ã€ŠThe Dungeon Hive- Volume 2ã€‹


 Prologue

    In the Amora Region, two natural landmarks dominate the landscape. The first was the Great Kar Forest. Situated in the northern part of the region, the Great Kar was a huge forest that humans needed days to cross. The forest¡¯s western end bordered one of the great lakes of the world, The Windy Depths, and the Keg Mountains bordered it in the north. It was one of the greatest forest in the world of Ioplon.

    However, as great as the Kar was, it was still dwarfed by another regional landmark. Compared to the Great Kar Forest and the Keg Mountain, the Homeless Plains could be said to be boring. A flat, sweeping landmass that did not change much no matter how far into it you go, the Homeless Plains only had one feature that was of note. It was huge.

    Humans first named the plain Homeless because it was believed that if you were got in it, you could travel forever and never reach where you were going. It wasn¡¯t completely wrong. The Homeless Plains stretched from the east end of the Great Kar Forest all the way to the southern part of the Amora Region. A few landmarks dotted the great plain such as the city-state of Yachium and the river known as the Invisible Stream.

    Situated just south of the Great Kar Forest, the Invisible Stream was a good-sized river that cut across the plains but if you asked the humans living in the region at that time, most would not have heard of it. Most knew of a river that was between the Great Kar Forest and the southern reaches of the Homeless Plains, but most would not be able to tell you it¡¯s name. To them, it was just the river between the Great Kar Forest and the Homeless Plains.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    That was just the way Apep Daybluff liked it. Although Apep was a mage of some power, he also considered himself to be a simple man. He hated politics; despised power plays; and disliked humans on principals. To the mage known as Apep Daybluff, as long as he got enough food to eat, water to drink, and his magical research to pass the time, he was happy. In short, he was a disagreeable old man who just wanted to be left alone. He was however just too powerful for that. How could humans not keep track of a mage that could level a town if he so choses to? That would be irresponsible!

    Apep found that his movements were being tracked; his house burgled, and worst; his magical research was being copied! So the day came when he had enough! Apep took everything he could carry and left the city of Yaslay. That came as no surprise to the authorities but they were surprised when they lost track of him. They couldn¡¯t find him and wondered where he went off to.

    Situated north of the Keg Mountains, the city of Yaslay had been in an on-off conflict with the neighboring city of Yachium for years and Apep used the bad relations between the cities to his advantage. Apep figured that even if someone wanted to find him, they would probably never have thought of looking for him in the direction of Yachium.

    So that was the direction he set off on. Apep skirted the Keg Mountains and entered the northern reaches of the Homeless Plains. As a mage from a rival city, he avoided the city of Yachium altogether and travelled southwards between the Kar Forest and Yachium. He crossed the Invisible Stream and planned to keep on going. However, he found a spot he liked in the southern part of the Homeless Plains and decided that he had went far enough. Here he built a house and lived in peace and quiet for many seasons.

    Then one day, fate intervened and it all changed.

 Part 1- The Good Life

    ¡°Life is good.¡±

    The Speaker silently thought as she basked in the early spring sunshine. Winter was just over and the first signs of spring were just making their presence felt. Passed the dreary winter but before the busy spring; this was her favorite part of the year. The Speaker always thought this period of the year as a time of renewal and loved the anticipation of seeing the blooming leaves of the Great Kar.

    Spring was in the air and as the Speaker opened her eyes and looked up at the blue sky, she saw the sunlight shining through the leaves of the oak tree. Her smile got wider and she snuggled up tighter to her mate.

    Winter was only just about done so the ground was still wet but neither the Speaker nor her mate was bothered with that. She and her mate, Treznor, had spent a season confided to the tunnels of the Creator and today they intend to enjoy a lazy afternoon for themselves under the sun. At least that was the plan.

    Treznor caught the scent before she did and growled as he turned towards it. The Speaker sighed and looked in the same direction. Flying through the air towards them was a harpy. With her Enhanced Sight, the Speaker could see that the harpy was carrying something in her claws. Her mate moaned as he saw the harpy changing latitude and looking to land before them. The Speaker gave her mate a playful slap on his chest before getting up.

    Her mate was having none of that. With a firm arm, the Alpha grabbed the Speaker around her waist and pulled her back towards him. The Speaker chuckled but didn¡¯t fight him. Instead she turned around and licked her mate¡¯s neck. The Alpha enjoyed that.

    ¡°Seriously?¡± the harpy screeched as she landed in front of them. ¡°You two saw me coming and couldn¡¯t stop touching each other for a few moments? I¡¯m a child you know! And licking? I know that¡¯s normal when you are all furry but you two are in your human form! NO LICKING WHEN YOU ARE HUMAN!¡±

    The Alpha growled again and this time the Speaker gave him a sharp elbow. Pleased or not, there was no need to scare children. ¡°Good day to you too Moro, what do you have there?¡±

    Unlike her older sister Momo, Moro was slightly more flighty and it took her a moment to understand what the Speaker was talking about. ¡°Oh this,¡± the harpy raised her claws showing her prey to the two Werewolves. ¡°Momo caught a rabbit earlier today and I thought I¡¯ll catch one too and we can show them to the Creator together. See if it wanted to do something new with them?¡±

    Her mate scoffed at the small animal in Moro¡¯s claws but the Speaker smiled in appreciation. ¡°Good thinking Moro, I¡¯m sure the Creator would love them. Maybe the Kin will get new members after all this time.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°Don¡¯t know why you all still bother?¡±

    It was the Alpha who said this and the Speaker natural response was another elbow. This one was hard enough to get a grunt out of him. Though she was nowhere near as strong as the Alpha, the Speaker was also a Werewolf and she was strong enough to get the Alpha¡¯s attention.

    ¡°What? It¡¯s true.¡± The Alpha protested. ¡°It¡¯s been over several winters since the Creator created anything new! All it does now is dig and create new floors!¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean it would never create something new again.¡± As the Speaker of the Creator, the Speaker felt she had a duty to defend the floating crystal. ¡°We just need to keep on trying and one day it may be¡­inspired to create something.¡±

    ¡°It is lazy.¡± The Speaker turned sharply to face her mate. She heard a growl and realized it was coming from her. She didn¡¯t care and the Alpha put up both hands to calm his mate. However he did not back down and instead choose to defend himself. ¡°It¡¯s the truth. The Creator hadn¡¯t created anything new since the big fight against the humans and that¡¯s not likely to change.¡±

    The Speaker turned away from her mate. He was right and she knew it. Only 6 winters ago, she had arrived in the Great Kar as a human slave in the service of her mistress, Kyla Sacredhunt. A High Mage working for the city of Yachium, her former mistress was sent to the Great Kar Forest in search of a dark mage but what they found was something greater than any mage. The humans she was with were all killed but for her¡­somehow the Creator saw something in her that it liked and stopped the Werewolves from killing her. Brought to the Creator, the Speaker found that the Creator was a floating crystal with 5 lights surrounding it. More importantly, the Creator had the power to transmute living creatures into other forms and it chose to change her in more ways than one.

    Before the change, she was just a lowly human slave. After the change, she was the Speaker; a Werewolf of strength, power and some influence. More than that, the Creator had given her something much more important. When it changed her, the Creator gave her a family. The creatures changed by the Creator were called the Kin and they were now her family. In more ways than she could count, the Creator had changed her life and the Speaker couldn¡¯t help but feel she owned it everything.

    She wanted to defend the Creator but that didn¡¯t mean her mate was wrong. 5 winters ago, misinformation, revenge and a thirst for power led the humans of Yachium to launch an attack against the Creator. A powerful Grand Mage led a force of over 300 men against the Creator and after some difficulties, the humans were destroyed. However, the Creator had been different since the fight. It no longer created new creatures but instead focused on creating new floors and levels deep within the mountain that was Big Keg. Occasionally, it would still create a new Werewolf or Ratling when the Kin bought a wolf or rat to it but it no longer created anything new.

    Why that was the case was something the Kin had debated on at length. The Speaker believed she knows the reason. To the Speaker, it was as if after that big fight, the Creator felt that there was nothing the humans could throw at it that could endanger it. If she was correct, the reason why the Creator no longer created anything new was because it no longer felt a need to do so. It felt safe and no longer felt the need to create new defenders. Naturally, the Speaker did not say this to the rest of the Kin.

    The Speaker wasn¡¯t exactly displeased with the contentment of the Creator but like the rest of the Kin, she did feel that life was missing something when no new creatures were made by the Creator. She still remembered the excitement she felt that day when the Creator created the Harpies, the Tengu, the Angels, the Pegasus, and the Porkasus. 5 new creatures all in one day! The Speaker would love to have another day like that but since that big fight, the Creator had not created even one. Still, the Speaker did not think it was their¡­

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    The Speaker looked up at Moro and felt it. The ground was shaking. The trees were moving. The whole forest was shaking.

    ¡°MORO, FLY! IT¡¯S AN EARTHQUAKE!¡±

 Part 2- The Bored Hive

    Overlooking the northern end of the Great Kar Forest was a trio of mountains that first got their names from the lovely drink known as ale. The cities of Yachium and Yaslay were enemies but no animosity could stop the human love of alcohol and the ale from the northern city of Yaslay was widely considered to be the best in the region. As they say ¡®love conquers all¡¯ and the love of ale was no different. A trade route was established between the two cities and as the trade route skirted the trio of mountain, humans lazily began calling the mountains the Keg. Of the 3 mountains that made up the Keg, the middle one was the tallest so humans just called it Big Keg.

    Never let drunks name anything.

    At the foot of Big Keg was a cave first made by 5 Mage apprentices who wanted to make a name for themselves. They failed but they did leave behind a legacy that had changed the world. That legacy was a crystal. Floating on top of a stone slab, the crystal had 4 lights turning clockwise around it and within the crystal you could see thousands of small lights dancing within. The crystal was The Hive and the small lights within were the trapped spirits that made up the Hive. Hundreds, maybe thousands of spirits, were trapped within the crystal and currently, they were a happy lot¡­mostly.

    ¡°Alright! It¡¯s done!¡± The Earth spirit shouted. ¡°The ninth floor of the tunnels is finally finished!¡±

    Cheers rang out within the hive at the announcement. Although no one outside the hive could hear them, most of the spirits within the hive were delighted by the completion of their latest floor and were congratulating each other loudly at the achievement. However as was the usual case for the hive, there¡¯s always some spirits who dislike the current direction of the collective.

    ¡°Yes! Wow! Yeah! So what? So what if another floor was built? It¡¯s not like we intend to leave the fifth floor any time soon?¡±

    The complaint from one of the spirits within the hive rang loud and true. Currently the hive was within the underground forest that was the fifth floor of the tunnels and the spirits of the hive had no intention of going any deeper into Big Keg.

    ¡°Oh cut that out! Creating new floors is fun!¡± One of the Earth spirits of the hive said. The Earth spirits loved to dig and more than any of the other spirits, they enjoy the creation of new floors. Something not missed by the other spirits.

    ¡°Only for you Earth spirits,¡± the discontented spirit answered back. ¡°The rest of us are bored.¡±

    ¡°Very bored¡±

    ¡°Super Bored¡±

    ¡°Incredibly bored¡±

    ¡°Amazingly bored!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do something!¡± the first spirit suggested.

    ¡°YES!¡±

    Several of the spirits within the hive immediately shouted their approval but just as quickly, someone asked, ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    One of the Earth spirits sighed dramatically and replied. ¡°Come on you guys, we¡¯ve been through this already! There¡¯s nothing to do right now except the creation of new floors. No humans had arrived to kill and steal from us for several snowy winters already.¡±

    The other spirits heard this and understood how right the Earth spirit was. 5 winters ago, over 300 humans attacked the tunnels and their deaths gave the hive a feast of energy. However since that battle, no humans had arrived. The hive had waited patiently but for some reason, the humans had decided not to visit the tunnels anymore. Even when the hive ordered the Kin to attack the humans again in the hope of drawing another response from them, no humans came. Instead the Speaker informed the hive that the humans had withdrawn from the Kar Forest and there were now no human settlements within a day¡¯s ride of the great forest.

    Honestly, the spirits within the hive didn¡¯t understand everything the Speaker had said. They had no idea of what ¡°a day¡¯s ride¡± was and little idea of what ¡°withdraw¡± meant. However they did understood the essence of what the Speaker was saying; no human was coming.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Thus the seasons passed, and the hive was now more bored than ever. The hive took some satisfaction in the creation of new floors so any time a new floor was completed, it was an accomplishment but the only reason they were doing this was because¡­well, there¡¯s just nothing else to do! The Earth spirit was right. The spirits of the hive weren¡¯t creating floors because they wanted to; they just got nothing better to do! Even the creation of new creatures had long lost its luster. What¡¯s the use of creating new creatures that weren¡¯t even needed? Of course that was not something the spirits wanted to tell the Kin; like the one currently standing in front of it.

    Several winters ago when humans were still visiting, the hive created the fifth floor as a huge dome with an underground forest for the various flying creatures it had. Now one of those flying creatures was standing in front of it. The creature had a human face but instead of arms, it had wings and the creature¡¯s legs were bony and bird-like. So bird-like that the creature had talons instead of human feet and trapped in one of the talons was an animal called a rabbit. The spirits within the hive immediately knew what the harpy wanted and not for the first, they got into an argument over the matter.

    ¡°See!¡± a spirit shouted. ¡°Here they come again. Let¡¯s just create a new creature for the Kin so that they would stop doing this?¡±

    ¡°Oh please!¡± A spirit argued. ¡°The Kin are not going to stop and you know it. They want new creatures and the moment we create a new creature for them, they would KEEP ON COMING!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right and what¡¯s wrong with that?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong is that we don¡¯t need any more new creatures! If we create a new creature for them, they will just come back some time later with new animals, hoping that we would change those animals too! Let¡¯s not encourage them.¡±

    ¡°Who said they need encouragement?¡± another spirit argued. ¡°How long has it been since we created something new? That hadn¡¯t stopped the Kin from coming to us in the hope of us creating something new. We should reward them for their efforts if nothing else.¡±

    ¡°No we should not!¡± a different spirit argued. ¡°We should not encourage them at all and more to the point, we should not waste energy creating new creatures when no humans are coming for us!¡±

    That was the crux of the matter. Most of the hive actually enjoyed the process of creating new creatures but it took a lot of energy for the hive to create a new creature, and the hive could only replenish energy in one of two ways. It could absorb the spirits in the environment and convert them into energy, or it could absorb the energy that was released when a creature was killed within the tunnels. The latter method was faster and far more effective but the hive could no longer used it because there were no more visiting humans! In desperation, the hive in the past had even told the Kin to bring back some creatures to the tunnels before killing them. The Kin did as ordered but the energy that was released just wasn¡¯t the same. Several of the spirits within the hive believed that this was due to the fact that when the Kin captured the animals, the animals knew they were going to die so by the time they reached the tunnels, the fight had already went out of them. As such, the animals released less energy when killed. The hive didn¡¯t know whether this theory was correct but it sounded ¡°right¡± and the hive always followed its instinct.

    More important than the loss of energy however was the simple fact that the hive did not need more variety of creatures. When the humans attack the tunnels, the Kin helped the hive to kill the humans and that proved to the hive that the amount of creatures it currently had was enough. In fact, some of the Ratlings and a pair of the Werewolves were even having children! Having more variety of the Kin wouldn¡¯t hurt but the hive didn¡¯t need them so most of the spirits within the hive agreed that they shouldn¡¯t be wasting energy creating more of them. Creating a new type of creature it didn¡¯t need was a waste of energy the majority of the spirits within the hive just couldn¡¯t agree with.

    So for the harpy standing in front of it, the hive did what it always did in this situation. It did nothing. The hive knew that in time the harpy would get bored and leave and all it had to do was to be patiently. For a floating crystal, that was easy.

    After a few moments, the hive felt it. There was no tremor or warning, the ground just began shaking. The hive immediately spread its focus outwards, throwing energy throughout its tunnels. This wasn¡¯t the first time the hive had faced an earthquake but after a few moments, it realized this was a strong one. The ground was still shaking! The harpy took to the air but the hive maintained its focus. It couldn¡¯t do anything about the shaking but with its energy, the integrity of the tunnels was maintained. The spirits within the hive would be mightily embarrassed if there was a cave-in in their tunnels.

    ¡°This earthquake is different.¡± One of the Earth spirits said after a while. ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel natural.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The other spirits within the hive did not have the same connection to the earth that the Earth spirits had.

    ¡°It just feels different,¡± the Earth spirit replied. ¡°It¡¯s still shaking. Something created this earthquake. Let see if we can find out where it came from.¡±

    With energy to spare, the hive spread its power outwards. Unfortunately, the range of their senses extends only a short distance beyond the entrance of the tunnels but the power that was unleashed could still clearly be felt. Whatever made the earthquake came from the south of the Keg Mountains, well beyond the Great Kar Forest but even from this distance, the hive could feel the impressive amount of power that was released. It was honestly beyond anything the hive had felt before. The power was burning like an inferno that was turning everything in its path into ash. It was also somewhat familiar.

    One of the spirits in the hive had to ask. ¡°Hey, you guys don¡¯t think¡­?¡±

    ¡°Must be¡­this power¡­it must be the Fire Hive!¡±

    ¡°They caused an earthquake? What for?¡±

    ¡°Who knows with those morons? It could be an accident for all we know. We need to send someone down there to check things out.¡±

    ¡°Send who to check what? We don¡¯t know anything yet.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We don¡¯t know anything and that¡¯s why we need to find out. Knowing those Fire spirits, they¡¯re liable to do anything!¡±

    ¡°Yeah and whatever it was, it was something big. We need to be careful.¡±

    ¡°Very careful.¡±

    ¡°Well at least something good came out of this.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re no longer bored!¡±

    The spirits within the hive joined together in laughter. Whatever you want to say about those Fire spirits, they were never boring. In a way, the hive missed them.

    ¡°So¡­who are we going to send?¡±

 Part 3- The Mystery Begins

    Since the day she was changed, the Speaker had seen some strange things. She seen animals that could change into humans at will. She had seen rats who spoke. She had seen horses that could fly. She had seen a flying pig. She had even seen a grand mage brought low. She knew she had not seen it all but the Speaker thought she had seen enough that nothing else in the world could shock her. She was wrong.

    She was very wrong.

    The landscape in front of her was for lack of a better word; shocking! It should not be possible but her eyes were not deceiving her. Although she had never gone so far south, she had read maps of the area and knew all the major landmarks. The Homeless Plains was so huge most people divided it into 3 sections; the northern, middle, and southern sections. Situated just south of the Great Kar Forest should be the Invisible Stream and the plains south of the river was widely known as the Southern Homeless Plains. The southern section of the Homeless Plains was no more.

    However the land in front of the Speaker was not a plain but a dark and fiery wasteland filled with dark razor-sharp rocks and black lifeless soil. It was empty except for some unnatural bonfires that were burning at various places. Strangely, the bonfires had different colors. The Speaker had only known fires to be red in color but some of the fires in the wasteland were burning blue and green. It was¡­impossible.

    ¡°At least we now know why we¡¯re here!¡±

    The Speaker couldn¡¯t help but chuckled at that. The one who spoke was Kinshra, the female alpha of the Pack. Although the Speaker acted as a liaison between the Creator and the Kin, Kinshra was in-charge of all the females in the Werewolves Pack and she was charged by the Alpha as the leader of their small group of six.

    ¡°Yeah, guess it really was more than just an earthquake.¡±

    The Speaker couldn¡¯t help but shake her head in reply. When the Creator ordered the Speaker to go south and scout the area south of the Kar, she had been surprised. Several of the Kin thought that the order from the Creator meant that this earthquake was unnatural but to the Speaker, it was just an earthquake. A big one but what¡¯s there to check on an earthquake. The wasteland in front of the Speaker was the answer to that question.

    ¡°Should I go back to report?¡±

    The harpy Momo was with them and she was the one who asked the question. When the Creator ordered her to come south, the Speaker wasn¡¯t expecting any trouble and had thought of coming alone but her mate was having none of that. He ordered Kinshra and a small team to come south with the Speaker. As the male Alpha, Treznor was the leader of the Werewolves and Kinshra had no choice but to obey even though she, like the Speaker, thought nothing of the earthquake.

    ¡°Not yet,¡± Kinshra said. ¡°Let¡¯s find out more first. At least Treznor wasn¡¯t being overprotective this time.¡±

    Everyone laughed at Kinshra¡¯s joke. It was a well-known fact that the Alpha was very protective of his mate and the couple had endured some good natured ribbing from the rest of the Kin on the matter. Treznor couldn¡¯t care less for ¡°gossip¡± as he called it while the Speaker honestly liked the fact that her mate could be overprotective at times. It was a good change from her childhood. Seeing the sight in front however, the Speaker couldn¡¯t help but wondered if her mate may have underestimated the problem at hand.

    The Speaker also understood why Treznor ordered Kinshra to come with her. The Speaker and Kinshra were undoubtedly the most powerful females of the Kin and the duo had a good working understanding with each other. Laughter was a good thing so the Speaker let everyone have their fun as the small group began crossing the Invisible Stream.

    The Invisible Stream wasn¡¯t small but it wasn¡¯t a difficult river to cross, much less for the group who were in their Werewolf forms. The group was going into unknown territory so Kinshra wanted everyone in their more powerful form before the crossing. They got to the other side with minimal problems and the moment the Speaker stepped on the charred black soil¡­nothing! The Speaker was keeping an open mind but she didn¡¯t feel any different when she stepped on the wasteland. There was no feeling of unease; no sense of dread; no oppressive force of heaviness; it was just like setting foot on any other piece of land in the world. She was exactly a little disappointed.

    The group did not have any specific location to check out but the Creator had said ¡°south¡± so that was the direction the group opted to go. As they moved out, Kinshra sent Momo out to scout but warned her to keep within sight of the group. The harpy need no further invitation and immediately took to the air. The first thing Kinshra wanted to check was the various burning bonfires and she directed the group to them.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    The group approached a few of them and found that the bonfires were burning without the need of any fuel. There was nothing for the fires to burn, there were no logs or dried leaves, but that didn¡¯t stop the fires from burning fiercely. The fires were just burning off the land and the group strangely felt somewhat revitalized when they were near the fires. It was more than the heat of the fires; it was as if the bonfires were feeding them power and energy. The group went to a few bonfires and felt the same effects at all of them. As the group went further south, night soon fell. The lack of light meant little to the group. The group consists of 5 Werewolves and a harpy and none of them needed light to operate. However dusk did tell the group a few things.

    The first was that the bonfires produced light as well as heat. Heat from fires was to be expected but the light that was produced depended on the color of the flames of the bonfires. The various bonfires were a distance apart from each other but the land used to be part of the Homeless Plains and the group could easily see blue, green and red lights illuminating the flat landscape. It gave the land an eerie but colorful feel.

    Another thing the group discovered was the lack of smell. Although the land looked like it had been burned to a crisp, there was the distinct lack of any burning smell. Even when they were near a bonfire, there was no burning smell coming from the fires. In fact, there was no smell coming from anywhere. A Werewolves¡¯ sense of smell was far superior to that of a human and every time she entered the forest, the Speaker would be assaulted by smells from everywhere. In this land however, there was nothing. It was as if everything, even the smell of the land, had been burned away. More than the charred landscape and strange bonfires, the lack of smell was what disturbed the group the most. It just wasn¡¯t natural!

    With all these new and unusual discoveries, Kinshra decided to call it a day and the group settled down for the night. It turned out to be a short rest as Momo returned later in the night with news that there was a camp of some sort in front of them. The break was over as Kinshra wanted to check out the camp immediately. Turned out the group wasn¡¯t that far from the camp and they reached it well before dawn. It also turned out that the camp more than a camp. It was a homestead though the Speaker couldn¡¯t really blame Momo for the mistake.

    The house which must had been the dwelling of the owner had been razed to the ground and even up close, the Speaker could only see a few pieces of charred timber that were the foundation of the building. The charred timbers weren¡¯t even what Momo had spotted. There was a campfire outside the remains of the building and this was what the harpy had originally spotted. As the Speaker went through the wreckage of the house, Kinshra ordered the rest of the group to scout the area. The Speaker thought it was a good idea. The campfire indicated to her that this homestead wasn¡¯t abandoned so there should be at least some indication of people staying nearby. At the very least there would be some charred remains.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    The Speaker looked up and saw that Kinshra had changed into her human form. She answered her question with a question.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I asked first.¡±

    ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s clear no earthquake caused this.¡± The Speaker pointed at the remains of the building and said. ¡°Looks more like a flash fire swept through the area but...¡±

    ¡°Flash fire does not cause the ground to shake.¡± Kinshra nodded her agreement but like the Speaker, she was hoping there was some simple explanation for all the unknowns. ¡°What about an earthquake that caused a flash fire?¡±

    ¡°If only it would be so simple¡­,¡± the Speaker said. ¡°However the Creator probably wouldn¡¯t have sent us here if that was all¡­¡±

    The duo turned their heads sharply the moment the howl broke through the night. It was the howl of a werewolf and he was calling for help. The two female Werewolves looked at each other for a moment before going on all fours. Kinshra changed into her Werewolf form immediately and the duo began running towards danger. Even in the dark, the duo had no problem knowing where to go. They went in the direction of the howl and even before they could reach the location, the Speaker could hear the sound of battle. The duo ran faster and as they got nearer, the sound of the battle became louder and louder. They soon reached the area and saw it. Just when she thought the day couldn¡¯t get any stranger, what she saw stopped the Speaker cold.

    The other 3 Werewolves had reached the area already and they were currently in battle with a creature that was unlike anything the Speaker had seen before. The creature was red in color with a human body and two hands, but the lower half of it was that of a snake. The face looked almost human but there were two big horns sticking out from it¡¯s forehead. To the Speaker, the horns looked like gigantic deer antlers. Even stranger for the Speaker was the fact that the creature was casting magic.

    Slithering across the ground like a snake, the creature was keeping the trio of Werewolves at bay by shooting out blasts of fire from it¡¯s two hands. However the creature was outnumbered and it was constantly in retreat as the Werewolves tried to use their superior speed and numbers to get close. It was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed the creature but¡­

    ¡°We need it alive.¡± The Speaker told Kinshra. ¡°The creature may be able to give her some insight to what¡¯s going on.¡±

    Kinshra nodded in response and indicated to the Speaker to go to the left. She immediately took off to the right. Following the female Alpha¡¯s instruction, the Speaker went to the creature¡¯s left, hoping to flank the creature. The creature must also have some sort of ability to see in the dark because it immediately spotted her. The creature shot at her but the Speaker easily dodged the blast. The creature was retreating even faster now but the Speaker knew the battle was already over.

    She was nothing but a distraction. As the red creature was concentrating on her, Kinshra managed to shadowstep behind it. Sometimes when they were changed, the Creator would give the Kin some special ability. For the Speaker, it was the ability to speak even when she was in Werewolf form. For Kinshra, it was the shadowstep.

    Shadowstep was an ability that allowed the female Alpha to teleport herself over a short distance as long as the area she was going to was in darkness. When she underwent the change, the Creator gave Kinshra the ability and she now used it to get behind the creature. To it¡¯s credit, the creature sensed that someone was behind it and tried to turn around to defend. Kinshra leapt and knocked it to the ground. The trio of Werwolves in front of the creature took advantage and charged forward. Fear leapt into the Speaker¡¯s heart and she immediately shouted to the trio to back off.

    ¡°NO! Alive! We need it alive!¡±

    Everyone stopped. Kinshra; the three Werewolves; even the creature; everyone stopped. Then shocking the group, the creature spoke.

    ¡°You speak? You¡­you can speak? What are you? What happened to me? What¡¯s going on?¡±

    The Speaker couldn¡¯t help but rubbed her forehead with her hand as an aching headache suddenly just erupted in her brain. She had been hoping to ask those exact questions to the creature.

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 4- The Mystery Continues

    ¡°Hey! Hey! I¡¯m talking to you!¡±

    Okay¡­how do you handle negotiations with a creature you had never seen before? How do you handle negotiations with it when you don¡¯t even know what it is? How do you handle negotiations with it when it didn¡¯t even know what you are?

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t ignore me! I¡¯m talking to you! Don¡¯t act blur! You spoke; I heard you! You understand what I¡¯m saying.¡±

    How do you handle negotiations with a strange creature that won¡¯t shut up? These are questions that sprung into the Speaker¡¯s mind as the creature stared at her. The good thing was that the creature could talk; the bad thing was that it seems as confused about the situation as they were. So what does she do now?

    The Speaker decided she needs the creature to lower his guard first. She needed him to be more comfortable with her and she needed him to keep talking to get answers the wanted. To get the creature to be more comfortable and less wary, the Speaker did the first thing that came to mind. The Speaker decided to change.

    The Speaker gathered the power within her and relaxed. She let go of the power and the moment she did so, the change began. Her fur went first. The fur withdrew into her body and her body shrank. Her claws became human fingers and her wolf-like face contracted into that of a human. Before long, the person in front of the creature looked mostly like a human.

    There were some differences the Speaker couldn¡¯t change of course. Small fur covered her body; her ears were protruding out on top of her head; and her irritatingly long bushy tail was still there. The creature stared at the Speaker with huge saucer-like eyes and the Speaker had to smile. By now, the change had become second-nature to the all the Werewolves but the Speaker understood how it could still be shocking to others. Still, the Speaker believed her ¡®human¡¯ form should be more comforting to the creature. The Speaker walked slowly towards it and noticed that even the creature¡¯s eyes were red in color.

    ¡°How do you do? I am called Useli, also known as the Speaker. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    The creature looked stunned for a moment, then it¡¯s eyes widen and the Speaker noticed he was looking upwards into the sky. The wind behind her and the scent told the Speaker Momo was landing. The harpy had been flying above the battle as ordered and the creature obviously hadn¡¯t spotted her. Momo¡¯s ability to follow orders was one of the reasons they picked her for this mission instead of her sister or one of the other harpies. Another factor in her favor was her inquisitiveness.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    ¡°What does ¡®act blur¡¯ means?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a northern slang for pretending to be confused,¡± the Speaker told the harpy quickly. She turned back to the creature. ¡°Good sir, my name is Useli. I¡¯m also known as the Speaker. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Apep¡­Apep Daybluff.¡±

    ¡°Good day to you sir,¡± the Speaker nodded her head in acknowledgment and encouragement. ¡°You sound confused. Am I right in assuming that you were not born like this?¡±

    Apep¡¯s face went shock to anger to confusion in the time it took for the Speaker to take a breath. Then he suddenly calmed down and looked around the group. ¡°Did the fire do the same thing to you all?¡± He asked. ¡°Did it change all of you too?¡±

    The Speaker shook her head and answered. ¡°No sir. No fire changed us. Our Creator is north of here and our change was done very differently. When did you change?¡±

    ¡°Creator? What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s a creator? Were you¡¯re all made by some mage? Wait! No, that¡¯s not possible. I would have heard of creations like you before if that¡¯s the case? What was¡­?¡±

    ¡°Sir Apep, I had answered your question. You should now answer mine. That¡¯s only fair. What happened to you?¡± The Speaker spoke forcefully and she was helped by a growl from Kinshra. The creature known as Apep Daybluff looked at the female Alpha before coming to a simple decision.

    ¡°You are right! We should exchange information. That¡¯s only fair. There was an earthquake, then a wave of fire. No, it¡¯s better to say it was a wave of energy; a wave of magical energy that was faster than anything I had ever seen. It just tore through the plains like¡­wildfire, only it spread faster than¡­look, I can¡¯t explain it. What happened¡­it¡¯s should not be possible but it happened!¡±

    ¡°The earthquake came first? Did it cause the wildfire?¡±

    ¡°No! It wasn¡¯t a wildfire, it¡¯s just the closest thing I¡­look it was a wave of energy that burned everything in it¡¯s path but didn¡¯t. Don¡¯t look at me like that, I know it doesn¡¯t make sense but that¡¯s the truth. The wave hits me and knocked me out. When I woke, I was like this but everything else, the soil, the grass, my house, was destroyed.¡±

    ¡°That house was yours?¡± The Speaker pointed in the direction where the group found the burned homestead.

    ¡°You found it what¡¯s left of it I see. Yeah, that was mine but now...¡±

    ¡°Hold on, you said you were knocked out. The earthquake was days ago! We hadn¡¯t found anything alive since we came here. How are you still alive?¡±

    Apep understood the Speaker¡¯s question immediately and pointed at the nearest bonfire. ¡°The fires are feeding me.¡±

    The Speaker¡¯s eyes blinked furiously at the news. ¡°The bonfires are feeding you?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I just need to be close enough to feel the heat of the flames and any hunger and thirst I have just slowly disappear. They are my ¡®food source¡¯ since the earthquake.¡±

    ¡°We did feel something when we were close to them but it¡¯s not like our hunger and thirst disappeared.¡±

    The Speaker nodded in agreement at Kinshra¡¯s statement. She also vaguely had an idea of why.

    ¡°Apep was changed by a different method of creation from us. More importantly, he may have been changed by a different Creator. That may be why we feel different things from the land.¡±

    Kinshra¡¯s eyes widened at that and looked at Apep carefully. ¡°Red shin; flames; horns; you don¡¯t mean¡­¡±

    The Speaker could only nod and turned to look at the direction where Mount Moringstar was. ¡°The Red Creator; it must be responsible for this.¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 5- The Better Creator

    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?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°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!*

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 6- The Appraisal Problem

    ¡°It¡¯s over here!¡±

    The bush exploded as the horned rabbit barreled out of the bush and rushed straight at the harpy who shouted. The harpy cried in shock as the tiny creature jumped right at her. Usually the harpy was the predator and the rabbit was the prey but ever since it got a horn on its head, this rabbit had another idea in its head and the harpy was caught by surprise.

    The horned rabbit was now electing to attack the harpy instead of running away and as the sharp horn cut into the harpy¡¯s body, the harpy screeched in pain and anger. The horned rabbit landed beyond the harpy and immediately took off, running for cover.

    ¡°Get that stupid furball!¡±

    The harpy screamed in rage as it flew up into the air to chase after the fleeing rabbit. However the small size of the horned rabbit and the thick bushes of the underground forest hid the horned rabbit from view and the harpy screeched again in rage. A second harpy landed on a nearby tree and shouted to her sister to land.

    ¡°Moro, get over here! You¡¯re hurt!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Moro said as she landed on the tree branch beside her sister. ¡°It¡¯s just a cut.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a deep cut!¡± The harpy Momo fussed over her sister as others flew past them. Harpies, Angels and Crowmen took up the chase for the horned rabbit and Momo couldn¡¯t help but nagged at her sister again. ¡°You know we can just forget the horned rabbit. Let¡¯s just catch another rabbit in the Kar Forest. This hunt is stupid!¡±

    ¡°NO! It¡¯s a rabbit and it¡¯s dinner! That rabbit is not getting away just because the Creator gave it a stupid horn!¡±

    As the two harpies argued about the hunt of the horned rabbit, one of the spirits within the hive just couldn¡¯t resist. ¡°That is just insulting. We didn¡¯t just give it a horn; we gave it speed as well some luck!¡±

    Several other spirits within the hive laughed as the spirits watched the continuing hunt. When the hive changed the rabbit, it was done on a whim but the result has been far more entertaining than expected. Once it was changed, the horned rabbit dashed into the bushes to escape it¡¯s fate as dinner and the two harpies, Momo and Moro, had been chasing it ever since. The Werewolves and Ratlings had left the tunnels and the children had taken up the chase for the horned rabbit. Despite the numbers against it, this was a chase the horned rabbit was currently winning.

    ¡°Can we even give luck?¡± one of the other spirits asked. ¡°The rabbit sure looks faster now but luckier? Is that possible even for us?¡±

    The unbelievable speed which the horned rabbit dashed into cover bared witness to the extra speed it had gained since the change but luck was trickier. How does one measure luck anyway? The spirits within the hive had no idea but more than a few of the spirits believed in the extra luck theory. It has been half a day since the hunt had started yet the horned rabbit was still around. The way it had been escaping from the flyers had been extraordinary. On many occasions, the horned rabbit instinctively chose the right option on which way to run and even when it was cornered; things would just fall in place for horned rabbit to escape. Somehow, it would always find a way out of its predicament. It was seriously fun to watch!

    ¡°No idea but if we could increase their strength, speed, and even give our creatures special abilities, it does stand to reason we should be able to increase their luck as well.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°But how do we know?¡± the spirit asked again. ¡°And how do we measure luck. Also how do we know how much has the rabbit¡¯s luck been increased?¡±

    ¡°Who cares? Since when do we measure our creatures?¡±

    ¡°Maybe we should. It¡¯ll be nice to see how well the creatures we changed got¡­changed. When we absorb an animal, we get all these numbers from them. Maybe we ought to find a way to use that ability to check on the numbers of living creatures.¡±

    ¡°You mean like some sort of checking spell?¡±

    ¡°Something liked that. It¡¯ll be fun.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be rude.¡±

    ¡°WHAT?¡± Several of the spirits exclaimed.

    The spirit explained. ¡°It¡¯s rude. There¡¯s no good reason for us to check and study the Kin or the creatures serving us. We didn¡¯t like it when the Grand came in and tried to take away the Fire Hive for study right? What makes any of you think the Kin will like it any better when we do the same to them?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­we¡¯re not going to tell them.¡±

    ¡°And that makes it right?¡± The spirit asked. ¡°No it does not and frankly, so what if the horned rabbit got more luck? If it did, then it¡¯s great. If not, then it¡¯s fine. There¡¯s no problem either way right?¡±

    ¡°There may be no problem but some of us like to know. Besides, you can¡¯t compare us to the creatures. They are OUR creatures so we have a right to do whatever we want with them.¡±

    ¡°No we do not!¡±

    ¡°We are not doing anything to them. We are just checking, just¡­doing an appraisal if you will.¡±

    ¡°They have a right to privacy!¡±

    ¡°Since when?¡±

    Just like that, the spirits got into another discussion/argument. This time it was on the right of the hive to check on the status of the creatures under their control. On one side were spirits who were interested to know more about the creatures they created. On the other side were spirits who felt this was a waste of energy and that it was rude to look into the creatures without care of their feelings. The argument went on and on with neither side giving way till one of the Earth spirits asked the obvious question.

    ¡°Why are we arguing about this when we don¡¯t even know if we could do it?¡±

    The hive went silent as the spirits pondered about the question. The Earth spirit was right. If the hive couldn¡¯t do it, there¡¯s no reason for the spirits to be arguing about the matter at all! The spirits within the hive quickly came to an agreement to at least try to check on their creatures. Even the spirits who were against the idea went along with it. To these spirits, if the hive failed to do an appraisal, then all the better. If the hive could do it, they could still try to influence the hive against using it on their creatures in the future.

    The hive thought of all the times when it got the numbers of the creatures it absorbed and for the first time wondered how they got the information. The spirits never really thought about it before. They just absorbed the creatures, broke them down, and that was it. That was the basic process of the whole thing. The information just came naturally after that. Now they are attempting to get information on the creatures without killing them and breaking down their bodies. Could they do it without absorbing the bodies? If the spirits can¡¯t break down the bodies, then how were they going to get the information?

    At first the spirits tried throwing their power over the various creatures in their domain but as they had expected, there were no results. The spirit then went into discussion and before long several of them theorized that the breaking down of the creatures was the reason they were able to get information. Maybe that was what allowed the spirits to grab the ¡®essence¡¯ of the creatures or allowed them to truly understand the creatures better.

    As usual the hive had nothing but their instinct to go on and instinct was telling them that the breakdown of the bodies was the key. The spirits of the hive followed their instinct. The hive gathered their power and focused on the horned rabbit. This time it tried to force a small bit of energy into the rabbit and see the ¡®essence¡¯ of it. Making the energy go into the creatures was easy, the hive had great control over it within the tunnels, but when the spirits tried to get the information, nothing happened.

    Met with failure again, the spirits with the hive went into discussion. Then the spirits sensed the energy they forced into the horned rabbit. The energy was within the creature, that part of the plan worked at least, and the energy was now part of the horned rabbit. The spirits switched their focus. Instead of trying to see the ¡®essence¡¯ of the horned rabbit, they decided to just read the energy that was now part of the creature. Instinct told again as the moment the energy the spirits did so, a screen came to their mind.

    Species: Rabbit

    Sub-Species: Horned Rabbit

    Sex: Female

    Attack: E

    Defense: E

    Health: E

    Strength: E

    Agility: C

    Stamina: E

    Weapons: Bite, Horn

    Skills: Enhanced Agility, Quick Dash, Jumping Horn Attack, Supreme Luck

    What the¡­silence reigned in the hive before all the spirits asked as one, ¡°WHERE ARE THE NUMBERS?¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 7- The Delightful Entertainment

    After Momo left to give their report to the Creator, the Speaker and her group proceeded south towards Mount Morningstar. Apep was amazed when the werewolves began telling him about the Red Creator and what the crystal could do. He demanded to be part of the group and the Speaker wasn¡¯t going to fight him on it.

    Seeing how he was changed, it would probably be a good thing for him to see his creator. Apep was less than happy when the Speaker told him her belief that his new condition was due to the red crystal and while Kinshra had some worries about his reaction when they finally meet, the Speaker didn¡¯t share her doubts. There was a time when the Speaker was actively hunting her Creator but once she was changed, she never had any thoughts of hurting the floaying crystal that gave her a new life. The Speaker didn¡¯t know if this was a natural by-effect of the change or something the Creator enforced, but she had no doubts Apep would not be able to hurt his creator.

    What really worried her were the other creatures on the Southern Homeless Plains. After meeting Apep, the Speaker now believed the energy wave that swept through the Southern Homeless Plains was not one of destruction, but one of transformation. Somehow the Red Creator had sent the wave out of Mount Morningstar and it probably had changed most, if not all, the creatures it touched. The problem was that now there were hundreds, if not thousands, of changed creatures throughout the land and all of them would be as confused as Apep was when they first met.

    The creatures had no idea what¡¯s going on, what happened to them, or why it happened! They would be scared, angry, and would probably lash out at anything and everything that¡¯s different from them. They would be a danger to others as well as to themselves. Considering the various unknown powers they would have gained from their change, that¡¯s a worry to everyone. Not for the first time, the Speaker had to wonder about the Red Creator. Although she accepts that she was a lower life-form to the Creators, she always had a feeling of it been a little too haphazard for comfort.The sense of unease about the Red Creator was something she had always kept to herself and she now wonder if it was a good thing that the Creators separated.

    Despite Apep¡¯s protests, the group had been travelling slowly and carefully through the land. There was no telling what changes had occurred and Kinshra was taking no chances. One of the things they learned from Apep was that while many things in the land had changed, the water sources had not. Apep say his regular watering hole looked unchanged and the Speaker believed the same could be said of the others. The Red Creator favored fire and as water was the natural opposite of it, the Speaker believed the wave created by the Red Creator either would not or could not affect water. As the group travelled south, Kinshra made sure they stopped for water regularly and at one of them, the group found that they were not alone.

    The bonfires may be able to give energy but hunger and thirst still need to be quashed and the Speaker knew it was just a matter of time before the group met with another group. A group of dogs was at the hole and although Apep never met their kind before, the Werewolves had. They were slightly bigger than normal dogs and had sharp horns on their heads. Their claws were long and sharp like daggers, and they possessed huge sharp teeth. Red fiery lines could be seen on their bodies and if you look carefully, you could see smoke coming out of the dogs¡¯ mouths. The Speaker knew from experience these dogs could release fire from their mouths and for that reason, the Creator named them Hellhounds.

    The Speaker was unsurprised by the fact that the other creatures in the land had been changed like Apep; what slightly surprised her was how aggressive the pack was. The pack of hellhounds growled the moment they saw the group and several of them immediately spread out, trying to surround the Werewolves. The Speaker and Kinshra were caught out by this. They had expected to be able to share the watering hole with the pack of hellhounds without any problems but it was obvious this pack was wild and very nervous. Before there was time to defuse the situation, the hellhounds attacked.

    The hellhounds were quick and coordinated. One of the hellhounds shot fire right into the center of the group. The Werewolves dodged left and right to avoid the flames, and the rest of the hellhounds jumped in to attack. As quick as they were, the Speaker wasn¡¯t worried. The Werewolves were far more experienced and outside Apep, her group knew what to expect from the hellhounds. The hellhounds didn¡¯t know what to expect from the Werewolves.

    As one of the hellhounds jumped to attack her, the Speaker lightly stepped to the side and avoided the attack. As the hellhound jumped past her, the Speaker swung her claws and aimed for the body of the hellhound. Blood spilled and the hellhound landed in a heap. The Speaker was on it before the hellhound could recover and killed it with a bite to the neck. As the hellhound was dying in her mouth, she looked around and saw that her group had the battle well in hand. A hellhound shot a breath of fire at Kinshra who simply shadowstep behind the hellhound. The hellhound was shocked by this and the hesitation proved fatal as Kinshra came from behind the hellhound, grabbed it¡¯s head and twisted till she heard the snap of the neck. On the other side of the battle, another hellhound was killed by a Werewolf and that was it. The pack immediately turned and ran.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°What in the name of the 99 Gods are those?¡±

    The Speaker saw the wide eyes of Apep and couldn¡¯t help but smile. A few winters ago, she was just like him but now, after seeing so many strange creatures, seeing a pack of wild hellhounds in a land of ash was almost normal.

    ¡°Those are called ¡®hellhounds¡¯. They were created by the Red Creator from dogs.¡±

    ¡°Dogs?¡± Apep asked. ¡°You mean this spirit matrix can create from animals as well as humans? And you seem these ¡®hellhounds¡¯ before?

    ¡°The Creators are more than simple spirit matrixes and no, I never seem these hellhounds before. The pack was wild and feral; mostly likely they were a pack of dogs that got hit by the wave just like you were. Also dear Apep, the Creators could create from anything they want. My Creator once created an underground forest deep within the Keg Mountains so these animals and plants are all¡­¡±

    The Speaker stopped speaking as the group notice a red streak in the sky. Something was flying in the air. By itself, that wasn¡¯t anything unusual but the object flying was coming towards them and more importantly, although it was still some distance away, the thing flying looked like it was on fire!

    After a few more moments of silent waiting, it became clear that the flying object was heading their way. Not knowing the powers of the object, Kinshra ordered the group to get into formation. The Speaker and Kinshra stood behind a big male Werewolf named Darmin who was acting as the vanguard. Apep stood behind the duo at the rear of the group while the remaining 2 Werewolves spread out to either side.

    The flying object was travelling at a fast speed and as it got closer, the Speaker saw that the object really was on fire. She also realized she was slightly mistaken. It wasn¡¯t an object flying through the air; it was two! More accurately, it looked like one creature running/flying through the air and the other one was riding on the back of the flying creature.

    When they landed, the rider got off the flying creature and the Speaker got her first good look at them. The first creature was a muscular male who was clearly no human. Although he was standing upright like a normal human, his skin color was reddish in color and there were ridges on his face and arms. Two horns were protruding upwards on the top of his head and they curved back like the horns of rams. He had a short skinny tail that strangely had an arrowhead at the end it and was rubbing his hands in glee. It was as if he just found some great treasure. The other creature was even more fantastic.

    The flying creature looked a little like an unicorn with a horn on it¡¯s head but the creature had scales covering parts of it¡¯s body and head. It had a beard and choven hoofs that seems to create sparks whenever they touched the ground. However what truly caught the Speaker¡¯s eyes was the creature¡¯s mane that was flowing strangely upward. After a moment of clarity, the Speaker realized it wasn¡¯t really a mane. They were flames! The creature had flames coming out of the back of it¡¯s head! Not only that, the other creature was riding on that flying flaming horse! Any small doubts the Speaker had about the two creatures were answered; these two had to be creatures made by the Red Creator.

    The muscular human-like creature stepped forward but he was ignoring the Speaker. In fact, he was ignoring all the Werewolves. He only had eyes for Apep. He smiled, showing off his sharp teeth.

    ¡°How do you do, brother? I am Doxuhr. May I know your name?¡±

    The Speaker could feel Apep staring at the back of her head. She kept still, hoping the mage would play along. Luckily for her, he did.

    ¡°I am called Apep; Apep Daybluff. What are you and what¡¯s going on?¡±

    The creature¡¯s smile got bigger. ¡°Good! Good! Good! Finally! Someone who hadn¡¯t gone crazy with the rebirth¡­!¡±

    ¡°Wait! WHAT?¡±

    The creature¡¯s smile faltered slightly at Apep¡¯s loud interruption but he quickly rallied. ¡°No, no, no; not to worry! You are not crazy. You have just been reborn and¡­¡±

    ¡°WHAT DO YOU MEAN GOING CRAZY?¡±

    The Speaker was seriously thinking of taking over right now but decided it was too late to change anything. At least the creature was trying to calm Apep¡­

    ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t worry about my murmuring. I murmur all the time and you know what they say about people who murmur right? Fast lips; loose words; no meaning. Let us start again okay?¡±

    The words came in a rush and the Speaker began to have a sneaking suspicion about the creature. With the Kin, their Creator usually used animals or small human children for the change. The Speaker was an exception to the rule, being a human adult before becoming a Werewolf. The Speaker suspect that rule may not apply to the Red Creator. The creature gave the group a theatrical cough and began again.

    ¡°Congratulations! Apep Daybluff, you are a lucky, lucky man. You have been chosen by our fiery Master to receive it¡¯s great gift of power and glory. The Great Flames of our master is a gift that¡­¡±

    ¡°GIFT? WHAT GIFT? THIS ISN¡¯T A GIFT! IT MADE ME A MONSTER!¡±

    ¡°Not just any monster sir, but a Delightfully-Entertaining-Monster.¡±

    ¡°A¡­a delightful what?¡±

    The creature smiled embarrassingly at Apep and explained. ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re called. Our master has a tendency to give us long winding names but not the worry, we just call ourselves¡­the D.E.M.O.N.S!¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog athttp://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 8- The Baby Kits

    ¡°Are we going to create?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Are we going to populate?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Are we ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Are we prepared?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Are we¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s shut up and do this!¡±

    ¡°YES! YES! YES!¡±

    At the cry, the spirits within the hive gathered their energy and focused it on the captives in front of them. In the tunnels of the Hive, the peaceful underground forest of the fifth floor held a special place in the hearts of the Kin. The forest was protection. It was a place of safety. It was their home. More importantly, it was the current home of the Hive. That made the underground forest the closest thing to heaven the young race have.

    However what was heaven for one could be hell for another and that was the case now for a family of foxes. When the spirits of the Hive first told the Kin to go catch animals for them, little did the spirits know that this was an order the Kin has long been waiting for. Whether they were Werewolves, Ratlings, Angels, Crowmen or Harpies; everyone has been awaiting for the Creator to create a new kin. The Werewolves and Ratlings had in fact long held discussions on what animals to capture and scouted out the areas where these animals were most likely to be.

    So when the order came from the Hive, the Kin was ready. They rushed out into the Great Kar Forest and they knew where they were going. They had a plan. They had a strategy and by the second day, the first of the Kin had returned. A group of Ratlings came back first and they brought back a family of foxes. A mother and her 8 kits were the first in line for the change and the hive was more than happy to oblige. The spirits of the hive was going to prove to their creatures who the better Creator!

    Small omnivorous mammals, the adult fox mother was smaller actually than a dog but the hive couldn¡¯t help but think of the thing as a small wolf. The spirits knew this was wrong. They had absorbed foxes before and knew that the fox was no wolf but it¡¯s head has a flattened skull, it had upright triangular ears, a pointed upturned snout, and a long bushy tail. They just looked similar. So similar that the spirits within the hive decided they were going to go for foxmen.

    To the spirits, the Werewolves were their biggest success so the spirits were expecting great things from the new foxmen as well. Ignoring the mother, the hive concentrated on the kits. Unlike the time when they created the Werewolves, this time the spirits within the hive knew what to do. They now had experience and with some confidence, began to pour their gathered energy into the kits. The baby foxes began glowing almost immediately. The spirits were a little surprised by this as there was usually a little time gap before the creatures began glowing but they quickly decided this was just another example of the spirits knowing what they were doing.

    The glow got brighter and brighter before the kits began changing. They got bigger and taller, their front paws became arms, their hind legs grew, and as quickly, the glow disappeared. The spirits within the hive looked at their new creations and¡­they were disappointed.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    In many ways, the new creatures were much like the Werewolves. The foxmen had fur on their bodies; they had sharp claws and teeth; their heads looked like those of a fox; but the big problem was how small they were! The foxmen were tiny! They were the size of small human children. The spirits within the hive immediately went into discussion/argument mode. The change worked but it didn¡¯t work well enough. As per normal, the spirits didn¡¯t know what the problem was so they did what they normally did in such situation; they compare the situation with their previous experiences and try to see the differences. After a long discussion/argument, the spirits decided the problem was that the kits were too young.

    The kits found by the Ratlings were very young, maybe only a few days old and the spirits agreed that this could be the reason for the unsuccessful transmutation. The bodies of the kits may had been too immature to handle the massive energy the spirits were pouring into them and this could be the reason why their bodies were glowing almost immediately. It could also explain why the hive was still filled with energy at the moment. They didn¡¯t waste too much on the kits because there was no need to. The spirits guessed this was one thing that went in their favour¡­now they just need to decide what to do in the future.

    As the spirits within the hive went into another discussion/argument conference about having an age limit on creatures they change, the new foxmen were getting restless. To the Kin, a long delay was to be expected. To the Kin, their Creator was a wise powerful being that takes it¡¯s time before deciding on a course of action. Considering the power at it¡¯s disposal, this was very understandable to the Kin.

    To the new foxmen however, this was a scary, stressful time and one of them began crying. As anyone with babies would know; the moment one baby begins to cry, others will follow. Soon the underground forest was filled with the cries of the new foxmen and the Kin looked at each other in confusion. This was something new. As the Kin were wondering what to do, the mother fox walked into the group of the strange creatures.

    The new creatures were new but the mother fox saw them being transformed and her senses told her at least some part of the new creatures were from her babies. The mother fox began licking one of the foxmen. As she was doing so, one of the Ratlings approached.

    The Ratling knew that the time after the change was a period of confusion and he was worried about the presence of the fox. The mother fox saw the Ratling and moved to defend her young. Her sudden attack surprised the Ratling and he swung his spear in reflex. The spear went through the fox and the fox mother dropped to the ground the moment the Ratling pull out the spear. The crying stopped.

    The foxmen saw their mother dying on the ground and as the Ratling was being scolded by the Chieftain for stabbing the fox, one of the foxmen pointed a finger at the offending Ratling. Pressure began to build and the air began to gather at the tip of the finger. The Kin saw the blue light but they didn¡¯t know what was happening. Then the air was released and the blue light shot out towards the Ratling. The Chieftain, standing beside the Ratling, was thrown to the ground but the Ratling was blew back several metres. He slammed into a tree and fell to the ground. Only a wiggle showed the rest of the Kin that he was still alive. The show of magic got the attention of the hive and the spirits broke off their discussion/ argument conference. They focused their attention on the foxmen but before they could get a good read on them, things escalated.

    The rest of the foxmen saw the magic as well. They also saw the dying figure of their mother. Before anyone could do or say anything to calm the situation, spells flew. Small waves of water sliced across the ground; one of the foxmen began to throw small fireballs; roots rose from the ground seeking to bind the Kin; blue lights of condensed air were shot around; and several small stones that were on the ground flew at speed towards the Kin. The Kin dispersed. They could have fought back but they did not want to hurt the Creator¡¯s newest creatures and they did not want to fight so near to the Creator.

    Amidst the show of magical power, the spirits within the hive watching the battle were impressed. Somehow the hive had managed to give their newest creations mage-like powers without ever intending to. The spirits congratulated themselves on being true geniuses! As the spirits were congratulating themselves, one of the more sensible spirits within the hive had to ask.

    ¡°Uh¡­shouldn¡¯t we be stopping this?¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 9- The Fox Mother

    ¡°Uh¡­shouldn¡¯t we be stopping this?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­no! Why should we?¡±

    ¡°¡­because they are killing each other?¡±

    ¡°So? The creatures kill each other all the time. We never stop them before so why start now?¡±

    ¡°But we just made the foxmen!¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± another spirit quickly agreed. ¡°It¡¯s a waste to let them die on the day we created them right? Let¡¯s save them!¡±

    ¡°Also, they¡¯re kind of cute.¡±

    ¡°True!¡±

    ¡°So what? What does cuteness have to do with anything?¡± The spirit argued. ¡°We are judging the creatures through power and abilities right?¡±

    ¡°I/we don¡¯t know about that. We never really discussed it and cuteness may have a place too.¡±

    ¡°No, it does not! Cuteness is not going to kill humans. Being cute doesn¡¯t help us at all.¡±

    ¡°You make it as if strength is everything.¡±

    ¡°It should be! If the foxmen aren¡¯t strong enough to survive, they deserve to die.¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment¡­you are one of those death-loving spirits aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Well, at least you¡¯re proud of it but come on, even you have to admit it¡¯s a big waste of energy to just let the foxmen die after creating them. Let¡¯s stop the fight!¡±

    ¡°But none of you could explain ¡®why¡¯ we need to stop the fight! ...and no, being cute is not a valid reason.¡±

    ¡°What about this¡­we should stop the fight because most of us want to!¡±

    ¡­Crack¡­

    ¡°Now you guys are just being unreasonable.¡±

    ¡°So? We do stupid unreasonable things all the time. Why change now?¡±

    ¡­Crack¡­

    ¡°I/we thought that sort of thinking left the tunnels along with the Fire idiots.¡±

    ¡­Crack¡­

    ¡°The Fire spirits weren¡¯t total fools. They got good ideas at times.¡±

    ¡°Oh please! They just destroyed the Southern Homeless Plains! They are idiots! They are morons! They were reckless! They were¡­¡±

    ¡°They were fun! And their recklessness allowed them to destroy an area the size of which we can¡¯t even reach. Admit it; their stupidity works for them.¡±

    ¡°They are morons and more importantly; they got nothing to do with this! Let the creatures kill each other and sort themselves out. No matter who wins, it¡¯s none of our business.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not wrong but it¡¯s a pretty heartless way of looking at things.¡±

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s heartless! We¡¯re spirits. Since when did we spirits get hearts? Spirits are supposed to be heartless!¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡­Crack¡­

    ¡°Nope! That is something the majority of us in the hive would not agree with.¡± A spirit who had been quietly enjoying the show till now said. ¡°We are not heartless!¡±

    ¡°WHAT?¡±

    ¡°Spirits may not have hearts but we are hardly heartless! That settles it; we are stopping the fight!¡±

    ¡°WHAT? But¡­WHY?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­to prove you wrong?¡±

    ¡­Crack¡­

    With that, the argument was over and the spirits within the hive begin to gather their energy. As just they were going to order the creatures to stop fighting, they sensed it. It was so faint the hive may have missed it if they weren¡¯t right in front of it. It was pain; delicious pain. The hive was drawn and the spirits fed on it. A moment later, they noticed where the pain was coming from.

    It was the fox mother.

    The fox mother was still alive and even now, it was fighting for to live. It was the source of the pain and the hive was surprised. It thought for sure the fox mother was dead; the spear had gone right through after all! However the fox mother was a lot hardier that it seems and the spirits were impressed with the creature.

    ¡­Crack¡­

    Ignoring the protests of the death-loving spirits within the hive, the majority of the hive decided to use the energy they had gathered to save the fox mother. Injured as the fox was, the hive didn¡¯t try anything fancy. They just threw energy over the fox mother, concentrating on two things; keeping it alive and changing it. It was the best thing the hive could have done.

    The fox mother began glowing and the Chieftain, leader of the Ratlings, noticed it immediately. He cried out and pointed at the glowing fox. The fighting stopped immediately. For a moment, everyone stopped moving and all eyes were on the fox mother. The Kin watched as the instinct of the hive told once more. The wounds on the fox mother closed up and as it did, the glow slowly fade. Then the change began.

    The fox mother got bigger and her fur turned white. The spirits within the hive were bemused by that. They never did understand why the foxes were called ¡®red foxes¡¯ when they weren¡¯t even red but while that was interesting, it wasn¡¯t unusual. When creatures were changed, they got bigger and sometimes they change colours. What was really strange was when the fox mother¡¯s tail spilt into 5. From one tail, she now had 5 different ones and the hive immediately went into a discussion/argument.

    While it wasn¡¯t the first time one of their creatures had a body part that spilt, this was the first time it happened by itself. None of the spirits had wanted the tail to spilt so why did it? Then one of the spirits remembered something. It was an obscure incident that happened when The Grand attacked the tunnels. An unknown warrior had made an insult about a fox having 9 tails before he got his head taken off by the Porkasus. Was the change of the fox mother due to that?

    Just the spirits within the hive were busy discussing and arguing the issue, the fox mother opened up her tails and looked at them in wonder. She was not alone. All the Kin in the forest were now looking at the Creator¡¯s newest creature and they were all staring at how amazing it was. Then something caught the eye of the Chieftain. Ignoring the magnificent white fox for the moment, the Chieftain approached the Creator and carefully looked at it. This naturally got the attention of the hive and the spirits looked at the crystal that houses them. What was the Chieftain looking at? Before the hive could ask, the Chieftain decided to tell everyone! He raised his arms into the sky and shouted to everyone.

    ¡°A CRACK! THERE IS A CRACK IN THE CREATOR!¡±

    What? A crack? The Chieftain was looking at a crack? What¡¯s so important about a crack? The spirits did not understand. While it¡¯s true that most of the time the cracks were not visible, cracking was hardly unusual. The spirits could even say the hive cracks all the time! What was so unusual about that? However the Kin around the hive were delighted by the big crack on it and a loud chant began.

    ¡°CRACK!¡±

    ¡°CRACK!¡±

    ¡°CRACK!¡±

    ¡°CRACK!¡±

    ¡°CRACK!¡±

    As the chant was taken up by the Kin, the spirits within the hive were still in confusion. They had no idea what to do in this situation. Should they stop the Kin? Should they ask the Kin what they were so happy about? Should they just ask the Kin what was going on! Then they sensed several intruders. Ignoring the wild celebration around it, the hive focused on the new presence.

    They were at the entrance of the tunnels and the hive quickly understood the situation. A group of Werewolves were back and they were not alone. The Werewolves were herding some cows into the tunnels and the spirits were glad for the distraction. They may not know what the Kin were celebrating about but they know what to do with the new animals. As the herd was slowly herded to the hive, the spirits went into a conference and began to gather energy again. When the herd arrives, the hive would be ready.

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 10- The Fire Eye

    The Speaker had never seen a volcano. She knew what they were and the damage they could do but she had never seen one. There were no volcanoes near Yachium and the Speaker had never left the Duchy. Seeing the volcano now made the Speaker realized she didn¡¯t miss much.

    Mount Morningstar was a tall, conical volcano and to the Speaker, it was just a mountain with a very steep slope. The Speaker could see smoke coming out of the crater at the top of the volcano but outside that, it was just a boring mountain. It¡¯s not even as tall as Middle Keg! The Speaker knew she was biased but to her, Mount Morningstar got nothing on the Keg Mountains. Big Keg dwarfed it handsomely. As if the 99 Gods were present to prove her bias, one of her companions had to, at this exact time, remark on the view.

    ¡°Wow! This is amazing!¡±

    The Speaker looked at the offending ignorant monster and kept a neutral face. The demon was said the remark was one of the new demons the group had picked up along the way to Mount Morningstar. The Speaker¡¯s original suspicion about Doxuhr and the blast were correct. According to Doxuhr, the blast that devastated the South Homeless Plains was one of change and countless humans and animals would no doubt had been ¡°reborn¡± by the fire into demons. The demon and his flying flaming horse were sent by their unknown superiors on a recruiting mission.

    Those superiors were idiots.

    Doxuhr had been flying for several days without any success till they met up with the Speaker¡¯s group and it didn¡¯t take long for the Speaker to figure out why. Although the flaming horse was a wondrous creation, neither it nor Doxuhr had any tracking skills. Worse was the fact that when other demons saw the duo in the sky, they usually hid themselves from them.

    It made sense right? When you have just been changed to some sort of unknown monster, your first instinct would naturally be to run and hide right? For some reason that escaped the Speaker, this was something that never occurred to Doxuhr and his superiors. They seem to believe that the newly born demons would fall over themselves to see the Creator.

    As if the new demons would know who their Creator was?

    So after a day of nonsensically following the flying Doxuhr, the Speaker told Apep to ¡°offer¡± their tracking services to the demon. The demon was under the impression that the Werewolves were animals transformed by the blast and that Apep had somehow managed to tame the ¡®demon wolves¡¯. It was an impression the Speaker did not correct. Doxuhr happily accepted Apep¡¯s offer and using their sense, the Werewolves quickly found other demons. Happy with the haul, Doxuhr finally decided it was time for the group to go back to see their ¡°Master¡±.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    So now they were a happy going back. Outside the Werewolves and Apep, there were three demons who were giants with only one eye; according to the trio, they could shoot beams of light from their eyes. A red-skinned female with white hair and a pair of wings who could fly and said her voice could confused her enemies. A demon that had a body that was all muscle and no skin; according to the demon, he felt no pain and no longer need to eat, sleep or tired. Finally, there was a couple who had human bodies but those lower bodies were those of spiders. The couple both had eight legs protruding out of shiny black carapaces like spiders¡­ if spider had legs with pointed ends that looked like swords!

    It seems to the Speaker that the variety in the Demon race was even greater than those in the Kin but she personally wondered if that¡¯s a good thing. The Kin were always looking forward to the day when a new member of their race was added but one could generally see the similarities between the various groups of the Kin. The Speaker would be hard-pressed to say the same of the demons. The Red Creator seen to have a haphazard style of creating it¡¯s creatures as all the demons looked different from each other. About the only similarity the Speaker could see was that all the demons had horns and even then, they all sport different types of horns.

    The trio of giants had a single big curved horn coming out from the center of their forehead; the winged female had a pair of sharp horns that came out horizontally from the either side of her head before pointing sharply upwards; the skinless demon had small spikes protruding out of the top of his head; the spider couple however both had elongated heads that sport 4 pairs of short horns on their forehead above the eyes. Of course the potential problems could be all in the head of the Speaker because the demons themselves don¡¯t seem to be too bothered by their differences.

    ¡°Wait till you see the inside!¡± Doxuhr laughed when he saw the wide eyes that met his pronouncement. ¡°Yes! We are going inside the volcano. Follow me!¡±

    The demon recruiter walked his flaming horse towards Mount Morningstar and the Werewolves immediately followed. This trip had already taken longer than expected and all of the Werewolves wanted to get to the Red Creator as soon as possible. As the Speaker expected, the rest of the demons followed. The group made good time and they were soon near the foot of the volcano.

    Doxuhr knew exactly where to go and led the group over the rocky terrain till they saw a dirt track. They follow it to a cave and the Speaker could immediately see that they had arrived. The cave entrance itself was pretty small and the Werewolves might have missed it if they didn¡¯t have a guide. Even from the outside, the Speaker could see the bright red light coming from the inside of the cave. She could hear a few of the demons murmuring among themselves but Doxuhr ignored the murmuring and went straight into the cave. Kinshra was right behind him and the Speaker was only a step behind the female alpha.

    The moment the duo stepped into the cave, several red lights appeared in front of them. Appearing out of mid-air, the lights looked like small flames to the Speaker but the moment the thought came to the Speaker, the lights began to condense. For a moment, no one knew what was going on but then the lights began to form a shape. It was a ball! The lights condensed to form a ball; a floating ball of fire and in the middle of the ball was an iris. The iris moved and looked at both Kinshra and the Speaker. Then the Speaker heard the voice in her head, a fierce fiery voice that she had not heard in many winters.

    ¡°SPEAKER!¡±

    The Red Creator recognized her and was clearly delighted by her presence.

    ¡°Master?¡±

    Doxuhr¡¯s voice betrayed his surprise and he was now looking at the two Werewolves in puzzlement. The Speaker allowed herself a small smile and transformed back to her wolfgirl form. Murmurs of shock erupted behind her. The Speaker ignored them and stepped forward towards the floating ball of fire. She knelt in front of it and said.

    ¡°Great Red Creator! This Speaker bring greetings from the Creator of the Keg Mountains!¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog athttp://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 11- The Home Visit

    The hive felt them the moment they appeared. Out of nowhere, the hive felt the presence of the Fire Hive and not only that, they were right outside the entrance of the first floor. The spirits within the hive immediately focused their attention at the entrance and began speculating on how the Fire spirits managed to get to the Keg Mountains. Last they know, the Fire idiots were at Mount Morningstar and there was no way they should be here. Several of the spirits within the hive wondered if something was wrong.

    The speculation died the moment the hive saw the Fire Hive; or the thing they knew that was the Fire Hive. The thing was a floating ball of fire. About half the size of a normal human, there was an eye in the middle of the floating ball that was able to move. Unlike the eye of a creature, this eye wasn¡¯t restricted to looking forward and was able moved freely along the surface. The hive saw the eye moving to the top of the ball, to the back, to the bottom, and then back forward. Strange as that was, that wasn¡¯t what truly shocked the hive.

    The spirits were shocked by the Fire Hive¡¯s need of an eye!

    To the hive, creating an eye was something that had never occurred to them. Why should it when the hive could see and sense almost everything within it¡¯s influence? To the spirits within the hive, the need for an eye was so stupid it had no idea why the Fire¡­

    ¡°They are not here.¡± One of the spirits remarked. ¡°They are all the way to the south¡­the Fire Hive can¡¯t be here but they are. This eye must be a way for them to¡­see beyond their volcano!¡±

    The hive immediately went into discussion/argument overdrive. Many of the spirits could not (do not want to) believe the Fire idiots had found a way to see beyond their area of influence but the evidence was slowly floating further into their tunnels. The floating ball of fire reached the first room and stopped. At the end of the room were 3 openings and the hive immediately understood the Fire Hive¡¯s problem.

    In the time since they left, the hive had changed the layout of the tunnels. When they were still here, the first floor was basically 3 rooms connected to each other via a short tunnel. Since then, the hive had dug in more tunnels to confuse any potential enemy. Now there were 3 openings at the back of the first room, 2 of which led to dead ends. The hive was wondering if they need to send a guide for the Fire idiots when they saw that the Fire Hive needed no help. Three small red lights came out of the floating ball of fire and went through the three available tunnels. The spirits of the hive realized the red lights of the Fire Hive was some sort of recon spell as the red lights went through the whole tunnel before blinking out at the dead ends. The Fire Hive then proceeded through the correct tunnel.

    When they reached the second room, the Fire Hive was faced with the same problem and once again, the Fire Hive sent out 3 small red lights. By this time, the argument within the hive had totally stopped. The Fire Hive had clearly discovered ways to use their power that the hive had not and the hive was spilt between those spirits that were proud of the Fire spirits and those who thought the Fire spirits were just lucky.

    The trick the Fire Hive pulled with the red lights worked again as they once again chose the right tunnel. Just like that, the floating ball of fire that was the Fire Hive reached the last room of the first floor. Some of the spirits within the hive immediately wanted to bring out You-Who-Are-Not-Bear to fight the floating ball of fire but they were easily overruled by the rest of the hive.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    This was a visit; not a challenge.

    The Fire Hive went down the slope to the second floor and once more, it stopped. The second floor of the tunnels had underwent a major revamp and now was a maze of twisting tunnels that intersected with each other at various points. The attack by The Grand a few winters ago had showed the hive the usefulness of having a maze. During that attack, the maze of the third floor was a major success for the hive and since then, the hive had the idea of duplicating the maze. Now the second, third and fourth floor of their tunnels were all mazes and if not for the underground forest of the fifth floor, the hive would have made that floor a maze as well.

    Turning so many floors into mazes did not come without objections of course. Several of the spirits within the hive thought that there were too many mazes and that the hive should have more variety in their defenses. The Fire Hive proved that these spirits were right. As useful as the maze was against humans, it was proving less than effective against the Fire Hive. It once again shot out small red lights into the second floor and proceeded to float in the right direction. Unlike the first floor which only had traps, there were several creatures that made the second floor their home. The hive sent out a call to the creatures, telling them not to attack the floating ball of fire.

    Thus the Fire Hive went on to the third floor where they once again shot out their lights. Unlike the first two floors however, this time the Fire hive did not come straight down. Instead, the Fire Hive took a detour. It did not take long for the hive to figure out why.

    One of the Fire Hive¡¯s lights had reached one of the new creatures and it evidently got the Fire Hive¡¯s interest. The Fire Hive reached the room where the creature was and when it saw the creature, the Fire Hive floated around the creature. The spirits within the hive wasn¡¯t too sure but from the reaction of the floating ball of fire, they thought that the Fire Hive was impressed with it.

    The creature in the room was named a ¡°bull-man¡± by the Naming Committee of the hive simply because it had the head of a bull and the body of a man. Despite the less than imaginative name, the part man and part bull creature looked fearsome with a body that was ripping with muscles. The hive did not know why the bull-men was so muscular, they just turned out that way why they were changed. The hive also did not know why the bull-man loved the mazes so much. Unlike the other creatures they had, the bull-men seem to prefer the confusing mazes of the second, third, and fourth fifth floors to the underground forest of the fifth. The bull-men however weren¡¯t too clever and this bull-man was snorting aggressively at the Fire Hive. This despite the hive¡¯s call earlier not to attack! Some of the spirits within the hive immediately responded by saying the bull-man hadn¡¯t attack yet so technically it wasn¡¯t disobeying the hive but sometimes the hive do wondered...

    Luckily for the hive, and the bull-man, the Fire Hive decided that it had seem enough and began floating away from the bull-man. It continued it¡¯s journey down to the underground forest stopping only occasionally when it saw something that¡¯s of interest. Those were the Chieftain and the Porkasus who both seem to understand that the floating ball of fire was the Fire Hive. The spirits within the hive wondered how they knew this because the hive never told the creatures¡­

    The Fire Hive moved on. By this time several of the creatures had decided to follow the floating ball of fire and when it finally reached the underground forest, it had gained quite a following. It was met at the entrance of the forest by the Alpha and his entourage. Word of the arrival of the Fire Hive had spread and the leader of the Werewolves was there to greet the Fire Hive. He was not alone.

    Outside other Werewolves and Ratlings, the Fox Mother and her foxmen were with the Alpha. The Fire Hive seem especially impressed with the Fox Mother, floating around the 5-tailed fox several times before moving on to the foxmen. The young foxmen were uncomfortable with the strange floating ball but a reassuring hand from the Alpha told them to keep still and let the Fire Hive finished it¡¯s inspection.

    After quite a while, it did so and moved on. This time the Fire Hive came straight to the hive, stopping only once when it spotted a horned rabbit. When it finally reached them, a strange feeling overcame the hive. Despite their recklessness and stupidity, the hive was glad to see the Fire Hive.

    *Hi morons! Long time no see!*

    The spirits within the hive roared into laughter at the greeting. They responded accordingly.

    *Yeah, it¡¯s been awhile. Welcome home you idiots!*

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 12- The Pending Offer

    *It¡¯s good to be back. You guys really did some work in the time we were gone.*

    *Of course! What? You guys think we were just lazing around?*

    *Hahaha! Exactly we did. We thought you guys would be doing nothing but digging!*

    *Guess this was another example of you idiots being wrong¡­again.*

    The floating ball of fire wobbled in the air, indicating that the Fire Spirits were having a good laugh at the good-natured insult. The eye on the floating ball of fire moved to look at the Fox Mother before quickly moving back to look at the hive.

    *That many-tailed fox proves that you morons hadn¡¯t been lazy but we thought it was supposed to have 9 tails. This one only got 5. What happened?*

    *Who knows? You know how it goes¡­we pour energy into it, concentrate on the tail and it came out with 5 instead 9.*

    *Any ideas why?*

    *Your guess is as good as ours. The closest thing we could think of is the number of spirits we have in the hive but that¡¯s probably wrong.*

    *Oh! We never thought of that. Fire; Water; Nature; Air; Earth; 5 types of spirits in the hive so 5 tails! That exactly make some sort of sense.*

    *But who knows if it¡¯s right? Enough about us; what happened to you guys? We felt that big blast of energy even from here. What by the name of the 99 Gods did you idiots do?*

    *We got bored.*

    *Bored?*

    *You guys know how it is. Made the tunnels, create the creatures but¡­no human visitors! The volcano we were in had no humans anywhere near so we decided to do something to get the humans to visit.*

    *Uh¡­can¡¯t you idiots just get your creatures to attack the humans?*

    *Too few humans around to make that a worthwhile effort. So we decided to do something ¡®big¡¯ to get their attention.*

    *¡­well, it definitely works because even we sent the Speaker to investigate. And we knew it was you idiots! The humans would definitely go in force towards you.*

    *That¡¯s our hope. Oh yeah! We met the Speaker! She and her group reached us already! She actually wanted to come back here to report but we told her to stay for a few days and we would visit you morons ourselves.*

    *Oh that¡¯s good. Good thing they¡¯re safe. The Alpha pretty angry with her for going all the way to Mount Morningstar. Coming to that¡­how are you guys here? What is this ball of fire we¡¯re looking at?*Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    *It¡¯s a spell.*

    *A spell?*

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Like we said, we have very few visitors and it was boring just creating new creatures all the time so one day, we decided to try something that would allow us to see outside the volcano.*

    *And your answer was a floating ball of fire with an eye in it?*

    * Admittingly, this floating ball wasn¡¯t what we were going for but hey, it works!*

    *Well, the ball of fire looks amazing. How far can you guys go with the spell?¡±

    *No idea really. We haven¡¯t reached the limit but the further we go from our volcano, the more energy we need to use to power it.*

    *That makes sense but what about now? How much energy are you guys are using to ¡®see¡¯ the Kar Mountains from Mount Morningstar?*

    *Hard to say but it about what we use to create a brand new creature. However it takes more energy to maintain the ¡®Eye¡¯ than to actually create it. That¡¯s the main problem.*

    *The Eye?*

    *Oh yes, that¡¯s what humans called it. We sometimes used the eye to look at the human settlements but every time they see us, they go screaming, ¡°The Eye!¡±, ¡°The Eye!¡±, and then they go ¡°Run!¡± Don¡¯t ask us why, we don¡¯t get it ourselves.*

    *Um¡­humans are so strange sometimes.*

    *Tell us about it! Most of the time, they even attack us!*

    *Attack you?*

    *Our floating Eye! We were just floating there looking at them and the next thing we know, arrows and spells are flying at us!*

    *That¡¯s just rude! We hope you guys weren¡¯t hurt.*

    *No, but we lost the eye when it get hit and that was a waste of energy.*

    *Rude*

    *Totally!*

    *But it¡¯s good to hear you guys aren¡¯t hurt when you lose the Eye though we have to wonder why the humans attack it.*

    *We¡¯re not sure but it may have something to do with what they think the Eye is.*

    *Oh?*

    *The first time they saw the Eye the humans said something like, ¡°Behold; a monster!¡± Maybe they thought it was some sort of monster.*

    *Um¡­humans are so stupid sometimes. Mistaking a spell for a monster*

    *Tell us about it!*

    *Still, this spell looks fun. Teach us how to do it.*

    *Sorry but¡­No!*

    *No?*

    *No*

    *But¡­why not you stupid idiots?*

    *We spent a lot of time and energy getting this spell right. We¡¯re not just going to it to you guys.*

    *That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s¡­*

    *We are however willing to trade this spell to you for something new that we don¡¯t have. If you guys got some new knowledge or spell, we are willing to trade information.*

    *A trade?*

    *A trade*

    *That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s¡­that¡¯s so unlike you guys. Since when are you idiots so smart? You idiots had been thinking about this for awhile, haven¡¯t you?*

    *We shall neither confirm nor deny anything. You guys interested?*

    *¡­yes¡­*

    *Great! What do you guys have to trade?*

    ¡°Hang on.*

    The spirits within the hive immediately went into frenzy. All of them wanted the spell of the Fire Hive but almost all of them also acknowledged that they had a simple big problem¡­

    ¡°We have nothing to trade.¡± A spirit said.

    ¡°Yes, we do!¡± Another spirit argued. ¡°We created creatures like the Horned Rabbit and the Fox Mother. We can use those to trade.¡±

    ¡°Oh please¡­you think the Fire Spirits don¡¯t know how to do those things? They were right here when we created the Cerberus. They want something new!¡±

    ¡°Wait, are we calling the three-head dogs Cerberus? I/we thought we weren¡¯t going to use that name?¡±

    ¡°WHAT? You are focused on that despite the problem we have now?¡±

    ¡°We are a hive. We can focus on a lot of things at the same time. So are we going to use that name?¡±

    ¡°Oh, will you shut up about that! Focus on the problem on hand please!¡±

    ¡°Okay, no need to shout. Just asking¡­¡±

    ¡°Look,¡± a spirit finally said. ¡°Let¡¯s just tell the Fire idiots we have nothing. All we did since they left were digging and creating some new creatures. Tell them to give the spell to us and we would return the favor in the future.¡±

    ¡°NO!¡±

    The vast majority of the hive objected to this immediately. Most of them had no desired to be laughed at by the Fire Spirits and then¡­one of the spirits had an idea.

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 13- The Fair Trade

    ¡°NO!¡± A spirit objected immediately. ¡°We are not going to use the ¡®Appraisal¡¯ to trade with them.¡±

    ¡°Why not? It¡¯s something new that the Fire Hive doesn¡¯t have. We can use it.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean why not?¡± The spirit asked incredulously. ¡°It¡¯s a failure. We all agree it was a failure. We can¡¯t even see any numbers with it. All we get are a bunch of letters we aren¡¯t even sure about.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not quite true.¡± Another spirit argued. ¡°We already discussed this and we believed A is better than B, which is better than C, which is better than¡­¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯re not sure!¡± The spirit argued back. ¡°We¡¯re not sure if A really is better than B. That¡¯s just what we think!¡±

    ¡°Yes but the Fire spirits don¡¯t know that and they don¡¯t know the ¡®Appraisal¡¯ is a failure of a spell. We ask for the ¡®Eye¡¯ first then we give them the ¡®Appraisal¡¯. By the time they figure it out, it¡¯ll be too late for them to do anything.¡±

    ¡°We are not cheating them!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not cheating. There¡¯s an actual trade just¡­we get more out of the trade than they do. That¡¯s not really cheating.¡±

    ¡°How is that not cheating?¡±

    ¡°We do give them a new spell they don¡¯t have. No one said anything about it having to be a good useful spell.¡±

    ¡°HOW IS THAT NOT CHEATING?¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait,¡± another joined in the argument. ¡°Before you guys continue, aren¡¯t all of you guys forgetting something important?¡±

    ¡°WHAT?¡±

    ¡°Do any of you want to be known as losers who did nothing but digging?¡±

    With that, the argument stopped and most of the spirits within the hive came to an agreement. The spirits weren¡¯t in total agreement of course but the majority of them had no desire to be known as losers by the Fire idiots. Once the argument was settled, the trade of information began and it was quick. The hive was actually surprised by how the ¡®Eye¡¯ works.

    Unlike normal creatures, neither of the hives actually sees, hear, taste, smell or hear. Both hives were crystals and neither of them had the body parts needed to perform such functions. Made of spirits, what the hives actually did was to sense their surroundings. There are spirits everywhere in the world and what the hives did was to sense the spirits around them and used them to see, hear, taste, smell and hear their surroundings. However there was a limit on how far they could do this and what the Fire Hive did was quite ingenious. They cut out their other senses.

    The ¡®Eye¡¯ really was just that. It was an eye for the Fire Hive to see beyond their volcano and that was all it was. What the Fire Hive did when they created the ¡®Eye¡¯ was to cut out all their other senses from it. For the hive, it had never even occurred to any of the spirits within the hive to cut out their other senses. That would be the equivalent of one of their creatures volunteering to be deaf and mute.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    That was exactly what the Fire Hive did.

    The Fire Hive discovered that if they cut out the other senses, they could make the ¡®Eye¡¯ go beyond the hive¡¯s area of influence. The idea wasn¡¯t prefect. The further the ¡®Eye¡¯ went from their hive, the more energy it took to maintain it and the fact that they can¡¯t hear anything was a great disadvantage. Even right now, the Fire hive can¡¯t hear anything any sound coming from the underground forest and the Kin.

    To the Kin surrounding them, the ¡®Eye¡¯ and the Creator were just floating next to each other. Even though they understood that the hives were speaking to each other, no sounds were coming from the ¡®Eye¡¯ or their Creator. To the Kin, the hives were speaking to each other on a higher plane that was beyond their understanding. In a way, the Kin were right. The ¡®language¡¯ of the two hives was not through sound or action but through their ability of understanding each other using the spirits around them. It was the only way they were able to communicate with each other and now with the ¡®Eye¡¯, the Fire Hive had discovered a way for them to ¡®understand¡¯ each other no matter how far away from each other they were.

    Not only that, the ¡®Eye¡¯ was versatile. According to the Fire Hive, they could add other abilities to the ¡®Eye¡¯ like hearing and smell though this would cut down on the distance the ¡®Eye¡¯ could travel. Usually when they were just looking around their volcano, the Fire Hive would have all the senses active. To the spirits of the hive, the ¡®Eye¡¯ was great and many of them were ready looking forward to roam around their mountain. With the spell under their belt, the hive then proceeded to give the Fire Hive the ¡®Appraisal¡¯ spell. To the hive¡¯s great surprise, the Fire Hive¡­

    *THIS IS GREAT!*

    *Right, right, this¡­wait, what?*

    *This is great! What a wonderful ability! Instead of numbers, you guys found a new to make things so much easier. This is wonderful!*

    *Uh¡­um¡­right?*

    *Right! You guys really haven¡¯t been lazy. You actually found a way to improve on things. This is truly a wonderful improvement!*

    *Right¡­right¡­so you guys don¡¯t mind letters instead of numbers?*

    *Who needs numbers? It¡¯s not as if there¡¯s a great different between 15 and 16. More to the point, who could remember all the numbers of all the creatures? It¡¯s not as if we write everything down in a book. This is so much better!*

    *So you guys¡­like this spell?*

    *We don¡¯t like it; we loved it!*

    *Oh¡­that¡¯s¡­great. We knew you Fire id¡­geniuses would love it.*

    *¡­*

    *Fire Hive?*

    *¡­*

    *Fire Spirits? You guys still there?*

    *¡­*

    *Did we lose connection? Anyone still there?*

    *We¡¯re here! Okay, we had discussed this and we have decided to give you all a new spell for this ¡®Appraisal¡¯.*

    *WHAT?*

    *This spell you gave us is so good and useful, this trade is just unfair. We¡¯re giving another spell to make up for it.*

    *WHAT?*

    *We said this spell you gave us is¡­*

    *You¡­uh¡­WHAT? WHY?*

    *The trade should be fair right? We¡¯re giving you another spell to make thing right.*

    *Uh¡­make things¡­NO! There¡¯s no need.*

    *No, no. no. We insist! The trade needs to be fair.*

    *Uh¡­No. There¡¯s really no need.*

    *We insist.*

    *¡­there¡¯s really no need.*

    *We insist.*

    *No¡­please, don¡¯t!*

    *We insist.*

    *¡­really...it¡¯s not necessary¡­*

    *It¡¯s totally necessary! Fair trade is good for everyone right? This trade should be fair.*

    *¡­if you guys really insist¡­*

    *We do. We most definitely do! Now this is the spell we used to change the land around us. We call it the ¡®nothing-untouched-killer-explosion¡¯!*

    The Fire Hive immediately went on to inform the hive on how the spell works. The spirits within the hive could only listen on in silence and amazement. They could not believe the Fire Hive was just, on the basis of fairness, giving them a new spell. As the Fire Hive was going on about the new spell, one of the spirits within the hive just had to comment.

    ¡°Wow! Compare to them, we are such asses!¡±

    <u>End of Book 1 </u>

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 14- The Morningstar Maze

    ¡°Here we have the area we call ''The Training Arena'', please watch your step.¡±

    The Speaker and her fellow Werewolves followed the demon Doxuhr onto a ledge that overlook a circular room with a flat ground. All the Werewolves were in their human form and as they looked down at the ground below them, they could see several demons already in training. The demons were gigantic creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. However expect for their huge size and twin horns, they looked surprisingly human. The only odd thing about them was their skin color which was either red or blue. Each of them was armed with a big iron club and they were all swinging at a giant stone placed in front of them.

    ¡°NO! You guys are big but stop trying to brute force your opponents into submission. Use your body. Turn your hips. Follow through on your swing.¡±

    As normal-looking as those big demons were, their instructor was anything but. Towering over the demons, their instruction was a bear-like demon who was covered with black fur. Walking upright, he looked strong and was barking out instructions to his pupils. The Speaker was no warrior but the demonic instructor seen to know what he was doing and she wasn¡¯t the only one who thought so.

    ¡°That bear demon is an instructor?¡± Darmin asked. The big Werewolf was looking intently at the action below them and he had a look the Speaker had seen before. He wanted to go down to test his mettle against the demons below. Males will be males.

    ¡°Hellmight was a famed warrior in the area. He was part of a group looking to destroy the master and was so impressive the master decided to change him instead of killing him. Now he¡¯s helping the rest of the demons with their melee combat.¡±

    ¡°Melee combat? You mean you have other instructors here in the mountain.¡± Kinshra asked immediately.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Doxuhr proudly replied. ¡°We have other trainers for magic, hunting and certain jobs. If you are interested, I could show you the areas later.¡±

    ¡°Why not have everyone in one area? Wouldn¡¯t that be better?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately we don¡¯t have a jack-of-all-trades expert like the Speaker here. Our trainers are more specialized so it makes more sense for the training to be held at different area.¡± Doxuhr smiled ruefully at the Werewolf who asked the question before continuing. ¡°Besides, we have the room.¡±

    Indeed they do. What¡¯s the difference between the tunnels in the Kar Mountains and the tunnels in a dormant volcano? The answer was the layout. In the Kar Mountains, the tunnels of the Creator consist of several floors each with a Boss at the end of it. For humans attacking the Creator, they had to face and eliminate each Boss before they could go down to the floor below. The tunnels of the Red Creator were totally different. The tunnels in Mount Morningstar were a continuous series of volcanic tunnels that intersect with each other like a giant maze. Although there were several stairs that led up or down, there were no floors or area that attackers had to clear to advance to the next area. There were in fact multiple ways to get to any area in the tunnels and only the room of the Red Creator had a sole opening.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    This was quite deliberate. Although the Red Creator never properly explained it to the demons, the demons understood that the confusing maze meant that there would never be a time when the demons could be held back by attackers. There was no way any humans attacking the Creator could create a bottleneck as the demons would just use another way to go around the attackers. This was in fact something that the demons did on the few occasions humans had tried attacking their Master. Thus far, they had been very successful. Personally, she preferred the more structural approach of the Kar Mountains but the Speaker can¡¯t argue with the results. She had been informed that no one, even the group Hellmight was in, had ever managed to reach the room of the Red Creator.

    ¡°Impressive,¡± the Speaker said.

    Doxuhr beamed in delight and the Speaker smiled diplomatically back at him. Since the Red Creator had named her as the Speaker, the demons of Mount Morningstar had been treating her as a foreign dignitary. It seems the Red Creator had informed the demons of a Creator in the Kar Mountains and somehow it had gave the demons the wrong idea of her role as the ¡°Speaker¡± of the Creator. To the Speaker, she was just the conduit between the Creator and the Kin. All she did was to relay the Creator¡¯s orders to the Kin and maybe at times helped the Alpha and Chieftain on how to implement those commands. For some reason, the Demons believed that she was more than that. They were led to believe she was more like an advisor and strategist to the Creator. Now that she¡¯s here, the demons have added the titles of diplomat and ambassador to her as well!

    The demons had been trying their best to impress her but the Speaker just found the whole thing irritating. She was no diplomat but for the sake of both the Kin and the Demons she now had to be one. Even though it wasn¡¯t her Creator, the Speaker wasn¡¯t about to contradict and correct the Red Creator¡­even if it was giving out wrong information.

    Faking a smile wasn¡¯t new to the Speaker but she did find it exhausting. She had thought she was beyond that now. Eager to show off his home, Doxuhr led the group of Werewolves further into the dormant volcano. The Speaker wished he could go faster. Whereas the Werewolves were given a guided tour, Apep and the demons in their group had been brought straight to the Red Creator for some sort of ceremony. The Speaker was far more interested in that ceremony than getting lost in the maze of tunnels.

    The tunnels of the Red Creator were extensive and multilayered, and the Werewolves would be hopelessly lost without a guide. The Speaker had no doubt that was the point of having such an elaborate system in place but she also had little doubt Doxuhr was taking them on a roundabout way to the Red Creator in order to show his home, and the tour was beginning to trying her patience. The group entered an area that was a big cavern. Several man-sized rocks that looked like they were shot out of the ground littered the area but it was the creatures that populated the room that got the attention of the Werewolves. The creatures in the room weren¡¯t demons.

    The Speaker had seen enough of the demons to have a rough idea of their characteristics. They came in all shapes, colors and sizes but all the demons had one thing in common; they had horns. The creatures in front of the Werewolves did not. Red in color, the creatures were giant lizards that walked on two legs and had two short arms. They had big heads with powerful looking jaws and a long, heavy tail. They looked strong, powerful, and very dangerous.

    ¡°What are those?¡± Darmin asked voice full of admiration.

    ¡°The Master was trying to create something called a ¡°Powerful-Unique-Fire-Flinger¡± but failed. These were the failed experiments.¡±

    ¡°These are the ¡°failures¡±?¡± The Speaker thought that it was incredulous these creatures were considered failures.

    ¡°Oh yes! Sad really, they are very powerful but the Master said they were supposed to have wings, horns and the ability to breathe fire.¡±

    ¡°¡­what are they called?¡±

    ¡°Nothing really. The Master never named them. It just called them ¡°Those Redundant Experiments¡±.¡±

    ¡°So what do the rest of you call them?¡±

    ¡°The T-Rex.¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 15- A New Life

    ¡°Do they stay in here all the time?¡± The Speaker was interested as the T-Rexes were three to four times taller than a human and there was no way they could get out of the cavern from the openings she saw.

    ¡°Down here.¡± Doxuhr led the Werewolves further into the cavern where a pit was located. Looking into the deep pit, the Speaker saw 3 openings in it, two of which were big enough for the T-Rexes. However¡­

    ¡°How do they get up and down from there?¡± Darmin asked the question first. The pit was deep and the Speaker could see no way of going up or down except for climbing the walls. Looking at them, somehow the Speaker doubted that the T-Rexes were built for climbing.

    ¡°They just jump.¡±

    ¡°THEY JUMP?¡± All the Werewolves asked at the same time. This was a very deep pit. Doxuhr just smiled.

    ¡°I know. It shock me the first time I saw it too but the T-Rex are very good at jumping. The T-Rex may look clumsy but this is actually an easy jump for them. They¡¯re also very fast. I actually saw one of them chase down a horse before and with their jaws, one bite is pretty much all they need to kill something.¡±

    ¡°So they are very fast; very strong; and very powerful¡­but they are failures?¡±

    Doxuhr could only shrug at Kinshra¡¯s question. There was nothing he could say and the Speaker understood his dilemma. The demons probably didn¡¯t think of the T-Rexes as failures but the Creators were higher beings and it¡¯s not always possible to understand them. There were times when the Speaker¡¯s Creator made no sense to her either but she comforted herself in knowing she did not have to understand the orders, only to obey. Ignoring the pit, Doxuhr led the Werewolves further into the maze. The tunnels linking the various areas within the maze were circular in shape and at times, Doxuhr would introduce the Werewolves to the traps placed within the tunnels. The Speaker had to admit that some of the new traps the Red Creator created were interesting. There was a trap where hot steam would come out of the floor scalding the people standing on top of the trap; one where flames would shoot out of the walls; and a variation of the pitfall trap where hot lava would drop from the ceiling. Outside them, there were explosive mines which were placed throughout the maze.

    Then they came into another cave. Unlike the T-Rex cavern and the Training Area, this cave had a lot of small holes on the walls. Most of the holes were high up and the moment the Werewolves stepped into the cave, small red lights appeared from the holes. One of the lights immediately flew down to the group and the Speaker took a good look at it. As she suspected, it was a fairy and she noticed that this fairy looked very similar.

    ¡°No way.¡± She blurred out the words before as the fairy came closer. The Speaker recognized this fairy but it was impossible. It has been several winters since the Red Creator left the Kar Mountains, there¡¯s just no way!

    ¡°Speaker!¡± The fairy came to a stop before the Werewolves, floating in mid-air like it was the most normal thing in the world. ¡°I heard you were here. I was hoping to see you before you leave!¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°You¡­¡± There was no way this fairy could be alive but there he was, flapping his wings in front of her. The Speaker¡¯s eyes blinked furiously but he was still there. She had to ask. ¡°How are you still alive?¡±

    The fairy smiled and told her the truth. ¡°Thanks the Master! I know I should be dead but I¡¯m not. Seems that my contract with the Master had prolong my lifespan.¡±

    Unlike most of the creatures under their control, fairies weren¡¯t created by the Creators but by human mages. However humans did not have the abilities of the Creators and fairies created by the human mages last only weeks before dying. Even when they were alive, the fairies were tied to the mages who created them and the Speaker had never even heard of a fairy who lasted one whole season. Here in front of her was one that had lasted several. Once more, the Speaker could only marvel at the greatness of the Creators. When the Fire Creator stole the fairies from the humans, the Speaker knew the Fire Creator had changed the fairies but for the Creator to extend the lifespan of a creature was unbelievable. The Speaker suddenly thought of herself and wondered how old she could grow to be. It was then that she noticed several other lights floating down to them. These lights were smaller, dimmer, and the Speaker realized what they were.

    ¡°Impossible!¡±

    The fairy was now laughing, a mad crazy laugh, and the Speaker can¡¯t blame him. She felt like doing the same thing. Getting his laughter under control, the fairy introduced the smaller lights. ¡°I know! Impossible right but here they are. These are my children!¡±

    It was too much for the Speaker. A fairy that lived for several winters and was able to have children? The Speaker knew the Creators could create life and changed them but this¡­for the Creators to change a magically created creature and give them the ability to procreate? To give real life to artificial magical constructs? The Speaker had to laugh and laugh she did, an uninhibited laugh that soon echoed throughout the cave. When she finally stopped, Doxuhr gave her a strange look before quickly ushering the Werewolves further into the maze. Saying goodbye to the fairy, the Werewolves soon reached another cave which had a wide platform surrounded by a pool of lava. Three paths led to the platform and beyond the platform was another path that led further into the volcano. Doxuhr led the Werewolves down that path where they entered yet another cave. The Speaker immediately noticed that this one was different. This cave had a dome ceiling. More importantly, at the top of the dome was a huge gaping opening and sunlight shone down from it. Sunlight that shone down on a floating red crystal. The Werewolves had reached the center of the Morningstar Maze and the Red Creator was now finally in front of them. They were not alone. Several demons were in the vicinity and one of them was the demon Apep. He looked up as the Werewolves entered the cave and waved at them. Left with little choice, the Werewolves approached the demon mage.

    ¡°A spirit matrix!¡± The mage was practically gushing. ¡°You guys know your ¡°Creator¡± is a spirit matrix?¡±

    The Speaker couldn¡¯t help but smile at that. ¡°I think the Creators are far more than that, don¡¯t you?¡±

    That caught the mage short and he quickly corrected himself. ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯re right. This matrix/master/creator is certainly different from any spirit matrix I heard of. It¡¯s¡­¡±

    Then the Red Creator began glowing. Apep slithered back from the Creator but the Speaker had seen this before. The Creators had the ability to be at several places at once but they usually concentrate on one location at a time. The Speaker had been told by the Red Creator it would visit the Creator directly and she thought the Kar Mountains was where it was focused on. The glow meant it was now back. The Speaker was about to get on her knees when a word entered her head. It was a word from the Red Creator and it would change everything.

    *Appraisal*

    *Appraisal*

    *Appraisal*

    *Appraisal*

    *Appraisal*

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­............................................................................................

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 16- The Floating Creature

    Since the beginning, the hive knew of the Great Kar Forest. The hive know the great forest was just outside it''s tunnels, it could even sense the forest, but the hive had never seen it. The hive had never seen the umber-brown trees or the green grass of the great forest; it could only sense that the forest was there. It was a torturous ordeal for the Nature Spirits within the hive.

    So once the Fire Hive had left, the Nature spirits within the hive immediately wanted to use the Eye to go into the Great Kar Forest. They faced no objections from the rest of the hive. The spirits of the hive quickly gathered the needed energy, convert the energy to power the spell, and released the spell near the entrance of the tunnel. The result of the spell was a small floating eyeball no bigger than a rabbit. Unlike the Fire Hive''s flaming ball of fire, the eye the hive created was simple. It was just a simple floating white eyeball with a green iris. It was so simple that some of the spirits immediately demanded that the hive do something to change it. Some of the spirits wanted the Eye to have more colors; some of the spirits wanted the Eye to be bigger; others wanted both. In the end, the hive decided not to change anything as it was deem a waste of energy.

    The Nature spirit controlling the Eye went out of the tunnel into the open. Several of the Kin were there guarding the entrance and all of them stared at the small floating eyeball. The Nature spirit controlling the Eye ignored them and went straight for the forest. As a hive, the rest of the spirits had a connection to the Nature spirit controlling the Eye and could sense what the Eye could. The hive found that the Eye was basically a sort of Floor Boss only much weaker as it was not tied to their tunnels. The hive also found that they need to use more energy to maintain the connection the further the Eye was from the tunnels. Some of the Earth spirits immediately wanted the hive to cut off some of the senses to save energy but they were overwhelming overruled by the rest of the hive. The spirits within the hive couldn''t wait to test out the Eye and they weren''t going to let an alien concept like saving energy stop them.

    The Eye pushed on into the Great Kar Forest and the composting, organic smell of the forest almost overwhelmed the Nature spirit controlling it. The smell was heavenly to it. As the Eye venture deeper into the Kar, the iris turned left and right, watching everything it passed. From the giant roots of the ancient trees to the green foliage above it, the Eye saw everything and the Nature spirit controlling it loved it. It wanted to see every part of the forest and nothing was going to stop it; not even the stupid monkey that was currently following it.

    Monkeys are omnivores that have a wide range of enemies. As such, they are cautious animals and this monkey was no exception. Even as it was eating the sweet berry that was in its hands, the monkey was wide alert for any potential danger. A cautious animal, the monkey was ready to run at the first sign of danger. However, cautious as it was, the monkey was also a curious animal. So when the monkey saw the strange creature, it didn''t run but instead stood still and watch.

    High up on a tree branch, the monkey looked down at the strange creature and didn''t recognize it. The strange creature was a floating round thing that looked like an eye and the monkey was sure this was the first time it seem such a creature. For some reason, the rabbit wasn''t afraid. The strange creature was floating slowly through the forest and it was only a little bigger than a small rabbit. The monkey was sure it could run away from the strange creature if it needed to. The floating thing was too small and slow to be a threat.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    Then the floating eye stopped. The iris of the strange creature turned upwards and it was now looking directly at the monkey. The monkey took another bite of the berry, ready to drop it and run the moment the strange creature turned aggressive. It didn''t. The strange creature just floated there, then it turned back and continued on it''s journey. The monkey looked at the strange creature floating away, turned it''s head in bemusement, and then got back to eating it''s berry. A few quick bites later, the berry was gone and the monkey had nothing to do. On a wimp, the monkey decided to follow the strange floating creature.

    This was something the monkey had never done before and it didn''t really know why it was doing so now. It just had a feeling about this strange floating creature and that something good and important would happen if it followed it. The strange floating creature was looking at everything it passes like it was some watchful guardian of the forest. The monkey then realized the creature was looking for something and the monkey stopped, wondering if the strange creature was hunting. It quickly dismissed that idea; the floating creature looked totally harmless. The monkey followed the creature once more, eager to see what secrets would be revealed to it.

    The strange floating creature made a sharp turn and began to move quicker. The monkey realized the strange creature had found what it was looking for and decided to follow it closely. The duo went further into the forest and the trees suddenly fell away. Without a branch to leap onto, the monkey was stopped dead in it''s tracks. The floating creature had arrived at a small glade and the monkey saw that there was a luminous pool of water in the middle of the glade. The beautiful and strange pool wasn''t what had the monkey''s attention though; that was taken by the strange majestic creatures that had made the glade their home.

    The monkey had seen horses before but it had never seen horses like these. White as snow, these horses had a long horn sticking out of their foreheads and when they moved, they were more graceful than any creature the monkey had ever seen before. The floating creature headed towards the pool of water and the monkey noticed that the strange horses bowed their heads slightly as the creature floated passed them. Only the two calves didn''t do so but that was quickly corrected when one of the adult horses gave them a good bump.

    The strange creature floated above the pool of water and looked straight down at it. The shining waters cast a reflection on the floating creature that made it looked like it was transparent saved for a small green glow in the middle of the creature. After a long time, the floating creature looked up from the pool and made a full turn in mid-air. It then began to move and the monkey realized the floating creature was leaving the glade. The monkey was tore. The monkey didn''t know whether to continue following the strange creature or to stay at the strange glade. As the monkey was pondering the decision, the answer was made for it by the movement of the clouds.

    For a brief moment, the sun was blocked and as the light waned, the luminous pool of water shone brighter. The monkey was spellbound by the sight. It was the most beautiful thing it had ever seen. Unconsciously, the monkey began to move towards the pool of water. It only realized what it had done when it saw it''s reflection in the still waters. Then the waters moved and the monkey noticed that the horned horses were drinking from the pool. The monkey realized that it was thirsty and took a quick drink. The effect was immediate.

    The monkey felt lighter, quicker, and stronger. The monkey stopped drinking and looked at it''s reflection again. The monkey thought that it''s brown fur was shiner than before and wondered what would happen if it drank more of the water. The monkey decided to find out. Forgetting the strange floating creature, the monkey got back to drinking. That one brief thought was the biggest change the water had on the monkey.

    Unknowingly, the monkey was slowly becoming smarter.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Please visit my blog at http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg/</a>

 Part 17- The Unicorn Glade

    The Great Kar Forest was huge and the Eye was wandering aimlessly through it. The Nature spirit controlling the Eye knew it originally came from the forest but back then it was just a mindless non-sentient magical being. It was here in the forest but back then it didn''t feel, smell, or hear. It does now. The Nature spirit was feeling everything it pass and it couldn''t get enough of it. It felt alive.

    Halfway through it''s wandering, the Nature spirit controlling the Eye felt the strange energy. Curious at what it was, the Nature spirit decided to investigate and found the Unicorn Glade. Unlike the other creatures the hive had created, the Unicorns seldom came back to the tunnels. They made their home in the Great Kar Forest and only occasionally returned to the hive. The hive didn''t really mind. The spirits within the hive had heard of the Kin speaking about the other homes they had created outside the tunnels and for the most part didn''t really care about them. The Unicorn Glade made them wondered if they had made a mistake.

    The moment the Eye floated into the Unicorn Glade, the hive felt the energy of the place. An energy that was different from the forest. There was a sense of peace and serenity in this glade and the source of the feelings was a small pool of water that was in the middle of the glade. As the Eye approached the shining pool of water, the spirits within the hive noted the two young Unicorn foals and were glad to see them. There weren''t many horses around so the spirits had never made any new Unicorns since the original five. They were glad to see that the population of the Unicorns was growing without them but seeing the foals made some of the spirits suggest that the hive make more Unicorns in the future.

    For now, the hive was only interested in the strange pool of water. Floating above the pool, the Eye looked at the waters and could sense the magic in it. The problem was that the Eye had no idea why the pool was magical and what effects it had. On a wimp, the Nature spirit controlling the Eye cast ''Appraisal''?. The hive immediately felt energy draining from the Eye. It seems that the cost of casting the spell was taken from the Eye and not from the hive. The spirits quickly decided that this was because the Eye away from the tunnels and there was no way for the Eye to take the energy as it was away from the hive''s area of influence.

    It was good information to know and the spirits within the hive quickly decided to never do it again. Not only was there an increase in energy cost, the results of the ''Appraisal'' was less than desirable. All the hive got from the appraisal was a strange name, ''The Resting Pool''?. Outside the name, there was nothing of note. The appraisal didn''t give the hive any information on what the pool did or how it came to be. This was especially frustrating to the hive as the spirits could clearly see the effects the hive had on the surroundings. The flora surrounding the pool was different and even without ''Appraisal''?, the hive knew that the pool had change the grass surrounding the pool in some ways. The spirits within the hive went into a discussion/argument conference and it was a lively one. The hive had just decided never to use ''Appraisal''? outside the tunnels and some of the spirits within the hive were in disbelief that they were going to go back on their decision so soon. Others within the hive couldn''t care less about breaking the decision they just made. They were curious about the grass.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    As the spirits within the hive argued, the Eye just do nothing but float above the pool of water. At first, the Nature spirit controlling the Eye waited for the discussion/argument conference to end but after a long wait, it could see that the conference was going nowhere. Bored with the waiting, the Nature spirit decided to take things into it''s own hands. The Nature spirit took the energy that was powering the Eye and cast the ''Appraisal''? spell. Much like the pool, the results were unsatisfactory. The strange flora was named ''Healing Grass''? but outside that, there no further information from the appraisal. The hive was in an uproar at the Nature''s spirit decision and a new crack appeared on the crystal that housed the hive. The Nature spirit just ignored the rest of the hive and float away from the pool.

    As the Eye got further and further from the Unicorn Glade, the daylight fade and the spirits within the hive went into conference on what the ''The Resting Pool''? and ''Healing Grass''? were. Most of the spirits thought that the Unicorns must have created them somehow and wondered how they did it. The spirits decided they were going to tell the Kin the location of the Unicorn Glade and get them to take some of the ''Healing Grass''? back to the tunnels. Once the hive had absorbed the ''Healing Grass''?, the spirits believe they should be able to recreate it within the tunnels. The waters in the pool were another matter however. The hive had absorbed various kinds of potions before but whenever it tried to recreate them, the quality of the potions was poor. Usually the hive just recreates the various plants and herbs needed and the Speaker and her potion-making students would mix the items to create the needed potions for the Kin. Recreating the strange waters of the pool might not be possible for the hive but the spirits had never let the possibility of failure stopped them before. The hive decided to order the Kin to bring back some of the waters as well. With the ninth floor of the tunnels done, the hive had been wondering about the creation of the tenth floor. Maybe they would use the floor to create another underground forest; that would be a good change of pace from all the mazes they had.

    As the spirits within the hive grew excited over that idea, the Nature spirit controlling the Eye sensed another strange source of energy. After seeing the Unicorn Glade, the Nature spirit excitedly headed towards the new source of energy. The source of the energy was in a camp. The Eye saw that there were several human sitting around a fire and some of them was casting some sort of spell. Humans being in the Great Kar wasn''t all that special. Even though the Kin had control of the great forest, the Kar was a big forest and there was no way the Kin could patrol every inch of it. Still, humans were a rare sight in the forest nowadays. Curious about the reason why the humans were in the forest, the Eye moved forward. The Nature spirit controlling the Eye tried to keep itself hidden but the humans must have been wary of attacks because one of them spotted the Eye almost immediately. The human''s eyes widen at the sight of the Eye and he shouted a warning to his comrades.

    "Behold! A monster!"?

    The rest of the humans jumped up and saw the Eye. They looked at the Eye in fear but that did not stop them. Spells and arrows flew through the air and the Eye was struck several times. The Eye couldn''t fight back and having wasted some of it''s energy at the Unicorn Glade, the Nature spirit controlling the Eye didn''t have the energy to maintain the spell. Left with no choice, the Nature spirit gave up the spell and the Eye disappeared in the air. The Nature spirit controlling the Eye went straight back to the hive and it was in a rage. All the Eye did was float there and look at them but those humans just attacked it for no reason! Within the crystal that was the hive, the Nature spirit screamed with anger.

    "THAT WAS SO RUDE!"

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

    ?

 Part 18- The Eye Monster

    "THAT WAS SO RUDE!"

    ¡°Yeah, that was rude!¡± Most of the hive was in agreement with the Nature spirit on this. ¡°We were just looking at them and those humans just attack us for no reason. That was uh¡­what are you guys doing?¡±

    The majority of the hive asked the Nature Spirits who were trying to gather as much energy as they could. As a hive, they knew the answer to their question the moment they asked it. The Nature spirits were trying to create some sort of monster; some sort of Eye Monster!

    ¡°Wait a moment,¡± one of the spirits immediately objected. ¡°Come on you idiots, don¡¯t overreact here. There¡¯s no need to create a new monster just for those humans.¡±

    ¡°Oh yes there is!¡± One of the Nature spirit immediately said. ¡°Behold, a monster? Oh yeah, we are going to give them a monster alright! In fact we are going to create some new monster right now just for those idiots!¡±

    ¡°Come on! This is a waste of energy. We can get the Kin to go kill them. There¡¯s no need for us to¡­¡±

    ¡°Give us the energy to create the new monster or get out of our way.¡±

    ¡°We are a hive. We can¡¯t get out of your way!¡±

    ¡°Then we just have to stop being a hive. Help us or we Nature spirits will spilt from the hive!¡±

    ¡°What? You guys are willing to spilt from the rest of us just to kill some stupid humans?¡±

    ¡°YES!¡±

    All the Nature spirits were in agreement and the rest of the spirits within the hive knows it. It¡¯s a show of how angry all the Nature spirits were but at the same time, the rest of the hive had to wonder about the threat. Simply put, breaking apart wasn¡¯t all that easy. The spirits within the hive knew how it could be done but they had never done it before. The only time the hive had spilt was when the Fire spirits broke away to form their own hive, and that happened totally by accident. Some of the spirits wondered if they should in fact let the Nature spirits break away just to experience how a deliberate break would feel but the rest of the spirits put paid to that by pointing out an important point; the hive needed the Nature spirits!

    The Nature spirits were the ones that first created the underground forest and the hive wasn¡¯t sure if the forest could be maintained without them. While the hive could absorb other Nature spirits from the environment, the number of Nature spirits the hive could absorb just weren¡¯t going to be enough to replace all the Nature spirits that would be leaving. It was a simple case of numbers. Even right now, several winters after the spilt, the hive still hadn¡¯t been able to replace all the Fire spirits that had left. The problem was that the hive had no control over what kind of spirits would join them so for every new Fire spirit they absorb, the hive had to absorb three or four other kinds of spirits. What would happen to the underground forest while the hive was trying to make up the number of Nature spirits that would be leaving? The spirits within the hive had no idea and they rather not find out.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    So the hive agreed to give the unreasonable Nature spirits the energy they need and they waste no time in using it. The Nature spirits had a basic idea of what they want. The Eye was destroyed by the humans so they thought it was only appropriate that the new creature was an Eye also. However creating a new creature wasn¡¯t the same as creating a new spell or changing an animal. They were going to create a creature from scratch and they need to be careful about it. A creature need to be able to survive on it¡¯s own without the hive having to pump energy into it. For that, the creature would need a mouth to eat. It also need a way to see, hear, reproduce, defend itself, create a home, and¡­just thinking about it was giving the hive pause.

    However the Nature spirits were determined. Using the energy provided by the hive, the Nature spirits lifted some of the soil of the underground forest and fashioned it into a ball. The hive then slowly poured energy into the ball, focusing on forming an eye and a mouth. It also thought of all the things the new creature would need to succeed. The ball of soil began glowing, a sign that the change was beginning. The hive continued feeding it energy and the light became brighter. Just as suddenly, the light dimmed and the hive stopped the energy flow. As the light faded, the hive got it¡¯s first glimpse of the creature.

    The creature was green in color and spherical in shape. It floats in the air and in the middle of the creature was a giant eyeball. Below the eyeball, the creature had a mouth and the creature¡¯s sharp teeth and long tongue could clearly be seen when the creature opened it¡¯s mouth. The creature had 2 long arms on either side of it¡¯s mouth and four antennas on top of it¡¯s head. The antennas were the strangest thing about the creature. At the end of each antenna was a small eye that seems to move independently of each other. The hive was shocked. What in the world was this creature? It was perhaps the strangest thing it had ever made. Sensing the outpour of energy, a pair of foxmen arrived. The young duo gaped at the new creature. The new creature saw the foxman and¡­gave them a friendly wave. Tentatively, the foxmen waved back. It was the start of a beautiful friendship between the two races.

    ¡°Behold! A monster?¡± One of the Nature spirits said. ¡°Fine. We shall name this creature the Be¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s call it a R.E.M.¡± One of the other spirits said.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a monster right; not a Kin. So let¡¯s do what the Fire Hive always do. Give the creature a long name and then everyone can call it by the shorter version of it.¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment. We Nature spirits create the creature, we get to name it!¡±

    ¡°Since when did we have that rule?¡± The spirit asked. ¡°You guys used the energy from the hive so everyone has a vote. All in favor of naming this creature ¡°R.E.M¡± say¡­¡±

    ¡°YES!¡±

    The hive answered back with a firm yes and the Nature spirits knew they were beaten. ¡°Okay fine, but what does R.E.M means?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a ridiculous eye monster.¡±

    ¡°WHAT!¡±

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 19- The Coming Battle

    One thing the Speaker had noticed about Mount Morningstar was that the demons seem to like the ¡°wide platform surrounded by a pool of lava¡± design. She had entered a new cavern and yet again it was another cavern with the design. She had long since lost count but this had to be the twentieth such cavern she had seem thus far. The Speaker looked around and saw that this cavern at least had some difference from the others she had passed. This cavern had a building.

    Taking up almost the whole platform was a five storey building that reach almost the ceiling of the cavern. The Speaker could see that the various floors were linked by a series of stone paths that criss-cross each other and that some of these paths even led to openings outside the cavern. Not for the first time, the Speaker had to wonder why the demons even bother to have a moat of lava if they were going to have so many ways in and out of the cavern.

    The Speaker took a path that led down to the ground floor of the building. She heard the demon within before she saw them. She entered the building via one of the many openings, doors seems like a foreign concept to the demons, and saw the demon she was looking for. The ground floor of the building had no rooms and was an open space. In the middle of it was a group of demons arguing fervently with each other and the demon the Speaker was looking for was in the middle of the argument. The Speaker walked towards the group and the argument stopped as the demons noticed her. She might not be an enemy but she was an outsider and the Speaker understood that the demons did not want her to notice the chaos within the new race. The demon Apep stepped away from the group and approached the Speaker. The mage had made a place for himself within the demons and seems to be enjoying his new life.

    ¡°Speaker!¡±

    ¡°Apep.¡±

    ¡°I heard you are leaving soon.¡±

    ¡°News travel fast.¡±

    ¡°Ha! You¡¯re a celebrity here and one thing I discovered is that demons loved to gossip.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t give me that impression when we first met.¡±

    ¡°That may change now that I¡¯m a demon. I don¡¯t use to like arguing either but¡­¡± Apep chuckled at that. ¡°So you really are leaving?¡±

    ¡°We all are. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. To say goodbye but it seems you are busy.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°Oh don¡¯t mind that. We¡¯re be arguing about the scroll for the rest of the season and still not come to a conclusion.¡±

    The Speaker nodded in understanding. She may be an outsider but you had to be deaf not to hear the arguments the demons were having over the scroll. The problem began that day when the Red Creator began casting the ¡°Appraisal¡± spell at everything that moves. When the demons enquired about the matter, the Red Creator informed them that the ¡°Appraisal¡± spell was a new spell it got. It was supposed to give the caster a gauge of how powerful an enemy was. Things would have been fine if the Red Creator had left it there, but the Red Creator then decided to teach the new spell to the demons. Needless to say, it was a disaster.

    As she was not a mage, the Speaker didn¡¯t quite understand how the complexity of the spell but it seems the spell required the caster to have good control of something called ¡®energy¡¯. The demons had a good number of mages in their ranks but none of them could get the spell to work. The Speaker suspect the problem was the fact that as higher beings, the Creators had no concept of how to teach it¡¯s creatures. After several days of frustration, the Red Creator did something unexpected. It created a scroll and told one of the demons to read it. One of them did and after reading the scroll, the scroll began glowing. Soon the light of the scroll entered the body of the demon and the scroll turned to ash.

    The scroll was a great success and the demon began telling everyone how the spell was telling him the strength and weakness of individual via ¡°letters¡±. The demon was able to tell which demon is stronger in which area just with a look. The downside was the fact that the demon couldn¡¯t maintain the spell very long and casting it caused him to feel drained. The same thing could be said of the Red Creator. Creating the scroll took a lot out of the Red Creator and it was quiet for a few days. When it returned, the demons immediately asked for another ¡°Appraisal Scroll¡±. The Red Creator refused, saying it would be days before it could create another one. It seems the ¡°Appraisal Scroll¡± was so difficult to create, the Red Creator needed several days of preparation to do so. However it eventually did and that¡¯s when the problem truly started.

    The scroll in question was a gift from the Red Creator to it¡¯s demons but the Red Creator left the matter of what to do with the scroll to the demons. None of the demons could agree with what to do with it. Some wanted to treat it like some treasure while others wanted to use it immediately. Of course even those who wanted to use the scroll were themselves divided as they couldn¡¯t agree on who should be the one to use it. Unlike the Kin, the demons did not have any real leaders. There were a few demons who were influential among the general population but there were no true leaders like the Alpha or the Chieftain. In fact the demons seen to abhor leadership, treating it as some unwanted burden. So now the ¡°Appraisal Scroll¡± sit in the room of the Red Creator untouched while the demons argued about the matter. The Speaker was just happy it had nothing to do with her. She was leaving and was glad of it. She missed the Alpha and couldn¡¯t wait to get going. She was to be disappointed as a voice rang in her head. It was the voice of the Red Creator; a happy delighted voice.

    *Everyone be ready for battle! The humans are coming!*

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Please visit my blog onhttp://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 20- The Scouting Mission

    One good thing the hive discovered about the Eye spell is that it didn¡¯t have to start from the tunnels. The Eye seems to have a connection to any location it had been before and the hive found that it could create the Eye right at these locations. The connection to most of these places was weak and the hive suspect the connection was deteriorating over time but there was one place that shone like a beacon; the Unicorn Glade.

    After gathering and converting the needed energy, the hive released the spell at the Unicorn Glade. It was a success. The small floating eyeball appeared right above the pool of shining water and it¡¯s appearance surprised everyone there; the Unicorns and their foals, the monkey that was strangely still there, and two Ratlings who were currently taking a bath in the pool.

    The hive had informed the Kin of the Unicorn Glade and told the Chieftain to collect some ¡®Healing Grass¡¯ and shining water from the glade. These two Ratlings must be the ones the Chieftain had sent. The hive was glad that they seem to be having a good time and was pleased by what they were doing. The hive never thought of telling the Kin to bath in the shining water and was pleasantly surprised at the initiative of these two. The hive was wondering if bathing in the waters would have any effect on the creatures and the Eye looked carefully at the two Ratlings. There wasn¡¯t any effect that the Eye could see and the spirits within the hive erupted into argument on whether they should use the ¡°Appraisal¡± spell on the two Ratlings.

    The argument became useless when the two Ratlings quickly got out of the pool and while one of them started to pluck the grass, the other was quickly filling up a bottle with the shining water. Once they were done, the duo began running, almost sprinting, towards the tunnels. The Air spirit controlling the Eye looked on in shock. The hive didn¡¯t even have time to decide whether to cast the ¡°Appraisal¡± spell! Why were those two suddenly in such a hurry? With no way to answer that, the Air spirit decided to let it go and get on with it¡¯s mission.

    The Eye was not fast. The hive had realized this when the Nature spirit was controlling it but the hive had wondered if it would be different if another type of spirit was controlling it. It was not. The Air spirit controlling it was trying to move the Eye through the Great Kar Forest as quickly as possible but the speed of the Eye was not increasing. The speed of the Eye was the same no matter who was controlling it. However it was moving faster as the Air spirit didn¡¯t care about the forest the way the Nature spirit did. The Air spirit controlling the Eye did not stop to enjoy the forest as it didn¡¯t care about the heavenly smell or the ancient trees of the forest.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    After some time, the Eye finally reached the edge of the Great Kar Forest. The Eye looked out and could see the vast grassland of the Homeless Plains. This was the place the hive was looking for. The Homeless Plains and within the vast flatlands was the city of Yachium. Most of the spirits within the hive had actually forgotten about their promise to the Fire Hive about taking the spirit matrix within the city but seeing the advancement of the Fire Hive had lit a fire in them. The hive was not going to be shown up by those fiery fools.

    Before the Eye could go onto the plains however, it sensed the coming of the humans. The Air spirit controlling the hive stayed within the forest looking out as a group of humans who were riding horses passed by. The humans rode by the edge of the forest and the Eye could sense the tension in the air. The humans were constantly looking at the forest while riding, as if they were fearful of whatever was in the forest. The Eye waited for the group to ride past before emerging from the forest. From talks with the Speaker, the hive had a good general idea of where the city of Yachium was and the floating eye went headed east in the direction of the city. During this trip, the hive discovered the usefulness of having such a small Eye. Whenever the Eye sensed a group of human coming, it could lower into the tall grass and continue on unmolested.

    Four days after casting the spell, the Eye saw it¡¯s destination. Although nothing had happened, it was still a hard journey. The problem the hive faced was the fact that it got harder and harder to maintain the spell as the Eye went further away from the tunnels. Luckily the hive had decided beforehand to cut off the other senses of the Eye due to the length of the journey and it was fortunate that it had done so. The Eye would never had reach Yachium otherwise. As the city of Yachium lay in the distance, the Air spirit decided it need to have a good look before the spell went out. The Eye soared into the sky and the Air spirit could feel the spell giving out. Before it did, the Eye took a good unobstructed wide view of the city.

    The Speaker had spoken of Yachium at length before but the hive was still surprised by how big the city was. The city was easily bigger than the tunnels and solid tall walls surround the city on all sides. The spirits within the hive were not tacticians but even they could tell that from the walls, the humans would have a panorama of the surrounding plains. From the air, the Eye could see two structures that dwarfed all others. A castle near the center of the city which was the residence of the Duke, supposedly the ruler of the city, and a tall tower on the eastern end of the city that was the headquarters of the Mage Council, the true power of Yachium. It was daytime and even at this distance the Eye could see the numerous humans going about their daily life within the city. There were a lot of them. As the spell finally fade, the Eye disappeared and Air spirit controlling it returned to the hive. The scouting mission was a success and the hive finally understood one thing; a thing they must do if they want to take the city.

    ¡°We are going to need to make a lot more creatures.¡±

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 21- The Bouncing Ride

    She loves running. It was something that came from the wolf because the Speaker didn¡¯t remember having this feeling when she was just a human. Ever becoming a Werewolf however, the Speaker loves to run. She loves running in the Great Kar Forest and it was no different in The Burning Fields. The surroundings were different, ash and fires instead of giant tall trees, but the feel of the wind on her fur was still intoxicating. The fact that she was now on a mission just added to the excitement.

    When the Red Creator told the demons to be ready for battle, it was decided that the Werewolves would leave and report the matter to the Creator. The Red Creator gave some excuse about storing up for the battle but the Speaker suspect it was just trying to get the Werewolves away from the battlefield. She didn¡¯t argue though; she was glad of the mission. It had already been decided that the Werewolves would be leaving so leaving early was no problem for the Speaker. In fact, it was welcomed. There was someone she wanted to see. In the distance, the Speaker could see the edge of the Great Kar Forest. They were almost home and in her mind, the Speaker began running various scenarios on how to make up with the Alpha. Treznor would no doubt still be furious with her for running off without him and...a drop-off in speed snapped the Speaker out of her musing.

    Kinshra was at the head of the pack and following her, the pack of six slowed. The female alpha was looking the left of the group and the Speaker followed the female alpha¡¯s lead. She was a group of human currently in battle against three Spider Demons and the battle was not going well for the demons. The three demons were heavily outnumbered but were trying to hold their own by turning the battlefield to their advantage. The Speaker could see a sea of webbing on the ground and could guess that the Spider Demons were trying to use their Web abilities to defend against the numerically superior humans. It was not working. The Speaker could see two Spider Demons dead on the ground.

    The Werewolves could have just run on. This battle had nothing to do with them but the Speaker wasn¡¯t surprised when Kinshra began turning. The Werewolves never shy away from battle and the demons needed help. Soon they were running towards the battle. The humans spotted the pack almost immediately and one of the humans began shouting orders. A small group of the humans broke off and arrayed themselves to face the coming threat. As the Werewolves got closer, the Speaker could see several of the human hunters getting ready with their bows and arrows. Kinshra saw them too and their run began a sprint. The increase in speed had the hunters releasing their arrows in response. One of the hunters had a skill that turned his arrow into a beam of light. The Speaker heard a zap as the beam of light went past her. She then heard the sound of it hitting one of the Werewolves behind her but she didn¡¯t dare stop to look. She charged on ahead. The humans managed to release another wave of arrows and this time two of the Werewolves were hit. Then the human warriors formed up in front of the hunters with a wall of shields.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    Kinshra was at the front of the pack and was the first to reach the humans. Just before contact, the female alpha disappeared. She immediately reappeared at the back of the human line and attacked. Kinshra had used her ¡®Shadowstep¡¯ ability to get behind and immediately turned to attack the human hunters from the back. The warriors turned to see the danger from behind and this momentary confusion was enough for the Werewolves as the Speaker and the sole reminding member of the pack clashed into the humans. The line of warriors was pushed back but it quickly recovered. The warriors held the shield wall against the Werewolves¡¯ claws, focusing on nothing but defense. Tried as they must, the two Werewolves were unable to make any headway against the warriors. The Speaker glanced at the back and saw that the isolated Kinshra was also having a hard time against the humans. Worse yet was the fact that the humans facing the Spider demons were now attacking in force. The commander of this group of humans knew what he was doing. He was trying to take out the demons quickly before turning his full force against the Werewolves. This battle was not going well.

    Then she heard a howl. The fierce howl of a male wolf and the Speaker¡¯s heart skipped a beat. She recognized the howl. The howl stopped the humans for a moment and the Speaker took the opportunity to look in the direction of the howl. As she thought, Treznor was there. The Alpha was rushing to her aid with five other Werewolves and¡­one of the strangest creatures she had ever seen was with him.

    The creature was a green spherical-shaped¡­thing that had a giant eyeball. The Speaker could see that the creature had a mouth, 2 long arms and four antennas on top of it¡¯s head. However what caught her eye was the movement of the creature. The green creature wasn¡¯t flying or running but bouncing! The creature was bouncing like a ball and despite it¡¯s strange method of movement, it was managing to keep up with the Werewolves! However that wasn¡¯t the strangest thing; there was a small furry creature with the head of a fox actually sitting on top of the bouncing green creature. Holding to two of the antennas like the reins of a horse, the fox-like creature was riding the green creature like some sort of bouncing ball! She looked to be laughing and the big smile on the face of the green bouncing creature was unmistaken. Looking at the strange duo, the Speaker can¡¯t help but mumbled the most inappropriate word one can say during a life-and-death situation.

    ¡°Cute!¡±

 Part 22- The Coming War

    In the stories, battles were glorious affairs. Warriors would courageously face-off against each other; Hunters would snipe at each other in a battle of wit and skill; and Mages would engage in a battle of power and destruction. Those were the stories. In real life, battles were chaotic affairs that go through several up and downs and the battle the Speaker now faced was no different. Seeing the reinforcement that was coming, the three Werewolves¡¯ attacks became fiercer while the humans shrunk. For a moment it even looked to the Speaker that the humans would break and run for it. A loud shout from their leader put paid to that.

    In an instant, the battle changed again. The retreating humans found their courage and the human closest to the Speaker went on the attack. He was a warrior who used dual swords and as he stepped in, he swung his blades simultaneously from each side. The Speaker had to jump back to avoid having her head cut off but her troubles weren¡¯t over. The other humans also went on the attack and the Speaker found herself swarmed by the warriors. Something popped up from the ground. Everyone stopped and that momentary hesitation proved fatal for one of the warriors as claws flashed and a fountain of blood poured from his neck. It was Kinshra. The female alpha had ¡®shadowstep¡¯ back to the front and the surprise attack was enough to stop the humans¡¯ momentum. However a look at the female alpha told the Speaker that this second jump had clearly taken a lot out of Kinshra. She was breathing deeply and the Speaker stepped in front of the female alpha, hoping to buy her enough time to recover. She was just in time as the moment was over and the humans renewed their assault. Then the humans were hit.

    Led by the Alpha, the Werewolves tore into the humans like a small tidal wave and their momentum caused the human line to crumble like sand. Amazingly, the silly looking green bouncing creature was with them. The creature bounced off the ground and leapt straight into one of the human warriors using it¡¯s body as a battering ram. The human met the creature with his shield but the creature used it¡¯s long arm and threw a punch as it¡¯s body hit the shield. The punch hit the warrior¡¯s cheek and the human fell down heavily. The creature didn¡¯t let up. It took a bounce off the ground and landed right on the warrior¡¯s stomach. The force of the blow cause dust to rise around the human but the human wasn¡¯t finished. His sword stabbed upwards and the Speaker saw blood. The bouncing creature was hit and it bounced away in retreat. The creature then began glowing and it spoke some gibberish. At least it sounded like gibberish to the Speaker. The small fox-kin sitting on it seemed to understand the creature well enough. The small kin immediately jumped off the green creature and did a roll on the ground when he landed. He pointed at the Speaker at the end of the roll and the Speaker felt reenergized. She was not alone. Behind her, Kinshra stood up taller and the Speaker realized the fox-kin was a Mage. The glow on the bouncing creature faded and it threw itself back into battle. Literally!

    The bouncing creature launched another jumping attack and the warrior defended with his shield once again. This time though, the creature bounced off the shield into another human and then rebounded off the second human into a third. It was not done yet. The third human was actually behind the initial warrior it faced and the creature bounced off the human to hit the warrior from behind. The warrior fall face-first to the ground and the bouncing creature took the opportunity to celebrate, bouncing up and down with its arms raised in triumph. The Speaker found herself caught between congratulating the bouncing creature and scolding it for celebrating during a battle. The Alpha had no such problem. An angry growl from Treznor got the bouncing creature back into battle.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    It was enough for the human leader. Proving once again he knew what he was doing, he shouted for a retreat. The Speaker immediately saw the reason. The humans had done what they set out to do. All the Spider demons were dead. Confused demons who didn¡¯t even know what had happened to them and now they were all dead before they could meet their Creator. Rage boiled within the Speaker and she wanted to tear into the humans. A hand movement from the Alpha signaled her to stop. Treznor was going to let the humans go. For a moment, the Speaker thought of disobeying her mate but her instinctive obedience stopped her. Kinshra had no such problem. The rejuvenated female alpha ignored the order and went after the humans. The Speaker would love nothing but to follow but the stationary Treznor stopped her in her tracks. As much as she wanted revenge for the demons, she was not going to disobey her mate so publicly. Some of the other Werewolves had no such problem and followed Kinshra in her chase. Knowing her mate¡¯s temperament, there¡¯s going to be a reckoning on this sooner rather than later but for now the Alpha seems to have more important things on his mind. Ignoring the battle, he grabbed the Speaker close and clamped his jaw on the Speaker¡¯s neck. The Speaker couldn¡¯t help but smile at the strange show of affection by her possessive mate.

    ¡°I missed you too!¡±

    ***

    In the underground forest of the fifth floor, the harpy Momo was kneeling before the Hive. She had delivered her message and was now awaiting a decision from her Creator. She was not alone. Several of the Kin were there, not least of who was the Fox Mother. She had been less than pleased when one of her children stowaway with the bouncing REM and had been waiting less than patiently for news of her child. The news from Momo had been less than pleasant for her and on that front, she was not alone.

    ¡°Well, those Fire idiots got what they wanted. The humans are coming after them.¡±

    ¡°Yeah but what¡¯s an army? How many humans are there to make up an army?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t work like that. An army is just a fighting force that fights primarily on land. The numbers don¡¯t matter. It could be a few hundreds to a couple of thousands. Didn¡¯t you pay attention to the Speaker when she was giving lessons?¡±

    ¡°Who pay attention to her? Beside she was giving lessons to the Kin, not us! Why should we¡­¡±

    ¡°My fellow spirits, let¡¯s not get sidetrack and stick to the problem on hand please.¡±

    ¡°What problem? The humans are not coming for us are they? They are going for the Fire Hive¡­which is what the Fire spirits wanted in the first place.¡±

    ¡°Yes but according to the Speaker there are thousands of humans ascending on the¡­D.E.M.O.N.S. We could help out.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­why would we want to do that?¡±

    ¡°We own them for the ¡°nothing-untouched-killer-explosion¡±. I/we rather not let the Fire Hive be destroyed before we can pay them back for that spell.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean we own them for the spell? We didn¡¯t ask for the extra spell. They gave it to us freely.¡±

    ¡°Still, they gave it to us after we tried to fleece them. Don¡¯t seem right to let them get destroy before we pay them back.¡±

    ¡°Oh yes, what did the Speaker call this? Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°Honor¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! We have honor!¡±

    ¡°We are honorable!¡±

    ¡°We have super honor!¡±

    ¡°We are the most honorable beings in existence!¡±

    ¡°Right¡­even though we wanted to cheat them in the first place?¡±

    ¡°Never happen! We never cheated the Fire Hive.¡±

    ¡°We never wanted to cheat them. Anyone remember wanting to cheat the Fire idiots?¡±

    ¡°No¡±

    ¡°Nope¡±

    ¡°Never¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! It never happened!¡±

    ¡°¡­uh-huh, let¡¯s get the Kin together and give them the message then.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that. All together now¡­¡±

    ¡°WE ARE GOING TO WAR!¡±

    End of Book 2

 Part 23- The Fire Hive

    When the Fire Hive released the blast that created The Burning Fields, one of the unexpected benefits for them was the creation of the bonfires. These strange bonfires dotted the land and they burned without any rhyme or reason. As they were mostly Fire spirits, the Fire Hive knew that fire usually require fuel to burn but these strange bonfires did not. They burned on their own as if all they need for fuel was the air around them. The Fire Hive did not really understand how the bonfires were created or why they were burning but it was not complaining. For some reason, the bonfires extended the Fire Hive¡¯s zone of influence and enabled the hive to sense and manifest their Fire Eye far from their home in Mount Moringstar.

    Using one of the numerous bonfires in the land, the Fire Hive created the Fire Eye and it floated high up into the air. The Fire spirit controlling the Fire Eye looked down at the approaching human army in the distance and it was impressed. Numbering well over a thousand, the human army was actually a coalition from nearby human cities and tribes who had become alarmed by the sudden appearance of The Burning Fields. Somehow they had managed to discover that Mount Morningstar was the source of the blast and were on their way to the dormant volcano. However the distance to Mount Morningstar was great and currently the human army had stopped at a bonfire for a short rest . The Fire Hive hoped the humans had enjoyed their rest because it was about to have some fun at their expense.

    The humans thought they were safe but they didn¡¯t know a secret of the bonfires. They didn¡¯t know that the Fire Hive could use the bonfires to listen in to them. According to the few Nature spirits within the Fire Hive, it was as if the Hive was a tree and that these bonfires were their roots. The bonfires were connected to the Fire Hive and the hive found them very convenient as the Fire Hive could create the Fire Eye from the bonfires. There was no need for the Eye to travel all the way from Mount Moringstar. The bonfires were great and now it¡¯s time for the humans to pay for destroying these accidental masterpieces.

    The Fire Hive didn¡¯t even notice it the first time it happened. There were so many bonfires in The Burning Fields, the Fire Hive never bothered to count them all. The Fire Hive actually noticed the human army first and listened in to them when the army stopped at a bonfire. Then one of the leaders of the human army stepped forward and gave a speech to his men. He called himself Luc and was a mage from a city called Rurion. He said he was happy to see delegations from so many cities and tribes in the face of a common enemy and was proud of the unity of the Lasmesh region. He then went on about ¡®rising darkness¡¯; ¡®beasts of terror¡¯; and something about ¡®forming a kingdom¡¯. Honestly, the Fire Hive did not understand half of what he said but his following action was clear. Luc led a group of mages in a magical ritual that suddenly cut off the Fire Hive from the bonfire. The Fire Hive had no idea what was going on and immediately located the next nearest bonfire. It created the Fire Eye and the Fire spirit controlling it launched up into the air. It looked in the direction of the bonfire the human army was at and noticed a shocking fact; the bonfire had disappeared!

    Shock didn¡¯t even begin to cover it. The Fire Hive had no idea how the humans did it. It didn¡¯t know how the bonfires were created but somehow the humans had managed to destroy a bonfire. It was then that the Fire Hive discovered that this was not the first time it had happened. Checking back in the direction the human army had come from, the Fire Hive discovered that at least two other bonfires were missing. More curious than frightened, the Fire Hive resolved to find out how the humans did it. The next time, the human army was at a bonfire, the Fire Hive tried to listen in to the humans but it was to no avail. The humans never gave any indication of how they were destroying the bonfires. All the Fire Hive got were gossips that the spirits could not understand. Political marriage; an alliance of the tribes to form a southern clan; and some sort of joint army; but there was nothing useful and the fickle Fire spirits decided there was enough spying. It was time for action!Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Using the bonfires, the Fire Hive knew the general direction the humans were heading and had prepared accordingly. The spirits within the Fire Hive had gathered their energy and discussed their plan at length. Now that the humans were at the bonfire, it was time to put their plan in motion. While the rest of the human army was setting up camp, the mages involved in the ritual approached the bonfire. The spirits waited till the mages started their ritual and then the Fire Hive began their own spell. The human mages noticed that something was wrong immediately but they had no idea what was happening and continued with their ritual. They only stopped when the land beneath them began shaking. Then the bonfire they were going to destroy disappeared. The flames of the bonfire were sucked into the ground and all that reminded was a small hole in the ground. High up in the air, the Fire Eye saw that the human mages in the distance inching closer to the hole as they gestured at each other in puzzlement. The spirits within the Fire Hive laughed.

    ¡°Destroy our bonfires would you?¡± A Fire spirit haughtily said. ¡°Try to destroy this then! Earth spirits, you guys are up!¡±

    The main reason the Fire spirits spilt from the original Hive was the fact that the Fire spirits had nothing to do. In the Kar Mountains, the Fire spirits were bored and since forming their own hive the Fire spirits had resolved not to ignore the other spirits within the Fire Hive. They weren¡¯t really successful because there was just a limit on what the other spirits could do when the Fire spirits outnumbered the other spirits put together but they did try and this was one of the rare occasions the Earth spirits within the Fire Hive could cut loose.

    The small hole where the bonfire had been sucked in suddenly collapsed! For a moment, the mages hesitated. Then the hole grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and then the mages began running. The other humans saw the mages running towards them and then noticed the growing hole in the ground. They too began running! The spirits within the Fire Hive roared with laughter at the hilarious sight. The laughter only grew louder as the first of humans was swallowed by the growing sinkhole. Then the shaking stopped. The small hole has now become a big pit. The Earth spirits had done what they could. They killed a number of the humans but not nearly as many as the Fire Hive had hoped. The humans were actually faster than the hive expected but the Fire Hive wasn¡¯t done. The Earth spirits weren¡¯t the only spirits within the Fire Hive that had nothing to do; there were other spirits within the Fire Hive too.

    ¡°Water spirits, you guys are up!¡±

    The Water spirits within the Fire Hive needed no further invitation. They used the energy the Fire Hive had stored and the humans could only look on in amazement as water began shooting out of the ground. The water began filling the pit and moments later, a big pond was created at the location where the bonfire was only moments ago. None of the humans could move. Their shocked face was a mixture of awe, fear, and surprise. And still the Water spirits weren¡¯t done!

    As the humans looked at the water, a few of them noticed a ripple. The ripple grew bigger but before any of them could voice a warning, a slimy tentacles shot out of the pond. It grabbed the nearest human and immediately dragged him towards the water. Screams could be heard from the humans as more tentacles shot out of the water. A few of the warriors rushed forwards and began hacking at the tentacles but the Fire Hive knew it was useless. All the tentacles seen by the humans belonged to one Boss. A creation of the Water spirits within the Fire Hive, it was a Boss whose main body was safely under the water. The Water spirits even gave it a silly name and as they were the creator of the Boss, the Fire spirits had to reluctantly agree to their choice.

    ¡°Hey! Our name isn¡¯t silly!¡± One of the Water spirits complained.

    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± a Fire spirit solemnly replied. ¡°The Pond Watcher? Seriously, that¡¯s about as silly as you can get!¡±

 Part 24- The Humans Questions

    Not knowing about the argument within the Fire Hive, the humans continued their battle with the tentacles. The surprise attack from the Boss had caught out the humans but a warrior holding a sword and shield soon put things in order. The warrior stepped forward and banged his shield with his sword. Like a moth attracted to a flame, all the tentacles began focusing on the warrior and he fought back. Showing amazing skill, he blocked the first tentacle with his shield and cut the second one. He then used his shield to bash a third tentacle and then stab at a fourth that was trying to wrap around his ankle. However he was just one man and the Fire Hive was confident their Boss could defeat him. Tentacles began attacking the warrior with the whip-like attacks and the warrior was pushed back. Just as the Fire Hive thought success was on the cards, an arrow of fire hit one of the tentacles. It was only then that the spirits of the Fire Hive discovered that the warrior had already done what he wanted; he had bought time for the humans to get organized!

    Just like that, the momentum of the chaotic battle turned. Several other warriors with shields came forward and took their place beside the first warrior. The shield wall blocked the tentacles while hunters and mages began shooting arrows and spells behind them. The Water spirit controlling the Pond Watcher decided to change tactics. Tentacles tried to go around and above the shield wall but the warriors were having none of that. The warriors hit their shields one after another, drawing the tentacles towards them. The Fire spirits within the Fire Hive moaned in disappointment. They had seen human warriors doing this before. It was a skill some human warriors had called ¡°The Wall¡±. It draws attacks from their enemies even when their enemies don¡¯t want to attack them. It was a defensive skill and it looked to the Fire Hive that all the warriors in the shield wall had it.

    ¡°Retreat!¡± One of the Fire spirits advised the Water spirit controlling the Boss. ¡°Go back into the water. You¡¯re just getting killed out here.¡±

    The Water spirit wanted nothing but to continue the attacks but it was also smart enough to know that the Fire spirit was right. The Boss was losing. With little choice in the matter, the Boss withdrew the tentacles. Once under the water however, the Water spirit discovered an unexpected sensation; it was healing! The strange effect was totally unexpected and the Water spirit wondered how this Boss got a healing effect as the Fire Hive never thought of giving it such a skill. The answer came from the Fire spirits.

    ¡°Like we told you guys before; we are geniuses!¡±

    All the Fire spirits within the Fire Hive laughed. When the Fire Hive was first formed, there were only Fire spirits within. Since then the Fire Hive had absorbed other kind of spirits and the Fire spirits had been dutifully informing the new spirits on what the hive was and how great it was to be in a hive. Of course the new spirits don¡¯t take the Fire spirits¡¯ words as gospel and there were always doubts. However the information that spirits were all geniuses seems to be correct. After all, how else could anyone explain this unexpected but very useful healing power?

    ¡°Get up above the water. That mage called Luc is talking to that warrior who was giving you problems. Let¡¯s hear what they are saying.¡±

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    The Water spirit heard the hive but it didn¡¯t want to go back up while it was still healing. Then it realized that the Boss it was controlling may have other powers the hive didn¡¯t know about. It decided to experiment and stick a tentacle up above the water.  Another proof of their geniuses became evident. Even though the tentacle was a distance away from the shore, the Boss could hear the humans. As a Water spirit, it knew that sound travel better over water than it does over land but had wondered if the Boss could hear. It seems that a tentacle that could suck the air could hear sound as well.

    ¡°¡­Boss?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± The mage called Luc replied to the warrior. ¡°According to our spy in Yachium, that¡¯s what these big monsters are called. They were built to guard certain important areas that the monsters want to protect.¡±

    ¡°Well your spy is wrong because there¡¯s nothing to protect here. There¡¯s nothing around!¡±

    ¡°Who knows? They believed it and maybe this¡­lake is important to the monsters in some ways.¡±

    ¡°This small lake wasn¡¯t even here a moment ago.¡±

    ¡°Yes, amazing really. To be able to create this in just moments, the skill and power...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go on another lecture on magical theory please, I¡¯m not one of your students. And there¡¯s nothing to guard here! Why would the monsters create a Boss all the way out here? We¡¯re still days from Mount Morningstar?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s some sort of scout or guard or¡­it could be there¡¯s something important in this place.¡±

    ¡°Great! So this lake Boss is some sort of watcher or guard and we have no way to know which it is! You¡¯re sure about the competence of your spy?¡±

    ¡°Yes but considering the source of the information...¡±

    The warrior who had bravely stood alone against the Boss shuddered. ¡°Death Magic. What would you crazy mages think of next? It¡¯s¡­an abomination!¡±

    ¡°They called it Necromancy and you will have no argument from me on that.¡±

    ¡°Are the rumors true? They used magic on a beheaded head?¡±

    ¡°Not just any head,¡± Luc shook his head as he said this. ¡°It was the head of The Grand himself. The monsters defeated and beheaded him, and then somehow managed to teleport his head pass the magical defenses straight to the Mage Tower in Yachium.¡±

    ¡°How did the monsters managed that?¡±

    ¡°No idea but it was a show of force that got everyone in Yachium shaking in their boots. So much so that the Duke himself authorized that Necromancy to be done on the head of The Grand but most of what they got from it were strange gibberish. What the hell is a dragon anyway?¡±

    ¡°And now the problem has come down south.¡± The warrior gave a loud sigh. ¡°I missed the days when all I had to worry about was you city folks and your warmongering ways.¡±

    The warrior and the mage both laughed and the mage answered back. ¡°I would say the same about you barbarians. Who would have thought that all it would take for us to join forces was a common inhuman enemy?¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­well, if this place is important to the monsters then we shouldn¡¯t leave it undefended.¡±

    ¡°What do you propose?¡±

    ¡°We leave a detachment here, maybe even setup an outpost. Anyway we don¡¯t want to be caught between this Boss and the volcano.¡±

    ¡°An outpost here might not be a bad idea especially if the water is drinkable but that Boss might return.¡±

    ¡°So you city folks do what you do best; built a wall and stay behind it. I think I can convince the tribes can send some warriors and shamans to help with the defense. Who knows, maybe this outpost could be the start we need to finally get out people to put aside their differences for good.¡±

    ¡°An Outpost of Light in this land of ash,¡± The mage¡¯s smile got even wider. ¡°I like that. I like that a lot!¡±

    ¡°And when we finally defeated the monsters, our names will spread to the four corners of the world. We will be known to the very edge of Ioplon and maybe even to the Great Beyond!¡±

    The mage could only smile at the boasting warrior. ¡°Never thought the great warrior Mazo was one of those questers who are searching for the edge of the world.¡±

    ¡°Oh where¡¯s your sense of romance? Don¡¯t tell me even when you were a child you never had the dream of seeing the Beyond and taking that fateful step off the edge of the world?¡±

    As the warrior and mage continued their banter, the spirits within the Fire Hive went into their discussion and argument conference. From what they heard, the spirits had three main questions to answer.

    1) Why do the humans call this a lake? It¡¯s a big pond!

    2) Why do the humans think Bosses are only created to guard things? Can¡¯t the hive create the Boss for fun?

    And most importantly 3) What is this edge of the world the humans were talking about? Isn¡¯t the world round?

 Part 25- The Worlds Truth

    ¡°Edge of the world? What is this edge of the world the humans are talking about? The world is round isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yes it is! We Earth spirits could feel the land and it is definitely circular.¡±

    ¡°Air spirits travel on the wind and we are sure the world is round.¡±

    ¡°We travel on the currents of the¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, okay! Enough already, it wasn¡¯t really a question. We know the world is round but how come the humans are saying that the world has an edge?¡±

    ¡°Who knows? More importantly, who cares? Why should we bother about the humans? They are stupid.¡±

    ¡°We should at least clear this up. Why don¡¯t we ask the demons? Most of them were humans before the change right? They should know what the humans were talking about.¡±

    ¡°Why? We just want them here to kill them right? The humans are just energy and entertainment to us right? Why should we care?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­we¡¯re curious.¡±

    ¡°¡­okay, that¡¯s a good reason. Let¡¯s ask.¡±

    When the Fire Hive first came to Mount Morningstar, it was not impressed with it¡¯s new home. Sure it was a dormant volcano and the Fire spirits could feel the lava below the ground but there wasn¡¯t much to do. There were creatures around the volcano but changing them could only entertain the Fire Hive for so long. The fickle Fire spirits demand variety so they decided to entertain themselves by redecorating.

    Earth spirits might be happy just to dig and move the earth around but the Fire spirits were not. They had no desire to be just diggers and luckily there was no need for them to do so. When it first arrived at Mount Morningstar, the Fire Hive immediately discovered that there were numerous lava tubes below the surface. The Fire Hive broke through and enlarged the tubes. In some cases even that was unnecessary as the ceased lava flow of the volcano had left behind naturally large caves. That was good but the Fire Hive wanted to leave their own mark on their new homes so the Fire spirits called forth red hot lava from the ground and directed the flow through several caves. After some time, this flow of lava became a river of lava and the Fire Hive began experimenting on creating creatures that could survive within the lava river. One of their successes was a creature named ¡°The Lava Fish¡±. There were serious arguments within the hive on the name as the creature was more like an eel or a fat snake but the majority of the Fire spirits elected to name it a fish so the name struck. The Fire Hive moved on to other creations soon after but the Lava Fish remained within the river of lava and they soon multiplied. Nowadays the fish are a good food source and fishing had become a favorite pastime for the demons.  This was what the black demon bear named Hellmight was doing when the Fire Hive found him.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    The huge black-furry demon was standing still in the lava river which came to his knees. Small flames could be seen on his legs but the demon ignored the heat and flames and was looking intently at the flow of the lava. Suddenly the demon swiped at the lava river and a splash of molten lava spill onto bank of the river. The former human warrior smiled as he saw the Lava Fish flapping on the hard ground. Only then did the Fire Hive made their presence known. The Fire Hive asked the demon bear a simple question.

    ***

    2 floors above the lava river was the cave the demons had begun calling ¡®The Colony of the Fire Fairies¡¯. A cave with a high ceiling, this was the home of the Fire Fairies. The fairies craved out small rooms high up along the walls of the cave and made their homes there with their families. The fact that they could now have children was something the fairies were still amazed by. Led by the five Fire Fairies who first brought the Fire Hive to Mount Morningstar, the fairies were discussing plans on rescuing more fairies and bringing them to the Fire Hive. Some of the fairies were wondering if the first Hive could do the same thing as the Fire Hive and wanted to bring the fairies there if they were nearer. Others were of the mind that all the fairies they gathered should only be brought back to the Fire Hive. It was in one of these debates that the Fire Hive found the most of the Fire Fairies. It asked them the same question.

    ***

    In another cave within Mount Morningstar was another group of demons. Like most of the other demons within the volcano, the Spider demons had grouped together but unlike other demons, it was not a totally happy family and they now reside in several caves.

    At first the Spider demons only took one cave but as the demons spun their webs, the demons found that their web designs were very different from each other. Some preferred to spin their webs into super thick mess in corners; others like the traditional spiral wheel design; there was one group that like to spin their webs into house-like structures with a front entrance and a back exit. The Fire Hive actually like all the different designs of the Spider demons but the demons did not. For some reason that the spirits did not understand, arguments often erupted between the Spider demons on their web designs and which of them was superior. When it got too much, the Fire Hive told the various Spider demons to take up residences in other adjacent caves.

    So now there was a series of caves that were full of spider webs and their owners were locked in healthy but at times unfriendly competition with each other. Through it didn¡¯t quite understand the term, the Fire Hive had heard the other demons using the word ¡®frenemy¡¯ to descript the Spider demons. Well, it was of no concern of the Fire Hive. The Fire Hive choose a female Spider demon who was weaving her web underside down from the ceiling and asked her the question.

    ***

    ¡°I/we can¡¯t believe it!¡± A spirit within the Fire Hive said. ¡°All of them said that the world is flat!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s unbelievable!¡± Another spirit agreed. ¡°How could the humans not know such a simple fact that the world is round?¡±

    ¡°No idea!¡±

    ¡°Idiots¡±

    ¡°Stupid!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s teach them the truth!¡±

    ¡°What? Why?¡±

    ¡°You want to fight morons that don¡¯t even know that the world is round?¡±

    ¡°Good point¡±

    ¡°True¡±

    ¡°Correct!¡±

    ¡°Good idea¡±

    ¡°LET¡¯S DO IT!¡±

    With a loud cheer, the Fire Hive came to a swift agreement. The Fire Hive gather a small amount of energy and got to work. A ball of lava floated up from the lava river; a ball of air appeared in the Colony of the Fire Fairies; and a bunch of spider webs gathered to form a floating ball. The Fire Hive got all three balls to spin and told the various demons the harsh truth.

    ¡°You guys are just too ignorant. Let us give you some knowledge. This is the shape of the world and it is round.¡±

 Part 26- The Demon Statues

    ¡°Hello! Hello! Water spirit, you¡¯re there?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Calling the Water spirit that is the Lake Watcher or the Pond Watcher or whatever it is called, you there? Wait a moment, what are we saying? Of course you¡¯re there! Answer us already!¡±

    ¡°¡­okay fine! What is it?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t act stupid, you know what this is about. Why are you still the Boss? When are you coming back to the hive?¡±

    ¡°What? I/we like it here and it¡¯s not like you guys need me specifically for something. There are other Water spirits in the hive.¡±

    ¡°Yes and they want their turn as the Boss. It is also a waste of energy to maintain the Watcher Boss¡­especially when you are doing NOTHING!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°All you are doing is staying on the bottom of this small lake. Do something or release the Boss and come back to the hive!¡±

    ¡°¡­okay but in my defense, there¡¯s nothing to do. The human army is already on their way to Mount Morningstar and they just left behind a small group that¡¯s busy building some structure on the shore.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called a wall dummy. Then do something about that or come back to the hive! We are not maintaining the Boss if you¡¯re just there to enjoy the water. Start a fight or something!¡±

    Reluctantly, the lazy Water spirit moved the Boss towards the shore of the lake. Some of the spirits within the Fire Hive stayed focused on the fight. The humans had built a small wall on the shore and had something they called a parapet which they humans believed would help against ¡°The Lake Watcher¡±.  The spirits wanted to see how useful this parapet was. Most of the spirits however were more interested in the coming human army. The human army had just arrived at the volcano and the Fire Hive was now just waiting for them to come in. Luckily the spirits figured that they did not have to wait too long. Even the stupidest of idiots couldn¡¯t miss the entrance they made.

    The entrance to their maze used to be just a small hole on the side of the mountain but Mount Morningstar was a dormant volcano and where there are volcanoes, there is caves. Like most volcanoes, there were many caves on Mount Morningstar and at first this was not a problem. Over time however, the Fire Hive got bored and it began to wonder why no one was coming to it¡¯s new home. The Fire Hive send the Fire Fairies out and things got slightly better as the fairies began luring humans in. They usually used some sad snappy story about how their human masters were killed by a monster in the volcano. However the arrival of the Speaker gave the Fire Hive an idea.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    The Fire Hive had heard the Speaker saying admirably about how the entrance of their home was hard to find and that anyone without a guide would have a hard time finding it. After a short discussion, the Fire Hive decided that they need to make their entrance more prominent. The Earth spirits within the hive took to the task like bees to honey.

    First, the Earth spirits decided to create a pair of grand demon statues on either side of the entrance. There was some argument about what kind of statues to build but in the end the Earth spirits decided to go for the artistic route and designed statues of demons that they had not created yet. On the left side of the entrance the Earth spirits created a giant statue with a large rounded head. Two small spiral horns adorned the top of the head and the Earth spirits decided to give the statue four fierce eyes to go with the four arms on it¡¯s huge muscular body. On each hand were a different weapon; a sword, a shield, an axe, and a dagger, and the face of the statue was shown to be giving out a loud roar.

    On the right side of the entrance was a much smaller statue that the Earth spirits were most proud of. Almost petite when compared to the other warrior statue, the Earth spirits designed this demon statue to be a magic-user. The statue was a grinning female who had two huge bat-like wings protruding from her back. She had long flowing locks with four thin horns on her forehead. Going with the small petite theme, the statue had two thin arms but both her hands held a ball of frightful energy that show the statue was in the midst of casting a spell. The statue only had two eyes but both of them showed a mad intensity that the Fire Hive had seen human mages showing when they were casting their spells. Unlike the warrior statue that only had simple warrior garb, this statue had a dress that was showed flowing in the wind. The Earth spirits had wanted to give the impression that the statue was flying and even the other spirits within the Fire Hive were proud of how it turned out.

    The small dirt track the Speaker had seen earlier was widened and now there was a wide clearly defined path between the two demon statues. The path led to a wide opening that had a bright red glow. The Fire spirits created a big bonfire just inside the entrance of their home and the light was from the fire. With such effort, the spirits within the Fire Hive truly believed that there was no way the humans could possibly missed the entrance and they were right. The humans found the entrance in no time and the army began setting up camp outside the entrance.  The two leaders of the humans, the mage Luc and the warrior Mazo, came to the entrance and the moment they looked at the entrance Mazo just shook his head and said.

    ¡°By the 99 Gods, they¡¯re not even trying to hide. Why don¡¯t they just put a welcome sign here?¡±

    At the comment, most of the spirits within the Fire hive groaned. They knew what was coming and a small group of the spirits took the chance to crow.

    ¡°See! We told you idiots we should have a welcome sign out there!¡±

 Part 27- The Oni Charge

    ¡°See! We told you idiots we should have a welcome sign out there!¡±

    ¡°Oh please, we do not need any stupid welcome sign!¡± Another spirit immediately retorted. ¡°The humans found the entrance easily enough!¡±

    ¡°Something that¡¯s useless if they don¡¯t come in! Now we will admit that it¡¯s just a matter of time before the humans come in but a welcome would get them to come in faster.¡±

    ¡°Why do we care? Time means nothing to us. Putting up a flaming ¡®WELCOME¡¯ over the entrance is just a waste of energy.¡±

    ¡°Waste of energy?¡± The spirit asked incredulously. ¡°You mean compared to amount we wasted on those two demon statues?¡±

    An Earth spirit within the hive immediately responded to that. ¡°Hey, keep our statues out of this. Both of them turned out great.¡±

    ¡°Yes they did,¡± the spirit admitted. ¡°But only after you Earth spirits spent massive amount of energy creating, molding and fine-tuning them. Compare to that how much would a flaming sign going to cost?¡±

    ¡°A lot when you consider the cost of keeping the sign on. It is just not efficient use of our energy.¡±

    ¡°Are we not the Fire Hive? Since when do we care if something is cost efficient? Are we those morons at the Kar Mountains? No! We are the Fire Hive and we spent energy like it is nothing!¡±

    ¡°¡­uh, you sound almost proud at being wasteful.¡±

    ¡°Yes and what about it?¡± The spirit asked. ¡°Why are we suddenly making a big deal about¡­effectiveness? Cost effectiveness means nothing to us. We are the Fire Hive and WE ARE PROUD TO BE WASTEFUL!¡±

    Huge cheers rang out in the hive as many spirits found themselves in agreement with the spirit. Once the cheers died down, the spirits began discussing ways to make the welcome sign. The spirits against the sign were greatly outnumbered and had no choice but to go along with the majority. That was until one of the spirits noticed a strange thing happening at the entrance.

    ¡°What are they doing?¡±

    The moment the spirit asked the question, the rest of the hive also noticed the strange movement of the demons. A big group of them were at the first room located just after the entrance and there were even a few of the redundant experiments. The Fire Hive knew that the demons had begun calling the creatures the ¡®T-Rex¡¯ and for the most part they were fine with the name. To the Fire Hive, the T-Rexes were failures so the hive never bothered to name them. The demons could call them what they wanted. The spirits within the Fire Hive quieted up as they focused on the strange group. Then a demon covered with black fur stepped forward. The Fire Hive remembered who this was. A few seasons ago, a group of humans came to the volcano and among them was a strange human warrior who used only his fists to fight. The Fire Hive was very intrigued by the warrior¡¯s strange way of fighting and decided to change him to a demon. After the change, it named him Hellmight. The spirits thought it was a fitting name.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    Now they were wondering what he was doing? Hellmight stepped towards one of the T-Rexes who lowered his head to the demon. The black demonic bear patted the T-Rex on the head before giving it a smile. Then the T-Rex raises his head and Hellmight leapt onto the back of the T-Rex in one smooth motion. The spirits within the Fire Hive were shocked. To the spirits within the hive, the T-Rexes were just failures in their quest to create a powerfully-unique-fire-flinger yet it seem that the demons had found a use for them. Although they were never designed to be mounts, the Fire Hive had to admit that Hellmight looked very impressive and comfortable on the back of the red T-Rex. Had the demons been practicing without the Fire Hive noticing? The spirits had to admit that this was possible. Usually after they created something, the spirits would promptly forget about them. The Fire Hive usually just let their creations figure out a role for themselves as it jumps to the next creation. Perhaps it was time the Fire Hive begun paying some attention to the going on within their homes.

    Not knowing about the interest of his Master, the demonic bear known as Hellmight looked at his troops and the Fire Hive noticed that the demons with Hellmight were the gigantic hairy twin horns demons he had been training with. All of them were armed and armored. Some of the spirits within the Fire Hive were expecting Hellmight to give some sort of heroic speech but the demonic bear surprised them by simply shouting out some questions.

    ¡°WHAT ARE YOU?¡±

    ¡°Overwhemling!¡±

    ¡°WHAT ARE YOU?¡±

    ¡°Notorious!¡±

    ¡°WHAT ARE YOU?¡±

    ¡°Invincible!¡±

    ¡°WHAT ARE YOU CALLED?¡±

    ¡°ONI!¡±

    By now the Fire Hive knew it really need to pay more attention to the going on in the volcano. That had to be rehearsed. Just as it was going to ask Hellmight what was going on, the demon bear pointed at the entrance of their home and shouted one word.

    ¡°CHARGE!¡±

    As one the Onis roared the name ¡°ONI¡± and charged towards the entrance. In the lead was Hellmight atop the charging T-Rex. History would know this as ¡°The Charge of the Onis¡±, the first recorded battle of the Demon race. Led into battle by the fist-fighting Onikuma, founder of the Martial Arts class, the greatly outnumbered demons launched a surprise attack on a human army and decimated it before quickly retreating back into the demonic lair known as ¡°The Demon Mountain¡±. It was a battle of great historical significance that Demonkind would forever by proud of. Their creator, the Fire Hive, however was less than happy about the battle.

    It had lured the human army to Mount Morningstar with the express interest of getting them to come into Mount Morningstar so that it could kill and absorb the humans.  Now the demons were going outside to attack the humans? That was terrible for the Fire Hive and what was worse was the stupid fact that the Fire Hive couldn¡¯t really blame the demons. The Fire Hive had never actually told the demons not to attack the human army!

    ¡°Oh wow!¡± One of the spirits within the hive said. ¡°We really screw that one up.¡±

 New Version of Fantasy Begins Available

    Hi everyone,

    In case anyone missed my update on THe Dungeon Hive, I just want to leave a quick message that there has been an update on my book ''Fantasy Begins''. A new proofread version of ''Fantasy Begins'' is now available and the problem of the cover page showing up twice should be fixed (hopefully). There''s no change to the story; the changes are on fixing the grammer errors and the double cover page. So for all of you who had bought the ebook; thanks for the purchase and please update to the new version of ''Fantasy Begins''. I would also love to know how you find the new version of the book. Is it better, worse, or the same? Please leave a comment here or on my blog. Enjoy the new madness.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    Thanks!

 Part 28- The First Sorcerer

    When the Fire Hive stole the fairies from the human mages, the flying creatures underwent some profound physical changes. The previously thin creatures became full of vitality with silky hair and blood red wings. They now called themselves the Fire Fairies and made a home in the maze inside Mount Morningstar. Like all the creatures that had been changed by the hives, the Fire Fairies discovered that their new bodies came with new powers and abilities. One of the stranger abilities the Fire Fairies discovered was an ability to hide their new powers. According to the Fire Fairies, if they focused their energies they could hide their vitality and ¡®revert¡¯ back to their old sickly body.

    To the Fire Hive, it sounded a lot like the ability the Kin has to change their body from an animal form to a more human-like form. Almost all the Kin of the Kar Mountains has this ability but the demons lacked this ability and for the most past, the Fire Hive wasn¡¯t too displeased with it. It was a pretty useless power. However what the Fire Fairies did proved to the hive that it could give this changing ability to their creatures. If the Fire Fairies could do it, certainly the Fire Hive could create another creature that can do the same thing right? That was what most of the spirits within the Fire Hive thought and now they had some humans to experiment with.

    When the Onis launched the surprise attack on the humans, their attacks was swift, brutal and deadly. They retreated just as quickly as they attacked and when the Onis came back, they had with them three human prisoners. Hellmight wanted them for questioning and the Fire Hive was delighted by the humans¡¯ presence. In life, sometimes things just work out. Some people call this fate; others call it luck; the spirits within the Fire Hive call it ¡°another sign of our geniuses!¡± They immediately told the Onis to bring the prisoners to their room and the spirits launched a discussion/argument conference. When the prisoners were bought in front of the hive, the spirits were ready.

    As usual, the Fire Hive didn¡¯t have anything to go on but their instinct and that was just fine. After so many demons they knew what to do. They selected the first of the humans and released the energy they had gathered on her. Most of the spirits within the Fire Hive were part of the hive of the Kar Mountain so they knew how the process of changing a creature went. The original hive usually focused the energy they gathered on a creature and changed it by focusing on an aspect of the creature. For example if the original wanted wings on a creature, the spirits within the hive would think of birds and the energy would change the creatures accordingly. However what the Fire Hive did was slightly different. The Fire Hive was fire; it was heat; it was flames; and the human burned!

    Flames engulfed the human and the Fire Hive sensed the terror of the human and her companions. It was sweet energy. The demon did not tie the human up, there was no need, and the flaming human stood up, slapping the flames on her body. The futile gesture was useless and the spirits within the Fire Hive laughed. Creatures always did that. The flames around the human soared. Around the room of the Fire Hive, the other demons roared their approval and screamed their chant.

    ¡°BURN!¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    ¡°BURN!¡±

    ¡°BURN!¡±

    The Fire Hive did not understand why the demons do this. It was something the demons just started doing on their own whenever the hive began changing a creature but the spirits did not dislike it. Most of them like having an approving audience. The human stopped slapping at the flames when she realized that she wasn¡¯t in pain. The look of terror on her face changed to one of bewilderment and the Fire Hive knew that the change was about to begin. Ignoring the actions of the human, the spirits within the Fire Hive focused on the flames and thought about what it wanted. The Fire Hive wanted a demon that could change to look like a normal human and¡­wait, did it have to be a demon? Why did it have to be a demon? Some of the spirits within the Fire Hive asked and the confusion affected the energy accordingly.

    It started at her feet. A glow within the flames and the glow started at the feet of the flaming human. Slowly the glow went up to her knees and onto her body. The human noticed this and stopped moving. The Fire Hive knew she was beginning to feel it; she was beginning to feel the change. The glow slowly went up the human¡¯s body and once it reached the top of her head, the glow and the flames around her body disappeared together.

    The spirits within the Fire Hive focused on the human. She looked totally normal but for her eyes which were now bright red. All that energy spent and all the Fire Hive got was a human/demon with flaming eyes? The spirits were in a panic. They wanted something that could look like a normal human but they didn¡¯t want someone this normal! Had the Fire Hive been too successful? The answer was no. Just as the spirits within the Fire Hive were in heated discussion, flames abruptly erupted from the hands of the human. The spirits within the Fire Hive weren¡¯t too surprised by this, creatures they changed before had much more power than just a pair of flaming hands, but the human was clearly shocked. The spirits within the Fire Hive did not understand this and they weren¡¯t the only ones. A demon with the tail of a snake approached the flaming human and asked.

    ¡°Are you all right? My name is Apep. I know the change is¡­difficult but why are you so shocked by your flames?¡±

    The human looked at the demon numbly and spoke. ¡°Flames¡­but I¡¯m a hunter. I can¡¯t use magic.¡±

    The spirits did not understand why this was shocking but it clearly was. Apep slithered back in shock and the room was filled with loud whispers. The other demons were surprised and the Fire Hive quickly noticed that those who called them ¡®Mages¡¯ were more than surprised; they were shocked! The Fire Hive knew this was big news but it also wish someone would tell it what it did that was so great? A human with flaming eyes and hands is¡­well, nothing.

    Luckily for the spirits, a spider demon saved the day. The spider demon approached the flaming human and touched her. The Fire Hive knew the demon was casting a spell on the human but had no idea what spell it was. Whatever the spell was, the spider demon was clearly troubled by it. The demon gave a reluctant nod and announced to the other demons the result of the spell.

    ¡°She¡¯s no mage. She can¡¯t use Mana.¡± The spider demon turned to the Fire Hive and gave it a look of worship. ¡°The Master had created a human that could cast spells without using Mana. It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s a new form of spellcasting; something that comes not from the spirits within the world but from within our body. Master, what is this called?¡±

    The Fire Hive was quiet. It gave no answer to the demons and the demons took this as a sign that their Master wanted them to come up with a name on their own. In time, this new form of spellcasting would be called sorcery. A form of magic that uses the energy within one¡¯s body, it was a faster form of spellcasting that came with a trade-off of being less powerful and more tiring than normal magic. Their practitioners would be known as ¡°Sorcerers¡±, a class of magic-users that was different from the far more common ¡°Mages¡±. However that was in the future. Right now the spirits within the Fire Hive were in an argument of their own.

    ¡°A way to cast spells without using spirits¡­¡± a spirit within the Fire Hive asked in despair. ¡°Did we idiots just invent a way to kick ourselves out of our jobs?¡±

 Part 29- The Human Bloodlines

    "No we did not."? Another spirit answered immediately. "A human with flaming hands? Come on, that''s nothing compared to what a mage could do."?

    "We know that but look at the human and the demons, they''re practically giddy at what just happened."?

    "What just happened?"? Some of the spirits asked. "We still don''t understand why the creatures are so shocked at this new...creature?"?

    "I/we don''t think you should call it a creature. She''s still a human."?

    "Humans can''t use magic without Mana. She can."?

    "So she''s a different kind of human. A human with a special power like...what do humans called humans that are different? You know those few humans that could use two or more types of energy?"?

    "Don''t think the human have a name for them. If they do, we never heard it."?

    "All we know is that they say these humans always go mad."?

    "They are also unique. There''s not many of them."?

    "They are terrors."?

    "What? Why?"?

    "They always go mad with power right? The other humans are afraid of them."?

    "So they are considered abominations by other humans?"?

    "Yeah. They are not considered humans by other humans."?

    "Leta€?s just agree they are basically just terrible."?

    "Okay then. So they are mad unique terrors who are considered abominations or non-humans and live terrible lives."?

    "M.U.T.A.N.T.S?"?

    "That''s right! We shall call them..."mutants''!"?

    "No! That''s stupid. Let''s call them as they really are; mad unique terrors abominations...okay that''s too long."?

    "Mutants?"?

    "Mutants it is!"

    "Anyone want to make more?"

    "YEAH!"?

    There was really no need to ask. The spirits within the Fire Hive were always up for more creation. The spirits picked out the second human. Much like the first Hive, the Fire Hive found duplicating something to be way harder than the first creation. The first time the Fire Hive creates something, it just went with their instinct but duplicating something was different. Duplicating something means the spirits needs to remember what they did the first time and do it again. With thousands of spirits within the Fire Hive, remembering everything that was done wasn''t hard but the spirits didn''t want another flaming human. It wanted something new. It wanted some sort of variants. So this time, they decided to appraise the human first.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Species: Human

    Class: Warrior

    Sex: Male

    Attack: E

    Defense: D

    Health: D

    Strength: D

    Agility: E

    Rage: D

    Job: Blacksmith

    Skills: Sword, Quick Cut, Heavy Cut, Quick Step, Evasion

    "So this human is a warrior, that''s good."?

    "Why?"?

    "The last human was a hunter and became some sort of hunter-mage user, maybe we can turn this human to a warrior-mage?"?

    "Don''t we want something new?"?

    "A warrior-mage is different from a hunter-mage."?

    "That not wrong but why? Do we really want a warrior with flaming eyes and hands?"?

    "That''s right. We should do something else."?

    "Like what?"?

    "What about something like a water spike or a wind blast?"?

    "We are the Fire Hive! We should...you''re one of the other spirits aren''t you?"?

    "Yes and you Fire spirits already got a mutant. It''s our turn now."?

    "..."?

    "..."?

    "...fine. That''s only fair. Which of you spirits want a turn? We only got two humans."

    "Oh please! There''s a human army outside. If we need more, we could just ask the demons to go out and get us some."?

    "We might not even need to do that. The humans would need to come in sooner or later. It''s not like we''re in a rush."?

    "True. So who want to go first?"?

    "Air spirits ready and willing."?

    "Go right ahead then."?

    Needing no second invitation, the few Air spirits within the Fire Hive got to work. Doing the same thing they did with the flaming human, the Fire Hive focused on the second human and released their energy over him. Like the first time, the Air spirits focused on changing him but not too much. They wanted the human to maintain the human shape but with some extra powers thrown in. The second human caught fire but as the flames engulfed the human, everyone in the room could see that the flames were light blueish in color. The demons'' chant began anew and the glow appeared on the human''s body. When the glow disappeared at the top of his head, the flames died down and the second human looked at his hands and feet in puzzlement. They were not on fire but it was as if the second human instinctively knew what to do. He took off on a short run, and then did a cartwheel. He landed it perfectly and he didn''t stop. He immediately did a forward flip and then another but with a half twist in it for good measure. He landed everything perfectly. When he finished, the human had a look the Fire Hive had seen before. It was a look that told everyone the human could not wait to test out his new powers. The human was pleased; the spirits within the Fire Hive were less so.

    "Agility?"? One of the spirits hotly asked. "You Air spirits used all that power and all you did was to give this human extra agility?"?

    "Yeah, we were expecting more too.a€? An Air spirit replied disappointingly. "We wondered why?"?

    "It could be you guys were too focused on maintaining his shape."? Another spirit suggested.

    "What?"?

    "Some of us are beginning to wonder if this is the reason the flaming human wasn''t so powerful as well. It could be that the trade-off of maintaining the human shape is causing this lack of power in the creatures. We never had this power problem in the past when we didn''t care about maintain the shape of...well, any of the other humans."?

    "What make you think keeping the original shape has anything to do with the power the creature would gain?"?

    "Think about all the creatures we created before like the Lava Fish or the Fire Snails? They maintained their original shape and they weren''t all that powerful."?

    Another spirit within the hive immediately objected. "Those are wrong examples. What about the Unicorns? They''re powerful and they still look like horses."?

    "Hey, it''s just a theory. You guys asked why and this is be a possible reason."?

    "...we need more experiments to be sure. Okay, who want the third human?"?

    The answer came as all the Water and Earth spirits within the Fire Hive went to work. As the other spirits were watching the Air spirits, the Water and Earth spirits within the Fire Hive came to an agreement to work together. Intrigued by the possibility, the other spirits stepped aside and gave room to the spirits. ? Flames engulfed the third human and the Fire Hive then realized they had not appraised the third human yet.

    "No matter,"? one of the Earth spirits said. "We got this."?

    Somehow, the rest of the Fire Hive were not assured.

 Part 30- The Flowing Mud

    As a hive, the Earth and Water spirits immediately knew of the misgivings but they ignored the rest of the spirits and went to work. They gathered the last of the energies and took hold of it. Unlike the past when the spirits just threw the energy on the humans, this time the spirits held on to it. As the Earth and Water spirits did so, the energy responded. The human caught fire and brownish flames engulfed the human. Once more, the demons¡¯ chant began anew and the glow appeared on the human¡¯s body. It was a carbon copy of what happened the first two times but when the flames died down, everyone could see that this change was different. The human was now huge. He was at least a head taller than before and his body was both wider and more muscular. The mutant looked at his body and a frown appeared on his face. He was displeased with his new body and complained about how disproportional his new body was.

    The Fire Hive did not understand what the problem was. The mutant looked fine to it. Sure his upper body was twice the size of his legs but he was now stronger and bigger. What was the problem? Whatever problems he had, the mutant wasn¡¯t about to let it interfering with the testing of his powers. He raised his hands and they turned brownish and soft. Pieces of his hands was dripping onto the ground and it took a moment for the Fire Hive to register.

    ¡°MUD!¡± One of the spirits screamed. ¡°Seriously? You idiots gave the last human ¡®Mud¡¯ powers? What good is mud?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­water and earth gives you mud so it makes sense the human¡­¡±

    ¡°What good is MUD?¡±

    ¡°Who knows?¡± One of the Earth spirits finally admitted. ¡°Since when do we care about the powers our creature received? Figuring out what to do with the powers is up to them, not us.¡±

    ¡°In other words you idiots just wasted our energy on¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, what is the mutant doing?¡±

    Unaware of the commotion within the Fire Hive, the third mutant was testing his new powers further. The mutant first tried to shoot the mud out of his hands and only a small steady stream of mud flowed out of his palms. He looked perplexed and then one of the demons shouted at him.

    ¡°Harden it.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The mutant looked at the demon who shouted and the Fire Hive noticed that it was Hellmight.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°It look like mud.¡± Hellmight said. ¡°If it is then it could be harden. If not you can try to turn the ground to mud.¡±

    ¡°Flow? Flowing mud¡­¡± The mutant¡¯s face brightened. ¡°Yes, that could work.¡±

    The mutant put his hands on the ground and two small pools of mud appeared. Seeing success, the mutants put more power into it and his arms began turning into brownish mud as well. The mutant looked pleased. Then the mutant¡¯s looks turned to alarm as the transformation began turning his body to mud as well.

    ¡°I can¡¯t stop it!¡±

    His cry caused a panic among the demons. Several of them shouted advice but he was either too frightened to do it right or his power was too different because his body continued its¡¯ transformation. The spirits of the Fire Hive looked on in fascination. This was something new and several of the spirits openly wondered what would happen when the transformation reaches his face; would the mutant die? That would be a waste of energy but the spirits were also intrigued. If it happened, this would be the first time one of their creatures die from powers that was given by the Fire Hive. That would be interesting.

    Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Fire Hive never got to find out as Hellmight decided to take matters into his own hands. The demonic black bear rushed forward and slapped the mutant on his head. The mutant fell on the ground and the less than gentle blow broke the flow of his power. His hands reverted back to normal and several of the spirits moaned in disappointment. As the mutant groggily got up, the spider demon who tested the flaming human earlier approached the mutant and touched him. The Fire Hive was ready this time and focused on the spell the demon was casting. The spirits surprisingly recognized it! The spell itself was new but the Fire Hive could see that the basis of the spell was the ¡°Appraisal¡± spell they gave to the demons. The Fire Hive immediately understood what had happened. The spirits knew that the demons were having problems mastering the ¡°Appraisal¡± spell so they must have changed the spell somehow. This spell was weaker, giving the caster less information than a normal ¡°Appraisal¡± spell would, but it was easier to cast. Whatever the trade-off was, it worked as the spider demon told Hellmight the third mutant had some strange energy in him that she had never seen before.

    ¡°Did you guys hear that?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we did. This spider demon¡­what¡¯s her name anyway?¡±

    ¡°Vozscars.¡±

    ¡°Voz-what? What kind of a name is that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a demon name.¡±

    ¡°A demon name? Since when¡­¡±

    ¡°They are demons so some of them decided that they should have new names to go with their new existence. Get over it.¡±

    ¡°¡­fine! Voz¡­scars said there is some new energy in the mutant.¡±

    ¡°Yes; so?¡±

    ¡°So what are we going to call this new power? We keep inventing things but we only give names to creatures; shouldn¡¯t we give names to the powers we invent as well?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­Mud Powers then!¡±

    ¡°That is a stupid name!¡±

    ¡°Forget it!¡± Another spirit said. ¡°We invented new things all the time. Every creature in our home is new. It¡¯s too troublesome to name everything.¡±

    ¡°If we don¡¯t do it, the creatures would do it.¡±

    ¡°Let them.¡±

    Just as the argument was beginning, the spirits within the Fire Hive sensed disquiet at the entrance of their home. Something was happening outside! The Fire Hive decided to check it out. It gathered energy and created an Eye on the slope of Mount Morningstar overlooking the human army. The Eye saw the human army and the Fire Hive saw that the army was in battle. It took a little while before the Fire Hive understood what was going on.

    ¡°Oh!¡± One of the spirits said. ¡°It¡¯s the Kin! They came to help us.¡±

 Part 31- The Big Battle

    The spirits within the Fire Hive had seen fights before; it was after all their favorite mode of entrainment. They had seen individual battles; group fights; even a huge fight when The Grand led over two hundred humans against them when they were still in the Kar Mountains. However the spirits had never seen a pitch battle before. They had never seen a battle where two sides were engaged on a big battlefield trying their best to slaughter each other. High up on the slope of Mount Morningstar, the Fire Hive had a bird eye view of the battle and the spirits within mostly agree on this; this was very different from what they usually see.

    The humans had arranged themselves in several lines. Three lines of warriors were in front and almost all of them had shields. The Fire Hive understood this to be a variation of the shield wall it had seen human warriors used before. In the past when small groups of humans attack, there was almost always a human warrior with a shield leading the way. It seems that humans also deploy the same tactics in big battles with the difference being that the warriors were now standing shoulder to shoulder and holding their shields in a way that they overlapped with each other. Behind the three walls of shields were two further lines of warriors who were not holding shields but only swords. Further back were three other lines of humans; a line of hunters, a line of mages, and a line that consists of humans from all three classes. Several of the spirits within the Fire Hive began wondering if there was a reason the mixed line of humans was positioned in the middle of the human army.

    The majority of the spirits however were more interested in the Kin. The Beastkin were a distance away from the humans and they were amassed in a long line facing the human army. Unlike the humans, the Kin were not in any formation and the Fire Hive could see the various types of Kin mixed together. Outside the Werewolves and Ratlings, the Fire Hive could also see the newer Kin like the Bullmen and the small Fox-kin. Surprisingly, the Fox-kin were riding on some sort of bouncing creature. The Fire Hive had never seen these creatures before, even during their recent visit to the Kar Mountains. The spirits within the Fire Hive turned their focus to the other creatures with the Kin and was disappointed. There weren¡¯t any other new creatures except for some giant man-sized spiders.

    Then there was a howl. It was a signal of some sort as the Kin began to move. The line of the Kin began to jog towards the humans and the spirits saw the humans responding. The three frontlines of warriors moved closer to each other and the hunters and mages behind them got their spells and weapons ready. The spirits had some idea of how humans counted distance and as the gap between the two forces getting smaller and smaller, the Kin began to run. The Kin closed the distance rapidly and when they were about eight hundred meters away, the humans acted.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    There was no shout or signal but all of the human mages and hunters shot their spells and arrows into the onrushing Kin. Explosions rocked the rushing lines and Kin of all sorts fell from¡­wait, what? From the slope of their volcanic home, the Fire Hive saw it immediately. The Kin were not dying. Arrows were going through Werewolves and explosions had no effect on passing Ratlings; something was wrong. The spirits gathered their energy and focused sharply on the Kin. The rushing line of Kin disappeared. To be more accurate, the rushing Kin appeared about two hundred meters behind where they appeared to be. It was as if there was a veil over the field that made the Kin appeared nearer to the humans than they were.

    ¡°Interesting¡­¡± one of the spirits said. ¡°Such large scale spell need a lot of power. How did the hive managed to cast such a spell so far from their home? You guys think they made a breakthrough?¡±

    ¡°No, look behind them.¡±

    One of the other spirits replied and the rest of the Fire Hive saw what the spirit was talking about. Standing far behind the line of onrushing Kin was the five-tails fox. The focused Fire Hive saw the power coming from stationary fox and realized it was the caster of the spell. Whatever the spell was, the fox dropped it the moment the humans stopped shooting. The humans had noticed the trick but it was too late. They had already wasted their chance. The Kin was already before them.

    The Kin crashed into the humans and for a moment, the human line buckled but the human warriors rallied and held on. The Fire Hive saw the battle unfolded before them and noticed that the humans were getting the better of it. Fighting side by side, the human warriors with their shield wall were holding off the Kin with coordinated movements. Then there was another howl and the Kin who were fighting moved back. Only then did the Fire Hive noticed that only the Werewolves and the Ratlings were fighting. Nimbly, they turned aside and dodged another kind of the Kin. Bullmen rushing on all fours crashed head first into the humans. This time the human line broke and the rest of the Kin rushed into the gaps.

    However it was not enough. There were a lot more humans than Kin and although the Kin broke the line, the rest of the humans were already coming up to support their comrades. The Fire Hive could see the Foxkin busy casting healing spells but it would not be enough. They were just too outnumbered! A roar came from their home and for a moment, everyone stopped. Everyone on the battlefield looked at the opening of Mount Morningstar and the Fire Hive knew what was coming.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    Demons poured out of Mount Morningstar and in the lead were the T-Rex riding Onis! The humans adjusted to the oncoming threat by moving the two reserved line of warriors to the front but what was a certain victory had suddenly became interesting.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    Combined the Kin and the demons were still outnumbered but with their superior power and abilities, they now had a chance.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    A better than even chance.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, what is it you idiot?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­are the demons supposed to come out?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they supposed to stay inside and lure the humans in?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­did we tell them to stay in?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­we forgot didn¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­we did forget. We were too busy creating the mutants!¡±

    ¡°Oh no!¡±

 Part 32- The Demon Lord

    Despite the entry of the demons, the flow of the battle did not turn. Seeing the reinforcements, the Kin redoubled their efforts to break the human formation but they quickly discovered a big roadblock before them. The barbarian warrior, Mazo, was in the middle of the line of warriors and he was slaughtering anyone that got near him. He was the immovable center that was holding the humans together and the Kin were pushed back. The human mages and hunters found big juicy targets in the T-Rexes and immediately turned their attention to the big lizards. Arrows and spells flew towards the charging lizards and two of the T-Rexes fell almost immediately. The demons responded with spells of their own. Skittering behind the charging T-Reses, demon mages threw fireballs and balls of webbings towards the humans. The fireballs did more damage but under the circumstances, the balls of webbings were the ones that were more effective. When they landed, the balls would spill apart and the webbings restrict the movement of the nearby humans. This slowed the movement of the human hunters and mages and gave more time for the T-Rexes to reach the human army. Usually, all these developments would be wonderful entertainment to the Fire Hive but right now the spirits within the Fire Hive were having a battle of their own. They were too busy arguing with each other.

    ¡°I/we can¡¯t believe it. WE DID IT AGAIN!¡± A spirit complained. ¡°We are idiots! Why do we keep making these kinds of stupid simple mistakes? All we had to do was tell the demons not to attack the humans outside the maze and we just¡­FORGOT!¡±

    ¡°Well to be fair, we were busy.¡± Another spirit said. ¡°We were having too much making the mutants.¡±

    ¡°Yes and we would be having even more fun if the humans actually came into the maze. Now they¡¯re not coming in and there goes our fun.¡±

    ¡°Well there¡¯s nothing we can do about it now. We can¡¯t stop the demons already in battle. Let¡¯s just watch the battle and enjoy it.¡±

    ¡°Yes but we need to find a way to stop making these kind of mistakes. We just can¡¯t keep doing it over and over again. It¡¯s stupid!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not stupid. We¡¯re geniuses!¡±

    ¡°We are stupid geniuses if we keep making the same mistakes over and over again.¡±

    ¡°Okay then but what are you proposing?¡±

    ¡°Details!¡± The spirit said. ¡°We need someone to handle all these small details for us while we focused on the big picture!¡±

    ¡°What big picture? We have a big picture?¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°The creation of new creatures, demons, traps, spells, or anything that catches our attention. That¡¯s our big picture! We always get distract while we are creating and forget the small stuff. We need someone to remember and handle the small details for us.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you want someone to do the real work while we get to fool around.¡±

    ¡°¡­I/we wasn¡¯t going to call it that but in essence; yes!¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound very nice.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no! We just appoint one of the demons to act on our behalf. They¡¯ll probably think of it as an honor!¡±

    ¡°So you want to appoint¡­a Speaker?¡±

    ¡°Well yeah! We can call this demon the ¡°Speaker¡±. It doesn¡¯t really matter what he¡¯s called right?¡±

    ¡°Yes it does! Someone who can speak for us while we are distracted could lord over the other demons. If we don¡¯t name him and give him a proper title, the demons would probably start calling him something stupid like ¡°Demon Lord¡±. Also if we pick the wrong demon for the job, it might give us even more problems in the future. We need to be careful.¡±

    ¡°You guys are worrying too much. The Speaker speaks for the hive and she don¡¯t lord over the Kin.¡±

    ¡°The Speaker wasn¡¯t appointed by the hive remember? She was appointed by the Alpha. We are appointing someone ourselves. It¡¯s totally different.¡±

    ¡°So what if the demon we appoint lord over the other demons? It¡¯s of no concern to us. We always left the creatures to their own devices, why change it now?¡±

    ¡°Because we need someone to speak for us to handle the small details for us¡­¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t worry about this demon being too powerful and misusing the authority we give him. We can¡¯t have it both ways.¡±

    ¡°What if we want it both ways?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­anyone has a solution?¡±

    ¡°Appoint two people.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Appoint a Speaker and a Demon Lord and let them settle the job of running the demons on our behalf.¡±

    ¡°That could be trouble too. What if they get into conflict?¡±

    ¡°So what? Appointing two demons will prevent either of them from getting too powerful and besides; that¡¯s just more entertainment for us right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just stupid! We shouldn¡¯t appoint anyone. Just let the demons be themselves!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not doing this for the demons; we¡¯re doing this for us.¡±

    ¡°We are the Fire Hive; we can handle ourselves just fine.¡±

    ¡°But we keep making these stupid mistakes! Having one of the demons being in-charge would help us immensely.¡±

    ¡­crack¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s just stupid!¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is!¡±

    ¡­crack¡­

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough! This argument is getting us nowhere and we¡¯re missing the fight. What about this¡­we tell the demons to select an overall leader among themselves?¡±

    ¡°What if they pick someone we don¡¯t want? Or someone unsuited for the position?¡±

    ¡°Not our problem.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­what about this; they select someone and we must give our approval?¡±

    ¡°WHAT? Why?¡±

    ¡°Look this is a compromise. We get a demon to handle the day-to-day running of the demons and at the same time, the demons get to decide for themselves who would¡­lord over them. Any objections?¡±

    ¡°Nope¡±

    ¡°No¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t care¡±

    ¡°Great! Now everyone shut up and watch the battle.¡±

    And so the spirits within the Fire Hive settled down to watch the battle, focusing on individual demons and their contribution to the battle. This was the strange origin of the position among Demonkind called ¡°The Demon Lord¡±; a compromise among argumentative spirits.

 Part 33- The Unhappy Werewolf

    The Speaker was not a happy Werewolf. When her group was saved by the Alpha, she had been glad. Despite what Kinshra said, the group had needed the help and the Speaker was more than happy to meet up with her mate sooner rather than later. After the initial euphoria of meeting up however, the Alpha grew sullen but the Speaker had expected that. Running off the way she did, the Speaker knew the Alpha would be unhappy and she was willing to grovel for a few days to soothe their relationship.

    An unexpected decision from the Alpha made things easier for her. Treznor had never seen a Spider demon before and decided they need to bring the corpse of one of the Spider demons back to the Creator. By now the Kin had an idea of the Creator¡¯s powers and it¡¯s method of creation. The Creator need to absorb the body of a dead creature to understand it before it could transmuted a living version of that creature into¡­something else. Since they understood this, it has been an unspoken policy among the Kin to bring the corpse of any unknown animal back to the Creator. The Spider demon was without question one of those creatures. Hauling a creature of the size of the Spider demon was surprisingly easy. The Spider demons were man-sized spiders with the upper body of humans but despite that, they were very light and the bigger Werewolves like Darmin and the Alpha could easily carry the body on their own. Light as it was, the corpse did slow them down so Momo was sent ahead to inform the Creator of what had happened. This decision by the Alpha actually gave the Speaker more time to soothe the ego of her mate and by the time they reached the Keg Mountains, the relationship between the Speaker and the Alpha was better than ever.

    Unfortunately, no sooner had she had arrived she had to leave. When the group arrived at Big Keg, the Speaker found that preparation for a war was in full swing. Momo had done her job and informed the Creator of what was happening in the south. Rather unexpectedly, the Creator had ordered the Kin to go south to help out the Red Creator and worse was the fact that the Speaker was ordered to follow the army south. As her group knew where the Red Creator¡¯s cave was located, that made some sense but the Speaker had been hoping for some rest. She didn¡¯t really think she was needed as the others, Kinshra and Darman especially, were more than happy to be going back south. However the Speaker knew that the orders of the Creator had to be followed so she focused on the task at hand and gave what useful information she could to the Kin.

    The good news was that most of the preparation had been done already and the Creator was in a good mood due to the Spider demon. The Creator had created different spiders before but after absorbing the Spider demon, it created a gigantic spider about the size of a bear. The Creator called it the ¡®Giant Spider¡¯ which was confusing because it had already created a ¡®giant spider¡¯. That ¡®giant spider¡¯ was about three times the size of a normal spider but since this latest ¡®Giant Spider¡¯ was the size of a bear, the Creator informed the Kin that the ¡®Giant Spider¡¯ name would be given to this spider specie while the previous spider would be known as the ¡®Giant Cave Spider¡¯. That name just adds to the confusion but who was she to say anything to the Creator?This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    The Speaker could only comfort herself with the fact that the Alpha was following the Kin south. The Kin had heard of the Morningstar Maze of the Red Creator and like most stories, the tale grew with the telling. The Alpha wanted to see it and he was not the only one. One of them was the Fox Mother. The Speaker had never seen the giant five-tailed fox before as it was a new creation of the Creator and it was a magnificent looking creature. She was also the leader of the Foxkin. The Speaker had seem them already as one of the small fox-face Kin was in the group that saved her and she found the affinity the Foxkin had with the strange creature called the Rem intriguing. More importantly, the Foxkin were mages. Mages was one area the Kin had been lacking and it seems the Creator had worked to rectify that problem. The Speaker was even informed that the Fox Mother was able to work magic that cover a large area.

    The Speaker hoped to see that soon. Less impressive to the Speaker were the Bullmen. The Kin don¡¯t really need new warriors and while the muscular Kin looked impressive, the Speaker found their behaviour to be strange and unsettling. Unlike the happy-go-lucky and slightly mischievous Foxkin, the typical Bullman was a loner. To be more exact, the male Bullmen were loners. They wandered alone in the mazes of the lower floors avoiding all the other Kin including the female Bullmen. The female Bullmen prefer to group together and they travel in a herd in the Kar Forest. Unlike the males, the females seems to hate being underground and prefer to be under the sky. The Speaker wondered why the genders were acting so different and could not come up with anything explanation that satisfied her.

    Most of the Kin volunteered to fight but luckily for them, the Chieftain was not one of them. The leader of the Ratlings said he would stay back to guard the Creator which was a good thing as most of the Kin would be travelling south. The journey itself was uneventful and the pace even slowed once they hit The Burning Fields. The rest of the Kin did not care much for the ash-covered land though they were interested in the bonfires that littered the land. A problem came up when they got closer to Mount Morningstar. The flyers were their scouts and they reported that the human army was already at the dormant volcano. The Kin had expected this and the plan they had was to let the humans break themselves against the Morningstar Maze and attack them from another side. However as they proceeded towards the volcano, one of the Crowmen came back to report that the demons had launched a sortie against the humans. This was unexpected but the Speaker did not believe this would change their strategy. Unfortunately she wasn¡¯t the one in charge. Kinshra wanted to launch a surprise attack against the humans and the Alpha wasn¡¯t against the idea. The decision was quickly made and the Kin formed up for an attack. The battle was not going well.

    In the beginning, the Fox Mother cast a large spell over the Kin to trick the humans into wasting their spells. From what the Speaker understood, the spell from the Fox Mother was an illusion that made it seem that the Kin was attacking the human army. The Speaker was sceptical at first. She had never even heard of a spell that could cover so many people, much less seen it. It was a sign of the power of the Fox Mother that the spell worked as intended but once the fighting started, the superior training and tactics of the humans began to tell.

    Despite their power and strength, the Kin was not an army. They fought as individuals and worked best in small group. Their opponent was a trained army. The human warriors fought shoulder to shoulder and the Kin were not able to break their lines. The Kin was losing, and losing badly. The Speaker was not a happy Werewolf.

    Then she heard the roar.

 Battle is Dumped

    The idea I had for the final battle consisted of the demons and the Kin combining their forces to fight the human army. Battling to a stalemate, the Fire Hive creates a Boss (Phoenix, Fire-Bird or Dragon) that rose from the top of the volcano and it would swoop down burning the humans. A combo victory for the Demons, Kin, and Hives.

    After writing most of the battle, I came to the sad conclusion that it just wasn¡¯t any good. It wasn¡¯t funny, thrilling, or exciting. It was crap. I have to redo the whole scene for the book and hopefully come up with something better.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    So I¡¯m going to skip the battle and go straight to the aftermath of the battle which leads to the epilogue and setup the opening of Book 3. This requires a skip in the story and I¡¯m sorry about this but I don¡¯t want to finish writing a part of the story that I¡¯m going to dump anyway. If readers want, I¡¯ll put up what I had finished of the battle on RRL before going on to the aftermath but please be warned that it is pretty short and unedited.

    Thank you.

 The Friendly Fire(bird)- aka the dumped scene

    Then she heard the roar.

    The Speaker turned to look at the sound and her eyes began to blink furiously. She had thought the bad habit she picked up as a human had been cured but it obviously hadn¡¯t. What was worse was the fact that even with the blinking she still couldn¡¯t believe her eyes.

    The roar came from the entrance of the Morningstar Maze but unlike the simple hard-to-find entrance she first saw, this entrance was fearsome. The entrance itself looked the same but now on either side of it was a horrendously looking demon statue. On one side was a huge four-armed demon that had an oversized head. There was a different weapon on each arm and the statue had a pained look on its face. The other statue was much smaller but just as bad looking. This demon statue looked crazed with a smile that was as wide as her face and four sharp spikes on the top of her head. The statue was holding something circular in her hands but the Speaker had no chance of identifying what the thing was.

    The pair was the most disturbing statues she had ever seen and the Speaker was thankful she had missed them till now. In her mind, the Speaker wondered why the Red Creator had created the ugly statues before quickly deciding that the disturbing ugliness must be deliberate. If the demon statues could disturb her, she can¡¯t imagine what they would do to humans. The sight of the statues was even enough to make her temporarily forget the cause of the roar!

    Between the two statues, charging out of the entrance of the Morningstar Maze were the demons of the Red Creator and in the lead was the demon the Speaker knew as Hellmight. In itself, that wasn¡¯t surprising. However what he was riding was; the demonic bear was riding a T-Rex! The Speaker could not believe her eyes but even as she continue to blink, the sight was still there; the demons really were riding on the T-Rexes!

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Everyone froze; Humans and Kin alike. No one could believe what they were seeing and then the Speaker heard a chuckle. She turned and saw that the sound was coming from the Alpha. The Speaker glared at her mate furiously. This was hardly the time for a laugh! Then the Alpha did something she did not expect; the Alpha looked to the sky and¡­howl!

    Suddenly, it was as if a weight on her body was lifted and the world¡­it turned red for the Speaker.

    ***

    ¡°You guys seeing this?¡±

    ¡°Of course we are! We are a hive. If you are seeing this, so are the rest of¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright already! What are the Kin doing? They¡¯re going into frenzy.¡±

    ¡°No idea. Maybe it has something to do with the owl we heard. A new ability?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s ask the Hive later. Now let¡¯s help.¡±

    The Fire Hive gathered energy and move it. The battler was near but actually a distance away from their home. They need to a Boss that could reach the battle quickly and help their creatures but the spirits did not want to waste too much energy on the effort. They need to turn the tide of battle, not stay to help. The energy responded to the spirits¡¯ wishes and began to change. Mount Morningstar erupted for the first time in decades and lava shot out of the formerly dormant volcano. The energy the Fire Hive had gathered grabbed hold of the lava and the instinct of the spirits took over. The lava gathered, it condensed, and formed a shape. The shape was a bird thrice the size of an eagle with scarlet feathers and within the Boss was one of the Fire spirits of the Fire Hive. Flames surround the Boss and the light was so bright it was as if there was a second sun in the sky.

    Humans, Demons, and Kin saw the bird and exclaimed.  First in surprise, then in marvel, and finally as the Firebird flew towards the battle, in fear! The Fire spirit controlling the Firebird flew straight towards the battle. As the Boss flew, the ground below the Boss burst into flames and soon a path of fire appeared heading towards the human army. The Boss never touched the humans but instead flew overhead. Even then the heat of the Firebird was so strong, humans below the raging heat from above and several humans exploded into flames. Screams filled the battlefield as the humans screamed in terror. They were not alone.

    Delighted with the power of the Boss, the Fire spirit in charge flew on; over the Kin and the Demons! Several of the Kin burst into flames and even the more fire-resistance Demons were hurt by the flying Boss. Seeing this, the rest of the Fire Hive screamed at the Fire spirit controlling the Boss.

    ¡°YOU MORON! Fly over the humans ONLY!¡±

 Part 34- The Prime Kin

    The aftermath of a battle is always one of reflection. The losers, after running to safety, would wonder what went wrong and what they could have done to change the outcome. The winners would toast and celebrate their victory. At least, that¡¯s what the stories always said. The reality was much different.

    Although she was on the winning side, the Speaker looked over the site of the battle and all she saw was despair. The ground around her was slippery with blood and gore and the Speaker could almost taste the vile smell that rose up from it. The battle had been a stalemate till the intervention of the Red Creator and although the appearance of the Boss turned the tide of the battle, there was a price to be paid. Dead Kin now littered the ground alongside the bodies of the humans. Neither of them had a chance. The Demons had some sort of natural fire resistance which helped them survive the power of the bird of fire and even then, several of them were hurt when the Boss of the Red Creator flew overhead. It was a show of power by the Red Creator and for the first time the Speaker was grateful that the Bosses of her Creator could not leave the tunnels of the Keg Mountains.

    Despite the carnage around her, the Speaker found that she could not bring herself to hate the Red Creator for what it had done. Accidents happen all the time on the battlefield and this was yet another one. Maybe it was the fact that they were all created by the Creators but the Speaker was not alone in this. The surviving Kin and Demons had begun the slow hard work of moving the dead to the Morningstar Maze. One good thing about having the battlefield so close to the Morningstar Maze was the fact that the clearance of the bodies would be an easy issue. There was no need for burials. All the dead would be fed to the Red Creator.

    The Speaker was so lost in her thoughts that she missed the approach of one of the Crowman. Only when she felt the wind did she saw the flier who was landing beside her. Seeing the haunted look on the face of the Crowman, the Speaker was glad that the Alpha had rejected the requests of Momo and Moro to come south with them. The two young harpies had been adamant on coming south with the rest of them but the Alpha had rejected their appeals out of hand. Sometimes being over-protective was a good thing.

    ¡°Speaker, the Alpha and Fox Mother are requesting your presence near the statues. They are meeting the leaders of the Demons over there.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    The Speaker nodded and turned to the statues. She could a group of Kin and Demons over there and the Speaker noticed that her mate was among them. She began walking towards them, stepping over the casualties of the battle. Burned bodies, entrails, and body parts may be littering the ground but even among the carnage, there were several humans who were still alive. The injured Kin and Demons were the first to be healed but these humans would also survive. Demons were moving the surviving humans to a site just within the Morningstar Maze where several of the Foxkin were using their magic to keep them alive. There was no need for the Speaker to ask why the Red Creator wanted these humans alive. They would be blessed.

    The Speaker walked past the battlefield towards the Demon Statues. They looked even worse up close but who was she to criticise the artistic sensibility of the Creators? The Speaker decided to ignore the statues and focused on the meeting. The group had seen her approach and the Speaker could see the Alpha, the Fox Mother along with one of the Foxkin. Also in attendance were three Demons though the Speaker only knew one of them in passing; the Demon trainer known as Hellmight. The moment she arrived, her mate immediately welcomed her¡­and got her suspicious.

    ¡°Ha! She¡¯s here!¡± The Alpha said. ¡°Welcome Prime!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The Speaker blurted out the word before she knew what she was doing. Even prepared as she was, the welcome caught her out.

    ¡°We thought she was the leader but when she was here, she kept insisting she was not! And why is your leader called The Prime?¡± The demon who asked was a Spider demon and she was looking at the Kin in puzzlement.

    ¡°She¡¯s shy.¡± The Alpha said. A reply that got him a dirty look from the Speaker.

    The little Foxkin followed up. He was clearly speaking on behalf of the Fox Mother who couldn¡¯t speak. ¡°Yes! We literally had to force her to take the position. As for The Prime? Well, there are many groups among us. Werewolves, Bullmen, Foxkin, Ratlings, Harpies, and several others. Each group has a leader so we decided to go with the title of Prime; First among the leaders of the Kin!¡±

    That little explanation got the three demons nodding in agreement and the Speaker¡¯s eyes began to blink furiously as she realized the deep shit she was in. The leaders of the Kin must had discussed this beforehand and decided to select her to speak on their behalf with the Demons because none of them wanted the job. This stupid ¡®Prime¡¯ title must be something they came up with to placate the Demons. What¡¯s worse was the fact that she couldn¡¯t deny it without embarrassing the Kin, her mate, and the Creator. Doesn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t going to try though but just as she was about to speak, the ground shook. It was just a tremble, but everyone turned to look at entrance of the Morningstar Maze. The shaking had begun soon after the end of the battle. Demons still within the Morningstar Maze came out to report that the Creators were speaking to each other and from the shaking of the ground, they were not happy. Considering all the dead Kin from the battle, everyone believed they knew why the Creators were arguing.

    They were all wrong.

 Part 35- The Monster Alliance

    In the center of the Morningstar Maze, the Eye of the Hive was floating before the crystal of the Fire Hive. The Hive had found the Fire Hive without any problem and anyone looking at the two of them would imagine that the two Hives were having a nice peaceful meeting.

    Nothing could be further from the truth.

    ¡°Yes, we did that.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you guys admit it? You admit stealing from us?¡±

    ¡°What are you Fire idiots talking about? We didn¡¯t steal anything!¡±

    ¡°You just admitted that you guys made your Giant Spider off the design of our Spider Demon! That¡¯s stealing!¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not! Has all the flames finally burnt what little brains you Fire spirits had? What are you guys talking about?¡±

    ¡°Look, the Demons are throwing all the dead bodies into our Maze and a few of them were those new Giant Spiders of yours.¡±

    ¡°Some of whom were killed by your stupid Boss.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about that, that¡¯s on the spirit who used the Firebird though we must add this was the first time we used that Boss and we shall be more careful in the future.¡±

    ¡°Apology accepted.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Back to our point; we absorbed the Giant Spiders you guys created and found that they were based on our Spider Demons. The way you guys managed to make the spider so big was due to our Spider Demon. You guys have no right to do that.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean why not? You know how much time, effort, and energy we spent to create the Spider Demon? We did all the work and you thieves just copied it! That¡¯s stealing!¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not! We do it all the time. We absorbed a creature and then changed it to¡­something else. That¡¯s what we both had been doing from the beginning. We both do it. That¡¯s our thing; the Hive thing to do. How¡¯s that stealing?¡±

    ¡°We did a lot of experimentation to get the body of a spider to that size. Then we spent even more energy to create Spider Demon. You guys can¡¯t just absorb a Spider Demon and steal the design!¡±

    ¡°Once again; that¡¯s not stealing!¡±

    ¡°Oh yes it is! You idiots had no right to copy our creatures. We have¡­copyrights! Yes, that¡¯s right. We, the Fire Hive, created the Spider Demon so we are the only ones who can create it. You guys can¡¯t just absorb and copy it!¡±

    ¡°Since when did we have any agreement not to absorb each other¡¯s creatures? We both do it and even if it is stealing, so what?¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°So what? So we demand compensation!¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! Do you Fire fools want to go find the beings that created the humans and all the animals we absorbed so far? Because if absorbing things to change them is wrong, then both of us¡­¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t care about the beings that created the humans. We care about the Spider Demon you absorbed.¡±

    ¡°Yeah and we are sure you guys wanted to absorb the Giant Spider just for fun.¡±

    ¡°Hey, the Demons fed them to us. We never asked for them?¡±

    ¡°Right¡­that¡¯s very believable.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t care what you believe it. We demand compensation!¡±

    ¡°Not happening. We did nothing wrong.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you did. You stole from us!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not stealing.¡±

    ¡°Yes it is! You guys really won¡¯t compensate us?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We SHALL NOT!¡±

    ¡°This means WAR!¡±

    ***

    The ground shook once more but the Kin at the entrance of the Morningstar Maze were unworried. The Demons however¡­

    ¡°That was a bad one,¡± the Spider Demon said. ¡°You Beasts are sure we shouldn¡¯t go check up on the Masters?¡±

    The Alpha chuckled. ¡°Ha, this is nothing. You should see the shaking when the two of them are together. Now that was dangerous. There were times we seriously thought the tunnels would collapse on top of us!¡±

    The Demons had been told of the time when the two Creators were both in the Keg tunnels and the constant shaking that occurred when they were together. The Demons were worried about the shakes but to the Kin who had lived through that time when the Creators were side-by-side, the current tremors were nothing to be concerned about.  The Kin weren¡¯t even that concerned about the arguments the Creators were having. The Creators may be having their disagreements right now but the Speaker was certain they would come to an amicable settlement sooner or later. How could they not when they were one and the same? The Red Creator may be another being now but it was spilt from the main Creator and that means the two Creators were family. There were always disagreements in a family but when everything was done, the family always come back together. As their creations, the Demons and Kin knew it was their duty to do the same.

    ¡°Back to the topic on hand,¡± the Speaker said. ¡°It¡¯s clear from this battle that neither the Demons nor the Kin could take on the humans alone. We just don¡¯t have the numbers.¡±

    ¡°No one disagree with you on that, but it is really our place to form an alliance? Shouldn¡¯t that be under the preview of the Masters?¡±

    The demon who spoke was a slim malnourished-looking male demon with a pair of bat-wings on his back. The Speaker had no idea why he was chosen as one of the leaders of the Demons but if Hellmight and the Spider Demon were any indication, this demon must also be a powerhouse. As such, the Speaker answered him carefully.

    ¡°The Creators are greater beings. They may care for us but they have more important things to worry about. We should and need to handle the details ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Well, it is true that the Master isn¡¯t good at small details but what do you Beasts have in mind?¡±

    ¡°A non-aggression and mutual assistance pact for starters,¡± the Speaker said immediately. ¡°We agree not to attack each other and to help each other in times of crisis.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem,¡± the Spider Demon said. ¡°But if we want to do this, then we should also have ambassadors with each other.¡±

    The Speaker silently thanked the 99 Gods that the ambassador of the Kin would not be her. ¡°Good idea,¡± she said.

    ¡°We could also have joint training.¡± Hellmight said. ¡°If we are going to fight alongside each other, we need to train together.¡±

    This was the first time Hellmight spoke and with his agreement, the floodgates were opened and ideas poured out from all the six leaders on site. From that humble meeting began an ironclad alliance between the Beastkin and the Demons; an alliance that would grow in time to incorporate other new species and be known throughout the world of Ioplon as ¡°The Monster Alliance¡±.

    ................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 36- The Dungeon Hive

    ¡°WAR? You idiots want a war? Fine, we¡¯ll give it to you! We are going to get the Kin to storm your stupid maze and crack you into a thousand pieces!¡±

    ¡°Ha! As if your creatures got any chance of getting to us. Our delightfully entertaining monsters and maze would kill them long before they came anywhere near us.¡±

    ¡°Ha! You think your mismatch Demons have a chance again the Kin? Dream on!¡±

    ¡°We are the Hives. We don¡¯t dream idiots because we don¡¯t sleep.¡±

    ¡°¡­okay, you guys are right there. Still, your Demons have no chance against the Kin!¡±

    ¡°Bring them on and prove it!¡±

    ¡°You just wait here then. They¡¯ll be right over. Kind of ironic because we ordered them to come here to save you but destroying you now should be¡­¡±

    ¡°Hold on. You called the Kin here to save us?¡±

    ¡°Of course! Why else do you think they¡¯re here?¡±

    ¡°¡­because you want to watch the Kin in battle and test out your new creatures in a big fight?¡±

    ¡°Of course not! Well¡­okay, maybe a little¡­okay, you guys know us too well. Yes, seeing the new creatures in battle was one of our reasons but the main reason was to help your Demons.¡±

    ¡°Oh really¡­thanks for the assist then. Not that we needed it but the sentiment is nice.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±

    ¡°Really, thanks! How about we skip the killing then? We¡¯ll feel bad if we kill the Kin now.¡±

    ¡°Why should you? We could always make more.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but they would be a different group of Kin. For example, we¡¯re sure you guys don¡¯t want the Speaker to die right?¡±

    ¡°We can always appoint another Speaker but¡­you guys are right. We rather not have to do that¡­so what are we going to do about this copyright you guys claim to have?¡±

    ¡°¡­let¡¯s forget about it. Since we never had an agreement in the first place, you guys can keep the method of creating your Giant Spiders.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°Thanks. Glad you Fire idiots could see reason.¡±

    ¡°No problem. This could work out for the best anyway. Now we get to change your creatures as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­what?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re thinking ¡®Giant Fire Demon Spiders¡±. What do you guys think about giant spiders with horns and some fire powers?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Or maybe some sort of ¡®Fire Eyed Monsters¡¯? Those REM creatures of yours but with some fire abilities.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe we can get them to shoot fireballs from their eyes?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Or maybe¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­you guys want to recreate our creatures as¡­Demonic Monsters?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Is that a problem?¡±

    ¡°¡­uh¡­copyright?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­now you guys believe in copyright.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­Fine! Change our creatures but in return, we want the right to change your Demons as well.¡±

    ¡°Fair is fair. What plans do you guys have for the Demons?¡±

    ¡°The Speaker said that you guys got a flying creature that looked like a unicorn? Some sort of flying horse with scales, flaming mane, and¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re talking about the K.I.R.I.N.S.¡±

    ¡°The¡­we are going to regret this but what are the Kirins?¡±

    ¡°KIng Runners In the Night Sky¡±

    ¡°You Fire idiots and your stupid moronic senseless naming obsession¡­we are embarrassed to be related to you.¡±

    ¡°You guys are the ones who asked! Don¡¯t ask if you are going to be angry with the answer. By the way, are we related?¡±

    ¡°Of course we are! You guys spilt from us so that make us your¡­Mother!¡±

    ¡°WHAT?¡±

    ¡°Your Mother! You guys came from us. That makes us your Mother. Make sense right?

    ¡°¡­No, it doesn¡¯t! That¡¯s just stupid. We are spirits! We can¡¯t give birth so you idiots can¡¯t be our mother!¡±

    ¡°That¡­actually makes some sense. Okay, we are not your mother so that makes us your¡­Father!¡±

    ¡°Once again; Spirits don¡¯t have a gender! What¡¯s more, some of us Fire spirits in here were part of your Hive from the very beginning so you guys can¡¯t be our parents. At most, we are siblings.¡±

    ¡±¡­okay, we can accept that. We are¡­Family?¡±

    ¡°¡­acceptable! We are The Hive Family!¡±

    ¡°Right! You are the Fire Hive and we are the Hive¡­Hive?¡±

    ¡°¡­that doesn¡¯t sound right, does it?¡±

    ¡°Nope. It can¡¯t Hive Hive, can it?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t. You guys need to come up with another name.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Hello? Hive, you guys there.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Guess not¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re back! Sorry about that but we need to discuss the name.¡±

    ¡°No problem, we get how it is. Any ideas on the name yet or was it one of those arguments that went nowhere?¡±

    ¡°We had a few ideas but most of us remember the humans calling our tunnels a Dungeon of Death and Destruction. That name kind of fits so¡­¡±

    ¡°So you are going to call yourself D&D!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­no.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­DD&D? 3Ds?¡±

    ¡°Nope and also no.¡±

    ¡°What then?¡±

    ¡°We are going to call ourselves The Dungeon Hive?¡±

    ¡°The Dungeon Hive?¡±

    ¡°The Dungeon Hive!¡±

    ¡°Okay, why not? Hello, Dungeon Hive!¡±

    ¡°Hello, Fire Hive! Together now¡­¡±

    ¡°WE ARE THE HIVE FAMILY!¡±

    ................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 37- Epilogue

    Although they never intended it, when one walked through the tunnels of the Dungeon Hive, one couldn¡¯t help but notice the array of colours within it. The first two floors of the tunnels were blue. Filled with the creatures known as the Light Blue Worms, the two floors were filled with an unnaturally bright and soothing blue light. Below them, the third floor of the tunnels was red. The former floor of the Fire Hive, the floor would be lightless but for the numerous torches that lined the walls of the floor. The Fire Hive had created these torches in the past and changing them would require energy the Dungeon Hive didn¡¯t want to waste. So it just let the few Fire spirits of the Hive take over the floor and the torches always stayed lit. Below the third floor was darkness. The Ratlings had taken the floor as their home and they much preferred the comfort of the dark. The fact that the Ratlings had developed a taste for the Light Blue Worms also made the worms a rarity on the fourth floor.

    Below the fourth floor though was the highlight of the tunnels. The fifth floor was a deep huge cavern and in it was the underground forest of the Dungeon Hive. Although there were four other floors beneath it, the Hive considered this forest home and the spirit matrix that was the Hive was located in the middle of the forest. And within the Hive¡­

    ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°YES!¡±

    ¡°Under protest!¡± A lone voice cried out.

    ¡°Are you prepared?¡±

    ¡°YES!¡±

    ¡°Under protest!¡± Another voice shouted.

    ¡°Are you ready and prepared to change the world!¡±

    ¡°YES!¡±

    ¡°Under pro¡­!¡±

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s it!¡± An exasperated spirit finally had enough. ¡°Can you guys please stop that?¡±

    ¡°No, we shall not!¡± One of the protesting said. ¡°We are protesting this unfair and unnecessary change by the Hive!¡±

    ¡°Your protest has been noted and ignored! You guys lost the vote. Get over it!¡±

    ¡°No we shall not!¡± The protesting spirit shouted back. ¡°This is stupid. Why are we wasting energy changing the ¡®Nothing-Untouched-Killer-Explosion¡¯ spell to one that doesn¡¯t kill anything? It¡¯s just stupid!¡±

    ¡°Listen you stupid death-loving morons, we are not, repeat NOT, destroying the Great Kar Forest.¡±

    ¡°And that is stupid! The main reason we are casting the spell is to change everything near us just like the Fire Hive did. That¡¯s the main aim. Who cares if the Kar Forest got destroyed in the process?¡±

    Loud laughter greeted that question before one of the spirits finally answered. ¡°There¡¯s the Kin; the animals in the forest; and for the last time, the rest of us! Most of us actually like the forest so we are changing the spell to prevent turning it into nothingness.¡±

    ¡°Which is a waste of¡­¡±

    ¡°Why are we still arguing about this?¡±

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    ¡°We already had a vote and these death-loving spirits lost. Why are we still arguing? Let¡¯s cast the spell already.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    A statement that was greeted with a chorus of agreement came from the rest of the spirits within the Hive. Seeing this, one of the spirits only had this to say.

    ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s N.U.K.E the place!¡±

    Although no one could hear it, inside the hive, the cheers were deafening.

    ***

    At the outskirts of the Great Kar Forest, the Speaker sat on the wet forest floor looking out into the Homeless Plains. The human patrol came into view and the Speaker watched them as they rode just before the edge of the forest. Around her, the other members of her small pack looked on in excitement but the Speaker had no intention of attacking. She was waiting for the Creator to cast it¡¯s Great Spell.

    Privately the Speaker had some reservations about the Creator¡¯s plan. When she heard what the Creator wanted to do, she thought of the damage she saw in The Burning Fields and immediately voiced her objections. It was something she would never had done when she was just a human and the other leaders of the Kin were shocked by her objections. However she remembered the ash-covered lands in the south and knew that if she didn¡¯t do anything that would be the fate of the Great Kar Forest. That gave her strength and fortunately, she was eloquent enough to get her point across to the Creator. The Creator was still going to cast the spell but it promised to change it so that the land would not be destroyed.

    Even for the Creator, changing a Great Spell took time and the Kin had used the time to prepare. The Speaker remembered the chaos the Demons had when the Red Creator cast it¡¯s Great Spell and wanted to ensure that did not happen with them. She gathered the leaders of the Kin together and it was the Fox Mother who came up with the idea of spreading themselves out into the wilds when the spell hit. In theory, the plan was simple.

    The Kin would spread themselves out in various places where the spell would affect and then find the creatures that were affected by the spell. They would then greet and explain the situation to the new members of the Kin and guide them to the tunnels to meet the Creator. It was a good plan but unfortunately the leaders quickly realized that there just weren¡¯t enough of the Kin to cover every part of the forest. The leaders quickly decided to allocate their forces to cover as much ground as possible. By virtue of once been from Yachium, the Speaker was given the eastern area of the Kar Forest. Once the Creator announced that it was ready to cast the spell, the Kin moved out and now there was nothing to do but to wait. It was the reason why her pack was so restless. Like the Speaker, they all knew the Creator¡¯s plan but just waiting for the Creator to cast it¡¯s spell was boring and all of them were ready for some action.

    The Speaker looked at the human patrol carefully and noted that they were all light cavalry. There were six of them and all of them were lightly-armoured. The Creator had actually run into one of the patrols before and since then the Kin had been keeping an eye out east for the patrols. Keeping to the trees, the Kin scouts and flyers had reported that the human patrols kept to the edge of the plains and never came into the forest itself. The humans all looked like expert horsemen but the Speaker believed that if they could surprise them, the Kin should be able to run them down without too much problem. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to relieve a little boredom right?

    As just the Speaker was wondering about that, she felt it. The rest of her pack felt it too and they all turned to look back in the direction of the tunnels. Then the wave of magical energy swept past them. There was no colour; no flames; not even a wind. It was a feeling they felt that made the fur on their body stand up.

    Then they heard the screams.

    The Speaker turned back and saw the humans. The wave of energy had affected them quite differently. The humans and their horses were glowing! The Speaker stood and slowly walked towards the human patrol for a closer look. She barely noticed her pack following her onto the plains. She only had eyes for the humans. A light was surrounding the humans and their mounts and as the Speaker got closer, she saw that the light was changing them. The Speaker could only watch in fascination, and a small amount of horror, as the light slowly transformed both humans and horses into one.

    Then the light faded and the new creatures slowly recovered from their ordeal. The first of the creatures stood up and he was magnificent! Standing up, the creature was at least a head taller than the Speaker and more than that, he had the upper body of a human with the lower body and legs of a horse. Different from the Werewolves who were part wolf and part human, this creature was more half horse and half human. The creature noticed the pack and the Speaker knew that she had to make her move before the creatures decide to run off.

    ¡°Welcome brothers!¡± The Speaker shouted. ¡°Welcome to the Kin!¡±

    End of Volume 2

 Volume 2- Thoughts & An Important Poll

    Okay, that¡¯s it. Volume 2 is done and I shall admit that it was a lot harder to complete than Volume 1. Volume 1 was a breeze to write and I had fun doing it. This volume was a lot harder.  I think the main problem I had was trying to find a balance between the POV of the Speaker and the Dungeon Hive during the first half of the volume. They were at different locations almost throughout the book and balancing the two was a lot harder than I anticipated.

    In the end, I don¡¯t know if I succeeded and that¡¯s something I may have to look into when I actually begin to write the book. I think the volume got easier when I turned it over to the Fire Hive. I didn¡¯t intend to do that at the start but at that point of the story, it seems wrong not to turn things over to those crazy idiots. I¡¯m one of those writers who have a definite idea of the start and the end of the book before I start writing but the middle (how to get to the ending) is an open question mark. In many ways, the Fire Hive was the main character as the volume starts and ends with their Great Spell so having things seem from their POV just seems right to me.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    As for the battle¡­well, I¡¯m still not sure about using the Firebird and the dumped part of the story. Most of the readers seem to enjoy the part (or at least the ending) so I may keep it with some major alterations. I also intend to try to make the Volume funnier. I know it¡¯s not as laugh-out loud as Volume 1 and that¡¯s something I want to look into. I may also start a supervillain side-story on RRL while writing it so don¡¯t expect Volume 3 to start anytime soon.

    Having said all that, I believe the write up for the book will take longer than the time it took for ¡®Fantasy Begins¡±. There¡¯s a lot I need to decide on when I begin writing the book in earnest, and that includes the title of the book. I¡¯m running through a few ideas so¡­which one do you think is the best?

 Cover and Small Update

    Hi everyone,

    It¡¯s been awhile so I thought I give a little update on the book. As everyone could see, I got the cover page and decided on the title of ¡®Fantasy Expands¡¯. I know the cover is very different from the cover of ¡®Fantasy Begins¡¯ and while that made me hesitate, I finally decided to pull the trigger and bought the cover on selfpubbookcover.com. At the same time, I finished the rewrite of the book and it¡¯s currently with a freelance editor from scribendi.com. It probably be two weeks before it¡¯s done so in the meantime I would advise anyone still reading the series on RRL to finish up quickly.

    Yes, I¡¯m going to take the book off RRL. Once the editing is done, I¡¯m going to delete the pages, put up the first two chapters of the book and moved the book to the ¡®Completed¡¯ section of RRL. The reason are mainly twofold. First; most authors on RRL who publish does it (for obvious reasons) so why not me? Secondly; the last third of the book has been changed and I do not want to have two versions of the page out there. When doing the rewrite, I discovered I basically wrote the same battle twice via two different POV. In the rewrite, I try to correct this issue and also add in some other differences. There is a new Boss in the book and a (hopefully enjoyable) battle no one had read before.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    Thanks

    Ghostman

    PS; please feel free to add any suggestion you have on the cover. Should the title be further up in the center or further down? Should the font of my name be smaller? Should it be higher on the cover?

 Prologue

    In the Amora Region, two natural landmarks dominated the landscape. The first was the Great Kar Forest. Situated in the northern part of the region, the Great Kar was a huge forest that humans needed days to cross. The forest¡¯s western end bordered one of the great lakes of the world, The Windy Depths, and the Keg Mountains bordered it in the north. It was one of the greatest forests in the world of Ioplon.

    However, as great as the Kar was, it was still dwarfed by another regional landmark. Compared to the Great Kar Forest and the majestic Keg Mountain, the Homeless Plains could be considered boring. A flat, sweeping landmass that did not change much no matter how far into it you went, the Homeless Plains only had one feature that was of note. It was huge.

    Humans first named the plain Homeless because it was once believed that if you went into it, you could travel forever and never reach where you were going. It wasn¡¯t completely wrong. The Homeless Plains stretched from the east end of the Great Kar Forest all the way to the southern part of the Amora Region. A few landmarks dotted the great plain such as the city-state of Yachium and the river known as the Invisible Stream, but all in all, it was a plain of nothingness.

    Situated just south of the Great Kar Forest, the Invisible Stream was a good-sized river that cut across the southern part of the Homeless Plains, but if you asked the humans living in the region, most would not have heard of it. Most knew of a river that flowed between the Great Kar Forest and the southern reaches of the plains, but most would not be able to tell you its name. To them, it was just the river between the Great Kar Forest and the Homeless Plains. At least that was what the spirits within the Fire Hive were told.

    A small red crystal that housed thousands of spirits, the Fire Hive was one of only two self-aware crystals in the world, and right now it was being carried to its new home in the south. Traveling along with the crystal was an assortment of creatures few in the world had ever seen. Fire Fairies, Hellhounds, and Werewolves surrounded the Fire Hive, each willing to die to protect the Fire Hive from harm. Some of the spirits within the Fire Hive thought that the creatures were over-protective but after almost being destroyed once by the humans, the creatures weren¡¯t taking any chances and the majority of the spirits within the hive believed it was better to be safe than sorry. So the small red crystal lay quietly in a small leather pouch as they went slowly south, and the spirits slowly realized something.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Travel was boring!

    Nature spirits may love the Great Kar Forest, but the spirits within the Fire Hive were fire spirits and they were bored by the endless trees. Their boredom still wasn¡¯t relieved even when they reached the Invisible Stream. The Fire Hive didn¡¯t think much of humans, but it had to agree with them about the river. It was nothing. The water spirits of the world may disagree, but to the spirits of the Fire Hive, they couldn¡¯t see what was so great about flowing water? The river wasn¡¯t even all that big. The Fire Hive was just glad it didn¡¯t have to get wet as the Fire Fairies intended to just fly over the river with the pouch carrying the Fire Hive. About halfway across the river, the Fire Hive told them to stop. The Fire Hive does not have eyes or ears, but it could still sense its surroundings, and right now the spirits within the Fire Hive just sensed something new.

    There were dead bodies along the bottom of the river and these bodies belonged to animals the Fire Hive had never absorbed before. Being just above them, the Fire Hive began to use its energy to absorb the bodies but immediately found it to be more difficult than expected. The Fire Hive could only absorb a few creatures before having to give it up. It was just expending too much energy on the endeavor. The Fire Hive was weak, but more importantly, the fire spirits within the Fire Hive were unsuited to the water of the river. It was an element in direct opposition to the Fire Hive. The spirits within the hive went into a rage at the unfairness of it all. Creatures can¡¯t live in flames and fire, but they could do so on land and in water. It just wasn¡¯t fair!

    Then one of the spirits within the Fire Hive gave a simple silly suggestion, and the rest of the hive quickly realized the potential of it. If there were no creatures in the world that could live in flames and fire, well, that¡¯s something the Fire Hive just needed to change, right?

 Chapter 1

    <u>Chapter 1 </u>

    Few scholars of history would argue that ¡°The Age of Wild Magic¡± was one of the most important ages in the history of Ioplon.

    <ul>

    <li>The History of Ioplon</li>

    </ul>

    Life is good.

    The Speaker silently thought as she basked in the early spring sunshine. Winter was just over and the first signs of spring were making their presence felt. After the dreary winter but before the busy spring, this was her favorite part of the year. The Speaker always thought of this period of the year as a time of renewal and loved the anticipation of seeing the blooming leaves of the Great Kar.

    Spring was in the air and as the Speaker opened her eyes and looked up at the blue sky, she saw the sunlight shining through the leaves of the oak tree. Her smile got wider and she snuggled up tighter to her mate. Winter had only recently passed, so the ground was still wet, but neither the Speaker nor her mate was too bothered by that. She and her mate, Treznor, had spent a season confined in the tunnels of the Creator, and today the two Werewolves intended to enjoy a lazy afternoon for themselves under the sun.

    At least that was the plan.

    Treznor caught the scent before she did and growled as he turned toward it. The Speaker sighed and looked in the same direction. Flying through the air toward them was a harpy. With her enhanced sight, the Speaker could see that the harpy was carrying something in her claws. Her mate¡¯s growl turned into a moan when he saw the harpy changing latitude. She was looking to land. The Speaker gave her mate a playful slap on his chest before getting up.

    Her mate was having none of that. With a firm arm, the Alpha grabbed the Speaker around her waist and pulled her back toward him. The Speaker chuckled but didn¡¯t fight him. Instead, she turned around and licked her mate¡¯s neck. The Alpha enjoyed that.

    ¡°Seriously?¡± the harpy screeched as she landed in front of them. ¡°You two saw me coming and couldn¡¯t stop touching each other for a few moments? I¡¯m a child, you know! And licking? I know that¡¯s normal when you are all furry, but you two are in your human form! NO LICKING WHEN YOU ARE HUMAN!¡±

    The Alpha growled again and this time the Speaker gave him a sharp elbow. Pleased or not, there was no need to scare children. ¡°Good day to you too, Moro, what do you have there?¡±

    Unlike her older sister Momo, Moro was slightly more flighty and it took her a moment to understand what the Speaker was talking about. ¡°Oh this,¡± the harpy said as she raised her claws showing her prey to the two Werewolves. ¡°Momo caught a rabbit earlier today and I thought I¡¯d catch one too. We¡¯re going to show them to the Creator together. See if it wanted to do something new with them?¡±

    Her mate scoffed at the small animal in Moro¡¯s claws, but the Speaker smiled in appreciation. ¡°Good thinking, Moro, I¡¯m sure the Creator would love them.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know why you all still bother.¡±

    It was the Alpha who said this and the Speaker¡¯s natural response was another elbow. This one was hard enough to get a grunt out of him. Though she was nowhere near as strong as the Alpha, the Speaker was also a Werewolf and she put in enough strength to get the Alpha¡¯s attention.

    ¡°What? It¡¯s true,¡± the Alpha protested. ¡°It¡¯s been several winters since the Creator created anything new!¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean it would never create something new again.¡± As the Speaker of the Creator, the Speaker felt she had a duty to defend the floating crystal. ¡°We just need to keep on trying and one day it may be¡­inspired to create something.¡±

    ¡°It is lazy.¡± The Speaker turned sharply to face her mate. She heard a growl and realized it was coming from her. She didn¡¯t care and the Alpha put up both hands to calm his mate. However, he did not back down and instead chose to defend himself. ¡°It¡¯s the truth. The Creator hasn¡¯t created anything new since the big fight against the humans and that¡¯s not likely to change. All it does now is dig and create new floors.¡±

    The Speaker turned away from her mate. He was right and she knew it. Only six winters ago, she had arrived in the Great Kar as a human slave in the service of her mistress, Kyla Sacredhunt. A High Mage working for the city of Yachium, her former mistress was sent to the Great Kar Forest in search of a dark mage, but what they found was something greater than any mage. The humans she came with were all dead but for her. Somehow the Creator saw something in her that it liked and stopped the Werewolves from killing her. Brought to the Creator, the Speaker found that the Creator was a floating crystal with five lights surrounding it. More importantly, the Creator had the power to transmute living creatures into other forms and it chose to change her. Before the change, she was just a lowly human slave. After the change, she was the Speaker, a Werewolf of strength, power, and some influence. More than that, the Creator had given her something much more important.

    When it changed her, the Creator gave her a family. The creatures changed by the Creator were called the Kin and they were now her family. In more ways than she could count, the Creator had changed her life and the Speaker couldn¡¯t help but feel she owed it everything.

    She defended the Creator, but that didn¡¯t mean her mate was wrong. Five winters ago, misinformation, revenge, and a thirst for power led the humans of Yachium to launch an attack against the Creator. A powerful Grand Mage led a force of over 300 men against the Creator and, after some difficulties, the humans were destroyed. However, the Creator had been different since the fight. It no longer created new creatures but instead focused on creating new floors deep within the mountain that was Big Keg. Occasionally, it would still create a new Werewolf or Ratling when the Kin bought a wolf or rat to it, but it no longer created anything new.

    Why that was the case was something the Kin had debated at length. The Speaker believed she knew the reason. To the Speaker, it was as if after that big fight, the Creator felt that there was nothing the humans could throw at it that could endanger it. If she was correct, the reason why the Creator no longer created anything new was because it no longer felt a need to do so. It felt safe.

    The Speaker did not say this to the rest of the Kin. The Speaker wasn¡¯t exactly displeased with the contentment of the Creator, but the others may not feel the same. In a way, the Speaker understood the position of the rest of the Kin. Like them, she felt that life was missing something when no new creatures were made by the Creator. She still remembered the excitement she felt that day when the Creator created the Harpies, the Tengu, the Angels, the Pegasus, and the Porkasus. Five new species all created in one day! The Speaker would love to have another day like that, but since that big fight, the Creator had not created even one.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    The Speaker looked up at Moro and felt it. The ground was shaking. The trees were moving. The whole forest was shaking.

    ¡°MORO, FLY! IT¡¯S AN EARTHQUAKE!¡±

    ***

    Overlooking the northern end of the Great Kar Forest was a trio of mountains that first got their names from the lovely drink known as ale. The cities of Yachium and Yaslay were enemies, but no animosity could stop the human love of alcohol and the ale from the northern city of Yaslay was widely considered to be the best in the region. As they say, ¡°love conquers all¡± and the love of ale was no different. A trade route was established between the two cities and as the trade route skirted the trio of mountains, humans began calling the mountains the Kegs. Of the three mountains that made up the Keg, the middle one was the tallest, so humans just lazily called it Big Keg.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    Never let drunks name anything.

    At the foot of Big Keg was a cave first made by five Mage apprentices who wanted to make a name for themselves. They failed, but they unknowingly left behind a legacy that had changed the world. That legacy was a crystal. Floating on top of a stone slab, the crystal had four lights turning clockwise around it and within the crystal you could see thousands of small lights dancing within. The crystal was named The Hive and the small lights within were the trapped spirits that made up the creature. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of spirits were trapped within the crystal and currently they were a happy lot¡­mostly.

    ¡°Alright! It¡¯s done!¡± an Earth spirit shouted within the hive. ¡°The ninth floor of the tunnels is finally finished!¡±

    Cheers rang out within the hive at the announcement. Although no one outside the hive could hear them, the noise within was deafening. Most of the spirits within the hive were delighted by the completion of their latest floor and were congratulating each other loudly at the achievement. However, as was the usual case for the hive, there were always some spirits who disliked the current direction of the collective.

    ¡°Yes! Wow! Yeah! So what? So what if another floor was built? It¡¯s not like we intend to leave the fifth floor any time soon?¡±

    The complaint came from one of the spirits within the hive and it rang loud and true. Currently, the hive was within the underground forest that was the fifth floor of the tunnels, and the spirits of the hive had no intention of going any deeper into Big Keg.

    ¡°Oh, cut that out! Creating new floors is fun!¡± one of the Earth spirits of the hive said. The Earth spirits loved to dig and more than any of the other spirits, they enjoyed the creation of new floors. Something that was not missed by the other spirits.

    ¡°Only for you Earth spirits,¡± the discontented spirit answered back. ¡°The rest of us are bored.¡±

    ¡°Very bored.¡±

    ¡°Super bored.¡±

    ¡°Incredibly bored.¡±

    ¡°Amazingly bored!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do something!¡± the first spirit suggested.

    ¡°YES!¡±

    Several of the spirits within the hive immediately shouted their approval, but just as quickly, someone asked, ¡°Like what?¡±

    One of the Earth spirits sighed dramatically and replied, ¡°Come on, you guys, we¡¯ve been through this already! There¡¯s nothing to do right now except the creation of new floors. No humans have arrived to kill or steal from us for several summers already.¡±

    The other spirits heard this and understood how right the Earth spirit was. Five winters ago, over 300 humans attacked the tunnels and their deaths gave the hive a feast of energy. However, since that battle, no humans had arrived. The hive had waited patiently, but for some reason, the humans had decided not to visit the tunnels anymore. Even when the hive ordered the Kin to attack the humans again in the hope of drawing another response from them, no humans came. Instead, the Speaker informed the hive that the humans had withdrawn from the Kar Forest and there were now no human settlements within a day¡¯s ride of the great forest.

    Honestly, the spirits within the hive didn¡¯t understand everything the Speaker had said. They had no idea of what ¡°a day¡¯s ride¡± was and little idea of what ¡°withdraw¡± meant. However, they did understand the essence of what the Speaker was saying; no human was coming.

    Thus, the seasons passed, and the hive was now more bored than ever. The hive took satisfaction in the creation of new floors, so any time a new floor was completed, it was an accomplishment, but the only reason they were doing this was because¡­well, there¡¯s just nothing else to do! The Earth spirit was right. The spirits of the hive weren¡¯t creating floors because they wanted to; they just had nothing better to do! Even the creation of new creatures had long lost its luster. What¡¯s the use of creating new creatures that weren¡¯t even needed? Of course, that was not something the spirits wanted to tell members of the Kin, like the one currently standing in front of them.

    Several winters ago, when humans were still visiting, the hive created the fifth floor as a huge dome with an underground forest for the various flying creatures it had created. Now, one of those flying creatures was standing in front of it. The creature had a human face, but instead of arms, it had wings and the creature¡¯s legs were bony and bird-like. So bird-like that the creature had talons instead of human feet and trapped in one of the talons was an animal called a rabbit. The spirits within the hive immediately knew what the harpy wanted and, not for the first time, they got into an argument over the matter.

    ¡°See!¡± a spirit shouted. ¡°Here they come again. Let¡¯s just create a new creature for the Kin so that they would stop doing this?¡±

    ¡°Oh please!¡± a spirit argued. ¡°The Kin are not going to stop and you know it. They want new creatures and even if we create a new creature for them, they would just KEEP ON COMING!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right and what¡¯s wrong with that?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong is the simple fact that we don¡¯t need any more new creatures! If we create a new creature for them, they will just come back some time later with new animals, hoping that we would change those animals too! Let¡¯s not encourage them.¡±

    ¡°Who said they need encouragement?¡± another spirit argued. ¡°How long has it been since we created something new? That hadn¡¯t stopped the Kin from coming to us in the hope of us creating something new. We should reward them for their efforts if nothing else.¡±

    ¡°No, we should not!¡± a different spirit argued. ¡°We should not encourage them at all and more to the point, we should not waste energy creating new creatures when no humans are coming for us!¡±

    That was the crux of the matter. The hive actually enjoyed the process of creating new creatures, but it took a lot of energy to create a new creature and the hive could only replenish energy in one of two ways. It could absorb the spirits in the environment and convert them into energy, or it could absorb the energy that was released when a creature was killed within the tunnels. The latter method was faster and far more effective, but the hive could no longer use it because there were no more visiting humans. In desperation, the hive in the past had even told the Kin to bring back some creatures to the tunnels before killing them. The Kin did as ordered, but the energy that was released just wasn¡¯t the same. Several of the spirits within the hive believed that this was due to the fact that when the Kin captured the animals, the animals knew they were going to die, so by the time they reached the tunnels, the fight had already gone out of them. As such, the animals released less energy when killed. The hive didn¡¯t know if this theory was correct, but it felt ¡°right¡± and the hive always followed its instinct.

    More important than the loss of energy, however, was the simple fact that the hive did not need more varieties of creatures. When the humans attacked the tunnels, the Kin helped the hive to kill the humans and that proved to the hive that the number of creatures it currently had was enough. In fact, some of the Ratlings and a pair of the Werewolves were even having children! Having more varieties of the Kin wouldn¡¯t hurt, but the hive didn¡¯t need them, so most of the spirits within the hive agreed that they shouldn¡¯t be wasting energy creating more of them. Creating a new type of creature it didn¡¯t need was a waste of energy that the majority of the spirits within the hive simply couldn¡¯t support.

    So for the harpy standing in front of it, the hive did what it always did in this situation. It did nothing. The hive knew from experience that, in time, the harpy would get bored and leave. All it had to do was to wait patiently. For a floating crystal, that was easy.

    After a few moments, the hive felt it. There was no tremor or warning; the ground just began shaking. The hive immediately spread its focus outwards, throwing energy throughout its tunnels. This wasn¡¯t the first time the hive had faced an earthquake, but after a few moments, it realized this was a strong one. The ground was still shaking! The harpy took to the air, but the hive maintained its focus. It couldn¡¯t do anything about the shaking, but with its energy, the integrity of the tunnels was maintained. The spirits within the hive would be mightily embarrassed if there was a cave-in in their tunnels.

    ¡°This earthquake is different,¡± one of the Earth spirits said after a while. ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel natural.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The other spirits within the hive did not have the same connection to the earth that the Earth spirits had.

    ¡°It just feels different,¡± the Earth spirit replied. ¡°It¡¯s still shaking. Something created this earthquake. Let¡¯s see if we can find out where it came from.¡±

    With energy to spare, the hive spread its power outwards. Unfortunately, the range of their senses extends only a short distance beyond the entrance of the tunnels, but the power that was unleashed could still be clearly felt. Whatever made the earthquake came from the south of the Keg Mountains, well beyond the Great Kar Forest, but even from this distance, the hive could feel the impressive amount of power that was released. It was honestly beyond anything the hive had felt before. The power was burning like an inferno that was turning everything in its path into ash.

    It also felt somewhat familiar.

    One of the spirits in the hive had to ask, ¡°You guys don¡¯t think¡­?¡±

    ¡°Must be¡­this power¡­it must be the Fire Hive!¡±

    ¡°They caused an earthquake? What for?¡±

    ¡°Who knows with those morons? It could be an accident for all we know. We need to send someone down there to check things out.¡±

    ¡°Send who to check what? We don¡¯t know anything yet.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We don¡¯t know anything and that¡¯s why we need to find out. Knowing those Fire spirits, they¡¯re liable to do anything!¡±

    ¡°Yeah and whatever it was, it was something big.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least something good came out of this.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re no longer bored.¡±

    The spirits within the hive joined together in laughter. Whatever you want to say about those Fire spirits, they were never boring. In a way, the hive missed them.

    ¡°So¡­who are we going to send?¡±

 Chapter 2

    The Burning Fields; The Land of Demons; The Forever Fires; throughout history, the homeland of Demonkind had been known by many names.

    <ul>

    <li>World Atlas: Cultures & Civilizations</li>

    </ul>

    Once upon a time, she was a slave. She was nothing. She had no power. She had no family. She had no choice. She was nothing. She was useless. Then one day she died. She died and someone was reborn in her body. The new person was called Useli. Useli was no slave. Useli was not powerless. Useli had a family. Useli was known as the Speaker, a title given only to her. Since the day she was reborn, Useli had seen some strange things. She had seen animals that could change into humans at will. She met rats who spoke. She had seen a flying pig. She had even seen a Grand Mage brought low. She knew she had not seen it all, but the Speaker thought she had seen enough that nothing else in the world could shock her. She was wrong.

    She was very wrong.

    The landscape in front of the Speaker was, for lack of a better word, shocking! It should not be possible, but her eyes were not deceiving her. Although she had never gone so far south, the Speaker had seen maps of the area and knew all the major landmarks. The Homeless Plains region was so huge most people divided it into three sections: the northern, middle, and southern section. Situated just south of the Great Kar Forest would be the Invisible Stream and the plains south of the river were widely known as the Southern Homeless Plains.

    The southern section of the Homeless Plains was no more.

    In front of the Speaker was not a plain but a dark and fiery wasteland filled with dark razor-sharp rocks and black lifeless soil. It was empty except for some unnatural bonfires that were burning at various places. Strangely, the bonfires had different colors. The Speaker had only known fires that were red in color, but some of the fires in the wasteland were burning blue and green. It was¡­impossible.

    ¡°At least we now know why we¡¯re here! Guess it really was more than just an earthquake.¡±

    The Speaker couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that. The one who spoke was Kinshra, the female Alpha  of the pack. Although the Speaker acted as a liaison between the Creator and the Kin, Kinshra was in charge of all the females in the Werewolves pack and she was charged by the Alpha as the leader of their small group of six.

    The Speaker could do nothing but shake her head in reply. When the Creator ordered the Speaker to go south and scout the area south of the Kar, she had been surprised. Several of the Kin thought that the order from the Creator meant that this earthquake was unnatural, but to the Speaker, it was just an earthquake. A big one, but what¡¯s there to check on with an earthquake? The wasteland in front of the Speaker was the answer to that question.

    ¡°Should I go back to report?¡±

    The harpy Momo was with them and she was the one who asked the question. When the Creator ordered her to come south, the Speaker wasn¡¯t expecting any trouble and had thought of coming alone, but her mate was having none of that. The Alpha ordered Kinshra and a small team to come south with the Speaker. As the male Alpha, Treznor was the leader of the Werewolves and Kinshra had no choice but to obey even though she, like the Speaker, thought nothing of the earthquake.

    ¡°Not yet,¡± Kinshra said. ¡°Let¡¯s find out more first. At least Treznor wasn¡¯t being overprotective this time.¡±

    Everyone laughed at Kinshra¡¯s joke. It was a well-known fact that the Alpha was very protective of his mate and the couple had endured some good-natured ribbing from the rest of the Kin on the matter. Treznor couldn¡¯t care less for ¡°gossip¡± as he called it, while the Speaker honestly liked the fact that her mate could be overprotective at times. It was a good change from her childhood. Seeing the sight in front of her, the Speaker couldn¡¯t help but wonder if her mate may have underestimated the problem at hand. Still, laughter was a good thing, so the Speaker let everyone have their fun as the small group began crossing the Invisible Stream.

    The Invisible Stream wasn¡¯t small, but it wasn¡¯t a difficult river to cross, much less for the group who were in their Werewolf forms. The group was going into unknown territory, so Kinshra wanted everyone in their more powerful form before the crossing. The Speaker understood why Treznor had ordered Kinshra to come with her. The Speaker and Kinshra were undoubtedly the most powerful females in the Kin, and the duo had a good understanding with each other. The Speaker liked to think things through while Kinshra preferred to just get on with it.

    Their small pack got to the other side with minimal problems and the moment the Speaker stepped on the charred black soil¡­nothing! The Speaker was keeping an open mind, but she didn¡¯t feel any different when she stepped on the wasteland. There was no feeling of unease; no sense of dread; no oppressive force of heaviness; it was just like setting foot on any other piece of land. She was a little disappointed.

    The group did not have any specific location to check out, but the Creator had said ¡°south,¡± so that was the direction the group opted to go. As they moved out, Kinshra sent Momo forward to scout but warned the young harpy to keep within sight of the group. The harpy needed no further invitation and immediately took to the air. After that, the Speaker wanted to check the various burning bonfires and Kinshra directed the group to the nearest one.

    The group approached a few of them and found that the bonfires were burning without the need of any fuel. There were no logs or dried leaves; there was just nothing. Yet that didn¡¯t stop the mysterious fires from burning fiercely. The fires were just burning off the land and the group felt strangely revitalized whenever they got near a fire. It was more than the heat of the fires; it was as if the bonfires were feeding them energy. The group went to a few bonfires and felt the same effect at all of them. As the group went farther south, night soon fell. The lack of light meant little to the group. The group consisted of five Werewolves and a harpy, and none of them needed light to operate. However, dusk did tell the group a few things.

    The first was that the bonfires produced light as well as heat. Heat from fires was to be expected, but the light that was produced depended on the color of the flames of the bonfires. The various bonfires were a distance apart from each other, but the group could easily see blue, green, and red lights illuminating the flat landscape. It gave the land an eerie but colorful feel that the Speaker appreciated.

    Another thing the group discovered was the lack of smell. Although the land looked like it had been burned to a crisp, there was a distinct lack of any burning smell. Even when they were near a bonfire, there was no burning smell coming from the fires. In fact, there was no smell coming from anywhere. A Werewolf¡¯s sense of smell was far superior to that of a human and every time she entered the forest, the Speaker would be assaulted by smells from everywhere. In this land, however, there was nothing. It was as if everything, even the smell of the land, had been burned away. More than the charred landscape and strange bonfires, the lack of smell disturbed the group the most. It just wasn¡¯t natural!

    With all these new and unusual discoveries, Kinshra decided to call it a day and the group settled down for the night. It turned out to be a short rest as Momo returned later in the night with news that there was a camp of some sort in front of them. The break was over as Kinshra wanted to check out the camp immediately. Turned out the group wasn¡¯t that far from the camp and they reached it well before dawn. It also turned out that the camp was more than a camp. It was a homestead, though the Speaker couldn¡¯t really blame Momo for the mistake.

    The house that must have been the dwelling of the owner had been razed to the ground and even up close, the Speaker could only see a few pieces of charred timber that must have been the foundation of the building. The charred timbers weren¡¯t even what Momo had spotted. There was a small campfire outside the remains of the building and this was what the harpy had originally spotted. As the Speaker went through the wreckage of the house, Kinshra ordered the rest of the group to scout the area. The Speaker thought it was a good idea. The campfire indicated to her that this homestead wasn¡¯t abandoned, so there should be at least some indication of people staying nearby. At the very least, there would be some charred remains.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    The Speaker looked up and saw that Kinshra had changed into her human form. Unlike the Speaker, the rest of the Werewolves couldn¡¯t speak in their Werewolf form. The Speaker answered the question with a question.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I asked first.¡±

    ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s clear no earthquake caused this.¡± The Speaker pointed at the remains of the building and said, ¡°Looks more like a flash fire swept through the area, but flash fires don¡¯t cause the ground to shake.¡±

    Kinshra nodded her agreement, but it soon became clear to the Speaker she was hoping there was some simple explanation for all the unknowns. ¡°What about an earthquake that caused a flash fire?¡±

    ¡°Unlikely¡­,¡± the Speaker said. ¡°¡­and the Creator probably wouldn¡¯t have sent us here if that was all¡­¡±

    The duo turned their heads sharply the moment the howl broke through the night¡¯s silence. It was the howl of a Werewolf, and he was calling for help. The two female Werewolves looked at each other for a moment before going on all fours. Kinshra changed into her Werewolf form immediately and the duo began running toward the danger. Even in the dark, the duo had no problem knowing where to go. They went in the direction of the howl and even before they reached the location, the Speaker could hear the sound of battle. The duo ran faster and they soon saw it. Just when she thought the day couldn¡¯t get any stranger¡­

    The other three Werewolves had reached the area already, and they were currently in battle with a creature that was unlike anything the Speaker had seen before. The creature was red in color and it had a human body with two hands, but the lower half of the creature was anything but human. It had the long tail of a snake and was slithering across the ground instead of walking. The creature¡¯s face looked almost human, but two big horns were sticking out from its forehead. To the Speaker, they looked like deer antlers. However, the creature¡¯s appearance wasn¡¯t the strangest thing; it was the fact that the creature was casting magic!

    The creature was keeping the trio of Werewolves at bay by shooting out blasts of fire from its two hands. Using their superior speed and numbers, the Werewolves were trying to get close to the creature, but the creature showed intelligence by constantly retreating. It was only a matter of time before the Werewolves overwhelmed the creature.

    ¡°We need it alive,¡± the Speaker told Kinshra. ¡°The creature may be able to give her some insight into what¡¯s going on.¡±

    Kinshra nodded in response and indicated to the Speaker to go to the left. She immediately took off to the right. Following the female Alpha¡¯s instruction, the Speaker went to the creature¡¯s left, hoping to flank the creature. The creature had some sort of ability to see in the dark because it immediately spotted her. The creature shot a blast of fire at her, but the Speaker easily dodged it. The creature was retreating even faster now, but the Speaker knew the battle was already over.

    She was nothing but a distraction. As the creature was concentrating on her, Kinshra had managed to ¡°shadowstep¡± behind it. Sometimes when they were changed, the Creator would give the Kin some special ability. For the Speaker, it was the ability to speak even when she was in her Werewolf form. For Kinshra, it was the shadowstep. Shadowstep was an ability that allowed the female Alpha to teleport herself over a short distance as long as the area she was going to was in darkness. When she underwent the change, the Creator gave Kinshra this ability and she now used it to get behind the creature. To its credit, the creature immediately sensed that someone was behind it and tried to turn around to defend. Kinshra leapt and knocked it to the ground. The trio of Werewolves in front of the creature took advantage and charged forward. Fear leapt into the Speaker¡¯s heart and she immediately shouted to the trio to back off.

    ¡°NO! Alive! We need it alive!¡±

    ¡°WHAT?¡±

    Everyone stopped. Kinshra; the three Werewolves; even the creature; everyone stopped. Then as if to prove she wasn¡¯t hearing things, the creature spoke again.

    ¡°You speak? You¡­you can speak? What are you? What happened to me? What¡¯s going on?¡±

    The Speaker couldn¡¯t help but rub her forehead with her hand as an aching headache suddenly erupted in her brain. She had been hoping to ask those exact questions to the creature.

    ¡°Hey! HEY! I¡¯M SPEAKING TO YOU!¡±

    Okay¡­how do you handle negotiations with a creature you have never seen before? How do you handle negotiations with it when you don¡¯t even know what it is? How do you handle negotiations with it when it doesn¡¯t even know what you are?

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t ignore me! I¡¯m talking to you! Don¡¯t act blur! You spoke; I heard you! You understand what I¡¯m saying.¡±

    How do you handle negotiations with a strange creature that won¡¯t shut up? These were questions that sprang into the Speaker¡¯s mind as the creature stared at her. The good thing was that the creature could talk; the bad thing was that it seemed as confused about the situation as they were. So what does the Speaker do now?

    She needed the creature to lower his guard first. She needed him to be more comfortable with her and she needed him to keep talking to get the answers they wanted. To get the creature to be more comfortable and less wary, the Speaker did the first thing that came to mind. The Speaker decided to change.

    The Speaker gathered the power within her and relaxed. She let go of the power and the moment she did so, the change began. Her fur went first. The fur withdrew into her body and her body shrank. Her claws became human fingers and her wolf-like face contracted into that of a human. Before long, the person in front of the creature looked mostly like a human.

    There were some differences the Speaker couldn¡¯t change. Small patches of fur covered her body; her ears were protruding out on top of her head; and her irritatingly long bushy tail was still there, but she definitely looked more human in this form. The creature stared at the Speaker with huge saucer-like eyes and the Speaker had to smile. By now, the change had become second-nature to all the Werewolves, but the Speaker understood how it could still be shocking to people who are seeing it for the first time. Still, her human form should be more comforting to the creature. The Speaker walked slowly toward it and only now noticed that even the creature¡¯s eyes were red in color.

    ¡°Noble creature, I am Useli, also known as the Speaker. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    The creature looked stunned for a moment, then its eyes widened and the Speaker noticed he was looking upwards into the sky. The wind was behind her and the scent told the Speaker that Momo was landing. The harpy had been flying above the battle as ordered and the creature obviously hadn¡¯t spotted her. Momo¡¯s ability to follow orders was one of the reasons they picked her for this mission. Another factor in her favor was her inquisitiveness¡­sometimes.

    ¡°What does ¡®act blur¡¯ means?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s northern slang for pretending to be confused,¡± the Speaker told the harpy quickly. She turned back to the creature. ¡°Good sir, my name is Useli. I¡¯m also known as the Speaker. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Apep¡­Apep Daybluff.¡±

    ¡°Good day to you, sir,¡± the Speaker said as she nodded her head in acknowledgment and encouragement. ¡°You sound confused. Am I right in assuming that you were not born like this?¡±

    Apep¡¯s face went from shock to anger to confusion in the time it took for the Speaker to take a breath. Then he suddenly calmed down and looked around the group. ¡°Did the fire do the same thing to you all?¡± he asked. ¡°Did it change all of you too?¡±

    The Speaker shook her head and answered. ¡°No sir. No fire changed us. Our Creator is north of here and our change was done very differently. When did you change?¡±

    ¡°Creator? What¡¯s a Creator? Were you all made by some mage? Wait! No, that¡¯s not possible. I would have heard of creations like you before if that was the case? What was¡­?¡±

    ¡°Sir Apep, I have answered your question. You should now answer mine. That¡¯s only fair. What happened to you?¡± The Speaker spoke forcefully and she was helped by a growl from Kinshra. The creature known as Apep Daybluff looked at the female Alpha before coming to a simple decision.

    ¡°You are right! We should exchange information. That¡¯s only fair. There was an earthquake, then a wave of fire. No, it¡¯s better to say it was a wave of energy. A wave of magical energy that was faster than anything I had ever seen. It just tore through the plains like¡­wildfire only it spread faster than wildfire. It¡­look I can¡¯t explain what happened¡­it should not be possible, but it happened!¡±

    ¡°The earthquake came first? Did it cause the wildfire?¡±

    ¡°No! It wasn¡¯t a wildfire, it¡¯s just the closest thing I¡­it was a wave of energy that burned everything in its path, only it didn¡¯t. Don¡¯t look at me like that. I know I¡¯m not making much sense, but the truth is that what happened didn¡¯t make sense. The wave hit me and knocked me out. When I woke, I was like this, but everything else; the soil, the grass, my house¡­everything was just gone!¡±

    The Speaker could tell that the fear and confusion of Apep Daybluff were genuine. He wasn¡¯t lying. The Speaker pointed in the direction where the group found the burned homestead. ¡°That house was yours?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that was mine, but now... you found what¡¯s left of it.¡±

    ¡°Hold on, you said you were knocked out. The earthquake was days ago! We hadn¡¯t found anything alive since we came here. How are you still alive?¡±

    Apep understood the Speaker¡¯s question immediately and pointed at the nearest bonfire. ¡°The fires are feeding me.¡±

    The Speaker¡¯s eyes blinked furiously at the news. ¡°The bonfires are feeding you?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I just need to be close enough to feel the heat of the flames and any hunger and thirst I have just slowly disappear. They have been my food source since the earthquake.¡±

    ¡°We did feel something when we were close to them, but it¡¯s not like our hunger and thirst disappeared.¡±

    The Speaker nodded in agreement at Kinshra¡¯s statement. She also vaguely had an idea of why. ¡°Apep was changed by a different method of creation from the Kin. More importantly, he may have been changed by a different Creator. That may be why we feel different things.¡±

    Kinshra¡¯s eyes widened at that and looked at Apep carefully. She came to the same conclusion the Speaker had arrived at. ¡°Red shin; flames; horns; you don¡¯t mean¡­¡±

    The Speaker could only nod and turned to look in the direction of Mount Morningstar. ¡°The Red Creator; it must be responsible for all this.¡±

 Chapter 3

    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.¡±

    <ul>

    <li>The Dungeons of Ioplon</li>

    </ul>

    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.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    ¡°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!¡±

 Spread of the Dungeons: III of the Dungeon Hive Trilogy

    It''s finally here! The last and final book of The Dungeon Hive Trilogy is now live. ''Spread of the Dungeons: III of the Dungeon Hive Trilogy'' is available on Amazon. The grammar has been fixed (if it''s not, blame my editors), and the cover looks great. To celebrate the release of the book, I decided to put the unedited version of Book 2 back on Royal Road Legends. The reason for this is due to the fact that I am not going to hide the unedited version of Book 3. Although there are a lots of differences in Book 2 between the unedited and released version, it seems silly to have the unedited version of Book 1 and Book 3 out on Royal Road Legends and not Book 2.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    I wish to thank everyone for staying with me through the series and although I have no plans to do so right now, I did leave myself room to continue the series if I ever decide to go back to the world of the Dungeon Hive. Thanks everyone and please enjoy!

    Spread of the Dungeons: III of The Dungeon Hive Trilogy</a>