Officer Beru

A few days have passed, as I understood them. Our Queen was still outside the walls, away from our hive with an escort unable to protect her. It was unfortunate that I could not speak to them, or connect with them personally. I doubt that most of them felt useless, as many fresh minds simply give themselves over to our Queen's will. I could not begrudge them for doing such, but it was somewhat lonely to be the only one capable of rational thought. I milled about the upper part of our hive, where many were gathered. All of them awaiting the final command from our Queen to spread out and begin new hives.

The only other Officer, started to move towards me, as if he finally saw me. I was half tempted to just pretend I did not see him, and move on. |"Most sacred of greetings my fellow officer! It is quite the shame there are so few to actually talk with while in this hive."| The former spider clacked it's new mandibles happily together. As I watched him command the swarm he was to be in charge of. While he did it with a practiced ease that made me mildly jealous, he was also rather annoying.

|"Greetings, how are your tasks going? Did you find any candidates capable of performing magic? Were you successful?"| These days had worn on me. I had personally watched this foolish member trying to learn how to walk with six legs. How they had killed perhaps twenty larva before finally being able to emerge with this body. All the wasted food and flesh. I knew better than to doubt our Queen on this matter. If he could teach us to perform magic, then he would be a hero in my eyes. As of right now however, he was merely a reflection of what I might become if did not learn humility.

|"Is that any way to greet a friend!?"| He raised his mandibles to the sky, clicking them once more. |"I am officer Gray the Great! Former spider, and former leader of the great weave! The only suitible member to sire eggs with our glorious Queen!"| He continued to rant about all his feats and endeavors. The saving grace, was that it only took milliseconds for our thoughts to reach each other. Meaning what could have been a rant of ten minutes, only took place for about two seconds. Still, this foolish newcomer felt he was a proper match for our Queen!

I lit into him with my own rant about how a spider that was foolish enough to go against our glorious Queen in the first place, was a worse match than one of the termites from the slave colony. That he was only here because of our Queen's infinite wisdom and compassion. At which point we locked mandibles, and butt heads with each other. We new better than to injure the other, or to actually harm a fellow hive member. Thus we both pressed into each other, not giving an inch as we hurled insults and banter at each other.

After a few seconds passed, we finally pulled back feeling our nerves calming down again. Gray clicked his mandibles happily, |"Well fought! You have finally grown capable enough to become a proper rival for myself! I remember our first matches like this, where you backed down from sheer shock at hearing another chastise you."| Gray let out a small hiss, as if to laugh.

I returned it, while nodding my head, |"True, and I am better for it. Though you still struggle where it matters. I eagerly await the order from our Queen to part ways."|

Gray let me feel he was laughing on the inside. |"Quite, we cannot determine which of us is truly better, until we part ways. Whoever has the bigger hive shall win. I look forward to crushing my rival."|

I moved towards him once more, |"Best of luck, since I know you are going into the unknown. Do not be foolish, and do not perish. We do not do this to crush each other, but for the glory of our Queen!"| I raised my mandibles, clicking them together as my swarm did the same.

Gray raised his in unison with his swarm following my lead. Then it happened. The event that terrified the entire hive every time it happened. Our Queen's escort was destroyed suddenly and completely. Every one froze all at once, as our Queen's voice echoed into a few clusters. These clusters immediately began to bunch together and started to whisper important memories our Queen held. Gray looked to me, completely stunned. |"What happened? My fellow officer?"| His swarm was not affected while parts of mine and the third were.

I looked around, |"Protect the ones that are whispering, then move to protect the breeders, larva, and eggs. Do not listen to the whispers, they will make their way into one place to join together. The Queen is alive as long as we protect these clusters and get them together safely."| She truly did plan for everything, and made certain we had a way to survive in case her body was destroyed. These clusters were her last thoughts and would begin to give us orders as if she never separated from us in the first place. I let Gray know about this, which seemed to leave him with a sense of wonder.

We immediately split up, dividing our swarms to spread out and cover as much of the hive as possible. Thankfully we were not under attack, and the slave colonies were none the wiser about what was going on. I kept a small group around Gray, as he did the same to me. Through this, we were able to coordinate more efficiently and report what was going on. A few of the younger minds listened to the whispers of our Queen. While it would not hurt them, it was going to make us unable to speak to them or free them from joining those same whispers. That said, those touched by the Queen in this way, all had a chance of developing their own egos. Even if it took hours, days, or even months before it happened.

It took most of the day, before the clusters properly joined together. After that, everything began to settle down once again. The Echo of our glorious Queen still with us, explaining the situation. She did not feel threatened, or that she died. Sadly it was too late in the night to go about our plan. The Queen decided to use the time the enemy came to our advantage. That our chances to succeed were much higher during such a time. Her presence moved through the hive, touching all the young minds, and whispering to all of those that were not like Gray, or myself yet.

Through this, we had a scout discover themself. They were given the name, 'Rose.' Both because of the sweet scent that they emitted, and because such happened to be their favorite flower. When she became her own individual, a mutation seemed to occur. Her wings were strong and capable, with a pink tint to them, with red along the edges. Her legs developed small tufts of white fur along the joints, that reminded me of the worker bees that pollinated flowers. Then her stingers seemed to change to a pale yellow at the tips, making her a unique mind and scout. From what I understood, she was to be a scout until she chose to no longer serve our glorious Queen.

The initial three swarms were divided and changed in accordance to this. Gray's group remained unchanged, but my own was reduced and given to Rose. The reasoning was simple enough, my hive would either be allowed to nest at the church, or it would be rejected. Rose would lead the largest group because of this, and if my Hive was rejected, I was to join up with her as initially planned. Richard brought the leftovers, but there was not much compared to when the Queen's body was still with us. We had many mouths to feed now, and our reserves were going to run out tomorrow at this rate. We would move out tomorrow for the glory of our Queen, and the glory of our Hive!

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Gray the Great

Dawn approaches on another grand day. My Queen has given me a chance to prove myself worthy of the title I held as a spider. I have been granted the ability to sense magic, because of her kindness. Through her compassion I have been given a swarm with the capability to cast spells. I have learned much, and while I understand the arrogance of my past life, I find my new life to be much more agreeable. I can have anything I want, so long as I earn it properly. To that end, I am to be dispatched towards the sewers I have learned about from the minds of those humans we once captured.

The thoughts of my swarm are quiet and uniform. We have enough pyromancers to cast a bolt of fire when needed. We hold enough fire elementalists to control the flames as they strike, and to burn what we hit properly. Under my wing, are the telepaths, and dreamers. We will be able to detect the minds within the sewers, and trick them with minor illusions. I am not likely to gain reinforcements for the foreseeable future. Because of this, I have been given the most breeders of the other two swarms. If I fail, then I will need to work my way back into the Queen's graces. This is the extent of her trust in me, her belief in my skills.

My orders are to establish a nest, practice magic for the hive to learn, and eat all pests and monsters we kill. My swarm is one, with all their thoughts, perceptions, and needs flowing through me. We will not fail in our mission, because failure means our hive lacks glory. Beru raised his head to exclaim our glory once more, and we followed in unison to express as the same. Our glorious Queen controlled the workers, and at away at the window that would slow us down. Everything was ready for us to leave once the signal was given. Our swarms were well fed, and well prepared to tackle the challenges ahead.

Finally the signal was given. The irony was not lost on me. The sound of bells had marked my death as a spider. Now they marked my life as a member of the Hive. The window fell away, as an entity known as Richard made his appearance. Beru flew to the fellow, spending time to distract him in case he tried to stop him. He informed the youth that our Queen's body was alive and well, and that he should save it. Countless wings moved in unison as my workers carried our Breeders. We went our separate ways, as my group flew away from the others, towards the slums. From the memories I had, and the logic produced by the Queen. If a dead body were thrown before us, we had a free meal. If they were still alive, we could attempt saving them. Though we were not allowed to kill people, unless they sought to destroy us first.

We caught the wind as it crossed between buildings. There were people that noticed us, but this was acceptable. Only I could sense magic, and because of that I was to be seen and take action accordingly. The first attack was by Entomancers attempting to take control over us. Just as the Queen had thought and planned before. If it were Beru, or Rose, they might have held a chance to peel us apart and control us. However, my swarm was not many following a leader. It was one mind, directed in a way I was comfortable with. Not one of us faltered, or succumbed to the mental attack.

Then came fire from figures above. We moved lower to the ground, closer to the people gaping at us. The fire was extinguished by it's controllers, as such missed us. It was pleasing to subtly guide it without having it so much as singe a single wing or antenna. We were not to reveal we could use magic yet, even at the cost of this swarm. Those that tried to stop us, simply disappeared as we made it deeper into the slums. After deflecting a few more mental attacks made by Entomancers, we made it to a storm drain. People watched, but kept their distance.

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As we entered, the light became much dimmer, and such was not a big issue by itself. I saw various pests looking at us from the darkness, and while we could claim their homes. We needed to move, in case any pursuers came to stop us. Thus we flew past the walk ways, and other such things within the sewers. We were able to avoid a large majority the pests by sensing them before we arrived. Though slimes were not thinking creatures. We were vigilant against them, and used what knowledge we held to steer away from their territory.

The sewer was alive with all manner of creatures lurking beneath the filthy water. Rat nests made on walkways, with random slimes coating the walls here and there. If we were larger, they would likely have started scampering off, or try to hide within the cracks. Most of the rats looked at us, as if we were going to become a tasty meal for them. Thus we continued on, until we were at the edge of their territory. The area we found, showed signs of travel that stopped at a wall. I could sense a small amount of magic on the other side, and because of this I concluded there was a space hidden behind the wall itself. Some of the rats moved towards us, but were repelled by some kind of barrier. Something I could not sense until after it activated.

This meant we discovered a location with a hidden space behind a wall. That also had the benefit of repelling creatures that were not us. This would be the perfect place to set up! Setting the Breeders down, and keeping workers in the area to fly them away from danger. I set about attacking the fanged rats with my magic. After all, it needed to be practiced and perfected for the glory of the Hive.

These fanged rats, were called Rattle Rats, if I could recall correctly. Their sizes varied wildly, from some the size of regular rats, to monsters the size of a cat. They had rather round ears, with fangs that dripped poison when they bit. They also had scaled claws, with a tail that rattled when threatened. The creatures themselves, were fairly useless against us. Though it was because of them, that I discovered a problem. As things were right now, my swarm could not fly and use fire bolts at the same time. It was easy enough to guide the fire after it started burning, but to create it from nothing was a much harder endeavor. Which meant we were grounded until the first bolt was cast, then we could grow it and make more based on what was burned.

We couldn't really burn much right now, since we did need the rat nests for material to build our hive properly. The Rattle Rats seemed conscious of this fact, and had the smallest stage ambushes within the nest itself. An event that led to stinging the assailants until they stopped moving and died. With this in mind, we claimed two of their nests, and used the materials to start building our own. I decided it should be on the corner where the ground and wall meet. Since the ceiling was an arch that would make it impossible to build on properly. It would also stand out less, when one saw the other rat nests in the area. On the positive side, there was plenty of flesh and material laying around. I was rather pleased with how easy this might turn out. The barrier was the true boon that helped us. We need to find out what was with the magic going on behind the wall however. I made my report and sent it back to the Queen properly.

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Cynthia

I finally let out a soft sigh, as Drake settled down. I held him to my chest, as he drank his afternoon meal. The bells had startled us both, and it left Drake in a rather cranky mood. The priests were not able to help much, with a few of them trying to make goofy faces. Which was fine, until the one Drake was scared of tried to do the same. Because of that, the past few hours were nonstop crying, until Drake finally tired himself out and settled down enough to drink. I could hardly be mad at him, since the bells made me nervous as well.

Grandfather told me that it meant something was coming towards the outer walls, with potential to breach them. If the walls were breached they would fall silent for a few minutes, before starting again. If whatever was attacking us, made it through the fields and started to threaten the inner walls the few Sirens that were apart of the guard, were to start singing. The bells themselves all seemed to ring in unison which was better than when they were all ringing separately. If this were the fire kingdom, I probably wouldn't even know if monsters breached any of the walls. It was jarring with how open this kingdom was with it being attacked.

I softly stroked Drake's hair, which seemed to calm him down enough to help him half fall asleep. Then I sensed a swarm of something coming. I slowly got up, and made my way towards the garden. The closer I moved, the more I was certain. It was Alice's swarm, she was finally coming back after a week. A few of the priests saw me, and moved out of the way as I slowly walked towards the back door. Stepping outside, I looked around before finding Alice's bugs coming in from different areas. It was likely that they split apart, and finally rejoined as one group in the garden. I frowned a little, when it became apparent that Alice herself wasn't coming. Though to my surprise, a small group of the bugs were carrying some kind of paper.

This small group flew towards me, and I could feel the intention of them wanting to give it to me or my grandfather. I gently took it from them with one hand, as the bugs started to hide in the bushes and other parts of the garden. I carefully opened the letter, worrying that something terrible happened. My eyes narrowed at the blank page, I needed to tell Alice that playing a prank on someone wasn't a nice way to greet them after being apart for a few days. As I started to let out a sigh, I lowered the paper slightly, to catch something gleaming on it. Then my eyes went wide, as I realized she managed to write an entire message with some kind of translucent fluid.

I quickly hurried to my grandfather, who had been pouring over his ledgers as I entered the room. He gave me a small smile, before furrowing his brow at the paper I held. I placed it on the desk, before going back to the door and closing it quietly. He seemed confused, until I explained how to read it. Which was a bit difficult, since it had to be held at certain angles to see. I ended up having to write down the words as grandfather read them off, but after about twenty minutes we had the message written down properly.

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Dear Father Catswell, or my friend Cynthia

I hope you are both doing quite well these days. I myself have been rather occupied outside the walls. I am uncertain if you will be able to read this message, given that the way people see and how my hive sees are different. If you are able to read this, then I must apologize if it was difficult for you. I must also congratulate you on being able to actually find a way to see what has been written by my hive. After reading this letter, I would appreciate if you burned it. Since what I am about to ask might endanger you otherwise. This letter, can also serve as evidence used against you and there is no importance to keeping it around.

As for what this is all about, I am formally requesting that you allow me to establish a hive in your church. I trust you both, and will respect your wishes if you decline. As for why I am doing this, it is because having my hive in one place increases the risk of me losing them. I also am unable to trust Oswald to the degree that I trust you both. If you agree to shelter my hive, they will protect against any pests that might be lurking within the walls. This includes termites, rats, spiders, and so on. I would also like for them to tend to your garden in the form of pollination and removing unsavory pests that would harm such. I have not had them do such yet, but I plan on being moved out into the fields at some point in the future. A bit of practice would go a long way.

Understand, that you do not need to accept this request. I fully grasp that it might put you at risk in the future. I intend on paying for what my hive is fed, but all they really need is leftovers from your priests, or the beasts. If you reject this offer, then it will not hurt our relationship and I do intend on coming the night I return. With my hive at this church, I will also have a way of telling you if I am coming during the night or not. Which should help ease the potential deals with clients going forward. I look forward to seeing you both again, though it may be a few more days still.

  Sincerely Mimi

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After reading it properly me, both grandfather and me seemed to nod together. I spoke first, "Where are we going to hide her hive?"

Grandfather frowned a little, before sighing and burning both copies of the paper. "I thought we were both agreeing to not allow this, but I know I cannot win that argument my dear. The attic would probably be the best place, since no one truly goes up there. The guards would also need a reason to go up there before searching for them."

I smiled back at him, "She's a friend, and she needs help. Of course we're going to help her. Plus can you imagine not having to spend the coin on repairing termite damage?"

Grandfather leaned back in his chair with a small sigh, "We don't have termites, you made sure of that."

"Yeah, but you did and there was damage to the spots where they were. It's not enough damage to risk the church, but we both know I won't be here forever."

He nodded back, "Yes, I know. Just get her hive moved in properly without involving anyone. I want to be able to say they were snuck in, and not lie. I still have to protect my church and my followers."

I smiled at him, before doing just that. To my surprise, one of the bugs were able to establish a small connection with me and was even capable enough to understand what I told it. It even thanked me, before we disconnected from each other.

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Rose

By orders of the glorious Queen, I have been assigned to lead a swarm to the area where the escort encountered pesky assassins. We flew slowly, and spread out between buildings. Gray had done his job of keeping the more dangerous people from affecting us, with no one trying to stop us. Some of the scouts were lost, but none of the clusters that held a breeder. I flew under the command of the Queen, taking routes as she perceived through us. It was a silent battle, and as the hours passed. We finally made it with acceptable losses.

I was promised the chance to work in the fields among all the flowers. Something that kept my minor disappointment at bay. I had wanted to lead the swarm at the church, but that did not happen. It was instead given to Beru, because he was an officer. I dare not doubt our queen, but I feel this is my test. Much like how Gray was being tested. We silently flew into the building were the assassins and spiders were left. The whole place was a mess, with spider bodies laying strewn about the place. Whatever happened, it was clear the spiders lost, but there were a few survivors that were moving the bodies still.

Slowly the hive started to gather in one corner of the room. The Queen regained her physical body, which was a wonderful contrast to the situation before me. The orders became more clear, as we spread out, and moved to the spider bodies. Some of the spiders noticed, and were prepared to attack, before they saw us moving the bodies without eating them. This left them stunned, but the biggest one seemed to limp forward. Two of it's legs were missing, and it's face was scared from whatever happened. It watched, as we continued to move the bodies. This leader spider, came to a decision and soon the spiders were getting back to work. Most of the spiders working, were smaller than the bodies. Thankfully I did not have to think about it too much with orders guiding me.

We spent the rest of the night just moving the bodies, and the spiders that were alive offered us food. Which kept the hunger at bay, since there was no reason for us to eat these corpses. As the day came to a close, the spiders started to strum their webs. The Queen had us beat our wings, while I managed to make a rattling sound by rubbing my legs together. As I understood it, the spiders were part of the hive even if we could not speak to them. We were to protect them, and they would protect us. A sort of gratitude for not eating us when we first found them. Though that hardly mattered to me. It meant our hive was glorious enough that even the spiders wanted to join us. Long live the Queen! Long live the Hive!" We clicked our mandibles, as the spiders seemed to find this amusing.