Pom’s legs seemed to lose all strength. Her body fell towards the floor, both arms rising to cover her head in a display of confused panic. The desperate screams of her team leader, together with the heavy SLAM of the stone door sealing shut beside her, caused the young girl to instinctively drop to the ground and protect herself.

  The next moment, when her orb of illumination blinked out of existence, plunging her into darkness, Pom nearly lost the last shred of nerve that she had been desperately clinging to. In her fear however, the soft, warm press of Aurum’s body beside her helped pull Pom back from the brink.

  For a moment, absolute silence filled the cave. All she could hear was the dull, rhythmic thumping of her pulse in her ears and the rapid breathing of the canine beside her.

  Then, from somewhere in the distance, a faint rattling and dragging sound reached her ears. Aurum released a low growl in response to the noise, stepping forward to place his body in front of her.

  There’s something out there!

  As the dreadful thought entered her mind, Pom quickly pulled the large apothecary pack from her shoulders, laying it on the ground as she rushed to complete her task. She felt around in the darkness until her fingers closed around a tin cup with a handle, a pile of cloth napkins, and a jar of oil.

  She rubbed the oil onto the napkins before stuffing them into the cup, then uncorked a fire potion, carefully dripping a single drop inside. As soon as the liquid touched the oily surface, a blanket of flame rippled across the inside of the tin cup, illuminating the cave around her.

  Holding the flaming cup by the handle to keep from burning her fingers, Pom rose to her feet, staring out into the darkness as the rattling drew closer. Something was coming down the tunnel toward her, but with nothing but a sealed tomb entrance at her back, she had no choice other than facing the new threat, whatever it may be.

  Pom steadied her breathing as the unrelenting clinking, sliding, and rattling grew closer. Grabbing onto Aurum’s collar to prevent him from rushing off, she reinforced her command through their bond, urging the tamed creature to remain by her side.

  The hair on the Fortune Hound’s back stood on end, his teeth bared in anger as a continuous growl rumbled from his throat. Aurum was struggling to obey, his instincts screaming at him to attack the threat.

  “No! Please!” Pom shouted.

  But the powerful will inside the young beast overwhelmed her command. With a final jerk, Aurum tore free and rushed headlong into the darkness.

  Unwilling to let her new companion face the threat alone, Pom rushed after Aurum, desperation driving her forward. A few moments after the canine vanished into the darkness ahead of her, the rattling sound abruptly stopped—only to return even louder, now accompanied by furious barks and the crash of something heavy striking stone.

  The circle of light surrounding Pom flickered and bobbed as she ran, whispering a frantic prayer for Aurum’s safety. She rounded a sharp corner, her eyes shooting open wide as two figures suddenly entered the edge of her firelit bubble.

  The first was Aurum, darting back and forth with frantic agility, narrowly avoiding the crushing blows of a heavy club. The second was something pulled straight from the nightmarish tales told to frighten children.

  A humanoid figure stood before her, composed entirely of dull, dirty, off-white bones. Every unnatural movement of the skeletal being sent a cascade of rattling through the air, and from within its hollow sockets, an inky black mist swirled—so thick that even the fire’s glow could not pierce it.

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  The creature wielded a massive wooden club, swinging it down with terrifying force. Each strike shattered against the stone, sending dust and debris flying as it delivered one relentless blow after another at the retreating canine.

  A high-pitched yelp rang out as a glancing strike clipped Aurum’s side, sending the young animal limping backward, his body trembling as he struggled to block the skeleton’s path to Pom.

  The sight of her companion narrowly escaping serious injury snapped Pom from her frozen terror. Her small jaw clenched in fury as she locked eyes on the monstrous thing trying to kill Aurum.

  With a sharp inhale, she let her backpack slide from her shoulders, setting the flaming cup on the ground. Then, summoning every ounce of willpower she had, Pom let loose a furious scream. Hefting up a heavy rock with both hands, she charged the skeleton with wild abandon.

  Anthony spent a minute pounding his fist against the cold stone doorway that trapped him, shouting as loudly as he could in the desperate hope that Pom would answer. He finally relented when a distant rattling sound broke the silence of the tomb, echoing from somewhere behind him.

  Spinning around, his expression grave, Anthony raised his sword and stared into the inky blackness, straining to catch the sound again.

  It didn’t take long. The same rattling returned—but this time, from another direction. It was all around him now, moving, shifting. Whatever was making the noise wasn’t staying in one place, nor was it alone.

  A soft red glow flared in the darkness as Anthony activated his nexus key, channeling its energy into his blade—the only source of light he currently had access too without Pom or Elara.

  He remained still for another minute, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim red glow of his sword. Taking a steadying breath, he surveyed his surroundings, steeling himself for the task ahead—somehow finding Elara and escaping this place.

  He stood in a large rectangular chamber, its smooth stone walls carved with precision. A long stone platform stretched down the center of the room, while tattered cloth banners hung along the walls, each one displaying a slightly altered likeness of the arachnid-like demonic being that was carved on the entrance.

  At the center of the room loomed a life size statue of the same horrific figure, its eight long legs rooted to the stone platform, surrounded by what appeared to be offerings, scattered at its feet.

  What the hell is this place? This is no tomb, Elara!

  While his mind raced to make sense of this place he was trapped in, Anthony’s eyes quickly widened when he noticed the ornate stone torches mounted between each depiction on the wall. Moving cautiously toward the nearest one, he reached out and pulled it from its bracket, lifting his sword closer to spread the light and examine it.

  The sharp scent of oil filled Anthony’s nose as he moved the black stone torch closer to his face. Holding his breath in anticipation, he pressed the tip of his glowing blade against the oil-soaked surface. A flicker of flame caught, spreading in an instant. Warm light flared to life, pushing back the darkness and filling the room with a wavering glow.

  Anthony smiled in satisfaction as he glanced around the newly lit room, but his brief moment of satisfaction ended abruptly, a loud rattling sound seizing his attention.

  Whipping around, Anthony’s breath caught as a massive black skeleton emerged from the shadows, drawn toward the torch’s light. He instinctively took a step back, his grip tightening on his sword as the creature hunched low to squeeze through the archway that separated the rooms.

  Once inside, it rose to its full, towering height—over eight feet of grotesque black bones. Its monstrous size, the bestial nature of it’s humanoid form, and the long, jagged horns jutting out from its massive skull left no doubt in his mind that this skeleton was left behind by a powerful demon.

  Anthony shoved the torch back into its bracket, retreating a few steps as he grabbed hold of his sword with both hands, raising it up before him. His eyes narrowed as they locked onto the thick pools of darkness swirling within the creature’s empty sockets. Even without pupils, Anthony was certain—the monster was staring straight at him with a great deal of malice.

  The skeleton carried no weapons or armor. Instead, it moved with a hunched, animalistic gait, its long arms hanging forward, tipped with wickedly long claws. Those claws were the true danger he would need to overcome.

  The monster halted a half-dozen steps away, tilting its massive, horned head to the side as if Anthony’s presence were unexpected. After a momentary pause, the skeleton’s head flung back, its jaw stretching open in an unnaturally wide display. It appeared to be attempting a scream, but no sound escaped its throat. It held that pose briefly, revealing rows of jagged teeth, then snapped its mouth shut with a violent crack.

  That marked the start of the fight. The skeleton suddenly lunged at him with terrifying speed.

  Its massive claws lashed out in a vicious flurry, cutting through the air with deadly precision as it bore down on Anthony.