The unnerving human sound of the Chimera made it hard to keep track of the death that occurred as over a hundred men poured into the castle grounds.
The next morning after their foray into Volknest when the captain had confirmed that the rumors were more or less true. When he had confirmed to them that the Titan had been destroyed and the power of Celeste was amongst them, the men of Volknest were emboldened in their cause. There were no disillusions of the danger that storming the castle grounds would pose, but with fate seemingly on their side, they felt like they had a legitimate chance to rid Volknest of the Chimera once and for all.
Cabrin and Akane never left Sera’s side as they fought the abominations which infested the castle grounds. It had been guessed that there were perhaps over a thousand spread throughout the city but here at the Chimeras’ nest, there numbered only about fifty.
All around her Sera could hear the exertions of grit and metal against the Satyr. She could hear the yelping of Hellhounds. On several occasions she watched as even the commanding Centaur collapsed into the maelstrom of cutting blades. Even as more Chimera emptied out of the sinkhole that led into the nest, they found themselves faced with an overwhelming force of armed men determined to rid their city of the filth that had infested it.
The battle carried on for what felt like a lifetime before the last cry of a dying Satyr echoed above their heads and jubilation filled the air in its place. Captain Argus allowed his men a moment to celebrate their victory and mourn their fallen before they set about the grim task of marching into the nest.
Sera, Cabrin, Akane, and Chilse gathered together as they began their descent. Even John and a few others joined Sera’s party after having reconnected before they had set out from the garrison. Chilse had recounted the events that took place with the Titan as John groaned at having missed so much excitement. The chattering voices that followed them downward soon drifted into grim silence as darkness crept up at them from below.
In the descent into the pit, torches were lit, revealing the massive cave which ran beneath the Castle of Volknest. Sera wondered how deep the cave must have led to support such a large number of Chimera. As they ventured further, the air grew thick with the stench of decay and the sickly-sweet smell of fresh human flesh. The humidity clung to their skin, their clothes sticking to their bodies as they navigated the long twisting tunnel. They moved with cautious determination, their torches casting an unsettling orange glow upon the walls around them which gave them the feeling of being swallowed by some impossibly large monster.
As they pressed on, the stench that hung in the air grew more and more oppressive. When the walls opened up to reveal an impossibly large cavern, they found why. Mounds of flesh and bones and tattered clothing littered the ground which was slick with blood. Corpses in various levels of completeness were piled high even beyond the range of their torches’ glow. Along the walls were pulsating pouches of flesh, each one containing the fetal form of one Chimera or another. But even as they covered their mouths in the horror of it all, even as they gagged and choked on the sickening scent that hung in the air, what drew their attention was a noise like meat being chewed which emanated from beyond the curtain of darkness at the cavern’s center.
The squelching sound came to a stop as they drew near, followed by the rushing of air as a massive unseen figure became aware of their presence. The ground beneath their feet trembled and a sound like thousands of feet pounding the ground moved towards them. As it came into view a cry was heard from behind them at the horror that they had been faced with.
Akane’s eyes grew wide as Chilse and John cursed together in unison. Sera’s heart stopped and her very breath escaped her.
“Ancestor gods…” Cabrin’s voice quaked as he spoke. “The Nest Mother.”
Sera stared in silent horror. The Nest Mother, an aberration which stood towering above them. Its massive centipede-like body, easily the length of sixteen men, was supported by countless appendages like human arms. Its entire length was armored in plates, each segment ridged and glossy, their translucent surfaces like that of a massive human fingernail. Its insect-like head was a grotesque mix of human and arthropod features. An array of mandibles like large human teeth formed its mouth, but the most unsettling aspect of the Nest Mother's appearance was the four "eyes" set in a row across the top of its wide, flat face, each one taking the form of a human head, their mouths open in silent screams of agony.
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This monstrous creature was a collector of flesh, tending to the fleshy bulbs which populated the walls where Sera knew Chimera grew from the collected remains of its childrens’ victims. The Nest Mother was an embodiment of horror, a twisted perversion of nature, a creature of nightmares that could turn even the bravest warrior's blood to ice.
The throng of men which stood around her stared up petrified in fear for a moment before the first cry went out. All around her they surged forward. Dozens of men, fearful of the fate that awaited them but more fearful of what would happen were they to falter, charged forward, weapons held high. The Nest Mother let out an ear shattering screech as it came down on top of them, at least a dozen soldiers dying instantly as their bodies were crushed beneath its bulk.
Beside her Cabrin steeled himself before he too submitted himself to the fray, followed by Akane as well as Chilse and John. It took a moment for Sera to shed her fear. As she remembered her part in the final fight against the Titan, she charged ahead to join her allies against the Nest Mother.
As the abhorrent creature loomed over the mass of flashing blades and grunting men, Sera took aim as she concentrated her power. She called her blade into her hand and raised it to aim her sights at her mark where her magic would sever the Chimera’s head. Then with a deep breath, the flash of light briefly lit the cavern as Sera released her power.
It did nothing to the Nest Mother.
Sera slowed to a halt as she felt her courage and determination wither inside of her. Did she do something wrong? No, the attack was just the same as the one she had used on the Titan. Then why had it failed? Was the hide of this abomination really so thick? As the multitude of questions swirled in her mind, the monster looked at her. The Nest Mother looked right at her.
Her blood froze within her veins. Her legs began to shake. The men who swung away at the Chimera with their blades meant nothing to it as it considered Sera for a moment before it decided to act. As her senses returned to her, Sera noticed the Nest Mother shift backward and she preemptively bolted to one side as the monster threw itself down where she had been.
The monster was completely locked on to her now, altogether ignoring the futile attacks from the soldiers around it. As she desperately evaded its strikes, Sera saw Cabrin and Akane who had stood atop the terrifying Chimera tossed aside like ragdolls. She saw Chilse narrowly avoid being trampled by its many human-like arms, one of which held John in its grasp before he freed himself by severing the limb which had him. All that existed to the Nest Mother at that moment was Sera, the foolish girl who thought her status as Celeste reborn would be enough to defeat it. The foolish girl who thought that brave words and resolve alone would carry her to victory. The foolish girl who was going to die in a gods forsaken cavern full of rotting flesh.
As she frantically climbed over a mound of limbs and entrails, Sera’s hand slipped in the slick blood and she tumbled down the side. The mountain of corpses exploded behind her as the Nest Mother burst through it. As it came down on top of her, Sera willed a wave of protection around her. Meat sizzled and blood evaporated around her as the Chimera rose to attack once more. When it came down, Sera shielded herself again with her magic.
She felt something shift beneath her as the rock cracked under the weight and her body jolted as the rock dropped a foot from under her. The Nest Mother raised its bulk once more to slam down onto its prey, but as it did so, the floor gave out from under Sera completely and she was engulfed in complete darkness as the cavern drew further and further away.
The rock shelf that she had been fell ahead of her in the descent into the dark chasm before she slammed back into it as they reached the bottom. The crash that sounded was immediately drowned out as water swallowed her. She nearly blacked out from the impact, but miraculously maintained consciousness as she swam up toward the surface. Sera had no way of knowing how far she had sunk. All she could see was pitch black.
Her lungs burned as she kicked her legs frantically until she finally reached the surface. As her head burst from the water’s surface Sera gasped, drawing in as much air as her lungs could hold. Wasting no time, she swam, finding a wall and following it to where the gravel rose from the water where she collapsed to catch her breath.
Her eyes had begun to adjust to the dim light that managed to reach to the depths of the chasm where she lay on the wet gravel shore. Looking around, she saw that she had fallen into a deep underground ravine, the depth of which she could not gauge. Sera sat alongside a dark river. At one end, the river spilled over into a cavern too dark to see, at the other was a dark tunnel with a narrow band where the gravel she sat on continued along the stone wall.
A loud screeching could be heard above and Sera looked up in horror to see an impossibly large shape silhouetted in the dim light as it plummeted toward her. Sera frantically fumbled her way down the narrow strip of gravel which offered the only traversable ground as the splash behind her sent waves of water swelling around her ankles.
Sera cursed herself for being so stupid, for thinking that she could face the horrors of the nest with her fledgling abilities. She cursed herself for ever turning from the road to Bastion. It was all so foolish. Cabrin knew it, Akane knew it, and now when it was too late, Sera knew it. Now she was left fumbling in the dark, deep underground. Alone, with the Nest Mother.