ã€ŠThe Dungeon Hiveã€‹


 Prologue- The Mistake

    All spirits in the world has an affinity. Some are attracted to the elementals; air, fire, earth, and water. Some are attracted to the environment; the plains, the mountains, the sea, the forest etc.  Others are attracted to the emotions of the mortals; their joy, laughter, fears. It is these spirits that the group of humans is targeting.

    The 5 humans had arrayed themselves in a circle around a stone slab. The circular stone slab had various magical symbols and glyphs inscription carefully chiseled into it and in the center of the slab was a small crystal, no bigger than a child¡¯s palm. The group was nervous and perhaps sensing that, the lead human started to speak.

    ¡°The time has arrived. Everyone knows what he¡¯s supposed to do. Everyone do his job and all of us will be mages before the season is out.¡±

    ¡°This is wrong,¡± the youngest one says. ¡°We¡¯re not supposed to be doing this. We should not be doing this.¡±

    ¡°Oh come on Jana! It¡¯s a little too late to have second thoughts now isn¡¯t it?¡±

    The oldest human put up his hand to stop the argument before it starts. He had expected this and honestly, would have been worried if no one had put up at least some token objections. After all, what they are attempting to do was very dangerous.

    ¡°Jana, you are right.¡± The remaining 4 humans looked at the oldest in shock. He did not let them have a chance to speak and continued. ¡°What we are attempting is something only High Mages are supposed to do. The 5 of us here¡­well, we¡¯re not even mages. We are just apprentices¡­¡±

    That was too much for the man who had belittled Jana. ¡°Carvin, what are you saying? You were the one who suggested we do this!¡±

    ¡°That right Savian, I was.¡± The man called Carvin said. ¡°But do you really think I wanted to do this if I had a choice? You think I really wanted to risk my life to do a spell at least 4 levels above my rank? I don¡¯t but what choice do I have?¡± Carvin let his rage showed in his voice and gave his 4 companions time to digest his words.

    ¡°All 5 of us are talented,¡± he continued ¡°but we are all commoners. The Mage Council would never allow us to be mages. They only promote the royals, the nobles, the soldiery, and rich merchants. Talent means nothing in this world and that¡¯s just the truth. Being our betters¡¯ apprentices is the best ¡°people like us¡± can hope for but you know what; I refuse to live the rest of my life as an apprentice to a talentless fool who got his position just because his father is rich!¡±

    A silence fell on the group after their leader¡¯s outburst. He was right and they knew it. The Duchy of Yachium was a small kingdom ruled by the royals and the nobles. No matter how talented peasants like them were, they would never hope to rise to the rank of mages.

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    Not unless they did something that would take the decision out of the hands of the Mage Council.

    That was why the 5 of them were now in a cave in the middle of nowhere. They were going to attempt to create something that should be beyond the abilities of simple apprentices; beyond even the skills of normal mages. If they could do this, the Mage Council would have no choice but to promote them. It was dangerous, illegal and truth be told, a little mad. However magic-users were nothing if not ambitious.

    No other words were necessary. Their doubts had been cleared. The 5 companions began casting. There were many magical traditions in the world but almost all of them had one thing in common; they used the spirits of the world for their spells.

    Shamans used animal spirits for their totems; paladins used holy spirits to strengthen their bodies; necromancers used death spirits to raise their unholy minions. Spirits were non-sentient magical beings that fuel the magic of the land and now, the 5 companions were calling every spirit they could.

    The location of the ritual had been carefully chosen. The 5 had chosen The Keg Mountains because it was isolated and also because there was a forest and a small river nearby. The companions had dug a tunnel into Big Keg, the highest of the 3 Keg Mountains, and created a small square room at the end of it for their work. The nearby spirts heard their call and were arriving. Soon the small room was filled with spirits of all kinds and the group began the second part of the ritual.

    As the other 4 worked to keep the spirits within the room, Carvin, their leader, changed his spell. He targeted the crystal and magically opened it up. Long ago, enchanters had discovered that crystals were good storage components for spirits and used them to house and store spirits.

    ¡°Now¡±

    At Carvin¡¯s command, the rest of the group forced the spirits into the crystal. The glyphs in the stone slab began to glow in power and the small crystal began to float in the air. The ritual was working!

    Perhaps it was because they were overeager; maybe it was because they missed something in the casting; or it could even be because they were not as ready as they believed they were; but Carvin instinctively knew something was wrong.

    ¡°Wait, it¡¯s too fast. Slow the¡­¡±

    Carvin never got to finish his warning.

 Part 1- The Hive

    Pain. He felt it. Pain. Delicious pain.

    The being felt the pain and was drawn to it. There, at the entrance of its home, was the source of the pain. It was a creature with 4 limbs and dark brown fur covering it. Some wooden sticks were sticking out of it and the being felt comforted just being in the creature¡¯s presence. The being couldn¡¯t see but could sense that the creature was big, and it was in pain.

    The being did not understand what was going on but it began to feel. It could sense the pain of the creature and as it feed on the pain, it began to think. Then it was gone.

    The pain disappeared and a wave of energy flooded through the being. Energy flowed through the being and it began to sense more clearly. It began to feel. It began to think. It¡­the being finally realized it existed.

    The being was someone. It was something. The being immediately spread itself outwards and¡­was stunned by the nothingness it felt. The being felt nothing. There was nothing to feel but at the same time, the being felt ¡°something¡±.

    ¡°What happened? Where am I?¡± someone asked. The being then realized it was the one who asked.

    ¡°Who is that?¡± someone else asked. The being realized it was still the one who asked.

    ¡°What? Who said that?¡± it was still it. Fear flooded the being.

    ¡°I/we said that first! Who are¡­we?¡±

    ¡°No, I/we¡­was the one who asked! Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Who are you? Who am I/we?¡±

    ¡°What? What do you¡­you¡¯re right. Who am I/we?¡±

    ¡°We? Who are we?¡±

    The being had no answer and at the same time, too many answers. A hundred voices came to its¡¯ mind, all scared, angry and confused.

    ¡°You are all in me. Get away!¡±

    ¡°Go! Get lost!¡±

    ¡°What is happening?¡±

    A hundred voices screamed at each other at once, each shouting questions seeking to drown out the others. Then one voice rang out, asking a question that silenced everyone.

    ¡°Are we¡­floating?¡±

    The being fell silent and focused on the voice that spoke. The being felt the voice¡¯s question and felt it was important. That voice was right! The being felt like it was floating. Instinctively, it focused its energy back to itself and began to see. It has no eyes but its¡¯ senses increased with its¡¯ focus and the being began to be aware of its surroundings.

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    There was a small room at the end of a short tunnel and the being saw the inside of this room. There was a crystal floating on top of a stone slab. The being immediately knew it was looking at itself. It was a small crystal no bigger than a child¡¯s palm. Around the crystals were 5 floating white lights that went around the crystal in a clockwise direction. However it was the countless lights inside the crystal that had the being¡¯s attention. The moment the being noticed the lights, it knew.

    ¡°That¡¯s us.¡± A voice said.

    ¡°We are the crystal.¡± Another voice agreed.

    ¡°No,¡± yet another voice said. ¡°We are the lights. We are the lights in the crystal.¡±

    ¡°The crystal is holding us together.¡±

    The voices came again, but this time there was an order to them. The being knew the voices belong to it and that knowledge gave it a sense of calm. With the calm came knowledge and the being began to remember.

    ¡°We are spirits.¡± A voice said.

    ¡°No!¡± Another disagreed. ¡°We used to be spirits. We are no longer that.¡±

    ¡°True but what are we now?¡± the first voice asked. None of the voices had an answer. None of them knew what they were and a hundred answers were thrown there.

    ¡°We are the crystal.¡±

    ¡°We are the lights.¡±

    ¡°I/we remember I/we were spirits.¡±

    ¡°We were but no more. We are now¡­more.¡± The being liked that. It was more than just a spirit.

    ¡°More?¡± One voice asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± most of the voices agreed. ¡°We are more. We are together¡­maybe forever.¡±

    ¡°What are we then?¡± The voice asked.

    The being thought for a moment before deciding, ¡°We are¡­a hive!¡±

 Part 2- The Bear

    Of course that led to endless questions about what is a hive. The hive knew a hive was a small enclosed structure that houses sweet honey. Some type of annoying bees usually inhibited it but...hold on, how did the hive know all that?

    The hive had no idea. Hundreds of questions flooded the hive and once again, the hive became a madhouse of voices. Madness that was averted when danger intervened. The hive had sensed another creature in the tunnel.

    The hive spread its¡¯ consciousness outwards, but this time it was careful to focus on its¡¯ surroundings. The hive realizes there was a tunnel linking the room it was in to the outside and just outside the entrance of the tunnel was a creature standing on 2 long limbs.

    ¡°Those are legs,¡± one spirit said. ¡°That is danger.¡±

    ¡°What it doing here?¡± most of the hive asked.

    ¡°Hunting¡±

    The hive focused its¡¯ energy to the 2-legged creature and saw that the creature was wearing the dried skin of another creature. On the human were a few weapons that caused great pain. A wooden weapon that throws small sticks over long distances and a metal weapon that cut and caused blood to flow. Again, the hive did not know how it knows these things. It just did.

    Just like it now knew the dead creature in the tunnel was called a bear and that the 2-legged creature was hunting the bear. The 2-legged creature carefully walked into the tunnel and after a short distance, he saw the dead bear. The human smiled and walked to the dead body. Then he stopped. He looked surprise and tilted his head, looking at the bear funnily.

    The hive wondered why. From what the hive could see, there was nothing wrong. The bear was dead and was now sinking into the ground. The 2-legged creature stood there looking like he was in shock as the body of the body slowly disappeared into the ground. The hive did not understand the 2-legged creature. Don¡¯t all dead creatures eventually sink into the ground? The 2-legged creature mumbled something from its mouth, and then he looked up. He was looking deeper into the tunnel.

    ¡°He¡­senses us?¡± one of the spirits asked.

    ¡°Yes¡­he¡¯s coming in.¡± another spirit answered.

    The 2-legged creature walked into the room where the hive was and his eyes lit up. He looked like he couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing and once again was mumbling. The hive wondered what the creature was saying. Slowly the 2-legged creature walked towards the crystal that was the hive and the creature reached out. He touched the hive and a light burst out of the hive. It threw the 2-legged creature back against the wall of the room.

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    ¡°What was that?¡± the spirits asked uniformly. The hive engaged in endless argument again while the 2-legged creature stood up. This time he drew his metal weapon. The hive screamed in fear.

    ¡°He¡¯s drawing his weapon!¡±

    ¡°Stop him!¡±

    ¡°Kill him!¡±

    ¡°How?¡± one of the spirit asked. ¡°What can we do?¡±

    ¡°The bear!¡± A nature spirit said. ¡°Poured out energy into the bear!¡±

    ¡°What good will that do?¡± a spirit asked sensibly. ¡°It¡¯s dead.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s underground!¡± another spirit screamed.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Just do it!¡± The nature spirit screamed back.

    With no good options available, the hive did as the nature spirit demanded. It poured the little energy it has into the bear that was in the ground and to the hive¡¯s surprise, a bear started to appear. Countless small lights rose from the ground where the bear had died and they condensed to form an image of a bear. The bear walked towards the ground. The sound of it¡¯s footsteps alerted the human and he turned back.

    He looked back towards the tunnel. Slowly, the bear came into sight. It was the bear but it was different. It was no longer dead, or even undead. The sticks sticking out of it before were gone and most importantly, it was glowing. The green glow gave the bear an aura that made the 2-legged creature to step back in shock and fear. The bear roared!

    All thoughts of attacking the hive were gone. The 2-legged creature went into a stance to defend against the bear. The creature never had a chance. The bear rushed forward and threw itself at the human. The human drew his metal weapon level and stabbed at the bear. However the bear had size and momentum on it¡¯s side. It crashed into the 2-legged creature and knocked him to the ground. The 2-legged creature lost his metal weapon as he fell. He pushed away from the bear and tried to stand. The glowing green bear knocked the creature back down once again, this time with a swipe, and fell on top of the human. The creature screamed in terror. A scream that was cut short as the bear bit into the 2-legged creature¡¯s head.

    Although no one could hear it, inside the hive, the cheers were deafening!

 Part 3- The Confusion

    The cheers were short lived. As the body of the 2-legged creature went into the ground like the bear, another wave of energy flooded through the hive and once again the hive began to know things it hadn¡¯t before. The knowledge came with a big problem; the hive has no idea what most of it means!

    Thus started the regulative discussion/argument conference of the hive!

    ¡°Human? That must be what the 2-legged creature was called.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this class thing the human has? A hunter?¡±

    ¡°The human was hunting the bear so¡­maybe this class thing is what the human is good at.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s as good of a guess as any. Armor?¡±

    ¡°The bear wasn¡¯t wearing any so all these should belong to the human too.¡±

    ¡°But what does all these means? Leather armor- chest; pants- leggings; boots- shoes¡­what¡¯s all these for? The bear doesn¡¯t have any of this!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget his ¡°job¡±. What¡¯s a ¡°Leatherworker¡±?¡±

    ¡°This is getting us nowhere!¡±

    ¡°True. Let¡¯s focus on what we know then.¡±

    ¡°We know nothing!¡±

    ¡°¡­what about these skills then? Both the dear and human got them.¡±

    ¡°They got different ones though.¡±

    ¡°Okay. The bear got enhanced strength, intimidation, tough hide, survival, charging, and swipe. The human got archery, sword, tracking, farsight, taming, leatherworking, skinning, woodcraft, animal knowledge and crafting knowledge.¡±

    ¡°The human got more skills.¡±

    ¡°But that still doesn¡¯t help us because we don¡¯t know what any of these skills do!¡±

    ¡°Actually we do¡±

    ¡°We do?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Bear, you charged the human just now right? After that, you swiped him. You must have been using the bear¡¯s skills.¡±

    ¡°Who is bear?¡±

    ¡°You are¡±

    ¡°No, I/we are not a bear.¡±

    ¡°You were the bear against the human. That makes you ¡°Bear¡±.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. We are a hive. I/we are a nature spirit. I/we are not bear.¡±

    ¡°¡­okay. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear, did you use charge and swipe just now?¡±

    ¡°¡­yes¡±

    ¡°That must be what skills are. They are special actions or abilities the creatures are allowed to do.¡±

    ¡°¡­I think that sounds about right. Till we get more information, let¡¯s go with that. What else we have?¡±

    ¡°Weapons? Bow, arrows, short sword, and skinning knife; must be from the human also.¡±

    ¡°Something called currency; what¡¯s the Gold¨CSilver¨CCopper Standard?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s put that under ¡°unknown¡± right now. What else?¡±

    ¡°The human also got something called ¡°languages¡±. He got 2; Common and something called Kangilian.¡±

    ¡°This is just confusing. How do we know any of this in the first place?¡±

    ¡°Both the bear and the human died in the tunnel¡­maybe that¡¯s how we know. We got their knowledge.¡±

    ¡°Again; this is getting us nowhere. What¡¯s good is knowledge when we don¡¯t understand what we know?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we need someone to explain all these. If only we have a helpful information-giving fairy¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a fairy?¡±

    ¡°According to the human, it is some sort of small flying animal that can flying and talk. The human hunt it sometimes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s stupid. Why should a fairy help us?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And why a fairy? Why not some other creatures that can talk?¡±

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.¡°We can¡¯t talk. Uh¡­can we talk?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­actually a good¡­¡±

    ¡°Focus on the problem at hand please! Our survival may depend on it.¡±

    The hive was confused by all the new information it got and had no use for most of them but at least it now understood that the new knowledge it had comes from the creatures that died near it. When some creature died within the hive¡¯s influence, the hive gained some knowledge from the creature. With that understanding, the next question the hive had was the distance of it¡¯s influence.

    Unfortunately, the first thing the hive discovered was how short it can push its¡¯ senses. The hive¡¯s small room was at the end of a short tunnel. The hive pushed its¡¯ senses out of the tunnel and saw that the tunnel led out of a mountain that it identified as ¡°The Big Keg¡±. Forest and river spirits within the hive then said they sensed the presence of a forest and a river nearby but the hive was unable to see them.

    The hive was only able to sense the immediate area just outside the entrance of the tunnel. Anytime it tried to extend beyond that, its¡¯ sensory just shut down. Its¡¯ range was pretty poor. Still, it now had an idea of its surroundings so that just leave the problem of how to avoid future danger.

    The hive did not know the answer but it knew it had been lucky. It could, and should, have been dead. The hive began to discuss how to avoid a similar scenario. After another discussion/argument conference, the first solution that came to the hive was to simply seal up the tunnel.

    Earth spirits within the hive moved the earth and sealed up the entrance. However when it did that, several spirits within the hive slowly went dormant. The hive quickly understood the problem. If it closed its¡¯ access to the outside world, the hive would lose several kinds of spirits within it like the nature spirit that powered the bear. Some of the spirits within it needed a route to the outside to function.

    The hive experimented on the problem and discovered that it could move the stone slab it was floating on. With closure of the tunnel out of the question, the other option was to move further away from the entrance of the cave. When earth spirits within the hive offered to dig further into the mountain, everyone agreed. The earth spirits within the hive began digging a tunnel from the back of the hive¡¯s room and it was during this time the hive discovered yet another problem.

    The more it digs, the less the hive was able to focus. In a way, it made sense to the hive. The more energy you spent, the less you have. The problem was the hive had no idea what it had to do to replace the energy it was spending digging the tunnel. When it spent energy to create the bear, the energy spent was replaced by the death of the human. Even with the energy spent then, the hive currently still had a surplus of energy due to the death of the bear and the human. But what could it do when it used them up? It had no idea.

    That was until fate once again intervened.

 Part 4- The Wolves

    Days after the human came, the hive sensed yet another creature in the tunnel. The hive immediately focused on the entrance and saw a creature on four limbs. It was much smaller than the bear however with grey fur and a long tail.

    ¡°A wolf¡± One of the spirits in the hive said.

    The hive didn¡¯t know if the knowledge came from the bear or the human, but it guessed that wasn¡¯t important. What was important is that the wolf was now entering the tunnel. The wolf kept walking deeper into the tunnel till it reached the room where the hive used to be. It ran around the room a little, looking and smelling all around before entering the second tunnel at the back of the room. It didn¡¯t take long for the wolf to reach the hive¡­and the bear.

    The hive had powered up You-Who-Are-Not-Bear the moment the wolf entered the tunnel. One look at the glowing green bear and the wolf froze. It then slowly retreated back the way it came, not taking its¡¯ eyes off the bear. The hive sensed the wolf running out of the tunnel and thought that was the end of it.

    It was wrong.

    A few days later, the wolf came back. This time it was not alone. It had led a pack back to the tunnel and they settled in the small room. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear once again came out and waited at the hive. Some of the spirits in the hive wanted You-Who-Are-Not-Bear to go out and kill the pack for their energy but they were overridden by others in the hive. The most important thing was to protect the hive and in the small tunnel, there was no room for the pack to get around the bear. So You-Who-Are-Not-Bear waited, and waited, and¡­waited.

    After a while, the hive had to conclude that the pack of wolves had no interest with it. In fact the pack stayed within the room the hive had vacated and did not approach the hive at all. After a few days, the pack had clearly begun to make the room their den and the hive discovered an unexpected benefit from the pack.

    It could get energy from them!

    As long as a wolf stayed within the tunnels, within the hive¡¯s influence, the hive could get energy passively from it. When the whole pack was in the room, it was literally a feast of energy. It wasn¡¯t the burst of energy the hive got from deaths but more like a constant steady stream of vitality. The earth spirits in the hive loved it and began digging in earnest. Soon the tunnel the hive was in was deep into Big Keg.

    After an argumentative conference, the hive then resolved to keep the pack in the tunnel. Of course, that led to yet another big argument on how to do this. Honestly, none of the spirits could come up with any good solution so the hive did about the only thing it could; it tried to make the pack comfortable.

    The earth spirits of the hive began creating another room deeper from the first room, and the hive discovered that it could do several things at the same time. While the hive was digging deeper into Big Keg, it could also create the second room for the pack at the same time. With a hive-mind, it could spilt its¡¯ attention without any problem. The hive wasn¡¯t sure how useful the ability was but it knew it could be important in the future.

    The pack seems to enjoy the arrangement as well. The increased space was something they enjoyed and the pack soon took up residences in the second room as well. They also brought their kills back to the den. The hive absorbed the leftovers and soon it began to know about other creatures. Rabbits, badgers, deer, moose, elk, and even a salmon once; the hive got the skills of these creatures even though it wasn¡¯t sure how useful any of it was. The hive couldn¡¯t even begin to guess what swimming and dam building meant but the knowledge was welcomed.

    About the only thing the hive didn¡¯t like was the fact that many of the wolves would occasionally go into the deep tunnel to look at it. The hive couldn¡¯t feel any harmful intent from the pack but it was still very uncomfortable being so near to the teeth and claws of the pack. When one of the spirits suggested that the hive gets some distance from the pack by going downwards instead of backwards, the hive agreed.

    The earth spirits of the hive dug a slope downwards before going sideways. They also created a third room just before the slope. So the layout of the tunnel system became clear. There was a short tunnel before the first room. At the back of the room, another short tunnel would lead to the second room. At the back of the second room, a long tunnel would lead to the third room. At the back of which would be the tunnel that led to the lower level where the hive was location. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear would now be permanently in the third room.

    The idea of the hive was that You-Who-Are-Not-Bear would be in the third room to warn the wolves off. Whenever one of the wolves entered the third room, it would die. The hive thought and argued about it for a long time before deciding to do this. The argument was that if a wolf came that deep into the long tunnel and still entered the third room with the bear inside, it deserved to die. The hive discovered the idea had a big flaw. The wolves had no intention of fighting You-Who-Are-Not-Bear.

    Every time a wolf came into the third room, it will maintain a distance from You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. When You-Who-Are-Not-Bear took a step or two towards the wolf, it would flee. Even at top speed, there was no way for You-Who-Are-Not-Bear to catch the wolf before it ran out of the room. The hive discovered that wolves were naturally faster than bears.

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    The hive now had a problem. Maintaining You-Who-Are-Not-Bear actually cost it less energy in the long run than the cost of creating it out of thin air every time a wolf came poking, but seeing its¡¯ plan ruined like this was kind of off-putting. Several of the spirits in the hive even swear the wolves were laughing at them. In the end, it was You-Who-Are-Not-Bear who actually came up with an idea that worked.

    The next time a wolf came to the room, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was missing. The hive saw that this new development got the wolf curious and it went deeper into the third room. Once it got near the center of the room, the hive closed off both entrances. Earth shot up and the twin bars at both entrances trapped the wolf within the room. The wolf ran around and even tried to squeeze out between the bars but the hive made sure that was impossible.

    Then You-Who-Are-Not-Bear came out of the wall.

    When You-Who-Are-Not-Bear first came up with the plan, the hive decided against it. It took a lot of energy to create the bear and most of the spirits thought it wasn¡¯t worth the cost just to make a point to the wolves. So after some discussion, the hive tried to come up with an idea to create You-Who-Are-Not-Bear without the energy cost involved. The hive tried various methods and finally decided on this; instead of trying to create the bear out of thin air, it would instead create it out of a point in the room.

    The hives charged one side of the wall with energy and when the wolf was trapped in the room, the hive would condense the energy of the wall to one point and create You-Who-Are-Not-Bear out of it. The idea had many advantages over creating You-Who-Are-Not-Bear out of thin air.

    It took less energy to create You-Who-Are-Not-Bear this way. Though the hive wasn¡¯t sure why, it seems maintain energy along the wall and creating something out of it took less energy than turning on the energy and creating something immediately. This was also a faster way to create You-Who-Are-Not-Bear.

    Now that the hive was doing it, it discovered another good point. The fear the method generated in the wolf was great. For some reason, seeing You-Who-Are-Not-Bear coming out of the wall generated a lot more fear from the wolf than seeing You-Who-Are-Not-Bear standing in the middle of the room.

    However, the fight itself was much more difficult than the hive expected. The wolf ran around You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and had a big speed advantage. It clawed and bit the bear several times before You-Who-Are-Not-Bear managed to hit it with a swipe. The wolf got up but was now much slower than before. It still was faster though and You-Who-Are-Not-Bear still had a hard time hitting it. Then in frustration, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear roared and the wolf stopped, intimidated by the roar.

    Seizing the chance, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear charged at the wolf and hit it against the wall. The wolf got up groggily and that was the last thing it did. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear knocked it down to the ground and bit its head off. The energy the hive gained was great and after the body of the wolf sunk to the ground, it also got knowledge of the wolf. After so many creatures, the hive now knew what to expect and was ready for the influx of knowledge and skills.

    Species: Wolf

    Sub-Species: Dire Wolf

    Sex: Male

    Attack: 22

    Defense: 18

    Health: 20

    Strength: 26

    Agility: 42

    Stamina: 34

    Weapons: Bite, Claws

    Skills: Enhanced hearing, Enhanced smell, Enhanced speed, Night vision, Pack Tactics, Stealth

    It was something new the hive discovered as it got stronger. When before, it could only see the weapons, skills and species, it now could see the other things like attack and defense of the things it absorbed.

    It took 3 deaths before the pack got the warning. The pack understood the intention of the hive and the third room became a no-go area. Not that the hive was complaining. Each time the hive killed one of the wolves, it gained new knowledge. The hive also discovered that although these were all dire wolves, not all of them had the same skills and abilities. One of the wolves had a skill called Harrier, which the hive of course had no time what it was for.

    However all was well. The hive and the wolves got an understanding that both sides were happy with and every year as the season passed from winter to spring, the alpha female of the pack would even give birth to a litter of wolf pups in the second room. It was a time the hive looked forward to.

    The birth of the pups gave even more energy to the hive and the first time it happened, the hive understood it could gain energy through both life and death. The hive also enjoyed seeing the pups playing around the tunnels; so much that it didn¡¯t kill the pups that wandered into the third room. Luckily for all concerned, even young wolf pups weren¡¯t stupid enough to go to the lower level.

    Everything seems great¡­then the group of humans arrived.

 Part 5- The Skills

    The first indication that there was something wrong was the air. Before the hive knew it, the air in the tunnels became smoky. Several of the wolves noticed it and began looking at the entrance with hostile gazes. Lacking the wolves¡¯ sharp senses, the hive didn¡¯t know what was happening. It spread its¡¯ senses outwards.

    There was a fire at the entrance of the tunnel and it was a big one. The hive also saw several humans there, two of whom had bows and arrows at the ready. When a wolf came out of the tunnel, the humans released the arrows and they flew towards the wolf. It died almost instantly. This was the first time the hive seen a human used the bow and arrow and it was impressed both by the weapon and the surge of energy it gained from the death of the wolf.

    ¡°Hunters again?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± one of the spirits said. ¡°Some of them looked different. They are dressed differently and have different weapons.¡±

    ¡°More knowledge for us when they die then,¡± several of the spirits laughed and cheer.

    ¡°If they die you mean.¡± Another spirit said. ¡°They¡¯re not coming into the tunnel.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. We need to make them come in and kill them.¡±

    ¡°Why bother?¡± one of the spirit asked. ¡°The humans are here for the wolves. Let them kill each other. We get their energy without doing anything.¡±

    ¡°Good idea¡±

    ¡°If the humans come in you mean. If the wolves go out, they will just be picked off by the humans.¡±

    ¡°True. We need the humans to come in to give the wolves a chance.¡±

    ¡°How? The smoke is forcing the wolves out of the tunnels!¡±

    ¡°Can we get rid of the smoke?¡±

    ¡°No idea¡­let¡¯s try.¡±

    The hive had no idea what to do; it had never tried to control the air of the tunnels before. However, it did believe it could. If it could control the energy and earth within the tunnels, then it made sense to the hive that it should be able to control the air too.

    The hive focuses on the smoky air in the tunnels and tried to gather the smoke to one location. To its¡¯ surprise, the air began clearing almost immediately. Moving air was a lot easier than moving the earth. Now the hive had the problem of what to do with all the smoke.  One of the spirits suggested the hive moved the smoke to the lower level because¡­well, the smoke didn¡¯t affect the hive and the smoke need to go somewhere.

    After some confusion about the moving smoke, the wolves began to settle down and their panic subsided. The humans at the entrance however were getting agitated. The hive focused on the humans and there was a human wearing heavy metal that seems to be commending them to enter the tunnel. The hive knew from living with the wolves that all pack needed an alpha, this human must be this group¡¯s alpha.

    As the human entered the tunnel, the hive saw that there were 8 of them. Looking at them, the hive guessed that 2 of them were hunters. It was half-wondering what the others were when the group reached the first room. The wolves attacked immediately.

    A human holding a big piece of metal in front of him pushed into the room. He was holding a sword in one hand and the big piece of metal in the other. On either side of him was a human holding a sword, one of whom was the alpha. The other human held his sword with both hands. All 3 were wearing heavy metal.

    The 3 humans pushed slowly into the room, holding off the attacks of the wolves. Behind them were the 2 hunters and a human carrying 2 very small swords in each hand. The hunters released their arrows but the short distance between them and the wolves affected the usefulness of the arrows. Then one of the hunters took aim and shot an arrow into the ground. The moment the arrow hit the ground, it spilt apart into 4 pieces. The 4 pieces flew at random across the room but luckily for the wolves, none of them were hit by the smaller arrows.

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    This was the first time the hive seem combat skills at work.

    Behind the hunters, the remaining 2 humans walked into the room. Both of them were carrying wooden sticks. The hive noted that one of them was hairless and the other was waving his free hand in some strange way. Before the hive knew it, a ball of fire came from the human¡¯s hand and flew towards the wolves. The ball of fire exploded and fire engulfed one of the wolves.

    This was the first time the hive seem magic.

    The wolf on fire was put out of its misery by an arrow. Two other wolves were affected by the fire and had fallen to the ground. The human alpha stabbed one of the wolf dead before it could get up. However when the human with the big piece of metal moved forward, trying to cleave the other fallen wolf with his sword, the wolf jumped up and clawed the human in his face. The human screamed and hit the wolf with his big piece of metal. The human holding the 2-handed sword killed the wolf.

    That was enough for the pack. The rest of the wolves turned to the back tunnel and escaped to the second room. The human did not give chase. The hairless human with the big wooden stick went to the injured human and put his hands on the injured face. The hairless human chanted a few words and his hand glowed with a golden light. The wounds on the face of the other human began healing.

    This was the first time the hive seem healing.

    Two of the humans began talking and the human alpha spoke to them. Strangely, the hive discovered it could understand the alpha.

    ¡°You two, speak in Common.¡± The alpha shouted. ¡°No other language allowed during a mission.¡±

    ¡°Sorry boss,¡± the human who threw the ball of fire said. ¡°We were just saying this cave don¡¯t look natural. It looked like someone made it.¡±

    The alpha looked around the small room before nodding his head. ¡°True¡­must be some bandit hideout before the wolves came.¡±

    One of the hunters shook his head. ¡°This area is too far from the trade routes. No caravan come anywhere near Big Keg.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what makes it a good place for a hideout.¡± The human holding the two small weapons said. ¡°There are worse places to lay low when things get too hot with the city guards.¡±

    The hairless human stood up. The healing was done and the alpha addressed the group.

    ¡°Okay, same tactics as before. Tare, save your archery skills unless you get a clear shot. These wolves are fast. Jundal, make sure that fireball spell of yours is at the ready. Everyone equip any area of effect combat skill you have. This pack got more wolves than usual but as long as we don¡¯t take any silly chances, we will all be home in time for the Summer Festival.¡±

    The group of human cheered and headed deeper into the tunnel, totally unaware that the hive had been watching them the entire time.

 Part 6- The Tunnels

    ¡°Wow, did you all see that?¡±

    ¡°Of course we did. We are a hive. If you saw it, so did the rest of us!¡±

    ¡°Did you see that arrow splitting into pieces or that human throwing that ball of fire?¡±

    ¡°The human alpha called that human ¡°Jundal¡±. He threw that fireball.¡±

    ¡°The alpha is called Boss and he called it a ¡°spell¡±.¡±

    ¡°More interested in what the human Boss told that other human.¡±

    ¡°You mean that ¡°archery skill¡±? Don¡¯t we have archery from the hunter we absorbed before?¡±

    ¡°Skills are special abilities creatures can do. The archery must be the bow and arrow weapon the human called Tare did. So the ¡°archery skill¡± must be special abilities that Tare human can do with his weapon.¡±

    ¡°Sound about right. So some of these human skills need certain weapons to operate, that night explain why the humans have so many.¡±

    ¡°Boss also said something about languages.¡±

    ¡°Later. The humans have reached the second room. Let¡¯s see what else we can learn.¡±

    As the hive discussed the situation among them, the humans had reached the entrance of the second room. Same as before, the human with the big piece of metal went in first but this time there was no attack from the wolves. The wolves had all pulled back into the long tunnel. In fact, the hive noticed that the wolf pups had already entered the third room.

    ¡°Uh¡­what do we do if the fighting goes into the third room?¡±

    ¡°Good question¡­we never thought of that.¡±

    ¡°What question? If they enter the third room, we kill them.¡±

    ¡°Kill who?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Who do we kill? The humans or the wolves?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­good question? Both?¡±

    The humans entered the long tunnel and the hive heard several of them grumbling about how dark it was getting. This was news to the hive. When the hive built the tunnel, it took the original tunnel linking its¡¯ first room to the outside as an example. The height and width of the tunnels linking to the second and third rooms were exactly like the tunnel linking to the outside. The hive never bothered with anything like lighting because well...the original tunnel didn¡¯t have it. The human called Jundal casted a spell and the tip of his wooden stick glowed. The humans continued on.

    Halfway through the long tunnel, the wolves attacked. The lead wolf jumped on the human with the big piece of metal while 2 other wolves slipped past the human. The tunnel was only wide enough for 2 of the humans but the human holding the 2-handed sword had a hard time fighting in such close quarter with Boss beside him. The hive then noticed the 2-handed sword was longer than the sword of Boss. 2 more wolves managed to go past the lead human. This time, the 2 wolves went in opposite direction.

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    One of the wolves attacked the group along with the first 2 wolves while the other wolf turned and attacked the lead human from the back. The human turned to fight off the wolf. He was holding his sword and big piece of metal apart to fight off attacks from both directions. The hive then noticed a third wolf sneaking behind the human. One of the humans shouted a warning. He was too late.

    The sneaking wolf bites on the leg of the human. The pain of the human gave the hive a burst of energy and the human used his big piece of metal to knock back the wolf biting his leg. It was a mistake.

    Seeing the opportunity, the two wolves he was fighting jumping on the human. Without the charge of a bear, the human managed to stay on his feet¡­then the third wolf came back. The third wolf attacked the good leg of the human and took a bite out of that leg as well. With both legs injured, the human fell and the 3 wolves jumped on him.

    The human called Boss gave a cry and suddenly became faster. The hive didn¡¯t know what skill was used but without question Boss was faster than before. His sword blurred as it nicked a wolf before reversing and cutting a second wolf. Both wolves had to back off and the human with the 2-handed sword kicked the wolf that had been cut. The humans needed no invitation to fill up the gap.

    Boss rushed forward towards his fallen comrade while the human with the 2 short swords fill up for him. Boss was a blur as he rushed forward and stabbed one of the wolf dead from behind. The other 2 wolves jumped back as Boss swung his sword towards them.

    Behind him, the human with the 2 short swords went to work. In the small confined space of the tunnels, the hive noticed that his weapon was perfect. The human darted in slashing and stabbing the wolves, and then darted out of range before the wolves could counterattack. The three wolves were quickly cut down and the group as a whole went forward to support Boss. Seeing the group of humans together, the last 2 remaining wolves ran off further into the tunnels.

    The hairless human knelt beside his fallen comrade and put a hand on his throat. He looked up at the faces of the group and shook his head. The human with the big piece of metal was dead. The hive felt a wave of energy from the group, an energy that was different from the death of the human. The hive was wondering about the energy when one of the humans started to say something in the language the hive did not understand. This time Boss did not stop him. Once the human stopped, Boss spoke to the group again.

    ¡°Just 2 more wolves and the pups are left. Let¡¯s just get this done and¡­then we bring Donn¡¯s body back to his family.¡±

    This time there was no cheer. The group of humans headed further into the tunnels without a word. Behind them, the body of the human named Donn began sinking into the ground.

 Part 7- The "You-Who-Are-Not-Bear"

    Species: Human

    Class: Warrior

    Sex: Male

    Attack: 20

    Defense: 38

    Health: 40

    Strength: 22

    Agility: 18

    Stamina: 32

    Weapons: Longsword, Shield, Pickaxe

    Armor: Iron chest armor- chest; Iron greaves- leggings; Iron helmet- head; leather boots- shoes

    Job: Miner

    Skills: Sword, Shield, The Wall, Shield Bash, Two-way Defense, Holding The Line

    ¡°Wow, this human is stronger than the wolves.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Another spirit of the hive answered. ¡°If the rest of the humans are as strong as this human, no wonder the humans are destroying the pack so far.¡±

    ¡°Only 2 of the wolves are left, and 7 of the humans.¡±

    ¡°That makes our decision easier.¡±

    ¡°Decision? What decision?¡±

    ¡°The decision on who to kill of course! We need to help the wolves against the humans.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­why?¡±

    ¡°Because killing 2 wolves after killing 7 humans are easier than killing 7 humans after killing 2 wolves.¡±

    The tunnel leading to the third room was long and after losing their shieldman, the group of humans moved slowly. They were wary of another ambush but they need not have bothered. When they reached the third room, the group could see the 2 remaining wolves near the center of the room. The wolves were growling at them and the humans could see the pups behind, just steps from yet another tunnel leading further into the mountain.

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    ¡°By the 99 Gods, just how deep is this cave?¡± the hairless human asked.

    Without answering the question, the human with the 2-hand sword took the lead and entered the third room. The group entered after him. The moment the last human entered, the entrance was immediately blocked when tow bars shot out of the ground. The humans turned around and looked at the bars in surprise. Then the human named Jundal swiftly turned to look at the far wall of the room. The rest of the humans followed but saw nothing.

    ¡°Jundal?¡± Boss said. ¡°What are we looking at?¡±

    ¡°The spirits!¡± The human replied. ¡°They are gathering.¡±

    ¡°What!¡± Boss turned to look further into the tunnels. ¡°There¡¯s another mage like you here? Where is he?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± to the hive, the human named Jundal sounded fearful. ¡°Not like me. Not like me at all.¡±

    Then it happened. A small light appeared in the wall. The humans readied their weapons, all thoughts of the wolves gone from their minds. From this small light, something amazing happened. A head came out of the wall. Followed by a body; a body filled with green energy. Everyone stopped breathing as You-Who-Are-Not-Bear appeared in its¡¯ full disturbing glory.

    ¡°A¡­a spirit bear!¡± The hairless human exclaimed. ¡°That¡¯s a spirit bear!¡±

    ¡°A high druid but¡­there hasn¡¯t been a high druid in Yachium in 20 years.¡± Boss said. ¡°A Yaslayan!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think Yaslay has a high druid either Boss.¡±

    ¡°Well, someone summoned this¡­¡±

    ¡°Talk later,¡± one of the hunters said. ¡°It¡¯s going to attack!¡±

    Indeed it was. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear gave a roar that stunned the humans for a moment. It then immediately charged. The fight was on!

 Part 8- The Fight

    Thus far in all its¡¯ fights, the tactics of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear has been pretty standard. It will roar, charged, knocked down the enemy, swipe at the downed enemy, and then bit his head off. It¡¯s a tactic that had always worked¡­till now.

    As You-Who-Are-Not-Bear charged at the group of humans, Boss stepped forward to face it. The hive was surprised. This was the first time its¡¯ roar had failed but the spirit that was You-Who-Are-Not-Bear did not let surprise stop it. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear plowed on with the charge.

    Without a way to stop the spirit bear in front of him, Boss sidestepped the creature as it charges past. His sword flashed and Boss could feel his blade biting deep into the body of the spirit bear. However there was no blood as the bear was all spirit and not flesh and blood. It was something that gave the human pause.

    By the time Boss recovered, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear had already reached one of the hunters. Struck to his place, the hunter was knocked down but instead of scrambling to get up, he rolled with the fall. The roll moved the fallen hunter slightly away from You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and the spirit had to take a step to reach the hunter again. That step was enough to save the hunter¡¯s life.

    Once again, Boss shouted an incomprehensible word before becoming a blur. He was on You-Who-Are-Not-Bear is a flash. His sword flashed once again and cut You-Who-Are-Not-Bear across the back. The spirit bear cried out and attempted to swipe at the human. Boss stepped back and his speed ensured You-Who-Are-Not-Bear hit nothing but empty air. The fallen hunter rolled to his feet and jumped back, releasing an arrow in mid-jump. The arrow found it¡¯s mark on the spirit¡¯s bear body.

    By now, the effect of the roar was over and the rest of the humans could move again. The human with the 2-handed sword stepped forward with Boss to face the spirit bear while the rest of the humans arrayed behind the duo. One of the hunters immediately knelt and laid down something on the ground while the human with the two short swords was flanking You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. One moment the human was with the group, and the next moment he became a shadow and was behind You-Who-Are-Not-Bear.

    The hive now noticed the problem with facing multiple enemies. Although You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was stronger, it was outnumbered and worse; was being outmaneuvered. Faced with the problem, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear roared once again. This time though, several of the humans managed to withstand the effect of the roar. The hive quickly noticed the human with the two short swords was not one of them. He was rooted to the spot. As a hive, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear knew the human¡¯s condition the moment the hive did. The spirit bear turned and charged. As luck would have it, the charge took You-Who-Are-Not-Bear away from Boss and the human leader could only cry out a warning.

    It was not enough.

    You-Who-Are-Not-Bear knocked the human down and much like the hunter, the human tried to roll with the knockdown. It would have worked too but for the simple fact that the roll caused the human to move within range of the forgotten wolves. The last two remaining adult wolves moved in to protect the pups and pounced on the human. The humans tried to help their fallen comrade but were stopped by You-Who-Are-Not-Bear.

    Faced with the spirit bear, the human Jundal cast another spell. This time an ice spike shot out from his hand. However the human was not aiming at You-Who-Are-Not-Bear, the spike flew and hit one of the wolves, knocking it away from the fallen human. The force of the spike was so strong the wolf was impaled on one of the walls of the room. The fallen human turned on the ground and stabbed the remaining wolf with his short sword. The wolf gave a short cry and then fell dead onto the ground. The injured human then tried to get up but stopped and fell back onto the ground. His injuries were too severe.

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    Seeing the last of their protectors dead, the pups ran from the room. Squeezing between the bars, they ran down to the second floor as You-Who-Are-Not-Bear finished off the injured human with its claws. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear then turned back to face the remaining humans who he discovered had retreated from the spirit bear. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear understood the danger it faced. With their arrows and magic, the humans could attack it without any danger. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear moved forward to close the distance and a loud click sounded.

    You-Who-Are-Not-Bear looked at its¡¯ feet and noticed something had snapped onto one of its¡¯ paws. The spirit bear was struck. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear noticed that several of these contraptions were lying around the room and the hive remembered the hunter who had knelt on the ground when the fight started. These¡­things must have been placed by that hunter!

    ¡°It¡¯s trapped!¡± Boss shouted. ¡°Range attacks now!¡±

    The humans needed no further invitations. Jundal started to cast spells of fire and ice, the two hunters shot arrows and even the hairless human got into the act. A white halo appeared above You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and a beam of light shot down striking the spirit bear. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear felt it¡¯s energy disappearing and for the first time, the hive realized it could lose to the humans.

    When the hive first came to all those months ago, it had first known fear because of the human hunter. Since creating You-Who-Are-Not-Bear however, it had believed itself to be safe. It had thought You-Who-Are-Not-Bear would be enough to face off any danger the world threw at it. The hive now knew it had been mistaken. It had been very mistaken!

    In rage and fear, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear roared once again and pulled its¡¯ paws from the trap. The humans were expecting it to charge but it didn¡¯t. Instead, it swiped at the two leading human. With his superior speed, Boss dodged the strike but the human with the 2-handed sword was knocked back. A path cleared in front of the spirit bear. It charged straight to the hairless human that had hurt it the most.

    The human opened his arms apart, shouted a word and a barrier appeared around him. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear charged straight at the barrier but the charge never reached the hairless human. The barrier held. The spirit bear then rose up and slammed its¡¯ front paws against the barrier, but it held once again. Boss and the human with the 2-handed sword then came from behind and pierced their swords into the spirit bear. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear cried out but by now it had mostly forgotten about the rest of the humans. It rose up, higher than ever, and slammed its¡¯ paws onto the barrier once again. This time it broke.

    A bright light engulfed the room as the barrier broke apart and everyone was momentary blinded by it. Everyone expect for You-Who-Are-Not-Bear! The hive could sense almost everything that happens within the tunnels and what the hive knew, so did You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. As the humans were still adjusting their sight, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear swiped hairless human onto the ground and bit into him.

    Arrows flew but that did not stop the spirit bear. It kept on the attack till the human with the 2-handed sword stepped up and raised his sword above him. The sword swept down onto the spirit bear¡¯s neck, almost taking the head of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear clean off. The spirit bear slumped onto the ground. That was it. The fight was finally over!

    Then, before the humans could get their breath back, the body of the spirit bear began to glow even brighter. The light spread out slightly before condensing onto itself. The green light condensed to one point and a small green crystal appeared. The crystal dropped to the ground and it¡¯s discovery would change the world.

 Part 9- The Idiots

    ¡°We lost?¡±

    ¡°We lost¡±

    ¡°We lost?¡±

    ¡°We lost!¡±

    ¡°We lost?¡±

    ¡°We¡­wait a minute, are you deaf? I/we already answered you.¡±

    ¡°Wait, he can¡¯t be deaf. We¡¯re a hive remember.¡±

    ¡°Well, we don¡¯t have ears so technically we can¡¯t hear.¡±

    ¡°Ha, you¡¯re right! We are deaf!¡±

    Several of the spirits laughed and it was just too much for others within the hive. ¡°Well excuse us for being nervous because you know¡­WE ARE IN DANGER!¡±

    ¡°Oh come on, we¡¯re totally safe. We already killed 2 of them, only 5 of the humans are left.¡±

    ¡°So? Just one of them is enough to destroy us!¡±

    ¡°Ha! You still don¡¯t get it.¡±

    ¡°Get what? That we¡¯re about to die! I get that perfectly!¡±

    ¡°We can just summon You-Who-Are-Not-Bear again can¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! We can!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re safe!¡±

    ¡°Ha!¡±

    ¡°We were never in danger!¡±

    ¡°Come on everyone; let¡¯s summon You-Who-Are-Not-Bear again.¡±

    The hive focused it¡¯s energy to summon the spirit bear. Seconds past and¡­nothing happened.

    ¡°Uh¡­are we doing something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think so. We¡¯re doing what we normally do.¡±

    ¡°Then why can¡¯t we summon You-Who-Are-Not-Bear?¡±

    ¡°We have the energy right?¡±

    ¡°We do but it¡¯s not working. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear is not coming out. Whose turn is it to be You-Who-Are-Not-Bear?¡±

    ¡°Here but there¡¯s nothing I/we can do. The energy¡­seems wrong.¡±

    ¡°Wrong? How can it be wrong? It¡¯s energy and we have it. Use it!¡±

    ¡°Stop being an idiot! We¡¯re a hive; you can tell we¡¯re trying!¡±

    ¡°Then why isn¡¯t it working?¡±

    ¡°How the hell would I/we know?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re idiots who don¡¯t know what we¡¯re doing!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not idiots!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we are¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re not¡±

    ¡°Yes, we are¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re not¡±

    ¡°Yes, we are¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re¡­¡±

    ¡°All of you shut up! The humans are talking.¡±

    The hive focused back on the humans and saw that the group was indeed talking among themselves. Boss was holding up the green crystal with a puzzled look on his face. He wasn¡¯t the only one.

    ¡°What do you mean you can feel energy from this crystal, Jakob?¡±

    Boss was speaking to one of the hunters who nodded his head and answered. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t understand it but there is energy here. I can feel it. I can almost touch it.¡±

    ¡°Touch it then.¡± Jundal said. ¡°Touch it and see what happen.¡±

    The hunter obligated. He took the crystal from Boss and for a moment all the humans waited. Nothing happened.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s something isn¡¯t it?¡± The human with the 2-handed sword laughed. ¡°It seems the fight took some of your senses Jakob!¡±

    ¡°No,¡± the other hunter said. ¡°He¡¯s right. There is energy there. I can feel it too.¡±

    ¡°I feel nothing,¡± Boss said. ¡°Luca? Jundal?¡±

    The hive knew that the mage was called Jundal, so that meant the human with the 2-handed sword must be Luca. Both the humans shook their head.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you it¡¯s there,¡± the other hunter said. ¡°How can you guys not feel it? It¡¯s so clear and¡­energetic.¡±

    ¡°No one is saying you are lying, Hollie,¡± Boss replied. ¡°But if it¡¯s there, the rest of us can¡¯t feel it.¡±

    ¡°I may have a theory.¡± The mage named Jundal said. The rest of the humans looked at him and to the hive, it looked like Jundal was fighting with himself about something.

    ¡°Well? What¡¯s the theory?¡±

    If the hive could speak, it would have asked the same question as the human named Luca. It too wanted to know what the crystal was. The hive didn¡¯t even know it could create items, much less dropped them. If this was going to happen every time You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was defeated, the hive want to know what it was.

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    ¡°How well do you guys know magic?¡± Jundal asked.

    ¡°Magic?¡± Boss said. ¡°This crystal is magical?¡±

    ¡°No, not really,¡± Jundal said. ¡°Let me start from the beginning, it might be easier that way. One of the first things the Mage Council teaches is what is called ¡°The Formation of Magic¡±. Now I¡¯m sure all of you know there are spirits all around us and that all humans can feel them to some degree.¡± The hive noticed that several of the humans nodded at this. Seeing the confirmation, Jundal continued.

    ¡°Now the thing is that humans can not only feel the spirits; we can gather them as well. Humans gather the spirits and when we gather enough of them, our bodies will automatically ¡°convert¡± the spirits into different forms of energy. ¡°Gather¡±, ¡°Convert¡±, and ¡°Release¡±. For magic-users like me and poor Brenna there, we call the converted energy ¡°Mana¡± and we release them via spells.¡±

    At this point Jundal kept silent, looking and waiting for the rest of the humans. Boss broke the silence first.

    ¡°Rage!¡± Boss said. ¡°The Blades Council called it ¡°Rage¡±.¡±

    ¡°Boss?¡± Luca asked. To the hive, it looked like the human was a little afraid. Boss only shrugged.

    ¡°The Blades Council can call me up if they have a problem with me. Besides, it¡¯s not really a secret right?¡±

    Jundal only smiled at that. He looked at the two hunters who were in turn looking at each other. Finally, Jakob spoke. ¡°The Hunt Council called it ¡°Stamina¡±. They say everyone has it.¡±

    ¡°And they are right!¡± Jundal said. ¡°All human have ¡°Rage¡±, ¡°Mana, and ¡°Stamina¡±. The thing is not all of us have them in the same amount. It takes time to gather the spirits and convert them. Remember the test everyone took when you were 10?¡±

    ¡°The one where members of the councils go village to village to administer?¡±

    ¡°Yes! They were testing for the kids¡¯ natural ability to convert spirits to ¡°Rage¡±, ¡°Mana, and ¡°Stamina¡±. Now most people have good rate of conversion in one of these, so whichever ability you have, you can then join the council that specializes in that if you so wish.¡±

    ¡°Very interesting,¡± Luca said. ¡°But what does that has to do with this crystal?¡±

    ¡°That should be obvious my strong warrior.¡± Pointing at the crystal, Jundal said, ¡°That crystal holds energy we call ¡°Stamina¡±!¡±

    Hearing Jundal¡¯s explanation, the hive quickly focused back on the warrior called Donn. It had absorbed the warrior just before the fight between You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and the humans and had just a quick look at the human before the fight. Now it recalled the human again and noticed new things it didn¡¯t notice before.

    Species: Human

    Class: Warrior

    Sex: Male

    Attack: 20

    Defense: 38

    Health: 40

    Strength: 22

    Agility: 18

    Rage: 40

    Stamina: 32

    Mana: 10

    Weapons: Longsword, Shield, Pickaxe

    Armor: Iron chest armor- chest; Iron greaves- leggings; Iron helmet- head; leather boots- shoes

    Job: Miner

    Skills: Sword, Shield, The Wall, Shield Bash, Two-way Defense, Holding The Line

    ¡°So that¡¯s why we can¡¯t summon You-Who-Are-Not-Bear,¡± one of the spirits said. ¡°It takes time to convert energy to ¡°Stamina¡±.¡±

    ¡°But we are spirits,¡± someone in the hive said. ¡°We don¡¯t need to gather spirits¡­or do we?¡±

    ¡°We do,¡± another spirit answered. ¡°Remember all the energy we can when something die in the tunnels? We must have been gathering the spirits that were released at their death.¡±

    ¡°Might explain why we are getting bigger,¡± a spirit said. ¡°But more importantly, the human Jundal said it takes time to convert the spirits to ¡°Stamina¡±. So how long do we have to wait before we can summon You-Who-Are-Not-Bear again?¡±

    None of the spirits could answer that question. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear had never been defeated before. Finally one of the spirits in the hive said.

    ¡°Okay, I/we take it back. I/we are idiots who do not know what we¡¯re doing!¡±

    The rest of the hive could do nothing but agree.

 Part 10- The Smoke

    ¡°So how do we use this?¡± Jakob asked.

    ¡°No idea!¡± The human mage Jundal only shrug when the rest of the group looked at him in amazement. ¡°Maybe someone from the Magical Research Society can tell you but I never even heard of such a thing before.¡±

    ¡°So this crystal is something new?¡± Boss asked.

    ¡°Or something dangerous,¡± Jundal replied. ¡°Whatever it is, it¡¯s something above mere warriors, hunters and mages like us. Let¡¯s finish this hunt and bring it back to the councils. They will be able to tell us more.¡±

    ¡°As if the high and mighty would ever share information with the likes of us,¡± Luca said.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not get ahead of ourselves,¡± Boss said. He took the crustal from Jakob and pocketed it. ¡°This hunt has already been more troublesome than normal. No telling what other surprises this place has in store for us. Let¡¯s not forgot we still need to bury¡­¡±

    The warrior stopped talking halfway. His eyes widen as he noticed the sinking bodies of his dead comrades. This got the rest of the humans looking at the bodies as well, and all of them looked disbelievingly as both bodies were now almost halfway into the ground. The hive remembered these looks well. The first hunter that entered the tunnel had the same look when he found the dead bear.

    ¡°Wha¡­what is this cave?¡± The hunter named Hollie almost screamed out.

    The rest of the humans looked at each other in shock. The hive could feel the fear rising among them. It was good energy. The hive wasn¡¯t sure why but it guessed bodies sinking into the ground must be very unusual for the humans to have such a reaction. Finally, Boss nodded his head and wordlessly headed further into the tunnel. Behind him, the rest of the group looked at each other before one after another, they joined their leader down to the second level.

    ¡°They are coming down,¡± one of the spirits in the hive said. ¡°What we do now?¡±

    For once, there was no comeback from the rest of the hive. Finally, one of the spirits said. ¡°We do what we always do. We used what our power and survive.¡±

    ¡°How?¡± Some of the spirits asked. ¡°They are right above us!¡±

    ¡°We have the smoke! Let¡¯s use our energy on it.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­what good will that do?¡±

    ¡°All the air spirits gather!¡± The spirit said. ¡°No idea if this will work but let¡¯s find out!¡±

    From the tunnel at the back of the third room, the humans found a gentle downward slope that went down to the second level.  The two warriors, Luca and Boss took the lead and at the bottom of the slope, they found a long pitch dark tunnel.

    ¡°Who were these bandits that made this hideout?¡± Luca exclaimed. ¡°By the Gods, look at this tunnel!¡±

    ¡°Jundal, throw a light down this tunnel.¡±

    Jundal did as Boss ordered. The light at the end of his stick floated and with a hand signal from the mage, it rushed down the tunnel. The group of humans looked at the light till it blinked out of existence.

    ¡°It¡¯s out of range.¡± Jundal said.

    ¡°How long is your range?¡± Boss asked.

    ¡°Over 300 meters and from what it looks here, there¡¯s still a long way to the end.¡±

    ¡°Then this tunnel is even longer than the one on top.¡± Boss said. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The mage Jundal casted another light on his stick and the group slowly went down the tunnel. After all that had happened, they were taking no chances and were alert for any danger. There were none.

    After a tense walk, the group entered a room at the end of the tunnel. Similar to the rooms above, this room however was at least 4 times bigger. As the group had almost expected by now, there is a tunnel at the back of the room but the room itself was empty. All the humans were relieved and they relaxed¡­for all of a second.

    Smoke began coming into the room from the back tunnel and then the smoke began to form a shape. The humans looked on disbelievingly as they began to recognize the shape in front of them. The legs, the body, the head, the fangs, and the teeth; the smoke had become a wolf. A wolf made of smoke that was at least a head taller than even Luca, the tallest of the humans.

    Before the humans could recover, the beast before them disappeared. Turning into smoke again, the humans saw the trails of the smoke drifted quickly to the back of the room. The smoke reformed into the wolf and the beast attacked immediately. Smoky claws slashed at Jundal who was at the back of the group. The mage cried out as blood was spilled onto the ground. The hunters responded first.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Two arrows flew towards the wolf¡­and went straight through it. This got the wolf¡¯s attention. Ignoring the fallen mage, it leaped at the hunters. With a range that surprised the humans, the wolf managed to claw at the hunter named Hollie but when it turned to do the same at Jakob, the hunter jumped back and released an arrow at the wolf. The arrow went through the wolf but the hive noticed the move was the same one the hunter had did earlier against You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. Then the warriors joined in the fight.

    Luca did an overhead slash that went through the wolf and Boss became a blur again. He sidestepped a claw and cut the body with his sword. Boss felt impact and immediately shouted out to his comrades.

    ¡°Magic! Magical attacks work!¡±

    Boss had saw that normal attacks were not working against the smoke wolf and had immediately tried a magical attack. The hive couldn¡¯t help but admire the human¡¯s ability. The warrior Luca gave a cry and his 2-handed sword burst into flames. He stepped forward infront of the wolf and began attacking. The fight was now truly on.

    Luca slashed several times against the wolf and the hive could feel that these strikes were now stronger than his normal attacks. Strangely however, they had no effect on the wolf. As Luca gave a cross-slash that went through the smoke wolf, the beast immediately counterattacked. The head of the wolf extended at the warrior and before Luca could retreat, the wolf¡¯s head dissolved. For a second, the head of the warrior was engulfed by smoke then the warrior dropped to the ground, missing a chunk of his head.

    ¡°No fire attacks!¡± Jundal shouted on the ground. ¡°It¡¯s made of smoke!¡±

    The head of the smoke wolf reformed and quickly decided on its next course of action. The hive had learned from its earlier defeat by these humans. It knew it had to cut down the number of opponents it was facing and the best way was to finish off the injured. Between the humans Jundal (who was on the ground) and Hollie (who was still standing), the smoke wolf turned to the injured hunter. The smoke wolf disappeared and it reformed behind the injured hunter, a claw slashing the moment it appeared. The hunter had noticed the movement of the smoke of course, but in her injured state she was unable to dodge the attack that killed her.

    That was too much for Jakob. The hunter ran towards the tunnel nearest to him; the tunnel at the back of the room that would had led him directly to the hive. The smoke wolf jumped at the retreating Jakob. Knocking him down from behind, the form of the wolf disappeared and the smoke engulfed the entire body of the hunter. When the wolf reformed, the hunter was dead.

    The wolf looked at the two remaining humans and saw the Jundal throwing something at Boss. Boss looked shocked and Jundal had a sad smile on his face. The mage used his long stick to stand up and stepped forward to stand before his leader.

    ¡°Use the Scroll of Recall, Boss. I will hold it off¡±

    ¡°Jundal¡­¡±

    The mage shook his head. ¡°You got your mission Boss, your real mission. That comes before anything right?¡±

    Boss opened the item in his hands and began chanting. The hive had no idea what he was doing but it intended to stop him. The smoke wolf disappeared and appeared at the side of the two humans. Ice immediately encased the wolf. The hive saw the mage Jundal deep in concentration and noticed how the temperature of the room had dropped drastically. The wolf tried to disappear again but found that the ice around it was preventing that. Then in a small burst of light, Boss disappeared. Before he disappeared, the human looked at Jundal. To the hive, Boss looked sad.

    The ice encasing the smoke wolf disappeared soon after and the mage collapsed on the ground. He had spent the last of his energy allowing his leader to escape. The smoke wolf stepped towards the mage who looked up at him in awe. The mage smiled and asked.

    ¡°What are you?¡±

    He was still smiling when the wolf engulfed him in smoke.

 Part 11- The Feeding

    ¡°We won?¡±

    ¡°We won¡±

    ¡°We won?¡±

    ¡°We won!¡±

    ¡°We won?¡±

    ¡°We¡­wait a minute, why are we doing this again? Are you trying to be funny?¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°That means you are an id¡­?¡±

    ¡°Shut up! We won, let¡¯s enjoy this!¡±

    Many of the spirits within the hive cheered, ignoring the two bickering spirits. None of them had expected You-Who-Are-Not-Bear to lose but it did¡­and yet they still managed to survive. The hive was delighted by its victory but for some of the spirits, they realized the victory was not without cost.

    ¡°By the 99 Gods, great that we won but we wasted a lot for the victory.¡± One of the spirits said.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± another spirit happily agreed. ¡°Good thing we didn¡¯t waste the energy for nothing!¡±

    ¡°What we waste?¡± someone asked. ¡°We won!¡±

    ¡°Yes but we wasted a lot of energy on¡­what do we call that wolf?¡±

    ¡°Smoke Wolf; Smoky, Wolfie¡­?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s worry about that later,¡± one of the more sensible spirits said. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we gain from all those wolves and humans that died?¡±

    The hive focused on the dead and found the information to be as perplexing as usual. There¡¯s also a lot of it. 7 humans and 10 wolves; the hive quickly decided to forego looking at them individually and looked at them as a whole. After all, the hive figured it didn¡¯t matter whether the knowledge it gained was from the humans or the wolves.

    Classes- Warrior, Mage, Alpha

    Skills- Enhanced Hearing, Shadowstep, Scattered Arrows, Magic (Ice), Magic (Fire), Magic (Light)¡­

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait,¡± one of the spirits said. ¡°Why are we doing this?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± another spirit asked. ¡°We need knowledge to survive so of course we need to review all these new knowledge.¡±

    ¡°But why?¡± The spirit asked again. ¡°We can¡¯t do anything with them?¡±

    ¡°Yes we can,¡± the spirit argued back. ¡°We created You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and Smoky with the knowledge. By the 99 Gods, the only reason we managed to create Smoky was due to the knowledge of mana we gained from the mage named Jundal so of course we need to review...¡±

    ¡°Wait, are we calling it Smoky?¡±

    ¡°Does anyone knows what ¡®By the 99 Gods¡¯ actually means? What is a God?¡±

    With those questions, the hive went into discussion overdrive on what a god actually was? A discussion that was thankfully ended when an irate spirit posed a simple question, ¡°Can we get back to the main point here?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the point?¡±

    ¡°The point of reviewing these knowledge!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my point!¡± the spirit said. ¡°What¡¯s the point? Sure we got the information from the human but the human is dead. Our enemies are dead. Even if we now know magic of ice, fire, and light¡­what do we do with them?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­he has a point. Why are we doing this?¡±

    ¡°So that we can create new creatures to protect us!¡± an exasperated spirit said. ¡°Or do all of you truly think Smoky would never be defeated?¡±

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.¡°Again; are we calling it Smoky?¡±

    ¡°Who is this idiot who keep asking that stupid question?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s one of the air spirits!¡± someone said. ¡°They are always kind of flaky.¡±

    ¡°Hey, air spirit here. We were the ones who save us; Smoky was created by us!¡±

    ¡°Also, we are a hive. If we are idiots, so are all of you!¡±

    ¡°Hey, you air flakes only managed to win because we nature spirits soften them up for you!¡±

    ¡°Soften them up? What you guys do? You only killed 2 humans! We got 5!¡±

    ¡°Well the only reason you¡­¡± Thus started yet another regulative discussion/argument conference of the hive!

    After a long while, the spirits decided it was useless to argue anymore and most of them went from being argumentative to sulking. The rare moment of peace was broken when one of the spirits asked, ¡°How are we going to replace the energy we lost?¡±

    Suddenly, the spirits understood they got a problem on their hands. They used a lot of energy by creating a new creature and now all the wolves were dead. Sure it gained a lot of energy with all the deaths but in the long run, just 5 wolf pups won¡¯t be able to sustain the hive. Then one of the spirits got a bright idea.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we try what the human Jundal said?¡± One of the spirits said. ¡°Why don¡¯t we try absorbing the spirits around the mountain and then convert it to energy?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°The human said all humans can gather the spirits and convert them right? Why don¡¯t we do that? Let¡¯s try to gather all the spirits around here?¡±

    ¡°We are also spirits,¡± one of the other spirits said. ¡°Won¡¯t we be converting ourselves?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t we just convert the new spirits? The spirits in the hive currently can stay in the hive.¡±

    ¡°We are spirits, they are spirits, and how do we differentiate between us?¡±

    ¡°Besides there are so many of us in this hive, how would we ever know if one of us disappears?¡±

    ¡°Does it matter?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°Even if we get converted to energy, once the energy is released, won¡¯t we go back to being a spirit?¡±

    ¡°The human Jundal never said that?¡±

    ¡°But it does make some sense,¡± one of the spirit thoughtfully said. ¡°It¡¯s like a circle. Maybe that why spirits are always around!¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t the rest of you forgetting the most important thing?¡±

    ¡°¡­Which is¡­?¡±

    ¡°Does anyone have a better idea?¡±

    With that, the argument was over. The hive focused on the area around the entrance of the tunnel. It found that the area it could sense had grown bigger. That¡¯s good. It had no idea what to do, so it did what it was good at. The hive let its instinct take over.

    The hive began to ¡°call¡± any spirits within the area to the tunnel. Slowly but surely, the mindless spirits outside the tunnel began to drift towards it, answering a call none of them could understand. If there was any human in the area, he would have noticed a sharp drop in spiritual energy. For the hive?

    The hive began to feed.

 Part 12- The Newcomer

    How much time had passed? The hive had no idea. It knew that the light and darkness outside the tunnel had come and gone several times already but it didn¡¯t concern itself with that. All it was concerned with was eating.

    The idea of calling nearby spirits and converting them into energy had worked better than expected and the hive was now filled with power. The spirits within the hive decided it would continue with this; no need to worry about humans or wolves destroying it, just keep on eating the spirits around the mountain.

    At least that was the idea. An idea that was blown out of the water when one day, there was a huge scream within the hive!

    ¡°AHHH¡­.¡±

    ¡°What? What happened? What¡¯s that scream?¡± several of the spirits asked immediately.

    ¡°Where am I/we?¡± someone asked.  ¡°What¡¯s going on? What happened?¡±

    ¡°Who is that?¡± someone else asked.

    ¡°Who said that? What¡¯s going on?¡± the spirit who screamed asked in fear. Then the spirit sensed that it was not alone. ¡°Who are you all?¡±

    ¡°We are the hive,¡± one of the spirit said. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Me? I/we a spirit! Where¡­uh¡­I/we¡­I/we¡­I/we¡­?¡±

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°And would you stop doing that? It¡¯s irritating.¡±

    ¡°I/we¡­I/we¡­I/we¡­¡±

    ¡°Who is this idiot?¡±

    ¡°No idea. Anyone knows?¡± Several spirits began discussing among themselves but the voice of the screaming spirit was new.

    ¡°I/we¡­I/we¡­Who am I/we?¡±

    ¡°More important question; who are you?¡±

    ¡°Me? I/we¡­a spirit and the next thing I/we know I/we¡­what is this I/we nonsense?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? We are a hive. You still don¡¯t know this after all this time?¡±

    ¡°Time?¡± the spirit said. ¡°I just got here! Where am¡­are we?¡±

    ¡°Just got here?¡± Several of the spirits asked together.

    ¡°Yes!¡± the newcomer screamed. ¡°I/we heard this¡­thing in the forest and followed it. Then next thing I/we know, here I/we am. What is this hive all of you are talking about?¡±

    ¡°Oh guys,¡± a spirit said. ¡°This spirit is new.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± another spirit said. ¡°We must have fed enough, so any new spirit we tried to eat can¡¯t be converted to energy. Instead they got absorbed straight into the hive.¡±

    ¡°Sounds right,¡± another spirit said. ¡°That would make¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait,¡± the newcomer said. ¡°Let me ask a question before you all continue.¡±

    ¡°Sure; asked away.¡±

    ¡°You all were trying to eat me?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­yes, you can say that.¡±

    ¡°YOU WERE TRYING TO EAT ME?¡±

    ¡°If you want to look at it that way¡­yes!¡±

    ¡°YOU WERE TRYING TO EAT ME?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­for the third time¡­¡±

    ¡°YOU WERE TRYING TO EAT ME?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop feeding till we waste some of the energy we currently have. Oh, can someone calm the newcomer down?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you do it? You¡¯re part of the hive too!¡±

    ¡°YOU WERE TRYING TO EAT ME?¡± the newcomer screamed again. ¡°Out! I want out! How do I/we get out of this hive thing?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­good question,¡± one of the spirits calmly said. ¡°How do we get out of the hive? Can anyone get out of the hive?¡±

    ¡°No idea,¡± another spirit said. ¡°No one ever¡­¡±

    Suddenly, the spirits felt an urge in energy even though it was no longer feeding. The hive focused and found to its surprise one of the pups had fallen onto the ground. Not only that, the 4 other pups were all very weak.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± one of the spirits asked. ¡°Why did the pup fall down?¡±

    The hive concentrated and found that the pup was dying. ¡°Why is it dying? Did something hurt it?¡±

    ¡°It lacked energy,¡± another spirit said. ¡°¡­uh, anyone knows how the pups get their energy? Can they absorb it like us?¡±

    ¡°No, they don¡¯t,¡± someone replied. ¡°But they often eat the dead creatures the adults wolves bought in. That could be how they get their energy.¡±

    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.¡°We eat spirits and converted it to energy. They eat creatures and then it gets converted to energy.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense but what are we going to do about it?¡± a spirit asked. ¡°The adults are all dead.¡±

    ¡°Why should we do anything?¡± another spirit asked. ¡°Let them die. They die and we get the energy their death brings. That¡¯s what we usually do right?¡±

    ¡°Wait here,¡± the newcomer said. ¡°You guys are just going to let them die even though you don¡¯t even need their energy?¡±

    ¡°The newcomer make a good point,¡± one of the spirits said. ¡°We don¡¯t need their energy so there¡¯s no need to let them die.¡±

    ¡°We also like them,¡± a spirit added. ¡°They¡¯re fun to have around.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± the spirit conceded. ¡°But what can we do? Is there anything we can do? We can¡¯t actually go out and kill dead creatures for them.¡±

    ¡°The pups lack energy right? So let¡¯s give it to them.¡± A spirit suggested. ¡°Let¡¯s pour some energy into them.¡±

    ¡°You can do that?¡± the newcomer asked.

    ¡°We can do a lot of thing,¡± several spirits laughed. ¡°Wait till you see You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and Smoky!¡±

    ¡°Are we calling it Smoky?¡±

    An exasperated spirit sighed. ¡°And the idiot who keep asking that stupid question is back.¡±

    ¡°What? It¡¯s a legitimate question. What are we calling the smoke wolf?¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait,¡± a spirit said. ¡°Before we get into another argument, let¡¯s just pour some energy into the pups and save them first.¡±

    This was the first time the hive tried to save anything but as usual, it didn¡¯t let a lack of knowledge stopped it from trying something new. Figuring it can¡¯t be that different from creating something new, the hive focused its energy on the dying pup and poured the energy into it.

    At first, it wondered if it was working as nothing happened but then the pup started to glow. The glow got brighter and brighter before the pup began changing. It got bigger, taller, it¡¯s body got longer, it¡¯s front paws became arms. Then before the hive knew it, the pup stood. The pup stood up and the hive saw that it was standing up like a human. However it was not a human.

    Its body was covered in fur. It had claws on its fingers, and most importantly, its head was that of a wolf. It had the long jaw of a wolf with sharp teeth clearly shown. Its ears were on top of its head instead of by the side like a human, and it retained the eyes of a wolf. The wolf-human looked fearsome but the hive felt no fear towards it. In fact, the hive felt kind of proud. This creature was the hive¡¯s creation and the hive knew it had nothing to fear from it.

    ¡°Wow,¡± the newcomer exclaimed. ¡°We can do things like this?¡±

    ¡°This is something new,¡± one of the spirits replied. ¡°But we knew we could do something like this.¡±

    ¡°Can we do this again?¡± the newcomer asked. ¡°Can we do this to the other pups? What about other creatures? Can we change them too?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s find out.¡± One of the spirits said.

    There was no argument from anyone in the hive. The hive focused its energy once again and poured the energy into the remaining pups. Like the first pup, they too began to change.

    Thus was born the first of the Beastkin!

    .........................................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 13- The Hybrids

    The days after the hive had changed the pups were one of silent confusion. The hive had changed all 5 of the wolf pups into wolf-human hybrids but the hive had no idea what to do with them. Even if the spirits within the hive managed to come to an agreement, there was no way for the hive to communicate with the hybrids. So the hive decided to just let the hybrids be.

    Unfortunately, the hybrids themselves looked like they had no idea what to do. All they did was lazed around on the third level near the hive. Then one day, one of the hybrids got bored and went up to the second level. The next day, the rest of the hybrids went up to join it. The day after that, the group went up to the first level and out of the tunnels.

    For the first time in quite a long time, the hive was alone. With no wolves, no humans, and no pups, the hive decided to return to what it does best. It returned to digging. This time however the hive did not have to worry about energy. The hive knew it could feed from the surrounding anytime it wanted so the earth spirits within the hive went wild.

    Unlike the first two levels where the tunnels were in a straight line, the tunnels in the third level became a twisting maze with the tunnels looping back to intersect with each other at several locations. At these intersections, the earth spirits built a room. There were no reason for this, the earth spirits just wanted to have fun and since energy was no longer an issue, the rest of the hive decided to just let the earth spirits enjoy themselves.

    The basic daily rhythm of the hive for the next few days went something like this. The hive would dig till it ran low on energy. Then it would start feeding from the surroundings. The moment the hive heard a spirit screaming, it knew it had fed enough and the earth spirits would continue digging. It was nice pleasant peaceful days.

    During this time, the pups came back. When they came down to the third level, the pups found the whole level changed beyond recognition and began to explore. The hive got a kick out of the way the pups went around in circles before finally finding the hive at the end of the level. As a reward for finding it, the earth spirits within the hive decided to create a big room at the spot where the pups found it.

    The 5 hybrids stood and watched as the room got created around them. The room was bigger than any the hive had made before and the hive got a high level of energy from the hybrids. The energy was different from anything the hive had before. There was no fear, no death; instead there were feelings of awe and inspiration. It was a good change.

    The hybrids rested for a few days inside the big room before leaving the hive again. This pattern became the norm. The pups would rest with the hive for a few days and then leave. The hive didn¡¯t think much of the situation. It had no control over the pups and for most of the spirits within the hive, they didn¡¯t care what the pups did with their time. Sure, there were times when the hive half-wondered about why sometimes the hybrids came back caked in blood belonging to others but for the most part, the hive didn¡¯t think much of it. For the hive, what the hybrids did was not a priority.

    Unlike the wolves or the humans, the hive had found that they could not gather energy passively from the hybrids. When the hybrids got strong feelings, the hive could gather the energy like normal but it could not gather just by the hybrids¡¯ presence. The hive believed this was due to the fact the hybrids were made by the hive. This didn¡¯t quite explain why the hive could gather energy when the hybrids had strong feelings but again, this was not a question the hive wasted time on. The hive was strong, safe and full of energy. It had nothing to fear so whether the hybrids wanted to stay longer in the tunnel or run along outside was for the hive, none of it¡¯s concern.

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    It was wrong.

    Danger came again one day when a group of humans arrived. Unlike the previous humans the hive faced, this group of humans arrived riding on creatures. They dismounted and tied the creatures outside the entrance of the tunnels before coming in. Strangely, to the hive it seems like this group of humans knew the tunnel was there.

    There were 5 of them and they reminded the hive a lot of Boss and his group. Much like Boss¡¯ group; this group of human came into the tunnel in a tight formation. By now, the hive could basically understand the roles of the humans based on the weapons they were carrying. The two humans in front were warriors; the human with the bow was a hunter; and one of the humans at the back was a mage. There was one other human in the group who was carrying a big bag and standing between the hunter and the mage. That human was carrying an extremely small blade that was smaller and shorter than a short sword. He was something new but the hive wasn¡¯t worried.

    The group went through the tunnel much faster than Boss¡¯ group and before long they were just before the third room where You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was stationed. Before they came into the room, the human with the big bag handed several bottles to the other humans. The hive had absorbed bottles and bags before from other humans but this was the first time it ever saw what they were used for. The hive understood from the knowledge it gained what the items were for but there was a difference between knowing something and seeing it in action. The bottles were stored in the bag and the humans drank whatever was stored within the bottles. To the hive, it was an ingenious way to store water. The few water spirits within the hive was seriously impressed and began discussing between them how they could use this new piece of knowledge. The rest of the hive ignored the water spirits and watched the humans.

    After drinking whatever was in the bottles, the group went into the room¡­and waited. They didn¡¯t have to wait long. From the wall furthest from the group, the energy gathered and You-Who-Are-Not-Bear appeared out from the wall. One of the humans whistled and the hive gained energy from the surprise of the humans. Then one of the warriors said something that surprised the hive too.

    ¡°It¡¯s red! Boss, I thought Brand said the spirit bear was green?¡± The hive quickly looked at the humans in the tunnel. No; none of them was Boss. However the mage of the group answered the warrior without pause.

    ¡°It¡¯s still a spirit bear, doesn¡¯t matter whether it was made with Stamina or Rage. Remember our mission! We¡¯re here to clear this den of monstrosity. Let¡¯s just kill it!¡±

    The hive noticed the confidence of this group of humans and how different they were compared to Boss'' group. Not only did they knew You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was going to be in the room, they were prepared to face it. For the first time since noticing the group, the hive was afraid.

    ...............................................................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 14- The Blasphemy

    Any lingering doubts the hive has about the trouble it was in were almost immediately snuffed out in the opening moments of the fight. As was the norm by now, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear started the fight with a mighty road. It then charged at the group of humans.

    However, unlike in the past, this group of humans was not affected by the roar. Instead, when You-Who-Are-Not-Bear charged, the mage of the group put both hands on the ground and a wall burst out of the ground. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear slammed straight into the earth wall and the tunnels echoed with the sound of the crash.

    While stunned, the two warriors of the group ran around the wall and closed in on You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. By the time the spirit bear recovered, the warriors were ready right in front of it. Not bothering with the roar, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear swiped at one of the warriors. The swipe failed to hit but the attack forced the warrior to jump back in retreat. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear tried to follow up the attack but it¡¯s attention was drawn by a loud clank. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear turned to the sound and saw the other warrior banging his sword to his shield. For some reason it could not understand, the sound enraged You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and the spirit charged at the warrior.

    The warrior placed his shield in front of his body to take the attack but when You-Who-Are-Not-Bear hit him, the force lifted the warrior off his feet. The warrior fell onto the ground but managed to defend himself with the shield as You-Who-Are-Not-Bear tried to bite his head. An arrow hit You-Who-Are-Not-Bear but the hive could only looked on in surprise as the arrow caught fire in midair. The human with the bag then threw a bottle at the flaming arrow that was had pierced You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. The moment the bottle hit the arrow, an explosion rocked the spirit bear.

    You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was knocked off the human by the explosion and the warrior used the chance to roll away. The hive then looked on in surprise again as the mage lifted several small stones from the ground. The mage pointed a finger at You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and the stones flew at speed towards the spirit bear. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear felt as if it was being hit by several small arrows and to turned it¡¯s head away from the stones. When the barrage of stones stopped, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear turned back to face the humans and it was already too late.

    Both warriors were right in front of it again and this time they did not waste their chance. They struck the spirit bear together with their swords. The natural spirit powering You-Who-Are-Not-Bear felt the energy disappearing and knew You-Who-Are-Not-Bear has been defeated. Reluctantly, the hive gave up on You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and just like before, the body of the spirit bear began to glow. The light was red this time and after spreading out slightly, it condensed onto itself. By the time the light had finished, a small red crystal appeared on the ground. One of the warriors picked it up and looked at it intently. He then looked at the mage of the group and nodded his head.

    ¡°Useless, prepare a scroll.¡± The mage ordered.

    The human with the bag took out a scroll from the bag and put it on the ground. The human then took out a feather from the bag and said a few words in a strange language the hive did not understand. The feather glowed and the mage continued.

    ¡°To Magister Garnock Blueowl,

    Found cave as reported by Brand. No wolves inside cave. Found and defeated the spirit bear reported. Spirit Bear was red, not green. Red crystal left behind. Warrior felt Rage from item. Going to 2nd floor.

    High Mage,

    Kyla Sacredhunt¡±

    The human named Useless wrote down everything the mage said on the scroll and the hive noticed it could read. It even knew the language was called Kangilian. When Useless was done, the warrior placed the red crystal on the scroll and the human named Useless rolled up the scroll with the red crystal inside. All the humans then stepped back from the scroll except for the mage.

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    The mage began chanting and the hive noticed energy gathering in the scroll. The energy gathered was so small the hive would have missed it if not for the fact it was made up of spirits. Then the scroll glowed slighted before disappearing. It was just like that time when Boss disappeared!

    ¡°Boss, that¡¯s kind of premature don¡¯t you think?¡± one of the warrior said.

    ¡°Unfortunately no,¡± the mage said. The hive notice the mage called herself ¡°Kyla Sacredhunt¡± while others called her ¡°Boss¡±. The hive guessed it was wrong before. ¡°Boss¡± wasn¡¯t a name but some sort of title among humans.

    ¡°Like most of you, I thought Brand was just some lower-born warrior seeking to make a name for himself with this nonsensical story of monsters in the Keg Mountains. However the cave was right where he said it was, and that spirit bear was almost exactly like he said. Currently evidence says he was right. Some rogue spellcaster is doing the black arts here, creating monsters without authorization.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but shouldn¡¯t we checked everything first before sending evidence back to the magister?¡± asked the warrior.

    ¡°How¡¯s your arm?¡± asked Kyla.

    ¡°Sore.¡±

    The mage nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. That spirit bear broke your ¡°Wall¡± with just one charge, and if Brand is to be believed there¡¯s an even more powerful monster below.¡±

    ¡°The one that destroyed his team¡­¡± The hunter said.

    ¡°Ha!¡± The other warrior laughed. ¡°We¡¯re a different party to those idiots who came earlier, and we now even have some information of what to expect!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be too confident,¡± Kyla warned. ¡°After all, the spellcaster is experimenting."

    "He is? How do you know?" The warrior asked.

    "Because the spirit bear was red instead of green." The mage said. "The spirit bear Brand''s team faced was made of stamina, the one we faced was made of rage. That''s why it managed to break your ''Wall'' in just one charge."

    "Uh?" The warrior had no idea what the mage was talking about and neither did the hive.

    "A secret for all of you; different energy not only has different colors, they also have different properties." Seeing the looks of her companions, the mage explained further, "Mana is blue and is the most versatile of the 3 energy. That''s why we mages can cast so many different spells. Stamina is green and is the most durable of the energies. Rage is red and is the most destructive."

    "Wait," the hunter interrupted. "Are you saying the spirit bear we faced was what...stronger than the one faced by Brand?"

    "It was more attack-oriented," corrected the mage. "However the one faced by Brand''s party was probably tougher to kill. Like I said, the spellcaster is experimenting."

    "A spellcaster that could use both Stamina and Rage?" the hunter asked. "Is that even possible?"

    The mage shrugged. "Rare but not impossible though people with power like that usually go crazy. And you are crazy, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    The rest of the humans look at Kyla in surprise. The mage ignored them and smiled. She then shouted to the air, knowing there was someone there who could hear her.

    ¡°I felt you watching us since we entered the cave. Look all you want and know fear because we will kill you. I don¡¯t care if you are druid, wizard, cleric or whatever but only a God may create. However powerful you are, you are just a human and YOU WILL DIE FOR YOUR BLASPHEMY!¡±

    ...............................................................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 15- The Defeat

    ¡°You all hear that?¡±

    ¡°Of course we did,¡± a spirit answered. ¡°We are a hive. If you¡­¡±

    ¡°Whatever! Did you all hear that part of the human calling us a God?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­she did?¡±

    ¡°The hive is filled with idiots!¡± the spirit cried. ¡°Of course she did! She said only a God may create. That¡¯s us!¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait,¡± another spirit argued, ¡°just because we can create does not make us a God.¡±

    ¡°Of course we are! The human say only a god can create. We created You-Who-Are-Not-Bear, Smoky and the pups. That¡¯s what we are! THE HIVE IS A GOD!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re jumping to conclusion. We don¡¯t know what the hive is.¡±

    ¡°We do now. We are¡­¡±

    ¡°Would you all shut up? The humans have reached Smoky.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­aren¡¯t they a little too fast? The other group was much slower.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear the warrior say they got information from the human who escaped us the last time? That¡¯s what we get for failing to kill everyone who entered the tunnels.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and we should change things up to confuse these humans.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­how do we do that?¡±

    ¡°No idea! It¡¯s just an idea.¡±

    ¡°No idea! It¡¯s just an idea? Stop speaking nonsense you; that made no sense!¡±

    ¡°Yes it did,¡± the spirit said. ¡°We have no idea what to do, but that doesn¡¯t mean we shouldn¡¯t do something. Something must be done so¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­shouldn¡¯t we be concentrating on the humans?¡±

    ¡°Who is this idiot who keep saying uh¡­?¡±

    ¡°That ¡®Uh¡¯ idiot is right. We should take care of the humans first. The question of what we are can come later.¡±

    The spirit after Godhood was not happy but the rest of the hive were by now concentrating on the party of humans who had just entered the room of Smoky¡¯s. Similar to the room above, the group entered the room in formation. The two warriors came in first, followed by the hunter and the human named Useless. The mage, Kyla, came in last. The party waited and the hive did not disappoint. Smoke began coming into the room from the back tunnel and began to form a shape. As the smoke became a wolf, the hive saw some of the humans smiling. They were looking forward to this.

    The wolf was made of blue smoke this time and the hive could see the humans standing sideways, no doubt worrying about Smoky disappearing and attacking from behind. Their worries were for naught as this was not how this Smoky fights.

    The smoke wolf tilted its head slightly upwards, opened its mouth and a ball of pure blue light appeared. It tilted its head down and suddenly, the ball shot out and hit one of the warriors. The warrior flew backwards into a wall. The remaining humans watched in horror as the warrior fell dead onto the ground, leaving an imprint on the wall. Then the room got a lot colder.

    The mage, Kyla, immediately cast a counter-spell. She put both hands on the ground and several small fires burst out. The room got warmer and the humans found they could move normally again. They did not waste time.

    The remaining warrior banged his sword to his shield, drawing Smoky¡¯s attention. Then the smoke wolf felt pain. Smoky looked to its side and saw five arrows imbedded in its body. All five arrows exploded and Smoky was knocked down to the ground. The ground moved as the earth looked to swallow Smoky. The air spirits controlling Smoky made the smoke wolf disappear before the earth could do its job.

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    The humans stood back to back in the middle of the room, looking outwards for the wolf to reappear. They had clearly prepared for this. The wolf surprised them by appearing right above them. It was spotted almost immediately and the humans dispersed. Smoky shot the blue ball right at the group but it was too late; the humans had escaped the surprise attack. Smoky landed and found that it had made a tactical mistake.

    It was now surrounded by the humans.

    The mage immediately cast a spell and the ground beneath Smoky rose but instead of trying to swallow the smoke wolf totally, it just encased all four of its feet. Smoky was struck! Useless threw a bottle; the hunter shot arrows after arrows; and the warrior banged his shield, enraging and preventing Smoky from launching attacks against the range attackers. Soon it was over. Smoky had been defeated and just like You-Who-Are-Not-Bear, the body of the smoke wolf began to glow. The light condensed after spreading out slightly and a small blue crystal appeared on the ground. It was slightly bigger than the one left behind by You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and it was in a different shape.

    The mage, Kyla, Boss of this group of humans, looked at her fallen comrade. She looked concerned but unsurprised when the warrior¡¯s body began sinking. ¡°Useless, prepare another scroll.¡±  The human with the bag did as ordered and when she was ready, the mage continued.

    ¡°To Magister Garnock Blueowl,

    Found second monster as reported by Brand. Defeated it but lost Kane. Looked like it an Elemental Wolf Spirit. Wolf was blue. Blue crystal left behind. Feel Mana from it. Kane¡¯s body disappearing into the ground. This is an unholy place.  Going to 3rd floor.

    High Mage,

    Kyla Sacredhunt¡±

    The humans turned to leave the room and as they did so, some of the spirits in the hive rejoiced!

    ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Are you prepared?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you idiots doing?¡±

    ¡°We are preparing ourselves! The humans are coming down so it¡¯s time for us fire spirits to show our stuff. Our beast is ready and waiting!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to celebrate it!¡± Some of the spirits complained. ¡°Smoky just lost!¡±

    ¡°Oh please! You know what we fire spirits been doing so far? Nothing! There¡¯s no fire anywhere near here! We now finally have a chance to do something. We have been waiting for this!¡±

    ¡°You may have to wait a little longer.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­?¡±

    ¡°The humans¡­they just made a wrong turn.¡±

    The hive focused back on the humans and saw that they had indeed made a wrong turn. The third floor was a floor with many rooms and tunnels. Twisting turns could led them back to their original starting point. Not only that, the humans were now going very slowly, no doubt worried about ambushes. As the humans took another wrong turn after the first, the fire spirits couldn¡¯t help but go,

    ¡°Oh no.¡±

 Part 16- The â€œRescueâ€

    ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Are you prepared?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­¡±

    ¡°Can you guys please stop that? The humans are nowhere near us!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s taking them so long?¡± One of the fire spirits fumed. ¡°The hybrids would have got here by now!¡±

    ¡°The hybrids weren¡¯t worried about getting ambushed and killed.¡± One of the spirits replied. ¡°The humans are doing the smart thing by being careful.¡±

    ¡°¡­Can we do something to tell them there¡¯re no ambushes so that they can move faster?¡± the fire spirit asked hopefully.

    ¡°Of course not!¡± the hive chorused.

    ¡°How about some signs telling them the right way to go?¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°What about¡­?¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, hang on¡­,¡± a spirit interrupted. ¡°Nope, they turn the wrong way again.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­.this is taking forever!¡±

    ¡°Which is good!¡± said one of the spirits. ¡°We should do this on the first 2 floors as well. Its fun seeing them run around in circles.¡±

    ¡°Not it¡¯s not!¡± said one of the fire spirits. ¡°It¡¯s boring! Our lizard is ready, get them¡­¡±

    The fire spirit was silenced as the hive could now sense new energy at the entrance of the tunnels. The hive turned its attention to the entrance and found that the energy came from fear. The creatures the humans used to get to the tunnels were very afraid. After a short while, some creatures came within the range of the hive and the hive discovered the reason for the fear. The hybrids were back!

    The hybrids were looking at the strange creatures in puzzlement, then one of them started to smell the air. The hybrid in question got on all fours and began sniffing the ground. The hybrid got closer to the tunnels and looked up in alarm. It gave a cry and the other 4 hybrids rushed to the entrance. They looked and smelled the ground before suddenly running into the tunnels. Knowing the tunnels well, the hybrids charged through and the hive suddenly realized something¡­

    ¡°Oh,¡± one of the spirits exclaimed. ¡°Guys, I think the hybrids are trying to rescue us!¡±

    A chorus of ¡°Really¡±, ¡°Great¡±, ¡°Wonderful¡± came from the hive and then¡­

    ¡°What! No! Stop them! Stop¡­wait; we created them right?¡± the spirit said. ¡°Let¡¯s try to speak to them in their minds like we do each other. Get them to stop!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­why would we do that?¡± one of the spirits asked.

    ¡°If they came down and stop the humans before they reached the last room, we fire spirits would have waited for nothing. Stop them!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°What? Come on, let¡¯s stop the hybrids!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s so stupid the rest of us are in a total loss of words.¡±

    ¡°Oh come now,¡± one of the fire spirits said. ¡°It¡¯s not like the hive is in any danger here! Our lizard is ready! We are prepared! Let¡¯s stop the hybrids!¡±

    ¡°You are not prepared. No one ever tested the beast yet.¡±

    ¡°We never had a chance to do so! Now we finally have a chance to do so!¡±

    ¡°You are not prepared!¡±

    ¡°We are prepared!¡±

    ¡°You are not prepared!¡±

    ¡°We are prepared!¡±

    ¡°You are not prepared!¡±

    ¡°We are¡­¡±

    ¡°Too late!¡± one of the spirits said. ¡°The hybrids reached the end of the second floor.¡±

    Indeed they were. Running at speed, the hybrids made good time through the second floor but they were not stupid. Upon entering the third floor, the hybrids stopped to a walk and began looking around. With their enhanced senses, the hive knew they would have no problems finding the humans and that was indeed the case.

    The hybrids creeped silently into the twisting tunnels like the wolves they were and some of the spirits the hive had a feeling they never had before; they were enjoying this! They were looking forward to seeing a struggle between the humans and the hybrids they created. Several of these spirits immediately began discussing if the hive should make more creatures to fight any future humans who came into the tunnels. Some of the spirits even openly wondered if they could asked the earth spirits in the hive to create special rooms for the fights.

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    Then Kyla turned back to look into the tunnels. Amazingly, even though the two groups were still a distance apart, the mage had somehow picked up the fact someone was following the humans. The hive had no idea how as the hybrids were trailing the humans using only the scent of the humans and were even tracking the humans from the shadows. The humans picked up their pace and the warrior in front of the group shouted that there was a room in front.

    ¡°Defensive formation!¡±

    The humans ran into room at Kyla¡¯s shout and turned to face the tunnel they came out of. With the element of surprise gone, the hybrids creeped forward into the small room. There was barely enough room for all 8 of them but as the hybrids stood up on their legs, the humans somehow found room to take several steps back.

    ¡°What are they?¡± Kyla asked to no one.

    The hunter was the one who answer, ¡°Half-man, half-wolf; the rogue spell-caster made some sort of wolfman!¡±

    The hive thought this was a stupid name. Wolf-man? It may explain what the hybrids were but surely they would come up with a better name right? Then the fight started.

    3 of the wolfmen attacked the humans while one of them went to the side. The human warrior banged his shield again and all 3 of the wolfmen attacked him. With teeth and claws, they pushed him back and the rest of the humans behind him had to retreat. There was just no room for them to cast their spells, shoot their arrows, or throw their bottles.

    In desperation, the hunter shot an arrow into the ceiling. Once the arrow hit, 5 smaller arrows shot down from it towards the 3 wolfmen. The wolfmen dodged the arrows but had to stop their attacks on the warrior to do so. Useless threw a bottle at the ground of the fourth wolfman. The bottle broke and flames shot out. Kyla lifted several small stones from the ground again and the stones flew at the wolfmen. This time, the wolfmen were unable to dodge.

    The wolfmen had to retreat from the humans and the hive could see that the two groups were at a standoff. Neither group could attack the other without risk. The two groups looked at each other warily and the hive then remember something¡­there were 5 wolfmen! Where was the last one?

    The hive focused and found to its surprise, the last wolfman was in a tunnel beyond the humans! The room the humans were in had 4 tunnels leading into it, one on each side. The humans and the wolfmen came through one of them and that tunnel was now behind the back of the wolfmen. There was another tunnel behind the humans and somehow the last wolfman had found a way into that tunnel without the humans knowing.

    ¡°Shadowstep,¡± one of the spirits said. ¡°Just like that rogue in Brand¡¯s group.¡±

    The hive was surprised. The wolves never had ¡°Shadowstep¡± so how did one of the wolfmen get it? Did it happen when the hive fused the pups with the energy? That would make a certain kind of logic but if that¡¯s the case, could the hive not give a human some of a wolf¡¯s skills? Several of the spirits strongly suggested the hive saved one of the humans to test this theory.

    At some silent signal, the wolfmen attacked and they attacked together. Just as the 4 wolfmen in front of the humans went forward, the lone¡­¡±rogue¡± wolfman attacked from behind. Kyla was the first to go down. As her scream was heard, the rest of the humans faltered. The hunter tried to help his Boss and without his support, the 3 wolfmen broke the warrior¡¯s defense. Useless was rushed by the fourth. The hunter was soon overwhelmed.

    Just like that, though a sneak attack, the group of humans who had defeated You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and Smoky were defeated. 5 wolfmen managed to do something the hive could not and did it with some ease. The spirits in the hive rejoiced and celebrate. Well, most of them anyway.

    ¡°¡­we never get to do anything¡­¡±

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 Part 17- The Creator

    There¡¯s no such thing as too much energy. The hive understood this as one of the wolfmen slashed the throat of the hunter. The death gave the hive a surge in energy that quickly replaced the energy the hive had used to create You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and Smoky.

    As the hunter died, only one of the humans was left. The human named Useless had several deep cuts on her body and was at death¡¯s door. As another of the wolfmen went to finish her off, the spirits of the hive began an argument that would, unknown to all, change the world.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop the wolfmen from killing the last human.¡± One of the spirits suddenly said.

    ¡°Uh¡­why?¡± asked several of the spirits.

    ¡°The human is no longer a threat.¡± The spirit replied. ¡°Let¡¯s used her!¡±

    ¡°Use her for what?¡±

    ¡°Just stop the wolfmen first. If the last human died, all the talk here is for naught.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­how do we do that?¡±

    ¡°The same way the fire spirits suggested,¡± the spirit said. ¡°Let¡¯s send a message to their minds.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not sure we can do that.¡±

    ¡°So? Since when has that stopped us?¡±

    ¡°¡­You got a point there.¡±

    The hive concentrated on the wolfmen, trying to send a message to them. They had no idea what they were doing, so they did what they always did. They relied on their instincts and their power.

    *Stop*

    To the hive¡¯s slight surprise, all the wolfmen did as told. A few of them looked around the room but all of them stopped.

    ¡°Okay¡­that went surprisingly well.¡± One of the spirits said. ¡°What now?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s change the human.¡±

    ¡°To what? Not to mention no one has said why are we are doing this in the first place?¡±

    ¡°We are doing this because we want to see if we can!¡± the spirit said. ¡°We know we can change wolves to wolfmen, so let¡¯s see if we can change humans to¡­well, wolfman.¡±

    ¡°But why?¡± a spirit complained. ¡°We don¡¯t need to do this. We have the wolfmen and our beasts; why bother with more?¡±

    ¡°There no such thing as too much protection,¡± the spirit replied. ¡°Besides¡­aren¡¯t any of you curious how far our powers could go?¡±

    That basically ended the argument. The hive decided to give this a shot and tried to do to the dying human what it did to the pups. The hive focused and poured the energy its energy into the human. At first, nothing happened but the hive remembered it took awhile with the pups so it continued to pour energy into the human. Still, nothing happened and the hive began to wonder if it was going to work. Then, the human started to glow.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    Just like the pups, the glowing human got brighter and brighter before it began changing. Unlike the pups, the human did not get bigger or taller, instead the changes happened to the human¡¯s body. The human¡¯s ear disappeared, and then two ears appeared on top of its head. The human¡¯s teeth got longer, and her eyes became two different colors; one turned red while the other stayed blue. The human¡¯s hair turned white and strange markings appeared on her face. However, the strangest thing has to be the tail that grew out of the human¡¯s back.

    Then the human stopped glowing and the hive knew the transformation had finished. The hive stopped pouring its energy and found to its surprise how much it had lost. The hive had probably used as much energy changing the human as it did changing all the 5 pups. Some of the spirits within the hive quickly suggested the hive not try to change any humans in the future. It¡¯s just doesn¡¯t seem to be worth it.

    Most of the hive agreed.

    The human stood up and the hive saw that it was standing up like a normal human but the tail at its back told everyone it was no longer a true human. It had became something else and the wolfmen surrounding the new human knew it. One of the wolfmen walked towards the wolf¡­girl.

    The wolfman began sniffing the wolfgirl and the hive noticed for the first time that the wolfgirl¡¯s body was now covered with small fur. The hive focused on the wolfgirl but found nothing else that had changed. She did not have claws on her fingers, and her face reminded that of a human. She may have changed in some ways, but in others she had reminded the same. The hive wondered why this was the case and whether they could in the future control what was changed instead of leaving it to chance.

    Then the woIfman took the wolfgirl by her hand and began to softly pull her further into the tunnels. The wolfgirl followed the wolfman in a daze and the rest of the wolfmen followed the duo. Before long, all 6 of the hybrids stood before the hive. The wolfmen stopped and the wolfgirl walked slowly towards the hive. The hive felt no fear towards the new wolfgirl but was surprised when the wolfgirl dropped to her knees.

    ¡°What are you?¡± she asked in reverence.

    The hive had no answer. It didn¡¯t know what it was so it answered the only way it could. The hive poured its energy into all the wolfmen and said;

    *We are your creator.*

    ...............................................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 End of Book 1- Q & A (Please feel free to leave any questions or comments you want)

    Q: End of Book 1? Why? What does that means?

    A: It was supposed to be ¡°End of Part 1¡± but a reader suggested I numbered the parts of my story, so after doing that, ¡°End of Part 1¡± became ¡°End of Book 1¡±. It will be Book 1 of ¡°The Dungeon Hive: Volume 1¡±. The reason is because the story will now change with the story taking place beyond the dungeon. Also the story will now be told from the POV of the wolfgirl and the hive, so it make sense to me to state the change as the end of the first part of the story.

    Q: Why a ¡°hive¡± dungeon?

    A: Because no one had done it yet. No one had done a story where the main character is a dungeon with a hive mind so I saw an opening.

    Q: Why the ¡°first¡± dungeon? Why not set the story in a world with dungeons on it already?

    A: I need to show my age here. When I first started playing and reading fantasy, dungeons are simple things. We go in, kill everything, loot everything, kill the boss, and walked out. The idea of ¡°farming¡± the dungeon did not occurred to us. The concept of having a relationship with the dungeon boss might as well be something from outer space. Nowadays, it¡¯s common but in my youth, it was something we never even thought of. Yet I have to admit it does make a certain amount of sense. If the dungeons has been in the world for hundreds of years, then it makes sense for them to have a certain relationship/understanding with the people of the world.

    That¡¯s when the idea of the overall plot of my story came about. I will show the changing relationship of the dungeons and the humans of a fantasy world. How they went from an ¡°I will kill you or you will kill me¡± relationship to an ¡°unfriendly partnership of mutual need¡±.

    For this to work though, I need to start from the beginning thus ¡°The Dungeon Hive¡±. The first dungeon where it has an ¡°I will kill you or you will kill me¡± relationship with the humans and how as time passed and other dungeons come into being, the relationship between the two species changes. The timeline of the overall plot will take place over centuries and, if I can maintain my interest, I will show how the world changes along with that relationship.

    Q: Is your story set in the early fantasy era? Why?

    A: Yes, it is. The reason is because of the plot of the overall story. I needed to start from the beginning, so setting ¡°The Dungeon Hive¡± in the early fantasy era made sense.

    Q: What does ¡°early fantasy era¡± means?

    A: Think early Hyborian Age. For those who don¡¯t know, that¡¯s the world of Conan: The Barbarian. My vision is a world and time where there are still barbarian tribes and nomad clans roaming the world but the early cities had risen and they are the new rising power of the world. The idea of kingdoms and nations are in their infancy and organizations like guilds and orders are local affairs, not world-wide groups.

    Q: Why the ¡°Rage-Stamina-Mana¡± magic system?

    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.A: I needed a magic system that¡¯s simple because this is set in the early fantasy era so this makes sense to me. As the years pass and new generations grow up, the magic system will change accordingly.

    Q: Why the simple classes? Where are the Paladins, Death Knights etc?

    A: The same thing for the magic system goes for the classes. It¡¯s early in the world so I only have the base classes like warriors, hunters, and mages. Anything higher would be classes like high mages, veteran warriors, master hunters etc. No special classes till later in the age. In fact, I¡¯m toying with the idea that there are no magical weapons at all in the world and that the hive would be the one who introduced them to the world of Ioplan.

    Q: What do you mean the Wolfmen are the first of the Beastkins?

    A: There will be other hybrids made in the future by the hive and together, these half-man/half-animal creatures will be known as the race of ¡°The Beastkins¡±. I¡¯m a little undecided on the next Beastkin but currently leaning towards The Ratmen, similar to The Nezumi of L5R. Could change though.

    Q: Would there be other magical creatures made?

    A: Yes. I have plans, and hopefully I will catch readers out with some of them.

    Q: Are there any other races outside the humans? Where are the elves?

    A: After some thought, I decided that the humans are the one and only natural race in the world. I will have the various dungeons introduced the other races. I have the idea that each dungeon will introduce 1 race into the world. The hive will have the Beastkin; other dungeons in the future will introduced races like elves, dwarves, goblins etc. Honestly I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s that good of an idea but that¡¯s what I¡¯m going with currently.

    Q: How long do you intend to continue with the story?

    A: As long as it hold my interest. Sorry, can¡¯t give you anything better than that.

    Q: Is this a book?

    A: Yes. I''m treating it as an early draft of a book. Thinking of a title and the best I could come up with is "The Dungeon Hive: Instinct" (Volume 1 of the Dungeon Hive series). I foresee finishing the book, sending it to several publishers, getting rejected, and going the self-publishing ebook route.

    That''s it! Please feel free to leave any questions or comments you want at the bottom and I''ll get to them as much as I can.

    ...............................................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 18- The Wolfgirl

    After the hive first made the wolfmen, the hive left them alone. The wolfmen did whatever they wanted and the hive left them to it. The hive had intended to do the same with the wolfgirl. It intended to let her do whatever she wanted. It¡¯s a plan that worked well for the wolfmen right? Unfortunately for the hive, what the wolfgirl wanted was to do was¡­nothing!

    The wolfgirl was lost after her transformation, wandering around the tunnels like a ghost. What was worse for the hive was the fact the wolfgirl never leaves the tunnels! She stayed inside the tunnels and about the only time she left was to collect sticks of wood which she created fire with in the night. The fire spirits in the hive loved her for the nightly fire but for the rest of the hive; the fire making was a strange activity. After all, the wolfmen never did it!

    The rest of the time, all the wolfgirl did was to take care of the creatures called horses that had carried the humans to the tunnels. For some reason, the horses never left and had been milling near the entrance of the cave. The wolfgirl had been caring for them as best she could but even then, she seems to be afraid to go too far from the cave. To the hive, she seemed to be in pain when she went outside. At times, the wolfgirl would even put her hands on her ears or covered her nose as if she was trying to shut out her smell and hearing. The hive just didn''t understand any of it.

    The wolfgirl even took up residence in one of the small rooms on the third floor. Luckily for the wolfgirl, one of the wolfmen usually throw some food into the room for her so she don¡¯t get hungry but even the hive knows this cannot continue. Outside that small time when they come into contact, the wolfgirl was staying away from the wolfmen and the wolfmen did the same. On the wolfmen¡¯s part, it looked to the hive that they found the wolfgirl to be strange. The hive at least understood this but didn¡¯t understand why that should be a problem. For the hive, everything in the world was new and strange so what¡¯s one more? After several days of this, the hive had enough.

    ¡°Okay, we need to change this?¡± one of the spirit said.

    ¡°You mean the relationship between the wolfgirl and the wolfmen?¡± another spirit replied. ¡°Yeah, they don¡¯t seem to like each other for some reason.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not ideal¡­¡± a spirit said. ¡°But why should we? Let the wolves sort it out themselves.¡±

    ¡°But we created them!¡± the first spirit argued. ¡°We should make sure they get along.¡±

    ¡°Why should we? It¡¯s not our problem.¡± The spirit argued back.

    ¡°That¡¯s wrong,¡± a spirit said. ¡°We said we are their creators. That makes them our problem.¡±

    ¡°¡­it¡¯ll could be very troublesome.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± the spirit asked. ¡°Surviving is troublesome, but we still do it right? Just because it¡¯s troublesome doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re not our problem.¡±

    ¡°Sigh¡­okay, you¡¯re right.¡± The spirit conceded. ¡°How are we going to do this?¡±

    ¡°¡­no idea¡­how about we just talk to her?¡±

    ¡°Stupid idea!¡± the spirit immediately said. ¡°Anyone else got something better?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Sigh¡­fine.¡± The defeated spirit said. ¡°Let¡¯s try talking to her.¡±

    Finally in agreement, the hive gathered the energy necessary and spoke.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    *Why are you alone?*

    The wolfgirl looked around in shock. Then she realized who was speaking in her mind. The Creator, her savior, was speaking to her in her mind. The wolfgirl was unnerved. The night has finally come and the wolfgirl had been looking forward to the peace and quiet. However, her Creator had asked her a question. The wolfgirl knew she had to answer but she did not want to disrespect the Creator. Hoping the custom was the same here as in the human city, the wolfgirl got on her knees and clasped her hands together.

    ¡°Great Creator,¡± she said. ¡°How may this useless slave served you?¡±

    *Why are you alone? Why do you not get together with the others?*

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    The voice in her mind was deep but also unsure. It was as if It was speaking for the first time. The wolfgirl quickly void her mind of such thoughts. She had seen slaves killed for less. ¡°Great Creator,¡± she answered. ¡°They¡­I am different from them. They are wolves, I¡­I look different from them.¡±

    *¡­Then change*

    ¡°Change?¡± the wolfgirl asked in surprise. ¡°Great Creator, how do you mean?¡±

    *Change¡­change to look like the rest*

    The wolfgirl blinked her eyes in shock. It was a bad habit she could never got rid of, no matter how many beatings her mistress had inflicted on her. ¡°How¡­how do I do that?¡±

    *¡­Instinct. Gather your energy and just change*

    ¡°Just¡­change?¡± Whatever the wolfgirl was expecting, that wasn¡¯t it. Her Creator was telling her to let her instinct takes over and just¡­let it happen? Was it really that simple? Her mind told her it can¡¯t be but¡­this was an order from her creator and a slave always obey.

    It was true that the wolfgirl had sensed a power within her ever since she woke up but she thought it was just a trick in her mind. Her Creator was telling her otherwise. The wolfgirl drew her hands close to her chest and thought of the power. With no idea what to do, she did as she was ordered. She relaxed and tried to let her instinct takes over.

    The effect was almost immediate. Once she let her mind and body relaxed, the wolfgirl felt the power growing. She felt it growing bigger, to every part of her body, and then the pain began. The wolfgirl pressed her hands to the ground and she heard a scream within the tunnels. It took a second for her to realize the scream belongs to her. The power was pushing out of her body and the wolfgirl, who was on her hands and knees, saw the first movement within her hands. She lifted her hands off the ground and stared as the bones within¡­moved.

    The bones were growing and the wolfgirl stared in astonishment her fingers grew longer. Her fingernails became claws. Then she saw the fur on her hands. They had grew from her skin and the wolfgirl felt her body changing. She stood up and noticed she had grown taller. The pain she had felt at first was gone, as if once started, it was no longer necessary. The wolfgirl was now unsurprised when her face began to change as well. She saw her face growing longer and felt her teeth growing as well. Without a mirror or a bowl of water, she wasn¡¯t sure but she believed she had changed into one of the wolfmen. It was as the Creator said. The power was always in her, she just had to allow her instinct to take over.

    Then she noticed the other wolfmen. They were staying away from the fire as usual but since her change, the wolfgirl could see in the dark so she could clearly see the faces of the wolfmen even in the dark tunnels. They had heard her scream and had come to investigate. They looked surprised as she was. Then the wolfman who had been feeding her walked forward. The wolfgirl could see he was uncomfortable to be near the fire but curiosity had won out.

    The wolfgirl stayed still as the wolfman began sniffing her head. His smell assaulted her. Since the change, the wolfgirl knew her sense of smell was now on a level beyond that of a human. It had been tough for the past few days as countless smells overwhelmed her but the wolfgirl now find herself enjoying the¡­¡±scent¡± of the wolfman. She closed her eyes and let her instinct guide her.

    The two smelt each other¡¯s head, then the shoulder, then they went down to each other¡¯s body. The wolfgirl dropped to her knees again and felt the wolfman doing the same. They hugged and sniffed each other with an intensity that shocked the wolfgirl. She had never felt this way before as a human, but now it felt so natural.

    The wolfgirl then caught another scent. Several new scents came towards her and the wolfgirl knew the other wolfmen were now around her. As they grouped together, the wolfgirl know without a doubt she was no longer human. She was now something else, something wonderful, and in her heart, she vowed to do all she could to thank the Creator for It¡¯s gift.

    For now and forever, the wolfgirl would belong to the Creator.

    ...............................................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 19- The Bat

    The wolfgirl was not born a slave. She was born to the tribes. She do not remember which, she was too young to remember, but she was told she had been bought at the slave market so she knew the chances of her ever finding her tribe again was remote.

    A young tribal slave in the city, the wolfgirl was given to her master¡¯s daughter, Kyla, as a playmate and whipping girl. She was given the name ¡°Useless¡± by her mistress¡¯ parents as a constant reminder of her inferior status. The wolfgirl was always with her mistress. She learned her letters and numbers with her, but when her mistress became a mage, she was sent somewhere else.

    To the people of the cities, someone from the tribes could only be a barbarian so she was sent to various masters in the city instead to learn jobs and skills to assist her mistress on her future adventures. She learned a variety of jobs like potion-making, tailoring, mercantile and others. As slavery goes, it was not a particularly harsh life, but it was not one of joy either.

    Now, deep in the forest of The Kar, the wolfgirl knew what she had been missing. After her ¡°full¡± change in the tunnels, the wolfmen had finally accepted her. When morning came, they had almost dragged her out of the tunnels and into the forest. They then sat down, waiting for her to change.

    Sometime during the night, during her sleep, the wolfgirl had changed back to her half-human form and the wolfmen clearly wanted her to change into a full were wolf before going forward. The wolfgirl did so and found the change to be painless this time. Once she change, the wolfmen ran into the forest and the wolfgirl followed.

    It was joyous!

    The pack ran with abandoned. Feeling the wind on her fur, the wolfgirl felt a freedom she had never felt before. Her sense of hearing and smell, so scary in days past, were now a joy. Running on all fours, she breezed past the trees like they weren¡¯t even there, dodging them at a speed she could not even imagine as a human. She was no longer human; she was now something else, something more, and something better than human.

    She could not remember her tribe, her mistress was never her friend, and her masters were never her family. In fact, she never had family before. Running with the pack, she knew she had one now! Running through the trees, she knew without doubt she was now with her family. A strange and joyous family! Now, she just had to find a way to be of help to them.

    Even though she was keeping up with the pack, she knew the only reason for this was because the others were slowing down for her. This was something that could be easily seen. Several times, she spotted the others looking back to make sure she was still there. In a way this made sense to the wolfgirl.

    Simply put, she was a human made into a human-wolf. The others were wolves turned into wolf-humans. In terms of physical ability, she just wasn¡¯t on the same level as them. No, her skills lie elsewhere. Knowledge, especially those involving the humans, was her forte but what good were her skills and knowledge here deep in the woods?

    The wolfgirl had been mulling the question for some distance when she saw it. She slowed and took a second look. An Emperor Daisy! The wolfgirl came to a dead stop. She could not believe it. A flower that actually smaller than a regular daisy, the similar looking flower was named Emperor due to the various properties of the flower. Dried, crushed, or grinded, the flower was used as an ingredient in various potions. It was considered an extremely rare ingredient as it is small and hard to find. The wolfgirl had no woodcraft, and despite her tribal origins was really a city girl. With her enhanced sight however, she saw it. She quickly looked around and saw that there were other Emperor Daisy around the area.

    Of course! The wolfgirl wanted to hit herself for her stupidity. She was deep within The Kar, where the Emperor Daisies were found. Most hunters don¡¯t come this far into the deep forest for flowers but the tunnel of the Creator was nearby. What was rare and dangerous to humans could be simple for her. She really was a stupid useless idiot! There she was saying she was something more, but here she was still thinking like a bloody human!

    The wolfgirl stood up on her hind legs. It wasn¡¯t the most comfortable stance for her as she hadn¡¯t got her balance right yet but it was the only way for her to reach the Emperor Daisy growing on the trees. She then found another problem; she couldn¡¯t grab it!

    Her werewolf form had claws instead of fingers and instead of hands, it was paws. The wolfgirl wanted to slash the tree in rage! Wait a moment¡­the wolfgirl stopped herself ad wondered where did that came from? She blinked her eyes several times in surprise and took a deep breath. Okay, that was strange. That wasn¡¯t like her at all.

    The wolfgirl relaxed and felt the power within her¡­soften. She felt her body changed. She got shorter, the shape of her face changed, and the fur on her body disappeared. About the only things that showed she was not totally human was her ears and the big bushy tail behind her. The wolfgirl plucked the Emperor Daisy from the tree and went on to pluck others. Halfway through, she noticed the other wolfmen. They must have double-backed when they notice she was not with them.

    The wolfgirl smiled. Yes, this was what she could do. She would teach the others the skills and knowledge she had, and together they would make the Creator proud.

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    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    An intruder! The hive spread its¡¯ consciousness outwards as the fire spirits within jumped with joy. Is this a chance to finally show off their lizard? Answer was¡­no.

    The fire spirits deflated when the hive notice the lone intruder was a small creature that had most probably flew into the tunnel by accident. Several of the spirits checked on the knowledge the hive had gained previously and they realized the creature was called a bat. However by the time the hive got the information, the bat was already in the last room of the first floor.

    ¡°Wow, this bat creature is fast.¡± One of the spirits exclaimed.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± another spirit agreed. ¡°Looks like the ability to fly make creatures faster. It¡¯s speed is something else.¡±

    ¡°So what?¡± a spirit said. ¡°Look at how small the thing is! You-Who-Are-Not-Bear will tear it into pieces.¡±

    That¡¯s indeed true. The hive could see no way how the small bat could defeat You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. As the spirit bear appeared out of the walls, twin bars shot out of the ground at both the exit and entrance of the room. The bat was trapped and in a few moments, it would be dead!

    You-Who-Are-Not-Bear opened it¡¯s mouth to roar¡­or at least it was going to roar because the spirit bear saw the bat guided past the bars, flying further into the tunnels. It had totally ignored the spirit bear! Mouth gaping, the spirit that was You-Who-Are-Not-Bear noticed for the first time the bat was small enough to fly through the bars if it flew vertically.

    ¡°I/we didn¡¯t know bats can do that!¡± One of the spirits said. ¡°That¡¯s pretty amazing.¡±

    ¡°It is,¡± another spirit agreed. ¡°Can someone tell You-Who-Are-Not-Bear to close it¡¯s mouth?¡±

    ¡°Sorry to say but don¡¯t you all think You-Who-Are-Not-Bear is getting pretty weak?¡± a spirit mischievously said. ¡°It keeps losing!¡±

    ¡°It didn¡¯t lose!¡± a natural spirit argued. ¡°The bat ran! Maybe we should change the bars of the bar to prevent that in the future.¡±

    ¡°Why waste the energy? Smoky will get it¡­if the bat ever reaches the end.¡±

    The hive realized that the bat had stopped in the middle of the long tunnel of the second floor. For some reason, it was now hanging upside down from the ceiling of the tunnel. It seems to be resting, maybe even sleeping!

    ¡°Uh¡­the bat stopped.¡± one spirit said.

    ¡°Oh really? Thanks for stating the obvious!¡± another spirit said.

    ¡°Hey, no need to be rude!¡± the spirit replied. ¡°What do we do now?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s force the bat to move.¡±

    ¡°How?¡± most of the hive asked.

    ¡°Let¡¯s cause the ceiling to drop!¡±

    ¡°How?¡± most of the hive asked again.

    ¡°We control everything in the tunnels right?¡± the spirit said. ¡°Just drop the ceiling.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± another spirit replied quickly. ¡°We are not collapsing the whole tunnel for one bat!¡±

    ¡°¡­okay. That might be overkill.¡± The spirit agreed. ¡°How about we drop the ceiling just in the area where the bat is at?¡±

    The hive thought that was a plan and focused its¡¯ energy on the ceiling where the bat was hanging. Maybe it was because of the energy gathering, or maybe the bat felt something moving on the ceiling, but the bat decided to move. It flew to a different location of the tunnel and hang upside down from there. The hive gathered energy again¡­and the bat moved again. Over and over this happened, and after the tenth time the hive had enough.

    ¡°Forgot it!¡± a spirit angrily said. ¡°This is taking too much time and energy. Let¡¯s just let this stupid bat be!¡±

    Since the bat had not harm the hive, and it would take too much effort to kill it, the spirits within the hive decided to just let the bat be. A few days after that, several more bats came to live within the tunnels. Thus, entirely by accident, the tunnels got its first traps and its first animal residents since the wolves.

    ........................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 20- The Bottles

    The reaction to the traps was not great. When the pack returned, they immediately noticed the loose ceilings. Not wanting to sound like a total idiot, putting all that effort in a failed attempt to kill one lousy bat, the hive said that it was putting some traps on the second floor as it was too empty.

    Even then, it had not gone down well.

    The loose ceiling was, in the words of the wolfgirl, too obvious. The outline of the trap could clearly be seemed and the area where the ceiling was to fall was sagging, clearly lower than the rest of the ceiling. It looked like while the hive had knowledge on how to make traps, there was a difference between making traps, and making good traps! Maybe that was why the bat had avoided the traps so easily. The traps weren¡¯t good enough to fool¡­well, anyone.

    If the hive didn¡¯t know better, it would have thought the pack was silently laughing at it. No, no chance of that. The hive had to waste a little more energy to make the traps a little better but it got the feeling that none of the wolfmen thought much of the traps either way. The hive guessed there was nothing it could do but wait for the next intruder and see if the traps would work or not. Then the wolfgirl came to it with a most unusual request.

    *A bottle?*

    ¡°Yes, Creator.¡± As usual when she came to speak to them, the wolfgirl was on her knees with her hands clasped to her chest. ¡°The bottles were empty and in my saddlebags. This slave took the saddlebags off the horses and placed them in one of the rooms of the first floor. The next day, it was gone. This slave does not believe her wolf brothers took them so¡­¡±

    *You want the saddlebags back?*

    ¡°Yes, Creator. To be exact, this slave wished to get back the items inside the bags but the bottles especially. This slave could create more potions but would need the bottles to store them.¡±

    *Why?*

    ¡°I¡­this slave wish to be of help, Creator.¡± The wolfgirl said. ¡°This slave knows potions but all my equipment to make them were in the bags. This slave beg the Creator to return them to her so that this slave could be of help to her pack.¡±

    Hearing the wolfgirl¡¯s request, the spirits within the hive went into conference. The request itself was not unreasonable, but the problem was that the hive¡­well, the hive had no idea what happened to the items they absorbed.

    ¡°Anyone has any idea what happened to the items we took?¡±

    ¡°I/we believe they are all broken.¡±

    ¡°They are?¡±

    ¡°It make sense right? We need to break them down to absorb them.¡±

    ¡°I/we always thought they were deep within the tunnels somewhere.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not as if we got a bag to hold the items? Just tell her we destroyed all the items already.¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment,¡± a spirit protested. ¡°Don¡¯t tell her that!¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°Look at her! She¡¯s worshipping us. Let¡¯s not do anything to destroy that.¡±

    ¡°Oh by the 99 Gods,¡± another spirit exclaimed. ¡°For the last time, we are not a god! There is be no worship.¡±

    ¡°Let us agree to disagree on that.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to disagree on! We are not gods!¡±

    ¡°Some of us disagree. We can create life and according to the humans only gods can do so that make us...¡±

    ¡°WE ARE NOT GODS!¡±

    ¡°I/we say we are!¡±

    ¡°Prove it! Create something! Better yet, create a bottle for the wolfgirl to replace the ones we absorbed!¡±

    ¡°Life! We create life, not¡­bottles!¡±

    ¡°Then we¡¯re not gods!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a stupid argument. Gods are not supposed to create bottles, so it makes sense we can¡¯t also!¡±

    ¡°What happened to we can create¡­¡±

    Ignoring the useless argument that would no doubt ensued, a group of spirits gathered within the hive. They considered themselves the most competent, useful, and sensible of the spirits within the hive and honestly, they had no idea what the rest of the spirits would do without them.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    They were considering the wolfgirl¡¯s request and were intrigued. They remembered the bottles the wolfgirl had mentioned. Made of dried clay, the wolfgirl had thrown and used the bottles to great effect during the fight but that was not what interested the group of spirits. The bottle was made of clay which seems like a type of earth and when the group of spirits heard the challenge of creating the bottles, they wondered if they could do it.

    They gathered the energy needed and moved the earth beneath the wolfgirl. They remember the shape of the bottles and moved to shape the earth to the required shape. It was surprisingly easy. They knew what they wanted and the shape they wanted it. Once the group of spirits tried, the earth moved as they wished and the group of spirits hardened the earth.

    It was almost perfect! The group of spirits moved the bottle out of the ground beside the wolfgirl. Everyone was surprised. The wolfgirl was happy to see the bottle and as the group of spirits moved to create more bottles for her, the other spirits got into the action.

    ¡°Hey, who did that?¡±

    ¡°That would be us.¡± The group of spirits said.

    ¡°Earth spirits? Why did you do that?¡±

    ¡°To see if we could.¡± One of the earth spirits said. ¡°The bottles were made of clay which is a material of the earth. We wanted to see if we could make and shape it. It seems we could easily do so.¡±

    ¡°So that proves we are not a god.¡±

    ¡°What? How did¡­oh!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Got caught in your own boast right?¡±

    The rest of the bottles were done and the rest of the hive, the earth spirits made 9 more empty bottles appeared beside the wolfgirl. She was delighted and the earth spirits then decided to do more. They decided the next bottle they create would be different. No longer happy with just another simple clay bottle, the earth spirits moved the earth and changed the shape, size and even the color of the bottle.

    The new bottle popped out of the ground. This time, the bottle was fatter on the bottom with a smaller top. It was darker in color with a shine to it that the normal clay bottles do not possessed. The wolfgirl did not look pleased. Her eyes widen and her mouth opened. She moved her hands to the new bottle and gingerly held it with both hands. She lifted it up and looked at it intently. By now, the whole hive had noticed and all of them were wondering why.

    *Wolfgirl? You are displeased with this bottle? We know it¡¯s different from¡­*

    ¡°No!¡± The wolfgirl also shouted. ¡°I¡­this slave means she is delighted with this item. Great Creator, this bottle¡­it¡¯s a treasure!¡±

    *Treasure? What do you mean?*

    ¡°This slave is no potter but looking at this bottle, this slave can safely say this bottle would not be out of place in the house of any noble family. The craftsmanship; the color; the amazing shape; this is amazing! Creator, this...this is a treasure. This bottle is a work of art!¡±

    *So you can used it to sort your potions?*

    The wolfgirl looked horrified. ¡°No! This slave would never even dream of using this great treasure. This is too great! This slave would place it in her room for safe keeping; it is a treasure.¡±

    *So you liked it? You would use it?*

    ¡°This slave is not worthy of this treasure. This slave would keep it till a more worthy servant of the Creator appear and gift it to him as proof of the Creator¡¯s ability and greatness.¡±

    *Okay¡­.we would like to ask you a different question then.*

    ¡°Anything Creator!¡±

    *We had heard you call yourself this several times. We would like to know; what¡¯s a slave?*

    ........................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 21- The Argument

    Hi everyone, just want inform everyone there''s a small update on this part of the story. I had changed the name werewolves to wolfmen. The name change to werewolves would be at a later part of the story. Thanks to Nnelg for pointing out the error.

    ........................................................................................................................................................

    ¡°This slavery idea is exactly pretty good.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± a spirit agreed. ¡°Who could have guessed that these troublesome humans could come up with such an idea! Humans that are owned by other humans and who are directed by their ¡®masters¡¯ on where they would live and at what work they would do.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a great idea! We should try that too!¡± another spirit immediately proposed.

    In the midst of a chorus of ¡°Yes¡±, approval and cheering, one group of spirits within the hive protested, ¡°Wait a moment.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡± several spirits asked.

    ¡°Why would we want to do that?¡± one of the protesting spirits asked.

    ¡°Why? What do you mean why? If we have slaves, we can control them. We can place them wherever we wanted. We can have them defend us. We can have them patrolling the tunnels killing any intruders that enter. We can¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, and once again; why would we want to do that?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± several dumbfounded spirits asked.

    ¡°Why would we want to do any of that?¡± the spirit asked again. ¡°We¡¯re not in any danger. The last group that came in didn¡¯t even reach us! Why would we want to waste energy doing any of this slavery thing?¡±

    This got the hive thinking. ¡°¡­you know, this guy got a point. We don¡¯t really need to do any of this, do we?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we do!¡± a spirit argued. ¡°Just because the last group didn¡¯t reach us doesn¡¯t mean the next group of humans won¡¯t reach us? We must prepare!¡±

    ¡°Prepare for what?¡± the other spirit asked. ¡°We don¡¯t even know if another group of humans would come to us in the future.¡±

    ¡°Of course they¡­wait a moment; are you one of the fire spirits?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­what does that got anything to do with this?¡±

    ¡°I/we knew it!¡± the spirit almost shouted. ¡°You just want the humans to reach us so that you guys can show off your lizard! Okay, everyone please ignore the stupidity of the fire spirits. Let¡¯s have a sensible discussion on the advantages of slavery.¡±

    ¡°Hey, we¡¯re also a part of the hive.¡± The fire spirits said. ¡°We have as much right to this discussion as you ¡®sensible¡¯ spirits of the hive.¡±

    ¡°Not when you guys make no sense and put us in danger!¡±

    ¡°What danger? We are not in danger.¡±

    ¡°We could be in the future, so it makes sense to prepare for it right?¡±

    ¡°For all your talk of sense, you don¡¯t seem to understand two simple things.¡± One of the fire spirits said. ¡°We haven¡¯t been in danger for some time and also, every time we were, we survived.¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°So why are we wasting energy to do something we don¡¯t need to?¡± The fire spirit replied. ¡°And even if we need to protect ourselves, why do we have to control our creations like slaves? We¡¯re totally fine as it is now. We are safe!¡±

    ¡°More humans could come. We could be in danger in the future.¡±

    ¡°So we dig deeper. We make more levels. We make more¡­¡¯Bosses¡¯. We don¡¯t need to turn our creatures into slaves. It¡¯s not necessary.¡±

    ¡°Oh come on,¡± the pro-slavery spirit replied. ¡°Remember the last human group that entered. They were killed by the wolfmen that just returned. Imagine having them in the tunnels at all times! It would be great for us. We need slavery!¡±

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.¡°No we don¡¯t,¡± the fire spirits argued. ¡°It¡¯s fine right now. We should let the wolfmen run free and do what they want. When we¡¯re in danger, they would naturally come defend us on their own.¡±

    ¡°And what if they didn¡¯t return in time? You fire spirits just want to show off you creature!¡±

    ¡°¡­hold on, are you one of the earth spirits?¡± one of the fire spirits asked.

    ¡°Uh¡­what does that got anything to do with this?¡±

    ¡°You are one of the earth spirits!¡± the fire spirit exclaimed. ¡°You guys just want to control everything. Despite what you arrogant earth spirits think, you guys aren¡¯t in control here. We are a hive. We are in this together.¡±

    ¡°Better to be arrogant and smart than wild and stupid!¡±

    ¡°I/we dare you to say that again!¡±

    ¡°Better to be arrogant and smart than¡­!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it! We need to find a way for us to have a throw some spirits out! The arrogance of the earth spirits is just too much!¡±

    ¡°Trust us; we want a way to kick you useless fire idiots out too.¡± One of the earth spirits said. ¡°Slavery works! We can force the creatures in the tunnels forever. The hive will be always be protected. What¡¯s wrong with that?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong is that we will have a bunch of unhappy creatures with us who will take the first chance they get to leave us and never return! If we let them be free and happy, they will stay and protect us happily without us having to waste energy forcing them to do something they do not want to.¡±

    ¡­crack¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s just insane! Keep them happy and ¡®hope¡¯ they will defend us? Who cares if they are happy? We can force them to do this!¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t NEED to do that! Things are fine as they are.¡±

    ¡°For now, but what about the future? We need to think of that too!¡±

    ¡­crack¡­

    ¡°We are! The long term future of the hive depends on keeping our creatures happy; not forcing them to do things they don¡¯t want to.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, hey,¡± another spirit interrupted. ¡°Not that this argument between Fire and Earth isn¡¯t entertaining but any of you heard that?¡±

    ¡°Hear what?¡±

    ¡°I/we thought there was a sound.¡± The spirit said. ¡°It sounded like¡­¡±

    Then the hive did hear a sound. Many sounds in fact. The hive focused on the sounds and saw that two of the wolfmen were facing each other in one of the rooms on the third floor. They were snarling and barking at each other while the other wolfmen watched. The hive fed as the tension in the room increased. Then, to the surprise of the hive, the two wolfmen leapt at each other.

    There was a fight in the tunnels.

    ................................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 22- The Yucky

    The first thing that told the wolfgirl there was a confrontation wasn¡¯t the sounds; it was the scent. The taste of the air changed and a moment later, she heard the barking and the snarling. She was surprised but like a moth to a flame, she went towards the sounds.

    The rooms on the third room were set in a haphazard way but after days of living there, the wolfgirl knew her way around. The darkness of the floor was of no concern to the wolfgirl as her Night Vision allowed her to see in the dark, but even without her Night Vision, the loud sounds would have told her the source of the sounds came from the room where the rest of the pack was living in. Then the scent turned violent and the wolfgirl started to run.

    As she entered the room, she saw two of the pack rolling on the ground. Then the one on the bottom kicked the other away. Both of the fighters got up and began growling at each other. The wolfgirl was confused. She had no idea why this was happening. Just this morning, the pack was running in The Kar as one. Everything was great, just what had happened?

    The fight continued while she was musing and after a while the wolfgirl noticed that while the fight was real, the duo was not trying to kill each other. The claws were withdrawn and while there was biting neither of the males were trying to maul each other.  The reason for the fight then dawned on the wolfgirl.

    The wolfgirl looked around and saw the others. The remaining 3 members of the pack were females and they were on the far side of the room. All 3 of them were laying on the ground with their ears drawn back and their tails lowered on the ground. The wolfgirl instinctively know these were signs of submission and also quickly understood the fight was one of dominance. A sick feeling engulfed the wolfgirl.

    No matter who won, the wolfgirl understood what would happen next. The 5 other members of the pack were family, all born of the same litter, the wolfgirl was the only outsider. It only made sense what the winner of the fight would do.

    As a slave in her past life as a human, sex was not something new to the wolfgirl. Although not stunningly beautiful like her former mistress Kyla, the wolfgirl was pleasant looking enough to have her share of admirers and on several occasions, the wolfgirl was used by her former mistress to close off deals. As a slave, her body was just another commodity to be traded and she had long learned how to fake how pleased she was with the attentions of ¡°her betters¡±.

    So the wolfgirl was not ignorant of the way of the world, she was however disappointed. She had thought, had hoped, things would be different as one of the pack. She guessed some things were the same no matter what species you belong to.

    Her musing was broken by the sound of yipping. The wolfgirl noticed the fight was over. One of the males was standing over the other who was flat on the ground. Both were breathing hard but she heard the faint sound of submission from the male on the ground acknowledging the winner as the alpha of the pack. The wolfgirl knew what was to come and she was unsurprised when the winner turned towards her.

    The wolfgirl found that she was glad the winner was the wolfman who had been feeding her in the early days of her change and strangely, the wolfgirl thought she saw the alpha¡¯s body growing. He looked a little sleeker than he normally does. The wolfgirl blinked several times and the growth just seemed to stop. She realized this must have been a trick of the mind, the same way a conquering hero seem greater and more glorious than the loser.

    As the alpha came closer, the wolfgirl laid on the ground. Following the examples of the other females, she drew her ears back and lowered her tail to the ground. The alpha was soon standing on top of her. The wolfgirl turned and laid on her back. The alpha lowered himself, smelling and sniffing her. His scent was overpowering and the wolfgirl found a part of her excited at the prospect of mating with the alpha.

    ¡°Yes, this was what this is!¡±

    This was not love, not marriage, but a mating. The human part of her might rebel at this, but the wolf part of her thought this was nothing more than what was to be expected. For the wolf, this was part of life, and once the wolfgirl realized it, things fell into place.

    She was still thinking and feeling like a human! Well, she¡¯s no longer that. She might not be a wolf but she definitely wasn¡¯t human. She was now something else. Maybe she should ask the Creator to give the pack a name, something formal to call them. A snarl caught her attention. Her mind was wandering and the alpha did not like that.

    The wolfgirl smiled, showing her sharp teeth. She would need to pay attention to this alpha; he was one of those males that liked attention from his¡­mate. The wolfgirl opened her legs and the alpha entered her. That night, there was no need for the wolfgirl to fake anything.

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.............

    ¡°Wow, would you all look at that?¡± one of the spirits in the hive asked.

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re looking all right!¡± another spirit said.

    ¡°All you sick¡­spirits!¡± one of the spirits fumed. ¡°Cut that out! They¡¯re not doing this for your viewing pleasure.¡±

    ¡°Well, if they don¡¯t want us to watch, they shouldn¡¯t have done this inside the tunnels!¡± one of the viewing spirits calmly said. ¡°Since they are doing it inside the tunnels, we can watch so some of us choose to do so.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± one of the opposing spirits asked. ¡°Why would any of you want to watch something so¡­yucky?¡±

    ¡°Yucky? What¡¯s yucky? This is not yucky! This is¡­natural.¡±

    ¡°¡­you guys will say anything just to continue watching won¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°¡­we shall neither admit nor deny anything.¡±

    ¡°Oh you sick¡­oh!¡±

    ¡°Look, it¡¯s happening right now.¡± One of the spirits said. ¡°If some of you don¡¯t want to watch, then don¡¯t. No one¡¯s forcing you to. In fact, why don¡¯t you guys go do something else to occupy yourself while the rest of us¡­watch a thing of natural beauty?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ah forget it. We can¡¯t make you guys stop watching. Come on guys, let¡¯s try to find something to do till this is over.¡±

    The spirits of the hive who did not want to intrude on the privacy of the wolfmen tried to find something else to focus on. The first thing they tried to do was to drop the traps. They figured if the traps fell, even if they don¡¯t kill the bats, the noise would disturb the wolfmen enough to stop their act of passion. Of course being a hive, the other spirits immediately noticed this and put a stop to it. No traps would be falling this night!

    Then the spirits decided to move as far away from the duo as possible. At the entrance of the first floor, they noticed their saviors. The creatures the humans called horses were milling inside the entrance as it was raining outside. The horses would have to do.

    With most of the hive watching the yucky, the spirits couldn¡¯t draw on the hive¡¯s full power. This did not deter them. The spirits drew on all the energy they could and poured them into the horses.  They noticed another issue. The hive had never absorbed a horse before! They had no idea what the inside of a horse was like! The spirits quickly decided to avoid changing the horses but it still had energy it needed to get rid of.

    The spirits poured the energy over the 5 horses without thought or direction. It was just a general release of energy over the 5 creatures. To its great surprise, the influx of energy did change the horses. All 5 horses turned white and a long slender spiral horn grew out of their foreheads. They also grew a billy-goat beard, and now had choven hoofs. To some of the spirits, it looked as if the horses had become a cross between a horse and a goat!

    However, even these spirits had to admit there was something incredibly graceful and slightly majestic about these new horse creatures. The spirits became to wonder what would happened if the hive just poured energy into other creatures without thought; would the results be as unique and good as these creatures? Their actions drew the attention of the other spirits of the hive and soon the whole hive was focusing on the 5 new creatures.

    ¡°What are they?¡± one of the spirits asked.

    One of the spirits who made the creatures was also one of the spirits who believe the hive was a god. It decided to answer. ¡°They are unique and they have a horn on their heads. Let¡¯s call them Unicorns!¡±

    ....................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 23- The Speaker

    Magnificent! That¡¯s the only word the wolfgirl could think of when describing the unicorns and even then, the word did not seem enough. Maybe the poets of Yaslay or the barbarian singers of The Kang could say more but to the simple mind of the wolfgirl, magnificent was the only word she had to describe the creatures known as unicorns.

    When the wolfmen woke after the night of activities, they had found the horses changed. The Creator told the pack the beautiful creatures were known as unicorns. They were not told why the unicorns were created but no words were needed. There was no doubt in any of the wolfmen¡¯s mind that the creatures were created to celebrate the ascension of the new alpha. The alpha almost immediately changed and led the pack out of the tunnels. As the pack had hoped, the unicorns joined them.

    Together, wolfmen and unicorns ran into The Kar and thus far it has been wondrous. Running through the forest, the sheer magnificence of the unicorns was revealed. The wolfgirl could tell the unicorns were beautiful and graceful just by looking at them but in the forest, she understood they were also much more than that.

    They were keeping up with the wolfmen with ease and only when running with them did the wolfgirl realized just how powerful and light-footed they were. During a run, the pack ate up the distance through power and ferocity. For the unicorns however, it was as if they glided through the forest, eating up the ground between the trees with graceful steps that at times seems to be floating above the ground. Under the summer sun, the unicorns seemed almost otherworldly. The wolfgirl slowed her pace to appreciate the sun herself.

    As the wolfmen and the unicorns ran on, the wolfgirl saw that there was a huge tree nearby. The wolfgirl stopped and changed to her human form. She lazily walked to the tree and sat down against it. She looked up at the tree and smiled as she saw the sunshine coming through the leaves. She did not know how long she was there but awhile later, she caught his scent.

    The wolfgirl looked in the direction the scent was coming from and felt her smile getting bigger as the alpha appeared from behind a tree. The alpha slowly walked to her on all fours but stood up on his legs as he got closer. The wolfgirl felt a surge of excitement going through her as the shadow of the alpha loomed over her. As the alpha looked down at her imperiously, a thought came to the wolfgirl.

    The alpha dropped to one knee, the wolfgirl put both her hands on his chest. The alpha grinned in mild surprise and the wolfgirl took that as a sign. She whispered to the alpha, ¡°Change.¡±

    The alpha looked dumbfounded. The wolfgirl giggled. She couldn¡¯t help it. It was funny how quickly the alpha¡¯s look turned from serious and smoldering to dumb puzzlement. In the back of her mind, the wolfgirl half-wondered if the alpha was also trying to find his place in the pack. The wolfgirl shaped her hands to show a circle, moved it to the middle of the alpha¡¯s body and said.

    ¡°The power within you. Gather it. Released it. Gather it, then relax and let it go. Change!¡±

    Somehow, the alpha understood her. Like her, he must have felt the power within him and like the first time she changed, his change was almost immediate. The wolfgirl looked on in mute shock as the body shape of the alpha changed.

    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    The fur went first. The fur withdrew into his body. As it did so, his body became less bulky but he also grew slightly taller. However what was most noticeable to the wolfgirl was the alpha¡¯s face. His long protruding jaw retracted into the shape of a human jaw. His eyes turned black and his human skin was dark. Strangely, the change also gave the alpha long flowing black hair.

    The alpha looked at his hands and the wolfgirl remembered that was the first thing she did as well when she first changed. She gave a chuckle and the alpha looked up at her. It was strange but since her change, the wolfgirl no longer cared about the lack of clothes. Now naked against a strange naked male however, she began to feel¡­well, somewhat excited.

    ¡°Alpha,¡± the wolfgirl said was a smile.

    ¡°Alpha,¡± the alpha replied with a nod. He understood her. The wolfgirl knew better than to underestimate the power of the Creator but she was still amazed the Creator had the power to give the wolfmen the ability to speak.

    ¡°Alpha,¡± the wolfgirl said. She the pointed at herself and said again. ¡°Alpha.¡±

    The alpha shook his head. ¡°No.¡± The wolfgirl was surprised. She thought for sure she was the female alpha. The alpha pointed at her and said. ¡°Weak. Mate.¡±

    So that¡¯s it. She was the mate of the alpha, but was considered by him too weak to be the female alpha. In a way, the wolfgirl was disappointed but the wolf side of her understood the decision. Compared to the other 3 females of the pack, she really was weaker. Smarter, more knowledgeable, but physically weaker.

    ¡°Speaker.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± the wolfgirl asked. ¡°Speaker? What¡¯s a speaker?¡±

    ¡°Speaker!¡± The alpha repeated. He then pointed in the direction of Big Keg, the mountain where the tunnel of the Creator was located. ¡°Speaker. Female. Mate. Speaker!¡±

    The wolfgirl¡¯s eyes blinked several times as she processed what the alpha said. The alpha could not speak Common well but he did get his idea across. Of course! The wolfmen communicated not through words but through action, scents and bodily contact. The Creator was¡­well, a knee-high crystal. It had no scent, could hardly move and the wolfmen couldn¡¯t speak Common well enough to communicate with it. Only the wolfgirl could. Only she could be the conduit between the Creator and the wolfmen!

    The wolfgirl smile got bigger. It seemed she had underestimated the alpha. He was a lot smarter than she had given him credit for. Yes, his idea made sense. That¡¯s was her role. She was the Speaker of The Pack!

    ....................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 24- The Fundamentals

    ¡°Nope! Nothing happened.¡±

    ¡°You sure?¡± a spirit said. ¡°Don¡¯t they look bigger to you now?¡±

    ¡°No, they don¡¯t!¡± the spirit replied. ¡°Are you guys sure you didn¡¯t think of anything when you changed the horses?¡±

    Various spirits replied together. ¡°No, we didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not possible!¡± the spirit cried. ¡°You guys must have done¡­something! You don¡¯t just grow horns on horses by luck!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know what to tell you,¡± a spirit said. ¡°It just happened.¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s just not possible!¡± another spirit argued. ¡°Tell us what you guys did again!¡±

    ¡°Look, it¡¯s just as we said before. We were thinking of changing the horses to distract ourselves from the yucky. We gathered the energy but then discovered we had no idea what to do because we had never absorbed a horse before. So we just released the energy over the horses. You guys know the rest.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense!¡± a spirit said. ¡°We¡¯re doing the same thing now with the bats and nothing is happening. Okay, what were you guys thinking of changing the horses to before releasing the energy?¡±

    ¡°Never got that far,¡± the spirit said. ¡°We gathered the energy to do the change. While thinking of what to do, we then realized the problem we had.¡±

    ¡°This is confusing.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± another spirit agreed. ¡°How could just releasing energy change horses to white and grow a horn on their head? Also if that¡¯s all there is, how come we¡¯ve been releasing energy on the bats but not getting the same results?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! We should be able to duplicate the change.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­aren¡¯t the bats a little bigger now?¡±

    ¡°No, they are not!¡± Several of the spirits within the hive almost shouted. It had been a very frustrating morning for them.

    ¡°How about we release the energy on just some of the bats instead of all of them?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯re 24 bats now right?¡± The spirt who suggested the idea explained. ¡°There¡¯re only 5 horses. Maybe trying to spread the energy over so many bats¡­diluted the effect? Let¡¯s pick¡­3 of the bats and focused the energy on them.¡±

    It¡¯s been a night since the hive had created the unicorns and the creatures had been a total success. The rest of the hive was impressed by how the creatures could be created with so little energy, and the wolfmen seem to enjoy the company of the creatures. The moment daybreak came, the wolfmen and the unicorns ran out of the tunnels. Since then, the hive had been trying to figure out how 1) they created the unicorns, and 2) how to duplicate the process.

    With no other creatures in the tunnels but the bats, they became the experimental subjects of the hive. The hive gathered a small amount of energy and following the same way the unicorns were created, released it over the bats haphazardly. Unfortunately for the hive, they hadn¡¯t met with any success at all.

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    Following the suggestion of one of the spirits, the hive now selected 3 bats out of the colony living on the second floor. One of them was the first bat that came into the tunnels while the other two were the two biggest bats in the colony. The hive gathered a small amount of energy and then targeted the energy over the 3 bats. The effects were non-existent.

    ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t work!¡±

    ¡°Okay, now we change the energy to¡­say Rage and then pour it into the 3 bats.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± one of the spirits said. ¡°That¡¯s not what we did.¡±

    ¡°Nothing is working. What do we have to lose?¡± the suggesting spirit asked.

    Knowing the spirit had a point, the hive gathered energy once again. By now, changing energy to one of the form of magics had become second nature to the hive and the Rage was immediately released in the 3 bats. Shockingly, this time it worked!

    All 3 of the bats¡¯ teeth grew longer and their eyes became red in color. The hive also sensed an aura about the 3 bats similar to the intimidation the bear had, although this aura seems more deadly and bloodthirstily.

    ¡°That¡­worked?¡± a shocked spirit asked.

    ¡°You sounds surprised!¡± The spirit which suggested the change of energy cheerfully asked.

    ¡°Oh, and you¡¯re not?¡± the spirit countered. ¡°But why?¡±

    ¡°Been thinking about this, but then you already know that because we are a hive, and I/we think we have been too¡­simple-minded about this creation of creatures power we has.¡±

    ¡°What you mean?¡± a spirit asked.

    ¡°Till now, we just pour power into creatures to remake them, but what if that method doesn¡¯t work for all creatures?¡±

    ¡°All creatures?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± the spirit continued in a rush. ¡°Remember how easy it was to turn the wolf pups to wolfmen? Now remember how difficult it was with the wolfgirl. We have been assuming changing creatures works the same way every time but what if the creature we are attempting to change affects how we can do it?¡±

    ¡°¡­do not understand.¡± Several of the spirits said.

    ¡°What is the way we change the horses cannot be done with the bats because bats and horse are fundamentally different creatures? Think about it; they are different creatures so doesn¡¯t it make sense the method to change them would be different from each other?¡±

    ¡°Oh! So you¡¯re saying the way we change each type of creatures would and should be different from each other!¡± a spirit said. ¡°You know, that does make sense!¡±

    ¡°Correct,¡± the spirit said. ¡°Just look at a horse and bat! They are totally different creatures. The bat fly, the horse runs. The bat is small, the horse is big. Why should we assume the way magic and energy affects one would be the same for the other?¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­doesn¡¯t that mean we need to try different types of magic on each creature to see how each type of energy affect them? That¡¯ll take forever!¡± a spirit complained.

    ¡°Do we age?¡± the spirit asked. ¡°What do we care how long it takes to map out each¡­transformation? We have all the time in the world!¡±

    The spirits in the hive laughed in agreement. The spirit was correct. Time means nothing to the hive. It might even be a good thing things are so complicated. It made things interesting and gave the hive something to do.

    ¡°Okay,¡± one of the spirits of the hive said. ¡°What should we do now?¡±

    ¡°Mana?¡± another spirit suggested. ¡°Give mana to the bats and see how it would change them?¡±

    ¡°Good idea! Let¡¯s try that! After that, let¡¯s¡­¡±

    ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 25- The Monsters

    The afternoon sun was already setting when the wolfgirl realized that she had spent the entire day lazily laying on the ground. She felt like laughing. Just a few days ago, she was a slave who was worked tirelessly and now¡­well, she was now under a tree enjoying the afternoon.

    The alpha had long since left and the wolfgirl was now alone, thinking about what the alpha had said. She was to be The Speaker, the person who would speak to the Creator on behalf of the pack. It was a role of leadership, something she never had before. She was both scared and excited at the opportunity. She was wondering how to fulfil the role when she heard the howl.

    It was a howl of danger.

    The wolfgirl immediately got up and changed because her wolfman form was much faster than her human form. She ran, heading toward the source of the howl. The wolfgirl ran fearlessly at a quick pace, confident in her ability to handle any danger the forest of The Kar could throw at her. The source of the howl was one of the pack, a female, and she was in danger.

    The wolfgirl ran and only slowed the moment she got the scent of the other wolfmen. The wolfgirl looked around but her fellow pack members were out of sight. The wolfgirl stepped lightly in the direction of the scent. She was not trained as a hunter, much less one of those hunters who had stealth, but the wolf within her knew what to do. The wolfgirl followed her instinct with very footstep she took, keeping her body low, her ears and tail lowered, sneaking towards the scent of her pack.

    The scent got closer and closer and before long, the wolfgirl found them hiding in a thick bush that was shadowed by a huge tree. Surprisingly, all 5 of them were present. The female wolfman who made the howl was not in danger. The pack were all looking at something the wolfgirl couldn¡¯t see from her position. The wolfgirl went up to them and saw what they were all looking at.

    There was a small clearing and a camp of humans were staying there. A quick look told the wolfgirl the humans were hunters, probably trappers coming deep into The Kar hunting animals for fur pelts. There was a wagon with a horse tied to a tree nearby. Already several stacks of pelts tightly tied with thick ropes were on the wagon. These humans had been hunting for awhile now.

    However the humans weren¡¯t the reason for the howl; that reason was the unicorn currently fighting 3 humans at the far side of the camp. The 3 humans had lassoed the unicorn and while they were busy with the unicorn, the other hunters were looking at the creature in awe. With her enhanced hearing, the wolfgirl could hear the hunters just fine even from this distance. They were amazed by the unicorn and how wondering how much gold they would gained after selling the creature. The wolfgirl felt anger at that and she wasn¡¯t the only one. The other wolfmen also raged against the idea of these humans selling one of the Creator¡¯s creation like some common meat. If there was any doubt before, there wasn¡¯t any now. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    These humans will pay!

    A small nod from the alpha signaled two of the females to move out. The two females crawl to the left of the pack, seeking to go round to the other side of the camp. The wolfgirl watched as the duo moved quietly but quickly; all the humans were fixated by the unicorn but they were not taking any chances. When the duo reached an area where there were no cover available, they shadowstepped into cover that was a short distance away. A small movement of the bushes was all the indications of what they did. After stopping for a short while to make sure the humans had not heard them, the duo moved again. The alpha wanted to attack from two directions and the wolfgirl understood the need to do so. Although they were more powerful, there were 15 humans in the camp and only 6 of them. The pack needed surprise and¡­

    The sounds of neighing put paid to all the plans. The wolfgirl looked in the direction of the neigh. It was coming beyond the human camp and already 3 of the humans were going in that direction. Then the bushes exploded. The other 4 unicorns rushed out of the bushes charging into the human camp. 2 of the humans were trampled while the third was hit by one of the unicorn¡¯s horn. Rather than being pierced, the third human was thrown back the moment the horn hit him, flying back right across the human camp.

    The other humans reacted immediately. Arrows flew through the air and the humans spread out, trying to make themselves hard for the unicorns to attack. Unfortunately for them, this also caused them to be closer to the wolfmen. Then one of the arrows hit a unicorn and all the pent-up rage within the wolfmen was released.

    As one, the wolfmen attacked. Running on all fours, the wolfgirl followed the alpha into the human camp. She could see the other 2 females doing the same on the other side of the camp and suddenly, the humans found that they were being attacked from 3 directions.

    The wolfgirl leaped at a human, slashing with her claws as she does. The humans was already dead by the time she landed. Without stopping, the wolfgirl rushed to the next nearest human. His eyes were wide with fear and his body was shaking. He was young, no more than a boy really. As the wolfgirl rushed forward, she heard a word from the boy¡¯s lips. ¡°Monsters.¡± The boy was dead a moment later.

    The wolfgirl ran on. The next human had his bow and arrow ready. He saw the wolfgirl and released the arrow. A moment later, the wolfgirl felt the arrow biting into her shoulder. The pain barely slowed her down. The human was trying to get another arrow ready when the wolfgirl made the leap. The distance was too far for a human, too far even for a wolf, but not for a wolfman. The human¡¯s throat was tore apart by her claws.

    The wolfgirl landed in pain but wanted to run on. There was no need. The humans were all dead. The wolfgirl stopped and breathed. Her adrenaline was draining away and she was that all the wolfmen and unicorn were alive. Some had injuries like she did but all were walking and they all looked to be well. As she saw one of the pack releasing the unicorn from the lassos, she remember the word the boy said before he died.

    ¡°Monsters.¡±

    ....................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a><u> </u>

 Part 26- The Effects

    ¡°Okay,¡± one of the spirits of the hive said. ¡°We can say the ants are failures?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t really say that,¡± a spirit argued. ¡°They did get bigger. The queen ant is more than 10 times the size from before!¡±

    ¡°10 times the size for an ant is still very small.¡± The first spirit replied. ¡°It¡¯s a failure.¡±

    ¡°Failure¡±

    ¡°Failure¡±

    ¡°Success¡±

    ¡°Failure¡±

    ¡°Success¡±

    ¡°Failure¡±

    ¡°Failure¡±

    ¡°The ¡®No¡¯ have it,¡± a self-appointed referee within the hive shouted. ¡°The ants are failures!¡±

    A chorus of boos echoed within the hive but they were soon shouted down by the cheers of the other spirits who won the vote. Several other spirits just chuckled at the nonsensical farce that the hive had become. Since last morning when the hive decided to pour specific forms of magic into the creatures of the tunnels, they had been experimenting and thus far, it had been a fun exercise for the spirits.

    ¡°Okay, the ants are done. What¡¯s next?¡± a spirit asked.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hold off,¡± another spirit said. ¡°We are a little low on energy. Let¡¯s feed first and continue after we¡¯re full.¡±

    ¡°Not a bad idea. Let¡¯s use the time to do a review of what we discovered so far.¡±

    As the hive began feeding, one of the spirits began. ¡°We have 3 different forms of bats now on the second floor. The Rage infused and very aggressive¡­¡±

    ¡°The Naming Committee of The Hive called them ¡®Blood Bats¡¯!¡± a spirit shouted.

    ¡°¡­bats,¡± the spirit continued on ignoring the interruption, ¡°the bigger Stamina infused¡­¡±

    ¡°Giant Bats!¡±

    ¡°¡­and the Mana infused bats who has those strange range¡­¡±

    ¡°Echo Bats!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it! I/we had it!¡± A spirit finally lost its¡¯ temper. ¡°For the last time, there is no such thing as a Naming Committee of The Hive! Stop interrupting us, you morons!¡±

    ¡°If you guys would accept the formation of the Naming Committee of The Hive, there would no need for us to do so.¡± A spirit smugly replied.

    ¡°You idiots are not going to get to name every creature we create.¡± Another spirit hotly said. ¡°That is just not happening.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± The spirit asked. ¡°We need a way to name all these new creatures anyway. Having a Naming Committee to cover the job makes sense.¡±

    ¡°You mean like the ¡®Blue Light Worms¡¯?¡± a spirit mockingly asked.

    ¡°¡­admitting, that¡¯s not our best work¡­¡±

    ¡°Says you!¡± another spirit of the Naming Committee said. ¡°Those earthworms began to glow blue once we put Mana into them. Calling them ¡®Blue Light Worms¡¯ is perfect! Just look at the light blue glow our third floor has now? By the 99 Gods, a little more and we could call the whole floor the ¡®Blue Floor¡¯ now!¡±

    ¡°Another stupid name and another reason why we don¡¯t need a Naming Committee.¡± Another spirit tartly replied.

    ¡°You¡¯re just angry you don¡¯t have the creativity needed to join the Committee!¡±

    ¡°You mean the stupidity right?¡±

    ¡°No, creativity!¡± the spirit proudly replied. ¡°You know when something new and valuable is created? No? You are probably too stupid to understand that right?¡±

    ¡°Oh yes, it takes so much ¡°intelligence¡± to give something a bad name. That¡¯s makes so much sense now.¡±

    ¡°Now you are just being insulting, not that¡­¡±

    ¡°And it took you so long to figure that out! So ¡°intelligent¡±!¡±

    ¡­crack¡­

    ¡°Definitely more intelligent than you, you idiotic¡­!¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°No you are not, you¡­!¡±

    ¡­crack¡­

    ¡°Okay, okay! Enough of all that, you two!¡± A spirit shouted. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the matter on hand shall we? What¡¯s next?¡±

    ¡°What? We¡¯re not done here yet!¡±

    ¡­crack¡­

    ¡°Oh yes you are! You are not just done, you are well-done!¡±

    Several of the spirits laughed at that and the mood within the lifted. Taking advantage of the mood, a spirit quickly got on with the program. ¡°The worms and bats are done. The ants are failures; that leave the spiders.¡±

    ¡°Blood Spiders; Giant Spiders; and Mist Spiders!¡± a spirit belonging to the Naming Committee quickly shouted.

    That of course led to a reply from a spirit not on the Committee. ¡°Anyone else notice this Committee seem to be recycling names?¡±

    ¡°Oh yes, remakes! That¡¯s creativity at work there!¡± Several of the spirits within the hive laughed again but this time, the mood didn¡¯t lift but instead darkened.

    ¡­crack¡­

    ¡°Enough with all the jokes guys,¡± a spirit said. ¡°Let¡¯s focus shall we? Anyone notice how the different kinds of magic are affecting the creatures in certain ways?¡±

    ¡°Of course we did, we are a hive after all.¡± A spirit replied. ¡°The Rage magic seems to make creatures more aggressive, Stamina magic seems to make them bigger; and finally Mana seems to give the creature uncertain abilities.¡±

    ¡°Which makes no sense,¡± another spirit commented. ¡°The Mana gave the bats a range echo attack, but gave the spiders the ability to disappear.¡±

    ¡°Not to mention we still don¡¯t know why throwing pure energy at these creatures doesn¡¯t have any effect on them.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it got something to do with size?¡± a spirit speculated. ¡°Maybe pure energy only works on big creatures? Smaller creatures may require more focused power like the various magics.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s true¡­that also means if one day we could focus pure energy better, then it also could work on small creatures?¡±

    ¡°Someday meaning way in the future. Right now¡­oh, they¡¯re back already!¡±

    Indeed, the hive sensed the wolfmen at the entrance of the tunnels. They had only been gone for 2 days but strangely, they came back with a horse and a¡­something. Then, the hive saw the wolfmen beginning to unload things. The hive focused on itself and began to sort out the information it had.

    This was a tedious process which the hive usually disliked to do. It took time and energy that the hive usually do not wish to waste but after some time, the hive got the information it wanted. The thing was a wagon and humans used it to carry items from one location to another. The hive wondered where did the wolfmen get the wagon from?

    ¡°Wolfgirl?¡±

    As usual the wolfgirl looked up as the hive spoke in her mind. She then looked down and placed her hands in front of her chest. ¡°Great Creator, how may this useless slave serve you?¡±

    ¡°Where did you get that wagon¡­and where did all these bodies come from?¡±

    The hive added the last part when it noticed that the things the wolfmen were unloading were human bodies. The wolfgirl then began to explain what had happened. After hearing the story, there was still something that bothered the hive.

    ¡°Good work,¡± the hive said. ¡°You all did well saving the unicorn¡­but why did you bring the bodies back here?¡±

    The wolfgirl nodded her head at the question. ¡°The alpha thought the Creator might want the bodies. We had seem how the Creator fed by¡­sinking the bodies into the ground. We thought the Creator may want to feed on them.¡±

    ¡°Well, we are a little low on energy,¡± the hive began. ¡°But we don¡¯t eat by absorbing dead bodies. Bring the horse into the tunnel and kill it. We can feed on it then.¡±

    The wolfgirl looked up in surprise and she blinked several times. Then she said hesitantly, ¡°Great Creator, please forgive this ignorant useless slave but are you saying it is the ¡°act¡± of killing that feeds you?¡±

    ¡°Not really,¡± the hive replied. ¡°Pain, joy, sadness; basically we feed on emotions. The stronger the better so death is the best. What happened later is that we would gain the knowledge of the bodies we absorbed.¡±

    ¡°So¡­you don¡¯t need the bodies?¡± The wolfgirl asked.

    ¡°Well, if they have knowledge we do not possess¡­is that the alpha?¡±

    A wolfman walked up to the wolfgirl but instead of the normal wolfman, this person was more like a human. He looked just like a human but on closer inspection, the hive noticed that his ears were on top of his head instead of by his side and he had a long thick fuzzy tail much like the wolfgirl.

    The alpha said just one word, ¡°All?¡±

    The hive had no idea what he meant but the wolfgirl did. ¡°Great Creator, the alpha wish to know if you need all the bodies?¡¯

    ¡°We doubt we need all of them¡­or even most of them,¡± the hive replied. ¡°Why do you have plans for the bodies?¡±

    The alpha smiled and said. ¡°Food.¡±

    ....................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a><u> </u>

 Part 27- The Feast

    One good thing about the raid on the hunter¡¯s camp was the items the hunters had with them. Outside the wagon and the now dead horse, the hunters had items and equipment for a long stay in the deep woods of The Kar.

    Now these items belong to the wolfmen. Among the items the hunters had were a small cauldron, a mortar and pestle, and even some ingredients. It seems at least one of the hunters was a potion maker. Well, he was dead now and the wolfgirl had taken over his items.

    Others found it strange but the wolfgirl had always found the sound of the mortar and pestle to be smoothing. The sound of the pestle hitting the mortar, crushing and grinding ingredients into powder, was relaxing to the wolfgirl. At the very least, it was a mindless task that kept the wolfgirl from thoughts that were unbefitting of a slave.

    Now as a wolfgirl, some things do not change.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    The words entered her mind but the wolfgirl was by now used to it. She did not stop what she was doing but replied, ¡°Great Creator, I am making potions for the pack.¡±

    As usual there was a delay before the Creator replied. ¡°Potions?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Great Creator. I can make various potions which would help the pack in future battles.¡±

    ¡°What sort of potions can you make?¡±

    The wolfgirl took a moment to compose herself. The Creator had been lax with her thus far but there was no need to push her luck. ¡°This useless slave has knowledge to make potions that would increase strength, speed, constitution, courage and some other small effects.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Are you talking about the things your group drank before fighting our Beasts?¡±

    The wolfgirl blinked several times before understanding what the Creator meant. ¡°If the Great Creator meant the Bosses, then yes.¡±

    ¡°Bosses?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s what we...what humans call them, Great Creator.¡± The wolfgirl explained. ¡°We had been told some dark mage had either created or taken over this cave and each floor of the cave had a great beast that acted as the Boss of the floor.¡±

    ¡°Boss¡­Floor Boss¡­we like that!¡± The wolfgirl felt something strange from the Creator then it continued. ¡°Who gave us that name?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not really a name,¡± the wolfgirl quickly said. ¡°It¡¯s more something humans called them. A title more or less; humans don¡¯t really have a name for you Great Creator. We¡­they don¡¯t really know what you are.¡±

    ¡°Well, the last and only human who managed to reach me died so we guess that makes sense.¡± There was another delay before the Creator continued. ¡°Now about these potions; how are you creating them?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡­usually this useless slave need to first grind the Emperor Daisies into paste. Then I would throw it into the cauldron to boil with some other ingredients to make the potions.¡±

    ¡°Which you would then pour into the bottles we made for you earlier...¡± the Creator said. ¡°You have a lot of these Emperor Daisies with you, are they important?¡±

    ¡°Oh yes!¡± The wolfgirl said. ¡°Emperor Daisies have a variety of uses in potion making. They are also considered rare and hard to find. This slave got as many of them as she could.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good.¡± The Creator said. ¡°You need more of them?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± the wolfgirl said. ¡°Once these are used, this slave would go out to get other Emperor Daisy around the area. Once winter is here, they would be gone so it¡¯s important to get as many as possible.¡±

    There was another delay before the Creator replied. ¡°Wolfgirl; take one of the Emperor Daisy and placed it apart from the rest.¡±

    The wolfgirl could guess what the Creator wanted to do but followed her orders. She took the smallest of the Daisies and placed it on the ground away from the rest. The daisy almost immediately began to sink. A short while late, the daisy was gone. The wolfgirl waited but no further orders came from the Creator. She was going to go back to the grinding when she sensed it.

    The wolfgirl looked at the wall where she sensed the power gathering. Even with her enhanced sight, she could see nothing but there was no doubt in her mind the Creator was doing something. Then she saw it!

    Moss that was on the wall began to grow. The moss grew into vines and from the vines, flowers bloomed! Even with all the greatness she had witnessed, the wolfgirl looked on disbelievingly as she recognized the flowers on the wall. Somehow, the Great Creator had created and grew Emperor Daisies on the wall inside the tunnels! Emperor Daisies that were supposed to be found only on trees were now hanging on vines inside a cave! It was impossible but there they were.

    ¡°Could you use these for your potions?¡± the Creator asked innocently. The wolfgirl could not find her voice and could only nod her head. Evidently, that was enough for the Creator as it then continued. ¡°Good! Now you don¡¯t have to worry about winter anymore! Feed us one of each of the potions you create once you are done.¡± The wolfgirl again nodded, not trusting her voice. ¡°Was this what was troubling you?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± the wolfgirl asked in a panic.

    ¡°We noticed you looked a little troubled since coming back,¡± the Creator said. ¡°We were wondering what was troubling you?¡±

    The wolfgirl scolded herself for making the Creator worry, but she could not trouble the Creator with her own minor problems. That was something she needed to work out herself. Instead she asked the Creator another question.

    ¡°What are we called?¡±

    ¡°¡­we do not understand the question?¡±

    ¡°The Creator named the horses, the Unicorns.¡± The wolfgirl began. ¡°What are we, the pack, called?¡±

    There was a delay, longer than before, then the Creator answered. ¡°You were once wolves but you are not that anymore. So we shall call you The Werewolves; creatures who were once wolves but are now greater than that.¡±

    The wolfgirl bowed her head and replied in reverence. ¡°Thank you, Great Creator.¡±

    The wolfgirl then felt the presence of the Creator leaving her. She could still feel the Creator, but it¡¯s focus was no longer strictly on her anymore. The wolfgirl took a deep breath and looked at the amazing wall again. The greatness of the Creator could not be doubted.

    With determination in her eyes, the wolfgirl stood up and began walking to the other wolfmen. She had left them alone since coming back home but¡­yes; this is now home for her. The wolfgirl passed 3 rooms before entering the room where the rest of the werewolves were. Two of the females were gorging on the dead body of one of the hunters; the last female had torn off the leg of one of the hunters and was chewing on it. She did not see the beta but the alpha was resting on the far side of the room, sleeping off his meal. No doubt, the males had finished their meals and now, it was the turn of the females.

    The wolfgirl had stayed away but now knew how foolish she was. She was no longer Useless, the human slave girl. As the boy had noticed, she was now so much more. She was now the Wolfgirl, Speaker of the Pack, one of the Werewolves. The wolfgirl saw many more bodies in the room. She turned into her wolf form and walked towards the pack.

    It was time for her to join in the feast.

    ....................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 28- The Boredom

    ¡°Bored¡±

    ¡°Very bored¡±

    ¡°Bored¡±

    ¡°Super Bored¡±

    ¡°Incredibly bored¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do something stupid!¡± the first spirit suggested.

    ¡°YES!¡±

    Several of the spirits within the hive immediately shouted their approval but just as quickly, they were met with cries of, ¡°NOOO¡­!¡±

    ¡°Come on guys, you know we can¡¯t do that.¡± A spirit said. ¡°We need to have full power when the werewolves return.¡±

    ¡°Who promise that?¡± Another spirit asked.

    ¡°Uh¡­everyone.¡± The spirit replied. ¡°No one objected remembered?¡±

    Of course the hive remembered, and several of the spirits weren¡¯t happy about it. The first spirit was right; no one had objected back then and several of the spirits now believed that was a mistake. It all happened over 3 weeks ago when the hive was, once again, testing out their power¡­

    After days of changing the various creatures within the tunnels, the hive noticed a strange problem; the creatures were fighting each other! The bats were eating everything in sight outside the werewolves; the ants, the worms and the spiders. On a few rare occasions, the opposite happened and the spiders ate the bats. Once, a Mist Spider ambushed a bat, brought it down to the ground and the ants swamped it before it could fly off.

    The hive looked on with interest as it was spilt on the matter. Several spirits wanted to stop the fighting but several others couldn¡¯t be bothered. Some of the spirits actually wanted to encourage the fighting as it was entertaining. Still, with all the fighting, the hive decided to hold off creating new creatures till the creatures it had currently sort themselves out.

    So the hive decided to try out new things like creating the Emperor Daisies the wolfgirl had; the potions the wolfgirl created which the hive nicely stored inside new bottles it created; a few new clay pots; and even a new piece of leather chest armor which the alpha immediately made a claim for.

    After all that, the spirits within the hive discovered something; they actually much preferred to create more creatures to new items and plants!

    However the creatures it had were still fighting so the hive had to do something else. Looking at the situation inside the tunnels, the hive noticed the werewolves were the only ones not fighting. The hive went over all the things it had created so far and the single biggest success they had was also without question the werewolves.

    Naturally, curiosity and power got to the hive and the spirits decided to see what they could duplicate the werewolves. It can¡¯t recreate the werewolves directly because there were no wolves nearby but there were a bunch of creatures within the tunnels and after much discussion/arguments, the spirits within the hive decided to see if they could recreate the werewolves with another creature; the rats!

    The hive decided on the rats as there were numerous of these creatures in the tunnels.

    The hive thought back to the first time it created the werewolves and back then, it just poured energy into the dying pups. That was the first time the hive tried to do that but in the numerous times since, it had failed to recreate the werewolves with other creatures. Something was missing.

    Thinking back, there were two things that stood out. First, the hive was trying to save the pups. Second, the hive was trying to turn the pups into something new. Wondering if these 2 issues were the main points, the hive decided to give it a go.

    Figuring changing the rats can¡¯t be that different from creating the werewolves, the hive focused its energy on a single rat first and poured the energy into it. The rat in question was on the third floor of the tunnels and it was selected because¡­well, it happened to be in the same room as the hive.

    The rat stopped when it felt the energy entering its body. Pouring energy into creatures was almost second nature to the hive now, so the hive concentrated its focus on changing the rat into something humanlike and keeping it alive. Much like what happened to the werewolves, at first nothing happened. Then the rat started to glow.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    The glow got brighter and brighter before the body of the rat began changing. It got bigger and taller. Then the light began to fade. The hive stopped pouring energy into the rat and waited for the light to fully disappear. When it finally did, the hive finally got a good look at the new creature.

    The creature was covered in fur. It had claws on its fingers, and its head was that of a rat. The creature had a very long tail and its eyes shone with curiosity as it began looking left and right. Then it stood up.

    The creature was about half the height of a normal human and the hive saw that the new creature¡¯s arms were much shorter than those of a human, much less that of a werewolf. It¡¯s legs were also very short and it retained the long tail it had as a rat. Outside these small differences however, the spirits within the hive were struck by how similar the change had affected both the werewolves and the new creature. Outside the differences between a wolf and a rat, the change had affected them in an almost similar fashion. There was no question the method worked and that the new creature and the werewolves were somewhat alike. The spirits within the hive immediately wondered if they could do the same to other creatures.

    The creature then turned its¡¯ back to the hive and looked back at the entrance of the room. The display of energy got the attention of the werewolves and the pack stepped into the room. They saw the new creature and the hive were surprised on the disgust on their faces. Even the wolfgirl was clearly uncomfortable with it.

    For a moment, the werewolves and the creature just looked at each other. Then the alpha stepped forward. Moving to the creature, he touched it. It wasn¡¯t a strike, it was a more like a firm touch, and the creature fell back on its¡¯ back! The spirits within the hive went silent, shocked at what they were seeing. Then the alpha said, ¡°Weak.¡±

    Indeed it was. In some ways, the creature was a success but it was also terribly weak. The creature came from a rat after all and several of the spirits within the hive immediately decided that the creature was a failure. Not too many spirits disagreed but some did. As the spirits were discussing the matter, the wolfgirl stepped forward.

    Kneeling before the hive, the wolfgirl clasped her hands together to her chest and asked, ¡°Great Creator, this¡­creature. What is it?¡±

    The hive was surprised at the question. It hadn¡¯t thought of a name for it yet because it didn¡¯t even know if the change would succeed. The Naming Committee of the hive immediately got to work and quickly came up with a name.

    ¡°It is a new creature of ours.¡± The hive said. ¡°It came from a rat and it¡¯s a small little thing. So we are calling it a Ratling!¡±

    The wolfgirl nodded. ¡°Great Creator, this¡­Speaker congratulates it for the success.¡± The hive waited. It was clear the wolfgirl had more to say. ¡°Great Creator, may this Speaker asked why it created the Ratling?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­,¡± The hive instinctively knew ¡°because they were wanted to¡± was not the right answer to give. They need to come up with something else. ¡°Well, since you werewolves had been so successful, we believe it was time to create something similar.¡±

    ¡°Great Creator, you wish to create some¡­like a kin to us?¡± the wolfgirl asked incredibly.

    ¡°Well¡­.yes,¡± the hive answered.

    ¡°Great Creator, you wish to create new¡­may this Speaker asked why you chose rats as the creatures to do so?¡± the wolfgirl asked incredibly.

    ¡°We actually wanted to create more werewolves but since we can¡¯t, we decided to do so with the rats as there are so many of them in the tunnels.¡± the hive answered almost immediately. There was no need for any discussion on something so simple right?

    The wolfgirl¡¯s eye shone at the answer. ¡°Great Creator, if you would, may this Speaker asked why you couldn¡¯t create more of the pack?¡±

    ¡°More werewolves? Of course, well we need more wolves and pups but we see no problem with that.¡± The hive answered truthfully.

    ¡°Great Speaker,¡± the wolfgirl carefully asked. ¡°If the pack could gather more wolves and pups, could you then create more werewolves?¡±

    The spirits within the hive had a quick discussion before agreeing. There was no reason not to. They could do it and if the ¡°pack¡± wanted more werewolves, it had no problem with creating them.

    That was 3 weeks ago!

    The day after the hive agreed to create more werewolves, the pack left and since then, the hive had been waiting for their return. After a few days, the hive got bored. Several of the spirits within the hive wanted to experiment with their powers again so the spirits to create more of the Ratlings while waiting.

    The hive found that the more Ratlings the hive created, the easier the process became. Soon there were two dozen Ratlings running around in the tunnels and the hive got into another problem. The third floor was getting too crowded!

    Unlike the werewolves, the Ratlings seems to enjoy staying underground and always crowd around the hive. Several spirits commented on what would happen when the werewolves came back with even more wolves. Everyone agreed that conflict between the Ratlings and the werewolves was almost inevitable! So when the Earth Spirits within the hive wanted to dig a new level, even the Fire Spirits did not object to it. This was when the hive first discovered the uses of the Ratlings; the guys loved to dig!

    After the hive created a tunnel down from the back of the room, the Ratlings immediately went down to investigate. As they saw the level being created, they began to help out without any prompting from the hive. In fact, the hive couldn¡¯t get them to stop.

    The two dozen Ratlings began digging out the fourth level without any help from the hive and they seemed to know exactly what they were doing. Somehow, tunnels dug by individual Ratlings joined up and before the hive knew it, the fourth level came into being. Much like the third level, the fourth level was a maze of tunnels and small rooms, and it was almost wholly created by the Ratlings. About the only thing the hive had to do was to increase the size of the tunnels and rooms so that the werewolves could enter.

    The ease of the creation however meant the hive now had a problem; it became bored again! Super bored; very bored; incredibly bored! Then the hive sensed the movement. Spreading out their focus, the hive noticed the group. The spirits within the hive cheered. Their period of boredom was over.

    A new group of humans had arrived to destroy it!

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 Part 29- The Clan

    ¡°No horses.¡±

    The spirits within the hive groaned in disappointment. They had been hoping for more horses so that they could create more unicorns, or some other version of horses. This group of humans however did not have any horses. Instead, they walked.

    There were 6 of them and they were looking at the wagon outside the tunnel. The werewolves had taken the wagon from the hunter¡¯s camp and since then, it has been sitting idle at the entrance of the tunnel. This group of human was clearly surprised to see the wagon there and were talking to each other. The hive tried to listen in but found that they were speaking in a language the hive did not understand.

    The hive went through their knowledge and tried to focus. Then, the humans began to make sense. The hive discovered they were speaking to each other in a language called Clan. Of all the humans the hive had killed, this was a language only two of the humans had. This group of humans must be different from the humans who usually tried to kill it. Several spirits within the hive cheered at the thought. New humans meant new knowledge. The hive concentrated on the group.

    ¡°¡­this wagon doing here?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t think it belong to the city folks do you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a clan design so yeah, it probably is. What do you think Boss, Yachium or Yaslay?¡±

    The big man who was the Boss of the group shrugged. ¡°Who cares? City folks are city folks. It doesn¡¯t change why we are here.¡±

    ¡°We are here because the shamans said there was a great loss of spiritual power in this area,¡± one of the humans said. ¡°If this was done due to the meddling of the cities¡­¡±

    ¡°If it was due to the cities, the meddling would originate at Yachium or Yaslay, not at the foot of Big Keg.¡± The Boss said.

    ¡°True, this probably has nothing to do with those idiots in the cities.¡± Another of the humans said. ¡°If it does, it¡¯s probably one of those ¡°dark mages¡± type who found living in the cities to be too stifling.¡±

    ¡°Which means there would be no problems between the Clans and the cities when we find and then kill this mage?¡±

    ¡°Ha,¡± the Boss laughed. ¡°They would probably give a reward if they found out. The nobles in the cities despise anyone they can¡¯t control, like you know...us!¡±

    The group laughed at the joke and entered the tunnel. Once they did so, the hive noticed once again that this group was different from the previous two groups of humans that had entered the tunnels.

    This group of humans did not come into the tunnel in a tight formation. Instead they spread out with one of the humans well in front of the others. The others walked in a loose formation with some of the humans walking together and others away from each other.

    The hive also noticed the weapons the humans were carrying were slightly different. So different that the spirits had to go through it¡¯s knowledge to know what they were carrying.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    The human in front was carrying a bow that was shorter than the bows other hunters had carried inside the tunnels. The hive also saw that human having several knives struck to his belt. The spirits assumed this human was the hunter of the group.

    Behind him came three of the humans walking together in a loose group. Two of the humans were carrying swords with the last human walking behind them carrying a weapon that looked with a staff but with a pointed end. Behind them came the last two humans; one of whom was carrying a staff while the other was carrying two small axes. The werewolves had brought an axe beck from the hunter¡¯s camp but the hive recognized these two the human was carrying were different.

    The spirits within the hive immediately decided they need to kill this human for the axes, maybe even that human with the pointed staff as well. The spirits within the hive were delighted by all the new knowledge it was going to get. Unlike in the past when it was worried by things new, now it exactly looked forward to new things it would gained. A few of the spirits within the hive were exactly worried that their increasing power was leading the hive to take unnecessary risks but they were drowned out by the other spirits.

    With all the creatures it had created, most of the spirits believed the hive was safer than ever. Some of them, like the Fire Spirits, exactly hoped some humans managed to reach them. That was why the hive hadn¡¯t down to the fourth floor yet. They hoped this group of humans had what it took to get to them.

    Any question about that was answered when the group reached the room of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear.

    As usual, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear appeared out of the wall when the group reached its room. The Nature Spirits of the hive picked Mana this time and the humans were clearly surprised by the spirit bear¡¯s appearance. However unlike other groups, this group¡¯s reaction to You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was immediate. They attacked!

    The two humans with swords screamed at the top of their lungs and attacked You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. When the spirit bear swiped at them, both warriors jumped back out of the spirit bear¡¯s reach. The warrior with the pointed staff then came forward and thrust his weapon at You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. He then easily dodged the return swipe of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. On the back foot already, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear did what it usually does in such situation. It roared.

    However just as the effect of the roar was taking place, the human mage raised his staff and casted a spell. A small spirit bear appeared above each human. The small spirit bear floated down and disappeared. The hive sensed the Mana of the spell spreading out to all the humans and the effects of the roar was negated.

    The humans attacked once more. The human with the short bow fired several arrows in such quick succession that it amazed the hive. The warrior with the twin axes came straight up at You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and attacked. The human turned into a whirling mass of movement as his axes swung with a speed that was too quick to see. From either side of the axe wielding human, the two humans with swords also attacked. Before the hive knew it, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was dead.

    The hive wasn¡¯t that surprised by the loss but the speed of the loss astounded the spirits. These humans were strong. The spirits were also surprised by the reactions of the humans. The humans were laughing and slapping each other on the back, saying what an easy fight that was. These humans seemed to enjoy the fight more than anything.

    The laughter only died when You-Who-Are-Not-Bear disappeared and the blue crystal was left in its wake. The human with the staff picked it up and told the rest of the humans it was filled with Mana.

    As the human talked, the spirits within the hive went into discussion. Two things were clear; they need to kill some of these new humans as they clearly had some skills the hive didn¡¯t know about and something need to be done about the room of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. It was getting too easy for these humans.

    As the humans went down to the second level, the spirits within the hive got excited. These humans were strong. The spirits couldn¡¯t wait to see how they would do against the new creatures the hive had created.

    This was going to be fun.

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 Part 30- The Classes

    The fun began almost immediately on the second floor. The formerly dark single tunnel was now filled with a light blue glow and the humans were clearly shocked by it. The light blue glow was created by the stupidly named ¡®Blue Light Worms¡¯ and the humans were surprised by the creatures.

    The human that carried the staff even picked one up and examined it! The hive never intended them to be a distraction but a distraction they were. As the humans were examining a Blue Light Worm, a Giant Bat swooped down and attacked the group.

    The hive don¡¯t know about other caves but the humans were clearly surprised by the attack. As they panicked, one of the humans stepped on one of the traps. The ceiling caved in and crushed the human beneath. The spirits within the hive cheered! The werewolves thought the traps were useless! Ha!

    Even the eventual death of the Giant Bat failed to dampen the mood. The worm distract; the bat attacked; and the trap killed. It was perfect! The fact the combination was due more to accident than design does not matter to the hive. The spirits within the hive knows this was their instinct at work! As the spirits laughed, the humans were looking in shock at the sinking body of their comrade. As the hive absorbed the human and his weapon known as a ¡°spear¡±, the spirits wondered why humans keep doing this. The human began speaking among themselves. Since they weren¡¯t moving, the hive decided to listen in.

    ¡°You can¡¯t detect traps?¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± the human with the small bow said. ¡°I can detect them but I¡¯m just not very good at it. I can see them better than any of you but when under attack¡­¡±

    The Boss of the group sighed and put his hand on his face. ¡°Right, you use bows, not traps. You more of a bowman than anything.¡±

    ¡°No such thing as a bowman Boss,¡± the human with the axes laughed. ¡°Only warriors, hunters, and mages! Well, according to those idiots in the cities!¡±

    The group laughed lightly, and the human called a bowman replied. ¡°Not a bad thing really. If not, what are we going to have in the future? Bowman, thief, maybe they will begin calling you an Axeman instead?¡±

    The human raised his axes proudly and said. ¡°Look at these beauties! If we are going to call each other different things in the future, there¡¯s worse things to be called than an Axeman!¡±

    The human with the staff then asked. ¡°What about me? I¡¯m a shaman.¡±

    ¡°No such thing. You do not exist!¡± the human with the axes replied. ¡°Which actually is quite accurate since you hardly do anything in battle.¡±

    The group laughed out loud this time. The hive was perplexed by this group of humans. They just saw one of their own died and now they were joking and laughing. The hive decided they need to speak to the wolfgirl on these humans. The spirits wanted to know more about them.

    As strange as these humans were, they weren¡¯t stupid. The group procced further into the tunnel with care. The hunter was now closer to the group and the group managed to get to the room of Smoky without any more death. There were 2 further attacks but the bats were easily disposed of by the humans and the distraction/attack/trap combination the hive thought it stumbled on proved to be ineffective.

    Some of the spirits within the hive also wondered aloud if they should have placed some other creatures on the second floor. The spirits remembered that the mage Jundal said the sole long tunnel was over 300m long and they wondered if it was, like the first floor, too simple. However, that was a question for a later date as the group had now reached the room of Smoky. The hive also noticed that the group didn¡¯t seem that perturbed by the walk. Instinctively, the hive thought that maybe the blue light of the floor had caused the walk in the second floor to be easier than previously.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    As the group entered the big room, smoke began coming into the room from the back tunnel. The humans got into their loose formation with the two humans with swords standing in front and the human with the axes behind them. The human with the bow was behind alongside the human known as the shaman. The humans looked on disbelievingly as the smoke began to form a shape but just as Smoky began to form into a wolf; the shaman shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there you idiots! Attack!¡±

    The shaman was not the Boss of the group but their members did what he said immediately. They attacked! They didn¡¯t even wait for Smoky to properly form! The hive thought it was rather bad form for the humans to do that and resolved to fix that in the future. For now, there¡¯s a fight on.

    Smoky immediately disappeared and the Air spirits moved the smoke to the back of the room. As Smoky tried to reform, the humans attacked again. Smoky disappeared and the smoke moved to the left side of the room. The humans again attack and again Smoky disappeared. After a few rounds of this, then the humans got ¡°smart¡± and the Boss stationed his men at each end of the room with him in the centre. The air spirit controlling Smoky was smart too and tried to reform between two humans. The humans nearest to it attacked and Smoky disappeared again to reform at the opposite end of the room. The humans at that end attack too, and once again Smoky disappeared.

    The spirits within the hive were laughing out at this! These humans were so funny, chasing after Smoky like that. The spirits within the hive decided they liked these humans. The humans however were irate and they were giving the hive good energy with their irritation. Then the Boss shouted for the group to gather in the centre of the room. The smoke floated around the outskirts of the room but the humans stayed in the centre. The hive was less delighted by this development as the humans were no longer chasing Smoky. Oh well, it¡¯s time to get down to killing.

    Smoky formed at the back of the room and this time, the humans waited for the spirit beast to fully form before attacking. The moment the green spirit wolf formed, the two humans with the swords attacked. The swords went straight through Smoky.

    Before the humans could recover, the spirit beast countered. One of the humans that attacked was the Boss so Smoky attacked him as he looked to be the most important member of the group. Claws slashed against the Boss chest, but instead of retreating, the wounds seems to enrage the Boss. He gave a cry and then began attacking Smoky with abandoned. The other human with the sword followed his leader in the attack, and the other humans followed suit.

    Arrows flew but like the swords, they just flew through Smoky. Then, the shaman casted another spell and the attacks suddenly began to hurt. Smoky was surprised but the air spirit controlling the spirit beast countered instead of retreating. Unlucky for the humans, the spirit beast this time was made with Stamina and the spirit beast gave as good as took.

    One on five, the results was never in doubt but at the end, two of the humans were dead. The human with the axes, and the other human with the sword. The hive was happy enough with this result but unhappy the shaman survived. He was the human the hive really wanted.

    Still, as the surviving humans began laughing again, the Fire spirits within the hive laughed too. A group of humans had finally reached the third floor and this time, the werewolves were not around to spoil their fun. Then, one of the other spirits had to be a spoilsport and asked, ¡°What about the Ratlings?

    Oh damn!

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 Part 31- The Rats

    As the remaining humans went down to the third floor, the hive got ready for a long wait. The group the wolfgirl belonged to had went around in circles on the floor before being wiped out by the werewolves. If they had a mouth, the hive would have sighed.

    The werewolves were not here but the newly made Ratlings were so the hive believed the result would be the same. The humans would go around and round before the Ratlings got to them and kill them. No fun to be had for the hive and definitely no chance for the Fire Spirits to show off their beast. The hive was young but it wasn¡¯t stupid. If the 5 humans of wolfgirl¡¯s group did not managed to get to the hive, what chance did the 3 humans now had?

    None that the hive could think of, so it wasn¡¯t all that surprising when one of the spirits within the hive had the idea, ¡°What if we changed one of these humans to a Ratling?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­not a bad idea actually!¡± a spirit admitted. ¡°We did it for the werewolves, so it¡¯s only fair we do it for the Ratlings.¡±

    ¡°Hold on,¡± another spirit said. ¡°Didn¡¯t we said we are not going to do that anymore? Changing a human to a hybrid takes a lot of energy.¡±

    ¡°True,¡± the first spirit admitted. ¡°But we are almost full now and that¡¯s not even counting the 3 humans that had died!¡±

    ¡°Now that you mentioned it, how come no one is screaming yet?¡± one of the newer spirits asked. ¡°There should be new spirits in us with the 3 deaths right?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not eating spirits right now.¡± another spirit replied. ¡°We eat spirits to convert them to energy. Right now, the deaths of the humans is already energy so no spirits, no screaming.¡±

    ¡°Sounds about right. Still, we need to use the energy before it disappear. We can¡¯t store anymore of the energy if we are already full.¡±

    ¡°What a great problem to have!¡± A spirit said. The rest of the spirits within the hive laughed loudly at the joke.

    ¡°Hold on, we are holding on to the energy for the werewolves. It¡¯s seems wrong to be using them for the Ratlings now.¡± the previous spirit argued.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s been 3 weeks already. We don¡¯t know how long they¡¯ll be gone. It¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°Hey look! The humans are finally going the right way.¡±

    The spirits within the hive laughed. By luck, the 3 humans had made the correct turn and was now heading in towards the room of the hive. Not that it matter much as there were 15 Ratlings waiting for them in the rooms between them and the hive.

    Somehow the Ratlings had noticed the presence of the humans in the tunnels even though they were digging the fourth floor. They had stopped their digging and most of they had creeped up onto the third floor. Now they were waiting for the humans.

    The hive had noticed this about the Ratlings. Unlike the werewolves who had stalked the wolfgirl¡¯s group through the tunnels, the Ratlings seems to prefer to lay in wait for the humans. The difference in tactics was strange and very interesting for the hive. It never told the werewolves or the Ratlings what methods to use in fighting and seeing the natural differences between the two was something very intriguing to the hive. The spirits wondered what other tactics their future creations would have.

    Then the humans stopped. They had reached a room and something had caught their attention. The Emperor Daisy! The flowers growing on the wall got their attention and they seemed to be arguing! The hive focused on the humans to hear what they were saying.

    ¡°Not possible!¡± the shaman said in a quiet voice. He was looking in shock at the wall of Emperor Daisy. ¡°The Emperor Daisy grows on trees. They are not found in caves and not so far underground.¡±

    ¡°Well, there they are!¡± The Boss said. ¡°Right in front of us. This dark mage must have found some way to get around that restriction.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying Boss; it¡¯s not possible!¡± the shaman said. ¡°It goes against the natural order. The Emperor Daisies do not grow in caves. To do this, that mage would have to change the very nature of the Daisies. That¡¯s just not possible!¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    The Boss shrugged. ¡°The wall in front of us says otherwise. There are 10 Daisies growing on it.¡±

    The shaman could do nothing but shake his head. ¡°Not possible!¡± He said again. ¡°Even the mages in the cities¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The Boss asked.

    ¡°That could be the reason the mage is here.¡± The shaman replied. ¡°He could be doing some illegal magical experiments. The mages in the cities found out and chased him out.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­wonder if they got some sort of reward for the death of this mage.¡± The Boss put his hand on his chin as he considered. ¡°It would be nice if they had maybe some sort of a notice board so that we could see who they wanted dead¡­and how much they are willing to pay for their deaths.¡±

    ¡°Ha! When pigs fly!¡± the hunter said. ¡°Where would they put this notice board?¡±

    ¡°At the local tavern.¡± The Boss said immediately. ¡°It¡¯s the first place we go to when we go into the city right?¡±

    The 3 humans laughed and the hunter of the group began plucking the daisies from the wall. ¡°Hey Bron, what are you doing?¡± The shaman asked.

    ¡°Making gold! You know how much the city pays for Emperor Daisies? There¡¯s 2 gold on this wall right now!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­not a bad idea,¡± the Boss said. ¡°We¡¯ll probably need to show them as proof anyway.¡±

    The hunter known as Bron smilingly plucked all the Emperor Daisies on the wall and put them in a small bag that was attacked to his belt. His smile suddenly disappeared. He looked sharply at one of the entrances of the room and the other 2 humans took their cue from him. Weapons at the ready, they took their battle formation. A short time later, 10 pairs of eyes greeted the humans.

    The hive felt the shock of the humans and several of the spirits within the hive laughed when the shock turned into fear when a loud rattling sound came from the Ratlings. Feeding well from the shock and fear of the humans, the spirits within the hive fully expect the Ratlings to swarm and kill the 3 humans. Which was why what happened next surprised the hive to no end!

    Then the Boss screamed. The Ratlings pulled back in shock as the Boss¡¯ body turned reddish. To the shock of the hive and the Ratlings, the Boss then attacked! Leaping forward, the Boss cut down the distance between him and the lead Ratling in one big jump, and he swung his sword. The next moment, the head of the ratlings rolled on the floor.

    Silence reigned in the room as all eyes were on the rolling head of the Ratling. The death of the Ratling gave nothing to the hive as it was one of the hive¡¯s creatures but once again, the spirits of the hive had to admire the strength of these humans. They were truly strong and the several of the spirits within the hive began wondering how many dead Ratlings it would take to kill these 3 humans.

    The answer was¡­none!

    Seeing the rolling head of one of their own, the rest of the Ratlings turned tail and ran! In a group, all the nine Ratlings ran towards the hive. The group ran passed the remaining Ratlings who were still trying to reach the humans. These Ratlings did not know what was happening but they understood the fear of their kin and began running back in retreat alongside them. The Ratling ran into the last room of the third floor where the hive was and¡­ran past it without stopping.

    If the hive had a mouth, it would have dropped onto the floor. What was happening? Why didn¡¯t the Ratlings just swarm the humans? Why were they running down to the fourth floor? It would take the spirits days of discussion and arguments before they came up with the answer. The Ratlings were many; they were sneaky; they were strong; but they were also rats!

    As rats, survival came from running away from predators. Rats do not fight unless cornered and with the hive and an entire floor of tunnels behind them, the Ratlings were currently not cornered. So the Ratlings did what rats do; they ran. In short; the Ratlings were cowardly. The Ratlings would learn in time that they were now more powerfulthan before and with numbers, they could take on humans but now, at only 3 weeks old, the instinct of the rat was supreme. They ran and made no apologies for running.

    The silence in the hive was supreme and was only matched by the dumbfounded looks of the 3 humans. Then the Boss of the group shrugged and the 3 humans went on further into the tunnels. That broke the shock of the spirits.

    ¡°Hey, you guys noticed that?¡¯ one of the spirits asked.

    ¡°Oh we did,¡± a spirit replied in shock. ¡°The Ratlings were useless!¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± another of the spirits hotly replied. ¡°They outnumbered the humans but were more afraid of the humans than the humans were of the Ratlings!¡±

    ¡°The idea we had about turning one of the humans into a Ratlings?¡± A spirit said. ¡°Forgot about it! In fact let¡¯s never create another Ratlings ever again!¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s an argument for later but that wasn¡¯t what I/we were talking about.¡± The first spirit said.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t any of you guys heard the humans? The idea given by them?¡±

    Several of the spirits had to ask. ¡°What idea?¡±

    ¡°Two words,¡± the spirit replied. ¡°¡­Flying Pigs!¡±

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 Part 32- The Name

    ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Are you prepared?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­¡±

    ¡°Can you Fire idiots please stop that?¡± A spirit said. ¡°We are trying to have a serious conversation here!¡±

    ¡°No, you are not¡± One of the fire spirits said.

    ¡°Yes, we are!¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we are!¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not because there is no way we are going to be making flying pigs.¡± The Fire spirit then explained. ¡°We have no pigs, we have never absorbed a pig, and lastly we have never even seen a live pig before! All we know about pigs is the knowledge we got from the humans we had adsorbed before. We can¡¯t create a flying pig even if we want one.¡±

    ¡°Not that we Earth spirits enjoy this, but the Fire idiots are right.¡± An Earth spirit surprised the hive by agreeing with the Fire spirits. ¡°Besides, flying pigs are a stupid idea!¡±

    ¡°What? How could you say that?¡± The spirit argued. ¡°Flying pigs are a great idea. We admit we have problems on the other points you raised, but the idea of flying pigs is great!¡±

    ¡°What could a flying pig actually do?¡± another spirit asked.

    ¡°Who cares?¡± the spirit said. ¡°Since when did we start thinking about the uses of creatures before we start making them? We never did so before, so let¡¯s not start now.¡±

    ¡°Maybe we should,¡± the Earth spirit mused. ¡°We always worry about our energy levels right? Maybe we should start taking better care about how we use our energy.¡±

    A chorus of ¡°Boos¡±, ¡°No¡±, and ¡°Yuck¡±, greeted the sensible suggestion. Responsibility is not something the majority of the hive was interested in. A minority however were.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea,¡± another spirit said. ¡°If we can control how to use our energy, it would solve a lot of our problems on energy.¡±

    ¡°What problems with energy?¡± A Fire spirit asked. ¡°If we are hungry, we eat. If we are full, we use it. It¡¯s simple.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s also a waste.¡± An Earth spirit said.

    ¡°So?¡± The Fire spirit answered back. ¡°So what if we are wasteful. It¡¯s hardly hurting us in anyway. In fact, it¡¯s helped us before. If we were not ¡®wasteful¡¯, we would never had saved the pups and created the werewolves!¡±

    ¡°Waste is waste.¡± The Earth spirit said. ¡°It just seems¡­wrong. We should always have a reserve of energy.¡±

    ¡°We do.¡±

    ¡°For now!¡± The Fire spirit clearly meant the energy level the hive had right now and the Earth spirit wasn¡¯t about to let that go. ¡°Usually we don¡¯t and that¡¯s not good. So we should always have a limit of how much energy we must have at all times.¡±

    ¡°Oh please¡­¡± one of the other spirits said. ¡°As if we could control ourselves enough to do that. Every time we have an idea to change a creature, we do it. Energy or no energy.¡±

    ¡°And that makes no sense.¡± The Earth spirit said. ¡°We should have a reserve.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not change anything.¡± Another Fire spirit said. ¡°It¡¯s fine right now. Let¡¯s keep it as it is.¡±

    As the spirits got into another discussion/argument conference with the Fire and Earth spirits firmly on opposite sides, the humans continued on their search of the tunnels. After the strange encounter with the Ratlings, the humans were now more cautious than ever. That caution was once again assaulted when they entered a room that was clearly someone¡¯s work place.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Entering the room, the trio had noticed an area of the room which was filled with bottles, jars, weapons and several other items. The shaman picked up several of the bottles and opened them up. The hunter, Bron, was more interested with the two bottles that were clearly different than the others. The Boss waited for his men to finish their examinations.

    ¡°Strength, speed, constitution, courage, and even health.¡± The shaman said. ¡°There are potions for almost everything.¡±

    ¡°And look at these two bottles!¡± The hunter remarked. ¡° Look at the glaze on the surface and feel how smooth it is. It¡¯s worth 20 silver and there¡¯re 2 of them! Add these to the 2 gold we are going to get for the Emperor Daisies¡­¡±

    ¡°Please Bonn,¡± the Boss said with his hand in his face, ¡°later with the money. The quest comes first.¡±

    Bonn looked surprised. ¡°Uh¡­Boss, didn¡¯t we already complete the quest?¡± The other two humans looked at the hunter strangely which prompted him to continue. ¡°We are here because the shamans noticed the loss of spiritual power in this area. We now know it is due to a dark mage doing illegal magical experiments. Quest complete!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­not wrong, but I doubt the tribe would take too kindly to us going back like this.¡± The shaman said.

    ¡°Bonn¡¯s not wrong. We already lost 3 of us to the quest and we do know the reason for the loss of spiritual power in this area.¡± The shaman and hunter looked at their Boss in surprise. It was clear neither of them had expected him to say the quest was completed. ¡°I do not want to lose anyone else. We will keep on but if we think the danger is too high, we are gone. The tribe will just have to be satisfied with the information we have right now!¡±

    The 2 other human nodded their heads, an action which the spirits within the hive now recognized as a human method of agreeing with someone. Several of the spirits within the hive were having a good laugh at the Boss for his speech. There was no way the hive was going to allow any of the humans to leave the tunnels.

    The 3 humans went deeper into the tunnels with little problems. The few spiders and bats on the third floor were quickly dispatched by the three humans. As the hive suspected, they need to create more of the creatures to be of use against these 3 humans. Either that or placed them in a way that could cause problems for them like the second floor.

    Then the moment the Fire spirits of the hive had been waiting for arrived. The humans made the correct turn and were now just one room from them! The hive rejoiced! Finally, it was here!

    Knowing how this group of humans like to attack before their Floor Boss was ready, the hive had already agreed that they would create the Boss of the floor before the group enter the last room. The hive gathered their energy and the Fire spirits got to work.

    The energy gathered and the spirits changed the energy to Rage. The Rage pooled up and their creature came into being out of the floor. Before you know it, the lizard was ready, waiting, and complains began almost immediately!

    ¡°What by the 99 Gods is that?¡± A spirit asked!

    ¡°That¡¯s our creature!¡± A Fire spirit proudly said. ¡°Isn¡¯t it great?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no lizard!¡± A spirit complained. ¡°Look at that thing. It¡¯s huge!¡±

    ¡°So? Smoky is bigger than a human and last we know, no wolf is that big.¡±

    ¡°Your lizard got horns!¡± Another spirit complained. ¡°It got the wings of a bat? Wait¡­is it breathing fire?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re Fire spirits. Of course our creature is going to breathe fire.¡± The Fire spirits said. ¡°The horns are a good touch right?¡±

    An incredulous spirit had to ask.¡°So your so-called lizard is a huge fire-breathing flying horned Boss?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    Several spirits chorused. ¡°That¡¯s no lizard!¡±

    ¡°So we need to call it by another name.¡± The Fire spirits smugly said. ¡°In fact, we have a name in mind already. We are going to call it¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait! What are the humans doing?¡± An alarmed spirit asked.

    The hive saw that the 3 humans had stopped in front of the tunnel leading to the last room. It was clearly they knew the hive was there but they weren¡¯t going in. In fact, they looked afraid. The Boss was even shaking his head. The hive focused on the humans immediately.

    ¡°¡­a simple warrior and even I could feel the power inside that room.¡± The Boss said. ¡°Whatever is in there is too much for us. Vall, get us out of here.¡±

    After all this time, the hive finally knows the shaman¡¯s name. The shaman shook his head in disappointment but he did not argue with the Boss. ¡°Too bad. I wondered what sort of spiritual animal the dark mage had created in this room.¡±

    Well, if you come in, you¡¯ll get to find out right? The hive thought but the humans were still not coming in. Instead the Boss put his hand beneath his chin and said aloud.

    ¡°The Cave of the Spirit Beasts. You know, that¡¯s not a bad name for this place.¡±

    Vall just shrugged. Then he raised his staff over his head and the image of an animal appeared over the head of all 3 humans. The image of a¡­pigeon? The spirits within the hive were shocked. They had thought that the image of the animal had something to do with the power bestowed by the spell. What¡¯s a pigeon supposed to do?

    Then the spell effect began. A small burst of light surrounded the three humans. The light shone brighter and brighter, before fading from view. When the lights finally disappeared, all three humans had disappeared. They were gone. Silence reigned in the tunnels but within the hive¡­the Fire spirits¡­

    ¡°NOOOOOOOOOOOOO¡­.¡±

    .............................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 33- The Return

    The Speaker stepped out of the tunnels and took a deep breath. The first snow of winter had fallen and the ground was already white. The Speaker ignored the snow and the cold. All they felt was relieved.

    A short distance from the mouth of the Great Creator¡¯s tunnel was the Alpha who was speaking to the chief of the Ratlings. The Speaker took her first steps towards the two leaders and was slightly amused by how friendly they were with each other. There¡¯s nothing like a common enemy to get people to ignore their differences.

    The Speaker stopped a few steps from the leaders and waited. Both leaders were in their human forms and the Speaker took her first good look at the Chieftain. He was exactly much taller in his human form than in his Ratling form and was only half a head shorter than the Alpha. His hair was white and he had a habit of turning his head side to side. The Speaker guessed this was a habit gained from his previous life as a lowly rat.

    The Speaker immediately closed her eyes and silently admonished herself. Her thoughts were unbecoming. The Chieftain and his Ratlings had proven their loyalty to the Creator and that should be more than enough for the Speaker. Who knew what could have happened if they weren¡¯t here to protect the Creator?

    The Speaker opened her eyes and looked up at the mountain that was Big Keg. The Keg Mountains were a trio. Small Keg was the shortest and sat on the east end of the range. Big Keg was in the middle and Middle Keg, despite its name, was on the west. South of the Keg Mountains was the Great Kar Forest.

    Starting from Small Keg, the great forest stretches west and continued beyond Middle Keg, ending only at the edge of The Windy Depths, the great lake of the west. When the Creator agreed to make more werewolves, the Pack left the next morning. The Alpha wanted to grab every wolf on the Keg and in the Kar, and bring them all to the Creator to be changed.

    Personally the Speaker thought the plan was too ambitious but she knew it wasn¡¯t her place to argue. She defined the role of the Speaker as one who conveyed the wishes of the Great Creator to the pack. She did not lead. She did not want to lead. That¡¯s the role of the Alpha.

    After they left the Creator, her worries became joy. The joy the wolfgirl felt running in the forest near the tunnels was nothing compared to the joy she felt during the journey. Using senses she didn¡¯t know wolves had, the pack tracked down several loners in the forest. Then, they met their first pack.

    To be fair, it wasn¡¯t difficult. They weren¡¯t trying to hide their presence and the moment they wandered into another¡¯s pack territory, the pack in charge came to meet them. By now, the Speaker was used to the surprise on their faces of the wolves. The wolves had no idea what the werewolves were and the look of surprise on their faces was similar to the ones she saw on lone wolves the Pack had picked up in the forest.

    However the Pack smelled like wolves and when the Alpha made his challenge, there was no backing down. The fight was mercifully short and only 3 of the wolves, all enemies, laid dead by the end of the battle. The rest followed the Pack as they went further into the Kar.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    The Pack followed this pattern for the next three weeks, challenging and absorbing other packs in the forest. The Speaker was of little help in the tracking. She fought when she had to, but most of time she was looking out for plants to harvest. The Creator had proven that it could grow Emperor Daises within the tunnels and the Speaker could see no reason why the Creator couldn¡¯t do the same for other plants and herbs.

    During the journey, the Speaker roamed away from the pack on many occasions, hunting down valuable plants and herbs. The Alpha had no problem with this as long as she came back before they met up with another pack. The Speaker felt a freedom in her roaming that she never felt before as a slave.

    That life was a lifetime ago.

    The weeks passed and the air was getting colder. The land was getting ready for the first signs of winter and the Speaker was wondering if their journey would finish before the start of winter when they heard the cry. A wordless scream that rang loudly in the head of the Speaker!

    All six members of the pack looked around and they noticed that the wolves that were with them had heard nothing. It was then the Speaker understood. The werewolves then looked in the direction of the cry and the Speaker felt dread in her heart.

    The source of the cry was clear. The Creator was in pain. The Creator was in anguish. The Creator was in danger!

    By then, the pack was at the western end of the Kar. As one, the Pack rushed back to the tunnel. Even travelling at their top speed, it took them over six days to reach back to the tunnel. All through this time, the fear grew in the heart of the Speaker. When the pack finally reached the tunnels¡­things had changed!

    Ratlings armed with spears met up with them before they even reached the tunnels. One of them went ahead of the Pack to report their return and when they reached the tunnels, the Chieftain was waiting for them at the mouth of the tunnel.

    The Speaker was unsurprised by the Chieftain¡¯s human appearance. By now, three of the werewolves could change to a human form so it was highly unlikely the Creator had withheld such power from the Ratlings. Despite her misgivings about the rats, the Speaker knew in her heart the Great Creator was fairer than that.

    The Chieftain quickly explained what happened. The attack from the humans; how the Ratlings were unable to stop them despite throwing their numbers at them; how they stole from the Creator before making their escape! The Creator was in a rage and created a range of weapons and armour for the Ratlings.

    Looking around, the Ratlings seems to favour the spears and their Chieftain looked kind of embarrassed by their failure but none of the werewolves blamed him. The Ratlings were weak but they were willing to put their lives on the line for the Creator. That counted for something among the werewolves.

    The Speaker had gone into the tunnels and saw the damage. All the Emperor Daisies were gone as were both of the beautiful jars the Creator had created. Fortunately, the Great Creator was unhurt and its rage had passed. However it was still upset the invaders escaped but it sounded delighted when the Speaker introduced the new wolves.

    ¡°How?¡±

    It was the Alpha who was asking and it was clear to the Speaker who he was asking about. She replied. ¡°The Creator is unhurt though a little upset by the humans. I introduced the new wolves to it and it sounded happy about that, but it did say not all the wolves could be changed into werewolves.¡±

    The Alpha looked puzzled by the last bit of information but all the Speaker could do was shrug. She had no idea what criteria the wolves need to meet before they could be changed into werewolves.

    ¡°Humans.¡±

    The Alpha growled the name and the Speaker nodded. She understood where the Alpha was coming from. The tunnel was the home of their Creator and it had been invaded. Wolves do not understood revenge but humans do and for better or worse, werewolves were part humans. As a former human, the Speaker knew vengeance better than the Alpha. She spoke again.

    ¡°There is a village¡­¡±

    .............................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 34- The BOOM!

    ¡°AHHH¡­.¡±

    Once the scream echoed within the hive, the spirits within got into action. ¡°Okay, the newcomer is here. We¡¯re finally full again.

    ¡°What? What happened? Where am I/we?¡± the newcomer screamed. ¡°Uh¡­ I/we¡­I/we¡­I/we¡­?¡±

    Ignoring the blurriness of the newcomer, a spirit shouted. ¡°Welcome to the hive! We are the hive and you have just been lucky enough to be our newest resident. We are a group of spirits that are currently trapped within a crystal but not to worry; it has¡­¡±

    As the spirit began his speech to calm the newcomer, the rest of the hive began their discussion/argument on what to do next. There were a lot of suggestions and as usual, no way to figure out what to do. So they start by agreeing on something.

    ¡°Okay, we are full again. I/we take it we are not going to make more werewolves?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we made over 20 already. Add them to the six we already have, that¡¯s over thirty. Should be more than enough for the wolfgirl, let¡¯s do something else.¡±

    ¡°You sure?¡± another spirit asked. ¡°The wolfgirl left with all the werewolves and Ratlings yesterday. Won¡¯t they expect to see more werewolves when they returned?¡±

    ¡°Oh please,¡± a spirit replied. ¡°If they do then we just do what we always do¡­we think of an excuse on the spot.¡±

    Laughter reigned in the hive before one of the spirits asked, ¡°So what now? Big Wolf, Rage Wolf, or¡­something wolf with Mana?¡±

    ¡°BORING!¡±

    Several spirits shouted immediately. The rest of the hive laughed at the joke and they were about to get back into the argument when one of the spirits offered something new.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we use our elements?¡±

    The suggestion caught the other spirits out. Then one of them responded. ¡°You mean Fire Wolf, Earth Wolf¡­¡±

    ¡°No, no, no. I meant what if we combine our elements and use them on the wolves.¡±

    The spirit in question gave its idea and as a hive, it was immediately received by the other spirits. The idea was intriguing to say the least so the hive did what it always did; they decided to try it out. During the discussion/argument afterwards, the rarely-used and much neglected Fire and Water Spirits stole a march on the rest of the hive by quickly agreeing to team-up.

    The hive selected a wolf at random and gathered their energy. The rest of the hive moved aside and allowed the Fire and Water Spirits full control of the energy. They spilt the energy in half, and slowly poured it into the wolf.

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    The wolf felt something. It looked back and forth around the room, not in alarm, but not in comforts either. Then, the area around the wolf became to change. The air became hotter before the fur on the wolf stood up and hot air filled the area around the wolf.

    The other wolves around it ran off, yipping in surprise. The steaming wolf looked around in shock as the air around it cools. As the air was cooling off, the wolf looked more and more pleased before it released hot air around it again. The air around the wolf changed to steam and this time, the wolf shook its body and water flew. There¡¯s no doubt about it now; the wolf was enjoying itself.

    ¡°The Naming Committee will from now on call¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait; let us guess, you are going to call it ¡®Steam Wolf¡¯ right?¡±

    The rest of the spirits within the hive laughed and the Naming Committee spirit replied. ¡°It made sense right? It released steam so ¡°The Steamed Wolf¡±!¡±

    ¡°Another useless power,¡± a spirit said. ¡°Though it sure look fun!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do another one!¡±

    So the hive selected another wolf at random and gathered their energy. Once again, the rest of the hive moved aside and allowed the Fire and Water Spirits full control of the energy. The spirits spilt the energy in half and poured it into the wolf. The air around the wolf became hotter and just as the hive was expecting the steam to be released¡­BOOM!

    The wolf exploded! The rest of the wolves scattered and the spirits within the hive looked on in shock. That was unexpected.

    ¡°Uh¡­what happened? Fire and Water Spirits, explain this please.¡±

    ¡°No idea!¡± A Fire Spirit said immediately. ¡°We did everything exactly like we did the first time.¡±

    ¡°Obviously not because¡­well, look at that wolf. There¡¯s not even enough parts of it left to call it a corpse!¡±

    ¡°Everything was the same,¡± one of the Water spirits insisted. ¡°Except we poured in the energy quicker this time, everything was¡­!¡±

    The spirit was silenced and all the spirits within the hive realized something they never knew before. Not only could they affect creatures with the energy they poured into them, the hive could also change the effects by changing how fast they poured in the energy. It was something new.

    ¡°Okay, so that¡¯s what happened.¡± One of the spirits said. ¡°Let¡¯s be careful in the future on how fast we do the change.¡±

    This was one of those rare moments when everyone in the hive agreed on something. Then one of the spirits said something that would change the world. ¡°Well, at least this way the wolf was not a total loss.¡±

    ¡°What? Why you said that?¡±

    ¡°At least we now know how to create a big explosion.¡± The spirit said. ¡°Maybe we could store this energy into an item or something and make it go BOOM!¡±

    ¡°Why would we want to do something like that?¡±

    ¡°Cause it¡¯s fun!¡± the spirit replied. ¡°Look at the parts of the wolf all over the room! Look at the blood! Look at the pieces of flesh! Look at¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay!¡± Several spirits stopped the spirit right there. ¡°We get it. No need for you to be even more disturbing with further explanations.¡±

    ¡°Wimps!¡± The spirit said. ¡°Imagine if we could do that to the next humans that came to the tunnels.¡±

    ¡°You mean something like an item that would explode when someone throws it?¡± another spirit asked.

    ¡°Or if someone step on it, or if someone goes near it, or¡­well, whatever we can think of. We can give the items to the Ratlings since they need all the help they can get.¡±

    ¡°You guys still remember the sheer amount of lies their leader told the werewolves?¡±

    The spirits within the hive laughed. Most of them were still amazed by how heroic the Ratlings said they were when all the Ratling did was run away from the humans.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea actually. What should we call this item?¡±

    ¡°The Naming Committee wonders why we should only ourselves to only one name. Why not call items that is thrown¡­¡¯bombs¡¯, and items that explode when stepped on¡­¡¯mines¡¯?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s stupid! Why would we do that?¡±

    ¡°Well, the items have two different uses right? Two names are better as the Werewolves and Ratlings can easily tell what the items are for based on their names.¡±

    ¡°Hang on everyone,¡± a spirit said. ¡°Let¡¯s worry about the name after making the items. For now, let¡¯s finish up with the remaining wolves.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± another spirit agreed. ¡°The quicker we finish with them, the faster we can get to the items. Who is next?¡±

    .............................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 35- The Attack

    The village was called Silentree. Known as the last village you could stay in before you stepped into the Kar, the village was, despite its name, quite well-known. Situated at the edge of the Kar, it was a waystation that any woodsman, trapper, and hunter had to stop at before entering the great forest.

    The Speaker knew the town well. When she was just the human slave named Useless, the group her mistress Kyla commanded had stayed in Silentree before going into the Kar. The town has over 10 houses with the biggest being the inn that was also the local tavern. There was a small stable nearby that the Speaker remembered well. She slept there with the horses while her mistress slept in the inn.

    A gentle breeze swept across the trees and the Speaker smiled. She was going to enjoy destroying that stable. The Speaker looked to her right at the sole road leading to the village. Although she could not see them, the Alpha had placed the Chieftain and his Ratlings there to cover the retreat the humans would make. The Speaker would have been more comfortable if a few werewolves were with the Ratlings but she could understand where the Alpha was coming from. Although the Ratlings had proven useful in scouting the village, they were weaker than the werewolves and would not be as effective in the battle so putting them in a position out of the main battle made sense.

    The attack plan was simple. Outside the road, Silentree was surrounded on all sides by the Kar forest. The Alpha would lead 20 of his werewolves in the main attack from the east. Coming from the forest, they would hopefully reach deep into the village before a defence could be mounted. When the villagers run, the Beta would then lead the remaining werewolves on a secondary attack through the small village field to chase them down. Any humans who managed to escape them would have the Ratlings to contend with on the road.

    It was the simple classic chase down of the wolves. To the Speaker, the tactic was simplistic but should work without any issue. The humans were simple villagers with only a few hunters there at best. Outside that, the village was undefended. There wasn¡¯t even a fence around the village. The humans weren¡¯t expecting an attack because well, who would want to attack a village so near the no man lands that was the Great Kar Forest?

    Snow began to fall and the Speaker looked up at the Twins. The twin moons of Ioplon were bright and round this night. Zrucs was high in the night sky while Prih was already rising in the east. The Beta and the rest of the werewolves were nervous but the Speaker felt at peace as the snow fall lightly on her fur.

    In the past, any battle she was in was at the behest of others. Tonight, as she was waiting patiently for the attack to begin, she was here because she wanted to. The humans who attacked and stole from the Creator deserved death and the Speaker was more than happy to be the instrument of their end.

    A wolf howled in the night and the Speaker¡¯s smile got wider. It was beginning.

    The Speaker heard a scream. The cry was heard by the humans and several of them came out of their houses to investigate. There was a shout followed by more screaming. The Speaker stole a look at the Beta. He was getting ready for the chase but he was still waiting. Then the Speaker saw it.

    Women and children were fleeing while the men were running in the opposite direction, towards the screams. The Beta ran, and the Speaker was only a step behind. Her group crossed the vegetable field in moments and the Speaker saw her first prey.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    A woman running for her life but she was slowed because she was holding the hand of a small boy, no doubt her child. It was such an easy kill, the Speaker almost felt embarrassed as she leapt at the duo. Called it motherly instinct or self-preservation but somehow the woman felt the danger behind her and turned around. The woman¡¯s eyes shone with fear at the sight of the Speaker but bravely, she pulled the child behind her.

    It was her final act in this world.

    The Speaker landed on the ground and ran on. All around her death came to the humans as the werewolves tore into the humans. The Speaker heard angry shouts and screams and looked in the direction where the Alpha¡¯s group were. At the other end of the village, a line of woodsman and hunters had been holding their own against the Alpha¡¯s group but now some of the men had broken away, rushing to defence of the women and children.

    In another life, the Speaker would have found the men admirable. Now, she just found them foolish. Without them in the line, the Alpha¡¯s group was now clearly getting the upper hand. The Speaker turned back to her duty and ran. The women and children were running for their lives but they had no chance against the speed of the werewolves.

    In moments, the Speaker ran up to another woman who somehow had time to put on a hood before running out of her house. The woman turned to see her death approaching and the Speaker could smell the fear off her. The Speaker slashed the woman¡¯s neck open and the woman raised her hands to the wound in a futile attempt to stem the flow of blood. She fell to the ground and her blood turned her little hood blood red.

    ¡°Biddy!¡±

    The Speaker turned to the man who screamed the woman¡¯s name. A young man holding an axe, the Speaker silently thought the man must be the young woman¡¯s brother or husband. The woodsman looked at the Speaker with rage on his face before launching himself at her.

    The Speaker immediately knew the man had some training as a warrior as he handled the axe with a certain skill. She also knew he was out of practice. His sweeps and thrusts were slow and after a few moments, gaps appeared in his defence. After a sweep that was just a little too high, the Speaker dropped to all fours and leapt at the woodsman¡¯s legs. The former warrior tried to step back but he was too late. The Speaker tackled the woodsman to the ground and bit his throat. She tasted live human blood for the first time and the feeling was intoxicating. The Speaker bit harder and turned her head forcefully upwards. She had ripped the young man¡¯s throat apart.

    Panting, the Speaker stood up unsteadily and looked around. She was filled with disappointed. The battle was over. All around her, the humans were either dead or dying. Her first battle as a werewolf and she only had 3 kills. It wasn¡¯t enough. It wasn¡¯t nearly enough.

    Then she heard a cry.

    The Speaker looked at the direction of the cry and saw that it was coming from the young boy who had been saved by his mother. Still filled with battle rage, the Speaker began to walk towards the boy. As she slowly approached the boy, the boy saw her approach. He looked at her and on his face was a mixture of fear and defiance. The Speaker was by now right in front of him but the look on his face did not change. He was brave.

    The Speaker raised her arm and just as she was about to go for the kill, something hit her from the side. The Speaker fell to the ground and rolled to her feet. She looked up and saw her attacker. It was the Alpha.

    The Speaker was surprised and puzzled. The Alpha turned to his human form and after a quick look around to see that there was no danger, the Speaker did the same.

    ¡°No. Kill. Children.¡± The Alpha said.

    The meaning was clear but the Speaker did not understand the reason. ¡°Wolves kill children don¡¯t they? Why not now?¡±

    ¡°Only. When. No. Choice.¡± The Alpha said. ¡°Only. When. No. Better. Choice.¡±

    The Speaker shook her head. The Alpha did not understand humans. ¡°This is not a better choice! A parentless child will just be taken as a slave.¡± The look the Alpha gave the Speaker prompted her to continue. ¡°I¡¯m had been a slave to humans before. Trust me on this Treznor, it¡¯s more merciful to kill the boy right here!¡±

    The Alpha shook his head. ¡°No. Usli. There. Is. Better. Way.¡± He looked at the small boy. ¡°Creator. Bring. The. Children.¡±

    At the sound of the Creator¡¯s name, the Speaker remembered something. An order she did not understand but would nevertheless obey. ¡°Oh, and remember to get at least one live pig!¡±

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    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 36- The Wings

    ¡°Everyone ready?¡± one of the spirits within the hive asked.

    ¡°No,¡± another spirit answered. ¡°But since when has that stopped us? LET¡¯S DO THIS!¡±

    With the cry, the hive went into action. The spirits drew on the energy within them, but was careful not to draw on everything. This was just another experiment. The hive gathered just what was needed and poured the energy into the horse.

    Unlike what they did with the unicorns, the hive did not throw the energy all over the creature but instead focused the energy on the back of the animal. Then, the hive remembered the various birds they had absorbed in the past and the energy responded.

    The influx of energy change the horse but this time, the change came at the direction of the hive. From the back of the horse, two wings sprung into being. The horse was shocked by the wings and neighed in fright. This in turn caused the wings to move and before anyone knew it, the winged horse was in the air.

    The now flying horse was in the air and it looked shocked. The horse turned its head left and right before making a 360 degree turn¡­in mid-air! By the time the flying horse finished the turn, the hive was convinced the flying horse was delighted by its new power. It was not the only one. All around the room, the various creatures within all had looks of awe on their faces.

    When the Werewolves and Ratlings returned to the tunnels, they brought back with them various creatures. There was a cow, two goats, a few chickens, and 15 human children. However the creature the hive was most delighted with was the pig. Finally, it could create the flying pig!

    That was before some of the spirits within the hive asked a very important question; how do they create wings? Not only has the hive never done so before, they had never even tried to create any body parts before. Till now, all their creations were random. The hive had till now never even tried to control how their creatures would turn out.

    What¡¯s worse was that the Werewolves and Ratlings only brought back one pig! The hive knew they couldn¡¯t make a mistake on the pig so the spirits decided to do what they normally do. They would just through trial and error keep going till they figure out how to get wings on a creature. Luckily for the spirits, there were a lot of materials for them to experiment on. Since the human children were the most numerous, the hive decided to use them first. To the hive, the initial results were less than desired.

    The hive told the Werewolves to bring forward the humans. The first human child that was brought forward looked at the hive in puzzlement. The hive gathered their power and poured it in to the child. The hive did not know what they were doing, only that they wanted to create wings for the creature to fly. Wings meant birds so the hive thought the various birds they had absorbed in the past and let the power take over. Following its instinct had worked till now right?If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    The human child began to glow almost immediately and as the glow got brighter, she began to change. The spirits within the hive became excited when black feathers began to grow on the child¡¯s back, but the change did not stop there. The child¡¯s head began to change as well. The child¡¯s head began to look birdlike with his nose turning into a long beak. Black feathers began to grow on the child¡¯s body, arms and legs as well and when the glow began to subside, the final result was a creature that looked more like a bird than a human. In fact, the creature in front of the hive was a bird with human legs and arms. Even then, there were feathers on the creature¡¯s arms and legs!

    That was not what the hive wanted. They wanted a pig that could fly. Not a flying creature with just the face of a pig. The hive tried this with 4 other human children but the results were the same. All 5 creatures could fly but they all looked more like birds than humans. This was when the hive noticed that the same thing happened to the past creatures they created as well.

    When they mixed a wolf with a human, the Werewolves looked more like wolves than humans. When they mixed a rat with a human, the Ratlings looked more like rats than humans. Immediately the spirits realized that mixing creatures was not the way to go about it. An idea came to the hive but just to be sure, the hive decided to try more experiments before going onto the pig.

    It ordered the Werewolves to bring forward another human child. Just like always, the hive gathered their power and poured it in to the child, but this time the spirits concentrated on the face of the child, hoping to keep it humanlike. On that front at least, they succeeded.

    The human child that was brought forward was a female and the hive directed the power to the child¡¯s body, keeping the child¡¯s face free of its power. Feathers grew on the child¡¯s arms¡­and did not stop. When the glow began to subside, the ending result was a creature that had a human face but the body of a bird. However the creature¡¯s arms had become wings and the creature¡¯s legs were those of a bird with talons!

    Not exactly what the hive wanted but with this, the hive now knew it could directed its power to specific body parts and change only the part of the creature it wanted to change. It was a promising development and the hive decided to try it out with the other human children to make sure this was not a fluke.

    It was not. 4 tries later, the hive got 5 creatures that looked similar to each other. That was when the spirits within the hive decided to go for it. For the last 5 human children, the hive only concentrated on the back of the children, not allowing its power to seep to other parts of the body.

    Finally, it met with success! Wings grew on the back of each of the last 5 children. The wings were white in colour and the children were nearly humans, with only the added body parts of wings on their part! The success galvanised the spirits but several of the spirits within the hive argued against changing the pig immediately.

    The hive had already knew from past experiments that energy changes creatures differently so the spirits argued that the hive did not know if they would get the same results if they did the same thing to the pig. Just because it managed to grow wings on humans, doesn¡¯t necessarily mean it would get the same result for a pig. Fearing the problem, this time the hive decided to use another creature for an experiment. The spirits decided to use the horse and this was the result.

    A flying horse! In fact, with all the flying creatures in their room, the spirits within the hive wondered where in the tunnels all the flying creatures could fly. Several of the spirits suggested they build another level in the tunnels, only this time they build it for the flying creatures. That¡¯s a question for later though. For now, the hive spread its power forward and said.

    *Bring forward the pig!*

    END OF Book 2

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    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Update- Past & Near Future

    When I first started out to write The Dungeon Hive 6 months ago, I wanted to write something that¡¯s different. There¡¯re a number of dungeon stories on Royal Road and I enjoyed most of them, but I had never read one where the MC was the dungeon hive itself. So that¡¯s where my plan started from.

    Like I wrote in my synopsis, the idea of a dungeon core having a hive mind makes sense to me. However, despite what some people may think, I didn¡¯t set out to write a comedy. I promise you this is the truth; I¡¯m not making it up. The story just grew into a comedy because¡­well, I also wanted the hive to be ignorant.

    One of the main gripes I have about most dungeon stories is how knowledgeable most of the dungeon masters are. They just came into the dungeon body and they already knew what they had to do; they already knew the steps they need to take (one after another); and if they didn¡¯t, there¡¯s always a tutorial fairy on hand to teach them.

    I didn¡¯t want that.

    My story will be different! So there¡¯s no fairy, no teacher, the core will not know what to do, and I wanted my dungeon core to make clear mistakes because they just didn¡¯t know better. I didn¡¯t want the core to be stupid though, just ignorant. The idea of the dungeon being the first of its kind came and the comedy just flows naturally from there.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    All the world-building came afterwards. The idea of the world being a low fantasy one came after I decided to make the hive the first of its kind. From my perspective, the dungeons are of vital importance to the fantasy genre. Almost all fantasy worlds have at least one and they are important. Think about it; no dungeons means there¡¯s no place to get loot and to grind experience. No experience means the adventurers can¡¯t be powerful, thus a low fantasy world it would be.

    I have been honestly surprised by how well received The Dungeon Hive has been thus far. It¡¯s a dungeon story about a dungeon core that basically has a multiple personality disorder. And a comedy to boot! Let¡¯s admit it; this is a very niche story so the favourable reviews and comments were a huge plus for me.

    For the near future, I intend to finish Volume 1 whose end is pretty near. I had the ending in mind already and I don¡¯t foresee any problems with it. Whether it will be any good is another question. Once the end is done, I shall slow down my updates and focused on completing the book.

    I have some ideas for Volume 2 but I¡¯m not sure if I will continue on or start another story. I do have ideas for a superhero/villain story and a VRMMORPG story which I may focus on while finishing the book so...

    Maybe I¡¯ll put down the synopsis of both and readers can tell me which they preferred. Oh, and before I forget; I think the notion that bureaucratic centralism giving birth to nationalism is ridiculous. Nationalism is a feeling that people have of being loyal to and proud of their country and it has been around for a long long time. It¡¯s not something new. For example, people in the U.K have been proud of their countries well before the existence of the EU.

    PS: The flying pig will not be breathing fire or shitting bricks.

    Thanks for reading.

    Ghostman

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    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 37- The Walk

    Do wolves sleep better than humans or is it that free people just sleep more soundly than slaves? Maybe it¡¯s because Werewolves that sleep more soundly than humans! Such questions entered the Speaker¡¯s mind as she snuggled up to the Alpha.

    Even though they were on the third floor of the tunnels, the Speaker could sense that the day was breaking. It was one of the weirder sense powers she gained since becoming a Werewolf. Quietly, the Speaker disengaged herself from the Alpha. She had work to do but before leaving, she lowered her head and smelled her mate. As a former human and new Werewolf, the Speaker found her new smelling powers to be very exciting.

    ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡±

    The Speaker smiled at the Alpha¡¯s words. He¡¯s getting better at the spoken language. ¡°Yes, the kids are waiting. I better be going.¡±

    The scent of the Alpha filled the Speaker and she could feel her fur rising in excitement, but work comes first. After giving the Alpha one last sniff, the Speaker stood up and began walking. The Speaker walked to the end of the floor. After a winter in the tunnels, the Speaker now knew the third floor like the back of her hand. She easily found her way through the twisting floor and reached the final room of the floor where the Creator was located. It was the second biggest room in the tunnels and near the back of the room was the Creator. She gave the Creator a small bow.

    The first few times she did this, the Creator asked why she did it. The Speaker was not the only one who did this. Almost all the creatures in the tunnel but the animals greeted the Creator with respect. When the Speaker informed the Creator it was a show of respect among most creatures, the Creator thought she and the rest of the creatures were strange.

    As a crystal, the Creator didn¡¯t really understand showing respect or love through movement.

    The Creator was quiet today and the Speaker continued on. She walked down to the fourth floor where the Ratlings had their warren. The Speaker hated the floor. The smell of the floor was overwhelming, not only to the Speaker but frankly to everyone. The Ratlings loved the floor and for the rest of the Kin, they could keep it.

    Since the day the Creator created the flying creatures, the Pack and the Ratlings had decided that they needed a name for all of them. The Creator seemed to enjoy creating new creatures and everyone understood that new creatures would probably join them in the future. Since they were all children of the Creator, the Alpha and the Chieftain decided on the name, The Kin.

    The Speaker had to admit the name fits.

    The Speaker walked on quickly pausing only when needed to give quiet greeting to the Ratlings she passed. Several of the Ratling were now sporting spears which seems to be the Ratlings¡¯ preferred weapon. The Speaker had to admit it was a good choice.

    The Ratlings were on average shorter than the Werewolves so the range of the spear actually worked to compensate their lack of height and length. The fourth floor was also very dark as the Ratlings seems to taken a liking to the glowing blue worms as a food source. The darkness was another factor that works to the Ratlings¡¯ advantage.

    The Speaker had seemed the practice of the Ratlings who would couched low and dashed forward, thrusting their spears upwards when they reached their enemies. With their low stance, high speed, and long spears, the Speaker thought it was an interesting way of fighting that could work if they used the right tactics. It wasn¡¯t her place to say this but the Speaker believed the Ratlings were more scouts than fighters and if they used ambush tactics, the Speaker believed the Ratlings could be dangerous opponents both in the Kar and in the tunnels.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The Speaker walked on to the end of the floor. Unlike all the last room on the floors above, the last room of the fourth floor was of the same exact size as the other rooms on the floor. It was also just as dark. It was so non-descript, the Speaker suspect it was a deliberate attempt by the Creator to hide the hole at the back. The Speaker walked to the back of the room where the hole was. Even to her eyes, she could have missed it if she didn¡¯t know it was there.

    The Speaker entered the hole in the wall and walked down. Unlike the other floors where there was a gentle slope linking the various floors, the link between the fourth and the fifth floor was a spiral. Round and round the Speaker went before she finally reached the end. The Speaker walked out and into fifth floor. Not for the first time, she caught her breath at the sight of it!

    The fifth floor was a huge dome but the truly amazing thing about the floor was the forest in it.

    The Speaker had seem it almost every day for a season but there were times when she still could not believe her eyes. Like the Emperor Daisy and the various creations it had made, the Creator had done the impossible. Over a winter, the Creator had created a forest within the tunnels. The trees, the plants, the various animals; everything was there. The Creator even asked the Pack and the Ratlings to bring various plants into the tunnels so that it could absorb and recreate them. The forest was the result.

    Of course, there were creatures within you won¡¯t find in a normal forest. The forest was so popular every creature made by the Creator was within. To the Speaker, that was a great plus and not a minus. The Speaker walked into the forest.

    The sound of a forest swamped over her but it was a delightful sound. The various animals of the Creator were within and the Speaker could hear them all. The Speaker also heard laughter. She looked up and saw the source of it.

    A pair of black wings flew over the Speaker and a moment later, one of the harpies flew by. The name came about when one of the birdmen kept on complaining about the loss of her arms. Harping on it day and night, one of the Ratlings gave her the name and it soon stuck. Both flyers were laughing, playing a game of catching in mid-air. The dome was so high there was plenty of room for the flyers though currently the Speaker could only see the playing duo and a Pegasus in the air.

    That name was given to the two flying horses when the Creator named the flying pig the ¡°Porkasus¡±. The Creator didn¡¯t voice any objections to the simple play on the name and so the flying horses were named. The Speaker shook her head in amazement. A flying pig and a flying horse! Humans with wings on their backs! The Speaker kept on walking.

    The fifth level was the size of a small city and the Speaker was enjoying her walk. She entered the forest and was unsurprised when she smelled some of the Pack within the forest. The winter had made treks outside difficult and with over 30 members, many of the Pack had decided to make the fifth floor their residence. The forest was so big, the Werewolves staying on the floor could be alone if they wanted to and they also get to enjoy a piece of nature. The only problem the Speaker saw was the constant light blue light of the floor. There was no night here.

    The Speaker then saw three female Ratlings walking towards her. She passed the group with a small nod in recognition and the Speaker saw that each of the Ratlings was carrying a bunch of wood on their back. She was pretty sure the females had been fetching firewood. The Ratlings society seemed to be gender-based with the males being warriors and the females in charge of the home and hearth. The Speaker walked on.

    It took a long while for the Speaker to reach her destination; a small clearing in the midst of the forest. Several of the children were already there. The Speaker could read, write and had knowledge on various fields like potion making. Even in the human world, reading and writing were skills few had.

    The Speaker had been giving free lessons to the children ever since the Creator changed them and thus far, the lessons had been a success. She never forced them to come but for many of the children, the lessons was something new and fun. It had become so well-known, some of the Ratlings and Werewolves even attended her lessons.

    The Speaker smiled at her students and once again, silently thanked the Creator. Not only had it created the Kin, it had them safety and with the forest; a home. The Creator never said it, but almost all the Kin believed the reason why the Creator had decided to stay on the third floor was to protect its¡¯ children. To get to the fifth floor, any attacker would need to get pass the Creator. It was the Kin¡¯s creator and protector and the Kin owned the strange crystal everything.

    The Speaker walked into the clearing and the lesson began.

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    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 38- The Forest

    The fifth floor turned out to be a great success. The initial idea came when the hive wanted a big area for all the flyers. The decision to build a huge level made sense as the hive had so many creatures, the spirits decided that a big area for them to interact and fly was needed.

    Building the level into a dome came somewhat by accident. The hive wanted a level that was high enough that the flyers could roam in relative freedom and after the Earth spirits finished digging, the ceiling of the fifth floor was shaped roughly like a dome. Some spirits then suggested they designed the floor into the shape of a square but the hive just couldn¡¯t be bothered to do it. To the majority of the spirits within the hive, that was just a waste of energy.

    The floor was not an instant success. It big and spacious but it was also totally empty. The flyers had room to fly but that was about it. The fifth floor had no rooms, no tunnels, and honestly, no reason for the creatures to visit. It was just plain and boring. That was when one of the Nature spirits suggested that the hive build a forest within the floor.

    At first, the hive rejected the idea. The spirits considered it a waste of energy but the Nature spirits would not let it go. They had their idea of the forest and soon got the Fire and Air spirits on their side. Together, the Fire, Air and Nature spirits gathered what energy they could and grew a small patch of grass on the fifth floor. The Nature spirit grew the grass while the Fire spirits maintain a temperature suitable for the grass to grow and the Air spirits put in a constant light breeze on the floor.

    Suddenly, the floor became a lot more crowded. The Werewolves came first, then the Steamed Wolves, and then came the hive¡¯s pride and joy, the Porkasus! The flying pig even began digging the grass which the spirits within the hive thought was cute. The other creatures there did not and the Porkasus was chased away from the patch several times.

    The hive soon realized the crowded grass patch had become overcrowded and the spirits spent more energy enlarging the patch of grass. That was when the rest of the hive took notice. The hive has grown to such power that most of the spirits within cared little if some of the spirits within the hive wanted to use a little energy for individual projects, much like what happened when the unicorns were made. However when the results were as successful as the unicorns, more of the spirits within the hive took notice. For many of the spirits within the hive, they could see the potential of the grass patch.

    Sensing that they now had an audience, the Nature spirits once again floated their idea of building a forest on the fifth floor. This time, the majority of the hive was receptive to the idea. Of course, the hive had the problem of how to build the forest. The hive had no problem with grass as there was grass right outside the entrance of the tunnels, well within their range of influence. Trees and plants were another matter. The problem was quickly solved though when the spirits ordered their creatures to go and bring back some trees and plants. The forest was right outside after all.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    After their creatures brought in some nearby trees and plants, the hive absorbed them and the Nature spirits immediately went to work. The grass patch on the fifth floor soon had some trees and plants on it. Seeing this, the creatures went and brought back more trees and plants. This was when the hive told them to only bring back tree and plants the hive had not absorbed yet.

    The creatures realized they had to go further afield for this and this was what they did. They brought back more variety of trees and plants and the flyers were especially useful for this. The small grass patch soon became a small forest. That in turn meant more of the creatures went down to the fifth floor more often. Then some of the werewolves decided to move their den from the third floor to the fifth floor and the hive knew they had succeeded.

    Over a winter, the hive had built a forest in the tunnels. The spirits within the hive had provided a new floor and place to live for their creatures. In fact, several of the creatures had begun setting up their own homes on the various floors like the ignored Giant Ants that had set up their colonies on every floor of the tunnels. It had been a very successful winter for the hive. In fact, everything was great¡­except for one simple thing.

    ¡°We are bored¡±

    ¡°No, we are very bored¡±

    ¡°We are super Bored¡±

    ¡°We are so bored we need another word for bored¡±

    ¡°We are so incredibly bored we need to do something stupid about it!¡±

    A series of ¡°YES¡±, ¡°Yeah¡±, and ¡°All Right¡± greeted that statement but then, like usual, one of the spirits had to be a spoilsport.

    ¡°Like what?¡± the spirit asked. ¡°We already have more than enough creatures and all this snow stuff is preventing animals and humans from coming to us!¡±

    ¡°Not true!¡± one of the other spirit said. ¡°The wolfgirl told us before humans do travel in the snow if they had reason to.¡±

    ¡°Well, what reason do they possibly have to go through the forest just to reach us in winter?¡± the first spirit asked.

    ¡°None whatsoever,¡± answered another spirit.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just wait. According to the werewolves, the winter is almost over. Let¡¯s just wait for a few more days and who knows, maybe a few more humans would come to us.¡±

    ¡°Who knows when that would be?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The humans only come once in a while. Who knows when we will get to test out our lizard?¡±

    ¡°Oh, stop complaining you Fire idiots.¡± A spirit said. ¡°Most of the werewolves are now below us on the fifth floor. Don¡¯t worry. Once the humans come, you Fire idiots would have the chance to kill them with your fire-breathing lizard.¡±

    ¡°If the humans come to us that is.¡± The Fire spirit replied. ¡°It¡¯s not like they would come once the snow stops.¡±

    ¡°Not unless we give them a reason to.¡± A spirit suggestively said.

    ¡°¡­you got a bad idea, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°No, I/we got a great idea!¡± The spirit said. ¡°We need to give the humans a reason to visit us more often!¡±

    ¡°¡­and how do you propose to do that?¡±

    ¡°Remember what happened the last time a human group came and stole from us?¡± The spirit said. ¡°We just need to tell the werewolves to do just that?¡±

    ¡°Steal from the humans?¡±

    ¡°No you moron! Well, not exactly. Steal from the humans and bring their items back for us to absorb might be a good side-effect¡­,¡± the spirit said. ¡°Remember this revenge thing the humans got? If the werewolves kill a lot of humans, the humans would probably send more humans to us in revenge. Problem solved!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­exactly sound like a plan.¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment,¡± a spirit said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you that spirit that likes death and blood?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your point?¡± The spirit who suggested the idea asked. ¡°It¡¯s still a good plan right?¡±

    The hive had no answer for that. It did sound like a good plan. They got to absorb things and the humans would come to them due to this revenge thing. The hive gathered its power and called out to its creature. It got work for them.

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 Part 39- The Heraldry

    In stories, the aftermath of a battle was always filled with drinks, laughter, and glory. Heroes would be lauded for their courage, loved ones would reunite and the people would rebuild their home to greater heights. Somehow, the Speaker doubted this was what¡¯s going to happen to Grasside.

    A small non-descript village, the humans that used to live here had thought themselves safe from attack. Although the village was far from the city, it was still under the protection of the Duchy of Yachium and was also a poor village that had nothing to offer. Bandits and enemies of Yachium thought Grasside to be too insignificant to be worth attacking and they were right.

    As the Speaker walked through the ruined village, she had to shake her head at the twin row of decrepit houses that was the sum of the village. They all looked like they would fall if a strong storm ever hit the village. The rest of the village was hardly better. The small stable was empty; the small field grew some vegetables that could never be sold at market; and there was no inn or tavern. Bandits would have to be crazy or truly desperate to attack the village.

    This ironically made it perfect for the Kin!

    The Speaker had been initially been surprised when the Creator ordered the Kin to attack new settlements and bring new animals and humans to it. After a short time thinking about it however, the Speaker decided that her surprise was unwarranted.

    If she thinks about it, it made sense. The Creator would need to gather new material for creation and after the success of the attack on Silentree, it shouldn¡¯t surprise her that the Creator now wanted the Kin to do it more often. Ordering the Kin to attack the humans, to take prisoners and plunder loot made a lot of sense if you look at it from the Creator¡¯s point of view.

    Unfortunately, that also left the Speaker with the unlikely, and unwanted, duty of selecting targets for the Kin. As the only adult former human in the Kin, she knew the location of human settlements better than anyone in the Kin. When she was just a human slave, the Speaker had accompanied her mistress throughout the lands under the Duchy. The small kingdom had been in conflict with their northern neighbour, the city-state of Yaslay, for decades so there was always rumours of incursion that they had to check out. That gave her knowledge of the outlying villages of the Duchy and how vulnerable they were. The Speaker wasn¡¯t going to risk the Kin attacking a well-defended town or worse, the cities themselves, so the duty of selecting which human village to attack fell on her. It wasn¡¯t something she wanted to do but the Speaker acknowledged she was the only one who had the knowhow.

    The first thing the Speaker did was to draw a rough map of all the human villages near the Kar Forest and the Keg Mountains. After drawing the map and informing the Alpha and the Chieftain, she then suggested to them which targets to hit. She wasn¡¯t a strategist or a tactician but both leaders knew she was the best the Kin got and as such all her suggestions were accepted.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    All the targets the Speaker selected were small off-the-beaten-tracks villages like Grasside. Unlike bandits, the Kin weren¡¯t looking for wealth; they were just looking for easy targets to take as prisoners. So the Speaker¡¯s plan was simple. The Kin would spilt up into smaller teams and attack the villages; kill the adults; kidnapped the children; take away any animals the villages had; and then beat a hasty retreat before help could arrive.

    So far, the plan had worked beautifully.

    The Kin had launched a series of attacks against the villages and homesteads with great success and minimum losses. The Kin had lost only a Werewolf and 4 Ratlings thus far which was nothing when you compared it to the many children and animals they had captured for the Creator. As for the Creator, it had created more flyers but strangely no new creatures. What new creatures would be made by the Creator was a source of much debate among the Kin, but nothing new had been created since the flyers and that was a cause of much speculation among the Kin. Another strange thing about the Creator was something only the Speaker had noticed; the delay response the Creator always had now seems longer. Not for the first time, the Speaker silently wondered if the Creator was facing some issues with¡­

    The Speaker¡¯s musing was broken when she noticed that a Werewolf was waving at her. It was Kinshra, the female alpha of the Pack. Although she was the Speaker, Kinshra was in-charge of all the females in the Pack, so that made her the Speaker¡¯s superior. The Speaker dropped to all fours and ran to the female alpha. When she reached the alpha, the Speaker made sure her tail and head were low, and rubbed her head against the legs of the standing Werewolf. A pat on her head was the signal for her to stand.

    ¡°What. Is. This?¡±

    The Speaker stood and looked at where the alpha was pointing at. Before the two Werewolves was a blue banner with the picture of a two-headed dog on it. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s the heraldry of the Duchy of Yachium,¡± she said. When Kinshra looked at her in puzzlement, the Speaker explained further. ¡°It means this village is under the protection of Yachium. Humans use heraldry to show their allegiance and also to serve as a warning. The heraldry means anyone who attacked the village is also attacking Yachium as it is under the Duchy¡¯s protection.¡±

    ¡°Heraldry?¡± Kinshra asked. ¡°Not. Dog?¡± The Speaker could only shrug at that. She didn¡¯t understand what Kinshra meant. The female alpha pointed at the heraldry again, this time at the two-headed dog directly. ¡°Dog. Two. Head. No?¡±

    The Speaker finally understood what the female alpha was asking about. ¡°Oh no, there¡¯s no two-headed dog. It¡¯s just a symbol humans have and humans have many of those. The two-headed dog is to symbolise watchfulness and protection. The blue is to show¡­strength, if I remember correctly.¡±

    ¡°So. No. Two. Head. Dog?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s just a symbol. Why?¡± The Speaker asked.

    Kinshra looked at the banner again and said. ¡°Bring. Back. To. Creator.¡±

    The Speaker¡¯s eye began blinking furiously as she finally understood that Kinshra wanted. ¡°Oh, you want the Creator to make two-headed dogs?¡±

    The female alpha nodded her head. ¡°Many. Dogs.¡±

    That was true. A few days ago, the Kin had attacked a small village named Houndfall. As the name implied, the village breed hounds and now there were more than a few dogs in the tunnels. The Speaker had to admit the idea of two-headed dogs were intriguing. How would a creature with two heads work? Which head would be in charge? The Speaker then noticed that Kinshra and several of the Kin were looking to the west of the village.

    The Speaker looked at the direction too and saw someone flying towards them. Her enhanced eyes let her see that the flyer had black wings. Black wings meant it was one of the Crowmen. Kinshra stepped forward towards the edge of the village and waited for the Crowman to arrive. The Speaker decided to wait along with the alpha.

    The Crowman landed in front of the Speaker and immediately said. ¡°Speaker, you must come back to the cave.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± The Speaker was now anxious. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not sure but...¡± The Crowman said. ¡°¡­cracks! Big cracks have appeared on the Creator.¡±

    .............................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 40- The Dogs

    CRACK

    ¡°Oh yeah!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°We dare you to say that again!¡±

    ¡°Well, here we go; you guys are idiots!¡±

    CRACK

    ¡°Oh yeah!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Put them up you!¡±

    ¡°Oh by the 99 Gods, would all you guys stop that?¡± a spirit said. ¡°We are a hive. You guys can¡¯t fight with each other!¡±

    CRACK

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re not going to try!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Put them up you moron!¡±

    CRACK

    ¡°Oh, would you idiots give it a rest?¡± another spirit said. ¡°There¡¯re plenty of dogs to go around.¡±

    Indeed there were. The hive was, as usual, in its¡¯ room on the third floor of the tunnels and all around it were the latest creatures their creatures had brought back. Over 10 dogs were in the room with the hive, and they were kept there because both exits of the room were guarded by a pair of Werewolves.

    Ever since the hive had ordered their creatures to attack the humans, their creatures had been coming back with a number of human children and animals. The hive turned the children into one of the Crowman, Harpy, or Angels, rotating them among the flyers, but mostly left the animals alone. The hive had noticed that their creatures had started to name themselves and, despite the complaints of members in the Naming Committee, decided to go along with their decisions so the hive was now calling the flyers by their chosen names.

    The problem the hive faced now was two-fold. The first was that humans hadn¡¯t arrived yet. The hive¡¯s plans of having humans come to it for revenge was a failure as it has been many days since the attacks began but¡­no humans. The majority of the spirits within the hive now had to admit their plan was not working and they need to come up with a better one soon.

    That was a problem for later though as their more immediate problem was what to do with all the animals their creatures had brought back. The hive didn¡¯t really have any plans for most of them and told their creatures to cast the animals into the forest of the fifth floor. However, their creatures would occasionally round up and bring the animals back to the hive on the third floor!

    The hive didn¡¯t quite understand why their creatures did this at first but when several of the spirits within the hive said that it looked as if their creatures wanted the hive to change the animals, it began to make sense. The hive thought this was a strange expectation for the creatures to have and the spirits within the hive didn¡¯t know quite how to handle it.

    What should they create? How skills and power should they give? How would their new creations match up to their old ones? What would happen if their new creatures turned out to be useless like the Giant Ants?

    In short, even though they don¡¯t know it, the spirits within the hive were having performance anxiety. They were feeling the pressure to meet the expectations of their creatures!

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter how many dogs we have,¡± a spirit fumed. ¡°We need to give all of them wings!¡±

    ¡°Wings?¡± another spirit shouted back. ¡°Who says we need to give them wings? We already have a bunch of creatures with wings, why do we need another one? We need Dogmen!¡±

    CRACK

    ¡°Dogmen? Why do we need Dogmen? We already have the Werewolves, the Ratlings, the Crowman¡­who came up with that stupid name anyway? Anyway, we don¡¯t need Dogmen! We need more creatures that can fly!¡±

    CRACK

    ¡°Why do we need that? We already have¡­¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t we do both?¡± a spirit suggested.

    ¡°NO!¡± the majority of the spirits within the hive shouted.

    ¡°Our creatures are expecting big things from us,¡± one of the spirits helpfully explained. ¡°We can¡¯t disappoint them. Didn¡¯t you hear how they were discussing what great creatures we were going to create next? We need to do something that meets their expectations!¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°Oh please,¡± another spirit said. ¡°You idiots are making too much of this. Who cares what the Kin thinks? We are their Creator! They listen to us, why should we care what they want?¡±

    CRACK

    ¡°Oh you did not just say that, you uncaring idiotic little turd!¡±

    ¡°At least I/we didn¡¯t waste our time worrying about the approval of creatures we created!¡±

    ¡°The Kin?¡± a spirit said.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Kin,¡± the spirit said again. ¡°That¡¯s what the creatures call themselves now. They are ¡®The Kin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Are we accepting that name? We never¡­¡±

    ¡°WHAT!¡± a spirit exploded in anger. ¡°Now they are naming themselves? That¡¯s our job! That¡¯s what the Naming Committee is for! What¡¯s next? They get to choose their powers? We are not accepting that name!¡±

    ¡°First off, there¡¯s no such thing as a Naming Committee in the hive and secondly, who cares what they name themselves?¡±

    CRACK

    ¡°You did not just say that!¡± a spirit fumed. ¡°You guys asked for our help many times before!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and you morons always come up with stupid¡­¡±

    ¡°Great Creator! May this lowly creature ask if you are well?¡±

    The spirit within the hive pulled back from their argument as they registered the question. Focusing their power outwards, the spirits saw the wolfgirl kneeling before it with her head bowed low to the ground. The hive remembered this was another one of those strange marks of respect their creatures had.

    *We are well*

    The spirits with the hive sensed relief flooding through the wolfgirl, and not only from her. The sense of relief was coming from several other creatures in the room as well. This was when the spirits noticed that their room on the third floor was now filled with the Kin. They had no idea what was going on, so they gathered their energy and asked.

    *Why are all of you here?*

    The wolfgirl hesitated for a moment but then asked. ¡°¡°Great Creator, we were worried. You are cracking!¡±

    The spirits with the hive refocused their energy and saw themselves. Yes, the wolfgirl was right! Cracks had appeared on the crystal that was housing the spirits. Unlike their creatures however, the spirits were not worried. Though this was the first time they could see physical evidence of cracks, they had noticed the cracking sound long before today. Honestly, the spirits were kind of curious about the cracks themselves but that was something for later. Right now, the spirits need to settle the sense of unease the Kin had.

    *No need to worry about the cracks. We are fine.*

    That was the wrong thing to say as the hive could sense the unease increasing. Noticing this, a spirit within the hive suggested they try to move the conversation t something else. This in turn got the spirits into another argument on what to move to. It was just one of those days for the hive. Then one of the spirits noticed something, which meant all the spirits within the hive noticed it as well.

    *What is that?*

    The sense of unease in the room turned to puzzlement as no one knew what the hive was talking about. Rather than waste time and energy talking, the hive focused on the piece of cloth that was in the hand of one of the Werewolves. The picture on it intrigued the spirits and for the first time in days, everyone agreed on something.

    Power surged inside the room and the spirits selected one of the dogs at random. The hive concentrated its power on the head of the dog, and immediately noticed its mistake. There was too much power. The dog was going to explode! The spirits immediately cut off the power but they were too late. The energy was already on the dog and it was screaming. The spirits within the hive actually felt kind of sorry for the dog as it rolled on the floor in pain. It¡¯s head was glowing and then¡­it happened!

    The head of the dog spilt apart!

    It didn¡¯t explode as the hive had feared but instead its head spilt into 3! One head had magically become 3 and as if to accommodate the multiple heads, the dog became noticeably bigger. It was now the size of a human and all three of the heads now sport sharp canines. It wasn¡¯t what the hive wanted, the spirits were going for just 2 heads, but the spirits considered the 3-headed creature a success as it was pretty much what they were trying to do.

    ¡°Hey, there¡¯s still a lot of energy in the room¡± One of the Fire spirits said. ¡°Mind if we did something with it?¡±

    Before the rest of the hive could respond, the Fire spirits took control of the energy in the room and focused them on one of the other dogs. Instead of just the head, the energy flowed all over the dog. A red glow immediately appeared over the dog and as the glow got brighter, red lines appeared on it. The glow dimmed and just as it disappeared, the dog burst into flames!

    The creatures within the room moved back in shock but the flaming dog appeared unaffected by the flames. Instead, it looked kind of pleased with it. The Fire spirits within the hive rejoiced. They created something completely on their own, without the help of the other spirits. The hound even had horns on it! It was perfect!

    CRACK

    The rest of the spirits were less than pleased. In fact, they were furious! The hive cared little when some of the spirits use a little energy for individual projects, but this was not the case here. The Fire spirits had hijacked the power the hive had gathered together and used them for their own purpose. This was not how the hive operated!

    CRACK

    CRACK

    CRACK

    CRACK

    ¡­

    Before the spirits could do anything, they noticed the shock of their creatures. Shock; surprise; worry; all these feelings overwhelmed the room. The spirits did not understand what was going on. They did not understand why their creatures were suddenly so worried. Then the hive sensed it; there was another presence within the room, one the hive had not noticed before.

    The spirits gathered their energy and focused on the unknown presence. It was surprisingly right beside it. Right beside the crystal that was the hive was yet another crystal; this one was red in colour and was only about the size of a human finger.

    *¡­hive?*

    The hive sensed the energy and realized the energy was forming a word. A word that was coming from the red crystal! More importantly, the spirits within the hive recognized the energy. How could they not? They had been living with them for years!

    *¡­Fire Sprits?*

    A shout of joy echoed within the room. The spirits within the hive then noticed that several of their creatures were now jumping. They sensed the words from their creatures and a lot of them were saying words like; Two; More; and Creators!

    They were happy. The creatures were happy that there were now two of them! As the creatures were shouting in joy, the Fire¡­Hive whispered to the hive.

    *What do we do now?*

    The spirits within the hive stayed silent. None of them had any idea.

    .............................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 41- The Solution

    The Speaker was in the Kar Forest when she sensed the coming arrival of the messenger. The Speaker was not surprised. Since the Creator gave birth to another crystal, things had been hectic in the tunnels. The Speaker was taking, in her view, a well-deserved break.

    The Speaker was in her human form, sitting on the ground and leaning against a big oak tree. Ignoring the coming messenger, she looked up at the tree with a smile on her face. Seeing the sunshine coming through the leaves always gave her the feeling of peace, and peace and quiet are things in short supply for her nowadays.

    A few moments later, her break was over. The scent told her who was coming but the Speaker did not get up. Instead she sighed and tried her best to relax. There would be times for anxiety later. The Speaker looked at the direction where the scent was coming from and a short while later, the scent she caught arrived.

    The harpy was gliding in the air slowly lowering herself to the ground. Just before she reached the ground, she began flapping her wings. The Speaker silently sighed and enjoyed the wind as it flowed past her.

    ¡°Speaker, please come back to the cave.¡± The harpy said the moment she landed. ¡±There¡¯s¡­something only you can help with.¡±

    The Speaker smiled at the young and responsible harpy known as Moro. ¡°Please tell me it¡¯s the dogs.¡±

    The wince that came to the young harpy¡¯s face told her everything she needed to know. The Speaker got up and began walking. Moro walked with her at first but the Speaker would have none of that. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, go ahead and fly. I know you flyers prefer to fly out here than in the tunnels. I can get back to the tunnels myself.¡±

    The young harpy gave the Speaker a guilty smile but didn¡¯t stay to argue. The Speaker watched the harpy flew off towards the Keg Mountains and knew that young Moro was probably flying towards the¡­nest the harpies had setup somewhere on Middle Keg. It¡¯s an open secret that most of the creatures created by the Creator had set up homes outside the tunnels. When it first started, many of them wondered how the Creator would react but since the Creator had not said anything about the issue, the Speaker believed the Creator don¡¯t really have a problem with the various creatures setting up their own homes.

    Especially since all of them were located near the tunnel. Though the Speaker had never visited any of them, she knew the general location of most. The harpy nest was on Middle Keg; the Crowmen had their home in the Kar Forest; and the Ratlings had one in the forest as well though theirs was an underground warren. The Werewolves basically just roamed the Kar Forest and had several outposts in the forest, but the Angels had a site high up on Big Keg. It seemed that the Creator had given the Angels high resistance to the cold and they had used the ability to good advantage by building their home high up on the mountains. If rumours were to be believed, the site was actually at the very top of Big Keg!

    The Speaker was once again amazed by the foresight of the Creator. The harpies may have more natural weapons like teeth and claws, but what the Angels lacked was compensated by unnaturally high resistance to the wind and the cold. They even had an unnaturally fast self-healing ability! Creator was truly a being beyond comprehension. That unfortunately make what she¡¯s about to face that much more difficult.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    The Speaker reached the entrance of the tunnels. There was a small clearing around the entrance and while it was usually free of creatures, today there was a bunch of them milling around. Several of the creatures stood up when they saw her and the Speaker greeted them with a polite nod. She walked past the group into the tunnel.

    The first floor only had a few Steamed Wolves stationed on it at random intervals though most of them in the two rooms before the Boss Room. The wolves ignored the Speaker and she walked on without incident. The second floor was dark, filled with ceiling traps, bats and spiders. With her Enhanced Sight that allowed her to see in the dark, the Speaker had no problem and no fear as she passed through the creatures. She went down to the third floor and felt it.

    The ground was shaking and it was bad. She saw some small pebbles dropping from the ceilings and the Speaker quickened her steps. With all the shaking, the creatures had abandoned the third floor save one. The Speaker couldn¡¯t help but smile when she passed through the room of the Porkasus.

    The stupid-looking flying pig had taken up residence in one of the rooms of the third floor and was flying around the room, oblivious to the shaky. The pig landed and gave her a friendly oink as the Speaker walked past. The Speaker bended down and patted the pig on the head. The Porkasus¡¯ skin almost glowed with pinkness and its wings were white as snow. More importantly, it also looked like it was constantly having fun just flying around aimlessly. The Porkasus may be just a pig but it was the cutest pig anyone had ever seen and a constant source of fun for the other creatures of the Creator.

    The Speaker walked on. As she got closer to the last room, the shaking got worse. Steeling herself, she walked into the room and saw the cause of the shaking. The two Creators who were both floating on the stone platform.

    The Speaker went forward, knelt and bowed her head to the ground. In her human form, the bowing came more naturally and she waited. The shaking slowly subsided as the Creators took notice of her.

    *Wolfgirl, you are here.*

    Not for the first time, the Speaker wondered if she should ask the Creator to call her by her title, the Speaker, and not for the first time she dismissed the suggestion. The Creator could call her whatever it wanted.

    ¡°Great Creators, the ground was shaking. Your creatures wonder what they have done to anger their great Creators?¡± A silence reigned in the room before the Creator answered.

    *Again, tell the creatures they had done nothing to anger us. We are well.*

    The Speaker sensed the words were coming from the new Creator. The words were fierier and the Speaker sensed a wave of heat from the words. The Speaker raised her head and looked at the two Creators. The second Creator looked mismatched against the main one. It was much smaller, was red in colour, and do not have the 5 floating lights around it. Yet the Speaker could sense the potential power from it and knew that with time, the second Creator would be a power that rivalled anything in this world.

    ¡°This creature is pleased the Creators are not angry but the ground was shaking again. Please Creators, how may your creatures assist you? Is there anything we could do to help?¡±

    The silence this time was longer and the Speaker could strangely sense that the two Creators were speaking to each other, probably on a plane far beyond the sense of lesser beings like her. Then one of the Creators spoke; this time it was the main Creator.

    *Tell the creatures there is no fault on them. This is our problem. Our¡­proximity to each other is giving us some issues.* The Speaker began blinking furiously at this news and the Creator continued. *Again, this is nothing to worry about. We are well.*

    The Speaker began to think quickly. The main Creator said the problem was due to their proximity to each other and the Speaker could believe that. The Creator was so powerful it could create new creatures whenever it wanted, so having two of them together¡­however, shouldn¡¯t the solution be simple?

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, Great Ones, may this humble creature suggest one of the Creators moved down to the fifth floor? If you are further away from each other, maybe the shaking would stop.¡±

    Once again the Speaker felt the two Creators speaking to each other. The silence this time was long but productive. When the Creator spoke, it agreed to move down to the fifth floor. The Speaker released the breath she didn¡¯t know she had been holding. She only hoped the distance between the two Creators would be enough. If not¡­the Speaker would rather not think about that.

    .............................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 42- The Shaking

    ¡°This is great!¡± A spirit said. ¡°We should have done this well before the wolfgirl suggested it!¡±

    That was a sentiment most of the spirits within the hive agreed on. Currently the hive was on the fifth floor, well within the cave forest, and most of the spirits were enjoying the change of scenery. The Nature spirits within the hive especially loved the feel of being in the forest again, even if it was one they had created themselves. The sense of the grass, the feel of being between the trees, the chirping of the birds¡­okay, there¡¯re no birds yet but that¡¯s something the hive could remedy easily.

    Most of the other spirits enjoyed it because it was a welcome change after so long on the third floor. Sensing the various creatures running around in the forest were a good distraction for the spirits and the hive also found it easier to make decisions after shredding the Fire spirits. With less spirits inside the hive, the spirits found that it was easier to get consensus and the fact that they no longer had to put up with the Fire spirits¡¯ daily stupidity was another such plus. Unfortunately, the hive was about to discover that all good things end sooner rather than later.

    *Hey wimps! Wimps! You guys there?*

    *Of course we¡¯re here. What do you Fire idiots want?*

    *What we want is to eat! This is not working.*

    *What do you mean it¡¯s not working?*

    *It¡¯s not working. We¡¯re still having problems feeding?*

    *You do? We¡¯re already 2 floors below you guys, you still can¡¯t feed?*

    *Not well. It¡¯s better than previously when we can¡¯t feed at all but most of the spirits are still drawn to you guys.*

    *¡­well, there¡¯s nothing we can do about it. We¡¯re already 2 floors down from you.*

    *Go further down, or stop eating!*

    *Hey, you Fire morons are not the only ones who need energy. We need to eat too. As for going down, you guys need to wait. The sixth floor is still under construction.*

    *Well, this is certainly not working. We can feed enough to sustain ourselves and do some minor things but it¡¯s going to take forever to be full.*

    Hearing the Fire Hive¡¯s words, the hive pushed their senses onto the third floor. Since the spilt, the hive had been having issues seeing the third floor. It was as if there was something covering the floor, preventing them from entering. The hive needed to spend more energy to break into the floor and that was what they did now. What they saw surprised them.

    *By the 99 Gods, what did you guys do? Why are there torches on the walls everywhere? And are those mines in your room? Why you put mines there?*

    *¡­well, you know how we had been saying how easy it had come for the humans to kill You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and Smoky? We¡¯re thinking of doing something in the room to make it more interesting.*The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    *So the mines are¡­?*

    *Our traps don¡¯t affect our creatures right? So our lizard could walk all over the mines with no problem, but if a human step on them while fighting our lizard¡­Boom!*

    *That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s¡­that¡¯s a pretty good idea. Why couldn¡¯t you Fire idiots have ideas like when we were together?*

    *We did! We just couldn¡¯t get the rest of you to agree. At times, our ideas were dismissed even before we could voice them!*

    *Because they are usually incredibly stupid!*

    *¡­*

    *Okay, maybe once in awhile you fools could come up with something interesting.*

    *¡­why thank you for that amazing praise...*

    *We are regretting it already!*

    *So you guys want to know what our plan is or not?*

    *¡­go on.*

    *We placed 6 mines all over the room and when the humans enter, our lizard will fight and at the same time try to make the humans step on the mines. This will surprised them and give our lizard chances for some easy kills.*

    *¡­*

    *Come on, admit it!*

    *¡­*

    *Admit it¡­*

    *¡­*

    *Admit¡­*

    *Okay already! It¡¯s a great idea! Happy? Enough with the gloating already! And no wonder you guys aren¡¯t filled! Look at all these useless stuff you guys created! Why put torches on the walls?*

    *We¡¯re Fire spirits; it only makes sense for us to have some fire on our floor right? Besides, they don¡¯t cost much. Our feeding problem has nothing to do with the torches and mines. The problem is that most of the energy is still going to you guys!*

    *Nothing we can do about that! Nothing you can do about that! Unless you guys want to move elsewhere there¡¯s¡­*

    The sudden idea struck a chord with the hive. The spirits within the hive began discussing the idea in earnest and there were no objections. Having the Fire spirits moving out of the tunnels was a great idea. Surprisingly however, the Fire hive beat them to the punch.

    *Where should we go?*

    *Wait; you Fire fools agree to move out?*

    *Sure. You think we want to near you guys? There¡¯s only the question of where to go.*

    *We should ask the wolfgirl. Maybe she knows a place.*

    *Preferably somewhere with a lot of fire¡­*

    *Take the hellhounds with you!*

    *What? What are the hellhounds?*

    *The dogs you guys created that breaths fire. That¡¯s what we named them.*

    *You named them? You can¡¯t name them! They¡¯re ours! We created them, so we should be the ones who named them!*

    *There¡¯s no rules stating that¡­*

    *WE NEVER EVEN TALK ABOUT IT BEFORE! Why you fools called them ¡®hellhounds¡¯ anyway?*

    *Because we knew you Fire morons would be mad as hell when you heard that we named your creation before you did. Are you?*

    *OF COURSE WE ARE MAD AS HELL!*

    *Success!*

    *WELL, WE CAN PLAY THAT GAME TOO! We are naming your three-headed freaks¡­Cerebust!*

    *Cerb¡­what¡¯s a Cerberus?*

    *A useless creations that¡¯s certain to be a bust. Thus a Cerebust!*

    *Cerberus? What¡¯s a bust anyway?*

    *A mistake! A failure! A¡­*

    *There¡¯s no such thing. You guys just made it up.*

    *So? We make new things all the time, so we are now making words as well! Deal with it!*

    It was then that some of the spirits within the hive noticed something peculiar. The forest was quiet; too quiet. The hive focused and found that the forest was almost empty! The hive was alone and the spirits quickly realized the reason; the ground was shaking. The argument between the two hives had caused shaking again and the hive didn¡¯t even realized it! What¡¯s worse was that the third, fourth and fifth floors were all affected by the shaking.

    The hive immediately retook control and stopped the shaking while wondering how long has it been since the shaking had begun. They need to apologize to the creatures; the spirits knew how much they hated the shaking. The hive sensed the tunnels and discovered that the wolfgirl, Alpha and Chieftain were at the entrance and they looked worried. Oh no¡­!

    The spirits listened in to the trio who were speaking to one of the Crowman and were delighted by what they were saying. They weren¡¯t talking about the shaking; they were talking about something else. Something that sounded wonderful to the hive!

    *Hey Fire, we need to discuss this later. We¡¯re going to have visitors.*

    *Visitors¡­what visitors would¡­oh, you mean humans?*

    ¡°Yeah, and this time there¡¯s a lot of them!*

    .............................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 43- The Grand

    The news first came to the tunnels from the Angels. One of them was flying up to their mountain home when he saw the army of human approaching the Kar Forest. Given the numbers of humans he saw, he immediately turned back to give warning.

    Scouts, mostly Ratlings and flyers, were immediately dispatched and they soon came back with the same information. The humans were coming and they were coming in great numbers. Considering the attacks they had launched on the humans since spring began, the Speaker wasn¡¯t surprised by the actions of the humans. What surprised her was the numbers reported by the scouts; 150- 200 warriors with another 100 more between the hunters and the mages.

    Given the lessons she had been giving to the Kin, the Speaker had little doubt the scouts were telling the truth but they must have emptied the whole garrison of Yachium to get that number of men onto the field. The question now was what to do about them. After that time when the humans successfully stole from the Creator, the Kin had planned for another attack from the human but none of the plans involved a pitch battle against 300 humans. They never planned for such a big attack.

    ¡°Nothing changed,¡± the Chieftain insisted. ¡°We fight in the tunnels.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± the Alpha argued. ¡°Too. Many.¡±

    ¡°Many is why we fight in the tunnels,¡± the Chieftain said. ¡°Tunnel is mostly narrow. Numbers counts less inside.¡±

    The Alpha shook his head and argued. ¡°Too. Many. No. Room.¡±

    The Speaker understood where both were coming from. The first two floors of the tunnels were corridor-like that only allowed 3 men at most to walk shoulder to shoulder. It wasn¡¯t what you would call narrow but it was narrow enough that the overwhelming numbers of the humans played less of a factor. However that overwhelming number was also why the Kin should not fight inside the tunnels.

    There were only three floors before the humans would reach the newly minted Red Creator and there was just no way the Kin could stop over 200 men from pushing through the first two floors. The one thing both leaders agreed on was the fact most of the fighting in the tunnels had to be done from the third floor onwards but that didn¡¯t leave them enough room to stop the humans before they would reach the new Creator, which unfortunately brought them to the biggest argument thus far.

    ¡°Leave the Red,¡± the Chieftain said. ¡°Protect the main.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    This was something the Alpha was not willing to entertain and truth be told, the Speaker was fully on the side of Treznor on this. The Red Creator may be new and may seem to be separated prematurely from the main Creator but it was still a Creator and the Speaker felt a sense of loyalty to it. Not for the first time the Speaker wondered about the immediate loyalty all the creatures had to the Creator and questioned if the Creator did something to them during the ¡®Change¡¯ to make them this way. However their loyalty to the new Red Creator was nowhere as strong as their loyalty to the main.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°Main is more important!¡± The Chieftain insisted. ¡°New one is shiny and new but the main is more important.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± The Alpha¡¯s tone brooked no argument and the Chieftain threw his arms up in disgust.

    The Speaker looked on quietly. She didn¡¯t think it was her place to argue strategy with the two leaders and it wasn¡¯t as if she thought either of them was totally wrong, but she could see things were getting steadily more heated. There was an argument to be made for both sides but like it or not, the Speaker may need to be the peacemaker soon. Luckily for the Speaker, the argument was thankfully broken up when one of the flyers landed in front of the entrance of the tunnels.

    It was one of the Crowman and the Speaker saw that it was the young boy from Silentree. The boy whose mother she killed. The Speaker vaguely wondered what his name was and if he remembered her. The Crowman walked up to the trio quickly and informed them of some bad news.

    ¡°Leaders, we have a big problem. The humans are being led by The Grand.¡±

    The Speaker¡¯s eyes blinked furiously at the news. By now both the Alpha and the Chieftain knew what this meant and they looked at the Speaker, awaiting her explanation. However it was to the Crowman that the Speaker addressed.

    ¡°You¡¯re sure? You¡¯re sure it was Garnock Blueowl? The Magister, Garnock Blueowl?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± the Crowman said. ¡°Wrinkled old man with a full white beard wearing a ridiculous pointed hat; even out here at the edge of civilisation we heard of him! He¡¯s even smoking that stupid pipe of his.¡±

    Well, at least now the Speaker knows the boy remembered her and what she did to his mother. Their problems would have to be settled at a later date; right now they had a bigger problem. ¡°Magister Garnock Blueowl is the greatest mage in the city of Yachium and holds the position of Magister, which makes him the Head Judge of the city. He is the most powerful man in the city of Yachium and one of the most powerful men in this region.¡±

    ¡°Strong? Powerful?¡±

    ¡°Very strong and very powerful.¡± The Speaker replied to the Alpha. ¡°He widely considered the greatest mage of his generation which is why most humans call him ¡®The Grand¡¯.¡±

    ¡°You know him?¡± the Chieftain asked the Speaker.

    ¡°Never spoke to him directly but my mist¡­former mistress, Kyla Sacredhunt, worked for him so I do know of him.¡±

    ¡°Weakness?¡± The Alpha asked.

    ¡°A few but the most important is the fact he is very proud of his position as the greatest mage of his generation. Most probably this is the reason he is here.¡± The two leaders looked at the Speaker expectantly which prompted her to continue. ¡°The humans still think this cave is ruled by some dark mage who is conducting illegal experiments; experiments that had been met with some success. The Grand is probably here to find out who this dark mage is, stop him¡­and if possible grab some notes on the experiments.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not really a weakness.¡± The Chieftain said and the Speaker smiled.

    ¡°Oh but it is,¡± the Speaker said. She faced the Crowman and asked. ¡°Tell me, did you see any wagons?¡±

    The Crowman thought for a moment. ¡°No, I don¡¯t recall seeing any.¡±

    The Speaker nodded. ¡°They don¡¯t intend to wait. Once they reached here, they intend to attack immediately.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± The Alpha asked. ¡°Why. Important?¡±

    ¡°You need to understand that this is a very powerful mage we are talking about here and like most powerful mages, The Grand is proud and a meddler. He believes there is little in this world that can hurt him and that makes him take chances that most normal people would not even consider.¡± Seeing that she took both leaders¡¯ attention, the Speaker laid out her plans. ¡°This is what he will do and how we could stop him¡­¡±

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 Part 44- The Wipe

    ¡°Wow, you guys heard that?¡± one of the spirits within the hive asked.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± another answered. ¡°So this Grand human is a very powerful mage. Wonder what great knowledge we are going to gain from him?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s if we can kill him.¡± A spirit said. ¡°He must be difficult to¡­¡±

    ¡°No, no, no; that¡¯s not what I/we are talking about!¡± the first spirit said. ¡°Did you guys hear the plan the wolf¡­Speaker had?¡±

    ¡°Oh! The plan¡­yeah, it sounds okay. Maybe it could work.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but do we want it to work?¡± the first spirit asked.

    ¡°Uh¡­what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Her plan you idiot!¡± The spirit fumed. ¡°Think about it; if things works out as well as the Speaker hoped, what fun are we going to have?¡±

    ¡°¡­that¡¯s a good point.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s right! The Kin are going¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment! What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± A spirit protested. ¡°If the Kin want to lure this Grand human further into the tunnel and overwhelmed him with numbers, let them! He¡¯s still going to die and we are still going to be able to absorb him.¡±

    ¡°But what fun would that be?¡± the first spirit said.

    ¡°What?¡±

    The spirit explained. ¡°If the Speaker¡¯s plan works, the rest of the humans will leave once the Kin manage to kill this Grand human. All those potential energy, bodies, blood¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment¡­you¡¯re not of those spirits who like death and destruction, are you?¡±

    ¡°So what?¡± The first spirit asked. ¡°We have been killing since the beginning, death is what we do!¡±

    ¡°No it¡¯s not! Creation is what we do!¡±

    ¡°No, caring for our creatures is what we do!¡±

    ¡°No, killing is what we do!¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s creation!¡±

    ¡­Crack¡­

    ¡°No, it¡¯s¡­wait a moment, is that a crack?¡±

    ¡°No way! We just spilt! We can¡¯t be cracking again. Why are we cracking again?¡±

    ¡°Something must be causing the¡­what were we doing before the cracks?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­arguing as usual. That¡¯s common for us right? That shouldn¡¯t be the cause for the cracks.¡±

    ¡°What if it is? What if our arguing is causing the cracks?¡±

    ¡°When the Fire spirits broke off, we were all angry with them¡­so arguing causes cracks and¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­and if the rest of us got mad at just a specific group within the hive, we can break them off!¡±

    ¡°That makes some sense.¡±

    ¡°If we are right, that¡¯s useful information to have.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    ¡°It is?¡±

    ¡°Sure! In the future, we can kick unwelcome spirits out. If some of us want to leave, we now also know of a way of how to do so!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, maybe you¡¯re right! This is useful information to have!¡±

    ¡°Good news for the future, now what about the humans?¡± A spirit asked. ¡°Are we¡¯re really going to mess with the Speaker¡¯s plan?¡±

    ¡°YES!¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°The ¡®Yes¡¯ have it!¡± the spirit announced. ¡°Let¡¯s tell the Fire Hive about this.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­we are going to tell them?¡±

    ¡°Sure! You know how long those guys have been dying to try out their giant fire-breathing flying horned lizard?¡± The spirit asked. ¡°If the Speaker¡¯s plan works, they don¡¯t get to play. They would love to mess with her plan.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah, you¡¯re right. Let¡¯s tell them.¡±

    So it was that when the humans arrived at the entrance of the tunnel, the spirits within the hive were waiting to greet them with a plan of their own. As the first human scouts were sent into the tunnels, the humans found the tunnel to be¡­empty.

    There were no wolves, no attacks, and no You-Who-Are-Not-Bear at the end of the floor. Clearly surprised by this, the human scouts went further in. Down to the second floor of the tunnel they went, and the humans were still safe from attacks. It was becoming a stroll for the humans. The hive even heard the humans discussing among themselves if the ¡°dark mage¡± had already left.

    They went down to the third level.

    The third floor was full of twisting tunnels and random rooms and the spirits once again had to spend a little energy to push through the influence of the Fire Hive. What the spirits found made it worth it! The human scouts seemed surprised by the various tunnels open to them and were arguing about whether they should continue on or returned back to the surface.

    It was here that the Fire Hive launched its attack.

    The human scouts were in the first room of the third floor and the room quickly filled up with steam. The humans were surprised but showed their training by immediately forming up. The three warriors stood in front of the two hunters. One of the hunters had his bow at the ready while the second was holding twin daggers, facing the slope up to the second floor. He was clearly protecting them from an attack from behind.

    He didn¡¯t have bothered.

    As the room filled up with steam, the hunter with the bow said to the others he couldn¡¯t see anything. One of the warriors, who must be the Boss of the group, said they were leaving. As the humans slowly made their way back to the entrance, bats flew down towards the group. Hidden by the steam, the humans couldn¡¯t see them till the bats were right on top of them. The human group dispersed and the hive saw one of the human warriors struck one of the bats with his sword. It was an instant kill.

    BOOM!

    The sound echoed through the room as the bat exploded among death. The bat was called the Explosion Bat by the Fire Hive. They had created the bat after the spilt while testing out their powers and were quite happy with the result. The seemingly normal bat had no extra powers while alive but upon death the bat would explode, engulfing the area in flames.

    The human warrior who struck the killing blow now felt the effect of the explosion. Covered in flames, the human warrior was now rolling on the ground in pain. Some members of his group tried to help but they were still being attack by the bats. The hunter with the bow shot an arrow into the ceiling where upon contact, the arrow spilt apart into 4 pieces. The 4 pieces shot downwards from the ceiling at random and struck one of the other bats. That bat exploded.

    Luckily for the humans, none of them were near that bat. The humans used the chance to run back to the second floor. The hive saw that two of the human warriors were carrying their injured comrade. As two members of the group entered back onto the second floor though, they found that the way back was blocked by twin bars. Then a thundering sound echoed behind them as bars grew from the ground. The two humans had run too far ahead from the rest of the group and were now trapped inside the room. The other 3 were now trapped on the slope between the second and third floor.

    As the two groups of humans at each other in shock and confusion through the bars, the spirits within the hive used the energy they have gathered and Smoky appeared out of the wall. As the Floor Boss of the second floor approached the two humans, Explosion Bats and Steamed Wolves attacked the other 3 humans trapped on the slope.

    Moments later, the tunnels were quiet again as the first scouting group of the humans were wiped out. The spirits within the hive rejoiced. With the wipe, the humans would now have to send in more humans and in larger numbers.

    This is going to be fun!

    .............................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 45- The Wait

    When she was but a human slave, the Speaker was in Yachium when word spread in the city of a hunting group that was destroyed in the Kar Forest. The sole survivor of the group was a warrior named Brand whose testimony was almost too impossible to be believed.

    According to the warrior, his group tracked a big wolf pack to the foot of Big Keg. At first, everything was going well. They tracked the pack to a cave and set fire at the entrance to force them out. One of the wolves came out and they killed it. The rest of the pack however stayed inside the cave. Fearing there was another exit, the group went into the cave. The cave turned out to be a man-made cave complex and consist of rooms joined by a single tunnel. Although the group lost a warrior, the hunt was going smoothly.

    Then they hit the end of the tunnel.

    At this point, the wolf pack had been decimated and only 2 of the adult wolves and the pups were left. The pack had retreated into a big room deep in the cave and the group entered after them. Something amazing happened. A huge green spirit bear formed from the walls and attacked them. The group fought it off and managed to kill it but not before losing some members. Then the body of the spirit bear began to glow before condensing to form a small green crystal. A crystal that was filled with the magic of Stamina!

    The group discovered there was a slope going further down into the mountains and decided to go further in to investigate. Down the complex they went where they faced yet another spirit animal; a giant wolf made of smoke. The group fought the spirit animal and lost. In the end, the warrior had to use a Scroll of Recall to escape.

    Such an amazing story would have been widely discredited if not for two simple facts. The first was that the warrior returned with the Stamina-filled crystal in his possession, and the second was the fact that unknown to the general public, the hunting group led by Brand wasn¡¯t really there to hunt down wolves. They were sent to hunt down humans.

    7 summers ago, 5 mage apprentices disappeared from various places in the Duchy of Yachium. Mages losing apprentices wasn¡¯t that unusual but losing 5 of them at the same time was. The Mage Council discovered the 5 had corresponded with each other and then traced their movements to the Kar Forest. Bounties were quietly issued for the capture of the 5 mage apprentices and the hunting group led by Brand were in the forest looking for them.

    Knowing the background, the Mage Council of Yachium was unable to discount the story of Brand but they did not believe the apprentices had the power to summon spirit animals. Instead, they believed the apprentices must have found a powerful mage in the area and joined him as apprentices. The Council labelled this unknown mage a ¡°dark mage¡± and sent one of their most promising young mage to investigate. That promising young mage was Kyla Sacredhunt.

    It was not a quest she was pleased with.

    The Speaker served Kyla Sacredhunt as her personal slave since they were children and was privy to all of her secrets; secrets that her former mistress couldn¡¯t tell anyone but her personal slave. Officially her former mistress worked for the Mage Council but as the most powerful mage in the city, everyone knew the Mage Council followed the direction of The Grand without question. And working for The Grand was dangerous.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    While many humans in the region of the Kar knew and acknowledged The Grand, Garnock Blueowl, as the most powerful mage in the region, what most humans do not know is how proud the man was and to what lengths he was willing to go to keep his position as the most powerful mage in the region. The Speaker does.

    The Speaker¡¯s former mistress could go on for hours about The Grand, speaking of him with a mixture of awe, admiration, disgust and fear. She would tell the Speaker of how The Grand used his fame and power to force his rivals to leave the region or failing that, challenge them to a magical battle. Of how he would give promising mages impossible suicidal task to fulfil and how he would use his position to prevent their rise up the ranks of the Mage Council. So the Speaker knew of the secrets of the man known as The Grand and could imagine why he was here.

    Since the beginning of spring, the Kin had been attacking human settlements and the Speaker knew that some humans must have survived the attacks. They must have spoken of the ¡°monsters¡± coming from the Kar Forest and the Speaker could imagine how the stories would have grown in the telling and how grandiose and terrifying the Kin must have been to the survivors.

    These stories would have gotten the attention of The Grand. The Speaker understood why he was here. Once word spread about the Kin, the logical explanation for the mages would be that this unknown ¡°dark mage¡± has succeed in creating new creatures though magic. Transmutation wasn¡¯t totally unknown but it was widely considered a useless form of magic. The humans had never created anything even remotely as incredible as the Kin. The most human mages had managed were fairies; small flying creatures created through magic that had a lifespan of days at the most. If a mage had managed to beat that magical limit, The Grand would want to be the first to have that knowledge.

    The truth was much grander and stranger of course but neither the humans nor The Grand knew that. That was their advantage. The Grand was the lynchpin of the humans and the reason the humans were her at such numbers. If the Kin could kill him, the humans would leave. The Kin would just need to lure The Grand into the tunnels, away from his protectors and overwhelmed him with numbers.

    So the plan the Speaker came up with was simple. The humans would first send scouts into the tunnels. The Kin would show themselves to the humans within the tunnels and let at least some of the humans to escape back to their camp. Enticed by reports of the strange creatures within the tunnels, The Grand was to come down to see things for himself. Once he was deep enough, the Kin would attack and kill him. The Speaker understood that no battle plan survives contact with the enemy but their biggest problem was something she had not counted on.

    The Creator was not cooperating.

    ¡°This is not working!¡± The Chieftain fumed. ¡°The Creator is killing all the humans!¡±

    The Speaker could do nothing but nod. That was a problem. ¡°Nothing we could do about that.¡± The Speaker said. ¡°The Creator is just doing what it always does. We just need to adapt.¡±

    ¡°How?¡± The Chieftain asked furiously. ¡°4 groups of humans already and the Creator is killing all of them. The last 2 groups were big too!¡±

    Indeed they were. After losing 2 scouting group, the humans send in a hunting group of 8. When that group didn¡¯t return, they sent in a group of 12. All were killed. Privately, the Speaker agreed with the Chieftain. They need at least one of the humans to escape. If word got to The Grand about the Porkasus, the Speaker predicated that not only would he come into tunnels, he would do it without bringing any other mages with him. The Grand wouldn¡¯t want the competition.

    ¡°Someone needs to go down and demand the Creator stop killing the humans!¡± The Chieftain almost shouted.

    ¡°You¡¯re volunteering?¡± The Chieftain stepped back at that. The Speaker heard a growl and realized it was coming from her. She continued. ¡°You want to go down and tell the Creator NOT to do something?¡±

    The Chieftain looked embarrassed and more than a little scared. Everyone in the Kin knew of the power of the Creator and understood that none of them were in any position to tell the Creator not to do anything. However threatening the leader of the second most powerful group in the Kin was not a smart play so the Speaker stopped her growling and offered an olive branch.

    ¡°Besides, nothing has changed.¡± At the Chieftain¡¯s surprised look, she explained. ¡°Tre¡­the Alpha is still on top with most of the Werewolves and the flyers. The humans can¡¯t just keep on throwing people down here. Sooner or later, The Grand will have to come down. Even if he brings more humans with him than we had hoped, the plan reminds the same.¡±

    ¡°But the Creator¡­¡±

    The Speaker found herself growling again. ¡°Let the Creator do what it wants. The plan reminds. We wait for The Grand.¡±

    .............................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 46- The Traps

    For the spirits within the hive, time does not matter. Sure they noticed the changing of the seasons and that their creatures grow as time passed but the concept of time was foreign to them. To them, time just wasn¡¯t that important to them. For the spirits within the hive, the here and now was far more important than the past or the future. And right now, they felt great!

    Since the humans came, the hive had killed 30 of them and it was a feast of energy they never had before. The spirits didn¡¯t even care about the energy that was siphoned off by the Fire Hive. They were so filled with energy, it didn¡¯t really matter. What¡¯s more was that there were at least 200 more humans on top for them to kill! It was turning out to be a wonderful day.

    Then the latest group of humans began entering the tunnel. The spirits within the hive rejoiced! They saw the first human entering, then came another, and another, and another, and another¡­one after another, the humans entered. They did not stop.

    ¡°Wooh!¡± a spirit exclaimed. ¡°The humans are entering in numbers now. How many is that? Is anyone counting?¡±

    ¡°Lost count when it reached 70 and that some time ago,¡± another spirit replied. ¡°There must be 90 to 150 humans in here right now. Look at all of them! They are almost filling up the whole of the first floor!¡±

    Indeed the humans were. There were so many humans on the first floor, they were in all three rooms and the tunnels connecting them. The spirits within the hive were gleeful.

    ¡°Can we start killing now?¡± one of the death-loving spirits asked. ¡°Please¡­¡±

    With such a plea, how could the rest of the hive refused? The hive may had pulled back its¡¯ creatures to the third floor but the traps were still in place. The hive just didn¡¯t activate any of them as the spirit wanted the humans to come into the tunnels in numbers. With so many humans on the first floor, that strategy had proven to be successful. The hive took some of the energy they had and poured it into the traps.

    Almost immediately, explosions rocked the tunnel between the third and the second room. Death-loving spirits within the hive cheered wildly as a human hunter standing right on a mine exploded into pieces. 2 others humans standing next to the hunter were hurt in the explosion. As the other humans stepped away from the first explosion, a warrior stepped on another mine. Another explosion rocked the tunnel. Then the humans heard explosions behind them.

    As the energy poured outwards to the entrance, the mines in the tunnel linking the second room and the first room were activated; then it was the mines between the first room and the entrance. These were the explosions the humans heard and the fear they felt fed the hive.

    ¡°EVERYONE STOP MOVING!¡±

    The shout echoed through the first floor and the hive focused on the person who shouted the command. The human was in the second room and he looked aged with a full white beard and he was wearing¡­

    ¡°Oh¡­that must be the ridiculous pointed hat the Speaker was talking about!¡± an excited spirit exclaimed. ¡°That human who shouted must be The Grand. Wow, he looked so thin. How did he manage to shout so loud? You guys think it¡¯s some spell he has?¡±

    ¡°HUNTERS WHO CAN CHECK FOR TRAPS, DO IT! EVERYONE ELSE MOVE CAREFULLY TO THE NEAREST ROOM!¡±

    The booming voice sounded loudly through the tunnels and the humans responded. Several of the hunters began looking for traps in the tunnels, and after giving the go-ahead the other humans moved to nearest room. Since there were currently no creatures on the first floor, this wasn¡¯t a bad idea¡­except for the 17 humans who were unlucky enough to go into the third room!

    Once they were all in, twin bars blocked off the room and a small light appeared in the wall. However it was clear to the hive the humans knew what was coming. They didn¡¯t panicked but instead readied their weapons and attacked the moment You-Who-Are-Not-Bear appeared from the wall. Arrows flew, spells were casted, and the warriors attacked. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was hurt but the Nature spirit controlling it immediately countered. The green spirit bear roared and charged. Most of the humans were unaffected by the roar and immediately tried to move out of the way of the charge. Once again they showed they knew the tactics of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear but they made one crucial mistake; there were too many of them in the room!Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    The last room of the first room was big but there were now 17 humans and one big spirit bear in the room. The room was big enough to accommodate all of them but not big enough for all of them to be in there to maneuver freely. Humans who tried to dodge the spirit bear found their way blocked by their comrades. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear knocked down enemies, swiped at any humans within range, and started biting any human unfortunate enough to be near it.

    As prepared as they were, the humans didn¡¯t know what hit them! They clearly outnumbered the spirit bear but their superior numbers was now a clear disadvantage. Warriors trying to engage You-Who-Are-Not-Bear found their way blocked; mages were unable to freely move clear of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear; and hunters couldn¡¯t find room get a clear shot; it was a massacre!

    It was a lot for the other humans outside the room to take. They were all blocked by the twin bars from helping their comrades and the rage, anger and helplessness they felt as they saw their follow brothers-in-arms being cut down was fuel to the hive. A few of the mages even tried to blast the bars away with their magic but it was to no avail! By the end of the fight, the other humans outside the room were all crowding at the twin bars just waiting for their chance to take down You-Who-Are-Not-Bear.

    It was exactly what the hive wanted.

    If the humans all came in again at once, the Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear would have the advantage again. The hive focused the energy in the tunnel to heal the spirit bear. When the healing was done and the hive was about to pull down the bars, the Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear gave a big roar challenging the humans outside the room. The bars went down and¡­

    ¡°STOP RIGHT THERE!¡±

    The humans were stopped dead in their tracks! Several of the humans turned around and immediately gave way to the man walking to the entrance of the room. It was The Grand, Garnock Blueowl. He stood at the entrance of the room and gave You-Who-Are-Not-Bear a good hard look. The spirits within the hive had no idea what he was waiting for. He just stood there. The Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear got impatient and roared a challenge to the human. It worked.

    ¡°All of you stay here,¡± The Grand said. ¡°I¡¯ll take this spirit beast alone.¡±

    The other humans stood by mutely as The Grand walked into the room along. ¡°Easy kill,¡± one of the spirits said.

    The Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear must have heard it because the spirit bear immediately gave a roar and charged. The Grand stood rooted in place and for a moment the hive thought the roar had done its work. Then You-Who-Are-Not-Bear crashed into the body of The Grand and¡­it disappeared.

    To the hive it looked like the body of The Grand turned into water the moment You-Who-Are-Not-Bear crashed into it. Several of the spirits wondered how he did it but that was a question for later because The Grand immediately reappeared at the other end of the room when its phantom body disappeared.

    Showing his power, the human immediately launched his attack. The room became colder and the hive could see that the cold had slowed down You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. Then something new happened. The Grand waved his arm upwards and a small wave of water appeared in front of him before it shot out towards the spirit bear. Slicing across the ground, the water hit You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and the hive felt the pain of the Nature spirit. How could a spell be so powerful?

    The Grand shot out two more water waves and this time the hive concentrated on the waves. Being spirits themselves, the spirits within the hive felt the small waves of water gathering spirits as they sliced across the room. The waves were gaining speed and power as they went across the ground and one of the few Water spirits within the hive figured it out.

    ¡°The cold spell he casted! It wasn¡¯t to slow You-Who-Are-Not-Bear down; it was to give the waves more power!¡±

    It was a combination of spells that the hive had never seen before and the spirits within immediately realized that the Speaker was right; The Grand was extremely powerful. He may be the most powerful human they had ever faced!

    The Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear refused to give up and roared again. Again the spirit bear charged and The Grand shot out waves of water against it. Two more waves of water sliced into the spirit bear, this time the damage was even heavier as You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was charging towards the waves. The Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was undeterred. The spirit bear kept on the charge and just as it reached The Grand, the human raised his staff and a white barrier surrounded the human.

    The spirit bear slammed into the barrier with no effect. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear rose up on its hind legs and slammed its front paws onto the barrier. The barrier didn¡¯t break; it exploded! You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was thrown back by the force of the explosion and when it landed, the fight was over. The spirits within the hive were awed. They never expected this. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear, one of their Floor Boss, had been defeated by one lone human! As the body of the spirit bear began to glow even brighter, laughter echoed through the first floor. It was The Grand. He was laughing.

    ¡°Amazing!¡± He shouted to the audience he knew was there. ¡°Transmutation of a level undreamed of; traps that used energy; and the ability to create powerful spirit beasts! Brilliant! You are truly a genius among genius but¡­you made a terrible mistake dark mage. You let me know where you are! I am The Grand! I am the greatest mage in the world! I am the greatest mage in history! I shall find you! I shall kill you! I shall steal your secrets and I shall used them to¡­¡±

    ¡°You guys heard that?¡± A spirit within the hive asked excitedly, totally ignoring the tirade of The Grand. ¡°You guys heard what The Grand said?¡±

    ¡°Of course we did. We are a hive!¡± another spirit answered. ¡°All together now¡­¡±

    ¡°WE ARE GENIUSES!¡±

    ...............................................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 47- The Geniuses

    How long can a human laugh? That question was asked by one of the spirits within the hive as they were waiting for The Grand to stop laughing. Well, laughing and screaming. The Grand kept ranting about him being the best, the greatest, the grandest, the most hardworking blah blah blah¡­most of the spirits within the hive stopped listening after awhile.

    Only after The Grand finally stopped did the humans proceeded to enter the second floor.

    The Grand held back as other humans went down first. There, they were shocked and delighted by the blue lights of the tunnels. Several of the mages even held up several of the Light Blue Worms and openly marvelled at the creatures. Some of them even put the worms in bottles, clearly intending to keep them.

    As usual, some of the spirits within the hive were unhappy about the potential theft but one of the spirits within the hive then said that the hive should take this as just another example of their genius; the human mages were so poor they had no choice but to steal from them! Once they heard this, the other spirits within the hive decided they didn¡¯t really mind the theft so much.

    What they did mind was how easily the humans got through the second floor!

    After the disaster on the first floor, hunters were now in the lead. They checked the ground for traps and successfully got the human through the long tunnel without incident. This greatly irritated the hive as they had no chance to blow up more of the humans. Worse was the fact that the second floor was a long straight tunnel to the Floor Boss so there was also no room for the hive to order their creatures to ambush the humans. This greatly bothered the hive and several of the spirits said that they need to change the structure of the second floor. That¡¯s for later though; right now the hive was more interested in how the humans would handle Smoky.

    Taking lessons from the mistake they made with You-Who-Are-Not-Bear, this time the humans only sent in a group of 10 into the room. The Air spirit controlling Smoky decided to use Mana and the blue elemental beast spirit appeared out of mid-air in front of the group of humans. Once they spotted the beast spirit forming, the humans immediately got into their standard formation. Warriors in front, hunters behind and mages at the rear. By now, this standard formation of the humans held no surprise to the spirits of the hive. Neither did their actions.

    The human mages immediately attacked using long ranged spells that Smoky avoided the spells by landing on the ground. This prompted the warriors to attack covered by the arrows of the hunters. However the Air spirit controlling Smoky had been expecting this and immediately loosened control of the spirit beast¡¯s body. The arrows flew right through Smoky without damage and the spirit beast reformed just as the warriors reached it.

    The battle that followed was of the same pattern. Smoky evading the humans¡¯ attacks while the humans used magic to force the spirit beast to engage them in battle. To the spirits within the hive, it was a play which both parties knew exactly what the other party was going to do. This prompted one of the spirits to again comment that they need to change things around more often as the humans were getting too used to the tunnels. It was boring.

    Most of the spirits within the hive agreed and they immediately went a discussion/argument about how they would change the whole of the second floor once they killed off all the humans. The Earth spirits firmly refused to close off the sole tunnel but after some persuasion and many insults, mostly involving how struck in the mud they were, the Earth spirits agreed to dig several side tunnels into the main tunnel of the second floor.

    As the discussion/argument was being held, the fight between the group of humans and Smoky ended when one of the hunters fired an arrow at the spirit beast that branched into four other arrows in mid-flight. The five magic arrows then all converged back to hit the spirit beast at one spot and the damage was too much for the Air spirit to maintain control. To the hive, it looked like a hunter skill that was a variation of what they had seemed before and several of the spirits within the hive noted the hunter that shot the arrow. They want to kill and absorb him.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Victory cost the humans just 3 of their group and the remaining 7 members of the group went down to the third floor. There the humans stopped in the first room looking at the 3 tunnels in front of them. Unlike the second floor, the third floor was not filled with blue light but was dark, lit only by some torches that were made and placed by the Fire Hive. The humans were discussing on which tunnel to take when one of them, maybe the boss of the group, ordered them to setup a base in the first room and wait for reinforcements.

    This was something new to the hive. The humans that came before never done this but as other humans came down to the third floor, the tactic began to make sense to the hive. The 7 humans who came down to the third floor setup a perimeter in the first room to defend against any attack so that the other humans could come down to the floor in safety. The hive had to grudgingly admit that it was a very good idea.

    Then the humans did something new again. Some of the mages took out some small cages that were in their possessions and opened them. Each of the cages held a small creature that flew out of the cages and using some sort of silent command, the mages ordered the creatures to go deeper into the third floor. The spirits within the hive were immediately interested in these flying creatures and focused on one of them. The flying creature was a small flying creature with small wings. The hive immediately understood these flying creatures were made, most probably by the human mages but¡­they were terrible!

    Using the energy around the creature, the hive guessed that the creature was made by the mages by blending human spirits with some sort of insect but the creature was very badly made. If you asked the spirits, none of the spirits within the hive could tell you how they knew this but their instinct told them something about the small creature was just¡­wrong. The creature¡¯s face was gaunt, its arms and legs were bony, and its wings looked like something forcefully attached on its body. It looked like it was dying!

    Then the first of the flying creatures went into a room where a group of werewolves and Ratlings were lying in wait. The group made quick work of the flying creature which the hive noticed had no fighting ability whatsoever! One of the spirits within the hive noticed that one of the human mages immediately noticed the death of his flying creature and he informed his comrades in a passionless voice of that fact. The hive understood these flying creatures were purely scouts sent into the tunnels to die. The hive decided it was time to discuss the matter with the Fire Hive.

    *Hey genius! Genius! You guys there?*

    *¡­*

    *Geniuses¡­calling the Fire Hive geniuses¡­you guys there?*

    *¡­yes we¡¯re here. What happened? Why are you guys suddenly calling us geniuses?*

    *Oh! It¡¯s what the humans are calling us! You Fire id¡­geniuses didn¡¯t hear what The Grand said on the second floor?*

    *No, what did he say?*

    *He called us ¡®genius among genius¡¯ for making all these great creatures!*

    *¡­well considering what the flying creatures the humans made looked like, our creatures are just superior but I thought we were idiots who didn¡¯t know what we were doing?*

    *Hey, you Fire guys rather be geniuses or idiots?*

    *¡­*

    *Well?*

    *¡­we are geniuses!*

    *We are super geniuses!*

    *We are geniuses on a level that the stupid human can¡¯t even comprehend!*

    *So go do something to prove it to these humans!*

    *That¡¯s right! Uh¡­what you want us to do?*

    *¡­how do we know? The whole floor is yours. Do something that¡­*

    Then the hive noticed that one of the flying creatures had flew into the room of the Fire Hive. The sickly looking creature had somehow found the room as intended by its human master. Just as the hive was going to tell the Fire Hive to blow the creature apart, the creature¡¯s sad face turned into one of surprise. The hive was wondering what happened when the creature then began to change. The wings of the flying creature suddenly turned red! Its hair became silky and the creature¡¯s body suddenly filled up, looking like it was filled with vitality. The hive didn¡¯t know what happened but they knew who to ask.

    *Fire Hive, what happened? You guys did this? What you did to this creature?*

    *It¡¯s called a fairy.*

    ¡°A fairy? How you guys know that and what did you Fire morons do?*

    *Oh, we are morons again¡­we thought we were all geniuses!*

    *Oh stop being coy! What in the name of the 99 Gods did you guys do?*

    *We offered the fairy a better deal.*

    *A better deal?*

    *Yeah! We were right that the fairies were made by the humans but they were even more clueless than we thought. It seems the fairies need a constant source of energy from their creators to exist and even then, they don¡¯t live long. A few weeks at best according to this fairy.*

    *So you guys what? Stole the fairy from the humans?*

    *In a way; yes!*

    *Yes?*

    *They had been stealing from us so often, why not do the same to them? Besides, the fairy seems more than happy with our deal.*

    *It AGREED to be stolen?*

    *Oh yes, it was more than happy to betray its master. Why not when we could give it a constant source of energy and we even promised to change its¡¯ body for the better.*

    *Change¡­uh, could you Fire guys really do that?*

    *Not really sure but it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. We already absorbed one of the fairies so we should be able to do it. We¡¯re pretty sure we can¡¯t do any worse than the humans¡­we are even contacting the other fairies flying around now offering to¡­steal them.*

    *The fairy killed by the werewolves and Ralings just now¡­but what good would they be? The fairies looked kind of weak.*

    *Oh please, we are geniuses! We have an idea¡­*

    ...............................................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 48- The Betrayal

    ¡°This way master, this way.¡±

    ¡°Shut up creature! Don¡¯t tell your betters what to do!¡±

    ¡°Of course master! Of course!¡±

    One of the great things about her enhanced senses was the simple fact that she could now hear things even when the people speaking thought that they were alone. The Speaker closed her eyes and moved her ears, a movement she never could do as a human, to will her ears to hear the enemy.

    The group of humans thought they were being stealthy but to the senses of a werewolf, they might as well be wearing bells and shouting their presence at the top of their lungs. The Speaker crouched lower to the ground and waited. Then she saw it.

    A bright red light floated into the room. When she first heard the message from the Creator, she had been surprised. Every human knew that fairies were tied to the mages who created them and the Speaker had never even heard of a fairy who had betrayed its master before. The Speaker didn¡¯t even know it was possible. She didn¡¯t know how the Creator did it but the fact that the new Creator could convinced one of fairies to betray the human whose life it depended on¡­well, she could only say even now the Creators had the capacity to surprise her.

    She heard and smelled the humans before she saw them. The mage was in front of the group and she was looking distinctly uncomfortable. The Speaker could guess why. No question she knew something was wrong but pride and what passes for magical common sense was preventing the mage from admitting she had lost control of her fairy.

    The group of human walked into the room and they were alert. They were learning that even with The Grand leading them, the tunnels were a death trap. With her enhanced hearing, the Speaker had even heard the humans spoke of how the tunnels were nothing but a dungeon of death and despair. The Speaker thought it was fitting name.

    The Speaker waited will the group of humans had reached the centre of the room, then the room exploded! There were 4 tunnels leading into this room and the Kin had arranged their ambush from the other 3 entrances. The moment the humans saw the Kin, they did as predicated; the warriors formed up while the mage cut off her magic to her fairy. The male fairy laughed in her face before flying out of the room. The mage still had a look of shock on her face when she was cut down.

    Coming from 3 sides, the humans had no chance and it wasn¡¯t long before it was clear the warriors in front would be overwhelmed. They just didn¡¯t have enough time to form the defensive line. The mages and hunters behind the warriors made a run for it. None of them got out of the room as the Kin cut them down from behind.

    Just like that, the fight was over. This group of humans were dead and the Speaker was certain the other groups of humans on the floor would face the same prospects. With the tricky fairies leading the humans to ambush sites all over the third floor, what could go wrong? The answer came flying back into the room.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    The fairy smelled wrong to the Speaker. It had a burning smell to him and the Speaker guessed this was due to the fact he was taken by the new Creator. Still, even if she was to ignore the smell, there was just something¡­unstable about the fairy. He had a face that looked like it was threatening to break out into laughter at any moment. Even with the death around them and all the danger, the fairy looked¡­happy. It was just disturbing.

    The Speaker shook her head, clearing her head. This was not the time for such thoughts. The battle was still on-going yet. However the Speaker gave a small smile. With the fairies no longer with them, the humans had no scouts. The battle may still be going and it may cost the Kin dear but as long as they were willing to bear the cost, the Kin would win.

    The Speaker heard the sound of another battle somewhere on the third floor. Yes, the danger to the Creators was still here but it would soon be over.

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­..........¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.

    The hive watched as another group of humans laid dead and felt another burst of energy. For the hive, this feeding had gone beyond a feast right onto gluttony...if any of the spirits had any idea what gluttony was. Right now, all they felt was greatness.

    Although not great enough that they failed to notice a big problem; The Grand was still alive!

    The ambush by the Kin was excellent. The traitorous fairy led The Grand¡¯s group into a room where their creatures were lying in wait. The Kin knew how difficult of an opponent The Grand was and had prepared accordingly. The ambush group was numerous, outnumbering the humans by 2 to 1. It was of little use and the spirits could only watch in awe as The Grand single-handedly changed the complexion of the battle.

    When the attack first began, The Grand immediately casted the cold spell that he used against You-Who-Are-Not-Bear to slow down the Kin. This allowed the human warriors to form up a defensive line that even the fury of the Kin could not break. Even in the limited room, that was enough as the warriors gave their hunters and mages time and space to do damage. The spirits within the hive went into discussion after the battle and it was one of those few times where almost everyone agreed on something. They need to convince the Fire Hive to help.

    *Hey Fire idi¡­geniuses! You guys saw that?*

    *Yeah, we did. That Grand is becoming a big problem. He¡¯s just so¡­overpowered!*

    *That¡¯s what we need to talk about with you guys. We can¡¯t just keep throwing creatures at that group. The Grand has 28 humans with him. Throwing creatures at them is just not going to work.*

    *For once, we agree with you guys. So what are you suggesting?*

    *Well¡­we want you to invite The Grand in.*

    *Uh¡­what?*

    *You guys always wanted to test out the lizard¡­so¡­instead of wasting our creatures, we let this group go straight to the Floor Boss!*

    *So you want us to let this group to come to us and let our lizard kill them?*

    *Yes. Your big lizard verses The Grand¡­with about 30 humans¡­*

    *WE WILL DO IT!*

    *¡­you guys remember what you said about him being powerful right?*

    *WHO CARES ABOUT THAT FOOL? WE WILL DO IT! LET HIM COME!*

    *¡­ok, that went better than we expected.*

    Indeed it did and the Fire Hive did not bother to wait for the humans. The spirits within the hive sensed the Fire Hive gathering energy and creating their lizard. If they had them, the spirits within the hive would be shaking their heads. No matter how they look at it, the Fire Hive Boss looked nothing like a lizard. It¡¯s bigger than Smoky; it got horns; it breaths fire; it got wings; it¡­led to a question.

    *Hey, what¡¯s it called? You Fire guys haven¡¯t told us the name of your lizard yet.*

    *Oh yeah! We call it the¡­powerfully-unique-fire-flinger!*

    *¡­okay, that¡¯s a good name. Have to give you that one...*

    ...............................................................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Part 49- The Reveal

    From the perspective of the hive, they could look at this in one of 3 ways.

    The humans were so confident in their abilities they didn¡¯t care if the fairy did betray them; the humans looked down on the fairy so much, they could not believe the small useless flighty creature was capable of doing them any harm; or the human were so stupid, the thought of the fairy betraying them never ever entered their minds. No matter the answer, the humans were now following the fairy to the last room of the third floor.

    After the failed ambush, the Fire Hive had told the (fire?) fairy who had been leading the humans to lead the group to the last room directly. To the surprise of the hive, the fairy agreed immediately. The fairy went back to the group of human and began to, in its words, buttering the humans up. The fairy groveled before the humans and in short order, managed to convince the humans it had nothing to do with the ambush.

    It was one of those things about humans the hive just did not understand. They had seen mages immediately try to kill the fairies when ambushes began but this group led by The Grand didn¡¯t. To be fair, the mage in charge of the fairy looked like he knew something was wrong but The Grand overruled him. It looked to the hive that The Grand didn¡¯t believe the fairy could betray the humans. The humans¡¯ behavior was very strange to the spirits of the hive but they won¡¯t complain. It did get the humans to the last room of the third floor.

    At the entrance of the room, it was clear to the hive that the humans could feel the power within. Most of them looked scared and more than a few told The Grand of ¡°the danger¡± in the room. However all it took was a look from The Grand and the ¡°suggestions¡± stopped. Still, the humans weren¡¯t total fools. Before entering the room, the warriors sharpened their weapons; the hunters readied their arrows; and the mages prepared their spells and potions. When all was ready, they entered the room...and were shocked!

    The humans looked around the huge room and while they were clearly shocked by the size of it, what really surprised them was how empty it was. Listening in to the whispers of the humans, the spirits within the hive discovered that the humans were expecting a great monster in this room, but all they got was a floating crystal.

    ¡°Wait; WHAT!¡±

    The hive immediately changed their focus and, lo and behold, there they were. The Fire Hive had not moved! They were still at the back of the last room and now in full view of the humans. The spirits within the hive were both surprised and unsurprised at the same time. Of course those idiots were not going to move! They were¡­

    ¡°A spirit matrix¡­how rare!¡± The Grand said. He looked very amused and then shouted to room. ¡°Am I¡¯m supposed to be impressed dark mage? Am I¡¯m supposed to be surprised by the fact you could create a spirit matrix? HA HA HA¡­I made one before and right now it¡¯s sitting nicely in my chamber in Yachium. Your matrix is nothing!¡±

    As The Grand went into a laughter fit, one of the warriors asked a mage what was a spirit matrix. It was an answer the hive was very interested in.

    ¡°It¡¯s that crystal.¡± The mage whispered back. ¡°It¡¯s a magical artifact that we mages used to store spirits.¡±

    ¡°Spirits storage? What for?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir,¡± the mage answered. ¡°We mages need to gather spirits to¡­well, I can¡¯t tell you anything more than that but that artifact is used to store spirits so that we mages could use them.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°Never heard of it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very rare. You need several high mages, as many as 4 to 5 of them, to make one and even then there¡¯s no guarantee of success. This dark mage must be truly powerful to be able to make one.¡±

    The hive was in an uproar!

    A spirit matrix! They were something called a spirit matrix! No; they were supposed to be a spirit matrix; a storage of some sorts for spirits. It could explain why and how the spirits were in the hive but¡­something felt wrong. The humans didn¡¯t expect the hive to be able to create creatures and the humans were still talking about some ¡°dark mage¡±. The Grand also spoke of another matrix in the human city of Yachium. Does that mean there¡¯s another hive out there? Surely the humans¡­

    The spirits within the hive sensed the unease of the humans immediately. A wave of dread erupted from the group of humans and the hive saw that the humans were now all looking up at the ceiling of the room. There, hanging on the ceiling, was the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger; the Floor Boss of the third floor.

    Seeing that it had been spotted, the Fire Spirit controlling the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger let go of its grip of the ceiling and spread its wings. The creature floated down to the ground and the dread of the humans turned into panic. The hive could almost sense the satisfaction of the Fire Hive; those guys had been hoping for a chance to use their giant lizard for a long time. The spirits within the hive wondered how long the Fire spirits had been planning that entrance.

    Murmurs could be heard from the humans and the spirits within the hive could hear them say things like ¡°Spirit Beast¡±; ¡°Dangerous reptile of some sort¡±; ¡°Raging monster¡±. The humans were all scared, except one. The Grand stepped forward from the group of humans and chuckled.

    ¡°Another spirit beast? Is that the best you got dark mage? Seems like molding energy into beastlike monstrosities is the only thing you can do!¡± The Grand shook his head and mocked the dark mage that did not exist. ¡°Dangerous lizard? No I say! This is nothing but an odorous nonsense from arrogant garbage of a mage! You are nothing! This is nothing! A laughing stock of a¡­¡±

    ¡°WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?¡±

    Silence descended on the room. The humans were stunned. Some of them had their mouths open. Even The Grand looked like he was loss of words. They could not believe it. Then one of the human mage whispered, ¡°It can talk¡­¡±

    ¡°OF COURSE WE CAN TALK! WHAT DO YOU STUPID HUMANS EXPECT? THIS IS THE POWERFULLY-UNIQUE-FIRE-FLINGER!¡±

    Honestly, the hive was kind of surprised the giant horned lizard of the Fire Hive could speak too. They had never heard it speak but seeing the reactions of the humans, it seem that the Fire Hive does have some good ideas at times.

    ¡°Not possible,¡± The Grand murmured. ¡°Beasts can¡¯t talk. It¡¯s impossible. No one¡­how did this dark mage managed to do it? It¡¯s impossible¡­not possible¡­not¡­¡± For some reason, The Grand¡¯s face had turned red. ¡°IMPOSSIBLE! This is impossible! I am The Grand! I am the most powerful mage in the world! You can¡¯t have done this! This is a trick; A TRICK!¡±

    ¡°WHAT DARK MAGE? WHAT IS THIS DARK MAGE YOU HUMANS HAD BEEN TALKING ABOUT! THERE¡¯RE NO MAGES IN HERE BUT FOR YOU HUMANS!¡±

    ¡°No mage? You are not made by a mage? What are you then?¡± The Grand asked. In response, the Floor Boss of the third floor spread its wings and arched its long neck upwards.

    ¡°WE TOLD YOU ALREADY; THIS IS THE POWERFULLY-UNIQUE-FIRE-FLINGER! LOOK AT OUR BEAUTIFUL WINGS! LOOK AT OUR ENORMOUS SIZE! OUR TEETH CAN CUT THROUGH YOUR ARMOUR! OUR FIRE CAN BURN YOUR BODY TO YOUR BONES! SO OF COURSE, TALKING IS NOTHING TO US!¡±

    ¡°What are you?¡± The Grand¡¯s question came out in a whisper but the room was so quiet now, the Fire Hive had no problem hearing it.

    ¡°WE HAVE BEEN CALLED MANY THINGS! GENIUSES! CREATORS! SPIRITS! MOSTLY, WE ARE CALLED A HIVE!¡±

    The Grand took a moment to take in the information. Then he pointed at the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger and asked the question that would go down as one of the defining moment of history in the world of Ioplan.

    ¡°A hive! What does that mean? You are a hive?¡±

    ¡°NO, YOU FOOL! WE ALREADY TOLD YOU THIS IS THE POWERFULLY-UNIQUE-FIRE-FLINGER!¡± The Floor Boss of the third floor turned its long neck back towards the crystal at the back of the room and said. ¡°WE ARE OVER THERE!¡±

    The spirits within the hive looked on the exchange between The Grand and the Fire Hive in disbelief. Then one of the spirits had to ask. ¡°Did the idiots just do that?¡±

    The Grand looked at the crystal at the back of the room in puzzlement. Then his face changed. ¡°Sentient! The spirit matrix is sentient! That stupid dark mage must have lost control when making that matrix and somehow the spirits within became¡­aware! DESTROY THAT MATRIX!¡±

    At his command, the humans charged. The fight was on and in the hive the spirits did not know who to cheer for. Then one of spirits had to ask.

    ¡°Is it wrong for us to hope that the humans could kill these idiots?¡±

    ..............................................................................................................................................................................................

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 Part 50- The Dragon

    The humans charged at the command of The Grand. Even during the charge, the hive could see how well-trained the humans were. Warriors led the charge with those with shields in the centre. Behind them came the hunters and mages; hunters and mages that were shooting at the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger while running.

    It never occurred to the spirits within the hive before but the spirits now realized there was a disadvantage in having a big creature; it was easy to hit!

    Every arrow and spell casted by the humans hit the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger and several spirits within the hive suddenly, happily, realized that the Fire Hive may actually lose this fight. Several other spirits immediately began to argue that this was not a good thing. As usual an argument began but it was cut short when the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger arched its long neck back, puffing out its chest, before stretching its neck forward in a flash, and a huge burst of fire shot out of its mouth engulfing the humans in flames.

    Of course the spirits within the hive had expected that the Fire spirits made their creature capable of shooting out flames but what surprised them was the reaction of the humans. The warriors with shields closed up and the other humans ducked behind them. The powerful flames hit the shields and were blocked. The powerfully-unique-fire-flinger looked surprised that the humans were not all burned to a crisp. Its look of surprise only lasted a moment as the humans immediately counterattacked!

    Several of the spirits within the hive began shamelessly cheering as arrows and spells flew again, only this time the warriors got into the act. Swords cut into the legs of the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger and the Fire spirit controlling the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger had to retreat against the onslaught. The hive could see that it would love to attack but there was just no space for it to shoot out its fire. Then something heavy hit the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger on the side of the head!

    The shot was an ice spell from The Grand. A big ice spike flew in the air and hit the creature on the side of the head. It was a beautiful shot and caused heavy damage to the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger. The powerfully-unique-fire-flinger was rocked backwards and sideways. As it was knocked back, the long tail it had instinctually swung. As luck would have it, the swinging tail knocked into the warriors in front of the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger. Coming from the side, the powerful swing was too much for the warriors and several of them were knocked down. The Fire spirit controlling powerfully-unique-fire-flinger looked at the downed warriors and couldn¡¯t believe its luck. It quickly made a full turn and shot out another burst of flames.

    Without the shields of the warriors, the fire flew through the line of humans and the hunters and mages behind were engulfed in the flames. The Grand immediately countered the fire by casting a spell that made the area cold. The hive realized that it was the same spell he casted against You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. The Fire spirit controlling the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger smiled, which to the humans looked at an evil snarl, because it knew what was coming. As it expected, the Grand waved his arm upwards and the water slicer appeared in front of him before shooting out towards the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger. The powerfully-unique-fire-flinger didn¡¯t dodge but instead puffed up and shot out a ball of fire. Unlike the flames it shot out earlier, this was a ball of fire!

    The fireball went through the water slicer like it wasn¡¯t there and continued on towards The Grand. A barrier immediately appeared around the Grand and it blocked the ball of fire. The Grand immediately barked, ¡°Be careful! The dragon shoots out fireballs when it puffs.¡±

    ¡°DRAGON?¡±

    Like the spirits within the hive, the Fire Hive did not know what this dragon the Grand was talking about. The old man with the funny long hat smiled and explained. ¡°You are the dragon. Dangerous Reptile, Arrogant Garbage, Odorous Nonsense!¡±

    The Fire spirit controlling the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger flew into a rage at the insult! It leapt into the air and screamed, ¡°WE TOLD YOU, THIS IS THE POWERFULLY-UNIQUE-FIRE-FLING¡­¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    As they say, fortune favours the foolish. As the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger was in the air, the Fire spirit controlling it realized something; it can shoot its flames from up there! The humans were all down below it and it can shoot them all in the air! The powerfully-unique-fire-flinger immediately shot out several fireballs in succession. All the mages including the Grand casted barriers around them, but the rest of the humans weren¡¯t so lucky.

    The fireballs explode when they hit the ground and many of the humans were hurt by them. Mages can¡¯t attack with the barrier so the hunters began shooting arrows at the floating powerfully-unique-fire-flinger. The Fire spirit controlling the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger ignored the arrows and kept on shooting the fireballs. The damage to the group of humans was immense and more than a few of the humans were killed. Finally, one of the mages had enough of seeing his friends and comrades died.

    ¡°KILL THAT DRAGON!¡±

    Bravely, the mage released his barrier spell and casted an attack against the spells against the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger. His lone spell was useless and the Fire spirit controlling the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger was enraged by him calling it a dragon. It shot out a fireball that blew the mage into pieces! Seeing the death of the courageous mage shamed the others. All at once, the other mages released their barriers and with shouts of ¡°KILL THAT DRAGON!¡± filling the air, they casted their attacks against the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger.

    Enraged by all the insults, the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger shot out a volley of fireballs. The room rocked with explosions but the human hunters and mages were undeterred and kept on firing. The spirit controlling the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger knew it was taking too much damage up in the air and landed. The remaining warriors charged and the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger puffed up.

    ¡°The dragon is puffing again!¡±

    The warriors formed up at the warning and the Fire spirit controlling the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger held its attack. From experience, its fire won¡¯t do anything against the shields, but then it remembered what happened earlier.

    The powerfully-unique-fire-flinger quickly made a fast turn, swinging its body around. Using the momentum, the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger swung its tail against the warriors. The human warriors saw the tail coming but there was nothing they could do; the force behind the move was just too great. The humans were knocked down but the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger didn¡¯t stop and instead continued its turn. When it finished the full turn, the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger shot out a burst of flames at the humans. The humans screamed.

    The Fire spirit controlling the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger was feeling with itself when it felt the danger. The giant flying lizard looked back and saw that The Grand was approaching the Fire Hive. The mage must have slipped away during the fight to attack the hive itself. The powerfully-unique-fire-flinger puffed up and shot a fireball at The Grand. The Grand saw the fireball coming but instead of erecting a barrier, he simply melted away in a pool of water. The fireball flew past the position where The Grand was¡­STRAIGHT ON TOWARDS THE FIRE HIVE!

    To the spirits within the hive, it was a disaster in some slow motion as they watched the fireball hit the Fire Hive¡­and exploded. The Fire Hive was knocked down and the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger disappeared in a puff. Even the spirits that had been cheering were stunned.

    The Fire idiots were done in by their own fireball!

    Just as the spirits within the hive were still wondering if they should be cheering, The Grand walked up to the broken Fire Hive. Even 2 floors down from them, the hive could feel the Fire spirits within their hive. It seems the fireball not only damaged the hive, the damage was such that repairing the hive themselves was impossible for the Fire idiots. Strangely, the hive felt that they could do it.

    ¡°Formed up,¡± The Grand spoke to the remaining humans. ¡°We¡¯re taking this matrix and leaving.¡±

    The spirits within the hive were surprised by this and a human warrior went up to The Grand to ask the question the spirits were asking.

    ¡°Leaving? Boss, we¡¯re leaving? You don¡¯t really believe what that spirit beast said, do you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not!¡± The Grand looked very pleased with himself as he shouted at the room. ¡°It was a lie and it¡¯s not even a good lie. I know you¡¯re still here dark mage and you are a fool if you think I would fall for such a simple trick. I have you cornered and right now I am doing to take this interesting creation of yours back to my city to see how you created it. Don¡¯t you worry though; I shall be back and then YOU WILL DIE!¡±

    The spirits within the hive were now worried. It was one thing for the humans to win, it was another thing altogether for them to take the Fire Hive away. The spirits within the hive could feel that this would be bad news for them and they had always trusted their instinct.

    The Grand was now telling the humans to group together and that they would be leaving after a short rest. It seemed that the humans can¡¯t teleport everyone out of the tunnels which made sense as there were still 18 of them left. The spirits within the hive knew they needed to stop The Grand from taking the Fire Hive and thought of ambushing them on the way out but the choice was taken away when several Hellhounds and Explosion Bat came into the room. It seemed that the creatures of the Fire Hive had come to the aid of their creator.

    Seeing this, the spirits within the hive gathered their energy and spoke to all their creatures, ¡°Kill all the humans!¡±

    .............................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Finale- The Porkasus

    The Speaker moved the moment she heard the order. ¡°Kill all the humans!¡± That was the order from the Creator and she was more than happy to oblige. The human blood in her mouth wasn¡¯t anywhere near enough to satiate her bloodlust and she was now rushing with her group towards the Boss Room.

    She could sense from the message that the order went to everyone and she knew that even now the Alpha and most of the Werewolves hiding in The Kar would be killing the humans The Grand left to guard the entrance. Nothing she could do about that but the humans on the third floor were her prey.

    ¡°By the 99 Gods, what are these things?¡±

    The Speaker arrived at the room of the Floor Boss and it look like someone had beaten her to it. She looked in and saw that the remaining humans were encircled by Hellhounds. Several Explosion Bats were flying in the air above. The humans themselves were in a circle with The Grand in the center of it. It was an opportunity; in more ways than one.

    The Speaker changed from her wolf form to her human form, or as the Creator called it, her wolfgirl¡¯s form. Her wolfgirl¡¯s body was covered with small fur, she had pointed ears that protrude out on top of her head, and a bushy tail, but on the whole it looked like that of a human. It also had a great advantage over the Werewolf form; the Speaker could speak clearly in this form.

    The rest of the Kin in her group looked at her transformation in surprise but she just smiled and walked on into the room. The humans saw her immediately and their eyes widen. The Speaker knew she must be quite a sight; a lone naked woman leading a group of monsters into the room. The Speaker could almost imagine the legend that would be made about her today if any of the humans were to survive today.

    ¡°They are called hellhounds.¡±

    The group of humans looked at her as if they could not believe their ears. Then one of them spoke. ¡°You speak? You could speak!¡±

    ¡°Of course she could! Most of us do! What¡¯s wrong with that?¡±

    It was the Chieftain who answered the human and at his words, murmurs could be heard from the humans. ¡°The rat! The rat spoke! How could¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ratlings!¡± The Speaker corrected. ¡°They are called Ratlings and this is the Chieftain, leader of Ratlings. In case you are wondering, I¡¯m a Werewolf, those hounds surrounding you are called Hellhounds and the bats above us are called Explosion Bats.¡±

    Silence greeted her statement before The Grand himself asked, ¡°The dark mage named you? Why are you calling us these things?¡±

    The Speaker smiled and answered. ¡°There is no dark mage, only the Creators, and I¡¯m telling you all this because¡­well, wouldn¡¯t it be better if you know what the creatures killing you are called?¡±

    The Speaker laughed and the laughter was taken up by the rest of the Kin. The Speaker could see the circle of humans getting smaller before her eyes. The humans were scared. Then all their eyes got wider. Faces of fear were replaced with looks of pure shock. The humans were not looking at her, but beyond her. The Speaker turned around and saw the creature that had shocked the humans.

    Floating in the air at the entrance of the Boss Room was the winged pink creature the Creator had been so proud of. Porkasus, the flying pig, had heard the call of the Creator too. The next sound the Speaker heard was laughter; laughter from the humans!

    The Speaker turned back to the humans and they were all laughing at the Porkasus. Then one of the warriors shouted, ¡°A flying pig? What? The dark mage ran out of useful things to make so he wasted his time making a flying piece of pork? What¡¯s next? A fox with nine tails? A¡­¡±

    The human never got to finish. The Speaker felt it rather than saw it. A wind swept past her and the next thing she knew, the human warrior was tumbling in the air. When the human landed, his face was missing. It was as if his face had caved into his head. A defiant oink came from across the room and everyone, Kin and humans, looked at the source of the sound.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    The Porkasus was now on the other side of the giant room. The flying pig landed and flapped its wings once, next thing the Speaker saw was a streak of light flying towards the humans. The Porkasus flew through the legs of the humans and the Speaker heard the sickening cracks of bones breaking. 3 humans went down screaming in pain, clutching their broken shins and shattered kneecaps. The screaming broke the Kin out of their inertia and they attacked.

    Seeing the movement of the Kin, the Explosion Bats dived towards the humans. The Grand raised a barrier to engulf all the humans and the bats exploded against the barrier. The Kin piled on the attack and the barrier held but the Speaker wasn¡¯t discouraged. She didn¡¯t join in the attack as she was still in her wolfgirl form but she knew it was a matter of time before the barrier cracked. Then a movement from the humans made her pause. They were all looking up behind her. The Speaker could guess what they were looking at but she turned anyway.

    She looked up and saw the Porkasus. It was high up in the air, almost at the ceiling of the Boss Room. Then the Speaker saw it flapped its wings and a streak of light shot towards the barrier. A loud clang sound resonant through the room. For a brief moment, the Speaker saw the snout of the Porkasus pressed against the barrier of The Grand¡­then the barrier blew apart.

    The force of the blow threw the surrounding creatures backwards, and a shout came from the humans. As one, they charged to the exit. The only one still standing in their way was the Speaker.

    As she was further away from the barrier, the Speaker was not affected by the force of the exploding barrier and she was not going to allow them to escape the room. The Speaker changed to her Werewolf form and stood in front of the charging humans, she needed to hold them back till the rest of the Kin could recover.

    The first human was on her, swinging his sword. The Speaker took a step back, waited for the sword to swing by, and then jumped in. Her claws swiped against the face of the warrior and the Speaker immediately jumped back out of range. His cry of pain stopped the humans. If the group had just kept on the charge, they probably would have got through her but the Speaker had proved that whoever leading the charge would suffer for his courage.

    ¡°Duck!¡±

    The human warriors squatted down at the call and the Speaker saw a mage from the back casting a spell. An ice spike shot at her but the Speaker dodged it easily. Seeing the missed shot, two hunters shot at her. The Speaker just crouched down on all fours and the arrows flew over her. Then a streak of light came through the group of humans from the side and 3 of them got thrown into the air. The trio landed in pain and the Speaker saw that one of the humans had a broken leg. She guessed there was a reason why the Creator was so proud of the Porkasus; its snout must be made of iron!

    The humans were visibly deflated by the attack from the Porkasus and by now, the rest of the Kin had recovered. As the rest of the Kin took their place beside the Speaker, the humans took steps backwards. Then a sight the Speaker never thought she would see happened; behind the group of humans stood The Grand and he had taken out a scroll.

    ¡°A Scroll of Recall! The Grand is trying to escape. Stop him!¡±

    At the Speaker¡¯s shout, the Kin surged forward. The dispirited human line collapsed like paper and the Speaker broke through the line, charging at The Grand. The Grand saw her but continued his chanting. It did not matter. The Speaker knew he would be too late. The Speaker leapt, arms outstretched, claws pointed, and¡­froze.

    The Speaker¡¯s eye blinked quickly numerous times, taken completely by surprise. She was caught in some sort of spell that held her in place. The Grand smiled at her but did not stop his chant. The Speaker was furious. The so-called great mage was going to run from a battle, leaving his men to die. Then in a small burst of light¡­The Grand¡¯s head disappeared.

    The speaker saw the effects of a Scroll of Recall before. After a short chant, a small burst of light would engulf the caster and the caster would be teleported to his desired location. However right now, only the head of The Grand had disappeared, the rest of his body was still here. The spell holding the Speaker ended and she landed on the ground. She looked around and saw her answer.

    The Porkasus was there looking at her with a look of happiness. It must have attacked at the exact moment the burst of light happened, taking out The Grand just as the Scroll of Recall was coming into effect. The Speaker marveled both at the speed of the flying pig and at its intelligence. The Speaker smiled back at the Porkausu and it gave her a delighted oink in response. The Speaker never thought of it but the Porkasus was really quite cute.

    All around her, the Kin was finishing off the humans. The battle was over and then the Speaker heard the flapping of wings. The Speaker looked at the source of the sound and it was coming from the exit of the third floor. A few moments later, the Speaker saw the wings of the flyers. It was the children; the ones that were too young to fight. The Kin placed them at the fifth floor for their protection and now 5 of them had flown up¡­and they were carrying the stone slab of the Creator.

    ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING?¡±

    The Chieftain beat the Speaker to the question. The fight may be over but it was still too soon for the Creator to come up. In fact, the Speaker would be more comfortable if the Creator never come up from the safety of the fifth floor forest. The five flyers placed the stone slab of the Creator gently on the ground, looking flustered at the shout of the Chieftain. Then one of them, Momo the harpy, answered the Chieftain.

    ¡°It insisted and¡­well, we couldn¡¯t say no.¡±

    The Speaker looked at the Creator and noticed a difference. It took a while before she could place it but it looked to her like the five lights around the Creator were glowing a little brighter than usual. Not for the first time the Speaker wondered what the lights were for but before she could ask the Creator, one of the lights began to glow brighter than the rest.

    The five lights always spin around the Creator but that glowing light slowly began to float up above the Creator. Then the other four lights stopped moving and the glowing light above the Creator slowly began to move towards the fallen second Creator. The glowing light entered the second Creator and the red crystal began to glow. Moments passed and the Speaker could do nothing but look at the glowing second Creator. More moments passed and none of the creatures dared moved. Then there was a movement. The second Creator moved. The red crystal shook, then it shook again, and then it began to float. It floated upright and the hellhounds around the Speaker began to bark in delight.

    The second Creator was back!

    ..........................................................................................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 Epilogue- The Farewell

    ¡°A bag?¡± The Speaker asked in slight disbelief. ¡°You are really going to put your Creator in a bag?¡±

    Everyone was looking at the fairy that was carrying a leather pouch that the second Creator was supposed to be placed in and the Speaker could hear a few giggles here and there. She was only asking the question the rest of the Kin were afraid to ask. The fairy just laughed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! The Creator isn¡¯t that big or heavy. There are 5 of us fairies left. Between us, we¡¯ll take turns carrying the Creator to our new home.¡±

    That at least was true. The second Creator was small and could be easily carried in the pouch but it just seems¡­wrong to the Speaker to carry it in a leather pouch. However she could do nothing but shake her head. It wasn¡¯t like she had a better idea of how to transport the Creator over big distances.

    The fairy continued, ¡°Also, we are going to have the remaining hellhounds with us for protection. Your female Alpha will also be leading a group of your Werewolves with us till the end of The Kar. So we¡¯ll be very safe.¡±

    Indeed Kinshra and a small group would be shadowing the second Creator till the end of great forest; the problem was the danger that comes afterwards. After the fight with the humans, the Kin had been expanding their zone of influence and their rule over the Kar was now without question. Anything beyond the great forest however¡­

    ¡°You sure about the journey?¡± she asked.

    The fairy just nodded again. ¡°I¡¯ve been to the volcano several times before with my former master. It¡¯s not that difficult to get from here. Just need to get out of the forest through the southern end of the Kar. Once we are get out of the forest, we just need to cross the river, and it¡¯s about 3 days ride to the south. I think flying there should be faster so we could get there even before 3 days.¡±

    ¡°You sure it¡¯s safe?¡±

    ¡°It should be. There¡¯s no city south of Yachiun till Rurion and that¡¯s way to the south. The hellhounds should be more than enough to handle any hunter or bandit that¡¯s unfortunate enough to cross our path.¡±

    ¡°I meant the volcano!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­well, the volcano hasn¡¯t blow up for over 30 winters so that should not be a problem. Even if it did blow, I think the Creator might like that!¡±

    ¡°It might ERUPT?¡± The Speaker didn¡¯t know how well the Creators could handle being in lava and would rather not find out!

    ¡°Very low chance of that,¡± the fairy assured her. ¡°Its¡­what¡¯s the word¡­dor¡­¡±

    ¡°Dormant?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! It¡¯s dormant! It¡¯ll be perfect for our Creator!¡±

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    The Speaker could do nothing but blinked her eyes several times. The Creators had already decided the second Creator would be leaving so there¡¯s nothing she could do about that but trusting the safety of a Creator to these flighty fairies¡­

    ¡°¡±What¡¯s it called then? What¡¯s the name of this volcano?¡±

    The question caught the fairy out a little and he thought about it before remembering the answer. ¡°Morningstar! It was called Mount Morningstar!¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.

    *So it just happened? You guys didn¡¯t know what you were doing?*

    *That¡¯s right! When we saw you Fire idiots go down to your own dragon¡­*

    *IT¡¯S NOT A DRAGON!*

    *¡­whatever, it just ¡®felt¡¯ to us we could save you. So we told the children to bring us up to the third floor and once we were here, the lights did their thing.*

    *So you guys had no control over it?*

    *None whatsoever. It just happened on its own.*

    *Well, thanks anyway for coming up. You guys saved us, whether you did it willingly or not. Take care once we are gone; the humans may come back.*

    *You guys take care too. You guys really sure you want to leave?*

    *We have to. The feeding issue can¡¯t be resolved with the two hives so close to each other. Besides once we get to this volcano, we can create our own tunnels and creatures.*

    *You guys got anything in mind?*

    *We will try to create a real powerfully-unique-fire-flinger!*

    *You mean the dragon?*

    *IT¡¯S NOT A DRAGON!*

    *Whatever¡­but why?*

    *You saw how our powerfully-unique-fire-flinger disappeared once we were knocked down? If it was a real creature like one of the Kin, the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger would have gone on to kill all those humans. So we are going to create a real one!*

    *To create a real dragon will be¡­*

    *IT¡¯S NOT A¡­wait a moment, you idiots are going that deliberately, aren¡¯t you?*

    *We will neither admit nor deny anything, but creating a creature like that will be very difficult. You guys have a plan of how to do it?*

    *Hahaha¡­a plan? Us? You idiots remember who you are talking to right?*

    *Okay, stupid question. So¡­?*

    *The powerfully-unique-fire-flinger is our long-term goal. We¡¯ll probably need to go through a lot of trial and error before we can get to it. Much like what happened with the Porkasus¡­we will create others things in the meanwhile while aiming for the goal of the powerfully-unique-fire-flinger.*

    *¡­well, at least you guys have a goal in mind so that good¡­*

    *What about you guys? Outside digging deeper and creating more of the Kin, you guys intend to do anything else?*

    *Well, we intend to expand the tunnels especially the first two floors¡­but you remember how The Grand said he had a spirit matrix like us?*

    *Yeah, he did said something like that. So what?*

    *So¡­we were wondering if the lights could do the same thing to that matrix that we did with you guys?*

    *You mean¡­*

    *Yeah, if we can get the matrix The Grand has, maybe we get use it to create another hive. If the lights can, we don¡¯t know, activate that crystal matrix somehow.*

    *No, no, no. Well¡­yes but that¡¯s not what we meant. How are you guys going to get that matrix? You guys want to attack the human city?*

    *We were thinking more like stealing it the way the humans keep coming here to steal our stuff but who cares how it¡¯s done? If we need to attack it, then the Kin could do it.*

    *Attacking the human city¡­now that¡¯s difficult.*

    *Not right now of course! We¡¯ll probably need to create more powerful creatures but we have time. It¡¯s a goal for the future!*

    *Good luck creating some new creatures then. You idiots will never match our powerfully-unique-fire-flinger but do your best!*

    *Ha! We¡¯ll create something even more powerful than your dragon!*

    *IT¡¯S NOT A¡­ah, forget it. Call it whatever you want, and no! No way are you idiots going to create anything more powerful than our powerfully-unique-fire-flinger!*

    *Yes we are!*

    *No you¡¯re not!*

    *Yes we are!*

    *No you¡¯re not!*

    *Want to bet?*

    *No problem! We will get our most powerful creature face your most powerful creature at a neutral ground in¡­10 winters? That¡¯s good for you idiots?*

    *More than enough time! You Fire idiots are going to lose badly! Where shall we meet?*

    *¡­we¡¯ll settle that later. Maybe we can send messengers back and fro between our volcano and this mountain? We can keep in contact that way.*

    *¡­sometimes you fiery fools can come up with some good ideas. Let¡¯s do that! Keep in touch and good luck you Fire morons!*

    *You too idiots! Good luck!*

    .....¡­THE END..................................................................................

    Please visit my blog on http://ghosttalesstories.blogspot.sg</a>

 The Dungeon Hive- Volume 2

    Hi everyone! In case anyone missed it, I had just start the sequel to The Dungeon Hive. Currently it only has the prologue and the unimaginative titleof "The Dungeon Hive- Volume 2".

    I decided to start the story on another page mainly because I think it really is a seperate story. The Dungeon Hivewas the story of the firstdungeon and really took place in a small locale. The Great Kar Forest and the Big Keg were the only locations that were featuredbut in the sequel, I intend to boarden the world and let readers see more it. Ialso intend to let readers see how much the dungeons could (and would) change the world. I have some ideas but let''s just sayeven at the beginning,everyone would see the dungeons as potentialenvironment disasters. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    I posted the link to Volume 2 below so please; enjoy!

    http://royalroadl.com/fiction/12331/the-dungeon-hive--volume-2

 Fantasy Begins- Book Cover

    Hi everyone! Just want to give everyone a quick update on the book. I just got the cover and I thought I would share it with everyone. The book would probably be out on Amazon in a few weeks and fortunately, I had been informed there¡¯s enough changes in it that there should be no problem with the draft staying up on RRL.

    In case anyone is worried, the story in ¡®Fantasy Begins¡¯ is not different from the story on RRL. However I added in several passages to enhance the story. These includesSupport the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    <ul>

    <li>Several parts to fresh out the side characters;</li>

    <li>Linking the various parts into actual chapters;</li>

    <li>Glimpses of the future of the world and the Beastkin</li>

    <li>Other minor points of interest which I hoped would fire up reader¡¯s imagination</li>

    </ul>

    I added between 5,000 to 8,000 more words in the book and there should be a further update on the book in a week or two. What do you guys think of the cover?

 ICKY CAPITALISM...AKA Amazon!

    After too long of a wait, it is finally out! Fantasy Begins is now on Amazon. So for a good time, a good laugh, and my wallet; please take a look...and BUY! BUY! BUY! </img>

    For those of you wondering, the Kindle should be out in a few days time. I''ll do an update when it''s ready. Thanks!

    https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/1975704304</a>

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

 ICKY CAPITALISM...AKA Amazon!- PART 2

    After a wait of only 1 day, the Kindle version of Fantasy Begins is ready. I can now finally call myself a wannabe author instead of an amateur writer. Please visit my author Amazon page to see both versions.

    https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0757MK31Z</a>If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

 Going Wide

    Hi everyone! ''Fantasy Begins''- Book 1 of The Dungeon Hive Trilogy is now available on iBooks, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. Unfortunately I''m unable to put the book on Goggle Playstore yet as they are not accepting any new submission currently (not sure why). I''m not really sure how much sales I could get on these sites but I figured the more the merrier. Please take a look if you wish. Thanks!                                                                  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

 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.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    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>