12 Skeleton Crew

The momentum behind Cody's first swing smashed the front line of skeletons, scattering their bones. The advantage was short lived, like previous forays into the room, the skeletons recovered so quickly it seemed like they anticipated his moves. He found himself flailing to block attacks on opposite sides of his body, his sword barely managing to block and parry incoming blows.

Cody was stronger than the skeletons, and able to smash and shatter them one-on-one, but their sheer numbers allowed them to attack from multiple angles at once. He willed himself to move faster, and was surprised when his body responded to the request. He knew he was moving the big sword faster than should be physically possible, it felt as light as air in his hands as he swung it from one side to the other.

Feeling a fiery red gaze upon him, Cody managed a quick glance at the Lich. It was standing in front of the throne, its hands held aloft. The pose reminded Cody of a conductor standing in front of an orchestra. The Lich's bony hands gestured one way then another, coordinating the movement of his hands with the strike or block of the skeletal guards. {Not a conductor, it's a puppeteer!}

Whenever Cody would try to strike a blow on one side, he'd be immediately attacked on the other. Cody found himself at a desperate stalemate, unable to advance on the Lich at all. It became almost a routine: blocking one blade, whipping the blade around to block another, but never able to advance.

{I have to make space!}

Cody threw his weight into his next blow, the heavy sword smashing through several skeletons in a wide arc, and quickly retreated back to the hallway outside the chamber.

Just like before, the skeletons formed neat ranks, but didn't breach the threshold of the room.

Cody stood just outside the room, breathing heavily while leaning on his sword. He used this time to take a drink from the last water bottle in his pack.

{...34, 35, 36, 37, 38 left. I probably destroyed maybe a dozen at this point. I can do this a few more times and I should be able to get to the Lich himself.}

Cody slumped down against the wall to rest for a moment before trying again. He felt lucky that he hadn't been injured this time, everything felt like it was going according to plan. {This is a dungeon, like in a video game. That's the end boss. Dungeons take a party to clear, and I am doing it solo. Should I be able to? Am I stronger than other Enabled or is everyone this overpowered?}

He had shut his eyes for only a few moments when an ominous crumbling, cracking noise pulled his attention back towards the Lich's chamber.

Through the open doorway, he could see the bones of all the broken and destroyed skeletons pulling together into twisting mounds of broken skeletal fragments.

{Now what?}

The bone piles continued growing as popping, clacking noises filled the catacomb. Dozens of rib cages and spines, arms and legs, and skulls appeared in no particular order all over the monstrous form.

Cody watched as what was just a moment ago three dozen skeletal guards combined into two enormous creatures rose to their feet with dull, deep roars that shook the catacombs.

"Oh Shit!"

Cody felt an icy lump forming in his stomach and a strong wave of anxiety started washing over him. {I won't be able to fall back again. The longer this goes the stronger they get. If they rebuild and reform every time I fall back, I'll never overcome this. I could die in here.}

The reality of the dangers began to sharpen in his mind, like fog burning off of a Pacific Northwest morning. Until now, none of this had seemed real. It was like a glorious dream had whisked him away on an adventure, and Cody felt that any moment he was going to wake up back in the basement of the Henry Building, having slipped in a puddle and hit his head. Even as he thought of waking up, deep down Cody knew that he wasn't being honest. {This is happening. It is time to adapt or go extinct.}

One protein bar and half a bottle of water was all that remained of Cody's supplies. There was no more running away and regrouping. With grim resignation, Cody consumed what remained of his meager rations. His mind racing for a solution to the macabre problem.

{The Lich is the puppeteer. If I take down the lich, maybe the minions die, too. Can I get to him without getting wrecked by those skeletons?}

Rush the boss. The plan was simple, he would run in and vault over the skeletons, try to reach the Lich and end this as soon as possible.

Cody stood at the entrance of the throne room, eyes darting from one enormous skeletal construct to the other as they towered like dreadful, macabre statues. With one last deep breath, Cody hurtled into the room.

As soon as he crossed the threshold, a clattering, clicking sound of bones erupted from the two constructs as they whirred into motion. Their arms swinging in an attempt to rake their foe with boney fingers. Cody charged at the nearest one and put all of his strength into a leap in an attempt to jump over its swinging arm. As soon as his feet left the ground he felt his stomach flip and then lurch, a sense of weightlessness propelled his body up and away from the floor, and he was rocketing towards the ceiling… or maybe more aptly falling. With a sickening thud, Cody's head and shoulders crashed into the ceiling of the throne room, momentarily stunned. The furious roar of the skeletal constructs below jolted him back to his senses and he scrambled to right himself, but in this case, right was wrong. The dungeon had gone topsy-turvy. Cody was standing firmly on the ceiling staring up at the dungeon floor, where the skeletons and the Lich remained, returning his stare. From the fury and roaring of the skeletal constructs below, it didn't seem like it was any of their doing.

{What the hell did I do?}