Chapter 184: Chapter 184
The Fourth of the Seventh paused. She was currently in the mini-hive beyond the King’s realm, preparing to set out, but something shifted in the back of her mind. There, in the link to the children back in her main hive, she felt a new presence.
“Fourth of the Seventh?! Can hear?!”
A huge chunk of mana reached her, twisted into a dance by the communer that sent it. The Fourth of the Seventh’s antennae twitched and then she began to dance, the communer beside her converting the dance into mana to send back.
“First of the Fifth’s First Daughter?”
“Yes! It worked! Joined Fourth of the Seventh’s hive’s mana thanks to drone! All thanks to Fourth of Seventh! Amazing, incredible!”
The Fourth of the Seventh began a happy dance. She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but it seemed the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter was happy, so that was reason enough to celebrate. And it sounded like the drone she rescued did something too? She was happy he found something to do then!
And when she looked more closely, she found she could now see through the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter’s eyes, just like with her own workers! She could see her first communer glowing and passing along the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter’s mana. The drone was there too, taking mana from both hives’ workers and twisting it together. She sent her mana to them all.
“Amazing! Incredible! Great work!”
She then turned back to focus on her present surroundings. Her workers and soldiers were formed up outside. One flew in and danced a salute to her, the signal that all was clear. With that, the Fourth of the Seventh crawled out of the mini-hive, started beating her wings, and took off into the air. For today, she was joining the scouting party.
Soon, the Fourth of the Seventh noticed that the forest was beginning to thin out. A short while later, they arrived at a clearing. The Fourth of the Seventh landed and tree branch and paused.
At the edge of the clearing they could see the dark and writhing mass of the intruders, what the King and the karnuq referred to as the Hunger. It appeared they had reached the edge of the Beyond, at least until the King took the fight to the Hunger once more. Her workers and soldiers grew agitated, fidgeting about. One of the scouts landed before her.
“Queen, should turn back. Not safe.”
But the Fourth of the Seventh hesitated. For there, in the middle of the clearing between her and the Hunger, was another hive of rock and stone. And this one…this one was far larger than the one she built her mini-hive in. It was even larger than the King’s Tower if she wasn’t mistaken. It had a crumbling wall surrounding its exterior, with not just one but several crumbling towers like the one she had built her mini-hive in placed along the edges. Behind that was the remains of yet a second wall, with additional towers of its own. And in the center of it all, she could see the remains of an even larger structure peeking up over the walls.
“Want to scout that.”
The worker danced the negative.
“Not safe. Too close to enemy. And…is just rock? Not important?”
The Fourth of the Seventh paused to think for a moment. The worker was right on most counts. It was most assuredly not safe moving that close to the Hunger. And it was, after all, just a pile of rocks. If whoever built the rock hive wasn’t around anymore, then just an empty one.
And yet, she couldn’t take her eyes off of it. She couldn’t help but wonder what sort of being built such a hive. Were they like the karnuq? Maybe like the King, though how a being on par with the King could have lost a hive she couldn’t fathom. РаℕՕ𝐁ĚS
“Can wait. King will push back Hunger eventually.”
But the worker was still correct. She was a queen, and her hive was already making great compromises allowing her out this far. She would not risk herself or them by flying into the jaws of the Hunger. One day, the King’s power would push the Hunger even further and then she’d be able to scout the rock hive to her heart’s content. Today it would be a flight too far.