The dungeon hall echoed with the sounds of the skeleton lord standing up. His armor clattering against dry bones. Its sword scraping on the flagstone floor. A pendant around its neck glinting, a sun symbol giving its own light.
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> Name: Skeleton Lord
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> Status: Hostile
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> Attack: Broadsword Slash
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> Threat level: Dangerous
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“Can you see a way out?” Max said, quietly taking a step back. He looked up at the skeleton lord, eight feet tall at least. A strange blue glow in the empty eye sockets. It looked down at Max.
Anita pointed behind the throne. A dark shadow there, or maybe a passageway. “That could be a way out.”
Max looked around. The pillars around the edges of the hall did not look as if they hid any doorways or tunnels out of this hall.
The skeleton lord stepped into the middle of the hall. Max and Anita retreated further.
“Maybe we can go back to the whurm tunnel, dig past that pile of rubble blocking the way,” Max said.
Anita shook her head and pointed behind the throne. “That is the way out,” she said. “What’s the matter, Max, have you never fought a skeleton lord before?”
“Well, no, actually,” Max said. He loaded his catapult. “Are they difficult to defeat?”
“Very,” Anita said. “Stay away from its broadsword. They deal heavy damage almost every time.”
“Really,” Max said. “It hardly looks dangerous at all.”
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> Skeleton Lord attacks Max.
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The skeleton lord stepped forward, its bony feet clattering on the flagstones. It swung its broadsword in a wide arc towards Max. The swing was fast; Max stepped back but the tip caught him in the side.
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> Max takes heavy damage.
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Max was knocked off his feet by the blow. The sword carried on through its arc. The skeleton lord lifted it over its head, the long broadsword almost touching the high ceiling of the hall. The skeleton lord brought the sword down. Max rolled away and to the side of the hall and hid behind a pillar as the sword clattered into the hall’s flagstone floor.
Anita was moving towards the far side of the hall from Max, shooting sling bullets at the skeleton as she went. The bullets bouncing off its exposed bones, each one with a heavy crack that Max felt sure must shatter the bones.
From his cover behind the pillar, Max loaded a superior bullet and drew the golden roc sinew back as far as he could, straining with the effort, the forearm brace pressing into his arm. He pointed the catapult forward in front of him and then stepped out from behind the pillar, bringing the catapult around to aim at the skeleton lord.
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> Max attacks Skeleton Lord.
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> Skeleton Lord takes minor damage.
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The bullet bounced off the skeleton’s helmet. Max ducked back into the cover of the pillar and loaded another superior bullet. He stepped around the pillar with catapult ready once again.
The skeleton lord swung its sword at Max, but it clattered into the pillar with a shower of grit and sparks. Max lost his aim and shot the bullet wild.
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> Max attacks Skeleton Lord.
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> Skeleton Lord takes no damage.
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The bullet bounced harmlessly off the skeleton’s shoulder plate. Max stepped back into cover. He reached into his bullet pouch for another superior bullet. He could feel he was running low. He still had a few normal bullets, but they weren’t going to do any damage to this skeleton.
He loaded a bullet. A huge bone hand came around the pillar. It scraped Max out of cover, dragging him to the space between two pillars. Then the huge skeleton hand grabbed Max by the arm and pulled him out completely, flinging him to the center of the hall.
Max used the force of the throw to move as far from the skeleton as possible. He rolled up onto his feet and into a run, heading for the far side of the hall. He heard the sword swish through the air behind him. Only the expression on Anita’s face told him how close that swinging blade had come.
Max dived for cover on the other side of the hall and hid behind a pillar. He glanced out to see where the skeleton lord was. It was attacking Anita. She’d shot it with a bullet from her sling, and it had caught the monster’s attention. The skeleton swung its broadsword at her. The full blade caught her in her gut and sent her flying across the hall. She ended up against the wall between two pillars. She looked down for the count, sitting back against the wall and her head lolling to one side, a nasty bruise across her firm tummy. The skeleton lord took a step towards her, drawing back its sword, ready to stab it into her and skewer her against the wall.
Max ran to the skeleton and grabbed hold of its sword hand, pulling back and trying to prevent it from stabbing his friend.
“Get up, Anita,” Max shouted.
Anita shifted her head, moving slightly. She slumped to the ground, slipping sideways along the wall.
Max pulled at the blade in the huge skeleton hand. The skeleton lord turned its head and fixed Max with that strange blue glow hovering in the empty eye sockets. The skeleton grabbed hold of Max and pulled him away, tossing him towards Anita as easily as if he’d been a small rag doll.
Max landed on top of his friend. He jumped to his feet and pulled her behind a pillar, sitting her up with her back to the pillar, hidden from the skeleton in the center of the hall. Max ran from that pillar to the next and fired off a wild catapult shot at the skeleton lord.
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> Max attacks Skeleton Lord.
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> Skeleton Lord takes minor damage.
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Max reloaded and moved again. Another bullet pinged off the skeleton as he ran from one pillar to the next.
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> Max attacks Skeleton Lord.
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> Skeleton Lord takes minor damage.
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Max shouted as he went, drawing the skeleton lord after him to give Anita a chance to regain her senses.
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> Max attacks Skeleton Lord.
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> Skeleton Lord takes minor damage.
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Max ran from one pillar to the next, shooting bullets from his catapult with every move. The skeleton was focused on him, and when Max moved into the next space between pillars, the skeleton struck.
The sword jabbed forward. Max skidded underneath the blade as it hammered into the wall. He jumped back up onto his feet behind the next pillar and reloaded.
Max knew he had the Stamina to keep this going all day, but one glance at the skeleton lord’s stats showed him that even after a number of minor hits of damage, the skeleton still had an almost completely full Health bar.
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> Skeleton Lord lightly injured.
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Max glanced out and saw the skeleton lord turning its attention back on Anita. She was staggering to her feet. She cast Root Tangle. The joints between the flagstones erupted with thrashing roots that wound up around the skeleton’s ankles. It reached down and pulled some roots away, pulling them out of the ground and tossing them aside. Some roots caught its hand and held it there, half bent over. It cut at the roots with its sword, but the roots kept climbing its legs. It pulled a leg free, yanking it out of the tangle, but when it planted its foot back down, more roots caught hold of it.
The skeleton stamped on the spot, tugging one foot free before stepping back into a fresh tangle and trying to pull the other foot free. The Root Tangle spell was holding it in the spot in the center of the hall.
Max ran around the edge of the hall, keeping behind the pillars. He reached Anita and wrapped her arm over his shoulder. She hobbled along with Max, taking a small bag from her pouch. She smeared some brown herb paste on her sword wound and instantly moved more easily.
“That Root Tangle won’t hold it for long. It’s a powerful enemy,” Max said.
Anita and Max ran around the edge of the hall behind the pillars. The skeleton swung its sword at them, but they were out of range. They ran to the end of the hall and around the back of the throne. A short corridor ran a few yards to a high stone door.
Max and Anita charged into the door, shoulder barging it to fling it open. The door didn’t move.
“Ever get that feeling like you’ve hit the wall?” Max said.
Anita looked at him, a little bemused, then she looked back to the door. Her hands ran over the carvings in the stone. At the join between the two tall doors was a circular recess. Curved lines radiating outwards.
“It looks like a sun,” Max said.
Anita looked back the way they had come, back to the dungeon hall.
“It’s a keyhole,” she said. “And that skeleton lord must have the key.”
“The pendant,” Max said. “We need it. Looks like we’ll have to defeat that thing.”
They spoke fast as they walked back to the hall. The sounds of the skeleton tearing at the Root Tangle spell filling their ears.
“Any suggestions how to do that?” Anita said. She loaded her sling.
Max loaded his catapult. He reached the back of the throne. “Keep hitting it with bullets. As long as it’s fixed in place, we can bring it down.”
Anita nodded. Max nodded. They stepped out from around the throne and faced the skeleton.
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> Max attacks Skeleton Lord.
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> Skeleton Lord takes minor damage.
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Max knew he couldn’t get close enough to use his shortsword, and although Anita’s spear was much longer, it was still much shorter than the long broadsword the skeleton lord wielded. Neither of them could risk getting too close to the creature.
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> Max attacks Skeleton Lord.
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> Skeleton Lord takes minor damage.
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The skeleton lord pulled a foot free of the tangle, and when it came back down, the roots failed to grab hold of it again. They shrank away, the spell fading. It shredded the last of the roots and started towards Anita.
Max reached into his Satchel. He had one spell that might be of use. He knew if he used it now, the scroll would crumble, and he wouldn’t be able to add it to his Mage Book. But what use was a Mage Book full of spells if his journey ended here at the hands of the giant skeleton lord?
Max unrolled the scroll and began to read.
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> Max casts Web.
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Max held the scroll before him. He spoke the incantation. The symbols on the scroll glowed as he spoke. The scroll crumbled in his hands, and a white ball made of strands of light appeared there. He drew both his hands back to his chest and then thrust them towards the skeleton lord.
The skeleton lord towered over Anita. She was standing between two pillars, her sling twirling. She spotted the Web spell heading towards her and dashed out of the way. The skeleton turned and faced Max just as the Web spell struck. It hit the skeleton lord in the chest and erupted, like a ball of rubber bands suddenly cut, unraveling and untwisting, reaching out chaotically.
The white strands of light became thick, sticky strands of web. It spread out to the pillars on either side of the skeleton and held it there. The skeleton was held firm; the only movement was the fierce blue lights in the empty sockets darting this way and that.
“Shoot it,” Max said and loaded a bullet.
Max shot one bullet after another, dealing minor damage after minor damage. Anita cast magic bullet and managed a hit of moderate damage. The skeleton remained trapped, held fast in the web, suspended between pillars. The light in the eye sockets pulsated, dimming and then burning a bright blue as if frustrated at being held and helpless at the mercy of Max and Anita.
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> Max attacks Skeleton Lord.
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> Skeleton Lord takes minor damage.
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Max checked the Health stats of the skeleton. The strands of the web formed the table of stats.
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> Skeleton Lord critically injured.
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Max loaded the last of his Superior Bullets and shot.
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> Max attacks Skeleton Lord.
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> Skeleton Lord takes minor damage.
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> Skeleton Lord has been defeated.
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> Max gains experience points.
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The light vanished from the empty eye sockets, the bones lost their connection to the others, and the skeleton fell apart, the skeleton lord now nothing more than a collection of loose bones caught up in a web.
Max walked towards the skeleton. The pendant was caught up in the web about eight feet off the ground.
“Don’t get too close, Max,” Anita said. “The web is still active. You’ll get caught up in it too.”
Max looked at the web. It was constantly shifting, strands growing and shrinking, releasing here and attaching there. The constant movement pulled the bones apart. The pendant hanging in the sticky white strands.
“How long will it last?” Max said, stepping back as a sticky strand crept across the floor towards him.
“It all depends on the level of the Mage. Probably be here awhile. Might as well rest for a moment.” Anita took some heavy bread from her pouch and took a bite. She tossed a chunk to Max. He walked around the hall chewing, staying clear of the defeated skeleton lord in the web.
Max walked around the throne. It was carved from a solid piece of rock and must have weighed a hundred tons. He looked at the seat that the skeleton lord had been sitting on. There was a slab of stone set in the throne. It looked like a lid of some kind. He climbed up onto the throne and stuck the point of his sword into the join. He levered the slab upwards and got his sword in underneath. He slid the slab aside and revealed a recess. Inside, right in the middle, sat a single glittering pebble. It was smooth, oval, like a duck egg made of marble. There was a faint blue glow around the stone. Max picked it up.
“It’s a magical item,” Max said, turning it over in his hands.
“Be careful,” Anita said, walking over.
Max couldn’t tell what it was. He tried to access a table of its abilities, but it remained unknown. Then he remembered his scroll.
Max set the pebble down and reached into his Satchel. He pulled out a scroll of Know Item. He unrolled the scroll and spoke the incantation. A blue glow appeared over his hands. The scroll crumbled away. Max held the pebble. And its ability was revealed.
“It’s a Stone Elemental,” Max said, turning the stone over. It felt warm to the touch, unlike the cold slabs of rock around the hall.
“That is a powerful item,” Anita said. “But you must use it wisely. It will come to your aid when you call it forth, and once it has aided you, it will be free forever. It is a one-use-only item.”
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> Max gains Stone Elemental.
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Max checked his inventory.
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> Inventory:
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> • Satchel
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> • Mage Book
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> • Golden Roc Catapult
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> • Blanket of Comfort
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> • Torch
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> • Polished Wooden Dagger
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> • Hood of Sneaking
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> • Superior Bullets
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> • Fine Rope
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> • Collar of Control
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> • Padded Leather Tunic
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> • Dagger of Poison Blade
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> • Potion of Intelligence
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> • Flint Tool
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> • Scroll of Summon Storm Elemental
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> • Ring of Shadows
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> • Shortsword of True Striking
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> • Ring of Extra Spells
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> • Shortsword of Cold
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> • Pendant of Defense
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> • 1 Red Smoke Bomb
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> • Stone Elemental
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“Come and rest awhile,” Anita said. She was sitting against a pillar.
Max went and joined her. He had no idea how long they had been in the tunnels. Hours had gone by. He yawned as he sat down. He pulled out his Blanket of Comfort and laid it over their knees. He closed his eyes . . .
Max woke suddenly as he heard a clattering and rattling. He was on his feet, sword ready for action.
“It’s just the spell wearing off, finally.” Anita said. “That was either a very powerful scroll or you’ve become a very powerful Mage.” She smiled at him.
Anita stepped over to the bones scattered upon the floor. She picked up the pendant with the tip of her spear and tossed it over to Max.
“Ready to get out of here?”
Max walked behind the throne towards the high stone doors. He placed the pendant in the keyhole. The rays of the sun on the pendant fitted the recess lines perfectly. The pendant clicked into place. Max pushed at the doors. They were stiff with age. Anita pushed too. Dust fell as the doors creaked open. Once open a crack, they slipped through. A short dark tunnel led to a set of ancient stone stairs.
Max went up. He found himself in a cave of jagged rock. He saw the glinting sunlight at the end of the cave. The cave narrowed and ended in a tangle of roots and vines soaked with water running down. He pushed past vegetation and dripping water and out of a rock outcrop on the edge of Oak Ridge.
Max helped Anita out into the sun. She drank the water dripping down the outside of the outcrop. Max cupped his hands and drank too. He smiled at Anita. They splashed each other with water. Dust and grime of the underground mixing with the water.
Anita pulled the strands of vegetation aside. Water ran like a small stream off the top of the outcrop.
“Perfect,” Anita said. She pulled Max close to her. “It’s cold but we both need a shower. We’re covered in dirt.”
Max cupped his hands and washed his face. “Should we move on, try and find the others?”
Anita started to untie her tight tunic. She smiled. “There’s always time for a morning shower.”
“She’s pretty,” said a voice like honey.
Max turned and saw the Assassins Debhora and Shazera standing just a few feet away.