The words hung in the air, mixing with golden light and settling dust.

  A riddle. Another damn riddle. Mirae fought back a surge of frustration, even as she sensed Pippa practically buzzing with excitement at the edge of her awareness. Was this how they’d gain entry through the door at the tower’s base?

  Drion’s frown deepened. His gaze swept across the field, landing briefly on Emela before continuing to the other mercenaries. Finally, his eyes rested on Mirae. Blue and cold, they calculated something, as if trying to decipher her intentions.

  “Well then,” he said softly, voice carrying to every listening ear. “Who among you is clever enough to puzzle this one out?”

  —- —- —- —-

  Blowing a strand of white hair from his face, Hector lowered himself into a crouch next to a boulder at the mouth of the tunnel. Hordes of bugs had pressed firm tracks into the mud, and the tracks led away into the forest beyond.

  He pulled his eyes away from the trail and rested a hand against a boulder. Cold radiated through him; not from the freezing temperatures, but from the gnawing sense that he’d abandoned people to their fate, even while pursuing something good.

  Behind him, the fortress faded into the distance. The dense canopy obscured the structure, rendering it barely visible. Torchlight flickered in the gaps between branches, and the wind carried muted sounds—cries, explosions, the chaos of battle.

  The assault on the fort had reached full intensity when the bugs struck. His group had narrowly escaped, engaging only in small skirmishes along the way. But how many would die now that he and his friends were no longer on the battlefield?

  Lincoln shifted to Hector’s side, moving his spear from one shoulder to the other. The weapon’s weight settled against his cloak with a soft thud. “Do you think we did the right thing?” His eyes narrowed behind his mask as he adjusted it. “Not staying to help Raquel defend the fort, I mean.”

  Jodie sighed beside them. “He tasked us with rescuing these people from the Hive, Lincoln.” Her fingers worked on her ponytail, tightening it. “If Raquel couldn’t handle it, I don’t think he would have sent us. We’re the best suited for this. Even the Blackbridge company people were useless compared to us.”

  Hector nodded, though she didn’t have to put it so bluntly. Still, something about the way the Blackbridge Company leader had acted struck him as strange. The man had been too cagey, too evasive.

  Lincoln’s eyes narrowed further, his gaze lingering on the forest beyond before turning to the cave. Whatever thought crossed his mind died before reaching his lips.

  Hector pushed the exchange aside. Getting into the cave without being found by whatever Hive insect still lurked inside—that was their focus now. He hoped insects didn’t still choke the walls in there. From the way the assault on the fortifications had looked, the Hive had sent most of their forces, or at least what he hoped was most of their forces, to attack the fortress.

  He took a breath and reviewed his Talents for a moment before nodding to himself. Lincoln’s Elemental Veil Array from his [Runic Scribe] Talent would probably prove most effective. When they’d used its weaker version, the Mist Veil Array, against the Shadow Wyrm, Hector had underestimated how much they could actually see through the vapour. The mist didn’t completely obscure, which made it ideal for escape and ambush tactics.

  “Lincoln.” His friend turned to him. “Be ready to use the mist rune when I call for it.”

  Lincoln nodded, and with that, they set off into the cave.

  The entrance swallowed them as they stepped into the dimly lit tunnels. Sharp determination drove them forward, their ears attuned to every sound.

  Minutes later, Hector pressed himself flat against a tunnel wall, the stone’s rough texture biting through his cloak. The shadows wrapped around him like a second skin. Ahead, a mantis-like insect stalked down the tunnel, its blade limbs scraping against the chipped stone with deliberate steps. The sound of chitin on rock echoed—rhythmic and deadly.

  Behind the mantis, shorter, ant-like creatures marched in formation, their mandibles clacking. Had these been the ones to tunnel the hive’s entire structure? This was strange. Sure, ants could organise themselves, but working with other insects this way? It was wrong. Eerie.

  The ants Hector knew from Earth would launch wave attacks. They didn’t organise. They didn’t march in formation.

  He’d noticed these changes before, especially during their flight from the fort. The bugs had changed tactics, choosing to dig beneath the walls to avoid Raquel’s fire talismans. This level of intelligence shouldn’t exist in insects.

  Did their larger brains give them more capacity? If a hive mind connected them as well, that would amplify their capabilities exponentially—a consciousness they couldn’t see or interact with.

  The thought cut into Hector’s mind, sharp and sickening. If these creatures shared a consciousness, their collective intelligence would dwarf even the most organised force. Perhaps Raquel’s fortress had been doomed before he’d even laid eyes on the egg.

  He leaned close to Jodie, breath barely stirring the air between them. “I think these things may be far more intelligent than we’re giving them credit for. We need to stay on high alert and be prepared for an ambush.”

  Lincoln’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me, right?” he whispered, his voice trembling. His body pressed against the stone, rigid, muscles locking beneath his cloak. “You’re just messing with me, right? You’re saying these guys are intelligent, intelligent?”

  The shakiness in Lincoln’s voice was unmistakable. Lincoln had been fighting through his fear rather successfully, especially during their brief time at the fortress. But coming this deep into a hive with no rescue coming—with only themselves as their way out—Hector didn’t know whether his friend would hold.

  Jodie raised a hand, ignoring Lincoln’s growing panic. She extended her index finger and pointed toward the mantis creature, which had stopped. Its antennae twitched in erratic patterns, as if searching the air.

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  “I’ve noticed that,” she breathed. “It does that when it comes from the area down there.” Her finger traced the path deeper into the tunnel, where organic bulbs pulsed with blue-purple light along the walls like veins. “You think it’s looking for something or someone?”

  “What makes you say that?” Hector asked.

  Jodie shrugged. “It’s just a pattern.”

  Hector tracked the creature’s movements, the way it paused with its antennae sweeping the air.

  Lincoln’s trembling voice cut in. “It’s searching. Do you think it’s searching for us?”

  Jodie’s eyes shifted from the creature to Hector. Her irises elongated, pupils dilating and taking on a predatory shape. The wolf mutation she’d stolen from the creature in the garden bled through as she activated her Talent. Claws extended from her fingertips, her flesh writhing and warping.

  The transformation still made Hector uncomfortable, even now.

  Jodie shook her head. “We could get into combat the further we go down. I think they’ll be on high alert, especially if they’re as intelligent as you say, Hector. Best to be prepared.”

  Hector nodded and shifted against the stone, shadows playing at his feet.

  Several minutes later, her words became prophecy.

  At Hector’s signal, Lincoln laid down the mist. Grey vapour exploded outward, consuming the tunnel in an instant. The fog was thick enough to taste.

  The mantis creature’s head spun, blade limbs rising, but Jodie was already moving. She cut through the mist like a knife through silk.

  Her claws caught the creature’s neck joint, and her momentum did the rest. With a squelch and a tear, the head separated and tumbled to the stone with a wet thud. Ichor sprayed high into the air, the hot liquid spattering onto Hector’s mask as he moved a step behind.

  Coming to a stop, he raised a hand and wiped it away, green blood staining his arm. Then he pulled on his [Crowd Compass] Talent, and the world expanded, presences blooming in his awareness.

  Further down the tunnel, signatures of life pinged back to him. People. From the erratic movements within that section, those trapped inside were still alive.

  Hector raised a hand and pointed, adjusting slightly as he tried to single out the location. “There.”

  As he moved in that direction, Jodie fell into step beside him. “I really need to get that Talent, Hector. You sure you can’t transfer it to me?” Her claws retracted as she spoke, but her eyes remained sharp with the wolf transformation.

  Hector shook his head. “If I can awaken one in you when we go back to Middlec, I’ll try. If not, maybe I’ll see about transferring it to you. Though Talents aren’t really my primary focus at the moment. What I’m most concerned about is the fact that we haven’t exactly had much time to cultivate lately.”

  “Yeah, we’ve been slacking on that end,” Lincoln added, shifting his spear from one shoulder to the other.

  To Hector’s ear, his friend’s admission sounded bitter, but Lincoln spoke the truth. They’d been in combat for almost three days now, accumulating points to buy cultivation techniques and other pills and resources.

  But those needs didn’t change the fact that Hector was wasting an advantage here. The trial realm’s mana was at least ten times that of the outside world. If he didn’t make use of it, falling behind would be the least of his worries.

  “We need to cultivate more within the trial realm,” he said. “If I can at least sit down and put in some effort, I believe that before we leave here, I can enter Gravity Forging-Eight.”

  Footsteps echoed off the stone as the tunnel stretched ahead. The glowing bulbs along the walls pulsed like heartbeats, each pulse drawing them deeper into the hive, closer to those they needed to rescue. The risk they were taking would only grow from here.

  The ambush just now had been lucky, but they’d have to execute with greater ferocity going forward.

  Though they didn’t lack ferocity. Hector shot a look to Jodie at his side and let his hands move to the daggers at his hips, the cool metal grounding him as they moved deeper into the darkness.

  —- —- —- —-

  Minutes later, in the luminescent light of a tunnel, Hector pulled the dagger free with a wet squelch. Viscous ichor clung to the blade, warm as it congealed.

  He frowned and dragged the weapon across his cloak; the fabric darkened from lighter brown to near-green with each wipe. As he cleaned the blade, his gaze flicked to the insect he’d just killed. Its furry leg twitched once, twice, then stilled.

  Jodie stepped over her own kill, boots crunching on loose stone. “Are you sure we’re going the right way, Hector? I mean, I don’t want to question it, but I feel like we’re going in circles.” She glanced around the tunnel, where bioluminescent light pulsed and made her blue eyes dance.

  Hector frowned, then closed his eyes. His Talent unfurled like fingers stretching through water. The pulse rippled outward, bouncing deep within the tunnel walls, penetrating stone and chitin alike. A presence bloomed within his awareness—the trapped survivors, their signatures like light in darkness.

  But something else registered a little way from them. Large. A signature that dwarfed any insect they’d encountered so far, and it sat almost exactly where the people were. Unmoving. Not attacking. Waiting.

  Hector’s eyes snapped open. “Yeah, we’re going the right way. It shouldn’t take long to reach the people, but there’s a problem.”

  Jodie cocked her head to the side. “Problem?”

  “Something big is with them. Almost like it’s waiting for them.”

  “How big are we talking?” Lincoln moved to a nearby rock and lowered himself onto it. His spear tip tapped against the dead carcass of an ant with a hollow, rhythmic sound.

  “Large enough that it’s going to be a problem.” Hector scanned their surroundings again, taking in the lights along the walls, letting his mind calm as he came up with a plan. These tunnels were tight.

  Anything too large would struggle to manoeuvre, with that signature being a prime example. It couldn’t make sharp turns without exposing itself. So what function did it serve for the hive? A tunneler, perhaps? Then why was it waiting? If Hector’s guess was right, a wall should separate it from the survivors, so why hadn’t it broken through?

  Either way, something that big would be both difficult to attack and easier at the same time, depending on how they approached it.

  “We should get going,” he said, turning to the two of them.

  —- —- —- —-

  The battles blurred together after that.

  An ant creature lunged from a side passage. Jodie’s claws opened its thorax before it could screech. Two mantis insects prowled along the tunnel ceiling and lunged from above, but Lincoln’s timely use of his mist formation saturated the air with smoke. Hector’s blade found the joints between armour plates before the bugs could inflict damage. Purple ichor painted the walls.

  They continued in this rhythm. Some fights lasted seconds, while others dragged on for minutes. Bugs worked in coordination, forcing the trio to adapt, to retreat and regroup before striking again.

  Time bled away. Hector’s breath came harder, his muscles burning with effort. Even for someone in Gravity Forging-Four, the gruelling gauntlet took its toll. It was no wonder people got trapped in here. The mercenaries were hardly the strongest individuals they’d met.

  Minutes later, their footsteps echoing off the tunnel walls, they rounded a corner. The space opened into a passage three times as wide.

  And there the beast stood.

  Massive didn’t quite capture the scale of the creature.