(Year 1504, Mouth of the Dungeon. In the Western Fungal Forest)

He leaned against the ravine wall from the narrow section of exposed rock he was perched upon.

It had taken over a day for him and his partner to navigate through a series of extremely tight crevices in order to reach the mouth of the pit.

A tough journey for the both of them, but these scouting missions needed to be conducted at least once a week.

Silently he reached his hand behind his back and signaled for his partner to follow up to his position.

They signaled back from a slightly deeper section of the cave, sticking their gloved fist out into a ray of light trailing down near them.

He signaled them to follow again in confirmation...

Silently slinking towards him from the shadow a small but deft figure cut their way towards his position.

It took only a dozen seconds before they were positioned behind him on his ledge, and he took the opportunity to quietly signal the presence of the next insect tide about 30 minutes out.

They closed their eyes and shivered a little before he mimed a snap to gain their attention again.

Signaling his intention to move upwards, he confirms understanding with his partner and begins his ascent.

He spares a glace towards Fungal Forest and the mouth of the dungeon, which is akin to a small valley, as he inspects the monolithic fungi that compose the forest so far above him.

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Twisting veins of mycelium thicker than barrels carpet the ground, and remain there pressed flat by the weight of the previous tides.

Trunks of the fungi, shaking with a fuzzy layer of plump Fungus Eaters. All of them crawling back into their tightly packed holes in the stalks.

And the canopy dense with...

He releases his grasp on the rock face and drops a few meters back down to his previous position. Signaling "RUN" as he fell. Before breaking his fall as he hit the ledge

His partner got the message apparently, seeing as they're already racing back towards the crevice both of them crawled through to get up here.

A wave of buzzing echoes around the walls of the ravine hitting them both head on, as the underside of the canopy comes alive.

Millions of Insects seem to fall from their perch in sheets towards the mouth of the dungeon.

They fall down for hundreds of meters into the yawning valley that is the mouth of the dungeon.

Many catch the wind beneath their wings, and start circling in a dense ring around the edge of the valley in a matter of seconds. So is the pure volume of their numbers. Miles in circumference the ring remains visible to him in his entirety like a rotating halo blessing the land.

Not even realizing that he had paused, he waited outside the crevice and upon the scene with baited breath tinted with horror and morbid curiosity.

For the many who fail to catch wind, or whom were pummeled by the insects raining down above them, hit the rocks and flattened carpet of fungi below them.

One tree near the edge of the falling rain of insects the size of boulders, remained untouched for one second, visible only to me. Before a spiked carapace gouged half off in furrows during its descent. Another splits it trunk a moment later, and it is gone in the raining death.

He sat there is silence as the millions whom remained in the halo formed a stream in the air leading down towards the cavernous depths of the dungeon.

The ones who survived ground impact by shear luck followed the flying stream on foot, as many of their wings were broken or torn off entirely.

I pitied them as their blind drive to be devoured by the dungeon would lead to them being trampled by the coming main body of the tide.

"Galen we have to go NOW" Kaino screamed hoarsely through her mask. While pulling on him as hard as she could, before bolting herself after he struggled to his feet.

"I can feel the rumbling as well" Galen whispers, as he dashes into the small crevice in the thick rock face.

Looking back once more through the crevice after almost instantly sliding through, he contemplates the divine for a moment as he sees dozens of Elder insects flood into the maw.

He did not just see the final impact of their descent, but rather...

He felt it.