"Run." I said as I held up the aged blood-stained letter to read, I looked it over one more time, noting the bloodstains that adorned the parchment that I noticed that the green stains are blood as well after giving it the cursory taste test.

And yup, the green stains did indeed taste like blood although instead of the usual tinge of iron that us red-blooded beings have, this had the distinct lack of iron and was thicker almost like jelly. Gazing at the parchment one last time before shifting my gaze towards the fossilized paw on the ground and the wall it was buried in, I started to take notice of the wall and the material it is made out of.

While it does indeed remind me of the xenomorph hives in every single Alien movie, comic and videogame that I have ever laid my eyes upon, now that I am looking closer at it, I have to rescind that comment and instead change it to that of a more hive-like, obsidian hexagonal panels line the walls and floor with thin lines of gold filigree separating the panels. Taking a closer look at the panels I have noticed that the back of these panels is wavy and have chunks of rock still on them, which can only mean one thing to me.

"This was here before the mine came into being." I said as I took a step back from the obsidian wall and look to my guards as they all looked at me in stark confusion.

"What you mean?" One of the dogs said as the rest looked at the wall, still scared and unsure of my words.

"Do you see the wall? See how they all have a wavy pattern and that there are chunks of rock embedded into them?"

"Yes? But still don't understand?"

Pinching the bridge of my nose I let out a sigh before clapping my hands together to garner their attention.

"For us surface dwellers, those that have vast wealth and power have their homes designed in such a way that the inside wall of their home is styled in either stylized wood or stones, and it looks like whoever owned this must have been really wealthy to have gold filigree in their designs." I said as I showed them the wall and the ancient adhesive residue on the reverse side of the obsidian tiles.

It took the dogs a while to figure it out and even more to realize that I had said the word 'gold' which got them all excited at the prospect of tearing down this wall for gold.

Such simple-minded creatures, but so easily to guide and lead with proper words and actions.

Pointing to one of the dogs I relayed my order to him, and it was a simple order, "Go back to the others and get three groups of scouts and half of the guards along with some diggers. We have an unexplored section of the mine to search through and I do not want any stone left unturned and no mystery left unsolved." and in truth I want to know more about what is behind the mysterious wall.

Maybe it is a hidden vault of even more nameless riches and wealth beyond mere mortals and my wildest dreams.

Or it could be a gateway to hell like in Dwarf Fortress. Never did like the fact that I can somehow dig all the way to hell and cause everything to fall apart in seconds.

Either way it's a solid 50/50 of it being something good or something bad.

After about thirty minutes of waiting for my dogs to arrive I simply walk up to the wall and started knocking on it, trying to find any structural weakness to it to bring it down. Pocketing the parchment after folding it up nicely I started tapping on the wall, testing its strength and durability for a few seconds I found them to be quite hardy and surprisingly enough have a noiseless quality to them.

"Interesting...not a single echo of sound. I wonder if it would react to a hammer or a sword striking against its surface?" I said to myself, alone with my thoughts for the time being before another thought came to mind.

'Just how thick is the wall?'

Kneeling down to the floor I reached down and grabbed the mummified paw and gently tugged on it to see if it was still connected to a body, but as soon as I felt how there was no opposing force being dragged my way, I knew that this paw must have been severed at the wrist. Removing the paw from the hole I instead reached in to check how thick the wall is and to my surprise it was actually pretty thick, at least a good three or four inches of obsidian paneling give or take an inch. With the estimate out of the way I turned my arm to allow my gloved hand to touch the surface and somewhat felt how smooth it was before hearing how smooth it was.

Have you ever rubbed your hand on a smooth pane of glass after it has been washed, that strange sound it makes when it's rubbing together? That is the sound my gloved hand was making as I was rubbing the surface from the other side.

'Huh, wasn't expecting that. Smooth, glassy panels on one side rough, sandpaper texture on the other.'

It wasn't soon after I made my lonesome observation on the wall did my dogs arrive on the scene, all of them waiting for my next command.

Looking at my dogs I can tell that most of them are a little uneasy, a few were growling at the wall for whatever strange reason they can come up with.

Signaling for my dogs to approach they gather around me as I lay out for them my plan.

"Okay, first things first, we need to break down this wall. Which among you are demolition experts or are very good at breaking walls and doors?" And as soon as I said those words every single dog raised their paws and they all looked like that they wanted to smash something to itty bitty pieces.

Looking at the crowd of dogs before me I started to look for a pair of dogs with the beefiest of arms I have ever seen, and my search didn't take long as my gaze came upon two dogs that were standing out like a pair of sore thumbs.

The first was one hell of a giant, this Saint Bernard was big, easily standing at least nine feet tall and I can say that he is one hell of a chunky boi. For a dog that big I must think he gets to the kibble first and eats all of it before the others get a chance to get some and my god does it show. Giving the dog a brief look over I took stock of the being with its beige-brown and white fur, a leather collar and vestments, and hanging from his collar was a small barrel. This dog is thick in every sense of the word and resting in his meaty paws is a fairly large wooden club wrapped in iron bands, a weapon for bludgeoning heads and knocking out fools that get too close. And he is drooling a bit...I sure hope he isn't thick in the head as well.

And as for the second dog, they were a rather husky-looking Pitbull, standing roughly at six feet and possibly around five inches, a good deal taller than me by at least half a foot or so. This diamond dog was nearly pure white in fur color if it wasn't for the splotch of black fur on his left eye, said splotch almost looks like something from an acme cartoon due to how large it is. Resting in this dog's hands was a rather massive hammer, not really a mallet in shape but not exactly a sledgehammer either because the head of the hammer was almost like a child curled up into a ball.

"Hey! You two in the back! The big dogs with the massive club and barrel collar and the guy with the hammer! Yes, you two, step forward and break this wall down!"

I didn't have to wait long for the dogs to do their job as they pushed their smaller people aside and walked up to the wall and gave it a good once over before nodding at it. The dog with the hammer stepped up to the wall while the other motioned for the dogs to step back and give him some space to swing, and after a scant few seconds of paws backpedaling and a pitbull getting excited to cause some homely destruction, he reared back and swung with all he had in him.

Now, normally a dog of such prestigious size and pedigree wielding a weapon meant for wreckage of objects and structures should have easily turned this wall into itty bitty pieces of rubble and ruin, but instead all it did was create a cacophonous clap of metal on polished stonework and introduced to us all a small spiderwebbing of cracks on the once-immaculate obsidian tiles.

All of us simply stood there dumbfounded, we were all expecting a shower of black chunks and dust to be showering the other side of the wall, hell I was expecting an earthshattering kaboom, but instead all I got was ringing ears and a wall still standing.

Looking at the wall for a moment I turned to look at the pitbull who looked like he was in shock because the thing he smacked is not only still standing but is also barely showing any sign of breakage or damage. The dog next to him was snickering uncontrollably as the rolls of blubber and lard jiggled wildly for all to see and when the hammer-wielding mutt turned to face his laughing assistant, the dog went quiet and tried to act all innocent and cute. Sorry big boi but you are not acting cute to get out of this mess you made.

"Alright, try again, I see some damage on the wall. Whatever this wall is made out of is sure as fucking hell durable as all hell. Give it another swing in the same area, if we need to, we can get a spike to put it in the center and use that to force some more damage out of it." I said as I watched the iron-wrapped club-bearing dog step up to the proverbial plate to give it a go, and just like the first attempt it ended as expected.

Rearing back for a mighty swing I watched as the chunky Saint Bernard made a wide swing, missed the center mass of the spiderwebbed cracks and instead made a similar-yet-smaller pattern a few inches away from the first attempt. And just like the first attempt the dogs and I now have ringing ears, utter disappointment that nothing was destroyed, and the other big dog laughing at the one who just took a swing.

The two started to go back and forth with the wall, and with each attempt that ended in failure resulted in the dogs belittling and mocking each other to the point where we all started to think that they were secretly harboring a hidden relationship that they did not want to let out. After about twenty minutes of shitty insults, terrible dog-related puns and all of us probably going deaf in one or both ears from the constant beating on the obsidian tiles until finally both dogs took a turn swinging at the same time and the impact finally broke the nearly indestructible tile to pieces.

With the destruction of the one tile that was holding us all back, the big dogs started to forcibly yank and tug on the surrounding tiles which surprisingly was just as resistant to being dislodged as it was to being destroyed by brute force.

'Whatever these tiles and grout is made out of, I have got to get the recipe and technique for their creation written down on paper, and if I can't get the means of producing them then I hope I can find whoever can create these so that I can purchase them for my dogs and maybe for the griffons to study.'

We had to wait for the dogs to tear the wall apart and while it didn't take as long as it did when they were swinging at the wall, it still took enough time that I could have made a sandwich, ate it, cleaned up and be back here ready to continue onward.

'It took them roughly twenty minutes to smash a single tile and about ten more minutes to yank the tiles out of place and cast them aside...you know for a race that prides itself on demolition and digging they sure take their sweet time. Was expecting them to break this wall down in under a minute, maybe I should invest in giving them some proper tools for the job...and maybe some clothes, all I see from here are vests, collars, an occasional ratty jacket or coat, and maybe a hat.'

And I can see everything is on display from these dogs.

I think I am starting to see a pattern here with all this blatant nudity.

'Note to self, send in a request or purchase collars, vests, shirts, skirts, kilts, shorts and pants for these dogs to wear. I am getting tired of seeing canine dong, tits n puss every time I turn to look at my dogs.'

With that little note filed away for future usage I turned my attention back to the fresh new hole in the wall.

Stepping towards the crumbled opening in the wall I peered through to see that the chamber we have entered appeared to be that of a storage room of sorts as there was hexagonal crates lining the walls and throughout the interior. Taking a few tentative steps through the wall I looked around where there was light and after hearing nothing moving in the darkness nor hearing anything moving aside from that being paw steps from my diamond dogs behind me, I waved at my accompaniment of dogs to follow me through the hole. Dogs holding lanterns were the first to go in, brightening the interior of the chamber with a warm orange glow and behind the lightbearers was the guards who fanned out and kept their spears and clubs at the ready for any sign of danger, and the last to come in were the porters, dogs whose only duty is to carry and haul things around and seeing numerous crates of unmarked goods has rendered their eyes aglow with avarice and wonder.

"Okay, first things first, secure the room, we don't know if there is anybody in here or if anybody heard us breaking down that wall. I want to make sure that we are alone here and not about to step into an ambush. Guards check every nook and cranny of this room, keep the lightbearers safe as they are our only means of seeing in the darkness, porters get ready to loot-n-pillage this room to your hearts content." I said with the voice of high authority and watched as my dogs scampered about in the vast chamber, bumping into one another before forming effective groupings and started to do their jobs.

The porters got to work in a heartbeat, prying open the crates and going through their contents as if they weren't there all the while shouting out loud what they found.

"I found those black tiles in here!"
"Found same thing!"
"More tiles here boss!"
"I got myself some sort of bag full of grey mush. It don't taste so good."
"Oi! I founds some tools! Lotsa hammers, shovels and those things to open boxes up with!"
"Got dem tiles here too!"
"Yup I got tiles here as well."

This went on for a while, each group of porters cracking the hexagonal crates open to reveal tons and tons of the obsidian tiles and the grout needed to cement them all together, a few crates had tools for excavation but there was nothing of true economic value within these storage units unless we want to sell tools and building materials.

On the upside we got a shitload of materials to either reinforce the new warren from sudden breaches or to give the warrens some style.

Downside is that I sure as hell am not trading any of these materials to anyone since we need it to fix our place up. Here is hoping that there are more storage rooms in this...whatever this place is we just broke into.

"Alright boys, porters start hauling this stuff to our storage dens for sorting and processing, the rest of us will continue on and explore this new area. Remember pups, this is unexplored territory we are walking into and that means we need to be able to keep an eye on one another so that nobody goes missing or gets ambushed. Guards in the front and in a fan formation, lightbearers behind them and keep the lanterns high to create the most light so you can all see."

"I want this operation quick and clean; you all hear me. Quick and clean. I don't want to be telling someone's mate that their love or their pup got smashed to bits by some big mean motherfucker or killed on accident because they triggered a trap or saw something shiny. Now move out and remember, this is the only way in and out until we find another exit." I said as I looked at the assembly of dogs around me, all of them giving nods and barks, accepting my command and yet I get the feeling that they didn't quite catch it all and are simply nodding their heads like everyone else is doing.

Watching my dogs slowly exit the storage chamber I soon followed after them after they made sure the front door was clear of threats and as soon as I stepped outside, I saw that it was indeed clear of any hostile activity, along with sign of life aside from myself and my dogs but what truly caught my attention was the sheer scale of the outdoors that I find myself to be in.

At first, I simply thought that we were simply going to be walking through more tunnels and possibly an isolated cave network that was covered up, but now that I am standing here, I can say with full confidence that I am wrong. This is no mere simple cave network that we find ourselves to be in.

As we stepped out of the storage building and with the assistance from the dogs holding the lanterns, we got a better view of our surroundings, and it brought us all to a halt. The floor outside the chamber was made of the same obsidian-like material but instead of it being hexagonal tiles that we saw in the storage room behind us, these were all square tiles and not a single one was out of place nor in a state of disrepair, and leading up to the doors was a rail system and further away from the building was a rail switching station that then split off in two directions. Looking to our left and right I saw additional storage buildings with the rail system going up them as well before fading off into the darkness past from our lanterns but at the very least we now know what we have so far.

'Looks like we may be in the industrial district of this underground region, is this a city we are in I don't know. But is it a discovery of great importance? Yes, it is and if this is truly a city then I may just move my dogs here instead of having them live in an abandoned mine.'

"Alright, we will split into three groups, Alpha group will explore the right path, Beta group will explore the left path, and Charlie group will remain here to secure our exit in the event that there is something hostile here. Each group will have three group of guards and within each group of guards will be three lightbearers and a group of porters to haul whatever goods are found. We will meet back here in one hour unless you encounter something hostile then do your best to fight it off but do not be a hero and kill it, simply fight it off and retreat back to the storage hall. If it retreats than good for us but if it becomes persistent and tries to slay us, then hold nothing back and kill it. If someone becomes lost because they thought to explore without alerting their group then we will conduct a search-and-rescue the moment we secure the area, we cannot risk our lives if you decide to be stupid and abandon your group. Any questions?" I said and, in all honesty, I was expecting a bunch of dogs to raise their paws to say something mostly dumb but instead they all nodded their heads and said that they got the gist of it.

At least these dogs are being honest with me, but who knows if they are truly being honest with me and are simply bidding their time to kill me when my back is turned, and my guard is lowered and not expecting a betrayal.

I went with Alpha group for the obvious reason of it being alpha and I am one, so off I went with the best dogs put together and went down the right path and just like the left path there were several storage buildings, each of them with extra levels to them that can only be accessed by either elevator, flight or magic, and we had none of them so we ignored the higher levels and only explored the ground floor.

And just like with the storage hall we exited out of, the ones we searched all had obsidian-like materials, but this wasn't tiles or grout, instead it was grey and brown wooden planks neatly stacked and rope tied together to prevent any accidents from making them fall over. The rope that was keeping the numerous lumber piles tied together is slightly off-white in color and they were soft to the touch, so my guess these people used expensive silk and had it formed into rope to keep things together.

'Interesting find, lumber stockpiles and silk rope bundles...is this the industrial sector or is this just a hidden stockpile that the griffons forgot about or does this belong to the me and my diamond dogs?'

Scratching my head at our find I slip that note aside for later investigation and pressed on with the expedition into the darkened depths.

Three more storage buildings later and even more construction materials discovered, documented and ready to be looted, we then across the incredibly wide road to the other side and we found even more storage buildings. I didn't have to wait long to find out what was inside as our porters immediately went into loot-goblin mode and pillaged the shit out of those poor buildings.

These storage halls were two stories taller than the ones we just raided, and these had cranes on the side of them so we now theoretically had access to the upper floors, if we could figure out how to operate them. Within the ground floor unit of the first building, we found even more crates, but these were of the gilded and fancy variety that made several dogs howl with delight. Laying within these gilded crates was looked like several dozen pounds worth of gemstones aplenty of every color, clarity, hue, and size. When I saw the first crate get popped open and saw the dazzling lights of an aurora appear on the ceiling when a lightbearer flashed their lantern over the crate I could have sworn I saw their eyes light up with unchecked avarice and greed.

'I should probably get these quickly sorted and moved out of here before the dogs get any funny ideas in that head of theirs.'

Cracking open a few more crates came to the same result as the first one, untold treasures that have been left behind by the previous owners of this fine establishment which is bugging me beyond belief and is making me wonder where the hell did they all go, and if they were killed off, what did the killing and if it is still alive and waiting for more prey to show their faces for an easy meal? Putting the covers back on the crates I moved back outside and inspected the crane before walking up inside it and looked at its operating mechanisms and at that point I realized that I had no ungodly idea how to operate this thing.

The crane itself looked like the ones back home, a small box with a series of interlacing girders for structural support and a grasping claw at the end of it attached to a rope on a winch to lower or raise things it has grabbed. Another thing I have noticed is the lattice work also looks like it can extend and retract which as well is good cause that means it can reach the upper levels, but it still leaves the question of how the hell do the people that once lived here reach the upper floors?

Laying before me was four levers and three crystal buttons and as I stare at the operation panel on this crane I at first reached out to pull a lever but upon giving it a firm yank, nothing happened. Frowning a bit I pulled another lever, then another, then another, then the last one before pushing them all forward and to my dismay and disappointment, nothing happened at all. Grumbling to myself I reset the levers before moving onto the three crystal buttons and looked them over to see what I am working with.

The first crystal was the stereotypical big red button, but instead it looks like it might be a ruby or a spinel or maybe even a blood diamond, but in the end, it is still a big red button that is just crying out for someone to slam down on hard. While it might be fun to press the button that may or may not cause the crane to explode in a violent manner, I restrained my curiosity for the time being and went on to the next stone in line that just so happened to be placed below the big shiny red button of doom, a square emerald that is almost similar in size to the red gemstone of doom, and yet I am a betting man and I am thinking that it does the exact opposite of the red gem, that or probably turn the lights on this thing...assuming it has any lights to begin with. And lastly there is the last gemstone, a triangular amythest that rests at the top of the control panel, I have no idea what it could possibly be, and I am somewhat not wanting to know.

'Alright alright alright...I got a bunch of levers and buttons to fuck around with, time to find out what these all do.'

With excitement and dread I slowly moved my hand to the red button and after muttering a prayer to my home boi in the sky to not blow my ass up to kingdom come, I pushed the ruby button and shut my eyes tightly as I waited for what could possibly have been a rather untimely and violently explosive demise.

After waiting five seconds and nothing happened, I opened my eyes to see that nothing has happened and that I was standing there like an idiot and that nobody was looking at me, so my reputation as fearless leader has been preserved for the time being.

Gazing back down at the console and seeing how the red button did nothing and the levers did nothing, now it was the green button's turn and with a gentle press and shutting my eyes for any impending death only to be greeted by the sound of a soft humming and whirling sound of a machine coming to life.

'I should of fucking knew that it was the green button that turns things on, no one is that fucking evil to make the green safe button the self-destruct button, only an asshole or a very devious person would do that.'

With the machine stirring to life and that it was now functional, not entirely sure just how much functional it is since I have no clue how long it's been down here before we all showed up, so it could be ancient as fuck, and it is just one fart away from falling apart or exploding violently. Fiddling around with the controls in a careful manner I started to test the other buttons and with childish glee I smiled to myself as I started to move the crane around, lowering, raising, extending and retracting the machine along with learning how to operate the claw attachment.

After about five minutes of me playing with the industrial crane as if it was a coin-operated claw machine, I turned it off and disembarked from the safe confines of the metal and wood chassis and reunited with my dogs who were waiting for me at the entrance of the first luxury storage building. Looking at my dogs I can tell that all of them are happy as clams, maybe it was because they found what amounts to the holy grail of loot and that it was ours for the taking.

"All happy with what we found?" I asked my dogs who all gave a unanimous nod and many of them barked happily, tails wagging and glee in their eyes, while we may be deep underground and that we are in an unknown region of said underground since none of us was expecting to find any of this, I think today is a good day as long as nothing bad happens.

"Good, then let us check on the others and start getting this treasure to our storage chambers, tomorrow we will explore the rest of the area." And with that said we headed back to our forced-made entrance and called back all of the dogs in the area to regroup.

A couple of minutes of waiting, roughly about an hour due to several of the dogs carrying crates filled with loot-n-swag of various worth and importance but in all they all came back safe and sound with all of them happy as hell with the haul they are returning with. Returning back to the storage chambers in the griffon mines and sifting through the cargo crates we have found quite the haul that I had to rush back to my chambers to retrieve the logistics book, ink and quill so that I could record all that we brought back with us, and I must say it is an impressive haul.

The sound of a quill scribbling wildly and madly across old parchment could be heard in the halls for the greater part of the day as I had to count, recount and triple count each and every single crate and tag each of them with what they had to ensure that that everything is right they are. Meanwhile my dogs were busy unwinding and relaxing in their new assigned lodgings and the happy and gleeful barking and yippings from the dogs, regaling each other with what they saw and what they found while they were away, and with such words being swapped between one another the morale of the pack rose to heights they haven't seen before since...ever.

In all I can say that today was a good day, a good haul, no injuries or deaths, everyone made it back safe and sound, nothing can go wrong now!

THE NEXT DAY

We went back down into the unknown city at first light, our packs empty save for food and whatever medical supplies we can spare, our hearts filled with excitement at what new treasures we will find down there.

Our first obstacle we encountered was a wall. Slanted in design meant to annoy invaders in a few ways, mostly to make the use of siege engines harder because of the slant will just deflect it upward and have it strike with less force, and that whoever is on top of the wall can just drop rocks or jars that will shatter at the base and spread shrapnel to all who are near the bottom.

Luckily for us there was a gate nearby and it was closed but not locked.

Walking up to the wall I inspected it to check for any damage that may have been done to it but when I saw no such dents or scratches other than the sign of weathering down from time it made me worry that something isn't right about this place. Who would abandon this place when it is so fully stocked with construction materials and luxury goods?

Was there an invasion that the griffons didn’t hear about or knew of? We’re the griffons the invading force than sealed this place off because of something they did? Is this place cursed and I just ducked it all up for both me and my diamond dogs or is there something else here that is still alive that killed the city’s inhabitants.

Pushing the doors open was a hard prospect for me as I felt weight on the door, but it wasn’t from a bar locking us out, it felt more akin that someone placed something against the doors as an attempt to keep it shut. Taking a step back I whistled at my dogs to assemble and once they had gathered around me, I told them to open the gate but slowly, I don’t know what lies on the other side and I don’t want it rushed as it may be a trap.

“Push!” “I am pushing, you push harder!” “Don’t feel like pushing!” “If you no push I’ll tug ear!” “You tug nothing, I pushing more!” “Stop yapping more pushing!”

Watching my dogs yell at each other brought a faint smile to my face, reminding me of an earlier time in my life back in middle school from our tug-of-war games during gym class, we rarely won but boy did I love hearing the banter between our teams. The shit talking, threats and promises of an ass beating was all I ever heard during those moments, but they are ones that I will cherish, my friends never let me down no matter how many times we lost, we always came back for more.

“Door opening!” “Heavy thing blocking eyes!” “What that smell?” “It’s you.” “I no smell bad!” “Lie.” “Hey, what that?” “Look dead body!”

“Dead body?”

“Yup! Dead body!”

“How many?”

“Ugh…me thinks lots.”

“Why lots?”

“Smell.”

“You sure?”

"Maybe it Clungo."

"Hey!"

"Could be bodies, rotting food that was left by the gate, someone probably farted after eating a piece of bad fish."

"Or Clungo."

"That it!"

And with that all I heard was the sound of a short-lived scuffle and a thud, and when I turned to see what was causing the commotion, I saw a fairly large diamond dog sitting on top of another diamond dog. The large one had a smug grin on his face while the one he was sitting on was trying, and failing, to get out from underneath the large boi.

“And that is why you do not insult someone when they are right next to you. Unless you have the strength to back up your claims then I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut.” I said as I made my way over to the small crack in the door and with a nod to the others, they all pushed again with the exception of Clungo and the dog he is sitting on.

With a lot of grunting, snarling, barking and heaving the heavy door soon enough yielded to our combined strength and gave way for us only to unleash a horrifying volley of corpses that strangely enough did not smell at all.

Backing away from the mountain of corpses I drew my sword which in turn made all of the dogs take out their own tools of destruction only to stop when they realize that they weren't moving and that the smell wasn't coming from them.

Stepping slowly with hesitation towards the corpse pile I gave one a poke to see if it was an undead, and to my joy it was just a skeleton. Putting my sword away seeing that there were no problems I turned back to others to ask what the source of that atrocious smell was coming from, but I didn't need to ask said question when we all turned to Clungo and the poor dog he was sitting on.

"I knew it was you, my god when this is over you are going to take a bath and we will go over your eating habits."

"But boss-"

"No buts, you smell like shit and it's either your not bathing properly or whatever your eating is rotting." I said as I fought back a gag as I kneeled down and started to investigate the skeletons before me.

Firstly, it's no griffon skeleton. The dead giveaway was that it had no beak, no feathers were near the body and nor did the skeleton even match that of a griffons so this being all of the griffons that worked in the mine was out of the question.

Secondly, it was absolutely not a diamond dog nor a minotaur as it wasn't event remotely close to the configuration of a biped.

Taking a closer look at it I notes that it looked equine in nature, well...most of the body was equine in nature because of the shape but that was where any and all similarities end.

From what I have read from the many books that were available to me in the royal palace, while this may look like a unicorn skull there are quite a few discrepancies between the two. Unicorn horns are long and pointy like a spear, or a dagger depending on said pony, but this skulls horn was curved, short and that it was complete in shape minus the lips, eyelids and ears. Another thing is that unicorns don't have fangs, nor do they have fins on their scalp, and upon their back I saw wings but they are lacking in feathers, instead they are thin, nearly translucent if it wasn't for the layers of dust on them. In fact, these bodies are somewhat intact minus the signs of battle damage in them from weapons or claws, I would say that they have been mummified but when I rolled a body over I didn't hear any sloshing of liquidated organs, in fact the body felt lighter than it should be.

Pressing my foot upon the strange unicorns torso I watched as the stomach region started to crack before finally giving way as my foot went inside the cavity with a distinct lack of squishing.

'Bug ponies? What the ever loving fuck did I find? An underground city, a shitload of bodies of strange insectoid ponies, is this an ancient civilization that the griffons dug up but got cursed? Am I experiencing The Mummy right now? Cause if so than fuck that noise.'

Pulling my foot out of the things torso I started moving through the bodies to see just go far this goes on and what I saw made me immediately regret my decision.

From standing at the other side of the gate i saw a sea of emaciated bodies for as far as the eye can see, or as far as the light from the torch can go but seeing how there are so many bodies that go beyond light is making my hair stand on end and my nerves are screaming at me to run.

But I couldn't.

"Move the bodies to the side, be careful with them, we dont know who or what they are or if there is any more of them still alive. I'd rather not anger them for disrespecting the dead...except for the one I stepped on, my bad for that one." I said as continued to go forward, my eyes taking in the swarm of corpses around me.

Taking careful steps through the dead all I can hear was my boots on paved stone bricks, my dogs breathing and barking behind me and nothing more than stillness in the air.

"Eris, I have a question for you."

Ask and i may answer.

"What did I just find?"

Something old, something sad, something buzzing and something wronged.

"Doesn't really answer my question, Eris."

Too bad, it's more fun watching you figure it out on your own.

"You suck sometimes, you know that right?"

You say that now but you'll change your tune soon enough.

Huffing at her answer, or rather her nonsensical response to my question, I continue to go forward until I stopped myself as I realize that I am not going to be making much progress with how many bodies are littering the streets that I find myself in.

'An entire city of dead insect ponies, this is creating more questions than answers and I am sure that my dogs know nothing about this let alone the griffons as well. And their bodies are for the most part entirely intact with minimum damage.'

Which just begs the question.

What killed them?

And is it still here with us all?

Sorry for the ungodly long delay of the chapter release, shitty shifts at my job combined with things happening in my life pretty much sucked the wind out of my sails but I am now slowly getting back to writing again.