Officer Beru

Rose made it to the Hive safely, and the Queen chose to rest in the same room as the sick girl. I kept watch, and tracked the rooms they moved her through, before settling on one. There was chatter between the two men, as they talked about pretending the little one died. The Queen was asleep, but it seemed they had every intention of explaining the reasoning behind such a decision to her. I moved back to watch as our Queen slept.

Some time passed, before the priest known as Eric arrived. I watched as he sketched a drawing of our Queen for some unknown reason. I had him followed, as he retreated to his room. He lit some incense and appeared to have prepared an alter for our Queen. We decided to leave him alone, as our Queen rested some more.

Finally, lady Cynthia spent some proper time with our Queen. It was pleasant to see her handle the little tyrant with care and gentleness. It filled me with pride that my hive was to be their guardian as they were properly accepted by our Queen. The little one was to be a mate for our Queen, or her offspring if Richard was unable to produce anything desirable. We are to keep this information from lady Cynthia and other people that were not directly connected.

Our Queen felt that others outside our Hive would not understand, that such might even anger them. If only their minds were not so fragile, then we could have Gray gather them into our numbers. At least we could communicate with Cynthia without hurting her, and keep the little tyrant safe.

After our Queen left, to train with the shadow man. We were left to watch and play with the little ones. Drake was playful as always, while Sarah seemed to be watched very closely by her guardian, Avery. We memorized the scents we needed, in case anything was to happen. Unfortunately Sarah did not wake up until after her father came back. Our Queen going about her business. If I understood the mood correctly, this was perhaps the last time the shadow man would be with his daughter for some time. We left them alone, and focused on just turning the leftovers into honey.

The best thing about the Queen having been here, was the fact that the church made a lot of food. Lady Cynthia explained we could have all that was left, and it was a wonderful thing. I suggested to the Queen that we could use the extra left overs, as a means to feed the other hives if needed. She adored the suggestion, and congratulated me on such. Today was going to be a grand day for the Hive.

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Berry The Worker

The little ones bring flowers with nectar inside it, and we clean them. It has become a sort of ritual by this point. The other spiders creep every closer by the hour, and those that are not hostile are allowed to enter our area. The biggest spider seems to talk to them in their own sort of way, while other spiders seem to try and take this opportunity to attack. Our ghosts are surprisingly useful as one sting would render the opponent unable to move.

I felt incredible hunger with each passing day, as I understood I was to cocoon sooner than later. Another worker was studying the bricks that made the buildings around us. He didn't talk much, and I wasn't sure if he was another personality, or just a strange worker. I would catch him gnawing on stone that was strewn about the area, trying to make a paste to reinforce our hive with. He was an odd one, and I have taken to calling him Brick. It seems the Queen has every intention of having the two of us cocoon at the same time. I can't tell if Brick is happy about that, or if he just wants to hurry and get back to his rocks.

Everything about today seemed like it would be peaceful and calm. Then it happened, a child quickly ran into our area looking frantic and upset. The scouts reported that a couple of figures were following them. Other spiders outside were moving to likely keep the duo from running away. It was still bright outside, and the big spider moved the little one to a corner. They began to play their music while we got into position. One of the men used a knife to cut through the spider silk, but that same knife was caught in our own.

The man swore, trying to pull his knife free. The spiders we cuddled with at night moved through the open space to jump at the intruders. It was a sad thing, to see them being stomped or squished by the individuals. Yet, we were to remain hidden. The big spider watched us, before raising one of their legs. The music picked up speed, as those that were still alive quickly moved back to our area. We hid ourselves in the shadows while the Harpers made a circle around the child who was curled up into a ball.

The two men ducked under the webs, laughing as the child cried. They spoke disgusting words that we could not understand, as the music stopped. All of the Harpers moved together to attack the two men, but there were so few of them now. One of the men let out a small sigh as if they were bored. Then a magic went over the Harpers, making them stay in place. Whatever the magic was, it did not seem to affect us, but we needed to remain hidden. It was the orders our Queen gave us.

The two kicked the Harpers out of the way, wounding them more. Wicked grins as they finally grabbed the sobbing child. I marched my wings first. Then those next to me marched, followed by the others in my hive. We were to remain hidden, and so we would. |"Gray, if we kill anyone that sees us, we will stay hidden correct?"|

I could hear him laugh a little, |"Yes, you do not need to worry about any children saying a thing. Make sure you give a proper report to our Queen."|

|"Understood, and thank you."| The men looked around, focusing on the shadows where we were. As we moved out of the dark spots, they laughed, because we were so much smaller than the Harpers. I couldn't order my hive like the Queen could. I couldn't tell the others what I wanted, but I could keep the child safe. These Harpers were already on their last legs, and it wasn't our job to protect this kid. By every right we shouldn't be doing this.

Yet, I could not forgive these men for coming into our territory and doing what they wanted. They laughed at us, and it meant they laughed at our Queen. They laughed at our entire Hive, and they attacked our allies. I flew first, followed by my brothers and sisters. One of the men tossed the child against the wall, knocking them out. The other trying to use the same magic that stopped the Harpers. For whatever reason, we were immune and already on the man before he could figure it out. We all stung and bit the first man, as the ghosts made him unable to move. The other man seemed to realize something was wrong and started to run.

We weren't allowed to let him tell others about us. More swarmed the second, stinging and biting again. They panicked, and were unable to fight back once our ghosts stung them. I could see the Harpers tending to the child, wrapping their wounds in silk. It would take us days to turn these two into honey, but that was fine. We were not supposed to leave a trace, and so warriors tore into their flesh. Workers drank their blood drop by drop. There were too few warriors to help us with this, but we were making progress.

The Harpers watched us with a hint of fear in their eyes. Brick himself seemed happy, as we made it to the bone on the legs of one man. He had stronger jaws from trying to crush rocks, and was able to start carving pieces of said bone out. I had to admit that bone was stronger than what we already used, and we needed to hide everything we could. The arms and legs were to be separated at the joints, pieces carried into the hidden spots as spinners worked to make a sort of dome for us to hide the remains. Even now, I could hear the muffled screams of pain from the two men. They could feel it as we took their arms and legs from them. As we drank their blood and carved their bones.

Their bodies would keep us through the Winter, if it got too cold. I sent a report to the Queen, but she was more focused on other things in the moment. It was night, and as I understood it, she was having a rather bad time because of something. We were allowed to continue as we were, since we only had to make sure there was nothing left behind.

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Argus The Breeder (Soon to be Giant)

With each young given life, we steadily grow our connection to the Queen. We can hardly feel each other, and so it fell upon myself to guide this hive in her stead. There were few orders given, and I keep them in my mind constantly. The first is to create workers to build, and prepare our food. The second is to only have ghosts, spinners, and other breeders in our hive. If we are discovered, we are to make it appear this is another hive without any connection to our Queen.

This small room, we live in, is elevated from the ground. We are not to explore, until we are ready. The man known as Robert drops off food and makes certain that our water is constantly full. I understand we are to protect him when we are ready. To protect others like him within our hive. Yet, as we are now we cannot. Every day we spend here, we grow fat and there are too few workers to care for our larvae.

I would ask our Queen what she wants for us to do. When we could expect reinforcements. Even this far underground however, I could feel it when she was struck by a powerful blow. She had her own battles to fight, and we had ours down here. If she were to truly die, it would be us Breeders guiding the Hive. I could only guess at how long it might be before we fought each other. None of us could do what our Queen does. Not a single one of us could prepare as she has. I let out my gasping cry, because I am unable to protect her.

Then came the dark thoughts she held towards those that harmed her. Towards those above us, that sought to test her patience time and time again. The pain and anguish reverberated through me to our offspring. The doubts these humans made her feel making our larvae writhe with impotent rage. A new personality developed, our hive's first ghost. Scix as they called themself. As I was to be the first Giant, he was to be the first ghost officer. When our Queen comes to our Hive, we would protect her as a sword and shield. We only needed to wait for our moment to come.

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Gray the Great

The day was going so well today. I moved my vampire body around the sewers, happily carving into whatever wasn't running away in fear. My hive had enough rattle rats to last the winter, and now I was merely looking for variety for us to eat. I decided to leave the slimes alone, since they seemed to have the important job of actually tidying the place up. While they were trouble for my hive, they were unable to actually make it past the barrier itself.

I experimented with one in particular, to find that it would merely flatten against the barrier when thrown, then die promptly. Which seemed to suggest that slime were beasts, or similar to the rattle rats in that regard. It was unfortunate that I couldn't ingest them, as they disagreed with the vampire body a bit too much. I moved through the sewers guided by the memories the vampire once had. Those given to me by our glorious Queen.

The ecosystem of the sewer itself was rather interesting to me. From toads of unusually large size, that would projectile vomit acid. To strange creatures that clung to the ceiling with barbs hanging down to catch those unwary travelers. I was rather pleased that there did not seem to be very many monsters nesting within the sewers themselves, but as I understood it the worst was in the Underground. These sewers were merely another defense against those that would seek to use it and move about Eclipse.

I continued my explorations, following the Queen's sound advice of having an escort. I held on my person a total of five hundred ghosts, and just as many bombers. The perfect pairing for retreating, so as to not lose this new body. The unfortunate part was that I am currently unable to do magic with so few. Yet, the goal was merely to find other vampires to join the Hive, and test what we could on them. Still even that was put to the side, as a suggestion for after the Ball. Given how we knew very little about the Count. Could he feel his kin, like our Queen could? Would different bloodlines grant our Queen more power if we were to eat them?

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

As things stood now, we were not ready to face those leading Eclipse. We were not even ready to survive the coming Winter, if they ordained to attack us while we were weak. Then there were the fools at the Barracks, constantly allowing our Queen to be provoked. Despite her patience, she was starting to become angry herself. After a bit of back and forth, we decided it was better to not kill the one known as Eren. The temptation was there, but as things stood, we only needed to wait.

I moved towards the market district sewers, having given up on claiming new vampires tonight. It was more important to steal what our Hive needed to survive, should the worst come. If I could claim enough, then we might even be able to thrive during the Winter. The night was still young, and I was able to stay connected to my hive, thanks to the Queen and the other hives allowing me to use them to enhance my own connections.

I removed a manhole cover, popping above ground in a dark alley. It was wonderful that vampires had perfect night vision, allowing me to see even in the darkest parts of the sewers, as if it were illuminated by gentle light. Despite it being night, there was an abundance of people moving about the markets. There were hooded figures that skulked the shadows, more than a few pockets being picked. There was such an abundance of life and blood, that it made the vampire's hunger grow. Still it was nothing compared to thousands of mouths, and their own desires. It was almost pathetic to think such selfish creatures could ruin the lives of others to sate themselves alone.

At least the senses of the body were useful, in that I could tell what was alive or not. I could sense the blood of others through the very walls if they were close enough, allowing me to keep track of everyone moving around me. I took a second to look at my clothes, the sleeves covered in blood, and the bottom legs shredded. It was rather unfortunate that I looked so informal, and perhaps just a little vulnerable.

Two thugs walked past the alley, and stopped to look at me. They looked at each other, before approaching me, as I moved back towards the manhole. To my surprise they both raised their hands in a display that showed they meant no harm. "Hey buddy, are you okay?"

I was at a loss, and merely blinked at the two. I had not practiced talking yet, as I figured I wouldn't need it. I ended up coughing into my fist, trying to conduct myself as a vampire would behave.

One of the men rubbed their balding head, "You don't look so good pal. I know you probably went through a lot, but we won't hurt you." The other man pulled out a small coin purse. "We're looking for our son."

I tapped my throat and made a gesture with my hands to show I couldn't speak. The two nodded, and moved closer towards me.

The balding man stopped well out of arms length, before pulling a paper from his sleeve. He unrolled it, to reveal the face of a young man that was eaten by Berry's hive earlier in the day. "You see... he's been getting with the wrong crowd lately. You seem like you've been around, and I just want to know if you've seen this man."

I looked at the small bag of coin, before slowly nodding. The two were relieved and hugged each other. It appeared they were a couple, which made everything a bit more awkward.

"Please, where did you see him? Is he alright?" The balding man, and the taller man both seemed to tear up a little.

I slowly shook my head in response, then drew a line over my neck to show he was dead.

This caused them both to pale, shaking their heads. "H-he's dead? What about the body? D-did you kill him?"

I held up both hands, shaking my head slowly again. I moved down the ladder into the sewers.

"Hey! We're not done talking to you!" The two rushed towards the manhole cover.

I looked up at them, gesturing further down the sewers. This caused the two to blink, as they seemed to realize I was going to guide them.

The two slowly shuffled down the ladder, and began following me back towards my hive. It was for the best that they weren't searching for their dead son. I motioned for them to follow closely, unsure as to why they were simply trusting a vampire of all things to lead them through the sewers. I felt they were truly desperate at any rate. It was such a shame they raised a son that would attack children for some unknown end.

I led them through the walkway with slimes hanging from above. They knew it was fruitless to attack me, but they descended on the two behind me. All three of us jumped appropriately given the situation. The balding man clawed at his face, while the other merely seemed to focus. The slim slid off the taller, while I attempted to help the balding one. "What in the hells!?"

The two glared at me, as I put my hands up again. I pointed up, at the other slimes slowly starting to move. I backed up, as none attacked me, since they knew better. The men observed as the taller one moved forward. Another one tried to drop on them, and I shrugged as they stepped to the side. They were upset, but they did not turn hostile towards me. Even while I walked ahead of them.

It was a shame they did not die to the slimes, but it meant it would be better to keep them alive for our Queen to test later. We rounded a corner, where I stopped them, pointing at the barbs that hung from the ceiling. I pointed to the ground, and started to crawl, as the barbs did not go far enough down to cling to anyone that might crawl beneath them. The two looked at each other concerned, but nodded slowly. The three of us crawled under the barbed tongues, that I decided to name curtain callers. Based solely on the fact that their tongues fell in such a way that they were curtains.

After crawling to the other side, we were in the territory of the toads that spat acid. I clung to the wall, holding up a hand to show we needed to move slowly. Then put an index finger over my lips to ask them to be quiet. It was pleasant that the toads themselves were asleep currently. Though, they also knew better than to attack myself. The few that did see us, also saw myself, and merely pretended to go back to sleep.

Soon, we were standing before my hive as I knocked out the balding man with a swift strike to the nape of his neck. The other immediately tried to overwhelm me with mental magic, but I was more than capable of dealing with the man thanks to my hive. I sent a report to our Queen, who congratulated me on my efforts. Her mood rising slightly as I actively prevented others for searching for us, for the moment.

I connected to the balding man, to find out he was an oracle. While the man beside him was a hypnotist. I had wondered why they were so trusting towards me. I found out that the hypnotist was able to tell my vampire body had a weak will, and was manipulating it in a subtle way to guide these two towards their missing member. While there was no glory in crushing those weaker than ourselves, I found glory in removing a pedophile gang that wanted to kidnap children and hypnotize them.

The Queen herself sorted through their memories, only to find them revolting. She briefly wondered why I was not gaining anything useful from the creatures my hive has been eating, before deciding it was likely that I was draining their blood with a vampire body. Because the vampire itself wasn't a part of the Hive, everything I killed with it's body was denying our Queen resources. I apologized for this oversight, and promised to test it tomorrow.

The Queen forgave me, and asked if I would turn the two new members into vampires as well. After all, she knew vampires could do blood magic, and gained traits based on their blood line. If we wanted to stay from the Count's watchful eye, we could just make our own vampires to eat. Our Queen was merciful regardless, and understood that we might gain their magic if we were to eat them as they are now. Thus she proposed giving them a choice. Their death was assured either way, but despite their deeds they could still be useful to us. Not that it mattered what they did, because they were going to die regardless.

A few hours passed, as the two woke up with slight groans. They were in my new room, that used to belong to the vampire. An open coffin placed upon an alter, with my Hive building it's nest on the ceiling and slowly falling down the corners of the walls. While they were asleep I practiced talking, and greeted the two with a welcoming smile. "Greetings, and welcome to my abode gentlemen. Forgive my silence earlier." I placed a hand on my chest, while I bowed, "I am known as Gray the Great, and recently learned how to talk. I will grant that my wonderful Queen, aided me in this with the help of a few memories."

The two looked at each other confused, with the balding one nudging his companion. I could feel the magic going over the body, trying to make me release them. I wagged a finger in front of the taller man, |"I wouldn't do that. Unlike you, our Queen does not take too kindly to those that might attack us with mental attacks."|

The tall man paled a bit, before shaking his head slowly. The balding man spoke up, "W-what do you want? We have money, is that acceptable? We just want our son."

I laughed a little, "We took the pleasure of going through your memories gentlemen. I must say, you are rather disgusting, hypnotizing a poor child and raising them to continue your business. I would have felt bad if I was the one that killed him, but I didn't."

The balding man swallowed hard, "T-there must be some kind of mistake sir."

I moved with vampiric speed to grab what hair was left. I forced the man to look into my body's eyes. "There is no mistake here. Now, you have two options. You may die painfully, or you may become a vampire and live a new life."

"I... what?" The two stared at me, as if they thought I misspoke.

I gently brushed some filth off the shoulder of the taller man, before backing up. "You heard me right gentlemen. Unlike those you abused, you are being given a choice. You should be smiling, and thanking me for a choice with every fiber of your being! Well, more like thanking our wonderful Queen!"

The two just looked at each other, and I felt the hypnotist trying to confuse my hive. I looked right at him, as he looked back at me with complete and utter fear in his eyes. He realized what we were, and it was such a shame really. I had a ghost that was positioned on either one's neck sting the tall man. He was unable to say a word, as I threw him over the coffin. My hive descended upon him, as his primal screams of pain echoed in our small room.

I dusted my hands, looking back at the other man with a blank expression and smiled. "Well, I did warn him not to keep trying to hypnotize me, didn't I?" The balding man quickly nodded, his double chins jiggling grossly as he teared up. The disgusting creature even soiled himself on my floor, "Well then? Will you join your friend, or will you join us?" I held out an inviting hand with a warm smile.

"P-please, as long as you don't hurt me." I grabbed him by the collar and began drinking. His body convulsing as I drank his blood pint by pint. The magic of the vampire body moving on instinct in a way I could not control. While my hive was happy with fresh meat that still had blood in it, my body was happy to have blood tinged with more focus inside it. The hunger was sated wholly by the last drop of a living man's blood. My Queen's theory put into practice as she gained the ability to hypnotize others. Yet as the man I drank every drop of blood from, did not give her the ability to see as an oracle would.

I dropped the body, taking the dagger from the alter and cutting into the man's chest. I tore his ribcage open, letting black blood fall onto the still beating heart. My blood pulling inside it, as I closed the chest and his veins turned black. His skin becoming more and more pale. His teeth growing sharper, as he sat up. I put my wrist to his mouth, letting him drink the blood from my body, as hunger once again took hold. I forced the man off after he had enough. He was immune to the stings of our ghost cast now. He smiled at me, before kneeling, "My liege."

I stroked his balding head, which was slowly regaining it's youth and hair. His body burning all the fat, and turning it into muscle mass. He was gaining the form of a more proper predator. "Join us, and listen to the voice of our Queen." I connected to his mind once more as it was still being shaped. My Queen shattered it, as she did before, leaving it a mere husk to be used. The bloodline instincts had not taken place, and if there was ever an opportunity, this was the best one to create a new bloodline.

I reached to the hive, as a small breeder that had not been inseminated yet, came to my palm. To recreate what was done to the elf known as Alice, upon an empty husk. To remake the mind, as the soul was forced to linger. The small creature squirmed through the fledgling's ear, blood squelching out as it reached the brain. The body groaned in pain, and dug at the ear, but was unable to continue once I stopped it. Our Queen truly was special, and I was proud to serve her.

I spent hours, just watching the body twitch and convulse. The screams of the man behind me long since have passed. Even our Queen did not know how long it took for herself to merge with her current body. She shared precious memories with me, that only made me smile softly. The more I knew about her, the more I truly felt she was deserving of the word glorious. The new body was growing hungry, and it needed fresh blood. It was a wonderful thing we were in a sewer teeming with such.

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Rose The Scout (Soon to be Elite!)

It was upsetting that there wasn't very many flowers where we were. While it was nice to be so close to our Queen, I was promised flowers. The trees had plenty, but most of them were already closed to turn into fruits. Bees in the area were quick to get upset at me taking some of the nectar from them, but I was able to drag them back to our hive to let someone else deal with them. Their wings were no match for my own. Even this late at night, there were others moving as quickly as they could. Then finally I saw it falling, the speck of white as large as myself.

The White death was coming! I quickly went back to our hive to warn everyone. It was coming, and it was coming this late at night! Even our Queen was worried about it, as we all decided to stay inside until it passed. Our Queen would gather food for us to survive the White death to come. The other hives would be fine, she just needed to make sure we had food and flowers for the days to come. |"Glory to our Hive! Glory to our Queen!" |

The other hives joined us in this chant, because we all knew our Queen would lead us to overcoming anything in our way. We new she could, and so she would!