Land of Mirriam

Hundred years ago, from the darkness, she was born of the urge to consume and propagate her species. She was not the first of her kind; rather, generations had already passed before her time. The Spike Queen, in all her glory, resembled an ant with six tails. However, her tails possessed a mutation, resembling frog-like toes, giving the appearance of a skirt.

After generations of battles, she finally defeated the guardians of the forbidden gate. Now, she could harness power from it. However, the dweller behind the door demanded things in exchange for this power. She accepted the terms, and within a few months, using the same power and the corpses of the guardians she devoured, she conceived.

It was the first of its kind – a spike, born of her union with the forbidden gate's power. The queen, empowered by the forbidden door, shrieked in joy. Now, even the guardians of the door could not oppose her.

The first mutated spikes she conceived were twins. They resembled Walkers, but their evolved exoskeletons and the presence of hair on their bodies marked their uniqueness. Their minds functioned as one, yet they were two.

This could be attributed to her consumption of the guardians, who possessed hair only on their heads, or perhaps it was due to the power bestowed upon her by the forbidden door. She vowed to nourish them properly.

<--->

As the years passed, they reached the peak of their species.

Now, the queen had fused herself with the forbidden door, permanently drawing power from it. By all means, it wasn’t safe; sometimes, she would feel the power she drew go into a rampage.

The second mutated spike was born, but it was more of a slime. The queen was utterly disappointed, but its cuteness appealed to her motherly love, and she accepted it. His brothers would feed him anything, and he gladly consumed it. She could also sense its slow growth.

Along with the slime she conceived was the production of the mothers. Akin to her they could propagate a colony, it was time to test the waters so she sent these mothers to the surface.

Years passed again… the mothers she sent to the surface were destroyed but it laid out every information her twins needed to launch another expedition into the surface. Ever since the twins assumed command the spikes had started to learn.

It was time to open the wall to the surface. Whoever seized power of the land would dominate. They had deployed numerous of her daughters to create small colonies; a bit of biding time and she would send her twins to lead the battle that would change their lives.

She was saddened to expend her children, but this was necessary for the propagation of their species.

~“Necoralia… your promise is never forgotten,”~ came the voice from behind the forbidden gate. She shrieked; she had promised access to the land beyond. They shared the same goal; the dweller couldn't move while the queen lacked power, truly a symbiotic relationship.

“Of course… never shall we forget…” the voice slowly faded. The queen proudly watched her army move.

<--->

Presently, two hours had passed since the successful escape, and the party entered the desolated region of the north. The rescue operation had been completed in just an hour. The party was silent… the desolate lands of the north were truly beautiful, especially that night but the party didn’t have the time to appreciate it.

The moon really shone intensely, it was a blessing that they could see the lay of the desolated lands as clearly as possible… but it just made the intensity of their escape greater.

“Paramii!! I can detect them everywhere!!!” Raphael screamed in panic, releasing some of his tension.

The party, consisting of Simon, Paramour, and his companions, Andy, the surviving scouts, warriors, and adventurers, continued their harsh journey back to the wall. There was a better route to navigate after Simon had wrecked a small colony. But as per Raphael’s comment, there was still something out there.

“The colonies… they're activating… I can hear the call,” Simon suddenly said. The entire group now traveled was aware of it, the black hood’s magic continuously reapplied as the speed buff expired.

What would have taken a week to cross became just less than half a day with the snowboard – truly a miracle given the circumstances.

“My magic is running low,” one of the warriors stated, prompting a scout to take his place. It had been a long operation, and fatigue was setting in, but survival necessitated their continued efforts.

“...Where is Bibs?” Andy, regaining consciousness, noticed the absence of some friends.

“They're… dead… mutilated,” the adventurer who found them replied. He was accustomed to such grim sights, having risen through the ranks as a veteran. Andy sighed, his expression reflecting the somber reality. It was not yet time to mourn; their priority was escape.

“We are still six hours away from the wall… no, just five, then we can do it,” Paramour voiced his thoughts, and the group silently concurred.

“RIIIIP!!!!” a simple sound of tearing, but it likely sounded more terrifying to the men pulling the snow cart. The cloth they were using tore apart on a random sharp rock protruding from the snow.

Andy, a scout, and an adventurer tumbled into the snow. The entire party halted. “I will try to repair it!!” the Black Hood immediately went to work, but the adventurer who went to the east side stopped him.

“We have some extra!!!” It was the additional clothes intended for the east side scouts. “I should have been more careful… damn it,” Paramour cursed.

“It's not your fault, Paramii… accidents happen,” Raphael offered some comforting words, but they were hardly enough to ease Paramour’s troubled expression. They couldn't abandon them; they were the mission.

Thirty minutes passed. The wind started to change, and soon, snowfall began. They had been fortunate that fair weather had held until now, but asking for more was pushing their luck. Their magic to see in the dark became totally useless since the falling snow and wind would still blind them.

“We must look for markers… our scouts would leave markers when the weather becomes bad, it's to help the others,” Andy suddenly spoke.

“Scouts… damn… the northerner frontier is really harsh,” Paramour commented while smirking. He was neither complimenting nor complaining about the place, though his tone sounded like a compliment.

The party continued, and anyone could tell that the wind was carrying something they didn’t want… There were still no markers either. Still, they continued the ride until the snowfall started going heavy, and visibility began to diminish.

Simon and Paramour were in the front. Simon’s eyes still had a good chance of detecting things, but… “Paramour… there is something happening ahead,” Simon notified Paramour. Half an hour had just passed since.

In a few minutes, Simon found the marker; he stopped the party. “This is the marker, right?” Simon asked.

“Finally!! We just follow it; the other team must be ahead of us,” Andy answered. The scouts rejoiced, and the adventurers too.

“What’s the problem, Simon?” Paramour was very perceptive. Simon was looking ahead…

“We can’t follow it… they are out there?” Simon literally answered Paramour’s question with another question since he wasn’t sure himself…

“What now?! Just follow it, and we will be safe!!!” Andy urged them…

Paramour was now faced with a choice… but it was an easy one for him.

“Simon, you lead in front; we follow you,” Paramour suddenly said. There was no clear basis for why he said that.

“But!!!” Andy protested.

“We have no time; it’s a hunch, but he is probably right,” Raphael also agreed.

“...Well… I will follow,” Andy sighed and agreed. They were the ones who rescued them to make this scenario and choice even possible. It's not too much to put trust in them.

“Follow me,” Simon smiled as he guided the party from then on. He began by riding away from the markers. The scouts were baffled, but they still followed.

Simon, on his own, was falling into a trance. The snow and the cold were not there, only dots of himself in a pseudo radar that were coming from the ground, vibrations, and strange sounds. Sometimes he would curve, but after a few hours, he stopped.

“The wall is ahead,” Simon suddenly said. They couldn’t see it because of the worsening snowfall that was turning into a storm.

“But the other guys are probably 2 to 4 clicks in that direction, and there,” Simon pointed a direction somewhere they had come from.

“You are going back?” Paramour asked. “I’m going to save the others,” Simon answered.

“As long as there are no walking spikes (Walkers), I can handle anything,” he added as an assurance. There was weight to his words and everyone believed in it.

“I will come with you, Raphael; bring them in!” the hero as the leader said, he passed on some of his things to the Black Hood in exchange the Black Hood gave him some potions.

“You guys are crazy!!!” Raphael exchanged with Paramour for pulling “Simon! The direction again please!!” he was usually the second in command in their party of three.

“Just a few minutes in this direction!!!” Simon said, pointing again.

Andy was just silent… he was still confused about what was happening. Andy, too, trusted Simon, but it seemed that after knowing Bibs was gone, he had become negative… or he was afraid?

“Take care, guys; please come back before midnight, don’t overshoot,” the Black Hood warned. Simon and the Hero nodded.

<--->

Somewhere in the desolated lands, blinded by the snow and darkness, the scouts, adventurers, and warriors who should have gone back first were trapped in battle and snow.

The warriors were fighting a couple of spikes, and the adventurers were also holding their own. The problem was the snow; it was reducing their senses. They formed a circle, but they had been fighting non-stop for an hour now and didn’t know which direction to go.

“This is hopeless,” one of the scouts said. The spikes from before had evolved in the way they fight; it's like they are learning as they fight. They were intelligent enough to take the bodies of their comrades so that they wouldn’t have a chance to study them. It was only recently that they have brought home a sample.

“Don’t lose hope!” the adventurer screamed. He knew the purpose of the markers; it was to lead the other party to them.

“You don’t understand, adventurer. Now that we've formed a circle, they would start spraying bullets that would melt you to the bone,” the scout informed them.

“I will die fighting. I would rather run in one direction and try my luck,” the veteran adventurer said. He was a veteran; he had been in this situation many times, and he had the right to say it.

“NO NEED! WE GOT YOU!” It was a familiar voice, a voice they trusted. After a few moments, screams populated the wailing snow. After a while, a boy appeared with a bit of blood on his shoulders, followed by the hero of the era.

“I will be damned!” the adventurer screamed in excitement.

“The road is clear. Simon, what direction?” Paramour asked Simon since he was the only one who could navigate in the snowy storm.

“Just ride the boards this way; the dead bodies will guide you. When there are no more dead bodies, you are already very close, so just continue,” Simon respectfully answered.

“The kid is saying that there are still some guys outside the wall. Tell the guys on the northern wall that we will save them,” Paramour told the most veteran adventurer.

The veteran adventurer and his party immediately left after setting the Snow Cart. “Thanks, guys, drinks on me!” the veteran screamed as they faded away into the snow and dark.

“Where to now?” Paramour asked. “Maybe 20 minutes that way; the queen is already out,” Simon pointed in another direction. The two immediately went on their way.

The veteran adventurer urged the guys in his party to hurry up. He had a charisma that kept the party cheery.

“You should thank me; I’m the luckiest adventurer alive!” he said with confidence. He was actually nicknamed Lucky Rabbit.

<--->

Somewhere underground.

Bibs was already dead. They had learned from their enemies to take the bodies of their comrades, although it was for feeding; it was actually the first time they would try to check out the enemy's weaknesses.

The sad thing was it was already dead, so they couldn't try anything on it anymore. (Lucky for him)

The walker was huge, totally different from the other walkers. It was holding the body of a human as it walked through an underground tunnel connected to its lair’s tunnel.

It finally stopped at a large gate. Its mother had told it stories about the humans, especially the guardians that tried to kill their kind. It despised them with all of its being, but it learned something from the stories: when humans touched the gates, it would move. He was now carrying it for that reason.

He tried it…

“Cree!!!!”

It was a delighted sound. A gate opened underneath the dark tunnel.