The forest swallowed his skeletal frame as he left the path. He walked as quietly as possible, his footfalls silent as the night cloaked his figure. The skeleton's head moved left to right, scanning his surroundings as he trudged forward, increasing the distance between himself and whatever attacked the diminutive green person.
The cool night air was filled with many a scent and noise; Insects chirped, rodents skittered and occasionally shrieking, and birds calling. The skeleton disregarded these sounds; they were useless. What he listened for was the sound of heavy movement: loud footsteps, crushed underbrush, beastly noises. The slow pace he took meant his progress had dropped, but his wariness was awarded, as to the left, he heard movement. The sound of many feet hitting leaflitter alerted him, telling him that whatever it was, it had numbers. His skeletal legs paused their movements before quickening as he dashed into a nearby bush. His quick movement didn't seem to alert whatever was nearby, though, as the footsteps remained the same measured footfalls of moments before.
The sound of quick inhaling caught his attention. All at once, the footsteps quieted, evading him. His empty eye sockets searched in their direction, scanning the silent forest. He saw an animal slowly creep forward through the trees. Its body was covered in shadows, darkening its fur; with eyes shimmering in the dark as its nose twitched, searching for something. The creature's head moved back and forth slightly as its eyes searched the forest, its ears the following suit. As it crept through the shadows silently, more eyes began to shine into existence, following behind the first creature. They silently combed the area looking for something. What should I do? They're looking for something, but what? The skeleton looked around for anything they may be searching for, only to find his vision resting on the small, green person who lay in his arms. They must have found this person. Are they what attacked it?
Questions quickly shot through the skeleton's mind as he searched for answers, only to find himself asking more. Quieting his mind, he searched for answers, only to find nothing of help. He felt the chains form around him again, just like in those ruins. He felt held down by something heavy, his freedom being sucked away like water into parched soil. He looked down at the small person as a little voice in the back of his head offered to free him from these chains. Leave them, it said. He felt his mind swirled, the pit of his empty stomach cavity feeling as if rocks had filled the open space. He realized, then, that the creatures probably wouldn't attack if he left this person for them. As his thoughts sat on this idea, he felt two thoughts surface. Both battled for purchase in his mind, trying to determine his actions. One pushed him to leave the small green person to the creatures; the other fought him to do anything else. It told him to run or fight, but to not just let this person die. Both options were attractive. When played them out in his head, one gave him a familiar feeling. It gave him the same feeling the darkness did when it ate away at his being. He felt a dark feeling weighing down on him. The skeleton could feel that he would never forget if he did this, it would weigh down on him as if he had weights strapped to them. He would be trading the chains of responsibility for a different kind of chain, one far worse. When his mind entertained the other thought, he saw no chance of success, but the chains of this future were much less obtrusive. Even if he fell, he would still have done something to save this person. So he chose the only choice he could really make. He would try to save this person. He realized that he decided to chain himself to this small green person when he didn't turn a blind eye. Strangely enough, these chains didn't feel so bad.
His mind made, he prepared for battle. Sword in hand, the skeleton took a position to lunge out at the beast closest to him. The creatures slowly made their way closer, smelling the ground and moving their ears, searching for anything that could lead them to their quarry. Right as he was about to leap out, a shriek echoed through the trees. He looked over and saw a creature appear before his very eyes—a massive beast towering eight feet above the ground with gleaming white scales. Massive, muscled arms carried the beast as it lurched forward, slamming into the smaller beast. The smaller beast flew to the wayside, slamming into a tree, the sound of shattered bones echoed through the night. A howl of rage burst from the pack of smaller beasts' throats as they turned tail and attacked. The large beast roared, saliva spraying from its gaping maw, filled with jagged, uneven teeth. The pack leader jumped onto the large monstrosity, its claws finding purchase in its white scales. The monster's eyes lit with rage as a monstrous roar burst from its maw. The beasts quickly attacked from all sides, biting at its legs and waist. Its body shook in rage as it grabbed at the alpha, clung to its back with teeth and nails. Its hand caught one of its front paws and the night echoed with a howl of pain and the shattering of bone. The monster ripped the beast from its back with such ferocity that a chunk of its own back came with it.
The skeleton was horrified. He felt fear like never before pricking within him as each bone cracked. With the battle ongoing, he made an escape, trying to be as stealthy as possible.
The alpha was thrown to the ground and pounded into a paste by the beasts massive ape-like arms, blood spraying over its white physique. Bones shattered, and flesh flew as the other beasts tried their best to harm the beast. The small bites they made did little against the scaled monstrosity as it ripped a leg from the dead alpha and turned with an agility a beast its size shouldn't have. With the severed leg, it pounded a wolf who had leaped back out of arms reach. The sound of flesh meeting flesh and a shriek of agony filled the air as it flew several feet back, rolling through dirt and brush. With a howl of terror, the smaller beasts ran for dear life, speeding through the underbrush with reckless abandon. This was their final mistake, as when they had gotten only 20 feet away, they came across more beasts of similar stature. These ones did not appear from thin air, but in their fear, the beasts missed them. More cries sailed on the wind this night, filled with anguish, fear, agony, pain, and death.
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Baru felt weakness course through his body. The last thing he could remember was crawling for his life away from the monster infested catacombs. He felt himself shiver as cold night air surrounded his weakened body. With great effort, he pried his heavy eyelids open. His eyes were met with darkness and his lungs breathed in stagnant air. After a few moments, his eyes adjusted, allowing him to see his surroundings. He saw grey rock on all sides, rough, natural cave walls. Baru's eyes slowly looked over everything nearby, scanning for danger. He saw nothing of interest but a skeleton with an old sword in its hand and a strange crystal in its chest. The skeleton was sourly out of place in the empty cave. The clearly ancient body lay riddled with cracks from times long forgotten. On the two ribs over where the heart would have lain, small cuts showed, as if some sharp implement was forced to saw through the bone into the heart. Baru shivered, his mind working, trying to discover where he was. The beasts must have dragged me to their lair! Baru thought while his body shivered from a mix of cold and fear. With all of his might Baru pushed himself off of his back, only to fall back down with a small thud. No! I don't want to die here! I have to escape! Baru felt his breath quicken as he tried again to get up. Unbeknownst to Baru, who was so focused on escape, the skeleton had turned is head and was looking at him.
