Hive Queen by Sinclair, Grayson (positive books to read .txt) 📕

I’d gained a little bit of control over my magic while traveling with Sam, but I would still be considered a novice when compared to any other member of the Hive. Even the apocritans and mantearians could use more magic than what I'm able to muster right now. And I'm supposed to be the Hive Queen; the other races would’ve laughed me right off the throne.

Makenna lagged behind Gil as they charged over the soggy ground. The squelching mud was overshadowed by the cacophonous sound of hundreds of feathers flapping in unison. The shades gained on the pair quickly; it was apparent that they wouldn't reach the tree line before the birds were on them.

Makenna stopped, drew nearly a dozen long needles from seemingly out of nowhere, each of them tipped with a glossy, dark liquid. With pinpoint accuracy, she flung her hands in the air, and each needle pierced through a shade, killing them instantly.

What was strange was one of the ones she hit was higher than the others, and when it died, nearly a dozen others followed it in death, ones she hadn't touched.

"Go for the puppeteers! They're the controllers!" Evelyn shouted next to me.

"Yeah, we know! But how the hell are we supposed to tell them apart?" Gil asked, swinging his ax.

The shades attacked en masse, but they couldn't do more than superficial wounds as Gil and Makenna were both wearing thick leather armor that held up to the birds' sharp beaks and claws. Gil had donned a full-faced helmet, and Makenna pulled her hood taut over her head, leaving the shades no way to inflict more than scratches.

As before, they showed more intelligence than any bird should have, and when they couldn't swarm their prey, they cawed in unison a grating shriek that sent panic through my body. I wanted to run screaming, but I stood my ground and tried to fight through their tricks.

The others were far less affected by the shades’ shout than I was, and Evelyn ran from the trees to join her friends. "Wait for me!" I called and ran after her, not knowing what I was going to contribute to the fight.

When I reached Gil and Makenna, the shades changed. In a fraction of a second, they backed into the sky and shifted again, but this time they folded back into one another, forming five large rolling shadows suspended in the air.

"What are they doing?" I asked.

"Morphing. Shades can take the shape of anything they've seen before. I expect they realized a flock of birds wasn't getting the job done," Gil said.

"What are they going to change into?" I asked as we all waited for the shadows to take shape.

Before anyone could respond, five humanoid shapes dropped from the endless darkness to attack us, and the shadows overhead disappeared to allow some of the muted sunlight to stream in from the overcast. Each of the five shades looked human; in fact, they looked exactly like the five of us, albeit without any concrete facial features, just more twisting shadows. Without a word, we began fighting our doppelgängers.

My shade swung at me with a facsimile of my chitin sword, but it wasn't made of actual chitin, so when I brought my sword up to block, it bit into my rival's shadow blade.

It hissed at me and let out a cry of pain. Is it using its own body as a weapon?  The answer didn't matter as I pressed forward, stabbing and slashing with all the finesse of a child wielding a toy. I knew I lacked skill with the sword, but I didn't need to be a master to hit a single target.

My sword wouldn't cut through the shade's, but with each landed attack, the shade screamed, and droplets of shadows trickled to the ground. For all the intelligence of the creature, it had no skill with the sword but still landed a couple of good hits.

They glanced off my armor, causing only superficial damage and chipping. Least it can't get through my armor. I'm safe as long as I can keep it up. It had been only a handful of minutes since I cast them, but already both spells were wearing me out. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and my arms grew heavy with each attack I made. If its weapon can't get through my armor, I don't even need my sword; I can just hold it off while the others deal with theirs.

The rest of the Gloom Knights had a much better time in dealing with their shades. Evelyn was the first to destroy hers. All she had to do was touch the thing, and it disintegrated. Once hers was dead, she just stood back and watched, even though her friends were in danger.

Adam tossed a single crystal onto the ground and easily ducked his shadow’s attack. He spoke two words, and before the shade could react, a massive black and silver wolf appeared from the crystal and ate half of the darkness with a single bite. The rest of its lifeless body fell and scattered in the wind.

With a laugh, Adam held out his hand, and the gigantic bane wolf disappeared back into its prison. The crystal snapped back into his hand, and he pocketed it to go and speak to Evelyn.

Gil and Makenna fought theirs just out of my field of view, but I couldn't take my eyes off my own foe to see how they fared. Wind whistled behind me as Gil struck with his ax, and the marsh filled with the acrid scent of fire.

I tuned out Gil and focused on my foe. I let the magic holding Chitin Sword fade. My exhaustion waned once the drain on my mana eased up, and I was able to catch the mimic’s sword in