We entered the tunnels split into two groups:
the first group had me, Sasha and Neenie , and we entered from the entrance Sasha discovered, while the priests entered from the entrance within Unia's tomb.
'I think I've seen enough... Maybe I should go get the other guards...'
'Scared, Neenie?'
'N-Not at all... It's just that I was supposed to investigate and...'
'So you are scared'
'Absolutely not!'
'Sasha, stop teasing him'
'Aw, why ruin the fun?'
'Because we are in enemy territory and you should be focused'
'Bah, duty duty duty, don't you think about anything else?'
We finally arrived at the entrance of the great room, putting out our torch as we did.
The room was just as busy as we left it.
'So, where do you think the priests are?'
'I can't see them on the other side, maybe they're still in the tunnels'
'Or maybe they got eaten on the road. Or maybe they had to stop cause their Big Teacher is reading a verse'
'Sturm is an Instructor, they are the ones tasked with training the warrior-priests in everything, from warfare to scriptures'
'So very interesting, please tell me more'
'Really? You usually hate everything related to the Church of the Six'
'I was being sarcastic...'
'Figures. Also, I've noticed you've never called Sturm with his name, why's that?'
'I'm not going to be friendly with somebody who pretends to trust me'
'Really? I didn't notice...'
'That's because you're you'
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'I'm sorry to intrude, but isn't it them on the other side?'
Neenie pointed out the other tunnel, where the priests were now pouring out, chanting as they did
'Why did I even expect them to be sensible...'
Sasha said, before exiting the tunnel herself.
I looked at Neenie, trying to reassure him, before following her out.
The monsters were quick to react - quicker than what I expected from undead monsters, that is - and were on us within seconds.
We were coming down the stairs, but there was immediatly a line of zombies and skeletons waiting for us, some armed with shovels, but a pair was armed with sword and shield.
The armored figure remained in his spot in the middle, looking at the battle, and directing his forces with gestures only.
On the other side, the priests were pushing through their opponents, all but crushing the defensive line, but our situation was a bit more complicated:
We assumed the undead to be as mindless as the first encounter, but that was a mistake, and both me and Sasha, whose real weapons were still at the inn, were too short ranged to properly engage the defences.
I thought we were at a standstill, both sides staring eachother down, when I heard some words in a foreign language, and a small bolt of blue light darted from behind my shoulder right into one of the skeletons, exploding his ribs, and scattering the rest of the bones into the ground.
The undead were bewildered for a moment, before the armored figure pointed at us, and they charged at us.
I glanced back to see Neenie, magic wisps still flickering in his hands, paralyzed with fear.
The stairs gave us an advantage over our opponents, forcing them to come at us two at a time, and we still had the higher ground.
The first to come at me was an unarmed skeleton, who rushed at me, in an attempt to claw my face, but I simply slashed at its arm, before kicking him off the stairs.
It fell for just a few meters, but it was enough for the bones to shatter and disperse. Behind him was another one, this time with a shovel.
I dodged the first strike, grabbing the improvised weapon as it passed by, then cleaving at its former owner. The strike wasn't enough to finish him, but it had to let go of the shovel.
Sasha, in the meantime, was steadily advancing, leaving me behind and allowing the monsters to surround her, but she was holding her own, making sure that each strike she suffered was repaid with punches and kicks.
'Sasha! A gift!' I said, while throwing her the shovel
'For me? You shouldn't have'
She had just dismantled her third skeleton, and was in the process of ripping an arm out of its socket from a fourth one, but still managed to grab the weapon.
Its shaft was almost as long as a person, making it very close to what she normally used. She started twirling and dancing with her new spear, hitting everyone around her in a flurry of blows.
At the same time, one of the skeletons armed with shields came at me, followed by a zombie, who was trying to flank me on the right.
The skeleton thrusted at me with his sword, and I had little time to dodge it. It hit me in the chest, a wide but shallow cut that had me wincing in pain.
I tried to retaliate, but the zombie grabbed my right arm suddently. His hads were much stronger than a skeleton's and its grip alone was painfully threatening to break my arm.
'Neenie! Do something!'
'I-I can only cast one spell...'
'Anything!'
I tried freeing myself from the zombie's grip, but it was proving impossible, all I could do was prevent him from biting me. I knew the skeleton was going for me, so I stepped backwards, forcing the zombie into the skeletons' path. It worked, up to a point, as the skeleton thrusted through his companion, hitting me at the same time in the stomach. This cut was much deeper, and the situation started looking a lot more desperate.
Sasha was still surrounded, she was holding them at bay, but the improvised weapon wasn't enough to kill them properly.
I looked at the skeleton, preparing for another blow, as I tried desperatly to get the zombie off me.
Then, the zombie suddently collapsed, an axe firmly lodged into its skull.
Neenie, screaming a wordless battlecry, rushed down from the stairs, leaving his axe inside the zombie's head, and instead charging at the skeleton with his round metal shield, putting his entire frame behind it, before jumping at the skeleton, shield first.
They both crashed into the ground, just a meter below. The skeleton exploded in dust and bone shards.
I quickly assessed my situation, my right arm wasn't broken, but I could barely move it; my sword had been lost in the process and I was bleeding from both of my cuts, but I still had some fight in me, so I dislodged the axe from what remained of the zombie, and charged at the foes surrounding Sasha.
In the meantime, the priests had annihilated the resistance on their side, but not without losses, as I counted two less standing.
She had managed to reduce the number of her adversaries to three, from the five she had before, but her weapon had broken, and she was using what remained of the shaft as a short staff, using her martial arts skills when a monster came too close.
I tried sneaking behind the second skeleton with sword and shield, which was giving her the most trouble, before delivering a powerful blow.
I wasn't able to finish it, as the monster noticed me at the last second, partially deflecting my attack with the shield, but the impact was powerful enough to smash its own shield into its skull, dealing severe damage to both the arm and the head.
The skeleton seemed dazed, and lost control of its shield arm, who limped, before detatching itself from the rest of the body. He still attacked me with a wide slash, but it was slower than usual, so much that I had no trouble parrying it with my non-dominant hand, before kicking the skeleton away, who crashed into the stairs, never to get back up.
Just the zombie was left, as Sasha was just in the progress of smashing what remained of her staff, now little more than a club, into the skull of the last skeleton.
We engaged the last monster at the same time, and made short work of it.
Wehn we looked back at the priests, two of them, Sturm at the front, were engaging the armored figure, who was holding its ground against the three, a greataxe in his hands. The other two were performing first aid on the fallen, one of which had already helped Neenie back on his feet.
The priest who helped Neenie, Fotie, an halfling, approached me, and quickly treated my right arm and belly wounds with a potion, who eased the pain and stopped the bleeding, but didn't completely heal it, like Sturm did, a few hours ago.
We finally got down the stairs, and approached the armored figure.
From close up we could notice that the armor contained a blackened skeleton, and the black suit of armor smelled of charred flesh. It was taller than me, easily above two meters in height, and wielded a greataxe, who was also made of the same dark metal. Both the armor and the axe looked rough, but the glint in the edge promised it was a masterfully crafted item, while the runes on both were radiating an ominous red light.
Sturm was circling his opponent, while the other priest, Gorin, was circling it on the opposite side.
The three of us arrived just as the enemy attacked Sturm in a sudden strike, the dwarf was able to defend against it, parrying the strike with both arms, and still only managing to partially delfect the attack, and was pushed sideways; the axe crashed into the ground below, chipping the stone floor with an absurde force.
Sturm fell back a few steps
I stepped beside him, wielding a sword taken from a skeleton, Sasha behind me, still unarmed.
Fotie followed us, and I was surprised by Neenie, who joined us without a shed of fear.
'Alright lads, let's show this unholy monster how to fight!'
Sturm said as he charged the monster once more.