Kellor

Our initial attacks were dealing damage to the dungeoneers, but as we'd been told, we weren't able to inflict any serious casualties on their raid teams, although we were managing to wound and exhaust them. Broken Skull had said we would need to retreat rapidly if any of them came close enough to engage us with swords, axes, or other various weapons. I had been personally keeping my team of ten skeletons moving fast, never staying long enough to fire off more than a single volley at a time.

After witnessing five of my fellows get turned to bone fragments, this became a much bigger priority, as we were forced to now avoid goblins as well as dungeoneers, although it was still easier for us, as we had been training in these halls for months. We knew them like the back of our hands, and the dungeoneers knew it, moving slow enough for us to be able to hit their groups from multiple directions, and at varying times.

At the moment we were preparing to hit another group that had yet to go down to the fourth floor, where their beloved fort lay, ready and prepped after we had found it empty. I didn't know how or when it had been done, but the dungeoneers had abandoned it, and thus, it was prepared to be a killing ground where we would strike them once more.

It was a shame that so many had to fall in order to simply tire them out, but I understood that we were unable to face the dungeoneers in a direct fight, as I'd already lost half my team. There weren't nearly enough of us to go around, only a total of three teams, moving as fast as we could manage, striking as much as possible. It didn't matter if the dungeoneers were busy fighting goblins or not, as we needed them to be tired in order for the next several phases of the plan to work.

The group we were planning to hit had already been worn down, having encountered two groups of goblins in a row. They had been forced to stop for a moment in order to heal one of their companions who had been dragged into the goblin's numbers and almost beaten to death. This proved to be a golden opportunity for us, as we all prepped our respective skills.

There was one of their shield bearers watching the side we were on, although it was clear they had no skill to discern our whereabouts in the gloom. I motioned the others to aim specifically for them, in order to dispose of one of their defenders. There was also a ranger standing near them, although they were clearly less focused on watching for an ambush, and more focused on one of the female rangers in their group. We wouldn't be greedy, but we certainly couldn't pass up such a fine chance to bring down one of their main supports.

Our arrows were charged with our respective skills as we readied ourselves. The poor fool that was our target didn't even have a proper helmet, his face clearly visible and very puncturable. We'd seen the barriers already, and so the first three arrows were meant to break the barrier, while the last two would make the kill.

Pulling back the string on the bow that was gifted to me for this mission, my weapon charged with [Power Shot], I aimed slowly, keeping my arms as steady as I possibly could. The others finished their own skills. "On my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark." I counted us down slowly, and then the arrows were sent through the air. It happened very quickly, three arrows smashing against the barrier, and breaking it apart, before another two sailed on by, one of them missing as the shield bearer moved out of the way, right into the path of another, which embedded itself in his throat, before a small popping noise was heard, and the arrow fell out of what was now a gaping, bleeding, and very much rotting hole. The dungeoneer let out a strangled noise before falling to the ground, his blood pooling around his head.

It didn't take more than a few seconds for all this commotion to get the attention of the other dungeoneers, who quickly moved one of their healers over to check on the man, while the ranger who had been on standby was being shouted at and berated by many of the others, and a mage was throwing a bolt of fire down the hall at us. It didn't matter much to us, as we were running away the moment the arrow fell out of the dungeoneer's neck. "I didn't think something called [Rotting Arrow] could do that much, that fast." The one who must have fired the killing shot spoke up as we ran.

"It doesn't matter if their health is decent, so long as one of their vitals is hit. The more health they have, the longer it'll take them to bleed out, but the extra decaying damage certainly helps. We might not have killed them, but we've definitely made their healers work harder to keep them safe. The less they can do later, the better job we'll have done now." I responded as we began circling around. While I knew they'd be vigilant from now on, we could still afford at least one more attack so long as we moved fast enough.

This turned out to be an idea that wouldn't work, as we witnessed another group heading down one of the paths that would lead them to the wounded dungeoneer party. To help speed them on their way, we ran close enough to send a few long shots at them to get their hearts racing, before leaving the area.

Once we were clear of those dungeoneers, we began making our way towards a nearby set of stairs that was normally open around this time. We spotted the group that had taken out five of us earlier, and made sure to keep a solid amount of distance between us and them as we went, although I figured they were either hunting for goblins or skeletons, or they were searching for their other companions. Either way, it didn't matter to us as we reached and descended the stairs after making sure there weren't any dungeoneering teams that would sneak up behind us on the way down.

Once on the fourth floor, we began making our way towards the fort, which had been conveniently left without many dungeoneers guarding it. It hadn't been an easy task, but Broken Skull had somehow managed to kill all ten of the more experienced dungeoneers without allowing them to alert each other. He'd then used their armor and equipment to disguise a few skeletons to act as fort guards, who would let in dungeoneers as they showed up, where they would then be ambushed and killed in the courtyard by archers, the few mages available, a small unit of veteran skeletons, and a whole slew of unnamed skeletons that had been recruited in the past day, who had been promised names, strength, and a place amongst us if they survived the coming battle. Under the threat of almost certain death, it had been easy to amass a large number of skeletons who were willing to be used as a buffer between the dungeoneers, and those with more experience.

I didn't like the thought of throwing the newest ones among us into the jaws of death, but if it didn't happen, we would never have been able to successfully undertake the plan to use their own fort as a death trap. Noticing the few figures patrolling the walls, I took the remnants of my team around to the back of the fort, where there were two disguised skeletons waiting to open the gate for the returning archers.

Walking into the well lit interior area of the fort, it was clear that things had been going well, as there were fresh pits that had been dug, and filled, while the blood was almost finished being cleaned up by a few other skeletons who were scrubbing it away with more piles of dirt, while others were reburying themselves in an effort to prepare for the next group of dungeoneers to arrive.

I noticed Lilith standing in the doorframe leading into what might have been a sort of barracks, or a sort of armory. I couldn't tell, but I walked over anyways, gesturing to the others to get to their positions on the wall, to lay in wait for the next dungeoneers to arrive.

"Seems you lost a few, Kellor. How bad were things up there?" She asked, her arms crossed as she watched the newest skeletons continue their yard work. I shrugged in response. "About as bad as we expected, or at least, as you and Broken Skull expected. They're here in force, and their teamwork is good enough that we can't make much of a dent. I don't think we should stay here, even if it's a decent trap for the moment." My report was probably something she'd already heard so far, as she mentally sighed in my direction.

"That's what one of the other teams said, and they only came back with three of their original ten. We've been able to bring down a total of two groups so far, but the number of skeletons you see here in the yard is less than half of what we had originally..." She became silent for a moment, her tone more solemn, as she looked directly at me.

"We're dropping like flies, Kellor. The next attack will probably cost us any of the newer skeletons that are left, along with a few veterans. We can handle the less experienced dungeon teams just fine, but its their veterans that are tearing us apart." Her voice gave me the impression that our current tactic would end in total disaster. The next voice to join in the discussion broke me from those thoughts.

"So, you're saying we should retreat before we're all wiped out?" A skeleton with a cracked head appeared from behind me, although he was staring at Lilith, who nodded. "If we retreat to a place where we can regroup, maybe send someone to get any new skeletons that show up from the second floor, we might be able to last a bit longer, maybe even push them back."

Broken Skull shook his head at her words, before speaking in a hushed tone. "Let's say we push them back. They'll call for reinforcements. From where, I don't know. But it is a certainty that when those reinforcements arrive, they'll have more than enough strength to wipe us out ten times over. Much as I hate to admit it, this is a fight we need to lose. That's the only way we can have any sort of victory in the future. They have to think we're dead and gone. So, during the next attack, we're going to have to get one of them to do something big. Big enough that it looks like we all died. I've ordered a few skeletons to dig pits that can be covered up quickly, so that it looks like whatever they do kills all of us. From there, we'll have to hide, and probably tunnel out. It's either that, or I sacrifice myself for everyone, and I'm not really into self sacrifice." His words seemed logical, but the more he talked, the more I was horrified at what he was suggesting.

I kept my voice low as I spoke. "Are you saying we should abandon those who've fought so desperately at this fort to win this fight?" Broken Skull turned to me, his empty eye sockets seeming especially cold. "At this point, yes. Sometimes we have to lose the battle to win the war."