The corridor opened up into a larger room. The room was massive, it resembled a throne room in some respects, or perhaps a cathedral. A wide-open area, pillars places about. Blue fires flickered in their sconces along the pillars, just barely illuminating the space. Small crystals glowed in the corners, further adding to the ambience. It was quiet, only the sounds of bones being shuffled or crushed underfoot could be heard. That and a low keening howl that sounded infinitely far away.

  Stepping into the expansive room, it became clear that shrouded in the darkness were piles of bones. At the far end, was a pair of fire pits, flanking what looked like an altar. The air itself held a certain chill, frost covered the bones near the altar.

  The whole place had a kind of vibe to it. Each of us were on edge. Still, we didn’t slow. We walked forward. Shuffling could be heard in the darkness. Odd sounds echoed out. At the front were the soldiers, with me at the center. Cobalt was at my side, with Joan and Liche a step and a half behind.

  As we closed on the altar, the soldiers spread out. Cobalt stuck close. Any moment now, something would happen. That’s what I felt… We all felt it.

  “Maybe we should…” Joan started and never finished. Behind us, we heard doors shut. From where we came from, the entrance to the corridor was now barred by a large door, shutting us into the large annex. Then, the shuffling increased in intensity. My eyes shot towards the altar on a whim, and I saw a dozen skeletons wielding bows.

  “COVER NOW!” I cried out, arrows whiffed by, skipping off the stone, clattering as they hit. Joan let out a small scream as an arrow shot for her, only to be protected by Cobalt at the final moment. Liche… Liche… Liche had dipped out, her presence vanishing. Only through the ice was I able to remember she even existed.

  I hid behind the nearest corridor. My soldiers followed, a number of arrows struck and clunked off their ice frames, but one of the soldiers was a beat too slow. Too many arrows hit at once, each left cracks and divots, but a final fatal arrow dug in, shattering the golem on the spot. Ending their existence.

  From behind cover, I looked over, by the altar was a robed figure. A skeleton with a staff and with a wave of their staff, the hall lit up. Sconces along the walls, once invisible in the darkness blazed to life. The entire annex lit up in blue light that was harsh on the eye, the temperature dipped.

  We were surrounded. Countless skeletons shuffled out, with more pulling themselves out of piles and slowly surrounding us. We needed to regroup… We didn’t get the chance.

  They came at us. Cobalt defended Joan, even as she knelt down, doing her best to protect everyone. My gun barked, bullet after bullet sang their songs, the tinkle of spent casings hitting stone buried under the sound of moving bones.

  The soldiers were able to keep them at bay, but only just. Small wounds and cuts were building and out of the corner of my eye, I barely saw it. I shifted, just in time to avoid an opportunistic thrust. A skeleton wearing armor, magic wreathing their form. A bronze rank, wielding a rusted iron blade.

  They shifted into a slash, but I easily bashed it aside with the stock of my gun and then pointed the muzzle at its head, squeezing the trigger. The skeleton shifted and avoided the round, by hitting the ground and rolling, just as I went to eject the casing, the skeleton immediately slunk back behind the hordes of undead.

  I loaded, bit my lip. We were drowning in bones. I had no idea where Liche was, but I was certain she was somewhere here, waiting for her chance. Glancing back at the altar, I saw the robed skeleton. An idea formed in my head. Without giving it a second though, I pulled out of cover and aimed, ignoring the arrows shot in my direction, I loosed. Only for the round to be blocked by a wall of bone that shot out of the ground.

  A mage of some sort. Skeleton mage then? It didn’t feel like a higher rank undead. It wasn’t gold rank, that much was obvious. It didn’t give me the same pressure as the alraune or even the heart had. Meaning it was just a silver rank.

  Risking another look, I glanced at the altar, a few arrows bounced off the stone pillar I was hiding behind. The bone wall still stood, perhaps if I had a way to circumvent it… The angles looked right, but I lacked the means.

  I looked over my weapon, towards my soldiers, Cobalt, and Joan. We wouldn’t last long like this. Amongst the horde were numerous bronze rank skeletons making opportunistic strikes. It was only a matter of time until they struck something vital.

  Swiftly, I manually ejected what bullets I had in the magazine. I then proceeded to load in new, different rounds. The fifth round was explosive, the others were all shot rounds.

  Trusting my connection with my soldiers and Cobalt. I dropped the canvas bag around my shoulder and ran out of cover. Right behind me, my soldiers followed. We ignored the skeletons and pushed forward. Arrows whistled, and few struck due to the speed of our actions. The few that did were rebuffed by panes of light.

  The soldiers went first, spears low, their posture hunched over. With everything they had, they charged with me just behind, forming a spearhead formation. The skeleton horde reacted appropriately. They moved to block the way, shields forward, barring our path.

  Still, we pressed on. We crashed into the line. Ice was heavier than bone. Without much fanfare, my soldiers pushed through the blockade with incredible momentum, the soldier at the tip of the spear though, suffered many scratches and cuts. They stumbled and nearly fell on impact, their body suffered critical cracks, and yet, they pushed on.

  Our success did not go unnoticed, if anything, it attracted the hordes’ attention. They abandoned Joan, swooping in from behind, but we were going too fast, and those that closed the distance were batted aside by Cobalt, whom was just a beat behind me.

  We pressed onward, my shoes stomping down on bone as we went. A skeleton broke through the side of the formation. Calmly, without concern, I aimed and shot. The bullet cried its incongruous song and exploded. Shards of ice obliterated the skeleton’s upper body, essentially erasing it, and punched into the crowd, shoving them back.

  Four more bullets. I ejected, loaded. Ahead, skeletons locked arms and braced themselves in a chain. I aimed and fired. The bullet sang past the soldier at the front and exploded, eviscerating the line before us, allowing us to punch through. I ejected, loaded.

  Three more.

  Out of the corner of my vision, a skeleton wrapped in a black tattered cloth snuck in, a wicked dagger in hand. It was too fast, but Cobalt came in and swung, forcing it back. I aimed and fired, the bullet exploded, the skeleton didn’t immediately die, Having blocked with their dagger at the last moment but the front of its body was perforated with ice shards, and it was sent flying into the horde.

  Two more shots.

  Another skeleton came barreling in from the side. A large tower shield in hand, the size of a large door. The metal scraped against stone. It was aiming for the side of the spear, to cut the head off. I fired the last shot, the bullet sang, split and crashed into the shield, very briefly altering their trajectory, but it wasn’t enough.

  They didn’t hit the tip of the spear, but they slammed into the soldier to my right, nearly causing our formation to stumble. Just before it could bar my way though, its leg gave under it, the knee essentially vanishing, just a step behind the skeleton was Liche. The moment she struck, she dipped out, vanishing from view. A cadre of skeleton’s immediately tried to chase after, only to pause in confusion at her disappearance.

  The tower shield wielding skeleton stumbled after losing its knee. A bayonet formed at the tip of my rifle, and I swung, cutting through its head as I passed by. Our formation stuttered as we shifted. The soldiers adjusted, flanking my sides while Cobalt shot forward and barreled through.

  Last shot.

  As we closed, I aimed my rifle at a slight angle. Confirmation was shared through our connection, back and forth it went, then, I squeezed the trigger. A high and low crystal song rang out. The bullet sang and arced. It hit the bone wall and exploded, scattering shards of bone and frosted mist everywhere.

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  A glittering fog of frost, mixed with bone dust obscured what lay ahead. Uncaring for that, I shot forward. Cobalt kneeled. I leapt, ice swirled, cleats formed at the bottom of my shoes and dug into Cobalt’s back. I felt ice scrape away as I climbed, and the moment I hit the apex, Cobalt stood up, propelling me forward when I leapt.

  For a single terrifying moment, I soared through the sky, above the horde of skeletons. Arrows shot out below, not a one aiming for me. A few arrows bounced off Cobalt, fewer still managed to embed themselves into his form.

  Bayonet at the ready, I held it close and crashed through what remained of the now brittle bone wall.

  The cloud didn’t disperse as I punched through, but it did shift the moment I entered. Through the cloud, I saw the mages form. The moment I hit the ground; my cleats dug into stone or tried too. My cleats scraped against stone, not quite finding purchase, but also not quite slipping fruitlessly. Long scratches were left in the stone floor as my feet moved, the sound giving away my position to the mage as they wore away to nubs.

  Arrows wildly snapped. Bone arrows clacked against the stone around me, none finding purchase. Submerged in ice, I charged. The mage turned to face me; blue flames burned in empty eye sockets regarded me for a brief moment and flickered with what felt like amusement. A hand was raised. I hit the ground, and where I stood, a bolt of ghastly energy passed by. As soon as the bolt passed, I shot back up and resumed the charge, bayonet held forward.

  My bayonet glistened. The lich took a half step back. I would win…

  Or… so I thought.

  In that half step, the lich adjusted their grip on their staff. With a twirl, they redirected my blade and transitioned into a thrust. I didn’t pull back. My ice imbued senses let me adjust, shifting my rifle in hand to brush aside the coming blow and push forward.

  The lich took a step to the side, transitioning into a sweep. I ducked and thrust, they moved and slapped the rifled down with their bony hand. They were surprisingly strong. Nearly throwing me aside, even with the ice enhancing my physique. Still, I didn’t back off, I pressed forward.

  I moved to their side, until we were practically touching. They tried to pull back, A cloud of ghastly energy erupted out of their palm, aimed in my direction, but I was too close. The ghastly energy went right over my shoulder, it made the stone hiss and bubble, further obscuring us in mist as the corrosive energy mixed with the bone dust and glittering frost. Creating a cocktail of floating energies that just further obscured our view of the overall battle.

  I could feel the residual energy licking at my shoulder, eating away at the ice protecting the hardened flesh beneath. Our eyes were locked, the world came to a stand still. Then, I moved.

  I adjusted my footing and swung my bayonet around, forcing the lich back. I pressed again, and again we danced. It swung and twirled its staff, constantly keeping my bayonet away. Every time the silver blade of my bayonet met their staff, it would rebound, sending a jarring shock up the gun into my arms. The sound of metal meeting metal was loud, especially with the swirling cloud of corrosion working its way around us, drowning out everything else.

  We continued, we pushed and pulled. A stalemate. Or so it seemed. Our eyes were solely for each other. Even as arrows began to cry out around us. As I felt them bounce off my ice blessed frame. Few, if any managed to breach the ice, fewer still bit into flesh. Some even clacked against the mages frame, but it had just as little of an effect.

  In the midst of this, I barely noticed. No, the fact I noticed it must have been a miracle, or perhaps by design. A shadow, a flicker of something coming right for me. The glint of a wicked blade reaching my eyes.

  I shifted back, avoiding a thrust, my bayonet swung wide cleaving through the skeleton, killing it on the spot, but even in death, a flicker of red light in its eyes flickered, almost like a laugh.

  I turned, the lich had backed off, their palm open. Their eyes flickered in amusement, victory. Yet, I smiled back. After all, their attention was all on me, like mine had been on them. And, I wasn’t the only one that could play that game.

  In that moment, I was treated to quite the sight. A moment’s hesitation. A flicker of uncertainty that travelled through those blue flames it had for eyes. Only for them to gleam, as if realizing something.

  All too late. Coming out of the surrounding mist. Having run through the still existing cloud of burning miasma, was Cobalt. Their form wreathed in ghastly smoke. His blue form covered in pits and divots, hissing and popping even as he barreled forward. However, never before had he been such a wonderful thing to see.

  The lich turned, just in time to have their skull cut in twain with a single slice. Cobalt hit the ground heavily, his feet scraping on the stone as he slid briefly, and once he came to a stop, he adjusted. Without pause, without a moments rest, he charged for the archers, cutting, and cleaving. With the mage dead, their magic faded. The risen skeletons fell to the ground, leaving us with what was left.

  The fight was hardly over. A few bronze ranks were left, along with the surviving chaff. I swiftly reloaded. Conjuring new rounds as I went.

  Once loaded up, we began the cleanup. Those left fought tooth and nail. By the end of it, we were all exhausted. Completely and totally wiped. Liche was covered in cuts, with a rather nasty bruise on her shoulder. Joan was mostly fine, but she had expended so much magic keeping us alive, that she was dead on her feet.

  Cobalt was covered in worrying cracks and wounds. Even using what magic I had left, did little to erase them. He would need time to recover. Of the soldiers, none survived. Each died doing their best to protect Cobalt, to buy him a single chance to press through as I kept the lich busy.

  The rewards though, more than made up for it. A single silver coin, that went to me. A half dozen bronze coins, that were split evenly between us. We settled in to rest with none of us keen to continue. Even if we weren’t in the safest of places, Cobalt made for a good enough guard that we chose to just deal with it.

  In review, we discussed what we did. Liche had been picking apart the horde along the periphery, doing what she could to support us. She was able to slip past the bronze ranks for the most part, but making strikes alerted them to her presence. Joan focused on keeping barriers up, and after Liche had kneecapped the great shield skeleton, she had backed off to protect Joan.

  Overall, it ended well enough. No serious injuries, at least, nothing Joan couldn’t fix up with a bit of magic. Cobalt got the worst of it, but after a day or two, I imagine he’d be right as rain. My canvas bag had a few new holes in it, but nothing too compromising.

  Once we finished resting, we started the trek back to the surface. I expected trouble, each of us did, but retracing our steps was almost too easy with Joan leading thew way. We encountered no threats, and it almost felt like we were moving at a faster pace, like an escalator was under our feet.

  Almost too soon, we found ourselves back on the surface, just a little before the time the sun begins to rise. There was a crisp morning chill in the air, as if officially marking the coming wander. We made it back to the warehouse, and well…

  “How bout we get something to eat? My treat?” I offered, neither disagreed. We piled into my car, left Cobalt behind in the cold storage. At a nearby restaurant, one with decent parking, we settled in, ordered our food and started chatting.

  “So, what do you plan to do with your share?” I asked, starting up the conversation as we ate. Joan had a greasy burger with fries and a milkshake, which she was happily slurping up through the straw. Liche opted for a breakfast option, an omelet and some pancakes with a smiley face made with a strip of bacon and a pair of eggs. I chose a kind of middle option, a Monte Cristo.

  “New apartment, probably… might take a while to find somewhere worthwhile.” Liche said, all the while poking at her smiling pancake with a fork.

  “I’m thinking the same!” Joan answered back after a loud slurp of her milkshake. “I mean, the city provided apartments are really bad.”

  I couldn’t disagree.

  “What about you?” Joan asked, turning the question back to me.

  “Well…” I considered. “I need to look up materials and probably make better soldiers. Something like a human sized doll that I could animate.” I said and paused to take a bite and a drink of my water. “I’ll need to make more knights if I intend to go into the sewers more as well, and then there is work…”

  Both seemed surprised at my answer. “I’m surprised, though, should I be?” Liche said, finally deciding to start eating. She pierced her omelet with her fork and shoved it into her mouth. “I mean, you did pull a coup with our manager.” She said with food in her mouth. Once she swallowed and chased it down with some of her drink, an off-brand cola, she continued. “I can expect we’ll be working together more then?”

  “You can, well, if you want to. I won’t force you.”

  She waved me off. “I know enough to know that not working with you would cause us more problems. Those subordinates of yours really made a difference, I don’t think we could have managed nearly as well if it was just us.”

  Joan nodded while eating her fries. “I almost feel bad accepting payment.” She said with a final shrug.

  “Well don’t. I couldn’t have done it without either of you.” I said back.

  “I think you would have managed…” Liche says, continuing to eat. Joan nods along. “And what about your future plans?”

  “Future plans?” I let out a small laugh. “Hell if I know. We should be good for the next quarter if that’s what you’re talking about. I’ve looked over the numbers, and Leo, our manager agreed as well. We might lose our ranking, but it won’t be immediately. We have enough work to tide us over, and our reports should be good enough to maintain our rank until the end of the fiscal year. At that point, we may drop a rank, which would reduce pay and benefits, but by then, we should be done recovering.”

  I said, listing off what was likely to happen.

  “That’s good, but we’re going to be getting even less then we already get?” Liche asks, spearing one of her smiling pancakes eyes with her fork.

  “Yup, but as I said, it won’t be an issue. We’ll easily make up the difference with our reports, and hopefully recover by the end of the first quarter next year.”

  “Heh, something tells me that won’t be the case, but I’ll trust your judgement boss.”

  We shared a laugh at that, but… I really hope she isn’t right. The only way we’d lose a ranking is if the third division somehow shot up, along with the fourth division, but that would be insane...

  And it wasn’t like my luck was that bad, right?