Hive

'Hivemind'

The darkness was like an entity.

Recoiling from the light as Linan and Silas slowly made their way deeper into the bowels of the abandoned crypt. Out of nowhere, Linan suddenly felt an intense urge to turn out the dancing light he had summoned a little while earlier but shook it off as the darkness was not their environment of choice. The torch that Silas was carrying had almost reached the end of its life, but it didn't  matter because he felt they were nearing their destination. Noises of small creatures and the pitter patter of water droplets echoed throughout the smooth, stone corridors as Linan led them through a small hallway and out into an open room. As he made his way to the door at the back of the room, he heard a loud 'click' noise behind him which was swiftly followed by the sound of Silas tumbling to the bottom of a large, triangular trap.
Silas tried unsuccessfully to claw his way back up out of the deathly hole while Linan clumsily let down a rope. After a bit of pulling and rope burn, they returned to the same level as each other, and quickly made their way through the small door and into a large and spacious room. In this room, there was a bleak pillar of light,  which enveloped a cracked stone chair. "Creepy.." Silas whispered as Linan's light began to fade. "Crap." He quietly cursed as he tried to resummon their main source of vision. As they both made their way towards the oddly placed chair, the darkness seemed to whisper and shuffle as they passed by. "I think this is a greyling hive." Silas said as they crept further towards the light. When they reached the small, lit up chair, a hunched figure emerged from out of the darkness.

"So this is where you've cowered to." Linan scoffed. "The great and noble Madrigar hiding in a cave, covered in filth." Silas joked. Madrigar did not react to them and instead proceeded to grin slightly. He then scurried over to the stone chair and slowly sat down, as if he was being physically forced to. "H..have you c..come to s..steal it?" Madrigar stuttered. "Steal what?" Linan inquired. "The key!" Madrigar shouted angrily. "No." Silas replied, "We've just come for information." Madrigar looked up in confusion. His eyes were milky white. Silas held what remained of his torch up to his pale, tired face. "Why did you run away?" Madrigar sat in silence, whispering to himself for a few seconds and then jolted back to reality. "Will you help us?" He asked. Linan and Silas both felt a sudden unease as they came to the realisation that he had been completely overtaken by greylings. "Will you help us?" He asked again, this time with a stern look on his face. "Us?" Silas questioned. "Yes. Us." Madrigar returned with as the pillar of light above the stone chair went black.