Julie was halfway into her morning jog through the forest just outside of town. She drove out to the five mile trail every morning before dawn, finishing her workout before most people in the town woke up each day. She relished the brisk mountain air as it rushed past her and into her lungs with each steady breath. As she loped down the narrow trail between the majestic fir trees, she lost herself in this forest's pre-dawn beauty. Something about nature had always brought her peace. From the vibrant green of the trees to the soft cushion of the earthy dirt beneath her feet, every sense of her basked in the exhilarating freedom of the wilds. Today was just like every other day, and as she reached a spot just a few hundred yards past her halfway point she arrived at her favorite rock. The rock was broad and flat, situated in the middle of a large clearing atop a decent sized hill. She had prepared a breakfast of sweet granola, yogurt, and fruit with a bottle of juice. As she ruffled around in her tiny backpack for her spoon dawn broke over the valley below. "Just in time!" She happily cheered. As she enjoyed her delightfully decadent meal, light slowly filled the world. The lake glistened as its gentle waves caught the light. The glow from the houses of the town was slowly drowned out as the sun reclaimed its supremacy over the world. She lay back on her rock and closed her eyes as she basked in the sun's morning radiance and listened to the birds chirping their morning reverie. Then a terrified shriek echoed out across the hillside. She was jerked up out of her blissful rest, whatever it had been was extremely close. It had sounded human, but it was hard to be sure. And then another scream erupted, this time filled with horrible pain. It was definitely human. Julie jumped up from her seat, and quickly pulled a handgun from her pack. It was extremely rare, but bear, wolf or cougar attacks were possible out in these woods. She always came prepared. The screams continued as she raced to the source, growing more and more desperate as time went on until they were a terrible mix of screams and sobs. She had never heard anyone make such horrible noises before. She finally rounded the last corner of the trail, and what she saw was utterly horrific. Two joggers were on the ground before her, one dead and one screaming out for help. The dead one was by far better off. Steel gray rats the size of a small cat were devouring them. The jogger on the ground had his face chewed off, and what remained was far beyond the point of recognition. She did however remember those neon green new-balance running shoes and the equally jarring orange backpack. She hadn't known his name, but they passed each-other on the trail more often than not. He was a kind man, always smiled and said hello no matter how out of breath they both were. The other man man was his friend, at least she assumed they were friends as they always ran together. His legs were a tattered mess of shredded flesh, and his arms were not much better. Somehow, he was still alive as the rats continued to gnaw at their flesh. Julie joined the man in his screams. Her hands were shaking, but she opened fire at the horde of rats. Shot after shot flew into the swarm of rats, more missing than hitting. Soon her pistol clicked uselessly as its final cartridge was spent, yet she kept pulling frantically. The angry tide of blood soaked rats swarmed towards her, and she turned to run, but there were more rats behind her. She was completely surrounded. She charged ahead anyway, sprinting straight through the beasts, but one latched on to her heel with its wicked teeth and she fell. The rats leapt at the downed girl, and she screamed as she frantically tried to crawl away as each rat took bite after bite into her soft flesh. The last thing she saw was a rat with soaked and matted fur striking out to take her eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Day 39 Damien quivered with a mixture of delight and sadness. Sheila had left him her children. As he examined it closely, he saw two hundred tiny specs of life in the egg sac. He knew Ajax must have mated with her, but somehow it had escaped his notice. This lair was his body, and as he grew so too did his mind. He could see and do far more than he could in his past life, just his ability to direct his forces in battle proved this much. But he was still weak, and while his ability to multi-task was impressive, it still had its limit. As he gazed upon this treasured gift from Sheila, he knew that he would have to protect them. He gingerly lifted the precious ball from its resting place and set it down atop his heart. He would nurture them with his own energy and would protect them as he would himself. As he settled into his new room, he began his next part of preparation for his next battle. His enemy lay to the south, and his lair was only set up to deal with foes from the outside. He had prepared traps along the southern wall, however his two rooms were lined up to delay attackers from the front. His weaker minions lived in the first room, and his stronger minions defended him in the second. However if the blue bastard burrowed in from the side he could enter into the second room, bypassing the first room entirely. The simplest answer to his problem was to expand his dungeon to the north. Before the battle, he had started to dig passages from his second room out in each direction. He selected one of these and extended the path, stretching it out into the free north. His mana production had been badly crippled, however it was quickly recovering. It would take a few days to finish the excavation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next day as he was steadily working to hollow out the passage, his enemy finally reared its despicable head once more. Six days had passed, and his enemy had finally mustered the courage to send forth a second wave. The wall where the passage of the last battle had been suddenly burst open, and an army of mice and rats surged forth! As Damien reeled at the sudden arrival, he swore things would be different this time. He was ready. He didn't know why the enemy had waited, but he had used every last second he could to prepare. He had force-fed his ant queens a hefty supply of mana, and their birthing rates doubled. His ants would hold the line in this battle. They were scattered, but his traps bought him time to prepare for the assault. As hundreds of mice swarmed out into his domain, he summoned every last fly to attack. The flies swooped in, and covered the mice in a thick layer of black buzzing hatred. His veteran flies mixed with the horseflies took large chunks out of the offending rodents, but that was not the purpose of the attack. As the flies swarmed over, the mice bit and clawed at the air, their eyes drawn to the skies. They didn't see the pits ahead of them. They didn't see their coming doom. Dozens of mice ran full speed into the maws of the deadly pits, and as they tumbled down into their depths the waiting bones of their brothers welcomed them in a final embrace. Still the mice fell, however soon they landed atop their comrades, squirming against the weight of the new arrivals. A terrible chorus of screeches echoed across the battlefield as they were trampled by the surging tide of rodents, suffocating under the weight of their brothers. And then the ants attacked. Two colonies had been settled amongst the traps, and while only a few days had passed the young colonies boasted nearly two hundred ants together. They slipped from pit to pit, welcoming the survivors of the horrific holocaust into their eternal rest. Above the doomed mice the battle that raged was far less one-sided. The first two colonies had massed in the center of the room, and as the tide of mice washed across the maggot littered floor they returned the charge. All told, three hundred mice and fifty rats had charged into Damien's lair. A full hundred lay dead in the pits, but the rest charged on, heedless of their disastrous casualties. As the ants met the swarm, the mice rolled and stomped as the ants crawled across their bodies biting and chomping all along. All the while the flies swirled above, diving in and harassing any rodents they could get hold of. Despite the difficulties of execution during battle, the ant's targets were still the ears while the flies targeted the eyes. As mouse after mouse collapsed in a mess of writhing and screams, the ant forces were rapidly falling apart. It was at this moment that Damien's elite forces waded into the battlefield. His red ants charged forth, led by Ajax and Rex. The red ants were far more formidable in battle, yet there was one disadvantage. Damien's black ants used stealth and cheap tricks by burrowing into the rodent's orifices. The red ants were far too large for those methods, and instead had to face the rodent charge head on. The rodents squealed in a furious delight, as they finally saw an enemy they could fight on even ground. However this battle would be anything but fair. The surviving black ants renewed their assault, and the pit dwelling ants charged the army from the rear as they finished their slaughter. Combined with the airborne harassment, the mice were soon engulfed with terror. Ajax was forced to battle cautiously as his legs were still far from healed, however his great increase in strength allowed him to dart in and mortally wound an enemy before retreating into the ant battle line once again. He targeted the largest rats, making full use of his fangs and venom. He would leap at his foe, dumping venom into their body before skittering away. As the rats writhed in agony, the ants made short work of them. It was an awkward battle, but it was one he was suited to despite his injuries. In this chaotic battlefield, Damien's newest beast truly dominated with a terrifying might. The battle experience between Rex and these mice was beyond comparison. After waging war against the enraged tide of red ants, he had learned the proper use of his weight and strength. Mouse after mouse rushed forwards into battle with the lizard, and he would wait until the mouse had come too close to retreat. Then suddenly he lunged forwards, taking the mouse's head in his jaws. While the mouse screeched in panic, and flailed to escape he would bite down hard. Rex would shake the trapped rodent back and forth until the mouse ceased its struggle. Even the rats amongst the enemy were powerless before Rex's strength. As Damien continued to watch, Rex stomped onwards to the path of bloody glory. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The battle raged for nearly an hour before every last rodent had been annihilated, but Damien had not fared much better. Nearly all of his ants had fallen in battle, however his veterans were even larger than before. Even with this increase in strength, he was once again left enraged. It felt as if he was being toyed with. His minions repeatedly reduced in wholesale slaughter. The only minions to emerge relatively unscathed were his beetles and maggots. Both were utterly useless against these new foes. As he surveyed the wreckage, he was shocked at the effectiveness of his traps. The pits had slaughtered more than a fourth of the enemy's forces, and aside from the effort of digging them and now cleaning them out, they had cost him nothing. In addition, they had served another purpose. He had intentionally left some of the trapped mice alive. Just as everything else before them, he would make these rodents his own. His blue foe had given him one final gift in this exchange, something that would have taken him weeks by himself. He had received a tremendous windfall of mana. In the past battle, his injuries had released all of it, but this time the souls of hundreds of rodents had bolstered his power. As his reserves swelled with the sudden flood, cracks formed around the damaged pieces of his heart. Leaks began to form, but as he watched the energy solidified and filled in some of the gaps and missing pieces the mouse had stolen from him. It was extremely painful, but he was healing. As his core swelled with power, he threw it into his mining. He finished digging the tunnel, ending it with a turn to the west and then all at once he hollowed out the largest room yet. It drained most of his reserves, but he had doubled his empire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Legend:

Red - Damien's heart

Yellow - Ajax's web

Orange - Rex's den

Blue - Hostage pit (mice)

notes: removed breeding alcoves from map. Assume every wall is riddled with holes and nests.

Always taking requests for things to be marked! I can't promise all requests will make it onto the map, but they will definitely be considered!

higher res: http://i.imgur.com/8oTOWxj.png