Clack… clack… CRUNCH!

River wasn’t sure how she had ever let that first skeleton catch and chomp her to death. It was easily the slowest out of all of the skeletons, and looking at it in hindsight, she found it a little embarrassing. She took him out with a stone to the face then gathered the three large rocks she had found before. Without hesitation, she stepped into the dark tunnel leading away from the well.

The three rocks that she took with her had been in the same exact place as before, as though time itself had restarted with her death. Or, maybe it was just that the dungeon reset to a kind of default state when she died? It felt a little too self-centered to think that the entire space-time continuum revolved around whether or not she was alive or dead. Great, there was another thing to feel embarrassed about.

Last time, it had taken her ten minutes to reach the torch on the wall sconce, but it only took her only around five minutes this time around. She hadn’t even been walking that fast, it was just that last time she had been quivering and shaking in her boots and walking slowly as a result.

Like clockwork, the second skeleton, holding a cudgel - just like last time - came bounding out of the dark towards her like a rabid dog. First stone shattered his right clavicle, second took out his pelvic bone. Once he was on the ground with only one arm, she crushed his stupid skull into the floor.

With a cudgel in one hand and a torch in the other, River wished her pants actually had pockets in them so she could take her last remaining stone with her. She was adventuring, and adventurers needed pockets! River could have tried to carry it under her arm or something, but she decided against it. Better to have her arms free incase she needed to bash something’s skull in.

Up ahead was the four-way intersection, and also just like last time, the center path was lined on either side with skulls.

River went down the left path. She noticed that, unlike the last time, this path had significantly less turns and corners. She’d been considering the implications of that when something clicked underfoot and her eyes went wide. She tried to throw herself to the ground but was too slow and caught an arrow to the face.

She hit her butt and smacked her head. Golden sunlight shone down at her through the vertical shaft of the well. River groaned at having to start over again as she dispatched the first skeleton. She collected three rocks, went down the dark tunnel, killed a running freak and took his cudgel, torch, intersection, left path.

Oh, also, the center path was still the boss path. All that stuff seemed to be the same every single time, but it was these side paths that had a way of changing around. Knowing that there were traps in addition to the skeletons made this place all the more hazardous, so River stepped carefully as she explored this new iteration of the catacomb.

She made it to the treasure room after taking out two skeletons along the way. The intelligent soldier-like skeleton with the spear stood at attention with his perfect posture and River cursed, remembering him from before. Apparently this guy could switch sides.

Now, River was far from a mastermind strategist, and she certainly wasn’t an expert on medieval weaponry, but she could tell that her cudgel against his spear was not good odds. So, to try and even the stakes, River tried something different.

She played the defensive game, dodging and retreating every time the skeleton tried to close the distance, circling around the room. Then, when she saw her opportunity, she sprinted for the treasure chest and threw it open, grabbing blindly at its contents. It might have been funny if River had pulled out a banana or something, but it was actually a hammer.

Having his treasure stolen seemed to have really pissed off the skeleton though, because he immediately threw himself forward and stabbed at River furiously. Miraculously, River somehow managed to raise the hammer and strike it against the very point of the skeleton’s spear. The weapon immediately blasted backwards and out of the monster’s hands at a breakneck speed, even taking a couple skeletal fingers with it.

Both River and the soldier skeleton stared in astonishment at the metal spear that had lodged itself halfway into the wall. Then the skeleton looked at River, and she bopped it on the head. Its body exploded in a shower of bone shrapnel.

She really liked the hammer.

River pulled the white card out of the treasure chest, brushed a little bit of exploded skeleton off of it, and read the information about the new weapon, though she’d already figured out its ability.

Shatterpoint

One of the five unbreaking artifact weapons that may be found within the first floor of the Hollow Delve. Originally wielded by a legendary blacksmith to forge artifacts, this tool-turned-weapon still invokes a fraction of the shattering blows its master could bring to bear.

If that explosion had been only a fraction of the original owner’s power, then he must have had one heck of a hammer-swinging arm, River thought.

The hammer itself was fairly plain looking, lacking the ethereal beauty that Lost Legacy conjured with its turquoise glowing etchings and regal filigree. Shatterpoint looked downright mundane by comparison, just a solid chunk of forged metal with a large, circular hammerhead that tapered off to a point at the other end. It was certainly a strange looking hammer, but if River hadn’t seen its supernatural effects firsthand, she never would have thought it was magical.

After giving the new weapon a couple test swings and accidentally blowing a huge chunk out of the doorway leading to the corridor, River decided to be much more careful with the dangerous weapon going forward. A couple pieces of stone from the blast had found their way into her skin, though the actual injury was superficial and quickly stopped bleeding.

River took out one skeleton in the hallways before arriving at the second treasure room on the other side of the crypt. The chest was guarded by two skeletons, both armed with swords.

Shatterpoint was more difficult to wield than Lost Legacy due to the hammer’s small size, yet the trade off was that it was considerably more powerful. It was like the destructive force of a cannon ball packed into the head of a hammer, obliterating anything it struck and turning it into a deadly projectile.

River’s biggest concern had to do with its lack of reach. With Lost Legacy, she could just swing the massive sword around and keep everything from getting too close, but with Shatterpoint, she needed to be within arm’s reach to score a hit. River wished she still had the Fleetfoot boots from before, but unfortunately, all of her equipment reset with each death, so instead she still had the non-magical boots she had started with.

She’d been concerned at first when entering the treasure room to fight the two skeletons, but in the end, all that she needed to do was just hit their weapons to not only disarm them, but also literally remove and shatter their arms with the resulting blast. With that, she easily dispatched the two skeletons without taking any injuries.

Inside the chest was a shield, the metal so perfectly polished that River could see her own reflection mirrored back at her.

Reflective Shield

A shield that reflects and repels both physical and magical attacks, mirroring the momentum and trajectory of the attack backwards. The bearer of this shield will feel no impact from blows against its peerless guard.

Ideas were already racing through River’s mind. A shield was the perfect complement to her hammer, and that made her current equipment exceptionally well suited for fighting the skeleton knight. She might even be able to block a swing from his warhammer to send him off balance, then go for a crippling blow with Shatterpoint.

River made her way back to the intersection, went down the skull-marked path, pushed open the wooden double doors and stepped into the knight’s chamber. At the far side of the room stood the same knight, dressed in full plate armor, hands resting on the butt of the very same warhammer that had ended her life before.

The room was the same as when she had entered the first time. The damage to the floor was now repaired, and there was no blood or body left over from their last encounter. Behind the knight was a second set of double doors - doors that led further into the Hollow Delve, River assumed.

The skeletal knight made no movement as River walked into the chamber, just inclined his skull to regard her from across the room. River nodded at him, and the knight responded in kind, slowly nodding back to her.

“Hello, again,” she said.

The skeleton didn’t respond.

“You spoke last time. I know you’re capable of it.” Maybe he was just shy?

A moment passed in silence before he finally spoke, his voice croaking and rattling across the space between them. “There is no need for words. You have come to do battle, have you not?” He hefted the massive warhammer into his hands. “Let us begin.”

“Woah, wait, wait!” River held up a staying hand, trying to wave him down. “Can’t we talk first?”

“No.” The knight took slow, clanging steps towards her.

River was careful to make no movements that could be taken as aggression. “We’re going to fight to the death, right? Can’t you just humor me for a couple minutes? A few short questions, just to sate my curiosity?”

The huge skeleton slowed and stopped. He stared at her from across the room. River stared back. “You would not lift your weapon before we trade words?” His tone wasn’t so much accusatory as it was imploring and slightly impatient.

She saw her opening, the metaphorical chink in his social armor, the fact that he held himself to some sort of code of honor - he wouldn’t attack until River had readied her weapon to defend herself. She nodded emphatically at the question and the skeleton sighed, letting the head of the warhammer rest against the stone floor.

“Very well,” the skeletal knight wearily croaked, “ask your questions.”

River internally rejoiced at this small victory and cleared her throat. All the time she’d been exploring the dungeon, River had been thinking about what questions she would ask the knight, assuming she was able to get him talking.

“Do you remember me from the last time we fought?” A simple question that had a slew of implications resting on it’s answer. Did everything reset when River died, including the skeleton’s memory of her? If it did, then she really could have a Groundhog Day-type situation on her hands, with all of time and space dragged along, kicking and screaming, every time River went and got herself killed.

The knight leaned forward, the metal plates of his armor rustling with the movement, and stared at her. Silently, he picked up his warhammer and began walking closer, the bones of his skeletal face unreadable.

Although a pang of fear shot through her chest as the sight of the massive warrior lumbering towards her, she stood perfectly still. Just because she had found her resolve didn’t mean she was immune to fear, just that she was better able to deal with it. Besides, she could feel the invisible tension in the room and knew that if she shifted her posture defensively it would mean immediate combat.

The giant skeleton loomed over her, only a few feet away. The bones of his face crackled and crunched as he narrowed his eye sockets, staring down at her. Bone dust fell from his skull in thin streams.

“Yes, I remember you.” He finally spoke, and River let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

She waited for him to continue, but quickly realized that nothing else was forthcoming from the reticent skeleton. “You killed me.”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that… um, strange?”

He lifted one gauntleted hand and pointed a finger at his own skull. “Death is not so strange to me.”

“No, I mean… Isn’t it strange that I’m still alive? After you killed me, I mean.” River fidgeted slightly. She couldn’t help feeling unnerved by the skeleton looming over, empty eye sockets unflinchingly fixed on her.

“Hm. Yes, that is strange.”

Again, River found herself waiting for the skeleton to go on, but evidently that was all he had to say about that. She tried prodding him on. “You’ve never seen anyone else that can come back from death?”

He held up a gauntleted hand and pointed a finger at his own skull. River facepalmed. The knight’s face cracked and snapped as his teeth and mandible shifted slightly upwards -- wait, was he trying to smile at her?

“Did you just make a joke?”

He slowly nodded as his skull returned to the default configuration.

She stared up at the massive warrior towering over her. He was still terrifying, but River couldn’t help but feel a spark of curiosity about him. “What’s your name?”

The skeleton looked up and away from her. He stared up at the ceiling, as though struggling to remember his own name.

He wasn’t looking at her and he was so close. River could have just reached over and smacked him with Shatterpoint, crippling him for an easy victory. She could have, and River was fine with being a little underhanded, but it just felt wrong. The thought alone made her feel a little guilty, even.

The knight eventually looked back down at her and spoke. “I am Reinard, Weapons Master of the Hollow Delve.”

River gave him as bright a smile as she could muster. “Nice to meet you, Reinard. I’m River.”

Reinard stared down at the blonde girl for a long moment before he looked up, shook his head and turned around.. He walked away, back towards the other end of the room. “You should leave this place. If you try to go any further, I will need to kill you. Regardless of the dishonor.”

“I wish I could, but I can’t reach the surface, it’s too high up. The only thing I can do is go forward or starve to death.”

The skeletal knight walked across the chamber to stand in his usual place, turned and stared at River. “We have traded words. Leave or fight, it is your choice.”

River still had a pile of unanswered questions, but apparently the skeleton was done talking. Well, she wasn’t about to just turn around and leave.

She drew a deep breath and lifted her weapon.

The fight was over in less than thirty seconds.

Like she had planned, River caught a hammer strike on her mirror shield, which sent the massive weapon hurtling away as expected. What she hadn’t expected was for Reinard to let go of the warhammer to keep from being put off-balance, abandoning his weapon in favor of using his metal-plated fists.

River caught one fist with Shatterpoint, blasting off the knight’s entire arm, but his other hand caught her. She had been too slow and had forgotten about her shield the moment she went on the offensive. It was a stupid, amateur mistake and she knew it.

The massive knight didn’t make her suffer. A quick blast of pain and she was back at the foot of the well, staring up into golden sunlight.