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“So this is where it fell?”
“Yup.”
Eleven figures stood side by side as they peered over the edge of a subterranean bridge into complete darkness. What lay below, Yasha could not discern - even her darkvision could not pierce the depths of the darkness beneath them.
Yasha turned to Kima. “And…you’re sure it, uh, actually landed somewhere, right? This isn’t some bottomless pit we’re about to throw ourselves into?”
“I’m pretty sure?” Kima replied. Yasha didn’t like the lack of confidence in her tone. “I mean, I heard a pretty loud clanging sound after it fell. I assume that means it hit something.”
Caleb spoke up. “Do you know how long after you first dropped it that you heard the clanging?”
“No, sorry. I was, uh, kinda preoccupied with these guys - “ - she motioned to the shattered skeletons around them - “and wasn’t really paying close attention.”
“Hmm.” The wizard looked back down to the depths. “Beauregard, do you have those ball bearings?”
“Yeah,” she replied, “but…I don’t know, man, we might not hear them if it’s really deep. We might need something bigger.”
An idea occurred to Yasha. “Caduceus, do you still have that frying pan?”
The firbolg snapped his attention away from the ceiling to the Barbarian. “-What? Oh, yeah. Frying pan. Got it right here. Sorry, my mind was elsewhere - are we cooking some food? I’ve got some mushrooms.”
He settled his pack by his feet and rummaged through it. “Alright, here’s the frying pan - “ he pulled it out and held it up. Yasha quickly snatched it from him.
“Thanks!” She said. Then dropped it over the side.
“Hey, wai - ohhh, that’s what you wanted it for. I thought it was just time for lunch.”
All eyes turned back to the darkness.
Ten seconds.
Twenty seconds. Nothing.
“You…are sure that you heard my sword hit the bottom?”
“Well…no, I’m not sure,” Kima replied, awkwardly rubbing her neck with a bashful smile. Beside her, Allura sighed with a shake of her head, her palm finding its way to her face.
Thirty seconds.
Forty seconds.
“This is concerning,” Caleb remarked.
Fifty seconds. Sixty sec-
Thump! Clang! Clang clang clang!
“Well, there we go!” Caduceus chimed. “Looks like we found the bottom.”
“Alright,” Jester spoke up, “How do we want to do this? Do we polymorph and fly down?”
“Possibly,” Caleb replied, “but it seems a little tight to fly very well. Veth, do you have feather fall prepared?”
“Of course.”
“As do I. Let’s jump, then cast it when I say when. We should be able to cover everyone between us.”
“ Excuse me,” Allura interjected, “but please feel free to count me out. I am not jumping down there.”
“Awww, come one,” Kima replied, “it’ll be fun. Like old times, yeah? Besides…maybe we can just, uh, teleport directly back home from down there.”
The older blonde woman heaved a great sigh. “I’m getting far too old for this. Very well.”
Everyone lined up on the edge. Beau came to stand at Yasha’s side. “Alright, babe,” she said with that cocky grin that Yasha loved so dearly, “let’s go fetch that big ol’ sword of yours.”
With a wink, she stepped off.
Yasha followed right behind her, her feet departing the ground and pushing her to empty air. She felt the jolt in her stomach and heart as she plummeted, and choked down the panic that began to well up within.
Easy, Yasha…you’ve done this before.
“Beau, stay close!” Yasha called out over the rush of wind in her ears. “If something goes wrong with the feather fall, I’ll grab you and use my wings!”
“Got it babe, thanks!”
“Fjord!” Jester yelled, “You stay close to me! I’ll polymorph and catch you if they screw it up!”
“We won’t screw up anything!” Caleb replied. Essek was in free fall beside him, looking rather understandably uncomfortable with his situation.
“Yasha!” Fjord shouted. “I hope this sword is worth it!”
Yasha grinned. “It is! I promise! I love that sword!”
The aasimar realized that she hadn't been keeping track of time. Not that she needed to, if Caleb and Veth were to be trusted (which generally speaking, yes, she trusted them quite a bit)…but, well, she wanted to know how much longer they had if she did need her wings.
“Caleb, how long has it been?”
“Twenty seconds!”
That’s all?
They continued to chat idly about various topics - dinner plans, new pastries that Jester discovered, a new book that Caleb started reading recently - as their plummet continued. Soon they approached the sixty second mark.
“Veth, now!”
Their rapid fall was arrested, and they began to drift down slowly and calmly. The thundering in Yasha’s heart eased. She could see the bottom, now. It was littered with bones of all shapes and sizes, but humanoid ones were predominant.
Their feet hit the stony ground moments later.
“Alright,” Yasha said, “Where’s my sword?”
Something shifted past her foot. With a frown, Yasha glanced down, and watched as a bone, fully of its own accord, rolled past her foot. Followed by another. And another.
They were going to the same place. Her heart sank a little when she saw various bones assembling at one spot, and another spot further away. Piles of bones formed up all around them, and began to stack on top of each other, joining into humanoid shapes. Skeletons.
Yasha sighed.
One of the newly formed skeletons rushed towards her. It was intercepted by a gloved fist to the face, as Beau sent its skull flying from the impact. The rest of the body collapsed, but another was soon upon it.
Yasha pulled Scaldsaber free from her back, its flame lighting up around them. Well, that should help everyone see a little more clearly, at least. Yasha slashed at a skeleton, and it easily crumbled before her.
“They’re not terribly strong,” Yasha remarked to the others.
“No,” Fjord agreed. “They’re really not!” One fell to Star Razor quite swiftly.
Beau swiped at one with her staff, sending bits of bone scattering in Yasha’s face. She recoiled in response, giving a huff of annoyance.
“Ah shit, sorry babe!” Beau called out.
Yasha plucked a bone fragment from her hair, pressed it between her thumb and forefinger, and flicked it away. “It’s okay, baby!”
They continued to fight - if it could be called a fight - the skeletons. They were easily dispatched, but seemingly endless. Yasha was confused by their vast numbers, until she saw one with a familiar burned slash across its face. She did that moments ago with Scaldsaber.
Yasha threw her head back and groaned. “Oh, for fuck’s sake…they’re the same fucking skeletons!” She called out to the others. “They just keep reforming!”
“What’s the point of them?” Jester asked loudly. “They’re pretty useless.”
“Ja,” Caleb agreed. “A stiff breeze could take them out.”
Kima chortled. “Maybe that’s why they're stuck down here! They’re like, the skeleton guard rejects or something.”
One lumbered towards Yasha - she hadn’t seen this one before. It had something embedded in its skull -
“Oh, Caduceus! I found your frying pan!”
“Oh, that’s great! It’s a really good frying pan, I’d appreciate it if you could grab that for me! Just a bit busy at the moment,” he replied as he smashed his staff against another skeleton. It crumbled before him.
Yasha stepped towards the skeleton. Bony fingers reached for her, but Yasha quickly darted to the side, avoiding its grab. She took the frying pan by the handle and yanked. The skull popped free, still stuck to the frying pan - the body collapsed into a pile beneath it.
“Okay, come on,” Yasha grumbled. She shook the frying pan hard, trying to shake free the skull. The metal object had embedded itself pretty firmly, though. Yasha grunted as she shook harder, and began flinging the object in an attempt to fling the skull off.
“Oh come on, you bastard…”
Yasha grabbed the skull, then yelped in pain as its teeth clamped down hard on her finger.
“ Oh, you motherfucker!”
Rage began to consume her. Yasha looked around - well, there was a perfectly good wall over there. Yasha went over and swung hard. One swing was all it took - the skull practically exploded from the impact.
“Got it, Caduceus!”
“Great, thanks!”
Now where’s my sword?
Yasha heard a loud groan from Beau. “Oh for gods’ - Jes, Cad, don’t you guys have a spell or something you guys can do that turns these things?”
“Oh yeah!” Jester piped up. Suddenly, the bottom of the not-quite-bottomless pit was awash in vibrant green light. The skeletons in the vicinity stopped whatever they were doing - one’s jaw was clamped tight onto Fjord’s arm, and he panickedly was trying to shake it free - and began to flee from them.
Immediately, Yasha put away Scaldsaber and began to search for Magician’s Judge.
“Where are you…where - oh, baby!”
Instinctively, Beau turned to face Yasha. She was a little disheveled, but mostly appeared unharmed.
But Yasha wasn’t speaking to her - a glint of gold had caught her eye, and she rushed forward, brushing past Beau’s opening arms. She did not see the way Beau’s face dropped into a blank, distant stare.
Yasha knelt on the cold, hard ground beside the large blade.
“ Shhhhh, it’s okay… you're safe now ,” she spoke softly. Gingerly she picked it up and cradled it in her arms, a finger tenderly stroking the cold metal surface of the blade. “Mama’s got you. Mama’s got you. We’re going home.”
[“ Is she like this with all her swords?” Fjord asked.
Beau groaned and brought a hand to her face. “Yup. Pretty much.”]
“Okay,” Yasha said. She stood, Magician’s Judge in hand. “Shall we head home?”
“Ja,” Caleb said. He pulled a piece of chalk from his coat. “Oh, what did we say on the way down? Dinner at the Chateau? Allura, Kima, care to join us? The Ruby is performing tonight.”
They shrugged and accepted the offer.
That night, after dinner and after Beau and Yasha returned to the small home they shared, Yasha spent hours polishing Magician’s Judge until it gleamed gloriously in the firelight, then hung it in the empty space on their living room wall that had long remained empty, awaiting the homecoming of that blade.