The Hivelord


                                            >"AHHHHHHHHH"

                                            >You turn around just in time to see what looks like a black bug pony crash head first into a rock.

                                            "Holy shit that almost hit me!"

                                            >Curious, you move in to check out the crash site, a move you greatly regret.

                                            >The scene was pretty gruesome.

                                            >You didn't really want to see brain matter today.

                                            >The little thing died on impact at least.

                                            >"HELP PLEASE PLEA...."

                                            >A harsh thud echoes through your mind.

                                            >Looking up you notice dozens of the things falling from the sky.

                                            "DUCK AND COVER!"

                                            >You turn and run towards the treeline as fast as your legs can carry you.

                                            >After seeing what happened to the first bug thing, you definitely don't want one landing on top of you.

                                            >Ever since you arrived in this weird place, you have been assaulted by one thing after another, but this, this is too much.

                                            >The 1st thing capable of speaking that you've seen in the months you've been here just falls from the sky and dies.

                                            >The sound of more screaming and impacts break you from your train of thought.

                                            >Several minutes of silence pass, before your courage builds.

                                            >Moving out from the cover of the treeline and into the rocky clearing turned landing zone, you take a moment to scan the aftermath of the falling creatures.

                                            "Holy shit." You quietly mutter.

                                            >There are bodies everywhere in various states of injury. Many are lucky enough to get instant or very quick deaths, but not all are granted that mercy.

                                            >A body at the end of a trail scraped into the dirt with hind legs splayed unnaturally far apart brings a strong sense of nausea to your core.

                                            >It it doesn't take too long to find one still alive, but to your horror it has been impaled through the belly on a small tree. A thin coppery looking substance oozing from its wound and pooling under its midsection.

                                            >Panting and wheezing, it notices you looking at it in shock. It stares at you with its big blue eyes, filled with pain and intense fear.

                                            >You have to literally swallow your nervousness before you approach.

                                            “Oh my god.” you can't help, but mutter.

                                            >The realization that you are getting closer strikes it suddenly and it starts to flail around trying to pull itself free.

                                            "Stop moving you are going to make it worse!" You say, your voice quivering from the intense nausea that the sight brings you.

                                            >It completely ignores your call and tries to pull itself away from you and manages to spin itself around in it's feeble attempt to escape you, causing its wound to go from oozing to hemorrhaging rather quickly.

                                            >You decide to leave it after that display. It is just in too much pain to be reasonable and you doubt that you would be able to help it anyway. Surely there are other survivors that can be saved.

                                            >The whole situation is just so upsetting that you don't even notice the much larger one of them laying on the ground directly in front of you.

                                            >That sudden intense fear strikes you as you feel your foot catch on something and fall, only to land on a body that grunts upon your impact.

                                            >In the brief moment that your eyes meet only inches away from its mouth, you see long fangs and angry eyes.

                                            >Fearing a venomous bite you reflexively kick yourself off of the thing and jump back.

                                            >The creature's only response is a pained yelp followed by a wheeze.

                                            >Guilt hits you hard.

                                            "I'm so sorry, I saw your fangs so close to my face and just reacted! A-are you okay?"

                                            >A tense few moments pass with it just eyeing you before the creature lowers it's gaze.

                                            >"Do any of us look okay to you?"

                                            >The voice, clearly feminine, was strange. Multi-tonal and raspy, but definitely feminine.

                                            >You scan the area once more. Death and pain are all you see around you.

                                            "No. What happened to you?" You say, reaching towards where you kicked her.

                                            >"Don't touch me you stupid. . .”

                                            >She is interrupted by her coughing up that coppery substance before letting out a pained moan.

                                            "Hey, I'm just trying to help. Please calm down."

                                            >You try to sound as soft and sympathetic as possible, but she clearly isn't buying it.

                                            >She glares at you for a moment before propping herself up with her forelegs and looking around.

                                            >You see her face contort from anger and irritation to surprise and then to horror.

                                            >"M-my children!”

                                            >She raises her head high and begins to make a strange chirping trill.

                                            >After each chirp, you see her ears move, probably trying to listen for any response.

                                            >When nothing calls to her she weakly tries to get up, but It becomes painfully obvious that isn't going to be able to, upon seeing the state of her hind leg.

                                            >It flops around with her movements, broken a bit below the knee, it is useless to her.

                                            "Wait, let me help you!” you say.

                                            >Her response comes with a snap of her fangs.

                                            >"Don't touch me!" She says with a long, drawn out hiss.

                                            >You've seen things in this forest, big things. You've seen them eat. There is no way in hell these things will survive the fast approaching night. They are just an easy meal for the sadistic fauna of this forest.

                                            "You're hurt, let me help you!" You say, moving towards her.

                                            >She doesn't like that at all.

                                            >"Stay back creature or I'll. . ." she trails off.

                                            >She is scared and she is weak. That is clear from just looking at her.

                                            >with her trembling front legs, sunken in eyes, busted rear leg, and clearly malnourished frame, you seriously doubt that she is much of a threat despite her size.

                                            >Though to your surprise, she is able to stand up on her three good legs.

                                            >She tries her best to stand tall and stare you in the eye, but being a head shorter than you and with a look of pain painted thickly on her face, it has the polar opposite of an intimidating effect on you.

                                            >Maybe you should try a different tactic.

                                            >You again soften your voice and your face as you speak to her.

                                            “My name is Anonymous.”

                                            >Still trying to appear strong, she leans herself closer to you and narrows her eyes.

                                            >”What do you want, Anonymous?"

                                            >Though hard to tell with the way she sounds, her voice is quivering.

                                            >You inch closer.

                                            >She leans back.

                                            "I just want to help you. I. . ."

                                            >"Lies!" She hisses

                                            >"Do you seriously expect me to believe that you want to help us? Nobody helps us!" We have. . ." Her attempts to continue her rant are interrupted by another coughing fit.

                                            >You are taken aback by her outburst, but aren't swayed by it.

                                            "There's no way I could just sit here and watch you all suffer. I really do want to help, just please lay down and I'll look for your children."

                                            >with a sudden movement that causes you to jump, she responds.

                                            >"Absolutely not! I am their mother! I should be the one to rescue them, not some ape!"

                                            >She is surprisingly loud.

                                            >You sigh.

                                            "At least let me help you move around. You can try to mask it, but I know you are in a lot of pain and moving around isn't going to make things any better for you."

                                            >She pauses for a moment, probably weighing her options.

                                            >"Fine." She relents

                                            >Relief at her cooperation washes over you.

                                            >You turn around and kneel down in front of her.

                                            "Here, climb on."

                                            A look of shock grips her face. You didn't think that her eyes could get much bigger than they already were.

                                            >"Y-you want me to ride you?!"

                                            >You look over your shoulder at her.

                                            "Well yeah. You are way too injured for me to let you walk."

                                            >She hesitates.

                                            “I won't drop you.”

                                            >She hesitantly climbs onto your back and wraps her forelegs around your neck tightly.

                                            >You stand up slowly, being extra careful not to jostle her around too much.

                                            >She weighs almost nothing. It's like wearing an empty backpack.

                                            "You must really be. . ."

                                            >"Go!" She interrupts. "We must find every changeling that still draws breath!"

                                            >One foot goes in front of the other and you are already becoming ill, having temporarily forgotten the state of all the little ones.

                                            >This isn't going to be pretty. . .