swim my way out of the mound of bones and gold coins, sliding down to the next floor.

One of the Raiders that could fly was the first to come and investigate, alighting at my side as I was walking away from the mound. I could hear the others following. I’m not such an idiot now, am I?

This next floor is the same size and layout as the floor above, except for a tilted 45-degree ceiling. Some of the Raiders are searching the walls. Most are centered in the middle for what may come next. A few are starting to dig at the mound of bones and gold coins. I bend down, scoop up a couple of coins, and put them in my pocket.

Looking at everyone and trying to guess what might come next, it occurs to me that I really liked that shield that I don’t have anymore. I turn back to the mound and start to search for what I had lost.

Before I can even begin, other Raiders are already pulling out the bodies of their fallen comrades from the mound. I start checking the bodies, to see if any are breathing or just unconscious. “Heal.” I touch and pray over each one.

There were fifteen bodies that we pulled out and to the side. Two of them “revived” and were considered extremely lucky to have survived without any injury or being crushed under the weight of the gold and bones.

*****

The room is quiet for a time. We are able to rest and ready ourselves for the next round. Raiders take what gold they want from the mound. The bodies are, respectfully, looted. I don’t know a better way to say it.

There is a sort of auction and trading that then took place. Equipment that no one wanted is put to the side by the bodies. Found my shield. It wasn’t even considered for use by anyone there.

“Leave that.” My protector is gesturing to my recovered shield. “Take the other.” Pointing out someone else's discards. After looking me over, he tells me, “Just take whatever he’s wearing.” Pointing at the body of a crushed rogue severely weighted down by all the gold he was trying to carry. “Anything he has, you should be able to use.”

As he’s walking back to his spot in the center of the Raiders, I start quickly stripping the body after a “Heal”, to make sure it’s not going to be needed.

Another set of hands starts helping me strip the body. “Making out like a “Bandit” today, aren’t you?” I look up to see Jack grinning while his stalker woman is two paces behind him, making sure he doesn’t “do” anything.

“Most anything any Raider would have would be an upgrade to what you're wearing now,” Jack tells me as we work to get my gear changed over.

*****

There is something certainly going on with these leathers as I stretch and move a bit, to get myself comfortable moving in them. I feel like I’m not wearing any armor and I feel exposed.

The vibration can again be felt through the floor first, then be heard. We gather up in the center watching for what will happen.

The mound of bones and gold coins starts moving with animations of the smaller bones pulling themselves together. The little skeletal creatures start to form again and we stand ready, weapons drawn to fight them off again.

As each finishes forming, it picks up a gold coin in its teeth and scurries off, climbing up the wall and then onto the floor above. The process speeds up as more and more are reformed and scurry to the floor above.

The floor above can be heard and felt to grate as it starts to tilt back to level. A few of the Raiders had ducked their head as if to avoid an unseen blow, while a few of the others let out an “Oh” or “Ah” of understanding as the weight of the bones and gold coins tilted the floor back to level.

With the sound of the silence of the floor having finished moving back into place, blocks of stone around the perimeter and in the ceiling above start to glow and light the floor.

“Choose and Survive!”