Lucent Drone Swarm

Meandering through the cave, Lauri slapped his cheeks, getting himself to focus. He had been walking down the tunnel for some time. The sunlight didn't last long, at the first turn Lauri had found himself dropped into a near pitch-black darkness, his only comfort being the illuminating moss that clung to the walls.

The moss wasn't the only thing clinging to the walls, holding his body close to the wall, Lauri carefully stepped down the passageway. Making sure each step didn't make more noise than it needed.

'Creatures that live in darkness, I need to be careful of the ones with really good noses, really good eyes-' Lauri winced as he carelessly kicked a stone across the floor, causing it to clink across the stone. 'Or really good hearing.' He grumbled.

This continued for some time. 

Lauri's descent into the cave seemed uneventful. Although he didn't feel too scared, Lauri couldn't help but shake the feeling of loneliness starting to set in. He was by Laurence's side for a whole year, and now he was all alone.

Frowning, Lauri glanced at his only companion, the pieces of glowing moss that hung from the walls. Evenly distributed, his companions seemed to stay the same distance apart, each ball of moss started where the light of another moss ball began to dim. Smiling a little, Lauri returned to focusing on the random cracks in the floor, it wouldn't do to twist his ankle not even an hour into his trial.

"Oh, Mr Moss, I've only been here for, half an hour-" Lauri paused, confused by what he had just said. "... And I'm already talking to inanimate objects." Shaking his head, Lauri put on a pained smile. "That's just greattt." He bitterly said.

Lauri stopped, reaching a fork in the road. Two passageways, one leading down the left, one leading down the right. As if a fork in the road wasn't bad enough, this seemed to be where the glowing moss ended. Lauri studied the passageways as if staring into the dark was going to help him.

'It's a pity Master hasn't given me any kind of information, do I take a right, a left, up or down? I guess figuring it all out by myself is part of the trial.' Lauri's fingers slid down to a piece of glowing moss on the wall, ready to pick it up he recoiled, jumping a step back as a shocked noise escaped his mouth at the feeling of something moving under his fingers.

What Lauri misidentified as moss was, upon closer inspection, small insects, no these weren't insects. Lauri had read about these in books. Upon closer inspection, Lauri found the 'moss' to be microscopic mites. Glowing mites.

Their small bodies emitted a green glow, all of them seemingly moving over each other, making the clump move. Lauri had previously attributed this slight movement to the 'moss' swaying in the wind.

Exhaling, Lauri stood up unconsciously, taking a step away from the glowing mites. 'Well, I won't be making that mistake twice.' Lauri returned his attention to the dark paths ahead. 'There goes my plan to use these to light the way. Not, a, chance. Maybe I could make a torch. I just need a stick as the base and something flammable, I could easily make a spark with my blade.' Lauri looked around the bare cave floor, taking a count of what he could see: 'Countless rocks of varying sizes had been broken up from the ground, ranging from tiny pebbles to rocks reaching the height of Lauri's knees. They seem to have fallen out of the ceiling… Or were knocked out of the ceiling, seven cracked areas on the walls…' Lauri gulped. 'What could be strong enough to leave cracks like that in solid stone.' He shivered as the thought crossed his mind. 'There is just nothing here,' annoyed Lauri kicked a stone the size of an apple. 

Bouncing across the ground it landed in front of the cave to the right, as the stone bounced it produced a slight noise, nothing louder than a whisper. Coming to a mute roll as it disappeared into the shadows, Lauri kept staring into the darkness, this time Lauri's attention was held by the caves, not out of any question as to which direction he should be heading down.

Instead, Lauri was frozen in place as from down one of the two paths, the sound of something was approaching. At first, Lauri believed the stone he kicked had fallen after passing into the darkness, the sound of stone bouncing against stone quickly gave way, replaced by the sound of breaking stone. 

In the silence of the cave, the sound was almost deafening.

Lauri's eyes were drawn to the cracks in the floor, in the wall. 'No,' His gaze returned to the pathways. 'No no no, no no.' Lauri's body froze as his mind reeled from the situation. 'Whatever that is, it's exactly what Laurence warned me about.' Lauri's jaw shook as he mouthed the word. 'A Fiend.'

'But what type.' Lauri's mind ran over the types of Fiend's Laurence had mentioned: Husk-born, Risen, Awakened- A realisation dawned on Lauri. His eyes darted from the left to the right, from right to left. 'Which tunnel is it even coming from!?'

As the sound was almost upon him, Lauri bit his tongue, the pain shocking his body back into motion. It was a fifty-fifty chance, he either picked the right cave or the wrong cave. He lived, or he died.

Throwing himself into the cave on the left, Lauri slammed his body into the cave wall shrinking down into as small of a figure as he could manage. Hiding in the left tunnel, Lauri held his eyes shut, praying that he had picked the cave this monster wasn't coming down. It wouldn't be long until he was proven right.

The beast crashed its way into the dim light of the glowing mites. The silence of the cave returned.

The silence hung in the air for a moment.

After a few more moments, Lauri realised he was still alive. Opening his eyes, Lauri saw the slight glow of the mites and leaning forward, Lauri saw more than he would ever want to.

The beast was standing motionless in the cave. It was quadrupedal, four thick legs supported its heavy frame. Its body was roughly the size of a rhinoceros… Not that Lauri had seen one himself, he had only seen them in a book once. The rhino was stuck in his head because of its horn, Lauri had found the horn to be an interesting way it defended itself. 

Shaking his head, Lauri cleared his thoughts, trying to focus on the matter at hand.

Four legs weren't the only thing this 'rhino had, one equally thick tail poked out of the creature's backside, ending in a heavy ball. 'What kind of damage could that do if it hit me.' Lauri shook his head. 'Stop scaring yourself dammit.' Lauri chewed on his lip. 'What does its face look like? Turn around, turn aroun- wait, why am I asking for that-'

Answering his prayers, the 'rhino turned. Lauri instinctively shrank back into the cave, away from what little light there was. His thought process: 'A creature that lives in the dark is going to have really good night vision, right?'

The 'rhino had a long neck, unnaturally long even. Without bending its neck, it could easily lower its head to the floor, speaking of its head. In the centre of its face, a single large eye dimly glowed with the same green light as the mites. The 'Rhino' peered into the dark cave, the left cave, it was staring straight into the cave Lauri was hidden in, no, it was staring past Lauri.

Lauri would have shivered had his life not currently depended on him not moving a single bit. 

Lauri's heart skipped a beat, he needed to stay calm, any sudden movement and it would see him. Assuming it really hasn't seen him already. The 'Rhino' stared into the darkness for a few moments more before turning away, leaving Lauri safe. For now.

'Phew, does this make me-'

Lauri's thoughts were interrupted as a loud bang reverberated around the tight space. Lauri winced as ringing stung his ears, not having time to waste on the pain, he moved a small bit forward trying to see what had caused this.

Glancing around, Lauri saw the 'Rhino' staring at the wall Lauri had been standing next to not too long ago. The glowing mites were flattened under the 'Rhino's tail, pulling its tail away from the wall another crack

Lauri squinted, trying to get a better view from his hiding spot. Strands of a sticky luminous fluid that had come from the bodies of the crushed mites connected the 'Rhino's tail to the wall for a second before the tail moved too far away, causing the strands to splat against the wall. Turning its body around, the 'Rhino' moved its head closer.

Although Lauri couldn't see, his view being obscured by the 'Rhino's body, Lauri could tell what it was doing. The sounds of the 'Rhino' licking up the fluid, filled the air. 

'Urgh,' Lauri's lip curled as he heard the 'Rhino' continue to lick up the remains of the glowing mites. "That can't taste nice?" A sound escaped Lauri's lips as he absent-mindedly voiced his disdain. 

The 'Rhino' stopped licking the wall just as Lauri realised his mistake. Retreating into the darkness of the cave, Lauri managed to hide just as the 'Rhino' turned its head around. The 'Rhino's previously dimly glowing eye now shone with a bright green light, as if a miniature sun shone through its eyes. It took a step forward, the sound of its breathing drawing closer with each step.

Covering his mouth, Lauri held his breath as the green light grew closer, out of fear that the 'Rhino' would be able to hear him breathing.

'Go, get, go away.'

As if some gods were looking fortunately upon Lauri, a sound resounded from the pathway the 'Rhino' had originally come down. Without wasting any more time on the sound Lauri had made, the 'Rhino' charged back down the right cave. The sound of its crushing footsteps sent shivers down Lauri's spine.

Lauri remained in hiding as the sound of cracking stone became quieter and quieter, only when the noise finally stopped did Lauri begin to move. Standing up, he took a few steps from his hiding space. The cave was noticeably darker, taking a few more steps, Lauri made sure to be quiet.

Approaching the spot the 'Rhino' had been licking, the once-illuminated space was now nothing but dark stone. Cracked dark stone, admittedly.

Reaching out, Lauri touched the spot where glowing mites had been moments ago. "I see," He quietly muttered. "So the 'Rhino' squashed the mites and then licked them up to power it's weird," Lauri grimaced at the thought. "Glowing eye."

Looking at the broken stone for a moment, a thought crossed Lauri's mind. "Not bad, Lauri," Pulling the blade out of its sheath. Lauri turned towards the closest glowing mites, quickly walking to them.

Looking at the glowing mites, Lauri glanced at the flat of his blade. "I mean, it's not like I have anything to make a torch." Chewing on the thought for a moment. Lauri pressed his blade against the mites, squishing them into a fine paste.

As Lauri finished squishing the mites and was about to inspect his now glowing blade when something strange happened.

A voice spoke into his ear. 

It was neither man nor woman, the words neither loud nor quiet. This voice wasn't even speaking the language Lauri knew, it was as if the meaning of the words were transcribed directly into his mind.

[Congratulations Postulant Lauri, you have drawn your first blood. Your trial begins.]

[You have slain a Husk-born beast, Lucent Drone Swarm.]

[The Fiend's experiences left an Imprint…]