***

Large targets had one advantage - they were easy to hit. Indres had no difficulty aiming for the place where the monster's head, or rather many skulls, were located. Before the abomination made of bones could reach the Temple guards, the hunter's arrow crashed into the middle of the pile of skulls. With a sickening noise, the arrow shattered one of them and then the other, exiting the on the other side. A few moments later, an arrow from Erwan's side also struck one of them, but failed to destroy the other and remained in the middle of the skulls.

Too weak... does black magic diminish the power of attacks? Indres tried to understand.

He shot another arrow at the spot that matched the knee, hoping to stop its movement. It worked partially. The arrow crashed through, throwing a few small bones and the monster stopped for a moment to keep its balance. But the dark mist thickened around the knee and the monster began to move forward again.

The magic acolyte also tried to stop the mass of bones with a fire attack, but without success.

"We must escape!" Verna's panicked scream was clearly audible to Indres.

"Get behind me, but prepare for a new attack! We haven't lost yet!" The Lights guard shouted even louder.

"Tedot, Pival! Distract him! I need some time!" he ordered his subordinates.

The two youngest Temple guards bravely rushed forward, while Baern began to call out a new blessing. Indres and Erwan also tried to help, sending a few more arrows into their skulls. When Tedot and Pival were almost within the monster's grasp, they made a swift leap forward on either side of the monster in perfect symmetry. A normal being would be confused, unable to decide who to attack first, but the bone golem thrust all four of its arms to try and pierce the two Temple guards with its metal claws. Fortunately, the monster was too slow and his blades only stuck the ground. Tedot and Pival did not hesitate to turn back and attack the monster's knees with their spears. Like the arrow attacks, this did not force the undead creature to fall to the ground, nor did it turn around to face the two temple guards. The golem used two of its rear arms to attack them, while moving forward.

No, it doesn't really have a front and a back, Indres realized.

The monster's skulls were looking in all directions, and the joints of its arms and legs were also bending unnaturally in all directions. After all, it was made of multiple bones, not a single skeleton. The golem was free to move in any direction it wanted.

Whether the two young temple guards knew it or not was hard to say, but they had the skills to avoid the bladed hands of the bones. The monster seemed was forced to move slower towards the older temple guard and the acolyte in the circle of light. Indres took the opportunity to fire a few more arrows, trying to destroy as many skulls as possible. Who knows, maybe without them the golem will lose the ability to see.

Meanwhile, Baern finished his long invocation of blessing. His body was engulfed in a light that seemed to thicken into flames. Pointing his staff in the direction of the monster, the Lights guard cried out in his normal voice:

"Be ready! Strike after me! Crush its joints!"

Without waiting for confirmation that he was understood, Baern made the flame-like light strike the center of the bone mass, where a normal person would have thorax. This stopped the monster for a moment. The dark, thick haze receded in front of the light, but then thickened again and gathered to give resistance. Unpleasant sounds came from the golem, like the voices of many people before, expressing rage, anguish and pain.

Indres tried not to listen, he noticed that the darkness had retreated from the monster's limbs to concentrate in the middle. This was also noticed by the younger temple guards, who again tried to attack the knee joints. The monster, despite defending against light, was able to use its bony hands with sharp fingers and claws. Instead of skulls, Indres chose one of the shoulder joints as a target. He drew his bow and sent an arrow into the shoulders joint-like bony formation.

*TRAH!*

The bones cracked, the connection weakened and the arm became weak, allowing Pival to strike the knee joint with his spear as well. Moments later, the other hunter's arrow completely destroyed the joint, and a blast of acolyte fire followed a few moments later toward the wounded knee.

*KABOM!*

With an explosion-like noise, the bones were thrown in all directions. The lower part of the golem's left leg separated from the rest of the body and the monster could no longer stand upright. It was forced to bend and lean on its left side on an extra arm.

"It worked!" Pival exclaimed.

Almost as if in anger at this joyful shout, the golem raised one of its remaining hands to the young Temple guard and made rapid movement as if to throw something. The sword that had served as one of the hand's fingers detached and flew in Pival's direction like an arrow. Before the young man could react, the blade collided with his helmet, knocking Temple guard to the ground.

"No!" exclaimed his companion.

"Stay where you are! Eyes on the monster!" Baern ordered, not allowing his junior to go help other one.

The attack of the white flames was over, the black fog once again engulfing the entire body of the golem, which now lunged forward like a spider, moving with one leg and three arms. The other young temple guard, Tedot, tried to prevent it with a new attack on his remaining leg, but it was not strong enough, so the monster ignored it, determined to reach his main opponent, the Lights guard. Neither the archer's arrows nor the acolyte's magic could stop the monster.

"Back! Back!" Baern shouted to the man behind him.

Vern didn't have to say it twice, ignoring his own limp leg, the thin man rushed closer to the trees, away from the golem. The Lights guard backed away as well, but more slowly, not taking his eyes off the monster. When creature reached the place where the Lights guard stood before, man raised his staff, the crystal of which glowed brighter. White flames erupted from the ground, enveloping the golem's joints and lower body, causing it to make the unpleasant sounds again. Apparently, the circle of light that Baern had created earlier also served as a trap.

Out of anger, or seeing no other way to attack, the golem raised one of its arms to throw the sword blade again, this time at the Lights guard. Fortunately, he managed to raise his arms with strong wrist guards to protect his face, causing the blade to bounce back.

"Now! Attack!" Baern exclaimed immediately afterwards.

Just like the first time, the monster was forced to concentrate its dark haze to defend itself from the flaming light, leaving the rest of its body vulnerable. Tedot attacked the other leg, while Indres again stopped the monster's arm. The magic acolyte, though at a greater distance, was still able to send out powerful fireballs, the other hunter helping from his side as well.

Meanwhile, the third Temple guard slowly got to his feet. Fortunately, the sword had not managed to pierce his helmet, only stunned him and knocked to the ground. He rejoined the attack, further instilling confidence in victory.

Soon the monster had lost all four arms, most of skulls and his remaining leg. Its torso collapsed to the ground, but the black haze seemed even thicker. It’s concentrated in the middle and protected remining bone body from further physical and magical attacks.

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A moment later, the white flames died out, and Bearn leaned heavily on his staff, looking rather tired. The magics acolyte were also down on one knee, breathing heavily, probably having used up all his power. Indres looked at Ervan, who signaled with hand that his spirit power was also depleted.

Not good, Indres felt worried.

In battle, the side whose reserves of spirit power ran out first usually lost.

"Ascar! Watch Erwan!" he called to the guard at the rear, who had so far avoided the fight.

Indres would have loved to swap places between the two, but it was not up to him. It was to be hoped that the senior Temple guard was still capable of making tactical decisions.

Unfortunately, it did not look as if the monster had lost all his strength. When the white flames had disappeared, part of the rib bones that made up its ribcage formed a long and fast tentacle like limb that managed to knock one of the young Temple guards to the ground. Indras also noticed that the black fog was also trying to again collect the bones that had been thrown around.

Meanwhile, Baern prepared for a new attack. He unsheathed his sword and stuck his staff in the ground. The body of the Lights guard was engulfed in white flames that made the armor glow unusually bright, like the artefacts of ancient heroes in stories. This time, however, the white flames enveloped his sword. Baern leapt forward and drove the blade into the monster's body. Angry howls, louder than before, came from bone mass. The golem used its tentacle to throw the man back. Unfortunately, Baern dropped his sword, which stopped glittering and disappeared into the mass of bone.

Baern fell to the ground further away from the monster, but immediately stood up

"Rangers! Over here." He shouted.

Indres did not hesitate to leave the cover of the trees. He also signaled Erwan to stay put. Running past the magic acolyte, who was still sitting on the ground, the hunter soon stood next to the Lights guard.

"Ser!" Indres reported his presence.

"Where's the other one?" Baern looked around.

"His spirit power is depleted."

"Then you'll have to do it alone! I'll give my blessing to your arrow; you send it right into the middle! Spare no strength! Clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

Indres took one of the heavy arrows out of quill and held it in his hand while Baern called out the blessing. Just as before, the flame-like light came out of the body of the Lights guard, but this time enveloped the arrow in Indres' hands. He felt a kind of warmth, but not heat; after all, the power of light was not real fire. The flame-like light seemed to be sucked inside the arrowhead, which began to glow white.

"Now!" The temple guard said, finishing the blessing.

His younger companions were still trying to distract the monster, giving Indres the chance to carefully aim the arrow at the center of the chest, a place where there was less bone but more of the dark smoke-like mass.

As Baern ordered, Indres pulled the string as far as he could before letting go.

*TWANG!* A line of light traced the arrow's path.

*KABAM!*

Chest bones, ribs and skulls were hurled in all directions as the flames of light spread inside the monster. The mass of dark smoke also seemed to have been thrown in all directions, along with the bones.

"Can you do it again?" The Lights guard asked.

"Yes, sir." Indres confirmed.

He felt he would only be capable of one or two such shots though.

Fortunately, it looked like the enemy had lost its strength as well. The black smoke began to move towards the tower, leaving the bones in peace. Soon, only the village soldiers and the Temple guards were left in the clearing, apart from the scattered bones all around.

"Victory, sir!" exclaimed one of the young Temple guards.

"Don't let your guard down! Even if it has lost the power to form a physical form, it can still be dangerous!" Baern warned.

As if to confirm the Lights guard's words, a new wave of moans, whispers and cries, this time clearer and louder, came from the direction of the tower. This time Indres could even make out a few words.

Why? Innocent... Pain... Injustice... Blood... Hungry... Death...

The desire to celebrate victory receded. The two youngest Temple guards approached their commander and Indres.

Baern removed his face mask, revealing a tired face. His weapons bearer did likewise. All three were breathing heavily and were drenched in sweat, showing that the battle had not been easy for anyone.

"We need to recover before we break inside the tower." Baern declared.

Indres nodded in agreement, but did not hide his concern.

"Won't that... thing also regain its strength?" He asked.

"If it doesn't get fresh blood, then no. The tower and its surroundings are lifeless. Without new victims, the undead cannot rebuild their strength." The Lights guard reassured.

They made their way back to the shade of the trees, helping Vern up along the way. One of young Temple guard also fetched his master’s sword from bone pile. Erwan was already waiting by the cattle with the village guard. The latter had been assigned by the Elder Temple Guard to watch the tower, in case there were any surprises in store after all. The others, meanwhile, sat down to drink and eat something.

"Do you often get to experience something... like this?" Erwan asked the Temple guards.

The two younger ones looked at each other, but shook their heads.

"I didn't expect the power of the curse to be so great either. You'd think he was still here." Baern spoke lost in thought.

"He?" Indres didn't understand.

"The one who is responsible for the curse's existence. A necromancer... or something." Came the reply.

"A necromancer... as expected... but… what If it's really here?" Hunter felt uneasy.

"No, I don't think so... It's likely that his deeds were so horrific that they made the curse upon the dead stronger. All the evidence suggests that this wraith is a collection of the raging dead." Baern was sure.

It didn't help to improve the mood. Even if there was only the collection of the dead’s suffering, none of the men from village wanted to face that dark power again.

"I think the hardest part is over. The wraith lost the battle and fled to its abode. Now all that remains is to root it out of the tower and the curse will be broken." Noticing the gloomy atmosphere, the senior Temple guard tried to cheer up the others.

"The rest of us can only face physical danger. Is there more to come?" Indres asked.

"We must burn the remaining bones; I think that after that the ghost will have no power over the outside. Inside... me and my men will go in first."

"Burn the bones - that'll probably be a job for me." Verne spoke.

Indres judged that the magic acolyte was trying to avoid going into the tower. Normally a hunter would be angry at such cowardice, but this time he could understand the other man. Hunter himself would have preferred another duty, but he knew it was impossible. Indres had found the tower first, so he was responsible for everything that happened.

"Erwen can stay and look after the cattle while Vern burns the bones and Ascar supports him. I can go with you then... if that's acceptable, sir." Indres tried to politely make suggestions to the group leader.

Baern didn't object, so the plan was made.

Although the warriors occasionally looked at the tower, nothing unpleasant or dangerous happened while they rested.

When the Lights guard gave the order to rise, the sun had moved much closer to the west, indicating a late afternoon. Most people need at least half a day, if not more, to regain their exhausted spirit power. Those with even greater reserves of spirit power often needed even more time, so it was clear that neither Baern nor the others had yet recovered even half of what they had lost in that time. The Lights guard was still willing to confront the dark force during the day, and the others agreed.

The magic acolyte began to burn the carcasses of the spawns, while the other man threw the bones of the dead into the flames. It was a grim, unpleasant task, but sadly necessary. Whatever the outcome of the clash in the tower, the enemy would have no more undead soldiers to control. Unless, of course, they were also hidden inside the tower...

Indres still relied on his war bow. He was able to control and conserve his power to create weaker projectiles, but in greater numbers. After all, skeleton warriors weren't as tough as the fearsome bone golem.

Often those who had more reserves of spirit power needed more time to rebuild them. Indres had no idea how much of his strength the Lights guard had regained, but at least physically Baern seemed more rested. His face, however, expressed more grim determination than confidence and courage. The two younger Temple guards were also quiet and serious.

The four men reached the tower without too many problems. Indres, however, again felt an unnatural chill from the grey walls, just like the first time. When the Lights guard first started to climb the stairs, the whisper-like sounds reached people's ears again. The many-voiced threats, pleas and howls of pain were no longer a surprise, so they were less frightening, but still unpleasant.

Why?

Go away!

Don't hurt me!

Why me?

Baern did not try to communicate with the voices, he got to the door and tried to open it, but without success.

"My arrow bounced off the door last time." Indres recalled.

Nodding, the Lights guard drew his sword and blessed it with white light, then struck the blade where the lock should have been.

*KRAH!* Wood and metal made sound.

The door gave way and opened. Even from below, Indres felt the cold take strength.

I only want a peace!

I am innocent!

So hungry...

Pain...

Death...

The voices seemed to get louder.

It appeared that even Baern hesitated for a moment to go in.

"In the name of my House, I will cleanse this place!" he exclaimed forcefully and took a step inside the darkness.

The two younger Temple guards followed. Indres checked one last time that the arrow quill and dagger were at his belt and easily accessible. Then, taking a deep breath, he followed them.

***