Clambering through the old Crypt was child’s play to the young warrior. The Maiden had a hard time of it but he easily carried her for the most part. They came to a place that bespoke an inescapable dread. Crossing the rough terrain was hard going but it seemed that they crossed ground at a fast pace. The sky and ground bent together in an unnatural way and he felt much like in insect trapped under a bowl might.

They climbed a rough stair and beheld a gruesome sight. There was a table in the center of what could have been a room but for its lack of walls. As it was there was only one exit, an archway through which nothing could be seen. The floor of the area was a on a high plateau, all around was a sheer drop to an unseeable bottom. At the table were two chairs, one empty, as if waiting just for him. The other was occupied by a grim cloaked visage whose skeletal hands rested patiently on the table; its face was shrouded in its hood. The warrior was glad of this; he had no desire to look upon the face of such a creature.

He stepped forward and they saw that the floor was packed with the bones of the dead to such an extent that it was impossible to tell if the plateau was of solid earth or solid skeletons.

The figure bade him sit in the chair.

He could turn back but to go onward he must parlay with this spirit.

He sat, in front of him were two dice made of bone. The horrid figure opened its hand and revealed a pair of its own dice. These were red and they seemed to pulse. The warrior’s heart pounded, what was required of him? He noticed that with each beat of his heart the red dice throbbed in perfect rhythm.

The figure of Death gestured for him to take up the bone dice. Was this to be the game, a toss of the dice to decide his worthiness to continue onward? A random throw and his life would be drained or he would pass on...it was madness.

The hooded figure took up his red dice and the warrior felt the cold hands clutch at his heart. His quaking hand took up the bone dice and hesitated. The dead hand of his opponent gave the red dice a toss and the warrior felt his heart flutter as they bounced across the table, he hurriedly let his fly. They clattered wildly, nearly rolling off of the table. What would that have meant? He had no desire to ask, he probably would not have gotten an answer in any case.

His dice stopped, showing a total of six, the red dice stopped. They totaled eleven! His heart seemed to stop for a moment, he slouched in his seat, Celestia made to come to his aid but the cloaked figure of Death gazed upon her and she relented.

The warrior wanted to stand but Death bade him take up the dice again. He tried to refuse but Death only gestured to the still blank archway behind him, then back towards the Crypt and then cupped the dice in its skeletal hand.

The throw was eight for Death and three for the warrior. He had never been lucky with games of chance; his coin had been made enforcing the payments from those that lost their throws. This game was enforced by the power of the dice owner...he felt more of his vitality drained away. The Rune Sword had fed him with an unwholesome energy and now he was paying the price. Perhaps this was justice for usurping Death’s authority; he must pay the house its share.

Undeterred, Death insisted that the game continue, perhaps until it concluded in the youth winning or dying. Another throw was required. Sometimes a person can receive enough hurts that they become immune to further abuse, sometimes the abuse only made one more sensitive to the pain. This was the later case. The warrior had felt the surge of taking life and had endured his life being drained. He far preferred the former.

The dice rolled. The red Dice of Death displayed a total of four, the warrior’s dice stopped with a total of five. He gasped as he prepared for another draining of his life but it did not come. Death gestured to the archway; it displayed an open rocky plain dotted with shrubs. The youth grabbed Celestia by the hand and they quickly plunged through the opening, putting as much space between them and the terrible gaming table as possible.