Rule of Play Number Seven: The Sovereign’s War was no place for mortals.

Such an obvious truth that Cross never thought much of given how blatantly straightforward it was. Mortals had needs that got in the way of constant warfare: to rest and to feed. And they couldn't be produced as quickly as Pawns could, even the ones who grew the fastest could be outpaced by a team of Shapers.

But after seeing lesser mortals for the first time, Cross couldn't help his curiosity.

The whole reason the Sovereigns waged their war in the first place was because of the Greater Mortals, the ones who they truly found worth their attention. In spite of that, the Rules of Play they’d made were clear in avoiding involvement with them as much as possible. Most Pawns didn't even have to think about them for their entire lives, probably never even cared that they were reason they killed and died endlessly.

Cross could understand it, however. As they moved through the insect hive towards the Tower, the orderly way the columns were built were impressive at first. But they didn’t feel right, not like the factories or even the Tower. It wasn’t even the off-putting air of threat that the Blanken and their creations produced, it just felt wrong to be there.

It was a distracting sensation that had Cross often glancing around as they made their way through the trenches dug into the hive walls. Not that there was much to see besides more creatures trapped in nearly every facet of the structure.

Armel said they were kept for food, but Cross’ understanding of the concept of eating was bare at best. Pawns only used their mouths for examination and speech, but it was the only method of taking in another substance that he could picture. But not one of the insects had a mouth he could recognize, so their method of eating gave him pause until he saw it.

As they passed by one of the closer columns, he saw one of the smaller insects crawl along one of the protrusions and extend an internal limb out towards it. He paused to watch as it punctured the green cocoon and began siphoning liquids from the being trapped within.

“Never thought the act of feeding would be so grotesque.” The Newblood spoke up, making Cross glance over to see him watching as well “Older Pawns made it seem like Ichor restoration.”

“They doin' it to live.” Cole mentioned from up ahead before patting his chest piece “Same as us keepin' our ichor flowin’.”

“Tch, I prefer the blood of a proper god over a lesser mortal any day.” The Newblood stood before moving away “Can we pick up the pace before another swarm of them decides to fly through?”

“Doubt that's happenin' any time soon.” Armel spoke from up ahead, peering down into the cavern below from the edge of the hardened sludge. He motioned for them to get low and come over, so Cross crouched down a bit before moving to his side. He moved up beside him along with Cole and the Newblood, only for Armel to point to the pool at the bottom of the underground chasm.

Except, Cross couldn’t exactly see the pool.

Hundreds, no, thousands of those bigger insects were swarming below, forming a massive ball of wings and limbs that was slowly travelling along the base of the chasm far below. Though much was obscured by the rampant horde of bugs, he was able to see glimpses of something glowing a bright yellow from the center.

“Bettin' that’s the egg them kiddies was chattin 'bout.” Cole said quietly, prompting Armel to stand up "They's leading 'em away."

"Meaning we’re still headin’ the right way.” Armel nodded further down the chamber where the swarm had apparently come from, and quickly continued moving along the ridge of hardened green sludge.

But despite the others getting up to follow, Cross couldn’t quite tear his gaze away from the sight below so easily.

Being among mortal life alone felt off to him, but down there was at least one Pawn who was strolling through thousands as if it were nothing.

Cross knew that, logically speaking, he shouldn’t be too surprised by it. The thousands of carnivorous flying bugs that populated the inside of the mountain range were nothing compared to the blood of a Sovereign. Even the squalid filth the Blanken had pumping through their shells made them practically invulnerable to the machinations of mortal life.

But even still, to dive into the midst of them without hesitation was impressive.

“Come now, comrade.” The Newblood had noticed him hanging back.

Cross hurried over to him, pushing aside his curiosity in favor of helping him keep eyes on the chamber around them. Not that it mattered much, so far there had been no sign of Blanken besides whoever was at the heart of that swarm. Were they all set up at the hive’s entrances to watch the Tower?

Such questions were solved soon after finding the matriarch.

It began with a change in the position of those columns, no longer simply crossing from wall to wall of the chamber. As they traveled further, the Columns began to bend and converge upon what they found to be a massive mass of pulsating flesh. Similar to what the other bugs had under their armor, but what they were coming across was a massive growth of flesh suspended by several dozens of those corpse-riddled columns.

And at the very bottom of it was a body far more similar to the insects they’d seen, but almost the size of a Brighthome. It had six limbs as well, but lacked the wings of its smaller variants as well as its head.

The Matriarch’s head was dangling from her neck, just barely held up by some remaining flesh and a piece of her shell.

The massive form was illuminated not just by the pulsing green eggs in the walls, but by light oozing from several jagged holes that had been torn into the chamber. So much had collapsed from them that some parts of the green pool beneath the Matriarch were packed full with rocks, broken pieces of hardened sludge and fallen columns.

At first, Cross assumed the Blanken were responsible for the ruined section of the hive, but that was until he noticed that the chamber suddenly ended in a massive wall of curved blackstone. Trailing along it was a familiar ring, lined with glowing purple crystals

“Is that the Blacklight Ring?” the Newblood lowered his caster “Tower must have torn right through this place.”

He glanced towards Cole for confirmation, but Armel held up a hand to signal them to stop. He once more pressed a finger to his lips before pointing down towards where the rubble met the tower.

Partially buried was a gaping hole in the side of the Tower that a large column was poking in through, but beyond that was even more light.

More importantly, there were two Blanken milling about beside the column. They were crouched by it, with one even ducking a head in through the hole in the tower and shouting something unintelligible.

“They found a way in?” Cole grumbled, only for Armel to pat him on the shoulder and pull him back from the edge.

“Hole's prolly from the fight in heaven.” Armel turned to the others and whispered “Don’t know how far they got, but we gotta hope they ain’t reached the refinery yet.”

“Shouldn’t we focus on ambushing their overwatch in the canyon?” the Newblood gestured to the tunnel entrances lining the walls “Surely these lead to at least several of them. Make it easier for our comrades to reach the tower?”

“Refinery’s ichor'll make this all easier.” Cole rolled his eye before jerking a thumb back towards the Tower “Could take more chances if we had heaps o' the stuff.”

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“The kiddies gotta know that too.” Armel nodded before counting “Secure ichor and weapons, find Formal, track down cargo.”

“Still haven’t explained what comes after that.” The Newblood grumbled, only to go quiet when Cole turned his eye on him.

“Just gotta hope the Cap’s got a plan.” Cole reached up to massage the severed head on his shoulder “Right now, I just want another Caster in my hands. It ain’t right for a soldier to be long without his-”

“Hello?”

They all went still at the voice echoing from within one of the nearby tunnels, with every eye snapping towards it as the sound of something moving from within grew.

“Was coming to report, were one of you trying to get to me?” the voice drew closer “I know we aren’t supposed to use thought speak now, but surely it would be better for getting my attention, right?”

Cross immediately readied his baton, but instead felt Armel push him. He glanced to him, only to see Cole shoving the Newblood to the other side of the tunnel’s entrance. Cross acquiesced to the silent demand, moving to the other side leaving Armel alone at the tunnel’s edge.

“Don’t have to leave, friend!” The approaching voice said “The King’s slaves seem to have lost their mettle for the time being, I’m dying for a chat.”

Armel just raised both hands and gave a shrug before strolling over to Cole and the Newblood. The moment he was away from the tunnel’s entrance, he turned and pointed to Cross.

“Wait!” the voice was coming faster, and Cross raised his baton as he saw bits of sludge covered rock seeping from the tunnel “Not in the talkative mood? Hello?”

“Ugh.” Cross froze momentarily as another voice came from the opposite direction “Why are you so loud?!?”

Immediately his eye snapped towards the Matriarch’s corpse, where he could see a Blanken shakily emerging from behind one of the Columns suspending it. He was watching his footing, steadying himself on the mass of flesh before turning his gaze towards them.

Cross snapped his eye back towards the tunnel entrance just as a pale while gauntlet emerged and took hold of its edge. Beyond it, he could see Cole quickly jostling the Newblood as the Blanken soldier between them emerged.

“Sorry!” The soldier called out towards his ally on the Matriarch “Was just chatting with-”

He glanced left, voice dying as he saw Armel rushing him.

Immediately he whipped a blaster up only for Cross to bury his baton into his helmet from behind.

“Noirites!” the other Blanken’s voice rose in the back of Cross’ mind “They’re in the hive!”

A chorus of other Blanken voices suddenly arose at that, thought speak from numerous directions. But Cross’ focus was stuck on the Blanken before him, ripping his baton out of the crushed helmet as his quarry struggled to turn his Blaster around. That only gave Armel the perfect opportunity to weave his arms under the Blanken’s and leaving him open for the next swing of the baton.

Cross swung with both hands, crushing the helmet's plating and sending shards of Pearlglass flying as the Newblood opened fire on the Matriarch’s corpse.

The Blanken on the corpse quickly threw himself back behind the column, but the Newblood quickly turned his aim towards the smaller columns instead. The Matriarch’s body lurched as one of the columns was blasted apart, making the Blanken fall from his hiding position and having his arm blasted apart by the next arc of purple energy.

Cross only stopped swinging when Armel threw the unmoving Blanken to the ground and called out to Cole.

“How we lookin’ down there?” he asked, only for Cole to quickly back away from the edge of the platform.

“They’re wall-walkin’!” he warned, shoving the Newblood aside “Back up! Back-!”

A figure lunged from the edge with a giant white sword swinging, another one of those heavily armored crusaders.

“In her name!” she roared as she rushed the Newblood, a second Crusader launching up from behind her.

The Newblood tried turning his caster on her, only to think better and lunge backwards as her massive sword tore into the ground before him.

She ripped it out and swung wildly, with Cole darting back out of the way of her excessive range.

The second one aimed for Armel, who just raised his hands wide as the crusader rushed for him. Since Cole and the Newblood were busy with the other, Cross took it upon himself to hurry to Armel’s side. Darting in just as Armel began evading frenzied swings, throwing himself under one of the Crusader’s high arcs.

He rammed the baton into the Crusader's elbow, only for the other to slam into the side of his head immediately afterward. His grip held true, locking his stance to keep from being thrown by the blow. His eye snapped up to see the Crusader’s Gauntlet launching towards him, only for his quarry to lurch to the side suddenly. Both looked to see Armel had leaped onto the crusader's sword, forcing it down with his weight before tackling the Crusader off his feet.

All three of them went down, with Cross managing to roll clear of the others in the process.

“The sword!” Armel shouted whilst grappling with the Crusader. Cross’s eye snapped towards the Crusader’s blade, Armel was forcing the arm holding it down even as the Crusader’s fist slammed into his head.

Cross darted for it, swinging his baton down into the arm and the hardened sludge below. It wouldn’t be enough, already he could see the Crusader forcing his arm up as he shoved Armel away. Thinking quickly, Cross aimed for the less armored parts around the Crusader’s elbow before swinging.

“Dirty slaves,” the Crusader shouted as Cross darted back “don’t fight her mercy, damn you!”

But as he rose, the Crusader quickly realized he couldn’t lift his sword. His gaze shot downwards, seeing his shattered broken forearm and weapon lying in a growing pool of vitae below.

His other hand shot towards it, with Cross rushing to intercept. Armel reached him first, grabbing hold of the Crusader's remaining arm and pulling him down into an incoming knee. The Crusader’s helmet dented but he immediately wrenched Armel close only for Cross’ baton to ram into the gap between his helmet and chest piece.

There was no hesitation, Cross rammed one hand against the handle of his baton, forcing it into the crusader's neck and sending him stumbling back only for Armel to drag him down again. Armel quickly locked his hands around the helmet and wrenched the Crusader’s head off the destroyed neck in another spray of Vitae.

The Crusader’s headless body still moved, despite crumbling to its knees and reaching around blindly with his remaining arm. But the amount of Vitae flowing from his wounds was more than lethal enough to Cross, and Armel seemed to agree. He immediately threw the head aside before turning to the others.

When Cross followed his gaze, he had to do a double-take.

Cole had pulled the severed head from his shoulder and was using it as a shield, the massive blade of the Crusader bouncing off the dull Pearlglass sphere. Despite that, Cole was being forced back with every strike, and called for the Newblood’s aid.

Pushing himself from the wall with several wounds leaking Ichor, the Newblood began raising his caster. The Crusader took note immediately and forced Cole back before charging the ranged threat.

“Wait!” Armel saw it at the same time Cross did.

The Newblood’s aim was shaky, their fight had left him leaking too much. When he did fire at the oncoming Crusader, she didn’t even need to dodge. His arcing blast passed right by her, raced past Cole and struck another one of the Columns holding up the Matriarch.

Recognizing the danger, the Newblood raised his caster to deflect the incoming blade. The Crusader pushed hard, forcing him back against the wall as Cross and the others rushed to his aid.

But none reached him in time, as the entire chamber shuddered.

The chorus of Blanken voices using thought speak grew in intensity, Cross could hear them cursing and calling out as the chamber shook. They were getting closer, any moment they’d be surrounded.

Cross fought to maintain his stance, only for a loud snapping sound to draw his gaze to the nearest column. It was breaking, starting to strain with the weight of the Matriarch and slowly tearing from the walls.

“That’s it!” Cole shouted before rushing the shaky Crusader “Bury the lot of 'em!”

“What?!?” Armel gasped before rushing towards the Newblood “We might get blocked out!”

But Cross wasn’t even certain if the Newblood was listening. With the Crusader forced to focus on Cole’s sudden approach, the Newblood was free to turn his caster on the suspended Matriarch.

“They’re doing what?!?” said a Blanken voice “Hurry! Before they-”

The Newblood opened fire, blasts tearing through one column after another. Cross hurried to aid Cole, launching himself at the Crusader as Armel drew closer to the Newblood.

As Cross lunged at the Crusader with his baton, he saw something out of the corner of his eye: another Blanken Pawn approaching from the way they’d just came. Their armor was already damaged, but they wasted no time in turning an oddly shaped Blaster on them.

But before he could warn the others, the chamber caved. Unable to bear the weight of the Matriarch, the remaining Columns began ripping from the walls and tearing out chunks of rock as the corpse began to plummet. The Column right beside Cross and the others was forcibly ripped out, the platform sinking soon after.

The chorus of Blanken thought speak was awash with shouting and screams, nearly overwhelming the sound of crumbling rock that surrounded Cross as he began to fall.

His eyesight was quickly filled with nothing but rocks and green as he was buried in the rubble.