The sounds of dripping water and flapping bat wings reverberated through the underground maze. A duo of adventurers rounded a corner, their feet splashing into a swollen puddle of water that ran along the length of this new corridor. 

"Oh, gross!" one of them, a young mage dressed in a fashionable tunic and jacket, groaned and shook the water off her foot. She clutched her staff close to her chest and leapt from dry spot to dry spot. "Ugh, my new shoes are gonna get ruined!"

Her partner, a tall warrior with his face half-painted blue, rolled his eyes as he watched her hop around. Hefting his longsword over his shoulder, he followed behind her, not bothering to dodge the puddles.

"Just in time for the tournament, huh?"

She looked back at him and stuck out her tongue. "As if I'd be wearing these in the arena. No, I'm going to buy a much better pair when we get to the island!"

"If we get anything good, that is..."

These two were Marie and Hamal, the most famous adventurers in the country. With the eighth Phoenix Empress coming up, pretty much everyone was wondering if one of them was on the docket to compete - just yesterday, Marie had won a spot in the tournament. The proof was in the satchel slung over her shoulder: a scroll, stamped by the tournament official who had watched over her qualifying match against another tournament hopeful.

Together, they had been trawling this dungeon for hours, in search of treasure that could finance their trip to Phoenix Island. Unfortunately, they hadn't found much of anything yet but skeletons and zombies.

They turned around another corner in the underground maze, passing into a wide hall. It seemed to be some kind of dining room, but the decayed wooden table was overturned and any food that had been there long ago had rotted away to nothing. Two rows of thick stone columns ran parallel to the overturned table. Behind them, piled up against the walls, were huge heaps of human bones. Marie paused to look at a skull on the floor, before kicking it away with a groan. It sailed off into the shadows.

"This sucks." she said, folding her arms and pouting. Hamal stepped past her to investigate the rest of the chamber. "Where's the damn treasure room in this place?!"

"Perhaps these could be worth something?" he asked, lifting an ancient platter from the floor. He held it up to the light, which came from glowing crystals which hung down from the ceiling. In the dim conditions, he could see that the plate was made of a shiny metal, maybe gold or brass. He tilted it to check for any corrosion or rust, but in the amber reflection, he spotted something shocking.

"Marie! Behind you!"

A skeleton! It had come from the skull she kicked away - somehow, that had woken it up. After reassembling itself, it had grabbed a sword and buckler and was now coming after the young mage. Blue lights hung in the dark sockets where its eyes once were.

Of course, a skeleton was nothing to Marie. Casually, she rose up her staff and casted a torrent of flame at the monster, burning away its shield and melting its sword to slag.

"Bones don't burn easy, Marie!" Hamal charged forward, swinging his sword around. Marie lowered her staff, the flames flickering out. "You should've just smashed its head in!"

Hamal lunged at the skeleton with his sword extended, but the monster managed to dodge his swing. It battered him in the side with its sword, now a misshapen, jagged mess of melted metal. It clanged off his armor, but he still grunted in pain.

"Oh, don't tell me what to do when you can't even hit a skeleton!" Marie brought up her staff. "Out of the way, lardass!"

Before she could cast another spell, blue lights began to flash on in the shadows in sets of two. Noticing this, the warriors began to back up to the entrance. Before they knew it, dozens of skeletons were filling the chamber, their bones noisily reassembling in the shadows.

"Damn." Marie shook her head. Her and Hamal might've been skilled, but against an army like this...? She didn't want to take her chances. Spinning around, she took off into the hallway. "Come on, Hamal!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!"

Soon after the two left, most of the skeletons were returning to their natural state, clattering down into lifeless piles of bones. However, one hung around a little longer: the first skeleton to attack. It had noticed something odd on the floor, something that had tumbled out of the girl's satchel as she fled. Curiousity taking over its simple mind, the monster walked to the object and picked it up.

It was light. Very light. A papery tube. Dropping its sword to the ground, it began to fumble with a circle of wax that covered one side, breaking the seal open with a fingertip. The tube unfurled.

Something in the furthest reaches of the skeleton's mind clicked together. This was a scroll. Those little squiggles of ink were letters. And they were telling it to go to someplace called Phoenix Island. For some reason, that sounded familiar...

Gathering a new shield and sword, the skeleton headed off.

The Skeleton

Age: ???

Bio: A skeleton that roamed an ancient dungeon attacking travelers and adventurers that passed through. When it found an invitation to the tournament dropped by an adventurer, something in its mind clicked and it headed for the island.

Abilities: Wields a heavy iron sword and hide-enameled buckler shield. Thanks to being a skeleton, it can piece its body back together from bones and resist elemental attacks.

Appearance: A plain skeleton. Blue lights glow where its eyes once were.