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

“So why are you doing this?” Raven asked after about five minutes of silence.

“Doing what?”

“This, all of it,” Raven said, throwing her hands up. “You don’t seem like the following orders type.”

“Well, I’m not, but something big is going on, and I don’t really have a choice in the matter anymore. I’ve got to figure out what’s going on with the world and help stop it, even if that means working with Magnus.”

“Even if it means doing bad things to good people?”

I snorted. “I’ve done a lot worse for much less. At least this time, I’m helping.”

Raven didn’t respond. Instead, she clammed up and wore a contemplative expression across her face while we reached the entrance to Aldrust.

The massive wall of stone, earth, and grass towered above us, casting us into shadow as we stepped under its gaze. The wall was smooth, completely without blemish as it circled around the territory of Aldrust. Nearly a dozen soldiers stood by the entrance, which was only an entrance if the guards allowed passage—otherwise, it was just another part of the wall.

We got in line behind nearly a hundred others all trying to enter Aldrust. Most of them were dwarves, but a few humans stood above the heads of the others. Time passed as Raven and I inched closer to the gate, and then it was finally our turn.

The gate guard, a taller dwarf male with more muscle than hair, leered at us, calm and collected.

“State your business,” he said, his voice rough and graveled.

“We’re─“ I began, but Raven held up a hand and cut me off.

“We’re here on our honeymoon, visiting an old friend. Orryn Drell,” she said with a smile.

The gate guard nodded. “Tax is two silver,” he said and held out his hand.

Raven pulled out a few gold coins and dropped them into his palm. And even the stony-faced guard’s eyes widened at the money. He turned, held out his empty hand, and spoke a short rolling incantation in Script.

His hand glowed a light brown as the Script circle popped into existence and swirled, ethereal, around his palm. When he finished speaking, the circle faded away, and a thick slab of stone opened in the wall.

The gate guard waved us through, and as soon as we were inside, the door slammed shut behind us. Inside the wall was a long passageway made of stone and lined with torches that flickered every couple of feet.

Before we’d taken a single step, I whirled on Raven and shoved her against the wall. My finger pressed against her cheek.

“Don’t ever speak for me again, you understand?”

She nodded, a smile pressing at her lips. “I understand.”

“Good,” I said and backed off her, turning and walking down the hall.

Raven followed, her steps clacking quickly behind me as she caught up. We walked in silence, but there was a pep in Raven’s step that hadn’t been there before.

“Excited?” I asked.

“What?” she asked, her face flushing scarlet. “I mean, a little.”

“Well, we’ve got some time to kill today. We can look around—it’ll be beneficial to get the lay of the land regardless.”

“Oh, yes. The city, of course,” she said, turning away from me for a moment.

I left the quirky shifter to her own devices and stepped through the heavy wrought-iron door that led to the upper farmland.

The sun was high in the sky overhead, and after being in the cool shadows for an hour, I welcomed the heat. Dozens of large natural stone buildings were all around us, along with an abundance of farmland. The earthy scent of freshly tilled dirt and vegetation permeated every inch. Dwarves toiled away at their farms with smiles on their faces as they worked. And they had good reason for those smiles.

“Why is everyone so thrilled to be doing manual labor?” Raven asked, confused.

“Because each and every one of the dwarves working are Aldrust’s best. High nobility, war heroes, Lachrymal’s chosen disciples. They’ve all done something of great importance to have earned their farms.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Their reward for hard work is more work?”

“Essentially, but the farms are more than just farms. They’re status symbols to the dwarves.”

She chuckled, shaking her head, but I let her be. It didn’t really make sense to me either when I first came here.

We passed by the farmlands and walked to the entrance to Aldrust. It was basically a gigantic elevator that lowered us down to the city, but it was powered by teams of dwarves and their earth magic. We stepped on it, and after some words in Script, we descended.

Elevators didn’t bother me, but for someone like Raven who hadn’t ever been on one before, she was having a blast. Her head darted around as the stone block we were on grumbled and shook as we went deeper into the earth.

When we stopped at the lower level, Raven’s excitement abated, but it surged right back up as we stepped into the city.

Even after seeing it dozens of times, I never really got over its majesty. Everything was carved out of stone. Stone houses and manors rose from the very earth itself. Carved stone formed everything, from the streets and stairways to the lamp posts that held shining blue mana crystals as they lined the winding roads in all directions.

Aldrust was a never-ending maze spreading like the roots of a tree in all directions. All with the level of detail and craftsmanship that would put even the most skilled human hands to shame.

High above us, nestled into the rocky ceiling, stood the largest cluster of mana crystals in the world. The cluster was the size of Castle Gloom-Harbor and pulsed with radiant blue light, creating a facsimile of a sun underground.

“Wow, I’ve never seen anything like it