The present day:

Insects began to gather in a small clearing, ignoring the drops of water that fell from above. There were all kinds of creatures here—poisonous spiders from the deepest parts of the forest who were larger than a human palm. Next to them hurried scorpions from outside of the Living Lands; the tough chitin of their bodies could withstand a direct hit from a handgun. Predators and parasites marched together; hunters and gatherers walked side-by-side, no longer ruled by instincts.

Thousands of eyes opened as Hive awakened from his dream. The eyes scanned the surroundings, piercing the night with compound and simple eyes, his countless legs twitching anxiously, mandibles and chelicerae colliding as he was taking in the new information and slowly calmed himself. Again! It always happened when he split his self too much or spread out too much. He remembered when he

She

Was locked in that useless, broken body! Away, away, the past! Away, away, the nightmares! For while the night is dark, there is only one true horror here. And it was him, Hive, one of the three great champions of the Oath.

Ospon burned. Hive was in the trees, in the grass, on the animals. Some parts of him died in the great fire. It was fine; the loss of mass was nothing. Information was everything.

"He" and his army were moving faster than expected. Even now, Hive dared not call his nemesis by his name, for his nemesis had many unnatural powers. And Hive was not yet ready for an open confrontation with him.

"One would think that the Living Lands would slow him down," Hive growled in a human voice. The insects moved, scratching chitinous shells against each other in imitation of human speech.

Spiders, bugs, flies, centipedes, and other parts of Hive began to merge. Wing casings opened, and bugs took to the air, coalescing with the others. Legs grasped each other, creating a foundation for the mass of living things above. Mandibles bit mandibles, and three human-shaped figures were formed.

Hive's power was that any insect that devoured a part of him would end up being part of the swarm, and thus part of his mind and body. The Living Lands teemed with life; countless new, dangerous species were in abundance and ready to be collected. After the fools of Sapon refused his offer, Hive made sure to spread himself around the land. He was now busy collecting the most dangerous creatures and multiplying them. Multiplying was hard. Hive hated hurting animals; his parents always told him

Her

not to hurt those who are weaker than you. Only bullies do that. But there were other ways. He gorged some of his parts on tree sap, flowers, and other kinds of nutrients. Then he cannibalized his own body, devouring weaker parts to produce stronger ones. Again and again. A kind of perfect ecosystem. Hive was careful not to overdo himself and evaded expanding himself too much, scaring away several types of insects. The local wildlife must survive. Of course, if he found a dead animal or human, he helped himself. Waste not, want not.

A swollen, mangled body limped forward and joined the figures. Hive looked at the host and admitted that this body was about to break. The insect pincers held the torn muscles and ruined form together, sewing the flesh together like needles. Its lower jaw dangled on a strip of rotting flesh. Two large globes at the back of the body were filled with nourishing juices. Their weight alone had started tearing the flesh. The body began to decompose after he visited Marcus Sapon to deliver a warning. The nutrients in the half-dead body were no longer sufficient to provide for the egg inside and the incubator body. And the egg must be preserved at all costs.

Hive obtained this host when he permanently removed a band of raiders from the border of the Living Lands. Hive had no real need for human hosts but found it much easier to communicate with other humans by using hollowed-out human husks, now filled with various exotic insects that controlled the brain of the deceased person. Just a few days ago, Hive encountered a bard on the road. Hive hid behind the trees, and the two had a good time singing songs of the Ravaged and Living Lands to each other. But when Hive left the trees and showed his true form, the bard ran away screaming. Hive was not angry with him for this; people from other lands often judged him by his appearance. He sent a few of his bodies after the bard, keeping the man safe until he reached a village. No doubt the locals will tell a few stories about the new "spirit" of the wood.

Hosts were useful for transporting the egg and to serve as incubators. The Living Lands were home to a whole swathe of dangerous, murderous creatures, yet the being in the egg came from the Ravaged Lands. It took Hive and scientists quite an effort to reawaken the life in this creature. This was a gift from the old era, when humans ruled over a healthy planet. One of the research centers recreated one of the most dangerous beings of a faraway era, an era when even humans did not exist. And not only did they recreate this magnificent creature, but they also improved upon the design. Before they could produce even a single such being, the Extinction had happened, and these creatures were left in storage, never to be hatched and never to taste their abilities in battle.

Until Hive found them, that is.

A loud scream pierced through the night. Hive could already sense many night beasts converging on the source of the scream, drawn by the scent of weak prey. A human prey. He sent some of his parts to scare the beasts away. His numerous parts began moving, countless legs began running, wings lifted, a living swarm in the air, searching, looking for the source of sound.

It was easy enough to find. A group of local commoners were running away from the Orais. It was a surprise that both parties had survived this long, but a welcome one. Human-shaped parts of Hive charged forward. One human-shaped figure jumped and grabbed a tree's branches, jumping from one branch to another like a long extinct ape from the past. The bugs forming his lips shifted to form a smile as he made a graceful somersault. Hive liked to entertain himself like this; his minds had already calculated exactly where to intercept the groups. The maimed host hurried after the living carpet as fast as possible. Larger insectoid parts of his body, big enough to be individual parts, ran in the darkness of the trees, away from the main swarm. The purpose of these units was to ensure that no one would interfere.

He finally arrived as the Orais reached their victims. One of the huge gorilla-like creatures raised a pair of enormous axes above his head, ready to slice the woman and man before him in two. The rest of the Orais surrounded the people, bellowing challenges at the confused locals armed with a few knives.

Meanies. Villains.

The charge that never came as the living carpet flew from the trees, running above the legs of the Orais warriors. The warriors were bitten and stung, poison was injected, and paralysis was administered. Some of the warriors tried their best to escape and resist, but where would you run from the living quicksand made from countless living beasts? You move to the right, and living water moves after you. The insects filled the screaming mouths, pushed in the spaces between the armor and opened mouths, and burrowed their way into the skin. Larger and more dangerous specimens have started working, their pincers cracking the armor.

"Useless," muttered the human form of Hive, still sitting in the trees. Another human form jumped from the trees and landed among the commoners.

"Nothing to worry about here, good people of Sapon and Angor," Hive said without a trace of an accent. Hive always liked to study new things, and languages were at the top of that list. You can't imitate songs from other lands without first mastering the language; after all, "I am a hero..." The being made of countless moving insects said this to the horrified people while the Orais warriors were dying, screaming from pain all around them. Hive's eyes were made of fireflies, and his teeth were made of centipedes. "Well, I try to be a hero, at least. Anyway, I am here to save you all!" He said and struck a pose, pressing one hand to his waist and pushing the other hand with a "V" sign toward the people.

Suddenly, the larger parts of Hive saw a group of three soldiers less than a half-kilometer away. These were in full gear, covered in power armor from head to toe. Each of their heavy steps was accompanied by the sound of hydraulics, granting these Normies enough physical strength to uproot a tree with one hand. Undoubtedly, they were attracted by the screams of the orais. The specialized parts began to circle around them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Most likely, these soldiers were tasked with bringing the overzealous Orais back…

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The living carpet exploded upwards when someone jumped from underneath it into the air. An Orais warrior leapt a dozen meters into the air, with pieces of Hive falling off him.

"Abnormal," the human-shaped Hive on the trees said in a disappointed tone. It was not surprising that the Orais had them; everyone these days seemed to have a few, but such an encounter was annoying. The soldiers might notice something. Oh well, the Orais had no way to escape anyway, once he falls…

Hive's eyes in the air saw something. A bright spark formed into a ball of blue light in the warrior's hand. It exploded, burning away the insects crawling around him. Another spark, this one much larger, began to form in the soldier's hand. The soldier aimed his energy ball at the humanoid form. Ignoring the civilians standing behind Hive.

"Abnormal and blessed?" Hive roared in annoyance and jumped to save the people.

The Orais threw the orb at him. The blue ball of energy hit Hive's human-shaped body and tore it apart. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, it did nothing. His humanoid shape was torn apart, and most of his human-shaped body was dead, but this did not render Hive helpless or undermine his control over the swarm. The insects that made up his head, hands, and legs broke apart to escape the flames. Bouncing off each other, they had reached the falling body, joined by the swarm in the air. The Orais choked, struggling to keep himself from breathing when insects poured into his mouth and nostrils. It didn't help him one bit. The lenses of his helmet were cracked, and next came the turn of his eyes. Scorpions burrowed into his head through his nose and ears. The soldier did not suffer long; his brain was hollowed out even before his body touched the ground.

"See, nothing to worry about; the hero is always here to help." Another human-shaped Hive rushed to the group and bent his form before one of the youths, twisting his mouth in the form of a smile.

"Don't touch my son, you monster!" a woman shouted nearby, smacking the swarm across the head, shattering the perfectly round shape of his head. As if broken from a trance, commoners began running from the site of the massacre.

"Where are you running? There are no cities in that way!" Hive yelled behind them. "Heh, Normies…" Hive let out a good-natured laugh and sent some of the larger parts after commoners.

If they refuse his assistance, Hive will lead them back to the Sapon lands like a great pyrenees, a sadly extinct beast of the past, guarding and directing the people like sheep. No matter the prejudice, no matter the hatred, a hero does not abandon the weak in their time of need. Because he was strong and they were not. And the strong had a responsibility to help the weak to stand up and keep them safe. Let them go to the Sapon settlements and do whatever they want there. No one would believe them, anyway.

Meanwhile, the soldiers noticed the effects of the explosion. One of the soldiers raised his hand to his ear to activate the communicator and send the update to his commanding officer. A shape appeared above him, traversing the trees without a single sound. Hive didn't use the insects of the Living Lands alone. An insectoid warrior, a creature a meter and a half tall, jumped from above, and broke his fall with ideal perfection, digging his stalked legs into the trunks of the trees.

The soldier never managed to make a call, as his hand was cleanly sliced off by the insectoid warrior's blade arm. Hive rammed his sword hand into a man's back, piercing through the armor as if it was nothing, and twisted the sword, killing the opponent instantly. Another man turned, a rifle in his hand. The soldier backed against a tree, preparing to fire, when a giant spider-like creature fell on him from above, wrapping its legs around the soldier's body and biting off his head with powerful chelicerae. The last soldier died when sword arms pierced his eyes and exited from the back of his skull.

The Living Lands were a dangerous place, true. But the Ravaged Lands were no less dangerous. These creatures were brought from the Ravaged Lands by Hive, and they proved to be just as dangerous in the local forests as they were on the scorched heathlands.

"Mystery for a week; find out why the Reclamation Army's equipment is working and rusting here," Hive said to himself. Hive brought quite a few toys with him to the Living Lands, as well as a video recorder with the latest cartoons of Iterna and the Reclamation Army. Just a few weeks after arriving in the Living Lands, all of this nice stuff had turned into a rusty mess. At least the magazines survived, and Hive could keep himself occupied by solving puzzles.

The mutilated incubator finally reached the battlefield. Hive directed part of his swarm to eviscerate the abnormal Orais, while the feeders, specially designed insects in the shape of a ball whose sole function was to store nutrients, began to feast on the dead bodies, preparing new nutrient juices for the growing organism.

It was a bit scary to be here, especially when "he" was coming.

We can run, you know.

"Shut it!" Hive screamed in his mind. "We are one! Not We We, we are one person. Hive! Stop making it weird!"

Sorry.

"Just… be silent, will you?" Hive asked. "If we leave, the Reclamation Army will undoubtedly gobble up these lands, making it twice as hard for us to beat them later. Besides, he and I have a score to settle."

Revenge is bad.

"I know, but think about it." Hive crossed his arms and sat down. "The villains came to these lands, killing and stealing. What kind of hero would abandon the people in such a situation? Fate itself pushes me against him; revenge is irrelevant. It is my duty, a hero's duty, to stop the villain once and for all."

No one answered. It was only an imaginary voice, after all, a relic from the days when Hive was all alone, without his friends among the Oathtakers.

"I am feeling lonely, and I am stressed," Hive admitted to himself. He disliked the local land because he had no one to talk to. His one and only intelligent companion was busy preparing a lair for the second egg. And he was also quite boring to speak with anyway. The man was a loyal follower and a true believer; his children were the kindest souls ever, but the truth was the truth. Hive struggled to understand the science behind DNA and similar stuff, and his follower could spend entire hours trying to enlighten him. Hive's non-existent head throbbed with pain from all the explanations. Besides, he solved all the puzzles in seconds, making the magazines useless.

The maimed body came close; its hands reached into the stomach and tore it apart, allowing the egg to fall into the hands of the human-shaped Hive. The larva inside the egg stirred; at this age, these beings were busy hunting and devouring enemies. Hive had already fed parts of himself to this wondrous murder creature; he could feel himself inside it, yet its mind was still trying to act on instinct. This was fine; this creature was the most unique part of Hive's body.

"You have a sad lot," Hive whispered to the creature inside the egg. "Born to kill and to live a short life. Such a sad fate. I am sorry that I can't let you grow to your prime naturally."

The new host was ready. Armor fell from the partially hollowed-out Orais, and parasites took residence in its half-eaten brain. Hive opened the stomach of a new host and carefully placed the egg inside as the feeders closed in, filling the host with nutrients, speeding up regeneration, and feeding the larva.

This egg will not be allowed to reach full maturity. Hive simply did not have the time. But it will grow, and it will reach its peak for a short time... Before it burns out like a candle. It will be enough for Hive's plan; he was sure of it.

"You will die," Hive said to his nemesis. Still, he dared not to say the name of the commander of the invading forces of the Reclamation Army. "Your plans will fall. For what you have done to my friends…" Hive spat words with burning hate. Knowing that someone has murdered those who are dear to you and being powerless to exact vengeance... "I will win here. You will not get Living Lands. I will protect the people. You will not kill them as you killed Lightbringer."

He remembered his first friend, the one who introduced him to the other people around the camp, the one who had never given up trying to build bridges between Hive and the other people. It was Lightbringer who had found Hive his first real job. And Lightbringer died, his back broken on that bastard's knee, his head vaporized by the light.

Hive directed his bodies to hide the remains of the enemies, taking a power armor with him as he left the place before other enemies could notice his presence. He still had much to do before revealing himself.