Spike stood at the outskirts of the Cavern City, at the precipice of one of the caverns leading deeper into the cave system. The bats had been warning about how dangerous it would be, something he had to see for himself. The stories were usually very vague, and all they would say is that few gremlins who went down there came back alive, and none who went there saw whatever caused the disappearances. He wanted to dispel the rumors and find the truth about what lived down there. He wasn't sure if he would be able to defeat what was down there, but that wasn't his goal. He just wanted to see it for himself.

He was driven from his thoughts as he came into the mouth of the bat who had been sucking him off down below, happily relieving his pent up stress before his journey. She happily gulped down his load before wiping her lips and smiling to him. She wished him luck before winging away. This was it. He was ready. With a roll of his shoulders and a readjustment of his armor, he trekked forward into the depths.

For a while, he walked on without any real event. He found another fire ruby, which he happily stored away for later. He found webbing, signs of cave driders that the bats had told him about. They weren't the problem apparently, though they were a pest. It seemed these were just cobwebs, nothing lived in them any more. He made his way through, going deeper and deeper.

Eventually he came across a live cave drider. The bottom half of its body was that of a massive, hairy spider, while the top half was gaunt, frail and humanoid. It stared at him with wide, pale, sightless eyes, as its fanged maw hung low, drooling. It swiveled its head around before turning to sniff in his direction, lifting up a clawed, scrawny hand to point at him as it clicked hungrily. Spike braced himself for a dodge as the spider person prepared to try and capture him. It shot out a spray of webbing, which Spike quickly sidestepped. He lunged for the beast, tackling it onto its back before punching its chest. The drider hissed and snarled at him, throwing him back with a surprisingly powerful shove.

Spike rolled out of it, jumping up just in time to avoid being sprayed. Deciding to try something, something that felt deep and instinctual, Spike began to dance. He shook and moved to the flow of unheard music, avoiding each and every shot as his body built up energy, sparks flying from his claws. His hands caught fire, and for his finale he flung them in the drider's direction, engulfing him in mystical flame. The drider stumbled slightly and looked significantly hurt, and instead of fighting further, it ran limping, knowing it would get no meal out of this prey.

Spike nodded to himself happily before continuing on its way. The bats had told him that the driders weren't a major threat. They weren't the reason bats were going missing down here. As he walked, he decided to eat the fire ruby he'd picked up. He shuddered in delight as the changes flowed through him, his dancing hips widening more, his abs tightening further, and his hair gaining volume. In addition, he felt as though his muzzle had shrunken more. His face felt almost like what he'd seen most of the other humanoid races look like, mostly flat. He still had his pointed nose and fangs, but his nose was less pronounced and his mouth felt like it was flat against his face. It was an odd feeling, but like many of his changes, it wasn't unpleasant. As he looked at his claw, he noticed his scales had changed to a different color, different enough that they no longer looked remotely purple. Now he looked more reddish, almost bronze. He wasn't sure how to describe it.

After an hour or so more of walking, Spike came across something finally. He stopped in his tracks in awe. Massive crystal spires coming out of the cavern walls, glowing brightly in the darkness. He'd never seen anything like it down here. Curious, he walked towards them, and that's when he noticed it. Inside the first crystal he'd approached, there was a silhouette. A bat gremlin silhouette, just barely visible. So this is what happened to them? They were trapped in crystals. He went over to another, and it too had one inside, although it was harder to see her. Her wings seemed to be receding into her. He went to another, and saw a figure that looked simply humanoid, no defining features.

And then the humanoid silhouette moved. It turned to face him. And then the spire shook, began to quake before him. Spike jumped back as it exploded into fragments. And standing in the middle of those fragments was a being of pure crystal. It was humanoid, just vaguely, and had a somewhat feminine figure. It looked like it was just a statue made of gems, roughly cut and not at all refined. Then it took a shaky step forward, and Spike noticed its hands and feet. Each limb ended in a point. A rather sharp looking point. The being mechanically walked towards him, unsteady on its 'feet'. It made low, somewhat female sounding moaning and groaning noises as it lumbered towards him.

Spike braced himself, then rushed the thing, slamming his shoulder into it and knocking it back a good distance. It fell, but rose as though nothing happened. It didn't even seem to have a scratch on it. It resumed its advance towards him, more stable now. As he got close to swipe at it with his claws, it dodged to the side with a metallic sounding grunt before jabbing its pointed, stinger-like arm at him, stabbing him in the side. He let out a pained shout as he pulled away, blowing some flame into its face. Surprisingly, he wasn't bleeding from that. Still, he felt a bit sluggish from the hit. It felt like he'd been injected with something.

He felt too tired to try and dance. Whatever he'd been hit with, he knew he couldn't get hit with again. Or else it might spell his end. He also knew he couldn't get away like this. So he'd have to take the now rapidly advancing crystal creature out fast. He inhaled deeply before letting out a strong plume of fire blast, which thankfully seemed to do the trick. The crystalline being froze up, beginning to shake and shudder, before collapsing into a pile of shards. Sitting in the middle of that pile was a heart made of crystal. He let out a snort as he picked it up. It was a literal crystal heart. Not like the one from back home. No, this was a heart, a biological heart, made entirely out of crystal. Knowing he'd have to experiment with it later, he stuck it into his pocket.

He was feeling better now, and as he looked around, he knew he'd found what he'd been looking for. This is what had happened to all of those bats who went missing. They had encountered these strange crystal beings and had been slowed down by whatever toxin they used. Maybe they couldn't even fly afterwards. Then it looked like they were put into these weird crystal chrysalises, these crystalises, and were turned into more crystal golem creatures.

Knowing that he was too weak to go up against another of them, he turned and made his way back to the surface, eager to share the news with his allies. He'd come back to explore more once he felt prepared for it. He was beginning to realize that maybe he couldn't rely on his claws all the time. He felt it was time he got himself something stronger. He needed a weapon to fit his strength.

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait! And thank you for your support. I honestly had been considering cancelling or putting this story on hiatus, but your comments helped me rethink things and keep this going. I apologize for the short length, but I figured it would be better than nothing. I'll try to have more updates sooner now that I have more ideas for this storyline. Now then, without further ado, our bestiary section for today.

Cave Driders: Unlike their more corrupt and tricky surface cousins, the cave driders are much less intelligent. They are more animal than man, due in part to the lack of food, leaving them as starving, voracious predators, less driven by sex or the urge to reproduce and more by the urge to feed. The fact that they're completely blind doesn't help.

Rough-Cut Crystal Golem: A newborn variety of crystal golem, fresh out of the crystalis. In this stage of their evolution, they have little intelligence, only instinct to attack any organic life they come across to try and convert them to crystal. Their bodies are hard, solid, and rugged, as they haven't been refined into one of their stronger forms quite yet. It's typically hard to distinguish a golem's gender, though technically they don't have any in this state.

Crystal Heart: Crystal golems dissolve into these, their cores, when they die. Using the crystal magic from inside them isn't enough to fully convert someone, but it can grant some of the qualities of a crystal golem to the user.