Once-living bones rattled to the floor, motionless again. Reynauld lowered his sword and exhaled. He looked back at his three companions: the highwayman that had accompanied him on the Old Road and the two that arrived in the other stagecoach.

The question burned Reynauld's mind. "Did the owner of the estate bring these unholy things to life?"

Only the crackling torch answered.

Reynauld stared at each person, praying that one of them could make sense of this for him. Arundel, the plague doctor, kept her emotions hidden behind her mask. Dismas wouldn't meet Reynauld's gaze. Only the vestal looked at him.

He stepped towards her, clinging to her attention. "Bordel, surely you think these things are abominations. Your priest would never –"

"We need to keep moving," Dismas interrupted. "I'd rather us find them than have them find us." He passed Reynauld, and Arundel followed without a word.

"Bordel?"

"He's right. We should go."

Reynauld squeezed his eyes shut. He let their footsteps get as far away as he dared before he sprinted after them.

"Your armor is going to let them all know we're here," Dismas remarked.

The armor did echo off the walls when Reynauld moved too quickly. He slowed his pace to match the others'. The walls, pillars, and labyrinthine corridors might have been something to see once. The years of misuse had not been kind to the tunnel network. The adventurers relied on the limited range of light from their torch.

Anything that lurked outside of the light could stay hidden behind a pillar and ambush them as they passed. No one knew if the living dead was smart enough to do that, but humans were supposed to be down here, too. The skeletons had one purpose. Their existence revolved around it. Humans, though, had their wits. Humans could strategize and attack when it was least expected.

Reynauld's fears were especially magnified when the others would stop to investigate something. Arundel especially liked to take her time with any books they came across. She even stopped to experiment with an alchemy table that was surprisingly well-stocked. He didn't try to imagine what concoctions Arundel attempted to make.

Although Reynauld was impatient with the others, the possibility of loot excited him. Sometimes the party would find abandoned packs, and he had to see what was inside. If he liked the prize enough, he'd keep it. After all, if the heiress didn't know what was down here, she wouldn't miss the loot he'd gathered for himself.

The ruins were sprawling, but the adventurers had managed to map a chunk of the twisting corridors and rooms. Aside from the couple of skeletons they had met when they arrived, there had been no other signs of life. They came up to another room and readied themselves to enter.

"Alright, I think this should be the last place we check. Lucy will want to see what we've come up with so far, and we didn't bring enough supplies for a longer venture," Reynauld stated.

"I can agree with that," Dismas said. Arundel and Bordel didn't have any objections, so Reynauld pushed the door open.

The hinges squeaked in protest, and three figures greeted them. Two were skeletons: one was better equipped than the other. The third was a woman donning a red and black dress. The upper half of her face was covered by a gray helmet shaped like a skull. The helmet formed a halo over her head, making her appear taller than what she was.

Both skeletons charged forward. One slashed its sword at Arundel, and the other clubbed Dismas. Arundel grunted in pain and placed a hand on the wound. Dismas rebounded with a knife lunge at his attacker.

The masked woman raised her staff and said a few incomprehensible words. The adventurers all looked at each other in confusion. A black hole appeared in front of Bordel. A tentacle emerged from it and wrapped around her. She yelled in surprise as the tentacle yanked her towards the skeletons.

Thinking fast, Reynauld struck the same skeleton that Dismas had attacked. The bones collapsed to the floor in a pile. Arundel hurled a brown ball at the masked woman. The ball exploded in a burst of green smoke, leaving her coughing.

Vestal clutched the torch, mumbled a quick prayer, and then hoisted it above her head. The torch gave a brilliant flash of light, and the remaining skeleton flinched. It then remained motionless, staring at the torch. Dismas and Reynauld used the opportunity to crumple the skeleton.

The masked woman stood her ground. She pointed her staff at Reynauld and mumbled some more words. Black energy swirled around him before closing in. Reynauld lifted his sword in defense, but the energy disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. He felt a sense of unease. Just what were they dealing with?

As he lowered his sword, Arundel launched something else at the woman. This exploded into a sparkling flash of light, forcing the woman to cover her eyes. Dismas rushed forward, driving his dagger into the woman. Reynauld followed suit, slashing his sword down onto her. The woman fell and remained motionless.

Now with the time to do so, the group scanned the room. Cobwebs draped from the ceiling and a pile of rubble sat in one corner. There were two doors larger than any of them, but there didn't look to be any handles on them.

"Nothing here," Dismas said. "Let's get back to the hamlet."

o o o

The walk back was uneventful. The moon illuminated a cloudless sky. It seemed eerily quiet as the adventurers walked back into town.

"Lucy's at the inn, right?" Arundel asked.

Reynauld answered, "That's where she should be, yes." He stayed back as the other three continued. "Wait. Bordel? Can I talk to you?"

She stopped. "You two go. We'll catch up in a minute."

As Dismas and Arundel walked out of earshot, Reynauld removed his helmet. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Bordel motioned toward the town's statue. "Sure, let's have a seat." She lowered her hood and leaned back against the statue with a sigh. When Reynauld didn't speak, she said, "That was something, wasn't it? Skeletons that can walk and attack, cultists bringing more to –"

"How are you dealing with all this? Those things are unholy atrocities! And there are cultists creating more! This is the work of demons!" Reynauld bent forward and placed his hands on the back of his head. "This is sacrilege! We shouldn't be here!"

Instinctively, Bordel placed a hand on Reynauld's back. If he felt it there through his armor, he didn't react. Her voice was soft. "Why are you here, Reynauld? Yes, Lucy is paying us, but that's not the only reason you agreed to this."

Still bent, Reynauld replied, "I have to do something right."

"Surely you had heard about the condition of the estate."

"I didn't expect all of this."

Bordel chuckled, "No, I don't think any of us did. I doubt Lucy knew the results of her ancestor's endeavors, or how bad things have gotten since his death."

"This place is too far gone. There's corruption everywhere, and we'll only fall to it."

"That's where you're wrong, Reynauld."

He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She stood, took a few steps forward, and folded her arms over her chest. "I believe we're here to bring the Light to this evil land. We will not fail so long as we serve the Light."

"I'm not so sure that the Light and I see completely eye-to-eye these days."

"I don't think it's happy with me either right now. Getting kicked out of the convent isn't really a way to earn the Light's favor, is it?"

At this, Reynauld dropped his hands to his sides and looked directly at Bordel. "You got kicked out –"

"That's a story for another time." Bordel turned around to face Reynauld. "But I'm trying to do something right, too. Maybe this is how I can do it."

Reynauld lifted himself off the ground. "Let's go tell Lucy about our venture."

"Dismas and Arundel probably told her already."

Reynauld held out his hand for Bordel to take. "The barkeeper reopened for our arrival. Dismas and Arundel might not have made it past the bar."

Sorry about the wait for this one! Kingdom Hearts 3 came out, and that's all I focused on for a while. Thanks so much for reading!