Waking up to rays of crystal bright sun streaming through the caves entrance is how i greet the morning, my eyes squinting in annoyance as i drag myself out of bed and look toward Wug's sleeping form. Grumbling lightly I make my way outside to look for some fruits to eat, settling on more of the berries from the previous day that i find growing all over the outer part of the clearing. After I gorge myself on berries and dirty puddle water I walk back into the cave and start slapping Wug with the handle of one of the shovels until he finally snorts and opens his eyes, looking around blearily.
"Muuuh Noor it's so early just five more hours." Wug whines before slapping the shovel out of my hands, sending me flying towards the wall and shattering the handle at the same time. As i lay on the floor catching my wind i notice a small lump on the floor behind Wug and realize one of the wyrmlings have been killed and most of its body has already been eaten.
"Wug get up now we have a problem!" I yell at him as i grab my whip and the skinning machete, while Wug jumps and starts looking around confused. I point the tip of the machete towards the body watching as Wug's shoulders tense up upon realizing what it is.
"Where are the others?" He asks worriedly as he looks around and finally notices one of the wyrmlings walking towards the entrance of the cave covered in blood and rancid meat. As it finally reaches the cave mouth the smell hits us and we both escort it outside to let it roll in a puddle of dirty water until it smells more of dirt than meat.
"What happened?!" I ask it as it looks at me and begins shaking. I realize I screamed at the tiny thing and probably scared it but before i can try to fix things Wug leans over and start stroking the back of the wyrmlings skull with his sausage fingers until the creature starts letting out a relaxed purring sound. Once it sits down it takes a few deep breathes and starts doing its best to tell us what happened in extremely broken sentences. I realize this is the wyrmling that talked to me before and i cringe after hearing his vague story.
"So what you're saying is that after we went to bed you guys ate your fill and came into the cave also and fell asleep. Later you woke up and saw lots of small furry things dragging your friends deeper into the cave and because you were scared you hid in the pile of dead gnolls. Once you saw me leaving for food you dug your way out and found us. that about right?" I ask as the wyrmling nods its head quickly before looking down at the ground in shame. I sigh as i run my hand over its head and look at Wug who seems to be thinking.
"When my family and I lived here they always told me to be careful of exploring the cave without them. I never really thought about it until now but there might be some monsters in it that to us are pretty weak but to these guys are tougher than they can handle. I think we should explore and try to save the other two if we can, we did decide to keep them after all." Wug explains slowly before looking at me to gage my reaction. As i nod in agreement the wyrmling starts making noises and after a few minutes we realize it wants to come with us. Figuring that one more pair of hands might help we bring him with us after giving him one of the knives the gnolls had, its stone blade sharpened roughly and its size barely longer than a spoon. The wyrmling's eyes shine as it waves the tiny knife around like its a legendary longsword, its childish giggling bringing a smile to our faces as we grab our gear, load up on food and finally start to make our way deep into the cave.
****
It's been what I assume to be several hours of walking and I can't help being amazed at how vast this cave turned out to be. We've seen multiple tracks of small animals and various bones scattered around as well as a small streak of metal in the wall further back. We've stopped to rest at what looks to be a broken structure deep in the cave, the layout of broken walls and clunky stone beams showing that there may be intelligent things deeper inside. I was happy though because as we shifted through some of the debris we found a small metal cooking pot, Large dents covering every side but still in one piece and probably useable. We end up taking the pot and make our way past the building for several more meters until coming upon a bloody pile of bones, the skull of a wyrmling resting several feet away from the rest of the pile as our Wyrmlings whines and gently puts a hand on the skull before tears fall from its eyes. My eyes harden as i look towards Wug and he nods at me our minds made up as to what will happen to the creature we find to have done this.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
After several more hours we begin to notice a warm heat coming from the direction we're going in and as we move further in we see fresher piles of bones, as well as small nests scattered around the area. We take out our weapons as we round a corner and see two fairly tall creatures crouched down in front of a dead bat, their backs to us as their wormlike tails wriggle in joy to the sound of their buck teeth gnawing through flesh and fur. We crouch down quickly in case they heard us and i inspect one of the four foot rat creatures frowning after reading the description.
(WereRat Brawler Level 6)
WereRats are denizens of the underground with extremly poor eyesight as well as personalities. These creatures use their sensitive sense of smell and hearing to savagely ambush prey and drag them back to their lairs to consume or amuse themselves. Brawlers are the result of an Alpha WereRat fathering these elite warriors as bodyguards and hunters for the clan. Unless the alpha is defeated these creature breed rapidly and become infestations within weeks.
I grimace at the thought of having to fight an alpha which is probably stronger than both of these guys, and if cant kill the alpha we're going to be forced to leave this cave and find somewhere safer to get stronger and live. As I'm thinking of a way to deal with the two Wug nudges me and starts pointing towards the small wyrmling that's sneaking behind the fatter of the two brawlers, the dagger pointed downwards as it jumps high and pounces on the wererats back. The blade slides past its fur and cuts a jagged line through the rats spine as the beast falls to the ground, its partner jumping backwards in shock before sailing through the air and slapping into the wall with a meaty thud. I look behind it and see Wug setting the end of his club on the ground and smiling proudly after landing the sneak attack. I shake my head and go towards the rat against the wall, checking it for loot and I find a small twisted blade almost like a corkscrew covered in blood and fur as well as what look like bandages and a couple small mushrooms. After putting the finds in my pack i turn towards the wyrmling and notice tears flying in the air as it stabs the rats back repeatedly, the corpses back already sitting in a large pool of blood and its back resembling a mound of ground beef. I walk over and gently put my hand on the wyrmlings shoulder, flinching as the small creature turns around and hugs my legs while still crying.
After we all settle down we sneak forward through the tunnels and start seeing extremly dilapidated houses, if they can even be called that, spread out in random arrays. I check inside one of the houses and see the body of a dog sized spider curled into a death ball while several small rats chew through its side and feast on its pale white flesh. I motion at Wug that there are monsters inside and he nods before quietly moving his bulk behind me. He starts to prepare a swing before freezing at the sight of the infant creatures his eyes widening in alarm before he lowers the club before grabbing me and dragging me back to the bodies of the brawlers.
"Noor we can't kill them they're just babies! They can't even fight back!" Wug starts arguing as I sigh and look at him in understanding.
"I know that but those babies will grow up into adults. Those adults will become warriors. What happens if they come after you or me while we sleep next time. What if they keep breeding and soon the forest is taken over by these things. I'm not a fan of this either but we have to get rid of the infestation even if its not a fun choice." I explain as Wug still looks a bit uncertain, but still nods his head with a frown. I pat his hand as we walk back towards the building but as we look inside we see that all of the ratlings have already been put down, the small wyrmling standing inside the building with a viscous frown on its face and tears falling from its eyes.