The ancient city of...well, for the time being ill just leave it nameless until I can come up with something cool.

For all of its grandeur appearance and gilded roads, it's a literal graveyard what with all of the hollow bodies lining the streets.

A miasma of depression and despair hung heavy in the air, and everyone here can feel it.

I don't want to be here any longer than I have to.

"What you see boss?" One of the dogs far behind me asks as I survey the dead streets.

Turning my head down to look at one side of the street before slowly sweeping my gaze to the other side and doing it two more times as I looked at the other street to see the exact same thing.

Bodies. Lots and lots of bodies.

Like holy shit that is a lot of bodies. So many torn to shreds and fucking annihilated bodies that it's making me sick to my stomach.

"I see a shit load of corpses as far as the eye can see." I said as I glanced to my left and right, all I saw was fields of the dead.

"Nothing alive?"

"Nothing at the moment. For all I know they could be alive and are simply hiding away to avoid their conquerors and now us." I am praying that there is someone still alive out there, I do not want to live here if it is truly a ghost town.

"Orders?"

"Same as before with the storage rooms. Go slow and check everywhere. Do not damage anything because if my hunch is right, this may be our new home for the foreseeable future." and I really hope that there is someone alive here, I don't care if they are these strange bug ponies, griffons in hiding or diamond dog slaves, at this point some life sprouting from a dark corner will be better than an empty city.

'Not the mines?"

"No, not the mines. This city is far more deserving for you guys because of what you all have went through to get here. No more squatting in the muck and fighting over scraps. No more senseless suffering, here you all will be free." I said as bent down and started to move a small insect pony body.

This was someone's child; I can only hope it was a quick death.

"And be careful with the bodies, we have to bury them or at the least burn them in a pyre as a funeral rite for them. I'd rather not anger whatever God they have by being an absolute savage to their corpses." I said with a hint of fear, now thinking back that maybe stepping on that one corpse was a bad idea.

While most of my dogs spent their time clearing the bodies from the road, a small retinue stayed with me as we started to map out the surrounding area and what can be said about this unknown city?

It is divided.

From where we are currently standing the district, we are in appears to be in the lower-middle class as there are no personal housing, it all looks like apartments and family run stores as far as the eye can see and torchlight can reach. Going through the streets after carefully removing the dead to the side and from there it only got worse as we continued to find more and more bodies to the point that that all of us were starting to get depressed and saddened at the sheer amount of death we are finding.

The bodies that are lining the street count in the hundreds, my guess, the entire population of this dead city.

"Alpha...why is this home dead?" One of the dogs asked me as they gently laid down a small body, a child perhaps or just a shorty.

"I don't know. I don't know why they are all dead, but that isn't what has me unnerved." I said as I placed another body to the side, this one had its head cracked but the inside was empty, it was unnerving to say the least.

"It's that we don't know what killed them all or if it was natural." And from there it was quiet aside from our breathing and our footsteps.

The dead had their bodies brutalized, as if some sort of beast or wrathful invaders tore them asunder with so many bodies missing limbs, chunks of their body, and their insides. Whatever did this to them I am now warry that they still might be around looking for a fresh meal.

I observed in silence that the rest of the dogs are starting to show signs of demoralized behavior, they are working slower, sighing in sadness, showing looks of fear because this could have at some point happened to a diamond dog warren if it was ever attacked by a rival clan that wanted to completely annihilate its rival instead of subjugating them.

'This could have been them if I have not shown them mercy back in Talons End. If I had not held back and let the griffon army continue with their attack, they would have killed every single diamond dog, surrender or not, and I doubt they would have stopped there since they were the victim of this raid, they would have pressed the king for a retaliation strike campaign and burned down every single warren they will come across, regardless if they took part in the raid or not.'

Pick up a body, move to the side, gently place it back down, rinse and repeat and on and on it went. With each meter we went we looked up at the apartment constructs, all of the windows were in varying signs of open with quite a number of them appearing damaged from the inside or outside. Going through each apartment, room by room, housing unit by housing unit, what we found made us regret our decision, but we pressed on because we must, even if we have to all go see a therapist for an extensive period of time.

This continued on for almost an hour until we finally cleared a path through the streets until we came upon another wall, this one a little taller than the one we just crossed, and it looked a little bit fancy what with the tapestries on the walls and that there are gemstones at regular intervals on the uppermost brickwork.

Turning back to my dogs I signaled for them to assemble at the gate and as we did before we checked to see if it was locked and strangely enough it wasn’t. Looking at how much better designed this wall was when compared to the previous one I must say that we are probably approaching the middle-class district or the industrial district for this underground city but what is making my hair stand on end and setting my nerves on edge is that we have only been finding the dead and I dread when we find anyone alive.

The conditions for those still alive must be horrendous and their mental state the same, hell, they even have turned to cannibalism to survive because I didn’t see any farmlands on the way here.

Ordering my dogs to lineup against the gate i gave the command to open it and waited for whatever is on the other side to fall out in a heap of bones.

But it never came, instead all we heard was the near silent creaking of hinges as the gate opened up and revealed an empty gatehouse and streets on the other side.

Raising a brow, I slowly stepped through the gateway and through the gatehouse, expecting a corpse or two to fall on top of me, but none did, only dust and echoes befell me.

Stepping cautiously deeper inside the gatehouse I kept my head on a swivel and my eyes peeled for any signs of life, but I found none. Raising my torch higher into the air as the shadows around me fled as it revealed the first signs of death, but this time what I found was different.

Lying near the winch that controls the inner portcullis was two bodies in a pool of mixed dried green and orange blood.

What is making my hair stand on end is that this kill was fresh, and recent to cause the smell of rot has started to make itself known.

The first body was of the insect pony, or well, what is left of it anyway, I don't what this poor bastard did to deserve to die like they did but to see the thing lying on top of it made me start questioning living underground. Looking at the beast lying on top of the poor bug pony I can only guess that it died fighting said bug pony.

For such a large beast, it sure is one ugly fucker, it looks to be bipedal if the strangely clawed feet are of any indication aside from the odd leg configuration, its body covered in chitin and few strands of stiff hair-like quills with a beige-yellow coloration. Its head was that of an ant except the large bulbous eyes are just chitin plating and replaced by two tiny rubies for eyes or it would be two if the other wasn't destroyed because an arrow is sticking out of the socket, and its mandibles appear to be like two serrated scimitars instead of bug teeth. And lastly are its arm, left one missing at the shoulder and it looks like it was melted off if the cauterization wasn't proof, those thick gorilla-like buggy limbs ending in orange sausage links tipped in sharp claws.

Gazing at this abomination's appearance for a while I started to realize that this thing looks familiar to me. After about a minute or two of staring and admiring this insect behemoth did the rusted gears in my brain start to squeal and rattle before spinning as it finally clicks.

Rearing back and taking a few steps away from the beast, I draw my sword and immediately without any hesitation I stepped to the large corpse and ran my blade through the creature's head and gave it a bit of a scrambling before pulling it back out.

"Why in the fucking hell in all that is holy is a god damn Umber Hulk doing here? This isn't Dungeons and Dragons™ and I sure as hell do not count this as the Underdark™. God fucking damn it all to hell, now I have to worry about monsters from that game? I don't have time for shit right now." I squealed out loud as I rapidly took several steps back and away from the dead hulking beast. And truth be told I really wasn't expecting to find monsters from that tabletop game here in this world, and yes while this is indeed a world of fantasy because of the things I have seen and encountered, I really wasn't expecting to encounter something of this variety.

After giving the Umber Hulk a good brain scrambling, I stepped back and let out a long sigh, now knowing that my ventures in this world is far from over and now even further from being even remotely normal.

Looking at the insectoid beast I walked over to its right side, lifted its arm and struggled for a bit as I tried to turn it over to get a better look at the poor bastard it pretty much mutilated. The lower half of this bug pony is just fucked beyond any recognition, the legs are simply just gone as from what I can guess from the guts area down has been chomped off as I peeked at several strands if muscle and meat hanging on the floor with its intestines falling out.

As I examined this dead bug pony, I noticed that it had some differences to the previous bodies I have handled with the biggest difference being this one was larger by at least half and had thicker looking chitin armor plating on its torso, back and legs along with a wider spade-looking horn. To me this bug pony looks more like a beetle than its predecessors does, my educated guess is that these people are not related to the equines on the surface in any real way aside from physical configuration.

One thing that did catch my attention was that the hulk did have going for it, or in this case, through it, was a ragged looking trident going through what might be its heart. I don't know if that is what killed it, or the severe trauma done to its body before helped with its parting.

Looking around the gatehouse one last time for anything out of the ordinary or possibly misplaced, I saw that the winch was broken, the chain it was supposed to be tugging on or loosening has snapped and that it was no longer attached to the portcullis above it.

'Sabotage perhaps, but from who? Umber Hulks are not that smart to know how one works...unless these ones are smarter. God I hope these ones are not smarter than the tabletop version.'

Shivering at the thought of a smart hulk and what that could mean for the dogs. I turned back around and left the gatehouse and let my dogs know that I am still alive and that everything is fine.

The squad leader for my group, a pudgy little thing named Brakka, he was terrier of the beige variety and was anxiously walking back and forth, waiting for my return and when I did make it back did, he come running up to me to hear the news.

"More bones?" Brakka asked me as I walked back and let out a sigh and a shake of the head.

"Not bones, these two have been killed, dead for some time." And this tells me that there are survivors here, or maybe this one bug pony was a scout.

Signaling my dogs to press forward they all fell in line and moved through the gatehouse, going around the deceased and noting that the dead are indeed fresh.

The next section of the ringed city is what I was expecting to find when we found all those luxurious gifts and trinkets, we found in those crates yesterday. Stepping on the gilded sidewalk of gold and obsidian I can tell that this is the wealthy, elite district and from the sidewalk alone I can tell that these fuckers are rich and aren't sharing a cent of it with the lower class.

As we walked down the streets, I saw shops and stores displaying only the most expensive and ornate of jewelry and clothes, I saw manors and mansions with actual lawns and trees, opulence and imperial is what I can only describe this place.

Going through building to building we all saw each room was full of decadence and hedonistic wealth of the highest order.

Gold, gems, oil paintings and marble statues galore and I am already wondering how much further we have to go before we find the palace made of solid gold and diamonds.

Soon enough we made it to the last wall, instead of it being made of solid gold, this wall appears to be heavily reinforced with metal and granite, murder holes and fall traps line the edges and the main gate in is sealed shut with a heavy metal portcullis and the thick iron gate behind it.

Now this is what I am talking about, a challenge for me and the boys to take a stab at to find out what goodies lie inside.

Tilting my head to the side I grin at my dogs as the assemble behind me, “We got ourselves a locked gate which means that there may be survivors on the other side. Get out your ropes and get the hooks ready, we are climbing up and over.”

“Why not the gate?” Brakka asks as he tilts his head to the side, sometimes I swear that these dogs are being cute on accident cause eventually I’m going to pet the shit out of one of 'em.

“Because Brakka, we don’t know if there any more Umber Hulks out there or if they are sleeping in the other side. We go up and over so we can see if there is anything worth exploring and saving, and besides, it’s good practice for when we have break into someone’s home or fortress to rescue someone.” I said as I grabbed one of the grappling hooked ropes and started to give it a twirl.

“I see, very smart.”

“It sure is, now stand back, don’t want to accidentally bonk you in the jaw with a hook.” With a few more twirls the dog took the hint and backpedaled a couple of steps and with another twirl I yeeted that bitch as hard as I can and watched as it sailed in the air before dropping on the other side.

Waiting for the rope to go slack to signify that it has reached its destination I started to slowly roll it back up, hoping to hear a clanking sound of metal on metal or it suddenly stopping to let me know that it snagged onto something. After about a few seconds of winding the rope back up I felt the rope grow taut and after a few tugs on the braided rope I knew that it grabbed onto something and putting some weight on it alerted to me that it got a good hold onto whatever it snagged.

Turning my attention to the rest of my dogs and seeing their progress with wall scaling, almost of them managed to throw their hooks over the wall with ease, others had to rewind their ropes and try again. Poor Brakka somehow threw his hook behind himself, and we all watched as it goes sailing in the air before clattering loudly against the street as the sound echoes throughout the dead city.

We all stood in silence as we waited for anything to happen and for a moment, I was expecting either some umbers to come crawling through the ground to get to us or for one that is on the other side of the gate to smash it down to fight us but to my surprise nothing can of it. With bated breath we all exhaled and laughed it off before the small dog attempted to try again but that all came to a halt when we all felt the ground rumble ever so slightly and we all had different t thoughts as to what that rumbling could mean.

You see, to me that rumbling could mean anything from earthquakes, earth plates shifting, unstable ground, or an Umber Hulk coming my way to tear my face off with sadistic glee, but for a diamond dog? They think it’s either a cave-in and they are about to lose some dogs, an earthquake and they are going to lose a chunk of the warren and some dogs, or the ground is about to collapse, and they are about to lose some dogs. In all a rumbling ground spells death for diamond dogs.

It didn’t take long for the rumbling to cease and what little aftershocks that were present to die off but with nothing breaching the surface nor the sound of its screech alerting us to its presence we all let out a sigh of relief.

A relief that became short lived when the ground beneath where the hook slammed into the ground exploded outward sending rocks, broken bricks and gravel everywhere as a familiar head breaches the surface as it let out an ear-piercing shriek of animalistic aggression.

“It’s an Umber Hulk! Don’t look it in the eyes, focus on its arms and legs instead!” I shouted as I dropped my rope and drew m sword from its scabbard as the rest of my dogs dropped their rope as well and did the same.

Pulling itself out of the ground with its arms the hulking monstrosity gazed its beady eyes our way as it let out another shriek and charged at us.

"Form up!" I shouted, bracing myself in the middle of the street with my sword positioned in a defensive stance as my diamond dogs surrounded me, weapons drawn, snarling and barking at the somewhat eldritch beast as it continued to charge at us all.

The hulk rushed at us and as we readied ourselves for impact, we felt the ground begin to rumble again and with each thunderous step it took so too did the rumbling earth until it exploded beneath us.

Every single one of us was launched away from one another with me landing on my back but my grip on my sword was lost as I turned to see that it had flew and impaled itself into the gate behind me.

‘Oh, you got to be shitting me.’ With a frown from me that quickly turned into an ‘Oh Crap!’ expression when I remembered that there was a dead hulk in the next chamber and that they usually hunted in packs, these two are obviously the pack that was with it and is now hunting us because they think we killed the other one.

Scrambling to my feet I quickly ran to where my sword landed without looking back as I did not want to see if I was being chased by a roided-out insect abomination to only see its claws raised or it’s mandibles chomping down on me. I didn’t have to wait long to hear the sounds of painful howls as one of my diamond dogs received a slash across their chest, the hulks claw easily tearing through flesh and bone alike as if it were stone before that dog dropped to the ground in a heap and unmoving.

Grabbing the hilt of my sword I gave it a good yank but to my dismay it did not budge an inch, the griffonian steel blade remained in the metal gate as an unyielding middle finger to me.

“Oh you got to be fucking shitting me! Fucking let go you stupid fucking junk of metal!” I shouted as I kept on tugging and yanking on the hilt, repositioning my hands several times and even trying to wiggle it out when I heard an all too familiar laugh echo in my head.

Oh my, I didn’t know that you were capable of working your sword so well! Look at those strokes! The perfect grip and measured twists! My oh my you are certainly going to make me blush!

“Not now Eros! Can’t you see I am a little busy at the moment?”

I can see that, you certainly do know how to work the shaft. How long have you been practicing I wonder…

“Oh my sweet lord, for all that is holy, Eris, can you please.” I shouted as I felt the sword wiggle ever so slightly in the metallic gate it was embedded in just as I heard the sound of menacingly slow heavy footfalls behind me.

“Shut” another heavy footstep and the sounds of mandibles clacking loudly as they start clicking in anticipation of a fresh meal.

“the fuck” another hard tug on the sword, the blade coming looser as I feel the hulk stop right behind me, thinking it has its prey trapped.

“UP!” and with one last tug I yanked my sword out from the gate and right on time as the hulk lunged at me and as the two acts collide with one another all I heard was a howling shriek of pain coming out from the hulk's mandible.

Opening my eyes to see where I had struck and looking at the hulking bug, I saw that my blade has found purchase once more into yet another thing, but this time it was in the head of the abomination that was trying to eat me. I watched as its mandibles twitched and clacked as it shrieked in pain, and it only grew in intensity when I twisted the steel ever so slightly.

As the shriek tapered off into a series of unintelligible clicking, I soon felt an ungodly weight fall on top of me as it fell forward and I found myself trapped underneath it.

“Well, isn’t this a bitch, I’m trapped between a bug and a hard place…” i muttered darkly to myself as I struggled to free myself from this undesirable predicament.

“Pimp down, pimp in distress…playa needs help badly! …hello? Can anyone hear me?” I said as I wiggled helplessly under the deceased beast.

I didn’t have to wait long for someone to arrive on the scene as I heard multiple paw steps approach and as I looked up from underneath the right armpit of the hulk I saw Brakka standing above me holding a blooded spear and covered in green blood.

“Are you okay?” The dog squad leader said as I rolled my eyes at him.

“Look at me Brakka, I am buried under a massive fucking dead bug, and it stinks as bad as Clungo, so can you please get this damn thing off of me?” I said with a hint of annoyance in my tone as I rolled my eyes so hard that one can probably hear the sound of eyeballs rolling.

Luckily for me the Umber Hulk died in a heap around me so that its immense weight wasn't crushing me of breath and life, and with a heave and a ho my diamond dogs rolled the corpse off of me. Standing up with a bit of a stumble I dusted myself off and gave the hulk one last stab to the back of the head before cutting its head off by sawing through its neck plates, I had to make sure that it was dead cause I don't want this thing standing back up when we have our backs turned to it.

Turning my attention back to Brakka I noticed that he had a sullen look on his muzzle, and it didn't take a genius or an idiot to figure out the reason why for the lowered mood.

Moving past the assembled dogs I walked over to where a smaller group was clustered together and what I saw made a pit in my stomach.

On the floor with a small leather sheet covering their face was a diamond dog, killed during the brief battle between my dogs and the Umber Hulks. Looking at their chest I saw the claw marks that roughly gutted them in one fell swoop, his death was quick as I saw two of those claw marks going through the rib cage, right where his heart is.

Lowering my head, I placed my left hand over my own heart while my right was a scant few centimeters away in a prayer posture as I prayed that this brave dog finds peace and eternal rest, his duty is now over.

“Did he have any family.” I said in a muted tone, a little numb inside that he died on my watch.

“Yeah, a mate and two pups.” Brakka said as he and the other dogs assembled around.

“We are leaving this place, now. Go into the house and find a large enough sheet, we are not leaving him here to become food for any more of these beasts that may be lurking nearby.” I said as kneeled down and placed a hand on the deceased’s shoulder.

“I will tell his family what happened, how he died protecting us.” I said as gave the dog one last pat on the shoulder before standing up, a brave dog died today, I hope that it will be the last time it happens on this journey.

A few quiet, solemn minutes pass before a pair of diamond dogs approached us carrying what looks like an embroidered tablecloth in their paws.

“That will do, now spread it out and lay it on the ground, we will lift him on top of it. On the count of three.” I said as five dogs gathered behind me as the pair unfold the cloth and laid it out for us.

“One. Two. Three!” And with a grunt the six of us lift the fallen hero onto the sheet before folding it over him gently.

“Alright, gently lift him up and if any of you let go or drop him there will be hell to pay.” I said as I grabbed a portion of the cloth on the upper right and got ready for the rest of the dogs to grab their sides.

With a brief pause we slowly lifted our fallen comrade and began our slow march back to the entrance to the mines, our heads hung low and although we have proven victorious over the Umber Hulks we were found defeated when one of our own fell in battle.

It was during our steady march back to the safety of the mine did I start to notice that the eerie silence that once filled this tomb and the monotonous steps leave our wake that there was something else here with us. I don't know what it could possibly be, but I heard movement off in the distance and it only got worse as I started to hear multiple sources of disturbances echoing around us.

The disturbance started off with bits of rock and roof tiles falling to the ground from up above and when we all turned our heads to look at the source of it there was nothing there. Then came the sound of something buzzing in the distance like a swarm of mosquitos but when I scanned around the roads and checked the roofs for anyone, I saw nobody, but I can't shake the feeling that we are now being watched by a force beyond our understanding.

By the time we made it back to the entrance did we find the rest of our dogs, all of them having moved the corpses to the side and have finished hauling all of the treasure into our storage rooms, and when they saw us approaching with a fallen dog being carried by us they all stopped cheering at our approach and instead all lowered their heads with a few letting out howls of sadness as it rung through the caverns both behind us and ahead of us.

We took the body to a side chamber near the surface and set him down as one of the dogs broke off from the group to find his family, when they arrived and saw who was under the sheet the family broke down, their howls of pain will haunt me till the end of my days and I only knew that this won't be the last time this happens on my watch. I knew the pain they felt, the loss of a family member before their time, the grieving, the suffering, the pain of it all, I feel for them for I know what it is like.

The funeral happened at night; every dog was in attendance as we created a funeral pyre for him. Their howls echoed throughout the night, their cries of pain and anguish ignited a spark within me that I didn't know I had laid dormant within my core.

While we may have been enemies in just a scant few days earlier during the siege of Talon's End, he became my ward when I became his Alpha and as such he was my responsibility, with his death it made me all too aware of the weight of the chains of command that are slowly becoming heavier on my shoulders and the few chains tightening around my throat, that they are all my responsibility now, and I must take care of them as if they are my own children.

As a leader of a group of soldiers I only had to make sure that they followed orders and that I got them back safe and sound to their families at the end of the day. But as a leader of an entire group of people, the weight is far heavier, and the consequence of failure is several magnitudes worse than before.

When the dawn came, we collected his ashes and placed them within a small urn and had it placed within the mine, the first of our clan to die, and the first of many to come in the coming years. Those that were with him yesterday and his family were in attendance as they placed the urn within a carved-out hole in the wall, and beneath the urn a small carving of his name.

'Here lies Maximus, a loving father and a wonderful husband. May peace guide him to our lord's sacred halls and kinship amongst our honorable dead.'

I soon returned to my chambers and parked myself at my desk before dropping my head on the table itself, a loud thunk could be heard but I could not care for it as I simply wanted to try and deal with the pain of losing a dog to a bug.

Yet in a cruel twist of fate and irony, I heard something skuttle behind me, and as I slowly turn to face my intruder I grabbed my dagger and slowly drew it from its sheath before sheathing it when I saw what it was.

Standing behind the door after I came in was a black pony, ebon head frill and charcoal colored seaweed tail, a curved horn on its forehead and two small fangs, chitinous armor plating on its chest and back and staring me in the eyes was a pair of pupilless amber eyes.

"We have been waiting for you to be alone."

'Oh...shit.'

Next Chapter: The Amber Swarm Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 18 Minutes