Deep within an unnamed mine, snarls of swiftly turned to screams of agony as the Drukhari Raiders added more corpses to the body count.

The Mon'Keigh of this world were pathetic indeed. Drixx thought to himself as he beheaded another canine creature. He couldn't wait to slake his blade on the innocent blood promised by the Harlequins, but he could still enjoy disproving the beliefs of primitive warriors who thought their pathetic race was the epitome of strength.

The Incubus carved a path through the bipedal canines in the mining shaft he had infiltrated, his brethren having separate on the notion that any who couldn't handle themselves alone were not worthy of their klaive.

Drixx paused after the last dog fell, appreciating the slaughter. "Hehehahahahaa, is this it? Are none of you worthless creatures capable of entertaining me?"

Just the Drukhari made his challenge, a howl answered him. (BBBAAAAAAAAARRRRRRKKKKK!!!!) YOU FILTHY INVADERS WILL PAY FOR RUINING OUR HOMELAND (GGRRRRRRR!!) I, FIPPY DARKPAW OF THE SABERTOOTH CLAN WILL SLAY YOU ALL (BARK!)

The battlecry was followed by a slim blue furred canine creature with olive green pants and a poorly made sword charging towards the Incubus...Drixx cut him in half without a second thought. "Hmph, I suppose a challenge is too much to hope for."

Pressing on, the Incubus leapt over poorly placed tripwires and butchered what few Mon'Keigh still dared to oppose him. His objective: the center of the mining shaft.

Deep in the heart of the mountain, the canines have been herded to their doom by the Incubi. Only the outer ring remained ready to fight. The rest, mostly women and children, cowed in submission.

"Kill the warriors." Declared the klaivex. Drixx and the others obeying without hesitation.

Drixx cut down one, and then another, and yet another before the fourth finally parried the first blow.

Drixx backed off in a small attempt to alleviate his boredom, only to find a very interesting surprise.

"Didn't I kill you already?" Drixx asked the slim blue furred canine.

"You and many others, but I will not rest until I have my revenge." Vowed Fippy Darkpaw as he raised his blade and hackles at the Drukhari.

Drixx smirked and leapt towards his foe. His first strike deliberately easy to read in ordee to test the beast's strength, and his following strikes increasing in speed.

"Where was this competence the first time creature?" Drixx asked as he continued the mock duel.

"I incarcerate differently every time. You will not face the same foe again, only the same vendetta." Fippy snarled as he continued to parry the onslaught of attack.

Drixx's brethren had finished culling the strong. Some gathered to watch the duel, while others scoffed at Drixx's antics. Incubi held themselves to a certain standard. They were meant to be efficient fighters, not wytches.

That didn't stop Drixx from playing around...nor his foes from taking advantage of his arrogance.

Drixx left himself open to lure Fippy into a charge, but the canine creature sweapt his sword across the ground as he charged, turning a false opening into a real one.

While the Drukhari's helmet prevented the sand from entering his eyes, it obscured his optics long enough for Fippy to close the distance and slash Drixx's helm, marking it.

The Mon'Keigh didn't let up. It dropped it's sword grappled the Dark Eldar. Wrestling him to the ground and trying to bite through it's armor.

The other Incubi did nothing to help their comrade, they either laughed at the turn of events or demanded that Drixx stop embarrassing them.

Drixx was furious with the turn of events. He refused to lay here while a literal Mon'Keigh dog used him for a chew toy. But the creature held his arms firm and the Drukhari's klaive was pinned between him and the beast.

Drixx managed to roll himself and the dog over so that he was on top of the beast and released his grip on his Klaive to start pushing against the ground.

Fippy held on for dear life, knowing that allowing the invader to recover would be his death. But the invader was able to get a foot up and add to his leverage.

The shift in weight caused the invader's blade to shift, reminding Fippy of it's presence. Quickly forming a plan, Fippy released his hold on the invader and swiped his claws against it's skull faced helm hard enough to break his claws.

While the invader was stunned,Fippy grabbed his sword...and darkness fell.

Drixx barely registered the dog's severed head before an unseen blow sent him sprawling. When he recovered, he was staring into the unpleased eyes of his Klaivex.

"You worthless wretch. Not only did it to strike you, not only did it stain your armor, but you allowed that disgusting creature to touch your Klaive." The Klaivex snarled. "I would've allowed you to redeem yourself, but for the Klaive. Now there is only shame. Yours, and mine."

"It is not over. That creature comes back from the dead. I may yet reap vengeance against him." Drixx argued, fearing for his life.

"No, I will." The Klaivex declared before leaning in to give Drixx his last order. "Run."

Fippy Darkpaw opened his eyes once more. He could hear the screaming of his fellow Diamond Dogs from every direction. But he instinctively knew that this incarnation was weaker than the last, which meant there was little he could do.

Taking cover and seeking insight into his next move. Fippy saw a pair of his kinfolk coming down the cavern.

At first, he thought to call out to them. But then a pair of invaders rounded the corner in pursuit.

They took aim with strange weapons that seemed to fire glass and shot the two Diamond Dogs in the legs.

Fippy winced and snarled at the heinous cruelty as the creatures closed in on their prey, a single meter from Fippy's position.

Fippy watched with building fury as the invaders reveled in the suffering of his kinfolk. One of them walking around to put his back to the vengeful Diamond Dog.

Examining the invader's weapon, he saw a small part that looked as though it were the activation mechanism.

As his kinfolk succumbed to their agony, putting the invaders in a blissful state for a moment, Fippy leapt atop the rock he hid behind and lunged.

Both feet landed on the closest invader's back and sent him flying into his fellow, his weapon falling from his hands beside Fippy.

The Diamond Dog quickly grabbed the weapon and squeezed the firing mechanism as he aimed at the invaders.

Shards of glass fired from the weapon into the two invaders who screamed in agony and collapsed.

Firing again into their heads to end their misery, Fippy pressed on.

The next creatures Fippy encountered were the worst of the invaders yet. Their faces were hidden behind metal helms, they possessed three or four arms which appeared to be sowed on, glass vials protruded from their backs, and worst of all...they were herding captured Diamond Dogs.

Taking at the last ones in the lineup, to avoid hitting Diamond Dogs by mistake, and fired.

The first one succumbed to a volley of glass. Fippy trailed the glass to the next then...disaster.

The weapon ceased to fire. It had run out of glass. Fippy cursed himself for not grabbing the other weapon and reached for his sword...grabbing a hammer instead.

Stupid curse. Fippy thought as he met the charging abominations head on.

Lazzerekt had two hands in a screaming dog, a third looking for another tool, and a fourth in the air with a finger twirling in tune to the blissful screams. The haemonculus hummed to himself as he studied the inferior creature's anatomy that he may learn how best to harvest it's agony.

Within moments, the creature's screams quieted into a pitiful moaning, and then a whimper, and then it lay silent forevermore.

Lazzerekt pouted as his patient selfishly expired and robbed him of it's blissful pain. You'd think they'd be more durable. Oh well, I'll fix that.

The haemonculus began removing it's large arms to service new Wraks when he heard the familiar sound of some unfortunate soul being dragged into laboratory. It wasn't until he heard the voice of a fellow Eldar that he grew interested.

Two Incubi had dragged in a third while the Klaivex stood before Lazzerekt. "This worthless failure has embarrassed me for the last time. Do you wish to harvest him? Or should I feed him to that crazy Wytch?"

"No need to cast him aside. I was just thinking about a new Wrak. Thank you for the donation to my experiments." The haemonculus smiled with genuine gratitude.

The conversation was interrupted by the sounds of battle nearby. "Grrr BARK BARK Grrr!!"

Author's Note

It occurred to me as I began writing this chapter that some of you, or even most of you, wouldn't get the reference, as there are actually people in the world who were born after World of Warcraft.

So to those of you who understood this reference, scroll to the centered text that reads "End of Story", and to those of you who don't know what I'm talking about...gather around the fire children.

Beginning of Story

In a time before micro transactions, Pay to Win, or Game Companies that cared more about money than customer satisfaction, there was an MMORPG...Everquest

Everquest was the world's first 3D MMORPG, and the pioneer of all that came after.

By today's standards, it's a simple game. Basic repetitive movements that could never hold a candle to the likes of World of Warcraft coupled with one of, if not, the most immersive soundtracks/sound effects of any video game.

Developed in 1999, Everquest continues to burn bright to this day. With a "demo" that lets you play two characters up to level 105 with access to all but the latest zones of it's last two or three expansions and an online store that does NOT horde the best items in the game(just some snazzy skins and passive pets)

The absolute best example of how well the developers listen to their fans is Fippy.

Fippy Darkpaw is the first named mob players encounter in the original human spawn zone(nowadays players begin the game elsewhere, but the zone still exists)

He is a Gnoll spawning at a random level between 4 and 7 who will pop into existence, charge the main gate, and be killed by either the guards or intervening players...he remains the most killed named npc of any video game to this day.

He was never meant to be anything more than that, but over time, Fippy developed a fanbase. And during the Underfoot expansion...he was reborn.

His respawn mechanic was a curse that magically cloned him that he may continue his eternal crusade against the kingdom of Qeynos. And over the decades, his millions of clones merged into a Raid Boss so powerful that the only member of the 40k universe who could fight him 1v1 is Big E Himself!! (fight me in the comments)

So if World of Warcraft's dessent into darkness has you looking for a new MMO, try Everquest absolutely free until level 105. There is no time limit, there is no secondary website like Steam that tries to update every time your computer turns on, and you get this every time you fight something.

End of Story

Be honest, am I good at writing fight scenes? It bothers me how short this was.

I wouldn't expect more of Fippy Darkpaw, that was just a one time gag...though we might see Drixx again...sort of.

The congregation into Equestria begins next chapter. But First, an update on Across the Void. See you all next time.