The giant Abyss creature hovered a few dozen yards away from the boys, snapping its clawed legs in provocation.

"Why isn't it attacking?" Lucius questioned. He was thinking out loud, in an attempt to distract himself from his own growing panic. He could already see that his knuckles had become bleached white from how hard he was gripping his weapons, the tools offered little comfort when faced with such a powerful foe.

"Let me just pull out my guide to evil Abyss creatures; I'll get right back to you on that, bud!" replied Jack. His ability, Harden Heart, went a long way in keeping the older boy's emotions from overtaking him. Lucius was envious of that.

Before the boys could decide their next course of action, a change occurred in the creature. A series of flaps opened up on the back of its shell, as disgusting, slime covered, orb-like organs could be seen protruding from inside the creature's body. The moment the organs were completely exposed, Lucius felt a tickling feeling inside his mind, and it wasn't his own anxiety this time. Feelings of absolute burning hatred were being transmitted directly into their minds from the creature. Lucius could suddenly feel and understand exactly what the creature was thinking, and it was the worst case scenario he could imagine. The creature was a she, and she was the queen who had birthed the entire swarm. She was, also, fully aware of exactly who had murdered all her babies.

"Oh damn!" Said Jack, "Sorry mama!" He shouted at the bug, "Your babies tried to kill us first, though, so kinda not sorry!" Jack finished the last sentence awkwardly, having realized midway that he was probably further provoking the creature.

The abyssal queen transmitted one final burst of thoughts and emotions, she wanted the boys to know that she was going to capture them alive, and use their living flesh as a nutrient source in order to spawn a new brood of children. It was only fair that they should replace the children they had taken from her. Their deaths would be agonizingly slow, and their worlds would be nothing but pain and terror until their final breaths.

Lucius's hands began to shake, the creature's imagination was filled with the images of just how gruesome their deaths would be, as abyssal larva slowly devoured their bodies from the inside out. He shook his head to try to push the images away, but it was useless, he couldn't stop the intrusion into his own mind.

"I don't think she likes us!" Jack quipped, giving Lucius a slap on the shoulder, he could see the sanity slipping away from his friend, "Get your head on straight. I'm as good as dead if you don't!"

That was all the time they had to prepare themselves for what was to come. The orb-like organs retreated back into the creature, and the openings in its shell sealed shut. Thankfully the mental intrusion disappeared along with the organs, they must have been what the creature used to transmit its signal. The shell was, most likely, capable of blocking magical intrusions, which would explain why it needed to be moved out of the way for the signal to get through. The moment the creature was finished with that action, it attacked.

When the creature moved at its top speeds, its wings flapped so powerfully and fast that it sounded like a machine gun, one of the quirks of having wings made of hard shell, Lucius guessed. It was a miracle that the thing could even fly at all, nevermind at such incredible speeds.

"Run!" Lucius yelled, pointing at the line of cars parked a few dozen feet away. They didn't stand much of a chance facing the creature in a head on fight, even if they somehow came out on top, they wouldn't escape serious injuries. That wasn't even counting any venom that the creature might possess.

Jack was much slower than Lucius, the younger boy became fully aware of how much different than a normal human he was at that moment. He could have run to cover, and back, twice before Jack made it to the cars. So Lucius matched Jack's pace, but he ran backwards to defend Jack, warding off the queen until they reached the cars. The queen was not deterred in the slightest by Lucius's spear. She flew right at him like a bullet shot from a rifle, whipping up large gusts of wind and dust behind her. Just when he was sure that she would run right into the end of his spear, she shifted her trajectory, clamping onto his weapon with her pinchers as she flew past. Lucius was caught by surprise, and the spear was ripped out of his hands before he could react. Thankfully, the sacrificed weapon had bought them enough time to reach the cars. The boys squeezed between the two that were parked closest together, a minivan and a pickup truck, it would offer them some protection from the creature, at least. Lucius never thought he would be so thankful to see someone parked like such a jerk, the truck was clearly too close, blocking the driver's door of the van from fully opening.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Jack looked back at the queen just in time to see the creature snapping Lucius's spear in two. He considered it for just a moment, before holding out his own spear, "Here, take mine and give me your shield." he said, "I'm never going to be able to hurt that thing anyway, but I could distract it, and give you a chance to do some damage.". That was as good an idea as any, Lucius quickly agreed, handing over his shield and accepting the weapon from Jack.

Jack equipped the second shield, holding both out in front of him, he did his best to keep them facing the creature as it approached them.

"I'm going to try something, do your best to get her attention, and please don't die!" Lucius said.

After receiving a nod from Jack, he took a deep breath and focused on the feelings that had generated his aspect. It was the familiar desire, that had been developing inside him his entire life, the intense yearning to go unseen. The moment Lucius did that, he felt something change. He looked down at his own body, and was immediately disoriented by the confliction in his mind. He could still see himself, but at the exact same time he could not. It was a thing that is very difficult to describe, his body was clearly right there, but he couldn't quite grasp hold of it with his senses. It was like trying to think of a new color that doesn't exist yet, it sounds simple, until you try it. If Lucius wasn't attached to his own body, with absolute knowledge that it was right in front of him, he never would have been able to find it. Confident that the aspect was working properly, Lucius dropped to the ground and crawled under the car.

All of that had taken no more than a few heartbeats, but even that was too much time to waste, as the abyssal queen came slamming down on the van, breaking the glass and collapsing the roof inward by a foot from the power of the hit.

"Stay away you nasty $%#^&!" Jack cursed at the creature, holding his shields firmly in front of him, only a thin layer of particle board cabinet door stood between him and the terrifying monster. Even so, the young man was incredibly valiant, bravely facing the terrifying monster. He continued to taunt the creature with curses, as he attempted to dodge its snapping claws.

Lucius came up from the other side of the car, behind the creature, and lined up a strike. Unfortunately, before he could launch his first attack, the abyssal queen launched herself off the roof of the van, eight clawed legs acting like powerful springs, the creature's body became a purple blur as it rammed into Jack's shields.

The older boy managed to keep his shields up, and block the blow, but he didn't make it out unscathed. The monster's incredibly sharp, spear-like proboscis, had penetrated right through the shield, and through Jack's hand in the process. His pinky finger, on his left hand, had been directly beneath the area that was pierced by the monster's mouth. The queen, mouth still piercing through the shield, pushed Jack to the ground, forcing him onto his back with his shields in the air. His own finger fell from the air, bouncing off his face as it made its way to the ground.

"Damnit!" Jack screamed, his own blood flowing onto his face, blocking his vision. His adrenaline was dulling the pain, but it did nothing to make the loss less emotionally devastating. Still, he didn't have time to care about that now. The creature was overpowering him, using its eight legs as levers to push off the vehicles on either side. The queen was bearing down on Jack with incredible power, her sharp mouth like a knife dangling right above him, as he struggled with all his might to keep it from piercing his face.

Lucius was out of time, if he didn't act now Jack was going to die. Rushing around the vehicle to get back into position behind the creature. The creature was on the ground now right in front of him, doing its best to finish off Jack. Lucius could just attack with the spear, but one attack probably wouldn't be enough to finish the fight, and the Queen would become aware of Lucius's abilities the moment he attacked. Once she was back in the air, and wary of Lucius's sneak attacks, the boys would be doomed.

No, he couldn't let it play out like that. Once he struck, the queen needed to die before she could fully grasp the situation. So, he gathered up all the resolve he could muster, and jumped on her back.