Chapter Sixteen: The Hollow Haven
When I woke, I thought I'd gone deaf.
No hum.
Not even the faintest thread of the Colony's call.
The silence was so complete it hurt.
I sat up, my head heavy, and realized I was lying on a bed carved straight into the side of a cavern wall. Smooth, honey-colored stone surrounded me, glowing faintly from veins of something bioluminescent.
The man was there, leaning against the far wall, eyes red-rimmed.
"Where are we?" I asked.
Before he could answer, the stranger entered through a narrow archway, carrying a small tray of steaming cups. "Welcome to the Hollow Haven. The only place the Hive can't hear."
"How?" I asked.
They set the tray down on a low table. "We carved it inside the shell of a dead supercolony. The pheromone code here is broken — permanently scrambled. The Hive's link dies at the threshold."
I realized my chest felt lighter. The constant background pull, the pressure in my blood — it was gone.
The man crossed his arms. "Don't get comfortable. Places like this don't stay secret forever."
The stranger poured the steaming liquid into a cup and handed it to me. "True. Which is why we move often. And why we've been looking for you."
I hesitated. "Because of the First Queen's bloodline?"
They nodded. "You're the key to waking the old Hive — the one that existed before the Queen's rule. But keys can open doors… or lock them forever."
My hands tightened around the cup. "And what do you want me to do?"
The stranger's smile was thin, almost sad. "I want you to decide which world survives."