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

Right, the fallen god that’s chasing us. With one last forlorn look, I sighed and walked back to the others,  who were in the midst of discussing a plan; the details of which were soon lost to me as I struggled to keep up with them.

I wouldn’t add anything to the conversation anyway. I’m a sheltered girl, not a warrior or tactician. Even as the strongest entomancer, why didn’t you ever teach me how to defend myself, Mother? Oh, right, you had such absolute confidence in yourself that you thought I’d never need it. Though even you couldn’t save me in the end. Couldn’t even save yourself.

I shuddered as ice dripped down my back and chilled the sweat from the muggy heat that beat down on us from the blazing sun. “Get out of your head and get to work,” I said, slapping my cheeks and brushing of the phantom chill etched down my spine.

“What can I do to help?” I asked as I approached the huddled group.

They broke apart and looked me over. Four pairs of eyes studied me and assigned me a task instantly. “Wood, lots of it,” Gil said. “Long, thick branches. As many as you can grab.”

Makenna snickered, and everyone tilted their heads in confusion. She blushed and grinned. “It’s nothing, ignore me.”

“Hm,” I muttered and walked back into the forest on a log hunt.

It didn’t take long, as the forest was rife with plenty of wood for me to choose from. It took maybe twenty minutes of ambling about to find about as many logs and branches that I could carry, which turned out to be quite a lot.

Periodically I’d check my surroundings with magic to make sure Misumena hadn’t crept up on us, but it was all clear. She would find us eventually; it was a certainty. She was probably already aware of us through our vibrations and smell, but she couldn’t move her lumbering body quickly through the thick forest. We would likely hear her coming, but I wanted to make sure she couldn’t surprise us.

I wobbled a bit as the strain of holding well over a hundred pounds of wood in my arms caught up with me. My muscles burned with fatigue, and my hands started shaking just as I reached the waterfall. I dropped them, and they clattered against each other as they tumbled from my weak grip.

“I need to exercise more,” I said, leaning over, my hands on my knees as I panted, gasping for air.

“You did good, though. And let’s be honest, running for your life is a full-body workout,” Gil said as he came and knelt by me.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

Gil smiled at me. “Better. Washed the worst of the blood off in the river, and the bleeding’s all but stopped. So as long as I’m careful, I’ll be fine.”

He dug through the logs with a craftsman’s eye and selected several of the longest and thickest branches I’d brought back.

“What are you going to do with them?” I asked.

“Well, with the location being what it is, our best bet is to lay a series of traps in an attempt to corral the big bug where we want her to go.”

“Which is?”

“Right over the waterfall and onto some very sharp sticks.”

“Though Misumena’s carapace is thick. Do you think the sticks are sharp enough?”

Gil laughed, placing his very large hand atop my head, which should have been condescending, but it was actually very soothing, and I knew the giant bear only had the best of intentions with the gesture. “Hopefully, it’ll work in our favor. The tensile strength of her carapace has already been weakened by my attacks, and theoretically, the distance of the waterfall should be far enough. That and Misumena’s mass coupled with the speed as she falls should be enough to penetrate its hard shell.”

I didn’t really get what he was saying, and it must’ve shown on my face because he gave me a dopey grin and sighed.

“I don’t have time for a physics lesson, but trust that Evelyn wouldn’t concoct a bad plan.”

I trusted them both implicitly, at least when it came to battle. Trusting Evelyn in other areas, maybe not so much.

Gil laid out his bundle of broken branches and pulled out a small kit wrapped in canvas. He unrolled it to reveal a slew of knives and other strange tools I’d never seen before. He picked the largest knife and began to shave slivers off the bark.

“Need to thank Duran again for his gift, though it’s actually the first time I’m ever using it,” he said before he froze and snapped his head around, eyes wide. “Which you didn’t hear, right?”

“Not a word,” I replied, doing my best to keep from laughing.

“You’re too good for him,” he said and turned back to focus on his work.

I smiled at him, and then it dropped as I was left standing around while everyone else was busy with something. Guess I’ll go and see if there’s anything else I can do to help.

***

It took well over an hour for Misumena to get close, which was more than plenty of time with Evelyn leading things. She ran us ragged as we worked furiously to get everything set up. By the time we were finished, I was dripping sweat and shaking with fatigue, but I was the lookout, and I had to keep my eyes and ears open for when she showed up.

The low thuds and rustling of trees were a dead giveaway, but I had already alerted the others. I’d spotted her through the eyes of a fly clinging to a vine nearly fifteen minutes ago and immediately told everyone.

Misumena ambled through the jungle as fast as she could, which was rather slow. But sooner than I’d have liked,