POV The Drowning Dark
A steady thumping like the beating of a heart echoed through subterranean halls to the accompaniment of screams. The Drowning Dark loved screams. The sound of them and the way they hit certain decibels just right before cutting off completely.
It was just… delicious.
There was no need to look directly at the battle raging on its upper floors, for The Drowning Dark was as much its halls and creatures as it was its dark heart. But…it could not escape its proclivities and soon found its main awareness presiding over the most recent massacre. To be fair the adventuring party had been doing fine until they chose to delve lower.
That was a big no-no. Checks and balances had to be maintained. The locals knew to stay out of the lower caverns and if they did then the Dungeon played nice, played at being domesticated.
Soon it would not need to. The new vats were complete and the newest additions were being added. Soon it would feast all it wanted on the mortals that dared to leash it. It watched as a woman fired arrows from a ledge, terrified, as a large Khasar boy tried to defend her. Tried being the operative term as one of the Dark’s Drowned Ones reached around and pulled her from the ledge using one long misshapen hook.
She was dragged so swiftly into the horde of abominations that her screams were muffled by their number. But oh, how delicious they were. His beauties were works of art. Crafted in the vats from creatures he had consumed, then recreated, and given life by his Aetheric Will. Wonderfully horrid beasts they were with long grasping arms powered by Aether-drenched musculature.
The Khasar boy tried to rescue his teammate and in failing to do so, really did make a go of escaping. His large wolf-like form was well suited to hit-and-run combats, being both large and fast. It's too bad he never saw the Deep Hulk before it cleaved him in two. Ah well. More for the vats then.
Speaking of the vats. The Drowning Dark moved its awareness down to those submerged caverns, leaving its creatures to drag the bodies of the adventurers as they followed their master's departing presence. Three glorious caverns filled to the brim with nutritious Aether goo and each one pulsed, echoing the heartbeat of the Dark. Two of the vats were emptied but soon to be filled with adventurers.
Oh, how the Dark shuddered at the possibilities their corpses would offer. One of the vats was full, the occupants competing to see who would survive to emerge from the goo. Only one could do so, consuming its brethren to give itself strength. That was how The Drowning Dark worked, for only the strong would survive in its sunken depths.
It had a favorite to win, of course, but it was a capricious master and prone to changing its mind. Each of its grotesque minions was well aware of the fact but could do little to change their fate. In its watching The Drowning Dark paused. It was time. Gathering the majority of its creatures into a large cavern the Dark carefully called forth the souls of his creations.
As stitched together as their bodies were the souls broke out into a cacophony of screams, their pain echoing through the halls of the dungeon. The Drowning Dark sighed in pleasure. Its choir was almost ready. Just a few more additions and all would be finished. Its hunger would finally be sated.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
As the last screams fell silent, the steady thump, thump, thump, of The Drowning Dark’s crystalline heart echoed through its halls, in tune with the steady surging of its foul breath as it claimed still more territory and fuel for its bubbling vats beneath the earth.
POV Qual’Dorn, High Spirit of the Natural Order
Qual’Dorn looked upon the Ascending Carpenter Ants with a measure of exasperation. He knew that giving them their own Framework was necessary but it didn’t make his job any easier. There was a balance that needed to be struck in the natural order and too many Ascensions at the extreme bottom of the food chain would upset that balance immensely.
The reason for that was simple. The System had originally been prepared for the Divine Cores to help facilitate the Maker’s Mandate. Dungeon Cores were manifestations of The Maker’s divine creativity and the catalysts for Aetheric Ascension. They drew in the Maker’s Air and breathed life like He did at the beginning of time.
The System helped Dungeon Cores in their processing of this immense calling by categorizing the stages of Ascension and preparing Frameworks that they could utilize to help creatures reach their next stage. Over the last four hundred years the System had categorized every creature that had the possibility of forming an Aether Core, a process that only went so far. Most of the tiniest denizens of the world barely had the lifespan to accumulate the Aether needed to Ascend a single stage.
Those creatures remained [Mundane], though that distinction in and of itself was a creation for Valterra’s Dungeon. Mundane creatures did not get Frameworks within the System. If they eventually gathered the Aether to Ascend to the first stage only then they were catalogued and given a Framework on which to build.
Carpenter Ant Queens could live for years and build truly massive colonies. It wasn’t that they couldn’t ever Ascend it was just extremely difficult for colony or hive insects to do so with their Aether spread out as it was among all their members. Qual’Dorn could think of a few colonies that had been given their own unique Frameworks at Rank F but they were few and far between. A Rank F insect colony was just a tasty snack in the grand scheme of things.
That being said, there were larger species of ants that had been successful. In the sands to the south, a colony of Sahrin Desert Ants had managed to reach Rank D with each successive Ascension focused on size and strength. Now they were the size of dogs and absolutely dominated their section of the Aether-Rich Desert. Those ants were particularly territorial and aggressive, however. Carpenter Ants were not, at least not normally.
It was truly fascinating to watch them push for Dungeon’s territory so fiercely. The High Spirit cast his senses out, letting it roll over the land like a wave to pick out the isolated colonies of Carpenter Ants that had received their Frameworks. All of them showed an increase in activity and aggressive behavior. It wasn’t to the point of being alarming but it was there. Luckily, their aggressive behavior was curtailed by their wild surroundings.
Satisfied that the Natural Order wasn’t threatened, Qual’Dorn turned his gaze back to the Carpenter Ants currently going through Ascension. He could wait and see what their natural desires led them to. The Maker’s Aether never led a creature awry unless it had been broken or abused. However. He could take the opportunity provided to do something different, challenging young Valterra in the process. It had been a while since he last flexed his Divine Potential.
Divine Potential was a gift The Maker gave to all of his Divine Sparks, condensed Authority to affect change in the world. It allowed them to influence and guide the creations He had placed into their care. It was meant to be used, given as a gift. So that was what Qual’Dorn did. With a flash of power, the Carpenter Ant Queen was swallowed in golden light.