Book 7: Chapter 22: In the Hive

Book 7: Chapter 22: In the Hive

The ivid tunnels didnt provide convenient hiding places. The best the three adventurers could hope for was to duck out of sight around the many corners and bends whenever they saw one of the giant insects coming their way. The magical perfumeVictor wondered if it was somehow mimicking pheromonesseemed to work very well, however, and as long as they didnt stand directly in the path of one of the lumbering worker ivid, they didnt get attacked or, worse, swarmed.

After they snuck into the opening, he, Valla, and Lesh had hidden behind some of the fallen dirt as a dozen workers arrived and began sealing the opening the warrior ivid had made as theyd streamed forth to defend the nest. The workers looked much like the warriors but were smaller, closer to orange than dark brown, and had long, multi-jointed digits on their front legs rather than pincers. The trio had slipped away wholly unnoticed, and since then, something like an hour had passed, and theyd traversed endlessly descending tunnels with no sign that they were anywhere close to their goal.

Victor pulled his tiny Globe of Insight close, cupping his hands over the dim light and motioning for the others to come close. I think I should send my coyotes out exploring, he whisperedthey were afraid speaking aloud would alert the warriors who seemed to be lurking in omnipresent dugouts lining the tunnels every dozen feet or so. They were clearly in some kind of stasis with their eyes closed and completely motionless, but Lesh was sure the wrong smell or sound would have them up and swarming in a matter of seconds. Victor, obviously, wanted to avoid that.

Can we mask their scent? Do they have a scent? Lesh frowned, the expression very pronounced on his reptilian face, exposing half a dozen sharp teeth.

I dont know, Victor sighed.

I think we should avoid the risk while we can, Valla hissed. The tunnels were wide, easily ten yards across, and the soil they passed through was somehow hardened with a clear, resin-like glaze. Valla had been leaning against the far wall, keeping to the shadow as much as she could, but now she leaned close, speaking quickly and softly. While we can find a way down, we should be content. If we come to a blockage or some obstacle we cant find a way around, then we should consider other measures.

All right. Victor nodded; she made sense. They knew they had to get to the bottom, and so far, they hadnt had trouble finding a downward-sloping tunnel. He started forward again, and when he came to one of the alcoves cut out for a sleeping warrior, he veritably tiptoed past the opening. A layer of transparent resin sealed off some of the warrior alcoves, but others, like this one, were partially open, as though the warrior had been out of his pod recently and hadnt been sealed in yet. Who closed them in? The workers? It made sense; the workers were currently closing up the exit tunnel the three of them had come through. Would they seal the repacked dirt with this resin? Was it some kind of excretion, or was it made from a natural use of Energy? Victor was strangely intrigued by the insects and their weird lives.

I wonder if any of them think for themselves, he hissed to Valla, who was silently shadowing him.

I hope not. She didnt elaborate, but Victor could catch the further meaning of her words. So far, theyd remained undetected thanks to the workers lack of critical thinking. They might be in trouble if they came upon a different caste that operated on something other than instinct or hidden impulses from the queen.

Something comes, Lesh hissed, and, as theyd done ten or more times already, they hurried back, ahead of the incoming ivid, until they reached a junction theyd recently passed. They ducked down one of the narrower side tunnels and waited, watching the intersection. Half a minute later, with a sweat-inducing clatter of claws on the hard tunnel surface, ten workers scurried through.

Valla let out a breath shed been holding. Were lucky they never seem to turn down these side tunnels.

I believe these shafts lead to worker cells. There may be other tunnels accessible to other castes.

Victor thought about it, trying to imagine the layout of the enormous hive. If thats true, if they dont use that big tunnel up there for anything other than, I dont know, like a highway, then maybe it doesnt access the heart of the hive. Maybe we need to check out one of the, uh, cells where the workers live to see if there are other tunnels.

Lesh nodded. We havent seen any downward-traveling workers. Where are those that hunt and gather? Surely, they must bring some sort of harvest into the hive . . .

Well, lets be honest: We dont know shit about these guys. Maybe they have openings to their hive a thousand miles from here. Maybe they grow their food underground. Lets check down this side tunnel, though, just to see if we get any ideas. When Valla silently nodded, Victor turned and walked further into the side tunnel, away from the junction. This tunnel was smaller but still plenty large enough for Lesh and Victor. The workers, while smaller than the soldiers, were the size of small automobiles, and the tunnel was wide enough to accommodate one traveling in any orientation. Victor shuddered, imagining a horde of the things swarming through the tunnel, some on the walls, some on the ceiling.

Theyd only traversed a hundred yards or so when the tunnel took a very steep downward turn, so much so that Victor worried he might lose his footing and tumble. He turned, facing backward, and, using his hands with his feet, began descending almost like he was backing down a ladder. Lesh followed his example, but Valla seemed unbothered by the slope, partially spreading her wings and lightly hopping down, keeping pace with Victors ponderous descent.

After another hundred yards, the slope smoothed out a bit, and Victor turned to continue creeping along as he had been up above. The tunnel wended left and right for quite a while, and Victor was beginning to worry hed wasted a lot of time checking the side passage when he heard a strange, vibrating susurration in the air. He paused, straining his ears, and looked to Valla and Lesh with raised eyebrows. I know not, Lesh hissed. Valla shrugged, and Victor continued. When it rounded the next prominent curve, he saw an opening ahead and, for the first time, the glow of a light source other than his own.nove(l)bi(n.)com

He pointed, and Lesh and Valla nodded. They both held their weapons ready, and Victor reached over his shoulder, trusting his magical harness to push Lifedrinker into his hand. He pulled back the thread of Energy feeding his Globe of Insight, reducing it to a tiny spark that hovered near his head, and then he silently stalked forward, ready to see what lay beyond the dim opening. At the tunnels edge, he leaned his head forward, peering around the strangely smooth corner.

Victor shrugged and stalked down the left passage, very carefully and slowly rounding the slight curve, aware of the faint glow of amber light from ahead. When an opening began to come into view, he froze, ever so slowly inching his head to the left, past the curve, so he could see what was there. The passage opened into a low but vast space, and in it were thousands of insects that looked to be halfway between the attendant theyd run into and one of the big workers upstairs. They were probably a match for Victor or Lesh in mass, but they walked on all six legs. Their forelegs ended in articulated joints but were only two-pronged, and their coloring was less yellow and more brown than that of the bipedal creature Victor had killed. Even so, they were clearly different from the workers up above.

Stranger than their appearance was their behavior. The smaller workers were arrayed in dozens of rows, fanning out from the center of the room. They all faced the middle, and there, on a raised dais of resin-coated dirt, stood one of the bipedal insects and, before it, kneeled, for there was no better way to describe their posture, five of the small workers. The kneeling insects faced the ground, heads low, and the attendant insect paced before them. It was from his beak-like mouth that the clicks emanated.

Victor felt Valla and Lesh press close behind him, peering down the short length of the tunnel to the large, strange gathering of insects, but his eyes were glued to the scene in the middle. The bipedal insect walked before the five workers, its four hands gesticulating as it clicked. After a minute, though, it bent before the kneeling insects, one by one, and while Victor watched in fascinated horror, it bit through the chitin atop their heads with a clear, echoing snick. With each bite, the victims spasmed, arms twitching, chitinous bodies shivering, but they didnt die.

First, the attendant bit the two on the left, then the two on the right, and when Victor thought it would bite the fifth one, the one at the center, he was proven wrong. Instead, it took its dexterous-looking fingers, pulled something wet and glistening from the incision it had made in the others, and held it in its palm for the fifth worker to consume. Victor felt his mouth go dry as a dizzying sense of nausea came over him. That thing was feeding parts of the four workers to the fifth while they still lived! Vallas hand tightened on his shoulder, and that was the first time Victor realized shed gripped him.

He looked at her and saw her wide eyes and frantic gestures for him to turn around, so he followed her back toward the last intersection. Lesh was already there, waiting when they came around. The big dragonkin nodded when they approached and softly rumbled, I know not what rite it was performing, but we should move while they are all in attendance. If it finishes and releases that horde, well be overrun.

Yeah. Victor started down the other branch of the intersection and continued to whisper, Pretty weird, though. Did you see it pull something out of their heads to feed the one?

Perhaps its lifting one up. Lesh said the lifting one up as though it had a universal meaning. Victor looked at him quizzically.

Huh?

Perhaps it can elevate one caste to the next with the sacrifice of its fellows.

Is it replacing the one we killed? So quickly? Valla asked.

Perhaps. The Kothid were quick to replace the forces we slew during the war. Evolved hives are . . . disturbingly alien in their operation. We should consider that theres a greater awareness here, that there is a mind at work beyond each individual, even beyond the queen.

Victor nodded, looking back to reply, Like a network.

I wish we knew how deep we had to go and how deep weve come. I wish we knew what to expect, Valla sighed.

Yeah . . . Victor started to agree with her, but Lesh spoke too, and his words came more quickly, his thoughts fully formed.

I expect death. This cannot end well. Weve been descending for a mere hour, and already, tens of thousands of insects lurk above us. Already, weve learned that theres some intelligence at work. Ill be amazed if this stinking concoction works much longer. He wrinkled his short snout as he sniffed his forearm in illustration.

Neither Valla nor Victor responded to his sudden bout of negativity. Victor figured it was his memories of the war hed fought back on his homeworld. It couldnt be easy sneaking into a massive hive like thisit was bound to dredge up all sorts of feelings. Still, he had to admit he was feeling a little less optimistic. Theyd passed a hundred side passages. Theyd descended through miles and miles of tunnel. What were the odds they were on the right track? What were the odds the magical egg artifact would be waiting for them when theyd gone down as far as they could? How many hordes of insects would be waiting? What other weird castes were there? One thing gave him a glimmer of relief in the darkness of doubtthey had the recall tokens Erd Van had given them.

Lets just hope they work, he muttered, rounding yet another gentle curve and nearly stumbling into a black void. His light was dim, only allowing him to see a few feet ahead, but it was enough to show him that his next step would be into empty air. He braced an arm on the tunnel wall, then looked back at Lesh and Valla. Do we want to risk a brighter light?

Valla sighed and stepped forward. Perhaps its time I put my wings to use.