Arlan sat alone in his attic room, staring at the floorboards beneath him. The night was quiet, but his thoughts were anything but.
Bones lay curled up beside him, the tiny skeleton rat clicking his teeth softly in what Arlan had learned to recognize as unease.
"I know," he murmured. "Something feels off."
It wasn't just the crypt. It wasn't just the paladins lurking in town.
It was him.
His magic had changed in the last dungeon fight. It had felt stronger, more instinctual. And Bones… Bones had been acting strange since then. He had always been an undead, but something about him was shifting. Arlan wasn't sure how he knew it—he just did.
Bones let out a small chittering noise, shifting slightly against Arlan's arm.
Then it happened again.
A sharp pulse. A twitch in his bones. The faintest hum of magic.
Arlan sat up straight, watching as Bones' frame shuddered—his ribs stretching ever so slightly, his body seeming to expand and contract as if something inside him was trying to grow.
Arlan's breath hitched. "Whoa. Bones?"
The skeletal rat stilled. His glowing eyes flickered—brighter than usual, but only for a moment. Then, as quickly as it had started, the strange sensation faded.
Arlan hesitated before reaching out, brushing a finger across the top of his familiar's skull. "What's going on with you?"
Bones didn't answer, of course.
But Arlan knew one thing for certain.
Something inside both of them was changing.
And he wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
Morning at the Guild – A New Job
By the time Arlan made it to the guild hall the next morning, the others were already waiting.
Leila tapped her foot impatiently. "Finally."
Arlan yawned. "I wasn't that late."
Beren smirked. "Late enough."
Mira ignored the banter, pointing at the quest board. "We have a problem."
Arlan's tiredness faded. "What kind?"
Tomas folded his arms. "Another team went into the crypt."
A tense silence fell over them.
Leila exhaled. "And let me guess—they didn't all make it out?"
Mira's expression darkened. "One of them disappeared. The other two barely made it back."
Arlan felt a familiar weight settle in his gut.
The crypt again.
The whispers.
The voice in the amulet.
It was waiting.
Beren was already reading over the new quest notice. "The guild wants more details. Ten silver for any new information."
Leila groaned. "So we're going back?"
Mira hesitated before nodding. "If we don't, someone else will."
Arlan clenched his jaw. He didn't like this. Not one bit. But he couldn't deny that something was down there, something lurking in the dark.
Something that knew him.
And now, they were walking straight toward it.
Duskhaven Crypt – The Return
The crypt entrance was as cold and foreboding as ever, even with the sun high in the sky. The stone steps leading down seemed darker than before, as if the shadows had thickened in their absence.
Leila hesitated at the entrance, rubbing her arms. "I hate this place."
Tomas adjusted his grip on his sword. "That makes two of us."
They stepped inside, the weight of silence pressing down on them.
The deeper they went, the worse it became. The air wasn't just stale—it felt wrong. Heavy. Like they were walking into something that knew they were coming.
Arlan swallowed hard.
Bones was stiff inside his cloak, unmoving. Watching.
Then they saw it.
A long smear of fresh blood on the stone wall.
Mira exhaled sharply. "That's new."
Tomas tensed. "This is where the other team was, isn't it?"
Beren nodded. "And someone didn't make it out."
Arlan felt a sharp pang in his chest.
Something down here had killed an adventurer.
And it was still waiting.
Leila glanced at the bloodstain, her voice quieter now. "So what's the plan?"
Mira straightened, gripping her staff. "We find out what's down here, take notes, and get out. No unnecessary risks."
Beren cracked his knuckles. "And if we do run into something?"
Tomas smirked. "Then we don't die."
Leila rolled her eyes. "Fantastic strategy, Tomas."
Arlan barely heard them.
Because in his pocket, the amulet pulsed once.
And then the voice whispered again.
"You are close now, little necromancer."
And this time…
It sounded hungry.