Dailin was singing to his children when dread began pushing hard against him, but he had become acquainted with it now, able to cope with the change. Mainly because of the Mana in him that he used to fill himself with hopeful emotions. But also a part of it was because of his age, in the soul at least, he’d seen an archive worth of scenes that had hardened him. He would continue on, no matter how oppressive his instinct became, how much it screamed at him the single word ‘Doom’.

He pushed the feeling aside, ignored his instinct since it wasn’t providing any additional information to help him resolve this blight. He instead focused on the children around him. Blankets and billows had been strewn across the room which his kids were laying on. Most were asleep as his song reached the hour mark. But some remained slightly aware, enough they’d notice if the flow of his humming came to an end. They were in their teens now, the second growth going as smoothly and costly as the first. One more and they would be done and ready to help him if times called for it. He prayed it wouldn’t that his children could stay ignorant of the creatures outside, remain happy and content with each others company.

A nice change that his teachings had brought about, he made sure to hammer the thoughts into their minds. That family did not fight with itself. It instead discussed grievances openly and worked together to fix them, no backstabbing or turning on their own. It wasn’t hard to get them to take it in either, to embrace it. All he had to do was sing his intention to them, fill his words full of kind emotions and his children rushed to soak it in.

‘What would I do, without you Mana.’ He wondered as he watched his children sleep, the sight manifesting a warmth in his chest, a warmth he added with other blissful emotions to hold dread back as it continued to grow in weight.

When the hour and a half mark struck on the Chronicler he stopped his song, just as disappointed as the children he snapped awake. The poor ones who hadn't been fully asleep and were able to notice the ‘cold’ as they called it. He wanted to stay longer, bathe his children in kind thoughts, but his schedule wouldn’t allow such a thing. So he rose a sphere of soundlessness surrounding him as he made his way to the exit. He waved goodbye to the children that watch him go, they did in turn, knowing not to complain. He left the Chamber entering into the hall lined with Chanter Guards, they straightened as he passed nodded their heads when he got close enough to them. Dailin was comfortable with their presence now, used to the scene, so it was easy to ignore them as he headed back to his room. His actual room that he slept in rather than the Grove where given how much time he spent there, was practically his second bedroom as this point. He still spent much of his day laying with strangers outside his House there. But not as much as it used to be, the flow of strangers had slowed considerably, as his Prime Maiden Zellebeth sent word of his acceptance of new Maidens.

That had caused quite the scene, from what his Advisors had told him. Word had spread of the quality of his children. People could see what laying with him granted. The Houses he was allied with raced to send their Offers to him, those in charge Offering themselves from what he heard. If that continued to happen he wondered if the Houses he was in partnership with would crumble from a lack of leadership. Since said leaders kept abandoning their positions to gain the chance to be closer to him.

A possibility at this point, since his current Maidens stuck arguing with each other on who to bring in. Decided to resolve the matter by simply bringing everyone in that meet a certain range of Worth, regardless of past allegiances. In turn, to his disbelief, he had ended up with one hundred and fifty Maidens with the number steadily growing. He wanted very badly to set a cap, to stop the mass of women coming for him. But dread continued to grow, the Nightmares not stopping whatever act they had found to strength themselves. So, in turn, he couldn’t either, not if he wanted to stay amongst the living and keep his children safe.

Dailin worried that such an influx of women was going to cause problems. Like running out of room for all of them, but his Advisors had assured him they’d planned for that ahead of time. Had through either deals with incoming Maidens or with the use of goods they had in the treasury, procured more rooms. Had expanded the size of his Estate, which was a mess of connecting Chambers, held within a Tower that was an endless maze of rooms joined together. It was nice to see he would never have to actually move again. Just buy up the adjoining rooms connected to his and open the doors and move people in. But it also meant that the flow of Maidens may not stop, seeing how easy it was to acquire space for them.

Dailin sighed at the thought, the scene of hundreds of women looking at him waiting their turn to mount him. He had never thought he’d see the day that the act of lovemaking would be grounded down to the level of a job. A hollow act that lost all that made it special. But reality demanded it, and he had no choice but to follow that truth.

It still didn’t make him feel any better about it, he felt ashamed at times. His Maidens treated him as a close lover when in truth they weren’t even close to such a thing, they were a number to him now. The amount of them to a point he could longer even keep track of faces. He knew they were Maidens by the expensive garments they wore, how they treated others and most of all their veins. That was the biggest tell for him.

Dailin noticed people hurrying themselves to get out his way, a growing difficulty with the volume of people, and loads of goods they brought with them. Dailin waited patiently, as many carried containers off that had been left in the hall when there was no decide place to put them. His Treasury at this point was full, the room so jammed with goods it was going to be a headache getting supplies out. He would have to ask his Advisors if they’d acquired another one in their expenditure of his supplies. If not he would have to request it, or just use a normal Chamber to hold the stuff in. People bowed to him, apologizing for making him wait, but he waved them off. Smiling as he told them that all was well.

It was a small price he had to pay for being forced to move the children’s rooms further away from him. The nurseries had to be expanded, given the large influx of women who were going to be pregnant. He wanted his Newborn as close to him as possible. So that meant all the nearest rooms to his chamber had been taken, pushing his older Newborn further away.

Dailin continued walking as the last obstacle was removed, his pace increasing now that he was passed a busy intersection. The flow of things slowed, as the rooms around him weren’t being redone. All along the way Chanters stood guard within the halls, the number of them increasing considerably as he neared his Chamber. It was after all where he and the Maidens slept. Which brought up a new problem and the lunacy it entailed. His enormous bed was now going to be too small for all his Maidens to sleep on. Which left him with few options, for he wasn’t sure he could get a larger bed.

‘They’ll either have to sleep on the floor, or heaven forbid in a separate room.’ He muttered in his mind as a Chanters opened the doors to his room for him, he nodded as he passed through, and walk into a scene of a mob of people making hands signs at each other. With the speed, some were changing hand signs it showed they were in heated debates. All of which died down as he entered. The swarm of people moving as one to look in his directions, eyes lighting up with gleam that he’d returned.

“Greetings Maidens,” he called out in a joyous voice, fusing warmth and a bulk of Mana into it. He was marveled at how much kind emotions affected them, as for a moment the host of eyes glazed over as the spell struck them. But only a moment as it was small burst that quickly faded, he couldn’t risk a longer one. There was much to done and he couldn’t have his Maidens falling asleep. They became rather grumpy when woken from a rest he induced too early.

As he headed towards them he noticed his room had been changed. Much of the floor was now covered with thicker fabric, all of it surrounding his bed and flowed outward. The fabric was joined with billows and blankets.

‘Of course they would choose to sleep on the floor.’ He thought and wondered if soon enough the entirety of the interior of his room would be covered in makeshift beds. The thought of it almost had his eyes rolling.

His large ornate and heavy cushioned chair was moved away as Maidens offer it to him. He gave a soft sigh when he sat down in it. Those around the table focused on him as he did so. Vollow moved his seat close to Dailin, plus a pile of Shards. There were many such things spread across the table and a map of sorts that Zellebeth had situated towards her.

“Here Father” Vollow said offering the Shards to him. “These are the most current visions from the Flocks, and the last.” He added, the fear from it causing his son ears to fold down. He gave Vollow a questioning look, and his son continued. “The Flocks as you predicted failed in their Task, the flow of visions from them have stopped, and the rumors of the Flocks all being consumed is spreading at a rapid pace. Most don’t believe the words, marking it as cursed talk only Lowly engage in. But we have your wisdom to guide us, we know better than most.”

Dailin picked up one of the shards, rubbing it against the palm of his hand “People really have a hard time believing that the Flocks could fail?” he asked to no one in general. “If they just looked into a few of the Shards it would become obvious the Soulless had been sent to die, and the Lowly Chanters with them.”

Vollow eyes lowered “Contrary to what you believe Father, those Flocks were meant to force back the Nightmares, they were not an excuse to remove unwanted.” Vollow said, making himself sound as respectable as possible. It was common thing his Advisors did when they countered his thinking.

“Then whoever is in charge of forming these Flocks is a fool, or just as ill-informed as everyone else when it comes to matter outside.” He said, the thought of it making him worried. If those in charge of the defenses didn’t know the strength of the opposition they faced, then only failure would follow.

“Flocks have always been made of Soulless Divine.” His Prime Maiden Zellebeth said “and they have always accomplished their Tasks before. Many had thought Arcs ago that the Anointed had over trained these Flocks that have failed us.”

Dailin hummed, a small wave of warmth ebbing out from him, those of his House always became distraught when talking about things outside, even if it was a passing comment. His warming spell did wonders to alleviate them of their panic that grew as he forced them to talk about ‘cursed’ subjections. Funny how everything cursed always turned out to be anything they didn’t want to think about, or a problem they very much wanted to ignore, and was life threating.

“Would it have killed them to send more Chanters with the Flocks, or Flocks of Chanters in general? They’re the only reason those Hosts lasted as long as they did.” He said off handedly.

“Well, yes” Zellebeth answered, and he turned his gaze back to her. “I can only speak for the Anointed within our own Sanctum. But they could only force the Houses to offer Worthy to a certain point before," she paused "problems would arise.” He motioned for her to continue when she remained silent. “Houses would band together, out of the sake of survival. Normal Houses, Divine one, have to watch how much Worth they lose, those who can breed the quickest, males such as yourself, have to be protected.”

Dailin nodded at her, understanding. Flocks and the like were always made up of males, women were exempt for the most part. As long as they were pregnant, which was almost all the time, women made sure of that. Which left only the males at risk of being forced out Worthy or not. Well to a point, Dailin couldn’t see things going well for the leaders if their tried forcing males out of Towers.

“They could always force those from the lower tiers, the first to be specific, they may be almost Soulless themselves, but together they would be far better than any Guard with a spear,” Dailin added.

“They did,” Vollow said, getting Dailin to look at him. “As many as they could before the first tier was spent, and the Houses there crumbled.”

Zellebeth followed, “Even as Lowly as they are, the Anointed can't risk sending them all out. The first tier would take Cycles to recover from the loss of so many Worthy breeders. Which would force the Anointed to call upon on those in the middle tier, and that is when things would begin to become dangerous.”

Dailin sighed, somewhat frustrated by the way things were, but he understood, no sane person wanted to go out there fighting against abominations. Even with Mana at his command, the sight of those beasts made his skin crawl.

‘But we’ll have to at some point.’ He thought as he turned his attention to the dread pressing on him, it was growing. There hadn’t been another mad gain in weight. But it was always growing now, and with it, his instinct whispers becoming ever clearer.

He turned from it, moving his awareness back to those around the table with him, they had stopped talking when they notice his attention had slipped.

He rubbed the back of his neck a poor way of stalling. He didn’t want to speak the words needed to be said. He knew full well what his thoughts would bring, but being ignorant of the problem they all faced wasn’t doing any of them favors. “The future Flocks, whether it’s a danger to whoever is forced to order their formation, needs to be formed mostly of Worthy.” They gave him troubled looks, “Anything else is a waste of lives and resources, the Soulless no matter how trained and armed with their type of equipment, will never to able to defeat the swarm raging outside.”

There troubled looks turned to fear, Vollow ears fell downwards, pilling themselves against his shoulders. Dailin could hear the unnerved movements behind him as women sitting shuffled closer to together. Dailin hummed a short tune, but one that lasted a minute before he stopped the flow. Long enough that those around him recovered from their growing panic. Something that was becoming a very common occurrence. Dailin at times thought it was them acting so he would smoother them in warmth. But given how bad it got when he didn’t console them, he put that thought to the side.

“All better now?” he asked to those seated with him, even though he could tell given their relaxed forms.

“Yes” his Advisors replied horribly out of sync and not really aware of what they were answering. Then his Prime Maiden her voice slurred. Dailin waited in his silence, rubbing a shard through his fingers as those around him came back to themselves. It wasn’t the best way to have a conversation, when the person you were talking to was half aware, looking as if they were ready to fall over asleep.

Zellebeth breathed in deep, in the fashion a person does when first waking. Her eyes wandered in confusion for a moment, before widening as she recalled what she’d been doing and what occurred. She bowed her head to him “Blessing for your Protection Divine, we would be lost without you.” Many of the women mimicked her thanks.

“Your most welcome Maidens, I know the topics I delve in are things best ignored, but this is trying times and the realm itself is making us.”

“Most wise Divine, but,” Zellebeth said, “I ask if there is any other way to fight the Nightmares you have witnessed, anything to avoid Worthy being forced to lower themselves to such a degree.”

Dailin gave her question some thought, now that he was aware of the fact that making Flocks entirely out of Chanters was consider madness. Even though it sounded like the only sane thing they could do. Sending out ordinary folks out to deal with story high monstrosities and expecting anything but abrupt slaughter was lunacy in Dailin view.

He sighed as he thought of alternatives, none came to mind, except for things he already knew people would refute. Like housing the Soulless in Warded armor he’d seen used when Houses had fought over him. A flock of those would do wonders. But given the cost of one of those being made he knew that idea was a flight of fancy.

Huffing Dailin pulled from his thought and looked at the ring of people staring at him, begging hope in their eyes as they waited for his thoughts. “In fighting the Nightmares back, no.” Their postures sunk at his words. In a vain attempted to lift their spirits he gave another suggestion. “We could hold up in the Sanctums. Only focus on maintaining the Roads that connect them to each other, and abandon any attempts of taking the realms outside back.”

Zellebeth shook her head, eyes downcast. “The Anointed could never afford such a thing to occur, Those Above them must be Offered goods at regular intervals, or Elders will get involved.”

‘Awe yes, the Elders’ that name brought up knowledge in his imaginary library. As the name stated, they were old, blessed by the Giver, and had Mana veins that rivaled even the most Worthy. Plus with how Zellebeth had refuted his pitch, were used to getting their way. Maybe even throw some form of a tantrum if things didn’t go as they wanted.

‘Gods save me from spoiled fools’ he prayed as Zellebeth carried on talking.

“The Mines have to be taken, those High goods are a necessity in keeping those Above appeased. Keep them unwilling to lower themselves to deal with Vail that have failed to accomplish their Tasks.” Zellebeth stated in a factual manner, reminding Dailin how much she enjoyed lecturing.

“Well then,” Dailin said, “Then the only way to fix things is Flocks formed from Worthy, the visions from the Shards show no alternative.” Dailin added as he looked down at the crystal in his hand. “It’s a sad thing to see hundreds trampled to death by an Ancient that has nothing to fear. The Flock unable to even scratch its,” Dailin stopped himself as he was about to say Warded, “Cursed hide” he forced out.

Which was terrible to think about, if they continued to grow at their current pace, he wondered if they would one day be like him. Have the same level of Rune skin, able to brush off the worst the Vail had to offer and merely go about crushing and eating people at a leisure pace. His instinct said yes in a way, as it pressed the feeling of dread and doom upon him. That thought had him looking at his son, “Any progress on finding out what has happened outside to have the Givers blessing so agitated?”

Vollow shook his head as he lowered it. “No fortune yet Father, we will continue, have no Fear, but with the loss of the Flocks we are technically blind to what is happing outside our blessed walls.”

Dailin sighed, disappointed but not surprised. He had them searching for something he hadn’t the slights clue about, only that it had something to do with the realm outside. Which wasn’t helpful given it was an endless maze of tunnels, tunnels the beast’s outside extended every day.

His son words revealed a flaw that had become painfully aware to him. ‘The Vail, don’t really have an idea of what is going on around them.’ Blind was a fitting word, they all sat in these Sanctums safe, but oblivious to anything happening. Which save for the dread crushing him, was one of the things that really got his heart pumping. The unknown, his instinct let him have an idea of how bad things were, to the level of doom. Which Dailin assumed meant there was no hope of him fighting and winning against the horde out there at his current strength. But that wasn’t a picture, it was a feeling that left him wanting more. A desperate want to know what was actually happening, and it was denied him. All because these people avoided anything that made them worry about their future. That maybe they aren’t so safe after all. That the threat outside might not always stay such. That it may one day come crashing through their precious Warded walls.

“We will not let this stop us Father, already we have made contact with other Sanctums higher up.” Vollow said, leaning closing to him. “We’re sure someone will have something, the realm Above is still safe enough to send patrols and Hosts out to survey the situation of the realm around them. If that fails to find the knowledge you seek, we can always form a Host of our own to send out to Soulless tunnels, to see what has occurred Below us.”

That got Dailin brows to rise, he hadn’t considered that he was a powerful House now. A House being flooded with resources faster than he could ever hope to spend. He could afford to send people out, armed enough to hopeful survive the journey and learn something useful for him. “An interesting idea son, and one I’ll allow, and don’t worry about the costs it may occur, I’m fine with it. But" he added to be safe “None of my child are to be part of it, I’ll not have my own put in danger, even in the search for blessed knowledge.” That and he didn’t want his children using the Host to as a way to get rid of rival siblings.

“Never, Father,” Vollow said in a way that to Dailin sounded as if he told his son not to destroy a sacred relic. “Lowly will be used from the first or second tier, brought together by the Offer of goods.”

Dailin smiled and manifested a wave of warmth to show how much he approved and to reinforce he didn’t want his own put in harm’s way. “Good, but if the first Host fails, I’ll expect a second to be formed, maybe from those in our tier if you could find any willing. This isn’t a matter that can be left ignored. Every Rotation the Givers blessing weighs heavier on me, remind me, us that something has changed and we must act on it.”

Nervousness and fear spread around him, but not to a dangerous degree, they were still under the effects of his last large bathing of warmth. “Is this a threat to you Divine, is the weight of your blessing reaching a point of ill effects?” Zellebeth asked concern ringing in her words.

He waved her worries away “No Maiden, I’m prepared for it now, I’ve become accustomed to this new burden, all is well.” Only because if it ever did get to such a point that he couldn’t tolerate it, then he would use the Mana within him to push the feeling back enough it would become bearable. Something that may become commonplace now, with its continual growth in weight.

Dailin looked down at the shards ready to look within to gain any new insights into the threat outside. But first “Is there anything else that needs my attention?” Dailin asked those gathered around him. Vollow looked at his sisters, who shook their heads. Zellebeth, on the other hand, began to speak. “I was wondering about he the number of Maidens we are allowed to bring in. Many, as you have notice Divine have rushed to join with you, but there are still many more Offering themselves and goods for the chance to be amongst the Givers truly Chosen.”

Though Dailin didn’t want more, he did need as many as he could get his hands on. His children, though he would make sure they were safe as long as possible. May one day be forced to fight the beasts outside. When that day arrived he wanted them to have an army of brother and sisters at their back. An army of invulnerable individuals that the Ancient couldn’t smash into a paste by stepping on them.

“As many as there are willing” he said, forcing a small smile on his lips. “Though they are to know my rule. Know regardless of Worth if they go against it they’ll find themselves removed from my House.” Zellebeth nodded her head, giving a genuine smile.

Dailin wasn’t blind to see that his rule was a benefit to those that had arrived at his House first. The new upstarts and possible rivals could do nothing to remove the older, since such things normal required killing the person. With that barred from them, Zellebeth his Advisors and the many women around him, were safe from any coup. They were likely savoring it, the first time in their lives not required to constantly watch their backs.

“Though” Dailin added, “Make sure my Estate remains large enough to hold them all, I rather not have people sleeping in hallways again.”

Zellebeth gave an odd look, before pushing it behind a reassuring smile. “We would never allow such a thing, Divine, as I speak more Chambers as being claimed, and made ready for the Maidens already accepted into your House.”

Dailin nodded approvingly “I noticed on my walk here, most of those in my House seemed rushed to accomplish their assigned Tasks.”

“There is much to be done Divine, your House is Above all in our Sanctum.” Zellebeth said with a touch of pride “As such there are Hosts outside our doors, begging to join, and your many Servants are racing to keep up with the demand. An Endless Task now, given your approval to allow as many Worthy as needed.” She wiggled a hand at one of the women behind him, sitting on the floor. People rose, the sound having him look in their direction, allowing him to see their bows before they departed. He returned his attention back to the Prime Maiden, a look of question sent her way.

“They’re going to begin the process of claiming more Chambers for us. Once word spreads that you’re going to take all Offered from our allies, there will be a swift flood of people sending to us.” Zellebeth said.

‘For how long?’ Dailin wondered as he leaned into his chair, Shards floating into his lap. With the pace people were rushing to join his family, the flow would have to stop eventually, or the Houses he was allied with would crumble from a lack of members. Lack of the ability to maintain enough Worth to stay within the bounds of a Tower.

‘No matter,’ he thought ‘There will always be other Houses to ally with.” Putting the thought aside, for now, he focused on the Shards he held in his palm and closed his eyes. As before he was surrounded by a sea of fearful people, cramped together as they marched as one towards their certain doom. Dailin wasn’t sure if they knew that, Flocks sent Shards back towards the Sanctums, but he didn’t think they sent them to one another. The remaining Flocks may have never even known they were the last to fail, the remnants of a battle plan that was doomed from the start. Even now Dailin could see it, Giftless as far as the vision allowed him to see, plated and armed with tools that wouldn’t help them any more than if they were fighting the beasts with their bare hands.

What Chanters he saw, were a sad lot to look at, he couldn’t see any Mana veins on them, so they were at his state when he was forced grown. They maybe had a single lightning spell in them before they fell to the floor from exhaustion.

‘To think, this kind of group is the norm, what used to be able to push the Nightmares back enough the Vail could ignore them had hold themselves up within their gilded cages.’ Not now, maybe never again, and Dailin didn’t know why, and the thought of it was starting to drive him mad. The answer could be right in front of them, a stone throw away, but since they didn’t have eyes to see, they remained blind to the source of this change. To why Nightmares were growing in such size, so quickly. True they had likely gorged themselves on Vail to a large degree. At this point smashing their way through and devouring many Settlements. But Dailin had a hard time believing that was the sole reason for the beast’s rapid growth. If it was, then those in charge should have been wary of it. Should have seen something like this happen before, been prepared to deal with it.

Instead, those making the decision for war were acting just as blind and uninformed as many of his House. All because they refused to witness the things that were happening under their feet, refused to look at the reality of the situation they were in. Dailin blamed the Wards for this, the damnable song that the walls also sang, claiming everything was fine and to ignore the evidence around them.

‘How long will it last?” he questioned as he watched the Flock match forward. ‘Eventually, enough information and evidence that things were ill, would get out, force people to listen. No matter how badly they wanted to ignore it.’ Dailin could picture it, once the walls of Sanctum began to glow red, pandemonium would spread quick, the Wards themselves forced to spread the truth instead of calming lies.

Which was odd that hadn’t happened yet, the Shards showed clearly that the swarm was of sufficient size to start assaulting Sanctums. Not that the beast would break through anytime soon, but the beast, at least the smaller ones had never been ones to let logic dictate them. Yet the Sanctums remained untouched, the Wards glowing a charming white, the only places under assault were the Roads connecting the Sanctums together. But that knowledge was month’s old, back when he still had to go on Patrols. Perhaps now, just like the Sanctums, they were being left alone. Normally the thought of his home not assaulted would bring him calm, but not today. Not when it should be the case, when his home should be getting hammered against, and yet all was calm. The Nightmares elsewhere, focusing on something else that the beasts deemed more alluring than a city full of appetizing animals to eat. That thought had him worried, it had his instinct screaming ‘Doom’ and he had to find out why.

He hoped the Shards would shed some light on the change, on what was happening. But Dailin wasn’t putting much faith in it. They were the newest of the old, much of what he could be seeing occurring before instinct had a metal down and slammed his head into a table. Still, at the very least he would see how things were progressing.

Dailin heard the Nightmares by the rumbling of stone and the way the rock under his feet shook. Everyone took notice, their ears flinching to alert as they stood razor straight. Chanters encased themselves in Barriers, not bothering to offer any protection to the sea of Guards forming into tight ranks. With the number disparity, even if the Chanters were inclined to render aid, they wouldn’t have been able to. There was just too much area to cover, and far too few of them.

Dailin saw they act of protection a waste. They should be preserving their strength, he knew from experience how little stores of Mana they held within themselves. It was not an amount one in their right mind would be wasting on defense.

Nightmares come rushing down the path ahead of them, the sight giving Dailin heart of jolt of panic. They were so large, even the Maggots now had a greater height than any Vail. The Stingers stood tall over them, their many long claws legs keeping them afloat. The Behemoths, they looked like small Ancients now, a standing statue of rippling muscles and thick shelling. All of this came charging forward, heading towards the line of fragile looking individuals. Wearing flimsy armor, with spears, that was now too short to keep the newly enlarged beasts back far enough they couldn’t reach forward and grab people.

‘And people are surprised the Flocks have failed, it’s a wonder they lasted as long as they did.’ He grumbled as he watched breaches be formed around them. Chunks of rock were sent flying everywhere as the beasts hammered through, never stopping their strides as they with the front wall of Nightmares collided with the Vail.

It was a panic-inducing sight to behold. The Spears were activated, the air rippling with promise destruction. Just not enough, the Horde with bulk alone stomped through the Front and continued stampeding their way through the Vail lines, hardly slowing. The maker of the vision backpedaled, rushing in the opposite direction, pushing people out of the way. The Maker only turned when the rustling sounds of a torrent of wind was cast towards the rushing tide of beasts. That slowly them, the winds cutting them to ribbons even with their increased bulk. But it wasn’t as quick about it though, and the Nightmares used their dead as shields. Letting the corpses taken the brunt of the assault as they kept moving forward.

The beasts pace was of a walk now, rather than the running stride before, allowing the Guards time to actually fight back. Still, it was a losing battle, and soon the spell of wind cut out and the Horde pushed forward hard, smashing the Guards underfoot as the swarm built back up to a charging pace. Lightning came striking forward, as the Chanters panicked and sent everything they had towards the closing threat.

The wall of Nightmares busted, the dead doing nothing to stop the arcs of power coursing across everything in its path. The Wall of fangs stopped and crumbled panting the walls in thick layers of gore as the Chant continued further down the Nightmares line. By the time the spell was done most of the beasts ahead of them were dead, the consuming wall a smoking ruin. The Chanters collapsed, the fools spending themselves, but then again what option did they have. The Guards could do nothing to stop the beasts before them.

Dailin knew that couldn’t be all the Chanters in the group, there should be others further down the line, which was a problem. The path ahead, which was made clear a moment ago, filled to the brim again as Nightmares poured out of breaches and come rushing towards the disorderly lines of frightened men. The Maker of the scene turned away and ran as fast as he could the vision ending shortly after. He huffed and floated the viewed Shard to the lay on the table as he grabbed another in hand.

He was in tunnels again, though this time orderly in make, he saw digging equipment, letting him know that this Flock had actually made it to a mine. A feat, considering most of the Flocks he’d seen had been consumed long before such a thing occurred.

The mine looked half eaten, ruining the scene of orderly straight lines that branched off into an endless maze of tunnels. These Nightmare tunnels were circular in shape, with rough edges where one could see the chisel marks were maggots and formed the passages. They had been busy, worming their way around digging out tunnels. He didn’t get to study it much as the Flocks presence became known, or the Nightmares finally decided to amass and attack. When they did it was blindingly quick, one-moment empty holes, and the next a horde of beasts was crashing into them from every angle. The Guards as before put up little to no resistance as the beast trampled them. Spells flared, pushing back the mad rush of Nightmares that were rippled Vail apart.

That is when he noticed why this Flock had survived long enough to make it to a mine. Unlike the others It was well stocked with Chanters, some with actual Mana veins, which was a nice change. Howling winds went streaming down tunnels as more Chanters added themselves to spells already formed, driving the horde of Nightmares back to the depth they had come. The Chant petered out when there wasn’t any Nightmares left in sight. Guards reformed themselves Spears at the ready, the Flock slowly advanced forward. There was a minute of peace before another wave came, just as quick and hard-hitting as the first. Ripping the front lines into pieces, forcing the Chanters to do all the work and push the horde back.

Peace lasted longer the second time, allowing the Flock to make some headway deeper into the eaten ruin that was the mine around them. Then the realm began to quake, and Dailin had seen enough to know what was about to happen.

An Ancient attacked, but not in the fashion he expected. Rather than a large mass coming to smash everything in sight. It was instead a morphed Chant that hit them head-on. It was one of sound, similar in how the Spear Hearts operated. it dissolved everything in its path into a paste. Guards and Chanters were caught in its spell, as a good portion of the Flock was unmade. The Maker of the Shard had nearly been among those to die by the surprise attack. When the spell ended Dailin followed the line of destruction that led straight towards a large gaping mouth that was aimed at them. Said mouth closed, and rose out of the way as the bundle of flesh moved about, the creature leveled its head to look down the path it had made, its eyes giving off a glint as if admiring its handy work.

Dailin couldn’t help but notice the well-defined Runes upon its flesh and armor, glowing bright and teeming with Mana. Chanter’s, those not caught in the blast, gather and formed a Chorus, their Mana weaving together as they fired off a spell of lightning at the beast that stared at them menacingly. The thing shriek when it was struck. It seemed more out of surprise of the flash of light rather than any harm being done to it. For the Runes upon its flesh glowed brighter as that arcs of lightning bounced about its form failing to inflict a wound. Dailin watch in interest as he witnessed a battle of who had the greater Mana reserves. Dailin placed his bet on the mound of flesh. Not that the creature was in the mood to find out. It hurled itself out of the direction of the spell, hiding behind layers of rock that separated them. The Chanters Chant stopped afterward, the people smart enough not to waste themselves trying to hit the unseen beast.

Dailin gasped as the lightning dissipated, no longer blurring the sight of the revealed Chamber. He paused time and stared at the scene. The Ancient attack had reveal a chasm covered in glowing rock, of crystals gleaming with Mana, held within them. It revealed a hive of activity as he could see Nightmares were mining the crystals in a mad rush, were. He started time, had it move at a crawls pace to make sure he was seeing things properly.

‘Gods no.’ he thought horror-stricken. The beasts weren't mining them, they were eating the crystals, the sight of it had a chill running down his spine. It wasn’t just Nightmares, he could see smaller Ancients as well, biting into the layers of crystals and leaving behind thick gorges in the stone as they pulled away and swallowed the contents.

Dailin sped up time a little more, focused on the smaller Nightmares, watched as they ate, and to his disbelief watched them grow. He stopped time as his attention began to drift, as his breathing quickening, his heart hammered hard, and the word instinct rumbled was all the more clear ‘Doom.’

‘Oh gods’ he mumbled in his mind as he pulled himself from the shard, began to hum and push the panic that was beginning to accumulate. He could hear those around him call his name, but it stopped shortly after as those encircling him were encased in the spell he was using to fortify himself. Mana, following his desire, made him feel a calming warmth, one that made his troubles feel distant, and not all that important. He hummed maybe an hour before he forced himself to return to the situation at hand.

He opened his eyes, saw everyone around him was curled together or lazing about in an utter daze. His Advisors and Zellebeth upper bodies were lying flat on the table, a carefree smile on their lips. They stirred some as his spell came to an end, but it would be a minutes before they came to themselves, and while that happened Dailin returned himself to the Shard he’d been viewing. Restarting the scene and watched as the Flock slowly moved forward towards the opening the Ancient had made.

Dailin now saw the only reason this Flock had made it as far as it did. Saw that the Nightmares were lost in the act of consuming crystals as fast as possible. But the Flock must have passed some form of threshold as in a one-movement the whole swarm turned to look at the intruders. The Vision didn’t last long after that as the Maker of the vision turned and ran for his life, not waiting to see what was about to happen.

Dailin kept his eyes closed as he grabbed another Shard and sped up time, racing through it searching for a similar scene. He ignored the shards that held Flocks in normal tunnels. No, he only focused on the ones that showed Flocks within the depths of mines. Like before the areas looked half eaten, and likely were, the Nightmares could be consuming any rock that held a speck of Mana in it. That could be why the outside was a maze of tangling tunnels. Nightmares hungrily searching the surroundings for more Mana to consume. Using the Mana to grow in size, strength, and to cast spells.

Dailin had to sing to himself again by the time he was done viewing the Shards, his mind in turmoil at the revelation he had stumbled upon.

Upon Doom. The Vail were doomed, the Horde would fatten itself on the crystals, on the mines, then turn elsewhere, turn towards the Sanctum’s, and given how much they had grown already. Dailin feared they would have the strength now to smash their way through the Wards and rampage the city within. Where the beast would rush to get their claws on the Vaults of Hearts.

Dailin sunk into his chair, His singing echoing loudly in the chamber as he covered himself in soothing thoughts and emotions, gave his mind and body time to recover from the shock. His Chamber was full of the sounds of snoring by the time he stopped the flow of Mana. His Maidens forced into a deep sleep by the amount of care they had been encased in. It was for the best as he wasn’t in the mood to discuss what he had learned, part of him very deeply wanted to forget. To unlearn the truth of just how much danger they all were in. ‘Doom’ continued the chant of his instinct, only now did he understand how fitting a word it was.

Dailin stayed unmoving in his chair lulling himself into a trance as he breathed in Mana and weaved it into his body. The act lessoned the weight pressing on him. He stopped when he heard the door to his Chamber open in a rushed manner, pairs of feet hurrying inside only to instantly stop. Dailin turned to the source of the intrusion, saw it be the Maidens Zellebeth had sent away. Those Maidens had stopped in their tracks when they caught the view of their fellows sleeping loudly. They gave looks of envy, and anger before being smoothed away as they turned towards him. He waved them over, not bothering to speak, and they followed his gesture. Hurrying to his side, worry worming its way to the surface.

“Is something the matter?” he asked as he rubbed his temples. The Maidens didn’t answer at first instead looked in Zellebeth direction who was fast asleep and drooling on the table snoring softly. “Tell me,” Dailin said pulling their attention back to him.

They looked at one another before the woman closet to him turned and spoke, “The Elders have sent demands.” The way she said it, meant only trouble and Dailin sighed, realizing it was going to be a long day.