Chapter 811 – Escape

What I shall present is evidence. It is evidence that cannot be possibly confirmed, I am aware of that, nevertheless, when we look at the various charts of monstrous populations, and when we gaze where, exactly, monsters remained after the Slaughter at Karakokum, we can start to chart the natural decline of their populations.

The final Epan hunts were led into exclaves in Esberia, in Northern Epa, in the north of Allia, north Karaina, the eastern plains. The Great North Doschian Plain was cleared first, and whereas there were no nests there, there existed sizable populations of monsters. The swamps of the low countries above Rancais were also plagued. Southern Rilia, likewise, faced a twenty year extermination campaign. There is a general rule to this, and it has been noted before: forests, swamps, lowlands and plains did not swallow monsters. Whereas some exemptions exist (northern Allia and Southern Rilia), we shall get to them yet, for this is the general trend. Some mountains, and universally all lowlands, lacked whatever it was that declined mountainous populations.

Then, there are the islands throughout Epa, that again saw no natural decline of monster populations. All of them save for the lands of Sorcica and Cardinia, which, by the they were habituated, had no monsters upon them. Whereas oceans stop monsters from moving, there is no reason for these islands to be unpopulated. We see monsters in far more remote locations than on these two.

The Akron Gap. The Yellow Sea. Kochita Cave Networks and the entire Erdely Mountain Range. Crosscoat Cave in Allia were locations that naturally saw declining populations. The immediate duchy of Crosscoat did not even need to lead a purge, and likewise, central-eastern Epa, where the Erdely Range carves a tear across the continent, saw the fastest decline. For some reasons, these locations, swallowed monsters. For some reasons, most other lands did not.

The confirmation came after Imperial Maps of the mapped dwarven Highway networks were captured, proceeding the Great War. All of these locations either have confirmed tunnels, or suspected and unexplored tunnels. We know that the ancient holds, built during the Age of Heroism, were constructed where the ground was either soft, or where nature had done the work for the half-men and carved out tunnels for everyone. We know that the Yellow Sea is only a post Great War site, and that, Tetry Mine Complex was established in the bountiful Tetry Ravine.

Yet the smoking guns are the aforementioned empty islands of Sorsica and Cardinia. Both of these housed Dwarven Holds and were the naval headquarters of the Imperial Navy during the Great War.

Whereas that was merely the introduction, and I shall explain in more detail, I thus propose the Surface Escape theory, building off the Arda Devouring theory. I do not think that the land swallowed the monsters, as posed by the latter, I have come to the conclusion the monsters escaped into the underground, during the Age of Monsters, and that they have never returned to the surface.

- Introduction to: “Monsters: Surface Escape”, written by historian and archaeologist Tristan Kampf 856 years after the end of the Great War. The text was not disseminated due to the implications made by Kampf on the reversal, or at least bending of, the policy of Pantheon Peace.

“GO GO GO NENERIA!” Iniri shouted as she twisted her core and looked behind. There were more of those creatures there, the monsters that were not quite Divines and not quite beings that behaved entirely liked their own kind. “GO!” Iniri screamed again as she pulled out yet another acorn from her pouch and slammed it into the ground. Of Nature’s power flowered from within her as she filled up the tiny tunnel with oak.

And from oaken bark, branches sharpened into spines ripped out. Those shot out, splintered, cracked like lightning and reverberated with the vibrations of struck steel as they settled from new growths into a phalanx of flora. Sharp, pointed tips, not sharpened but grown to razor sharpened, then thickened with ironwood bark once, and again, and again. Spores and toxic sap began to leak from them as Iniri stepped back, a single branch dragging along the floor, still in her hand. A snaking vine to make sure that a connection to the Goddess of Nature remained.

And as the Goddess of Death and the Goddess of Nature ran, Iniri grew the bark thicker and thicker, until it was a wall, filled with pockets of the most poisonous gases and saps and juices that nature could conjure. The sort that paralyzed and killed within moments, for which even Kavaa’s Clerics did not have a cure. Iniri let go of the branch when Neneria pulled away and kept up her own sprint. Further ahead, there were lights. Screams were echoing from ahead.

Shouts, curses, orders, gunfire. Not the orchestra of war but the discotheque that was battle. The massive hall in which they had found the birdcage and the eagle had been lost already. They had managed to inspect one tunnel, and then they realised that the monster suspected to be a Divine was not an anomaly, but merely the first. And they had ran. Iniri had followed Neneria, Malam ducked behind the soldiers, Fortia, Maisara and Fer had stayed behind to provide cover and slow down the retreat. It was only through sheer luck that Iniri had chosen the same exit hole as Neneria.

If it had been just that powerful creature that Fortia and Maisara had killed in a duel, it would have been different. There were things that burrowed and tore up the ground as quickly as the Divines managed to sprint away from them. There were other things that ripped up stone with claws with the same difficulty that they would shred paper with. There were more of those faster ones. Some could not even fit in the tunnel either, hopefully, they couldn’t dig and instead just wandered around there.

Things with one eye only, and things with stomachs that belched acid. Things with wings that were entirely bone pieces of leather, and giant beasts that were to animals what monsters were to humanity; parodies of dogs and lions and bears, their fur all sharp razors, their necks slithering, as if they belonged on snakes. Hands for feet, tails that split into two, or three. But they all shared one similarity, every single one of those creatures had their eyes pointed forwards, the mark of predators and not prey.

Iniri listened to the crash upon her barrier as Neneria picked up the pace. “We have to get to the junction.” Neneria said. “Malam ran ahead.” Iniri was sure that the Goddess of Death would have ran in the Great War, but this was the first time she actually saw the taller woman move so quickly.

“You hold them!” Iniri said.

“They have soul stealers.” Neneria said from ahead. “Not that many, but I felt them before.” At first, Neneria had actually wanted to push onwards when they got back in the tunnel. The small opening should have provided them the needed chokepoint to make a killzone.

“Overwhelm them!”

“It doesn’t work that way!” Neneria shouted. “And I don’t how many there are!” Iniri closed her green eyes for a moment, then opened them again, she couldn’t keep up to Neneria’s pace anyway. They were both Goddesses, but it felt like Of Nature had to take another half a step for every stride Neneria ran. Iniri fumbled yet another acorn out of her pouch in preparation for the next break. Their frantic sprint devoured the distance back, at some point, they had made it to one of the light cables. Now, it was just a matter of making sure that wire always on their left.

Iniri glanced backwards and saw chips of bark beginning to peel off under the flex of that wood. She turned around, glancing at the wooden barrier, it was already flexing from the other side. They must have been slamming into it. And these barriers had to be set up in advance. “NENE!” Iniri shouted. “PAUSE! NEXT WALL!” Of Nature spun, her green dress whirling around her.

“GOT YOU!” Neneria slid to a half, grabbing the wall to slow herself down as Iniri once again repeated a wall she had made a dozen times in the past hour. It slammed against the ground and burst into a thousand branches that coalesced into a thick tree trunk. Oak again, with layers of ironwood bark between it. At this point, she was just testing what held and for how long. The pockets of poison had to be there, those were obviously making an effect.

And if they weren’t, then they were thinning out the numbers of the monsters. Iniri grabbed the connecting branch when it slithered to her, let go of the wall with her other palm and began to walk backwards. “I won’t be able to keep this pace up, by the way.” Iniri said. “I need a break.”

“I’ll come in when I need to.” Neneria said, reaching down, resting with her hands on her knees for support. Iniri strengthened the oak once again. More pockets of acid, more bonds, more inner layers of bark. Anything that could potentially make a difference. The phalanx was lengthened, the rear thickened. More neurotoxins, and bursting mushrooms this time.

“Should I check the other tunnels?” Iniri said it without waiting for agreement. Thin roots were already gnawing into the stone, pushing it aside, and spreading outwards like a vine. They reached the tunnel above first. A tiny sunflower blossomed, Iniri looked through its eyes. A horde of creatures was already pouring through it, barely slowing down by the organised gunfire coming at them. Something stepped on the sunflower and Iniri shivered.

And below, Iniri penetrated deeper, looking through the vines, her breathing fast and deep and hungry. This should have been a break, but the constant, start-stop sprints with her power of nature was more tiring the actual start-stop sprints. Sunflowers bloomed deep in the underground, pushing stone aside and making thin sprouts, with only a few petals and meagre seeds each. Although that was enough.

Iniri saw the horde charging at the next barricade, they were chewing at the remains of the previous wooden barrier. Some large-bellied, four legged creature with a bow that looked as if the jaw detach was even belching up acid, melting it down into a slurry, and then licking up its own bile. She finally found the other three who had stayed behind to catch time. Maisara and Fortia. And Fer behind them, bleeding badly although her wounds were closing up. “I’ll need blood.” Fer said. “Theirs is vile.”

“You passed out last time.” Maisara shouted back. In this tight tunnel, her axe was the second line of defence. Fortia was the first. “No blood.”

“Ehhhh….” Fer moaned and closing her eyes.

“Give distance and I’ll throw through them. Cover your ears!” Iniri already knew what was going happen in an enclosure this deep as Maisara turned, grabbed her Fer’s hand and pulled the Goddess of Beasthood back. Of Peace jumped backwards, her spear disappeared from one arm, reappeared in the one already above her head. Her bronze boots touched the ground, she twisted, pointed one arm forward, and hurled the spear past the sound barrier.

Iniri’s vision cut out as the shockwave destroyed her sunflower. She didn’t bother to regrow it, the entire world shook for a few moments and Neneria looked around nervously. “Fortia?” She asked.

“Fortia.” Iniri confirmed. “Below. Above, the soldiers have fallen.”

“Then I’ll clear and you rear guard until we run into them again.”

“Understood.” And so, the sprint began. Past a turn, past another barrier built. The world shook again, weaker this time, although that was probably just them putting more distance between each other. Another wall. Another fell. Another wall. And again it fell. They caught up soldiers, the entire pace had to be slowed by then as the humans kept on running. Every few steps, Iniri and Neneria shot looks to each other, silently communicating on whether the delay was worth the life of these men. But the slow down was appreciated, Iniri was feeling a pain in her stomach she had not felt in a long time. She needed to recover some of her energies.

It was time for another barrier. Iniri reached into her acorn pouch.

Empty. Of Nature almost fell over in shock. She had not thought of refuelling herself.

“Neneria...” Iniri said quietly. “I’m out.”

“What?”

“It’s on you. I need life to sprout life. There’s none here.” It could be something as tiny as grass on the soil, or a single weed trying survive on a stone. Or even a leaf blown on the wind. And down here, there was nothing, no matter where Iniri touched.

“How long?” Neneria said. “We push back to your woods?”

“They’re burning the trees I’ve made.” Iniri said. “Just ripping through them, like with magic.” She motioned with her hand, a flat vertical palm slamming down onto her other hand. Neneria shook her head and stepped forward, soul-energy already spilling from her eyes. Iniri still had her dress, it was made out of natural weave and embalmed living wood. “Give me… clear this tunnel. Ten seconds!”

Neneria stepped forward and slammed her hands ahead.  “I’ll take the other tunnels too. Fer is below us?”

“Below.” Iniri confirmed as she watched a horde of ghosts spill out from the narrow tunnel. The walls, ceiling, the floor, they grabbed and bit and sliced downwards, or upwards, or to the side. Their weaponry, or just their limbs, going straight through the monster’s body’s and just felling the creatures where they stood. The creatures began to fall, those closer to Neneria at first, then all the way back, until they reached the latest wooden barrier that had done nothing but slow them down.

The Goddess of Death was staring up at the ceiling. Iniri felt a nut slide out of her hand, another into her pouch as she got the worst realisation that could have been made. “You see the blade?” Not now. Why now? Where they actually going to be killed here!? Another acorn slid out of her branch and Iniri readied this one to throw. “NENE! MOVE!”

“There’s darkness above us.” Neneria said, her eyes trailed upwards, along the ground. “I feel it with my ghosts.” She turned around, forgetting the monsters that had been chasing her. “It’s ahead of us. Inir-“ The word was cut off by miasma spilling.

Darkness enveloped them.

Cold.

Endless.

The sort of darkness you could fall into.