"Oh my god..." Moe whispered as they all surveyed the room. Shock was present all throughout the group as the hundreds of egg clusters writhed and shifted before them. Each had at least ten body sized globes, all filled with opaque fluid and the shadow of the shrieker larvae shifting inside the mottled brown skin. If any of them had to estimate, there had to have been over ten thousand eggs, each filled with a larvae that would inevitably grow into one of those monstrous creatures.
"He's been growing them in our sewers..." Frostfeather murmured in shock. “There must be a whole army of them in here.”
“Not counting the weaker ones or the ones that hatched, there must be nearly a thousand growing here,” Moe said, holding a hand to his mouth. Whether it was to hide his shock or to mask his face from the foul stench that emanated from the disgusting sight before him was unclear. His action was mirrored by the others for very much the same reasons. There was a collective and dead silence until Moe was able to even choke out his words. “God, Ravenn has a small hive growing in these sewers. This is insane…”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Dante added. All eyes trained on him as he dropped down from the ledge and into the filthy water. The disgusting slurry splashed around him before settling at his shins. He waded over to one of the egg clusters, avoiding clumps of sewage and the remnants of things none of them wanted to think of. Dante didn't seem to care too much as he approached a cluster and leaned in to inspect it. Carefully he poked and prodded it, using his staff to inspect the sacks before moving downwards and snagging the cord that connected it to the crystal spire.
Twilight and the rest watched, their eyes glued to him by a disgusted fascination. Curiosity soon drove Sam, Moe, and the ponies to follow him into the murky waters. The Griffons stayed where they where, their training subconsciously telling them to hold back in case anything should make it's presence known.
"Moe, I need a knife," Dante asked. Moe nodded and drew the blade he had fastened to his belt. He had replaced his regular pair with one he had picked up from the airship's armoury. A long thin bladed piece about the length of his arm that curved into a tapered point. It was a flexible blade that was well suited to slipping between plates of armour. Even better was the fact it was equally suited for punching through the chitin of Shriekers.
In the case of the egg sacs, the blade passed through the thick skin like it was paper.liquid spurted out, making everyone duck as the sac drained. Dante waited a minute, letting the sac empty itself before he shoved his hand into it. There was a wet squelch as he gripped the larvae inside before removing it in one swift move. The infant Shrieker wriggled only slightly before it settled still, unable to last outside of it's developing cluster. It was about the size of Dante’s fist, far smaller than the size of even the smallest larvae crawling in the murk. Their was a collective groan of disgust from the group as he began to poke it with the knife.
“Dante should we not check on the guy in the crystal?” Moe asked. A few pairs of eyes traveled to the far side of the basin and rested on the limp arm still visible. “There might be something there.”
Dante shook his head and went back to testing the larvae in his hand. “He won't be going anywhere and it's too late for him. We’ll check on him in a few minutes.”
He then turned to Frostfeather and his group. “How long has it been since Ravenn took over, Frostfeather?” Dante asked as he suddenly dropped the larvae into the water. It's white body plopped in and sank beneath the surface with a wet smack. “And how many days has it been since you reached Canterlot and right now?
“Five or six days, since he appeared before my father. It's only been a few days since we arrived here from Canterlot.” Frostfeather replied. Dante seemed to ponder his words, murmuring numbers and short sentences as he began to drain another sac. He inspected the larvae that came from that sac before doing the same to a third. Each time he punctured the egg and drew out the larvae he seemed to grow more and more puzzled, as though there was some factor he was missing.
“What is it, Dante?” Twilight asked.
“None of this makes sense,” he mumbled while handing the blade to Moe. “All of these eggs are in their second or third growth stages. They've either just been fertilized or are still developing.”
“What does that mean then?”
“Shrieker eggs take at least a month from fertilization to develop a larvae that can survive outside of the egg clusters. Stage two is when the chitin begins to harden and stage three is when they're almost ready to escape their eggs. Those two stages alone take a week each to complete.
“Then there's this. The Creep has only just begun to grow on the wall.” He stepped back and walked over to the wall. His hand reached out, softly running over the blocks of masonry before travelling towards the ground. Just breaking the surface of the water was the same fleshy substance that made up the egg clusters. As he did so, Twilight gradually became aware that her hooves were not touching stone, but something much softer. “It doesn't make sense though…”
“The Creep, what's that?” Rainbow Dash asked. The pegasus was hovering just above the water's surface, looking at it with morbid curiosity. Her ability to avoid having to step into the murk had drawn the envy of a few of her friends, namely one fashionista who had impressed everyone by keeping quiet about the fact they were in a sewer. When the Pegasus finally did decide to land, there was an instant shiver that envelope her. “Oh sweet Celestia, that is so gross…”
“Trust me, it's not a pleasant thing to see either. The Creep is a substance that Shriekers use to build their hives. It nourishes their larvae and basically terraforms the area around it. Think of it like a cancer growing in the veins of the city,” Moe answered for Dante. “But if there are hundreds of mature Shriekers, that doesn't explain why it's so contained. If he grew them somewhere else then there'd be a huge patch of it above ground. Yet we haven't seen it, which defies basic behaviour for Shriekers…”
“And what's basic behaviour for them?” Rarity asked.
Dante stood up, hand clutching something in his hands. “Find a location, build, breed, consume, move on, repeat.” He then motioned for them to move closer as he presented what was in his hands. A tiny form, thin and almost translucent lay still in his hands. It was like a worm, but twice as long and just as wide as one of the ponies tail hairs with a head shaped like a cone. “This is how he's controlling them. He’s been implanting mind worms into them.”
A dozen questions burned throughout the group but the shape of the worm and it's name answered a few of the more general ones. Using a parasite as a medium to control something was ingenious. Using them to loosely organize and control the Shriekers was ingenious. Out of the entire group, Twilight was the only one who was beginning to see the bigger picture and methods Ravenn had employed. He was letting them roam free, acting on natural impulse, but was controlling them through the worms in order to maintain their population and avoid any escaping. It was a perfect way to organize them without having to be weighed down by controlling something larger. Added with the knowledge that physical beings were much easier to control than ones actually summoned through magic, as Dante had told her offhandedly, Ravenn had effectively gained control of a huge army of monsters that required minimal strain to control. There was still one question that burned in her mind.
“You said the timeline’s don't match up, didn't you? Is it possible that Ravenn could be using some sort of magic to speed up the development of these eggs?” She asked. “Is it possible that there would be such magic?”
“Not any magic that I've heard of,” Dante replied with a shake of his head. Sam and Moe followed suit when he looked to them, both lacking any answers. Dante seemed to ponder it for a few moments before turning to Twilight again. “Either it's an ancient spell or Ravenn’s discovered a new category. In both cases, we’ll have to confront him in order to see what it is.”
“So what now then?” Fluttershy asked meekly. “A lot of us are hurt and exhausted. We need to take a break.”
“That's not an option right now,” Dante replied sternly. In the corner of his eye he saw Moe move his injured limb out if sight. He mouthed a silent I'm fine to Dante. The potion they had administered to his arm had closed the wound, but the muscles beneath the skin would need time to heal. For the time being, Moe would probably be restricted to his knives. He wasn't sure about the griffons but his present company only bore minimal scratches and bruises. He at least hoped none had any wounds which would slow them down. “The more time we take means the more time we give the Shriekers to find us. It also lessens the chance we have to stop casualties. As much as I want to make sure everyone is rested and ready, we don't have the time.” He turned and pointed to the crystal spire. “As it stands, our priority is that spire.”
Twilight was the first to step up. “What do you need us to do?”
*****
Frostfeather watched as Dante and both unicorns moved among the rows of egg sacs. They were too far to hear what was being said among them, but he had no doubt that Dante was uncovering answers as he had dissected the eggs. Truth be told, he almost enjoyed watching Dante cut them out. It meant one less monster that could grow into a threat, and one step closer into ridding the city of them once and for all. It was a morbid train of thought, but having seen what those monsters could accomplish, he didn’t really care. He could hazard a guess that if he had asked the men beside him, they would’ve agreed as well.
“What do you think they’re saying?” He heard one guard ask. His vision flicked to the side, catching two guards stealing the occasional glance at the group below.
“Keep your ears open,” he said to his guards. “I don’t want anything catching us by surprise. You hear or see anything that vaguely resembles a bug, alert everyone. Scream, shout, I don’t care, just make sure we all know by the time you throw the first blow.”
“Yes, your highness,” they all said in unison. Fear mingled with excitement, making Frostfeather’s heart begin to beat at a quick and steady pace. He was alert and ready for the worst, as were his men. Above ground they were at a disadvantage, but below they could pose a greater challenge in the form of interlocking shields bristling with short stabbing swords and spears. An insane part of him dared even a single Shrieker to try them, but the rational and curious part of his mind told him he needed to assess and inform himself.
“I’m going to find out what’s going on,” he told Murkclaw. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
With a small leap he dropped over the side. On instinct his wings unfurled and slowed him slightly as his paws broke through the waters surface. He ignored the disgusting feeling beneath him as best he could, but even as he walked forward it made his feathers bristle. Beyond the mass of creeping alien flesh, his feet would kick a sunken bone or a scrap of refuse. Whatever was beneath the murk, he did not know whether it was of his race or of some unlucky animal. He did not intend to find out, but he let it stoke the burning fire in his chest.
The group of ponies and outsiders turned to him as he approached, but murmured even as he stopped in front of them. “What have you found out?” He asked plainly.
It was Sam who spoke up, Dante's second in command. Frostfeather hadn't had the chance to get to know him as he had with Dante, but he recognized the type of person the Felpier was. Cold, calculated, and one of few words. ‘A perfect second’ his father would claim. They were capable leaders, but were more at home under someone else's command. Sam however, was more dangerous than any sergeant he had seen and he was glad the man was on their side after seeing his abilities in the streets above.it give him a healthy respect for each of them - their dedication and skill was unlike anything he had seen. He had no doubt even the most seasoned of his father's soldiers would be impressed.
“Raven is mass producing larvae, using magic to speed up their development. Whether that's how he created his initial group or if they were grown naturally is beyond us.” He explained. Frostfeather listened patiently, a part of him did not really see what use this knowledge was, but he assumed whatever Dante was doing at the crystal spire was a part of it. Still, he kept his mind opened to Sam’s words. “He's also using mind worms to control them.”
That piece of knowledge caught Frostfeather's attention. “Mind worms?”
Sam’s expression remained passive even as he answered Frostfeather's inquiry. “They're insects from our world. Usually found in tainted waters or swamps. They travel to the brain and take over motor functions. You're basically trapped in your own body. It is not a pleasant experience from what I know.”
Frostfeather’s feathers bristled. It made sense to him now. The memories flashed in his head of Ravenn’s smug look as Griffons of all ages entered his father’s hall, eyes blank and bodies unsteady as they shuffled. Their minds had been intact, filled with fear as Ravenn forced them to attack against their will. And to be cut down by us… His knees became weak while his stomach twisted.
Abruptly he walked past the group, heading straight forward to the spire. Dante and the two ponies were crouched in front of it, the two unicorns scanning the crystal with two magic while the spell caster inspected the writing and the arm that protruded from the spire. As he drew closer he could make out the slight details of the poor soul who had been given up to the crystals.
The arm itself was not from a griffon, but was like that of Dante. Pale with skin almost like that of porcelain, pitted with cracks and veins that glowed the same unearthly cyan of the spire. Though his species was unable to use magic like the ponies, Frostfeather could feel the power coming from the strange construct. Strangest of all, something about it caused it to appear almost alive. The light around it pulsed rapidly, like a heart under stress. It unsettled him, and he unconsciously took a step away from it.
“What is this thing?” He muttered.
Dante looked up from the arm, his face betraying no hint of emotion. “From what I can tell, this was an Erdgeist,” he said before he realised Frostfeather had no idea what he was talking about. “They’re another race from our home world, but they’re fairly unique in a biological sense.” he pointed towards the arm, tracing the cracks. “Their bodies are not fully organic, but are like living dolls.The reason behind this is that an Erdgeist’s actual body resides in another plane of existence entirely; a side effect of being descended from earth spirits. As a result, if they want to manifest in the physical world, they require a vessel. Hence, the form we have here.”
“I meant the spire.”
“I have no idea, only that Ravenn has been able to channel the magical energy in it to the larvae. I'm assuming that's why warriors and workers have non-natural abilities to produce those crystals.”
When he finished, Dante beckoned for Frostfeather to come closer and the prince reluctantly did so. Squatting near the body, Dante motioned for him to touch the arm. At first he hesitated, but with a look of support from the Diablon he brushed the arm slightly. Much like Dante had said, the Erdgeist’s skin was like a doll. It's skin had the same colouration as Sam and Moe, but the feeling was like touching polished marble that had the properties of living flesh. The uniqueness of it all left him stumbling for words. His imagination of what the world the three of them had come from was like had overtaken his initial anger. However, his focus remained the same.
“You and I will need to talk privately after all of this,” he said. Dante nodded with little objection. His eyes then turned to the arm. “As for this body, if there's a way to get it out, I'll see to it that it's given a proper burial.”
“The notion is appreciated,” Dante replied. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Twilight’s face scrunch up in confusion. “Is something wrong, Twilight?”
“It's the crystal, we don't know how, but it's taking in and distributing energy,” Twilight replied. Beside her, Rarity stood but with a slightly more exhausted look around her. Dante stared at the mare curiously before he noticed the thin line of magical energy that was connected between Rarity and the spire.
It's borrowing energy. He could tell the process by just sight alone. The barely visible line would light up one way before traveling back, albeit with slightly less energy. Unlike the Erdgeist it had drained quickly as he had found, it seemed the crystal was being careful about nourishing itself with Rarity’s magic. Perhaps it’s seeing if it can sustain on Equestrian magic?
“Another piece of your home?” Frostfeather asked. Dante nodded but wasn't as sure. Everything he had come across since their arrival resembled pieces of his homeworld, but there was something strange about it. A part of his mind thought back to even before they had stepped foot in this land. Alaric and his tribe? The idea made sense, but the fundamental flaw was that if this had been brought back a thousand years, Frostfeather would have a slight idea of what the crystal was. Regardless of it's origin however, he needed to get Rarity away from it.
“Both of you,” he said with calm in his voice. There was no use in frightening them at this point. Better to do things naturally. “I need you two to step away from the spire. We’ll be moving on to the fortress.”
Twilight and Rarity nodded and turned to Frostfeather. The Griffon signalled the rest of the group with a wave and they all began a slow trickle out of the basin towards a tunnel. Dante and the griffon Prince oversaw the movement from their position on the basement, keeping a wary eye on the egg clusters and the tunnels they had entered from.
As the group passed by the crystal, Moe stopped in front of the spire, curiously inspecting it before he raised a hand to touch the surface. Dante watched closely, a strange feeling in his stomach telling him to stop and observe. Unbeknownst to him, Twilight watched the two her eyes watching the two of them. An odd quality had taken to the air. Nothing moved; even the larvae which had been in constant motion laid unusually still.
The two of them held their breath for a moment as Moe’s hand made contact. The same thin lines of magic connected with the palm of his hand, causing the entire spire to glow a bright blue. Dante and Twilight held their breaths, eyes watchin lg as they stood transfixed by the sight.
They're absence had been noticed and soon the entire group had circled back, only to watch as the mysterious light enveloped Moe’s arm. It seemed to gradually move up his limb, enveloping his body while creating spots that glowed from beneath Moe’s bandages, appearing like little stars on a dirty white background. At the same time the crystal darkened and shifted as it began to shrink, falling away from the wall and ceiling. The cords that connected the spire to the egg sacs shattered into dust and it seemed to Dante that the backlash of the event was killing both the Creep and the visibly deflating egg sacs now that they had been cut off.
Curiosity drove both Dante and Twilight even further as Moe let out a moan. Dante began to feel uneasy as she watched blue lines etch themselves in Moe’s arm. She looked back and forth between the unmoving Dante and Moe who had begun to shake. The spire had reduced to merely a fraction of it’s size in mere minutes and only seemed to grow smaller by the second. It’s crystal exterior had begun to pull away from it's prisoner, revealing just what it had done to the poor soul.
“Sweet Celestia…” She heard Rainbow Dash curse as the Erdgeist was exposed. Emaciated was a polite term for what had happened to the body in the event any had been able to speak. The artificial skin was drawn over the bones that made up the frame, tightly like that of a piece of leather head to dry between two vices. The entirety of the skin had been turned into pale mosaic, crisscrossed by the same veins that had just begun to crystallize. Every thin line zigzaged in a random pattern, but all converged in a single point just over the Erdgeist heart where there was now a large hole. From Twilight’s perspective, she would have assumed that the crystal had been implanted into the Erdgeist’s skin and had slowly taken over his body, consuming him as it grew. Ravenn had also ensured his captive would stay and slowly succumb to his fate while his body was used to alter the Shriekers by chaining his legs and waist to the wall. With so much stress on his body from the parasitic crystal, it wouldn’t have mattered if his arms were unbound.
“His name was Martin…” She heard Moe say. Upon looking at the elf she could see the sweat plastered on his skin and the frightened look in his eyes. His breathing was hoarse and ragged, as though he had run a thousand miles, but it was his eyes that haunted Twilight. Blank, white eyes stared back at them, as though whatever he had done had cost him his sight. It was only after a few heartbeats that his irises returned, coloured the same bright cyan as the crystals before returning to their natural green.
“Moe, what was that?” she asked as she trotted towards him. “How did you know his name?”
The elf looked at her, still slightly confused as he came down from the experience. “I don't know how to explain it other than the spire spoke to me.”
“It spoke to you?”
“Yes…” He replied. “I could hear a voice and I saw things. It showed me what Ravenn had been doing, how he'd been collecting and experimenting on the Shriekers. He's also gained powers through some sort of artefact similar to the spire. I'm not sure what he’s gained but he is more powerful now.”
“It’s entirely possible that a piece of Martin’s soul still remained in the crystal, perhaps that is why you could see these things,” Dante added. “Do you know where the rest of the population is being held?”
Moe nodded. “They’re in the dungeons, but a majority have been subjected to the parasites. If we can defeat Ravenn however, they should be free of the parasites control. He was able to use the artefact to enhance his power, this means that he is directly connected to them all. The same goes for the Shriekers, but if Ravenn is defeated and their Queen is taken out, the shock should kill them all.”
“Cut off the head and the body dies,” Frostfeather interjected. “Seems we have a course of action. We’ll find Ravenn and then rescue the populace. Then we mop up the rest of those monsters.”
“That works for me as well,” Dante agreed before returning his attention to Moe. “Was there anything else that you could get from the spire? Did you manage to find out if Coppa is here and what shape he is in?”
“No,” Moe replied with a depressed shake of his head. “Martin passed a few days ago. He wouldn’t have seen Coppa either. I’m sorry Dante…”
“No, you did the best you could. Who knows what side effects this crystal could cause. It’s not something we need to risk again.”
“There was this though,” Moe added opening his hand. Sitting in his palm was a small shard of the spire, shaped into a small, round gem. It shined with its own internal glow, but the air around it still radiated with the same amount as it had in its larger form. Twilight watched as Dante instinctively reached for it, but hesitated at the final moment. His hands shook slightly before he picked it up, only for the crystal to crumble into dust that fell back and reformed in Moe’s palm. Dante tried grasping it again, but the moment the crystal left Moe’s hand, it crumbled away.
“It looks like you will have to hold onto it for now,” Dante stated. Moe held the crystal with uncertainty in his eyes, but placed it into his pocket. Twilight could tell there was something about the crystal that bothered him. Perhaps he wasn’t revealing the true scope of what he had seen when he had touched the crystal. The other, more plausible explanation was the body that had been host to the crystal. Dante seemed to notice this too and offered a reassuring hand on Moe’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, once we finish here, we can lock up the crystal back in Ponyville. I won’t let what happened to Martin, happen to you. Now let’s head out. The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can sever the link between you and that crystal.”
“Alright, let’s go then,” Moe replied with a renewed sense of confidence. He followed the rest of the group into the next tunnel, alongside Sam and the ponies. Dante watched them go on ahead, his eyes glues to where Moe’s bandage had come loose to reveal a now completely healed arm. The familiar feeling surrounding the crystal concerned him, but his mind was not sure how to process it. At first glance, it wasn’t pulling any energy away from Moe, but it seemed as though it had begun a sort of symbiotic connection with his body. There was more to the crystal than he knew, but at this moment it appeared to be safe enough. He only hoped, his assumption was right
“Dante?”
Twilight’s words broke the Diablon out of his trance, and he realised he had yet to move a step towards the exit. For a moment he scanned his surroundings and joined both Frostfeather and Twilight at the mouth of the exit. “Sorry, I was thinking about something,” He told them as he reached them. A sudden idea came over him and he clenched his fist as his magic began to pour into a spell. “Frostfeather, were there any traces of gas or anything in the water that would have exploded if we had lit a torch?”
The Griffon Prince pondered the question for a moment before nodding. “There was a bit of gas in the air. A few pockets throughout the room. The water, may have a few combustible properties too. This basin was connected to the entirety of the castle so it was safe to assume some of the chemicals our alchemists use in their experiments have been deposited into here. Surely a few of those may react to an open flame. Why do you ask?”
Now Twilight stepped up with a concerned expression. “Dante what are you thinking?”
“If Ravenn is connected to every mind worm, then he feels a fraction of what the worms and their hosts feel. It’s one of the fundamental flaws of being a summoner. You’re subjected to a magical backlash that can devastate you. This will just make things easier in the long run.” He answered just as flames covered his hand. “Plus, we won’t have to worry about these ones afterwards.” The flames grew brighter and more violent as he approached the mouth of the exit. “You may want to step back for this.”
“What about the body?”
“It’s an impromptu pyre. I’m sure he’d appreciate it more than allowing his body to decay in a sewer.”
Twilight nodded solemnly and stepped back as Dante raised his hand and staff. Her eyes closed shut as a bright orange blast blinded her and rocked the foundations of the tunnel. Turning her head, she blinked and let her eyes readjust. While her eyes gradually became focused on the wall, she did her best to try and block out the sounds and smell of burning meat. This did not sit well with her, nor did Dante’s passive attitude agree with what she thought. Still, she kept herself quite ith the knowledge that Dante’s quick and brutal decision had probably saved many more lives in the end. All she could do was to watch with dread as Dante and Frostfeather’s shadows merged and formed a single winged being in the light of the flames that engulfed and consumed the dying creatures within the basin.