Chloe stood there with the girl on the balcony, but didn’t move for several seconds as she took in the sight. The balcony was part of a curved overhang connected to the passage they were in, with several more entrances along its length. From here they were looking out over a large chamber that descended several levels further into the earth, a few bridges of stone and wood crossed the chasm below them. At the furthest depths of the cavernous chamber was a large pool of water above which hung a shimmering veil of mist. Distinctive avian monsters could be seen in flight below them as well. Yet it wasn’t what was below them that had drawn her attention. Instead Chloe’s eyes had fallen upon the open-sided chamber directly across from their position. With the open sides, she could see straight to the rear walls, which were carved with a series of alcoves from floor to ceiling. Each alcove was lined with nesting material, more of which ran over the floor of the chamber. In the center of the chamber were a series of depressions. Those were home to clusters of large eggs, some of which had freshly hatched. Not into birds, but humanoids. She saw a number of beastkin, elves, and even a few humans. Some babies were also crawling on the floor, while others were resting in the alcoves on the rear wall. Some of those alcoves looked pretty deep; the shadows at the back seemed like they might conceal small tunnels leading out of sight.
There wasn’t a single rail blocking the little ones from the edge and the far drop below, but they weren’t alone. Those same avian monsters flying below were strutting around the chamber. A few were even evolved harpies, and there weren’t just babies here. She saw a few young beastkin girls and a couple elves, helping the monsters tend to the babies. For every helper girl she saw about three birds. While the evolved harpies were even fewer, there was only one for every nine helper girls.
Chloe however also noted that many of the helpers bore injuries, bruises, fresh cuts, and the like. Even the babies weren’t immune to the sight. She saw many of them bleeding from fresh wounds, nothing fatal, but the wounds were present. A frown touched her face as she cast forth a familiar spell on one of the birds, in view.
Name: Swiftbeak
Race: Corrupted Schwæri Raptor
Health: 100%
Level: 112
Shields: 0/0
Mana: 4,368/4,368
Level 112? She blinked, Schwæri Raptors were Tier two Monsters. Chloe wasn’t sure what corrupted meant but had that raised the tier? Her mortal body was tier two, her companions were tier two... this could be trouble. She analyzed a second one, then a third.
Name: Mystic Claws
Race: Corrupted Schwæri Raptor
Health: 100%
Level: 129
Shields: 9,675/9,675
Mana: 9,789/10,449
Name: Razorclaw
Race: Corrupted Schwæri Raptor
Health: 100%
Level: 104
Shields: 0/0
Mana: 4,264/4,264
A new one arrived from below in a flutter of wings, and she reflexively appraised it as well. The condensed analysis from her magic appeared before her.
Name: Bluntclaw
Race: Corrupted Schwæri Raptor
Health: 100%
Level: 192
Shields: 27,648/27,648
Mana: 7,789/8,256
A shudder went through her when she saw this new one was high tier three. Sure, she could fight that too, but there were so many. She saw that dozens of birds and hundreds more were flying below. Her gaze fell on one of the harpies.
Name: Arie Bloodtalon
Race: Corrupted Schwæri Harpy
Health: 100%
Level: 240
Shields: 60,000/60,000
Mana: 36,000/36,000
Another harpy, who seemed more prominent caught her eye and she appraised it as well before she had fully registered the fact the first one was mid tier four.
Name: Iria Warclaw
Race: Corrupted Schwæri Sharpwing Harpy
Health: 100%
Level: 396
Shields: 104,940/104,940
Mana: 120,000/120,000
High tier five? Chloe backed away, raising a hand to gesture to the others. In a low voice she said, “Don’t make noise, don’t draw attention.”
Alicia frowned, “Why?”
“Appraise them, the weaker ones are tier three,” she gestured at the prominent Schwæri Harpy with the black and gold feathers with streaks of blood-red through them. Like all of the evolved forms of Schwæri, she was naked, with feather covered wings instead of arms. Her feet ended in razor sharp talons, fluffy feathers ran up her legs and puffed around her neck and in her long black hair adding hints of gold and blood red to her shoulder length hair. Her eyes were fierce and she had a beak on her face. The harpy girl’s breasts, belly and pussy, however, were bare of feathers, revealing the pale skin. Yet she moved with the grace and demeanor of a predator. “That one, however, is tier.. five. High tier five.”
Alicia paled, and Ellie turned white. Sae looked confused, and Myshi hid behind a pillar.
“Those babies are being hurt!” she exclaimed a second later. Chloe looked over and saw one baby being pecked by a couple of birds, blood spurting from fresh injuries. They were light pecks; not even fatal, but Sae’s exclamation was most unfortunate. Chloe rapidly fired several more appraisals, on birds and even the children. The kids, predictably enough, were quite low-level. Most of the babies were level one with a couple at level two or three. Meanwhile, the helper girls ranged from level four to eight. In other words, they were weak, and fragile. Any big spells would likely kill them as collateral; worse, they were all injured to varying degrees.
Several birds turned their way and cawed. “Ah shit!” cursed Alicia. “Fall back!
“But the babies!” exclaimed Sae as Alicia dragged her back into the corridor.
“We can’t help them!” said Alicia as a flutter of wings came their way. Ellie blocked the creature’s attack with a swing of her axe. A clatter rang out as metal met claw. The Schwæri raptor shrieked as a couple of its buddies joined it. Ellie swung her axe again, taking steps back.
“To the door! Hurry!” said Alicia as she finished a spell, “Thunderclap!”
An orb of wind and lightning shot from her staff. It flew several meters and detonated in mid air. Unleashing a shock of sound that stunned every bird unfortunate enough to be near the spell. A couple of harpies and several raptors plummeted a dozen or so meters before they recovered and swept back up.
The girls hurried toward the door. Only to suddenly be blocked by a flurry of wings. Several Raptors were blocking the exit with a certain harpy anchoring their center. It was Iria Warclaw, the high tier five. She grinned, “Oh, I do love guests. Please stay awhile. I won’t bite... much.” She giggled.
Alicia slung two thunderclaps that way. Chloe sent a couple dark blades and a lightning strike to deter several birds closing on their flank. While Ellie blocked yet another bird, her muscles straining to deflect the strike. Chloe noticed she had taken a few injuries and was bleeding. A couple birds suddenly started fighting each other, while Sae unleashed a lightning strike of her own. Finding a new route, Alicia pulled them toward a new passage. No birds were blocking it, and the narrower walls limited what angles they could attack from. Yet Chloe had a feeling the birds weren’t attacking too seriously yet.
Somehow, they all made it into the new passage. A flurry of claws and feathers came their way. Ellie did her best to hold them off, while a few spells from Alicia slowed them down. Chloe glanced at the ceiling and sent a burst of magic into the rock. Just as Iria was about to show her face again. Instead, she hurried to save her fellows as the rocks closed the passage.
Suddenly safe, for the moment anyway. Everyone fell to the ground, breathing fast as the adrenaline drained. The Schwæri might have looked a bit like an oversized chicken, if maybe a bit wild and predatory in build, but they sure weren’t to be underestimated. Certainly not in numbers like that.
Alicia sighed, “Well looks like we are stuck. Can’t go back the way we came.”
Chloe frowned, “Did anyone else notice they were all labeled as Corrupted?”
“I did,” replied Alicia while she was comforting her sister, “The question is, corrupted by what?”
Myshi and Ellie shared looks. It was Myshi who spoke up, “I’m not sure but I found their minds cruel, and sadistic. Merely touching them was unpleasant. They relished in hurting those babies.”
Sae spoke up, “Did I mess up? Are we... are we...”
“It’s okay. We’ll be fine. Trust me.”
Ellie commented, “I could use a moment to rest and if anyone has a potion or healing spell I could use that too. Those things were strong.”
Chloe walked over to help treat her. That was something she could do. Dark magic had more than a few healing spells and she’d learned some of them. “Right, but lucky for us they weren’t trying to kill us. They could have at several points.”
“Yeah lucky. Now we are trapped in a tunnel.”
They spent the next few minutes. Chatting and taking a moment to recover from the ordeal, before they moved down the tunnel. It was well lit, and straight, leaving them with only one path.
The girls followed it to the end, where it led into a small room with a set of stairs. Stairs that led down, deeper into the earth. They shared looks. Chloe knew they needed to go up, and escape this nest. Going down was the wrong way, but it didn’t seem like they had a choice.
A full sweep of the room confirmed no other passages, aside from the one they just came from. So they were left with only one option, to head down deeper into the nest. With a heavy heart, they took that path. The stairs were well maintained, and lit by magical lights. No birds appeared to attack them and before long they arrived on a lower landing. Two paths before them. Another set of stairs heading further down, and a passage to the right. Ellie peered down the passage, then spoke up, “It’s clear. So do we take the passage or head down?”
“Does it matter?” asked Alicia, as she pulled out a coin. “Perhaps a toss?”
Sae said, “Why not take the passage? Perhaps there is a way up on this level?”
Chloe, turned to Myshi. “If we could get a bird alone, do you think you could get a map or something out of its mind?”
“I don’t know, maybe? But there were so many! Do you think we’d be that lucky?”
They all shared looks. Not a single one thought they would. Blind exploration it was. After a quick round of debate, they took the passage. Chloe couldn’t help wondering what other dangers they would run into. It seemed they’d found the sort of thing they were ill-prepared to deal with. Once again, she muttered, “I really should have learned mind magic...”