There would be times when the creatures of a dungeon would move out of the dungeon to attack the surrounding area. When this happened, most people called the movement “A Dungeon Wave.”

The Dungeons of Ioplon

The hive was stumped and it was an uncomfortable feeling. In their short life, the spirits within the hive had never been stumped. Sure, there were times in the past when they didn’t know what to do, but whenever that happened, the spirits within the hive would discuss/argue about the situation and if they still couldn’t agree on a course of action, they would then follow their instincts. Basically, they would do whatever felt right. However, right now, they were stumped. Gathering their power, the hive asked the harpy once again.

“…let us get this straight; they blasted the land into ashes?”

The kneeling harpy respectfully nodded her head and replied, “Yes, Great Creator. Even from the air, I could only see a land of soot and ashes. It looked to me like the whole of the southern plains had been turned into ashes.”

“…except for the strange bonfires…”

“Yes, and they were very strange. Apep, the strange new creature we met, said he felt refreshed when he goes near one of them and the Speaker believes the ‘aura’ of the fires acts as a sort of feeding station for the creatures of the land.”

“…and the new creatures?”

“We only saw one, but we just got into The Scorched Fields. We were only at the edge of the land and the Speaker believed they would meet more creatures as they went farther into The Scorched Fields.”

“…The Scorched Fields?”

“That was what the Speaker called it when she left with the pack.”

“…all the way to Mount Morningstar...”

“Oh yes! The Speaker wants to go all the way to the volcano where the Red Creator is. She firmly believes it was the one that made The Scorched Fields. The creature, Apep, also went with the pack. They were looking forward to the journey.”

The harpy sounded disappointed at the last part. The spirits within the hive believed that given a choice, the harpy would rather follow the Speaker’s pack deeper into the mess the Fire Hive had created than return to them. However, she was the flyer of the group and the harpy was sent back to report to the hive on what the pack had found. The Speaker was conscientious that way, which was why the hive decided to send her in the first place. However, the hive didn’t think she would go all the way to Mount Morningstar. Now they were stumped as to the next course of action.

The return of the harpy was known to the Kin as evidenced by the big crowd surrounding the hive. Momo’s report was something a large number of the Kin were interested in. As interesting as the report was, not everyone was happy with it.

“Looking forward to the journey, is she?” the Alpha growled angrily. “You were supposed to just scout the area! What were Kinshra and Useli thinking going all the way to the second Creator? They were not supposed to do that!”

To her credit, the harpy reacted coolly to the Alpha’s anger. If anything, she seemed to be expecting it. “Oh yes, the Speaker also had a message for the Alpha.”

“Oh really? What does she have to say for herself?”

“Before I start, please remember that I am just repeating what the Speaker said. Not a single word of this message is mine. I am quoting directly from her mouth.”

The Alpha’s growl got louder. “Just start already!”

“Dear Treznor, as Momo has no doubt already told you, I am currently going on a trip to the Red Creator. I know this wasn’t planned, but it has to be done and I’m sure even you would agree that I’m the best Werewolf for the job. Now I’m sure you are having thoughts of coming after me and bringing me home, but…DON’T DO IT! You are the Alpha of the Kin and your main job is to protect the Creator. Stay there and do your job! If I catch you coming my way, the unknown dangers of this land will be the least of your problems when I get home! Do not worry. Kinshra is with me, so I’ll be fine and if you don’t come after me, I shall…” The harpy blurted an embarrassed cough before continuing. “…find ‘many ways’ to repay you when I get home.”

A silence fell on the underground as the Kin digested the message from the Speaker. Then it slowly began. At first, there was a giggle. Then it was a chuckle. That was followed by someone trying unsuccessfully to control his laughter. Then the Alpha’s face turned into a frown as the floodgates opened and uncontrolled laughter erupted all around him. The Chieftain, leader of the Ratlings, even gave the Alpha a hard slap on the back while the Alpha was murmuring about “crazy reckless women.” The hive didn’t get the joke, but then it didn’t really care. While the Kin were laughing at their leader, the spirits within the hive had a more pressing issue to settle.

“Okay, so everyone heard that?” one of the spirits said.

“Of course, we did! We’re a hive. If you heard it, so did the rest of us!”

“Oh, stop your whining! I/we just want to be sure.”

“You’re the one whining! Yes, we heard it, the question is, what are we going to do about it?”

“Can’t believe those Fire idiots created such a mess! Why did they do it?”

“It could be an accident.”

“Accidentally destroy a land?”

“Knowing those morons, it’s not out of the question.”

“That’s just scary. More importantly, how did those idiots do it? We can’t do something like that, so how did those fools…”

“Wait, wait, wait; what do you mean we can’t do it? We can do it! We’re just too smart to even try!”

“Oh please…our influence barely goes past the entrance of our tunnels,” the spirit explained. “How could we possibly change the landscape so far out? The Fire Hive must have found some way to extend their influence much farther than we did.”

“So…it’s a good thing the Speaker is going to them?”

“Yeah! With luck, she could find out how those fools did it and tell us!”

“Not to mention all the new creatures they would have made. The way they waste energy, that creature the Speaker met should be just one of many. It would be interesting to see what those fools created!”

“Let’s get the Kin to go south and kill some of those creatures!”

“What? Why?” several of the spirits exclaimed.

“Kill the creatures and bring the bodies back so that we can absorb them, of course!” the spirit who suggested the idea explained. “We can see what the Fire Hive did and maybe even improve on their creations!”

“What! NO! We’re not going to…wait a moment, are you guys those spirits who like blood and death?”

“So what? Don’t you want to know what they did and how they did it?”

“That doesn’t mean we are going to kill their creatures! In fact, we are NOT going to kill their creatures!”

“We are so going to kill their creatures!”

“No, we are not going to kill their creatures!”

“Let’s vote!”

“Everyone who says we should go kill their creatures, say ‘YES’!”

“YES!”

“Everyone who says we should not go kill their creatures, say ‘NO’!”

“NO; NO; NO; HELL NO; NO; NO WAY; NO; NOT A CHANCE; NO…!”

“The NOs have it!”

Cheers rang out within the hive as the winning spirits celebrated their victory, but the losers of the vote weren’t taking their loss lying down. To these spirits, the lack of action against the Fire Hive was a mistake and one of the spirits told the hive so in no uncertain terms.

“Guys, stop celebrating. We are losing! There’s nothing for us to celebrate.”

“Losing? How are we losing? We are not in competition!”

“Says you! How do you think those Fire spirits would react when they show off their new creatures and find that we can’t match them?”

“How can you say we can’t match them? They can’t have more creatures than us.”

“In case it escaped your notice, we haven’t created any in many winters. In that time, those Fire fools could have been creating creatures left, right, and center. Not just creatures, they are making their tunnels as well!”

“Let them! Who cares?”

“Oh please! Just listen to the harpy that came back!”

Indeed, the news from the harpy had got the Kin talking and the hive could hear more than one of them wondering what kinds of creatures the “Red Creator” had created. As various groups of the Kin were speaking, a duo got the hive’s attention. The duo was two harpies, and one of them was the harpy that had been with the Speaker’s pack.

“…you’re just a child! I can’t believe the Speaker gave you that message to bring back!”

“I’m not a child! I’m older than you!”

“You’re just a winter older than me, Momo, and we’re both still children.”

“Hard to say. Maybe as harpies, we aged differently. I feel much more mature ever since the change.”

“You’ve been flying too much! The high air is affecting your head if you’re thinking that. Just tell me about this creature you met.”

“Apep? Well, he looked a lot like the other creatures the Red Creator created before. He had a really red body with two horns on his head. Oh, he could shoot fire from his hands and he said he was a mage before the change, so I think he knows some magic...”

“Didn’t you say he was a snake?”

“Oh that! I said he has a tail that looked like a snake. He even moved like one, slithering across the ground.”

“Wow! I would really like to meet him.”

“Yeah, he’s different.”

“You don’t sound happy. You really wanted to go with them, didn’t you?”

“Of course, I did! Can you even start to imagine the things they are going to see out there? All the amazing creatures the Red Creator has created! We never have such things here nowadays, and I got sent back!”

The harpy flapped her wings in frustration as she spoke and the other harpy looked at her older sibling with pity. “Sorry about that, Momo. I understand your feelings.” She then lifted up her talon, which was clutching a rabbit. “Have a rabbit! A full stomach always makes things better.”

“Another rabbit? Moro, what’s with you and rabbits?”

“They’re nice, fluffy, and tender! They look cute and taste great. What’s not to like?”

The spirits within the hive were furious! The harpy was actually looking forward to visiting the Fire Hive! Not only that, she thought the Fire Hive was doing amazing things! And the other harpy actually agreed with her! Did they think the Fire Hive was better? Well, it was time to remind the Kin just how great their Creator was! The hive wasn’t at full power, but the spirits drew on what they had and poured it into the rabbit that was the harpy’s dinner. The harpy would just have to go hungry.

The spirits within the hive thought of the creature the Fire Hive had created. It had antlers? Well, who needs antlers? They were going to give the rabbit a horn like they did with the Unicorns! The rabbit began to glow with the influx of energy and the harpy clutching the rabbit dropped the animal with a screech. The sound got the attention of everyone nearby. The Kin watched as a long spiral horn slowly grew out of the forehead of the glowing rabbit. Then the glow slowly faded and the spirits within the hive that made up the Naming Committee quickly spoke.

“…this rabbit has a horn. It will be called a Horned Rabbit!”

The Kin watched the hive in silence as they digested the news. The spirits within the hive were pleased with the results of the Horned Rabbit till one of the Air spirits commented that such a small creature was a poor match for the man-sized creature of the Fire Hive. After a quick discussion, the hive realized that the Air spirit was right. They would need to do more in order to show off their power and capabilities. The hive gathered their power and spoke once more, this time to the Alpha.

“…Alpha”

“Yes, Creator?”

“…go out and grab every living animal you can. Bring them back!”