The sudden change in direction had almost sent Elat and Azrael sprawling. With Azrael firmly in his grip, though, Elat was unwilling to let his lover come to any more harm than she already had. Teyva clung to the wagon beneath her, holding on for dear life as they began to hit rough spots in the terrain. The route that the wagons had been taking was level enough but now they were, for all intents and purposes, off-road. When the rocking stopped for a few moments, Teyva forced herself to her feet and staggered to the rear of the wagon, watching the mighty beast adjust it’s direction and come charging towards them.

“Yeah that’s right you bastard, keep coming,” She growled, hate bubbling in her blood. There was a flutter of wings to her left and Nephral soared into the wagon, landing on her shoulder and heaving an exhausted sigh. He buried his face into her neck and she reached up to stroke his back; “You did great, love. Leave the rest to mother and hold on tight.”

Nephral just purred in response, pulling in his wings tightly and clinging to her shoulders. Ahead of their wagon, shouts began to ring out and Teyva knew the time had come. This was either going to drive the big beastie off or it was going to fail spectacularly. Either they lived or they died. Clearly the caravan leader had understood that because as the wagon began to hit bumps and the screech of angry rilks rang out, the wagons continued to curve to the right and their speed began to pick up.

Teyva watched the ground speeding past them and spotted angry drones tumbling past the wagon, their pincers and arms flailing wildly as they turned to pursue the sudden intrusion into their territory. Behind them, though, a bigger threat was on its way. The Lydan let out a terrible howl that Teyva felt in her chest and the rilks turned to see it bearing down on them. A hissing shriek came from somewhere to Teyva’s left and the rilks abandoned their pursuit of the caravan in favor of charging at the Lydan. The swarm growing larger as the seconds passed.

The wagon jolted, something large slamming into its side and Teyva had to hold on for dear life. Another form slammed into a wheel and she felt her leg give out from under her. It was just as Teyva had regained her balance and she was headed back to the safety of her seat when the wagon hit a hard bump. At first, Teyva didn’t realize what had happened, she just felt air rushing around her. The next thing she knew she had hit the ground and was sliding across barren dirt. She rolled, Nephral taking to the sky as she slid to a stop and watched the tattered wagon growing distant.

“Teyva!” Elat shouted, she could see him move to set Azrael down.

“Don’t! Stay with her!” Teyva shouted back and struggled to her feet only to be nearly knocked down by a Rilk drone that rushed just beneath her legs. She turned to watch it go, it had completely ignored her and she was painfully aware of why.

About two hundred feet away, insects crawling up its legs, the Lydan let out another one of its titanic roars and raised its fists above its head. It slammed them into the ground. Teyva felt the earth beneath her feet tremble as she doubled back and began to run. She got her bearings as she went, the clearing was huge, way bigger than the first one she had seen. More prevalent, though, was the mound itself. An enormous hill of dirt and debris had been fashioned into a near-perfect dome near the center of the clearing. One huge hole opened up on the side from which dozens of rilk drones and at least five or six soldiers had begun pouring out.

Teyva kept running, ignoring the agony in her leg as she aimed straight for the tall grass on the far side. Nephral came in for another landing on her shoulder and she patted him once, “Sorry for the rough landing, dear.”

“Your leg, mother, is there anything I can do?” He asked.

“I need a few of those drones to come my way,” She said, shifting her arm into its whip form. The chain retracted enough to not dangle behind her while she ran.

“As you wish!” He said, leaping off her shoulder and flying away. Another roar shook the ground and she hazarded a look back. The rilks were getting destroyed. The massive Lydan grabbed those that got onto its skin and crushed them in its bare hands. It swiped and stomped, howling in frustration and Teyva had to steady herself as the ground shook again and again. When she spotted Nephral coming back toward her she was relieved to see several rilks following him in pursuit. She slid to a stop and whipped out her arm, covering the chain in frost and striking each of them in quick succession. She repeated her attacks, not aiming to kill the incoming bugs right away as warmth began to spread across the injury in her thigh.

She checked her health, one hundred twenty-four, one thirty-four, one fifty-four. She felt the wound begin to seal and tapped her foot on the ground, putting a bit more pressure on the leg and finding the pain had all but faded. Satisfied, she made quick work of the rilks just as her health hit max again. Not a moment too soon either, as she looked up from the rilk corpses and took in the sight of their nest exploding with dirt and debris flying everywhere. From beneath the ground a hulking shape crawled its way out, letting its own terrible shriek join the din of sounds that had filled the clearing.

“Holy shit,” Teyva breathed, taking a few steps back.

Kakaraneng, the Rilk Queen, was only a little smaller than the Lydan itself. Like its children, it possessed a three-part segmented body and a sturdy shell that covered its back and head. That was where the similarities failed to hold up, though. Its mouth was a horror show of mandibles and it was framed with four segmented eyes, two on each side. Its forelegs ended in huge scythe-like claws that it held in front of its body protectively while its four massive legs ended in deadly points. Its abdomen was huge and bloated with long spines lining either side.

Teyva looked back at the Lydan and used her journal.

Teyva’s lip twitched into a manic grin; “Now kiss,” she quipped, and hurried toward the tall grass.

The Rilk Queen charged the Lydan, hurling herself at it while her children crawled all over its body. The massive beast was forced to change it’s strategy of stomping and swatting in favor of grasping at the Rilk Queen’s powerful arms and holding them at bay. It shoved, pushing the massive insect backwards while throwing a mighty haymaker into her face. The Queen was fast, though, and drew her arm up and swiped down, cutting a long gash across the Lydan’s chest. It followed up by twisting its head and releasing a spray of black fluid from its mouth across the Lydan’s torso. Smoke rose from the impact and the Lydan let out a howl of pain. The creature’s health dropped several percentage points and Teyva felt a bit of hope rush into her chest only to have it dashed when the angry titan ripped one of her arms clear out of its socket.

“No!” Teyva nearly shouted, clenching her fists, she opened her bag, “Get his eyes,” Teyva ordered her mockeries in a low hiss. They responded with a delighted hiss of their own and swarmed out of her bag, rushing across the open field in leaps and bounds, being forced to land now and then before launching back into the air. As they approached the Queen tackled the Lydan, flailing her one good arm in its direction and leaving several gashes along his side. It responded by biting her open wound, tearing chiton and insect flesh and causing a splash of green ichor to cover its white skin.

Teyva held her breath, watching the swarm of glittering gold finally reach the battle and start to climb the enormous beast’s back. They had reached its head when the Queen opened her mandibles and released a terrible shriek that visibly rippled the air, causing the Lydan to stumble backward and a few glittering gold coins to fall off of its head. Teyva felt her chest tighten but kept watching until abruptly the Lydan began to scream, throwing its head about as the red of its eyes vanished beneath an angry swarm of gold.

“Come on momma, do what you gotta do!” Teyva urged, tension coiling in her legs.

As if on command, the Queen took the opportunity and once again hurled herself at the Lydan, carving at its flesh and biting where it could. The bites left behind terrible smoking sores across its body, the Queen’s acidic saliva eating away at the Lydan’s flesh. The Queen’s children continued to climb its body, biting and clawing wherever they could. She watched its health drop further and further. Sixty percent. Fifty percent. Forty. Thirty. Twenty. Ten. It struggled against its attackers, clawing at its own face and body to get the mockeries out of its eyes and the insects off its skin. She felt a ripple through the back of her mind and knew that more of her darling mockeries were dying. She bit her lip, drawing a little blood and forcing herself not to react. “Almost there babies, almost there!”

She felt her heart sink as the voices faded to almost nothing and the Lydan stopped pawing at its face. It looked down at the Queen. It raised both fists over its head and brought them down over her carapace, sending her to the ground. Teyva winced, the ground shaking as the Lydan pummeled away at the queen, the mighty creature shrieking in agony as its body was crushed beneath the titan’s powerful blows. Teyva watched with a heavy heart as the Queen’s health dropped closer and closer to zero. The Queen raised her arm in one last futile effort and dug it deep into the Lydan’s flesh.

“I’m sorry,” Teyva said, feeling for the creature. She’d forced it into this.

Hardening her heart she watched the Queen’s health hit zero and the mighty insect fall still with a terrible, pained cry. The sound shuddered across her children and as one they began to fall back, without a queen not even the soldiers felt any desire to continue the fight. Teyva watched in sinking horror as the angry Lydan swatted at the bugs with infuriated abandon. It swayed now and then, struggling to keep upright. She checked its health and cursed.

“No! It’s so close!” She screamed, getting to her feet. After what this thing had done to Azrael and The Marble she was not about to let it get away.

“Mother! This is not a fight you want!” Nephral cried as she darted out of her hiding spot and charged at the mighty creature.

“I don’t give a damn!” She swore, twirling her razorchain and dodging past the fleeing rilks. She slid to a stop at a distance, whipping her arm out and striking the side of the Lydan’s head with a [Chill Touch]ed whip-crack. Its legs began to glow and it turned, blinking and swaying as it took notice of its new enemy. Teyva bore her needle-like teeth and bellowed at it, “Yeah that’s right! I set this whole thing up! It’s you and me now buddy!”

It staggered forward only to stumble as glowing chains wrapped up its legs. Limping, the Lydan let out another terrible howl and raised its arms to smash the ground. Teyva whipped her arm out again and struck it across the face, she changed her target and wrapped her chain around one of its arms with another crack of the weapon, pulling hard and dragging the blades across its flesh. The Lydan howled, yanking its arm back with so much force that it lifted Teyva off the ground and sent her hurtling in its direction. She hit the ground and slid, feeling something crack in her chest. She rolled and forced herself to her feet, adrenaline pushing pain out of her mind as blood dripped past her eyes.

“Come on!” She screamed, running past it.

The Lydan turned, twisting its body in pursuit of the object of its ire, it tried again to run but instead stumbled and with a howl of rage fell onto its chest. Teyva slid to a stop and without a second thought charged in its direction. She opened up with a casting of [Grip of Frost], the ring of cold forming just beneath its head. Ice began to form on its skin as she drew close enough to deliver her intended blow. Her mouth opened in a scream of triumph and she leaped up and on top of its head, changing her arm into a sword. The weapon chilled over and she drew her arm back, driving it into the top of its head over and over. The patch of frost around the wounds grew wider and wider with her frantic attacks.

“Die! Die! Die!” She bellowed, “Just die damn you!”

The titan howled in pain, struggling to get upright. She felt the sudden lurch of motion as it drove itself to its feet. It reached up and snatched her off of its head, its fingers wrapping around her torso, and reared back, hurling her with what little strength it had left towards the edge of the field.