//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13: No Bones Aboutt It! 
// Story: Quest For Salvation 
// by Chrome Masquerade 
//------------------------------//

Now well armed, the party resumed their search, far more confident of their success.

Continuing their trek down the LONG corridor (Genevive openly complained about the long trek),  they encountered the next door. In this one there were sets of armour on a similar rack to the weapons. Off to the side was a disturbing number of bleached bones.

Burning Bright was the first to be aware of this red flag and was abou to warn the rest of the party to stay back... but it was too late. As soon as the whole party was through the door, it slammed shut and locked, turning to steel for good measure.

A split second later, the pile of bones shook and rattled. In short order, there was a large clutter of Skeletons, about 20 of them. It was a little hard to tell in the dim light.

Speaking of, Bright decided to fix that. He focused his Dragonfire. If one looked, they would be able to see blue flames starting up, small bits of it exuding through his closed jaws. 

Shortly thereafter, it turned to gold and he spat an orb of light into the air, brightening the area significantly.

[Sphere of Ilumination]
-Brightens any room it appears in
-Enhances Light-based magic by 20%
-Follows caster
-Duration: 5 minutes

"Ah, more light on the subject." he quipped, gaining a few chuckles from both sides of the room..

Upon closer inspection, all of the Skeletons had orbs of light within them.

One stepped forward slightly, its mouth -if it could be called such- opening a bit. A -surprise, surprise- thin, ghostly voice issued forth, even more quiet than a certain yellow pegasus, yet perfectly audible.

'Are you here... to ssssave... usss?'

Needless to say, the party was shocked. "You can TALK?" Asterion asked what all were thinking.

'Barely. Our 'Massster'... capturesss creaturessss.... infusesss.... these... sssskeletal bodiess.... with... our soulssss. We retain... assspects of... our former sssselvess. What happensss.... to our... true bodiesssss... we know not' came the reply.(1)

"What a monster..." Io said.

'He hasss... earned the name... Vacioscuro. With a passssssion.' a second one said.

A caption stating "Translating" appeared above Zachory's head. At length, he said, "Dark Void, I suppose. A description for his heart, I propose."

'We are... hisss prisssoners... his sssslavesss... and hisss guardsss.' said yet another.

'Help ussss!'

'Free ussss! Before we.... can resissst... no longer'

Bright would hear no more of it. He used his Draconic Attribute.(2) An even brighter light issued forth from a symbol on his head, a stylized sun. Immediately, the bony constructs began to shatter, the trapped souls being freed.

[Draconic Turning]
-Warder Dragons have an affinity for Light based magic and can repulse or even straight up exorcise lesser (sometimes even intermediate) undead using the inherent power of their birthmark, which channels divine magic.

"Your deaths shall be avenged." Burning Bright swore.

With the last of the souls freed, the equipment on the wall began to shine. A notification window appeared.

[Due to your act of Mercy, the equipment before you has been ameliorated significantly.]

The party enthusiastically re-equipped themselves with the superior raiments. Among which was a piece of jewellery somewere between a torc and a carcanet. In it was a large red heart-shaped gem. He briefly considered eating it, but didn't for three reasons.

1: Gold gave him gas.
2: The gem felt like it was calling out to him
3: It felt like it eas coursing with energy. Generally not a good idea to eat things like that.

Instead, he put it on and...

Nothing happened.

He shrugged. It looked good on him, anyway.

-------------------------------------

The party continued their journey, making sure to check for traps or hidden doors. Sure enough, a few of the former and none of the latter were to be found.

Suddenly, an alarm went off, sounding throughout the corridor.

Zachory exclaimed, "This might seem a hunch in tone, but methinks those freed souls have found their home!"

Io nodded. "If they not know we escape before, they do now!"

Ah, such was the time at which they had to proceed at expeditious celerity.(3) 

They ran, only to find that the path split.

The party looked to Burning Bright (who had somehow become the de-facto leader).

He closed his eyes for a moment and said, "Okay. Emberglow, Asterion, Silver, Peach and Garett. You're with me. We'll go to the right. Chrome, Io, Genevive, Zachory, Winter, Berry, you go to the left. That'll divide our skill sets more or less equally. Alright; Break!"

The split group dashed off in opposite directions, hoping to make themselves harder to catch,