by Max Jager
Meanwhile the other three were facing the remaining four skeletons. Mendelen closely watched the positioning of the two swordsmen, waiting for them to leave themselves open to attack like the first one had done. But they stayed behind the two bone wielders, using the lesser equipped skeletons as cover. Mendelen knew their plan, they were going to wait for the humans to attack the bone wielders and move in while the humans were distracted. If the swordsmen attacked while the humans were in the middle of fighting the bone wielders, the humans would have no time to react and dodge the swords. Mendelen also knew that they were still outnumbered and under equipped, which meant the skeleton's could force a fight by making bone wielders attack them. If they happened they would have no choice but to fight back, leaving them open to the swordsmen. It was a bad situation to be in.
Zanath waited for instructions, he had his own ideas but Mendelen seemed to be leading the group, and it was always best if only one person was calling the shots and everyone followed along. Less chance for mistakes that way. And Mendelen had proven that he knew how to tactically lead the group.
"Stand your ground, stay close. When they attack us, dodge and let the person next to you counter attack. Those who are counter attacking, knock the bone wielders back. But push the sword wielders closer to the rest of us. Play it defensive." Mendelen called out. He hoped this plan would work, but knew it wouldn't if the skeletons all attacked at the same time.
Kaden, on the other hand, was being Kaden. He saw the same bad situation Mendelen did, he had also figured out the skeleton's strategy and knowing that, he ignored Mendelen's order. He did not stay close, he grabbed his knife and ran straight at them. Four on one, against their swords, when he had little to no combat experience.
"Kaden! Defensive! What are you thinking, get back!" Mendelen called out. But Kaden was not listening.
The bone wielding skeletons raised their bone-clubs and prepared to strike Kaden as he got close. But at the last second he dove to the side, narrowly dodging their attacks. But that was exactly what the skeletons wanted, as soon as he dove, as soon as his feet left the ground, the skeletons knew he could not dodge again until his feet were back on the ground at the end of his dive. The swordsmen stepped forward and both slashed their swords at Kaden, they both stood in front of him one slashing from left to right, the other swinging from right to left at the same time.
Kaden could not dodge this one, like his previous one on one fight with the goblin in his first day here, the range of the skeletons' swords outreached his own, making his aggressive rush leave him wide open. But, as if he had weeks of training since his goblin fight, he swung the duffel bag he had on his shoulder at the skeletons, using the extended reach of the bag to strike and knock both of them onto their backs before their swords could reach him. Two of the skeletons were down, this was a huge advantage. However Kaden would not be able to take it. As soon as Kaden's feet touched the ground, one of the two bone-wielding skeletons slammed its bone-club into Kaden's side, making Kaden shout out in pain and stumble back. The other skeleton saw Kaden stumble and tackled him while he was off balance, pinning him to the ground.
Mendelen saw Kaden injured and pinned down with the other bone-wielding skeleton advancing on him, then he looked at the two swordsmen that were knocked to the ground. They were the biggest threat, and if they weren't taken out quick they could kill everyone here. But Kaden was in danger… He had to make a decision. He turned and ran for the two knocked-over skeletons "Zanath, cover Kaden!" he called out. As he ran towards the knocked-over skeletons the first one he approached was almost standing up, it quickly tried to slash its sword at Mendelen. Mendelen was swift, he blocked the sword with his makeshift club and grabbed the skeleton's wrist with his other hand. In one swift movement, he lifted his leg and slammed it down on the skeleton's elbow, snapping its arm bone right out of the elbow socket.
Mendelen pulled the skeleton's detached arm and the sword it was still gripping away from the creature. Moving skillfully, he flowed his next movement, slamming his makeshift club into the skeleton's other shoulder to break that shoulder, then spinning around just in time to block the other skeleton's sword with the first skeleton's arm.
The skeleton on top of Kaden raised its bone-club and swung it down at Kaden, whom threw his arms up infront of his face. With a shout of pain Kaden blocked the attack, at the cost of fracturing his left arm. The skeleton raised its bone to strike again but was tackled and knocked off Kaden by Zanath. Zanath pinned the skeleton down to the ground, but then the other bone wielding skeleton rushed up behind Zanath to try and push him off its ally. But right before it reached Zanath it was struck by a pile of bones and knocked to the ground. Zanath glanced up to see where the bones came from and saw Estellese standing a few feet away.
Estellese had shattered both arms and legs of the skeleton she had pinned into pieces, and once she was finished with it she threw it's remains at the skeleton attacking Zanath. Her broken club, having snapped from the sheer brutality of her attacks, laid on the ground behind her and the bone the skeleton had been using before was now in her hands as she rushed in to rejoin the fight.
Zanath had no blunt weapons to hit the skeleton he was pinning with. The skeleton swung its bone for his head but he leaned back to evade getting hit, then grabbed the skeleton's wrists to restrain the monster. He was struggling with it, fighting to stop it from thrashing out of his grasp.
Kaden was quickly back on his feet, sore but otherwise okay. He rushed to Zanath's aid and slammed his foot down on the skeleton's arm, forcing it to bend in such a way that the bone snapped, giving Zanath the edge he needed to pin the skeleton's other arm. With the skeleton's other arm pinned and bent backwards, Kaden stomped his foot down on that arm too and snapped it like the other.
Meanwhile, with the swordsmen, right after Mendelen blocked his second skeleton's sword with the first skeleton's sword-wielding arm, he threw a kick for the second skeleton's ribs, making it stumble backwards and preventing it from attacking again right away. Right as he put his foot back down, after his kick, the skeleton he had pulled the arm off of grabbed his ankle with its other hand and yanked it, pulling Mendelen off his feet and onto his butt.
The stumbling skeleton regained its bearings and rushed at Mendelen while he was down, sword at the ready to stab the man. But before it could reach him a blur of pink rushed out in front of Mendelen. It was Estellese, of course, the only pink thing in the cave was her hair. Estellese rushed out at the skeleton, charging it head-on despite seeing that it had a sword and she just had a bone. Mendelen noted that she was best suited for bringing these things down. Out of everyone here, her fighting style was the most blunt and brutal, excelling in grappling, exactly what was needed for smashing bony skeletons.
As Estellese neared the skeleton the creature slashed its sword for her waist. But as quick as she was she used the bone to parry the sword, blocking the blade and pushing it away with the sturdy bone. Rusty blades had little effect on the special skeleton bones, other than the big crack it left in the side of it. With her free hand she grabbed the skeleton's neck and tackled it to the ground, slamming it back into the floor as they fell and landing ontop of it as she had done to the other. She didn't bother going for the head this time, her grip shifted straight to its sword wielding arm. They hadn't been on the ground for more than a second before she was grabbing the arm, bending it backwards at the elbow, and then kicking the back of the elbow hard to snap the bones.
Mendelen knew that that skeleton was as good as dead now that Estellese got her hands on it. He turned his attention to the others, one skeleton that was pinned and being taken out by Kaden and Zanath, and the other one that Estellese had knocked over, whom was back on its feet now and moving in on Zanath and Kaden.
It was just a bone wielder, nothing too threatening. There was something off about these skeletons though, and it bothered Mendelen. The goblins, dragon, Minotaur, and even the werewolves seemed almost like animals, real animal
s. They seemed alive, and seemed to be fighting for their land and survival. These skeletons... They were different. They were fighting just to fight, they were charging straight in with little to no regard for their own safety, they were moving in very predictable patterns, they didn't seem alive like the other creatures. Maybe it was because they were skeletons, but something about it just seemed off.
It didn't matter now though, all that mattered right now was getting out of here alive. He pulled the detached skeleton arm off the sword it was still tightly gripping and trying to swing at him, then tossed the arm aside and took the sword into his free hand. With that, he rushed at the last skeleton standing. He liked the dual-wielding style, even if his weapons were mismatched being able to block and attack at the same time was useful. Especially against unskilled skeletons.
As the last standing skeleton moved in on Zanath and Kaden, who were both too busy breaking their pinned skeleton to notice this one, Mendelen rushed in to take it out. The skeleton spotted Mendelen and stepped back, swinging its bone at Mendelen's head. But Mendelen blocked the swing with his newly obtained sword, using the sword to block since it wouldn't do much damage to bone, then with his other hand he slammed his makeshift club into its shoulder so hard that both the skeleton's shoulder and the club broke. Then, Mendelen followed up that attack with a spinning kick, flowing from the way he pivoted his body to swing his club, to swinging his lower body along with his upper body for the kick. Knocking the creature a few feet away. He watched as it fell onto its back and began rushing and stumbling to get up again.
Kaden rushed past Mendelen in an attempt to tackle the skeleton, but as he got close it swung its bone-club at him, forcing Kaden to jump back and avoid getting hit. Mendelen saw the opening Kaden had gotten him though, while the skeleton was busy swinging at Kaden Mendelen came up beside it and slammed the blunt hilt of his sword into its shoulder. The bone of the skeleton's shoulder cracked, then Mendelen grabbed it by the back of the neck and slammed it face-first into the ground.
Kaden was on top of the skeleton in a flash once it fell, pinning it to the ground, then Mendelen grabbed it's good arm and twisted it back, then kicked it hard to snap its arm. As he did that Kaden did the same to the other arm, and Zanath joined them to snap the skeleton's legs.
With the last of the skeletons down, the three guys stood up and glanced over at Estellese who had already finished off her skeleton and was brushing the dirt off her clothes.
"You guys done?" Estellese asked as she picked up the sword that the skeleton she had taken out had been using.
"Yeah." Mendelen answered. He glanced down at the sword in his hand, then back up at Estellese and her newly obtained sword. Then he looked at Kaden and Zanath, weaponless aside from a few kitchen knives. Zanath and Kaden were the weak links in the group right now, they weren't bad, but they were not on the same skill level as Mendelen and Estellese. Mendelen knew that he and Estellese could handle themselves with or without weapons. But him and Estellese were probably the only ones who would know how to use a sword correctly. So... Mendelen pondered, give the swords to the people who can use them the best to strengthen their best fighters and get the most use out of the swords? Or give the swords to the weakest links, to keep them safer at the cost of not getting the full benefit out of having a sword.
"Estellese, I think we should give the swords to Kaden and Zanath. We can fight with the bones, better to keep the less experienced fighters safe" Mendelen stated, choosing the more defensive option. In his mind keeping the weakest links safe was more important than giving their team a stronger attacking force, the best offense is a good defense in his mind.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Estellese replied.
"Are you kidding?" Kaden countered. "As much as I'd love the sword, you guys will put it to better use. We need a strong offense, if you guys have them we can chop down any enemies we face before they attack us."
"No, you can't guarantee that we will be able to kill everything before it reaches you guys. Defense is better, keeping everyone safe is more important" Mendelen stated.
"You can't guarantee that having a defense will keep you safe either. Every defense can be pierced. But if your opponent is dead they ain't piercing anything. Kill your opponent before they get a chance to attack you, that's the best defense." Kaden countered.
"The skeletons are dead, and I am pretty sure they could pierce things" Zanath spoke up in a joking tone. "Either way, Mendelen is pretty much our leader, let's just do as he says. He hasn't lead us wrong yet."
Kaden hesitated a little, "Fine." He relented. And with that Mendelen and Estellese passed their new swords to Kaden and Zanath. "Thank you." Kaden said.
"Yes, thanks everyone." Zanath added. He took his sword and walked over to where the door used to be and started quietly looking around.
"So how do we get out of here?" Kaden asked. "The wall shut behind us."
"That one, I do not know. We'll have to look around for a solution." Mendelen replied.
"Found it." Zanath said simply as he crouched down a few feet away from where the door had been. He started messing with something on the floor and after a moment there was a quiet click and the wall slid open to reveal the door again.
"Pressure plate." Zanath stated. "We must have stepped on it and triggered the trap on the way in. Good thing we were all close together or that could have split us up. Which would not have ended well for the ones trapped in the room."
"Good thinking Zanath." Mendelen replied. "Alright, everyone out of the room, we are going to hit the room with the water next to find out what is in it."
"We are staying in the rigged and trap filled cave?" Estellese asked
Mendelen nodded "Traps aren't here for no reason. And we got two swords out of it so who knows what else we can find here."
"If I had to guess..." Kaden started. "And if this was a normal game I would say this is a dungeon. The entrance was a really odd door, the cave is carved out to be like rooms, the rooms are set up in a dungeon-like design not a practical one, monsters and traps in the rooms for seemingly no reason. It all screams out dungeon, or it would if this was a normal game but I do not know for sure, this game doesn't seem to be normal."
"If it is a dungeon then all the Better for us, dungeons mean loot." Mendelen replied. "Now, follow me and stay in formation. Me and Estellese in the front, Kaden and Zanath in the back. Just like the skeletons did, me and Estell will parry or block the first attack and will lock down the enemy, then you two sweep in for the kill while the enemy is facing us. Stay close, and let's go." And with that him and Estell lead the way out of the room, with Kaden and Zanath right behind them.
Next chapter: Dungeon Diving.
Chapter 8: Dungeon Diving
(Editors note: Sorry its really late! Neither of my stories have been abandoned, just have a lot of real life issues to deal with right now, including work and college. Plus this chapter was really long.)
~~Chapter 8: Dungeon Diving ~~
Mendelen lead the way out of the trap room, with Estellese by his side and Kaden and Zanath following right behind them with the swords. They re-entered the crossroads room they had been in before, then turned and went east into the room that was half filled with water.
They walked into the room and cautiously looked around. When nothing happened, and they saw that there was nothing but the water in the room they relaxed their guard, but didn't lower their weapons.
"It's an empty room?" Mendelen mused. "I expected another trap or something."
"Why is there water in the room?" Estellese asked. "That is a bit odd, and out of place isn't it? Maybe there is a reason for it?"
"We don't know, it could just be random design. Or leftovers from a recent flood." Kaden said "but you are right, it could be there for a reason..."
"Underwater room..." Zanath murmured.
"What?" Kaden asked.
"There is a room down there. Behind the rock." Zanath said as he pointed out into the d
eep, back corner of the pool of water, on the right side. The water was dark everywhere except that corner, which was still dark but was ever so slightly brighter than the rest of the pool. "It's brighter in that corner, almost in the shape of an opening. Must be an opening to another room."
"How do you notice these things?" Estellese questioned him.
Zanath shrugged "I thought it was obvious..."
"No... A barely noticeable light in the back corner of deep water is not obvious... Not to normal people at least" Estellese stated. "Neither is the position of the sun while running away from a massive horde of goblins."
Zanath just shrugged again. "I don't see how people wouldn't notice it... But I'll take your word for it."
"So we're going for a swim then?" Mendelen asked, looking around at the others for their opinions. He saw Estellese and Zanath nod as they stepped closer to the water.
"Bad idea" Kaden stated abruptly. Making everyone stop and turn to him. "What if the water is poisoned or otherwise toxic? Or if there is something we can't see in the water? If we all jump in it would be the end of us." He stated. "Two people should go in and investigate the potential door. The other two wait here for a minute and watch over the two in the water. If they get through the door and don't come back, then it's probably safe to follow them. If something in the water goes after them, or they start struggling in the water, then it's probably not safe or poisoned." He explained.
