The cave troll, or so I assumed since Marie had screamed those words out, was a tall and blunky creature. It must've been nearly two feet taller than myself with a large body covered in moss, dirt and rocks. Not just covered but it was as if the troll was made up entirely of these elements. As if the cave itself gave birth to the creature.

For a moment there was silence as if the cave troll was just as surprised to see us, but within seconds it let out a gravely roar before lifting a club made of stone. There was no time nor room to dodge the attack or think of a strategy beyond simply blocking the attack. The speed in which the cave troll swung was incredible but luckily I reacted quickly enough. Using my mana to reinforce my arm the club landed onto it with a loud thud.

Wew, it worked! I was worried my skeletal arm would end up crushed beneath the weight of the club but somehow I managed to stop the act. The cave troll was again just as surprised as we were but quickly launched another attack. This time I had more of a chance to react. I grabbed Marie's hand and pulled her close to me while keeping low to avoid the horizontal swipe of the club. I was worried Marie would resist in shock but she was fast in adapting to the situation.

As we managed to brush past the troll Marie pointed down the right side of the path.

"The entrance is that way!"

So we ran. And ran as fast as we could. But the cave troll was running right behind us. I turned to gauge the current distance hoping we were making progress but the cave troll was much swifter than his size would imply.

"Could it be using mana to reinforce its legs, to go faster?"

Was a monster more similar to a wild animal even capable of using magic? It could very well be that cave trolls are just naturally faster than humans. And well, undead too.

I had to shake these thoughts out of my head. It was far more important to focus on what to do about his speed. Though I could see the light of the entrance approaching I didn't believe we would make it before the cave troll caught up, and truth be told I didn't think either of us could win with a straight on confrontation.

"I need to somehow stop it... Or maybe separate it from us...!"

That's it! The thing that seperated Marie from her party could be the very thing to separate us from the troll. I wasn't sure if a mana enforced punch to the ceiling could bring about enough debris to block the path but dammit it was our only hope!

Without a moment's hesitation I stopped myself in my tracks, attempted to push as much mana as I could into my arm and then slammed my boney fist into the ceiling.

The sound that rang through the cave was so intense, like a crack of thunder. Before any rocks even fell the cave troll stopped and seemed to recoil in fear at the sound. And then the rocks began falling. So much of the ceiling had been destroyed that I had to run as fast as possible to avoid being buried in the cave-in myself.

Eventually we found ourselves bathed in the deep red of the setting sun surrounded by a sparse sea of trees. Marie collapsed onto the forest floor letting out a long and deep sigh. It's likely she had never ran that much before. I sure as hell never have, yet I felt not exhaustion at all. This undead body really did have its benefits.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

I examined the forest setting around us but noticed something strange. Her party wasn't here. I could see what appeared to be a bag sitting by a tree but nothing else. Could that be at the village Marie mentioned? Or could it be... they're still in the cave?! Oi, could I have trapped them in there?

Marie had finally managed to get herself back up, still breathing heavily I could see tears streaming down her face. "T-They really left me to die huh..."

In her current state I didn't even want to mention the possibility that WE just left them to die. I looked away from her feeling slightly guilty when I noticed something. Some sort of red marking on the tree by the bag. Probably a way to keep track of where they are in the forest. I assume if we follow the red markings we'll make it there and who knows her party could be waiting for her. They probably dropped the bag by accident on their way back.

"Marie, they're probably at the village gathering up people to help find you. Let's just follow the red markings back to the village and you'll see them again."

"R-Red markings...? We carved X's into the tree."

I think if I still had a human body I would've felt a chill run through my not-exposed spine. "Marie, stay right there for a bit." I walked over to the tree hoping to not see what I was expecting to see. Past the tree was a small grove and in the grove I could see at least four bodies lying motionlessly in the grass.

"...!"

I could hear a gasp from behind, turning around revealed Marie's face which grew pale as fear gripped her eyes wide open. I wanted to comfort the poor girl but would I be able to provide much comfort without a warm fleshy body? I simply ladi my hand on her shoulder as I offered my condolences.

"I'm so sorry about your friends Marie..."

"Well, truth be told they weren't my friends... They were always teasing me. Calling me names because I enjoyed reading more than working in the village. They only asked me to join their party because I would make a good back up 'light.' But... But still they were humans with friends and families..."

Her monotone voice leaked out as the shock was still clearly written on her face. Using my hand on her shoulder I motioned her away from the bloody sight. Even if the corpses no longer seemed to affect me it was clearly far too much for her. We needed to get back to her village so someone could come back for the bodies to give them a proper burial.

"It's strange though..."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"These four had gone monster hunting before. I'm pretty sure they've dealt with cave trolls before..."

I kept silent. She was clearly grieving and trying her best to rationalize the situation and it wasn't really my place to tell her something insensitive as "Sometimes, bad luck strikes." Which was most likely the cause of this whole scenario.

"One troll shouldn't have been an issue for them so..."

As Marie's mutterings stopped suddenly her eyes widened with fear once again. Without saying a word she began running. I soon ran right after her.

"Marie!"

"If there was more than one cave troll then it was a family which means... they would want to retaliate against us for entering their territory! That means...!"

That means... Oi! That means their village may be in danger!

And with that no words needed to be exchanged. We both knew something had to be done and we were both determined to do it. We ran through the darkened forest as the sun faded from the sky.