The hooded group had traveled through the forest at a slow pace, torches of fire lighting their way.

 

It wasn't as easy as just following the tracks in a straight line, no, the forest was quite uneven with steep hills and deep crevices that little streams of water had worn through, not to mention how dense the forest itself was.

 

"It's strange.. " 16 muttered.

 

"What is it?" 15 asked.

 

"I've been seeing other tracks but they're.. odd." 16 replied with a frown on his tanned face.

 

"How?"

 

"No it's nothing, just some animal probably." 16 shook his head.

 

"Oh, well keep an eye out, we can eat it for dinner if it shows up." 15 remarked.

 

In truth, the tracks that 16 had seen had given him the shivers. They looked exactly like a human foot.. a skeletal one at that.

 

"A skeleton out and about walking around? Absolutely Impossible." 16 thought as he shook his head.

 

He determined it was better not to mention such nonsense to 15 lest he be scolded for being crazy.

 

After following the tracks for a few more minutes, the group eventually came upon a clearing. The smell of ash was in the night air.

 

"This is where the tracks lead?" 15 said as he looked around with a hint of confusion.

 

With their torches illuminating the area, what the group saw was strange. To the left of the group was a large hole that had smoke wafting from it, and a few meters in front of that was seven mounds of dirt placed evenly from each other in front of what looked to be a cave.

 

"The fuck is going on here?!" 21 asked in bafflement.

 

18 looked around, her sensitive nose picking up another smell apart from the ash in the air. "Something sweet?" She looked upwards towards the tall trees but saw nothing. "I must be imagining it."

 

"Keep up your guard and look around.. " 15 said firmly as he pulled out a longsword and short sword from under his cloak.

 

"Right!" The others responded while taking out their weapons.

 

The seven spread out, some headed towards the smoking pit while others headed towards the dirt mounds and cave.

 

"It looks like someone's been burning animal corpses.. " 16 shouted as he used his bow to move a few coals aside which revealed the skull of a bear.

 

"Aye, it's odd.. these are no pack animals, they're wild." One of the cloaked figures took off his hood. He was short in stature only around 4 foot but he was bulging with muscles and had a strong barrel chest.

 

His face was square, a long grey beard that had been braided hung from his face. In his hand was a large ornate hammer which had a long spike on one end and a flat head on the other.

 

"You thought that too 17?" 16 frowned as he observed the burned remains of a wolf. "Why would they burn them.. they could have used the pelts or preserved the meat, but they just threw them into the fire like nothing."

 

Over by the dirt mounds, one of the cloaked figures had kicked aside some of the dirt revealing it's contents. "Come here! Have a look at this!" He shouted while waving the dagger in his hand.

 

"What is it 20?" 15 asked as he and the others quickly gathered around him.

 

"Look it's a body." 20 said as his torch lit up the grave.

 

Inside the hastily dug hole was a dead man with a hole in his belly and an arrow stuck firmly in his head.

 

15 turned his head to one of the hooded figures and pointed to the nearest dirt mound. "19, try that one there."

 

19 who had greatsword in his hands nodded and kicked the dirt aside revealing another body. "There's a dead one here too." He said with a heavy voice.

 

"These graves are too shallow, any passing animal could have dug them up and had a feast.. " 20 muttered.

 

"They may have been in a hurry." 18 commented while covering her nose.

 

"Looks like we stumbled upon a gravesite." 15 said as he looked at the other dirt mounds. "Check them all, see if Grog is in any of them."

 

"Who thought i'd be disturbing some poor sap's grave today." 21 chuckled as he pushed the dirt aside with his foot.

 

"Just be quiet and dig." 18 covered her nose in disgust, the smell of rotting flesh was truly unpleasant.

 

It wasn't long before all the graves were uncovered. There was a dead body in each of them but no sign of Grog or his lackeys.

 

"19, 20, you two check all the bodies and see if they have the artifact." 15 commanded as he walked towards the cave with the others following.

 

Both 19 and 20 let out audible sighs and began looking through the dead bodies, a smelly task that would leave one retching.

 

20 pulled a nearby corpse out from one of the graves, a woman with gouged eyes and horrific sword injuries. "This woman certainly went through hell.. " He sighed inwardly.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the group had reached the cave entrance. Just as 15 entered that mouth of the cave, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

 

"A dungeon!" 15 shouted as he backed away with the others.

 

"It's young.. " 17 said in a low voice, his experienced gaze piercing into the cave.

 

"Holy fuck face, how lucky is that!" 21 shouted with excitement in his voice.

 

"The tracks all lead into there." 16 pointed towards the dark depths of the dungeon.

 

"I don't like it.. " 15 took a deep breath and said. "We'll call for backup."

 

"W-what!? But a damn free dungeon core is staring us right in the face! Are you going to let it go just like that?" 21 said with helplessness in his voice.

 

"I am the leader and you will follow the laws of the crow, this is my order!" 15 said harshly.

 

"Fine.. " 21 sighed dispiritedly. If they split the profits of a dungeon core, he could retire early and live the rest of his life in luxury.

 

15 turned to 16 and said. "Send a message for reinforcements."

 

16 nodded, he pulled a small piece of paper out from under his cloak along with a sharp piece of charcoal which had been fashioned into a thin stick.

 

Carefully, he wrote. 'Reinforcements needed, found dungeon.' 16 then rolled it up and put it into a tiny glass bottle.

 

16 pulled aside his cloak revealing a long leather coat, there was a quiver of arrows holstered to his waist. He reached into the large pocket on his right and pulled out a palm sized blue bird. It chirped noisily as he tied the small bottle to it's claw.

 

"Go!" 16 released the bird into the air. It chirped before flying off towards the west.

 

"Why aren't we going in?" 18 asked 15 curiously in a hushed voice.

 

15 who was standing silently with a solemn air replied. "I know that scoundrel Grog, if he ever discovered a baby dungeon, he'd grab the core and take off no matter what."

 

"So?" 18 replied with a hint of confusion in her voice.

 

"So why hasn't he moved? The boss assured me that he hadn't moved from this location for at least a few days."

 

"He's dead?" 18 answered.

 

"Yes but I don't think a dungeon so young can kill him. Look at all the tracks, look at these graves and that burning pit... " 15 rubbed put his longsword on his shoulder and said. "It stinks.. all of it. Something isn't right, I can feel it in the pit of my gut."

 

"I have been feeling something similar, maybe you're rig-" 18 was suddenly cut off by a loud scream and then a myriad of growls.

 

"Shit! Ahh- Guergh!"

 

"Get the fuck off!"

 

Everyone turned their heads towards the gravesite, their eyes locking onto a terrifying sight.

 

20 was being pinned down by one of the corpses as it bit into his neck, blood staining it's face. It bit deeply into his neck with an unheard of force and quickly it's teeth reached 20's spine.

 

With a powerful jerk, the corpse ripped 20's head from his body with a sickening sound of tearing.

 

While on the other side of the graves, two corpses held both of 19's arms. They pulled in opposite directions which caused 19 to let out a guttural scream.

 

"Auagh!"

 

19's body couldn't withstand the force and one of his arms gave way. It was ripped out of it's socket with a loud pop and torn from his body.

 

The corpse bit into the arm with glee while the other finished the screaming 19 off by biting into his neck.

 

More corpses pulled themselves out from the graves, the dirt falling away from their rotting flesh. It was a frightening sight that left the group utterly speechless.

 

They stumbled towards those remaining while groaning loudly.

 

16 quickly took out two arrows from his quiver, loading them onto his bow, he shot them towards two of the corpses.

 

At the same time, 18's hands blurred as she threw out several throwing daggers from under her cloak.

 

Both arrows accurately pierced two of the walking corpses heads while 18's daggers found their way into 3 of the corpses vitals.

 

"Fuck! What is this shit! It didn't do anything at all!" 21 screamed as his watched in horror.

 

The corpses continued walking towards the group unhindered, it was if the arrows and daggers had no effect on them at all apart from releasing a bit of their decomposing fluids.

 

"15 what do we do!" 17 shouted as he readied his hammer nervously.

 

The 3 corpses that had attacked 19 and 20 were now heading towards them as well. 

 

15's body was shaking nervously, he'd never been so scared in his life. The sight before him would give him nightmares till the end of his days.

 

"Hurry up 15, what do we do!?" 18 cried out in a fearful voice.

 

"F-fuck! I-I-into the cave! Quick run!" 15 turned around and ran, the wind deafening in his ears.

 

The others followed on his heels.

 

The group disappeared into the cave, the pitch darkness from within consuming them.

 

 

                                                                                     ***********

 

Deep in the depths of the dungeon, Nero was grinning with his hands steepled as he sat on a boulder.

 

He chuckled. "2 down, 5 to go. "

 

Around him, 16 skeletons clanked their bones together noisily. The darkness in the empty hollows of their eyes flickering ominously from the nearby campfire.