Oh, now that’s gross.

A great, squishy worm-like grub flopped around on the ground. The nasty explosion silenced the glade, vultures and bees alike staring at the giant child. I glanced in the Vulch’s direction and could barely see that even he was staring incredulously.

Those few moments were precious. I prepared for chaos, knowing the grub would soon rapidly transform into a full-grown bee.

The Vulch seemed to shake himself out of his stupor, and I knew we were running out of time. Any second now, the vulture forces would throw themselves at us to finally end our hive. Come on, warrior, stop being such a baby! Literally!

“Welcome, child!” As soon as I heard Queen’s words, all hell broke loose.

Screeching penetrated the silence and the feathery blanket over the sky fell upon us, clawing, biting, spitting. I felt scratches all over my body that stung as the vultures’ acid spit touched the wounds, but I was pouring all my concentration into defending the larva until it finally matured. I would have to bear with the pain.

Ben’s war cries resumed as Bess and Belle chased after him, falling behind. They were no match for his speed, but Ben wouldn’t be a match for the Vulch. I almost tore away to attack the Vulch, but I had no choice but to trust Belle and Bess.

“Grah!” I heard Belle grunt and saw a waxy shape soar toward the Vulch. An electric crystal?

The distraction was just enough to draw the Vulch’s attention as Ben dashed in, pecking at the Vulch’s good eye. At that exact moment, Bess threw a spike with all her might, spearing straight through the crystal. The wax held the pieces together, and the electrified lance nearly pierced the bird, but a random vulture threw itself into the lance’s path, suffering a terrible wound.

The Vulch’s squawks were barely audible over the vulture swarm’s screeching, a far cry from its all-encompassing voice I had heard in the link. He was furious, and I could see hatred burning in his milky white eye. That’s how much his children trusted him.

They were willing to die for him.

The Vulch flapped his wings in a rage, and Ben barely escaped the Vulch’s claws, but I could feel pressure mounting.

“Ben, protect your Mind!”

He tried his best. Ben had a strong Mind. But the Vulch was on another level. I had no choice. I had to shield him. I-

Colors flashed in my head. Beck?!

Ben, Bess, and Belle were all thrown off balance as the Vulch directly attacked the Link. I could feel him, trying to cut the link and crush them.

Beck bravely stood in his way.

The skinny bee was sheltered in one of the dirt balls, pouring everything they had into blocking the Vulch from entering the link. Beck’s defense gave me the time I needed to protect the grub for a few precious moments.

*Crack*

“Mo…ther…”

A deep, baritone voice echoed in my head as the grub began to change. The pale, squishy baby hardened and expanded, and I could only stare. The battle fading away, I watched the warrior grow.

It grew. And grew. And kept on growing. It- he- was already bigger than I was and growing even more. A broad-shouldered thorax hardened into impenetrable armor, adorned by three massive arms on the right side. The left had no arms, only a scar, likely due to the wound in the egg. His abdomen grew long and surprisingly thin, and the stinger…

It was huge.

Long and thin like a curved, black rapier, the stinger was monstrously big. The terrifying weapon was already twice as long as my entire body! The warrior himself was just as gigantic, at least three times bigger than myself and just barely smaller than the largest vultures. His antennae were thick and long, appearing almost like huge, bushy eyebrows above kind, gentle eyes.

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“Mother, take a moment to rest,” his baritone shook my bones, “I will protect the hive, so that you may defeat our great foe.”

Before I could respond, he disappeared. The battle once again resumed in my vision. Beatrice and Bella were struggling to withstand the vultures’ overwhelming numbers. Beck was faltering under the Vulch’s assault. Ben, Belle, and Bess were resisting with all their might.

*Schwwwwwing*

A long scar appeared in the sky, cutting straight through the black blanket. Dozens of vultures continued screeching even as their heads fell off their bodies, and their blood seemed confused about where to go. The only one who reacted was the Vulch, his eyes widening in fear. His assault on the link was cut short as he used his Mind to protect his body, barely blocking the warrior’s slice in time.

“My dear family, take shelter. You no longer need to suffer the brutality of war.”

He disappeared again, his gigantic stinger moving with unnatural speed and grace as it stabbed and sliced, cutting down swathes of vultures.

“Go! I will fend off the enemy!” The workers finally shook themselves from their stupor, rushing back towards the dirt ball. Ben stared, eyes wide, following the warrior’s impossibly fast movements.

Beatrice gaped. “Mother… is that…?”

“Yeah. That’s the warrior.”

A name. I had prepared one, which had become more apt than I would have liked. A close confidant, a warrior missing limbs, loyal and strong.

“His name is Bedivere.”

________

What followed was a bloodbath.

Bedivere didn’t tire or stumble; he just kept killing. I had never seen anything like it. Movies and tv shows just didn’t do this sort of superhuman physicality justice. Even when he slowed down and I could actually track his movements, the way he fought defied reason.

Did I even need to do anything now? Bedivere was so ridiculously strong that he was fending off the entire army of vultures single-handedly.

Of course, there was one exception.

The Vulch was cowering near a tree, and I could feel his Mind’s pressure dedicated to protecting his body. However, I could tell that his body language was misleading. Despite looking like he was cowering in fear, his eyes were vigilant and thoughtful, carefully watching Bedivere’s assault.

My own Mind was beginning to clear. Protecting Bedivere had been surprisingly tiring, and I had accumulated more wounds than I realized. I needed to take down the Vulch to end this war.

But Bedivere seemed to be doing just fine in that regard.

I knew it couldn’t last. Even as I tried to strategize, I could see the Vulch relax. He was becoming confident, and I knew my time had come. Bedivere’s attack would distract the army so that I could crush the Vulch.

I saw the Vulch shift, his Mind defenses dropping. Before he could command his forces or do something to Bedivere, I pushed, aiming to crush the Vulch. His eyes bulged and he whirled on me, staring with that beady white ey-

I again found myself in a white void, but I was ready for the shock this time. Queen readied herself beside me as a black dot grew on the horizon.

“Indeed, your power is frightening. How did you create such a mighty creature?”

I didn’t answer.

The last time the Vulch had brought me here, it had been a trap. An effective strategy to prevent me from killing him or destroying his army. But now I had Bedivere.

This time, bringing me here had been a severe miscalculation.

I reached out with my Mind. Instead of looking for a way out, I could now take my time and search for a weakness. There had to be some way for me to defeat the Vulch from here. He was skilled, but my power was overwhelming. I would find a way.

“Not feeling talkative, human? I assume you are thinking of how to defeat me. Indeed, the smugness I feel radiating off you implies you believe I have made a mistake, and I agree.”

“If you are aware that you have made a mistake, Vulch, then surrender. Your family cannot defeat Bedivere.”

I glanced at Queen. This was the second time she had suggested that the war end peacefully; the other was during our first talk with the Vulch. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. Besides toward humans, Queen seemed pretty softhearted.

Unfortunately, I disagreed in this case.

The Vulch was dangerous. His family was dangerous. They were too smart and too powerful, and I wasn’t taking their actions lightly. The hive members hadn’t emerged from this war unscathed, and the beginning of the hive proper had been destroyed. That progress was gone, little though it was.

Mostly, though, I was afraid of the consequences.

The Vulch’s hatred for humans was terrifying. If he decided to slaughter any humans he found or antagonize them in some way, then he might bring the might of humanity down on our burned forest. To be frank, the hive was not prepared for something like that, not even with Bedivere. All I had to back up that idea were my instincts and experience as a human, but I was sure. As we were, we would be no match for the true power of humans.

In short, the Vulch needed to die, and his family needed to be scattered to the winds.

“Ahh, Queen. Surrender? Your human friend will not stand for such a thing. Indeed, I expect this, and so I have purposefully made this mistake. I have gambled.”

“My family cannot defeat this warrior of yours, that is true. Indeed, my Mind is no match for your power. And so, I have decided that the only option is to destroy you here, away from the world.”

“Funny. We decided the same. What makes you think you can defeat us?”

“Indeed, I doubt I can defeat you at all. Thus, a gamble.”

While the two chattered on, I was beginning to sweat. Just like last time, any attack I tried with Mind did nothing. There was no mounting pressure, no visible signs of my attacks. How was this possible? I had seen for myself that the Vulch was suffering from my attack in the real world, so what made this world so different?

This… world. Hm. I was trying to strangle the Vulch, to disintegrate and destroy him, but that wouldn’t work in this world. I wasn’t actually crushing anything. This was the Vulch’s Mind; I was sure of it. Some sort of mental world he crafted to communicate through a forced link. I needed to alter my angle of attack.

“Please, Vulch. We will spare you; Enno will spare you. If you vow to follow our commands and heed our warnings, then I am sure peace is still an option.”

Really, Queen? She was just way too caring. I grimaced. I wanted to believe Queen was right, really. But looking at the Vulch’s scarred face, the pale hatred in his white eye, I knew it wasn’t possible. If we left him alone, our two families would continue warring until one side fell.

“There is no advantage in doing so. My children are dead. My family, dead. All at your hands. Indeed, I have already told my children to flee across the forest, but they too thirst for vengeance.”

The Vulch loomed over us, somehow growing even larger. “Indeed, if I were to help you, what then? You would take my knowledge and skills, hoard the food for your family, and grow unceasingly. No, best to destroy you while I am still capable of doing so.”

I found myself nodding along to the Vulch’s reasoning. Would I actually do those things, given the chance? I wasn’t sure. I wouldn’t try to kill the vultures if they joined us, but it would be difficult to live with a mortal enemy next-door at all times. But the Vulch’s concerns were about his own family.

He wanted to grow. To expand. Most likely to kill humans. I was only focused on the present. The Vulch was threatening us, and I would eliminate the threat.

Now, I just had to figure out how exactly to do that.