62 Fighting skeletons

Unlike a lich which retained their intelligence, skills and memories, skeletons are only driven by commands. So these things aren't capable of thinking of strategies. 

Sighing he focused on his opponents, he just hoped that he could finish the fight as fast as he can and find his companion soon. 

Two of the skeletons swordsmen had attacked. One was ahead of the other and was carrying an arming sword. 

Keeping his cool, Briar was able to parry its slashes. Since the skeleton's body weight was a lot less compared to living beings, Briar did not have trouble countering the attacks. 

He thrusted the pike and made sure that the weapon will be caught in between the pike and axe. With a little bit of force and with a changing hew, he disarmed his first opponent. 

With its weapon gone, the first skeleton tried to attack Briar with only its bony arms. But with a swift swing, the prince spilt the skull of the first skeleton. 

Then Briar proceeded with crashing his enemy's worn out armor and finally shattering its frames with a series of wrath hews.

The weight of the halberd in addition to the buff given by the weapon gave the flaxen haired prince the needed strength and prowess to destroy his undead opponent. 

The second skeleton with a long sword in hand attacked. 

While avoiding several arrows coming his way, Briar was able to disarm the second one with a powerful strike. 

He shattered both the rusty armor and the skeletal frame to pieces by delivering a combination of several wrath hews and swings. 

Briar noted that one of the hands had survived his onslaught. It had moved and clung to his ankle. 

As he tried to get rid of the bony hand, he happened to get a glimpse of the area behind him and noticed that he was near the end of the ledge. 

Gears turned in his head as an idea hit him. Grinning, Briar kicked the remaining bones off the edge. 

"Hopefully those things won't be able to put themselves together." He thought. 

While he had gotten rid of the first two, four enemies still remained. Dodging several arrows that were aimed at him, Briar got ready to deal with the others. 

The pair of skeleton swordsmen launched their attack simultaneously with the bowmen's arrow. 

Briar did not hesitate in swinging his halberd and shattering the one nearest him. He also managed to severed the hand and disarm the sword of the other one. 

Once the remaining swordsman was unarmed, Briar then grabbed it and used it as a shield. While doing so, he was also trying to evade the bowmen's attacks. 

Because his temporary shield was a skeleton, the arrows did nothing to it. Briar was somewhat safe in utilizing it as temporary shield. 

Since the bowmen had taken time in rearming the bows, Briar took the opportunity to fling the skeleton off the ledge and hurriedly close the gap between himself and the bowmen. 

He swung the halberd in an arc which had destroyed the corroding armor and shattered the frame of the nearest undead. 

Though the other one had already armed his bow, it wasn't able to fire its arrow on time.

Before it could make its move, the prince had swung his halberd again and crushed the remaining enemy into pieces. 

But even though Briar had already defeated the skeletons, he did not lower his guard down. His instinct kept telling him that danger still lurked within the vicinity. 

He was thankful that he remained on guard. The bones that remained had started to move and had flown towards the abyss. 

Briar was a bit baffled at the turn of events. But that bafflement was replaced with horror when a slight tremor had occurred. 

The mineral deposits above the ceiling rattled with the force and along with it dusts and small debris had fallen down. 

Then all of a sudden a huge bony hand had landed on the ledge. Gradually the rest of the frame followed. 

"It is a giant skeleton." Briar gasped out. 

He was already considerably exhausted dealing with the undead and skeletons. Now he had to deal with a gargantuan one. 

"There must be a necromancer here somewhere." He mussed as he evaded its attack. 

Its giant hand had tried to seize the prince. But with his agility he was able to dodge it. 

As Briar navigated his way to the narrow portions to avoid the massive hand, a tiny creature fell and landed on him which sent him on the ground. 

Coincidentally he managed to avoid swipe from his enemy. If he had been standing or running, he might have gotten caught or hit. He was thankful for the creature, whatever it was. 

He really didn't know what it was since the creature was blocking his vision at first. It literally clung to his face. 

He gingerly took the creature off and was slightly taken aback when he saw its visage. 

"Atropa?" He asked while eyeing the doll like Atropa whom he had placed on his palm. She fits rather perfectly there. 

The doll looked at him a bit puzzled at first. But as soon as she recognized him, her hazel brown eyes grew big and a bit teary with mirth. She smiled, curtsied and winked. 

At her gesture, the prince smiled. "Cute…" was the word that popped inside his head. But that smile got wiped off his face when he remembered that he has an enemy to deal with. 

The bony hand was trying to reach the area where he had fallen earlier. But since it was a bit narrow, it could not fit inside the passage. 

He picked the doll and gently placed her on his pocket. "Hold tight". He told her. 

The flaxen haired ran towards the area for safety. The giant skeleton tried to go after him. But due to its size, it could not fit on the small passageway where Briar hid. 

Briar was a bit relieved that he was able to avoid his enemy. The only problem that he had encountered was… 

"this is a dead end." He muttered as he tried to find a way to escape.