“What was what?” asked Maya.
“Something bit my arm.”
“Let me look. You probably got nicked by Antony’s sword. Bring me that torch, Charlie.” She squinted at William’s arm in the dim light. “No, you’re right, that looks like a bite, or a sting. That’s fresh blood.”
“King’s knuckles!” said Rachel as she shook her hand in pain. “Whatever it is got me, too.”
Charlie slapped at his neck, his fingers leaving red streaks on his fair skin.
Maya pulled her cloak around herself. “Everyone, cover yourselves. Don’t let any skin show.”
“What on Esper are those?” asked Jack as the tiny shadows flitted around them. “Ouch! My nose.”
“I told you to cover up!” said Maya. “Obviously they’re some sort of stinging insect. Hornets probably, since we’re underground. We must be near a nest.”
“Maya, did you see Charlie’s neck?” asked William. “Hornets don’t draw blood like that.”
Maya spoke with a muffled voice from beneath her cloak. “Maybe it’s some kind of hornet we’ve never seen before.”
“Have you ever read about any hornets like that from Earth?” asked William.
“No, I suppose not,” she said. “Does it hurt? I mean like a bee sting would?”
“It feels more like a burn,” said Jack.
“Not like a fire burn, though,” said Rachel. “Like a cut with salt rubbed into it. No, not salt…”
“Vinegar!” said William. “Can’t you smell it? This is what’s attacking the dragons. It must be!”
“Are you daft, Will?” asked Jack. “How can tiny hornets attack monstrous dragons?”
Rachel swiped at the air with the end of her cloak. “Look guys, this is fascinating, but can we talk about them after we leave? There’s a lot more now, and if we don’t get going, they’ll do something bad to us.”
“Think about it, Jack,” said William. “If these got under our clothes, imagine how bad it would be. Now imagine them under metal scales, and not having hands to swat them or brush them away.”
A distinct buzzing grew louder as they contemplated the horror that William had described. “He’s right,” said Maya. “It’s the same smell. Rachel, remember when we guessed at what weaknesses the dragons might have? Back when we thought they would kill us?”
“Hmm…thousands of tiny creatures against a few giant ones…” she said. “Of course. It makes perfect sense. If you don’t have size, you need numbers.” Her brows furrowed as she added, “But how do we fight numbers…?” Her voice trailed off as she became lost in thought.
Jack slowly backed toward the main tunnel. “Rachel’s right. We can’t fight this. It’s not our job anyway. We can tell the dragons what’s here, and they can deal with it.”
Reluctantly, William followed Jack. “Wait, guys,” said Rachel. “Let me try something.” She pulled another torch from her pack, cursing as her hands were stung. She used one torch to light the other, then swung them back and forth in front of her. “It’s working! They’re dropping like….well, it’s working.”
William grabbed another torch and followed Rachel’s example. “Everyone get two torches and line up across the tunnel,” he said. “Let’s push our way forward.” Together they formed a nearly impenetrable barrier of flame against the hornets. An acrid stench replaced the sour smell of vinegar, and the air filled with sizzling and popping sounds as the team swept their torches through the swarm. They inched forward, their footsteps crunching the bodies of burnt insects that dropped before them. The intensity of the swarm declined, and soon they could walk forward at almost a normal pace. The air around them cleared, and finally they could bare their heads without fear of being stung.
“Did we get them all?” asked Jack.
“Don’t count on it,” said Rachel. “There’s an opening ahead. How much you want to bet there’s a nest in there?”
“I’m not betting against you,” said Jack.
“Smart boy,” she said. “Get me a torch from my pack.” Taking the torch from Jack, she lit it and tossed it into the opening. A swarm emerged and descended on them with twice the fury as before. Maya screamed; Charlie swung his torches around her to clear the air around her, taking several stings to the face in the process. William jerked his hand back under his cloak after several stings; blood trickled down Jack’s face as he swatted at the air in front of him. With flailing torches they soon beat back the onrush of angry hornets.
“What on Esper…” said Jack as he winced in pain. “Are you trying to get us killed?”
“Sorry, everyone,” said Rachel. “I expected a reaction, but not that bad.”
Jack wiped the blood from his face, leaving a smear across his cheek. “Did you hope to burn them all at once?”
Rachel turned to Jack and glared. “No, we need to know what’s in there. I thought of sending you in, but I didn’t expect you’d volunteer.”
William broke in. “Guys, we know more than we did before. Is everyone fine? Good. What’s next?”
Rachel slowed her breathing and turned to William. “We need to know what’s in there. That’s why I threw the torch in, so we could see. Luckily it’s still burning.”
Maya blocked Rachel’s way. “You can’t seriously be thinking about going in there.”
“There’s only one way to find out what’s there, and that’s to look. I caused that swarm, so the risk should be mine.”
Maya grabbed Rachel’s arm to hold her back. “It’s too dangerous. You saw what came out of there.”
“Let’s move forward together,” said William. “Like before. We’re safer as a team.” Everyone hesitated. Their eyes showed the same fear that would have frozen him as well had he not committed himself this far. They were so close—they couldn’t quit now. “Look,” he said. “If it gets bad, we’ll retreat and let the dragons handle it. Deal?”
He almost gave up waiting for agreement. Rachel was willing, he knew, but as much from guilt for causing the swarm as anything else. Charlie would walk through fire if asked, but it had to be his decision, not blind obedience. Maya was scared, but did her best not to show it. Jack…well, Jack was pragmatic, and would risk nothing unless a potential reward enticed him. William was about to suggest turning back, when Jack finally nodded and took his place facing the opening. Charlie walked to the middle of the tunnel, his long reach covering nearly half its width. Maya stood next to him, as close as she could without leaving a gap. Rachel moved in beside Jack. “You better cover my flank, Jackass.”
Jack smirked. “I will.”
William stepped into the open spot and they inched forward. The swarm had subsided, but still they moved at a slow, deliberate pace, expecting a new attack at any moment. Closer and closer they came, and still no attack. The light from the thrown torch spilled out from the opening, and soon the flame itself came into view. Still no hornets. The air around them was clear; the swarm was gone. Emboldened, they moved in front of the entrance itself.
William broke into a sweat, and the flame of his torches flickered in time with his trembling hands. Maya gasped and dropped a torch. Charlie swore under his breath while Jack moaned and shook his head in disbelief. At the far end of the small cavern stood a purple-gray hornet the size of a horse, its huge wings beating at the smoke-filled air. Surrounding the massive insect was a humming cloud of hornets so thick that William doubted he could throw a stone through it…not that he wanted to try. The swarm had retreated to protect their hive, and what was probably their queen. They would defend it—or her—to the death.
Despite the danger, William could not help wondering if these hornets—if that’s what they were—were in any way related to the dragons. Finding two entirely new species in the same mountain with similar social structures seemed like too much of a coincidence. But that didn’t help in determining how to destroy them. He had no illusions of making peace as they had with the dragons.
They backed away from the infested hollow
to confer, unwilling to provoke an attack before they were ready. “Any suggestions?” William asked.
Rachel cleared her throat and gave William a sheepish look. “Well, I’m not sure if you trust me after what happened last time. But since no one else seems to have any ideas…?”
William looked around at the others. Satisfied no other proposals were forthcoming, he nodded at Rachel.
“Hold these,” said Rachel to Jack as she handed him her torches. She slipped her pack from her shoulder and rummaged through it, removing things as she found them.
“What’s the plan, Rachel?” asked William.
“You’ll see. Jack, keep those torches back,” she said as Jack leaned in to observe. She poured the powdered contents of two bottles onto a square cloth, wrapped the cloth into a tight ball, and tied the top with a bit of greased twine. “I’m not sure how many will survive, but be ready. We might have company.” She lit the wick, edged toward the entrance, and lobbed the package into the hornet’s nest.
She leapt away. Even if he’d been warned, William could not have been prepared for the ball of fire that erupted from the nest. When the flames expired they listened for the furious swarm they expected to spew from the nest. All they heard was sweet silence.
“A little warning might have been nice!” said William, squinting to readjust his eyesight as darkness returned.
“I’m fine. Sorry, I forgot our eyes were used to the dark.”
“Well, it worked,” said Maya.
“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll have to check when the smoke clears.”
Jack stared at Rachel, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.
“What?” she asked.
Jack shook his head. “You are full of surprises, woman.”
“You have no idea, mister.”
The smoke cleared quickly, a testament to the dragon hive’s air circulation. The torch that Rachel had thrown was extinguished, but their own torches revealed that the swarm of hornets had been destroyed in the inferno.
All but one.
“King’s backside, it’s still alive,” said Jack. The hornet queen was huddled at the end of her nest, to all appearances undamaged. “I’m not sure I want to fight something that can live through fire.”
“It was just a short burst of flame,” said Rachel. “You would have lived through it, but your hair wouldn’t have. Anyway, it got all the little ones.”
“I’d rather fight that than the little ones,” said Charlie.
“Don’t be so sure,” said Maya. “If the little ones can draw blood…” She shuddered instead of finishing her thought.
“Are you okay?” asked William.
The scientist shook her head. “Bugs give me the creeps. Especially huge ones. And that’s the hugest I’ve ever seen.”
“Let’s get rid of it then.” said Charlie, striding into the nest.
“Charlie, wait!” said William. Giant or not, he couldn’t let him do this alone. “Jack, Rachel, let’s go. Maya, stay back. We may need some doctoring when we’re done.”
“Do you have a plan?” asked Jack. “I mean other than the one my brain keeps suggesting? Namely, to leave now.”
“Charlie, you’re the only one with a shield,” said William. “Try to keep the hornet occupied while we figure out how to kill it. I’m sorry to ask you —”
“It’s fine,” said Charlie, not taking his eyes off the beast.
“Rachel, shouldn’t you get Steve back with Maya?”
She gave him a look of disbelief. “He’s a hunting dog. This is his job!”
William nodded. “Fine. Have him do whatever you think needs doing, and see if your arrows can penetrate that hide. Jack, you and I will look for weaknesses once Charlie has its attention. Ready everyone?”
As they approached, they got a better look at the monstrous hornet. Its armor glistened in the torchlight, a dark luster with tiny flecks of reflected light. Its huge wings covered the length of its body, which ended with what looked like a massive stinger. Dark liquid dripped from the end, and a sharp stench filled the air. With or without a doctor, they might not survive even a single sting.
Danger was not limited to the back end. The hornet’s mouth had two jaws that snapped shut sideways, lined with jagged edges. They would have to avoid attacks from both ends of the beast.
Charlie whacked the bug several times across the face with his spear, the smacking of wood on insect armor echoing in the cavern. Keeping his shield up, he dodged the bites, using his spear to stop it from charging forward. Jack and William stood on either side of it; neither could get close enough to slash or stab it, as the hornet swung its stinger from side to side. Steve circled around, but the hornet had backed itself against a wall, leaving no room for the dog to get behind it. Rachel fired three arrows before she gave up; they bounced off the armor without leaving a mark.
William slashed at the massive abdomen as it heaved toward him. It did no more than glance off, leaving barely a scratch. The insect concentrated on Charlie who kept his spear in its face and his shield active.
“I can’t make a mark on this armor,” said Jack as he danced around the stinger.
It had to have a weakness. He noticed that the bug squinted when Charlie’s spear got near its face. That was it. “Rachel, aim for the eye!” William said.
Charlie lowered his spear and shield long enough for Rachel to shoot. The arrow missed high, bouncing off the skull. She was about to fire again, but stopped. Beset on all sides, the creature became enraged, spread its wings and began beating them. The blast of wind blew William and Jack off their feet as it took flight, and soon the insect’s massive head towered above Charlie. William feared that Charlie would be defenseless against an attack from above, especially if the beast dropped its weight on him.
Steve growled and attacked. Like a wolf clinging to its quarry, he clamped his jaws shut on the hornet’s rear leg. His grip near the upper joint kept him away from the stinger, and his mass prevented the bug from swinging about so wildly. More importantly, the insect couldn’t get airborne. Its head loomed above Charlie, but the tail end dragged on the ground.
The bug’s body was stretched apart by the lift of its beating wings and Steve’s weight. A gap formed in the hornet’s armor, and William saw his chance. Bending low to avoid the wings, he slipped under the body and slashed at the exposed area. The hornet’s rear segment ripped away, while the front end soared and smashed into the cavern ceiling. William rolled away just before it crashed down beside him.
It landed on its back, unable to control its flight. Charlie finished it, his spear penetrating the belly easily. The giant insect convulsed before finally expiring.
William was too exhausted to celebrate. He had fought two deadly battles with barely a break in between, and it was all he could do to sheathe his sword without dropping it.
“Someone please tell me that’s the only one,” said Jack as he gasped for breath.
“It had better be,” said William, nodding toward Charlie. “That one nearly destroyed Charlie’s shield.”
Charlie held up the remains of his spear. “This, too,” he said. Its tip had been sheared off by hornet jaws; nearly a foot was missing.
Maya ran to Charlie. “Are you hurt?”
Charlie looked himself over. “I don’t think so,” he said.
Rachel stared at Charlie, her mouth hanging open in admiration. “Not a mark on you except for the stings you had before…”
“I doubt there’s a single man in the Guard who could have stood up to that beast, Charlie,” said William. “Probably not even my father.”
Jack clapped Charlie’s shoulder. “I’ve lost track of how many times you saved our hides. Will’s especially.”
Charlie’s emotions were too strong to permit him to answer, but his face showed equal measures of both pride and humility.
With their enemy destroyed, Maya could treat their stings. “Is anyone having trouble breathing? I don’t have allergy meds with me, but I
might be able to—hang on…what are those?” she asked, pointing at a gelatinous mass near the hornet’s body.
“They look like eggs,” said Rachel. “Cool! I’ve never seen hornet’s eggs before…or whatever kind of eggs these are.”
“That is not cool, Rachel!” said Maya, her voice a mix of disgust and rage. She tore Charlie’s spear from his hand and beat at the clump of eggs, splattering them all about. “They’re disgusting! Die! Die! All of you, just…die!”
“What is your problem, Maya?” asked Rachel. “We’re safe. They can’t hurt us. They’re only eggs.”
Maya shuddered. “I know, but they’re disgusting. I’ve always hated bugs, stinging insects especially. But these…”
“Then we’ll get rid of them too,” said Rachel. “There’s a better way, though. And it won’t destroy what’s left of Charlie’s spear.” Rachel retrieved one of her bottles and sprinkled the contents over the pile of eggs.
“Hang on,” said Jack as he backed away. “Is that—”
“Don’t worry,” she said. “This stuff only burns. You have to mix it with the other stuff to get a fireball.” She touched her torch to the eggs, and the flames engulfed them and went no further. In mere seconds the eggs popped open, their contents forever prevented from taking flight or stinging humans or dragons.
Maya took a deep breath. “Thank you, Rachel.”
“I have all of you to thank, too,” said William. “I was stupid, and I led you all into danger, and I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”
“Well, stupid or not, maybe it was the right thing to do,” said Jack.
“We still don’t know for sure if there are any more, though,” said Rachel. “We have to assume there are, though. There’s never just one of anything.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said William. “No, it really doesn’t,” he said in answer to their stares. “The dragons can get the rest. I know how.”
While education became a lesser priority for commoners after Conversion, the opposite was true for members of the nobility. One of the first acts of the new King was to commission two Academies, one each in North and South Ibyca. For hundreds of years these Academies have been attended by sons of Dukes, Earls, and the wealthiest of Barons, and their courses include many subjects not taught at lower ranking schools. Among these are Commerce, Rhetoric, Psychology, Military Tactics…
The Defender of Rebel Falls: A Medieval Science Fiction Adventure (The William Whitehall Adventures Book 1) Page 32