IMPERIUM INSECTUM

Chapter 7

I swiped away at the blue boxes. My mind was too full of fury to deal with them.

<Fucking, humans!> I yelled into the sky.

Calm diva, calm. I looked at her body once more, causing the wave of fury inside of me to boil. My pincers yearned to tear her apart piece by piece whilst she was awake, but I managed to keep them restrained. As much as I hate to admit it, she is more useful to me alive. I turned away from her and slipped my pincers back into my body. I needed to focus on rebuilding what I lost, and for that, I needed resources; luckily, I knew exactly where I could get some. I walked over to the brute’s now cold dead body. Most of the blood that was in him had drained into the dirt, leaving his body grey. I knelt over his body, and I instantly gagged. I’ve smelt month-old decomposing bodies that smell better than this guy. I quickly searched his pockets taking his brown coin bag and a small switchblade. I tossed the blade into the tree line. I didn’t need it. I took a deep breath, opened my mouth and tore a chunk of flesh out of his body.

<Oh god! He tastes worse!>

I grit my teeth and powered through. I continued devouring his body, leaving no part of Him to waste.

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+1000 resources.

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Only 1 thousand? That’s only enough for one nanny or 2 workers. I guess I will need a lot more bodies for what I have planned. I moved away from him and went towards the archer's remains, stopping to pick up the coin bag he had dropped for me earlier. Even though I hated taking it. I still need money.

 I found The remains of the archer amongst the treeline and made quick work of him; Thankfully, he didn’t smell as bad as the other one.

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+500 resources.

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Only 500? I know he was quite small, but I feel like I’m being robbed here. I sighed and walked back towards the girl. She was still out cold. I wanted to wait till she wakes up, but we needed to get moving. I’m not in the position to deal with any people that come looking for her. I grabbed one of her arms and started dragging her into the forest.

2 hours later….

<I really shouldn’t have hit her that hard> I said whilst still dragging her useless lump through the forest.

It had been 2 hours since our fight, and In that time, the sun had finally set, plunging the forest into darkness. I was a bit worried that some wild animals would have tried to attack me by now, but the forest has been eerily quiet. I wouldn’t have minded if they did, It would have at least given me something to do, besides dragging this bitch through the forest. I looked over my shoulder towards Her. The leather armour she wore Had practically been torn to shreds, Leaving a few measly strips covering her body. She was covered head to toe in cuts, swelling and scrapes, and She had a large patch of road rash all down her leg. It was a miracle the pain hadn’t woken her up yet. Maybe I should rub salt in her wounds? That thought put a smile on my face. But where would I get salt? As I thought about that, her body started to stir.

*uuhmm.. uhmm…. M..y……head*

She made pained grunts as she was waking up. I instantly dropped her to the ground, causing her to scream in pain. I had no plans to give her a break. I walked up to her stomach and gave her a swift kick.

“What…the..fu..c.k” she said through pained gasps.

I knelt down to her level, grabbed her face, and pointed it at me.

<Are you awake>

She looked at me with a pained and confused expression. And then it clicked with me.

<Fucking, human speech!>

“You awake,” I said coldly.

“I *cough* am. Where ar-“

*SMACK*

My hand flew across her face faster than lightning. Leaving a bright red mark across her cheek.

“I’m talking! You listen!” Tears started streaming down the sides of her face. Please, Save those tears for someone who cares.

“Your hideout. Take me there”. You mentioned it earlier.”

“What Hideou- *AHHHHHH*” She let out a bone-shaking scream as I started digging my claws into her cheek. Drawing blood.

“Don’t….. play…. Games…. With… me!” My voice was covered with murderous intent. Just Being this fucking close to her pissed me off. And she stank as well, Just like the other guy. I let go of her face, Which was covered in a sickly mix of blood and tears.

 “Your hideout. Take me there,” I repeated with my voice, dripping with venom.

“Walk”, I ordered.

Tears streamed down her face as she started getting off the ground. Her battered and bruised legs wobbled like jelly, barely able to support their own weight, let alone her body.

“I can’t. My legs hurt,” She said through sobs. She turned and looked at me with pleading eyes hoping for some sort of mercy. Too bad those eyes were looking at the wrong person.

“WALK!” I demanded, this time pulling out one of my pincers. Her face contorted with fear. She Slowly turned around and started limping. I closely followed behind, smiling at every pained peep she made.

 I kept her walking for a good 30 minutes. Over that time, Her pace had decreased to basically a crawl. I looked towards her feet. They were completely bruised and covered with scarlet lacerations from top to bottom, probably from the brambles I made her walkthrough. Thinking about that made me extremely giddy. What else could I do to her? Maybe I cou-

*THUD*

She had fallen onto the ground. I’m surprised this hadn’t happened earlier.

“Get Up” I said quietly, ignoring her plea to let her rest.

She started crying again. God, this is starting to get annoying now. Maybe I should just kill her.

“W….. W….. why are you doing this” Before she even finished speaking. I jumped onto Her and wrapped my hands around her fragile neck, and started choking her.

“Why!? YOU ASK WHY I'M DOING THIS?” I increased the pressure around her neck.

“YOU ATTACKED ME FOR ME NO REASON, THREATENED TO KIDNAP AND SELL ME, AND ON TOP OF THAT, YOU THEN PROCEEDED TO BURN MY CHILDREN, AND NOW YOU HAVE THE GALL TO ASK WHY I AM DOING THIS!?” I channelled all my anger into choking her. Her face went beet red, and her arms flailed as she tried to hit me. Every fibre of my being wanted to kill her. Make her suffer in the most horrible of ways known to man.

 I Reluctantly let go of her neck.

“Don’t misunderstand. The only reason why I haven’t killed you is because you have information. That is why you are alive right now.” I climbed off of her and stood up. “you took something I cherished dearly, and I will make you pay me back. Now get up and start walking.”

We slowly and silently made our way through the pitch-black forest. Every now and again, that silence would be interrupted by her sobbing. We walked for a good 40 minutes. Until the silence was interrupted again. This time not by her but by the sounds of chatting and raucous laughter. I quickly ran up behind the girl and covered her mouth, and dragged her behind a group of trees.

“Shhhhhh.” I whispered, “We don’t want you to get their attention now. Do we?”. Her eyes bulged out. I knew it. She planned to cry for help as soon as she got close enough. How stupid does she think I am? The urge to kill her started rising again, but I managed to control it. I slowly walked with the girl closer towards the sound. Slowly the ground around us began to go from pitch black to a lightly hazy orange. I needed to investigate alone any further, and we will be noticed. I looked to the right and saw there was a large dense gathering of bushes. I quickly moved the girl over there and tossed her onto the floor. I then quickly tore 2 long strips from what was left of her armour. I used one to tie her feet and shoved the other in her mouth as a Gag. I then summoned 1 of the flies from my [living nest].

<Make sure she stays quiet and doesn’t go anywhere. If she does. End her>

<Yes, Mother>

I was reluctant to leave him alone with the murderer; who knows what trick she has up her sleeves. Thinking about it, Maybe I should check one more ti-

< It's okay, mother. I’ll be fine.>

I looked towards him. He had A dark green body With little star-shaped yellow marks.

I smiled and stroked his back. He didn’t react, but I knew he was happy.  

“Is that your hideout?” I asked the girl.

She shook her head in agreement.

“Good. I’m going to pay them a visit. This one will keep you company. If you so much as make a squeak, he will kill you.”

He flew out of my hand and attached himself to her neck. Her Body froze, and her face filled with dread. Good. I turned away from the both of them and bolted off towards the light. Let's see what we got here.