“It's a lit cave, at least,” Frank said as he stepped into the entrance. “You won't need magical sight.”

“What are all those bones of?” Quinny said as she crept up beside him. “They don’t look humanoid.”

“Goats, or other small animals,” he said.

“Why are their no skulls?” Heather asked.

They looked around at the piles, and sure enough, not a skull could be seen.

“That is strange,” Frank said. He stepped over to a scattering of bones and looked over them. “I wonder if this done intentionally.”

“Intentionally for what?” Quinny asked.

Frank looked up at Heather and scratched at the top of his head. “You can't revive them if the skull is missing, can you?”

Heather shook her head. “I need the entire skeleton, and the bones can’t be broken.”

He squinted into the cave and let out a sigh. “I wish I was one level higher.”

“What good would that do?” Heather asked.

Frank looked back and smiled a gruesome toothy grin. “I can summon a minor ghoul as a companion in one level. If he or I kill a player, we can bury the body to feed the graveyard or summon another lesser ghoul.”

“That sounds scary,” Grettah said. “You could raise an army of ghouls.”

Frank shook his head. “I can only have four maximum, and only the one I summon can leave the graveyard.”

“So it’s kind of like my bone knight,” Heather said.

“Yours is probably more powerful, and I bet you can upgrade it. I can’t upgrade mine at all.”

A low rumble came out of the cave, causing them to look in with trepidation.

Heather realized it was foolish to be frightened. She couldn't really be killed only respawned. In fact, only Grettah had anything to lose. Heather turned to her and chewed a lip.

“You don't have to go in there if you don't want to. I don't want you to be reset.”

“It’s only one level,” Grettah said. “I came with you this far. I will go the rest of the way.”

“Why can’t you stone her?” Quinny asked.

“Were not at the graveyard,” Heather said.

“What does that matter?” Quinny asked.

“The stones have to be buried in a graveyard,” Frank said.

Quinny looked around at the piles of bones. “And this isn’t a graveyard?”

Heather raised an eyebrow as she looked at Frank.

“Do you think it would work?” she asked.

Frank shrugged. “It all depends on what the visitors think. This might be considered a graveyard.”

“It won’t hurt to try,” Quinny said.

“What are we trying?” Grettah asked.

Heather looked up at her and smiled. “I can cast a spell that allows you to respawn.”

“You can?” Grettah said, shocked.

Heather nodded. “I need a flat stone and some of your blood. I write your name on it and speak a few magical words. Then it has to buried in a graveyard. When you die, you return at the stone.”

Grettah's ears twitched, and she worked her mouth silently. “So, how do you get the blood?”

“You cut yourself,” Quinny said.

Grettah recoiled slightly and shook her head. “I can’t cut myself.”

“Why not?” Quinny pressed.

“Because it will hurt,” she said.

“It can be a tiny cut, she only needs a few drops,” Frank said to settle her.

Grettah nodded slowly but didn’t at all look pleased.

They searched the area for rock but found it difficult to find anything useful. There were plenty of rocks, but most of them were odd jagged shapes or rough surfaces. Quinny finally found a rock that was split so that one face was a smooth plate.

Grettah was so unnerved about cutting herself that she had to hold a hand out while Frank pricked a finger. A moment later, Heather completed the spell and buried the stone right outside the cave in some shallow soil.

“Are we ready now?” Quinny asked.

“As ready as we will ever be,” Frank said as he led the way. “Leave the basket here. We can pick it up on the way back out.”

They hid the basket and gathered at the cave entrance to begin hunting for their prize.

The cave felt empty as they made their way in. The walls were rounded, and the floor relatively level. In places, there were strange blue mushrooms that grew on long stems. Further in they found more bones strewn about the cave floor strangely without any skulls.

Frank walked ahead with Quinny slightly to his left. Heather walked about five feet behind with Grettah directly behind her.

“I thought this cave had the meezels?” Quinny joked as they stopped at a split in the tunnel.

“So, which way?” Heather asked.

The left tunnel went up slightly and looked as if it branched again another fifty feet down. The right tunnel went on as before but slowly bent to the right. It appeared to be brighter just around the bend out of sight.

Frank looked down both tunnel and scratched at his head.

“Which one would a lion live down?” he asked.

“The left one,” Grettah said.

“Why do you think that?” Heather asked as she examined the left tunnel.

“A lion is a cat, and they like to climb. It would go down the higher tunnel.”

“That’s as good a guess as any,” Quinny said.

“Left it is,” Frank agreed as he turned to go down the tunnel.

The others quickly followed, and soon they were at the next split.

“Keep going up?” he asked.

“It’s as good a choice as any,” Heather said. “Unless anybody has a better reason to go the other way?”

Nobody spoke up, so Frank took the lead, taking them down a tunnel that had an abundance of mushrooms on one wall.

“I wonder if these are edible,” Heather said.

“Eat one,” Frank suggested.

“And what if they are poisonous?” Heather asked.

“You will respawn in your tower.”

“Thanks a lot,” Heather scolded.

“Shh, I think I hear something,” he said as they rounded a bend.

Heather huffed and thought about dousing him with her perfume. She kept quiet though and strained to listen. All she could hear was the sound of them walking and the occasional drip of water or tumble of a stone.

“I don’t hear anything,” she said as they moved along.

“It was a strange clicking sound,” he said.

“It could have been a rock falling,” she whispered.

“No, it sounded too much like a pattern,” he replied.

Heather strained to listen again and finally heard it. A rapid series of clicks that seemed to echo faintly.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I heard it that time,” Heather said.

“I did too,” Quinny replied.

“What do you think it is?” Heather asked as she lifted her scythe to be ready.

“It almost sounds like a rattle,” Quinny said.

They crept around the corner and stared into a large rectangular chamber. A pool of stagnant water ran along the back wall. On the floor of the chamber were piles of small stones that seemed unnaturally arranged. Along the back corner of the room was another pile of bones, but these were carefully stacked. They were arranged to form a sort of table or alter. Laying on top looked to be the remains of dozens of backpacks and some small weapons.

“Something is off about this room,” Frank said.

Heather followed them in and looked around. There was a strange smell in the air, and the ground looked filthy in places as if something had been spilled on it repeatedly. They heard the clicking again this time much louder, but as they looked around, nothing had changed.

“I don't see any way out of this room, but the way we came in,” Quinny said.

“Why are we even coming in here?” Heather asked.

“What we're looking for was in a backpack,” Frank reminded her. “I want to make sure it's not on that bone pile with the shredded packs.”

“What would have stacked these bones like this?” Grettah asked.

“A lion sure wouldn’t have,” Frank replied. “It must have been the meezels.”

“What meezels?” Quinny replied. “These caves are empty.”

“Something lives here,” Heather said as they got closer to the altar of stacked bones.

Frank looked over the scraps and weapons on the alter as the others looked around.

“This is the contents of a dozen players backpacks,” he said. “Most of it looks to be from the goatrah. They must have tried to get the backpack back themselves.”

“And failed horribly,” Grettah added.

“Where are the bodies? These bones here are too big to be from those little things,” Heather pointed out.

Frank looked around the room again and scratched at his head. “Maybe the bodies have poofed,” he replied.

“But the contents of the backpacks are still here,” Heather argued.

Frank glanced back to the altar of bones and considered it. “This must be in the lair of something that can keep them from despawning,” he said.

“The lair of what?” Heather remarked. “There is nothing here.” She accentuated her point by throwing her arms wide to take in the room.

The clicking noise returned seeming to echo off the walls causing them to look around.

“Do you see it?” Frank asked.

Quinny shook her head as she stepped out into the room. “I don’t see anything.”

She walked into the room, trying to find the source of the clicking. It continued to echo off the walls making it hard to locate.

“There!” Quinny said, pointing to a corner by the water.

They all turned to see a pile of stones shifting. It moved awkwardly and then settled down, ending the clicking.

“It’s the pile of rocks?” Heather said as she looked around the room as the two dozen piles between them and the exit.

Quinny turned, stepping away from the piles all around her.

“Get back to the tunnel,” Frank said. “Go quickly and quietly.”

Heather gripped her scythe with white knuckles and tiptoed out into the open area of the caves.

“Hurry,” Quinny whispered, urging them forward as she led the way.

Heather looked around at the piles of stones. Her heart started to beat fast as the threat of the unknown lay motionless beside her. She was almost halfway to the tunnel exit when Frank jerked her back.

A screech filled the air as the pile of stones she was once walking passed suddenly reared up. Two long spindly arms that ended in hook fingers reached for the spot she once occupied. The body was humanoid with bird-like feet. Its head was strangely triangular with two large egg-like eyes of dull white and a bird's beak. It stood just over three feet tall with a skin that resembled pebbles and stones. Around them, piles began to move as the whole chamber came alive with screeches.

“Run to the tunnel!” Frank cried as he intentionally stepped on the one in their path. Heather and Grettah ran as fast as they could as the little beasts sprang at them from all around.

Heather swiped at one with her scythe, but the monster was too agile and darted out of the way. Grettah impaled one with her spear and drove it into the ground while Frank battered and slashed the monsters away. Quinny was closest to the exit and was fighting three of them to get clear.

“Well, we know what a meezel is now,” Heather panted as she swiped at a screeching beast.

“Get to the tunnel, you can grave blight the entrance and force them to run through it to reach us,” Frank replied as he tore a meezel from his back.

Heather swung wildly to keep a bunch of them at bay as they hopped and flailed around her. Frank and Grettah were directly behind her forming a pocket of defense as they worked their way out.

“Hurry,” Quinny shouted from the tunnel exit where she was trying to hold some at bay.

Heather reached out a hand and spoke the words of command. “Thulis imbli!” she shouted.

Skeletal arms burst from the ground and grasped at a dozen of the creatures. They wailed and screeched, biting at the limbs as they were suddenly clutched and held fast.

“That’s a handy spell,” Grettah said as she battered away another little monster.

“Because it’s all hands,” Frank joked.

“Ha, ha!” Heather replied as she swung her scythe again wildly. “Just get us out of here!”

They fought through to Quinny and were able to form a line. Quickly they retreated down the tunnel as a dozen of the beasts followed.

“Once they are in the narrow part, block it with your spell,” Frank urged.

Heather understood and fell back a little to prepare as the three dragged the beasts out. Quinny took a cut to her side while Grettah had three on her legs. Frank had some scratches on his back and a bite on his shoulder. The stone skin creatures leaped at them with hook claws as they fell back.

Heather saw her chance as they backed up into the narrow part of the tunnel. She fell into her spell and placed her grave blight just as the group backed out of the area. The familiar yellow mist filled the space floating just above the floor.

“Keep them inside the spell!” Frank yelled. “Don’t let them come out!”

Frank and Quinny stood inside the circle while Grettah tried to fight them back from outside of it. Heather quickly put her slow healing on Grettah and used her rotting bolt to fire into the ring of wailing creatures.

“Are we winning?” Quinny asked as the numbers of angry monsters hadn’t appeared to reduce.

Frank tore one of them apart and stomped a second one.

“They have to run out eventually,” he said.

“Will it be before we run out?” Heather yelled from behind them.

“Just keep them in the ring, it’s wearing them all down.”

Heather shook her head and did her best. She used her grasping hands again to root a bunch of them in place inside the ring.

“Nice!” Quinny laughed as she slashed a gibbering beast.

Suddenly one of the beasts groaned and fell over, followed rapidly by another.

“They are starting to die from it!” Frank yelled as he tore another one open with his claws.

In moments half of the little creatures started to stagger and fall. A few moments later, the rest of them fell, littering the tunnel with stony bodies.

“You did it!” Quinny laughed.

“You kept them off of me,” Heather said. “And you kept them in the ring.”

“We did it,” Frank added.

“We must have killed thirty of them. I might level,” Grettah said.

“I might level too,” Quinny said with a smile.

Heather quickly healed them both and took a step back, feeling drained.

“What do we do now?” Quinny asked.

“Nothing of interest was on that table,” Frank said. “What we're looking for must be someplace else in the caves. We need to look down the other tunnels.”

“What if there are more of these things in here?” Quinny asked.

“They won't be able to ambush us again. We know what they look like now,” he replied.

“I hope not,” Heather said as she leaned over to catch her breath. “I feel spent.”

“Check your panel,” Frank suggested.

Heather nodded and brought up her panel. She noticed the blue bar of her power was very low, and the number was now in red.

“You won't be able to cast many more spells,” Frank said as he looked over her shoulder. “Save your power for healing and let us carry the fight.”

“This is just like a real MMO,” Quinny laughed. “Only it’s a party of monsters fighting monsters.”

“I’m not a monster,” Grettah said.

“You’re furry,” Quinny teased.

“So are a lot of player races,” Grettah pointed out.

“Let’s keep looking,” Frank suggested.

Heather nodded and fell in line with the others as Frank backtracked and took them down the other tunnel. This one entered a lower chamber and went down some steps to a cave that was long and narrow. This had an exit at each end and disturbingly a pile of bones.

“There could be more of them in here,” Franks said.

“I don’t see any piles of stones,” Heather pointed out.

Frank stepped into the room slowly with Quinny at his side. They made their way to one of the narrow ends and looked down the tunnel. Here they found prints of a large clawed foot made in blood.

“Is that a lion print?” Heather asked.

“I don't know,” Frank replied. “I only ever saw lions in games and movies. I never tried to track one before.”

“It looks like a cat print,” Grettah said.

“The blood is dry,” Quinny added. “This must be the tunnel into its lair.”

Frank took the lead and led them down a sloped passage that ended on a ledge in a large chamber. From here, they could see a vast room with columns of stone from floor to ceiling and a pool of water in the corner. A ray of light came down from a hole in the ceiling and illuminated a pile of bones.

“Those are all skulls,” Heather said.

“Now we know where they all went,” Frank replied.

“What kind of lion collects skulls?” Heather whispered as her heart started to race again.

“An invisible one,” Frank said as he stood on his toes and looked around the room.

“Why is everything in this cave hard to spot?” Heather asked.

“This space is huge. It could be anywhere,” Frank replied. “We can't even see the top of the skull pile. It could up there watching us right now.”

Heather held her scythe firmly in both hands to be ready to swing in a moment's notice. Frank picked his way down from the ledge and found more bloody prints. They took their formation and started across the cave floor, heading for the skull pile.

“We don't even know what we're looking for,” Quinny said.

“They said it would be in a backpack,” Heather replied.

“The backpacks could be torn to shreds like those other ones,” Quinny suggested.

Heather realized that was true, but whatever they were looking for would likely still be here someplace. As they neared the skull pile, it's full size became apparent as it towered over them.

“That’s a lot of skulls,” Quinny said. “We should bring some home.”

“Most of them are human or goatrah,” Frank said.

Heather studied the pile to see many of the skulls were smaller and had the curled horns. She stepped over some loose ones to see deep gouges on the surface. Her mind tried to work out why they would even be here. Surely many of these were very old and should have vanished by now. As they rounded the back of the skull mountain, they found a ramp of stacked skulls that climbed up the back.

“It made a ramp?” Quinny asked.

“Whatever this is must be intelligent,” Frank said.

Heather looked around them into the shadows again. The walls were far enough away and covered with rocks or stalagmites. Anything could be hiding in those shadows watching them, and whatever it was, it was smart enough to build a mound of skulls with a ramp in the back.

Frank stepped on to the ramp creating a crunching noise as he ascended the ramp. Quinny followed him as they were forced to walk in single file. Around them, the sound of crunching bones echoed faintly off walls, and Heather found herself scanning every shadow for movement. As they finally crested the top, they found a collection of freshly dead Gotrah laying in a pile. Scattered about were backpacks and equipment.

“How old is this?” Heather asked.

“Hours,” Frank said.

“That sheriff made it sound like this happened days ago.”

Frank nodded as he shuffled over to pick through a backpack. The spread out and began to hunt through the remains until Quinny fond a strange black metal cylinder.

“Is this it?” she asked, holding it up.

Heather and the others came over to look at it as she handed it over. It was metal for sure, but was polished perfectly smooth and had two small indentations on one end and a single raised copper tip on the other.

“What is it?” Heather asked.

“I have no clue,” Frank said. “It’s heavy too.”

“That has to be it,” Heather said. “Let’s take it and get out of here.”

Frank nodded and turned to lead them down when a growl echoed off the walls of the chamber.

Slowly Heather turned to look over the side of the mound to see glowing eyes in the darkness of the very ledge they entered the room from. As the beast stalked in, Heather went pale and clutched at her scythe.

“That’s not a lion,” she stammered.