Lazy Skeletons

We made it up another staircase and passed through a corridor into a fairly large room. It was absolutely filthy. There were piles of trash and rodents scurrying around. The walls looked as though they were falling apart from disrepair. Erika Instantly turned to me.

“Why is this floor so dirty… and what’s that funny smell?”

“That’s because the thralls on this floor are about as lazy as they come. All they do is lounge around all day and play tabletop games.” I responded.

"I see, that's probably why I didn't see anyone around when I passed through here earlier."

In the center of the room there was a group of skeletons sitting around a circular table, where they had some sort of board game set up. One skeleton took notice of me and slowly walked over.

"Yo Arno, want to join our game? We're playing Dragons & Dungeons." The skeleton said.

This skeleton was the floor's boss, Craig. He really isn't much of a leader though, considering he lets his men just do whatever.

"No, we're just passing through." I replied flatly.

"I heard a rumor from one of Liam’s men that yo-," He suddenly stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Erika.

All the skeletons in the room seemed to stop everything they were doing (which wasn’t much as it was) and they stared at her.

"Can I talk to you for a moment just down the hall?" Craig asked, suddenly acting strange.

"I don’t have time for petty nonsense, Craig." I replied.

“It’ll just be a moment. I promise it's of the utmost importance.”

Despite my better judgment, I decided to humor him. These guys were normally harmless, itwas would probably be the easiest just to listen to whatever he wanted to babble on about for five minutes, then we could be on our way. I followed him down a hall into a separate room.

He looked at me quite seriously. His voice sounded a bit nervous.

"So… who’s that girl?"

"I don’t think that concerns you." I replied.

"You know there are rumors going around that you broke your seal with Lucian… Is it safe for me to assume that beautiful young lady is your new master?"

"..."

I refused to say anything. He continued on with his assumptions.

"How did you do it Arno? How did you break your seal with Lucian and transfer it to that girl?" Craig spoke with an almost obsessed tone in his voice.

"..."

"Come on man... PLEASE!... I'm begging you. My men and I haven't seen a female in decades. If she was our master we would blindly follow her forever." He spoke sounding even more crazy.

Even if I wanted to help these morons, I didn't have the supplies to do the seal transfer again. It took me years to get all the necessary materials. On top of that, I doubt Erika could physically handle more thralls being bound to her.

"I couldn’t help you even if I wanted to." I said.

"Oh... I see." He spoke very disappointedly.

He got quiet for a moment. Suddenly, he shoved me forward. I felt something shift below me. It was a pressure plate. A cage fell from the ceiling. It was the same type of trap Erika was caught in before.

"Listen Arno, no hard feelings, but I know what's going on. You just want that girl to yourself. If you won't tell us how to transfer our seals, then maybe she will."

He sounded completely psychotic. I didn't respond. I just sat in the cage unamused. A few more skeletons entered the room. Craig for the first time ever took charge and started ordering them around.

"We have to get this place cleaned up and repaired. We have to show this girl how useful we can be."

The skeletons jumped into action. Moving faster than I think they ever have. Unfortunately, they would realize very quickly that Erika had no idea how any of this seal stuff works.

While they were distracted with Erika, I had to figure a way out of this cage… When I did get out, these skeletons would feel my wrath. I didn't need magic to strike fear into their feeble minds.