The wicked chill that had up until now covered the entire underground level started to dissipate. Nearly all the creatures were benefiting from this. Their metabolisms kicked into life, as did their survival instincts.
Blissfully unaware of what was going on, the nagas in their human forms headed confidently into the dark. It hadn't occurred to them that the door unlocking all by itself could be a bad thing. Why indeed would they think that the creatures inside were anything but contained? And the noises? Having never entered the council building, let alone that particular level, they all just assumed that the noises were what passed for normal here. Boy, were they in for a surprise.
In a darkened corridor, over a quarter of a mile away from the nagas, five camaheutos were meeting another species for the very first time, and were determined to express their dominance. Having surrounded the group of six inch long serpents, both in the corridor and up on the walls, the camaheutos almost sparkled with confidence at the thought of their first real meal being only moments away, despite it being only a mere mouthful. Breaking ranks, a lightly coloured, audacious camaheuto decided not to wait for its brethren and bounded forward with intent and purpose, determined to skewer its meal with the razor sharp claws on its feet. Just as it reached striking range, two of the tiny little serpents opened their mouths in unison, and exhaled. The daring and rather reckless camaheuto was instantly frozen to the spot in mid strike, one leg raised, poised to attack, the other firmly planted on the ground. With their bulging confidence shattered, the other camaheutos gradually retreated, watching as the group of serpents slithered their way slowly up, onto their frozen friend and began to gnaw into his still very alive flesh. A species so at the top of its food chain, had never been put in its place quite like the camaheutos had today, by a tiny group of echeneis. This was only the start of the battle for supremacy.
Still blissfully unaware of the situation around them, the nagas strolled purposefully deeper and deeper into obscurity, pleased at having gained not only access to the top secret basement, but approval from the ever moody Manson. Thoughts of how happy he'd be with them when they told him about the magical marvels contained here spurred them to press further into the basement, despite what most would have described as very disturbing noises, and now smells.
The skrikers eventually escaped from their pen. Not one looked unharmed, with most missing fur, teeth, and in some cases... LIMBS! They prowled through the darkness, using their enhanced senses for all they were worth. Their world had vanished in an instant, replaced by this cold, noisy labyrinth. Despite the rivalry amongst them, they were a pack in the conventional sense, and couldn't wait to encounter whatever was out there.
In the depths of the gloom now, a skittering had the entire group turning as one. Nothing was there. But the faint noises, ones that they had all assumed were the norm in this state of the art containment facility, were now growing louder and more concerning, coming from every direction. They looked to their leader for guidance, but he had very little. One of them piped up that they should return to their natural state, something that they could all agree on straight away. A head to toe grey shimmering encompassed each member of the entire group. In less than five seconds, their bogus human shaped bodies had been replaced by their much darker natural forms. Satisfaction at having changed was greeted by a, "HISSSSSSSSSSSSS," from nearly all of them. Confident that they could neutralise any threat that presented itself, they slithered further into the basement, all of their abilities enhanced by their snakelike forms, thoughts of glory, praise and ultimately freeing their king haunting their imagination. Little did the nagas know that they had now become the hunted.
A dozen twisted corners away from the slippery nagas, a cautious group of gaki crouched nervously in the all-encompassing black. Monstrous legends from the Far East, their bodies were humanish, with bulging great bellies that constantly, much to their annoyance, rumbled and spluttered. That wasn't what made them so fierce though. Their bodies were either bright, blood red, or brilliantly neon green, showing themselves up even though there was absolutely no light to see in. As if this weren't bad enough, they each had the heads of horses or cattle. All had three eyes. Sharp talons, horns and bony protrusions littered their bodies, each on its own a deadly weapon, but together acting like a whirlwind of razor blades. Rumoured to feed off the souls of evil men and women, they were all still taken aback at the world they'd known being snatched away from them. Some were angry, others frightened, one or two intrigued. But what they all were was ready, ready for whatever came their way. Bizarre, frightening, otherworldly could all have been used to describe this tiny fighting force, amongst any number of other fighting forces, most blissfully unaware of the others. Just how much longer could that last?
As his leader glided off into the distance, one of the nagas stopped to inspect a section of wall beneath what looked like a faulty light, wrapped in caged metal. There appeared to be some kind of writing, but it was obscured by a thick layer of ice that now seemed to be melting at quite a rate. At home in the cold, the naga had no problem scraping away the frost to reveal what lay beneath. On doing so, he exhaled sharply, the peculiar sounds all around instantly becoming clearer and much more defined. Ironically he was frozen to the spot, momentarily anyway. But his instinct for survival was ingrained in his very DNA, allowing him to fight against the fear that held him temporarily paralysed. But what to do? The others were too far away to call out to. Well, they weren't, but only if you wanted to attract the attention of everything else in here. And from what he'd just learnt, that could well be much more than they could handle. But he certainly didn't want to go any further into what he now thought of as more of a prison/zoo, particularly as it was most likely that all of the inmates were now roaming free, probably tired, scared, hungry or a combination of all three. All he was sure of was that their little group was in a whole world of trouble.
Reaching out with his mind, he tried to pierce the wall of telepathic noise that threatened to shut him out. To his amazement, he'd done it and had managed to attract the attention of their leader. Just as he was about to report what he'd found, the leader swatted his contact away, much as one would do with an annoying insect on a hot summer's day. He couldn't believe it. Trying again with no luck, the leader had totally shut himself off. That made up his mind, there and then. Nothing was worth this. He'd face that psycho, Manson, rather than everything that he knew to be in here, free and unencumbered. Glancing one last time in the direction that the rest of the small group had headed off in, he looked at the sign, shook his head in disbelief, and slinked his way as fast as he could back the way they'd come. The melting ice from the sign continued to drip onto the floor. The words could just be made out.
NO LIGHT
NO CONTAINMENT
GET OUT
RAISE THE ALARM
10
Shadow Hunter
Perched atop a high building that had been ravaged and destroyed, only its bare rock structure left intact, Richie sat with her back against the wall, shrouded in black. Even with magically enhanced vision, it was unlikely anyone would be able to spot her, that's how well she was concealed.
So far she'd only managed to travel a few miles since leaving the Hampton Court nursery ring. It had been slow going, with marauding gangs of nagas seemingly everywhere. Having stuck to the shadows, biding her time, she'd become impatient and frustrated. Knowing this wouldn't serve her well, she'd decided on a different course of action, one that she hoped would get her to her destination much quicker. Leaving the ground at the first available opportunity, she'd shimmied up the first four storey building that she'd come across, well... what was left of it anyway. After that, it had been rooftops all the way... up until now. Sitting watching, hidden from all and sundry, the only thought that ran through her head currently, was,