Part 3: The Swarm
Darnie believed his work had purpose. He worked for King Opponop since he was old enough to hold a broom and his value was constantly overlooked. Darnie was a servant by title to the King, but was treated more like a slave. He has never been paid in coin for his labor, only in promises to not enslave his wife, Freya. He met Freya in the castle, both of them were cleaning the library one day when a bookshelf ladder collapsed on Darnie. Freya, who feared the corrupt King as well, rushed him to her quarters. Hardly a space for mammals to be living in, less so a human, was all Freya and the other servants were given. Hidden deep in the bowels of the castle on a level above the prison cells was an array of cells with no doors and rooms smaller than the prison quarters beneath them. Each room had a personal item or two in them in addition to a single wool blanket and a layer of dry grass that covered the cold stone. Freya's room was near the end of the long hallway, which ejected itself into the open air. This portion of the castle was so far below ground and into the foundation of the rock it was built on, that the original engineers did not account for erosion of the surrounding stone which has been assaulted by the massive tides of the sea. This long and narrow hallway seems to end abruptly, as if the hallway was torn off. Or bitten off. Freya thought this everytime she looked at it, and shuddered with fear. Her room was the second room from the dropoff, and each step closer to it brought her closer to the prospect of freedom. The wind surges through her hair and feet and almost lifts her toes off the ground. The problems and nightmares would just go away if she just closed her eyes and kept walking forward. She knew she had a purpose, though, and she would find it. It was this day, when she did. As she half carried, half drug the injured man to her quarters, she found her spirit again. She found love. She thought she came to the castle to find adventure and activity in her youthfulness, except she was thrown into servitude and wiped away from history, along with her family. Darnie and Freya fell in love, and even though they would undergo many more stealthy missions together, it all would begin that day.
Freya was a servant too, like Darnie. Except she had additional responsibilities. She wasn't tasked with the hard labor that Darnie was used to. She stayed with the King's maids and fetched tasks for them. A rare and luxurious job for a servant, Darnie had bargained this fate for his wife after the King learned that they were lovers in exchange for his own freedom. The King delighted in watching his subjects be punished. The rage had accumulated in his short stump of a body and it pleased him to witness the devotion and love his servants were forced to provide him, lest they be met with cruel punishments. He would laugh as he ordered his personal guard to fire their arrows upon the beggars feet and citizens who chastised him for his lack of aid. Ever since he made this promise to the King, Darnie has carried bodies, seen acts, and done horrible things in the wake of the King's actions. Darnie crawled up the wooden ladder that groaned with age. He was in a tight space with very little room to hold his torch. But he wouldn't let a little inconvenience get in his way to see the love of his life. These moments where he can escape in the privacy of night is what he longs for. He scaled up the abandoned watch tower in a cramped space, extremely cautious not to let the glowing end of his torch make contact with the dry timber of the 100-year old ladder he was mounted on. Nor did he try to let it be seen by any guards of the night. The castle had more than a dozen spires in its maze of bridges and stone. Several of which were ordered inoperable and decommissioned for use. These towers served as vantage points for overlooking several firing lanes in the surrounding plains and forest, however, some of the smaller spires were designed to assist and quench rebellions on the other side of the inner wall. The two of them were positioned in an anti-riot tower that was one of the first of dozens to be decommissioned after the Insanity Breakouts, two-hundred years ago. The towers' crest was no more than twenty-five meters tall and slightly leaning towards the wall it was meant to protect. Biting the thin wooden rod in his mouth, he used his free hand to carefully push open a wooden hatch as he neared the top of the ladder. He pulled himself up and felt the chill of the night air stroke his thick hair and looked up to see the faint glow of a torch on the ground and a woman standing in a dirty gray dress. The dress was clearly white at one point, with fabric coarse and ripped in each of its multiple layers. Her hair was clumped and wild in the back, but clearly pulled aside in the front with some effort of hygiene. Her hands were clasped together in front of her waist and she looked at him expectantly. She looked beautiful. The glow from the double moons on the horizon made her face glow a brilliant blue, and in this moment, Darnie felt like a slave once more. He was stunned and captivated at the beauty of his wife in the glow of the fire and moon, and completely unaware of any distractions. It was also in this moment, before they could embrace, when Darnie saw a change on her face and the spell that stunned him was now broken. She looked past him near the front gate. He turned his head to meet her gaze and didn't register what she saw immediately. What? He wanted to say, but the words were choked in his throat when he saw something he had never seen before.
A swarm of metal bugs. Hundreds of them.
They scaled the walls and bridges like ants over rocks and trees. Skittering with metal legs and glowing with a deep, internal orange fire that illuminated their eyes and abdomen. It was almost impossible from this distance to discern their true size. They both peeked out the tower window and watched from above as dozens of the bugs descended upon the few guards stationed at the gate, who were completely taken by surprise. As the bugs toppled the men, they tore off limbs in terrifying teamwork. Almost completely defenseless in turn, the bugs died in scores. Many of the arrows from the archers were uncooperative when attempting to pierce their shells, but anyone swift enough with an iron sword would send a cleaved spray of metal shards and limbs back into the ravenous swarm. Darnie watched the combat from above and recognized the reactions to the blades against the hard shells of the bugs had to mean the bugs were crafted out of some sort of metal. Some of them were quite large, 2 or 3 of the bugs would take up the same space as a single soldier. The bulk of their force was smaller, quicker, more agile bugs that were able to skitter, leap, and climb their way past any debris or obstacle in their way. Fires had already started in the defenseless huts and buildings outside of the wall. Then, Darnie and Freya heard blasts from behind them in the street. Both of them instinctively turned their heads and saw a party of soldiers mounted on their bird-like companions. They were charging at the closing swarm from the inner castle gate. A plume of smoke and a loud bang erupted from the soldiers as they each held a long, black powder musket. There were 2 ranks of mounts, each mount with two riders. They were reloading their rifles when another blast echoed out from the back rider and each mount vanished from sight for a moment as the cloud of smoke engulfed them. The mounted soldiers continued their heroic escapade and rode out into the middle of the street where they halted their advance in unison. A moment later, another eruption of smoke accompanied a righteous explosion of noise from their barrels as every soldier took aim and their shot cascaded from their barrels into the streets and the sound pierced the ears of Darnie and Freya. He saw the drawbridge for the castle rising and the other servants hoisting the ropes. He knew that his absence would be noticed now that the other servants had been woken, and he was not in his quarters. And neither was Freya. He panicked. Another blast erupted from the street and he flinched. The solid lead and iron balls that were ejected from the muskets found new homes inside the rock, houses, and the sentient, ravenous bugs that began advancing towards the soldiers. The ground vibrated with the reaction and the fresh dirt in the street shot up into the air like rain on a pond. A frontal cone of obliteration lay before the mounted soldiers as another volley of shots rang from each mount. Dozens of bugs died and sprayed their robotic limbs into the street like fireworks. Small explosions that sent their body parts like shrapnel in all directions. The result of the metal legs and torsos that turned missile had dropped two of the mounts. Even the ricochets from their death throes completely severed the strong leg of one of the bird mounts and impaled another through the torso, leaving it motionless. Razor sharp on all angles, the bugs were clearly designed for a fast-paced mutilation of their opponent. However, the bugs didn't seem to fear anything. They met the now charging mounts without reaction, with instinct. It was in the close quarters that the tide of battle changed as fast as it started. The tall bird mounts were left defenseless against the swarming metal bugs. They clawed and kicked with their massive legs at some but were overwhelmed the second they lost balance. The ensuing carnage was too quick and deadly. The mounted soldiers were able to dismember a handful of the bugs before there was no more motion in the street. It almost fell silent. Every mounted soldier lay dead over the street and some resistance of bugs scattered aimlessly, searching for any organic matter. Freya and Darnie watched in horrified silence as their home was under attack by a never before seen enemy. Some of the bugs crawled on with two legs, dragging its body towards the castle gate. Then, a necrotic and electric voice rang out from outside the gate and into the streets. Darnie grabbed Freya by the shoulder and pushed her down behind the protective wall of their leaning tower.
"I am- Heqathor of the Mephrit- Dynasty, and this world-has been claimed! DIE!" The voice was monumental and ancient. It spoke in staggered noises as if it's ancient dialect was being translated through another source. Immediately after the voice silenced, a blinding orange light consumed the gate and the surrounding area. Particles erupted with energy and towers of fire splashed from the wall with the power of a solar flare. Their leaning tower was momentarily illuminated by the orange light and a clearly misplaced stone from the floor caught Darnie's eye. Within arms reach, he reached out to grab the stone and exposed a hidden cache in the stone floor beneath their bodies. He removed another stone, and another, to reveal a wooden coffer similar to the one they crawled through. Darnie opened the hatch and it revealed a host of notes and personal mementos, most likely from a guard stationed at this tower long ago. He rummaged through the small coffer over glinting medallions, broken bones and horns of trophies of some sort, a pouch of black powder, and a long exquisite knife with a bronze handle. Brilliant in craftsmanship and appeared unused, he offered the knife to Freya. A maroon ribbon coiled around the handle and knotted itself to a tail at the base. She hesitated and then quickly grabbed the blade and hid it within her underdress. The orange light was dimming and Darnie garnered the strength to get to his knees and witness the phenomenon that was occuring. The massive gate was melting into a pile of hot jelly, deforming until it began to collapse under its viscous liquid weight. "I am Heqathor of the Mephrit Dynasty... and this world is MINE!"