Tiny Dungeon

POV The Wolf Spider

The Wolf Spider hid, watching his prey move closer. He was in the territory outside the third floor along with an unforeseen ally. A mouse, a creation of The Great Web-Spinner, had seemingly taken a liking to him. She wasn’t big but was still larger than he was and he found her company to be helpful when capturing prey. He had had very little success in that department before she showed up.

When he had first been sent out to hunt by the Master he had quickly found himself to be low on the predator list. He had been wounded multiple times in the process of trying to hunt and had fled to hide and heal. Now though, he had an ally and he hoped it was a sign that things were looking up.

Leaping out of cover he charged, waving his mandibles menacingly. The prey, a beetle, turned and ran, unfolding gossamer wings to carry it away to safety. It would have escaped too like all the other beetles The Wolf Spider had tried to hunt. This time though he had an ally. With a squeak, the mouse leaped out from her hiding place and crashed into the beetle.

Using her paws she grasped the beetle’s wings and tore at them. Deprived of its ability to fly the beetle tried to fight back with its small mandibles but it failed to do much before the spider entered the battle. With his own far more fearsome mandibles the spider bit the beetle repeatedly while the mouse held it and contributed with her bites. It didn’t take long for their combined might to bring the insect down.

Triumphant, the spider hopped up and down before freezing as the post-battle Aether flooded into him. Turning he saw the mouse also pause before turning to the beetle. This was the second one they had managed to kill together and last time he had eaten the whole thing before realizing he was supposed to let The Great Web-Spinner know he had killed something.

This time he wouldn’t forget. Focusing on the thread that bound him, he sent news of his success and felt the thread reverberate in response. He watched as the beetle dissolved and he felt satisfaction resonate down the thread. The mouse turned to him and he found the same fire burning in her eyes. They turned and moved away to begin hunting once more.

POV He-Who-Chitters-In-The-Dark

It had been some time since the tall one had last come to administer his magic. In that time their home had been flooded by the dark waters and even now those waters gave the other rats pause. Not He-Who-Chitters-In-The-Dark. He had been one of the first to notice when The-One-Who-Was-Not-There had taken over the stone room and even now his presence could be felt in the walls and water.

He-Who-Chitters-In-The-Dark had been the first to take advantage of the distraction caused by the flooding of the room to shove Broken-Fang through the bars of their shared cage to plummet into the water. He-Who-Chitters finally had the whole cage to himself. Broken-Fang wouldn’t have lasted long in the next series of challenges anyway. Too thin on account of He-Who-Chitters having muscled him out of eating what food they were given.

Broken-Fang had swam around for hours trying to climb the wet walls. Then that creature had come up from the depths. The other rats had squeaked in terror and tried escaping their cages. Not He-Who-Chitters-In-The-Dark. He had watched in fascination as the creature had swallowed Broken-Fang whole before disappearing into the murky water.

And then the ledges appeared and everything changed. The light had changed everything. It must have been formed by The-One-Who-Was-Not-There because it reeked of Aether and power. It had exploded and He-Who-Chitters-In-The-Dark had been struck by one of the crystals. A large chuck had sliced deep into his hide and burned him where he could not reach.

The pain had been agonizing and he had fled to the lower ledges knowing his kin would sense weakness. He had barely made it and slipped into the murky water to ease his burning side. It had helped some but as he pulled himself out and huddled near the edge of the half-moon ledge he shuddered as more pain wracked his body.

Unbeknownst to He-Who-Chitters-In-The-Dark, the rat was undergoing a metamorphosis. As his body shuddered, eerie green-blue light began to inch its way across his veins. Beginning at his wound and pulsing through his body it gradually made it to his left eye where it sparked, sizzling the flesh away. Squeaking in pain the rat clutched at his head as pain flooded his genetically enhanced brain. The eye popped and sizzled with power as He-Who-Chitters-In-The-Dark suffered with muffled squeaks.

Shuffling nearby awakened the rat to danger and he staggered sideways even as another rat attempted to bite him, thinking him weak. Not He-Who-Chitters-In-The-Dark. Even as the hostile rat lunged towards him He-Who-Chitters let go of his head and swiped with his paw trying to funnel the pain away from himself. Like a wave, green-blue fire exploded from his paw and slammed into the hostile rat, who was flung away with a sizzle and a pained squeak.

Immediately the pain in his head relaxed and He-Who-Chitters looked up to find his opponent slumped to the ground, steam rising from the corpse. Staggering over to it, he looked around finding other rats that had crawled down to the last ledge. He bared his teeth, his new eye flaring, and they backed away. He had eaten well that day and every day since as he clawed his way to the top ledges. He had gathered the others, the ones like him. The-Mad-Touched-Ones the other rats called them. He-Who-Chitters-In-The-Dark cared little. His little brain was already flooded with ideas to get more of the crystal stuff. If a little piece had given him such power what could he do with more?

That was the basis behind his current plan. He had rallied the other Mad-Touched to join him in bullying the other rats. It had worked too for a little while. They had claimed the top ledges and had sniffed out deposits of the Spark-rock before getting their kin to begin digging it out. He-Who-Chitters stood overlooking the new mine, his veins crackling with power as he watched his fellow rats working. The current issue was with Bone-Crusher. She was a giant rat that the tall one had favored. She was smart, large, and did not like the new regime on the ledges. She was also vocal about it. If that was everything then He-Who-Chitters wouldn’t have cared.

No, what he cared about was the way she was vocal. She was quiet about her displeasure and moved about claiming allegiances in the dark. He could respect that to a certain extent but he would let nothing stand in the way of obtaining more Spark-rock. For now, everything was fine, the work continued, and he could focus on the little pieces of Spark-rock that had been removed. Soon he would have the power he sought. He watched as Bone-Crusher move around, her fur gleaming in the light of the Spark-rock and he narrowed his beady eyes as his brain began to contemplate a new idea. Perhaps Bone-Crusher could be brought into an alliance of sorts.

End of Chapter Notifications:

New Schema Acquired!

Iridescent Ground Beetle (No Rarity)

Content to live their life on the ground these beetles also have beautiful gossamer wings that they use to escape from danger. For danger it cannot escape from it relies on its shiny carapace to protect it. This insect is dangerous to very little but is a voracious consumer of plant life, fungi, and any insect or arachnid smaller than it is.

As the first Dungeon to use such a creature as a Dungeon Monster, you will be able to freely create and modify its Evolutionary Paths.

Warning! May have unforeseen consequences.