Ashleigh and Daddy set off into the cave. The floor had a gradual drop so they were walking deeper into the earth with every step. The path seemed well worn and curved away to the right. After about forty-five minutes, the cave opened up into a large cavern which had an eery green glow. Ashleigh switched off the flashlight since they could see what lay about them clearly.
"What happened here?" Ashleigh asked in a whisper. "I don't know." Daddy said, "but it looks like it happened a long time ago." spread out in front of them for as far as the eye could see was the remains of an ancient battlefield. It was like a sea of bones! Skeletons in armor were were strewn about in the same positions as they fell, so long ago. What a battle it must have been! To the right were two skeletons that seemed to killed each other with their spears. Hands still wrapped around the hilt of their weapons, both were sagged forward on each other's weapons...as if their hatred was so great that they continued their struggles even in death.arms and legs were lying about as if they were lopped off in the heat of battle and forgotten. Acres and acres of bodies...and none of them buried. "Why didn't anyone bury these bodies?" Ashleigh asked. "The floor is made of stone." Daddy said, "And, maybe, there was no one left to bury them. This battle looked pretty brutal." "Let's see if we can find where both sides were camped." Daddy said. "We might be able to find out why they were fighting...or maybe even some treasure!" "Treasure! Yeah!" Ashleigh said, and they began to walk across the battlefield. A half hour passed and they were still no nearer the end of the battlefield. "There must have been thousands of them." said Ashleigh in a hushed tone. The further they went into the battlefield, the more craters they saw as if something stronger than the stone had come down crashing on the floor. In these areas, there were no bones; as if whatever had struck had hit with such force that the bones were turned to dust. Suddenly, there was a blast of trumpets coming from the right hand side of the battlefield. A second round of trumpeting was heard from the left. On either side of them, the skeletons slowly started to get up and gather their armor, missing appendages and weapons. Some ran to the left while others ran to the right. Presently, two armies formed and faced each other. Ashleigh and Daddy seemed to be caught in the middle, so they quickly jumped down into one of the craters. They poked their heads up and watched as the two armies faced off. The army on the right began to bang their swords and spears against their shields. Meanwhile the army on the left began to stamp their feet. Both sides seemed to be trying to psyche the other side out with their banging and stamping. Suddenly a flight of thousands of arrows was loosed from the army on the left. Although the army on the right raised their shields, some of the arrows still struck home. With a final bang of their swords on shield, the army on the right started to move forward. The battle was truly macabre. The skeletons ran towards each other and began hacking at one another. Action only ceased when one received what would be a mortal blow, if the skeletons were actually alive. A stab to the chest would stop a skeleton, as would decapitation or the loss of a leg. The loss of an arm would not always stop a skeletal warrior though; only if it was high up near the shoulder blade. As scary as it was, none of the skeletons seemed to be able to see Ashleigh and Daddy. For the most part, they were safe in their crater. Only one time did two skeletons fall into the crater with them. Daddy quickly put an end to them with two strokes from his broadsword. "Aren't you glad we decided to wear this stuff?" he said to Ashleigh with a smile on his face. Ashleigh calmed down after seeing her father's nonchalant attitude towards the carnage. In fact, she even pulled her own sword, and slashed at the leg of a passing skeleton. The skeleton stumbled and was impaled on the spear of a skeleton from the other side. Daddy said "Let's not get too crazy!" as he gently pulled Ashleigh back into the safety of the crater. The battle went on for another hour, with skeletons dying on either side. Unexpectedly, trumpets once again blared from both sides, and the remaining skeletons once again fell to the ground lifeless.
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