A Walk In The Forrest

After the skeleton had taken all the valuables he could cary, he left the cavern with the goblin. Wearing both suits of leather armor the two men had, he was quite the imposing figure. He did not say another word to the goblin as they walked to the surface, only stopping to let her catch her breath. They had been in the deepest cavern of Vhudols dungeon, and it would take several hours to reach the surface. Because he does not get tired, the skeleton wanted to run the whole way, but was slowed by his goblin companion. Before long, they reached the surface. Under the night sky, the skeleton stood in awe. He had been created under ground, and had never seen the the above world. After seeing the beautiful night sky, he understood why his master had gone to such lengths to defeat mankind; left alone in their greed, they would steal the very stars from the sky. From beside him, the goblin walked up, drinking in the cool night air.

"Uh.. Mr. Skeleton?" The goblin asked in a tentative voice. "You said you were made to protect monsterkind, right?"

The skeleton looked down on to the goblins smaller form, and nodded.

"Then please, please save my village!"

As the pair walked, the goblin talked, explaining what had happened after Vhudol was slain. His influence and power were the only thing keeping the human army out of the Kurst Forest. Other than the odd adventuring party, the peaceful monster tribes were able to keep their distance. However, after Vhudol's death, the humans began to push into the forest, killing any monsters they found and establishing settlements. Because of this, the majority of the monsters hunting/farming grounds were taken away. They were now forced to scrape by, often attacking the human villages to raid food. She explained how she was a scout for her village, and was caught by humans while searching for new hunting grounds..

"We never take more than we need, often less, and we avoid killing as much as we can. But the humans are the real monsters." The goblin spat on the ground, her face hard. "Our village was left mostly alone because of our guardian, but an adventuring party has come to slay her. I hope we can get back to my village before they get there."

"Guard...ian?" The skeleton still struggled to speak, but it was becoming less difficult the more he spoke.

"Our village is guarded by an Lesser Wyvern, who we pay tribute to for protection."

The skeleton nodded, not knowing what a Wyvern was, but not wanting to appear ignorant.

"It's a strong creature, but it's too young to learn Arts, it is going to be at a disadvantage against adventurers" Despite the darkness, the goblins eyes flashed with worry.

"Arts?" The skeleton had never heard of such a thing.

"The Crystallization of your Soul to use powers." She said this like it was the simplest thing in the world. The skeleton wordlessly nodded once more. Suddenly, the goblins ears perked up, and her face was full of despair.

"I hear fighting! We have to hurry!"

The two ran, until even the skeleton could hear combat. They emerged from a grove of trees, where they were met with a vision of hell on earth; bodies littered the ground, both man and goblin. Above, a large scaly creature breathed fire onto a group of humans, which was being blocked by a invisible force. All around them man and monster fought to the death, with man more often than not coming out on top. The female goblin began to run out to join the fray, but the skeleton held her back.

"Blood...Bath." He croaked, and pointed out to the Wyvern. The goblin looked closer, and saw that one of its legs were gone, and had multiple fatal wounds. They could both clearly see that even if it won the battle, it would not survive long after. A lone human stepped out from the huddled group, holding their massive sword aloft. With a yell the duo could hear from across the battlefield, she jumped impossibly high, and swung at the neck of the Wyvern. All was silent as the beast fell from the sky, and the humans began to cheer. While the humans were distracted, the remaining surviving goblins fled into the forest, their home destroyed. The skeleton could feel the same feeling of warmth from inside, and began to crawl towards the remaining humans. The goblin began to follow him, but he held a bony hand out.

"Go with…them." He pointed at the fleeing goblins, than continued, "Do not… want to bring you. Dan...gerous." He pointed again, the message clear. Without waiting for a response, the skeleton began to crawl forward again, and reached a group of bushes. There he waited hours until the majority of the humans left, and moved closer.

"Sarah, I got to say, that was some fuckin MIGHTY fine swordsmanship you showed today!" A gruff looking man spoke to the woman which had wielded the giant sword, the stench of alcohol heavy on him. "You think you could handle my sword that well, eh?" With those sly words, the man leaned in for a kiss, only to be punched and knocked over. The other two men around the campfire laughed heartily. Only the woman looked unhappy.

"I don't think you should get so drunk, Oftin. We are still in monster territory, and the main force went back to our village with the wounded. We are alone here, and I will not have any of my men letting their guard down!" She huffed, obviously annoyed about her current predicament but unable to do anything about it. One of the men across from her chuckled, and passed her a bowl of stew. He was dressed in black, with the holy symbol of the Ten Gods around his neck.

"You know you can relax Sarah. We killed their guard dog, and without it they're just a bunch of weak goblins." The man dismissively gestured to the Wyvern corpse as he spoke. The woman sighed, and spoke once more,

"I guess. I just can't shake the feeling that something is out there, something stronger than the Wyvern."

"We won't have to worry with you and your mighty sword here with us." He replied with a kindhearted laugh.

She laughed gently with him, and before long the two were laughing, her worries forgotten. The skeleton watched all of this, unmoving in the darkness. Before long, the light of the fire died, and the adventurers readied for sleep. The one who had drawn the short straw to be first watch was the drunkard Oftin, who now snored happily. The skeleton stood for an hour more, watching to see any movements. When none were spotted, he slowly began to walk forward, carefully placing his feet as not to make noise. He arrived to his destination, atop the 'watch'. With barely a sound, the blade flashed down, burying itself in the man's neck. His eyes snapped open, and tried to scream. However, only a garbled whisper was heard as the blood sprayed out his open neck. The majority of it drenched the skeleton, but some managed to get by him and splatted the man's neighbor as well

"Whasit?" The other man woke with a groggy question, and saw the horror before him. Before he had a chance to wipe the blood off his face, the skeleton was upon him, thrusting the sword.

"HEL-" His shout cut off as the skeleton's sword reached him. However, it was enough to wake the other two at the campfire.

"Oh, fuck!" The holy man exclaimed, while scrambling away from his dead companions. The woman grabbed her sword, and leapt up, her eyes never leaving the bloody apparition of death across from her. The skeleton slowly pulled his sword from the body, and stood at the ready.

"How the fuck did a skeleton spawn??" The man yelled, the fear evident in his voice, "All the bodies were taken and buried!"

The woman, not looking away, replied in an angry voice, "I don't know and I don't care. All I know is that THING killed two of my comrades, and we will end it. Elija, can you cast some healing magic on it, weaken it?"

The priest finally composed himself, and nodded "I used a lot of magic today, but I think I have one good shot left in me."

"Then let's kill this bastard!" With that, the woman lunged at the skeleton, swinging her now normal sized sword in an overhead attack. The skeleton raised his sword to met her blow, and rattled as the attack struck. Meanwhile, the priest held his symbol, and was chanting.

"Blessings of the Ten Divine Gods, please endow your faithful servant with the power to heal, to bless the body with good." While he spoke, the skeleton and woman clashed, trading blows. Yet again, the skeleton was able to land an attack or two, but was heavily damaged by the woman's blade.

"Ok, move Sarah!" The priest shouted, his spell complete. With a quick dash to the side, the woman moved out of the way, leaving a space open for the priest to finish the skeleton.

He thrust his hand out, and forcefully called out, "GREATER HEAL!" From his open palm, a warm, bright light flowed out, basking the skeleton in luminous beauty. The two backed off, and waited for the skeleton, a creature of darkness, to crumble in the holy light. However, such an occurrence did not come to pass. The pair stood in shock as broken bits of bone began to regrow, cracks filling themselves in. In a moment, the skeleton was healed.

The priest, in a state of shock, was only able to utter a soft, "Gods help us…" before his magic took its toll on his body and he collapsed, exhausted. The woman stood still, unable to believe what she was seeing. As she stood shell shocked, the skeleton darted forward and stabbed the fallen priest through the chest. With a cry of rage, the woman was woken out of her stupor, and began her attack in earnest once more. After clashing blows again, she backed off, panting with fatigue. Meanwhile, the skeleton stood still, a silent figure of death, covered in the blood and viscera of the woman's fallen comrades. She stood still, then began to tremble. She shook as she started to bellow. In her grasp, her sword grew and grew, until it was at least three times its original size. Along with it, her muscles swelled until she was unrecognizable as a woman. She stood, holding the massive sword with ease.

"You should feel lucky skeleton. I can only use this Art twice a day, and I have decided to use the last one on you. Prepare for death!" With that, the woman began fighting in earnest once more.