Killer Hornet

BGM

Usapila moved with the ease of someone accustomed to the wilds, navigating the terrain with silent, sure-footed steps. She didn't speak as she led the way, her white ears twitching at distant sounds. Daisy walked beside her.

I followed behind the two of them, shotgun slung across my back. The Hellhound trailing behind us like an oversized shadow. The creature's mismatched heads turned occasionally, tracking our movement but never straying far from Usapila's side. The mining camp was eerily silent as we approached. The usual sounds of pickaxes and laboring workers are absent. I looked round for signs of life and found there was nothing.

Something was very wrong here. Where are the guards? The overseers? The miners? We're supposed to be interrupting a secret orc operation, but there's no one here. Just this eerie silence, broken only by the occasional echo of wind through the abandoned camp.

Yet all the equipment was in pristine condition, the cave entrance wasn't boarded up, the mine cart tracks still levelled and usable, the vegetation wasn't overgrown. The mine couldn't have been abandoned for too long, perhaps an hour ago. It was almost like the miners got dropped their tools and ran.

You don't just ditch a perfectly good mining operation. Every instinct screams that this is a trap, but Usapila moved forward without hesitation, her bare feet making no sound against the packed earth.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" I ask in a low voice.

"Got a better idea? We need to know what's happening here. They're still here," she muttered. "They're just hiding."

I drew my shotgun, something was off.

"Daisy, stay close." I instructed.

Daisy, still naked, moved closer to me and brought out her dagger.

We walked cautiously towards a shed, me scanning the interior. Nothing. We entered the shed, Daisy took a seat against the wall while I silently decided the next course of action.

The mine was abandoned, yes, but there wasn't any sign of monsters, demons, orcs or cultists, at least on the surface. They were likely inside the cave itself.

Daisy looked a little tired from all the walking and training of the day. I simply settled for letting her take a short break.

"You two are going to get us killed," Usapila muttered, tapping her bone spear against the dirt floor. She stared at Daisy, then at me.

"It's quiet," Daisy said.

"You sure there were orcs here?" I asked, not entirely convinced. The entire scene seemed too staged, too perfect. Almost like a trap. Usapila's ears twitched nervously as she followed my gaze to the cave entrance.

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said, her grip on her bone spear tightening. "But something's not right. They should be here."

"Have you sufficiently rested, Daisy? We shouldn't stay here much longer, lest we encounter whatever caused the miners to... abandon this operation."

"Rested enough," Daisy murmured. Her bare shoulders hunched slightly as she sat on the floor, arms wrapped around herself. She straightened her posture.

Usapila stepped forward, her bare feet silent against the stone floor. "There's something down there," she said in a low voice. "I've seen them take groups inside and never bring them out. Sometimes there's screaming. Sometimes just silence."

I raised my shotgun and Daisy drew her dagger. We exited the shed and crept across towards the cave.

Then when we were out in the open, I heard loud buzzing noises.

All around us, Killer Hornets flew out out from the cave, surrounding us. One of the hornets flew forward, glaring at me. It spread its mandibles and opened its jaw and screeched at the three of us.

"Killer Hornets. They must have made a nest in the mine." I said. "There's probably a queen down there. Probably laid thousands of eggs." I fired into the swarm, the blast tearing through several hornets.

I could see the muscles in Usapila's legs tensed for a leap. Then she lunged towards me. The dirt kicked up as she moved, her speed surprising.

I stepped aside with practiced ease, letting her momentum carry her past. She turned fluidly, and charged again. This time, she feinted high before dropping low for a leg sweep. I jumped, clearing her attack easily, before bringing SkullHacker down in a sweeping arc. Usapila went straight for Daisy. Daisy fumbled for her dagger in panic. Usapila shoved the younger bunny hard, sending her sprawling onto the dirt. Then she pressed her spear's shaft under Daisy's chin, pinning her to the ground.

"Pathetic," Usapila spat, grinding the butt of her spear into Daisy's throat. I saw this and re-drew my Shotgun.

BANG!

I fired high. Usapila snarled, abandoning her attack on Daisy to spin toward me. Her bare feet dug into the dirt for balance, her weight shifting onto the balls of her feet like a cat ready to pounce.

She lunged with her bone spear, aiming for my midsection. I sidestepped and drove the stock of my shotgun into her sternum. She doubled over with a wheeze, and I followed through with a knee to her jaw. The white bunny girl stumbled back, blood trickling from her mouth as she fixed me with a look of pure hatred.

"Daisy, get behind me," I said calmly, keeping my shotgun trained on Usapila. Daisy hurried to comply, pressing her naked body against my back.

Usapila's hand clenched around the bone spear, knuckles bleached white with tension. For a moment, I thought she'd lunge again. Instead, she spat a wad of red onto the ground and snarled, "You really do like her. Why's that, I wonder? She's weak. She's pathetic. She's worthless."

I leveled my shotgun at her head. "You talk too much."

The Killer Hornets circled overhead, their wings buzzing in a discordant hum that made my skin prickle. "You think you can protect her forever?"

"You're right," I said, deliberately steady. "I can't protect her forever. But I can protect her now."

Daisy readied her stance, I raised my shotgun and blasted the nearest Killer Hornet, the twin buckshot shedding through it and two more Killer Hornets behind it. Another one lunged at Daisy who on instinct slashed the hornet's throat. Blood sprayed out and onto her as the demonic bug fell over and spazzed out on the floor.

I killed Killer Hornets one by one. Usapila remained still, her bare feet planted firmly despite the chaos around her. She watched with something like bored amusement, though her hand hadn't left the haft of her spear. She stepped back when one of the hornets veered toward her, but didn't flee. The demonic insects seemed less interested in her than they are in me and Daisy.

As soon as they were all dead, four dozen more sprung from the cave.

Killing the Killer Hornets and destroying their nest wasn't an issue for me. What was an issue, however, was Daisy. I had my shotgun ready, but Daisy was a liability in this fight. She panicked, slashing wildly at the nearest hornets instead of focusing on proper defensive strikes. She could only slash at the ones closest to her, and every time one got too close, she flinched away. I stepped in front of Daisy, blocking the hornets with my body as I fired into the swarm. Two went down in an explosion of gore, their bodies twitching as they collapsed onto the dirt.

"Defend yourself properly, or die!" I barked at Daisy.

I cannot open the domain portal in an active combat zone. I have to either escape the current predicament or destroy the nest.

I weighed the options. The route that wouldn't horrifically scar her was to pick her up and brute **** my way back into the forest. In any other circumstance, it may have worked. However, while the Killer Hornets weren't particularly intelligent, they did have insanely large numbers on their side.

If I tried to carry Daisy to safety, the killer Hornets would swarm me en mass, and Daisy wasn't likely to survive that. Not with the distance and the number of killer Hornets standing in my way.

Not to mention the fact that I could see Argentia from here. Even if I did manage to get Daisy away from them, the Killer Hornets would still be in a frenzied rage. And Argentia was right within their crosshairs.

The unfortunate reality was, I had to consider the safety of Argentia too, and that meant the only true option was to fight and destroy the Hornet's nest. I needed to find the Hornet Queen, kill its guards, kill it, kill all the remaining Hornets, then burn the nest down. Preferably in that order, and fast.

I was pinned, with only one way to go.

I mentally braced myself, knowing what would likely be in the nest, and what it would likely do to Daisy.

Shit. I am going to deeply regret this.

Daisy was shaking, she'd killed a single one of the bug monsters and had bled another one. She'd witnessed me reduce the other Killer Hornets into puddles of gore. There was blood on her hands, and dripping off her dagger. Now there was loads more of them. The cave entrance yawned open before us, dark and wet with dripping condensation.

"Fuck this, we're going in!" I growled, slamming my shotgun home and charging straight for the cave entrance. Daisy screamed but followed, her bare feet kicking up dust as she ran. "Stay behind me and don't hesitate, the nest must be cleared," I said to Daisy. "It's not just us at risk now. The town is."

I glanced at Usapila. She watched with detached amusement, her spear still gripped loosely at her side. I didn't have time to deal with her now. That'd have to wait. I set off into the darkness of the cave, my shotgun at the ready as dozens of Killer Hornets swooped in. The confined space amplified their buzzing, making it echo ominously off the walls. Daisy's grip on me tightened as we ventured deeper into the lair.

I managed to lose the pursuing Killer Hornets in the tunnels.

Deeper in the cave we started to see the signs of a nest. Bizarre almost alienesque formations made of dirt, dried human blood, and hardened Hornet saliva began to cake the walls of the tunnel. Messy hexagonal patterns repeatedly constantly, like walking into a demented beehive.

We continued down the path until we came to a large cavernous room lit by the shining of hundreds of unmined gems. The hexagonal constructs going all the way up the walls, above them, living humans mutilated beyond identification were contorted painfully against the walls, limbs twisted unnaturally in their prisons. Below them were Hornet eggs and the dead bodies of humans used as hosts. A few of the prisoners above still moved feebly, their broken moans echoing through the chamber.