Content Warning: Gore, violence, murder
Wynessa had felt his eyes on her all day as she worked to break up the stone surrounding another new building they had uncovered. No matter how much architecture they found, never had they come across any bones or bodies of any kind. It unsettled her more than the faint feeling she got tickling the back of her mind from the stones, as though they were screaming from so far away she could only barely make out any noise at all.
Near dusk, halfway through second shift, he must have walked away. Her movements became more free and her mind wandered less to the giant she had threatened the night before, though she could still sense those stormy eyes somewhere nearby.
Torches were lit along the paths behind the working slaves so their goblin "protectors" could watch their movements better and soon the steady rhythm of the picks all fell into a beat of sorts. It was nearing time. Soon the entire mine, every person with a tool, every footstep, every movement, every slave fell into a steady singular beat that resonated around the mine, echoing a thousand times in every heartbeat of the captors that held them in bondage.
Shivers went through the goblins and ogres who were in the caldera with them as the usual cacophony of noise instead became a heartbeat that swept through them bringing a fear into their bones they had not known in a long time. The drumbeat of the slaves caught the attention of every giant on the ridgeline in their camps as well until lines of troops began descending towards the noise to try to quell whatever it was that was happening.
The steady unwavering tempo was so overpowering that even though the giants were physically more powerful than the individual slaves, they could not stop the vast number of humans and elves who moved in sync.
Miklian returned to his vantage point once he heard there was something strange going on in the camp below but seeing all the small bodies move together was disquieting to say the least. His eyes drifted steadily towards the human girl with the dark hair from before, her hunched form seeming to stiffen as soon as he laid eyes on her again. A small smirk touched his lips, and before he knew what he was doing he stood up and began marching down into the pit to see first hand what was happening.
Not an hour after they had fully fallen into sync, a hum began to pass through the slaves. It started out a simple additional break in the beat of their tools, but rose to a melody that shook the less emotional beings to their cores. Goblins especially became agitated and began striking at the labouring slaves before them with ropes, sticks, batons, anything they could easily strike them with.
Trying to root out the source became as futile as trying to stop them moving together, but just before midnight, less than an hour to Full-Dark, a scream echoed around the camp and an entire section of humans stopped in their tracks to turn and see what was going on.
"It's the General. She's in the camp!" Hushed whispers ran from one frightened human to the next until the entire encampment knew that their devil of their lives, the demon who held them here in this hellscape, they all knew exactly where she was in the mine. She held in her hand the head of a now dead human who she dragged along with her to show around to the rest of the camp until a hush grew and all the slaves put down their tools.
"See this?" Her voice was cold as the grave as she tightened her grip around the lifeless girl's head until a sickening crunch and pop echoed through the silent camp followed by disgusted, sorrowful, and horrified cries from the elves and humans who witnessed the scene. Holding the corpse by the remains of the skull, her voice coldly continued, loud enough that everyone could hear. "This is what happens to those who try to start something they cannot finish. If you want your freedom, you have to earn it. You are all here to serve for your crimes. Don't pretend otherwise, you filthy worms."
Throwing the corpse to the ground before a group of huts, she sneered and wiped the blood and brains from her hand on the nearest slave who immediately vomited in fear and disgust. Unfortunately, the vomit landed squarely on the General's foot.
Miklian could only watch as his mother grabbed the small man by the neck and threw him over the side of the nearest cliff effortlessly. She had never been kind, but seeing her temper thrown about like this, he was ashamed. He had imagined she might have been less cruel to those under her rule, but the facts before him said otherwise. Turning away from the scene, he made his way around the edge of the crowd that had gathered before noticing in the corner of his eye a pair of amber eyes in the torchlight staring at him.
Wynessa had seen the giant captain amongst his peers and sneered. If her information was right, the giant she had felled and threatened so easily was the son of this monster who had now killed two of her friends without hesitation or qualm. Her eyes burned furiously as she met his gaze, defiantly not backing down as she watched him move towards the huts she knew her father was in. Their plan was so close, but now...
What if he messed it up? What if he didn't keep his promise? What if he was like his mother?
"Does anyone else want to try anything?" The general stood proudly as a pair of slaves cleaned the vomit from her boots, not looking down at them until suddenly a young man, lithe and covered in grey mud to blend in with the ashen stones surrounding them ran past in a blur. He grabbed as many torches as he could and tossed them into the rainwater pools, dousing them and beginning the full start of their revolution.
Full-Dark was upon them.