Hello everyone, I'd like to announce that the The First Readers tier is now available on Patreon.
This tier is limited to only 10 members.
As one of the first supporters of My Hive Mind System, you will permanently get access to every early access chapter published on Patreon at half the regular price.
This benefit will last forever, and once all 10 spots are taken, the tier will never be available again.
patreon is 20+ chapters ahead
---
Under the magnificent aurora-lit green sky, an ol1d man sat at the edge of a platform above the river, gazing with tired eyes at the ruined lands in the distance and the harbor before him, crowded with many large and small boats. The harbor was in chaos. Many people were busy carrying their goods onto the boats, and the faces of everyone working were grim and lifeless. Their grief showed in every movement they made.
The minutes passed like this in silence, until the stillness was broken by the sharp tap, tap of a cane striking the wooden platform as someone approached the edge.
He turned his head and greeted the approaching chief.
Aktar, unable to put weight on his broken leg and struggling to remain standing, slowly approached and sat down beside Loren.
After the two of them sat in silence for a while, Aktar spoke.
"The council has decided that we must extend the period of communal mourning."
Then he added,
"We have to look to the future now. We cannot allow our grief to consume us."
He placed a hand on Loren's shoulder and spoke again.
"You should do the same, Loren. Your friend has returned to the soil. His spirit will come back to us with the crops that will grow again. Take comfort in that. He has only changed form. He is still alive."
Loren slowly turned his empty, reddened eyes toward the chief. After looking at him for a few seconds, he spoke.
"I know, Aktar. I know. But that still doesn't fill the emptiness inside me."
A long silence fell between them before Loren spoke again.
"Still… I will do as you say."
"What did you decide? What will happen to the village?"
Aktar turned his head toward the busy harbor and answered.
"We were supposed to harvest the fields in a month, but now they're all ash. On top of that, the elders say the fire has damaged the soil. We won't be able to gather a crop next year either."
Loren could hear the tremor in the chief's voice as he spoke, but he continued listening without interrupting.
"We can't survive here for years just by fishing. The village is discussing migration… but we don't know where we would go."
"The raiders already came this far to attack us. We can't go south. That would only bring us closer to them. And if we go east or west along the river, there are too many wild animals, and there isn't enough open land to farm."
"So your only option is to abandon these wetlands."
Aktar let out a weary sigh and replied,
"Unfortunately, that's how it looks. But I still believe we shouldn't leave this place. Even if we do, how many of our people will die from hunger or disease along the roads? When would we ever find somewhere to settle? And even if we did… how long would it take before everyone could be fed?"
Loren let his gaze wander over the burned fields for a moment, thinking. Then he spoke in a steady voice.
"I will help you."
Aktar looked into his eyes and asked,
"How?"
"Join my caravan. I'll be visiting many small families and larger villages. I have good relations with some of them. I'll ask them to help you."
Aktar quietly considered the offer.
"Many of our people were taken or killed, Loren. But even so, nearly three hundred and seventy of us remain. No one will give food to that many people for nothing."
"You're right. It wouldn't be for nothing. If you want your people to survive, you'll have to accept joining other clans. If you don't want to struggle with hunger and countless other hardships, this is the safest path left to you."
Aktar's voice hardened as he asked in disapproval,
"Are you suggesting that Zeswa should be broken apart and disappear forever, Loren?"
Loren ignored the tone of his voice and slowly rose to his feet.
"I'm only offering you an option so your people don't suffer any more, Aktar. The decision is yours to make. My caravan leaves in two days. Let me know by then if you intend to come with us."
After saying this, Loren did not remain there any longer and walked away from the wooden platform.
Beside the rift in the great savanna south of Anjum, evening.
"Fuck. Fuck, fuck… Damn it, I can't make any sense of this useless grass!"
Alexander spat the dry strands of grass from his mouth onto the ground in anger, cursing under his breath.
"Damn things taste awful anyway. I'm sick of eating you month after month… I want meat."
Alexander rose from beneath the tree where he had been lying and began pacing tensely along the riverbank. But the small Nuxali noticed immediately. In truth, they had sensed his unrest long before they saw him move.
Seven small Nuxali lying beside their queen's resting place at the foot of the tree lifted their heads one by one and looked at him. They already knew what was coming. Even though the oldest among them was barely a month old, they had seen many times how their queen grew angry at the grass, tearing and crushing it and treating it harshly.
They did not understand the reason, of course. At first, they had tried to approach him, trying to calm him, but the sudden mental blows coming from him had frightened the young ones and driven them back. Now they sensed that this was something beyond their understanding, and for their own safety, they simply kept their distance.
Alexander noticed the hatchlings watching him. He stared at them for a moment, and his anger rose again. His mind gathered its focus and locked onto his connection with the drones, searching until he found a specific node. All of his mental strength flowed into it, and suddenly Alexander's senses shifted.
Before him appeared the narrow path descending into the rift. In his nostrils lingered the metallic scent of the fungi. Seizing control of the runaway hatchling, Alexander quickly pulled it back toward himself and then returned control to it once more.
He glared at the drone, and waves of anger struck it through the link.
"You worthless thing. How many times do I have to tell you not to go there?"
The drone's head throbbed with pain. Though it could not understand the words, it clearly understood the problem—and the anger.
Alexander's mind surged again with violent waves.
"Looks like making you this stupid was my mistake… but don't worry. I'll carve into that brain of yours exactly what you should and shouldn't do."
Then the Queen's mental waves slammed into the hatchling's mind. The receptors in its brain began to tremble violently and burn. The hatchling tried to whimper in pleading, but no matter what it did, it could not stop the sensation of its head burning from within.