The coursers exchanged looks, wondering how they were going to get past the giant skeleton that was solidly blocking their path. Cash, always the leader, moved forward.

He rears up, placing his front hooves on the edge of the skull’s jawbone. Gripping the sword with his teeth, he tries to rip it from its place in the forehead of the skull, where it has been buried for hundreds of years. Using every ounce of strength in his stocky neck, he pulls as hard as he can, hooves bracing against the massive jawbone. Despite his best efforts, the sword doesn't as much as budge. His snail, Gerd, retreats into Cash’s forelock worriedly. Cash feels the small snail’s movements, but ignores it. Defeated, the tan courser jumps off of the skeleton, and Gerd is relieved to feel all four of Cash’s hooves solidly on the ground. As Cash retreats, Demure, a near-pure white courser, moves forward, along with her wisp, Grandmother. The wisp floats around the skeleton, casting its eerie blue glow onto the aged bones and the surrounding coursers. Demure nervously sniffs the skull, shying away with a snort. However, her wisp has not finished its inspection, still floating around the skeleton even as Demure backs away. Just as Demure turns back to Remington and Cash, she notices that the blue glow of Grandmother has vanished. As she turns towards the skeletal remains, she just manages to see a blue flicker disappear into the crack that the sword has left in the skull, as the wisp slips into the hairline crevice. The wisp emerges from the skull’s eye socket, with nothing to show for its exploration aside from a small layer of dust, already being burned off by magical flames surrounding it. As the wisp dejectedly floats back to its owner, Remington steps up to do his own examination of the skeleton blocking their way. He takes on a much more hooves-on approach than the other two, pawing at the shoulder and rib bones. In a sudden (unwise)  movement, he whirls around, and lands a solid kick right in the skull’s teeth. This causes the carefully balanced bones to tumble down, some turning into powder as they fall. As the bones fall, the coursers realize that the entire tunnel was being propped up by the skeleton, and it begins to come crashing down. With a cry of alarm, the three coursers run, doing their best to avoid being crushed by the falling bone and rock. Once they reach a safe distance from the tunnel, they slow down. However, they accept defeat, and head back to the surface, ears low and hooves dragging as they walk. 

Once they reach the surface, the coursers scatter, each going back to their own dwelling, all needing time to recover from their endeavor. Cash takes a long rest, and wakes up ravenous, devouring some grapes and berries, sharing, of course, with Gerd. Demure, restless as always, wanders for a while, before ultimately finding herself at a crystal clear lake. She wades in, and lays down in the cool water, letting it wash over her aching muscles, while Grandmother floats around, rustling in the reeds at the bank of the lake. Remington returns home to find his goose screaming angrily at him, scolding him for leaving the bird behind on a dungeon expedition. To make it up to him, Remington finds a pinecone, and the two play fetch until sun goes down.