Darkness.

The rush of images. Memories? So familiar yet so distant.

Then the cacophony of voices getting louder and louder.

Silence and then the voice… Why does it hurt so much to hear it? What is this pain? I can’t understand the words, can’t see the person, I think it is the person. He says something. No! He is calling me! I must answer him. Why can’t I hear him? Why?

Flash of light.

Darkness.

I slowly struggle to awake. I can’t remember ever having so much trouble with such an easy act. Even after the harshest of battles when exhaustion claimed you where you laid, sat or stood. My kind never really slept we simply got less aware of our surroundings. Wait! My kind… what is my kind? Who am I? Why can’t I remember that? I must go home? No. I don’t remember that either. Think! What can I remember? The forest… The voice… no, I am losing even that! I must fight. But I can’t! I don’t even know how! I am losing my mind. No, I am losing my ability to think. I am supposed to remember at least one thing. I swore never to forget it. But what was it? I gather everything I am, everything I have left into that one desire, that one conviction. I MUST remember. Then it shows, my old friend, my most devious companion. It finds his way through pain, confusion and fear. My RAGE. I guess it would be futile to hope I lost it as well. We, as it seems, are forever bound together. I know now. I will never forget my name. No! I am losing it again! Never!

- YOU WILL NOT TAKE THAT FROM ME! YOU WILL NOT STRIP ME OUT OF MY NAME –

My rage and I roar. The world shakes. Everything becomes red, even darkness flee from crimson fire of my rage.

-I AM KINSLAYER. I AM DESTROYER. I AM HARBINGER OF DESPAIR. I AM VENGENANCE. I AM GUARDIAN. I AM PROTECTOR. I AM TEACHER. I AM ALL THAT AND MORE.

With every title, no not title, those are essences of my being after all. With every essence I am more whole, more me, closer to the truth. It all culminates in one last defiant roar.

- I AM ARNAR

Splitting pain welcomes me as I float at the edge of awareness, I remember my name and nothing else. What am I? What was I? What I will become? I have a feeling, such a strange thing… How can I know what I am? Yet I am sure of what I am. I am dungeon… No that would be wrong… I am dungeon core… What is the difference? How can I tell there is a difference? Despite all that I KNOW and it is a TRUTH. There are some blue lights in front of me. I can’t focus on them though. The pain makes it impossible. Why does it hurt so much? Oh, I am injured. I quickly examine myself. Well as quickly as the agony I am going through allows. My body seems to be made of crystal. Diamond? No… it is blue. Oh… so am I a blue diamond? Wait. How do I know that? No, stop. That is not important. FOCUS. I am damaged I need to focus on that. I feel several large cracks in my body. How am I even alive? Am I alive? Yes I must be. It would be just too cruel to feel this torment and not be alive. I see the problem now. The biggest crack is almost splitting me into three parts. Below me there are innumerable chips, splinters and small pieces of me.I hope I'm capable of reabsorbing them, it feels important that I do it. But first how do I heal? The quickest would be falling asleep. To recover I will need to lie dormant for years if not for decades. Well no way around it. Time to get to it. Wasting time is bad. Yup I am falling asleep then.

Why?

Why can’t I fall asleep? No it’s not that I can’t, something is stopping me… I am stopping myself. There is some lingering feeling that if I fell asleep now, it will be dangerous. I may never awaken again! It’s absurd! I have no reason to feel this way! Yet I believe that is the TRUTH. I am tired. No point in deliberating further. I won’t be able to sleep as long this feeling… this foreboding doesn’t go away.

I need to do something… I simply don’t know what. I need to come up with something soon. I know I am dying. I know I need to sleep in order to heal. I know that I will die if I go to sleep. I know if I don’t go to sleep I will die. Lovely.

What else do I know? I am dungeon core. What is a dungeon? A place filled with dangers, monsters and traps. That’s it! I need monsters! How do I get monsters? Ugh, this is getting stale, every answer leads to more questions. I grow weaker and weaker and this is not helping. I focus on that part of me that just knows, and here it is. I can will monsters to be. Simple. I also know that first monster will determine what kind of dungeon I am. I will be locked to this species for a long time. I can pick any organism I know of. I even got a list. Goblin, kobold, orc, spider, slime. Not a long list. Well let’s pick spiders as they should have lot of potential.

Wait! I can pick any organism I am aware of! Why go for those!? Something is trying to trick me, pressure me, and limit me. However; I can resist it, not for long but it should suffice… I can almost reach it. It should be extinct now, but why should that stop me? No I won’t let anything stop me, it is paramount to my safety. I remember the name now. Grootslang, the spawns of Grootslang. I concentrate. I imagine it all in my head. Female, blue, capable of laying hundreds of eggs, the Queen with long snakelike body. Ideal to cross narrow underground passages. Huge head with wing-like frill and elephant-like tusks. Second set of venomous fangs as well. Perfect, or is it? At the back of my mind an idea is sprouting… Can I change her? Let’s give her psychic powers to command her brood. Not a hive-mind but ability to link together to be more than just single being while retaining sense of self. Casts. Yes, different specialized casts, queens, warriors, leaders, workers, healers. I want to do more yet I know I can’t postpone it any longer. I am losing my ability to resist. I try to make what I created in my mind into reality.

I blacked out for a second. The cost is staggering. I am unable to afford it. I am unable to do one thing that can ensure my survivability. Yet I must do it. It is time for a sacrifice. I know that it is something I am familiar with. I look again at chunks of me lying on the floor and pick 5 the biggest. May as way go all-in.

The pain. Well it seems to be the currency here. I am not even surprised that it got worse. Everything I do is bound to bring it, or intensify it as it never really went away. It was worth it. I see my 5 queens. I have only seconds left now. I swiftly gave them few instructions as darkness welcomed me.