74 A Desperate Fight for Survival

As they heard the shriek from inside the cave they knew this was a fight or die situation. That shriek was the sound of the Hive Queen screaming in pain from the death of one of her Royal Guards. Every hive had a small contingent of Royal Guards that were all mutated strains of Volvaka. They were always the second or third generation of the Hive so that the Queen could get a feel for the genetic structures of the normal warriors and workers before making changes. Volvaka Queens had the ability to force mutations in the genetics of their children using the energies of some of the special crystals where they typically started their hives.

With a feeling of desperation bearing down on them they both moved forward slowly, storing energy in preparation to fight the next set of lizards who came down the cave mouth.

As they advanced forwards they quickly found that the only enemies they faced in the narrow cave were just delaying them. The enemy knew as well as they did that this was a time of no retreat, they could only advance and fight to the death, as the Royal Guards would pursue them to their deaths using just their scent, and they would take much longer to tire than any Lynhär while rushing through the forest to prevent the leaking of this hive location.

Fight! Push forward! These were the only options left to them. Do or die!

They finally rounded the corner that Wuying had used his mirror to peek around and had to stop to adjust to the bright light of the raging fire. As they stood and allowed their vision to adjust to the new brightness they kept their other senses at high alert for an ambush. When a few moments had passed with no ambush and their eyes had adjusted they finally looked around to see that this room had been abandoned, likely a consolidation of their power.

Advancing on they knew they were getting close as not only the air grew warmer, but strange crystals began sticking out of walls and numerous side passages that had not been dug more than a few feet were everywhere.

"Be careful, Yun. We're getting very close to the Queen's chambers."

"I know, we'll advance slowly, use these small insets they've begun digging to get a look further ahead."

Both of them began advancing more carefully, one at a time they began moving forward using the small caves to stay out of sight while advancing.

As Yun was making a dash forwards she suddenly stopped and had to swat away a heavy stone that was flying towards her chest. The spear in her hand bent under the weight before finally changing it's trajectory downward, forcing her to jump over the flying stone as it hit the floor and continued on behind her for a few more meters of skittering and crashing into walls and floors. Quickly she dashed into the cove next to her and prepared to defend while Wuying advanced.

"Looks like we've gotten spotted Wuying, I'll block their stone while you move up to here."

"Good, let's do it!"

Wuying dashed forwards, nearly as fast as Yun, and ignored the stone flying at his body as Yun swung out with her spear and smashed it head on, causing the spear to bend yet again before the stone was sliced open and flung against the wall in pieces.

Wuying quickly stepped into the small cave and they began to plan their next move. Yun wasn't confident that her Argent Spears could truly sustain an impact from these flying stones, and if she were to slice them up they would split and the force behind them would cause them to continue forwards in pieces, causing more danger.

After nearly an incense stick of time they had decided on their plan, and as they rushed out together for the next cubby they discovered that there were no more rocks flying towards them. They reached the hiding space with no obstructions, and decided to try again with the next one.

The next four spaces were the same, and finally brought them close enough to see into the main cavern.

In front of them was a large excavated cavern, on the floor could be seen the smooth region where the original cave floor was, while the rest of the cavern was rough and obviously recently excavated. Around the cavern were numerous gently glowing crystals, presumably the crystals that the Volvaka always placed their hive near due to the energy that allows them to manipulate their offspring.

Around the entrance of the cave were 8 scattered Volvaka warriors with various weapons, none of which were up to the standards of most hives, and four more of the young Royal Guards. Behind all of these was an extremely large and rotund Volvaka that looked like it couldn't have made it through the entrance of the cavern. This must have been the Queen, already entrenched in the cavern permanently.

Once a fledgling Volvaka Queen found her permanent residence she would undergo a radical physiological change. Her body would swell several times it's original weight, her reproductive organs would fill over eighty percent of the new space, while the digestive and circulatory organs would fill the remaining new space. After a very short time the Queen would lay over a dozen eggs, which would be handled and hatched by the few 'retainers' she was given as a parting gift by the Queen that gave birth to her. From then on she would be immobile, bound to her new location, and would thus choose it very carefully. When this Queen chose this location it was obviously much smaller, her retainers must have excavated around her to verify the necessary crystal formations and provide her space while they brought in enormous amounts of food.

Yun's grip tightened on her spear, Wuying's fists tightened as well, emitting a creaking sound from his bones and gauntlets, and Yun's Argent Spears reformed behind her back, out of sight, in preparation.

Any moment both sides would attack each other, but for this short period of time they both just stared in disbelief at the opposite side. The Volvaka warriors couldn't believe two such young Lynhär had been able to cause such trouble so soon, and the pair of Lynhär couldn't believe they were fortunate enough to encounter such a young hive that they had a chance at survival.

At this moment, as these thoughts passed through all their heads, a small stone fell from somewhere and landed on the cavern floor as if preordained. Everything happened at once.

Yun leapt forward, activating her battle skills furiously.

Wuying slid to the side, trying to create space and delay a good portion of the enemies.

The Volvaka warriors split up, attacking the nearest opponent in groups.

The Royal Guards stepped in closer, but left room to prevent the Lynhär from breaking through the attacks and charging the vulnerable queen.

The battle had begun!