Crimson tongues of flame licked the blackened walls of the Old Mill's houses, carrying the acrid smell of burning into the night air. In the firelight, goblin silhouettes flitted about, engrossed in looting the meager belongings of the peasants. Their guttural cries and vile laughter echoed through the terror-stricken village.

  On a hillock near the half-ruined mill, a goblin leader stood tall, his stocky figure stark against the backdrop of the fire. A satisfied smirk played on his lips as he watched the depredations of his subordinates, stroking a curved blade stained with fresh blood.

  It was at this moment, just as the adventurers prepared to intervene in the goblin revelry, that the ground beneath their feet treacherously trembled. Bony fingers began to emerge from the widening cracks in the cobblestones, clutching at the air like gnarled roots. Dozens, hundreds of skeletons in tattered clothes rose from the earth, encircling the village in a sinister ring. A cold greenish fire flickered in the empty eye sockets of the dead, foreboding disaster.

  Above the closing ranks of the undead, a dark figure in a cloak that concealed its face appeared. Only two ominous ruby lights pierced the gloom of the hood. In its bony hand, the stranger held a staff topped with a skull that emitted a faint, malevolent pulse.

  Dex cursed under his breath, his grip tightening on the hilt of his sword. "Bloody hell! What's this new mess?!"

  Ellariel drew back the string of her bow, her usually calm face etched with intense focus. "A necromancer... and an entire army of the dead."

  Gimli growled deep in his chest, shifting his axe to a more comfortable grip. "As if goblins weren't enough, now we get these boneheads..."

  Zara took a step back, her gaze darting around, searching for weak points in the ring of skeletons. "We need to figure something out before they reach us."

  Kyle watched the scene unfold in silence, his gray eyes sliding over the ominous figure of the necromancer. Something about this spectacle triggered an unpleasant déjà vu within him.

  Meanwhile, Dex stepped forward decisively. "Alright, listen up!" he commanded, addressing the others. "These bags of bones aren't going to bury themselves. Ellariel, take position and keep them at bay! Gimli, be ready to smash a hole if we need to! Zara, your speed might be useful for drawing out particularly dangerous creatures or scouting the situation."

  Then Dex turned to Kyle and offered him his spare sword – a sturdy but well-worn blade. "Here, take this. It's lighter than mine. Skeletons aren't minotaurs, but you'll still need to swing it. Try not to get hit, at least."

  Kyle looked at the sword in surprise, then at Dex's determined face. "Uh... a sword? Well... okay, I'll try," he replied uncertainly, taking the weapon. Two feelings warred within him: a reluctance to draw unnecessary attention and a strange, almost forgotten thrill at the impending fight.

  Meanwhile, the necromancer, having confirmed that his army of the dead had risen in its entirety, lazily waved his staff. "A little more material for my future creations," he muttered to himself, watching as the skeletons moved clumsily but relentlessly towards the living. "These green wretches have served their purpose. And these... adventurers... well, all the better. More bones, more soldiers."

  Ellariel took position on the leaning roof of one of the surviving houses. Her bowstring tautened, and the first arrow soared into the air, leaving a thin, silvery trail of mana behind it. Reaching its target, it pierced the skeleton's ribcage, and the bones shattered from the impact. One after another followed the first, a second, a third... a veritable rain of enchanted arrows descended upon the advancing undead, causing them to stumble and fall apart.

  Gimli, with a battle cry that could have awakened the dead a second time, crashed into the throng of skeletons. His two-handed axe fell with a dull thud on the bony bodies, breaking spines and crushing ribs. Where the dwarf passed, only piles of bones and clouds of dust remained. The ground beneath his feet seemed to come alive as small stones rose up, tripping the pressing dead.

  Zara, like a black shadow, flitted among the skeletons. Her swift lunges allowed her to appear behind enemies, delivering rapid strikes with her daggers into the joints of their bones. Where Zara moved, skeletons began to move stiffly and awkwardly, losing limbs.

  Kyle, clutching Dex's unfamiliar sword in his hand, felt uncertain. He tried to stay behind his more experienced companions, clumsily swinging at the nearest skeletons. One of his blows missed entirely, another merely glanced off bony armor. "Damn it!" he muttered, barely managing to dodge a bony hand that tried to grab his leg.

  Meanwhile, the goblins, who had previously felt like the absolute masters of the situation, were thrown into indescribable terror by the appearance of the army of the dead. Their looting frenzy instantly turned into panic. The green-skinned marauders dropped their stolen goods and scattered in all directions with howls, trying to save their hides from the new, far more serious threat. Some of them, in their terror, stumbled upon the rising skeletons and immediately became their easy prey.

  The goblin leader, realizing that the situation was out of control, let out a furious yell, trying to rally his cowardly brethren. But his calls were drowned out by the cacophony of battle and panicked cries. Seeing his army scattering and the strange armed humans fiercely fighting the undead, he knew it was time to make a run for it. Grabbing a few particularly valuable (in his opinion) shiny trinkets, he fled the village, hoping to disappear into the night.

  The necromancer, watching the events unfold from a safe distance, was slightly surprised. "Didn't expect these mortals to be so... persistent," he muttered, observing the coordinated actions of the adventurers. "But all the better. More broken bones for my collection." He raised his staff, and the green glow in the skeletons' eyes flared brighter, as if giving them new strength and fury.

  Seeing the hulking goblin leader tuck his green backside and flee the village, Dex burst into hearty laughter. His ringing laughter momentarily drowned out the clatter of bones and the cries of the fighting.

  "Ha! Some 'great' leader!" he roared, wiping a nonexistent tear. "Did you see how brave these green-skinned warriors are? At the first sign of real danger, their heels were flashing!" His mirth, however, quickly turned to focus as another skeleton tried to grab him with its bony hand. "Alright, we can laugh later. These bone bags aren't going to defeat themselves!"

  Ellariel, not distracted by Dex's laughter, continued her deadly work. Her bow worked tirelessly, releasing one enchanted arrow after another. It seemed as if the moon itself blessed her weapon, because each arrow carried not only physical force but also a dazzling charge of magic. Where her arrows struck, skeletons shattered into pieces, and their unliving energy dissipated into the air. At one point, she made a sharp movement with her hand, and a dense rain of glowing arrows seemed to appear out of nowhere above the battlefield, hurtling downwards at high speed, striking multiple targets at once. Skeletons caught in this barrage lost limbs and fell, no longer able to rise.

  Gimli, like a whirlwind, spun in the center of the fray, his axe describing wide arcs, scattering the bones of his enemies in all directions. Each of his blows was accompanied by a dull crunch and the clatter of breaking bones. The ground around him continued to heave, creating unexpected obstacles for the undead. One skeleton, trying to approach the dwarf from the side, suddenly fell into a small pit that had formed directly beneath its feet and immediately lost its head to a well-aimed blow from the axe.

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  Zara, using her incredible agility, darted past the skeletons like a ghost. Her daggers left thin bloody (or rather, dusty) lines on the bones of her enemies. She targeted the most vulnerable spots – the cervical vertebrae, the joints – and her precise strikes rendered the skeletons immobile. In one moment, she made a lightning-fast dash, leaped onto the back of a particularly large skeleton, and with several quick blows shattered its skull before jumping to the ground and disappearing back into the throng of enemies.

  Kyle, still feeling like a clumsy novice, tried to follow Dex's advice and stay out of harm's way. He swung his sword, trying to hit the bones, and occasionally he even managed to knock down some straggling skeleton. In one tense moment, when two of the dead were advancing on him at once, he instinctively shielded himself with the body of a fallen skeleton, and then, gathering his courage, he slashed his sword at the knee of the nearest enemy, causing it to crumble. "Take that, bone bag!" he blurted out, surprised by his own bravery.

  The necromancer watched the progress of the battle, his ruby eyes narrowed. "Not bad, not bad," he muttered. "These mortals are more nimble than I thought. But their numbers are nothing compared to my army." He raised his staff, and the green glow in the eyes of the remaining skeletons flared with renewed intensity. They seemed to move faster and more aggressively, pressing the adventurers from all sides.

  The battle continued, and it became clear that this would be no easy task. There were too many skeletons, and they seemed to feel no pain or fatigue. The adventurers had to constantly move, coordinate their actions, and use all their skills to withstand the onslaught of the undead.

  Through the clatter of bones and the wails of the undead, Dex shouted, without pausing his assault on another shattered skeleton, "Zara! You're the fastest! Get to that sorcerer! While we're rattling bones here, you try to nip at his heels!"

  Zara, deftly dodging the swipe of a bony hand, nodded, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Got it, knight in shining armor! Just try not to kick the bucket without me!" With these words, she made several lightning-fast dashes, as if dissolving into the shadows between the fighting adventurers and the pressing skeletons. Her movements were so swift that only a barely visible trail of dust remained in her wake.

  Dex, satisfied that Zara had begun her risky endeavor, turned to the others. "Ellariel, Gimli! Double your efforts! Our job is to keep these dead things away from Zara and not let that sorcerer catch his breath!" He swung his sword, which glowed with a bluish energy once more. "Let's show these bones what real fury looks like!"

  Ellariel, understanding Dex's plan, changed her tactics. Now she aimed not at the mass of skeletons, but at those closest to the necromancer, trying to create a corridor for Zara. Her arrows became more powerful and piercing, each shot seeming to tear a breach in the ranks of the undead. "That bastard will pay for raising this filth!" she hissed through her teeth, releasing another arrow that shattered the skull of the nearest skeleton with a deafening crack.

  Gimli, like an enraged bear, continued to smash everything that came within reach of his axe. He roared with fury, and it seemed as if the earth itself responded to his anger, throwing up stones and roots, hindering the advance of the skeletons. He deliberately moved towards the necromancer, drawing as much attention from the dead as possible. "You hear that, you damn warlock! Thought you'd find honey here?!" the dwarf bellowed, cleaving the heads off two skeletons with a single blow.

  Kyle, seeing the determination of his companions, also tried to act more boldly. He followed Dex, trying to cover his back and finish off any skeletons that broke through the defenses of the dwarf and the elf. His clumsy sword swings became increasingly confident, fueled by the adrenaline of battle.

  Meanwhile, Zara, using her incredible speed and knowledge of the terrain, weaved between the combatants, trying not to attract the attention of the skeletons focused on the larger threats – Dex and Gimli. She crept in the shadows of the burning houses, used carts and the bodies of fallen enemies as cover, steadily approaching the ominous figure of the necromancer.

  The warlock himself, engrossed in watching his army press the adventurers, initially did not notice the shadow creeping towards him. He was confident in his superiority, believing that sooner or later the mortals would be broken by the relentless onslaught of the undead. However, his ominous ruby eyes suddenly narrowed when he noticed a figure flitting in the shadows out of the corner of his eye, moving too fast and too purposefully.

  "What the...?" the necromancer muttered, belatedly realizing that one of the "heroes" had decided to try a flanking maneuver. He sharply turned his head towards Zara, raising his staff, ready to unleash the full power of his dark magic upon her. But it was already too late.

  Like a black lightning bolt, Zara lunged forward, her daggers flashing in the firelight, aiming for the necromancer's unprotected body...

  Just as Zara lunged, the skull atop the necromancer's staff spewed forth a thick, violet mist that instantly spread across the battlefield. The sweetish haze enveloped the adventurers like a viscous blanket, inducing an overwhelming drowsiness.

  Dex felt his body grow heavy, his eyelids drooping. The sword slipped from his weakening fingers, and he collapsed to the ground, falling into unconsciousness. Ellariel swayed as if struck down, and slumped lifelessly onto the roof, her bow falling beside her. Gimli growled, trying to resist the encroaching sleepiness, but the mighty dwarf's eyelids slammed shut, and he fell heavily to the ground.

  Zara, who had managed to jump back, coughed, feeling the sleepy haze slowing her movements. She threw smoke bombs at the feet of the skeletons and tried to disappear into the acrid smoke.

  And in the midst of this sleepy kingdom stood Kyle. His eyebrows were raised in surprise, and his face showed complete bewilderment. He blinked, looking at his lifeless companions and the motionless skeletons, who also seemed to have been knocked out.

  "Uh... bloody hell, what's going on?" he muttered, scratching the back of his head and blinking his eyes. "Mass knockout? Did I have too much coffee?" He looked at his sword in confusion, then at the sleeping Dex, the peacefully snoring Gimli, and Ellariel, who seemed to be smiling in her sleep.

  The necromancer, dispersing the smoke with a wave of his staff, froze in astonishment. Everyone around him was asleep as if on command – both his precious skeletons and this annoying bunch of adventurers... except for this strange guy with the most ordinary sword, whose face was a picture of genuine "WTF?".

  "What... the... hell?!" the necromancer croaked, his ruby eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "My Slumbering Shroud... it has never failed! This... is impossible!"

  In the silence that had gripped the Old Mill with a veil of sleepy haze, Kyle stopped playing the role of a helpless observer. His gaze became cold and focused, and an inner power was ready to burst forth.

  The necromancer, whose face contorted in amazement at the sight of the awake Kyle, didn't have time to utter a word. He only instinctively raised his staff, trying to defend himself from the looming threat.

  But Kyle acted faster. With a barely perceptible movement of his hand, he created an invisible blade of compressed air. It appeared as if from nowhere and hurtled towards the necromancer with incredible speed.

  The blade passed through the warlock without resistance. A crimson stain instantly blossomed on his cloak, and his body slumped lifelessly. A look of shock and utter incomprehension remained frozen in his wide-open eyes. The necromancer fell silently to the ground, the staff slipping from his weakening fingers. The violet mist began to dissipate, deprived of its source.

  Kyle lowered his hand. The air blade vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. His face returned to its calm and unremarkable state. He glanced at his sleeping companions and the motionless skeletons.

  "Done," Kyle whispered quietly, looking at the fallen necromancer and the dozing skeletons. He heard indistinct muttering and a faint stirring from his companions. The sleepy haze was clearly losing its power.

  "Oh dear..." Kyle thought, realizing that the awakening would begin soon and he needed to quickly return to his role. Panic flickered in his eyes for a moment, replaced by comical bewilderment.

  He tried to yawn as naturally as possible, but it sounded more like a startled seagull's cry. Then he clumsily staggered, as if he had just been hit by a sack of potatoes, and, tripping over his own foot, fell to the ground with a muffled thud next to the peacefully snoring Dex. His sword clattered forlornly to the side.

  Having landed, Kyle immediately went still, trying to adopt the most serene expression of a sleeping person. His disheveled hair became even more tousled, and one hand awkwardly tucked under his cheek. From the outside, it might have seemed as if he was simply very tired.