The hungry horde of skeletons, and zombies continued charging into battle. Many waves of enemies already lay cut down in pieces easily dealt with by the knights. Emperor Edward the cannibal no longer had his signature crystal cutting hook. Matter of fact he did not have any weapons on hand to defend himself.

A frozen terror dropped from a ledge on the temple above. The party ran for cover as a dead on a collision course towards them did a belly flop. The fall temporarily stunned the heavily mutated zombie with hardened cyst sacs bloating out of its cult leader uniform. The skin draped loosely, and its head was nothing but solid crystal.

Edward beat the corpse that barely moved and more tried stabbing, but it barely registered the damage. This creature was completely armored with mutated scales from over exposure. The special zombie was rising, but it was very slow due to being so huge. They backed away as more knights aimed at the creature. A firing line started blasting, and smoke filled the area. The bullets did nothing.

“Cleave off his head off Bronco,” egged on the most rusted knight among them Scrappy.

“I gotcha,” said Bronco, readying his great sword.

“AAHHHRG” he screamed, charging the dead.

“Clunk!”

The sword remained lodged deep in the special zombie’s neck.

“Ooooof,”.

Bronco slipped, and toppled down the steps. He smashed his knee, and found himself empty handed separated from the group. The slow special zombie was distracted by another hail of bullets. It lumbered towards Edward with the weapon stuck in its throat. He jogged away from danger to the door of the temple's ice wall where remaining knights fell back forming a defensive perimeter.

“We will never kill that one, so we either have to tie it up somehow, or distract it while we get this temple unlocked,” yelled Scrappy.

“I've got cables with hooks in the van parked in the courtyard, and a battering ram,” said the owner of the vehicle.

“Good idea, I'll go fetch em, and Bronco,” said Scrappy.

"I forgot something so I'll help with this mission," said Edward.

“And we will keep that thing distracted,” said the van owner, reloading his blunderbuss with a femur bone.

Scrappy ran for the van, but a fresh wave of skeletons had swarmed blocking the path. Edward ran after him dodging the special zombie's lunging hands from a distance.

“Bang!”

The special armored zombie took a direct hit from the blunderbuss. It toppled over, but was slowly working to rise again.

Scrappy slashed at the dead that had surrounded him from every angle. A never ending stream of the dead was walking into the graveyard. Bronco had made it back to the van in one piece. Edward swung his hardened stump breaking six skeletons apart with a single swing. He worked a path to Bronco who fought a zombie with fisticuffs.

The three arrived at the vehicle at the same time. The zombies had climbed onto the van’s roof threatening them. The other knights blasted them away from a distance where they hid behind rocks holding the dead back for now. Bronco threw open the vans door, Scrappy climbed inside, while Edward checked out his reflection in a side view mirror.

“Thanks for having my back,” said Bronco, grabbing a sword thrown to him in mid air.

“Huh.. Oh yeah no problem” said Edward, slicking back his hair in admiration.

"Get what you need quickly sir," said Scrappy emerging with the ropes slung around a battering ram.

Edward grabbed his lost crown in the cupholder, and ran after the knights retreating up the steps. At the entrance to the temple the doors began to shake. The old oak wood groaned from the dead building behind it, as cracks formed. It splintered apart letting a fresh swarm of corpses stamped out. The van owner had turned his attention away to combat the new enemies. He took his eyes off the special armored zombie for too long. It had slowly sunk behind him before suddenly grabbing on, and slowly angled to bite into his juggler.

“AAAAA!” screamed the man.

The things that came from the temple grounds had various levels of crystal armor coating. The knights around were having their work cut out for them. One of the special zombies was knocked over revealing a weak spot in the back of his plated skull. It was exploited with a crystal cutting sword skewering the brains.

“Bang!”

Another armored corpse got blasted at close range by a boom-stick exploding the noggin. A third was momentarily stunned from biting, giving a knight the opportunity to backstab its weak area. The van driver had just enough time to reach his pocket before being grabbed onto by three more of them.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Clear away from the blast!” he yelled, unscrewing the lid to a crystal gas grenade.

“Boom!”

Everything in the courtyard was stunned by the shock-wave of a smallish explosion that ripped a hole through the wall. Another knight was caught too close in the crossfire, making two of them blow to pieces. It began to snow shards of bloodied ice.

“NOOO” said Bronco, dropping the rope they had worked so hard to get.

Edward’s stump was also bitten on by a zombie. He threw around its weight smacking the thing into a dozen different skeletons. They all exploded into the same cloud of bone dust. He spotted his men being routed inside the temple behind another armored enemy heading for him.

Inside the temple wall was a garden of ice. Only a trace of a shadow remained thanks to magma bonfires. A path had once been shoveled, but snow had fallen since.

“We need to get further inside the premises,” said Edward, double checking to make sure his crown was on this time.

“Yes sir,” said the knights.

They ran up the ice steps passing by crystalized statues, and funky smelling burning incense. An open entrance to the building greeted them beside a fire of magma.

“These cult members came here to worship the crystal, and got just what they sought after all” said Bronco.

The cult members groaned hungry for brains as they rushed behind them.

”Just like we are sent here to our death,” said Scrappy.

Scrappy and Bronco worked together with a third knight to shut the door to the temple shut behind them. The paws of the dead had forced themselves into cracks blocking it from shutting.

"Mooseman, get your sword out and start chopping," yelled Scrappy.

"Yes sir," said the husky knight, tossing his boomstick, and fumbling to take out his sword he almost fell over.

Another hand grabbed at Mooseman causing an accidental incoming lunge. The sword flipped upwards. It was on a path of grave danger as it came tumbling down. Edward broke a zombie's arm, swatted the weapon with his crystalizing stump, and picked it up with his good hand mid air.

"Check my blade," he taunted.

He grunting, working hard to chop away at the persistent meat with a dulled sword. One of the dead hands attacking had become fully severed. It fell to the floor rushing the shortest among them who was looking in the other direction.

"Noo Zito watch out!" yelled Scrappy .

He and the rest of them were forced to hold the door. Zito turned just as he was grabbed around the neck by a severed hand. It began to choke him out with an icy cold grip. Behind him the knights worked overtime putting all their weight until it slammed shut, and was bolted. They rushed to Zito who was hitting the severed hand with a rock. Bronco pulled off the hand, and threw it to the floor. Mooseman picked up his boomstick and blew the meat apart.

"The energy in this place is bad, I need a teleport out of here as soon as possible” said Bronco.

"No shit" said Zito, throwing rocks at a frozen trout stuck in the transparent wall.

“I hope this is the last staircase” huffed Scrappy, taking the lead.

The knights headed away, while their dear leader remained behind to look himself in the mirror. They had worked through room after room of nothing but stone walls, meditation mats, and tapestries dedicated to crystal worship. Finally they had reached a parlor decked with mirrors fit fit for a king, a fancy bar, stools, and balls all made of crystals. As well as a pool table lined with fine worsted wool. Edward eyed over his beard stubble, swollen eyes and messy hair. The growing unibrow hairs that were going to be a problem soon too.

“I can sense it alright, bad stuff is in the air tonight,” said Snaggy, popping a corked bottle.

Edward jumped, and spun around to the sound behind him. The long lost adviser who he had spent far more time with than his parents was looking his age. His glasses were busted, his pockets ripped apart, and his clothes filled with burn holes. One of his legs was missing a shoe, and one of his arms looked like it had been broken in a car crash.

“Wait a second Snaggy you look like shit.. Wait what are you doing here clown? And since when have you been into drinking schlock I thought you hated that stuff like my mother?” asked Edward, sitting alone at the bar.

"Maybe I'm getting you a glass too fool," said the jester, cartwheeling behind the bar.

A solitary shot glass had appeared out of thin air.

“For your information all you smell in here is the stale decay of a stuck up death cult dedicated to the crystals,” said Edward, sticking up his nose.

“If you say so he he, '' the fool giggled, his beady eyes glowing like lumps of crystals.

"I'll be out of here soon, maybe you're too foolish..Mad Huh?” Edward winked. “Well either way this is just a momentary pit-stop on my path to conquering everything out there including this awful place," said the Emperor.

"Maybe you will, maybe not who knows except the elementals," said the clown showing his fangs, while his makeup continued to melt just like the candles that surrounded them.

He had a mouth that was three rows deep of crystal cutting teeth, and a tongue that was spiked with barbs that looked like burdock only much deadlier.

“So Snaggy you being a fool, are the one I most suspect of having knowledge of a way out of the planet's core,” said Edward, climbing up the first of the stairs.

“A good guess, Yes I am well read about ancient religions, well there’s only one and it’s this way,” said Snaggy, pointing to the stairs.

“Ah so I was right, Good I’m glad I found you when I did,” said Edward.

Snaggy followed behind Edward rubbing his white jester gloves together. The knights were long gone somewhere else by now, but there was only one way forward. The steps shone, and the walls reflected a very crystallized, polished, and slippery nightmare into his eyes. Edward almost slipped, and fell onto a railing.

"Oh how I wish I had had my precious homicidal hook back so badly. It's going to be left behind when returning to the surface to kill my mothers killer who I know as the kidnapper, and have his address, but I miss its sweet voices, said Edward slowly walking on ice.

"Oh no, that's so sad. Well I'll be the one to guide you out of this sticky situation pal," said Snaggy.

“Thanks buddy you were always a real one,” said Edward, grinning at his newfound luck.