As the protagonists advanced through the grim and vast landscape of the Realm of the Dead, the air seemed to grow denser with each step. The empty, soulless bodies continued their endless, slow wandering around them, but something different caught their attention in the distance. A dark, solitary figure, yet with an unsettling and powerful aura, moved with a determination that none of the other beings in that realm had shown. It was a skeleton.
As they drew closer, the protagonists felt a strange sensation, as if this figure seemed oddly familiar, though they couldn’t identify why. Unlike the other soulless bodies, this being radiated a dense, dark, and disturbing energy. Its movements were precise, charged with a kind of intention that made it stand out in the void of the underworld. The protagonists couldn’t take their eyes off the skeleton's face. Where there should have been hollow, empty sockets, like the other bodies, there was something far more disturbing: in each eye socket, a clock marked the passage of time, with hands spinning in a disconcerting, rapid manner, as though measuring much more than mere seconds.
The skeleton moved slowly, but each step seemed to crack the very fabric of the realm’s reality. The clocks in its eyes vibrated with an eerie precision. Anubis, who had been walking ahead with his usual unshakeable calm, suddenly halted when he saw the figure. The protagonists noticed a flicker of fear and astonishment in the jackal god’s eyes. Anubis squinted, and his rigid posture indicated that the situation was far more dangerous than they had imagined.
—That being is not like the other soulless bodies wandering here —said Death, his imposing figure stepping forward to stand beside Anubis—. He has tried to escape from this realm many times, and each attempt has been more devastating than the last. He is an unstable soul, trapped on the edge between life and death.
Death’s tone was not just a warning, but one of precaution, making the protagonists shudder. This being was not just any common threat of the Realm of the Dead. The skeleton seemed to have defied the very laws that governed that place, endangering the delicate balance that the Four Horsemen and Anubis so carefully protected.
The clocks in the skeleton’s eyes continued to tick, but now, as he drew closer, the hands seemed to speed up, as if measuring something more than just the passing of time. War, who had remained silent until then, slowly drew his sword, a blade that radiated living flames, and raised it firmly.
—This being is different from anything you've seen before. His soul wasn’t processed correctly when he died —War explained, his deep, thunderous voice resonating—. He died consumed by sadness and guilt. A soul so broken that the cycle of death couldn’t properly complete. And now he is a danger to all of us, both the living and the dead.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The protagonists observed the skeleton more closely, trying to process the information. The energy it radiated was unlike that of the other bodies wandering without souls. This being was full of a complex darkness, as if its very power fed on a profound desperation. Its fragile, skeletal appearance was deceiving; what was truly terrifying was the intensity of the energy surrounding it.
Anubis took a step forward, his eyes still fixed on the skeleton. Although his face maintained the calm he had always shown, there was something in his expression that revealed a mix of respect and fear.
—This skeleton is a danger to both this realm and the world of the living —Anubis said, his voice soft but heavy—. If he ever escapes, his power is great enough to destroy the balance between life and death. His soul, broken and unstable, could unleash unimaginable chaos.
The protagonists exchanged worried glances. This skeleton, with its seemingly weak appearance, was in fact a contained force of destruction, a ticking time bomb whose energy threatened to break everything that the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Anubis had sworn to protect. The fact that the Horsemen—beings so powerful—were so alert to its presence spoke to the gravity of the situation.
Death looked at the skeleton with an intensity the protagonists had not seen before. His ever-present scythe emitted a faint glow as he held it firmly. The skeleton’s power was so unstable that even Death seemed to be measuring every one of its movements.
—Every time he tries to escape —Death continued—, his power increases. It’s as if the same despair and guilt that consumed him in life continue to feed him in death. The Four Horsemen have had to intervene together on every occasion to stop him. But his strength keeps growing, and each attempt is more dangerous than the last.
Death’s words weighed on the protagonists like a physical burden. It was hard to imagine a being so uncontrollable that even the guardians of the Realm of the Dead couldn’t easily stop him. And now, they were face-to-face with him.
The skeleton, meanwhile, continued to advance. As he approached, the protagonists could feel the strange connection that seemed to bind them to him, though they didn’t know why. The energy radiating from him was overwhelming, but there was something more: a sense of recognition, as if somehow this being was linked to them in a way they didn’t yet understand.
Finally, the skeleton stopped a few meters away from the protagonists. His eyes, those sinister clocks that seemed to mark something more than time, locked onto them. The air around them grew colder, and the silence that settled was heavier than any words could have been.
The power of the skeleton was undeniable, and the protagonists knew they were facing a threat beyond their understanding. But they also knew that, somehow, the skeleton was connected to them. The mystery of his existence, and what he represented for the balance between life and death, would be an enigma they would have to unravel if they wanted to continue their journey through the Realm of the Dead.
The skeleton was not just a danger; he was a warning. A warning of what could happen if the cycle of death were broken. And the protagonists couldn’t ignore it.