Rhen felt a wave of panic almost overwhelm him as the skeleton not twenty feet away pulled itself into a sitting position, its jaw slack and its empty eye sockets glowing with the same crimson light the now-white crystals had produced. And those empty eyes were looking right at them.

"Run!" he yelled, trying to push away how terrified he was, already nocking an arrow and pulling the bowstring back. As Elaya and Kaz whipped past him, Rhenor let the arrow fly, hitting the skeleton in the forehead and making its head fly back. Rhenor didn't stay to check if that was enough to kill it. He just hoped that this would buy them some time as he sprinted to catch up, quickly finding Kaz and Elaya when he saw a burst of fire up ahead.

And he immediately understood why Kaz had used magic. There were dozens of skeletons marching through the main corridor, heading deeper in the catacombs, the light pouring out of their skulls creating eerie shadows. Most were seemingly ignoring them, but not the ones closest to them, which judging by the smoking ashes on the floor Kaz had just incinerated.

Kaz already looked like burning gods knew how many skeletons to ash had cost him considerable energy. He was slumped forward a bit, breathing heavily. They couldn't expect him to blast his way through the row of skeletons marching down the hallway to get them out of here.

They could try to wait this out if not for the skeletons marching right for them from behind. Rhenor could hear them, their bones making an awful clicking noise against the stone floor, getting louder and louder as they approached, but he couldn't look. He was afraid he'd become too petrified with fear to be of any use.

And then the ground shook beneath their feet. Rhen barely managed to catch onto a wall as behind him, the stone ground rose with a mighty crack, shooting up halfway to the ceiling and forming a barrier between them and the skeletons.

Rhenor stared at Elaya's outstretched hand in shock. Logically, he knew that she could do that—he'd seen her control the earth before—but somehow his panicked mind had not thought of telling her to block the undead off this way.

She proceeded to move her arm toward the exit and gritted her teeth, grimacing as her eyes glowed and another earthquake shook the ground. A second, shorter wall shot up from the floor in front of them, protecting them from any skeletons coming their way from the main corridor, but also trapping them in place.

At least they could think. Rhenor let out a shuddering breath. His entire body was shaking, he couldn't stop panting, and he could still hear the horrible creaking of bones all around them, but for now, they should be safe. There was a scratching coming from behind the wall leading deeper into the catacombs, which he hoped was proof that the skeletons couldn't get through. The sound made his skin crawl, though.

"No wonder those people didn't want to be here," Kaz muttered. Then he looked up, noticing Rhenor's confused glance. "When I spied on them, they said they would leave after setting something off. I think this is what they meant."

"So this was a trap," Elaya said, sighing. She folded her arms over her chest, clearly trying to appear unbothered, but Rhenor could tell she was scared. Her eyes kept flicking off toward the noise of the skeletons trying to get past the new wall, and her arms were trembling. Rhenor imagined he looked similar.

The only one who didn't seem nearly as unnerved as he should be was Kaz, who, while looking tired and his eyes being blown wide, seemed deeply fascinated. Rhenor truly hoped he wouldn't have to drag him away from here to get him out of self-imposed danger.

That fascination in the dragon's eyes was quickly replaced with horror, though. "We need to go. We have to warn everyone. The skeletons are going to head for the city."

Kaz was, of course, completely right, but Rhen couldn't help but feel like the implication in that statement was that if there wasn't a city on the line, Kaz might not be quite so ready to leave immediately.

"All right." Elaya nodded. "So how do we get out of here without getting eaten?"

"I don't think they want to eat us, just kill us," Kaz pointed out. "From what I read about necromancy—"

"Kaz," Rhenor cut him off. Whatever theoretical knowledge Kaz had, it was going to be useful, but not right now when they were stuck down in these catacombs. "Can you use magic to get us out of here?"

Kaz's eyes were full of uncertainty. Rhenor knew it was unfair to ask so much of him, but he couldn't think of a better way of getting out of here. He sincerely doubted his knife or arrows would do much good, and he wasn't sure Elaya could weaponize her control over the earth quickly enough.

"The skeletons might leave eventually. They aren't even heading for the door," Elaya argued, but Kaz shook his head.

"By then everyone could be dead."

Rhenor wished he could assume the undead were heading away from the city, but there could be another exit somewhere else. And besides, the people who set this up meant for everyone in Embertide to die. So where else would the skeletons be going?

"Take down the barrier. I can do it," Kaz told her, setting his jaw. Rhenor had never seen him quite so determined before, his pupils taking on a more reptilian shape as he got ready to summon fire again. Rhenor swallowed as the ground rumbled once more, the wall in front of them crumbling, its large pieces sinking into the floor. He hoped Kaz was right.

The stone wall wasn't even gone yet, and already three skeletons were making their way toward them, their torn clothing hanging off them in rags. Rhenor tried not to move, but he couldn't help but flinch at those empty, glowing stares.

As the skeletons came closer, their arms outstretched and reaching for them, fire enveloped them as Kaz said a word Rhenor couldn't understand and stretched out his hand. Within seconds the skeletons were nothing but dust on the floor.

Kaz let out a long breath, shaking his head. Rhenor was at his side immediately, about to ask if he was sure about this, but Kaz was moving before he could say anything.

"Come on. We need to go." His voice came out forced and breathless, but Rhenor kept his concern silent for now and instead kept his eyes on the corridor before them. He couldn't see any more undead walking around, but that didn't mean they weren't there. At least the horrible glow coming from their skulls made them easy to spot, though.

They rushed into the main corridor, heading back to the staircase as fast as they could go, gradually increasing speed until they were sprinting by the time they reached the steps. Rhenor kept one eye on the heavily-breathing Kaz and the other on the situation behind them, expecting at any moment for something to ambush them.

But as they began to climb the staircase, taking it two steps at a time, he quickly realized there was danger up ahead.

Five skeletons, maybe more, were standing in front of the exit, banging their skeletal fists against the hard stone, as if trying to get it open. If Rhenor, Elaya, and Kaz were to exit, they would have to go through the skeletons. And Rhen didn't like that idea one bit.

Kaz though seemed undeterred, increasing his pace and throwing his hands forward. The skeletons turned around just as he was yelling a spell, making flames appear, as wide as the corridor was, forming a wave that flew toward the skeletons. Rhenor almost took a step back at the sight. A show of power like this, of magical power—it frightened him. He couldn't help but find it awe-inspiring and terrible at once, feeling the heat as the flames consumed the skeletons whole, disintegrating them.

But his fear turned quickly into concern as the fire went out and he saw Kaz fall to his knees, gasping. Rhenor was by his side in an instant, helping him stand up. They needed to get out of here while they could. Kaz had given them the chance to, and they couldn't waste time, no matter how much Rhen wanted to let him rest.

"Almost there," Rhenor muttered to Kaz as he pulled the dragon's arm around his neck. They just needed to get the damned door open. But before he could try to drag it open, the door began to move on its own, grinding against the stone floor.

Rhenor threw a grateful look back at Elaya, only to frown in confusion when he realized that she wasn't doing anything. Her hands weren't outstretched like usual, the ground wasn't shaking, and her eyes weren't glowing. But then who—

"You need to leave immediately," came a familiar voice from ahead, making Rhenor snap his head back to face it. The druid they'd met earlier was standing in the doorway, looking at all of them with a frown full of disdain. He almost seemed like a parent annoyed with his children's troublemaking ways, which certainly made it difficult for Rhen to feel any sort of appreciation for being helped by him.

"We've been trying," Rhenor replied as he pushed past the druid, his tone sharper than he'd intended, but he didn't regret letting his emotions get the better of him at all. Not after what the man had said to and about Kaz already. The dragon was keeping his gaze glued to the ground even as their feet finally touched the grass outside, his body rigid in a way that made it more than clear to Rhen just how uncomfortable he was at the druid's presence.

Rhenor didn't comment on it as he helped Kaz sit down and rest, though.

"I do not mean leave the catacombs," the druid said, his voice somehow even more annoyed. "Leave the island."

Rhen's eyebrows shot up as he swirled around to stare at the druid. Elaya was standing behind the man, her eyes wide with shock. But the one who ended up speaking first was Kaz as he dragged himself up to his feet again.

"What?" he exclaimed. "There is a horde of skeletons marching on the city. We can't just leave."

Rhenor's stomach churned. He couldn't help but think the druid had a point, even if he was ashamed of it. Unlike everyone on this island, they could leave at any point and never look back. It would be wrong and cowardly, but realistically, how much help were they going to be when fighting the undead? Rhenor was certainly not going to be of much use.

The druid wrinkled his nose. "The last thing we need is a dragon learning more about necromancy. If you attempt to study the skeletons, I will stop you."

There was a second of silence before Kaz let out a disbelieving scoff. He took a few steps forward, wavering in place just enough for Rhenor to join his side to keep an eye on him. But Kaz barely seemed to notice him as he glared fiercely at the druid.

"You think I care about that? There are thousands of people who are going to die if we don't do anything."

Now it was the druid's turn to scoff. "Oh yes, of course, a dragon who cares about humans he doesn't even know." The druid shook his head. "All your kind cares about is power and knowledge, don't deny it."

Rhenor wanted to snap at the man to shut up while Kaz's face went red as his glare intensified. But neither of them managed to speak before Elaya cut in.

"Say something like this to Kaz one more time, and I will never go with you to Duskstrand," she said with such a cold tone that for a second it made Rhenor forget all about his fury. And clearly, it had an effect on the druid, as well, as his arrogant, irritated expression turned into a neutral one. "Tell us how to stop the skeleton army."

The druid gave Rhenor and Kaz a look through narrowed eyes before turning back to Elaya. "Very well. It is too late to stop them. The spell is too complex to undo before they reach the city through the underground tunnels the dragons' spies had made."

Rhenor almost rolled his eyes, feeling frustration clawing at his insides at the uselessness of that information. The only new piece of it was that the dragons' lackeys had used magic to get the skeletons out of the catacombs, but he could have thought of that. How else were the undead going to attack Embertide?

To his shock, though, the druid continued.

"However, there are magical lures drawing the undead into the city." He turned his gaze to Kaz, some of the previous scorn returning. "If your dragon is so eager to help, he can collect the lures and fly with them somewhere the skeletons will not hurt anyone. Preferably the sea. A spell like this needs massive amounts of energy, and while it is drawing what it needs from the crystals beneath us, within a few hours the energy stored within them should run out."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

That sounded plausible, and hopefully also doable, and yet Rhenor couldn't help but allow his disdain for the druid to deepen. "You know all of this, and yet you've done nothing to stop it."

"I am not allowed to interfere," the druid replied, connecting his hands behind his back. "I am here to recruit, not call attention to my order. Especially not when there are dragons present."

Rhenor clenched his fists. Enough was enough. "Listen here, you—"

But before he could insult the druid even half as well as he deserved, Kaz spoke. "There are dragons other than me here, aren't there?"

Rhenor blinked, staring at Kaz's serious face. He'd not even thought of that being what the druid was trying to say.

"Yes, at least one. There is a warship waiting, hidden behind a nearby isle. I was not foolish enough to fly close enough to check how many soldiers there are on board. No doubt they will destroy whatever is left once the undead serve their purpose."

Rhenor had no idea how this situation could keep getting worse, but it was managing to. Maybe leaving was the best option here. Leading the skeletons away had sounded at least possible, but how were they supposed to handle a warship with a dragon on it?

"What do the dragons want with this place?" Elaya demanded, looking confused and horrified. Rhenor hadn't even thought to consider that, but it was a very good question.

The druid sighed as if giving her an answer was something that took great effort. "These islands, particularly this one, are brimming with magic. There are crystals in the catacombs, no? There are many, many more the deeper one goes. They want to use them for the perversion they call magic."

He took a few steps forward, looking down at the city. Embertide was perfectly visible from here, an example of what humanity could do when not under the control of despots. And it was soon going to get destroyed.

"The locals use the crystals in the catacombs to draw power for defense against the dragons' attacks. They'd done so countless times. But with that power being used to attack them, there is nothing left to protect them. We warned them, and they didn't listen."

If Rhenor didn't know any better, he'd think the druid was almost happy about being proven right. But to be fair he was probably imagining things at this point. The druid's tone had been just as neutral as ever.

"Just tell us where to find the lures," Elaya snapped at him, her scowl showing just how little patience she had left.

"It will be easier if I show you," the druid replied, turning around to look at her. "The lures should be totems previously used for necromancy, such as carved bones. The dragon will most likely be able to sense them if he concentrates."

Rhenor gave Kaz a look, looking for confirmation of that, to which the dragon shrugged and begrudgingly nodded.

"How is this not interfering?" Elaya asked, clear irritation in her voice.

A tiny spark of amusement shone in the druid's eyes. "I will simply be present and observe. Surely you must agree that there is a difference."

And with that he transformed into his bird form and flew away, heading for the city. Rhenor sighed. He'd known they would run back to the city, but he hadn't thought they'd be running after a bird. It seemed impossible. At least a large portion of the way would be downhill, though.

Rhenor still wanted to bring up the fact that maybe they really should just leave, but with Kaz and Elaya already running down the hill, he kept it to himself for now. They clearly didn't agree.

Even though they were sprinting at top speed, the druid disappeared from sight by the time they reached the bottom of the hill, but they kept going anyway, running through the fields surrounding Embertide, not stopping until they reached the city. They were only walking by then, breathing hard. Rhenor's lungs were burning more than he'd thought possible, but he forced himself to keep going. The sooner they got the lures, the more of a chance they had at stopping this.

They finally stopped for a moment as they passed the first houses. The people around them were giving them strange looks, but Rhen was too exhausted to care. What took up most of his attention instead was the way Kaz was gasping for breath next to him, looking like he was ready to keel over. Elaya didn't look much better, but they would have to keep moving.

Surprisingly, Kaz was the first to do so, taking a few steps forward as he looked over the rooftops, no doubt looking for the druid. It didn't take Rhenor long to spot him, sitting behind a chimney on the house in front of them. For such a large bird, he was somehow managing not to be completely obvious, though Rhenor hoped that the size was out of the druid's control, much like it was out of Kaz's because if not, then he was risking calling attention to himself for completely vain reasons.

As soon as Rhenor made eye contact with him, the druid gave a nod, taking off and flying to the right. Rhen took a deep breath before going after him, throwing a quick look at Elaya and Kaz as he did to make sure they were following as well.

His tired muscles protested as soon as he began to walk down the street, but he ignored them, increasing his pace as much as he could to avoid losing sight of the druid again.

The druid led them far, flying over narrow alleys and empty streets until finally settling down on the edge of a roof of a surprisingly small house. It looked like it only had one story, which was unusual for Embertide. Was the totem inside? The place didn't look abandoned, so the idea of barging in didn't quite appeal to him.

And looking back at Kaz and Elaya, they didn't look very happy either. Well, Elaya didn't, Kaz seemed mostly pensive, his brows furrowed, and his pupils...thin slits? They changed into their usual round shape a second later as he looked at Rhenor.

"The barrel," he said, pointing at the side of the house.

There indeed was a barrel, which Rhenor had not noticed at all. The thing looked old, the wood rotten, and the metal rusty. Rhenor supposed it made as good a hiding place as any as he made his way over to it and raised the lid. At first, he thought there was nothing in the darkness within, but then he noticed the small, white object on the bottom.

Retrieving it, he grimaced as his fingers touched the rough bone. On closer inspection, he realized it must have been a finger bone, with many symbols carved into it. Rhenor doubted it would take much to snap it in half. He wrinkled his nose in distaste as he pocketed it.

"How many are left?" Elaya asked the druid, to which the bird raised one of his feet, holding up two toes.

"Great." Rhenor sighed. Whatever time they had left, it wasn't a lot. "Then let's keep going."

Thankfully the other two totems were relatively close to the first one they'd found, all close to the center of the city. One was in another barrel, this time filled with wheat, which had made it difficult to find the piece of bone, and the other was hidden beneath a random stone making up the street. If not for Kaz's ability to sense magic, Rhenor doubted they would ever find that one. The druid hadn't seemed to be able to find more than just the general area.

But now there was another problem—they were running out of time, and they had to get Kaz somewhere he could transform, so he could take the totems and throw them into the sea, preferably somewhere away from the city, so the skeletons wouldn't start murdering their way through Embertide.

If the druid could just ignore his damned rules for a moment and do this part himself, that would be perfect, but he didn't seem eager to help at all. And yelling at him wasn't a good idea—they'd already gotten enough strange looks.

Rhenor sighed, turning to Kaz. They needed to do this now. It might be too late already, and they couldn't waste more time. But as he looked at the dragon, his eyes instead focused on the person behind him, walking right toward them.

"Rhenor, Elaya, Kaz," the mayor addressed them as she walked up to them, her expression pleasant but somewhat guarded. "I've heard you've been behaving oddly. Following some bird around town? I would have ignored it, but since our paths have crossed...."

Rhenor quickly looked up at the rooftop the druid had been sitting on, only to find it completely bird-less. Of course.

"Nothing is going on, is there?" Adria asked, a concerned frown on her face. Rhenor would have expected her to ask that question sarcastically, already knowing that something was wrong, but instead, she seemed completely sincere.

His eyes found Elaya's, knowing she was probably the best person to lie their way out of this situation when a bell started to ring. Rhenor flinched, turning automatically to the sound, knowing it was coming from the other side of the city. He didn't need to be told what it meant. The people around them rushing away in a panic was more than enough.

Cursing under his breath, without thinking he grabbed Kaz's hand and pulled him toward an empty alley between two houses.

"You need to go. Now," Rhen said, pulling the bone fragments from his pocket. The dragon opened his mouth to protest, but then he simply nodded, shrugging off his tunic. Rhenor barely had enough time to take the tunic from him before there were wings sprouting from Kaz's back. Rhenor stared at them, not having expected it to be so fast as Kaz took the totems from him.

"I'll be right back," he promised, his eyes wide but utterly focused. "Be careful."

He leaned in, pressing his lips to Rhenor's, but before Rhen could even think about reacting, Kaz was flapping his wings, ascending at a shocking speed that left Rhenor gaping at him. As Kaz disappeared from sight within seconds, Rhenor swallowed. He hoped that the skeletons would notice the lures changing position fast enough to still make this work, though a part of him hated the thought of them chasing after Kaz, even if he was safe from them in the sky.

"Why aren't they raising the wall?" Rhenor heard the mayor say, her voice confused rather than alarmed. Whatever magical defense they usually used here must have been powerful enough that nothing had posed a threat until now.

"It can't be done," Elaya replied as Rhenor went to join them, throwing Kaz's tunic over his shoulder and taking his bow in hand. "There is no energy for it. It was used to raise the dead who are currently attacking the city."

"The dead?!" Adria replied, finally both sounding and looking alarmed, her voice echoing through the now-empty street. "How do you know all of this?"

Rhenor was about to cut in, but then Adria shook her head, a scowl settling on her face. "Nevermind. You will explain later. We need to protect the city."

And with that she started running down the street, seemingly completely unarmed, her boots thudding against the cobbled street. Rhenor gave a wide-eyed look to Elaya. He'd not been expecting this, but it seemed they would have to once again run into danger. He was hoping Adria could control magic, at least, but they still couldn't leave her to face the undead horde herself, even if it should hopefully soon be turning its attention away from Embertide.

And so they chased after her without a word between them, running through the empty streets, heading out of the city. They didn't have to run for long before hearing screams, though.

Gritting his teeth, Rhenor grabbed an arrow, sprinting even faster. He knew he couldn't have a lot of energy left, not after the run over here not thirty minutes ago, but at the moment he couldn't feel any exhaustion, any soreness, fueled purely by his goal of stopping those skeletons from killing people.

And he didn't have to run much longer to find the undead. They were still at least ten houses away from the edge of the city, but the skeletons were everywhere. Limping and creeping toward houses and anyone who hadn't managed to hide, the horrible creaking of bones somehow even more chilling here than in the catacombs.

Adria was already right in front of them, her arms spread out as all around her, the stones making up the street were lifting themselves into the air before shooting at the skeletons fast. Rhenor watched, his eyebrows raised as one of the stones took the head off one of the skeletons, the body falling to the ground and the skull, its eye sockets still burning red, opening and closing its jaw, moving and rolling around.

But the skeletons kept coming, unbothered by the stones pelting them and ripping them apart, seemingly only concerned with getting to Adria. And Rhenor had no idea how long the mayor could keep this up.

He didn't need to look to know that behind him Elaya was attempting something similar, the small tremor in the ground being more than indication enough. Instead, he nocked the arrow he'd been holding and drew his bow. He aimed at the closest skeleton, stilling his breath despite his burning need to pant after the run over here, focusing on its throat, and let the arrow fly. Immediately, the skeleton's head flew off to the side, the rest of it falling to the ground.

He grinned grimly, pleased that at least this seemed to work. In comparison to Adria or Elaya, his arrows would do little damage, but it was the best he could do, and so he continued shooting, sometimes missing and hitting the skeleton's head instead, but always striking his target.

Somewhere, from the nearby streets, he could hear sounds of fighting as well, with the clatter of bones hitting the ground, but he couldn't see who was doing it. He hoped it was whoever was supposed to make that magic wall to defend the city. They certainly could use more magic users' help here.

Just as he thought they were driving the skeletons off, he realized something terrible as his hand grasped at his quiver. He was out of arrows. His gaze immediately shot to where the arrows he'd used were scattered among the bones on the cobbled street. He could rush for them, try to collect them, but there were ten more skeletons heading their way, ready to tear him apart. Or whatever it was they wanted to do. Rhenor didn't want to imagine it.

He threw a look first at Elaya and then Adria, noticing the way their hands were shaking. Adria seemed to be holding up better than Elaya, but the rocks she was throwing at the undead were now less than half the number then at the start. It was clear they were both getting tired. And now he couldn't help them.

Rhenor stood there, watching as the remaining skeletons went down one after the other, yet they inched closer. Reading his bow to at least hit them with it if they got close enough, Rhen tried to ignore the way his heart was wildly beating in his chest and his hands were slick with sweat.

The undead were only a few feet away when the last three fell apart, their horrible creaking continuing only from them moving their jaws. At least thirty skulls were lying in the street, all of them trying to roll around and bite at anything close to them, their empty gazes trained on the three of them.

Rhenor let out a breath, wiping his forehead. Elaya leaned forward, her hands resting on her knees as she breathed in and out deeply. She didn't look like she'd fall unconscious from exhaustion, but she did seem like any more magic use might be enough to do it. Adria meanwhile closed the distance between her and the skeletons, stomping on their skulls. Rhenor's eyes widened at that, not expecting her to do that, especially not with such fury in her expression, but he couldn't pretend like the crunch the skulls produced wasn't satisfying.

He almost considered joining her, intent on gathering his arrows, but that thought left his mind immediately when he heard distant creaking from behind them.

He whirled around, freezing when he saw the scene in front of him. At least twenty more skeletons were heading toward them. Rhenor had no idea where they'd come from, but he knew they couldn't fight them. But he wasn't sure they could run either, not with Elaya as tired as she looked.

Rushing to the fallen skeletons, he quickly gathered as many arrows as he could manage, kicking a few skulls out of the way in the process. But he could only find so many, and he could feel the undead closing in with every second.

"We need to hide," Adria said firmly, her voice steady and resolute. "We need to—"

She paused as a dark shadow passed over the ground, making Rhenor stop in his tracks as well and spring up, looking toward the sky only to see a man with a pair of long wings.

Rhenor's relief at seeing Kaz quickly fizzled out however when he saw the dragon land behind the group of skeletons. Rhenor wanted to yell at him to fly away, to get to safety, but he couldn't produce a sound as he watched the skeletons turn their attention to Kaz who was stretching his arms in front of him.

"Kaz!" Rhenor finally managed to cry as flames shot out from the dragon's hands, spreading to every single skeleton, and consuming them in a massive fireball. Rhenor almost jumped back at the intensity and heat he could feel even though he was ten feet away. For a moment, he could barely manage to squint enough to see shadows in the fire, disintegrating in front of his eyes as the skeletons burned to ash.

But as the flames slowly disappeared, Rhenor was met with a sight even worse than the skeletons had been. Kaz collapsed, hitting the ground, dead to the world.