The beat of their hearts was like the pounding of a million drums. Boom, boom-boom-boom-boom-boom, boom! Horns bellowed calling forth their brethren, reverberating within their skins, feeding their excitement. Bbbuurrrrrrrrrrrrr-ur! Their roars and yells echoing across barren lands. Rrrawwwwwwwrrrrrar! The song of the horde.
All around, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but moving flesh and shadows. No mountains, no trees, not even the glint of the sun or moon. Nothing but rats. Some were humanoid, walking on two legs, but were lost amongst the swarm of monsters.
They numbered in the trillions. Some were fighting amongst each other, others were so hungry that they were gnawing on stubs of old partially-eaten bones, but nearly all of them were circling a raised platform made from the backs of humanoid rats so large that their muscles tore their flesh and fur, dripping blood below. On top of this platform made from the worshipping ogres sat an old giant rat with a bulging gut. A staff of blood-blackened wood, always held by at least 2 of his 4 arms, that coughed black smoke from the tip was used to prop him up. Though so old that every visible part of him had turned a sickly, molted grey, there could be no doubt that this rat held a sinister, evil power.
“Progeny, of offspring, of children, of mine!” The Old Rat spoke with a long, slow drawl in an odd speech pattern. “Prepare, ready, strengthen yourselves!” Though he spoke variations of the same thing, none of the rats surrounding him were bothered by it. They hung on his every word.
“Today! We send off the First! Chosen beings who will place the instruments of their clan to strengthen my powers in the next Feast!” The clan the Old Rat talked about, numbered in the billions, roared and screamed into the skies, excited that they were chosen.
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“Send off our brethren! Whip them! Push them! Ram them into the Tunnel! Send as many through as possible before the portal closes!” At the end of his speech the Old Rat chanted his spell, summoning a gateway, connecting their world to another, as the chosen rushed past the other assembled clans.
The gateway they called a tunnel whirled with energy and its incessant desire to consume the rats could be felt even if it was only a few tails in diameter. The chosen rushed into it, willingly. Though it frightened them, the promise of a full belly that the Tunnel gave them overruled their caution.
Though the chosen pushed and shoved those in front into the portal, the nearby clans weren’t happy with the progress. Whips made of tails lashed into the slow ones. Bright red claws filled the air as they grabbed those of the chosen clan, ripping into flesh as they were thrown towards the portal. Others nearest the Tunnel used spiked maces to ram-rod rats into the tunnel.
Hundreds, no, thousands went through immediately or unharmed. Hundreds of thousands went through dripping blood. More than a few went through dead, but unfortunately the entire clan couldn’t go through.
The Old Rat, whose powers fueled the Tunnel, quickly became fatigued and the Tunnel collapsed in on itself suddenly. Rats who were just going through it were cut in half, causing the bloody dais to be sprayed with a fresh layer. Those still running towards the Tunnel froze in confusion.
After the portal closed those in attendance pounced on the chosen clan, no longer holding back their anger or their hunger. They ripped into those left behind, briefly filling their mouths before nothing remained to eat of their selected kin. Still wrought with hunger they fell upon themselves, creating a feeding frenzy that would kill hundreds of millions more.
Though their feast was brief, the remaining clans were pleased. Soon, it would be their turn to feast on a new, fat planet.
In their tongue, Amresi Ko Rretam; the Children of the Old Rat. But to other races they came to be known by many, more sinister names. The Invading Teeth. The Black Wave. The Undulating Plague. The Hungry Scourge.
For many this race of hungry Rats would simply be called Death.