The Order Prompt 1

Reginald tensely led his ragtag group down into the depths of the Beneath, behind him the usually talkative pink chaser kept his mouth firmly shut as the small frightened vayrons eyes feverishly darted around their surroundings and back at the blackness behind them. Following somewhere in the gloom behind them the massive black tyrian Wolgroth could barely be heard as her long talons scraped menacingly on the worn stone floor of the crevice they were traversing. A few years ago Reginald had assisted this terrifying tyrian take down a large poaching ring that had been targeting her and her mate which had left her indebted to him. He had never planned to call in the favor as he honestly viewed the tyrian as a volatile ticking time bomb, but once they had received intel on the disposition of the Order he felt it was best to have someone who could hold their own in battle. 

Kernels first impression of the tyrian was absolutely awful as the first thing he had done was make an off hand comment about Reginald liking larger women as he had only ever seen the runner engage with tyrians. As soon as Wolgroth had heard the little pink idiots comment she had snatched the chaser off the ground before Reginald could even open his mouth. Kernel had let out a terrified scream as he couldn’t even move in her grasp. She held the chaser up at her eye level and bared her large fangs at him, “There is nothing between us, whelp. If you want to keep your coat intact I suggest you shut that vile hole.” Kernel nearly peed himself in terror as the tyrian held his face mere inches from her fangs, spitting the last words at him with enough venom that he was surprised he didn’t die from the sheer hate in her voice. Her fangs were as long as his fluffy ears and a deep crimson glow could barely be seen emanating from her mouth. He had rapidly nodded his head to indicate he understood and Wolgroth merely scoffed at the chaser before roughly tossing him down. Kernel's back side still throbbed from the impact as he silently followed Reginald, afraid of what lay ahead and what stalked behind. 

The plates of Wolgroths armor clinked against each other softly as she slowly made her way through the cave system. At this point she was used to having to play the villain inorder to be respected by idiots like that chaser but that didn’t mean she enjoyed it. Her thoughts were primarily focused on keeping tabs on her surroundings but every once in a while an intrusive thought about her beloved mate she left topside crept up. She shook her head forcefully to clear her mind, she needed to focus as she gracefully traversed the uneven and mostly obscured cave floor beneath her. Thankfully the paths they had descended through were spacious enough to accommodate her large size comfortably, but if she were to have to fight here her movements would be greatly restricted. Reginald had fully briefed her on what to expect when they came face to face with the haedians of the Order, but the looming threat of the unknown kept her on edge as she silently followed the two vayrons. 

It was incredibly hard to see in the dark caves of the Orders territory, the crystals that had been extremely abundant across the other territories were extremely sparse for some reason. And the few crystals that were here glowed a deep ominous red that did very little to illuminate the paths around them. The deeper into the territory the more crystals dotted their path but they were still few and far between compared to what Reginald had grown used to. Before long all three of them developed an uneasy feeling, the kind of feeling that only comes from the innate sixth sense that tells you, you are being watched. All three of the surface dwellers scanned their surroundings cautiously as they progressed, unable to see anything around them even resembling another living creature. This feeling only intensified the deeper they went and after what felt like hours of wandering the first obvious sign of movement finally dashed across their path. A small shadow darted out of sight before the group could register what it was. They paused briefly, Reginald glancing back at the cowering chaser and the stoney black tyrian who was barely visible behind them. Wolgroth met his gaze and gave a firm nod which he returned before continuing forward cautiously. 

Now that they were aware of the haedians presence, it seemed like every shadow contained a hateful gaze. The shadows around them rippled and moved around them like a river as haedians of the order stalked around them. They didn’t respond when Reginald called out to them so the runner decided to continue forward since they were not blocking their path. Eventually the sound of scratching claws and shuffling pelts was joined by a low angry murmur. Many voices whispered around them, so many voices it was nearly impossible to understand what they were saying. Every once in a while a clear phrase could be made out from the low drone of angry, hateful, suspicious voices. “...surface dwellers… top siders… get out… leave… plague… leave… don't belong… our domain…vile…” Kernel's fur stood on end as he felt the blatant hostility directed at them. It was different from the direct vicious words of the tyrian that had traumatized him earlier, this was deeply unsettling and triggered a primal fear deep in his heart. He wanted nothing more than to run away but he knew that not only was the massive tyrian behind him but so was a sea of the hateful haedians. They were completely surrounded and there was no turning back.

The group finally entered a massive chamber covered in glowing red crystal, across the space they could see strange buildings like structures with bizarre architecture. The deep red crystals covered the space like a blanket, bathing everything in a deep malicious red. Now that there was enough light to see, the surface dwellers could see that they were literally surrounded by a throng of haedians. What had to be all of the Order clan members stared at them suspiciously as the trio came to a stop in the middle of their domain. The angry murmur of voices began to steadily rise in volume as the throng of haedians stalked around them. When Reginald glanced behind himself at the entrance to the cave they had just emerged from he was shocked to realize that Wolgroth had disappeared somewhere along the way. He glanced at the haedians again, but none of them were looking back at the direction they had come from. It seemed the black tyrian had somehow managed to avoid their detection and was hiding nearby. The runner let out a shaky breath, trying to calm his rapidly fraying nerves. 

Just as the murmur had grown into a dull roar, all of the voices suddenly vanished and all movement of the slowly circling haedians ceased. The cave was eerily silent as the two vayrons nervously tensed up at the sudden silence. Suddenly the haedians around them darted back, slinking away until they were barely visible among the various buildings and crystal spires around the area. When the crowd dispersed a small number of them remained, Reginald and Kernel stared at them uncertainly as they slowly took a few paces forward. The haedians that approached stopped a few paces away, their faces weathered with age, their claws long, curved and unnecessarily sharp. They all were shackled with chains of blackened, oxidized iron, the acrid scent of which burned the vayrons noses. The foremost haedian of this group spoke, his voice deep and rasping, “Do you walk in the shadow of Oris?” his eyes were dark, watery, sunken and almost hollow in appearance.

Reginald's mind raced as he tried to think of what the correct answer was, who was Oris? What would they do if he lied and said yes? What would they do if he said no? His eyes darted down to Kernel mentally screaming at the chaser to be silent but when he saw the chaser he realized he didn’t need to worry. The small pink chaser was visibly trembling and practically curled into a ball. If the chaser had a tail, Reginald was sure it would have been firmly pressed down. Kernel was beside himself in fear and was barely lucid let along about to run his mouth like he normally would. The runner's eyes darted back to the impatient haedians who were waiting for his answer. He swallowed hard trying to free the knot that had formed in his throat but just as he opened his mouth to speak a vicious cackle echoed ominously through the cave. Both the haedians and the vayrons froze and frantically tried to locate the origin of the deeply unnerving laughter. The normally calm and stoic dark runner stepped back in fear as he realized whose voice this was. 

“Long is the shadow of the void. How could I not revel in the abyss with which chaos has rot?” The elderly haedians murmured among themselves at the response but before the vayrons could determine what their reaction was a loud whooshing sound whistled through their ears. Reginald's head snapped up and he stared wide eyed as it seemed like the cave ceiling was rapidly descending upon him. The haedians followed his gaze and exclaimed in shock when the massive form of Wolgroth slammed into the cave floor directly over the two vayrons. She landed without even touching the two vayrons but Kernel immediately passed out from terror as the massive armored tyrian coiled above them. Her black and gold armor reflected the crimson light of the crystals round them as she twisted her hulking frame menacingly above her companions. Blood red smoke leaked from maw which was pulled back in a vicious smile as she stared challengingly at the haedians around her. 

The haedians around her had fled exclaiming in fear at the sudden appearance of the massive tyrian. Many of them couldn’t even understand how such a large tyrian had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. The only ones who barely reacted to her appearance were the elderly haedians who had merely taken a few steps back to stay out of reach of the angry tyrian when she landed. After scaring off the spectators Wolgroth turned her gaze on the elderly haedians and rose up so that she towered over them. The massive tyrian easily dwarfed the large haedians making the two runners beneath her appear even smaller in comparison. The crimson glow of the crystals intensified the deep red of the tyrian's face, wings, and tail. Wolgroth pulled her lips back in a malicious smile, “Yes I walk in Oris’ shadow.”