Bones of Doom

by Mark Cheverton

  The four friends walked quietly between the shelves of books, the dust from the floor slowly floating up into the air with each step. It made it difficult to breathe without coughing or sneezing, but they all knew silence was their best weapon. Er-Lan’s clawed feet made a scraping sound as they dragged across the stone floor; it reminded Watcher of the sound made by silverfish.

  At the end of a row of bookcases, a single skeleton stood over a table, holding a huge book. He set it down and leafed through the stained and brittle pages. As they approached, Watcher drew a normal bow from his inventory and notched an arrow. Carefully he drew the arrow back, getting ready to attack if necessary. The bow creaked slightly. The skeleton turned and stared straight at them.

  “Villagers … in the library!” the monster croaked out in warning.

  Instantly, the sound of rattling bones filled the chamber. Torches burst into life, throwing a flickering yellow glow onto the surroundings.

  Watcher and his friends retreated back between the tall bookcases, hoping to vanish into the darkness. The monster at the table now moved to end of the aisle, a huge, wicked-looking battle axe in his bony hands. Watcher dropped his bow and drew Needle while Planter pulled out her own enchanted bow.

  More skeletons gathered behind the axe-wielding monster. At the same time, a half-dozen monsters sealed off the other end of the aisle … they were trapped.

  Cold beads of sweat trickled down Watcher’s forehead as he glanced to either end of the bookcases, trying to come up with some clever idea that would help them to survive … but he couldn’t think of anything. His brain was overwhelmed with fear.

  The skeleton commander took a step closer, the terrifying monster turning Watcher’s blood to ice.

  “What are you doing here, villagers?” the axe-wielding monster asked.

  Watcher tried to speak, but he’d lost his words. He couldn’t even think.

  “We could ask you the same,” Blaster replied. “This building was built by the NPC wizards before the Great War. Skeletons have no place here.”

  Er-Lan moved next to Watcher and put a clawed hand on his shoulder. “Be strong … Er-Lan is with you,” the zombie whispered.

  Somehow, his friend’s words calmed his fear. Just then, a noise came from the entrance to the library; it sounded like pieces of metal clanking together. He smiled.

  “The skeletons will no longer play the victim to zombies or villagers.” The monster took a step closer, his axe sparkling in the torchlight. “I have come to take the knowledge from this place and bring it to my warlord, Rakir. We will use what is written in these ancient tomes to find every ancient relic made by the great monster warlocks. When we have gathered enough of them, the skeleton nation will then sweep across the Far Lands, destroying all that oppose us. It will be the beginning of the Age of the Skeletons.”

  The clanking grew louder. Some of the skeletons glanced over their shoulders. Watcher knew he had to keep their attention on them.

  “Sounds very … ambitious.” Watcher’s voice cracked with fear, making the skeleton leader grin. “But you forget, villagers like me will stop you.” The young NPC tried to stand up tall and hold out his sword, but his hand was shaking so much that he almost dropped Needle. “The weapons from the Great War are better off left buried. More weapons will only cause more violence.”

  “You are a fool,” the skeleton said with a sneer. “We will take what we want and there is no one who can stop us. What’s unfortunate is that none of you will live long enough to see that happen.” The skeleton turned his pale head and glanced at his fellow monsters, then smiled eerily. “Skeletons … attack!”

  CHAPTER 3

  Suddenly, a battle cry boomed off the chamber walls, causing dust to fall from the ancient books. The skeletons glanced about, uncertain what was happening. Planter and Blaster were equally confused, but Watcher just smiled.

  “Villagers … ATTACK!” a voice bellowed from the darkness.

  A huge NPC, clad in glowing iron armor, crashed into the skeleton formation, his diamond sword swinging left and right, tearing HP from bony bodies. More villagers emerged from the darkness, this time from the other end of the aisle.

  The skeletons, startled by this attack, stepped back, moving closer to Watcher and his friends as they tried to get away from the crazed villagers. The NPCs now had the skeletons surrounded instead of the other way around.

  Blaster laughed, then charged at the skeletons, swinging his curved blades through the air with deadly precision. Planter knelt and fired her enchanted bow, hitting monster after monster with her pointed shafts.

  Watcher drew Needle but was terrified. These skeletons, being almost within arm’s reach, extinguished any courage he had like a tidal wave on a single, flickering flame. He pushed his back to the dirty bookshelf and tried to be invisible, hoping the monsters would just go away.

  One of the monsters turned when Planter’s arrow pierced its back. The skeleton brought his bow up as Planter was reloading. He was getting ready to shoot her.

  “No you don’t!” Watcher moved faster than he thought possible. He leapt in front of Planter just as the skeleton fired. The arrow streaked through the air, heading for Planter’s chest … but it never made it. Needle moved as if someone else controlled the blade. The enchanted weapon flicked the pointed shaft out of the air, causing it to tumble to the ground.

  The monster quickly pulled out another arrow and took aim.

  “I said NO!” Rage bubbled up from within Watcher as the monster tried to shoot at his dearest friend again.

  Watcher knocked the arrow aside, then charged into the fray. Needle tore through the monster’s HP like a bolt of metallic lightning. After the monster fell, Watcher turned to the next enemy. Fear started to creep back into his mind; the skeletons terrified him beyond reason, but the thought of these bony creatures hurting Planter … his Planter … he wouldn’t allow it.

  A monster wielding a heavy iron sword charged at Watcher. Stepping back, the boy waited as fear bubbled to the surface. The monster chopped at him. Spinning quickly, Watcher ducked, then slashed at the creature’s legs, causing it to flash red, taking damage. Ducking under another attack, Needle slashed at the skeleton’s exposed ribs, doing more damage. For every attack the skeleton made, Watcher returned with two of his own. In seconds, the monster was gone, his HP finally consumed.

  Glancing around, Watcher found the other skeletons had been destroyed as well.

  “That was fun.” Blaster patted Watcher on the back, then removed his leather cap. Dark curls sprang forth, all tangled and disheveled, as if they hadn’t seen a brush since the Great War.

  “I thought there would be more of them.” Cutter sheathed his huge, diamond sword, then scanned the room with his steely gray eyes, looking for stragglers. He was the biggest villager in the room, maybe even the biggest anywhere. His skill with his diamond sword was legendary, only eclipsed by his courage. Nothing seemed to frighten Cutter; it was something Watcher admired.

  Satisfied they were safe, the big NPC moved to Watcher’s side. He wore enchanted iron armor with ornate decorations on the front and back, clearly the work of some ancient blacksmith with magical powers.

  “When your sister, Winger, told us a company of skeletons were in the Wizard’s Tower, I thought there would be at least a couple dozen monsters.” Cutter ran his finger across the spine of a book. A clean streak was left behind, showing golden letters in the standard galactic alphabet used by the ancients.

  “I thought there would be more too,” an NPC girl said.

  She stepped into the flickering light of a torch, her long brown hair spilling down the back of her chain mail. A pair of bright, blue eyes scanned the faces of the NPCs, then stopped at Watcher’s and smiled. She ran to him.

  “You’re okay, brother?” she asked with a smile.

  “I’m glad you brought all the NPCs, Winger.” Watcher hugged his sister. “We were a little bit surrounded.”

  Winger smiled.
“When I told the others it was the Wizard’s Tower that was being invaded, of course two certain villagers had to accompany us, even though they wouldn’t be much use in a battle.”

  “Let me guess, our father and Mapper?” Watcher asked.

  She nodded.

  Two men stepped forward. Watcher’s father, Cleric, was wearing his always-clean white smock with a gray stripe running down the middle. The hem of the garment was, not unusually, dirty from the thick layer of dust covering the floor. In the flickering light of the torch, his full head of grayish-white hair glowed in the flickering light like strands of silver.

  “Sometimes, it takes more than blades and arrows to win a war,” Cleric said in a confident, almost indignant voice.

  The brother and sister giggled.

  The other villager, Mapper, was bent with age. His head was bald, a ring of gray hair on the sides of his head trying to hang on to its youth despite the scalp slowly advancing over the years, driving the gray hair into retreat. His deep brown eyes, filled with subtle flecks of gold, widened when he noticed the many thousands of books on the shelves. He smiled. “This is remarkable.”

  “What is this place?” Cutter’s deep voice boomed through the air. “A library?”

  Watcher nodded to him.

  “Why would the ancient wizards build something like this?” the big NPC asked as he removed his shimmering, enchanted helmet and ran his stubby, square fingers through his short cropped, sandy-brown hair.

  “They made this to protect their knowledge and history,” Mapper said in a scratchy voice.

  “This is probably the greatest find we could ever hope for,” Mapper continued, his wrinkled face filled with wonder. The old man’s bald head was covered with tiny, square beads of sweat, the moisture reflecting the light from the many flickering torches being placed throughout the library. “Do you know what this place is?”

  “Well … yeah, it’s a library.” Watcher led them to the others.

  “Watcher, it’s not just any library, this is the library.” Mapper stopped to stare at the books on the shelf.

  “What are you talking about?” Watcher’s question went unanswered; Mapper was lost to the wonders of the ancient tomes standing before him.

  “Son, this library was put together by one of the great wizards,” his father, Cleric said. “Her name was Alexandria, and stories say she was the keeper of knowledge for the wizards before the Great War. This is the Library of Alexandria.” Cleric paused to let that sink in, but no one reacted. “Didn’t any of you learn anything in school?”

  Many of the villagers just shrugged.

  The old man sighed and shook his head. “Anything the wizards learned was entombed in this library. Even knowledge stolen from the monster warlocks was stored here. This is the greatest storehouse of knowledge in all of the Far Lands.”

  “Will there be information about magical weapons in here?” Cutter asked.

  Cleric nodded.

  “That’s why the skeletons were here.” Watcher pulled out a torch and placed it on the ground, the flickering light making it easier to see. “They were looking for weapons.”

  “Or maybe just information about weapons,” Watcher’s sister added. Winger pulled long strands of brown hair from across her face and tucked them behind an ear. “We’ll need to guard this place closely. The information here could be dangerous.”

  “You’re probably right, daughter.” Cleric patted her on the back, then moved toward the front of the room. His white smock now seemed dingy; likely, it had gotten dirty on their trek through the dust-covered library. “I wish we could see better in here. Some of these books are probably very interesting.”

  “Watch this,” Mapper said with a smile.

  The old NPC moved to the front of the chamber, his boots scuffing the ground, creating tiny clouds of dust. Watcher followed his friend, just wanting to make sure he was safe in these strange surroundings.

  Mapper stepped to a button that was on the stone wall. It was almost invisible against the gray stone, but the villager seemed to know it was there.

  “I read about this, once, in a stronghold library.” Mapper smiled, then pushed the button.

  A ball of fire appeared next to the button, then moved up the wall. When it reached the ceiling, the flame floated through the air until it hit the first chandelier. Instantly, all the torches came to life, spreading a warm yellow glow throughout the chamber. The ball of fire then moved to the next chandelier and the next, igniting every torch. Panes of stained glass built into the light fixtures cast a multitude of colors throughout the library, throwing warm oranges and reds on the walls, with yellows and blues covering the floor. It was a spectacular sight.

  The villagers all gazed around them at the incredible scene. Some wiped off books and read their spines while others searched the rest of the library for relics.

  “Don’t try to take any of the books out of here,” Watcher said.

  “Of course not,” his father replied. “They’ll turn to dust just like in a stronghold library. The magical enchantments that surround this chamber keep the books from falling apart over the centuries.”

  “Oh, my.” An expression of awe covered Mapper’s square face as he pulled out a thick book and slowly opened to the pages.

  “What is it?” Cleric quickly moved to his side.

  “This book has a list of ancient relics with their last known locations.” Mapper flipped the pages. “Let’s see what it says about the Library of Alexandria.” He stopped at the page describing the library, then mumbled as he read through the page. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “What did it say?” Planter asked, her long blond hair looking like spun gold in the orange light that shone down upon her. It made Watcher smile. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cutter staring at her as well, a smile on his big face. It caused his own smile to fade for some reason, Watcher’s feelings were replaced with something else he didn’t like or understand. It was like an anger levied toward the big NPC, but for no reason other than because Cutter was looking at her.

  “Well, it says ‘Follow the redstone’ and that’s all.” Mapper looked at the other villagers. “I don’t see any redstone in this library.”

  “Everyone, spread out and look for redstone,” Cutter commanded.

  The villagers moved throughout the library, wiping away dust from the floor with their boots. As they searched, Watcher gazed up at the ceiling, lost in thought. He stared at the three chandeliers, each hanging from a single wooden fence post. Mounted in the ceiling, a circle of redstone lanterns glowed faintly around the first chandelier, but the second had a smaller circle of lanterns, and the third an even smaller circle.

  “Ha ha.” Watcher laughed as he stared straight up.

  “What is it?” Winger asked. She moved to her brother’s side.

  “Look … it’s up there.” Watcher pointed at the ceiling.

  “I don’t see anything,” his sister replied, confused.

  “Look at the number of lanterns in the circle around the main support for each chandelier,” Watcher explained. “The first circle has a radius of four blocks, the second has a radius of three, then the last has two.”

  “Where’s one?” Planter asked, now on his other side.

  “Exactly,” Watcher nodded.

  Moving to the center of the chamber, Watcher counted the number of blocks between each chandelier … it was eighteen. Moving to the last chandelier, he stood directly beneath it, then counted eighteen blocks away from that point.

  “I think we need to dig here.” Watcher pulled out a pick axe and tore into the mossy brick cube.

  Chips of stone flew in all directions, some of the tiny shards cutting the backs of his hands, but Watcher didn’t slow. Two more strong swings, and the cube shattered.

  “Well, look what we have here,” Cleric said, peering over Watcher’s shoulder.

  In the excavated hole sat an ender chest. The dark cube glowed with a strange green li
ght, lines of pale green on its side. But this chest was different than the ender chest Watcher and Blaster had found months ago in the Wizard’s Tower; this chest had a gold circle drawn across the top, a bright-red ruby placed at the center.

  “This is no ordinary chest,” Mapper said. “I think it’s a linked chest.”

  “What does that mean?” Cutter asked as he approached, the rest of the villagers now gathering around them.

  “It means there is similar chest linked to this one,” Mapper explained. “Open one and you gain access to everything in the other. It’s sorta like a teleportation system. Items in one box are instantly made available in the companion chest, no matter the distance between them.”

  The old villager knelt and carefully opened the linked ender chest. Inside, they found five pairs of enchanted diamond boots, the crystalline items almost looking as if they were made from ice. They felt cold to the touch and almost froze his fingers as Mapper pulled multiple pairs of boots out and set them on the ground. He then pulled out a golden battle-axe. It shimmered with magical power, the enchantments pulsing within the weapon as if the axe had a heartbeat. Mapper also lifted a handful of red-tipped arrows from the chest, each dripping the smallest amount of liquid from the tip, and placed them on the ground.

  Planter reached down and picked up the axe, her eyes wide with wonder. As soon as she touched it, the handle pulsed with light, then grew dim.

  “I think it just bonded to you,” Cleric said. “Best you keep it.”

  She nodded. “What do you think these arrows do?”

  “They’re healing arrows,” Watcher said. “We used them to destroy the Wither King.”

  “I remember,” Planter replied, smiling.

  Mapper gasped, then withdrew a duplicate chest to the linked ender chest. “Here is the companion to this chest. It will give us access to both.”

  “So whatever is in one, you’ll be able to retrieve from the other?” Blaster asked.