There were over a hundred tunnels leading out of our cavern and James told me that they were all interconnected. I stared at the maze for a few seconds before asking. “How did you not get lost?”

  James shrugged and said. “I only peaked in, always kept within sight of the cavern.” I sighed and said. “Alright, I’ll go in alone, try to see if there's any food. If I don’t come back, I’m probably lost.”

  Maybe it’s not the best idea to go exploring. But we need food! James walked up to me and said. “We could have some of the hatchlings poop next to some cave entrances.” I stared at him, confused as he smiled and said. “Skink poop smells horrible. Very distinctive. We should be able to follow our noses and come back. Although that means no ones allowed to poop in the tunnels.”

  How is my child smarter than I am? How could I be so lucky! I wrapped him in a crushed embrace and after a few minutes let him flop to the ground. James seems to have a talent for management. I wonder how much responsibility I can give him?

  “James, how would you feel about being in charge of scouting the tunnels? You’d be the boss of all six hundred hatchlings that are exploring. It’s a lot of responsibility. But I know you’re capable. I trust you.”

  James let out a little squeal and said. “Of course my Queen! I won’t let you down!” He turned and started barking out orders. “I want all the hatchlings over here now! I’m splitting you all into squads of four! Every twenty five squads will have a commander that will coordinate the squads. I will instruct all the commanders. Every two hours you will report back to your commander. Form into squads! For the Queen!” His cry was echoed as the skinks proceeded to shit by a few entrances then charged fearlessly into the tunnels.

  I smiled and said. “I’m proud of you James, you’re doing great. I’m gonna go explore now.” He nodded and said. “Perfect! I have three hatchlings so together you can form a full squad!” I smirked and said. “I think I’ll be okay.”

  James smirked as well, a weird expression on a skink. It almost looked like he was about to start laughing when he said. “Oh, I guess Marlow won’t get to go exploring.” Curse this boy! I can’t let my baby be left out! And this way both of them will be safe. I sighed and said. “I’ll take the squad.”

  He nodded and said. “You’re squad twenty three, group four. You can choose any tunnel.” I gave James one more hug before walking off towards an alright looking tunnel. It was large and would hopefully stay large throughout its entirety. I wanted somewhere to move around that wasn’t the cavern. And judging by the weather outside it was a miracle any of us had reached this cavern at all.

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  I hope there's something to kill down here. I really wanna evolve. I’m going to torture that giant bruiser before I kill him. Oh that's gonna feel really good! I smile as I take a shit at the entrance then start walking.

  The tunnel itself is dark. We skinks have limited darkvision and I can barely make out anything more than ten feet away. Unfortunately for me the tunnel got progressively smaller as we walked and after a while I didn’t fit.

  There was a traumatizing moment when I was stuck in a crevice for over ten minutes. Thankfully my huge body is quite strong and I was able to force my way out. Overall cave exploration doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards for me.

  The tunnel itself was also unitresting. It was one of the few tunnels that didn’t connect to any others. Or as far as we went it didn’t. There had been some moss and mushroom but otherwise nothing alive was sighted.

  So with a heavy heart my squad and I turn back after only around three hundred feet. We make it back and are instantly checked over by a group of skinks. I sigh and say. “We didn’t find anything, we only made it around three hundred feet before I couldn’t fit anymore.”

  A hatchling nearby patted my foot sympathetically and said. “James says he would like to talk to you, my Queen.” I nod and walk over to James. He looks me up and down for a second before saying. “My Queen, we are in need of your assistance.” I smile and say “Perfect, I’m ready to assist.”

  He nods and says. “In one of the larger tunnels, we lost a squad. And the creature that killed them is currently chasing a squad towards us right now.” I felt a pang of grief slam into me when I heard of the four children dying. The grief was quickly replaced by rage.

  “Where?” I asked. James pointed towards one of the larger tunnels and said. “There may be other beasts, please be careful.” I completely ignored his advice and sprinted into the tunnel. The second I took the turn I came face to face with the ugliest creature in existence.

  It was like a rat, but uglier. They had no fur, instead it was all just pink fleshy skin. I roared when I saw it. It was also the same size as me which was incredibly concerning. I reared up and slammed my feet onto its head.

  It squealed and chittered at me. I screamed back. “Shut the fuck up and die! Die! Die! Die! Die!” I held it down with one foot and stomped on its skull over and over with the other. Skinks swarmed around it, biting it and then dashgin away. The paralyzing venom of over thirty skinks took over and the creature went still.

  I leaned down and ripped it’s throat out. I calmly watched it bleed to death before ripping its head off. I tossed the head away and checked my notifications. Cmon level up! Gimme a level up!

  You have killed a level 10 Giant Naked Mole Rat Worker.

  What the fuck? That shit was level 10? I mean, it was kinda weak. But why is it called a worker? That would only make sense if there were a whole colony of them. I felt a terrible feeling of foreboding as I turned towards James and yelled. “Call everyone back! There's a whole hive of these shits!”

  James nodded as skinks sprinted away and a few took more shits. I stared into the tunnel and saw dozens of red eyes staring back at me. I just smiled and said. “Don’t worry poor people! I’ll help you die! And for free! Just gimme some levels.” The rats poured out of the tunnel in a tide, slamming into as I laughed and yelled. “Fuck you rats!”