The fall had taken Alvar down into the burrows beneath the cavern that, he and his clansmen had been hunting the Metal Rats in. The burrow was a metre below with a steep slope descending deeper into earth as Alvar slid down the slope with debris bashing into him accumulating cuts and bruises. Once the dust began to settle, his vision was greeted by an emerald green wall of crystallite ore in front of him. The light softly illuminated his surroundings revealing that he was at the bottom of a steep shaft that ran what looked to be thirty metres down from where he fell in. As no light source could be seen on the other end of the burrow, Alvar assumed it had caved in behind him.
Alvar laid there with pain coursing through his body. His spear had snapped during his fall while his short sword stayed safe within its scabbard awkwardly underneath him, his buckler was nowhere to be found. Letting out a pained grunt, he pushed himself to his knees. He was lucky to not have broken anything.
The survival training the Clan gave didn't exactly cover this situation. As he wasn't injured seriously he had to find a way out. The burrow he slid down was too loose to climb without difficulty. It wasn't taking into account the rubble at the top blocking the way that could fall. He needed to follow the burrow to see if it led to another exit.
"Okay Alvar, you can do this." Alvar spoke aloud trying to psych himself up. Throwing what was left of the short spear shaft aside, he looked to see if the tip had fallen along with him. As luck would have it, the spear tip had bounced several metres ahead in the direction he needed to go. The ceiling of the burrow he fell into was twice the size of the steep shaft allowing him to stand at full height.
Foot long spear tip in hand, he started walking deeper into the bright crystalite burrow. He also checked that the sword could clear the scabbard as he rounded the first bend he came across. Alvar was on edge that another Metal beast would find him while he was stumbling around alone. Or worse, that Hex beast that took out Toke. At the thought of his clansmen, dread formed a pit in his stomach. All sorts of questions and worries filled his head that had been subconsciously repressed when the shock set in. Was Ivory okay? She had to be. Egil and Arne too, they couldn't be killed. They had to be okay.
Alvar slapped himself lightly to break his ruminations on his friend's safety. He was in an arguably more dangerous situation. He knew he needed to focus on surviving and getting back to the mine.
The burrow carved to the right again before opening to a small chamber of sparkling green Crystalite Ore. Broken chunks of ore scattered around with a path cleared down the centre. It seemed like a small nesting chamber used by the big metal rodents that had been left unused. Alvar walked into the centre of the chamber to get a better look around for any other tunnels leading off. To his luck, overhanging a larger pile in the corner was another tunnel leading up.
He climbed the loose rubble steadily, finding a good size crystal to use as a light as he saw the tunnel was darker than the one he went through. He reached the ledge a metre above him using the momentum he had gained, climbed up using the tip of the spear as a climbing pick. The tunnel was smaller than before and sloped up softly. Alvars head bumped the roof softly as he walked causing him to hunch down. Walking for what seemed like an hour down the dim tunnel, it got darker with the only light from the crystal he held. Still, he continued on until the tunnel started to narrow. Seeing that he needed to now go on all fours, he came to a stop.
He needed to free one of his hands so decided to tear his tunic at the base to make a holster for the crystalite shard. He wanted to fasten the shard to his belt. There was no way Alvar was going to holster his spear tip as to go unarmed in a rat cave would be foolish. He could imagine just what Ivory would say while reprimanding him for his foolish choice in a dangerous situation. It didn't take long for him to bind the shard to his belt with it shining out on the ground once he was crawling.
Spear tip in hand, he crawled down the tunnel moving debris aside until the it got tighter. This didn’t bother him much as he could see more green light just beyond the blockage ahead. Rubble had caved in this section of the tunnel with a slight gap at the top about an inch tall. Alvar excitedly scrambled along getting to the base of the rubble. Using his spear tip as a small shovel, he began to work on making the hole big enough to squeeze himself through.
After a while of effort moving rocks and dirt out of the way, he finally managed to pull himself through the hole he had created. After pulling his legs out, he found himself in another tunnel twice the size from where something had been digging out a bigger tunnel along the path of the smaller one. Dusting himself off, he stood to full height stretching his sore muscles due to the hunch he had to walk with. Pleased with himself, Alvar carried on down the bigger tunnel that led to what he could see was a massive chamber beyond a ledge about ten metres away.
Suddenly a scratching noise could be heard down the tunnel. He had been too busy making too much noise to hear the sounds that were now very noticeable coming from beyond. Knowing he had likely been heard creating that ruckus, Alvar drew his short sword in preparation of a coming ordeal. The spear tip was blunted now from all the digging and scraping. It wouldn’t do very much if he came up against a Metal beast or worse, a Hex beast.
Wishing he still had his buckler, Alvar advanced towards the scraping and scratching sounds with his sword tightly in hand. Every step caused his heart to thunder in his chest. Approaching a ledge that opened up to a large chamber ahead, he cautiously stuck his blade out wanting to use it as a mirror. What he saw sent chills down his spine. Rats!
A group of rats were eating something on the ground that he couldn't make out on the reflection. Nor could he tell the amount of rats present. But as none had the tell tale signs of a Metal beast and seeing nothing that could easily spot him, he decided to chance a look with his own eyes.
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Tentatively he poked his head out of the hole to get a better look. Seven rats, the size of a dog, were tearing apart what looked like a corpse of a man. Even though he was somewhat prepared for the sight that greeted his eyes, the small sounds that were blocked by the ledge made him sick to his stomach. Blood glistened on the faces of the rats while they chittered and ate the meat making it a gruesome sight to behold. What left Alvar in horror was the dead face peering at him from below, the lifeless eyes that he had seen fighting the Metal beast what must be just hours ago!
Alvar threw his hand across his mouth to stifle the whimper he felt violently raising. He pulled himself back and slid down the tunnel wall in horror, kicking rocks and dirt around as he fell. That the mighty Squad Leader who delivered the killing blow on that Metal beast, was now being torn apart and eaten by lowly rats. An unbelievable end for a Perfected First Tier Warrior. Alvar was too panicked to realise that the sound of the rats below had stopped.
A scratching sound from his side caught his attention. He whipped his head around in horror as he saw some of the rats scurrying up the metre high ledge. Scrambling up, Alvar ran back to the end of the tunnel staring wide eyed at the entrance. The scratching noise got louder as first, one rat pulled itself up over the ledge. Then a second one joined it, then a third followed. Alvars mouth went dry as he locked eyes with the lead rat.
He shakily gripped the hilt of his short sword, drawing it out with practised motion. Pointing the blade at the rats slowly making their way over, he slid a foot back turning his body to the side relying on his training with Sten. His off hand held the blunt spear tip in a reverse grip ready to be stabbed down. The rats got a metre from him before the lead rat crouched getting ready to lunge at him. In an instant it leaped at his face, claws out and mouth opened to tear him apart. Without hesitation Alvar stepped forward to meet it with his sword sweeping up in a backhanded arc, catching the rat under its arm and slicing underneath the jaw. It let out a squeal while colliding with the blade. The weight caught and Alvar had to continue the sweep to move the momentum of the rat to the side of the tunnel, raining blood across the wall in an arc. However, removing the rat this way left him open.
The second rat leaped at Alvar catching him while his short sword was extended out to the side. Immediately Alvar used his momentum to perform the Clans Swift Foot technique without Ki, allowing him to sidestep the leaping rat. The third rat followed by striking at Alvar’s unguarded leg with its razor sharp claws. Pain blossomed in his shin as blood ran from the open wound. Alvar grit his teeth to quell a yelp and brought the blunt spear tip down on the rat’s exposed head, dealing death to his attacker.
The last rat having missed its target, lunged again at Alvars now exposed back ripping into his flesh with its claws. Alvar howled in pain as he felt its claws rend his flesh from his back and its teeth snap at the side of his head. In a blind attempt to stop the rat, he rammed his back against the wall of the tunnel causing it to squeal as his body crushed the rat between himself and the wall dropping his blade p. He repeated this process a few times before it fell silent in what Alvar hoped was its death.
Collapsing to the floor, Alvar removed the rat's claws that were entangled with his tunic and flesh. His shoulder blade that had held the spear tip previously, stung at the contact of air once his tunic was removed. Fresh blood seeping out accompanied each throb of pain drenching his back. From the basic first aid that all warriors were taught, he knew that if he didn’t stop the bleeding that he would be done for.
He groaned as he ripped the already torn tunic into a bandage long enough to be wind around his chest. It took him a moment to get it in the right position covering the wound. Steadily climbing to his feet, Alvar heard more scratching just outside the tunnel entrance indicating the other rats had been alerted by the confrontation.
Retrieving the spear tip from the head of a slain rat and his discarded short sword, Alvar made his way to the ledge just in time to see another head poke up above it. Not wanting to let what just happened to happen again, Alvar sliced at the exposed head, cleaving half the face from the rat as it fell back. Two more rats followed up the ledge quickly with one being taken by Alvars backstroke of his blade in hand sending it to join the other.
The death of the two rats before it allowed the surviving rat to climb the ledge. Using the opening provided, it clawed at Alvars already bloody leg leaving more slashes in his shin for blood to spill from. The attack made Alvar groan through clenched teeth in pain and fall to one knee. Another claw swiping at his face leaving a cut on his cheek made Alvar fall back before it leaped at his face. Alvar brought the sword in front to shield himself allowing the rat to impale itself on the blade landing on top of him in a bloody mess. He threw the corpse to the side and rolled off his aching back. Pain throbbing from the wounds he had sustained, Alvar laid on his stomach for a moment to clear his head. He knew he had killed six rats out of the seven he saw eating the team leader meaning he had only one more to kill.
A few more moments passed without any sound of a rat climbing up to get him. This concerned Alvar so he decided to crawl over to the ledge to find out why this last rat wasn't coming. When he stuck his head out, he saw the last rat sitting upon the chest of the corpse. Its beady eyes watching him, studying him cautiously. This alone should have been enough to alert him that this rat was smarter than the previous ones. This rat had a metallic underbelly that wasn’t visible when he first saw them. It had begun the metalization process becoming a Metal beast which meant it was as strong as a preliminary tier warrior at the intermediate stage.
At this sight, Alvars mouth went dry and his eyes almost felt like they were about to pop out with how wide they were. He knew that if he took that rat on with the others, he would be dead. He certainly wasn't confident about his chances of surviving a battle with this creature but he sure as hell wasn't going to let it kill him without a fight.
He pulled back in shock. He knew the rat had seen him, that it wouldn't let him go. It seemingly underestimated him when it sent the first lot of rats as well as the second so it most likely won't do so again. Metal beasts were long lived creatures that had a considerable amount of intelligence. Sten would often lecture the young trainees about the dangers of Metal beasts as well as their capabilities.
Slowly Alvar peeked back out of the tunnel seeing as the rat hadn’t moved, the best thing he could do was dash to the other exit in the chamber he could see after a better look at the rats surroundings. But Alvar didn't know if he could achieve this. The rat was between him and the exit and with Alvars bloody shin slowing him down, he wouldn't be able to nimbly evade the rat. His only hope was to fight it, so he started to plan the coming confrontation.