Regina kept glancing back, looking for anyone who might be following them. The boat slowed down, not going quite as fast as during their escape. Everything seemed still and silent behind them except for the monsters.

After a while, when the trees made it hard to see anything, she came to the conclusion that they weren’t followed. Or if they were, she wouldn’t be able to detect their pursuers anyway. So she turned her full attention to her more immediate surroundings.

The boat was cramped, with the drones almost sitting in each other’s laps. The elves clearly tried to keep some distance, even if it was hard under these circumstances.

“Thank you for that,” Regina said. “What about the others? Your companions, I mean?”

“They shouldn’t be far behind us,” Bianorn, the elf who’d spoken before, replied.

The boat slowed down further, and eventually drifted to the side until it almost beached on the riverbank. Regina frowned and glanced around. They were in the outskirts of the forest now, and while she still saw monsters around, none of them got close to their group. Maybe one of the elves was using a Skill for that.

After a few minutes, she jumped as something bumped the boat. Regina blinked in surprise when she saw the figures coming out of the trees. I was only looking away for a moment!

The elves on the boat stood up, and Regina followed suit after a second. Hesitantly, she stepped out of the boat and onto the rocky shore of the river. She stumbled and hurried a few steps away, where the ground wasn’t as wet and slippery. The elves backed away enough to keep the space around her open.

“It’s good to see you all made it out unharmed,” Anuis said. She stood at the front of the second group, her bow slung over her back and her hood up. Her posture and bearing were more confident than it had been in the village, as if she was in her element now, here in the forest.

Regina glanced at Tia, who was just climbing out of the boat as well, taking one of the bulging bags. She still moved a bit stiffly, but her wound seemed to be healed well enough not to cause trouble.

“We shouldn’t linger here for too long,” Bianorn cut in. “The Delvers might still be following, and we can’t keep the beasts away forever.”

“True,” another male elf agreed. He looked tired. “The sooner we get to the outpost, the better.”

“Outpost?” Regina asked as the elves all hefted their packs and prepared to leave. “We’re not going to your settlement?”

Anuis shook her head. “No, we are still in the middle of the monster horde, which makes trying to get you into the city tricky. But do not fear, you will not be in undue danger in our company. And you will want to see where I am taking you.”

Regina nodded and started walking as the elves did. One woman stayed behind with the boat, presumably to take it back to wherever it came from.

She noticed that the drones stayed close to each other. After a moment of hesitation, Regina fell back to walk among them. She reached out to squeeze Max’s shoulder softly and took Tia’s arm for a moment. They both seemed to relax visibly. She made herself smile at her hive. We’re going to need to have a long talk once we have some privacy.

“Where exactly are we going, then?” she asked Anuis after a few minutes of walking through the forest.

“An old outpost that is rarely in use anymore,” the elven ranger answered. In the forest’s light, the brown streaks in her hair seemed more like gold, reflecting the sunlight oddly. “It is reasonably close to a spot where we once thought to build a settlement before some unfortunate circumstances coinciding led to the project being abandoned. But it is still a good spot, at the edge of a bay in the forest.”

Regina raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Anuis glanced back and gave her a smile. “It is still somewhat close to human lands, and more exposed to danger,” she said. “Further out in the open than our kind typically prefer. But I’m sure having lots of space to grow would not be a problem for your hive.”

Regina paused. This sounded good. Remarkably good. “Is that so? Forgive the blunt question, but if you let me build my hive there, what is in it for your people?”

Anuis chuckled and shook her head. “I’m not the one who makes these decisions, child. But even I can see that having some people we are friendly with settled there would be strategically advantageous, in order to cover our flanks. Of course, that does presume your group will be strong enough to hold the place.”

Regina nodded, but didn’t say anything. Anuis was looking at her with a clearly speculative look, a curious gleam in her eye. She decided not to risk revealing anything more than she had to.

Still, while the elf’s words made sense and she could see the potential benefit of such an alliance for them, it presumed that they saw her as someone who could build a true settlement up, or even a client state of sorts. That implied they had some knowledge of her capabilities. The thought made Regina’s heart beat faster, and she wasn’t entirely sure whether it was from anxiety, excitement at a possible lead, or something else.

The journey through the forest took several hours. They mostly followed some narrow, winding game trails. Anuis appeared to know exactly where she was going, even if there was no proper road here. There were still monsters in the forest, more than she’d seen before the horde, but still considerably less than there were in the thick of it. A few times, their group got attacked by monsters. Anuis and the elves were nice enough to let Regina and her drones fight some of them.

She stayed back, biting her lower lip, as she watched Mia and Tia take down another Black Panther. The monster was only level 6, which made it good experience for them. Max and Tim had already defeated its companion and were now trying to skin it, with one of the elves looking on and giving tips.

The panther lunged, but Mia managed to dodge and cracked it over the head with her work-limb, while Tia scraped it with the sword she’d borrowed. It was only a shallow cut, but the monster drew back, hissing. Tia followed it, charging forward, and managed to score another cut with her sword. Mia sidestepped to keep it pinned between them. When Tia drew its attention again, Mia swung at its hindlimb. She didn’t seem to do much damage, but she distracted the panther enough for Tia to stab it again, in the chest this time. The panther tried to retreat, but clearly had trouble keeping its feet, and fell down eventually. Tia stabbed it in the throat, then stepped back, grinning broadly.

“I reached level 6, my Queen!” Tia told her.

“Me too,” Mia added.

“Well done!” Regina congratulated them. “Let’s get these taken care of quickly, then go on, I don’t think our new friends want to wait long.”

Only ten minutes later, they encountered another pack of monsters. This time, the elves didn’t even warn them. The ranger guarding their right flank simply stepped aside, grinning slightly.

Max charged at the Red-Striped Snake, level 8, before Regina could even say anything. Tim followed a moment later, capturing the attention of the second snake, which was a level lower.

Regina gathered her mana and prepared to throw a Magic Missile. She waited until she had a clear view before loosing her attack on the third snake. She couldn’t see its level, and her attack almost seemed to bounce off its scales. While it paused in its tracks, it didn’t seem very hurt.

Mana: 108/160

Before she could continue the fight, another elf stepped in, drawing the higher-level monster away from the rest. Regina didn’t protest, and instead turned her attention to the other two. Tim was pushing his snake hard, while Max had adopted a more defensive style. Regina gathered the mana for a second Missile, then loosed it when it looked like Tim might be overextended. The attack caught the snake in the jaw it had just opened and caused it to jerk back. That proved to be its downfall when Tim quickly skewered it through the mouth. Then he pivoted and slashed at the other snake, which Max was keeping still. The two Warriors quickly ended that one, as well.

Regina glanced around. Most of the elves seemed to have vanished into the forest, but Anuis was just coming back towards them.

“You’re finished, good. We’re almost there. Let’s hurry, we still need to set up camp before nightfall.”

Regina nodded. A part of her wanted to keep fighting until the next level up, or at least until Max and Tim leveled up. They had to be really close to it, considering the fight against the monster horde in the village. But there’d probably be opportunity enough for that later.

After only a few more minutes of walking, they finally reached the outpost. Regina paused and took it in. I probably should have expected a treehouse. Although calling it a treehouse was like calling the castle a walled hut. The outpost spread over several trees, anchored to broad branches and secured with intricately knotted ropes as well as wooden planks. Some parts of it looked like they’d grown naturally from a single piece of wood, but in impossible shapes. It was situated on top of a hill, and if Regina squinted, she could just see the end of the treeline further down.

The elves all seemed to cheer up as they reached it. They nimbly climbed up and even offered to help the hive with their bags, but Regina refused. She didn’t want them to see the eggs quite yet. Instead, she climbed up with one hand, holding a bag in the other. Once on a wooden platform, she found a secluded spot in an oversized knothole to deposit them for now.

“The others can set up camp for the night,” Anuis said, dropping down from above to appear beside her. “I thought we might take a look at the place I mentioned earlier.”

Regina tried not to wince and nodded. She glanced around at her drones. After a moment of consideration, she called, “Mia, with me, please. The rest of you, help the elves set up camp.” She wanted to have a worker along to help her assess the space with an eye to construction and planning a settlement, and Mia seemed like the best choice.

Mia smiled as she jumped over to join Regina and Anuis. The elven ranger didn’t comment, but simply jumped down to the ground, barely touching the rope hanging down. Regina suppressed a sigh and chose to climb down the trunk of the tree, using her claws for better handholds. Mia copied her.

The young Drone Worker stuck close to her as Anuis led them through the forest, ducking behind trees and crossing game trails as she went down the hill. Regina heard some sounds from the canopy above that didn’t quite sound like birds. If she had to guess, a few other elves were accompanying them, but she didn’t comment on it.

Finally, the three of them emerged from the trees into open ground. They stood on another hill, where the forested slope gradually gave way to a meadow. She could see what the elf had meant by calling it a bay; the forest almost surrounded the place in a rough semicircle, and there was a small lake to the east, which probably connected to the river.

“I can see the strategic relevance, I think,” Regina said after a moment of looking at it. Then she glanced northeast with a frown. “But it is still pretty close to Forest’s Watch, isn’t it?”

Anuis nodded with a sober expression. “That it is.”

“And I don’t suppose the Delvers have forgotten about us,” she continued. “They might not go after us right away, but I doubt we’ve heard the last of that.”

“Most likely not,” the elf agreed. “I cannot promise you that my people will protect you from all threats, either. We have other commitments and conflicts.”

Regina shook her head. “I wouldn’t want that, anyway. We need to stand on our own, and be able to hold our own. No offense,” she added after a moment.

Even relying on the elves as much as they already did didn’t sit well with her. She tolerated it because this offered her the opportunity to build up her hive, to grow her own strength. That didn’t mean she was prepared to trust them unconditionally, or to trust her safety and that of her hive to them.

“Well, in any case, you don’t need to decide this right away,” Anuis said in a gentle tone. “Let us go back to the others.”

Regina nodded and turned to go after a last look. She’d confer with Mia privately later, or better, bring her here again tomorrow to take a closer look at the whole valley.

But she still felt like the decision was already made.

Even if it would be dangerous, what were their alternatives? Go try to settle in the elven city? Try to find other human communities to take them in? She snorted to herself. No. She needed space for her hive to expand, if nothing else, and she and her hive wouldn’t bow to anyone but herself.