They formed a circle.
Backs to one another.
Weapons raised.
Facing every direction.
Facing the forest.
Facing the dark.
And the dark…
Was walking toward them.
For one stretched heartbeat, nothing crossed into the firelight.
Only mist.
Only shadows.
Only the sound of bones learning how to move again.
Then;
CREEEEEK!
From above.
A shape tore itself free from the branches.
A skeleton dropped from the tree canopy, limbs spread wide, jaws open in a silent scream as gravity dragged it down toward them.
"Above!" Henry cried.
Thalia was already moving.
Her body turned before the word finished leaving his mouth.
Her fingers found the string.
Pulled.
Anchored.
Released.
TWEEEEEEK!
The arrow screamed upward.
Not forward.
Up.
It split the mist, cutting a silver line through darkness.
The skeleton fell;
and the arrow met it.
CRACK!
The tip drove straight through the underside of its skull and into the glowing core buried behind its ribs.
For a single suspended instant, the creature hung there in midair, impaled between falling and flying.
Then;
BOOOOOOM!
Yellow light erupted.
Bone shattered outward in every direction.
Fragments rained down around them, clattering against steel and earth like broken hail.
The pieces hit the ground lifeless.
But there was no time to breathe.
Because the forest answered.
Shapes emerged from behind the trees.
One.
Then three.
Then ten.
Some stepped into view, their hollow sockets burning faintly.
Others dropped from branches, landing in crouches like predators.
Then they ran.
They came from every direction.
Feet striking earth.
Spines twisting.
Claws reaching.
Hunting.
"Hold the circle!" Frauner commanded.
Thalia fired again.
TWEEEEEK!
An arrow punched through a skeleton's chest.
BOOM!
Another.
TWEEEEEK!
BOOM!
She moved without pause.
Without hesitation.
Without fear.
But they kept coming.
One broke through.
It sprinted straight at Mauris.
He stepped forward to meet it.
Not retreat.
Not evade.
Attack.
His spear drove forward.
SSSHHHHNK!
The tip pierced through bone and into the glowing heart.
For a split second, they stood face to face.
Dead and living.
Then;
BOOOOOOOM!
The skeleton exploded apart.
Bone fragments burst outward.
Mauris moved through them.
He leapt.
His body twisting in the air.
His left leg snapped outward;
WHAM!
His boot struck a large fragment mid-flight.
The piece shot away like a launched blade.
It spun through the air.
Spinning.
Spinning.
Spinning;
and struck the glowing chest of another sprinting skeleton.
BOOOOOOM!
That one exploded too.
Mauris landed in a crouch.
Balanced.
Controlled.
Unstoppable.
Behind him, Leah stepped forward.
Another skeleton lunged toward her.
Its claws reaching.
Its ribs twisting as it ran.
She moved to meet it.
Not backward.
Forward.
Her sword rose.
Then fell.
SSSSSSLING!
The blade carved down vertically.
The skeleton reacted.
Its ribs twisted.
Trying to shift.
Trying to evade.
Too late.
The sword pierced through bone.
Through the glowing core.
Through its spine.
For a moment, they stood connected.
Then;
BOOOOOOM!
The skeleton burst apart around her.
Fragments scattered past her shoulders.
Behind her back.
At her feet.
She ripped her blade free.
Turned.
Ready again.
Another rushed forward;
but Frauner was already moving.
He stepped into its path.
His sword spun in his hand.
His body turning with it.
Steel became light.
Movement became instinct.
The tip of his blade struck the glowing heart.
Precise.
Clean.
Final.
BOOOOOOM!
The skeleton shattered.
But Frauner didn't stop.
He was already moving.
He sprinted forward.
Through the explosion.
Through the storm of breaking bone.
His left hand held the sword low.
Facing the ground.
His right arm forward.
Cutting through the chaos.
Five skeletons ran toward him.
Five.
He did not slow.
His front foot struck the ground.
Then pivoted.
Ninety degrees.
His body turned.
His sword followed.
A perfect semicircle.
SSSHHHHRRRRAAAAAAA
The blade cut through all five glowing cores in a single sweeping motion.
For one impossible second;
Nothing happened.
Then,
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
All five exploded at once.
Bone fragments erupted into the air like a storm of knives.
Frauner dropped to one knee.
Balanced.
Controlled.
His blade finishing its arc.
He rose slowly.
Turning back toward his friends.
Behind him;
Bone fragments rained down.
The circle still held.
Mauris surged forward again.
His boot struck fragments midair.
His spear knocked others aside.
Each piece became a weapon.
Each collision became destruction.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Thalia never stopped firing.
Her arrows found glowing hearts.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Each release another death.
Each breath another victory.
But victory was fragile.
One skeleton broke through.
Too late.
It sprinted past him.
Toward Thalia.
She was facing the opposite direction.
Firing at another target.
The circle was breaking.
Frauner saw it happen.
Not all at once.
Not with noise.
But with distance.
Mauris had surged too far to the right, driving back two skeletons with violent, crushing precision.
Leah was locked in motion to the left, her blade rising and falling in silver arcs.
Thalia...
Thalia was alone.
Her back exposed.
Her bow raised toward another threat.
And behind her;
Death was running.
Frauner's heart stopped.
Not slowed.
Stopped.
The world didn't feel real anymore.
The fire vanished.
The mist vanished.
The battle vanished.
There was only that single skeleton.
And her.
It sprinted low, its spine bending like a hunting animal, claws reaching forward, jaws open in a silent scream.
Time stretched.
Frauner moved.
His body reacted before thought could exist.
His foot slammed into the earth.
He ran.
Every muscle in his body ignited.
His lungs burned.
His vision tunneled.
He didn't see the other skeletons.
Didn't hear the explosions.
Didn't feel the ground beneath his boots.
Only her.
Only the thing about to take her away.
No.
Not her.
Not Thalia.
Not again.
His hand tightened around his sword.
He pushed harder.
Faster.
The skeleton was closer.
Three steps away.
Two.
Frauner roared; sound torn from somewhere deep and human and terrified.
He swung.
The blade cut through the air with desperate force.
SSSSSHHHH!
The steel kissed bone.
Just barely.
The tip scraped across its ribs.
For one fragile, beautiful heartbeat, hope ignited.
Then;
CREEEEEEEEK!
The skeleton twisted.
Its entire ribcage shifted sideways.
Its spine rotated unnaturally.
Its torso bent where no living thing could bend.
The sword slid past.
Missing the glowing heart by inches.
Frauner felt it.
The failure.
Not in his hands.
In his chest.
The blade had touched it.
He had been there.
He had almost saved her.
Almost.
The skeleton didn't stop.
Didn't slow.
Didn't care.
It flowed around his strike like water around stone.
And kept running.
Frauner stumbled forward.
His balance breaking.
His body betraying him.
No.
No no no..
He reached out.
His fingers grasped nothing but air.
His heart pounded so hard it hurt.
Too slow.
I'm too slow.
The skeleton reached her.
Its arm rose.
Long.
Sharp.
Unforgiving.
Frauner saw her neck.
Fragile.
Unprotected.
He saw the claws.
He saw the distance between them.
An impossible distance.
His chest filled with something he had never felt before.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Helplessness.
"THALIA...!"
But the warning came too late.
The sharp claws of the sprinting skeleton moved towards Thalia's neck.