267 Years Before The Promised Day
Princess Prochoerodes trotted up the grand hall before the throne room.
In the reflection of the shined stone she walked upon, she spied her own reflection. A tall changeling royal, she had her purple mane done in a single large braid. With each successful sortie into the Surface Tunnels, she let the hair grow out one more section longer. Her purple slitted eyes seemed to almost glow despite the natural light coming from the windows she walked past. She smiled, revealing the small fangs that accentuated her fierceness. In many ways, she resembled her Mother. That was not a groundbreaking development, as genetics goes.
Procho patiently waited as the vaunted Doors of The Saviour slowly swung open on creaking hinges. Instead of standing in awe of the majesty of the grand throne room before her, she trotted straight up to the throne. As she passed each pillar, the Royal Guards stationed at each saluted her.
When she finally arrived at the base of the dark blue throne, she bowed as her mother addressed her from atop her holy throne. Internally, Procho thought on the Blue Throne and its meaning.
‘The most rare and impossible to find metal in all of the Great Tapestry, and the Monarch of the Hive sits atop a mountain of it. From the works of countless Princes and Princesses, we assert our dominance over all. That’s one hell of a metaphor!’
Her mother’s voice echoed softly through the vaulted room as she spoke.
“Princess Procho. For many years you have honed your skill with your blade. The time has come for the ultimate test of your training. The last grand expedition to the Underhive was fifty eight years ago. Once again, the voyage must be made. I bestow upon you the honor of leading the great journey down to the very fabric of the Great Tapestry.”
Pocho’s voice wavered as she spoke, “I am beyond honored, Mother.”
“I order you not to fail. Take your team and gather the Mithril and Adamantium demanded, but do not fall in the Underhive. Your life is worth too much to the hive for you to die in the dark.”
“My Queen, you shall see that no mere monster can be my undoing–”
“Your pride shall nail your coffin shut. Heed my words Princess Procho; the Underhive is the ultimate test for any changeling monarch. It is there in those tunnels where Kings and Queens are made, and larvae are given up to Panarthropo. Too much pride in oneself will lead to ruin. You must never forget that in the Underhive, we are at the top of the food chain through wit and skill alone.”
“I will not fail you, Mother.”
“Go. Gather your team so that you may be honored before the hive.”
Midge packed the bag as well as she could. She knew its contents inside and out. With her eyes closed, she could remove each item piece by piece, knowing what they were, why she was bringing it, and could put them all back in the bag in the same order they were before she removed them. Midge knew intimately what she was going to carry on her back; if she didn’t, she’d be dead.
The same went for the rest of the team, though none took such fervor to the task as Midge did. Then again, none of them served as a distribution tracker prior to their enlistment. Midge had not chosen to be a vaunted Expeditionist during her nymph years. No, she was trained to keep track of love and its progress from raw collected to dilution to storage and all the way to distribution. That was not an easy task with only a small chalkboard to use. It was expected of her all the same.
“I’m telling you, it’ll fit. I’ll just jam it in as hard as possible, and it’ll fit!”
The one saying the poorly phrased exclamation was Termite. He was a ling that everyone kept at least four hooves length from. More if possible. Midge wasn’t sure how one could become an expert in demolitions given the scarcity of such explosive tools in the hive, yet he claimed to be the best in the hive.
Everyone feared that he was correct by default.
At the moment, he was trying to make room for several more explosives. They were four red sticks with pieces of fiber coming from the top. Termite had already loaded his personal pack with more explosives than Midge had ever seen in her life, but that was setting the bar low. In truth, she didn’t know at all if the team would be bringing enough for the expedition. In lack of a better option, they had to trust the fanatic demolitions expert.
Midge sighed, “Stop jostling the damned thing! Just set the pack on the ground– Slowly!– and I’ll put them in.”
None of the other four changelings in the room were willing to come near. Midge caught a glimpse of Lymph muttering to herself, likely a prayer to Panar. Anobii, Soleus, Gracilis, and Lymph were all standing around on the far side of the small locker room, each keeping at least one eye on Termite and his antics.
Termite put the pack on the ground but decided to hover over Midge’s shoulder as she opened it up and started removing the contents. Instead of telling him that it was rude to fly above a changeling and judge their every move, she instead got to work and reordered the contents of the bulging pack.
The black fiber of the backpacks were all sewn together from plants down in the Greencave. The material was as common as it got in the hive, given the lack of alternatives. What set the Expeditionists’ bulging, rectangular backpacks apart from any other in the hive was the presence of the chitin plating. Crafted from the parts of slain monsters in the Surface Tunnels, the lightweight plates would provide some protection to the pack’s contents. Aside from that, there was also the sheer size of the damn things. Each one at least half the size of a ling’s barrel, often larger. Not even the Royal Guards– from which each of them were recruited from– carried around such loathsome burdens.
That honor alone went to the “Hell Crawlers,” the group of unfortunate sons of bitches who had the unenviable duty of carrying out sorties into the Underhive. Not the Underhive proper, merely the Surface Tunnels. This highest layer of the gargantuan underground world was filled with monsters. Often enough, they got too close to the changeling hive sitting up here on the surface. Killing them before they could develop a taste for changelings was a necessary duty in the hive; one no one chose willingly.
“There. Now don’t go stuffing more shit in there, it’s filled to the brim. I don’t know why you have such a big load, but I hope you’re sure about using all of it. You’re the expert, right? Shouldn’t you know how to use your tools effectively, rather than having large amounts of them?”
“Would it kill you two to stop saying sexual innuendos?”
Midge turned and glared at the changeling who was sitting down against the wall on the opposite side of the room.
“Would it kill you to lend a hoof, Anobii?”
He quirked an eyebrow.
“Probably. You heard what happened to Termite’s mentor, right?”
Termite picked the pack up and placed it on his back, tying together the straps around his chest, barrel, and flanks. “Eh, that was a one time thing. The old ling got a little forgetful is all.”
“Hard to be more than a one time thing considering the fact that it took hours to finish scraping him off the walls.”
“I think it ran in the family,” Soleus added. “Rumor has it that he was Lieutenant-Colonel Acrid’s father. Poor sod, to watch your own son die…”
“That father thing’s just a rumor,” Gracilis shook her head, “but your death won't be if you stay too close to Termite.”
Midge scoffed at the twins and returned to her own pack. She was checking it over for the seventh time when the door to the room swung open. Immediately, all six lings jumped to a salute.
“At ease,” Princess Procho said as she entered the room.
She sauntered around the bench that lay between the two lines of lockers against the wall and stopped by the largest one at the end. Undoing a magical lock, she opened it and started pulling out her pack.
“We leave in fifteen for the ceremony, so I hope you’ve all said your goodbyes. If not, you’d better start running.”
“Please, Your highness, I think we all had enough socializing to last us the rest of our lives during that feast,” Anobii chuckled.
“I’d suffer that pre-ceremony feast again– murderous jealous looks and all– just to taste pure love once more,” Soleus mumbled.
“Don’t even think about it.”
“What? The fact that we’re carrying love in our backpacks? Come on Gracilis, give me a little more credit than that. If I eat all that now, what will I have to eat later?”
“That’s right,” Procho interrupted, “That love is all you're getting. So don’t even think about eating it pure. If you don’t dilute and ration it, you’re going to be left behind when you start slowing down due to starvation.”
This was the first time the rations that each team member was given were in fact pure love and not diluted portions. In addition, this was the first time that they would not be wearing the Royal Guard armor when heading down into the Surface Tunnels. It was deemed that the armor was worth more than their lives, and as such could not be afforded to be lost.
The one exception to this was the helmets. They were the same material as the Royal Guard’s armor, only far more sparse. They were pure black in color, with bright green lines forming the decorative patterns. They lacked the mandible guards that the normal Royal Guard helmets possessed, instead the helmets ended down where the muzzle met the neck. However, they did include an opening in the back for each changeling’s head fins. That was the one upgrade compared to the Royal Guard helmets.
Termite paused in his efforts of trying to tie the pack on, “Beggin’ your pardon My Princess, but that’s something I’ve been meaning to ask. How the hell are we expected to dilute the rations out in the expedition?”
Lymph spoke up, “There’ll be plenty of flora and fauna that is safe to consume. Rather, there is very little that would be toxic to us. Robust non-physical foods diet, and all that.”
Midge tied up the pack and took stock of the team. Soleus was whispering not-so-quietly to his sister Gracilis. Judging by the glares and huffs coming from Anobii, they must have been talking about him within earshot. Termite was slowly bouncing on his hooves, humming a tune to himself. Lymph was waiting patiently in front of her closed locker, looking at Princess Procho.
The Princess in question was finishing checking her gear and getting it all ready. Since she was larger than any other ling, her pack was sized up. More rations, more medical supplies, more chances of survival when things inevitably go wrong. Midge peered at the leather sheath strapped to Her Highness’s barrel. The blade it held would most certainly be far more potent of a weapon than anything Midge would ever get to use.
Everyone was calm. Despite the admittedly ridiculous levels of danger that they would soon be exposed to, everyone was a seasoned veteran. Even Lymph, the most unassuming of them all, had five sorties into the Surface Tunnels under her proverbial belt.
Well, Termite was as calm as he could be.
Princess Procho cleared her throat, catching the team’s attention.
“Right then. If everyone’s squared away then let’s ship out. Enjoy safety while you can lings, you’ll be getting none of it in the coming days.”
The lings formed two columns on either side of the bench that bisected the room. The twins took the front of either column, followed by Anobii and Midge on the right and Termite and Lymph on the left.
“Let’s get an early arrival. Move!”
Throughout the grand assembly hall, changelings were practically vibrating with excitement. To witness such a ceremony was often a highlight of a lowly drone’s life. Here today, they would witness something that happened once a generation, usually even less often than that.
The room was packed with changelings beyond count. A number buzzed in the air, unable to find space on the very walls themselves to witness the event. The far side of the room was occupied by the Royal Guard, who had formed a line against the energetic swarm.
Then, Queen Chrysalis strode out and onto the raised section of the room. After her followed the Princess of the hive and her chosen host. They numbered seven in total including Procho. The seven lined up in front of Chrysalis and after bowing to her, turned to face the crowd. Procho herself stood in the middle, with three on each of her sides.
When the Queen Spoke, the walls themselves shook.
“In defiance of our initial place beneath all under the Great Tapestry, once again I send forth the champion of the hive to conquer the greatest trial Panarthropo ever devised. Through trial by fire, Princess Prochoerodes shall bring the will of Panar to where no other being shall ever dear tread. I honor Prochoerodes as Proclimator, the voice of the hive itself! I honor the six champions alongside Proclimator Procho, who shall bring victory to the hive! As it is woven, so it shall be!”
The changeling stomped and cheered as the gathered seven saluted. Princess Procho, now with the additional title of Proclimator, drew Chela from its leather sheath at her side.
The large green Adamantium blade glowed purple in her magic grip as she raised it towards the crowd. It was a large wedge of metal, accompanied by a black half-circle guard around a grip bar. The grip itself could be wielded in either the mouth or wrapped in a fetlock, whichever the user preferred.
‘This is the blade that I shall use to cut down our foes,’ she said without words.
Behind her, Queen Chrysalis smiled.
Midge was fidgeting at the entrance to the final hall. She kept thinking over all the things that the team had been issued to them, mentally checking against a list of what they would need.
Procho noticed her hesitation, ”Don’t worry about the trip. Just think about what you’re going to do after. That’s the key.”
“I could have used that advice long ago, during my first sortie, My Princess.”
“Then it is a shame that I was ordered to hold the gate, and not be at the front lines where I was needed.”
The grate covering was opened by Princess Procho. However, before she entered, she paused and flicked an ear while looking around. The only other thing in sight was the entrance to the halfway before the Vault.
“Something wrong, My Princess?” Gracilis asked.
Procho shook her head. “It must be nothing.”
With that, she walked down the opened hole and the team followed her in. Once they were all past the threshold, she let the covering fall, swinging shut on the horizontal hinges connecting the faux trapdoor to the floor.
The tunnel immediately beneath was cold and poorly lit. Only the gemstones of the guard post up ahead lit the way as they descended a steep incline. They passed old, abandoned checkpoints as they went. The outcroppings in the floor were there only in the event of a breach, and all was quiet. As they neared the final checkpoint, the only one that was staffed, the hall gradually brightened up. The expedition team could now see the doors that stood in their path, as well as their guards.
Six Royal Guards, Commander Horntail herself, and the two pitiful souls who had been on watch duty that night all stood around the great gate. The gate itself, two massive slanted doors that formed an outward ‘V’ shape with the hive on the inside of their prow, was clamped shut by the iron braces that made up the connection between the two doors.
Horntail bowed to the Princess as she and her retinue approached. Immediately, the other eight changelings followed suit. Since they were facing up the ramp, their muzzles brushed against the dirty stone floor.
“Rise.”
As they did, Horntail smiled.
“Princess Prochoerodes, it is an honor to be here as witness to your expedition’s departure.”
“Queen Chrysalis couldn’t make it?”
“It is tradition that the Queen or King not be present for the departure.”
“... So it is.”
“By your command?”
“Open the gate!”
The Commander stepped aside as the other eight changelings each lifted a chain using their magic. The eight chains were all connected in a line across the middle of the doors, four for each one. They lined up and started walking up the ramp, pulling the chains along. As they heaved the massive metal links, the doors’ clamps opened, released by an opening command given by Princess Procho. It was taught to her yesterday by the Queen herself.
The three-hooves-thick doors loudly ground open, slowly being pulled into the walls. Beyond, the guard’s lights revealed that the ramp continued down for some time. The only difference between the ramp that led to the door and the tunnel beyond was the lack of periodic defenses.
There was also the scratch marks. Hundreds of them lined the walls.
“Lights on!”
Each member of the team activated enchanted gemstones that lay on the front of their helmets. The newly cast light shone down the tunnel, illuminating the space in front of them for about two hundred hooves. It failed to reach the end of the gaping tunnel.
“Farewell, Princess Procho. If you die, do so with dignity,” Commander Horntail said from her spot next to the Princess.
“Expeditionaries!” She called out in response.
“Here in death, remember our strength!” The team cheered in reply.
She led the way into the deep dark. The team followed in a V-shaped formation behind her, lighting the tunnel up. As she descended, Midge opted to ignore the countless grooves on the ground, walls, and even ceiling.
Behind them, the gates ground shut. The light from the guard station cut out when the doors clamped shut together.
Anobii could hear only the footfalls of the group as they descended. He had to keep his head pointed forward as trained. Since he was at the front of the formation, next to Princess Procho herself, he was supposed to keep looking forward.
The light on his head was one of the ones required to illuminate the tunnel ahead. To his side and across the formation, the lings on the periphery gave occasional glances to the walls around them and the rest of the tunnel behind them.
Wherever they didn’t look, dark permeated. It was as if it rushed in to fill the gaps left by the moving lights.
Anobii reminded himself for the thirtieth time to keep looking forward.
“Halt!’
The formation immediately came to a halt. Anobii desperately scanned the tunnel up ahead for movement.
‘What did Princess Procho see?’
Silence.
Anobii couldn’t see very far ahead of them, but he reckoned that the Princess could. She was a Royal, who knows?
Failing to stop anything, he listened for any sound. All he could hear was the distant, quieting echo of the group’s hooffalls.
Smell? Just the musty, dry air.
Feel? Nothing magical close by.
Taste? As if there was going to be any prey within a thousand miles!
So he waited.
“Close formation,” the Princess commanded quietly. Her voice still echoed throughout the tunnel.
The team shuffled closer, to the point where they were nearly touching.
“Forward.”
As they continued down the slope, Anobii’s mind wandered back to the scratches that proliferated throughout the entirety of the tunnel’s length.
‘Just what the hell could have made those? I bet Lymph knows. In fact, I should probably ask her. If we’ve got myrmekes this close to the hive, then we’ve got to warn them.’
Anobii was just about to voice his question when Procho halted once more. The formation stopped just a second later. Anobii’s attention once more went to looking for danger in the darkness.
‘That pervasive, perversive substance.’
Not one of Anobii’s twelve sorties into the impenetrable darkness ever cured his fear of it. Not after the first one. Anobii resisted the urge to shake his head and instead skipped straight to rechecking the darkness for danger. That was when he saw what caught Procho’s attention.
It was at the edge of the light, barely illuminated. But it was there all the same. A streak from the floor to the ceiling. It caught the light and reflected it every so slightly, showing off its dull maroon color.
Blood.
“Forward.”
And forward they went.
As they approached the blood smear, Anobii decided it was best to voice his question.
“Lymph?” He whispered.
“Yes?”
“What made these marks?”
“Can’t tell. Would have if I knew.”
“Should we warn the hive of possible myrmekes incursions?”
“No. There’s no marks on the ceiling, so it can’t be them.”
Looking up at the tunnel ahead, Anobii did notice the lack of marks close to the rounded ceiling. In addition, he noticed that already there were telltale signs of unevenness. They were starting to get to the end of the excavated mineshaft. Next would come the network of tunnels and caves that formed the Surface Tunnels area. Precious stones, metals, and unique species of fungi and insects were found down here for use up in the hive.
But lings weren’t the biggest predators in the Surface Tunnels.
When they arrived at the blood, they halted once more. Anobii had to remind himself to look forward for the thirty-fifth time. Princess Procho would be the one to investigate the mysterious trail of blood.
She knelt down beside Anobii and scuffed at the blood. From the corner of his eyes, the stuff seemed to be dry and old.
“Old,” the Princess confirmed his suspicions. “Very old. Iron blood, oxygen breather. Eyes on a swivel, move forward.”
Once more, they continued into the dark, leaving the blood behind. Down and down they went, further into the creeping dark. Anobii kept trying to focus on other things, but the darkness returned to his mind at the end of every thought.
It was so easy for him to remember that first sortie. So easy to remember the screams. This time, Anobii couldn’t resist the urge to shake his head.
‘Get a hold of yourself, Anobii! You’re not some feckless private, about to become an Uttu’s next meal! You’ve been here twelve times before! There’s nothing different about a thirteenth time!’
Therein was exactly the problem. There was nothing different. No matter how many times he went down into the hungering dark, he never got over his fear.
Anobii lost track of time. It was hard to keep it down here, he remembered from experience. He guessed that the team had been walking down for two to three hours before something broke up the monotony.
Anobii had noticed something up ahead. Whatever it was, it was scattering the farthest layer of light.
“Contact up ahead!” He whispered as quickly as he could. The formation froze immediately.
“Eyes on,” Procho whispered.
The purplish glow from her horn was drowned out by the whitish light from their headlamps. Six green-glowing horns joined the first as each member prepared for a fight.
However, whatever Anobii saw up ahead did not move an inch.
“Forward. Slow approach.”
They crept forward, each preparing to cast their assigned spells. Training dictated who in the formations would throw up shields, who would cast offensive spells, and the exact timing of when. Right here, connected through Procho’s Weave, the timing of their actions were nearly synchronous.
As they approached, the object initially spotted gradually came into view. As did its neighbors. Anobii had spotted a rock in the dark, sitting directly in the middle of the tunnel. It was one of many; a cave-in had collapsed the way ahead.
Anobii let out a sigh of relief. A few other Expeditionaries let out ones of their own.
Procho pointed out the obvious, “Cave-in.”
‘That would explain the quietness.’
What she said next, Anobii did not want to hear, “Termite, you’re up. Clear the way.”
As Termite moved out of formation and towards the rubble, Gracilis pointed a hoof.
“More blood.”
Almost covered up by the cave-in, a number of blood splatters and smears covered the ground. Procho approached the cave-in, passing Termite who paused to look at the blood. She picked up a few rocks using her purple levitation. After a minute of sifting through, she must have found what she was looking for.
“That’s what I thought.”
“Mind sharing with the class, My Princess?” Soleus asked.
In response, Procho grunted as she pulled something out of the rock-slide.
“Panar!” Midge gasped.
Procho turned and looked the decapitated changeling head in the eyes. Or rather, the empty eye-holes.
“No, a drone. Looks like we found what happened to the preliminary team sent down last month to scout out activity in the Surface Tunnels.”
She shook the head, emitting a rattle as the thin internal skull bounced around the hollowed out chitin exterior.
“This cave-in was caused by a fight, no doubt. Wonder if whatever they were fighting got caught in it… Anyways, Termite, get to it.”
She spun on a back hoof and walked back to the Expeditionaries. Termite unslung his pack and not-so-gently set it on the ground. Everyling cringed as the thud echoed around them. He undid the straps that kept it closed and practically dove into it, pushing aside its contents using his muzzle.
“Roight, erryone sep bah,” Termite said with a mouthful of dynamite.
“Couldn’t have used your magic to get it? Or even hold it?” If Termite heard Anobii’s question, he chose not to acknowledge it. After thinking for a moment he also added, “Is it something to do with magic? Like, you’re not supposed to pick up explosives with magic?”
Still, he didn’t answer.
Princess Procho plucked a few of the larger rocks from the cave-in and carried them with her a hundred hooves down from Termite and his bag-o-boomsticks. The rest of the team gathered around her as she set them down between her and the cave-in. Procho had to smash them down into the tunnel’s floor to get them to stick and not roll down the slight incline.
“Gracilis and Soleus, you’re on shields. As soon as Termite is back here, throw up a layered shield around us attuned to– well, you know what to do. Use the rocks as a bracer to help direct the force above and around us. Got it?”
“Yes sir.”
“Yes sir.”
“Termite! Ready?!” She yelled down the mineshaft.
There was no response for half a minute. Then, precipitated only by a sight of a light bobbing around the tunnel around them, Termite came running in with his pack on his back.
“We’re good go go go go go go!”
The twins threw up a shield as Termite dove into the group, accidentally tackling Midge to the ground. The poor girl was so terrified of the sack of explosives that were now less than a hoof’s length from her that she went as stiff as a board.
Her fear turned out to be partially well founded as Anobii felt the explosion as he saw it. Through the green double layered shield, he saw a bright flash and felt the ground rumbling beneath him. The flash grew brighter and bigger as the rumbling increased. A sudden concussive wave slammed into the shield, causing the twins to flinch. However, they held strong. Not four seconds later, the entire section of the tunnel around them and outside the shield became a white, red, and orange blur as the blast reached them and continued on to the tunnel up and behind them.
Then, the world was still. Termite took this opportunity to get up off the ground– or more specifically, off Midge. She didn’t relax till he was a full five paces away from her. Termite had stopped at the edge of the shield to look down at his handiwork.
Termite laughed, “That went well–”
Then another concussive blast hit them, this time from behind. It was much weaker than the first but it was still noticeable.
‘Was that the blast bouncing off the door all the way behind us?’
“Drop shields,” Procho commanded.
The shields sputtered out, vanishing like a spare pot of rations during training week back at the hive. The first thing Anobii noticed was the sound. There was something akin to a breeze moving around them as the air pressure equalized throughout the tunnel. Then, Anobii noticed the smell of sulfur that had blown throughout the tunnel.
‘Great. Odds are that’s going to be permeating throughout the entirety of the sur...face…. tunnels. Oh fuck me.’
“Sir?”
“What is it Anobii?” Procho asked as she walked around the boulders with the team starting to follow in her hoofsteps.
The way ahead was cleared, with the cave-in nowhere to be seen. All of the walls, ceiling, and floor around where it was was now covered in black scorch marks. Somehow, Termite had succeeded in clearing the way without causing any structural damage to the tunnel.
“If there’s anything up here in the surface tunnels, they have to have heard that.”
“... So they did. Squad! Form up, and get ready! We just rang the damned dinner bell!”
As they took their positions Anobii heard Midge muttering.
“Couldn’t we have tried to dig out?”
“There was no telling how thick the blockage was. Considering that it was intentionally created, it must have been thick enough to stop whatever was chasing them from digging through. Everyone ready?!”
A round of affirmatives echoed throughout the tunnel. If he tried hard enough, Anobii could swear he heard far off echoes of the explosion.
‘That was one hell of a blast.’
Awooooooooo!
“That’s not good….” He whispered.
“You all heard that? That wasn’t myrmekes!”
“What the hell was that?” Soleus asked.
“Psoglavs...”
“What was that Lymph? Speak up!”
“Psoglavs, sir! Canines, about the size of a changeling, stone hide, nickel-iron alloy teeth and claws! They must be the source of the scratch marks we’ve been seeing!”
Procho nodded, “Sounds like a real bitch! Weaknesses?”
“None known, sir!”
“‘Course not. Nothing’s ever that easy.”
Awoooooo!
“Louder. They are closing in quickly.”
“Right. We’ll hold right here, spread out and get ready to start hosing them down with whatever you got. The relative confines of the tunnel should limit their number. Twins! I want a layered shield again! This time, make it attuned to piercing! Form a hole down near us so that we can sling spells through the shield!”
“That’s a bit beyond our skills, sir.”
“Then I want two shields, one covering the top half and one on the lower, with a gap in between them so we can fire through.”
“Doable, sir!”
After a few moments of prep, the two shields went up. The gap in between them was two hooves large.
‘Too big? Too small?’
Awoooooo!
This time, the wolf’s howl was joined by several others. All of them sounded close.
‘We’re about to find out!’
“That was quick! We must be at the end of the shaft with the network of tunnels starting not too far ahead!” Midge yelled above the howling.
The Surface Tunnels were mostly comprised of a network of mined tunnels and natural cave systems that the changing hive used for valuable metals and ores such as iron and coal. Anobii figured he was wrong on the estimate of how long they had been walking if they were already at the tunnels themselves.
Their lights illuminated flashes in the dark. There were lots of them, far away, at the furthest extent of their light. Hundreds of pinpricks of light. Anobii heard the scratching their claws made as they rushed towards the Expedition. It was like a low, distant thunder, growing louder and louder.
“Hold! Positions!”
Anobii tilted his head forward, preparing to cast Acid Stream.
As they got closer, the team got a better look at their soon to be assailants. They were wolves alright, but only from the top of the neck forward. Like a bastardization from hell itself, the rest of their body was almost like a pony or changeling; grey scales of stone, four legs, a long equine neck. They had hooves that had three long claws jutting out from each one. Some had their maws open, letting their tongue drape over the side of their face as they galloped towards the changelings.
They were clearly very hungry.
And they were getting closer.
“Ready, lings!”
Anobii started casting Acid Stream and held it before finishing the spell matrix. He carefully made sure that his line of fire was through the gap in the shields. He looked to his left; Termite was set low with a determined look on his face. He looked to his right; Princess Procho held Chela in front of her, like a spear ready to be thrust into the heart of their lines. She clearly planned to launch it to the other side of the barrier and start butchering their beastial foe. With the enchantments etched onto the Adamantium blade, there was no doubt that it could cut through stone hides on a direct swing. Behind them, Soleus and Gracilis squatted, hiding behind the offensive line as they kept the green half-circle shields up.
The psoglavs were close. Their thundering charge made Anobii’s hooves vibrate on the stone floor.
They were here.
“ARRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
"Here in death, remember our strength! For The Hive, send these bastards to hell!"
Completing the spell, Anobii unleashed Acid Stream. From between the two shields, his white-green stream of acid surged forth. Where small droplets fell from the stream, stone melted and hissed, letting off a noxious steam.
But the stream hit its targets. The front line of the stone monstrosities collapsed upon themselves as their heads, forelegs, and barrels started melting from the acid spray. Anobii slowly swung his head side to side, moving the acid stream of death as he did so. A moment’s glance to his side gave him a snapshot image of Termite firing a similar beam of fire. The superheated flame was melting the psoglavs, but not as well as Anobii’s Acid Spray was.
Here Anobii shined best. As the resident expert on all things fire and flame, Acid Spray was a spell known only to him. The psoglavs whined, shrieked, and growled as they started to press through his spray. There must be at least a hundred of them to do so, for they started pushing past their crumbling packmates to press towards the green glowing barriers in their path.
Anobii started backing up from the barrier as they closed the distance. For every hoof they closed, a stone wolf died.
Hack, slash, spray, pray.
Across the line, the vicious monsters were dying by the dozens. Unlike the previous lings they tore into decades or maybe centuries, the Expeditionaries were experts trained to kill anything that stood in their way.
‘Panarthropo, guide my aim.’
As he kept the white-green spray shooting forward, he saw glimpses of bright green wreathed in purple. Chela was slicing through the horde of stone-skinned wolves like a carving knife through a beast’s thigh.
The psoglavs slammed into the shield, the ones at the front disintegrating from the spells hurled at them as they did so. A sudden chill alerted Anobii that Termite had switched to frost and ice spells.
Anobii paused to catch his breath. He watched as Termite started hacking into the psoglavs with a literal icepick. They snarled and snapped at the changeling as he cleaved through their heads that stuck through the shield gap. On his right, Princess Procho recalled Chela and was wielding it in her right hoof, wrapping it around the handle and guard at its base. As she swung it to and fro, she sent piercing Focused Will beams straight through the psoglavs that tried to bite her through the barriers. Past her, Anobii caught glimpses of similar fights from Midge and Lymph.
He heard Gracilis behind him grunt as the wolves clawed at the lower barrier.
Taking the idea from his superior, Anobii switched to Focused Will blasts to rip apart the wolves before him. Green bolts of bright energy broke through layered stone scales as he fired. Still, the wolves snarled and growled and yapped as they desperately tried to reach through the two shields.
Gracilis and Soleus collapsed behind him. The shields they maintained stayed up, but Anobii thought he saw brief flashes of them flickering into a more transparent shade of green.
“Shields failing soon!” He called out.
“Back! Everyone back! Midge! Anobii! Prepare to replace the shields from within! Midge above, Anobii below!”
As he started backing up, he prepped a shield spell resistant to slashing. His breath was labored. However, Anobii was at peak physical health. He could keep up the casting for a few hours if needed.
“Shields up!”
He casted the shield behind Gracilis’. He went with a single layer of anti-slashing, angled slightly towards the psoglavs so they they would have a harder time hitting more of the barrier. Behind him, Gracilis and Soleus let out sighs of relief as the barriers collapsed, their green fields vanishing in an instant. The transition took within a fraction of a second thanks to the aid of the Weave.
‘Just how close were they to falling?’
Immediately, the strain of holding the barrier became known to Anobii. It was like half of the hive itself collapsed onto him and he had to struggle to breathe. Each swipe of a claw, slam of a body, spray of fire, missed Focused Will blast, and errant swing of an Adamantium made Anobii’s horn twitch from the feedback. The first signs of mana fatigue– a stinging in his horn– was starting to crop up.
However, it was working. Already, Anobii could notice that the gaps in the front line were taking significantly longer to be replaced by the psoglavs. He watched as one was beheaded by Procho. The wolf’s head clattered to the ground atop a growing pile of dismembered stone limbs and debris. Anobii saw red blood starting to leak out from the severed head.
The ripping and tearing against his barrier forced Anobii to his knees as he kept the shield up. He was nowhere near as good at casting projected shield spells as the twins. He was good– no one would be on the expedition if they were merely average at any spell– but this was holding back an entire army at once.
Awooooooooooooo!
Anobii felt the pressure against his shield and his mind start to lessen. He had clenched his eyes shut as he focused on keeping the shield up. The relief from the lessened pressure was like an ice-cold drink of water. He sagged onto the ground, horn really starting to sting. He had no idea how long he held his shield up. Far shorter of a time than the twins, that was for sure.
‘Gotta get ‘em a round of rations when we get back if this is what they put up with!’
“The hellhounds are retreating! Drop shields! Termite and Lymph, pursue the fleeing wretches with me! Soleus, Gracilis, Anobii, and Midge, catch your breath and deal with the wounded still writhing on the ground! Charge!”
The shield was already dispelled as the princess ordered her tiny charge. Anobii forced his eyes open to prepare for any stranglers on the ground going for the tired-out changelings. Forth the three changelings went, chasing the wolves into the dark. As they went they flew over piles of stone, blood, and guts. Many of them were still steaming from acid and burning from fire that stuck to their stone coats.
Many of the wolves were not dead. They writhed on the ground true to Procho’s word. Some limped, trying to crawl back down the tunnel from whence they came. Others spazzed and twitched amidst steaming pools of blood. With well placed shots of Focused Will, Anobii started cleaning up the remains of the battle. In the distance, the bobbing streams of light from the three changeling’s helmet chased down fleeing wolves like spotlights.
And so for two thirds of the Expedition, the fight was over.
“That Sucked…” Soleus panted as he lumbered up to where Anobii was.
“Is that it? It’s over?” Midge asked.
They all looked around for a sudden ambush, but there were no monsters pouring out of the walls.
“They came at us hard with all they had,” Anobii wheezed, “but are they supposed to do that?”
“Fuck if I know… Ask Lymph once… she comes back.”
“Must’ve been hungry as hell,” Gracilis swore.
“Wolves bite and snap, but they don’t continuously charge,” Midge pointed out. “They only retreated when… when they clearly had no chance of winning. Normal wolves would have backed off after the first charge…”
Anobii paused as he nudged a psoglav corpse, “Maybe these things hunt differently?”
Soleus sat down, satisfied with his work. “Questions for Lymph. Personally, I’d like to know if we’re going to go up against more of these damned things. Fuck me, my horn hurts!”
“Heh heh heh!” Anobii chuckled as he caught his breath. “Just like being back in the Sorties!”
“Ha ha ha ha haaaaa– fuck that was horrible. At least with the Sorties you got to eat good for a quarter of a year after! It’s not even time for dinner yet!”
Anobii rolled his shoulders and looked at the pack on his back.
“Too early for a round o’ rations?”
“Yes,” Midge answered.
“Damn.”
"One hell of a welcoming party," Soleus shook his head.
Midge rubbed her horn, "Right. This is just the entrance to the Surface Tunnels proper. We're not even at the Unending Dark yet…"
‘Unending Dark. What a horrible name for a place. Who’s the asswipe who came up with such a dreadful name?’
At the mention of dark, Anobii had suddenly become aware of the strands of darkness that encroached upon the group. Around them, things were dying in the stygian emptiness.
Anobii shuddered.
Ahead, he could see the beams of the three pursuers waving about as they slowly made their way back.
"It seems the pursuit is already at an end."
Soleus leaned over to Midge, "You'll remember to chronicalize Princess Procho’s valiant charge into the dark, right?"
Gracilis smiled, "Just remember to also sing praise for those of us who had the inglorious duty of holding the shields."
"Inglorious?” Soleus gasped, “You’re joking, right? We held the line! There is no higher glory than that!”
Anobii rolled his eyes, “Oh yes, do you recall the tales of the legendary shield-ling Scarab?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“That’s because noling writes tales about the poor bastards who keep the shields up, only the Princes and Princesses who charge off and get themselves killed.”
Soleus slumped over, “Then what the blazes is the point of all this?”
“Are you really only in it for the fame?”
“... Yeah?”
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll make up a song for you.”
Soleus eyed Anobii suspiciously.
“No you won't.”
“No I won’t. Get over yourself, Soleus. If you were any more vain I think we could hack pieces of metal off of you with a pick!”
Gracilis snorted, “Would make this Expedition a whole lot quicker if we could do that.”
“On your hooves!”
The four changelings snapped to a ready position. Princess Procho had arrived and was giving a quick glance around at their handiwork.
“Lots of the ugly fuckers got away, which means we’ve got a headache and a half in stock for us down in the Surface Tunnels. That means the quicker we get past it and into the Unending Dark, the better! Remember, our closest checkpoint is between the two layers, so get ready to move out!”
‘I am so looking forward to going into a place named after Darkness. Look at me, dripping with excitement.’
Making sure they had everything and that everyling was okay, the Expedition finished catching their breath and got ready. The group formed up once more with the same positions. Anobii quickly checked behind him. The tunnel upwards was dark, illuminated only briefly by his meandering headlamp. Pitch black. Anobii had managed to forget that fact during the fight. The entire time they were moving, they were actually in darkness. It was only the path ahead and parts of their head, face, and helmet were lit up. Their barrels were all hanging back behind the light.
“Move!”
He really wished he didn’t remember that.
Down and down they went. The bodies thinned first, then vanished entirely. There were some parts, bodies, and fluids that rolled down the ramp a bit, but aside from the bodies that were from the psoglavs that Procho and the other two hunted down, for the most part the visceral carnage was limited to their holdout spot behind them.
Once the last traces of the fight were passed, it was back to the featureless descent into the darkness. No, that wasn’t true. The tunnel’s surfaces were becoming more and more uneven as they went.
Anobii pondered a question that had been at the back of his mind. He never got it answered, not on any of the numerous sorties he had been on.
‘Which came first, the Fourth Hive, or the Surface Tunnels? Did changelings excavate this whole place? If so, why did they not make the defenses down at the end of the Surface Tunnels, rather than the surface? Were they forced out? Or, was the Hive founded on the preexisting tunnel network?’
No one could answer his questions.
Honestly, he wondered if even Queen Chrysalis herself knew the answer. It was impossible to tell what Her Majesty knew or did not know.
The Expedition kept a rapid clip as they walked down the shaft. Some time had passed before Anobii realized that the tunnel was starting to level out from its incline. They were at the end of the vertical shaft and were finally at the Surface Tunnels proper.
The walls and ceiling of the Access Tunnel expanded out into the dark, revealing a circular chamber. Tunnels of similar size to the access shaft branched out like spokes from a wheel. In the center, raised fortifications stood empty, ruined, and overgrown with small glowing mushrooms. The fort was circular, taking up the middle third of the circular chamber. It was two tiered, with a slightly taller center defensive line. There were no doors or anything for the structure was completely solid.
It was the forward defensive base for any Sortie that was to clear out the Surface Tunnels. Anobii himself recalled the Queen herself sitting atop the structure, ordering raids to die in the dark with a mere flick of her hoof.
“This place is so strange seeing it empty.”
“Never seen this place with less than a hundred changelings in it,” Midge said.
“Take a good long look, lings. It’ll be some time till we’re back here,” The Princess said. “Where we’re going, signs of civilization will be few and far between. Come on, our destination is further beneath us. The sooner we get to the entrance to the Unending Dark, the sooner we can eat.”
