Path of the Hive Queen

Anuis Eltarianal stared into the darkness and smiled.

She didn’t particularly care that she was given a dangerous mission, that she would most likely be facing an enemy with superior numbers and that enemy Champions might pop up to make her life even more difficult. She looked forward to it. And not simply because she would be fulfilling her duty to defend her city-state or for an asinine reason like getting recognition for it. No, she was glad because they were finally doing something.

In her opinion, it had been a special kind of torture to be forced to sit in Ariedel, organizing patrol schedules and going on the occasional mind-numbing patrol to stare at empty trees, while their allies were fighting the war of the century and her own people sat on the sidelines, unmoving. While quite possibly the fate of the continent was decided around them.

To her shame, Anuis had almost been glad when she had heard of the Western Confederation army coming from their western territories and realized that this would force the government to finally respond and actually let them fight.

She wondered what they’d thought would happen if and when the war finished without another major upset. If the Westerners and Esemen won, did the assembled elders really think they would simply leave Ariedel to carry on in peace? Of course, some people she wouldn’t name were clearly trying to swing the government to support the Westerner alliance instead … So it was not a deliberate deadlock, that did not make it any better.

“Good luck out there, Commander,” Iseis Alturiel said, also looking into the darkness and frowning slightly. “I do not have a good feeling about this.”

“Thank you, my lady.” Anuis inclined her head. “You will not be joining us, then?”

She hadn’t been entirely sure. The Champion had stayed back so far, perhaps to conserve her mana. Not that they had needed her help. But Anuis knew that Lady Iseis had already been teleporting several times today; it was probably depleting her reserves, so rationing her mana made sense. It didn’t explain why she would come with them in the first place — it would make sense to stay in the city where she was aware of the enemy advance and able to go to where she needed — but perhaps she’d wanted to get a look at the tunnels and the defensive positions they would build here herself.

The thought of relying on an elf of her seniority in a combat role made Anuis slightly twitchy — this should not be necessary, but by all accounts being a Champion of the gods counted for quite a lot. And the tactical implications of her portal had the entire officer corps almost literally salivating, too.

“No. I will be marking a position here, to ease teleportation to this base,” Iseis replied. “I was considering doing the same if your troops secure a forward position, but given our timetable seems to be tighter than expected, I might be needed in the city.” She hesitated for a moment, then seemed to come to some decision. “I will stay here unless and until I’m needed elsewhere, though, and if you can establish secure communications with the city where you will be, I can join you there as well.”

“I will do my best. Thank you.”

Curiously, Anuis watched as Iseis apparently got started with her plan, but she had to admit it went over her head. Anuis was hardly specialized in magic. But to be fair, the mages in her company also seemed to be scratching their heads. After a moment, she turned away to organize their sortie.

For this part, she would only use veterans. Two companies was likely already at the upper limit of what she could quickly move though the tunnels and expect to maintain a minimum of stealth, but this was supposed to be ‘reconnaissance in force’ in a sense. These soldiers were all at least at Level 30, mostly higher, and had at least two centuries of experience. Anuis spoke to the squad leaders and made sure everything was prepared, then reported to the general before setting off. Iseis watched them leave with a serious expression, and raised a hand in farewell when their gazes met.

The tunnels were dark and cramped. She split her strike force in two for the first major leg of their planned trip, knowing that these two tunnels would meet up again after a while. It had been some time since Anuis was here, but she remembered them and had acquainted herself with their maps. Both companies would send single scouts or small teams into the side passages along the way. For herself, she led the way through the bigger tunnel, where there were more likely to be monsters or enemy activity.

Her intuition proved correct, and they encountered several more Tunnelers along the way. Fortunately, the monsters were only present alone or in small teams. Anuis had forbidden the use of large-scale magic in the fight, or anything else liable to make sounds that would travel too far in these conditions, but her company managed to put them down with little trouble. She wet her own blade in a Tunneler’s blood as well, conserving her arrows.

She’d never liked fighting in tunnels. Her favored weapon was the bow, but it was less useful in these conditions. Still, there were opportunities in larger caverns and it wasn’t like she was unskilled with other weapons.

“Be quiet now,” Anuis ordered, striding away from the corpse while two of her soldiers cut it up for transport. Leaving anything behind was a rookie’s mistake. “Aliarn, Oneis, scout ahead using your stealth Skills, and return to me immediately if you find anything.”

“Yes, Commander,” Oneis replied, her form turning indistinct as she triggered her Class Skill and flashed away from the group.

They kept moving, quietly and carefully. Neither of the scouts she’d sent ahead returned for now. By standard protocol, one of them would wait at the next major cavern or thoroughfare they found. Anuis was considering who she might leave behind to man key locations as they went on.

She gestured at one of her mages, and Eraces sidled up to her. “Have you sensed anything of note?” she asked, pitching her voice low in a way she’d trained to know it wouldn’t carry through the tunnels.

“Not yet, Commander,” he replied equally quietly.

“Keep scanning.”

They pressed on a little more carefully, now that they were getting close to where they might encounter enemy forces. Anuis tried to visualize the map of the tunnels. The occasional slight turn in the path they followed made navigation more difficult, but she was still certain of where they were.

As expected, once they reached the next major cavern, Aliarn was waiting for them. The scout made himself visible as they approached, coming to report to Anuis.

“No signs of the Westerners so far, Commander,” he said. “The path splits up ahead, so I would recommend sending more scouts. We’ve found no other sign of monsters, or of any other life, either.”

Anuis nodded. “Alright, good work. Tevern, Arias, join them in scouting. Return once your time remaining for your Ability gets too low. Aliarn, you should take point.” Then she turned to the others, and named half a dozen more of her soldiers, those who were good and light on their feet, to establish a second scouting screen.

Normally, she might have joined them. But something about this situation did not sit well with her, and she felt she needed to be with the main host of her company for now, to lead them if they did face something unexpected. Besides, while she was good at stealth herself, she was hardly the only one they had.

They continued on until Oneis finally reached them again. She came sliding out of a side tunnel, materializing almost on top of Anuis. Anuis had already drawn her sword and only barely pulled her blow, letting it whistle past her head.

“Dammit, soldier, be careful!” she reprimanded her. “That could have been your face.”

“Sorry, Commander,” the scout gasped. “But, I saw —“

“What?” Anuis asked sharply.

“A group of Westerner soldiers,” Oneis reported, finally straightening up and standing at proper attention, though she was still breathing heavily. “At least the size of one company, I believe. They are only half an hour or so behind me — the last I saw, they were at the large cavern where this tunnel crosses orthogonally with an old underground track.”

“Then they could have taken one of the side tunnels as well,” Anuis realized, though it seemed unlikely, if the group was this big. “Alright. You’re sure they didn’t see you?”

“Positive, Commander,” the scout replied.

“Good. Take a minute to catch your breath, then go ahead. We must be careful, but we need to know which way they’re going and we can still reach a good defensive position,” Anuis said, scrambling to remember the terrain.

The other scouts she had sent out should be returning soon as well, and they had hopefully managed to locate this enemy group without giving away their own presence. Anuis drifted back to speak to their mages and get their assessment.

“They must have some kind of shielding in place, Commander,” Eraces said. “Now that I know where they are, I think I can sense them, a little. But it’s hard. They must have a defense against being detected at range, probably a high-level Class Skill or even a Champion Ability. But something that won’t protect entirely against actual eyeballs.”

“You’re telling me,” Anuis muttered. This wasn’t good. At least they had seen the enemy now.

She briefly considered pulling back and avoiding the Westerners entirely. But if they were coming this way, they would encounter the rest of their forces eventually. If they were of superior strength, maybe Anuis could lure them back to meet the rest of their forces camped in their new forward operating base. That would involve handing the enemy a lot of intelligence, though; they would learn about the base and how many troops were stationed there. Better to intercept them now and beat them back if possible.

Anuis called one of her other soldiers over and dictated a message to be sent back to the base, and another to try to coordinate with her second company, then ordered the company to advance again. They could at least get to a better defensive position.

She pushed her soldiers hard for the next league or so. Two more scouts joined them, giving her more details on the enemy company. Fortunately, they managed to reach the place she had in mind in time, while still receiving sufficient warning of their approach. It was another cavern in the tunnel, where a natural hollow had been expanded. A row of stalagmites and stalactites could be turned into an impromptu fortification, and they would have an advantage against the enemy coming in from the tunnel entrance with its narrower mouth.

“Commander, they’re coming, and they’ve definitely identified us, now,” Eraces warned her as the soldiers set to putting up some field fortifications.

Anuis finished stringing her bow. She nodded. “Focus on the defensive. If they have earth mages, take them out first.”

She pulled an arrow and waited, hiding behind a large stalagmite outcropping. When the first human shapes appeared in the tunnel, she had to remind herself to breathe steadily. Her soldiers were veterans and didn’t make a sound or attack in a rush. Anuis waited until the first human soldiers stepped into the cavern, taking just a moment to identify her target, before she let the arrow fly.

It pierced the soldier’s throat, and he fell back, gurgling. She was already sighting the next arrow. Taking the signal for what it was, her soldiers joined in seamlessly, and arrows and Spells rained down on the front ranks of the enemy forces. They crumbled immediately.

“Cover! Back! Retreat!” someone shouted; only just audible over the noise of the fight and the wounded.

“Hold,” Anuis told her company, holding her next arrow but not pulling the bowstring yet. She squinted into the dark tunnel opening. The humans were retreating in a disorganized mess, but a quick count showed only eight of them were lying on the ground.

Whoever commanded them had to be inexperienced, but they clearly weren’t a total dunce; when the next attack came, they rushed in covered by large shields as well as faintly glowing magical shields, crossing the distance quickly. Anuis loosed one more arrow and gritted her teeth as it was intercepted. Her fellow soldiers did the same, but only a few Spells found any success. And the humans were too quick to endure the barrage for long.

Before she could fire again, a man who must have used a charge-type Skill was right on top of her, swinging a mace. Anuis dodged to the side, drawing her dagger with her left hand and striking at his slightly exposed side. It got him to back off enough that she could stow her bow with her other hand and draw her sword. Then she pressed him, angling so he was constrained by the stone around them. The next swing of his mace opened him up just slightly, and she cut his leg. That decided the fight; it only took two more exchanges before it was his neck. Anuis danced to the side, putting a blade into the thigh of another human soldier who’d attacked an elf beside her, and quickly glanced around.

The fight had devolved into close-quarters melee, and their improvised barricade was taking heavy damage. In the cramped confines, the humans’ heavy equipment showed its worth. But they were still losing against her elven soldiers. In a pure contest between two fighters of the same Level, she would always bet on the elf; there was a value to having decades or centuries more of experience and honed skill that mattered more than petty tricks and allowed them to ‘punch above their weightclass’, as Ray had said.

Suddenly, the world erupted in blinding white. Anuis felt like time froze for an instant. Everything was heat and then pain. When she finally managed to get her bearing again, she was lying on the ground, half-buried beneath a collapsed pile of stone. She carefully moved her fingers, still trying to get her head to stop ringing. It seemed like she’d been lucky. Her left arm was still in pain and she could feel the wetness of blood, but at least her spine was intact.

“This is the famed might of Ariedel?” a scornful voice said. “What a joke. Which of you elves is the leader here?”

Champion, she realized. It must be a Champion.

No one replied. Anuis tried to look around carefully. Several humans were on the ground as well, but it seemed like most of them had weathered this attack or been shielded. There were still sounds of fighting — ah, some of her soldiers were retreating back through the tunnel, and a few had taken the opposite one. Others were probably wounded or playing dead for now, too.

“If no one speaks up, I might as well go and kill you all one by one,” the man threatened.

Anuis shifted. She mustered all of her strength and pushed the broken stalagmite off her, carefully regaining her feet. There were dark spots in her vision and she swayed for a moment, but at least she didn’t fall. Her sword was lying beside her, and she managed to pick it up.

When she turned to the leader, he was grinning. “Ah, finally! At least you’re not a coward. Shall we cross blades, then?”

Anuis didn’t point out that she was heavily injured and any fight between them would hardly be fair. “If you stop talking,” she replied instead.

He only grinned wider and, deceptively casual, thrust his warhammer at her. Anuis dodged, trying to find her footing. She could tell that the man was likely more focused on using magic, but he was no slouch in melee combat either. A few probing attacks from her sword were easily deflected, and he tried to back her against the wall of the cave.

Still, he was clearly not taking this entirely seriously. Even when she managed to slip aside and put more strength behind her blows, he still fought with the air of one showing off at a party. Not that she minded; it was easy to favor her left side and to gradually slow and feign more weakness than she felt, as if blood loss was slowing her down.

As the fight wore on, it got harder to dodge his swipes, and she still hadn’t managed to land a real blow on him. But his confidence was not shaken. And he still wasn’t using magic — possibly some kind of power play? No, it’s more likely he can’t, she mused. That was a stupendous spell, even if it was granted by his Champion status; he must have blown his entire mana pool on it.

The rest of the fight was downright predictable, almost as if it was choreographed. She suspected they both felt that way, but only one of them was right about their interpretation.

Anuis found her moment when the Champion let up slightly after another blow of his hammer. She had taken this one on her left forearm; only a glancing blow, but still enough to make white-hot pain shoot through her whole body. She stumbled away, and he laughed.

“Ready to give in yet?” he taunted. “I’ll make it easy for you, elfling.”

Anuis slumped forward, her sword dropping, feigning exhaustion and weakness, swaying slightly. “Maybe one thing …” she mumbled.

He leaned forward slightly, but his posture was still too open, too unthreatened.

Anuis called on her last Class Skill. A lance of light formed in her hand, at first hidden by her hands and slumped posture, before she thrust it at him as it expanded. He jerked, but didn’t manage to dodge it. The lance pierced his heart.

“Priests and paladins,” Anuis mused as she took a step closer, twisting the weapon and reinforcing the divine magic with her will, until he crumbled. “Always so surprised when someone else uses tricks like yours.”

The Champion gasped. She leaned closer. Too late, she realized he wasn’t speaking to her. “Do it,” he rasped. “Collapse the tunnels.”

Anuis yelled and twisted the lance, before pulling it out and brandishing it at the cavern, but it was already fading. The Skill manifestation had a strict time limit.

Around her, the other elves who’d been wounded or silent were getting up, trying to regroup. But there were still too many humans — they’d been content to let their leader have his duel, but now they rushed her.

She managed to get her blade into one more man’s heart before a blow from behind brought her down. Then an insubstantial hand wrapped around her throat, choking her out. She struggled, but didn’t manage to get free before blackness swallowed her.