Ehrir cursed out loud. He cursed the grave robbers, but inwardly directed the cusses towards the witch and her stupid idea about ‘test of skills'... And towards Zaster for not telling him about this whole ordeal.

The Undone One gripped the handle of his magical blade even tighter than before. His unleashed energy made the layer of frost covering the cold steel become thicker and give off steam. He swallowed and tried to gather enough confidence to speak up.

“When shall we begin?” he managed to utter after a while while gritting his teeth.

“Well... I guess right now is as good as whenever.” The witch's voice remained fairly indifferent. “Good luck to you. I'll stand back, but believe me... I can tell if things go bad, so don't worry.”

After these words left Salelia's lips, the shield suddenly started shrinking. The three disciples shared glances while the barrier around them got smaller and smaller.

“They're three... Every one of us takes out one, understood?” Zaster hissed. Half a dozen balls of fire danced around the undead man, ready to devastate his enemy of choice. “Well... Good luck to all of us.” He let out a short and unhappy, bone-chilling laugh. “Here I go!”

The shield opened before the Unliving for a split second, letting him and his readied spells to pass through. Nidor and Ehrir followed suit, but both of them lacking Zaster's confidence. Behind their backs the shiny sphere closed itself entirely, leaving only the witch within its safe innards.

The three grave robbers attacked the apprentices almost instantly. The jumped and clawed at them with ferocity that only hunger could give birth to. All three had just plain grey fur now, which was probably the default color for the crypt’s dark halls.

Ehrir took on the female beast. The monster was just a little bit smaller than its male partner, but more agile, with shorter claws and four pairs of pale nipples covering its belly that was devoid of fur. The Undone One spent a second basking at its incredible ugliness before it got in near vicinity, and then blocked a dozen of its blows with the ‘frigid blade’. He went on to dodge and parry for some time while steadily rotating around the edge of the circle of light that Salelia’s spell provided.

Meanwhile Zaster managed to quickly take down the male robber, attacking it with a barrage of fire bolts and sharp pieces of ice. The creature’s blood – so dark that it was almost black as ink – stained the floor. Its corpse lied nearby, breathless. The Unliving retreated back inside Salelia’s force field.

Nidor, on the other hand, was still struggling just as much as Ehrir did, but he too hadn’t utilized his magic yet, and only defended himself. The small grave robber fought even fiercer than his parents and its yellowy teeth could rip flesh apart just as easily as his father’s. The branded youngling wounded it thrice with his weapons, but that didn’t slow the monster down significantly. The Undone One couldn’t help him. After all, he had his own freaky creature to worry about.

“Oh… To hell with it”, Ehrir thought as the beast scratched his arm. He felt the ripping of his coat and the hot blood that started dripping and soaking the shirt beneath. It wasn’t anything serious, just another new scar for the collection. But it still made the Undone One angry.

“I won’t play with you anymore, you bitch”, he mumbled under his breath while Changing the floor beneath his feet. He made a few parts of it lower, but in exchange a solid wall rose between him and the thing.

A couple of quick uses of Manipulation later and the Undone One was completely protected by thick slabs of stone from all four sides. He could still hear the beast roaring and trying to take down his defenses, but it didn’t bother him much.

The Undone One went quiet for a moment, collecting his strength and feeding the magical sword with even more of his soul’s energy. The blade started giving off such immense coldness that it made holding it almost unbearable, even with the gloves worn by Ehrir. The frost created small clouds of steam engulfing the weapon in its entirety. It was barely seeable in the intense shadows cast by the walls around.

“Well… I guess that’s the end”, Ehrir nodded to himself while touching the cold stone with his left hand. On the others side the female grave robber still clawed and shrieked. The Undone One shrugged his shoulders. This whole situation he was in felt too weird to be real. Well, he would have plenty of time to think about it back in the camp.

The Undone One Changed the wall, sending parts of it back into the floor and making a circular hole at the level of his chest. He quickly slid the blade through that opening and was rewarded with a short and painful shriek from the other side, followed by a peaceful kind of silence. When he pulled the sword back in, the frost on it was covered in blood. A slight smirk grew and bloomed on the Undone One’s face. The grave robber was undoubtedly dead. He deactivated the weapon’s innate spell and made one of the defenses around him disappear.

The sight that unveiled before him upon leaving the enclosed space was rather pleasant. All three of the beasts were dealt with and there wasn’t a shield protecting Salelia now. For probably the first time since entering the tomb, the witch’s face wore a warm, shining smile. Her eyes glistened with happiness.

“Well done.” Her voice, cheerful and sweet, felt like the best thing Ehrir had heard in his entire life. “The three of you did spectacularly. Zaster, you were exceptional as always.” The Unliving nodded in a sharp manner. He didn’t seem particularly touched by the words of praise from his mistress. “Nidor… You’ve truly grown a lot. Your mastery with weapons is almost as good as that of a knight.” The branded boy grinned, looking over at the corpse of the small grave robber. It was beheaded and covered in cuts, the dead guard’s axe still sticking from its torso.It bore some marks from spells, too.

“And when it comes to you…” Salelia’s eyes fixated upon Ehrir. The Undone One found himself wanting to get at least some praise from the witch. Hell, he deserved it. The sorceress smiled as if reading his thoughts. “It seems that my colleague has picked a fine disciple from the lands up north… That Sevrian always manages to amaze me. In any case, your Manipulation is certainly something. You’re doing as fluently and effortlessly in it as a full-fledged magician would.” She nodded reassuringly at him, as if to confirm her own words.

The Undone One smiled at felt warmth inside of himself. It was a pleasant feeling, not the same as the hot sensation of embracing magic, but still... It was good to receive praise from someone that older and much more experienced than him… and someone that beautiful, too.

***

The lowest hall in the tomb proved to be just as ruined by the beasts as the rest of it. The statues depicting the clan heads of many generation loomed over enormous sarcophagi, but were covered in feces and claw marks from head to toe. On the end of the hall rested a monument depicting a five-headed dragon after which the clan was named. Its heads stood high up in the air and were left undamaged by the monsters. Their majesty and beauty were hypnotic.

Under the massive monster rested a statue of the man responsible for the clan’s creation, but his facial features and most of the detailing upon his clothes were long since destroyed by the grave robbers. The founder’s coffin, however, wasn’t there. It would make things too easy for tomb raiders and the such if it was just hanging in the tomb's biggest hall.

Nobody could notice any sign of a secret entrance or door leading to the founder's chamber. Still, Ehrir managed to unravel a small chest in the shadows that lied between the dragon statue and that of the first clan head. It was made of stone and iron and had a rusted lock, but it proved to be no challenge for the Undone One's Manipulation abilities.

Everyone agreed that he should get the items inside, but the loot turned out to be very insignificant. There wss just a strange looking piece of mineral and a small note so badly aged that it was unreadable. The two went straight into his pockets, but he quickly forgot about them. After all, they could be just something from the upper floors brought to this hall by the beasts.

Salelia suggested the disciples to stay and search for the founder's chamber, but the three men just wanted to leave the dark halls and forgotten corridors behind their backs. The sorceress respected their decision and led them up.

Sunshine covered the surface, radiating from between the clouds whose thick veil was starting to break apart. Maybe the weather was bound to get better, after all the damned snow.

The four people walked to the camp in calm, fulfilling silence.