The night passed relatively quickly. Gab was woken up the next day by the bites of kittens as big as his hands. "Yes, yes. I'll feed you in a minute," Gab yawned as he got up and held the kittens in his arms. "Somebody forgot he was supposed to be on night watch, too," replied Luke, who was sitting on a rock with a loaded crossbow and a kitten on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," Gab replied, smiling with an innocent look. "I'm immune to such tactics and especially when they come from teenage boys," Luke replied with a laugh.

"Oh yeah, Gab, we have a problem," Alex replied, who was also awake. " That would be," Gab asked. "We are slowly running out of arrows. If we don't come across a group of humanoid races soon that are willing to trade, we're screwed," Alex told him with a stern expression.  Gab gulped after hearing this.

Never mind. Time for breakfast," went through Gab's head as he chewed yesterday's meat for the babies. Less than an hour later, the four-man group was back on their feet and walking through the tunnels.

The tunnels were large enough so that the group could walk side by side.  Each of them held a loaded crossbow as they walked through the tunnel system. Water dripped loudly from the walls as always. But this time, it was different because dried blood was sticking everywhere on the walls of the tunnels. "I expect the utmost attention," whispered Alex, who crept ahead. The kittens slept comfortably in the jacket pockets of the group members.

It was not long before they could read on a wall "Helps us," written in blood. Alex shook his head with a sympathetic look at the sight. The group walked on, except for Gab, who stood in front of it for a moment. "Gab. We keep moving," Evie whispered. "Sorry," Gab replied and followed them.

The group wandered for hours, but the tunnel seemed never-ending, and the sentences written in blood became more and more frequent. Sentences like "I'm sorry mum, I should never have come here" or "I'm sorry sister" were encountered by the group. Evie noticed how these sentences struck Gab. "Gab, if you're scared, you can hold my hand," she whispered in his ear.

"Someone like me is never afraid," Gab replied with a smile, as his face reddened slightly. "Surely. Now give me your hand before we leave you behind," Evie giggled and reached for his hand.

Gab squeezed her hand tightly while the two ran. Alex and Luke gave the two a confused look before continuing to focus on the tunnel. ' I didn't imagine my first time holding hands that way' went through Gab's head as he followed with a smile. After a few hours of walking, the tunnel ended in a larger cave. Excited and with raised crossbows they slowly walked into the tunnel. "I didn't expect that," Alex commented as he made his way through the cave.

In front of them, they saw countless amounts of skeletons lying all over the place. Some were adorned with gems and valuables. Others were adorned with weapons. But if you looked closer, you could see that the skeletons were from several humanoid races. "What races are these skeletons from," Gab murmured as he slowly let go of Evie's hand and walked closer to the skeletons.

"The skeletons seem to be several hundred years old because they look really fragile," Luke commented while briefly touching one with his spearhead. "I wouldn't do it if I were you," Alex commented while walking to a stone tablet. "To our descendants, we hope you have better luck than us and hope you respect the dead. May you find your freedom or your peace," Alex read from the dusty inscription.

Alex resumed walking through the skeletal rubble and approached a skeleton sitting on a throne made of others of his kind. "Okay, that's weird," Luke commented. Hanging from his throne was a giant sword while he held a golden scepter with his hand. His skeleton was silver this time and in his eye sockets were a blue and a red gem.

Alex, who was approaching the skeleton, suddenly read aloud: "Kneel before me and pray for forgiveness, for...," before Alex could continue reading, his loud painful groaning could be heard echoing through the cave. The group all aimed at the skeleton, while Alex twitched ceaselessly on the ground.

A slight tremor could be felt and the rest of the group members began to shake. The breaking of Alex's bones and a deep, piercing laugh echoed throughout the room.

With each passing second, the remaining group members found it more and more difficult to breathe. After a few seconds, they collapsed down on their knees. Their kittens, however, seemed unaffected by the pressure. After thirty seconds, the group heard a foreign voice from Alex say, " This body is not bad. I've seen a thousand better bodies, but I can live with this one temporarily." Alex stood in front of them and stretched as more breaking of bones was heard. "So much better said," he while reaching for Alex's kitten. "Shit," whispered Gab who was lying on the ground and slowly felt Evie's handgrip. At the same time, you could see the skeleton from the throne slowly being sucked into Alex's body. As the group watched the action with dismay, Alex slowly sat down on the throne.

"Hand me my scepter," Alex said in a calm voice while petting his kitten, which seemed to be terrified. As if ordered, one of the skeletons started moving and handed him his scepter. "Good, Good, Good," he laughed loudly and said softly, "Who is my good kitty," while tickling it with his fingers.

"What did you do to Alex," Luke asked as he raised his crossbow slowly with great effort.

"So that was the owner's name. A fitting name for such a noble character. My condolences to him that he of all people must end up as my vassal. But rest assured, noble soul. I will fulfill your wishes so that you will accept my power over you without remorse," the voice replied.

"Give us Alex back," Luke stammered and pulled the trigger. The arrow shot at Alex before it was stopped by Alex's finger.

"Luke, please stop," a familiar voice was heard from Alex's body.

"As you can see, Alex's soul is still alive. My subject better follows his word before you end up as my example," said the deep voice. "My lord, what shall we call you," Evie asked tremblingly while squeezing Gab's hand tightly.

" I have not uttered my name for centuries. But your new lord's name is Odebus," Odebus said as he continued to play with his kitten. "Time for me to pay you for your tributes: Alex, my physical vassals and the "innocent kitten" reward you," shouted