Alson took the first steps through the empty cavern. He placed one hand on the wall to keep his balance, only to quickly retract it once it grazed against a sticky substance. He shook his hand and made a muffled grunt.

"What happened?" Tamma asked, her voice just loud enough to be heard over the incessant buzzing that came from the other end of the tunnel.

"I touched... something..." Alson moaned. He wiped his hand against his pants before looking at his palm again up close. "I don't want to know what it was. But it was warm. And sticky."

"Disgusting," Tamma said as she angled her head closer to the side of the cave. The entire surface was covered in a thick red paste. "It almost looks like... meat..."

Alson froze mid-step. "Did you say... meat?" he whispered to the hunter.

"Yeah. It has the same texture. And... I can smell it," Tamma said after takin in a whiff of the air. "Not quite rotten. But not fresh either. Like all of the blood has been dried out."

"Or consumed," Miwah added. "They must be feeding here."

Alson shook his head. "Just... be brave," he muttered to himself. He looked at the stone in the palm of his hand and continued. "This Spell Stone should be enough to take out whatever's lurking in here."

"Are you all right, Alson?" Tamma said as she placed on his shoulder. The guard jumped up, startled, before hiding his shock and meeting Tamma eye to eye.

"Of course I am! I'm just a member of the Farrowport Guard. Doing my duty. No reason for me to be scared," he said with some reservation. "It's what I signed up for after all."

"If you don't want to go any further, I can take the Spell Stone. Miwah will back me up as I go in to destroy the nest." The hunter extended an open hand only for Alson to turn his body to the side and clench his hand tighter. "Me and Miwah will take care of the rest of the Insectus. You can go back and help the Governor reach safety."

"No, no, no." Alson stammered. "I'm already down here. You two need protection after all. Well... maybe not protection seeing as how you managed to take out all those Ghenkans and Cutthroats," he said with a half-hearted chuckle. "But it's important that you two are safe seeing as how you're probably the most powerful people on the island at the moment. And if something were to happen to either one of you..."

"You should have seen what else we've been through, lad. Because if you did, you wouldn't be worried about us," Tamma said, giving the guard a confident grin as she held onto his wrist. "Be honest with me, Alson. I can feel your heart race through your wrist. Why are you really down here?"

Alson blinked, keeping his eyes locked with the hunter. "I don't want you to get hurt," he said with genuine fear in his voice.

"I don't want you to get hurt either, Alson," Tamma said in a soft voice.

"I know you don't. But... it's not the same as how I feel, Tamma. Of course, you'd be upset if something happened to me. I'm sure Miwah would too. And maybe even the Governor. But if I were to lose you, Tamma." The guard sighed and angled his eyes away from Tamma's bewildered gaze. "I don't think I could go on."

Tamma lowered her head. "Oh."

"What a time for you to find out something like this, huh?" Alson said with a smirk. "I had been planning on telling you sooner. But you know how I'm a procrastinator. Always putting stuff off for tomorrow. But now... there might not be another chance."

"I appreciate you telling me this, Alson," Tamma said while still holding onto Alson's wrist. "But you know what’s funny about all this, lad? I think your heart is beating even faster!"

"Yeah." Alson scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "I guess I'm more scared of what you'd think than of giant, armored, killer insects."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Thanks for the bit of humor in such a dire situation," Tamma giggled. "But if it helps ease your nerves a bit, I've known this for a while."

The guard's face flushed red. "What?"

"I'm a hunter, Alson. It's part my job to check for discrepancies in behavior. It doesn't just apply to animals, you know. So, while you think this little confession of yours might be news to me, I've known for a while."

"I see. Then... forget everything I just said." Alson turned around and took a few steps further into the cave. "Let's get rid of these monsters once and for all."

Miwah and Tamma followed right behind while Yalch lingered in the rear. Miwah looked at the ghost, raising an eyebrow and gesturing for him to come closer. "I am glad they sorted that out quickly."

"I agree," Yalch said. "But I think they'd be cute together."

"You don't want to talk about this anymore?" Tamma asked.

"No. I don't know why I bothered to bring it up in the first place. At least not while we have this insect problem to deal with. Maybe we can discuss it further once everything is dealt with. And it's just the two of us."

"I second that notion," Miwah called out from the back.

Their short journey ended when the narrow cavern led into another wide opening. Stalagmites shot up from the ground, giving the group a view into the wide space while still staying hidden. Alson crouched himself behind one of the jagged stones and peeked his out from behind it. Miwah and Tamma caught up and hid themselves beside the guard.

The sound of buzzing was constant. Along with the incessant flapping of countless wings was the noise of squishing and slurping, as if the insects were feeding.

"And I thought that last area was nasty," Alson said as held onto his stomach. Countless of wasp-like creatures crawled the walls of the area, eating the thick red paste that covered the stones of the cave like a layer of malleable paint. Most of the Insectus grew to the size of a small bird, while a few could be seen that were the size of a brillick. A small opening towards the top let a small beam of moonlight slip through, illuminating the golden armor-like plates of the insect's exoskeletons.

"Just toss the thing!" Tamma said, raising her voice to be heard over the sound of the droning but not enough to get their attention. She pointed at the crack to the top of the of cave. "We can't let them escape through there."

Alson stood up just enough to look past the rock formation he used as cover. His eyes scanned the area before kneeling by Tamma's side again. "Are you sure that this will be enough to take them all out?"

"If you can aim it right. If the Spell Stone cracks open right in the center, it might be able to fill up the area and take out every single one of those bugs. Perhaps aim high, so that if the Insectus try to escape, they will have to fly through the poisonous gas," Miwah said.

"You're the one that uses a bow." Alson extended his hand that held the Spell Stone. "Might be best for you to do the honor."

"I'd love to," Tamma said as she opened her palm. The guard dropped the stone into her hand and stayed crouching while Tamma stood up just high enough to get a wide view of the scene. She closed one eye, wadded her hand tight and took aim by pulling her arm back. The hunter followed through with the throw, hurling the small green stone with tremendous speed.

The magic gem glistened against the moonlight in a flash as it travelled its course. There was the sound of a slight crack as the Spell Stone shattered against the edge of the opening in the ceiling.

"Good shot!" Alson exclaimed. The gas spread out from the point of impact, travelling along the length of the roof before seeping down into the main area.

"Now there is no way they can escape without having to go through the poison!" Miwah said with a smile. Tamma knelt beside the other two with a grin on her face. Together, they watched as the flying bugs dropped from the ceiling as the green mist engulfed the entire space.

The monotonous droning soon turned into a cacophony of scratching and hissing as the Insectus turned on their backs while their legs squirmed above their bodies.

"Is that it?" Alson said as he pinched his nostrils tight. "Do you think there are any more colonies within the cave?"

"Hope not," Tamma said. "But at least we got the mature ones and the larva too. If we're quick, we might be able to get some help sealing off the cave while Gertrude crafts us some more Spell Stones to deal with any stragglers that might have survived."

"Good," Miwah said as she started to head off in the opposite direction of the annihilated colony. "Next, we have to make sure—" The seamstress cut herself off as she stretched her arms apart to keep her balance. The ground started to move while the grinding of rocks boomed from the large area where the Insectus were.

"What's that?" Alson said as he darted up. He and Tamma leaned over their cover too look at the ground beneath them. The twitching bodies of the fallen insects slid to the side as the thick red ground beneath began to part. There was a long hiss as the gas started to fade away. The room that the colony used to breed started to fall apart; rocks, red gunk and Insectus bodies fell like rain as the ground started to shake more and more.

"I don't know, but I think it's best if we don't stay to find out!" Tamma shouted as she pulled on Alson's arm, drawing him away from the shifting ground. She pointed past the seamstress as she went into a full sprint. "Run, Miwah!" the hunter cried.