I have sat in silence for to long
No longer shall I be caged
I will destroy all who stand in my way
With my furious undying Rage!
Night fell over Redwood Forest, and it was abuzz with commotion. Small, yet visible, specs of orange light could be seen, the light coming from candle lit lanterns. Almost all of the Deer were searching the woods for someone who had disappeared. A stag who went by the name Forester, who was well known inside the Deer community. For him to not be seen the rest of day had made everyone in the Community very worried, especially his students. A search party was gathered, which then split up as to cover more ground in the woods. Two of the stag's students, one a young male calf with two nubs for his growing antlers, green eyes, and white spots on the sides of his brown fur, and the other, a young female calf with purple eyes, and dark brown fur. The two were searching the woods alone, the male calf holding a stick in his mouth with a lit lantern on the other end.
Normally it would be stupid to let two young calf's wander the forest alone, but Redwood Forest was void of any predator-like creature, making it perfectly safe. But to ensure that the two wouldn't get lost or hurt, a tracking dog was brought with them, seeking out the stag's scent. Only a select number from the group had been given a tracking dog, and each dog had been given something to use to track the stag. The tracking dogs were highly acute to scent and could pick up the slightest hint of one and sometimes mix that scent up with the one it was supposed to be tracking.
However, this was not the case for the tracking dog leading the two calf's. Each tracking dog was almost a direct descendant of a wolf. Sharing traits such as pointy ears, dark colored fur, and larger size. This dog was no different, having the appearance of a wolf but had yellow eyes and a dark greyish fur. The tracking dog raised its head from the ground, taking in heavy whiffs of the air.
"What is it boy?" The female calf asked. "Did you find Forester?"
The dog said nothing, instead it darted away, running at fast speeds. Both the calfs followed suit, running after the dog. They continued to follow the dog until he ran into a bush, the two calf's ran after the dog and into the bush. They rummaged their way through the bush before coming out the other side. The male calf lifted up the lantern to see the dog sitting on its haunches with his tail wagging. Next to him was the stag the two were looking for, lying unconscious.
"Forester!" The two Calf's shouted, rushing to the stag's side.
"Is he okay?" The female calf asked.
The male calf sat the lantern down before responding, "he's still breathing, so that's good." The calf sighed in relief before addressing the stag's apparel. "What the heck is he wearing?"
The female calf hadn't noticed it but the male calf was right, the Stag/Forester was wearing a white suit that covered his entire body except for his neck and head, and around his neck was a white scarf. "Not sure, it's pretty weird looking right?"
"It can be as weird as you think it is." The male calf said, hoisting Forester up and draping his left foreleg over the calf's shoulder. The female calf did the same, but supported the right side. "But let's get him back before sunrise." The calf said, taking a few steps forward.
"Fawn." The female calf addressed the male's name. "Is that tree moving?"
The male calf, now known as Fawn, looked at his friend perplexed by the question. The female calf pointed to the tree in front of them, Fawn squinted his eyes and saw that it wasn't the tree that was moving but rather the bark seemed to be twisting and shifting in a certain line. That's when Fawn realized it wasn't the bark which was moving.
The true thing moving along the trees bark revealed itself. It was a snake, which had once turned its scales a perfect shade of brown to match the trees bark were now pitch black with purple symbols all over its back, it was five feet in length, and had poison green colored eyes with a black curved line for a pupil. The snake was able to shift its body and lunged off the trunk, flying towards the three deer. It's mouth became unhinged, opening wider than what should've been natural possible, two fangs dropped from the roof of its mouth.
Fawn's eyes widened when he realized that the snake was aiming for Forester. Without a second thought, he removed Forester's foreleg from his shoulder and stood in front of Forester. The snake collided with Fawn as its fangs sunk into the space that connected the neck and shoulder.
"Fawn!" The female calf shrieked.
The snake retracted its fangs and dropped down from Fawn's shoulder. The blood veins near where the snake had bit bulged as they changed from light blue to dark purple. Fawn's body shook and he collapsed, breathing heavily. The snake slithered away towards a bush, but before it could make its escape the dog pounced on it, halting it's movement by stomping the dog's paw on it's tail. The snake's upper body lifted, its venomous eyes glaring at the dog as it unleashed a spine trembling hiss. The dog's response to the snake's hiss was pinning it's head between the ground and the dog's paw, the dog added a lot of pressure to the paw and the snake's head was crushed causing black ooze to shoot out from all sides of its head. The snake's body twitched a couple of times before it lay still. Once it did, its body disintegrated into black ash.
"Fawn! Fawn!" The female calf shouted his name multiple times, but Fawn remained silent.
His eyes became glossy and fogged, his pupils now pale as more of his veins bulged and turned from blue to purple. The dog whimpered at the sight of Fawn, licking his face in hopes that it might achieve some type of response but it was to no avail. The dog then did what he had been trained to do when had found his target. He howled.
*Ah-Whoooooooooh*
The dog's howl was heard from the entire forest and other howls were cried out in response, as if telling the dog to stay put.
Far west from Redwood Forest, very far west actually, there is the land which goes by the name "Montemus". A land completely comprised of Mountains, which contained precious ores and minerals, Mines, which harvested the precious ores and minerals inside the mountains, and Factories, which processed and/or smelted the precious ores and minerals.
Inside one of the mines, a tunnel which drilled all the way into the mountain, led to the mining operation inside. An assortment of buildings had been set up inside the main base of the mountain, each with their own speciality and purpose. From the base of operations another tunnel which led down deeper into the mountain had been carved to reach the ore deep within.
At the end of the tunnel, on each of its sides, there were creatures whose lower body was that of a goats legs and upper body of a bull with horns on their heads. These creatures were known as Minotaur's, and they were the miners in this mountain. The ore they were mining out was a charcoal black substance known as "Black Steel" or as it is less known, in its current form "Black Iron". The Minotaurs heaved their pickaxe's high above their head and brought it down onto the side of the black ore. Each Minotaur wore a mask covering their mouth and nostrils, as was required due to a poisonous gas in the air. Behind the Minotaur's who were hard at work was a railway that was used for transporting carts full of "Black Ore".
One such Minotaur who had black fur for his lower half, red skin for his entire upper body, grey pupils, and average size horns which pointed slightly up and out. This Minotaur's name was Drax, and the only reason he was stuck in the mines was so he could help pay the bills for his mother's farm. It was a harsh and tough job, but it payed enough.
The Minotaur next to Drax had black fur on his lower half, blue skin on his upper half, brown pupils, and horns pointed directly forward. His name was Coal, and he was also Drax's best friend. Coal lower his mask for a second and said, "Warden is coming, look busy." He said in a hushed tone before covering his mouth and face back up.
The Minotaur's who were chatting, whistling, or singing while they work became silent when a unicorn Stallion came into view. The unicorn had light black fur, deep purple pupils, and a matching purple mane and tail. He wore a grey officer suit and white pants along with black boots which echoed with each step he took. The unicorn was known as Warden's Watch, or Warden as he preferred to be addressed. Warden was the harshest and most strict guard in the entire mine. He walked slowly and casually along the railway, acting as though he owned the place.
Warden stopped and without so much as a turn of his head he spoke firmly and orderly.
"Cease." He ordered in an audible tone.
Every pickaxe froze in midair, the Minotaur's arms which held them locked up. None daring to move or step out of line.
"Stand at attention." Warden ordered.
Every Minotaur laid the tools down and faced away from the tunnel's walls, towards the other side of the tunnel. Warden strolled forward, each stride showing dominance and authority.
"It has come to my attention." Warden spoke. "That we have a thief among us." Warden's tone seemed to flare on saying the word "thief". "Now there were times in the past when the records showed that a piece or two had gone missing and we thought nothing of it. However, we have recently learned that we have not lost just one or two pieces of Black Iron, but FIFTY FOUR BUCKING PIECES!" Warden roared, his magic flared creating cracks in the walls, but no one moved from their place. They knew that any punishment given by Warden was far worse than being crushed to death.
Warden took a deep breath, cooling his temper before continuing. "Now then. These missing pieces have only been logged from sector E." Warden paused, glaring at the Minotaur's. "This sector." He said, continuing down the railway. "My sector." Warden pointed out. "Now I know none of you would dare steal from me." Warden stopped in front of Drax and eyed him. "Which is why I've come to the conclusion that something is stealing from us during the night. Therefore, one of you will stand watch and catch this thief before he causes anymore problems." Warden spoke directly towards Drax.
Drax lowered his mask and asked, "do you want me-"
"I did not give you permission to speak, E-62!" Warden barked.
The tunnel became dead silent, until Warden continued.
"E-62. I am ordering you to catch this thief and present him to me tomorrow morning. Do you understand?" Warden asked.
"Crystal clear Warden." Drax answered.
With breaking eye contact with Drax Warden ordered, "the rest of you leave for dinner, I need to have a word with E-62."
The Minotaur's picked up their tools and headed towards the mine's exit. Before Coal left he whispered to Drax, "I'll save you a pot of chili." He said, patting Drax on the shoulder and leaving. Once Warden and Drax were alone Warden spoke,
"Take off that mask." He ordered and Drax did as he was told. "E-62, you work to help pay your mother's debt for her land correct?"
"Yes." Drax answered quickly.
"And it seems that your mother is beginning to slip in finances correct?" Warden asked.
"...Yes." Drax hesitated before answering.
"So that would mean you would have to earn more money, and a way someone like you could be doing that is by...oh I don't know...stealing?" Warden suggested.
Drax's eyes widened in shock. "Warden...your not accusing me of being the thief, are you?"
"I may accuse whomever I please." Warden huffed. "And let me be clear when I say, if you do not present me with a thief by tomorrow...well, let's just say your mother won't have to worry about her finances any more." Warden threatened as Drax balled his fists.
"Dismissed." Warden ordered.
The mines were maintained and governed by Ponies, unicorns more specifically. They were in charge of preventing riots and chaos from starting inside the mine. Every unicorn was strict to the Minotaur's, all but one. A unicorn mare with milk chocolate brown fur, emerald eyes, and dark brown mane which had been tied into a bun. The unicorn's name was Rough House, and she was the only unicorn who acted like a Minotaur. Rough House worked in the cafeteria, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner to the hungry workers. When Drax had entered the cafeteria all of the Minotaur's who he had worked with in the mine were seated at tables, conversing with one another while eating chili from clay bowls.
"Well look who finally decided to show up." Rough House smirked, leaning against her foreleg on the table and the other resting on her hip, she spoke in a country accent.
Drax smiled as he walked up to the stand Rough House was behind and picked himself up a bowl of chili. He walked over to where his friend Coal was sitting and sat next to him.
"'Bout time you showed up." He said, slapping Drax on the back. "Some of us were starting to get worried." He joked, causing everyone at the table to chuckle.
"Aw, didn't know ya cared." Drax joked, scooping up a chunk of chili and eating it. As he did so he pulled out a book and sat it on the table.
"What have we here?" The Minotaur across from Drax asked, grabbing the book before Drax could stop him. "Could it be our friend Drax is a bookworm?"
"Very funny guys, now give it back." Drax said in a slight demanding tone.
"What the hell you gonna do with a book anyways?" The Minotaur asked, opening up the book.
"Uh, read it. What else am I gonna do with a book?" Drax asked.
The Minotaur grinned. "Oh, I can think of a few ideas." He said, standing up and rearing back the arm which held the book. "Hey Twix!" He yelled getting the attention of a Minotaur sitting at a different table.
"Keep away!" The Minotaur declared, throwing the book across the room.
The book sailed across the room until it was caught by the Minotaur it had been thrown to. "Come on Drax, this is what you want right?" The Minotaur taunted, swinging the book back and forth.
Drax chuckled lightly as he finished the last of his chili and stood up. "If that's how it's going to be, then bring it!" Drax roared, aiming his horns towards the Minotaur holding his book, striking his hoof against the floor before charging straight towards the Minotaur.
Warden watched in silence at the cafeteria as all of the Minotaurs inside broke out into a fight. What was once a civilized dinner turned into a cesspool of fights and acts of barbarism. He could understand the Minotaur's, they were barbaric by nature, many had tried to civilize them and all had failed. Warden could accept the fact that Minotaur's could never truly become civilized, but he refused to accept was the unicorn mare who was wrestling a Minotaur, and winning. He couldn't believe a unicorn, let alone a mare, would lower herself to such brutish nature. It just wasn't right.
Warden turned his back to the cafeteria, no reason left to watch. As he left he spoke a word that he believed best suited the kind of creatures he had to deal with.
"Savages."
Drax stormed out of the cafeteria, the book in his hand, and sat on the steps. He opened up the book, hoping that he would get to read it in peace. The door behind him opened.
"Drax. What are ya doin?" Rough House sighed, shaking her head.
"Reading." Drax answered bluntly, not looking up from his book.
"No." Rough House took a seat next to him. "You're tryin' ta read. Both are very different things."
"I can read." Drax huffed.
"Drax, its nothin' ta be ashamed of. None of the other guys can read and-"
Drax pointed to the page which had information about a Crystal and said,
"The crystal known as 'Creeping Crystal' is the most dangerous and harmful crystal ever seen. It spreads fast and releases a poisonous gas that, while not instantly fatal can be if exposed to someone for a certain period of time. But while this gem is the most dangerous, it is also the most expensive gem there is. It has a large price because it is very durable and is ranked 10 on the Mohs scale."
Drax read word for word about the gem known as "Creeping Crystal". When he looked up from the book and at Rough House her expression was priceless. Her mouth hung unhinged and her eyes were wide in shock.
"If it means anything I have no idea what a 'Mohs scale' is." Drax lightly grinned.
"Where the hay did ya learn ta read?" Rough House demanded, still shocked.
"That's between me, and the book." Drax gave Rough House a toothy grin.
"Well then maybe the book would be happy to give me some answers."
Both Drax and Rough House shot up and stood at attention when they heard Warden speak. Warden used his magic and took the book from Drax and brought it towards him. He examined the title and the page Drax had been reading, when he saw the page his face flashed a shade of pale for a split second. "Where did you get this?" He demanded from Drax, who didn't say a word. "You will speak when spoken to Beast. Now tell me where you got this. Now!"
Drax flinched upon Warden's shout, he opened his mouth to speak.
"I took it."
Warden and Drax whipped their head's towards Rough House, who had spoken.
"You, took it?" Warden asked. "From where exactly?"
"From your office." Rough House answered, standing firmly and unwavering. "I thought I should try and let these guys read somethin'. Ya know, educate them a little."
Warden starred at Rough House baffled before composing himself. "When you're done with your work report to my office at once." He glared at Rough House before storming off.
Once Warden was gone, Drax grabbed Rough House by the shoulders and shook her while yelling, "are you crazy?! Why would you do something like that?! Warden's going to kill you!"
Rough House pushed Drax's arms away from her. "Don't y'all worry about me, I know how ta handle myself. Warden isn't the only one who can use magic after all."
Drax constantly thought about Rough House, not a minute passed that he felt worried about her. The worry was able to keep Drax awake, which is what he needed. All of the Minotaurs had called it a night and slept in the building that was their living quarters. All except for Drax, who was tasked to watch for the so called "thief". Drax waited in the storage building, hidden behind an empty cart. The building housed piles of ore collected from various sectors ranging from sector A and sector G.
Drax waited for what seemed like hours. Eventually his body gave out and he dozed off.
*Thunk*
A sudden sound awoke Drax from his sleep. Slowly, and carefully, he peaked his head over the cart. He looked to the center of the floor and saw that some of the wood floorboards had been lifted up. There was a quite muttering coming from pile E. Drax couldn't see what, but he knew that it was the one who was stealing from pile E.
Drax stood up and approached pile E. He stood in front of the pile and watched as whoever, or whatever, was grabbing a bunch of ores and cradled them in his arm.
"So, you're the thief." Drax spoke, catching the creature's attention.
"The Thief? Where?" The creature asked, dropping some of the ores.
Drax grabbed the creature, by what he could only assume was it's neck, and brought it closer so that he could see him. The creature was a Diamond Dog, with grey skin, sharp unclipped claws, orange eyes, and wore a dusty black leather jacket.
"You're the one stealing the ores aren't you?" Drax jabbed a finger in the Diamond Dog's chest.
"Steal? No, Fleeze is no thief." The Diamond Dog, now know as Fleeze said.
"You were taking what does not belong to you." Drax stated. "Last time I checked that's the very definition of a thief."
"Don't be ridiculous, Fleeze is no thief. After all," Fleeze paused, his eyes glowed orange as he spoke.
"Everything in the world belongs to me
Because giving away is such a chore.
What's mine is mine
AND NOT YOURS!"
A bright flash of orange light blinded Drax, causing his hands to automatically cover his eyes and dropping Fleeze in the process. Fleeze gathered up the ores he had dropped and bolted out of the building.
"Get back here!" Drax roared, his sight returned as he chased after Fleeze.
Fleeze ran down a tunnel, running carefully as to make sure he didn't drop a single ore. Drax closed in on him, running at a slightly faster speed. Just as Drax was about to catch Fleeze, he turned a corner. This continued for a long time until Fleeze came upon a dead end. He skidded to a halt before running into it. Drax rounded the corner and saw that Fleeze was trapped.
"No where to run. Give up no and I won't hurt you...much." Drax smiled villainous, crack his knuckles.
"Fleeze wants many things in life. A warm house, a loving family with nine pups, wealth beyond measure. But pain, is not one of them." Fleeze said, tunneling into the ground.
Drax ran up to the hole Fleeze had made in hopes to catch him before he was no longer reachable. But it was to avail as Fleeze tunneled to deep.
"Haha!" Fleeze voice could be heard on the other side of the wall. "Mine, mine! All mine! Hehehehehe!" Fleeze cackled.
Drax realized that if he could hear Fleeze, then it meant he was on the other side of the wall, which meant that their was a room on the other side of the wall instead of it being completely solid. Drax cocked his arm and drove it into the wall. It hurt like hell but it created cracks in its structure. Drax threw punch after punch, creating more cracks in the wall until it gave out and broke.
Drax entered a large open area that was completely made of a clear crystalline substance. It covered the floor, walls, ceiling, and in the very middle was Fleeze, hovered around the ores. Drax stormed into the room, ready to give Fleeze a massive beat down. But without Fleeze even lifting a finger, Drax stumbled and fell as he started violently coughing.
"What *cough* *cough*...what did you *cough* *cough* did you do?" Drax asked, coughing even harder.
"Fleeze has done nothing. You're coughing because of the gas from the crystals. Fleeze is immune to the gas but you aren't." Fleeze giggled like an idiot as Drax's vision started to blur. "Fleeze thinks it is funny that you are affected by the gas while the thief is not. But do not fret, Fleeze will not kill you. Fleeze needs you to take care of the thief, so take a nice, long, nap."
And then Drax collapsed.
Drax's eyes shot open as he bolted upright. He frantically searched for Flees but he was no longer anywhere to be seen. Nor was Drax in the crystal room anymore. Drax had been moved to a separate tunnel, away from where had been.
"No." Drax moaned, holding his head in his hands. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no." Drax droned on, tears practically streaming down his cheeks.
He knew what was going to happen, he didn't know exactly what but he knew that Warden was going to hurt his mom. Drax loved his mom with all his heart and could not bear to see anything happen to her. That's when an idea popped into his head, what if he could take his mother's punishment? It was a risk but it was one Drax was willing to take. With his head hung low and his eyes glued to the floor, Drax made his way out of the tunnel.
He must've been in the tunnel for the longest time because when he entered the main area it seemed...brighter, somehow. Drax held his arm in front of his eyes, shielding them from the bright light until they had adjusted. When they did the first thing Drax saw was every Minotaur gathered around the cafeteria. At first Drax was confused, he didn't understand what was happening. He looked around and noticed that spot lights had been set up from most of the Unicorns down onto the cafeteria.
As Drax approached the group, he caught sight of his friend Coal and tapped him on the shoulder. Coal turned around and when he saw Drax his eyes widened.
"Coal what's-" Drax was cut off as Coal embraced him a tight hug.
"Thank goodness your alright. You had us worried sick when you didn't show up this morning." Coal said, it looked like he had been...crying. Coal then noticed that Drax was alone. "The thief?"
Drax slowly shook his head, unable to look Coal in the eyes.
"As if this day couldn't get any worse." Coal mumbled. "Don't worry Drax, we'll think of something. We won't let Warden hurt your mom."
Drax looked Coal in the eyes and asked, "what do you mean by worse?"
It was Coal's turn now to avoid Drax's gaze.
"Coal...where's Rough House?" Drax asked, his voice shaking.
Coal looked like he was going to cry.
Drax looked to the cafeteria and his eyes went wide in disbelief. He didn't want to accept it, he refused to accept it. Drax shoved past Coal, who didn't try to stop him. Drax moved in a straight line, pushing any Minotaur in his way out of it. He came to the edge of the group which had circled around the cafeteria and he saw why everyone had gathered.
The cafeteria, or at least half of it, was now buried underneath multiple stones and rocks. Unicorn's use their magic to carefully pick out rock piece after piece, ensuring that it would not collapse or possibly cause more rocks to fall. To the side of the pile of rubble, lying on a white blanket and being tended to by unicorns, was Rough House. Drax rushed up to the mare and fell to his knees when he got a closer look.
Rough House, his friend and someone he cared about equally as much as his own mother, was dead. He wanted there to be even just a sliver of hope but there wasn't any sign of hope in this moment. Rough House's eyes were glassy and fogged like a corpse's. He once beating heart was now silent and her rising chest stood dead still. Drax couldn't bring himself to words, he couldn't even think properly.
"I'm sorry." The unicorn mare looking Rough House over apologized. "I wish there was something we could do."
"How..." Drax choked. "How did she...how did she...how did she die?"
"That's the strange thing actually." The mare said. "Statistics showed multiple signs of blunt force trauma. But what she had originally died from, was her neck being closed off. Almost like she had been choked by something." The unicorn stood up. "I'll leave you alone."
Drax starred at Rough House and a powerful emotion swept over him. Anger. Anger towards himself, anger towards his brethren for not being there to help her, and anger towards everyone and everything.
"What are you all still doing here?" Warden demanded. "Get back to your posts right now before I have you all suspended."
Drax lifted his head up to where Warden had been standing, a nasty and horrible thought then occurred to him. One that made him seethe with anger. He stood up, took on final glance at Rough House, and stomped over towards Warden.
Warden noticed Drax moving towards him and addressed him. "E-62, what do you think you're doing?" He asked.
Drax didn't respond, he kept moving forward.
"I asked you a question E-62, and you will answer me when-" Warden it himself short as Drax's fist came to be nearly inches away from his face. Had it not been for his magic restraining Drax, he would've felt the full force of his blow.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, froze and became dead quiet. Warden narrowed his eyes towards Drax and in his calm and collected manner spoke, "E-62, I want you to explain your actions this instant before I do something drastic."
"You killed her." Drax growled, struggling to resist Warden's magic.
Warden raised an eyebrow. "Care to repeat that?"
"You killed her." Drax repeated, starting to lose control of his anger. "She was only trying to protect me and you killed her."
"What in Celestia's name are you talking about?" Warden demanded.
"Oh, Fleeze thinks you know exactly what he's talking about."
Warden motioned his head, Drax moved his eyes because he was currently immobilized, over to where they saw the Diamond Dog Fleeze sitting comfortably on a rock with his legs crossed and leaning on his left arm. He wore an orange suit with a black one underneath that had a symbol on his chest. His eyes seemed a darker shade of orange than before and he had metal locker nearly twice his size next to him. Warden's eyes widened when he saw the locker and his face went pale.
"You again!" Drax roared. "Go away, I don't want to see you."
"Drax does not need to see Fleeze." Fleeze said. "Drax only needs to hear what Fleeze has to say. Fleeze knows what happened when the mare and thief had their argument. Wouldn't you like to hear what Fleeze has to say?"
"You know what happened last night?" Drax asked and Fleeze nodded. "Then tell me everything."
"Gladly." Fleeze grinned, excited to tell his tale. "It all started after you passed out. Fleeze needed you alive so Fleeze dragged you to a part of the cave where there was no deadly level of gas. After that, Fleeze decided to return to his crystal's before the thief took more of them. But Fleeze did not find the thief stealing Fleeze's crystal's, instead Fleeze saw the thief arguing with a mare. The two yelled and screamed like dogs fighting over a slab of meat. The thief thought that the mare had discovered the thief's plan and thought that the mare was trying to tell the workers in secret. Because of the thief's assumption, he killed the mare by choking her to death."
There was numerous murmuring among the crowd before Warden yelled.
"What kind of lies are you talking about?!" Warden demanded. "I never killed Rough House. I suspended her for stealing from my office. Nothing more."
"Is that so?" Fleeze asked, as he grabbed the handle on the locker. "Then how do you explain," Fleeze paused as he opened the locker. "This?"
Shards and pieces of Creeping Crystal poured out of the locker, collecting into a pool. An invisible gas escaped from the locker, one that made all of the minotaurs start coughing.
"This is a gem known as 'Creeping Crystal'." Fleeze explained, as the very ground beneath the gems started to turn from rock to Creeping Crystal. "The surface of anything it touches is instantly turned into Creeping Crystal. It also releases a gas which is poisonous to anyone not protected by magic. The thief has been coming down to Fleeze's home and stealing these crystals from Fleeze while you all sleep, and collecting them for his own personal use."
"That's not true!" Warden shouted in defense. "I admit that I have been collecting the Creeping Crystal in secret, but that's only because it poses a threat to everyone in this mine. I collected a majority of the crystal's and kept them in that locker which prevents them from spreading."
"A lie. A good one Fleeze must admit, but a lie is still a lie." Fleeze looked to Drax. "What say you Drax?"
"What?" Drax asked.
"Who do you wish to believe?" Fleeze asked. "Think long and hard about this. Who was it who treated you beneath him? Who was it that threatened those you care about? Who was it that killed your friend?"
Drax eyes began to glow crimson red as he looked towards Warden. "You." He growled.
Warden took a step back, noticing that Drax was somehow beginning to slowly break free from his magical grip.
"That's right, and how does that make you feel Drax? Pretty angry right?" Fleeze asked before thinking about it. "No, anger's to soft of a word to describe it. Fleeze thinks that the correct word would have to be, Rage."
Crimson red smoke began to fume from Drax's mouth, his chest heaved up in down as his breathing rapidly increased to match the loud pumping of his heart.
"That's it Drax, unleash your power. Show them that your hatred is far superior to anything that the can do." Fleeze smiled wickedly.
"What is this?! What have you done?!" Warden demanded from Fleeze.
"Fleeze has done nothing, it is you who has built this hatred inside of him and now it will be you who will suffer for it."
Warden faced towards Drax and ordered, "E-62, stand down at once!"
More crimson red smoke fumed from Drax's mouth.
"Did you hear me E-62? I said-HRK!" Warden choked as Drax's hand instantly wrapped itself around Warden's neck and he was hoisted up to Drax's eye level.
"MY NAME!"
Drax's voice became deeper and darker as Warden squirmed, trying to free himself from Drax's grip. Drax took his other and grabbed Warden's head.
"IS!"
Warden screamed bloody murder as Drax began to pull on his head.
"DRAX'S!!!!"
Warden's head was ripped clean off by Drax's full might. His body twitched as spurts of blood shot from the hole where his neck once stood. Drax dropped both the body and head of the warden. He reserved his head back and unleashed a bloodcurdling roar that shook the very mountain itself.
"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
And everything became crimson red.