Eggs and babies

As Kaden descended deeper into the tunnel, the oppressive heat grew worse. The stagnant air clung to his skin, thick with the scent of decay and something else—something sickly-sweet and foul, like rotting meat mixed with the stench of disease.

The tunnel walls pulsed with clusters of slick, membranous sacs—brood pods. Inside them, he could see movement—writhing, shifting figures pressing against their organic cages, their tiny, undeveloped claws scraping against the translucent flesh. Eggs.

Hundreds of them. It was not natural for a rat to give birth like this but hello, welcome to the new world.

Kaden exhaled, already feeling the pressure closing in. He had to be fast. If he delayed even a moment, the entire chamber would hatch, and then he wouldn't just be fighting the Broodmother—he'd be fighting a tidal wave of newborn horrors.

The chamber opened before him, and there she was.

The Broodmother Beta.