"Damn it, where the hell is all this dust coming from..." muttered a cloaked figure wrapped in white. The words came out raspy, but they were spoken from one who held a deep and gravelly voice.

He stood in a dreary hall, back turned—the dark and eerily lit stone passages matching their endless gaze on him from behind. With a dirty cleaning rag in hand, he began to wipe away the dusty particles that took shelter atop his counter. His bony fingers rattled against each other with every motion. He let out a small groan, despising the labor he had to do, even if his stamina was limitless.

Midway through cleaning the countertop, he heard a faint noise. A noise that he hadn't heard in nearly four years. It was the sound of footsteps. More specifically, it was the sound of shoes walking on stone. It was approaching him from behind. A pair of crunchy, rigid steps also accompanied the noise, seemingly side by side, but those were the sound of steps he did recognize.

Something was coming toward him—something new. He eyed the rusty metal sword that rested on the counter beside him, ready to strike and defend himself against whoever it was about to attack him.

Looks like I'm about to live again, or die again. He thought.

image [https://i.imgur.com/ZiLMGqb.png]

In the dungeon’s dimly lit hallways, flames flickered atop torches, casting eerie shadows that danced like mischievous fireflies. The passages twisted into a labyrinth of unsettling paths, their faint lights conjuring ghostly shapes that seemed to slither and crawl through the darkness.

In one particular corridor, an unusual event began to unfold. Black mist oozed from the ancient stone walls, seeping like liquid shadow through cracks and crevices. It crawled—breathed—and trudged across the ground. It flowed deliberately, meeting in the center of the floor where it entwined and danced in an elegant ritual.

As the mist swirled, the temperature in the hall plummeted, leaving frostbitten marks on the stone and forming thin sheets of ice that crept up the walls. The once-transparent fog thickened and became a pulsing, viscous mass that hovered above the ground. It bubbled and expanded, its shifting tendrils becoming more defined.

The frigid air rapidly froze. After a minute more, the air snapped with a burst of cold energy. The center of the haze instantly solidified, and its tentacle-like extensions dissipated and billowed upward. The haze had vanished, but not without evidence of its existence.

On the ground was the aftermath of the bizarre event. A figure was left behind—laying curled on its side—still and silent, as if caught in the deepest of slumbers. It had changed drastically from the adjunct and messy amalgamation it was but a few moments ago. It was small and fragile. Looking past the cloth and fabric, the figure was unmistakably human—a small and young one.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

A constant beat of something hollow echoed from a nearby hallway. The sounds only became louder with each passing moment. The echoes—hard and crunchy—bounced off the walls and traveled to the opposite end of the hall. A clattering noise emanated as it moved. It was like a stone cube rolling across the ground, contrary to its natural shape. As the echoes rolling through the hallway intensified, it finally halted—stopping dead in its tracks, right before the young child.

In the darkness, there only existed calmness and serenity. It exuded an unending feeling of peace. However, a sudden burst of cold energy disrupted the tranquility. Wave after wave of cold came crashing into the sanctuary. It came, and left. Leaving for but a moment, but coming back repeatedly. It always came back.

Suddenly, the figure upon the ground began to stir. Her consciousness seemingly awakened, as her eyes began to lazily open.

All she saw at first was white. In the next second, an expanse of darkness and dim red lights settled around her. As her vision readjusted, she realized where the cold sensation had come from. In front of her was a skeleton. One who was poking her cheek with its bony finger.

“Nghh?” The little girl winced and moved her head back as the skeleton poked her cheek with its icy finger one more time.

The skeleton stopped and let its hand fall back to its side with a slight rattle. It stooped low into a crouch, carefully examining her. Curiosity showed amidst its bony skull, transcending the need for fleshy eyeballs to show such emotion.

With its empty sockets, the skeleton gazed at the small human girl, captivated by her short black hair that curled delicately at the ends. She wore a long-robed garment that could have also been described as a dress, and it lay sprawled on the ground. The garment was colored black and purple and held large sleeves that disconnected at the shoulders, hiding the girl’s lower arms.

"Ah?" the girl mouthed, barely audible.

The girl stared at the skeleton standing before her. The skeleton's empty sockets stared back. They locked eyes, their silent curiosity being expressed to one another. She tilted her head. In response, the skeleton replicated her gestures and tilted its skull the opposite way.

After a moment, the skeleton ceremoniously stood straight. The girl watched the skeleton stand and tried to stand herself. She placed her hands on the ground in an attempt to push herself up. However, a small portion of her robe had gotten snagged between her palm and the ground. As she tried to push herself up, her robe resisted and tugged her body back down.

She winced as she snapped to the floor and landed with a muted thud. "Hmm...?" she hummed. She raised her head and stared at the skeleton, blinking a few times. It gave no reaction and continued to simply stare back at her.

The little girl attempted to stand again. But before she could, the skeleton reached out and offered her its right hand. Her gaze fixated on it for a moment, noticing a deformity. Its hand was not consistent. It was missing a bone segment, or possibly two, from its ring finger. She spied past the appendages, glancing at its other hand—all five bony fingers still intact.

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She reached forward and grabbed hold of the skeleton's offer. Immediately, her hand flinched backward as she felt the coldness of its bones. Her eyes shot up towards its face, but there was no response from the skeleton—its hand remaining outstretched. After a brief pause, she reached out again and firmly grabbed hold, ignoring the icy coldness.

Surprisingly, even though there wasn’t any obvious structure holding the separate bone pieces together—it was strangely durable and supported her weight. While assisting her off the ground, the skeleton briefly leaned forward, gazing straight into her eyes. She held no reaction as she looked back into the empty sockets of its skull.

The skeleton pulled back and turned around, still holding onto her hand. It took one step forward and glanced back, as if waiting for her. She hesitated, unsure of what to do. However, the moment was fleeting, as the skeleton took another step forward, encouraging her to follow.

Before she knew it, she was up and walking in tow with the skeleton, hand tightly clasped within its skeletal palm. As she moved along, she could hear the faint rattling of its bones. Together, they moved deeper into the labyrinth. Only the already melting thin sheets of ice that had previously formed and covered the walls remained.

image [https://i.imgur.com/ZiLMGqb.png]

As the skeleton guided the little girl along, she took in her surroundings. She noticed pieces of debris and dusted cobwebs all over. Some hallways were brightly lit, while others were steeped in darkness. Some were relatively clean, but many more held an abundance of grime and filth. Various items were lying cluttered and broken along the ground. These ranged from circular plates to long gray objects to shattered pieces of large cylindrical stone.

After a few minutes of walking, she noticed other skeletons moving in the distance. Although they varied slightly in size and shape, they bore a striking resemblance to the skeleton with her. She noticed they held the same long gray objects that were littering the ground. These skeletons traveled along the other passages, and only appeared briefly before disappearing from her sight.

At brief glances, she also saw other creatures—ones that had exposed bone but also had leathery skin, or wore leathery skin. Their flesh sloppily hung onto their bones, as if all their skin could fall off at any moment. Unlike the skeletons, these creatures moved with a sluggishness, their limbs scraping against the ground as they went. Like her, they also wore clothes, but theirs—ragged and filthy—were a far cry from her own elegant dress.

The little girl walked and saw plenty of new things which she didn’t understand. What were those flickering, dancing lights of bright red? What were the shiny gray objects that littered the ground, and why did the skeletons carry them?

"Hm...hm..." she hummed softly to herself, curious at each new discovery.

While walking and looking around, she suddenly collided with the skeleton in front of her. "Ah-" she began to say from the sudden surprise, but the skeleton placed its palm before her mouth, preventing her from making noise. She winced and rubbed her nose, which was slowly turning a faint pink.

A faint noise came from the intersecting hall on her right. The skeleton guiding her slowed, and she mimicked its pace. They neared the corner of the connecting hallway. The skeleton slouched and walked alongside the walls, and she followed along with its actions. They both approached the corner of the wall, and the skeleton leaned forward to peer to the right. She crouched to the floor below the skeleton and did the same.

The sight of an immense creature caught her attention as she saw it rustle. It differed from the other creatures she had already seen. This creature had four legs and an elongated body. It had skin and was covered in messy fur. Two large upper front teeth protruded downwards out of its mouth. A segmented tail—long and coarse—whipped from side to side behind it. The tail itself spanned several meters. Standing on all fours, the mysterious entity matched her own height.

The horrific-looking creature chomped down and ate at the bones of a skeleton. It moved upwards, starting from the skeleton’s feet and going towards the skull. As it ate, she noticed it was already halfway done through eating the ribs. The beast let out a guttural growl and snarled, making very unpleasant sounds that she wasn’t particularly fond of.

Although it was being eaten, the skeleton was still alive, or at least, still moving. It struggled, using its free arms to bash against the head of the creature. However, despite its best efforts, the beast didn’t react at all. It continued to eat its meal without a care in the world.

Crunch! Crunch!

Each bite sent a sharp crack reverberating throughout the air as the bones burst and splintered between its powerful jaw. Each crunch marked an entire new bone or set of bones snapping like grindstones. It didn't need to chew—its maw was strong enough to obliterate any bone into pieces. As it ate, the skeleton grew more sluggish. Although half of its body was gone, it still desperately struggled to escape the monster’s grasp. Ribs disappeared one by one, and the skeleton's effort to struggle dissipated with each missing bone.

The skeleton that had been guiding her this entire time suddenly grabbed her wrist and began to move away, hiding in the monster's blind spot. Despite the hypnotic scene, she slowly stood up and let the skeleton pull her. With quiet steps and relaxed movements, they passed by the beast and continued down the path. She continued to stare at the creature the entire time as they moved. Soon, the monster exited their sight as they continued. The sound of its gnarled feast grew faint with every step. Only a minute later, did the sounds finally vanish as the intersection disappeared far behind them.

A few more minutes passed, and she finally spotted something unique. An indented area in the wall that was not another hallway revealed itself. A brownish counter connected to gray walls, with an opening into a small room. Another skeleton stood in front of the counter. The skeleton moved a cloth back and forth on the upper surface. This skeleton wore shabby white rags—the sloppily cladded-cloak wrapping around its body. The girl noticed the several large holes that were found throughout the cloth.

She and her skeletal companion slowly approached, the cloaked skeleton seemingly unaware of their arrival. She moved forward at a quicker pace, wanting to see the new creature. Suddenly, the skeleton leading her stopped and released her hand. With only a brief glance, she flickered her gaze between them, but carried on walking toward the mysterious white-wrapped skeleton.

As she walked closer, she suddenly flinched as the mysterious skeleton's demeanor changed rapidly. Without pause, it reached towards another item on the counter and swiftly spun around. It was one of those long gray objects she saw in abundance everywhere.

"Who are y-" the skeleton yelled. His voice cut off once his gaze shifted downwards to the little girl. He had a gruff voice, one that was slightly deep and gravelly.

"Why is..." he said, but the rest of his words seemed to drift away. His skull bobbed up and down, clearly examining the girl. He had expected some type of dwarf, given the sound of the footsteps approaching him, but this was no dwarf. He first noticed the clothes that she wore. Expensive and lavish silk that only nobles or the filthy rich would don as their clothes. The second thing he noticed was the bizarre blank expression and lack of reaction from the little girl, even with a blade mere inches away from her neck.

The small girl reached up, her hand nearing the blade’s sharp edge. Panicking, the skeleton reeled his hand back. "Hey, the hell are you doing?!" he yelped. His eyes flashed toward the sword's blade before snapping his gaze back towards the girl.

"What is wrong with you, kid? Are you stupid? The sword is rusted, but it can still very well cut you! What the hell are you thinking?" he reprimanded. The girl just tilted her head at the skeleton's harsh words. The skeleton paused for a moment upon noticing the blank expression on her face.

"Who the hell are you?" The small purple sparks in his eyes tightened as his tone turned serious.