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Vyvyla continued on with a tale describing the man many called the Umbra Scourge. He had singlehandedly thrown the entire underworld into chaos some millennia before, taking it by storm and killing many of the ruling hellions at the time. Without a power structure or surplus of souls to generally colonize the Umbral Plain, it had reverted back to a wild state. A world that had once opened inter-dimensional portals and conquered planets had been overthrown by a single, vengeful paladin armed with technology and weaponry the underworld had never before seen. Now civilization existed in pockets, but had to go into hiding when he was in the area.

"I think in the long run, we will be better for it," Vyvyla said slowly. "But hardly anyone alive today was around for the first epoch, and we avoid those that are because they're much stronger than us and quite frankly, they deserved it." Her voice was hard but filled with conviction. "They're a previous generation that ruined the world for us in a way. But that's the problem. We've changed, but the Umbral Scourge hasn't. He will still kill any and every demon and hellion he comes across, even those of us that just want to exist, those of us who had no part in the invasion of his world."

"You can't reason with him?" Srida asked, "he just kills indiscriminately?"

"Yes," Vyvyla answered in a cold voice. "But in this whole mess, that's not the worst part. Think of the Umbral Scourge as a force of nature. Unbiased, dangerous, but predictable. It's the upper hellions we need to really worry about. Jal, Kah, Bartholo and the like. They're just like us, except far more powerful because they haven't died in thousands of years. They could instantly slave you to their will on sight, they're..."

"...they're the ones the warlocks in the overworld use to siphon umbral power up for consumption," Andreas said, putting the pieces together from his classes at the academy.

"You recognize the names!" Vyvyla said excitedly, her face lighting up.

Srida--or Andreas--internally cursed himself for voicing the connection he made. Srida wasn't supposed to remember anything. She was newly spawned.

"I do," Srida said slowly. "All I really know is they're the demons who could think..."

Vyvyla nodded. "They usually just pluck a senseless demon from their castle, lair or whatnot and give it to the humans, knowing fully well that their soul will end up here." The statement hung in the air and the succubus sighed. "It's why we're all here after all, they know they can enslave us once our soul is pulled down after we die in the overworld."

"That's why you try to live in the same region as the Umbral Scourge," Srida said suddenly. "It's the only thing they're scared of!"

"Clever." Gowris had spoken from the other side of the cave, his eyes still looking out the peephole.

Vyvyla nodded in agreement. "It's worth the risk, though there are many who live far from either. We just need to hide every other month. Hopefully when the last of the upper hellions are finally dead at his hands, he'll find peace. But..." She trailed off and left what the entire cave was thinking unsaid.

"We wait out the next day or so in here," Gowris spoke again, his deep voice reverberating around the cave. "He hasn't found us before, he won't find us this time. So get comfortable, and sit still."

"Do you see anything?"

One of the hellions from the other end of the cave had spoken up, drawing Srida's attention to them for the first time since she'd arrived. She'd been watching them the whole time through her hairsnakes but hadn't really given them any thought. Something about Vyvyla had been extremely compelling and completely captured her attention. When the hellion spoke, it broke that focus and Srida frowned. Was it possible a succubus could have magic to captivate attention in a non-sexual way? She put that question to the back of her mind for later.

The hellion who'd spoken was a hellhound of some sort. He was well built and looked like the werewolves of the overworld, except his fur was well kept and his eyes glowed red in the low light. Sitting next to him was a human looking woman with deathly pale skin--possibly a vampire--and to her left, a naga. The naga was distinct from her in that his upper body was completely human and he didn't have the hairsnakes like she did. Unlike him, Srida's skin also wasn't quite normal either, her humanoid portion covered in extremely small and fine scales that were tinted green and smooth to the touch, not to mention a bit more scratch resistant than skin. His ears were pointed like hers however, like the vampire beside him.

Faced with the vampire and naga, both who at least in part looked startlingly human, Srida almost felt like a freak for a moment once again--until she glanced around at the dragonborn, succubus, and hellhound all sharing the cave with her. No, they weren't nervous because of her looks, it was the threat of her power that kept the room tense.

Gowris at the far end of the room was shaking his head in response to the hellhound's question. "It's hard to see out such a small slit, or hear when people are taking. But I don't think so."

An idea came to Srida, perhaps a way to make herself useful and build the much-needed trust. Rising out of her seated position, she slowly slithered over to the dragonborn who nervously stepped back as she approached.

"Here," she said softly, moving her head near the peephole he'd been looking through. "I might be able to get a better look."

Using her hairsnakes, she threaded a couple through the gaps in the rock that Gowris had been looking through until they were entirely above ground.

"I can see and hear through them," she explained, eyes unfocused while she looked around above ground. "There's movement far off in the distance. Lot's of it, to the right of the peephole. It's definitely the fighting."

She glanced at the other occupants of the cave to get a mix of shocked, awed and slightly disturbed expressions. Yet in her usual manner, Vyvyla took charge of the situation once again.

"Get away from the wall," she ordered, ushering Srida away from it and picking up some stones from off the ground. "And plug the holes. I want this to look as inconspicuous as possible."

Once Srida was out of the way, Gowris immediately wigged the big rock until it shifted and settled into place, sealing off most of the peepholes. Vyvyla plugged the remaining two peepholes so no light was leaking in and ushered them all to the back wall with naga, vampire, and hellhound.

"And now we wait," the naga said, after a deep breath.

"And now we wait," Vyvyla repeated.

And wait they did. For over two hours they sat in the cave in relative silence. Srida had coiled herself up and nestled in to a corner, feeling a bit more comfortable than perhaps she should have been. Aside from the naga, the others were sitting on hard stone and probably not enjoying it one bit, whereas her serpentine body was great to lounge on. At one point, she considered asking if the others wanted to sit on her body and use her as a type of bench, but the moment she started to speak, almost everyone hushed her. It really helped emphasize the seriousness of the situation to her.

There wasn't much to do but wait. Despite sitting in the dark, Srida could see everything in the room quite clearly due to her infrared vision, though the lack of natural light made the colors off. Her body and the others had a glow to them that was uncomfortably distinct. With everyone so easily visible in the cave, it didn't feel like they were really hiding.

After what seemed to be hours of boredom, the fighting drew near. The screams of dying demons grew louder and the cannon blasts were almost painful to the ears. Srida tried to plug her ears but found that it didn't help; her hairsnakes still heard the noise clear as day. But she never once actually heard the Umbral Scourge cry out, whether it be in agony, rage, or surprise. They only ever heard the boom of his weapon.

Heavy footsteps on the group above them indicated the arrival of a larger demon, faint vibrations in the stone alluring to how large the monster truly was. At one point, it roared a deep guttural howl that shook Srida to her core and left her paralyzed with fear. Like her gaze could be filled with petrifying magic, this roar was laced with unholy terror so powerful it inflicted a sense of fear intense enough she almost cried out. The vampire actually did, a tiny yelp that she stifled as soon as it started, and was fortunately drowned out by the chaos above ground. However notably absent was a human call of fright. Did the Umbral Scourge not know fear? Srida couldn't even see the demon but found herself wondering how could anyone stand up to that?

The answer was simple. A few moments later there was a fast and brutal sounding crack of bone breaking, followed by a howl of agony cut short as it presumably lost the ability to vocalize. The fighting continued on and on until she lost track of time, sitting in complete stillness and hoping that whatever fought up there never found them. Now she understood why they called him a force of nature. This wasn't something you could fight, but simply hide from and hope you weren't caught up in the frenzy.

The sounds of chaos and battle finally faded after what seemed like an eternity. It grew quieter as the combatants slowly moved away, finally giving way to the sounds of their breathing and racing hearts. Nobody moved for at least another fifteen minutes.

"I hate that feeling," Vyvyla finally whispered, her voice cutting the silence like a knife. "All that stray magic. It's hard on the soul."

Srida looked down at her hands, visibly shaking from the fear projected by the fighting demons. The Umbral Scourge wasn't just incredibly dangerous, but it was killing other incredibly dangerous things with ease, and in great numbers. Was that the capability of pure holy power? Or was it something else?

The vampire who was curled up against the hellhound was visibly shaking. She seemed to be the worst off. "I wish this wasn't necessary."

Gowris nodded, seeming quite calm. "And that's only the umbral magic you're feeling. We should be glad he doesn't emanate magic like they do. Just imagine what it would feel like..."

Silence hung in the air for a few moments while they pondered the statement, until Vyvyla finally broke it once more. "We should probably stay down here for a while longer. Just in case it swings back this way. Maybe get some rest and leave next morning."

The others nodded in agreement but statement piqued Srida's curiosity, so she asked, desperate to get her mind off what she just experienced. "The underworld has night?"

It all seemed quite bright when he arrived as Andreas, and after stealing the gorgons form and infrared vision, there never really seemed to be a light source. It was just the same red light that permeated the underworld like the sun did on an overcast day. How the umbral plain could have a day night cycle didn't seem possible given that it was deep underground.

Vyvyla had an unsure look on her face. "Well, kind of? It gets darker, and cooler, but not pitch black because we can see heat. But you'll learn to sleep anyways pretty quickly."

The hellhound nodded in agreement. "The lava lakes are hotter during the day as well so whatever causes the cycle must be below us."

Srida nodded slowly and looked down at her still shaking hands, holding them up for all to see. "Makes sense. Though I doubt I'll be able to sleep after that."

Gowris shuddered. "I definitely won't be, not until my heart settles down at least. Vyvyla, you've been up how long now? Getting everyone hidden?"

The succubus let out a deep sigh, still hugging her knees and sitting back against the wall. "I don't even know anymore. That's why I was so shocked when she was wandering around out there." She gestured to Srida with her tail like it was a hand--the first time Srida had been her actually use the limb that way.

Gowris nodded with a severe expression and shuffled over to where the succubus was sitting against the wall. "I really hope we didn't miss anyone, there aren't enough souls around here anymore." He let out a long sigh. "We can't afford to lose people."

Srida was surprised when Vyvyla leaned onto his chest and closed her eyes, looking comfortable when the Dragonborn wrapped his arms around her. She hadn't even made the connection that those two were in a relationship. Did that mean...? The way the vampire and hellhound were leaning on each other suggested the same between them, though the naga was coiled up like she was, comfortably on his own.

Some time passed in silence, nobody really having the mental energy to speak quite yet, and Vyvyla was asleep in minutes, breathing softly on Gowris' chest. The dragonborn was snoring shortly afterwards, seemingly comfortable and relaxed for what was probably the first time today.

"What are your names?" Srida asked softly, glancing between the other three.

"Jorg," the hellhound said while looking to the vampire to introduce herself as well.

The two briefly shared eye contact and she spoke up. "Rosalyn, or Rose. I'm a vampire in case you can't tell. It's not always obvious."

Srida nodded, then frowned, playing the part of the newly spawned gorgon. "It's weird how I guessed that but don't remember ever learning about vampires."

Rosalyn grinned, revealing her fangs for the first time. "Part of the whole first spawning. You'll feel that a lot, I still do as well on occasion, and I've been down here two years now."

Srida raised her eyebrows. "That's young right?"

"Gowris and Vyvyla have been here for 500," the naga said, sliding over and manipulating his body so it made a semicircle. "Shalafass, by the way," he offered her a hand to shake, which she did nervously. "Call me Sha."

Both Jorg and Rosalyn moved to lean against Sha, using him as a more comfortable seating than the rocks. Srida glanced at Sha as the made themselves comfortable.

"Is this why you brought me in?" She joked. "For more seating?"

Rose's complexion went from pale to completely white.

"Oh, goodness no! I never..." she trailed off once she saw Srida's curious expression. "You'd let us?"

Srida was slightly taken aback. "I was just trying to joke since Sha's okay with it, and thought you'd eventually be bugging me to as well."

Rose seemed awkward about the entire thing and Srida wasn't entirely sure why. Was she scared? They'd been reluctant to let her in in case she was hostile but since she wasn't what was the big deal?

"It's just that...you're a gorgon," she mumbled.

Perhaps it was the stress of the experiences over the last couple hours, or it was rooted in an insecurity in her form, but the statement set Srida's head spinning and kicked her back into Andreas' headspace for a moment. There was something about it that got his hackles up. Were the gorgon's undesirables in this society? In the overworld they were renowned for being an archetype hag monster, and people rarely summoned them. He'd only chosen a gorgon for his summoning because their power was based on line of sight, and in case something went wrong all he'd have to do was look away awhile he banished her. The last thing he needed was to be ostracized again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Srida asked sharply.

Jorg picked up on the miscommunication. "Gorgons are a bit more highly esteemed than nagas," he explained in an ever-relaxed tone. "The comparison is something like a housecat to a tiger." He paused for a moment to let that sink in, and then his voice hardened ever so subtly. "Something you're going to need to take into consideration around others."

Srida realized her misstep and had the decency to look guilty and hopefully defuse any tension she'd just created. Andreas, confrontational as ever, had to work hard to swallow his pride after being lectured like that. "Sorry, I didn't..."

"...realize yeah, it's fine," he said back with his usual relaxed tone. "Just keep in mind most people are going to be nervous around you so it's best to be like Vyvyla. Everyone knows how dangerous she can be, but it's comforting rather than frightening."

Srida tilted her head and looked at the sleeping succubus again. She didn't look particularly threatening and hadn't given Srida that impression. "Just how powerful is she?"

The other three shared a quick look of uncertainty.

"I think she's two hundred and fifty years strong," Sha said slowly. "But she isn't really open about how much she's expanded her soul and rarely walks around in her true form."

Srida shot him a sideways look, Andreas' ego forgotten and curiosity alight once more. "I understood none of that."

Seemingly eager to explain, Rose sat up slightly. "It's basically how hellions can get stronger," she said. "Every living moment you generate power, then when you want you can cash out on that power and use it to expand your soul. The longer you wait before expanding your soul, the stronger you become."

"But dying wipes out all your stored strength," Srida guessed.

Rose nodded. "And so does expanding your soul. It's a gamble of when you want to check out basically, and once you do, that counter--that pool of potential strength--resets."

"So she lived for at least two hundred and fifty years at one point," Srida said quietly, the mere idea of that weighing heavy on her mind.

"Probably closer to five hundred now," Sha said. "Same with Gowris. I don't think either of them died since their last expansion hundreds of years ago, and could both probably expand their souls again right now. But they're waiting until they can check out at five hundred years of power."

Srida whistled softly then pursed her lips and made the dark assumption on where this was going. "This is when you tell me that killing others lets you steal their unused power."

Rose's eyebrows shot up. "Oh Hell no. There's no way we'd ever even have society if that was the case."

Srida breathed a sigh of relief and Sha interjected. "That's what makes living humans so dangerous to us though," he said quietly. "They have a body that's independent of their soul, so they can actually siphon power directly from us--it's what the Umbral Scourge does. He burns our magic like fuel. Killing us literally makes him stronger."

That was a sobering thought and left the cave in silence for a few moments.

"So the only way to truly die down here--to face oblivion," Srida asked, "is to die by his hand."

"The only way," Rose nodded. "This is an afterlife. Death is when your body is slain. But true death down here... is to have your soul destroyed."

"There have been some exceptions," Sha added quietly. "Some people have spawned again after dying to him. But...we really don't know why."

Srida thought about it and shook her head. "I can't really give you much insight," she said.

Jorg smiled faintly--and odd expression on his canine face. "If we knew, things could be a lot easier for us. If we understood all the rules that constrains magic. But meanwhile...we work with what we know."

Silence lingered in the cave for a bit, punctuated only by the snores from Gowris and Vyvyla at the far end.

"Do you want a shirt?" Rose posed the question abruptly, and seemingly out of nowhere.

Srida looked down, realized for the first time that her boobs were just hanging out in the open for all to see. They were by no means big, but large enough she was legitimately surprised it hadn't occurred to her sooner. Andreas had spent a lot of time shirtless in his room at the academy and didn't think anything of it. As a woman, it was a slightly different story, though he wasn't sure what the social norms of the underworld were. Sha wasn't wearing anything either, and Jorg was completely covered in fur, meaning Rose was the only waken one with any clothing at all.

"Uhm..." Srida bit her lip. "I wasn't going to ask," she lied, "but it would be really nice."

The vampire got up quietly and retrieved a bag from the corner of the cave, then started rummaging through it. "Even though we normally spend a day or two in hiding, I wasn't positive how long we'd be gone," she explained. "So I brought food, redtree blood and an extra set of clothing. Here."

She tossed some kind of top to Srida who snagged it out of the air. Holding it up, it was a tunic that had short sleeves and seemed to be cut off around the midsection. It was also made out of scales, the brownish color a decent mix with her body's various shades of green.

"I really like the way your scales work," Sha said suddenly. "They just look like skin unless you look closely."

"Hoping yours will be like that when you dump your power?" Rose teased, wandering back over.

He looked a little sheepish for a moment then got defensive. "Yes I do!" He exclaimed. "Look at them! I get cut up by the rocks down here all the time! They're thick on her back, shoulders, the back of her hands--places you want protection, but you can hardly even tell they are there at all on her face and fingers! It's perfect! I've never seen this before!"

Rose gave him a little push that made the naga sway and sat back down beside her boyfriend. Srida had to chuckle a bit at it too and told herself that he was simply jealous of her scale pattern and didn't think she was pretty. It wasn't territory Andreas wanted to explore.

Srida pulled the top over her head, not really thinking about her hairsnakes, and ending up getting a sizeable amount of them pinched between the piece of clothing and her back. It was a couple sizes too small for her--Rose was actually quite petit--and pulled tight over her body. While it kept her breasts nice and snug, it also meant her hairsnakes were actually stuck. The others watched with bemusement as she struggled, slowly wriggling them out and eventually tugging on them with her hands when the smallest weren't strong enough to dislodge themselves.

Eventually she was resting there in a tight top made of brown scales that ended about two inches above her belly button. Rose tilted her head slightly and stood up, circling the gorgon a few times.

"That's cute. You should keep it."

Srida took a deep breath in, feeling it get even tighter. "I like breathing though," she said in a pained voice.

Rose rolled her eyes and shuffled over to Srida, tugging on the garment a bit. "Oh please, it's snug at best. You must have been a man before you died. No wonder you didn't mind being shirtless."

Srida blushed slightly, feeling her ears redden again. "I just like loose clothing okay?"

Rose laughed and leaned against Srida's serpentine half, deliberately avoiding her gaze, as if she could get away with using Srida as a seat if she didn't look at her. The gorgon didn't mind at all. The fact that Rose felt she could do that at all actually meant something to her. It meant they didn't see Srida as the monster gorgons apparently were. Not bothering to suppress her grin, she shifted her tail so it was half wrapped around Rose's lower back and giving her armrests.

Rose squeaked at the movement, but once she realized Srida was only accommodating her, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "See Sha, she goes the extra mile for me, why can't you?"

The naga flashed her a dirty yet playful glare and settled further into his coils.

As the day went on, the group fostered idle conversation to pass the time. The sounds of fighting weren't returning so they were all somewhat at ease, and Srida was constantly asking questions about them and what life was like in the underworld. They told her mostly of local history and their day to day doings, as well as the types of demons she might come across, and how they were related--gorgons being enhanced nagas for example.

Rose also had a small bag of tokens which, when placed on a grid Jorg scratched into the stone with his claws, allowed them to play a game quite similar to chess. They spent the better part of the afternoon doing so, though eventually grew bored once more.

A moment of silence hung between the group and Sha yawned, causing Rose to as well, saying the unsaid.

"We should probably get some rest," Jorg said quietly, looking over his shoulder at Vyvyla and Gowris who were still sleeping soundly. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Rose nodded. "Hopefully the village isn't destroyed."

"It will only be if the fighting passed through it," Sha said, his voice hopeful.

Feeling somewhat tired herself, despite not having been up for more than twelve hours, Srida shifted herself to create a makeshift bed on her coils. But before she could finish settling in, Sha tapped her gently with the tip of his tail.

"Do you have personal space issues?" he asked in a low voice. "Because otherwise we can make a proper bed for all four of us."

Srida opened her mouth a bit but didn't really have an immediate answer. She did have personal space issues but didn't want to be a jerk and be the only comfortable one.

"Show me what you mean," she said softly.

Sha guided her and together they wound the ends of their serpentines halves in a spiral, eventually creating a tightly wound bed of coils that had more than enough room for all four of them.

"The other nagas and I do this sometimes," Sha explained, gesturing for the other two to lay down in the center. "Though when there's more of us, it just kind of turns into a snake pit. But the body heat is great."

Rose and Jorg crawling on top of her coils and laying down, while simultaneously being interwound with Sha's body was an incredibly strange feeling, but after a few minutes, it felt weirdly snug.

So much so, that she was out before the rest of them.