The Only Thing...

[KeeperOfTheCode]

Isla Perdida was well named, for few come back from its treacherous shores. For there lies a jungle over-run by great, glistening beasts, the spawn of the island's ruler: The Hive Queen...


"There it is!" cried the first mate. Although the island loomed dark on the horizon, he was glad to finally see land again "Shall we be landing soon?"

"Soon enough," the captain replied. For days now, no beast had followed them. It unnerved the captain that the beasts had ceased their relentless search for their stolen gems. Soon they would land on the island, and then they would finish their next mission...

Finally, they reached the land, though few enough of them wished to go. The captain again, with two of his men, walked along the beach, where lay a stone altar, roughly hewn from rock. Red stains marred the beautiful yet primitive pictures carved into its side: pictures of terrible beasts, perhaps gods, bringing down terrible wrath on the people of the island.

"Well, there certainly aren't any people now," the captain muttered. As they advanced toward the jungle, the air turned foul; the smell of rot and blood-stained earth. Nothing would stop them now though, and they trekked into the jungle, their skeletal hands grabbing at vines for support on the uneven ground.

In the jungle, a great beast lay in wait for them. Its iridescent body had a large head with bulbous red eyes; wings fluttered behind it, and a small sting protruded from its narrow abdomen. The sting almost immediately had a victim, the first of the captain's three companions; the second mate.

The beast was no match for the remaining skeletons however, and it retreated quickly into the forest. They marched on un-opposed for minutes... hours... The plants seemed to close in on them, to watch them. Looking onward, more of the beasts. The land sloped up to a stony-sided hill. At their ascent, several of the creatures attacked...

One of his men was busy shooting at an advancing wasp-like creature, while the captain himself went claw-on-stinger with a larger one. Clang, clunk. The sound of metal on rock-hard sting. Screaming, the sound of another companion falling. With a final slash, the last of their foes toppled from the side of the cliff. Ahead lay their target.

The huge creature stood before them like a venomous goddess, watching her domain. Her fell eyes burned with hate, for they had killed her children. Its jet-black sting stood out against the green aura that shrouded her. The sting was her symbol of power; the aura her robe. She watched them warily, unsure for a moment, and then, overcome by grief at the fall of her offspring, she lunged...

The battle that ensued was a blur. Poison from that dagger-like protrusion covered his vision like a mist, and he couldn't think straight. Only 'Fight. Fight. Kill'. His friend rushed for her wing but missed. Snick. She struck him down with a quick cut from from her jaws. The captain caught her sting, which would have finished him off, on his blade, which immediately began to corrode and rust. She turned her attention on him then. Thoughts racing through his head as they exchanged their blows. Lunge, parry, hack, dodge, sting, block. He was about to fall before this impeccable creature; this ancient mistress of fate. Then, to lead her away from his ally, he fled. Down the hillside, unheeding to the following hordes, he ran. He passed behind a tree just as a thud of a stinger embedded in wood came from behind.

Enemies to the left. Enemies to the right. Nowhere to go. He was trapped between the cliff and the unceasing army before him. The queen came to him, jaws ready to snap, when, Crack! Thud! A rock rolled before him, the queen narrowly escaped as it collided and annihilated most of her brood. She shrieked, and all he could think was to run. She didn't follow. Why did she not follow? The answer came with a shriek from his friend on the hill. Another shriek, not from him, but from the beast-goddess, echoed through her ancient halls. Thus is the fate of those who dare oppose me!

He sank down on the beach, defeated. Why had it gone so wrong? Now he knew why Roger needed her gone: She, aside from the pirates and the beasts of the deep, was the only thing that stood in his way to control of the islands. She was a monstrosity of ages past; a primal force in these lands. He had failed. The Hive Queen had defeated him.


A little off my central story-line, but I wanted to do a work on that majestic creature, the Hive Queen. Comment please.