//------------------------------//
// 10: Mystery Deepens 
// Story: Blackened Night 
// by ZeirMakavar 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 10
Mystery Deepens


"I am Green Hunter." The stallion in front of the procession, who wore the celestial guard armor. "And by order of my lord, Duke Sombra, I am here to assist in the guarding of these lands. And to act as his voice, in his stead."
"Then Hail, Ser Hunter." Raging said, bowing to the earth pony stallion, who bowed in return. "I am glad of the assistance, especially with some of the discoveries we've made of The Crypt."
"The Crypt?"
"Yes, The Crypt." Raging Night said, nodding slowly once again. "Surely you were informed of what the town started up because of?" Raging then inquired, which caused both Green Hunter, and the few soldiers behind him to look about confused. "I'll take that as a 'no' then..."
"We were informed of the dig site yes, but not that there was a Crypt." Green Hunter said, sighing softly.
"Tell, me how many soldiers did you bring to garrison here?" Raging asked, looking the soldier ponies over a bit, his mind drifting back to what ever is, or was, inside The Crypt.
"Duke Sombra, my lord, has dispatched 500 of his Hussars, as well as a regiment of one thousand footponies." Hunter said, in reply to Raging's inquiry.
"So, a force of 1,500 then..." Raging said, nodding slowly. "Coupled with the 500 man militia guard, that some of the citizens have formed, including the two thousand or so miners... we have a force of roughly four thousand here... Granted only about half are properly trained... That should be enough to hold back any raids from the Griphons, but..."
"But?" Hunter asked, looking at Raging, a worried look on his face. "As you know, Duke Sombra's troops are the best trained soldiers in Equestria, there is nothing on, in, or above, the land that could combat a force as large as this one."
"In all my time serving The Lunar Guard, I've learned one thing..." Raging said sighing, as he turned to trot back to the town, along side Green Hunter. "It's the unexpected, and the unknown, that you need to prepare for. Not the expected, or the known."





A few hours later, after placating the initial shock the townsponies had upon seeing Duke Sombra's army marching towards them, and filing the papers needed in order to turn control of the town, and its surrounding areas formally to Green Hunter, and to Sombra Raging Night was sighing. As of that moment, he was no longer in charge of managing the Unincorporated fief that the dig site in avertedly created. Instead, he was solely incharge of watching over The Digsite, which since the discovery of The Undercroft, has made no progress. "There's something evil down there." One of the digger ponies had told him not a week earlier. "I can feel it in me bones, and me ma told me to trust 'em."
The other digger ponies shared the superstitious one's opinion, and he had no reason to disagree. "If there really is anything dangerous on the lower levels, then find the edges of the Maze." Sunny Meadow had told them, to no avail. "There has to be edges somewhere..."
"It's possible that there isn't." Draken Claw said, as he sat infront of Raging's desk, to Sunny's right. "My people, we tell stories of a grand palace. Where our last King ruled, before the Frost Plague took most of our people. His palace, it would go on forever, the tales say. A never ending Palace of..."
"We don't have time for your folk tales Draken..." Sunny said, interrupting Draken, which caused the gryphon to glare at her. "Now, I'm not saying they aren't true... Magic like that DOES exist, but... There's no magic in The Crypt, or in the Undercroft."
"Besides the residual magic, yes?" Raging said, smiling softly.
"No, there's no magic at all." Sunny said, a worried look on her face. "I had to bring the Geomancers back up to the surface every few minutes because of it. They were suffering from minor magic deficiency before I even noticed what was going on."
"Is such a thing possible?" Draken Claw asked, blinking in shock as he looked out the window, directly to the Digsite. "I thought that residual magic was impossible to get rid of."
"There is only two things that can get rid of Residual Magic." Sunny said, nodding slowly. "The first, is a massive spell circle, which requires the use of Residual Magic, and the second is..."
"Is what Miss Meadow?"
"Well... It's... a... It's..." Sunny began, looking around worriedly.
"She is referring to what is called a Soul Eater, Draken Claw." Princess Luna said, a bit angrily, as she approached the desk from the door of the office. "But, do not worry Miss... Meadow?" Luna continued, looking at Sunny a bit confused, before shaking her head. "I thought o that as well, after reading your report. I already checked, there are none in the area, nor have there ever been, recently."
"There hasn't... recently?" Sunny said, sighing softly. "That's goo... wait... Recently? What do you mean?"
"Look over the Crypt, there is evidence that a Soul Eater indeed did reside somewhere inside the Crypt, however... it was so long ago, that the magic should have naturally returned, as it's even older then those skeletons."
"Then, why hasn't the Residual Magic replenished naturally?" Raging asked, glancing at Luna again, as Draken Claw sighed, still looking at the Digsite. "If it really was that long ago, then why would it..."
"There must be something further down, or the Soul Eater is hiding from prying eyes somewhere near-by." Sunny said, interrupting Raging now, shaking her head again. "We need to find the edges, as the magic that Draken Claw spoke of, it leaves traces... Traces in the residual magic, which is gone."
"And that would break the enchantment."