Ada crept forward silently. It wasn’t really necessary, of course. The Hive’s War Drones had already been through here and secured the area. It just made her feel better.

Her Queen had insisted that Ada, and the other sapient drones she had agreed to send out here as scouts, would be behind the Swarm Drones. If they happened upon a monster too strong to fight, or an environmental hazard like a gas pocket, the Hive wouldn’t lose Ada and the others.

Well, it was only her and Ace that were supposed to go deeper. Dan and Zoe had come along as well, but they’d stay in the first fallback position they had found with a small group of War Drones that would act as a strategic reserve, too. Ada had worked that plan out with Ben, and Regina had agreed without hesitation.

It had taken them a few days to even get started with this expedition. Ada was a little frustrated by that, but she had to admit that it also meant she had a bigger team now, since more drones had hatched in the meantime. And she probably shouldn’t have expected to find entrances to the underground caverns that quickly, in any case.

I’ve made the War Drones all stop by now, Regina said in her mind. Her mental voice had been getting clearer, or maybe Ada had simply gotten better at parsing it, over the last few weeks. Now, she hardly ever had to wonder or guess at the meaning of a part of her communication. We’ve gone pretty deep. There should be a major fork up ahead. If you think it’s best, this is probably a good spot for you and Ace to split up.

“Alright,” Ada muttered under her breath. She glanced at Ace. “The War Drones have stopped. We’ll take a look at the fork up ahead and then probably split up.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

It was barely ten meters before their tunnel opened up into the crossing Regina had mentioned. They were still pretty far up, close to the surface, maybe a hundred meters away from the nearest entrance in a straight line. Ada paid careful attention to the air currents, breathing deeply and even holding up a finger, though that didn’t help much. Still, she could tell there was airflow, and she had already spotted one small crack in the rock that she was sure actually hid a shaft going to the surface. They’d already seen a few scraggly plants, too. The oxygen those produced, especially further down, would definitely help, as well.

Ada peered down both of the tunnels. She paused for a moment, listening as their Queen explained what the Swarm Drones had found along both of them. Ada got the feeling that Ace was listening in as well, with Regina sending the same information to both of them. That was convenient.

“Alright,” Ada finally said. “I think we should split up and cover more ground. You take two War Drones and I’ll do the same. There shouldn’t be anything even close to dangerous for now. If I keep to the left and you to the right, we’ll probably be able to meet up again in that cavern with the two rows of stalagmites. Okay?”

“Yes, Ada. Understood. Take care.”

“You, too.”

Ada bumped his shoulder affectionately, then set off down her chosen tunnel. She turned around and whistled, pitching the sound softly so it wouldn’t echo too far. The pack of War Drones they’d taken along, who’d stayed a little further behind to let the two of them scout ahead, caught up. Two of them fell in behind her, while the other two went with Ace.

War Drones weren’t the stealthiest of drones, although they were probably better than some of the Warriors she trained with. But that made their use in this situation a bit tricky. Ada wanted to keep them close enough to help if it came to a fight, but she also needed to be able to scout ahead unhindered, especially once they got into less secure territory.

Still, she felt her pulse pound in her ears and she had a smile on her face. This was what she lived for: exploring the unknown, undertaking a dangerous but important mission for her Hive. She’d barely realized that she’d missed this over the last little while, when she’d mainly just kept an eye on the same stretch of forest and worked with the others. Not that she didn’t like the latter part, of course. But having some real reconnaissance to do once in a while made it all better.

Ada went forward carefully, keeping a close eye on the makeup of the rock around her and her elevation. This tunnel sloped slowly downwards. She knew she had to be careful, especially if she happened upon enclosed or cramped spaces further down where ventilation would be compromised. Pockets of unbreathable, flammable or otherwise dangerous air were a real hazard in cave systems like this.

It felt somewhat reassuring to realize that she came equipped to explore this kind of environment just as well as a surface forest, at least in terms of instincts and inborn knowledge. That would let her serve her Hive much better, not to mention help her stay alive.

The tunnel split a few times, though those tunnels were small enough she would be unable to traverse them, or would at least have trouble with it. Ada suspected they might have been dug by Tunnelers, at least in part. She paused and sent one of the War Drones into the last one to check it out, since it was smaller than her.

This is a dead end, Regina informed her after a minute. The drone is coming back.

Ada started slightly. So, her Queen was keeping a close eye on her. She nodded and waited for the War Drone to emerge from the tunnel again, then patted its shell-covered back and set off down the tunnel again. They should be coming to several caves now.

True to what she remembered, the tunnel opened out into a shallow cave. Ada looked it over carefully, peered at the few plants she could find and the Cave Light on the low ceiling, then crossed the cave and entered a short stretch of wider tunnel that opened into a new cavern after a few meters.

She spent a little more time here, since this cave was larger and also had three tunnel entrances, though one of them was little more than a gap between some rocks that led into a narrow cleft. Ada sent one of the War Drones through it, hoping it would be able to fit, then investigated the flora more closely. There was a bit of water dripping down from the rocks, perhaps from an underground brook that passed close by the cave. It had shaped some stalagmites and stalactites that looked quite pretty. She saw that some of them had broken off, though, or been broken off. That could have been from one of the monsters down here. The edges looked rough, but then, it was stone. Or close enough. She wasn’t a geologist.

Just as she made to exit that cave, Ada ran into her first monster. She barely had the time to identify the Tunneler, level 12, before her other War Drone barreled at it. It must be taking its orders to protect me quite seriously. Ada shook off the moment of surprise, then jumped forward, swiping with her blade-limb. The Tunneler was engaged with the War Drone and couldn’t maneuver, so her attack made contact and cut deep into it. She twisted her blade and thrust forward again, cutting off its life before it could use whatever Abilities it might have.

Ada took a deep breath, cooling down from the excitement of the sudden fight. She then stepped over the Tunneler and continued, even more careful than before. There was nowhere she could bury the corpse, and burning it would be very reckless down here, not to mention likely to attract many other monsters. The corpse might do that by itself, but the monsters down here probably fought each other just like those on the surface, so it shouldn’t be too out of the ordinary, at least.

She continued onwards, and after a few minutes, reached another tunnel that opened out into a large one just like the tunnel Max had described. She didn’t think it was the same one, though. They’d had to travel several kilometers away from the Hive’s settlement to reach the entrance she had come through, and she’d probably traveled less then one down here so far. Speaking quietly, she let Regina know about her guesses.

I thought it was probably just a long tunnel, but what you say makes sense, her Queen replied after a moment. Continue on, and remain careful. I’ll inform Ace. He’s a few hundred meters southwest of you, at least as far as I can guess. If you keep to the left with further tunnels, you should be able to meet up. Or just keep going down this corridor, and I’ll tell him to head in your direction.

Ada nodded and kept going. She found a spot where the wall of the large tunnel had broken away a bit and some pieces of rubble leaned against it, and used those to reach a higher position. This allowed her to examine one of the Cave Lights lighting up the tunnel, and the fixture holding it to the ceiling. She couldn’t make much sense out of either, though. It was obviously a metal grill of sorts, fastened to the rocky ceiling. Although the material of that was odd, too. It didn’t look or feel quite like the stone she’d seen before.

Ada kept going, and quickly came upon a crossing, where Regina informed her two of the War Drones she had sent in first were close. She had already ordered them to converge on Ada’s position, giving her some backup and letting Regina get a better idea of her immediate surroundings. Ada chose not to wait for them to come, but instead continued on.

The tunnel ahead of her seemed to be more brightly illuminated. She slowed down, then glanced at the light fixtures overhead. They were still spaced evenly, and the glowing plants in them didn’t seem to be any brighter or more numerous as she continued along the tunnel. That meant there was probably an additional light source ahead. Ada moved to the side, hugging the wall of the tunnel, and ordered the War Drones to stay behind her and move as quietly as they could. Then she slowly kept walking forward.

She quickly realized that there were people ahead. The light source was too regular. While it flickered a little, though less than a fire would have, its position didn’t change. But more importantly, she heard voices talking. As she came closer, she was even able to make out a few words. She realized that they weren’t directly ahead in the tunnel, but probably in a side tunnel or a cavern close to it.

Then the light started moving, and she heard muffled footsteps. Due to the architecture of the tunnels, it was hard to pinpoint any source of noise, so Ada wasn’t entirely sure about their relative location. She slowed down, glancing around, then suppressed a curse as she saw the passage opening into the larger tunnel she was in. It looked like a large crack in the rock, as if someone had split it with a giant pick, and it was already close to her. She glanced back, but she didn’t think she’d be able to get completely out of the possible range of vision in the straight tunnel, and the noise of her footsteps would only make that worse. So she pushed off the wall a bit, straightening up, and ordered the War Drones behind her with short gestures.

Then the other group came into view. Ada quickly let her gaze sweep over them, pausing just long enough to read their names and Classes in the System. To her surprise, she was able to read the level of two out of the four humans. The others were probably a few levels higher than her, but she wasn’t sure if any of them had reached level 20 yet. They mostly had warrior- or rogue-sounding Class names. Two of them carried closed lanterns, probably magical ones.

Then they noticed her, and immediately assumed combat positions. The two with armor and heavy weapons were in the front, the one she pegged as a rogue and the one in cloth armor behind them. Maybe that one was a healer or support type after all, the Class name Binding Blade didn’t tell her much.

Ada raised her hand, trying to inconspicuously move her blade-limb back out of the way. “Hello,” she greeted them. “Please don’t be alarmed. I mean you no harm.” She smiled. “I didn’t expect to meet anyone else down here.” Which wasn’t strictly a lie.

The humans didn’t attack right away, but they also didn’t appear to relax. “What manner of creature are you?” the left warrior, a man named Roderick Lions, asked.

Ada paused for a moment, her gaze focusing on their equipment. She got an unpleasant premonition. “You should be able to see my name and Class, right?” she asked them. “Not to be rude, but I believe I was here first. What is your affiliation?”

The humans looked at each other, and then they took a step forward almost in unison.

“This is one of those bug people Sir Trito and his men found in Forest’s Haunt, isn’t it?” the possibly-caster asked the others in an undertone.

“Probably,” the apparent leader replied.

Ada sighed slightly. “You’re Delvers, aren’t you?”

They were still in a combat formation. Now the War Drones stepped out from behind her, and the humans tensed, tightening their grips on their weapons or raising them slightly.

Ace and his War Drones are on the way to your position, Regina told her. If it comes down to it, let the War Drones fight and run. I don’t want to lose you.

Ada didn’t reply, but she acknowledged the order in her mind. She would sacrifice herself for the good of the Hive, but she certainly wouldn’t mind surviving.

“There’s no need for this to turn violent,” she said, backing up another step. That was probably a bad signal, but she didn’t want to let them get too close to her. “My Hive has negotiated a truce with the local human power, besides.”

The leader snorted. “You claim your leaders have a truce with the kingdom of Cernlia, monsterblood? Is that supposed to protect you from trespassing in the Delvers’ domain?”

“Not the kingdom, but the march,” she replied. “And I wasn’t aware this was considered trespassing. Are you sure about that?” She didn’t think this was actually the Delvers’ territory, not just because it was under the forest the elves lived in.

“What the marquis does is of little concern to our superiors,” the leader responded. But she saw two others frown, indicating they might not agree with his arrogance. “Surrender your weapons and submit to our custody.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Ada replied.

The leader didn’t seem to want to continue the conversation. The next second, a small throwing ax sailed towards her.

Ada ducked, then immediately turned and sprinted down the tunnel, trying to zigzag just enough to throw off any other projectiles. Her War Drones threw themselves at the humans, buying her valuable time. She heard the smack of weapons on flesh, grunts and a sharp curse, then the thud of something hitting the ground.

The Delvers ran after her. She didn’t turn to look, but could hear the sounds of their footsteps pounding on the ground. Ada focused on putting as much energy into her run as possible, though she knew she’d have to be able to keep it up. She’d already activated her third Class Ability, Boundless Movement. It helped and would let her keep running for longer, although it was more tailored towards endurance than sprinting.

Then they reached the other tunnel, and just as the humans passed it, dark shapes flew out of it. Ada only glanced back quickly to confirm what was happening, then kept moving, although she had slowed down a little.

She smelled the scent of her brother Ace and was able to pinpoint his own movements. He’d waited for the War Drones with him to attack the humans, then thrown two rocks and sprinted out of the tunnel. He was now closing in on her quickly.

Ada kept running, glancing at him. Another throwing ax swept through the air, and she saw him stumble. But then Ace righted himself and kept running.

Some instinct made Ada duck, and she felt the rush of air as a small spear sailed over her head. Then she moved to the side and continued on. Just as she started to think another one was coming, Ace grabbed her arm and pulled her into another tunnel.

This one was much narrower than before. The other Scout scrambled up a steep rock wall, and Ada followed him quickly, using her multi-use-limb to help her. Once up, she stayed low for a few steps, then started running again more quickly. Curses echoed from behind them again as the humans tried to follow them.

I’m here, Regina said in her mind. She sounded just a bit anxious. You’re not far, just make it to us.

The next few minutes were a blur of exhausting running, scrambling through the tunnels. After two more turns, they reached the same one Ada had used to get down and put on another burst of speed. At least two of the humans were still behind them.

Just as she feared they would catch up, dark forms dashed out of the shadows ahead and lunged at their pursuers. Three War Drones. Ada forced her tired limbs to take her further up the tunnel, using the respite their attack gave her and Ace.

Then she finally saw the light ahead brighten as they reached the end of the tunnel.