Do wolves sleep better than humans or is it that free people just sleep more soundly than slaves? Maybe it’s because Werewolves that sleep more soundly than humans! Such questions entered the Speaker’s mind as she snuggled up to the Alpha.

Even though they were on the third floor of the tunnels, the Speaker could sense that the day was breaking. It was one of the weirder sense powers she gained since becoming a Werewolf. Quietly, the Speaker disengaged herself from the Alpha. She had work to do but before leaving, she lowered her head and smelled her mate. As a former human and new Werewolf, the Speaker found her new smelling powers to be very exciting.

“You’re awake.”

The Speaker smiled at the Alpha’s words. He’s getting better at the spoken language. “Yes, the kids are waiting. I better be going.”

The scent of the Alpha filled the Speaker and she could feel her fur rising in excitement, but work comes first. After giving the Alpha one last sniff, the Speaker stood up and began walking. The Speaker walked to the end of the floor. After a winter in the tunnels, the Speaker now knew the third floor like the back of her hand. She easily found her way through the twisting floor and reached the final room of the floor where the Creator was located. It was the second biggest room in the tunnels and near the back of the room was the Creator. She gave the Creator a small bow.

The first few times she did this, the Creator asked why she did it. The Speaker was not the only one who did this. Almost all the creatures in the tunnel but the animals greeted the Creator with respect. When the Speaker informed the Creator it was a show of respect among most creatures, the Creator thought she and the rest of the creatures were strange.

As a crystal, the Creator didn’t really understand showing respect or love through movement.

The Creator was quiet today and the Speaker continued on. She walked down to the fourth floor where the Ratlings had their warren. The Speaker hated the floor. The smell of the floor was overwhelming, not only to the Speaker but frankly to everyone. The Ratlings loved the floor and for the rest of the Kin, they could keep it.

Since the day the Creator created the flying creatures, the Pack and the Ratlings had decided that they needed a name for all of them. The Creator seemed to enjoy creating new creatures and everyone understood that new creatures would probably join them in the future. Since they were all children of the Creator, the Alpha and the Chieftain decided on the name, The Kin.

The Speaker had to admit the name fits.

The Speaker walked on quickly pausing only when needed to give quiet greeting to the Ratlings she passed. Several of the Ratling were now sporting spears which seems to be the Ratlings’ preferred weapon. The Speaker had to admit it was a good choice.

The Ratlings were on average shorter than the Werewolves so the range of the spear actually worked to compensate their lack of height and length. The fourth floor was also very dark as the Ratlings seems to taken a liking to the glowing blue worms as a food source. The darkness was another factor that works to the Ratlings’ advantage.

The Speaker had seemed the practice of the Ratlings who would couched low and dashed forward, thrusting their spears upwards when they reached their enemies. With their low stance, high speed, and long spears, the Speaker thought it was an interesting way of fighting that could work if they used the right tactics. It wasn’t her place to say this but the Speaker believed the Ratlings were more scouts than fighters and if they used ambush tactics, the Speaker believed the Ratlings could be dangerous opponents both in the Kar and in the tunnels.

The Speaker walked on to the end of the floor. Unlike all the last room on the floors above, the last room of the fourth floor was of the same exact size as the other rooms on the floor. It was also just as dark. It was so non-descript, the Speaker suspect it was a deliberate attempt by the Creator to hide the hole at the back. The Speaker walked to the back of the room where the hole was. Even to her eyes, she could have missed it if she didn’t know it was there.

The Speaker entered the hole in the wall and walked down. Unlike the other floors where there was a gentle slope linking the various floors, the link between the fourth and the fifth floor was a spiral. Round and round the Speaker went before she finally reached the end. The Speaker walked out and into fifth floor. Not for the first time, she caught her breath at the sight of it!

The fifth floor was a huge dome but the truly amazing thing about the floor was the forest in it.

The Speaker had seem it almost every day for a season but there were times when she still could not believe her eyes. Like the Emperor Daisy and the various creations it had made, the Creator had done the impossible. Over a winter, the Creator had created a forest within the tunnels. The trees, the plants, the various animals; everything was there. The Creator even asked the Pack and the Ratlings to bring various plants into the tunnels so that it could absorb and recreate them. The forest was the result.

Of course, there were creatures within you won’t find in a normal forest. The forest was so popular every creature made by the Creator was within. To the Speaker, that was a great plus and not a minus. The Speaker walked into the forest.

The sound of a forest swamped over her but it was a delightful sound. The various animals of the Creator were within and the Speaker could hear them all. The Speaker also heard laughter. She looked up and saw the source of it.

A pair of black wings flew over the Speaker and a moment later, one of the harpies flew by. The name came about when one of the birdmen kept on complaining about the loss of her arms. Harping on it day and night, one of the Ratlings gave her the name and it soon stuck. Both flyers were laughing, playing a game of catching in mid-air. The dome was so high there was plenty of room for the flyers though currently the Speaker could only see the playing duo and a Pegasus in the air.

That name was given to the two flying horses when the Creator named the flying pig the “Porkasus”. The Creator didn’t voice any objections to the simple play on the name and so the flying horses were named. The Speaker shook her head in amazement. A flying pig and a flying horse! Humans with wings on their backs! The Speaker kept on walking.

The fifth level was the size of a small city and the Speaker was enjoying her walk. She entered the forest and was unsurprised when she smelled some of the Pack within the forest. The winter had made treks outside difficult and with over 30 members, many of the Pack had decided to make the fifth floor their residence. The forest was so big, the Werewolves staying on the floor could be alone if they wanted to and they also get to enjoy a piece of nature. The only problem the Speaker saw was the constant light blue light of the floor. There was no night here.

The Speaker then saw three female Ratlings walking towards her. She passed the group with a small nod in recognition and the Speaker saw that each of the Ratlings was carrying a bunch of wood on their back. She was pretty sure the females had been fetching firewood. The Ratlings society seemed to be gender-based with the males being warriors and the females in charge of the home and hearth. The Speaker walked on.

It took a long while for the Speaker to reach her destination; a small clearing in the midst of the forest. Several of the children were already there. The Speaker could read, write and had knowledge on various fields like potion making. Even in the human world, reading and writing were skills few had.

The Speaker had been giving free lessons to the children ever since the Creator changed them and thus far, the lessons had been a success. She never forced them to come but for many of the children, the lessons was something new and fun. It had become so well-known, some of the Ratlings and Werewolves even attended her lessons.

The Speaker smiled at her students and once again, silently thanked the Creator. Not only had it created the Kin, it had them safety and with the forest; a home. The Creator never said it, but almost all the Kin believed the reason why the Creator had decided to stay on the third floor was to protect its’ children. To get to the fifth floor, any attacker would need to get pass the Creator. It was the Kin’s creator and protector and the Kin owned the strange crystal everything.

The Speaker walked into the clearing and the lesson began.

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