As we went deeper into the forest of mushrooms, we stopped near a clearing made of purple cobblestone. I recognized it from the map. It was the road that would lead straight towards Hiroga City. But I was sure that the direct route would have been heavily guarded. I was about to go up to General Kull to let him know of a better plan, but KR-01 had been instructed to get me to meet with the general, anyways.

I met with the general, and before I could open my mouth, he ordered, "Alright, bug. I'm giving you permission to lead some roaches straight towards the capital. You will be on the forefront along with whoever you decide. The rest of the army will be slightly behind as you pave your way forward."

"Are you sure, general?" I asked.

"Do not question me or the Queen. You will go straight through and meet them. Then, the rest of the roaches will follow closely behind."

"General Kull, that road will be heavily fortified. And I doubt that the dark elves would meet us face-to-face. They will probably wait in the mushrooms and ambush us. You'll be sending roaches to unnecessary deaths - "

"This is an order, bug. Every victory comes at a cost. A fast and decisive strike will give that victory for the Queen's Empire."

I thought that this was a better time than any to let the general know what we found. I said, "I looked at the maps and -"

"I know," General Kull replied without any surprise in his voice, "My bat saw your friend take those maps. You're lucky that he brought them back, or I'd have him executed. Instead, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself. That's why I'm giving you this assignment."

I stuttered for a moment, but I had to continue, "I'm sorry, sir. But there is a better way that going straight through. If I could have your permission to set up some small squads to enter through the sewer systems, we can enter the city and attack from within."

"No. Your orders are clear," General Kull said angrily by my initiative, "We will march straight through and meet the enemy. They will be overwhelmed by roaches. We have more troops than they have arrows. Do what you were bred to do and fight, you insignificant maggot."

I walked away scared and disappointed. Unfortunately, I had no choice, but to follow his orders like a good soldier.

So, I took a couple of my brothers and sisters. Of course, I brought along Doc, Hornet, Viking, and Cutter. I let them know that we will be proceeding with the original plan. They all seemed disappointed but at the same time expected it. However, Viking didn't mind going forward hoping that some of those dark elves would fight him in close quarters.

We marched forward. We were the ones in front. There were a couple of bronze giants that marched alongside us. If they didn't see us, then those giants would have given us away by just their loud stomps. Unfortunately, General Kull thought it would be a good idea for a couple of them near the front. This all felt like a punishment from General Kull, but I wasn't sure. He was tough, but he had to have been loyal to the Queen. If he hadn't, then he wouldn't have been made a general.

I looked at the mushrooms, but they were all dark. If there were dark elves hiding on them, then I wouldn't have been able to tell. I carried my electric crossbow tightly. Every one of us were on edge. I couldn't tell where the general was, but I was sure he stood in the back. I wished that I would have gotten any words of encouragement from the Queen. Anything like "You're doing fine" or "They won't stop you." But there was nothing. If she had given the orders, instead of General Kull, I might have thought that it would have been an excellent plan. But I didn't feel that way at all.

As we got closer to the city, I was able to barely see Hiroga city. It was as if once we walked to a certain point, it was slightly clear for all to see. The city was surrounded in walls made of various fungi. There was a towering mushroom in the middle of the city. The gate had been blocked off by a wall of mycelium. We could all see the city, but it was still so far away.

We took a couple more steps, and suddenly an explosion was heard from behind. We were all shocked by the sound. When I looked back, I saw that it's foot had been blown off. Then, I saw one of the roaches stagger. He exploded before my very eyes. There was a loud ringing noise in my ears for a second. But I remained calm.

"Everybody, stop!" I commanded.

Every other roach froze in place. I looked around, but there weren't any dark elves as far as I could tell. I took a couple of steps forward, but then Doc yelled, "Stop, Roach!"

And I stopped. He came over to me and knelt down. Doc had noticed a couple of small mushrooms growing from the cracks between the cobblestone. When he put his hand near it, it glowed yellow.

"What are those?" I asked.

Doc replied while taking out his sword, "I've been playing around with some of the stuff that those dark elves dropped on us. Some pouches. I saw that they exploded in a similar manner. However, not all of them went off. I picked some up and found that there were some mushrooms growing along the sides."

He put his blade carefully along the stem of the fungus. Doc lifted the small mushroom up with his hand and cut the stem. He carried it carefully. The root underneath began to rapidly grow out mycelia. It tried to attach itself to something else. Doc quickly spit out another pouch and put it inside. He carefully but it back inside of his mouth and swallowed.

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Doc continued, "I think that whenever these things experience pressure on their top, they explode. These dark elves have been using them as weapons."

"They created these mushrooms?" I asked.

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it was a result of natural selection. I doubt the dark elves would want it to glow yellow. I think it's just the mushroom's way of warning predators. But I can tell that not all of these mushrooms grew between the cracks. Some of the looked to have been placed their like a-"

And before he could finish, an arrow flew from the side of one of the larger mushrooms. It struck one of those smaller mushrooms and immediately blew up taking a whole lot of surprised roaches with it.

"They're here!" Viking yelled.

Arrows began flying at us. We started firing, but we were out in the open and surrounded. It was just as I feared. They hid and waited.

"Fall back!" I yelled. We all began shooting bolts of lightning at the shadows as we retreated. Sometimes, it would hit, but most of the time, it was a dead shot.

Then, a group of dark elves jumped out from above the mushroom heads. They screamed a battle cry as they fell on top of us. They wore warpaint all over themselves and their armor. Each one held a curved sword. There was an equal proportion of male and female dark elves. The dark elves still fired volleys of arrows, but it was as if the dark elf soldiers could tell whether an arrow was coming at them.

"For the Queen!" a roach yelled.

"Glory for the Queen!" another screamed before being torn apart by stepping on one of the yellow mushrooms. The bronze giants began firing bolt of electricity at the dark elves, but they immediately destroyed them. They had placed some mushrooms on the tip of their arrows and aimed straight the giants' openings blowing them up from the inside.

I could tell that we were outnumbered and outmatched in this fight. General Kull's army was in the back. If we were to win, we would at least need their army.

I yelled to the rest of the roaches, "Back! We got to regroup!"

Viking roared and swung his axe at the dark elves. Cutter quickly made his way through.

"Yes. More blood!" Viking yelled with a glint of happiness.

Hornet stayed back behind one of the mushrooms and fired at the dark elves. She was getting frustrated that she had to guess where some of them were. She saw where the arrows were shot from and fired. It worked only half of the time.

Doc and I stayed close together firing shot after shot. A dark elf jumped on top of me. Doc tried to get him off of me, but another one of their soldiers attacked him.

They fought even more valiantly as we were so close to their home. I didn't understand why they just wouldn't give up. If they joined the Queen's Empire, their lives would be so much better. It was unfortunate for them.

I blocked the dark elf's attack with the barrel of my crossbow. I kicked him off and fired one shot at his ribcage. He fell crying in pain, but still alive. I got myself up and adjusted myself. He cried and screamed. And without a second though, I fired one more bolt straight into his head.

When I got to Doc, he had already killed his dark elf with his blade.

Each one of us fell back. This was the first time that I felt defeat. Yet, I was still glad that I was alive.

While hornet was firing behind a mushroom, she shot down a couple more dark elves that gave chase to us.

However, there was more trouble for us. The dark elves had gone in from behind us. An arrow scraped by Hornet's neck before she fired back with her reflexes.

As soon as I saw that we were surrounded and there was no way for us to get to the rest of the army, We had to make a last stand. I didn't see myself as a leader compared to our Queen, but I had no choice but to try.

"Everyone, make a circle formation. Blades in front. Crossbows in back. We'll defend ourselves to the last roach. Brother and Sisters, bring glory to the Queen!" I yelled giving much inspiration to the rest of the troops.

"Glory to the Queen!" the remaining roaches cried as they got themselves into formation. They followed as best as they could relishing that they had someone who could lead them. As the dark elves continued coming, all we could do was fire in all direction. I had hoped that we could at least buy some time for the rest of the army to arrive. I fought alongside with my troops. I had my blade in one hand, and a crossbow in the other.

It didn't seem to work for a while. The dark elves were pushing us, but since we had no where to go, we fought even harder. After some time, we were able to push them back. Bolts of lightning came out as if we they were the quills of a threatened porcupine. The dark elves that remained started to fall back.

And as soon as they ran, Doc cheered, "We did it! Victory! Glory to the Queen! Glory to the Queen's Empire!"

"Glory to the Queen! Glory to the Queen's Empire!" the roaches cheered cheered, except for myself. I breathed heavily. I looked around and saw most of our little team dead. Doc, Hornet, Viking, and Cutter were still alive, but there were so much more roaches that lied dead than dark elves.

I walked a couple steps forward and looked at the city. It was still so far away. We wouldn't have been able to make it further. But I did sigh a breath of relief. It didn't feel quite the same as a victory outside of this dome, but it still felt good. I knew the Queen would be quite pleased with our fight, but I knew we couldn't go further on. We had no choice, but to retreat. But before I told the other roaches as they celebrated their victory, I looked at Hiroga City.

Tremendous, black wings rose up from behind the city. I was dumbstruck. And as the other roaches looked upon the city and saw those wing, they all stood in silence. Cheers turned to bewilderment. Bewilderment turned to fear. I didn't know what I was seeing at first, but it became all too clear.

It was like silhouette. Its eyes stared glowing bright purple within the darkness. Its scales black and stronger than any armor. Its teeth sharper than any sword. Its wings larger and stronger than any storm. And its breath deadlier than any weapon made by any.

It flapped it's wing once. A gust of wind swept over the forest of mushrooms. The ones that were closest began to fly away. And as I watched that gust come towards us, I yelled, "Siblings, find cover and hang on to something!"

I ran to behind one of the giant mushrooms and held on tight. Hornet and Doc had the same idea as me and hid behind one of the mushrooms. Viking stood his ground while Cutter held onto his back. Some of the roaches were able to find something to hang on, but most of them began to fly away. And there were those who tried to hang on to something, but even they were flung back.

The creature rose up even more and stood towering over the city. It wasn't as tall as the mushroom in the middle of the city, but it stood over the city like it could destroy it with a single thrust of it's arms.

It took to the air and latched itself onto the side of the tall mushroom. It bellowed a great roar that created an even stronger gust of wind. Each one of us began to fly backwards even while holding onto something.

This creature was something that the Queen would give half of her empire for. A dragon.