POV Mouse Captain
A chittering roar sounded overhead and the Mouse Captain ducked, feeling the whoosh of the large insect’s tarsus passed over his head. He brought his mighty blade to bear and scored another deep gash into the creature’s front section where the torso would be. He dove to the side to avoid its lunching mandibles and redirected another of its leg strikes.
During the fight, it had become quite aware to him that the creature he was fighting, for all of its size and strength, did not possess the power of his own Ascension. He was more deeply connected to his lord’s Aether and was therefore more capable. Combined with the might of his lord’s gifts, his stage of Ascension made him a truly fearsome combatant. He processed this without pride for he could feel a tension in the air that hadn’t been there when he had started this fight.
Something was happening elsewhere in the Dungeon and there was no longer time to waste. Summoning his connection to his lord’s Authority he set his sword ablaze. The creature hissed in both outrage and fear, backing away. The Mouse Captain would not let it retreat. Motioning to his kin, mice began to pour onto the creature, gripping its legs tightly and holding on with all their might.
Before the insect could do something about the new weights upon its legs the mouse guardian lunged forward his fiery blade leading. He slashed deep into the bug’s torso section, causing the ensuing wounds to pop and sizzle as the fire met its ichor.
With a bellow, the creature snapped its mandibles down at him only to have one of them shorn off with a single movement. Without ceasing his motions the mouse plunged his sword deeper into the wounds he had dealt in order to deal one more grievous wound. Then he retreated and watched as the insect hissed and groaned before slumping to the ground defeated and dying. Flicking his blade clean of ichor the large mouse let go of the fire but continued to watch until he was sure the bug was dead.
He shivered as the creature released its Aether. Some flowed to him but most flowed to the many mice that had been fighting before he arrived. Those mice looked at him with something like awe and he shifted uncomfortably. His primary kin gathered with his squire coming and taking his blade out of habit and gleaning it further with some moss. The mouse guardian nodded to the other mouse guards around then groomed his whiskers thoughtfully.
He was interrupted as he heard a voice reverberate through the Dungeon. The voice of his lord. Intruders have come. Defend the Dungeon. The mouse guardian stiffened and watched as the rest did as well. He turned to look at where the stairs curved down to where he imagined the Fourth floor would be and knew it would be right under them. As he continued to think a new thought appeared in his head. A last message from his lord who continued to slumber.
He moved quickly to a section of the floor not far away and began to feel around. Finding a groove, he pushed with his paw and watched in wonder as the bottom fell out with a creak. Looking down he saw the dark waters of the fourth and understood what his lord wanted of him. He turned and motioned to the mice gathered nearby. They looked up at him with grave expressions on their muzzles.
They had received the same message as he had. “I teach you.” He spoke softly, his deep voice echoing slightly in the cave-like area. “I teach you, then I go.” He said pointing upwards. The mice understood. The five that had joined him would go with him but the rest would stay here to defend the Dungeon. He would teach them how.
POV Emerald Adder
The third floor guardian watched as the group of invaders pillaged the fortress of the mice. His instincts screamed at him to attack but he knew that it would be folly. The little hairy one had split the very rock of the fortress walls asunder with a simple gesture. That was a kind of power that the serpent associated with his Master hence his hesitation in directly attacking.
This did not mean he was idle. Few of the invaders that split off from the main group lasted long inside the serpent’s domain. One by one he lured them in and struck with his new powerful muscles. He had to admit that the invaders were extremely tasty and the Aether they gave off was miles above his normal prey. He had already exceeded days of normal hunting with only a few invader kills. During his hunts he had also shifted some of his Master’s Ascending creatures out of harm's way, hiding them in the grass and patrolling regularly.
Luckily, the invaders seemed entirely focused on proceeding deeper into his Master’s dungeon. The serpent hissed in displeasure at his inability to do more. His tongue flicked out bringing scents to his sensory organs. His brain processed the information and combined it with what his eyes could see. He paused in his patrol as a new smell entered his awareness. It came from around the corner of his territory. His eyes did an impression of a squint as he realized the ramifications.
More invaders. He flicked his tongue out again and took in the position of the invaders pillaging the fortress and watched as they continued deeper. He could do no more unless he wished to follow them inside and despite his desire to defend his Master, he knew that once he entered his length, green scales, and powerful muscles would be a detriment once inside the close tunnels. His striking power would be diminished and he would no longer be capable of his new ambush tactics.
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He hissed again and turned to follow this new scent. He would deal as much devastation to the enemy as he could before he was no longer able. He would follow deeper later and bide his time, in order to strike when they least expected it.
POV 1st Danian Queen
The Queen watched as her council gathered. Once more her Master had gone to slumber and right as he did intruders had invaded. They were different from the normal animals that attacked too and she allowed herself a short feeling of pride that she had foreseen this threat. She had prepared her colony as best she could for this day and now her nobles gathered to give her updates.
One stepped forward and clicked his mandibles, asking permission to speak. She waved one of her limbs and he spoke in their language, one consisting of clicks, chirps, buzzing, and pheromones.
“The invaders have arrived my Queen and they are dangerous. They have already breached the fortifications of the mice and are now pouring into the first floor. Some of our people have begun to engage and managed a few kills but are now pulling back. Some of the creatures spit flame and others that hurl rocks through the air as if with their mind.
Others use powerful tools to break through our people’s carapace. The Workers are doing their best to stall while the Nobles attempt to make use of their distractions. The most positive outcome we have witnessed is that the fire does not catch. Our Master’s domain is not so easily set aflame.”
Having fully stated his report the Noble clicked his mandibles one more time to show that he was done before backing away into the circle of other Nobles. The Queen spent a little time thinking over his words to show her appreciation for them. “This is good news.” She said calmly. “We must learn all we can of these invaders. Draw them in and make them overconfident.
We have built our colony to be as confusing as possible for outsiders. Let us use it. I must rely on you all to assist in this endeavor.” She watched as the assembled Noble’s clicked their mandibles in the affirmative. She was pleased as the pheromones in the air contained nothing but confidence and determination. “Go forth! For Core and Colony!”
“For Core and Colony!” The assembled Noble’s cried as they turned and began charging down towards the entrance to the nest. The Queen sat back on her wooden platform and felt at the Aether around her. The colony was close to their second Ascension since becoming Danians. She could feel it.
She could feel the rising Aether levels, perfectly displaced between every single Empowered Danian within her Colony. She did not know the exact parameters, but as Queen, she could feel the full weight of her colony’s Aetheric Accumulation. These invaders would prove to her Master that the Danians were a force to be reckoned with within the Dungeon. If they survived.
POV Warmeister Geckodo
The Warmeister of the Fallen looked on as his warriors destroyed the fortress full of mice. As they stood around two feet tall and weighed almost fifty pounds, it did not surprise him in the least to watch them succeed in slaughtering the mice. What did surprise him was the tenacity of the Dungeon Monsters. They had managed to hold off his warriors for a time and even kill one with rushing tactics while the rest were busy tearing down the walls to get better access.
Even now the remnant of them tried valiantly to defend a hole in the building that was obviously one of the other entrances into the Dungeon interior. The Aether in the air was palpable and he almost licked his lips at the thought of the increasing nature of it as it flooded into the hole in front of him like waves on the shore.
He turned to speak to his scouts, to tell them that they were almost in when he froze. His scouts were still where he had left them, spread out among the floor so that they could keep an eye on the wider area in case of major threats.
Only, it seemed as though the threat had found them first because his scouts were frozen stiff in a rictus of death. One was leaning against a post of the porch like he had fallen asleep while the other was on the ground, his eyes wide open and face a caricature of agony. The Warmeister backed away towards the Dungeon entrance and panned his eyes over the area. A hint of movement caught his eye but all he found was a normal Dungeon monster, one of the beetles, scuttling away into the grass.
The grass. The Warmeister continued to back up and gave a command mentally for his warriors to begin shifting. They would hate the loss of endurance, of course, but they needed to be small enough to enter the main Dungeon. It would also make his job later easier. He continued to pan his gaze over the grass and was rewarded by a flickering tongue.
It still took him a moment or two to find the creature. Brilliant green scales and deep golden eyes stared back at him from within the shadowed grass. He felt a probe on his mind and dismissed it, though to his surprise he struggled to do so.
He backed away with a bow toward the magnificent defender and sensed its confusion as it watched his subservience. He could sense its anger at their intrusion and winced at the amount that was directed at him. It couldn’t be helped. The Dungeon needed to know his people were capable, needed to feel the power they had at their disposal despite being Fallen. Geckodo could do little else but follow his plan to the letter. He would see a future for his people no matter what.
With his warriors shifted and inside, the Warmeister did the same, shrinking rapidly and cloaking himself in his alternate hide. Colors brightened and his sense of smell increased. He darted inside the hole and found his warriors gathered barring a few. He sent a mental command and one of his warriors pointed at another floor’s entrance set in the wall. A few of his warriors had decided to have their own excursion.
He hissed in displeasure but dismissed the fools from his mind. The Dungeon was not a place to go off on an adventure. He would miss those warriors by the time his mission came to fruition but perhaps this was for the best. He spoke-thought another command and the group headed off deeper at a pace far faster than their first form would have been able to. They raced through the space between the walls until they reached a corner.
It was here that the Warmeister stopped. The scent of Aether was strongest here. The way deeper was close by. Even as he had the thought, enraged squeaks echoed from the foundation beneath their feet. Mice began to pour out of a hole nearby and engage his warriors. The Warmeister let out a bray-hiss and charged into the fray. It was time to show his warriors why he was the Warmeister.