Path of the Hive Queen

Ada stepped out of the forest slowly, carefully. She glanced around, looking out over the vast field. She’d never seen that much grass before in her life, but that was not important to her right now. There was a lot that she hadn’t seen before.

She listened carefully and tried to parse all of the scents she could catch. The wind was coming from the east, which was helpful. After a few minutes, when she was convinced that there really wasn’t anyone else around, she turned and called back. “It’s okay to come out now!”

Ben and Dan stepped out from behind the trees. They looked around just like she had, their eyes wide with curiosity.

“Did you find any points of concern?” Ben asked.

Ada shook her head. “No. The only monsters probably aren’t close enough to bother us, and I couldn’t find any traces of other people. Still, this area is pretty exposed. Let’s move through it quickly, okay?”

Ben nodded, and they set off together, Ada a few steps in the lead and the two Drone Warriors behind her.

They’d traveled some distance through the forest already, and only encountered two monsters that they had fought off. Mostly the warriors, really. Ben had even gained a level and was level 6 now, while Dan and Ada were both level 5. Ada might be younger than them, but she’d been leveling quickly, probably because she’d done a lot of scouting.

Her brother Ace might have reached level 5 first, but Ada had been the first one to speak up and volunteer when their Queen asked for one of them to go as part of this little expedition. She wouldn’t let her down.

But she knew this wouldn’t be like the scouting she’d done before. The human dwellings were situated in areas that were too exposed, and there would probably be people actively looking for any potential threats that came near. It was one of the reasons she had decided not to follow the river. That would have been too obvious, and they might be watching it more closely. Still, the human castle was built in the middle of it, so they couldn’t go too far.

At least Max, Tim and Tia had drawn her maps of the area, as detailed as they could make them, and told her what they’d seen. It was almost as good as if she’d been there herself. And while Ben had been put in charge of their group, he let her do her job and followed her decisions when it came to the scouting part of their mission. Which was really most of their task.

They moved slowly, trying to keep low and use the cover of the high grass. Ada had to suppress a wince occasionally, when one of the Warriors’s steps would make an especially loud thump. They weren’t that good at stealth. But it should be okay, considering they were alone. Anyone close enough to hear their footsteps would know they were there anyway. She just didn’t want to be unprofessional.

The castle came into sight quickly, making them slow down even more. Even from a distance, Ada could see that its walls had been damaged. There were some discolorations in the stone it was made of. It looked like they’d rebuilt the walls, though, at least the basic structure. Small shapes still swarmed over it, humans at work. A wyvern perched on the roof of one of the corner towers, its head tucked against its back. It looked like it was napping. From what she’d heard, it might mean that wyvern riding mage was here, or someone at least equally powerful.

She changed course, keeping the distance to the fort open and starting to circle around it. They were definitely watching, and she didn’t want them to get discovered. It was probably better to just check on the village and then go from there.

Ada told Ben and Dan what she wanted to do, and they nodded.

“Just check our surroundings carefully,” Ben said. “I don’t want to stumble upon hidden humans. Or hidden monsters.”

“You can keep your eyes open, too,” she responded. “I may be a Scout, but more pairs of eyes are better than just one. The same goes for ears and noses, too.”

Dan snorted softly, but he didn’t say anything. They kept moving in silence.

They had deliberately left the forest on the side of the river where the main part of the village was located, so they didn’t have to cross it here. The river curved around, anyway, heading off roughly to the northeast. Ada occasionally caught a shimmer or a dark shape moving through the water, showing there might be aquatic monsters. She was glad they didn’t have to try and swim in it.

“This is pretty interesting,” Dan said after a few moments. “Do you think we’ll meet many monsters?”

Ada resisted the urge to look at him. “Keep your voice down, please. And is that why you volunteered for this mission?”

“We didn’t volunteer for it,” he said. “Tim volunteered us.”

Ada glanced back and raised an eyebrow. She caught Ben thumping Dan in the arm. Then they continued on in silence.

The village looked exactly like she’d expected, but she did have good descriptions to go on. It was basically just a cluster of simple homes, not much better than their Hive’s settlement, even if it was much larger. The main road leading there from the castle, and probably further on into the kingdom, was the only one that looked like it would support wagon traffic. There were no paved streets and the others all seemed to have been built with few right angles. From out here, they couldn’t see much. The fields around the village mostly still sported crops, especially grain, but it was trampled in many places. That had to be the effect of the monster horde.

There was a pair of men standing at the entrance to the village, wearing a kind of heavy cloth-based armor and metal helmets, and carrying weapons and shields. They didn’t look all that fearsome to Ada, but she couldn’t read their System descriptions from this far away.

“Do you see them?” Ben asked in a low voice. “I can barely make out anything.”

Ada nodded and started walking to the side, keeping the distance open. “I can. There are two guys standing watch.” She described what she saw.

She was thankful for her first Class Ability, Keen Sight. It was a passive ability that improved her eyesight, especially at long distances. The other options had been improvements to her hearing and sense of smell, but she hadn’t picked those because she knew they were already quite good compared to humans, or probably most people, while potential enemies wouldn’t expect her eyesight to be this keen. Besides, vision was the sense that covered the longest distance, under most circumstances.

They moved around for a few hundred meters, getting a new angle on the village, but didn’t really see anything new. Ada wasn’t sure whether they should try to get closer from a new direction, where there might be fewer people watching, and get a closer look. But she didn’t know how many men were keeping watch or where they were stationed, and it was possible some where hidden in a position where she wouldn’t see them.

“We could maybe get closer, if we move away from these soldiers,” she said. “But it would be a risk. I’m also not sure how much we would really see.”

Ben nodded. He looked thoughtful. “Do you see any indications that there’s something important further in?”

“Not really. But I’m not exactly an expert on human villages, you know.”

“Let’s do it,” Dan suggested. “I don’t want to go back empty-handed.”

Ben frowned at him. “Our pride doesn’t matter, Dan, only the good of the Hive. It wouldn’t be good if we get discovered. At least we’ve confirmed that they’ve rebuilt the fort. We could just keep watch on the village for a while and see if we catch sight of anyone who might be a Delver.”

Ada nodded. That sounded smarter to her too. She crouched down, trying to make her presence as inconspicuous as possible, and settled in to watch and wait. They didn’t have a hard time limit for their mission, and it was understood that it might take a few days. Absently, she wondered if there’d be new siblings when they got back.

After a while, she shifted her weight and glanced around, scanning the fields around them and the horizon to make sure that they were still in the clear. When she came to the forest, she paused.

“Ben, Dan,” she hissed. “There’s someone approaching from the forest, heading towards the village.”

The boys started and looked backwards. “Crap,” Ben said. “What should we do?”

Ada glanced at the village. They were still a good distance away from it. “We could move sideways,” she said, “keeping away from the village and away from the other human. We’ll have to double back to get back to the village or to where we came from, but we shouldn’t encounter any dangerous monsters, at least.”

“Alright,” Ben said. “Lead the way.”

At least the human probably couldn’t see them. They all tried to keep close to the ground as they started moving again. Ada glanced back occasionally. The human was moving quickly. Running at a steady pace, she realized after a moment. They’d already come close enough that she could make out more details. It was a pretty small figure, with a brown cloak and long red hair.

Unfortunately, just trying to circle around the village would have them get too close to the river, so she was moving away in a straight line. She checked for monsters and smelled some coming from further ahead and to the north, so she adjusted course again.

“Wait,” Ada said after a few minutes. “She’s changed course and is coming towards us.”

“Shit,” Ben cursed softly. “Alright, let’s move more towards the forest, we might be able to lose her in there. And hurry up.”

Ada changed course again to follow his directions, but that only let their pursuer catch up more quickly. They started running as well, but they only managed to keep pace instead of opening the distance. Then they finally reached the cover of the forest.

Here, Ada had to slow down. She picked her way carefully through the trees, trying to keep the noise down. But this section of the forest had a lot of underbrush, and the Warriors were even noisier than her.

By now, they could all smell their pursuer getting closer, although it was harder to see through the vegetation. She seemed to be able to track them pretty well, too.

“Let’s stop and wait for her,” Ben said in a low voice. “Ada, circle around a bit.”

She nodded and picked up a few sticks, throwing them in the direction they’d been going one after another while she slipped around some trees.

It didn’t take long for the human to appear. Ada focused on her and looked at the System notification.

She recognized the name from Max’s stories, although she didn’t know how common it was for humans. Carefully, Ada stepped out from behind her tree, to the side and slightly behind the human.

Janis glanced around, then raised a hand in what might be a greeting. “Hello. I apologize if you felt threatened, that wasn’t my intention.”

Ben took a step forward, while Dan sidestepped, positioning himself better for a fight.

“Why did you follow us?” Ben asked.

“I was just curious. You three belong to Regina’s group, don’t you?”

Ada managed not to stiffen or give any other tell, but unfortunately, the Warriors did. “What makes you say that?” Ben asked.

“I don’t think there are more of your people around,” Janis answered. She cocked her head. “You were spying on the village, weren’t you? Don’t deny it, it’s quite obvious considering where I saw you.”

“We don’t mean any harm,” Ben said, but he sounded tense.

Dan shifted. “We should take her with us,” he suggested. “Our Queen can decide what to do about her.”

Ada tensed. Ben narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t immediately refuse the suggestion.

“Now, let’s all calm down,” Janis said, clearly trying to sound calm. But they way she glanced around showed that it might just be dawning on her how dangerous of a position she’d put herself in. “Why would you do that? I don’t mean you or your - hive, is it? - any harm.”

“You saw us observing the village, as you said,” Ben said. “We don’t want there to be any unnecessary escalation. But you were in the forest alone, weren’t you?”

“I’m not going to go and accuse you of anything,” Janis responded. “Besides, I think you’re a little too paranoid. The Delvers have been gone for a while, and no one in the village has anything against you.”

But if there was going to be a war, then the humans knowing that the Hive was around and had new members might be dangerous. Ada glanced at the others, reading the tension in their postures. Ben was extending his blade-arms.

They don’t know about her, she realized. Right, they were on patrol when Max told her and Ace the story of what had happened in the village, and when they talked about the mission later, no one mentioned any individual villagers.

“Guys,” she said in a low voice. “I think our Queen might be upset if we tried to kidnap this woman.” Assuming they could even win in a fight. “She helped the others.”

Ben glanced from her to Dan for a long moment, while Ada held her breath. Then he nodded and took half a step back.

“I apologize if we were rude,” he said to Janis. “Please just forget about this little incident.”

“Alright.” Janis smiled slightly, her shoulders sagging in obvious relief. Clearly, she wasn’t such a high level that she wanted a three-on-one fight.

She stepped backwards. “Please tell your queen that I’m happy she and the others got away and I’d like to take her up on her invitation some day. But it might be best if you all moved deeper into the forest again.”

With that, she left.

The three drones stood there and listened to her go. Ada frowned. Those last words — Janis knew about the war, didn’t she? But she didn’t tell them about it, just gave a vague suggestion.

She certainly wouldn’t earn Regina’s trust that way, if she was trying to. And she might still talk about their presence here.

Well, no one had gotten hurt, at least.