The hive was stumped and it was an uncomfortable feeling. In their short life thus far, 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 then followed their instincts. Basically, they would do whatever felt 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.”

*…expect 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 so the Speaker believed there should be more of the creatures as they go further in.”

*…The Scorched Fields…*

“That is what the Speaker is calling it before she left with the group.”

*…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, and the bonfires. The creature, Apep, went with the group. 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 group deeper into the mess the Fire Hive created than return to them. However the harpy was the flyer of the group and she was sent back to report to the hive on what the group had found. The Speaker was conscientious that way which was why the hive decided to send her to check on what the Fire Hive did in the first place. However the hive didn’t think she would go all the way to Mount Morningstar. Maybe, not telling her anything about their suspicions was a bad idea…

The return of the harpy was known to the Kin and as evidenced by the big crowd surrounding the hive, the harpy’s report was something a large number of the Kin were interested in. As interesting as the report was however, the hive and the harpy were not alone in their unhappiness.

“Look forward to the journey?” The Alpha growled angrily. “You were supposed to just scout the area! What are 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 seem to be expecting it. “Oh yes, the Speaker also had a message for the Alpha.”

“Oh really? What does she has 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 directing from her mouth.”

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

“Dear Treznor, as Momo had 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 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 Alpha of the Kin and your main job is to protect the Creator so stay there and do your job. If I catch you or anyone you send 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 gave an embarrass cough before continuing. “…find ‘many ways’ to repay you when I get home.”

A silence fell on the underground as the Kin digest 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 Ratling, even gave the Alpha a hard slap on the back while the Alpha was murmuring about ‘crazy reckless women’. All these were interesting but for the spirits within the hive, they had a more pressing issue to settle.

“Okay, so everyone heard that?”

“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, now what are we going to do about it?”

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

“For all we know, it could be an accident.”

“Knowing those morons, that’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 did you mean we can’t do it? We can! We’re just too smart to ever try something like this before!”

“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 further 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. It would be interesting to see what those fools had created!”

“Why should we wait? The way they waste energy, that creature the Speaker met could be just one of many the Fire spirits created. Let’s get the Kin to go out there and kill some of those creatures!”

“What? Why?”

“Kill them and bring the bodies back so that we could absorb them of course!”

“That’s a great idea! We can see what the Fire Hive did, and maybe even improve on their creations!”

“What! NO!”

“That’s right! NO! We are 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 don’t mean we are killing their creatures! We are NOT going to kill their creatures!”

“We are so going to kill their creatures!”

“We are not going to kill their creatures!”

“We should go 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 NO has 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!”

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

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

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

“Well…maybe that’s true but that don’t mean they got more creatures than us...”

“Oh please! Who are we talking about here? Knowing those fools, they’ll create things even if they have no need of them. Just listen to that harpy who 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 was with the Speaker’s group. As the duo spoke, the spirits of the hive listened in.

“…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! We’re both still children.”

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

“You’ve been flying too much! The high air is affecting your head if you think 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 red body; two horns; he could shoot fire from his hands; and he said he was a mage before the change so he knows some magic...”

“You said he was a snake!”

“Oh that! I said he don’t have legs but 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 know, you don’t sound happy. You really want to go with them don’t you?”

“Of course I do! Can you even start to imagine the things they are going to see over there? Who knows what amazing creatures the Red Creator had created! We never have such things here! And I got sent back instead!”

The harpy flapped her wings in frustration as she spoke and the other harpy looked on in pity at her older sibling. “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 will make 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 there not to like?”

The spirits within the hive were furious! The harpy was actually looking forward to visit the Fire Hive. Not only that, she thought the Fire Hive would be doing amazing things the hive was not doing. And the other harpy agreed with her! 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 to be 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 it dropped the animal with a screech. The sound got the attention of everyone. The Kin watch as a long spiral horn grew out of the foreheads of the glowing rabbit. Then the glow slowly faded and the spirits within the hive that made up the Naming Committee spoke up.

*…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 spirit commented that such a small creature was a poor comparison against 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 their power and capabilities. The hive gathered their power and spoke once more, this time to the Alpha.

*…Alpha*

“Yes Creator?”

*…go out there, grab every living animal you can, and bring them back here!*

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