I jumped clear, threw the severed head on the ground in a challenge to the survivor, and watched in horror as the mace-bug’s body continued to move. Wherever its brain was, it wasn’t in its head. It walked the circuit of the room, tapping its club against the floor, hooks, and horns. When it found something it thought was a horrible human, it smashed its claws down on it and sent bits of the room skittering across the floor.
The sword-bug didn’t give up either, but its ability to attack was severely compromised. I was in the corner to the left of the door. The mace-bug was crossing in front of the two entrances to the Queen’s chamber, and it was essentially alone and facing two opponents: me and the other bug, who had demonstrated it would attack anything nearby that moved.
I charged the mace-bug again, landed on its back, and kicked off the wall to its left. This sent my victim into the sword bug. When they made contact, the blinded mace-bug began to beat its opponent senseless. I dropped to the ground and hurried to the far side of the room to watch. The Queen screamed, but neither bug heard it. The sword-bug’s head was smashed most of the way into its body, and the mace-bug was dead. I finished off the first by burying Ebon in its wound to the hilt.
You have chosen the path of death. I will order my soldiers to intercept you. They will not kill you, though. You will be restrained, and they will carefully apply my fluid to you. They will begin with the—
“You’re next, bitch,” I interrupted.
I filled my mind with images of the suffering she had caused. I thought of how Skrew had almost been tortured to death, a slave and a victim of the system the Queen had put into place. Of Enra, kidnapped from the Ish-Nul, her family, and beaten by a cruel master. I thought of Reaver and Beatrix, forced to fight for the entertainment of others, and of Demetrios’s false promise of release.
A quick slash across the curtain on the left dropped strands of glue to the deck. They popped and hissed, giving off an acrid smoke as they chewed their way through. Acid, I thought. A powerful weapon, but a futile attack. I couldn’t even say it was a nice try.
Your companions blame you, the Queen whispered into my mind. One of the females is dead, and they blame you. They will kill you. I have seen to it. But I can rescue you. I can save you. Leave now, and you will see mercy. Leave now, and I will allow you to live.
I was angry, but I had it under control. I didn’t believe that her troops had killed one of the women. There were two Void-touched in the group against her soldiers. It wouldn’t be close to a fair fight, even if she threw 100 bugs at them. And, based on what I’d seen so far, she didn’t have 100 warriors left in her entire hive.
“I’m coming for you,” I said as I slashed the beaded curtain covering the left archway. It fell to the ground, and I stepped over it.
The Queen’s chamber was even more opulent than the passageway that led to it. It was 30 feet wide with a domed ceiling, and the gold-colored walls were teeming with the little red repair bugs. Most looked as though they had nothing to do, but every couple of seconds I heard a loud crack, and a few of the bugs would scurry off to take care of the new damage.
Again, the Queen was hidden. But again, I could tell where she was. There was a raised dais in the center of the small room, surrounded by a thin, white material that mimicked silk. Parts of it were tattered and had been patched so many times, it resembled the ethereal trappings of a spirit come to haunt the living. The fabric-like substance moved with an unseen breeze. Although I couldn't see how it could be possible, the material seemed to be alive.
I counted five of the flat, hairy cleaning bugs in the room as well. They meandered aimlessly as if they were hungry for waste, but there was none readily available.
The stink of the Queen’s pheromones had been bad in the hallway. In her presence, it was downright sickening. I had to work hard to keep my breathing even and steady.
I slowly became aware of the sound in the room. It blended into the background noise of the hive so well, I almost didn’t notice it. It was a buzzing, humming kind of sound, steady and even. It wasn’t the sound of beating wings, though that might have explained the moving fabric. It was something else entirely.
Do not approach. You are not worthy to be in my presence. I am a Queen. I am beautiful. I am terrible. Leave now, or I will destroy you.
“You got the terrible part right,” I said as I took another step forward.
Suddenly, the buzzing stopped. Something new was about to happen. Some last-ditch effort from the Queen. I hoped it was something good, and I hoped she was afraid.
I was disappointed when I saw a drone stick its head out of the fabric. Then I snorted.
“What?” I said. “Really?”
It turned its buggy eyes toward me and vanished back into the soft cocoon. A moment later, it fell out as if pushed and tumbled unceremoniously to the deck. From there, it stared at me, its limbs shaking in what I
