Chapter Eight: The Run
I didn't kneel.
The Queen's antennae froze midair, tasting my defiance. The hum in my skull turned into a shriek — sharp enough to make my vision splinter into shards of light. Every Hiveborn in the chamber moved at once, heads snapping toward me like a single body.
Elias's voice cut through the noise. "Don't—"
Too late.
I ran.
The soldiers reacted instantly, their movements perfectly synchronized. No shouts, no footsteps — just a flicker of black plates in the dim resin-light as they closed in.
The tunnels swallowed me whole, their walls slick with heat and scent. My breathing grew ragged, my legs heavy. The hum clawed at my thoughts, trying to turn my sprint into a crawl, whispering that there was no escape, that the Colony was escape.
> Shift, the other voice ordered.
I let it in.
Pain flared down my spine, each vertebra locking into something harder, sharper. Plates erupted across my arms, tearing through my skin with wet cracks. My hands curled into hooked claws that gouged the tunnel walls as I ran. My vision widened — no longer human — taking in every vibration, every particle of scent in the air.
The soldiers were close. Too close. I could feel the air move with their mandibles, smell the heat of their bodies.
The tunnel split ahead. Left was wide and bright with resin-light — the main passage. Right was narrow, twisting into shadow. The Hive would expect me to take the open way.
I went right.
The walls closed in until my plates scraped both sides. The hum faded slightly here — thinner, harder for the Queen to reach me. But the scent of soldiers still chased me, sharp and fast.
Then the floor vanished.
I fell, twisting in the dark, claws scraping uselessly at the smooth walls until I hit something solid. My shoulder cracked against it.
I lay there gasping, plates retracting in jerks, my body trying to return to human form before it was ready.
Above, the tunnel mouth glowed faintly. Black shapes gathered there, peering down.
They didn't jump.
They didn't need to.
The hum came again — soft this time, coaxing.
Come back.
And in the darkness beside me, the other voice spoke.
> Now we see if you can survive without the Hive.