Simri and all present could not understand what that word meant, they had never heard it before,
'King' Simri thought,
He had never heard such a word, or thought such a thought, it had always been the queen, it was only natural, she gave birth to them, she controlled them, they served her, it was only natural, only biological, yet Simri understood what this meant, and his mind expanded with the idea, with the possibilities,
The energy flowed rampant, and washed over all the Mchuwaji present, embracing them, the energy so chaotic, so deadly, it was like nothing they had felt before,
The queen felt warm, familiar, this energy felt cold, menacing, cruel, like a... soldier's,
Simri couldn't believe it, he was shaking,
''IMPOSSIBLE!'' Simri yelled and bellowed,
''You have felt it, haven't you, flawed one, he is like us... he is like us, but better, more... perfect, he is of us, NOT OF THAT DESPICABLE BREED OF RULER WHO KNEW NAUGHT BUT TO BREED AND SEND US TO OUR DOOM, HE IS OF US, BETTER!''
The black one yelled and bellowed with arms extended basking in the energy around them,
''NOT... NORMAL!'' Simri couldn't understand what was happening,
His mind was fighting a war between loyalty and his self, between his instincts and his ambition,
''What you believe to be normal is of no importance, it has already been ordained and done, the new ruler of our kind, the Mchuwaji has been born, he will unite us under one banner, all the kingdoms, and for the first time, WE WILL RISE TO THE SURFACE!''
'The surface?' Marion couldn't keep up with the black one, blasphemous thought after blasphemous thought, this went against everything they were and had been, he couldn't believe what was happening,
Yet it was undeniable, as the energy washed over them, all present knelt and bowed to the energy of the monarch,
Even Simri was overwhelmed, instictually he started taking a knee, the black one was no different,
'NEVER!'
Simri stopped midway, looked around, whose voice was that?
it felt big, strong, ethereal, ancient,
He felt his mind clear, like everything was different all of a sudden, he wouldn't kneel,
Not to this king, not to a queen, not to anyone ever again,
'STAND!' The voice said,
Simri heard it loud and clear, but it seemed only he did, and he stood up,
No one saw him, no one would because they all knelt and bowed their heads, in respect to the new opressor,
Simri looked around, and for the first time in his existence he could formulate coherent thoughts,
'I need to leave, but to where?'
He needed to escape, but where was there no Mchuwaji, no opressor, where could he bide his time to get stronger and more complete?
Where was there no Mchuwaji, the answer was simple,
'The surface'
Simri didn't have to think twice, he was running at death's door, doing something no other Mchuwaji would ever do, and he didn't need to think twice about it,
He turned and faced to opposite direction he entered from, he could get away from there, to the surface, all Mchuwaji knew the way there,
'Dead and free better than alive and enslaved' Simri thought,
This was his moment, while everyone was kneeling, no one would see him escaping, no one would stop him,
But something was holding him back, something was refusing to escape,
Was it his base instinct as a member of the nation? his instinctual fear? his biology? his loyalty?
No, he had already discarded those things when the voice woke him up, he was a new lifeform,
Greed, it was his greed that denied him escape, in front of him was karma, defenseless abundant karma, how could he leave all this and escape, he had to take what was his... and enact revenge on the one who humiliated him.
It was only right, wasn't it?
Simri stood straight, straighter than he ever had, his eyes saw clearly for the first time, these weren't his brethren, these weren't even his kind, these were stepping stones for his ascension, there was only him, no other, and that voice that spoke to him, he would eventually even swallow that,
Simri took his severed arm, pressed it against its stump, and pressed it with another of his hands, smoke came off, and Simri's face seemed to twist in pain slightly,
Yet when he took his arm off, the arm was reattached, the flesh around the arm was charred, yet thanks to his properties he was able to reattach it,
Simri walked over to the black one, standing over him, a smile formed on Simri's face which was unusual, Mchuwaji didn't smile usually, but Simri didn't seem to notice that,
All he noticed was his hunger, so, so much hunger,
With one fell swipe, one single slash of his claws, the black one lost his head, and a rush of energy entered Simri, exhilirating, euphoric, empowering, he felt stronger than ever, and that he was,
But something compelled him to do something more, something he never did before, he reached into the body and pulled out its heart,
Looking at it, it was as if the road to all his ambitions opened up, he opened his maw and ate the heart of his murdered brethren,
Simri felt it as soon as he ate it, he was changing, he needed to get away, fast, he was changing, evolving, ascending, he needed to leave fast, escape to somehwere safe,
Simri's body was gathering energy, it would soon become apparent to the rest of the kneeling soldiers what had happened,
Simri turned around and dashed, faster than ever,
The sound of his steps causing some of the higher ranks to look up, only to see him dashing away, then looking at the body of the highest ranking officer there seeing it headless and desecrated with no heart,
In an instant, a screech echoed in the tunnels, all the Mchuwaji looked in the same direction, and dashed behind the traitor, the one who had broken their traditions and bonds,
Simri dashed as fast as he could, but he could feel his time was running out, his heart was pounding, his head expanding, his blood running hotter and even hotter, so so hot, scorching his flesh from the inside,
He was being chased, and some of the higher ranked officers would soon catch him,
Fortunately all Mchuwaji knew these tunnels, knew all the roads to take, and in the case of SImri those he wasn't supposed to take,
He headed for a tunnel he had never neared before, it lead to the surface,
He ran and ran and soon he started seeing the light,
He had never seen it before, never in his life, it caused him to hesitate for a moment, would he be able to survive out there? but the hesitation was only for moments, he had no other choice,
In front of him were sentries, put in place to stop any threats from the outside, it was unprecedented for someone to be going the opposite way, yet the Mchuwaji could communicate with each other instantaneously,
They turned to face Simri and lunged at him,
Simri took rocks from the floor, pressed them hard in his hand and flung them at his opponents,
The rocks now turned magma, burned the sentries coming at him, letting him slip through and out into the light,
The sentries writhed in pain, while the rest stared out not daring to cross the boundary,
They would never dare, for as long as they lived.