My friends, it is marked clearly above the Catacomb’s door, ‘death comes to those who enter here.’ The Catacomb is not Death, even if Death lives in its halls. Therefore, it can die. The Catacomb is merely a temporary blight upon Ridoum’s glory

  -Rebel Black, the Shattering Tome

  Mina woke up to an aching head and a slightly numb arm. She rubbed her eyes and froze. The soft fur that would’ve normally covered her limbs was missing. She stared at her appendage, and became acutely aware that she shouldn’t have an arm. She traced her skin up to her shoulder, where it fused perfectly to her unmarred fur. Most concerningly, her fingers were webbed. Mina’s muzzle hung open without her meaning for it too.

  She jumped to her feet once she remembered where she was. Forgetting the arm for now, she was in the maw of the Catacomb at any moment, monsters could jump out and attack her. Mina began to breathe heavily, then she remembered to take stock of her situation. She was in a small room, maybe thirty paces across and forty wide. There was a pond in one corner, and a pedestal with a rock on it.

  It almost looked like one of the heretic temples of the Wraiths. She wouldn’t put it past the Catacomb to be a heretic. She hadn’t really noticed it before, while the suspiciously absent goblin was attacking her, but there was something calming about this place. It felt safe. She shook her head, and pressed her ears against her skull. A trap, most likely. There had been a monster in the water. There was no such thing as a safe place in the Catacomb.

  The ((MANA)) in the room suddenly grew more concentrated, and Mina flinched, something had noticed her.

  She stumbled toward the door. The ((MANA)) seemed to follow her. She pushed open the wooden double-doors, it opened into a narrow corridor made of… bones. Hundreds, upon thousands of bones. Femurs filled ribcages and were used as flooring; skulls of various species filled the walls candles placed in their eyes with wax that dripped like tears. A few tails hung from the ceiling. Mina wrapped her tail around her legs self-consciously. The worst part was you couldn’t see any dirt. Every possible gap was filled with bone. Bones Mina had never even seen before plugged gaps with expert precision.

  She turned back to the small, blissfully stone room. Her brow furrowed as she read something above the door, it was written in large, blocky letters, and even though Mina didn’t understand what the word meant, or speak the language it was written in, it stuck in her mind.

  SANCTUARY

  It reminded her of the entrance to the Catacomb, which was similarly labeled. The implications of that swirled it Mina’s mind. But she forced herself to ignore it for now. She looked at the… flooring and tried to see which side appeared to be heading upward. Eventually she settled on the right. The heavy ((MANA)) seemed to follow her. It was darker than Mina was used to in the cave, even with the candles, but possumkin had some of the best darksight in Ridoum. She managed to navigate decently well.

  It would’ve been easier if she ran her hand along the wall, but she the thought disgusted her. Instead, she kept walking, hoping that she didn’t miss a cleverly disguised turn. Despite the Catacomb clearly knowing she was there; she encountered no monsters. Still the ((MANA)) seemed to follow her as she, hopefully, ascended.

  At some point, it seemed more like she was following it.

  Her legs were numb, and she felt as though she had been walking for hours by the time she saw a glimmer of light. Her eyes were both drawn toward, and burned by what had to be a comparatively soft light. She hesitated in the entrance of… whatever floor this was. Through destroyed towers of bone, thankfully, not actual pieces of skeletons, but rather large towers, she saw the first two monsters in her trek.

  A goblin, and the pond creature from the Sanctuary were clawing at a wall. Mina summoned red ((AURA)) around her fists and cautiously approached. They didn’t appear to notice her, at least until the heavy ((MANA)) moved away from her, and appeared to alert them. Mina couldn’t help the soft feeling of betrayal she felt, and she almost laughed. The pond creature nodded and began to shamble deeper into the Catacomb. The goblin gestured at the wall, then at Mina, and stepped aside. He crossed his arms.

  Mina blinked, and hesitantly took a step forward. Outside of the Catacomb, goblins were Fli. Inside they were considered Muli, or more commonly, feral. Although, this goblin, even though he was literally wearing animal skin, was acting like… well, a person.

  The closer she got to the wall, the more clearly she was able to see that it wasn’t a wall. A cave in maybe? It was made of bone, could the fighting have destabilized the walls and caused part of it to cut off the stairwell? It seemed likely, based on the deep gouges from the monsters, and the generally destroyed appearance of the floor.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  She tightened her ((AURA)) around her fists. She had been born with movement aspected ((MANA)), but like most movement aspected, she was unable to control it. She had managed to wrangle ((FORCE)), but still it didn’t come easy. She pulled her arm back, and slammed it into the bone.

  Deep cracks formed in the blockage as cherry-red energy thoomed into it. She punched with her left arm- the strange one, her ((AURA)) surged through it, as if her ((MANA_CHANNELS)) had no resistance. Another blast of red energy shot forward. It spread through the bone, inflicting them with a single command. Away. It said, and the shards obeyed.

  Mina panted, her ((MANA_POOL)) was drained. The dust cleared and a hole barely large enough for Mina to fit through had appeared in the three-foot-thick bone. Air began to rush into the opening. It whipped at Mina’s fur, and she shielded her eyes with her hairless arm. She thought it would subside after a moment, but instead it seemed to grow in ferociousness. A deep, guttural groan seemed to echo through the Catacomb.

  Air continued to be thirstily sucked through the gap, then the cave in melted. Mina stared at the now pristine stairwell. The goblin shoved her forward- somehow sneaking behind her without her noticing. Mina staggered for a moment, then she forced herself to start running. Bones creaked around her; wind seemed to be pulled into the lower levels and she couldn’t help but feel she had made a terrible mistake.

  STATUS:

  Name: Xliminavera

  Mantra: Herel hide me from shadow, Ritchi reveal me to Light

  LV: 14

  EXP 190/1500

  Gender: Female

  Affinities: wood

  Class: Aura Pugilist

  Race: Opossumkin

  Tethered: Sanctuary

  Traits: Darksight, Stiffnose

  Blessings: Blessing of the Twin Moons

  Curses: Disease borne

  Titles: Underdog, Plague Ridden

  INT: 8

  SOUL: 10

  WILL: 7

  MAG: 12

  STR: 8

  DEF: 7

  CONS: 10

  STATUS:

  Name: Sanctuary

  Mantra: N/A

  LV: 2

  EXP 50,000/150,00

  Gender: Female

  Affinities:

  Class: none

  Race: Undefined

  Nodes: N/A

  Spawners: N/A

  Retainers: Runt

  Tethers: Xliminavera

  Traits: Reserved

  Blessings: Blessing of Bastion

  Curses: N/A

  Titles: Daughter of Catacomb

  Notoriety: 2

  Fame: 2

  Infamy: 0

  Kills: 0

  INT: 6

  SOUL: 10

  WILL: 5

  MAG: 5

  STR: 0

  DEF: 0

  CONS: 5