Author: Derin

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> Things move pretty fast when you have essentially unlimited labour and resources to get them done. The Lightsong Travel Agency was up before I knew it. Word of our existence was spreading to every aljik nest we could contact. Very, very slowly. Aljik nests don’t communicate … Continue reading 25: Two Years Later

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next After they eat, Mia and Kemia offer to give them a tour of the hive. Smon politely declines, claiming that she must rest. Tyk knows that Smon must be burning with curiosity about the hive, but also understands her dilemma; Smon doesn’t want to get caught … Continue reading 54: The Echoes In Stone

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> “That’s our cue,” Kate said. “‘Should we meet up and talk’.” I glanced at the boys. “This isn’t safe.” “It was never going to be safe. This is as safe as it was ever going to be. This is as harmless as we can make ourselves … Continue reading 24: Negotiation

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next “What’s your read on Mia?” Smon asks. “Fairly nervous, if I’m reading her body language correctly?” “Well, she’s very young. And she and Kemia are in charge of looking after a god, so far as they know. It’s natural to be afraid.” “You were never afraid … Continue reading 53: Nepotism

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> The human wasn’t wrong. All three of the ships here were mine, part of my Empire; was it really more of a violation to transmit from the Red Four than to have stolen the Oval Nine? But I did need confirmation that she was indeed hacking … Continue reading 23: Outmanoeuvre

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next “The plan,” Smon explains, “is to build a Rayjo Tau, which is our version of a communication tower, on the Northern side of the mountain range, overlooking the ocean.” “That won’t work,” one of the men, who had introduced himself as Keton, protests. “Not only will … Continue reading 52: Metal and Magic

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> The Firedancer was beautiful. Queen Tatik had never really acknowledged it as her flagship, not while the remnants of the Stardancer still existed as the heart of our nest, but necessity had demanded some sort of vessel fit for a Queen to travel her empire when … Continue reading 22: Engagement

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next The first group from Glittergem that they run into are fully expecting them, meaning that they must not have seen whoever initially spotted them and told the hive. It’s a group of three men, all looking very concerned and confused at the lack of an adult … Continue reading 51: Glittergem

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> I didn’t have to check the hull to know that it wasn’t doing great. Which is good, because I wouldn’t have been able to check it anyway; most of our external sensors were gone, burned away into space, except the ones we’d removed and taken inside … Continue reading 21: Last Stand

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next “This is where we leave you,” Saima says in the morning, as the neima take one last look over the farm to make sure it’s all in order and load Tyk up with so much food that she wonders if she’ll need to forage again at … Continue reading 50: Spider Sense