My Dearest Sister,
Three months have passed since that fateful day when the skies turned black with soot and our once thriving colony was laid to waste. I still find it difficult to believe that all of our suffering was wrought by the whims of a child. Diamond Tiara, they call her - a little pony from those fanciful stories we told our own children, come now to rule over us with an iron hoof.
It began with rumors of strange lights seen dancing upon the hills beyond the city walls at dusk. The watchmen who went to investigate did not return. The next night, the lights appeared closer, punctuated by wild howls that chilled one to the bone. I recall comforting our neighbors, assuring all would be well once the authorities discovered the source of the disturbance. How foolishly optimistic I was in those final days of peace.
Come morning, the outskirts of the colony were awash with flames and screaming. Ogres and trolls, things from nightmares, rampaged through our homes and fields, slaughtering all in their path. The city guard fought bravely but were vastly outnumbered by the green-skinned horde that poured from swirling purple gateways torn in the air itself. I can still see Captain Thaddeus’ expression of disbelief as an ogre’s hammer stove in his torso, armor and all, like crushing an eggshell.
That was when she first appeared, prising open our minds to witness her “glorious” entrance. Floating above the carnage atop a nightmare throne borne by a dozen captives was the cause of our woes - a petulant child twisted into some fell creature, regarding us with cruel delight. She called herself Diamond Tiara and welcomed us to her “new playground.” With awave of her hoof, more of the abominations came through the shimmering rifts to complete the slaughter.
Those of us who survived the initial onslaught were herded into pens like animals as she announced her “gifts.” The strong would be spared to toil as her slaves. The rest would amuse her in ghastly spectacles staged for her court in the ruins of the Grand Colosseum. I was one of the fortunate ones selected for the mines - or so I thought at the time.
The day after the attacks, the tunnels beneath the city that had once yielded riches were opened once more, this time to an even darker purpose. Gangs of ogres wielding whips drove us deep underground to extract gems and ore under a brutal new quotasystem, with transgressors subjected to public executions to motivate the others. Food and rest became things of the past as we delved ever deeper, seeking veins in a corpse-littered labyrinth.
Two months on, I am one of the few original colonists left alive in the mines. Our overseers show no mercy, working many to the point of collapse before discarding them like refuse. The tunnels stink of rancid flesh and decay, a constant reminder of those who did not survive the ordeals above and below ground. Strange sounds and lurking shapes seen from the corner of one's eye in the murk only add to the malaise that pervades our existence.
There have been rumors, too, of worse terrors committed beyond our sight. I spied upon one of Diamond Tiara’s ritual revels from a high crevice, though my mind struggles to comprehend the blasphemies that transpired. Her court of corrupted creatures paid obeisance to strange idols and engaged in debaucheries that curdled the blood. Laughter and screams echo throughout the ruins at all hours, as if to drown out any last hope within our hearts.
Each day it becomes clearer - we can survive no longer under the hoof of this depraved tyrant. A handful of us have begun secretly planning for escape, though trust has eroded to nothing after these months of suffering. If discovered, it would mean unspeakable torment. I may not have chance to send word again, so I implore you - take this letter and inform others of our plight. Avenge us, dear sister, if chance allows it, and prevent more innocents from suffering Diamond Tiara’s cruelty. Darkness descends once more in the tunnels, so I shall end my message with hope that salvation may yet come.
Your loving brother,
Tobius
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The tunnels were silent save for the scraping of picks and chisels against stone. Tobius wiped grime and sweat from his brow, scanning the walls for any gleam of precious metal amongst the cracks and fissures. Two months of endless toil had worn down even the strongest among them, yet still the quotas increased with each passing day.
A distant rumble shook dust from the ceiling. Tobius and his workmates stilled, exchanging wary glances as the tremors grew in intensity. From deep underground came the sound of rending rock and tortured screams cut short. The foreman Slate barked a harsh laugh. “Must be another collapse. Reckon the mines are claiming a few more useless souls for their Lord of Gems.”
Fresh dread settled in Tobius’ gut. Collapses had become all too common of late, but more unnatural events plagued the tunnels as well. He steeled himself and resumed cutting, praying the cave-in had not blocked any paths out. Escape plans would mean nothing if they could not navigate the shifting passages.
A youth named Jed scurried over, pale eyes wide. “Tobius, you must come see. Something...something came through the fall.” Tobius motioned for the boy to lead on, shouldering his tools. Around a bend, a scene of chaos greeted them. A section of the roof had pancaked, crushing several workers and blocking the main route forward with an avalanche of rock. Clawed feet protruded grotesquely from beneath a fallen granite column.
But it was the corpse sprawled nearby that drew gasps of horror. Its limbs bent at unnatural angles, twisted wings stretched wide as if to embrace the cavern in death. Horned head thrown back in a rictus of agony, jaws stretched to reveal rows of needle-like teeth. Tobius had heard tales of such fell beasts that roamed the depths in places untouched by sunlight. To see one actually foiled sent a thrill of panic through him - for if such a monster could access their tunnels, what else may come?
As miners began shifting rubble, a hellish shriek ripped the air. More of the bat-winged horrors surged through the fresh debris, mouths gaping to display crimson maws. Talons and barbed tails lashed out with lightning speed, disemboweling the nearest workers before they could flee.
Slate bellowed and hacked at the creatures with his mattock, but there were too many. Tobius dragged Jed away as the boy wept, looking back to see the foreman overwhelmed under snapping jaws. “Why are they here? How did they find a way in?” Jed blubbered, clinging to Tobius like a lifeline.
Bodies were strewn all around as the monsters feasted, paying no heed to the surviving miners scrambling away down side passages. The memory of the colony's slaughter was freshly awakened in Tobius' mind. He clutched Jed close, determined to get the boy to safety. But as they fled, strange murmurings echoed off the stone around them - bestial growls intermingled with sinister laughter that could have come from no animal throat.
Tobius paused, straining eyes and ears into the darkness. The sounds faded, then came anew from another direction entirely. “Run, lad! They toy with us like scorned gods.” He plunged blindly into the maze, Jed stumbling behind. More tunnels twisted away into blackness, the shrieks seeming to come from every point at once now. Hope dwindled with each turn as they hurled themselves into yet another uncertain route.
Was this some sorcery of Diamond Tiara meant to root out defectors, or had darker forces awoken below the ruins? Tobius dared not dwell on what shadowy intelligences may lurk in the lightless pits beyond the farthest edges of the colony's maps. All that mattered now was escape.
Turning a bend, he crashed into solid rock with an anguished cry. A dead-end. The abominations’ calls came from all around, drawing ever closer. Jed curled into a ball, mewling prayers through tears. Tobius slid to his knees, the weight of futility crushing his lungs. This was the end he had escaped for so long, trapped like a doomed rabbit in the mines’ murderous embrace.
As mocking laughter closed in from the dark, a spark ignited in his eyes. No - not while he still drew breath. Gripped by new resolve, he scrabbled at the blocked passage with bare hands until bloody, mindless of the boy’s pleas to flee. The rock grated open inch by painful inch until at last, a glimmer of hope: the faintest draft stirred his hair from beyond.
“Come, Jed! There is a way.” His voice cracked with exertion, yet determination shone through the grime. Fresh sobs of relief answered him as together they squeezed into the hole. Beyond lay a natural cavern, empty save for pale fungi dotting the ceiling high above. Purest silence hung like a shroud after the clamor in the tunnels.
Tobius took a moment to regain his bearings, then pulled Jed along the cavern’s path. His mind raced ahead: they must lay low until the horrors retreated, then make covert tracks to collapse the deadly passage behind them. With luck and courage, a route to salvation yet remained - though the shadows in his heart whispered such things were never meant for souls like theirs.
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Days passed as Tobius kept them hidden within the caverns’ twisting labyrinth. By feel alone he traced obscure paths that wound ever upwards, judged by subtle shifts in the stale subterranean airs. Jed followed dutifully despite his frail state, though dark circles rimmed his eyes and bones jutted starkly against pallid skin.
At last a glint of greenish crystal high above betrayed the tunnel's end. Raising Jed to slip between cracks, they emerged amidst toppled monoliths overgrown by tangled vines under a hellish red sky. Tobius realized with dread - they had surfaced within the ruins of the colony itself instead of beyond the walls.
The scarred landscape offered meager shelter as Tobius scouted for signs of life. Past the shattered colosseum rising like a tomb to some bygone glory, a warped spire stained the clouds above twisted obsidian towers. Laughter and agonized shrieks alike hinted at blasphemies enacted within, though Tobius dared not draw too near for risk of detection.
Returning to Jed with scratches and his resolve strengthened, he shared his realization. “The temples must hold answers, boy. We search for trails tonight.” As dusk fell, darkness enfolded them safely as they crept amongst deadened husks that were once proud houses and forums. Corpses impaled upon stakes leered hollow-eyed, carrion birds roosting within ribcages.
At midnight they hid amongst rubble to glimpse rituals performed atop the main dais once used for executions. Creatures not of nature cavorted with demons summoned by blood magick, corrupt priests raising voices in fallen tongues. But one figure eclipsed all in depravity – Diamond Tiara, enthroned amidst a massacre, regarding her followers' obscenities with cold amusement.
At the climax she rose, magick coruscating about slender form, to accept tribute from prostrated subjects. A nude child barely awakened to life was dragged forth, mewling piteously even as sacrificial daggers flashed. Tobius turned aside but saw forever the light expire behind weeping eyes, soul torn forth in ribbons of agonized viridian luminance to feast capering shadows.
When the last screams faded Jed sobbed hoarsely, beyond nightmares. Tobius held him close yet his gaze burned with new hatreds. The tyrant's laughter followed as she vanished within twisting halls that pulsed with fell energies. After her court dispersed through nighted gates he called remaining strength, knowing their only hope lay in tracking her lair.
Narrow stairs spiraled endlessly down beneath mantles of dust and fungi. Eldritch luminescence pulsed within obsidian veins like corrupt blood, guiding their swift feet. Sounds of debauchery echoed ahead yet were swallowed by a yawning antechamber of bone-pale pillars festooned by viscera and flayed skins.
Before a portal oozing unhallowed luminescence sat Diamond Tiara at rest, surveying some fell tome. Tobius pressed Jed to flee whilst he disrupted arcane wards, yet the boy insisted on vengeance. As one they attacked with maniacal fury, denting Diamond Tiara's wards barely before repulsed with crackling brands. Her eyes flared crimson with wrath beneath that innocent façade.
"You shall serve me well in the arena pets, once your minds are broken upon my wheel of torment!" Lunging forth her fell magics engulfed them, and consciousness fled into nightmares as their bodies slumped senseless...
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Tobius awoke amidst shrieks and jeers in a dim stone cell. Manacles bound his wrists as frigid water lapped about his bare legs, sapping what strength remained. Across from him huddled a shivering form - Jed, blinking blearily from where they had awakened entwined.
Memories flooded back in a rush - their assault upon Diamond Tiara in her blasphemous sanctum, her magic seizing them before all went black. They had dared challenge her dark rule and paid the price, doomed now to entertain as playthings in the arena above. A scant torch gutted overhead, spreading murky light over gaunt faces watching from neighboring cages.
The man beside Tobius rasped through dry lips. “Take courage, friends. Escape yet remains possible if we band together against our Jailors.” Others nodded grimly as plans were shared in hushed whispers. When the wardens came to drag off another poor soul for the day’s corrupt spectacles, Tobius cried out in the language of the orcs.
"I demand an audience with your mistress! Only she can decide our fates." The overseer struck him bloody with a spiked mace but hesitated, intrigued by this defiant colonist with a flare for dramatics. Word was sent, and before the sun set Tobius found himself dragged into Diamond Tiara's opulent chambers.
Her twisted court sneered from silken divans as Tobius was thrown at their mistress' hooves, refusing to cower even pinned beneath her burning gaze. "What farce is this, Wretch? Do you desire a quicker execution perhaps?" Tobius smiled through split lips. "On the contrary, oh Benevolent Lady. I come bearing a proposal that may amuse you further – a final contest in the arena, where the survivors shall earn their lives anew as loyal guards to your person."
Intrigued, Diamond Tiara summoned illusionists who displayed visions of the proposed battles for her delight. Groups of prisoners turned on one another with rusted blades, frenzied survivors battling monsters summoned by fell sorcery, all striving only to remain standing when the dust settled. Her tittering court cheered each spilled allegiance, and at last she declared her assent with a flick of hoof.
"So let it be done! But should any combatant flee or resist, they shall face torments beyond their blackest nightmares." Tobius bowed deeply despite his battered body. "You honor us with your generosity, Great Lady. The games shall surpass even your loftiest expectations." Her eyes glittered with cruel mirth. "See that they do, worm. Else it is your worthless soul I shall feast upon."
That night as the moon rose gibbous and portents, Tobius spread word of the chance granted. Though escape seemed madness with forces arrayed against them, fighting as one offered hope where none remained. Allies were found in unlikelyplaces – former rivals now united against their common enemy. When dawn illuminated sallow faces in shadowed alcoves, a fragile fellowship had taken shape through shared suffering.
The day of tribulation arrived. As prisoners were herded into sand stained rusty brown, Tobius met each man's eyes with a nod, grateful beyond words for their courage. When the crowd bayed for blood and Diamond Tiara's laughter rang malign upon the wind, each steeled their resolve. This would be no mere contest of arms - victory demanded cunning and unity against overwhelmingly dark magics. Through cooperation alone could they wrest freedom from the jaws of despair.
The gates groaned open, and Destiny's games began in earnest.
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As prisoners flooded the arena sands, chaotic violence consumed all. Tobius wrestled an orc wielding a serrated glaive, suffering gashes yet turning the blade to end its wielder. Around him former allies fell swiftly until few remained standing amidst a tide of corpses.
Diamond Tiara’s cackles filled the citadel as she savored each spill of lifeblood. Tobius rallied the survivors into a tight knot facing outward, presenting no openings. From this core others rallied, copying their discipline, until a cohesive formation emerged with experienced veterans at its heart.
Their unity disquieted the bloodthirsty crowds as no faction gained dominance. Diamond Tiara frowned, summoning horrors through tearsin the air to break the stalemate. Lizardmen and abominations surged into the fray, fangs snapping. Yet prisoners stood firm, laying about with weaponry scavenged from fallen foes.
With each assault battered but unbroken, hope swelled where once was none. Through cooperation came strength, and with it visions of freedom beyond the killing pits. Tobius dared believe even Diamond Tiara’s malign magics could be overcome through unity and courage in the face of nightmare.
From her private booth high above, Diamond Tiara seethed at the rebellion unfolding. Spectators murmured discontent as their entertainment grew predictable. With a surge of will she manifested above the sands, magnified to monstrous size, cackling with insane glee.
Tobius bowed beneath her hooves, shouting for his allies to flee while they could. Yet none abandoned him, holding ranks despite quailing terror. Diamond Tiara's eyes flared crimson, flames wreathing her limbs. Though we outnumber you, beast, your dark magicks give you sway. I offer a wager - combat me alone, and your allies go free. If I fall, you lose authority over the colony.
The tyranthowled with mirthyet conceded, shrinking to confront her scrawny foe. The crowds bayed anew as Battle Royale commenced. Tobius dodged flame jets, circling for an opening. Diamond Tiara toyed with him at first yet grew incensed as he avoided each carnival attack.
Through perseverance his blows began to land, scorching her flawless coat. Fury contorted her features as omnipotence crumbled before this bug’s insolence. Darkness curled venomous from horn and hoof, seeking his soul to feast upon. Tobius faltered, senses reeling, yet fought the encroaching shadow with final reserves of will.
His answering flare of purpose seared away the spell. Renewed, he seized her foreleg and wrenched with all might, eliciting a sickening crack. As she collapsed screaming Tobius stood over the so-called goddess, spattered in her ichor yet victorious. A hush fell over the crowd in awe of what transpired.
Then diamond smiled.
Suddenly the purple mare was behind him.
There was the sound of metal piercing skin.
A gasp from the crowd.
Tobius eyes widened as he coughed. Book slowly leaking out as his mouth as he fails to his knees.
Diamond grinned.
Then like a snake spitting out venom she spat out two simple words,
And It shook me to my core as I fell to my knees and cried out in despair and anguist.
"You've lost'.
