The Daily Times

The Kobold was confused, which was actually quite understandable. He’d been created, instructed to leave the room where it had happened, and then had been left in the dark and hazy rock tunnel. He looked about at the sudden stop, his sight slightly obscured by the shifting mists of darkness that seemed to permeate the tunnel he found himself in.

After a minute spent waiting, to see if his creator would return, he turned to look down the dark corridor. Despite his creator having seemed to vanish, he could still feel it. A slight connection, linked through and into his mind. It hovered just on the outside of his attention, a light but ever present touch. It was a reassuring presence in many ways, something that had always been there his entire life.

Slowly, being careful as he picked his way down the hazy passage, the Kobold began making his way in the only direction he had available. Before long, the tunnel began expanding into a much larger chamber. The constant, choking and blinding haze was even thicker here, making it impossible for him to see more than a meter in front of him.

He began moving even slower, his taloned feet making ever so slight clicking sounds against the stone floor. Before he could react, a heavy pincer slammed shut in the space directly in front of his face.

He recoiled back, slashing his claws forward, their sharp points merely skidding across the heavy plating that covered the pincer. The Kobold’s head swiveled to see where the strike had come from. His heart began slamming against his ribcage as he saw the creature looming out of the mists. While it’s main body was slightly shorter than he was, the vicious mandibles and heavy pincers were almost on the same level as his head. All the while, he could just barely make out the shape of a tail of some kind in the haze, hanging above them both, but coiled as through to strike as well.

Acting on pure instinct, the Kobold slashed forward with his claws while moving back. The creature simply scuttled back and disappeared into the haze. The Kobold’s instincts were saying run, and so he ran. He thought he still knew which direction he’d been going in when he entered this room, and so he ran that way. A few seconds of sprinting later, and he drew up short, a wall entering his vision.

At the last second, he heard the sound of something hitting stone behind him. The Kobold threw himself to the side with all the strength in his legs. Less than a second later, a horribly wicked-looking stinger slammed through the space he’d just been occupying. He scrambled back onto his feet, dodging another pincer attack by the barest margin, able to feel the movement of it pass him by.

The other pincer came streaking towards him as he regained his feet. Unable to dodge again, he tried to lessen the impact as much as he could. The pincer missed being able to catch him, but still slammed against his body like a hammer. Again, the Kobold was sent sprawling, this time not on purpose. Using the distance the blow had created, he managed to get back on his feet by the time the creature caught up with him.

Acting purely on instinct, he ducked low. Even doing so, one of the barbs on the stinger that had just shot through where his torso had been still slashed through his shoulder. As the stinger was being pulled back, the Kobold had already turned and begun running away. This time at a slight angle, so that if he came to a wall he could keep running along it instead of stopping and being an easy target.

The creature faded back into the dark haze as he sprinted through the chamber, running as fast as he could. Within moments another wall had appeared out of the mists. Reacting quickly, he adjusted course to run alongside the wall, keeping it in the corner of his eye while watching his surroundings as best he could.

A few tense seconds passed before his heart leapt from his chest again. On the very edge of his vision he could see an exit, a large tunnel leading from this room and out. But in front of that tunnel was the creature, it’s pincers spread wide to attack in an arc and it’s tail held ready.

Fear and panic began to pound through his veins, but he kept running. There was a small chance he could manage to get past, and he was going to try. But before he reached the creature, it pulled its pincer back to itself, and scuttled slightly to the side, letting him pass by. Even though he was confused by suddenly being allowed to escape, he didn’t waste it. Somehow he pressed himself even faster, sure that it was a trap.

When he passed by the creature and broke out into the tunnel, he heard a blood-curdling and grinding screech of victory come from the creature. It took a moment for the Kobold to realize that the creature had never been truly trying to kill him, but merely to show its dominance.

His heart still beat fast and hard, His legs carrying him out of the heavy, obscuring haze and farther down the tunnel. As he ran and slowly calmed down, he realized that the ever present darkness hanging in the air was much lighter than within that chamber. Instead of seeing only a meter around him, it was almost two and a half meters now.

Eventually, the Kobold slowed from a run to a walk, looking around at this new place he found himself. Or perhaps not so new, as the rock and haze was so similar to the rest of what he’d known all his existence. He was pulled from his examination by a sharp, piercing sensation on his calf. Looking down, he could see a stinger lodged into his calf. The sharp point managing to break through the scaled skin, even if only barely.

The stinger led back to what looked to be an incredibly small version of the creature he had just fled from. Instantly, he jerked his leg back, the stinger being forced from his flesh. Before it could retract into the rocky chitin that had disguised the creature, his clawed hand shot out and grabbed the stinger. Before it could react, he pulled hard up and to the side, slamming the smaller creature into the wall.

When he saw that the creature was only dazed, he immediately reversed direction. Slamming the creature into the wall and floor, he kept going until he felt the muscles in the stinger go slack. Warily, the Kobold lowered the creature to the ground, taking a moment to ensure that it was truly dead.

With the immediate danger passed, he then took a few minutes to poke around at the being. It was almost entirely covered in the rock-like armor, which was what let it survive his bashing. The stinger seemed to be its main weapon, since the pincer claws on this one were nowhere near as deadly as the ones on the much larger being he’d run from.

Once he was done looking at it, he quickly began using a nearby stone to crack open its chitin, getting at the meat within. With his meal done, and the hunger that had been slowly forming sated, he stood back up and looked around cautiously. Every creature he’d found in these tunnels had either been disguised or in a place that made it hard to see.

The Kobold began looking at his surroundings in a much more suspicious light, looking for any rocks or stones that could be another creature disguised. Slowly picking his way forward again, he passed from one identical tunnel and into another. Slowly exploring the place he’d now found himself.

Huntress was viciously happy. She’d had a challenger, one that had actually had some bite for once. Another of the creatures had yet to make an appearance though, making her disappointed as well. It seemed the Deep One hadn’t seen fit to make them here, where she could have a good hunt.

As disappointing as that was, she accepted it. The Deep One’s will was law, and she would not fight the one that had led her to power. She could still remember it. The tendrils and rows of teeth, the vicious fights she’d had when she was smaller. When she was weaker. But she was weak no more.

She let out the subsonic rumble that terrified those that inhabited her domain, wrapping one of her tentacles around a nearby stone and catapulting herself through the waters. Even as her momentum began to slow, another three tentacles were reaching forward pulling her faster.

She sped through the tunnels, seeking prey that might be a challenge, seeking a fight. She wasn’t hungry, but she had the itch. The incessant need to find something that might give her trouble. Something she could drag into the deep, something she could devour, something she could strike fear into.

She ignored the small white fish, they had long since stopped being interesting. She could remember when the large pods had been scary to her, but now she knew she could hunt them to extinction if she wished.

Huntress whipped around a corner, her tentacles turning her in a hard curve. Deeper in the tunnel, she could feel the shape of a large lamprey, its tendrils long and thick, its body muscled and powerful. The subsonic shriek echoed out, shaking through the waters.

Within moments, she was upon it, tentacles lashing out. Her prey's own tendrils reached out and found purchase on her, but she simply shrugged off the venom they pumped into her. One of her longer tentacles wrapped fully around the prey, her hooked suckers trapping and slicing against it.

When she was finished devouring her newest prey, she began slowly making her way to her nest. The itch was gone, but it wouldn’t be gone for long. But until it was back, she had something to do. When she finally curled around the entrance and into her nest, she quickly made her way over to check on it.

Nestled in a small hole towards the back of her nest, was a small gem. Yellow, and slightly glowing, Huntress didn’t know quite why she cared for it. All she knew was that she would visit a terrible fate upon any who tried to take it from her. Not only did she like it, but the Deep One had also allowed her to keep it.

Almost without thinking, she reached out a smaller tentacle to brush across its surface, the shocking and slight singing feeling familiar. Except…

For the first time, Huntress felt something flowing within her, something resonating within.

Leira was lazing on a large flat stone. The stone was off to the side, but still close to the center of one of the large rooms that had been created on the second floor. One of her ears swiveled as she listened to the distressed chattering coming from above, the strange and large flying creatures looking at her. Ignoring them, she turned back to her meal.

One of their number had tried to drive her off by flying down and trying to sweep its claws across her. In response she’d simply leapt up and cleaved its wing off, sending it tumbling to the floor. Having dragged it back to her stone, she began eating her fill. The creatures were strange, but large enough to provide a good amount of meat.

She spared a thought of slight gratitude towards the Black Stone, for creating these creatures. As they inevitably did, her thoughts drifted from the Black Stone and towards her claws. And more than that, the gem that she’d seen in her forehead when she’d gone to drink water.

Before her change, she’d been able to barely feel the power flowing into her claws. Enough to know it was happening and what it meant, but nothing more. Now, she could feel it as though it were the meat she was eating. It felt like a real thing, a stream like the one above. The short time since her change had seen her claws almost double in strength from what they were before.

As she thought of it, she absentmindedly swiped a claw against the stone beneath her. The rock gave little resistance, parting with ease. The sight of such hard material being sliced through made her mind drift to her sparring partner, the skorpion. It had actually been a challenge for once. Very little in this home of hers was difficult to fight, but it had actively sought her out for their spars.

With the last bits of her meal beings swallowed down, she leveraged herself to her paws. Standing now, she loosed a low growl upwards, enjoying the increase in chatter.

Nonetheless, she began padding down one of the tunnels that led from this room. She’d seen her sparring partner go down, and so she would seek him out. Pausing every now and then to draw in scents, she found the trace remnants of the skorpion’s scent after passing through three other tunnels. Pleased to have found a trail, she began following it, down and deeper.

As she padded through the tunnels, she could smell the smaller, hiding versions of her sparring partner. None of them emerged from their shells, none of them tried to fight her. She was almost disappointed.

After three minutes of padding, her ears perked up as she heard the sound of claws on stone. Leira began bounding through the corridor, relying on the sound to bring her closer. When she turned a second corner, she saw a strange sight.

A scaled being, as tall as her was scrambling back and away from the sphere of darkness that a Stonecloak created. It had a short snout, with sharp teeth. On its hands and feet there were claws, and its entire body was covered in the same small reddish-brown scales. As she watched, it seemed to only barely be avoiding the spikes of the Stonecloak, a number of thin slashes across its body.

Leira dismissed the being. If it was weak enough to be hunted by a Stonecloak, then it was too weak to be worth the hunt. Even if it was interestingly new. Instead, she slunk forward, slow and silently. Leira knew from experience how far the Stonecloak’s eyeless sight could see, and she crept right to the edge of it.

Before it could react, she had bounded forward and into a leap, traveling almost twenty meters in a blink of an eye. As she passed through the sphere of darkness, she relied on her smell and hearing to guide her. With her senses showing her where, one heavy claw came down hard. She heard the shriek at the same time as she felt her claws slam into and through the tough flesh of the Stonecloak.

Leira didn’t give the thing the time to bring its spikes to bear, instead slamming her claws through it again and again. Eventually, it fell silent, and she’d only been slashed twice. Small wounds that she knew would heal fast. The Black Stone’s power helping her wound seal quickly.

As the sphere of darkness slowly faded, she heard claws move away from her, and she looked over. The scaled creature was looking at her, and she could smell the fear. Leira bared her teeth at it, but quickly dismissed it, beginning to pad away again.

She had a sparring partner to find after all.

Kyr slithered through the dark tunnels of the second floor. His scales quietly hissing across the rough ground. His new size deterred any challengers, the mana-generating scales down his back putting off a slight presence that intimidated smaller creatures. He continued winding his way down, having felt a sudden release of mana that he associated with Sybas changing something large.

He was on his way downwards, seeking out this new change to investigate as he slithered through one of the second floor hubs. Hearing the soft sound of air being displaced, he craned his neck to look upwards. His slit pupils focused onto the flying creature, moving from one perch to another.

He was the oldest, and it could be argued that he was among the most powerful of Sybas’ creatures. Leira was able to slash through stone, but his tail blade could do much the same. Huntress could constrict her prey, but so could Kyr. The Skorpion was durable but then again, so was Kyr. And he could match them all when he empowered himself with mana.

And yet, he couldn’t match that. He couldn’t match flight. He couldn’t explore every single little place of his home. He couldn’t reach and get to Sybas no matter where he was. Kyr didn’t know how, but he would gain it. Somehow, some way.

He swore it.