The Firstlings

Murderer

Bently stood above the corpse of the Great Beast on shaky legs, his heart still racing. No one knew how close to death he had come when those dreadful claws came swiping at him. He felt their deadly aura, so he used a talisman to evade the incoming attack and retaliated. Summoning so much power had damaged his body, and he could feel fatigue setting in.

His was shocked when they entered the nest and stumbled onto hundreds of humanoid creatures surrounding the most terrifying Great Beast he had ever seen. She was gigantic and towered high in the cavern, a powerful aura washing off her, in a torrent of terror and grace.

She was majestic in a strange, otherworldly way.

Standing tall, she roared in challenge, sending a powerful golden aura rolling forward.

It crashed into his formations like an avalanche. Bently was slammed to his knees, tremors shaking through his body as the powerful aura passed through their lines, wreaking havoc on his men. The Great Beast lunged forward, swiping and stomping, butchering his men like cattle, their screams filling the air. In a panic, he ran forward, power welling inside him. His muscles bulging, he leaped high into the air, a green aura wrapping his blade as he activated his sword art.

But he paled when he saw those dreadful claws.

Shining with a gold aura and promising a swift death.

He remembered the talisman at the last moment, allowing him to sidestep the claws and retaliate with the remaining power he had built up. His deadly blade struck forward, slicing through the Great Beasts hand as it roared in pain. Blood poured as loud wails tore through the cavern, and a sense of sorrow washed over him. He caught a shadow moving in the corner of his eye and glanced over.

One of the humanoid beasts, a lot larger than the rest, was running at him with murder in his eyes. Waiting until the last moment, he sidestepped and struck the beast in the temple, sending him crashing to the cavern floor. Letting the Spell flow through his body, he activated his sword art, raising his sword high into the air.

A pale green aura surrounded hos blade.

But he almost faltered when the Great Beast came crashing in.

Knocking the humanoid back, the Great Beast stood over it protectively. Fear almost caused him to choke as he pushed all of his remaining power into his blade, swinging with everything he had. He had to kill the frightful terror standing before him. The blade descended and struck true as the last bit of power rushed from his core.

And nearly severed the Great Beasts head.

A chorus of screams and shouts filled the cavern as the greatest sense of wrongness washed over him, sending him to his knees. Tears welled up in his eyes, as if something precious had been taken from the world. He watched as a sword was shoved through the chest of the beast that attacked him as it stood there in shock.

He saw Karla fighting with another beast, amazed to see it scale the cavern wall like a spider, leaping past the soldiers and exiting the nest. They gave chase as Karla fell back, glancing in his direction with worry in her eyes.

But something was wrong.

When he killed the Great Beast, a harrowing wrongness gripped his heart and sent ripples through his body. He felt it deep in his bones—something, somehow, had gone wrong. As he searched around, he saw some battling still taking place at the rear of the cavern. His men had recovered after the death of the Great Beast and had started to clear the nest.

Looking at Karla with a weary face, he waved to reassure her, turning back as a soldier yelled in his direction.

“Captain, he’s still alive!”

Bently walked over to peer closely at the fallen beast, coming to a decision, “Bandage him up for now. We’re taking him captive. Something strange is going on here, and I intend to find answers.”

“Yes sir!” The soldier replied, immediately tending to the beast.

Turning to the large crystal in the center of the cavern, Bently was deeply troubled by everything they had witnessed. Karla joined the Scouts and the Flame Seekers to inspect the crystal to try and understand what had transpired to create such a terrifying outcome. What exactly was the Great Beast and how did it come to be so powerful? And mostly, how was it so close to the stronghold and they never knew?

They had traversed the Labyrinth far and wide in search of the nest, but it was right under their noses the whole time. How had something so powerful remained so close but unseen? He saw Karla leave the crystal and head his way.

Karla walked up, her face stern and solemn. Gently touching him on the shoulder, a faint blue aura shrouded her hand. It flowed through his body, trying to heal him and drive away his fatigue. “You did well to fight such a Great Beast,” she stated comfortingly. “The crystal is an origin crystal. Primal energies spewing from the planet's core produce veins that can breach the surface creating powerful crystal formations.”

“It was absorbing the power of the crystal?” Bently asked incredulously. Energy of that nature was raw and wild, impossible to control.

“We believe so,” Karla answered, coming to the same conclusion. "But were not sure how that's possible."

“Why couldn’t we sense it?” He asked, still confused how something so powerful could exist so close to the city.

Karla shook her head, "No one could sense anything until we entered the cavern. We assume the Great Beast was preventing us from discovering this place but as to how remains a mystery. The scouts scouts did confirm that the Great Beast was a female.”

“They were its children?” He exclaimed, realizing the implications.

“We think so, but we don't know how that could be," Karla replied, a small tremor in her voice from shock and fear. "We have never seen something like this.”

“I think it’s here,” she continued hesitantly. “The treasure hunt is not completed, but the nest is found. It’s the crown, I can feel it.”

Bently looked around, shouting orders to the scouts and soldiers to pull apart the cavern and gather everything. The origin crystal, although mostly absorbed, would still be a great find. During their search they found a small trove of various treasures, weapons, and even remains.

One of those remains stood out immediately drawing their attention.

Karla walked forward, gasping, and bent down. She reached out with her trembling hands and caressed the fine clothes with a seal on the chest. Sobs began to shake her small frame even though she had already suspected the outcome of her father's disappearance.

Her father, the Lord of Lightcastle, was dead.

The Hero was dead.

Bently turned away, letting her grieve as he continued giving orders to his men. They cleared the nest of anything of value and began to pack up. They left the bodies of the humanoid beasts for the scavengers in the Labyrinth and took their own. One of his men came up to him, and he recognized him as the one who treated their captive.

“Captain, we’ve cleared the cavern. The surviving beasts escaped through an exit tunnel and collapsed it. I had a healer look over the prisoner, and we recovered these items.” He handed Bently a traveling pack that looked like Karla’s and a belt with a pouch and dagger attached.

Bently opened the pouch and stopped abruptly. 'We found it!'

Runes appeared in his vision, showing the completion of the treasure hunt. He gave the soldiers orders not to chase the survivors as the hunt was over and their resources were limited. Finding Karla, Bently stepped in closely and showed her the contents of the pouch.

“We found it!” She squealed, hope welling in her tear-filled eyes. She had seen the completion of the event but found no signs of the crown on her father’s remains.

“We still have a chance, Karla,” Bently smiled, her excitement rubbing off on him. The Stronghold would be in an uproar when they returned. Morale was at an all-time low, and any form of hope would be a great accomplishment for the forlorn city.

Taking the remains, the prisoner, and all the treasures in the cavern, they began the journey back to camp. It was a short trip, but it felt like the longest one of their lives, as the entire group was exhausted from their battle with the Great Beast.

Karla, recovering slightly, slid his way, looking into his eyes mischievously. “Do you want to know what they call the crystal formations?” She asked.

"Sure,” Bently replied, putting on a face. His outward appearance was fine but on the inside, he was suffering tremendously. The feeling of wrongness and sadness had not left him and was only increasing. Waves of turmoil shot through his body, gripping him tightly. His breath was labored, but he tried not to show it as he didn't want to alarm those around him.

“They call it Mother’s Kiss.”

Something inside of him cracked.

He stumbled to the side, barely stopping himself from falling over as runes appeared in his vision.

[Murderer]

“The Firstlings have marked you as Mother’s Killer."

"You shall bear their Pain.”

“Bently?” Karla gasped as she reached out her arm to support him.

He quickly stood straight, trying to look sheepish. “Sorry, I tripped on something," he chuckled, barely keeping the strain from his voice. His men ran over to check on him, but he dismissed them with a wave.

“Bently?” She replied softly, “If you’re hurt, say something. You don’t have to suffer through it.”

“I'll be fine. It's just a little fatigue setting in,” he smiled. “I’m going to check on the others. Don't worry Karla, things are going to get better,” he assured her, before turning away heading into the crowd of soldiers. He saw the look of concern in her eyes, but she didn’t press the issue further. Leaving her sight, he took a side path into a darkened tunnel, dropping to his knees with a gasp.

As the tears fell uncontrollably.

He cried out in anguish, choking on sobs, as the turmoil in his heart spread to his soul. He had done something terrible, and he could feel it.

The wrongness...

He had killed Mother.