“Rise and report.”

Loosening her grip on the latest victim, Rashida dropped the desiccated arachnid corpse and turned to acknowledge the kneeling figure in front of her.

“The invadersss numbered around four thousandsss strong and are spread out throughout the lower levelsss. We are unable to scout further without the risksss of being discovered,” hissed a female voice.

She listened to the report made by one of the Tomb Guardians. Soul-bound warriors handpicked by the Master charged with the protection of the necropolis and its citizens in the event of their awakenings. Standing just over two meters tall, these magical vessels controlled by the souls of the deceased were a marvel to behold. Red glowing eyes and obsidian jackal heads adorned with golden armoured ornaments, their features resembled that of a half human and half beast with long canine limbs. Their bodies are dressed in dark gold-trimmed collared chest plates, vambraces, greeves and long loincloths preserved and reinforced in layers of magical enchantments. Each guardian is equipped with a variety of bladed and long ranged weaponry outfitted to honor their chosen combat styles in life. Rashida’s small retinue of five excluding herself only had one long ranged specialist and that one was also the leader of the group reporting to her now.

“What is your recommendation?” asked Rashida.

Even though she had many ideas, as an engineer and administrator by profession she was questioning her strategies of approach. Better to ask for advice in those who were more specialized in this sort of thing.

“When in doubt, task it out,” her Lord would always say to her behind closed doors. An insignificant remark to others but Rashida knew that it was said as a test to His subordinates, constantly evaluating their individual capabilities and loyalties. Calculative and wise to the extreme, Her genius of a Master had foreseen things that other mere mortals like her could not. How could He ever had not known what to do?

“My lady I recommend we find one of the Holy Priestsss to bolster up our numbersss before taking on the Hive Queen. However, in doing so the enemiesss will be aware of our presence and likely send their warriorsss in retaliation.”

Hmph! Disgusting vermins. These subterranean creatures had desecrated their sacred home with their nestings. Looking down at the discarded corpse, Rashida curled her lips in displeasure at the figure of the Warrior Insect. With four spiked limbs and razor-edged mandibles, their triangular bodies were further enhanced by the Earth element making them naturally durable, being able to withstand heavy amount of physical punishments before going down. If only she could find some Lightning infused equipments to tackle these bugs with. Alone one of these creatures was fearsome enough not to mention the whole nest of them attacking at once. There was a lot to be done and not enough time for preparations, Rashida made up her mind.

“Where is the nearest chamber of a Holy Priest?”

“It isss located eight hundred metersss from our location. I have placed a scout to monitor the enemiesss near the area. We will execute the recovery mission at your command,” her guardian answered.

“Let’s go then since time is of the essence. We will rescue the Holy One and eradicate these pests. The Dark Lord had entrusted us with the defense of the city and I want to honor his glorious return in splendors and celebrations, with the Hive Queen as an offering to quell his anger. Perhaps then all of our souls can be forgiven lest his ire is insatiable at our failures.” All the guardians present dropped down to one knee at the mention of their revered Master. Rashida was glad to see their undying loyalties remained strong as ever mirrored that of her own. It was a shame that only five out of ten of her warrior guardians were able to dig themselves out of their hidden capsules with the rest likely to had their bodies incapacitated or destroyed.

Moving through the areas with her protectors, she assessed damages done to their home to be worst than she had feared. Barely recognizable ruins that were once civil buildings and pathways of great grandeur, the arachnid insects and other creatures like the sandworms had made a mess out of everything. Rashida noticed the collapsed soaring crevices around the upper ceilings of the cavern, with evidence left behind denoting large scale battles fought using elemental magic. These creatures could not have done this, just who ha-

A hand-signal to stop. Their point man had indicated that something was amiss. Touching the ground with her left hand, Rashida channeled a quick sensory Earth spell and noticed incoming movements from the east. With a hand signal of her own, she ordered her guardians to disperse and concealed themselves in ambush positions around the area. Pointing at a nearby ledge, she turned to her lead guardian and wrapped her right arm around the warrior’s neck. In a quick and silent movement, the female guardian leapt atop the perched vantage point carrying Rashida with her.

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As they waited Rashida noticed her lead guardian had unbuckled the twin curved blades strapping on the construct’s backside and pieced them together to transform into an intimidating elemental bow. Readying a few Earth projectile spells of her own, they focused their attention at the arriving party.

Charging forward and leading the group was a Tanker Insect with four limbs and a big underbelly as its abdomen. With heavily armoured carapace along the dorsal sides and dark beady eyes, this caste of insects were feared not because of their physical durability but with the ability to spray streams of corrosive liquids from their mandibles. Black in overall coloring similar to its brethrens, they were usually in command of a small contingent of Warrior Insects numbered around thirty total.

Stopping just below Rashida’s current overlooking point, the Tanker lifted its thick head and swiveled around as the other Warriors continued to speed past it. Seconds passed as the creature moved ever closer. Did it notice where they were hiding? Contemplating between ordering for an attack or a hasty retreat, her lead guardian signaled her to wait. Looking down below, it looked like the Tanker had begun to move away from their position after not finding anything alarming and followed after its warriors.

Releasing a breath that Rashida didn’t know she was holding, she gathered her scattered guardians and continued forward in the direction of their earlier chosen path. That was a close call. If they were to engage in combat out in the open areas the bugs would be able to slip away and sound the alarm. Rashida needed to accomplish their current objective of acquiring a Holy Priest so that they stood a better chance at engaging the Hive Queen and swiftly end the purge before it could get out of hand. Fifty meters away from the marked location, they stopped to avoid another set of patrols moving alongside the corridors. So far everything had been going smoothly, they were able to utilize the knowledge of the city’s layouts to bypass the troublesome bugs altogether. Rashida could not be more pleased with how they were speeding things through.

“This isss the place my lady, please wait while I link up with our scout.”

Closing her eyes in concentration and taking a seat at a nearby rock, she once again tapped into her sensory spells in order to gauge at the number of enemies in the surrounding area. To Rashida’s surprise, no movements were detected anywhere in the immediate vicinity. The majority of the patrols that they had encountered were moving in the opposite direction toward her chamber. Looking up, she saw her lead guardian returning with agile steps and reported in a respectful bow, “I have confirmation that a large number of the Warrior Insectsss abandoned the outer passageways and moved away. Our scout was unable to determine how many were left behind within the Holy One’s chamber. What are your ordersss?”

Taking a few seconds to compose her thoughts she responded, “We will proceed onwards. I will take you and one other with me going inside. The rest will stay here and guard the entrance until further notice.”

“Asss you commandsss,” the guardian acknowledged and turned around to relay the orders given.

Lifting herself up, Rashida proceeded to move toward two massive obelisks representing the entrance to the inner chamber. The two structures seemed to be intact with no visible damage. Touching the one on her right, she was glad to sense that its content was still safely intact. Light footsteps approached from the rear as her two guardians came up to join her. Their small strike team was ready.

“Our objective is located at the center. Kill everything that dares stand in our way. Speed over thoroughness until I say otherwise. Let’s move out.”

Wasting no time, she quickly briefed the others the general layouts of the chamber and glanced over their team compositions. Leading the way was a double-bladed glaive wielding guardian who was their scout from earlier. With one glowing red eye and numerous missing chunks around the abdomen area, he was overdue for a body reconditioning. Placing herself in the middle of their three-man team, Rashida maintained a distance of ten paces behind the one-eyed construct while her bowblade female guardian stayed close at the rear for additional range support.

Ten minutes venturing into the inner sanctum, they encountered small floating Worker Insects swiveling their heads up and down foraging nearby energy nodes. Cylindrical structures that stored magical powers for multiple purposes. Why would the bugs be interested in these? Giving the signal to attack, their glaive-wielding guardian made short work of the dozen defenseless workers.

Arriving at the burial room without any issues, a golden sarcophagus laid at the center. Aside from the debris and dust covering it, the coffin was intact and operational. Her Master’s powerful spell of preservation at work, unbroken through time. Only those who had reached divinity in magical powers and knowledge could ever hoped to undo the unique seals and damage the contents underneath. She had yet to meet someone other than her Master who could accomplish such a daunting task. Rashida prepared to gather the magical energies needed to perform the awakening ritual.

Just as she was approaching the sarcophagus, a thunderous roar echoed followed by a chorus sounds of storming stampede vibrated throughout the inner chamber. A long airhorn resonated from outside. They were under attack, the bugs had been alerted and were heading their way.

“Go and hold them back for as long as you can,” she instructed her two guardians. Clasping their hands and bowing respectfully, they bolted off to carry out her command.

Standing over the sarcophagus, she began absorbing the surrounding energies into her body. After an unknown amount of time, Rashida began the long magical enchantations of reawakening at her target. At the spell’s completion, a violent gust of magic escaped from the golden capsule and pushed her back a few paces.

“Arrrrrgggggghhhhhhhh!”

Knocking aside the cover, a figure sat up and screamed while emitting a terrifying magical aura. Recognizing the voice amidst the inhuman shrieks and the lingering magical signatures, Rashida rolled her nonexistence eyes.

“Quiet down fool and save your energy! We have enemies to deal with,” she yelled.

“...Arrrrrrggghhhhh...Ra...shi...da?! Praise the Dark Lord the almighty being I have awakened at last hahahaha!” Looking around his chamber and back at Rashida the unknown entity continued, “Your welcoming party could use a little work eh?”

For the first time since her awakening back into the land of the livings, Rashida truly smiled.