Final Fantasy - Dungeonscape Chronicles 002: Alone In The Dark

Silence, absolute silence. I can hear none of them, so I must presume the worst. It was likely to happen, anyway: they are way too many and we were too naive. How couldn't we imagine it was a trap? To think such a treasure would lay unguarded was, indeed, our folly, and we paid dearly for it. To think it all started because we wanted to help...

Months ago, our raanee received reports of bestial creatures leading mighty attacks on the neighboring kingdoms of the naugrim, but the naugrim themselves hadn't said anything on the regard, for they are very proud people who, rarely, take on the helping hand of others, or so I have been told. Nevertheless, our raanee wanted, on a display of her utmost wisdom and mercy, show a token of goodwill towards the naugrim by sending an small detachment to scout the zone, lest it be that the threat was nearing us without our knowing or that our neighbors were in dire need of rescue and silenced not by pride but by force. We all hoped for it to be merely a rumor, a missunderstanding, althought I must admit I was thrilled to take such a trip: it was my first assignement outside of the hive, so I was looking forward to behold the majestic halls in the depths of the world, or perhaps even the carved cities of the naugrim from afar.

To say my expectations weren't fullfilled would be a lie. True, I didn't got to see the naugrim city but, instead, I was granted a sight of which there was no record. It was a valley, lush with meadows, forests, lakes and even trees of kinds we have not heard of ever before and, yet, it's sky was sealed with a roof of natural stone, a paradise of the grounds above down here complete with everything, even light. At first, the latter feature was the most disturbing of all. How could possibly be light like the one of the sun in the deeps? One of our muftaqoras said it was likely the light came from an outcrop from a really rich vein of elerium or jorium, like none ever seen before in this world, perhaps even the very own "mother-load". Bewitched by the beauty of our finding, we abandoned our cautions and decided to stablish a camp of operations as soon as possible, before anybody else would dare to claim this treasure site for themselves.

However, it was here when the merry making turned sour and even the richly sweet taste of the fruit I was eating, taken from one of those bushes, lost most of its appeal. Upon scouting the area, we found debris, rocks of angular shape, all scattered across, leading the path to ruins. Our muftaqoras said the style and markings on the stone were unmistakenable: the site was of naugrim making, yet the foundations of this citadel were more unfinished than crumbled by time. As such, the conclusion was evident: something had scared away the naugrim, for their bodies were nowhere to be found, and it had to be something mighty, for the naugrim are not easy to scare, or so I have been told. Still, even when half-finished, the citadel offered an strong defensive point against any kind of intruder on land, so we decided to explore it in order to take it. Like I said, it was designed to stop foes that walked on their legs, not to endure threats from above, and so the horror began.

It started with a song, sweet like the very voice of our raanee, but of a dark and enthralling beauty. It was at first one voice, then another, and another, and another, until it was a chorus. It was like the song entered in our minds, like when our raanee speaks to us, but (if I dare to say it had a "form") it wasn't the "soothing carress" but instead a "paralyzing poison" that depraved the listener of strenght over itself. It almost overcame me but something granted me enough strenght to do one last thing, and so I did. Possesed by a rage proper of a barbarian, I plunged my head against a hard rock, like if by splitting the throne of my brains, the forcefull intruder would be expelled. Then everything blurred into darkness, for some hours I guess, before the searing pain would take me back to the waking world. Amid a pain that made me believe my head was truely split, writhing slowly on the dusty ground, I opened my eyes to behold a most grizzly scene, as my brothers and sisters laid limp, their innards exposed and the ground sprayed with their blood by birds of carrion that feasted upon their remains. Still, even when feathers clothed their bodies, these weren't mere vultures or buzzards of dire kind but beings in the likeness of the hume, with the shine of understanding on their golden eyes, yet feral and brutal, even amongst themselves. Were I have been anywhere else, I would have thought the aegyl had descended into madness and unleashed a ravenous appetite for sentient flesh on my kin, but the skyfolk never venture into the dark reaches of the world, like we do. Taking advantage of their feeding frenzy, I managed to scape, for I was (for all I could tell) no challenge for those beasts on my own, and headed to the forests, taking shelter in the darkness of the woods.

For now, it seems I am safe, subsisting sparing on the abundant fruit and berries that are, evidently, not of the taste of those beasts, but I have already lost count of the days, and my rations will grow scarce soon. From the roof of the cave, the beasts oversee everything that happens on the valley, making scape through the meadow impossible. For some reason, I cling to hope, but, deep down, as I can no longer hear the hums of my kin in my mind, I know something for sure: I'm alone... in the dark.

- Kumara, Makshika Sipahee.