Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost of a Tale. Ghost of a Tale is owned by SeithCG.

Spoiler Alert: This story may contain major spoilers for the game Ghost of a Tale.

Return of the Flame

"Hurry! Hurry!" Gusto exclaimed, the mouse buck positively giddy with excitement.

"Shadup! I'm trying to concentrate!" Fatale shot back, the mouse doe using her lockpick to tinker with a padlocked chest.

Two other padlocks already lied discarded on the ground. Having three locks, the chest surely contained something extraordinary. It was a good thing they had filched those documents from jailer before he met his untimely demise. It had taken them some time to decipher what the papers were for, but when they realized it was information about a treasure hidden on the Bone Shores, they were absolutely ecstatic. So obviously the first thing they did after escaping their cell was come straight here.

After a bit more effort, there was an audible click as the final lock came undone. "Aha!" Fatale shouted in triumph. The two mice gathered in front of the chest, using their combine strength to lift open the heavy hood. Their eyes grew wide with wonder as they peered inside. It was everything they had hoped it would be. Aside from a few nautical charts which they had no interest in, the chest was stuffed with florins and other such riches. But by far the most enticing of the treasures was a set of pristine sparkling emeralds. Fatale picked one up, inspecting the precious gem with glee. As she stared into shiny surface, the doe found herself transfixed by her own reflection, almost like it was reaching out, eager to pull her in. But she hardly held the gem for more than a second when...

"Yoink!" Gusto snatched the emerald from her paws.

"Hey!" she shouted back in annoyance.

"Sorry sis, but you know better than to let your guard down." her brother teased.

Fatale just folded her arms and stuck out her tongue childishly.

Like his sister, Gusto quickly found himself mesmerized by the beautiful gem. "With a score like this, we'll be the most renowned thieves in all the land. I bet even Tulong will hear of our deeds, and then maybe..." his sentence cut off abruptly as a sudden sense of dread overwhelmed him. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong!

"AAAAAHHHHHGGGGG!" the buck suddenly unleashed a blood curdling scream. Fur, flesh, and blood melted from his bones, leaving nothing but a pristine skeleton that quickly collapsed to the ground.

Fatale stumbled backward, an expression of sheer horror frozen on her face. W-What was that?! Her mind struggled to process what she had just witnessed. It was so sudden, so violent, and that scream, it would haunt her for the rest of her days. But even worse, was the slowly sinking realization; he was gone. Just like that, her one and only brother... was dead. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening. It had to be some kind of bad dream! She even slapped herself a few times in an attempt to awaken herself from this nightmare. But when she opened her eyes, she was still met with the empty gaze of her brother's skull.

As thieves, they knew their lives would be full of danger. And the fact that one of them might one day not return was always in the back of their minds. But this was so unexpected and so gruesome that is shook Fatale to her core. Tears formed in the doe's eyes as her tough exterior cracked in the face of such horror. "Gusto! Nooooo!"

But Fatale's nightmare was only just beginning. Even as the doe still sobbed over her brother's tragic demise, sinister forces were already at work. A green flame sparked to life above Gusto's corpse, and quickly grew to engulf the entire skeleton. The bones rattled, seeming to return to life as they reassembled and rose from the ground. The reanimated skeleton set it sights upon the weeping mouse. It felt no pity for her loss, only a desire to destroy and consume.

Fatale was shaken from her sorrows as her sensitive ears detected the sound of something approaching her. The doe raised her head and for the second time found herself stunned by the sheer horror of what she was witnessing; her brother's skeleton shambling towards her, wreathed in unearthly green fire. The Emerald Flame! B-But it was just a myth, wasn't it? A story made up by rats to justify their oppressive reign... And yet here it was, the infamous horror of legend, standing right before here.

"G-Gusto?" she uttered in disbelief as the skeleton grew ever closer.

But the flaming fiend gave no reaction to her words. It simply continued forward, driven by its otherworldly hunger. Fatale found herself frozen by terror. Her mind screamed for her to flee, but her body would not respond. She could only stare helplessly into the empty sockets of the monstrosity that used to be her brother. It wasn't until the skeleton was upon her that Fatale finally recovered the ability to move. She turned to make a run for it, but it was far too late. The fiend reached out and grabbed her by the arm.

"AHHHH!" Fatale screamed as excruciating pain erupted from the point of contact. But rather than burning her, the flames had actually caused her flesh to rot. The monster quickly yanked her back and took hold of her other wrist, before forcing the captured doe to the ground. Fatale struggled desperately to break free from the fiend's grasp, but it was as if the very presence of the Emerald Flame was sapping her strength, rapidly rendering her too weak to fight back. With the burning skeleton now bearing down on her, the doe's mind raced with terrifying possibilities of what this monstrosity would do to her. Would it eat her? Mutilate her? Let the flames slowly rot her flesh?

But as terrible as those fates would be, they would have been preferable to what acutally happened next. Pain flared up in her nether region as something suddenly pressed between her lower lips. "NO!" the doe cried in protest. She was in far too much of a panic to even consider how impossible this should have been. All she knew was that this monstrosity was raping her, and it HURT! Indeed, with no member to speak of, penetration should not have been possible for the skeleton. However the Emerald Flame was working its foul magic, giving itself physical form in order to defile the defenseless doe.

The fiend thrust its hips forward, driving the flame deeper into Fatale and stealing her virginity in one fell swoop. The poor mouse writhed in agony as the flames ravaged her depths "Gusto! Stop! It's me!" she begged desperately. But again the monster ignored her words. It did not recognize the name she was shouting, nor understand her pleas for mercy. The fiend simply continued to buck its hips, driven by the raw instincts imparted by the flame. Whether or not the monster got any pleasure out of the act would never be known as its hollow skull betrayed no emotion.

Though this was of little importance to Fatale. She just wanted this torture to end. The Emerald Flame was literally rotting her from the inside out. Each thrust stripped away her weakened flesh and pushed the cursed flames ever deeper. A constant stream of blood oozed from her ruined pussy, drenching her butt, tail, and the ground below. She started to feel woozy, but continued to struggle with what little strength she had left. Unfortunately it was a futile endeavor. With each passing moment her body grew weaker, while the skeleton's rutting grew faster and harder.

After what felt like an eternity of torment, thing were finally reaching their climax. Fatale no longer fought against her captor. She just lied there, trembling and twitching as her mind teetered on the brink of unconsciousness. The fiend was hammering wildly into her, like a male desperate for release. Its instincts were in overdrive, its objective so close it could practically feel it. And then it happened, with one final thrust, the Emerald Flames spewed forth into Fatale's womb, rapidly destroying the reproductive organ before spreading through the rest of her body. The poor doe could feel them, the wicked flames consuming not only her flesh, but her very soul.

"AAAAAHHHHHGGGGG!" she let out a shriek much like her brother's as her body melted away in the same fashion. Her freshly stripped skeleton clattered to the ground before a eerie silence fell over the coast. Just as with Gusto, green flames soon ignited around the dead doe's bones, raising them into a new unlife. The two skeletons looked at each other with blank stares, neither recognizing the other. The only thing they knew was that they were both pawns of the Emerald Flame, and they were hungry.

The two fiends set their hollow sockets upon the keep on the nearby cliff. As if by magic, they could sense it, living souls, fresh for the taking. Without further delay, the pair began to make their way towards the looming structure, other skeletons along the Bone Shore rising to join them as they fell under the evil flame's influence. What had started as a simple pair of thieves, quickly became a small force of shambling horrors. The undead horde marched upon Dwindling Heights Keep and the unsuspecting victims that lied within. The world would soon learn, the Emerald Flame had returned.