Chapter 68: I Entered a Giant Wasp Nest for One Organ

Raven went flying.

His back slammed into the wall.

Pain.

His ribs protested.

Not broken.

Probably.

The Soldier lunged at him.

Then stopped in midair.

Four lines of blood wrapped around its legs.

Valeria stood behind it.

"One."

She pulled.

The wasp lost altitude.

"Two."

Another line tightened around one wing.

"Three."

The wing tore free.

Dark fluid splattered across the wall.

The Soldier dropped.

Raven was already on top of it.

Stonehide covered his hand.

He struck the head once.

The shell fractured.

Twice.

One mandible broke.

Three times.

The structure around its compound eye collapsed beneath his mineralized knuckles.

The insect kept moving.

Raven drove the knife behind its head.

The Soldier went still.

The other three workers attacked at the same time.

Valeria turned.

The blood floating around her expanded.

Not projectiles.

Whips.

One pierced through a wing.

Another wrapped around an abdomen and slammed the creature into the ceiling.

The third got through.

Raven raised his hand.

Ember Spark.

The burst of flame struck its antennae directly.

Not enough damage to kill it.

Enough to disorient it.

Raven moved in.

Knife.

Neck.

He stepped back before the stinger could reach him.

The wasp tried to correct.

Valeria drove a crimson needle through the side of its head.

Silence.

For approximately two seconds.

Then the entire nest began to vibrate.

Raven looked toward the ceiling.

"Alarm."

Valeria took a breath.

"You think?"

The buzzing intensified.

Dozens.

No.

More.

"Move."

"Where?"

Raven looked toward the branching tunnels.

FORGE appeared.

«High-density compatible Trait source detected.

Distance decreasing.

Direction: Forward / Below»

Raven pointed toward the narrowest tunnel.

"There."

Valeria looked at him.

"Of course it’s deeper."

"Easy things don’t seem to like me."

"I had noticed."

They ran.

The first ten wasps reached the next chamber before they did.

Valeria stopped holding back.

Raven noticed because of the smell of iron.

A red line appeared across her forearm.

Blood.

Not three drops.

Dozens.

The liquid floated around her like a living ribbon.

The wasps entered.

Valeria spread her arms.

The ribbon divided.

Ten lines.

Fifteen.

Raven ducked.

The projectiles passed over him.

One wasp took three punctures through the thorax.

Another lost a wing.

A Soldier blocked the first strike with a reinforced leg.

The second pierced the joint.

The third punched through part of its head.

Raven moved beneath them.

A worker tried to sting him from above.

Predator’s Instinct.

Raven turned without looking.

Stonehide.

The stinger struck his mineralized shoulder.

Raven grabbed the abdomen with both hands.

Kinetic Acceleration responded to the contact.

He pushed.

The creature shot backward into another.

Both slammed into the wall.

Valeria raised two fingers.

Two crimson spikes punched through their skulls.

"Left," Raven said.

Valeria attacked without looking.

A Soldier descending from a side opening lost half its mandible.

"Above."

A red net spread over them.

Three workers became trapped.

"Behind."

Valeria turned.

Raven didn’t.

He trusted her.

A wet sound came from behind him.

Something warm splashed across the back of his neck.

Raven kept moving.

"That one was mine," Valeria said.

"I know."

"You didn’t even look."

"I didn’t need to."

Valeria smiled.

"That almost sounded nice."

"Focus."

"And you ruined it."

Another Soldier appeared.

Raven slid the knife beneath its guard.

He didn’t try to kill it.

He cut one leg.

The wasp lost balance.

Valeria finished the job.

They had fought together in Blackthorn.

That had been cooperation.

This was different.

Raven already knew how much Valeria could cover.

Valeria already knew that when he pointed toward a direction, she didn’t need to ask why.

Raven didn’t waste movement protecting a flank she controlled.

Valeria didn’t interfere when he moved into close range.

They argued.

Their bodies had stopped doing so.

The chamber filled with shattered shells, severed wings, and dark fluid mixing with Valeria’s red.

Raven took a discharge to the leg.

His muscles locked.

He dropped to one knee.

A worker descended.

Valeria caught the stinger four inches from his neck.

"Need help?"

Raven drove his knife upward and opened the creature’s throat.

"No."

"You could say thank you."

"Thank you."

Valeria blinked.

"That was unexpected."

"Don’t get distracted."

"There you are."

The tunnel ahead of them ended.

Not in a wall.

In an enormous chamber.

Raven stopped.

"Ah."

Valeria reached his side.

"I don’t like that."

"I do."

"That’s worse."

The Queen occupied the center.

She was nearly three times the size of a Soldier.

More than six feet from mandibles to the end of her abdomen.

Her wings were folded along her sides, too large for the corridors they had passed through. Her thorax was black, protected by overlapping plates. Her abdomen was dark gray, crossed by blue lines bright enough to illuminate the floor beneath her.

But Raven was looking at something else.

The organ.

He couldn’t see it directly.

FORGE could.

«Species identified: Arc Needle Queen

Level: 22

Rank: Awakened

Colony Caste: Queen

Available Traits:

High-Density Impulse Spark

Neural Command Pheromones

Enhanced Oviposition

Reinforced Thoracic Core

Prototype Rifle compatibility detected.

Primary compatible organ located beneath anterior abdominal plate.

WARNING: Destruction of abdominal core will invalidate component.»

Raven read the final line twice.

Valeria looked at the creature.

Then at Raven.

"Don’t tell me."

"The organ is in the abdomen."

"Naturally."

"Don’t damage it."

Valeria stared at him.

Behind them, the buzzing intensified.

More wasps were coming.

"Anything else you’d like to specify while hundreds of her daughters are trying to kill us?"

"Yes."

"Of course."

"The wings are fair game."

Valeria smiled.

"I can work with that."

The Queen opened her mandibles.

The sound wasn’t a buzz.

It was a vibration.

The entire chamber responded.

Her abdomen lit up.

Raven felt Predator’s Instinct flare.

"Down!"

They both threw themselves aside.

The discharge tore across the chamber.

Nothing like a worker’s attack.

It was a blue arc as thick as an arm.

It struck the entrance behind them.

The wall exploded.

Fragments of resin and wood flew through the chamber.

Several workers entering behind them were caught in the discharge and dropped, convulsing.

Valeria looked at the hole.

"That would’ve been useful to know."

"We know now."

"I hate when you answer like that."

The Queen moved.

Fast.

Too fast for her size.

Raven rolled beneath one mandible.

The second passed close enough to brush his shoulder.

He cut at one leg.

The blade bounced.

Reinforced.

The Queen turned.

Raven saw the abdomen.

No.

He couldn’t hit it.

He changed direction halfway through the strike.

Went for the wing instead.

The blade opened the membrane.

The Queen shrieked.

Valeria moved.