Thanatos stood amid the dark, dank dungeon, a chill running through his hollow ribs as he contemplated his companion's unfortunate circumstance.
'Undead as I am, I feel no pangs of hunger or desire for rest,' he mused, his empty sockets gazing upon the human mage beside him.
'Yet here we are, delayed by the most basic of mortal needs—food.'
With a weary sigh, Thanatos contemplated the irony of their situation.
He, an immortal being beyond the bounds of human frailty, and yet, helplessly at the mercy of this mage.
'It's fascinating, isn't it?' Thanatos continued to think.
'When I wrote my story, I portrayed undead as beings devoid of mortal concerns. Now, I find myself here, just as I described in the book, and I've discovered that becoming undead in reality is more complex than I imagined. I have all the attributes I assigned to the monsters, including the loss of my brain, yet I am still as sharp as I was in life.'
He realized that his situation was rather extraordinary, even for someone familiar with the lore of the undead.
'Indeed, I am an anomaly in many ways. The skeletons in stories are often portrayed as mindless, bloodthirsty creatures, so I can see why my display of intelligence is surprising to Charlotte,' he thought.
He contemplated the situation further, his empty eye sockets gazing into the shadows of the dungeon.
Thanatos' thoughts took on a more somber tone. 'As much as I want to confide in Charlotte, I cannot. The burden of my secret is mine alone. The potential ramifications of revealing my true origin would be too great, for the story, and for her.'
He couldn't help but think about the far-reaching consequences his words could have, about the danger and the destruction that might follow. 'For now, I must keep my past hidden, even from one I trust.'
He turned to face her and spoke.
"To address your hunger, we have to hunt down a suitable monster," he said, his tone cordial and measured.
"The dungeons are filled with creatures, both as potential food and deadly enemies, so we'll have to be cautious."
He gestured towards the corridor with his bony hand, his blank eye sockets giving nothing away about his intentions.
Charlotte's voice quivered with fear. "I can't fight! I'm not a warrior, I'm just a researcher!"
Thanatos' hollow sockets seemed to peer into her very soul as he replied.
"You may not be a fighter, but you have skills and strength of a different kind that could prove to be useful. Besides, it's either this or you starve. As for me, I am immortal, and I require no sustenance." His voice was firm, but not unkind.
Charlotte, her stomach growling loudly, grumbled. "Fine, we'll hunt down some monsters. What's the plan?"
"Why're you asking me?" Thanatos questioned, sounding slightly offended. "I'm undead, not a map."
"Well, you live here, right?" Charlotte reasoned. "So, you should know your way around."
Thanatos knew when he was beaten and groaned loudly enough to wake the dead.
"Fine, you win," he conceded. "So, here's what we'll do. I'll be the delicious undead bait, and you'll trap the monster with your glue magic. It'll be like catching a fly on a, well, on a magical fly trap." He gave a skeletal smirk.
Charlotte returned a wry smile of her own. "Sounds like a sticky situation.
She let out a giggle, her lips curling up into a mischievous grin. Thanatos was taken aback. Who knew the mage had such a sense of humor?
"Nice one," he said with a slight nod. "If we're able to catch the monster, we'll have to finish it off, of course. I'm guessing that your magic isn't strong enough to kill it."
She nodded quickly in response.
Thanatos gave an approving nod. "Of course." He surveyed the area, his empty eye sockets analyzing every rock and crevice. "Can you craft a weapon from these stones?"
Charlotte's brow furrowed in concentration. "I can try."
She flipped open her grimoire and started to flip through the pages, her lips silently mouthing the spells within.
Suddenly, her staff began to glow, its light bathing the surrounding stones in a warm, mystical light.
With a flick of her wrist, the stones, once scattered and forgotten, slowly lifted from the ground, as though summoned by an invisible force.
One by one, they came together, like a puzzle solving itself. As the pieces aligned, the stones began to glow with a faint, reddish-orange hue.
Thanatos couldn't help but stare in awe, the ghost of a smile playing on his skeletal features.
In a matter of seconds, a beautifully crafted stone spear was formed, its shimmering surface cool to the touch.
The two crept through the darkness, keeping low to the ground, when suddenly, Thanatos caught sight of their target: a boar, snuffling and grunting as it roamed the shadows. This was their chance.
With practiced skill, Thanatos lured the boar toward Charlotte's hiding spot, its beady eyes fixed on him, the delicious undead bait.
Charlotte, waiting for her cue, took aim, and released a sticky globule of magic towards the beast.
But in the heat of the moment, her aim faltered.
The globule missed its mark, and the boar, now aware of the threat, charged.
Thanatos, caught off guard, was knocked to the ground, his spear clattering away from his skeletal grip.
As the boar reared up, its hooves poised for a deadly strike, Charlotte let loose another, more desperate spell.
This time, the magic took hold. The boar froze, mid-strike, encased in a layer of thick, oozing slime.
Thanatos, now breathing a sigh of relief, scrambled to his feet and snatched up the stone spear.
With the boar immobilized, Thanatos was finally able to finish the job. He drove the spear into the creature's flank, once, twice, thrice.
The spear's sharpened tip punctured the boar's tough hide, eliciting a guttural squeal from the beast.
Thanatos, panting, but triumphant, wiped the sticky remains of the monster from his weapon and turned to Charlotte.
She approached him, fumbling with her words as she tried to apologize. "I-I'm so sorry, Thanatos! I just got nervous and—"
"Nervous?" Thanatos' tone took on a sharp edge, his eye sockets flashing with anger.
"This is no time for nerves! One small slip-up could mean our doom! You need to focus, Charlotte. This isn't some game. If you don't get your act together, you'll get us both killed!"
The tension in the air was as thick as the slime that encased the now-dead boar.
Charlotte stared at Thanatos, realizing for the first time just how deadly serious he was about their survival in the dungeon.
This was the first time she'd seen him truly angry, and it left her feeling more shaken than any monster had so far.
And with that, the hunt had just begun.