• The dry, brittle clay crunched underneath Aili’s boots as she landed in the pitch black of the underground tunnel system. She switched her flashlight on and examined the surrounding area just as Steven and Jamie propelled down the rope. “Clear.” She whispered.

    “Clear here, too.” Steven confirmed.

    There was another soft crunch as Jamie reached the floor. “Am I the only one here who’s totally grossed out by all this?” she asked, her voice slightly muffled by her breathing mask.

    “This is nothing compared to the jungles of Regal.” Steven reassured her, “Some of the stuff there are one hundred percent certain to make you lose your breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

    Aili suddenly held up a hand, “Shh!”

    “What is it?” Steven questioned.

    “I though I heard something.”

    They stood in silence for a few moments, listening for whatever it was that Aili had heard. “There it is again.” Aili said.

    Steven couldn’t hear anything out of the ordinary at first, but after awhile, he began to pick up a faint echo of blood-chilling wails. The cries seemed to come from all around them, floating as if carried by the damp breeze that blew through the catacombs. “Okay, there’s something that you don’t see every day.” Jamie commented.

    Steven felt a shiver run down his spine, and he doubted that the dropping temperature caused it. “Let’s keep moving.” He said, “Ghosts or no ghosts, we’ve still got a Crystal to find.”

    With Steven leading the way, the three of them continued through the dark passageways, relying on Jamie’s detector to traverse the labyrinth of catacombs. They were about to make a left hand turn when Steven’s foot met nothing but air and began to plunge downwards. He cried out in surprise and immediately retracted his foot, feeling the grips on Jamie and Aili pulling him back from the edge. “Thanks.” He said breathlessly after a few moments of recovering from the near-fatal incident.”

    “No problem.” Aili answered. She gazed at the pit that took up a majority of the passageway ahead of them, “How far do you think this thing goes?”

    “Hopefully not too far.” Steven stated, “What I wouldn’t give for an energy bridge generator.”

    “Or a few good wooden planks like we had last time.” Jamie put in.

    Steven chuckled, “That too.”

    “So where to now, oh fearless leader?” Aili asked.

    Before Steven could answer, a piercing screech ripped through the darkness, forcing the three of them to cover their ears. Suddenly, a shadowy form that seemed to materialize out of thin air leapt at Jamie, knocking her to the ground hard. Steven reacted immediately, scrambling to take aim at the attacker as Jamie struggled to regain the air that was lost from her lungs when she slammed into the dirt. The shadow spun around and sprinted towards Jamie’s fallen body, going for the final kill. There was a muffled puff and the shadow collapsed in a lifeless heap.

    While Aili made sure that there weren’t any other attackers lurking in the blackness around them, Steven rushed to where Jamie was attempting to stand back up. “You okay?” he asked.

    Jamie nodded and coughed several more times, “Yeah, just a little winded right now.”

    “You sure?” Steven questioned with a concerned look, “That thing hit you pretty hard.”

    “I’m fine.” Jamie answered, “Really, I am.” She regained her feet and took a deep breath of the stale air, “Thanks for saving me, by the way…again.” She added with a small grin.

    Steven smiled back, “Don’t mention it. You keep me out of trouble all the time, it’s only fair that I return the favor.”

    Jamie laughed slightly and glanced at the lifeless corpse of her attacker. “What genetically mutated sewer monster do you think it is?” she wondered.

    “Let’s find out.” Steven said. He cast his pistol-mounted flashlight onto the shadow’s prone form. Its body was roughly human shaped, and a thick hood protruded from the brown robes it wore, concealing its other features. Steven turned the creature onto its back, revealing a face that made both Jamie and Aili gasp in astonishment and horror.

    The face was that of a human skull, picked clean of all remaining skin, its empty eyes sockets staring blankly up at the ceiling. Steven examined the skeleton’s clothing curiously. “Looks like this guy used to be a monk or something.” He guessed.

    “I’m no believer in supernatural stuff of anything, but I really don’t think that guy climbed out of his coffin on his own.” Jamie said, clearly not fully prepared for this change of events.

    “Right.” Steven said, flicking off his flashlight and stepping away from the skeleton monk, “Someone around here’s got a thing for reawakening dead people, who knows what else the guy’s capable of. We’ve gotta get that Crystal and get out of here before whoever it is decides to empty out all of France’s morgues. Let’s go.”

    Wit that, the three of them continued their trek through the maze of passageways, this time at a much faster pace.