Darkness.

The hollow ball of dirt was quite cozy, bordering on cramped. Honestly, how had Belle and Beck fit the warrior’s egg in here in the first place? The entrance was big but not that big. As for the egg itself, it was still mostly intact. It was still alive, but the damage was irreparable. I didn’t know how the warrior would turn out, but at least it would be alive.

The workers were mostly silent. Bella was rounding up as many vulture corpses as possible, but it was a struggle even with Beatrice acting as a bodyguard. We were effectively confined to the dirt ball as a veritable army of vultures constantly swarmed around the area. I would have liked nothing more than to go outside and crush the birds, but the Vulch was too effective as a deterrent.

The bastard.

We had been trapped in here for hours, maybe days? We needed to toss some food out of the storage for everyone to fit comfortably, but it didn’t matter. The vultures’ siege would eventually draw us out either way. Although food was piled up outside, the vultures intelligently dragged away the bodies of their brethren so we couldn’t use them as food. As for what they did with the bodies?

I’d rather not find out.

“I do not think they would do… that. Vulch is too caring.”

“Maybe. Either way, it’ll become a problem if we run out of food. Ironic, considering how much is lying around.”

“You have not described any strategies to the others. You haven’t done any planning at all. Could it be that you have given up after the confrontation with Vulch?”

“No. I have been strategizing. It just... hasn’t been fruitful.”

“You have only been repeating the same questions over and over. ‘How do I fight the Vulch,’ ‘What can I do with Mind,’ it’s honestly become exhausting.”

“Whatever. I’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Ask Beatrice. Ask Beck. You have intelligent subordinates to help us out of this situation. Do you not trust them?”

Trust them? Of course I did. At this point, I trusted them with my life; who else could I trust? That wasn’t the issue. The problem was that I was the only person strong enough to deal with the Vulch and the massive vulture army.

“Something is not right with your thought process… You continue insisting that you have faith in the others, yet you believe you are the only one capable of succeeding… Hold on. The warrior… {Compartmentalization}… hiding away…,” Queen gasped. Where was she going with this?

“Of course! Your lack of trust has influenced every action you have been taking! You purposefully used as much Mind as possible to create the warrior so that it would not have time to hatch. Even with {Compartmentalization}, you had to separate yourself from me because you did not trust me. All of these thoughts have only strengthened after you created the Lock and formed a rift between us.”

Trust. Was I subconsciously avoiding having to trust others? Queen’s evidence was compelling, to be honest. Was this something that came from Combined Minds, maybe?

“Everything makes so much more sense. Ever since we began working together, you have been reluctant to trust our judgment. Right when you were beginning to allow me and Beatrice to have some influence, some bad things happened, and you went right back to trying to do everything yourself.”

“Why would I have these issues, then? Even if you say that, am I wrong? I’m the only one who can fight off the vu-“

“Enno! I have no idea why you are unable to trust us. You said you lived a life prior to joining me here, so maybe something there was the cause. Nonetheless, you are not the only one who can fight off the swarm. The others have been trying their best to fight. They are workers. Every moment I see them fighting, I feel pain in my heart, knowing they are struggling against their very nature to help you.”

“… Queen… I-“

“Incoming!”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

I was interrupted by Bella tossing a stack of vulture corpses into the ball before she and Beatrice followed. I quickly moved over, ensuring none of the vultures could get in. They were way too big to fit through the entrance, and my force field seemed to be holding strong.

In my mind, the fact that the Vulch hadn’t destroyed it implied he wanted us to suffer. I doubted he wasn’t capable of doing so.

“It’s getting crazy out there. I’m starving!” The two settled in, and Bella tore a chunk of meat from a vulture before frowning.

“Urgh… What’s with this? Makes no sense….”

I shook my head. I had to take my mind off Queen’s speculations. “What’s wrong, Bella? You don’t like the raw meat?”

“Mmmm… It’s not that they’re raw, really. There’s just something weird with the… mouth feeling.”

“Taste?”

“Yes! Taste! But why is this one worse?”

How was I supposed to know that? Maybe she just needed some seasoning.

I noticed something on the wall of the ball.

“Hey, Bella, can I see that meat?”

She passed over the chunk of dripping vulture. Gross. I had to figure out how to make a fire and cook this before I completely ran out of barbecue. I picked out some white crystals embedded in the dirt wall and tasted them, confirming my suspicions. I picked some more and sprinkled them onto the meat before returning it to the wide-eyed bee.

“Oh…? Oh! Wow, this taste is much better! So putting dirt on food makes it taste better?”

“Actually, it’s salt.” Yet another reminder of the brutality the humans had shown this forest. Salting the earth was a classic tactic to prevent regrowth, so there was plenty of the stuff lying around that hadn’t yet been assimilated into the soil. Some of the meat must’ve been rubbed with salt when buried, which would explain Bella’s confusion at the difference.

“Is the taste truly that important? If the food is nourishing, then I see no reason to put effort into such endeavors,” Beatrice said.

“Well, maybe. But this taste is way too good! Why even bother going back to the bad taste?”

“Ah… I wish I could taste some things from home….” I couldn’t help but sigh. I found myself missing elements of my old life more often nowadays. Psychic powers were great and all, but I only had the chance to use them to kill vultures and stuff. The choice between pizza and psychic abilities would never have crossed my mind before, but…

I stared at the branch hovering above the stump of one of my arms. That was the same hand I had a habit of spinning my pens with. Just another reminder. But reminders weren’t important at the moment.

I turned my thoughts away from food and sticks and towards the Vulch.

The way to finish this war definitively was to cut the head off the enemy, and that meant the destruction of the Vulch. I doubted I could make breakthroughs in Mind that would shrink the gap in our abilities, so I needed to go at it from another angle. The first point I considered was about leaked information.

The distraction the Vulch had used was clever, but it was safe to assume it was a gamble. He was unsure how powerful or intelligent his opponent might have been, so the information he gave up was likely as close to the truth as possible to prevent suspicion. There was info related to the Vulch himself as well as hints about the world.

Humans were once again a major player in the Vulch’s life. His rage was genuine, and his hatred of humans might be something I could take advantage of. He also held some degree of self-doubt, believing that his family had been the target of the humans but harboring a seed of doubt.

He also gave hints of his strength. If he could have destroyed me, he definitely would have, especially when he learned of my true nature. The fact that he didn’t implied that my Mind was stronger than his, and by a considerable margin.

Which meant that the longer I waited to defeat him, the more time he had to figure out how to bypass that difference in power.

As for information about the outside world? There wasn’t much to interpret there. He mentioned ‘mossy creatures’ a few times and humans several times. In terms of the mossy creatures, he implied that he feared them, though less than humans, and that they refused to enter the forest after the destruction and were currently chilling near some mountains.

Humans were apparently abundant in this world, and a gathering was nearby. Maybe a town? A village? A military encampment? There wasn’t a good way for me to know without seeing it directly, but that could wait until after the war.

Otherwise, there really wasn’t much to gather. The humans’ motivation was still a mystery. Predators of the forest still lived on its outskirts. If we left the forest, humans might exterminate us.

However, there was a terrible implication. Humans were, somehow, more terrifying than I first thought. The Vulch had commented on Queen’s scars and said he recognized them, and thinking back, the scars on his face seemed awfully familiar.

The humans had confronted the Vulch directly, and he had no choice but to flee.

All this told me that defeating the Vulch looked less and less possible by the minute. Even worse, if I were to go against humans, my overwhelmingly powerful Mind might not be as unfair an advantage as I had thought.

“Are you finished moping?”

Huuuuuh? Beatrice?! Oh wait, she was talking to the others… I was wondering if she suddenly did a complete 180…

“Mother, how about you?”

Huuuuuh?

“We are in a dire situation. I did not think things could get worse than preparing for war, but this siege will be the premature death of the hive if nothing is done.”

“True. However, I haven’t developed a strategy yet. No matter how many vultures we kill, they keep coming or become more careful. The number we’ve killed in the last two days or so has been substantially less than the previous days.”

“So then we should do nothing? I apologize, but such inaction makes me uncomfortable,” Beatrice said, looking more fidgety and upset than I had ever seen her, “I have been meaning to ask, but is there some reason you have refused to take action? I understand that the warrior’s birth is our hope, but is there truly nothing we can do?”

“Waiting for the warrior seems like a viable strategy. We just need to survive.”

Beatrice wasn’t the only bee looking uncomfortable anymore. Even Ben’s constant distracted yelling died down. Couldn’t they see? We were up against an impossible foe. Their numbers, their strength, their leader. We had no advantage.

I was beginning to lose hope. How could I fight back? I had tried everything, but fighting just seemed impossible.

Why was I fighting?

I looked at the bees. I was fighting to live, right? I needed the hive to do that. They were my most valuable tool. I looked at Beatrice. She looked… sad. Not in her Link. I could see it. The sadness on her face.

“I’m… sorry, everyone. I just don’t know what I’m doing.” I wanted to apologize more. I wanted to do something. For the first time in ages, my stomach felt gross. That gross stomach feeling… it was me. I was stopping myself from continuing. The looks on the bees’ faces re-entered my vision, Queen’s humming forcing my eyes open.

I saw them for the first time. I was… responsible for them.

“To be comple- completely honest, I’m utterly out of ideas. I’m out of my depth, I have no idea how, how, how to fight or lead armies or raise children. I don’t know how to use psychic powers or outsmart an opponent or even how to talk.”

I paused. What else do I say? I need to keep going, to get this out there. They nee-

The next thing I knew, I was getting smothered by warm fur. My arms were pinned to my sides, and my chest was being squeezed. What was this? Oh…The workers had tackled me into a big hug, and as Beatrice snuggled close to me, she looked up with teary eyes.

“We will help you, Mother. We always will.”

That’s when I learned that I could cry.