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

The hell? Who’s throwing around black magic?

I scanned the area, nothing but sand and dunes in all directions. There was nothing that I could see.

“Ruined!” a sudden voice shouted.

A figure wreathed in darkness appeared from the shadow of one of the larger sand dunes. It was incredibly well-camouflaged, and if I hadn’t been searching for the voice, I’d have never spotted it. Inside the shade, a darker shadow told of a hidden doorway in the sand itself. Is that one of the entrances to the Nymirian Dungeon?

I held off that train of thought and stood, pulling Raven up along with me.

The figure stalked toward us, tall, his stride purposeful, yet heavy with rage. Though he stood under the blinding light of the sun, shadows clung to the figure, bathing him in midnight. He wore a cloak so dark, it obscured his physique, shrouding him almost completely.

Only his chin and mouth were visible under the shadows that covered his eyes, his lips set in a ferocious snarl.

“Ruined!” he shouted again, his voice young but tinged with maturity and anger that far outshone any mere teenage angst. “Do you two know how long it took me to raise and lead those roamers all the way out here? And you two fucking waltz in and ruin everything!”

From within the folds of darkness, he withdrew a dark wooden stave, unadorned and plain but oozing wicked intent.

My sword was useless at this distance, but I spied a knife in a leather sheath at Raven’s lower back. “Mind if I borrow your knife?” I asked.

“Help yourself,” she said as the hooded man approached.

“I’m going to make you pay for crossing me. I’m the Shadow King’s chosen. I am Ja─”

Whatever he’d been about to say was suddenly cut short by the knife now lodged firmly in his trachea. My throw had been perfect, and I’d aimed at the only unprotected spot he had.

He gasped and bled his life out on the sunbaked sand, the blood mixing with the grains of sand and clumped as it dried.

“Rule number one: never monologue in the middle of a fight.”

That earned me a snort from Raven. “You ready to set off?”

“One sec,” I said, and went over to the dead man and stole all of his stuff.

I didn’t bother cataloging the items, I just quick looted him and jogged back to Raven.

I handed Raven back her knife and quickly sorted out the combat results from that encounter.

Combat Results!

1 Killed (Human): 1500 Exp!

Total Exp: 1500 Exp!

Exp: 5200/5400

“All right, let’s go.”

She shifted, and I climbed atop her. We set off, and I was grateful to be out of the intense desert heat. The wind tore at my face as Raven put a burst of speed into her wings, but I enjoyed the rush as we soared high above the desert. The shift in temperature was enough to make me shiver, but after sweating bullets minutes ago, I wasn’t about to complain.

We flew for another hour or so, but the sun was getting low by then, and Raven had slowed considerably, prompting me to lean down and ask to find somewhere to make camp.

“Absolutely, I’m worn out,” she said, her voice clear despite the howling wind.

About twenty minutes later, we passed by a high cliff formed of red rock. It was tall enough that nothing I knew of could climb it, and unless wyverns or dragons roosted there, we’d be safe from attack. I nudged her with my foot and pointed toward the cliff. She got the message and swooped down to land.

I took a few tentative steps to make sure the ground was solid everywhere, and when nothing crumbled or moved, I was satisfied and pulled out our packs, trying to get the camp set up.

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Sure,” I said, tossing her the pack after pulling the tent out. “Knock yourself out.”

We got to work in silence. By the time I set the tent up, I was furious, and Raven had a fire lit and dinner going.

“Give me the bag.”

Raven did so at once, and I rooted through it, getting madder by the second. Knowing I wouldn’t find anything, I pulled out Raven’s and gave it a cursory look, not finding what I was looking for.

“Godsdamn it.”

“What?” Raven asked, looking up from her preparations.

“There’s only one tent.”

“Oh,” she said, not at all looking concerned about the fact. “Maybe they did it that way to save space?”

“No, I’m pretty sure it was just to fuck with me,” I grumbled and pulled out the one thing that would make the situation bearable.

Whiskey.

I took a long pull from the frankly oversized travel flask Magnolia had procured for me and went to help with dinner.

“What are you making?”

Arrayed on a long strip of cloth were salted vegetables and meat, each separated by individual strips of cloth. Instead of dried meat, we had fresh meat with a fine layer of salt over it to allow it to keep.

Raven asked for the bag back and pulled out a small bottle of red wine and a bevy of spices and bouillon cubes. All of it went into the cauldron over the fire and was allowed to simmer. In just over half an hour, we dug in.

I hated to admit, as the meat fell apart in my mouth, but it was one of the best meals I’d ever had here.

Raven was just as hungry as I was, because she scarfed down three helpings of the meat after I tapped out on one.

“Hungry?” I asked with a smile.

She nodded, wiping broth from the corner of her mouth. “Shapeshifting takes a lot out of me, and I’m not used to using