Matriarch - Maintain: Sisters

The three empyrians wandered over to the group of reoseans who were tending to the Matriarch in various ways. When they first approached, they were only met with backs turned on them; the group was unwelcoming. Kaimana and Cheiro sneered, but Furor understood the greeting. They had, after all, nearly brought a wall's worth of stone and crystals down on everyone’s heads. 

Furor spoke first, before her sisters could ruin any chance they had, “We’d like to help.”

A haedian slightly turned to address her, “We don’t need your help.”

“You need all the help you can get, that’s why reoseans are leaving in droves only to come back with more help. We aren’t gentle, but we can still help,” Kaimana hissed. 

The haedian turned around to face the large trio of empyrians. The haedian was small in comparison and it was clear the tiny tyrian hadn’t gotten a good look at the three because now that they were, they swallowed thickly. Their nerves heightened. Cheiro and Kaimana loomed over their younger sister like threatened shadows and the haedian understood all they needed to without a word being spoken. The three would help. 

“Of course,” The haedian stammered, “Follow me, this way.”

The haedian led the three empyrians around the edge of the Matriarch’s face and down to a lower platform where the Matriarch’s claw was resting in a cluster of crystals. As the group watched on, they could see the crystals growing and splitting off. The three sisters were surprised, they hadn’t thought the crystals were alive. 

“Pull the crystals away from her claws,” The haedian instructed. “They are constantly growing so it would help if you could manage them for a while.”

Kaimana grimaced at the idea of more manual labour, but she didn’t express it. Though, she didn’t have to because her sisters knew this wasn’t something she wanted to do. Cheiro and Furor nodded at the instructions anyway. The haedian eyed them warily before leaving them to their own devices. 

“More digging,” Kaimana grunted. 

“No,” Furor corrected, “We have to be careful. The crystals are attached to her.”

“Maybe the pain will help inspire some strength and force the Matriarch to free herself,” Cheiro wondered aloud with an evil smile on her face. 

“Cheiro,” Furor admonished. 

“We’ll be as gentle as possible,” Kaimana taunted, “Relax, Furor.”

“I somehow doubt that.”

Cheiro and Kaimana laughed at their younger sister’s words and tone, but when the silence fell around them the three moved to start their work. 

The crystals growing from the Matriarch’s claw varied in size. Some were as long as Cheiro’s arm while others were smaller than their empyrian heads. They analyzed the crystals before they started to work because they wanted to work as efficiently as possible. The three sisters spread out around the claw silently agreeing that they were each over a section. 

“Ready?” Furor asked from her spot between two of the matriarch’s large toes. 

“Let’s get started,” Kaimana grunted. 

Each sister moved forward and grasped the crystals as best they could. Furor wrapped her small claws around a medium-sized crystal and yanked on it. The crystal cracked, but didn’t break. At the same time, Kaimana had her arms wrapped around a fairly large crystal, with the idea to use her body weight to snap the crystal. When she pulled on the crystal there was a deep crack from, but again, this crystal didn’t snap either. Cheiro made use of her extra limbs and grasped two crystals. She twisted and bent the crystal until it snapped off. 

An eerie and chilling noise filled the cavern. The pain in the sound sent shivers down the spines of everything close enough to hear it. Furor immediately dropped the crystal she had managed to break off. She backed away from the Matriarch’s claw. 

“What are you doing?” Cheiro asked as she threw the crystals on the ground behind her and grabbed two more. 

Cheiro yanked the two crystals off the Matriarch’s claw and the chilling noise filled the cavern again. 

“We’re hurting her,” Furor gasped. 

“Yeah, well, I don’t see how we can remove the crystals without it hurting a little,” Kaimana added as she threw the crystal she pulled off away from them. 

“A little?” Furor exclaimed, “That noise sounds like ‘a little’ pain?”

Cheiro and Kaimana ignored their younger sister’s worries and pushed through the constant pained noise. They continued to pull crystals off the claws, but they found for every one they managed to remove another would appear. The crystals were growing too quickly for them to really make any difference. 

“Guys, we have to stop,” Furor panicked as the noise grew with every crystal her sisters pulled off. 

Cheiro and Kaimana stopped. They moved to stand next to their sister, and eventually, the odd noise lowered to a whimper. Pain still filled the cry, but it was so much quieter that it wasn’t as bone-chilling as earlier. 

“We’ll do something else,” Furor shook, bothered by the noise. 

[835]