The dice fell.

Axe, axe, moon.

Buff gained: +3% lifesteal, +11% reaction speed - Duration: 8 minutes.

Kass activated haste a split second before the first ghoul leapt at her, claws extended. She stepped left and took its head as it soared past. The other two came in right behind at full speed, barreling straight for her.

She spun to the side at the last second, claws scraping against her barrier as she whipped her blade around, severing another head from shoulders and digging deep in the torso of the other. She wrenched the blade free, backing away from the wild swipes as fast as she could. Duck. Sidestep. Back step. Back step. She stabbed out and the ghoul fell to the floor, dead.

Just as she pulled her blade free, a knight was upon her. She barely managed to deflect the first strike, already off balance. The blow pushed her back and she smacked into the side of a coffin. An overhead chop came in quick, and Kass slid to the side, the knight’s sword biting deep into the stone.

She stabbed out towards the vulnerable undead, seeking the quick kill, but immediately had to change directions and dive away. Her only warning being the near white light flying at her before an explosion of fire blew apart the coffin she had been next to, a wave of heat washing over her.

What the… Kass pushed herself back to her feet, mostly unscathed. Luckily, the knight hadn’t fared as well, it too was getting back to its feet. One of its arms was missing and the top half of its body was in flames. Fireballs?

Another knight charged at her from the side, blade rushing down to cleave her in half. Kass batted the strike away and followed with a wicked slice to the creature’s leg. Whisper cut clean through and the knight tumbled to the ground in a heap.

A white light shot her way, forcing her to take cover once more. The explosion that followed sent debri flying in all directions, chunks of stone raining down on her. Of course they have fireballs.

So the nobles are mages...need to kill them quick. These fireballs are way too powerful. The armless, and still burning knight came at her again, releasing a frenzy of attacks. Kass dodged and deflected, moving faster than she ever had before, her mind racing to keep up with her movements.

Two ghouls jumped at her as she parried another wild strike, forcing her to disengage. Light gathered once more in front of one of the Crypt Nobles, swelling to the size of a basketball. The noble looked up at her as she weaved through stone coffin after stone coffin, and Kass knew it would be headed her way soon.

A quick command sent her orb of light hurtling towards the mage, and Kass hoped it would be enough to at least distract it. The result was better than expected.

The orb crashed into the undead’s face and burst just as it released its spell. The fireball flew wide, missing Kass and detonated into a ghoul chasing behind her. The blast obliterated the upper half of the ghoul and staggered the other undead around it.

Two legs flopped to the floor, steaming.

Now’s my opening.

Kass used dash and sped up, leaving behind her pursuers and rushing at the three noble mages that still stood in each of their coffins. Two were already preparing another fireball, and the third was still recovering from the orb.

Her dash brought her just past the disoriented noble and she activated backstab as she plunged her sword through the back of the thing’s skull. Whisper exploded out the forehead before being ripped right back out. The noble collapsed back into its coffin as Kass moved onto the next.

The second noble barely had any time to react before its head separated from its shoulders. The built up energy from its spell fizzled into the air with a crackle.

She didn’t stop, wanting to take out all three of the casters while she could. Another dash brought her in range of the third and she slashed out.

The undead cancelled its offensive spell immediately, however, and quickly erected a visible shield that wrapped around its form just as she arrived.

Kass followed through with the swing, unable to stop her momentum and unsure if she even wanted to. The blade connected with the shield an instant later, bursting it and releasing a wave of frigid air that blasted into her, ignoring her barrier and slowing her movements.

The force of the blow still carried the sword halfway through the neck of the noble, severing the spinal cord and causing the body to fall limp, its strings cut. Whatever magic animated it disappearing into the darkness, along with the light of its eyes.

Sweat fell as ice from her body and she tried to shake off the coldness that gripped her. Keep moving... She shivered uncontrollably and stumbled forward, focusing only on moving and keeping hold of Whisper.

She didn’t make it far before two ghouls caught up to her and moved in to attack. She swung out at them, but they easily dodged her slow strikes, one of them jumping up onto her back while the other struck at her with long, gruesome claws.

Her barrier held for a second longer before bursting, sparing her from the first of the brutal attacks. As soon as the protective shield washed away though, jagged teeth sank into her neck and claws raked across her body, some penetrating the coat and reaching the skin beneath.

Kass screamed in pain and tried to dash away, but found that she couldn’t. She knew the mana was there but the skill refused to work. Holding back the panic welling up inside of her, she cast barrier instead, and was relieved when it activated, draining her mana away. Blood still poured from the wound on her neck, but for the moment, it pushed away the damage of the savage creatures.

The ghoul latched onto her screeched loudly and continued to try and bite her over and over again with little success. The other circled, lashing out and then jumping back. She saw more moving in, surrounding her in a circle of death.

The slowing effect from the ice blast suddenly wore off and Kass could move normally once more. Alright, c’mon K, gotta move.

Knowing her time was short, Kass grabbed at the ghoul atop her and wrenched it off, throwing it into two others and knocking them down.

She dashed. Mana drained away as Kass sped past the clustered group and back towards the stairs. She cast haste again as she ran and quickly checked her resources.

Health

212/330*

Stamina

290/420

Mana

186/490

Shit, more than a hundred health...gone. She noticed a symbol near her health and focused on it for a half second, her brain somehow able to focus on running and processing the information at the same time.

Another window popped up.

You are bleeding. -2 health/sec - Duration: Unknown

Kass put a hand to her neck immediately after reading the information, trying to stop the rapid bleeding as she ran. It didn’t help that her heart was beating so fast, pumping the blood from her. I can’t stop running...how do I stop the blood? Maybe…

She reached the stairs and started up them as quick as she could, trying to ignore the screeches and yells that followed right behind. She glanced at another window of information tucked away in the corner of her vision and it expanded.

Buff gained: +3% lifesteal, +11% reaction speed - Duration: 5 minutes 12 seconds.

...Lifesteal. There. Five minutes.

Kass reached the top of the stairs breathing hard, hand still pressed against her neck as she sucked in deep breaths. Blood pulsed from the wound with every heartbeat, dripping to the ground below as she waited.

She moved to the edge of the stairs and watched as the ghouls below scrambled up. She spotted three knights in the mess below. One was charred and missing an arm, and another was crawling behind the group, missing a leg. Eight Crypt Ghouls and three Knights. I can do this... I can do this.

The necromancer still thrashed around at the back of the room, fighting against the red cords that bound it. Some of the cords had turned black and had fallen away, but others remained, holding the creature in the air.

Kass’ rest came to an end seconds later when a ghoul reached a few stairs below her. Keep the high ground. That’s my advantage. Don’t let them up…

As soon as the ghoul came within reach she thrust Whisper at its head. The creature moved at the last second and the blade dug into its collar. It screeched at her and Kass swore, ripping the sword free and driving it forward again.

This time it connected, piercing through the nasal cavity and ending the ghouls life. Seven.

Another moved within range.

Kass took out four more in quick succession, not allowing any of them to make it up the stairs. Each of the bodies tumbled down and slowed the remaining ghouls, giving her some extra time to rest.

After the third kill, the bleeding from her neck stopped. She felt at the wound and was surprised to find a fresh scab covering it. It was still tender and painful, but she didn’t care, the bleeding had stopped.

The next one to reach her was the knight with both its arms and legs. It held its blade out in front of it as it climbed, ruining any chance she had to take it out without a fight. She tried anyway and stabbed out when she saw an opening.

The knight’s sword came up quick and sent her attack wide. The undead then slashed out at her, forcing her to jump back and away from the perch she had taken.

The knight mounted the last stair and moved up to face her, sword once again at the ready. Kass staggered her stance and brought Whisper up at an angle across her body and, instead of waiting like she normally did, she leapt forward on the offensive.

She swung the blade hard with both hands, driving it horizontally. The knight deflected it and she spun around with the momentum, bringing another horizontal and powerful strike in fast. It too was deflected, but she didn’t stop, redirecting the blade right back in.

In less than five seconds, four blows rang out into the room as metal met metal. Kass doubted she could get through the knight’s quick defenses with powerful attacks such as these, but that didn’t matter. With each strike she drove the creature back half a step, and only a few more steps and they’d reach the edge of the platform. She just needed to keep it on the defensive.

Another ghoul made it to the top after the short exchange, and Kass growled in frustration. No! I’m so close!

She worked harder, locking blades with the undead and pushed as hard as she could. The knight pushed right back, though, and brought it to a stalemate. No matter how hard she drove forward she couldn’t move the larger knights.

The ghoul jumped at her and she broke the exchange with the knight and skipped back, keeping her distance from them both. She sighed and watched as yet another ghoul reached the top. Soon they’ll all be up here.

The knight still stood near the edge, slowly moving forward, its blade at the ready. Both the other ghouls worked their way towards her left flank, waiting for an opportunity to jump on her. What are they waiting for?

Not wanting to find out the answer, and knowing time was short, Kass dashed again, except this time instead of running away, she ran directly at the knight.

She shot forward at high speed and a second later, after dodging the extended sword, slammed into the undead. Her barrier popped and her bones ached in protest, but it had been enough.

The knight was lifted off its feet and blasted backwards, easily clearing the edge and flying through the air. She lost sight of it before it hit the ground, but she heard the crash as she turned to face the now three ghouls behind her.

She doubted she killed the knight, but for now it was out of the way and she could deal with these things. She brought Whisper up once more, and rolled out her sore shoulder.

Just before she charged at them, another loud screech pierced the room. She looked to the necromancer just as it burst from the now blackened cords and floated through the air. Its head lifted and white eyes locked with hers. This can’t be good.

It lifted an arm and pointed towards her, and she readied herself. Four purple beams extended from the thing’s fingers and shot towards her. She dove to the ground an rolled to the side, but the beams weren’t meant for her. Instead, they connected with the four ghouls behind her.

Each one shriveled up, one by one, as the necromancer drained the very essence from them. Bones cracked and caved in on themselves as any remaining flesh wilted away. In seconds, all four fell to the ground and shattered into dust.

A purple aura appeared around the necromancer, extending a few feet out, and its eyes seemed to grow brighter. It lifted its other hand and this time three beams shot out, aimed towards the bottom of the stairs. Metal clanged against the floor as the swords and pieces of armor fell from each of the knights that were now only dust.

Once it had finished, the necromancer turned its attention to Kass once more, who pushed herself back to her feet. She gripped Whisper nervously and pointed the blade towards the man creature, fighting the urge to run away. It’s too strong. You saw what it did to the undead. Get out of here K!

Before she could fully talk herself into running, the being spoke suddenly.

“Whyyyy dost thou disturbbbb this place of resssst?”