《The Dungeon Hive》Part 31- The Rats
Advertisement
As the remaining humans went down to the third floor, the hive got ready for a long wait. The group the wolfgirl belonged to had went around in circles on the floor before being wiped out by the werewolves. If they had a mouth, the hive would have sighed.
The werewolves were not here but the newly made Ratlings were so the hive believed the result would be the same. The humans would go around and round before the Ratlings got to them and kill them. No fun to be had for the hive and definitely no chance for the Fire Spirits to show off their beast. The hive was young but it wasn’t stupid. If the 5 humans of wolfgirl’s group did not managed to get to the hive, what chance did the 3 humans now had?
None that the hive could think of, so it wasn’t all that surprising when one of the spirits within the hive had the idea, “What if we changed one of these humans to a Ratling?”
“That’s…not a bad idea actually!” a spirit admitted. “We did it for the werewolves, so it’s only fair we do it for the Ratlings.”
“Hold on,” another spirit said. “Didn’t we said we are not going to do that anymore? Changing a human to a hybrid takes a lot of energy.”
“True,” the first spirit admitted. “But we are almost full now and that’s not even counting the 3 humans that had died!”
“Now that you mentioned it, how come no one is screaming yet?” one of the newer spirits asked. “There should be new spirits in us with the 3 deaths right?”
“We’re not eating spirits right now.” another spirit replied. “We eat spirits to convert them to energy. Right now, the deaths of the humans is already energy so no spirits, no screaming.”
“Sounds about right. Still, we need to use the energy before it disappear. We can’t store anymore of the energy if we are already full.”
“What a great problem to have!” A spirit said. The rest of the spirits within the hive laughed loudly at the joke.
“Hold on, we are holding on to the energy for the werewolves. It’s seems wrong to be using them for the Ratlings now.” the previous spirit argued.
“Oh, it’s been 3 weeks already. We don’t know how long they’ll be gone. It’s fine.”
“Hey look! The humans are finally going the right way.”
The spirits within the hive laughed. By luck, the 3 humans had made the correct turn and was now heading in towards the room of the hive. Not that it matter much as there were 15 Ratlings waiting for them in the rooms between them and the hive.
Advertisement
Somehow the Ratlings had noticed the presence of the humans in the tunnels even though they were digging the fourth floor. They had stopped their digging and most of they had creeped up onto the third floor. Now they were waiting for the humans.
The hive had noticed this about the Ratlings. Unlike the werewolves who had stalked the wolfgirl’s group through the tunnels, the Ratlings seems to prefer to lay in wait for the humans. The difference in tactics was strange and very interesting for the hive. It never told the werewolves or the Ratlings what methods to use in fighting and seeing the natural differences between the two was something very intriguing to the hive. The spirits wondered what other tactics their future creations would have.
Then the humans stopped. They had reached a room and something had caught their attention. The Emperor Daisy! The flowers growing on the wall got their attention and they seemed to be arguing! The hive focused on the humans to hear what they were saying.
“Not possible!” the shaman said in a quiet voice. He was looking in shock at the wall of Emperor Daisy. “The Emperor Daisy grows on trees. They are not found in caves and not so far underground.”
“Well, there they are!” The Boss said. “Right in front of us. This dark mage must have found some way to get around that restriction.”
“That’s what I’m saying Boss; it’s not possible!” the shaman said. “It goes against the natural order. The Emperor Daisies do not grow in caves. To do this, that mage would have to change the very nature of the Daisies. That’s just not possible!”
The Boss shrugged. “The wall in front of us says otherwise. There are 10 Daisies growing on it.”
The shaman could do nothing but shake his head. “Not possible!” He said again. “Even the mages in the cities…”
“What?” The Boss asked.
“That could be the reason the mage is here.” The shaman replied. “He could be doing some illegal magical experiments. The mages in the cities found out and chased him out.”
“Uh…wonder if they got some sort of reward for the death of this mage.” The Boss put his hand on his chin as he considered. “It would be nice if they had maybe some sort of a notice board so that we could see who they wanted dead…and how much they are willing to pay for their deaths.”
“Ha! When pigs fly!” the hunter said. “Where would they put this notice board?”
Advertisement
“At the local tavern.” The Boss said immediately. “It’s the first place we go to when we go into the city right?”
The 3 humans laughed and the hunter of the group began plucking the daisies from the wall. “Hey Bron, what are you doing?” The shaman asked.
“Making gold! You know how much the city pays for Emperor Daisies? There’s 2 gold on this wall right now!”
“That’s…not a bad idea,” the Boss said. “We’ll probably need to show them as proof anyway.”
The hunter known as Bron smilingly plucked all the Emperor Daisies on the wall and put them in a small bag that was attacked to his belt. His smile suddenly disappeared. He looked sharply at one of the entrances of the room and the other 2 humans took their cue from him. Weapons at the ready, they took their battle formation. A short time later, 10 pairs of eyes greeted the humans.
The hive felt the shock of the humans and several of the spirits within the hive laughed when the shock turned into fear when a loud rattling sound came from the Ratlings. Feeding well from the shock and fear of the humans, the spirits within the hive fully expect the Ratlings to swarm and kill the 3 humans. Which was why what happened next surprised the hive to no end!
Then the Boss screamed. The Ratlings pulled back in shock as the Boss’ body turned reddish. To the shock of the hive and the Ratlings, the Boss then attacked! Leaping forward, the Boss cut down the distance between him and the lead Ratling in one big jump, and he swung his sword. The next moment, the head of the ratlings rolled on the floor.
Silence reigned in the room as all eyes were on the rolling head of the Ratling. The death of the Ratling gave nothing to the hive as it was one of the hive’s creatures but once again, the spirits of the hive had to admire the strength of these humans. They were truly strong and the several of the spirits within the hive began wondering how many dead Ratlings it would take to kill these 3 humans.
The answer was…none!
Seeing the rolling head of one of their own, the rest of the Ratlings turned tail and ran! In a group, all the nine Ratlings ran towards the hive. The group ran passed the remaining Ratlings who were still trying to reach the humans. These Ratlings did not know what was happening but they understood the fear of their kin and began running back in retreat alongside them. The Ratling ran into the last room of the third floor where the hive was and…ran past it without stopping.
If the hive had a mouth, it would have dropped onto the floor. What was happening? Why didn’t the Ratlings just swarm the humans? Why were they running down to the fourth floor? It would take the spirits days of discussion and arguments before they came up with the answer. The Ratlings were many; they were sneaky; they were strong; but they were also rats!
As rats, survival came from running away from predators. Rats do not fight unless cornered and with the hive and an entire floor of tunnels behind them, the Ratlings were currently not cornered. So the Ratlings did what rats do; they ran. In short; the Ratlings were cowardly. The Ratlings would learn in time that they were now more powerfulthan before and with numbers, they could take on humans but now, at only 3 weeks old, the instinct of the rat was supreme. They ran and made no apologies for running.
The silence in the hive was supreme and was only matched by the dumbfounded looks of the 3 humans. Then the Boss of the group shrugged and the 3 humans went on further into the tunnels. That broke the shock of the spirits.
“Hey, you guys noticed that?’ one of the spirits asked.
“Oh we did,” a spirit replied in shock. “The Ratlings were useless!”
“Yeah,” another of the spirits hotly replied. “They outnumbered the humans but were more afraid of the humans than the humans were of the Ratlings!”
“The idea we had about turning one of the humans into a Ratlings?” A spirit said. “Forgot about it! In fact let’s never create another Ratlings ever again!”
“Well, that’s an argument for later but that wasn’t what I/we were talking about.” The first spirit said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t any of you guys heard the humans? The idea given by them?”
Several of the spirits had to ask. “What idea?”
“Two words,” the spirit replied. “…Flying Pigs!”
....................................................................................................................................................................
Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg
Advertisement
Rocket Cat
In the deepest reaches of space lies the planet Catalonia. Here two powerful cat nations vie to impose their desired cat scratching material upon their world. The nation of Felinia hopes to score a public relations coup by sending the first cat into space, but the rival nation of Catstroph is working to achieve the same goal and will stop at nothing to keep Felinia from beating them. Join Major Thomas Fluffison as he rockets into orbit, unaware of the adventure which awaits him. But wait, there's more. Join cats Henri and Cassie on their travels as they and we learn more about Physics. Look up in the sky. Yes, it's Dynamics Cat, that feline hero of acceleration and motion who uses his abilities to fight evil and keep the city of Newtonville safe. Warning: This short story collection contains scientific information explaining how rockets get into orbit, how to perform orbit transfers, and the secrets of reentry. In addition, there is the presence of other Physics related topics.
8 137Gamed:Last Attempt
Another story of a reincarnated fool running around in a new world, in search of things that shouldn't be found, gaining attention of the forces that shouldn't be disturbed. Chapter's out whenever I can do it but safe to say it's going to be a slow delivery rate. Plagiarism alert.
8 134Tripwire
In the canyon city of Oedolon, a twin sister and brother find their downtrodden life radically changed by an intriguing piece of technology tied closer to them than it appears. Challis Gannagen, accustomed to a life of sharing Rasalas' exquisite eyesight on top of her own in a bizarre double vision, rides thrikeback into a cosmic solarpunk adventure to discover the truth of the situation all along, and how the most unexpected people can be tripwires... just inviting her to walk right into danger.
8 93Kazan - The Hero No One Wanted
Shall it be witnessed that a hero came in times unneeded and from a world towering over us, it will mean an alliance with all races to battle this unwanted invader. A hero it will not be called, for these are dark invaders that are written in prophecies old. A hero may be called upon by the energies of humans and demons, but a dark invader is limitless with unforeseeable power... - Maximilian II, Jade Iron Emperor. I have seen it all now, a god is just like the rest of us if stripped from all power. So there isn't a need to be afraid any more, as I will take your place after you leave. So promise me you will return home. - Elianora Hexasy, God's Child. It has happened...a miracle fell upon our lands. - Sophia Alfinedia, Nature Queen. Anti-hero protagonist with a few screws loose, and a plot that will take itself seriously to the very end. Chapters this month: 6/30
8 199The Beauty Of The End
William was abandoned by his family and left with a mother who detests him. He is forced into a life of crime, stealing just to feed his mother and himself. But that changes when he's given an opportunity to turn over a new leaf in a world of magic, war and tragedy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Beauty Of The End takes place in a fantasy medieval world where magic exists in multiple forms. William is a boy abandoned by his family and left with a mother who detests him, and at a young age is forced into crime just to feed the both of them. But one day he is visited by a knight order who tell him he has potential for magic. Listening to their words, he leaves to start a new life and train to become a mage like them. The Beauty Of The End updates every day and I'm hoping to push out 100+ chapters consisting off, at the minimum, five arcs. Sometimes there might be double uploads to make up for a break I might've taken. I have most of the story planned out in my head and am just writing down where I think the story should go. I have planned up to arc 2 and maybe some ideas for 3, but that's about it. Thoughts and criticism are appreciated, there's obviously going to be grammar and maybe spelling mistakes that'll I'll try to spot and fix. I might occasionally post chapters that explain certain parts of the world, e.g. lore, countries, organizations, species, magic etc.
8 212The Death God
I,Ridar Azzur, had woken up in a deserted plain in who knows where. Apparently I am currently a Lich. That's right. A Lich. The undead who manipulates undead and practice the dark arts whatsoever . Have no idea what should I do now. For some reason, this body seems just like my character in my game Elareven. Just what is going on? (somewhat the same or not the same as Overlord for a few chapters)-NoteInspired by Overlord
8 168