Wilson led them into a chamber. Ashlyn was grateful to be able to stand up at last. She rolled her shoulders to relieve the tension. The mud roof was still low, and the men had to hunch over as they searched the room.

The Bowman had an arrow on his string and was looking around the room, ready to release his missile at the earliest opportunity. She hoped he wouldn’t be too hasty after what happened in the previous mission.

‘It’s circular,’ Manslayer declared. Edmund had followed the chamber wall to the left. ‘And there’s a mini chamber here,’ he said, gesturing at a dark opening.

‘Another one here,’ The Explorer added. He had gone to the right, and his opening was roughly the same distance away from the entrance tunnel.

‘Look at this,’ said Twerk. He stood next to a rectangular stone plinth in the centre of the chamber, his torch struggling to beat back the darkness. The gnome peered over the top, straining to see. ‘What is it? A body?’

Ashlyn joined him. Atop the stone structure was a skeletal figure encased in metal armour, from greaves all the way up to an iron helm. It looked human size, perhaps smaller than average. Open to the elements, it was covered in dust and dirt. Who knew how long it had been lying here? But the location of the figure indicated this was their barrow.

She noticed that the figure’s right hand had been placed on the handle of a longsword. She caught a glimpse of colour on the pommel and reached for the weapon. It was hard to resist examining any sword; let alone an ancient weapon such as this.

‘Stop!’ Manslayer hissed, a worried expression on his face.

Ashlyn turned, and with an apologetic grimace, showed him the sword already in her grip.

Then the noise began. It sounded like the grinding of bones, and it echoed around the chamber. Ashlyn glanced down at the figure whose sword she had taken. They lay still. But from two openings at the far corners of the chamber, opposite the two they had already found, the first skeletons shuffled into the chamber.

ACTION ROUND

Skeletons

Undead

Skeleton

Action Stats

Action Points

5

Hit Points

24

Unlike the figure on the plinth, these skeletons wore no armour. But they carried sword and shield—and even though they were animated corpses, with no mind or muscle, the way they held them suggested they knew how to fight.

Ashlyn expected an arrow to fly through the air, but The Bowman had frozen, rooted to the spot.

The Explorer was the first to react, as a skeleton emerged from the opening he had discovered. He slashed at the bag of bones with his knife, and the strike took eight points of damage from the creature. So they could hurt these things. But Jaelin’s second strike was blocked by the skeleton’s shield. Jaelin went low, and again, the shield followed him. With his last action point, he aimed for the skeleton’s head. Not only did it block the strike a third time, but it knocked the knife from The Explorer’s hand, the weapon falling to the ground.

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Ashlyn had to trust someone else would go and help The Explorer. Because two of the creatures emerged from the opening ahead and to her left.

It took her one action point to reach them. With her second, she used shield and sword. Neither strike was perfect, but both managed to hit, delivering eleven points of damage. Encouraged, she struck again, but this time, her sword was parried, and her shield blocked. One final chance. Her shield was stopped again, but an angled sword strike got through her opponent’s defences. Fifteen hit points and the thing collapsed to the ground, whatever force had been holding it together gone. They were killable. Just as well, since she still had one creature to face.

But she couldn’t expect help from Manslayer. After checking that his opening was empty, he went for the opposite opening. In the far right corner of the chamber, four skeletons had entered the chamber.

Still with five action points to work with, Edmund got to work. But his opponents crowded him, and he missed with both shield and sword. He got in a sword strike on his second attempt, a chop lopping a head off and finishing one of them in one go. Another sword strike connected, and another one hit kill. If Manslayer could do the same twice more, the odds of victory would be transformed.

His next hack struck home again, but this time failed to finish the skeleton. With an overhead smash, he landed the boss of his shield into its skull and drove it to the ground. With a roar of frustration, Manslayer’s final strike was collected on the last skeleton's shield. His own shield hitting home was only a consolation, taking its hit points down to eighteen.

And that was it. The skeletons had their chance for revenge.

Jaelin’s skeleton had at least been reduced to three action points. Unfortunately, both shield and sword strikes hit home. The Explorer wore no armour, and twelve points of damage brought him dangerously low. He managed to avoid its next shield thrust, but not the all important sword strike. Jaelin was clattered to the ground. Knocked unconscious, he was completely vulnerable. For some reason, the skeleton ignored him. Instead, it approached Twerk, who backed up against the stone plinth, and dropped his torch onto the dirt floor. But with its points spent, the gnome could breathe a sigh of relief.

Not so Ashlyn. The skeleton she faced had all five action points intact, and she knew she couldn’t resist it.

She defended its shield strike, but not its sword swing. She hadn’t anticipated a low strike. It slashed through her leather trousers, dealing eight points of damage. The same happened again, the creature’s shield barge putting her off balance for the sword that followed. Six more hit points taken, and five left. Ashlyn knew one more hit would finish her.

Then, from the darkness behind the skeleton, The Baron emerged, interrupting its turn. His surprise strike took it unawares, and his dagger bit, taking four points of damage. With the element of surprise gone, his follow up strike failed, blocked by the skeleton’s sword.

The thief’s intervention wasn’t much, but he’d done enough to take away an action point. Ashlyn thought her chances of survival might now be even.

Maybe The Baron wasn’t much of a fighter, but he moved quickly. The skeleton’s shield failed to connect, and its sword strike only gave him a glancing blow, taking his hit points to twelve. With its final action points, it missed him both times.

That left only Manslayer’s opponent, with four action points. Even if the skeleton got past his skilled defences, Edmund’s chain mail also had to be breached. In its first turn, it failed. But with its second, it struck with both shield and sword. Edmund was taken down to eighteen points. Fortunately, that was the only time the skeleton saw success.

Next up was Twerk. With a wounded skeleton in proximity, all he needed to do was unleash his axes. One struck on his first attempt, taking Jaelin’s assailant down to five hit points. On his next turn, he finished the creature.

He moved quickly, reaching Ashlyn’s opponent, who still had twenty hit points left. Facing The Baron, it had little chance to defend against his final swings. His axes took precisely twenty points of damage, and it collapsed into a pile of harmless bones.

The Bowman seemed released from the fear that had taken hold of him. Hands shaking, he aimed at the one remaining skeleton, in combat with Manslayer. A bad miss that clattered against the wall of the chamber. But at least his arrow hadn’t struck anyone in their party. He managed to grab a second missile and fire. Unfortunately, with the same outcome.

Auntie rushed over to The Explorer. She knelt next to him, opened her medic kit, and stripped away his clothes to examine his wounds.

Manslayer’s shield attack was blocked by the final skeleton, but not his sword blow. Slayer cut through bone, and the battle was done.

Ashlyn rushed over to Jaelin, guilt flooding her. She should never have grabbed that sword when the party was unready. ‘How is he?’

Auntie was dressing the main sword wound, but had tears in her eyes. She shook her head. ‘He’s hanging on by a thread. I don’t have the skill to save him.’

Everyone had joined her now, standing solemnly over the Livanian. Femke’s words struck Ashlyn like a hammer blow. It can’t be true. ‘No. You have to save him.’

Auntie ignored her, and kept on working.

‘We need to explore the barrow,’ Manslayer said. ‘But be careful. There could be more sleepers waiting to wake up.’ He examined Ashlyn’s injuries. ‘Stay here. Auntie and The Explorer need protecting.’ He eyed the opening in the chamber close to where The Explorer had fallen. ‘We can’t afford any more losses.’

‘How can you worry about exploring the barrow when Jaelin is like this?’ she demanded of him.

‘Because we might find something to help him.’

Hope fired inside Ashlyn. Then embarrassment followed, that she had sounded like a foolish child.