As it lunged forward, Kai instinctively took a few steps behind. He could hear the guards gasping behind him.
The skeleton landed on its bony feet and looked in between the guards and Kai.
Its eye sockets glowed as fire erupted out of them. Kai’s eyes raked down to its body. It was nothing but bones, seemingly a low-grade undead. With its jagged teeth, it grinned. A twisted smirk contorted its features.
"Stay back," Kai ordered.
The skeleton seemed to analyse the people for a few seconds.
"What is it-"
Before Killian could question, it lunged forward, Its bony hand whipping forward. Kai dodged it and rolled on the ground. He got to his feet immediately and stood next to the skeleton.
"That’s a skeleton!"
"Lord Arzan, are you okay?"
The guards shouted out, their voices filled with shock, but he ignored them for the time being.
It looked at Kai and let out a harsh, low, guttural sound out of its teeth. Whatever it yelled, sounded as if a bone was scraping against a stone.
It raised its hand and formed a fist.
Kai noticed a few patterns pulsating with crimson light across its limbs and ribs.
Those were seals given by a human to it. It wasn’t a skeleton borne from a dungeon or something natural.
Kai prepared himself while looking at Killian, signalling him to be on guard.
The skeleton lunged forward once again. Its hands were in the air as it tried to get a hold of Kai.
Kai bent his upper body and turned to his sides, making the skeletal figure pass him, but he slammed his hands into its shoulder, and it stumbled off balance.
It was strong and swift, immediately bolting upright. Whoever had made it had been careful to make sure it could hold its ground in a fight.
Without wasting another second, with a flick of his wrist, he summoned the winds, whispering a quick incantation under his breath.
"[Rise Gales]."
But the skeleton, fueled by unearthly speed, deftly dodged the onslaught of wind, moving with an uncanny swiftness that belied its skeletal form.
The skeleton once again made the same scratchy noise through its gritted teeth.
The glare of fire in its eyes grew.
"Umph!"
Before Kai could think, the skeletal monster tried to grab him by his hand.
Its bony fingers tightly wrapped around Kai as he tried to break free and prepare another spell.
His eyes, focused on the monster in front of him, shifted to the guards. They were preparing themselves to attack the monster from behind.
"Don’t let the bastard touch the lord! Attack him!"
Killian yelled approaching it from behind. He swung the sword in an arc, trying to hit the skeleton and break its neck into two.
As soon as the sword hit its neck, the bones broke and a gap appeared in between its neck, but the next second, it started to heal.
Killian’s eyes widened.
Kai was not surprised as he already sensed the types of enchantments on it. Despite being a Grade 1 undead, the enchantments were helping it stand it’s ground.
Whoever brought life to the skeleton must have been a skilled Mage with mastery over undead enchantments and the way they worked.
The skeleton’s scratchy voice once again echoed through the silent forest like nails scratching on a chalkboard.
The only other noises were of Kai who took heaving breaths, cursing his body for the nth time.
It turned around immediately and looked at Killian to attack it.
Kai took that moment to cast a spell. He drew the spell structure in his mind and started pushing mana from his Mana Heart. It was a 2nd circle called [Heat Wave] and took more concentration to use, but if he was right, it would be enough to deal with the skeleton.
As he prepared the spell, Killian actively dodged each strike the skeleton threw at him. The other guards surrounded him, not moving in case they got in his way.
"[Astrum Veil]." Kai said the incantation aloud of the spell.
The mana rushed from his body and sent a wave of heated air towards the monster. It hit him and immediately burst the insides of the bones.
In the next second, they broke into hundreds of pieces and flew in the air. It almost looked like a firecracker from afar.
"Ahh!" Its hollow voice filled the air as the bones fell to the ground.
Killian and other guards gaped at the charred bones on the ground, some crackling and dropping into the stream, mixing with the water and burying deep inside. The guards stepped on them to make sure it was dead.
"Are you okay?" Killian asked.
"I’m okay," he stated.
He said, "But there’s nothing-"
A skeleton jumped from the trees to their left.
Its scratchy voice filled the air. This time, it bore a dagger.
The dagger wasn’t a usual one, but one filled with some sort of energy erupting from it.
The dark aura-filled dagger swung in the air, aiming for a guard.
Killian lunged forward and deflected it with his sword. A loud clang resounded and he heard Lord Arzan yell a spell. A gust of wind hit the skeletal monster, making it stumble on its feet.
"There’s more, Killian!" Arzan’s voice came in a hurry. "They look to be Grade 2 undead, Skeleton Warriors."
Killian looked back instinctively.
Three more skeletal figures surrounded them the next second. They had similar daggers on them and looked as threatening as one another.
The guards moved to take their formations to intercept them, already on guard against them while Lord Arzan faced one himself.
The skeleton in front of Arzan thrust forward.
Killian swiftly moved from his position to protect Arzan. He barely deflected the blow, the clang of steel on bone sending shivers down his spine.
The skeleton didn’t even flinch at Killian’s move. It tried to attack further with its dagger, taking steps forward, one after another.
The dagger drew along Killian’s sword.
With that, the rest of the skeletal figures started to attack. Steel swords started clashing against the bones. The skeletons were quick to hurt a few guards.
Killian took a few steps forward and swished with his blade, making it lean back and started aiming for its neck. The skeleton fought back with its dagger.
He gritted his teeth. Each parry, each riposte was fueled with fear gnawing at the edges of his mind.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Arzan casting spells to protect the guards. For that brief moment, the skeleton drew the dagger across Killian’s forearm.
He hissed in pain.
"Argh!" Killian ignored the pain and charged forward.
His sword made contact with its head first, landing a fast and hard blow. Then with its gut, and finally its knees. It fell to the flow, one leg bent.
Killian took the moment to lash at it with rage as he started attacking with his sword left and right.
A few bones cracked, but it was still standing, the bones healing at a swift pace.
"Lord Arzan!" Killian asked for help, knowing only he could destroy the skeleton in one blow.
He heard Arzan casting the same spell he did for the previous skeleton. Soon, the wave of fire hit the skeleton, making it fall to the floor, and cracking its bones loudly.
Killian physically felt the wave of heat that Arzan sent through.
His eyes lingered at the broken bones for a second, before seeing how the rest of the guards were struggling.
Although Lord Arzan was quick with his spells, he was not able to manage all three skeletons alone.
Killian quickened his feet and started bolting forward, hitting skeletons one after another and protecting the guards.
He heard bones cracking under his sword and his movements encouraged the rest of the guards.
"Duck!" Killian yelled at a guard who was struggling against a skeleton.
The guard ducked immediately and the skeleton looked up ahead, distracted. Killian jumped forward, lunging at it and bringing the weight of his sword down.
As soon as his blow hit its shoulder, it stumbled a few steps behind.
Killian took this moment to grab the dagger from its hand and threw it away.
He attacked its shoulder area and swiftly bent to attack its knees.
As expected, without the dagger, the skeleton was useless, vulnerable to his attacks.
With nothing holding back, he thought no more. He started to attack the same monster, over and over. Finding any bony structure and tearing them to pieces of dust that blended with the air.
Soon, the skull fell on the floor.
Killian panted for a second as a satisfied feeling filled his heart. But his attention was soon distracted by a loud cry that came from a guard.
He turned around to see a guard lying on the floor, bleeding heavily from his rib cage area. On top of the guard, the skeletal figure was dragging his fingers on top of him. Scratching the sides of his face first, and then going lower.
Killian moved to intercept, but a wave of shimmering energy hit the skeleton, wrapping the attacking skeleton in its crimson sheen.
The skeletal figure froze. Next second, another gust of wind hit its neck, removing its head from the body.
The undead fell on the floor as Killian rushed to the guard, seeing blood all around him. Turning him, he saw that the other guards had taken care of the rest of the skeletons.
A few people looked injured, but they were still standing. Except one.
"Lord Arzan," he said, looking at Arzan who for the first time in a month looked lost for words as he stared down at the heavily bleeding guard who seemed to be taking his last few breaths.