Chapter 37: Soulless Graveyard

Following the scream, the iron gate creaks open and allows Saiba and the others to enter. Lazaro mumbles from behind,

"H-Hey Saiba, I don't think this is a good idea..."

A little unsure as well, Saiba replies,

"I-It'll be fine..."

They slowly enter the graveyard as the silence becomes a low frightening hum.

Barely noticeable, gravestones surround them on either side. They look worn-down and they are covered in cobwebs and moss.

Saiba starts to quiver with fear as they trudge farther into the unknown. Uma takes a step which is followed by a loud cracking noise. Saiba looks at where the noise came from and identifies the silhouette of a broken bone under Uma's hoof. The bone then seems to sink into the ground, completely disappearing out of sight.

As it is swallowed by the ground, a new, sentient bone replaces it and grabs onto Uma's leg. It seems to be an arm bone. Three more arms spring out of the ground and grab the rest of Uma's limbs. Uma struggles, but the grip of the bony hands are too strong. He begins to be sucked into the ground along with the wagon, similar to the broken bone.

Saiba, Uma, and the wagon fall through the ground as Saiba lets out a loud scream. The gravity takes them under the dirt and into a pitch-black room. They hit the bottom with a strong impact that manages to wake Lily up. Unaware of the recent events, she shouts,

"Huh!? Wha-!? I'm up! What's happening!?"

She peeks out and notices the darkness before using her skill, [Luminosity]. Light appears from the tip of her weapon which allows her to see in front of her. At the same, she lets out a scream before hopping back into the wagon.

Saiba is still sitting on Uma, rocking back and forth in fear. Lily's hand pops out of the wagon and pulls Saiba inside. Saiba is taken by surprise and shouts again, before Lily quickly silences him by covering his mouth. Lily whispers,

"Shh!"

Saiba quickly stops making noise. Lily starts to whisper again while asking,

"Where are we!?"

Saiba shrugs and answers,

"I was gonna ask you the same thing..."

Lily says,

"I trusted you with getting us to Witheron safely! Now look where we are!"

Pouting, Saiba replies,

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have trusted me in the first place..."

Lily changes the subject and whispers,

"Now's not the time to be arguing! Why are there skeletons outside!?"

Getting scared, Saiba asks,

"S-S-Skeletons..?"

Lily nods her head and explains,

"Skeletons. The bony things that are all around right now."

Saiba shouts,

"What!?"

Once again, Lily covers Saiba mouth and says,

"Shh!"

Out of nowhere, an echoing voice interrupts them and announces,

"Welcome, foolish adventurers! You have been trapped by me, the Great Skeleton King! There is no escape for you now! Good luck surviving my hordes of skeleton servants!"

The voice cackles menacingly as it fades out. Saiba's eyes start to adapt to the darkness as he peeks out and is able to see a little better. Sure enough, a horde of skeletons do surround them. Lily says,

"Great Skeleton King? I've heard rumors about this guy. He lives in a dungeon below the Soulless Graveyard and traps people inside. Even though he says there's no escape, most of the people who've gone in have also gotten out completely fine."

Saiba mumbles,

"Soulless Graveyard? Oh yeah! That's what the sign said!"

Lily adds,

"Basically, I'm saying that we should probably get out of this completely unharmed."

Saiba gets whiny and says,

"That's no fun! I'm not scared anymore! I wanna find this Skeleton King guy! I wanna get stronger!"

Lily sighs and replies,

"This Skeleton King has gotten me a little interested too. We can go find out who he is, as long as we don't take too long. Got it?"

Saiba give her a thumbs up. Saiba hops out of the wagon with his sword and Lily follows. Lily shouts,

"Greater Luminosity!"

A ball of light materializes at the tip of her blade and shoots up above her. The ball illuminates the room and allows Saiba and Lily to see their surroundings.

Skeletons surround them on every side. Their numbers equal the population of an average village. Saiba leaps high into the air and shouts,

"Just you wait, Skeleton King! I'm coming for you!"