The throne room

My eyes remained transfixed on the throne room. The throne room lay right at the bottom of the great chasm that had opened up to us.

Near the front of the throne room, 5 different chairs stood in a horseshoe pattern. Each chair differs substantially from one another. The chair furthest to the left was a deep crimson colour with light bronze furnishings. 

The chair directly to the right was a deep grey metallic colour seemingly made from some sort of corrugated iron. Large metal spikes stood above the chair all a deep charcoal colour and each holding a crumbling skull atop them.

Each skull appeared to be of a different race and numbered around 5 in total. Out of the 5 skulls, I could only recognize one which was the Rat skull which was hoistered on the furthest right spike. 

The chair on the furthest right was a beautiful sight to behold. A luxurious silver chair with light red accents. Cushy pillows lay on the chair. However, in certain places, you could see where the obvious silver flake has scratched off a bit to see the more mundane grey colour beneath. 

One place to the left was a humble-looking wooden chair. Out of place next to the silver chair. A bookshelf was built into the two sides of the chair holding several important-looking books. Out of place compared to the surroundings it looked almost melancholy amidst the extravagant and brutal designs of the other three chairs. 

Finally reaching the middle stood the throne. A hulking chair standing several feet taller than the other 4 chairs. Glistening a shiny gold colour with several gemstones glittering near the top of the chair. Small spikes of gold potruded from the top of the chair acting as a crown to sit atop the chair. 

Deep purple cushions lay on the throne and felted purple adorned the armrests. 

Even within the rat holes the need to show off one's power and wealth does not stop. 

All 5 chairs were empty at the time however nameplates seemed to be etched into the bases of each chair. 

However, before I got time to properly read the nameplates my intense gazing was interrupted. 

A hulking grown rat barged into my view. Looking up at him I recognized him as one of the males who had performed the culling just a couple of hours prior. 

An uncomfortably long silence filled the musty air only broken up by the busy ambient sound permeating in the great chasm. 

Finally, the rat chitters out 

"Great lordses wants to sees you"

before making an ushering motion with his hand as if to prompt us to follow him. 

He turns away from us and begins to make his way through the twisting and bending passageways and rope bridges that extend across and along the chasm. 

Me and my troop follow closely behind desperately trying to keep pace with the larger rat who was obviously attempting to make it more difficult for us to keep pace by varying his speeds making some of the stupider rats bump into the ones in front of them. 

Finally, we reach a large staircase which leads further down into the chasm. Adult rats constantly squeeze past us and continue on with their activities. 

After countless steps and turns we finally reach a darkened room where the adult rat insists we wait before scurrying of back the way we came. 

Sat in the dark we waited for what felt like around 10 minutes but could have been much more. Before finally, the adult rat returned however this time it led another group of young rats. A large black rat led them. 

Yet again the adult rat left as the newcomers eyed us wearily. The large black rat that stood at their front was the same large black rat that I had watched clobber a rat to death just an hour prior. 

The air ran thick as the occasional growls and snarls would echo between the groups. However true to before no fights broke out. Instead, the waiting continued. Before long another young group of rats entered alongside the adult rat. This time the small white rat had arrived with her larger group. 

This pattern continued until 10 out of the 20 stained had arrived alongside their hordes. Once the tenth had arrived he beckoned from just the ten stained to follow leaving behind their groups. 

A short command to Sniffy and Splinter to keep the group together and prevent fighting while I was gone I joined the other 9 stained in following the adult rat. Apart from the occasional deliberately hard bump from the large black rat which I returned with equal vigour, we reached the end of the passage. 

Once we stepped into the new room I recognized the 5 familiar chairs that now filled my view. 

We had made our way all the way down to the throne room. The chairs that looked no larger than a claw from the entrance to the breeding grounds now stood towering over us each reaching at least three to four metres tall with the throne just surpassing 5 metres tall. 

They made an intimidating site. However, it was not these that scared us the most. It was the being filling them. 

The thrones which once lay empty had now been filled by their owners. 

The deep crimson throne was now inhabited by a hulking rat reaching around 2 metres tall and clad in deep red armour which covered his mellow brown fur. Only his head remained uncovered. His helmet lay to the side of the throne clearly removed for this meeting. A Huge stick lay to his left with a massive iron ball lying on the end covered in jagged teeth. 

The grey metallic throne now had a smaller Obsidian coloured rat cloaked in dark rags with 2 small circular blades hanging from his hips. Its beady eyes scanned each of us seeming excited upon spotting the small white rat to be among the group. 

The silver throne was however sat upon by a much smaller-looking rat. Standing at what looked to be only around 1.3 metres tall a grey rat sat. A long beard hung from his chin and his eyes were filled with a distinct wisdom that I had seen in no other rat so far. In his right hand, he clutched a small leather-bound book and in his left, a small gold coin flipped gently through his fingers. 

On the wooden throne sat a strange-looking creature. Not at all rat-like as where its bristly hairs should be there was none. Bar a small patch of hair at the top of his head and around its much flatter mouth. Its skin beneath was a darker shade matching its deep black hair. Its nose did not stick out like a rat but instead stayed close to its flat-looking face. In its hand stood a long wooden pole with decorations etched into it. Near the top of the pole were three large prongs which appeared to circle in as if they were supposed to be holding a ball of some sort at the top. 

Many pouches sat lining his waste area with bright and vibrant coloured lights exploding out the top of the bags. 

His skull also clearly matches another one of the skulls that adorned the black throne. 

Finally, my eyes converged on the middle throne.