A Torchknight's Tale: Cavern Crawling
It was a quiet day in the village of Volsburg. The villagers had been doing their work in dark silence throughout the day. Apart from the sounds of wagon wheels and sounds made by domestic animals, the entire populace of the village were silent. The scent of fear hung in the air.
There was reason for their fearful silence. For the past four nights, there have been constant attacks from creatures that have have claimed the lives of fourteen of their brethren. The latest victims had been a little girl's mother and father.
These creatures were collectively referred to as "Underspawn". These creatures came in a variety of different forms and share the same appetite for human flesh and blood. Everyone knew basic information about the Underspawn. These creatures lived in the vast caverns that spanned the entire continent of Veralon. At night, these vicious beasts left their cavern nests to feed. They can feed on animals, but human flesh they seem to crave the most. They are most active and powerful at night and hated light.
The first indication the village had that there were Underspawn nesting near them was the discovery of an abandoned wagon they found just outside the village gate. The horses pulling it were unharmed, but the passengers were nowhere to be found. All that was found were their belongings and an ample amount of bloodstains. The poor passengers had no chance. Curiously, the solarstones that would've prevented this tragedy were nowhere to be seen.
As the village militia were keeping an eye over the wall, they could make out the sight of a band of cloaked figures heading to the gates. As they got closer, the militia guard could make out the insignia they all shared: a stylized image of a sword crossing with a lit torch. The guardsmen looked at them with wide eyes and wider smiles.
"They're here! The Torchknights are here! Open the gates!" one of them called down to the guardsmen on the ground.
The guardsmen opened the gates to let the esteemed Torchknights in. When the rest of the village laid eyes on the cloaked warriors, they parted for them like bread being cut. Each and every villager bowed their heads in respect to them.
The Torchknights were warriors paid to hunt the Underspawn. These great warriors used magic to give themselves a fighting chance against the monsters. They all wielded weapons enchanted by their magic that could slice through steel as if it were paper. Torchknights all wore the capes and armor necessary to kill the Underspawn. Their powers were said to be legendary, with one being recorded to call down a volley of fireballs to destroy an entire horde of Underspawn. All Torchknights had incredible strength, speed, impressive jumps, and heightened senses. Some could fly and heal from even fatal wounds. But the Torchknights aren't invincible. The Underspawn are more than capable of killing Torchknights.
The leader of this particular squad of Torchknights was Starswirl the Bearded, a powerful Torchmage within the order. His skill with magic was said to be legendary. He, along with his fellow teammates, were widely known throughout all of Equestria. As he passed through the crowd of onlookers, the captain of the village militia came to greet them with a bow.
"Dear Torchknights, please allow me to welcome you to our humble village. I speak for all of us when I say that we are most pleased to see that you've arrived safely, as the roads haven't been safe as of late" the captain greeted.
"It is alright, captain. We are simply here to do our duty to protect you. May we see the Magistrate of this village so that we could obtain more information?" Starswirl asked.
"Of course! Right this way" the captain replied.
The local militia led the Torchknights through the town and to the Magistrate's manor in the center of the village. The manor was a modest place for a frontier village. It sat near the administration building, where most of the governing affairs took place.
As they walked to the manor, the Torchknights found themselves bombarded with the voices of the villagers. Most of them were quite happy to see the great warriors here, praising them for fighting Underspawn. But amidst the shouts of praise, there were also voices of despair, grief, and even anger. Those voices must belong to the families of the victims. They'd avenge their fallen soon enough.
The Torchknights and their escorts walked up to the Magistrate's manor and the captain knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal a maid. She was wearing a typical maid's uniform. However, the distinguishing feature about her was her pointed ears. This maid was an Elf, on of the four intelligent races of Veralon, alongside humans, Pegamites, and dragons.
"Welcome to the Magistrate's manor, my lords" the maid said upon seeing the Torchknights.
The maid welcomed the Torchknights into the main foyer. She then turned towards the knights and bowed again.
"Please wait here while I fetch the Master" she said before departing up the stairs.
After a few minutes of waiting, the Elf maid returned with the Magistrate. The Magistrate was an elderly man with long white hair and the skin around his face spoke of years of witnessing horror. He was dressed in wealthy attire, with a long red overcoat, a white undershirt, and black pants. The maid was helping him down the stairs to meet his Torchknight guests. When the Magistrate laid his eyes on Starswirl, his eyes widened with recognition.
"Starswirl! You little upstart! How are you?!" the Magistrate greeted happily.
"Torchlord Velon? Is that you?" Starswirl asked.
Torchlord was the highest rank a Torchknight could obtain. They could lead entire battalions of Torchknights if the situation called for it. Their prowess for magic and combat made them formidable opponents.
"Oh come now, Starswirl. I'm not a Torchknight anymore. I'm retired. No need to call me by my rank" Velon said.
The Magistrate, or Velon, walked up to Starswirl and gave him a hug, which Starswirl reciprocated. They looked at each other with happy smiles.
"I almost didn't recognize you with that beard, boy! Why'd you grow a beard?" Magistrate Velon asked.
"I like to think it makes me look like a seasoned warrior" Starswirl replied.
"Seeing as how your getting up there in age, I think you would look like a seasoned warrior even without the beard"
"That may be true enough. I can say the same about you. I know you've still got a warrior's build under those wrinkles"
Magistrate Velon gave a hearty laugh. They both know it was true. Velon could probably still hold himself in a fight if he used his magic, even with his advanced age. One of Starswirl's subordinates cleared his throat.
"My apologies, my old teacher. But I'm afraid we're not here for a social visit" Starswirl said.
Velon's face suddenly darkened with a deadly seriousness. "Indeed. Let us speak of this in the library"
Velon and his maid led the Torchknights towards the manor's library. The library was small and held a great many books on tall shelves. At the far end of the library was a lit fireplace with a sheathed longsword hanging sitting on the mantlepiece on a display. In the center of the library was a small table and some couches. They sat down on the couches to discuss their situation. Starswirl looked at the sword on the mantlepiece.
"I see you still have your old sword Sunstinger" Starswirl said.
"That old blade is only for decoration now. Though if things keep up, I fear I may have to once again wield that blade" Velon said.
Starswirl leaned forward with his hands clasped. "So what are we dealing with?"
Magistrate Velon leaned forward with serious eyes.
"Well, for the last few weeks, we've been suffering numerous attacks from the Underspawn. At first, they happened a ways away from the village. The first victims were hunters and travelers. But over time, the damn monsters started attacking closer and closer to the village. The latest string of attacks occurred within the village"
"Did you set a curfew?" Rockhoof, one of Starswirl's subordinates, asked.
"I did. But somehow the monsters were able to infiltrate the village and make off with more villagers. I have a vague idea about how they got in, though" Velon replied.
"And what would that be?" Starswirl asked.
"I think one of the Wards around the village walls failed. One of the militia said that one of the Wards was acting strange" Velon replied.
Wards are large crystal orbs that shone with a brilliant magic light. This light could keep the Underspawn away from the village as they had an aversion to bright light. Starswirl saw a number of these Wards surrounding the village walls. They needed to be charged with sunlight in order to function.
"I didn't see anything wrong with them as we neared the village," Rockhoof said.
"It must've been one of the ones along the other side of the wall. And maybe more than one if it left a big enough gap in the light for those things to enter the village," Velon reasoned.
"How many victims are there so far?" Starswirl asked.
"Fourteen are missing. But there is a bit of good news: one person survived the latest attack. It was the daughter of one of the villagers taken," Velon replied.
"Where is she?" Rockhoof asked.
"Recovering in the village clinic. But she needs to rest and heal. She's been through quite the terrible ordeal. Both of her parents were taken in the dead of night. She's lucky to be alive," Velon replied.
"Can we see her?" Starswirl asked.
"I'll have my maid take you to the clinic," Velon said.
The Village Clinic
The Torchknights walked into a tall building that housed rows of beds that would be used to contain the sick and injured.
One of these beds held an injured girl of around thirteen years of age. She was amazingly fine if not for the haunted look in her eyes. Her small body was covered in bloody bandages. Her light blue curly hair hung in a haphazard mess. One of her shoulders had a noticeable bite mark.
Meadowbrook put a hand on Starswirl's shoulder.
"She's obviously been through a lot. Let me talk to her," Meadowbrook said.
"Alright. Get whatever you can, but be gentle," Starswirl replied.
Meadowbrook walked up to the girl's bed and sat in the chair next to her. She had a gentle smile on her face.
"Hi there, sugar. My name's Meadowbrook. What's your name?" she asked.
The poor girl didn't even look at her. "My name is Cozy Glow."
"That's a lovely name, Cozy. Can you please tell us what happened?" Meadowbrook asked.
The girl turned her haunted face towards Meadowbrook at the question.
"A few of those horrible monsters came in the dead of night. It all happened so fast. They burst into our home, dragged my parents off into the night, and mauled me near to death," Cozy Glow replied.
"Did you see which way the monsters went?" Meadowbrook asked.
"They went took my parents into the hills south of the village," Cozy said.
"Thank you, sugar. You've been very helpful," Meadowbrook said.
The squad of Torchknights left the clinic and made their way towards the southern hills.
In the Hills
As the group walked through the forest, Starswirl noticed how silent everything was. There was no sound to be heard anywhere. No birds or squirrels, not even a cricket.
This was to be expected of an Underspawn infestation. Being a predatory species, they would happily eat animals as well as humans.
The entire group didn't say anything to mask their presence from their quarry. Even though the Underspawn were nocturnal, they had great hearing and would be instantly alerted to the slightest sound. Instead, Starswirl used his magic to communicate with his teammates via telepathy.
"Any ideas about what we're going to do once we find the nest?" Flash Magnus asked.
"We should definitely prepare to retreat if this nest proves to be particularly large," Mistmane said.
"If there are any people still alive, we should make rescuing them our first priority," Starswirl said.
"Any theories about this nest?" Mage asked.
"I think we're walking into a trap," Starswirl replied.
"What makes you think that?" Mistmane asked.
"Remember how Cozy Glow said that she was simply mauled and left alone? I don't think we're dealing with an ordinary Underspawn nest," Starswirl replied.
"You think this nest has an Alpha?" Mage asked.
Alphas were Underspawn that were able to dominate a nest and lead them to attack others. Alpha Underspawn were incredibly dangerous, but not as dangerous as the Spawnlords. Not even Starswirl and his companions could survive an encounter with an Spawnlord.
Soon, Rockhoof spotted something in the distance. "Over there! I think we've found the nest!".
From a distance, the group saw a black orb amongst all the green brush of the forest. Upon closer inspection, they could see that this black orb was in fact the entrance to a cave. As the squad got closer, they could see that there were various non-human footprints going in and out of the cave, as well as the characteristic drag marks made by prey being dragged into the cave. Since the Underspawn were nesting in the cave, they'll be nesting deep within the cave.
The squad of Torchknights drew their weapons and prepared to face the monsters within. They walked into the darkness of the cave praying to see the light again.