1 War never dies. (1/2)

The sound of weapons clashing could be heard from everywhere. Hives are burning to the ground. The air is filled with smoke and the smell of blood is putrid. Jakob, an ant humanoid was looking back to where their city was being attacked by the Kingdom of Mammals.

The Hive never had good political connections to any of the other Kingdoms that were around but not a single day Jakob thought that they were going to be attacked. The Insectoids were one of the weaker species on Kalash, the island where they are living. Being limited to only their natural strengths, not having developed their superior traits they stood no chance against the opposing Kingdoms.

Now everything was over. With the Hive burning to the ground, their soldiers decimated, and even most of the Queens dead, they had almost no chance of survival.

"Still, we are insects. Giving up is not part of our DNA.", Jakob thought, while he was running away with his wife and his child.

Numerous Insect-Humanoids could be seen fleeing from every direction. Their Hive amounted to tens of thousands, all kinds of different species. Bees, Ants, Spiders, Grasshoppers, even some families of Scorpions lived within the Hive. Racism wasn´t a common thought shared in insectoids, so they welcomed everyone that was on their side.

While Jakob and his family were running away all of the other species could be seen following suit. All while the Mammals were in hot pursuit. The Soldiers were trying their best to hold them off but they were just too weak.

"Milena, take our Child and keep running. I will try and divert some of their attention so you might be able to make it to the swamp. The Mammals really don´t like it there so they might stop their pursuit there."

Without even waiting for her response or taking another look at his beloved one he started taunting the nearby hyena-humanoids who promptly followed him.

Jakobs only saving grace was that they built their Hive basically in the middle of the Woods, so with a little bit of luck he might be able to shake them off his trail.

"I am an Ant, so speed is not my strong suit, at least they can´t smell me, otherwise I might be doomed", Jakob thought. One of the Unique traits of Ants is that they only excrete odor when they want to. No Sweat, no Pheromones. That and being way stronger than a Human the same size were the unique traits of Antoids.

As fast as he could Jakob was running through the Woods. Branches and Thorns couldn´t hurt him, thanks to his strong exterior shell, but that won´t protect him from the sharp fangs of the Hyenas. While every breath he took made his body both heavier and lighter at the same time he started to not be able to hear the Hyenas anymore.

Still, not daring to even look back anymore he keeps leaping forwards, now on all of his 4 hands. The swamp, where their emergency evacuation place is, exactly for this situation, is about half a day away from the Hive.

A long track to be hold, especially with the fear of death lurking behind you, but the swamp is a terrible place to live, especially for mammals. The Insects hoped that by migrating there they could deter their pursuers from completely eliminating them.

After about half an hour of running for his life through the Woods Jakob finally had to slow down. He was dead ass tired, having fought his way through the siege first and then protecting his family later. He still had numerous wounds all over his body, both, from the fangs of the Mammals and their weapons.

"I can still make it today to the swamp, even if I rest for a bit here. I hope I made the right decision in luring at least some of the attackers away from the refugees."

Breathing heavily Jakob sat down on the floor and focused on healing his wounds.

He only allowed himself about 15 minutes before he couldn´t stand it anymore and had to continue walking. Trying to find his family now was a fools errand, so he opted to go straight to the swamp. With the Path Jakob took he lured the attackers on a different side of a small Mountain range, so if they wanted to pursue the others they would have to backtrack, which was another reason why they chose the Swamp for their meeting spot.

They could lure or split up the attackers while fleeing.

"I must say, the old fogeys took their contingency plans very seriously.", Jake chuckled.

He was actually grieving, already having lost many friends and family members on the way out of the Hive. Humor was the only thing that kept him from being too sad or angry. Sad for his lost loved ones, and angry at the Mammals for attacking them.

This war was going on since they started writing their history, and no one knew why. The Insectoids were always one of the weakest races. The Purge, as the Insectoids called this, happened every few hundred years. Never allowing them to rebuild a great Hive. A Hive that penetrates the clouds, burrows deep benaeth the roots of the biggest trees or as wide as an Ocean.

While Jakob was alone now Milena still had their Child with her and they still had attackers following. Many Insectoids tried the same as her husband did, but were only mildly successful. Their numbers dwindled and they lost another member of their community every few hundred meters.