IMPERIUM INSECTUM

Gwiynn pov:

“Raise your head”

As my queen commanded, I did as I was told. To think I tried to attack and kill her what was going through my mind? She should behead me now for that grave transgression.

“My queen, what do you-”

“Who permitted you to speak!” I dropped my head down. How foolish of me! I can only speak when spoken to! Gah, I deserved to be beheaded for this.

“You're on thin ice, girl. One more transgression like that and your life is forfeit, understand!”

I nodded. She’s giving me a second chance; she is truly a benevolent leader.

“Now listen, you vile cretins. As you may remember, you 4 tried to kill me. Is that correct”

Silence. What were we thinking to attack our queen like that? Was it the work of an enemy? Were we possessed? I don’t get it?! We must apologise. I slowly raised my hand up in the air. Her stony gaze met mine.

“Speak”

“I think I speak for us all when I say we are deeply sorry, my queen! I don’t know what came over us” The other nodded in agreement. The queen chuckled “Please, your words mean nothing. I should have you all killed here and fed to my children!”

“If that is what you desire, then we go willingly”, said Gordon, our ever-silent tank.

“At least you understand the gravity of your sins”, our queen said “However, today I'm in a good mood. So I'll forgive you; however, that forgiveness is not free; it must be earned. Are you ready to earn”

“Yes, my queen”, we all yelled in unison.

“Good to see you're eager, but will that eagerness falter under the task I am about to give you? To earn that forgiveness, you must pay with your bodies.”

On cue, one of the big monsters rushed out; a warrior, I think, came to the queen's side and dropped to its hands and knees. My queen then gently sat on its back and folded her legs over.

“You will fight. Fight till your skin shreds itself, till your muscles burn like one of the 7 circles of hell. Fight until every bone in your body is nothing but dust, and then and only then will you be forgiven. Am I understood?”

“Yes my qu-“

Pain echoed through my head as something sent me flying across the room!

“HAHAHAHA AND IT STARTS DON’T JUST LAY THERE GIRL FORGIVENESS HAS TO BE EARNED! FOUGHT FOR EVEN!”

“Yes, my queen”, I said, spitting blood out of my mouth. I looked up to see the others scrapping and fighting like feral animals; they wanted forgiveness as much as I did. dammit I can't disappoint her. I wont! My body moved, and as it did, waves of dizziness washed over me.

“No!” I yelled. I have to show her my dedication! I must! I charged forward to the group, blue mana in hand!

4 hours later….

Diva pov:

“Enough!” I ordered, raising my hands in the air. “Ive seen enough” the 4 of them slowly rolled their blood-covered bodies, and when I say blood-covered, I mean it literally, from head to toe, drenched in blood, muck and tears. All of them were covered in deep cuts and gashes and were peppered with bruises and welts. Safe to say I’m convinced the mind control or mind manipulation, if I had to be more accurate, was a success.

<Are you satisfied, Penn?>

Penn nodded as she finished writing in her book before closing it.<More than satisfied. Mind manipulation at this level is unheard of. I would still like to keep them here for further study if I may.>

I shook my head. <If they stay any longer, then some people may suspect something has gone wrong. They leave as soon as ive healed them and they have rested>

She pouted her lips. But she didn’t argue. Maintaining the ruse that nothing happened out here is important.

“All of you to me”

I ordered slowly. They dragged their broken bodies towards me and formed into a line.

“My queen…. Are we… forgiven?”  one of the males asked. I think Joshua was his name.

“Yes. You are. All of you, and as a reward for successfully writing your wrongs, I will remove the signs of your sins.”

I placed a hand on his head, and suddenly his body was enveloped in black and green healing magic. And in no time, he was healed. Without a trace of this ever happening. The others stared in wonder as I did the same for them until they were all healed.

“This healing… I’ve never seen… felt anything like it,” the archer said, staring at his arms in wonder.

“Take this as a demonstration of my power”, I proclaimed. Haha, this feels really good. Having these lackeys eat everything I say as gospel. “From now on, you serve me. I am the one authority you fear. My orders trump any ties you have to your friends and family. Do you understand!”

They all bowed their heads

“Yes, my queen”, they said in unison

“Good. Now for your mission. Go back to Doonvatel and meet my other half. She owns the large two-storey estate there. You are to assist her in any way she sees fit. If she has no need of you. You are to continue your regular duties, but you will be secretly working for me. Report anything you hear about me or my hive directly to my other half. Do you understand?”

“Yes, my queen!”

“Good. Perform this task well and expect many more rewards. Going forward. Now rest and recover your stamina. You depart in 4 hours.”

They nodded and bowed deeply as I signalled for 4 warriors to come and escort them to the top of the hive. Once they were out of earshot, I stood up from the warrior's back.

<That was fun>, I said, rising off my feet.

< Was it?> Penn asked as she arrived at my side “I checked out after hour 2. There is only so long you can watch 5 people slug at each other before it gets boring”

<Mother?> I looked to the side and was met with Azuura. And the architects.

< Azuura? Is something the matter?>

< Nothing is. I just want to inform you that we have plenty of idle workers. Anything you want us to build?>

I paused. What do I want to build? Currently, we are producing enough food, and we have enough space for the workers. Just what do I want to build? Another farm? For what reason? Another hatchery could be nice, but then again I'm not getting any more breeding stock anytime soon. Which is something I need to fix. I don’t plan on getting anything from that bastard Titus anymore. Meaning I need to find some. Then again, if I plan on getting some more breeding stock, then maybe I need to look into building a brood mother. However, they require inorganics, so we need to mineral farm.

<Right now, Azzura, I want you to focus on finding as many minerals as possible and bringing them to the hive. I plan to expand the hive even more, and for that I need seed-bearers and brood mothers.>

< I'll see what I can do, mother. But prospecting isn't something we're good at. It will be guesswork, as we have to dig in random directions till we find something.>

<I know. But try your best..>

<If only we still had that mole man. His skills would be perfect here.> Penn said. I glanced towards her and gave her a smile.

<Yes, he would be perfect, wouldn’t he….. okay, new plan, Azuura, continue as you were going to. In the meantime, I'm going to go reclaim my property…>

Mole man pov:

“Hnnnnghaaaaa”

“Easy. Ive got the last bit …NOW!”

He smacked the chisel as hard as he could, breaking the last fragments of it off my chest.

“Fuck! Finally!” Michael screamed as he threw his tools to the ground.

“lord knows how many days I spent removing that shit! But finally it's done!”

“T…thanks,” I said with a groan as I sat up.

“Don’t move; I'll carry you.” I looked to the side to see Viv move off from the wall.

“Viv, I think I'm more than-“

“Bah bah bah-“ she cut in.

“You are not doing anything alone. Last time you did, you ended up captured by a spider and then an insect?”

I shivered. “Don’t know who was worse out of the two. I don’t want to ever see those 2 again. Heh, chance are I wont. They hated each other; who knows, they might've killed each other.”

“Let's not jump to conclusions,” Mitch said as he put all his tools back onto the nearby shelf.

“Yeah, you're right. We need to report this. The sooner the better,” I said with a strain as I stood up.

“What did I just say!” Viv yelled as she ran to my side. “God. You are doing no reporting until you are better. And that’s final”

“But-“

“NO! I don’t want to hear it!”

I snapped my mouth shut. I know best to argue when she’s like this. Fine, I'll stay. And besides, it's not like they would believe me anyway. God, I do hope that they are both dead. If I ever see any of them again, it will be too soon.

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