At this point it was believable that the humans simply weren't going to send support at all. That or their messenger never made it to request help. Either way, there was no real choice for us other than to search for human food if we were to survive. 

Two of each adult subspecies were to stay behind and watch over the dozens of younglings, while the other fourteen left with me in search of a human town the very next morning. The sun had barely risen when we left our hive, my children carrying me as fast as they could in the air while my heaviest daughters followed us through the forest on foot. Given how fast we were going, it would take us at least an entire week to reach the town that the messenger had gone to. 

Fortunately there was the huge forest that allowed us some safe passage through the air, but our cover only lasted the few hours it took us to escape the forest. At one point we neared the edge of the forest, where I was finally able to see the end to the sea of trees and the vast open field of short grass and dirt that preceded the trees. 

The main road that we followed connected to a dark brown paved road that led into the forest  which I presume is the main and safe passage that the humans used to enter and leave this forest. 

Still no humans in sight, the horizon empty, but I  felt confident that so long as we followed this road, it would lead to them. Except that at some point it splits off into a four-way intersection with a large wooden sign that I'm unable to read. It obviously had directions, but I couldn't tell what was what. Had my captors taught me the wrong language?

This wasn't adding up. I could exchange words with the humans verbally, and yet their writing was incomprehensible. What happened to my captor's promise of teaching me the local language? This clearly wasn't it.

I can only assume that this area uses some differing dialect, which does nothing to help our cause. None of us are able to track down where the village's herald could have gone either. It had been too long, and there were too many unfamiliar smells, but at least now we knew that many humans pass through here often.

We could either stay here and camp out until humans possibly passed by, but I would hate to wait and leave my babies hungry. If there was anything that was becoming apparent, we would have to take the initiative if we were to survive. 

I figured the larva could go without food for a good while, but three to four days was probably their limit. They needed food as soon as possible if they were to be ready to mature. It's rather fortunate that my grandchildren's lesser size led to less food consumption. 

In the end I decide to split our group into two, my spider daughter the head of one while I lead the other. The ten males were split between us equally, and I took three of my beetle like children while she had four. They were to continue down the path farthest to the left for one day, and if they came across any humans that were heavily armed, they were to return back here. Otherwise, they were to kill and retrieve as many corpses as possible. 

On the other hand, my group would head down the second-to-right path until we found something, and if group #2 didn't find us back where we started when we returned, then they were to also follow the same path we had.

Warnings were given, a temporary hierarchy in groups was established, and orders were carried out.

***

About five hours into my chosen path, something finally comes into view. It looks to be a large object that rolls on the ground. More specifically, it resembles one of the village's houses with a semi-circle roof. Well, it was too small to be a house, but I guess this is what the humans call a carriage. 

Pulling it were two relatively big horses, one brown while the other was white. Seated behind them is a human that's handling these creatures and making them move. From a few dozen feet above, it was easy to spot four other humans surrounding the carriage with weaponry. Of course, I can't see inside the carriage from up above, but it's clear that they're protecting what's inside. 

I didn't feel the presence of any of the humans despite my powers of detection being active all this time, so I guess they're just too far away. As a matter of fact, nothing is on my mental grid aside from my children in the air with me. Even my children on the ground are missing. It was quickly becoming apparent that my search range was far more limited compared to when I first encountered the villagers. Was I doing something wrong?

When I made an active effort to try and search for humans inside with my powers, my search came back successfully this time, and I felt my range clearly expand momentarily before it faded back to its limited sphere of influence. I guess there was a difference between maintaining my powers in the back of my mind and actually making use of them? The former clearly limited their effectiveness.

In any case, there was a single sign of life within the carriage, so a fight would effectively be a six on nine. Pretty good odds considering the human on the carriage was clearly a non-combatant as well. There was always the option of letting them go and waiting for the next encounter, but better safe than sorry. Their odd desire to protect the cage pointed to origins other than reinforcements. 

Regardless, they had weapons, so they had to be fighters of some sort. Too dangerous to be left alive. Not to mention how much meat we could get from each of the two horses. 

With the assumption that the four armed humans were protecting the unarmed one and the one inside, priority lay in killing the humans that surrounded the carriage. If we could make use of the element of surprise, suppression should be easy. 

“Fly higher, the humans must not see us yet. We will attack from behind once they have passed us. One of you relay these instructions to your sisters on the ground and have them burrow underground. Hurry, before the humans can get a proper look at our figures.” I command, my children carrying me higher as we attempted to evade the human's view. 

Clear skies meant there was no hiding from their eyes, but at the very least we could mask our appearance from this high up when we were both dots in each other's vision. 

It wasn't until I was sure they had passed that I gave the command to descend, our offensive beginning to take shape. 

***

Flying overhead, we descended upon them from behind as quietly as we could. It was slow, sure, but it seems they've yet to notice any of us. Not even the horses seem to sense anything is wrong.

I was worried that they heard the flapping of my strikers, but it would seem that the humans had much weaker senses than ourselves. The moment I was in range to attack I took the first strike with an energy discharge aimed and the largest warrior. 

The yellow arc fires off at the largest man, but it seems much weaker than I had thought it to be. Except it didn’t seem to be my fault this time around. In fact I think it might have had something to do with his back. He had a piece of equipment I wasn't sure of. 

It looked like one of those steel items that I was told about, but this was some sort of plate attached to his back in the shape of a sideways square. Though he clearly sounded like he was affected by my attack with his loud grunt, he doesn't seem harmed by it. That said, my five sons drop me on the ground and rush in to attack the same man I hit.

At this point all of the humans are alert now, the horses in the front making noise as the unarmed human tries to keep them under control, and the other three around the carriage immediately draw their weapons and turn to face me.

"What the hell!?”

“What are these things!?”

“I don't know, kill them!”

So they weren't reinforcements after all. 

"Work together to take out the largest human as I cannot. I will keep the other three busy in the meantime. My daughters, immobilize the horses as quickly as you can, and then come to my side. We can worry about the lone human later.”

I command, stepping forward to catch up with my strikers. While the humans were still trying to comprehend the situation, I took the moment to focus and try to move the largest human away. I had learned the hard way that moving human bodies was pretty impossible at this point, but moderately sized objects seemed to work just fine. 

More specifically, I targeted the piece of metal on his back. It was definitely heavier than expected, but the human was caught off guard as it was snatched out of his hand and thrown to the side. He ran after it almost immediately, waving off my children with his sword as he isolated himself from the rest of his group.

My daughters resurfaced not long after, making their way towards the human and his two panicked horses. My sons followed after the flung human, and so I was left alone with the three in front of me. No…..there were four? 

Inside the carriage, a hooded person with a long staff gets up, shuffling through the boxes inside to climb out. His movements are rather clumsy compared to their peers, but they straighten up at the sight of me.

I don't know how such an uncoordinated human planned to fight with a decorated metal rod, but he had to have some plan to join their friends so boldly. They were an outlier for sure, but that's what made them so concerning. 

Outliers had to be eliminated before they caused problems, lest they mess up the data set. Or my battle in this case. To start, the staff itself. I don't even know why he needed it, but the fact that he had a staff, whether it was actually his weapon or simply a walking tool, stood out compared to his sword and spear armed companions. 

I tried to take control of it and pry it out of his hands from afar, hoping to catch him off guard as well.

Yet the human’s grip seems to over power my own force of will as he refuses to let it go.

To my surprise he screams, "Careful! I think this creature has telekinetic powers!" Tone revealing that the “he” was actually a she all this time, and a rather young one at that. All of them were pretty young l now that I think about it.

"Are you sure!?" Asks one of the others.

"Certain! I felt my staff try to leave my hand, but I didn't see any magic!" They could see magic? A gifted human?

At her words all three guards begin to rush me, and I'm caught in the delay of refocusing my powers as I find myself a bit late in reacting to the soldiers fast physique. The moment they knew I was a psychic they closed the gap, which was pretty smart considering I had to focus my inner energies before doing anything. 

I am able to evade the two swords in time, but the length of the spear helps it connect with my chest, the metal denting the hard plate as deep cracks form on the surface. Blood drips out from between the cracks, but not enough to warrant any attention. 

The sheer force behind the attack knocks me to the ground, but the humans hesitate to approach as the voice of the unarmed human slices through the air.

"Ahhh! Someone, anyone! Help! The horses! Some big ones are trying to drag them down!"

"Hold on, I'll take care of it!" Yells the cloaked human. "Guys! I need at least one of you to keep these things distracted! If it kills our horses then we're stranded!"

Following her words, one of the two sword-armed humans backs off  and joins her as she hurries to fight against my children that are attacking the horses. Of course, I extend support to the situation as well, ordering two of my male children to break off and help their sisters. Sticking to my original goal, I've given them the order to take out the human with the staff first.

As for myself, I needed to get up before they attacked, and I took a brief pause to focus and shift to the roof of the carriage behind them. The humans are rather confused as they lose sight of me, and my displacement allows me some time to observe the situation on other fronts.

The two males have followed my orders and go for the girl, while the other three keep the largest human preoccupied. It would appear that this one isolated human is a tough one to deal with. Now that it's off his back, I recognize the piece of metal as a shield, which doesn't exactly improve my children's chances of winning. 

One of my sons is even given a nasty injury as the human brings his sword down in a long arc that cuts through its carapace. My poor child now profusely bleeding yellow blood as it screeches and crawls away in a random direction in pain. It was out of the fray now, but not yet safe. I consider what I can do for it in the heat of battle, but a shriek of pain from the female human interrupts my chain of thought.

My sons have begun to attack her, and the other nearby human is occupied with my three daughters. At first they seem wary of the guard that braved himself into combat, but after taking a few hits and seeing that his sword is unable to fully penetrate their shells, they divert their attention back towards killing the creatures pulling the carriage.

All was going pretty well, aside from my one injured child at least. The isolated human was a problem, and the shield it carried was better suited for slow and heavy combat, which wasn't exactly my sons' forte. I would have to find a way to get rid of it for any chance of my sons winning the fight. 

With the gap now present between my assailants and myself, I hurried to support my remaining sons who were locked in combat with the shielded human. Another arc of energy was released, and this time there was no shield on his back to stop me.

Except this attempt at an attack was futile as well. The two confused guards had found me, and noticed my attention directed at their occupied friend. Both jumped in the way to stop my attack, and one succeeded as they blocked it with their sword. 

With the one guard preventing me from helping my children, the other one sprints to put down my child that was injured. It makes an attempt to flee, but due to its injuries, the human is able to deal a lethal blow before it is able to get far. It doesn't make any noise as the sword meets its body. It just drops to the ground, twitching until it's motionless. 

For a second, I'm left speechless as I watch the encounter, the first loss on my side becoming evident. I don't know why I thought it would never happen, why I thought we could win so easily. It was dead. Gone. No more. My child was dead. 

I was able to do nothing. Nothing but watch as it lived out its final moments. Perhaps I was incompetent. Perhaps I was the problem. 

I had promised to lead them to victory, and had already let one down. 

Seeing their brother fall, the remaining two males attacked aggressively, but both of them were repelled by the shield. If anything, they refused to stand down.

Albeit futile, it was inspiring, inspiring enough to snap me out of my mourning. The situation wasn't going to fix itself.

“Both of you, fall back!” I instruct, the two males flying off.

In my anguish, I prepared to launch another lightning attack, but the emotions welling up inside caused me to lose focus and concentration and any energy I had gathered fizzled out. The three guards had knelt to brace for the incoming attack, but upon seeing my failure, they look at each other in wonder and start to laugh as they realized the danger was just for show. 

It was humiliating, first the loss of my child, and now my failure to do anything proactive. Embarrassed wasn't enough to describe how I felt. They were laughing at me. Humans were laughing at me.

I couldn't let it go. I had pride, I had an ego that was rightfully had. It was just a mistake. Just a mistake. 

It wasn't over. I was going to show them, I was going to turn their smiles upside down. I still had the time to focus and try again.

I focused on the group of humans, channeling my rage into a new form of attack. Much to my suprise, instead of the usual bolt of energy, a head sized fireball begins to take shape.

The humans don't seem afraid at all. After witnessing my failure the first time, they must think that I'm not as strong as they believed me to be, and they charge headstrong towards the carriage. Except that my display of power succeeds this time around, the flaming projectile bursting as it comes in contact with one of their faces.

But it's my turn to be surprised as they power through it with clear facial burns and blackened flesh. My initial target of them crumples to the ground, but the other two scale the carriage wall and take a stab at my body, one sword rebounding off my head while the other stabs me in the lower belly.

I tried to work off the earlier sensations and recreate the ball of fire, but their weapons hurt too much for me to do anything. After realizing the sturdiness of my natural shell, they twist their embedded swords, attempting to pop open my carapace. Blood begins to flow, and I'm forced to take a step back as I start to lose control of my body. It's getting harder and harder to stand and falling over was starting to look like the only option. 

All of my children immediately take notice of this, and they all abandon their tasks as they rush to my aid in hopes that it's not too late. It's clear that they prioritize my health above any of their own or the success of this mission, but I can't have them let up the pressure. 

With a wave of my hands my children understood my message, most hesitating before they returned to their posts. I'm rather happy they realized that mommy dearest knew best. This isn't the first time I've teetered on death's edge, and I'm sure it wouldn't be the last.

I thought my severed neck that I had just weeks ago hurt, but now I was just spewing out blood and groaning in pain. I wanted to move, I needed to move if I was to survive. It would be absurd to dismiss help and still die. 

Maintaining concentration through the pain was an arduous task, but I managed to displace myself. I was away from the humans, away from their dangerous tools. I had only distanced myself by five or so meters and they would be on me in a few seconds, but it was something at the very least.

However, neither of us were prepared for what came next. The two males I had dismissed earlier swoop down from behind to make an attack on my pursuers. 

Due to their reckless charge through my explosive flames, they were woefully unprepared for any external threats as one of my children cleanly bites off the head of one of the guards. The other barely has any time to react as he hastily defends himself with his shield. His attention is once again occupied by the two males, providing me with another opportunity to assess the situation.

The horses are both long dead by now, my daughters having joined the effort to suppress the girl with the staff. Her fate is quickly decided as a bite to the leg causes her to trip and fall.

“Stop! Don't get any closer!"

"Darryl! Help me!"

"I'm trying! They....they're too hard!"

"PLEASE! SOMEONE! ANYONE!"

"HELP M-AGHHH!"

Her comrade that was supposed to protect the horses can do nothing but beat on my daughters carapace while she is swarmed. Her screaming makes him wince, and he eventually stops his futile attacks when his voice fades to a whimper. 

His will to continue fighting is clearly broken as takes one last look at the unsalvageable situation, drops his sword, and breaks out into a sprint. 

I would applaud the human if he made such a choice when he first saw us, but to abandon his comrades after they put their life on the line was….disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. either rise together or fall together. There is no in between.

My children let out a victorious chirp as they dismount the girl, guts spilling out as the massive cut across her stomach becomes apparent. They immediately give chase to the runaway human, our multi legged anatomy proving superior as they catch up to him with ease. He too meets a swift demise, his dying screams like music to my ears.

The only ones alive now were the driver of the carriage, and the shielded human. 

At this point the fight becomes a one-sided cleanup as all my children unite to attack the shielded human. He is able to stave off the first few attacks, but as more arrive on the scene his fate becomes clear. Of course, rather than accept his fate, his eyes lock with mine as he makes one last ditch effort to break through the swarm.

He’s able to make it within the five meters I had put between us, but a nip to the foot causes him to tumble and fall. He too is swarmed, although his death is far slower as each of my children take dozens of bites, doing everything they can to inflict pain without killing him. A rather fitting death for the trouble he caused us.

The driver seems to have learned nothing from the whole ordeal as he breaks into a sprint, clearly hoping to escape while my children are occupied. Of course, I stop him myself, and he falls as a blast of energy strikes him in the back of the head. 

The battle draws to a close with the shielded human as the only survivor, and he too is eventually put out of his misery as any signs of life are nowhere to be found in his limp body.

The final outcome was worse than I expected for sure, especially with the loss of one of my children, but I could already tell that he would jist be one of many. We could hold up pretty well against actual human combatants, but what about those on a larger scale? Ones that had plans and formations, ones that knew what we could do. Only time would tell.

For now, my concern lies in the status of my children who followed the other path. I could only wonder how the others were doing so far away from us. Assuming they followed my commands all should be well, but as their mother, I couldn't help but worry. 

“At the cost of your brother's life, we have won. His sacrifice will be remembered within our hearts for as long as we live. We will fight for his sake, for the very future of our kind.” Be it good or bad. 

"Bury your brother, then eat your fill from the humans. I will let you know what we will do next once we have eaten.” I say, carrying myself towards the corpses as well.

 

 

---

 

 

Respiratory Systems in Insects

Because insects are often on the move, their bodies are far more efficient at absorbing and expeling air as they breathe. Rather than lungs, air enters the respiratory systems of insects through a series of external openings called spiracles. These external openings lead to the internal respiratory system, a densely networked array of tubes called tracheae. The tracheae is the insect equivalent of a human lung, an organ responsible for delivering sufficient oxygen to the entire body of the insect. Contrary to humans, the respiratory system of insects is separate from the circulatory system.