I felt nervous for the first time since I left Eclipse. It had been thirteen days of wandering aimlessly in the forests that surrounded the city. Using the stars to keep track of where I was in relation to the city itself. I pressed on without fear, until today. I shook the now empty canister hoping for just a little bit more juice. Sadly, it was empty, only letting out a small hiss. A bead of sweat began to roll down my back; as the first rays of sunlight began trickling through the mesh of leaves above. My repellent had just run out.
I had honestly never expected this latest expedition to take this long. Being exiled was practically a tradition at this point. Speak out of turn in front of the king? Exiled. Point out how one of his aides weren't doing their job right? Exiled. Bring home a frozen egg for study, that some how attracts a damn ice wraith!? Exiled. Still pretty sure that last one was lured by something else. Still, even in all the other cases, I was out maybe five days before being allowed back in. Regardless of whether I had anything worth while to bring back or not.
Which was why this was exceedingly worrying. While I preferred the field work that toughing it out here allowed. I wasn't particularly equipped to fend off any of the nastier things this far into the forest. Shaking the still empty repellent canister. I wiped my sweat away before looking around. There didn't seem to be any movement going on, not even a bird chirping. Probably too early for them anyway. Taking stock of my packs, I'd find that I sadly didn't have anything to make more repellent with.
Standing up, I'd set about the admittedly boring task of packing up camp. The sooner I got moving the better. One of the first things anyone is taught before going to the forest, is that the worst stuff moves at night. With luck, I'll find some rot berries and whip something up. After a few steps, I heard something rustle in the trees above. Then something large moving from tree to tree. Seems like the rot berries would have to wait.
Not wanting to confirm what I heard, I started running in the opposite direction. When I made it back, I was going to strangle Emery. He promised the repellent would last for thirty days! The rat faced bastard! Whatever was making the sounds behind me, clearly picked up my scent. Whatever it was, had to be huge to make what sounded like near constant banging from one tree to another. Almost like thunder with every tree it jumped into. Thinking of all the monsters I knew that could possibly that loud or big. I felt my heart skip a beat as I redoubled my efforts to run. It was without a doubt, a fiend of all things. Taking a quick look over my shoulder confirmed the large as a house monster.
Losing all thoughts of trying to sneak away, I was sprinting over fallen branches. Jumping over knotted roots, and quickly zigging and zagging between the trees. Anything to hopefully convince the fiend I wasn't worth chasing. Normally the repellent would have kept it away, but with that no longer being the case; I probably smelled like a fresh snack to it. Pressing on, until I saw what appeared to be the trees thinning. Swallowing hard, I made the decision to barrel towards it. Better to outrun a fiend where there aren't trees after all. Though, if I were less frantic, I might stop and consider why there was suddenly a lack of trees.
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Buzz Buzz |"Food"|
Something was coming into our territory.
Buzz Buzz |"Large"|
My scouts were rousing me from what was about to be my slumber. Territorial disputes happened rarely. Though when they did, it was always right when I was about to sleep.
Buzz Buzz |"Fast"| Buzz Buzz |"Strong"|
I opened my eyes, to take in the tunnels around me. Our home, our hive. I could see countless kin moving about their tasks. I could see thousands moving in the dark. All of them confirming that they were going about their tasks. The brood mothers were laying eggs, the workers cleaning the eggs and storing them. The soldiers beating their wings, waiting for my orders. They were growing restless because of the scouts.
Buzz Buzz |"Chase"| Buzz Buzz |"Weak"|
This news had me flicking my antenna. This wasn't a territorial dispute? This was something chasing prey into our territory? Not one to turn down a free meal. I looked away from the hive, and towards the entrance of the cave. Rounding the tunnels, to see the daylight. I shuddered lightly, feeling pain as my eyes adjusted. The small pain, enough to rouse those that had started to sleep. After telling them to slumber once more, I called the warriors to me. Letting them crawl over my comparably massive frame. Letting thousands of them cover every possible inch. With more nestled inside my wings.
Taking a step towards the light, folding my wings around myself. Letting a part of them drape over my head, to keep the light from bothering me too much. The pair had moved past the outer lines of my scouts, and were moving to where the warriors kept their positions. Ordering them to hold until I told them to attack. I took another step. There was no reason to chase off fresh meat. Scouts were moving, where the two had been, feeding me the scents. One for the beast that kept it's territory next to my own. Familiar, and unwelcome this early. The other was strange. An acrid odor clung to it, something like burning. I would need to be careful if there was a fire outside. Which became another one of the growing reasons to stand in the oppressive light.
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I heard a roaring bellow, as well as the sound of wood splintering. The brute had like thrown something to stop it's quarry. Finally stepping out into the light, I saw what was going on. Ordering my warriors to attack the hulking beast. It glared at me before reaching for the laughably small prey. Ignoring it's scrambling, as it moved towards me. It was making it's own bellows and noises. Oddly enough, looking at it gave me a headache, and some desire to protect it. Wincing a little from the unwelcomed idea. I directed the warriors to attacking the ears and nose of the brute. That was enough to make it retreat, albeit angrily. The thing would probably be skulking around my territory to challenge me later. Finally I turned back to the small creature that seemed familiar somehow. Though I didn't know why, I had never seen it's type before.
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Panting, but still running. The trees steadily spacing out more and more. I could feel the fiend gaining faster. I needed to get the fucker on the ground. I could outrun him then. He was built for jumping from tree to tree, not sprinting. I felt my stomach curdling from the prolonged effort. Running as fast as you could was exhausting, especially for what felt like twenty minutes. A part of me just wanted to stop and let the fiend have me. Though judging by the corpses of those that went hunting; it wasn't exactly going to be a painless thing.
Then I heard it, the cracking; followed by the snapping of a branch easily twice my size. I could only swallow hard, as I quickly moved behind a tree. The branch thicker than my legs came whistling past. It struck the ground and exploded from the force behind it. Feeling pain in my left arm, and like somebody just kicked me in the gut. I started running once more. Adrenaline putting in over time, as I realized I wouldn't have a second chance.
With my new found second wind, I hauled myself into the clearing. My vision starting to swim, as I lost feeling in my left arm. It was better to not look, since all that mattered was outrunning the fiend. The world spun, as I found myself somehow closer to the ground. I had landed on my side, and looking down I found something like a wooden stake sticking out from my abdomen. It didn't feel that bad! Clutching the coarse dirt, I noticed it was black sand of all things. I felt some vibrations behind me. Crawling just a little further, tears in my eyes. I saw a shadowy figure covered in some kind of black wasps. "Run! A Fiend!" I coughed, feeling iron on my lips. This had to be one of the few hermits living in the forest. I would hopefully make it back to Eclipse in one piece. Maybe Emery, or the old man would buy me a nice place to rest.
Feeling impossibly cold, as the world started to grow darker. I saw the hermit moving towards me. Probably some kind of bug master. Though every step was slow and precise. Breathing was becoming harder, as I blinked. Each breath growing shallower, every blink lasting just a little longer. I could feel heat leaving me through my tears, as I realized I was crying. I didn't want to die, not like this. I was supposed to discover something amazing! Everything was so dark, far too cold; like being submerged in an icy river. Then I felt a burning pain in my stomach. Followed by it moving up my arm. I blacked out with the rest of the world.
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The small creature laid before me, as I knelt. The brute was gone, leaving me with it's prey. Yet, for some reason, I had trouble viewing it as such. My head ached, and the pain grew the more I considered eating the fresh meat before me. Pinching the bridge of my nose helped relieve the stress, but a thought was growing in the back of my mind. It had been far too long since I felt this other presence. This 'inner' voice that would cause trouble. I had learned far too long ago, that I couldn't stop it. The best thing was to comply. I moved a stinger towards the bleeding wound. Unceremoniously pulling out the large splinter stuck in it's fleshy stomach. It was embedded quite deeply, as I had to hold it's chest just to seperate the two.
I took a second to see that a good deal of the internals were unidentifiable. The arm of this bleeder, held a gaping hole. Letting out a deep heartfelt hiss, I stung it twice. Once for the stomach, and another for the arm. The inner voice seemed appeased by this, and even shared some 'joy' when the bleeder started to breath again. I watched as it's flesh bubbled, and spread outwards, the hole filling in with new organs. The bleeder would have scars, but that wasn't my concern. Once it seemed safe to move, I grabbed it by the ankle and dragged it back into our cave. There must be some worth to the bleeder, and hopefully it could lead me to more of them. It seemed like they were all easy prey. The headache came again, and I would stop thinking such thoughts. Though I was assured by this inner voice that I would be rewarded somehow. Even if it tried to do anything, I was certain it could be killed easily. For now, it was time to sleep.