Regina didn’t know how she’d managed to sleep in a tree or out in the open the first few nights. Compared to then, she slept like a baby now.

The shelters were a little small, but they’d built enough so that they weren’t too cramped. The hive now also had enough people to keep a night watch, so she finally slept through the night. Granted, her heap of leaves and fur scraps still wasn’t the most comfortable, but she was nice and warm, at least.

The sun still stayed out for a long time. Regina suspected that it was the middle or end of June. That seemed to fit with the general temperatures and the vegetation they’d found in the forest. She was glad she hadn’t been dropped here in winter. But it also meant she should keep in mind that winter would come, and they needed to prepare. For all she knew, it would come early and be a bitter one.

Hopefully, they would have found civilization and reached some kind of arrangement before then.

“What we really need is some metal,” she said, looking at their pitiful supply of tools. “No, actually, what we need is knowledge and skill. There’s probably a lot more we could do with what we have, but we just don’t know it.”

Max nodded. He was currently trying to make a new ax, with limited success. “I really wouldn’t say no to some worked metal,” he replied. “Stone just doesn’t make for good weapons, and we don’t even know how to work it. Even if we did, though, metal would probably be much better.”

Regina nodded thoughtfully. By now, she’d realized that all of the drones only knew what she knew. Plus maybe some basic, mostly instinctive things related to their duties, or what would be typical work for a Warrior or Worker of the Hive. She suspected they were actually drawing on her own knowledge.

“Do you know how to read?” she suddenly asked. “I mean, I guess you do, since you read your status screens, don’t you?”

Max paused. “Yeah. I do.” He frowned. “It’s the weirdest thing. At first, it was harder. I knew how to do it, but the knowledge was kind of odd, disconnected. It felt like I was learning it at the same time. But by now, I just read it, probably the same way you do.”

“Wow. That’s … interesting.”

It meant that he, and the others, might literally take this knowledge from her mind and assimilate it. That would explain why they all spoke the same language she did, despite just being hatched. Reading was obviously another part of that.

Regina sighed and stared into the fire, absently twirling a stick in her hands. I wonder if that works for things I learn here, too? Only things I knew before? Only things I know up to the point when I lay their eggs? She threw the stick into the fire. I guess there’s only one way to find out. If I learn a new language in the future and then make a drone, I’ll see if they speak it or not, I guess. Or does it need to be a native language?

“Do you speak any other languages, Max?” she asked.

“Not that I know of, my Queen.” He looked a bit confused.

She shook her head. I don’t think I’m exactly good at any others, but that doesn’t mean much. I wonder what kind of knowledge gets transmitted? There have to be limits.

Just then, a crashing sound came from behind them. Regina turned around quickly, half-rising from her seat. She relaxed as she saw that Tim had dropped a piece of wood and it had crashed into and thrown over a small pile of rocks. She couldn’t help but smile while he bent down and hurriedly tried to pick everything up, under the faintly exasperated gaze of Tia. The boy had offered to help the workers, but Regina suspected they might be second-guessing their enthusiasm now. Or relegating him to grunt work.

The girls were trying to craft some more tools for them. It was sorely needed, but Regina privately doubted their success, given their lack of materials. Still, they had the time for it, and the Drone Workers were ostensibly better suited to such a project than she herself was. Maybe they’d surprise her.

The sun was climbing the eastern sky, and Regina estimated that noon was just around the corner. They’d caught a squirrel in one of their traps and still had meat left over from the wolves, so they were set when it came to food. Later on, she intended to gather the warriors and escort the workers to the river to check on the local terrain and soil, and to look for any more monsters they could hunt. But that could wait.

“It’s weird to think I’ve been here for almost two weeks,” she commented to Max.

He tilted his head, frowning for a moment, before his expression cleared. “Yeah,” he said. “It kind of is. Still, we’re making some progress, aren’t we? Don’t expect too much, my Queen.”

Regina nodded, humming in agreement. That wasn’t really what she’d meant, but he wasn’t wrong, either. She stretched and stood up, looking at the rest of her hive once more.

Suddenly, Regina stiffened. She drew in a deep breath, and sensed her claws digging gently into the palms of her hands.

“Threat,” she hissed. Then she raised her voice and called, “Max, Tim! On alert!”

Max jumped to attention right away, tossing aside the piece of wood he’d been playing with. Tim stepped towards her as well, his posture rigid and his eyes darting between her, the workers and their surroundings.

Regina felt her pulse thumping in her ears as some undefinable excitement rushed through her. Suddenly, she felt more in tune with her nature than she had since the day she hatched. But that was a distant consideration, as her focus was turned on the threat encroaching on her territory, her Hive.

She picked up her spear and started walking almost before she knew it. In a corner of her mind, she felt Max fall into step slightly behind her, taking a guarding position. But she didn’t turn her head to see him.

Regina walked towards the edge of the forest, then turned sharply. The hills rose up here, dotted with rockier ground than the forest to the east, but this part of it wasn’t level, anyway. It created features like the dip she now darted for, where a low growing bush and scattered rocks right where the forest relinquished its ground created a secluded alcove.

She reached out, unconsciously trying to spread her wings slightly, which didn’t work. Then she kicked a loose rock to the side.

With a muffled groan, the bush moved. Regina darted forward, but Max cut her off slightly, rushing into position to guard her. She stabbed down with her spear, feeling it meet some resistance and only just not crashing through it. She had pulled the blow.

The hidden person shifted again, which helped Regina convince her eyes not to fall for the trick and finally showed her where someone had hidden themselves so masterfully close to their campsite. Even knowing they were there, it was hard to make out more than a general shape and a few edges in the darkness of their nook.

“So there is an intruder,” she said, feeling a slight snarl on her face that didn’t want to leave. “Come on, come out. Slowly.”

The shape started to slowly slide out, giving Regina an even better view. “Alright, don’t stab me.”

Regina paused, tilting her head, and felt some of the aggression leak out of her as the human parts of her mind started churning faster. The voice was high-pitched, matching the slender form of the person now standing up carefully.

Her first thought was ‘elven ranger’. It was a young man (or young-looking, at least), clad in a mix of leather and cloth that did a surprisingly good job of providing camouflage in the forest. His face was all sharp lines and yet still looked vaguely delicate, and he had pointy ears, standing up at the sides of his head. As the sunlight hit him, she noticed that his eyes gleamed a little with its reflection, like a cat’s eyes. They were a dark, burnt orange, while his hair, which fell to his shoulders, was an earthy brown.

Alenas, Level ? Forest Scout

Max put a sharp blade against his neck as soon as he was in reach. The elf stiffened slightly, but didn’t try to move away. Instead, he slowly raised his hands in an apparently universal gesture. Regina noticed that he had a bow strapped to his back and a pair of knives or daggers on his leather belt.

“Who are you?” she asked. “You were obviously spying on us.”

He gulped slightly, clearly recognizing the barely restrained aggression in her stance or face. “I’m a scout of the nearby elven community,” he said.

Regina narrowed her eyes. There’s an elven tribe nearby? She hadn’t known about that, but they hadn’t traveled all that far from this spot, either.

“That’s not much of an explanation,” Max said.

By now, Tim had joined him, flanking Regina on her other side, and looked like he wanted to gut the intruder and present the corpse to his queen. Tia and Mia had also approached, though they kept a warier distance. Mia was holding a torch.

“I promise I didn’t mean any harm,” Alenas answered. He sounded earnest, and managed to meet Regina’s eyes evenly. “I simply wanted to know what your group was doing here, this close to our homes. You understand the need to gather information, don’t you?”

“Hm.” Regina crossed her arms. Her fingers twitched. She still felt the impulse to rake them through his neck and deal with this possible threat, but she quashed that easily. He was only a part of a larger group, and killing him wouldn’t exactly help her position. Still, a part of her was alarmed by how easily this could have become violent.

“Alright, Max, let the guy breathe.” She glanced at the younger Warrior. “Tim, hang back and keep an eye on the surroundings, there might be more of them.”

The two immediately did as commanded. Still, Alenas clearly understood that he risked a quick meeting with something sharp and pointy if he made any suspicious moves. He stepped carefully forward, keeping his hands away from his weapons.

“Thank you,” he said. He glanced at each of them, then faced her again. “I assume you are the person in charge here?”

Regina narrowed her eyes, then told herself to calm down. “My name is Regina,” she said.

He nodded. “Alenas,” he replied.

He probably assumed that she’d read that already. Does that mean he’s got a notification for me, too? What is it telling him? Well, probably just ‘Regina, Hive Queen Level 4’. That could be bad enough.

He appeared to wait expectantly for a moment, but neither Max nor either of the girls felt the need to introduce themselves.

“Pleased to meet you,” the elf continued with a smile. He took a step to the side. “My apologies for startling you. Then I’ll just stop bothering you and return to my people to inform them that there’s no need to be concerned.”

Regina crossed her arms as Max stretched out one of his blade-arms to bar his way. “Not so fast, mister,” she said.

The elf turned to her, nothing but polite attentiveness on his face, but she still noticed the way he sagged slightly.

Regina smiled, showing a little more teeth than was strictly necessary. “I’m sure your people don’t expect you back right way. Stay with us for a minute,” she invited. “Let’s talk.”

He didn’t give any outward signs of it, but she still had the impression he sighed. After he gave Max another glance, he returned her smile. “Of course, Hive Queen Regina.”