Silently, the hunters detached from branches high above. Their sensitive antennae had caught A scent that their simple brains associated as food, moving into their hunting range. The thin wings on their backs began to beat rapidly making a faint, high pitched hum and shaking off the remaining droplets of water from the earlier storm, and on the thin, cool air they began a controlled descent towards their next meal.


    Potent venom began filling their probosci as they neared the targets from above.


    Three rapid thumps echoed on the overgrown road as the insects were blown apart from within, the ichor within their bodies and bits of semi-rigid carapace splattering against the trees.


    Three figures continued moving along the ancient road, the two larger ones casting anxious glances at the small human. They could sense her irritation like a physical presence, which if they were honest, was their mistresses general mood. This time however, they could feel more than just irritation, several emotions were swirling around her, and through her link to the two Arvo.


    “Go ahead and speak Saav,” Sera said, looking at him to her right.


    “Mistress, that place… those people, are they stronger than us?” Saav hissed quietly


    She stopped walking suddenly, both Saav and Durg continuing a few steps before stopping and turning to face their leader.


    Sera let out a frustrated sigh, “They are strong, make no mistake about that, but so are we.” She gestured back towards the ruined base, “Fighting is not the only proof of strength, something I have been trying to teach your people since I arrived. We showed strength by going alone into their lair and walking out alive and uninjured.”


    Scratching its head, Saav asked “but that human beat your hold of him?”


    Her eye twitched at the memory


    “And then he spoke to you as if you were a hatchling, how..”


    Power rippled through the area and both Saav and Durg found themselves lifted off the ground, cutting off Saav’s questioning tone.


    Eyes glowing, she stared at the two of them floating before her, and with an irritated tone, began to speak slowly, “It seems I will have to explain this slowly for you to understand. Now tell me, what would happen if two Alpha’s of equal strength met?”


    “They would compete to see which is stronger mistress” Drug rasped out


    “That is correct Durg,” she stated, “but why wouldn''t they simply fight it out?”


    Saav’s eyes seemed to brighten as its head perked up, “Because neither would be assured victory over the other, both would either die or be too injured to continue fighting and become prey to others”


    Setting them both back on the ground, Sera smiled. “Exactly. Yes, we could have fought our way in and out of there, but the two of you would be dead and I would likely be injured. Even bringing all of the clans against them, we would win but they would weaken us greatly and make us prey to others.”


    The two Arvo nodded in understanding, their people were powerful, but they did have competition.


    “Well, now that this misunderstanding is fixed, Saav, your clan will be inheriting your previous Alphas territory. Its closest to the base and perfect for the task I have planned for you.” Sera said with a grin that sent a shiver down the back spines of Saav and Durg.


    ***************************************************


    Litra and Gamir shared a silent look between themselves as the “visitors” departed, but it did not change their plans. Both gathered their resolve and marched towards the bar where Delvik, Thomas and Indral were seated and discussing the events.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    “They are feeling us out,” Thomas said, waving away any concerns, “if they were going to attack, it would be all of them at once with no warning. I''m not going to say they won''t ever attack, and we will probably be seeing more of them soon, maybe even visiting the bar. We just need to be ready,”


    Indral nodded along, “I agree with Thomas, they were scouting us, if in a bold way. Their leader is very strange.”


    Delvik and Thomas voiced agreement as the two Matrons arrived. Delvik and Indral turned and gave respectful gestures as Thomas readied a couple more drinks.


    For a moment, quiet seemed to settle around the bar as conversations became quieter or stopped altogether, and all ears turned towards the bar. The silence did not go unnoticed by the Matrons, and they felt their tongues grow heavy as they felt the attention of everyone on them.


    Thomas looked at the two young Matrons, then at the rest of the people in the bar not so subtly trying to listen in and asked, “would you like to take this conversation to my office?”


    Both shook their heads negatively, “No..ah no. We will…um we will speak openly.” Gitra said haltingly.


    Thomas just nodded his head, “then what can I help you with? Do you need more medicine, blankets?”


    Again they both shook their heads negatively, and after a couple false starts, Litra opened her mouth and words began pouring out, “Human Thomas, Scout Delvik and Elder Indral, we wish to know your intentions for our people. We are thankful for the help so far, but our people are scared and rumors run wild. If.. if you need to hold someone responsible for Delvik’s treatment, then we offer ourselves up, please do not punish our people. If…. if you wish us to leave, we will do so immediately and not bother you again”


    Indral, Delvik and Thomas all stood slack jawed at the torrent of words, trying to process them


    Thomas slapped his hand on the table, startling everyone, “Dammit, I knew we should have done something about those rumors earlier”


    Indral set his cup down, “You are right, but it should have been Delvik, myself and the others who should have done it, as well as speaking with you sooner Matrons, you have our apologies for this.” he said, “we were too focused on the physical healing of our people, and not enough on the worry on their minds.”


    “You have my apologies as well Matrons,” Delvik said, “I should have spoken with our people more and let them know that we do not hold them responsible for what happened to me.”


    The two matrons deflated slightly as their worries seemed to be proven wrong, and accepted the fruity smelling drinks that Thomas slid to them with a smile. “Well then, I guess its time we bring you up to speed on what we have been planning, get your thoughts on some ideas we have been tossing around and maybe figure out a plan together for going forward” he said loudly so that even the furthest listeners could hear.


    ***************************************************


    The sound of helicopters coming in fast and low for an attack run nearly drowned out the keening screech being emitted from the lake. The volley of rockets exploding and gunfire moments later also failed to quiet the damned noise, and General Lepin bit off a curse as a shout of “INCOMING” traveled up and down the firing line, and ducked behind one of the armored fighting vehicles.


    Several fleshy sounding objects impacted near the firing line as human screams were added to the mix of gunfire and explosions.


    This damned region was definitely a black zone, she thought as she moved further down the line of the stopped convoy. Peeking around the front of the truck, she took in the sight of hastily dug in fighting pits along the side of the highway, and the waves of plant-like creatures hauling themselves out of the stagnant marshland west of the interstate. The general shouted once again into her radio, “where the hell are my mortars!?” and receiving only static as the reply.


    Cursing her luck once again, she continued moving down the line. The day had started so nice, the convoy had been making excellent time and then the ambush happened. Damned swamp monster had risen up out of the muck and started throwing fleshy orbs filled with some acid-like substance. They had returned fire as they moved trying to get past it only to find that the section of interstate ahead of them had been washed out, blocking them from continuing forward. It wouldn''t have been so bad, even then if the damned creature hadn''t started making that loud screeching noise and a veritable horde of smaller versions of itself began to swarm out of the muck and charge towards them.


    More screaming from further down the line drew her attention in time to see several of the creatures swarm over one of the firing positions and overrun it. General Lepin emptied her submachine gun into three of the creatures, killing them while her soldiers took out the remaining ones. She gave swift orders to get reinforcements drawn to this end of the fighting line as more soldiers poured into the gap, and within moments she was moving again, to find out what the hell her mortars were doing and why this swamp wasn’t a burning pyre yet.