The group fled from the rising the ground. The further they moved from the nest, the less the ground shook. A loud hiss followed them throughout their escape. Trailing behind the others, Alson looked over his shoulder as he tried to pick up the pace.

A hornet-like beast burst through the stalagmites that separated the cavern from the hive. Two bulging black eyes jutted out from its narrow head. The pincers on the front of its face opened wide as it crawled along the wall and snapping at Alson. The guard jumped forward, narrowly avoiding getting his arm severed from his body. With a backhanded swing, he tossed his sword backwards. The weapon hit the shining golden plate that covered the Queen's head and bounced off with a clank. The massive Insectus continued to crawl towards the guard, unfazed by Alson's attack.

"Narrita!" Miwah shouted as they started to enter the first chamber of the cave. "Go back to the safe room!" As she entered the chamber, she looked behind her to see Tamma and Alson running as fast as they could with the silhouette of the Queen trailing right behind. She then looked up towards the upper part of the cave and cupped her hands over her mouth. "Narrita! Daego! Come down here now!"

"What's wrong Miwah?" Narrita asked as she poked her hand through the exit at the lower level of the cavern. "You're screaming like you've got your head cut off."

Miwah ran to the mouth of the cave and stood in front of the bandit. "I thought we told you to stay up there!"

"You did. But her majesty got tired of waiting. She had us come down through the exit," Narrita said as she pointed to the sitting Governor on the ground a few yards away. Daego paced around in a circle, his head focused on the long ship floating towards the shore in the calm water up ahead. 

"We found the Queen!" Miwah said, short of breath. She stuck her head back in the cave and waved at Tamma and Miwah with her hand. 

"That's some good news! I'm guessing you killed it?"

"No. The opposite." The seamstress pointed to the Governor. "We need to find some cover. Now!"

"There's no place to hide!" Narrita protested. "It's nothing but a steep mountain and a whole lot of dirt and sand!"

Miwah squinted past the bandit and towards the shoreline. "Wait... that boat looks familiar..." she said with worry. Narrita turned around and stared at the ship for herself.

"That's Eijnar's boat," Narrita said. "The Ghenkans are probably bringing back their stolen loot. And Eijnar's going to..." Narrita froze. 

"Eijnar is going to what, Narrita?" Miwah asked as she shook the bandit's shoulder. Narrita quickly peered into the cave. Tamma and Alson were quickly approaching with the Queen right behind them. She quickly darted out of the cave to give the other two room to escape. 

"He's going to try to blast that thing to bits!" Narrita shouted. "We've got to get out of the way!"  The bandit's shouting caught Daego and the Governor's attention. She pointed to the side of the mountain and started to run in that direction. "Get as far away from the Queen as you can!"

Daego lifted the Governor by hoisting her upright with one arm. She pulled her hand away and wagged a finger in his face. "Give a moment to get some rest!' She cried. "I've been running around those nasty caves all night because of your incompetence! And I don't want you tugging on my arm like that! Especially when I didn't give the order!"

Tamma and Alson ran out of the cave together. Both looked over their shoulders with utter fear as the hissing from the Queen filled the open air. Once out in the open, Tamma turned around and fired a single arrow into the cave. 

The entire ground shook rapidly to the same rhythm of an insect flapping its wings. Everyone followed Narrita's orders, making their way towards the far side of the mountainside. Daego gave up trying to get the Governor to accompany him once the Queen's head emerged from the mouth of the cave. 

Tamma's arrow fell off the shining golden exterior of the insect's head without having left so much as a scratch. Its front pincers opened wide again, revealing a series of jagged teeth in its mouth. Instead of a hiss, it made a loud roar that sent shook the grass beneath it. The Queen crawled all the way out of the cave before taking flight, hovering several feet above the ground. 

Long legs dangled beneath its shining plated body. Like a flying suit of armor, the insect had no visible flesh exposed underneath its golden exoskeleton. The Queen's wings expanded to twice the length of its body. As they flapped, the grass beneath flattened and the dirt and sand kicked up a storm. 

The Governor took a few steps back, placing her hands over her head as she stumbled back onto her feet. She crawled backwards, extending one hand as she pleaded for mercy. The Queen quickly caught site of the grounded woman and slowly hovered towards her.

"Governor!" Alson shouted as he took a step towards the woman, moving further away from the side of the mountain and closer towards the open field. Tamma grabbed his other arm and stopped him from going any further. 

"Have you lost your mind, lad?" Tamma shouted. "You're going to yourself killed."

With Tamma still holding his arm, he turned to face the hunter. "It's my sworn duty to protect her! I can't just leave her out to die!"

"You don't even have a weapon," Tamma said. "You'll just be getting yourself killed too!"

"But I can't just stand by and watch!"

"That's why I say we keep running!" Narrita said as she continued moving in the opposite direction from the Queen. "Better to fight another day!"

"Let me go, Tamma! It's my duty!" Alson tried to pull his arm free until Miwah and Daego ran to his side and grabbed his other arm. "No! I can't let another person die because of me!" With all his might, he struggled and squirmed to pry himself free from the clutches of the others. All the while, everyone stayed focused on the Queen and the Governor. 

The Queen insect descended upon the Governor. The gusts of wind pushed the woman to the ground. She rolled over onto her front and placed her hands over the back of her head. Both pincers spread over her waist before closing in with a snap. The serrated edges of the mandible pierced through the Governor's torso, putting her screaming to an end as the Queen lifted her prey off the ground. The Governor's body leaned back with the arms spread apart as the Insectus slowly turned around towards the cave.

"Governor!" Alson screamed. He gave up trying to free himself and instead fell to his knees. His body trembled as tears fell from his eyes and dotted the sand beneath him. 

"There's was nothing you could do, Alson," Tamma whispered. "Nothing... any of us could do."

The guard punched the ground. "I... I could have done... anything differently. Nothing but mistakes... And now Chaston. And the Governor. Both gone..."

Miwah continued to eye the Queen from a distance. She stuck her head out just far enough to watch the Insectus drop the body at the mouth of the cave before turning around. The Queen hovered towards them, picking up speed as it flew in their direction.

"We have to keep going!" Miwah said as she pointed up the cliff. "Looks like the Queen is not done."

"Come on, Alson. We need to go." Tamma reached down and pulled the Guard up. "You can grieve later."

The buzzing of the Queen's wings grew louder. It flew higher into the air and scanned the ground with its eyes before locking on the moving group below. It swooped down with its long stinger pointing at the party. Narrita and Daego ducked while Tamma pulled her bow back for another shot. She fired a quick shot, only for the tip of her arrow to shatter once it connected with the Queen's underside.

The group spread out, moving in different directions. Narrita and Daego moved further up the rocky hillside while the others moved further down the beach. As they ran, the Queen focused in on the hunter. It roared once more as it followed Tamma down to the beach. 

"Tamma!" Alson ran after her, shouting at the top of his lungs and waving in the bug's direction. "Hey! Hey!" he screamed as loud as he could while jumping and down with his hand flailing. The Insectus stopped following Tamma and stared at the guard instead.  It hovered above him, casting a shadow from the moonlight as it slowly descended again with its stinger poised to strike. 

Tamma pulled her bow back. She steadied her aim, focusing on the exposed of the Queen. As it got closer, Alson fell on his back and raised his hands in front of his face. He shut his eyes and turned his head to the side, ready to embrace his fate.

Before the Queen could stab the guard with its stinger, an abrupt explosion rang out from the sea. A fiery ball soared through the air and hit the Queen right in its side. There was a violent explosion, sending shards and smoke everywhere. The bug let out a high-pitched wail as it fell to its side. Once the from the blast settled, bits of gold lay scattered against the ground. The Insectus lay sideways as bits of its black interior were exposed through the missing chunks of its exoskeleton.

Another cannonball soared through the air, this time missing the Queen by a few feet. The blast landed on the ground, blasting a crater in the sand and sending scorching shrapnel high into the air. The Queen hissed as it righted itself before slowly hovering back towards its cave. Once the dust from the blast settled, Alson lay on the ground, face up with soot and sand surrounding him. 

"Alson!" Tamma shouted as she ran to the downed guard's side. Eijnar continued to blast at the fleeing Queen, each shot missing the moving target and obliterating the ground around her. In less than a couple of minutes, it had taken its slain prey back into the confines of its cave. 

With the cannonball barrage ended, Miwah ran to Tamma's side as she crouched next to a motionless Alson.