The Heartstone Saga by Archibald Bradford (short novels in english .TXT) 📕

I have actually accomplished something.” He muttered.

“Look sharp kid!” Miranda snapped at him; “Focus on containment for now until we can get a handle on this!”

“Yes ma’am! Nina, Milly, strobes are coming!”

“Yeah yeah.” The Gigas replied placidly as she carelessly knocked over the forerunners of the mob.

There was a great woosh as Volka flapped her wings once to bring her higher in the chamber.

“My sisters! Calm your hearts and step back from this nightmare that you face!” She cried out as she released her aura in its entirety, making the light orbs completely unnecessary and bolstering the hearts of everyone in the chamber.

The Tenebrae-Antlions hesitated, their blackened eyes glossing over momentarily in the face of the glorious love that Volka’s aura promised them.

But it wasn’t enough.

The moment of doubt passed and they surged forwards, hungry for blood.

“We are outnumbered! But my workers are coming through the tunnel now to bolster our forces!” Queen Julia declared in a clear shout; “House of Longinus! Guard well your daughters!”

Volka’s aura had filled her heart with the hope that she had nearly lost and her soldiers let out a unified grunt and took a step forwards, their shields slamming into the surging horde of Tenebrae and pushing them back, a dark wave breaking on unyielding rocks.

Because while their hearts were filled with rage and hate, they were worker caste, and Queen Julia’s soldiers were more than a match for them.

And that wasn’t even counting Nina, Milly, Kala and Jan.

The four of them worked seamlessly together, swirling within the mass of bodies and putting them down two and sometimes even three at a time.

Meanwhile Miranda and Nameless were sowing chaos in the horde with strobes and goo-bombs, blinding and binding the fallen girls.

“Where is Erica?!” Ophelia demanded suddenly from behind him.

Amidst the chaos, the Katje had disappeared.

Distracted from the pitched battle, Nameless reached out with his heart to feel his kitty slinking off down one of the tunnels and he nearly died from the fright of it.

Erica had cleared the chaotic mob of Tenebrae when they were distracted by Volka and her light.

But his concern was unwarranted, as she was a Katje and stealth was what she was born for; her black leather suit and her natural night-vision helping her hide in the shadows.

Once past the last of the Antlions swarming into the chamber her thoughts reached back for him.

You guys take care of the hard stuff! I’ll find the queen!

He wanted to call her back, but by that point she was actually safer than the rest of them. And though her nose wasn’t as good as Jan’s, with so many ants to follow it wasn’t hard to backtrack where they had come from.

While the slinky cat slunk through the dark, the Tenebrae hesitated to strike at the light that was Volka, but she struck at them, using her shield to bowl them over as she joined the other four girls fighting in a slow circle outside the wall of Antlion soldiers.

“We’re lucky that Avita is a young queen! All I’m seeing is workers!” Kala declared as she grappled one of the girls to the floor.

Milly bellowed at her side as she fought with two others.

“Workers or not they are pretty strong!”

From atop one of the stout soldiers protecting them, Jez’s tongue lashed out and bound up one of the girls angling to brain the Minotaur with a shovel from behind, dragging the girl towards the shield wall.

“Ah’ve goth won!” She declared proudly.

“Good! Now grab twenty more!” Nina roared at her.

The hard part for her wasn’t the Tenebrae piling on top of her, it was throwing them off without hurting them.

She was enormously grateful to Tiana and the other Amazons for helping her practice.

As desperate as their situation seemed, the Tenebrae they fought were not doing well either; their numbers had been steadily dwindling since the fight broke out and it only got worse when Queen Julia’s workers arrived from the surface.

They didn’t have the training that her soldiers did, not to mention the doughty shields, and a few of them were torn apart by their dark counterparts. But while it pained Julia greatly, it helped them turn the tide when they waded into the mess of Tenebrae to reach their queen.

Nameless suddenly stood bolt upright when he felt another thought from Erica.

Found her! Wow she doesn’t look good! You better get here quick lover!

Erica! Are you safe?!

I’m fine, I’m pretty sure that all of the Antlions are with you.

“Queen Julia!” Nameless shouted once he’d absorbed everything from Erica; “There! That tunnel! Avita is there!”

It was all he needed to say.

The soldiers maintaining the shield wall began to move immediately, somehow keeping their formation solid even while fighting off the Tenebrae.

But Nameless felt a sudden surge of surprise, fear and pain from Erica.

His eyes widened and he threw his thoughts at the others.

Erica is in trouble!

“I felt it Husband!” Volka called out even as she brained yet another Antlion with her shield.

If they were keeping score, the Dominar and Nina would be neck in neck.

Though when she heard that her precious sister was in danger, Milly bellowed aggressively and set her sights on the passage that led to the Katje and soon she very rapidly caught up to Nina and Volka’s numbers when she plowed over anything and everything in her path as only a charging Minotaur could.

Not to be outdone, Volka gave one flap of her wing and risked breaking her neck by flying over the mob to reach the tunnel in question.

“Shit!” Miranda cried out when it suddenly got very dark; “Lights!”

She and Nameless cracked the last of their light orbs to illuminate the chamber again, by which point they had all converged on