"Welcome back." Alson stood with his back perched against the wall to the researcher's office. He wore his Farrowport Guard uniform, still wrinkled and stained from yesterday's events. His eyes were sagging and his posture slumped as he waved to the two women. "Feels like it hasn't even been a day since we last met."

"That's because it hasn't been, Alson," Tamma replied.

"Oh. Right." He rubbed his with the palm of his hands. "Didn't much sleep last night. Still tired."

"We are too," Miwah said.

"Let's hope Chaston got most of the research done already. I'm looking to get this done and over with as soon as possible." Tamma pushed through the entrance to the researcher's building and led the group down the hall towards Chaston's office. She knocked twice, only to be greeted with silence.

"Chaston?" Tamma said loudly through the door. She knocked a few more times only to hear nothing in return.

"See if the door is unlocked," Miwah stated as she pointed at the doorknob. Tamma turned it, making it latch. She pushed it in slowly, letting it creak loudly as she stepped through. Once inside, the group was stunned by the disarrayed state of the room. Pages were scattered across the floor. Books piled up alongside the desk and walls. A well of ink had tipped over, painting a long black stream that trailed from the surface of his desk all the way to the ground, creating a thick black pool.

Laying face cheek down on a pile of papers was the researcher. His eyes were shut tight while his glasses lay on the corner of his desk. He wore only a white sleeping top and a pair of soft pants. His hair was in a disarray while his mouth remained opened as he intermittently made a nasally snore.

"Chaston!" Tamma called out, unable to disturb the man from his deep slumber. She reached over and took hold of his shoulders and gave him a gentle shake. "If we can't sleep then neither can you!"

"Huh? What?" Chaston darted up from his desk. His hands scrambled around for his glasses before snatching them and fumbling to fit them on his face. "Oh, Tamma. I'm so glad that you could make it."

"Looks like you've been hitting the books all night," Tamma replied as she scanned the room.

"And all morning." Chaston got up from his seat and scurried to put on his slippers. "But I do have some good news."

Everyone's eyes widened at the revelation. "Really?" Alson said with enthusiasm.

"Let me rephrase that. I might have gotten a bit ahead of myself. Rather, I have made progress in seeking a solution to our problem."

"Why the sudden shift in tone, sir?" Tamma asked.

"Because it's one of those 'good news, bad news' scenarios. Which would you rather hear first?"

"Give us the bad news," Alson said.

Chaston hobbled back over to his desk. After peeking at the notes scribbled onto the piece of paper that he was just using as a pillow, he lifted a book from the top of the stack on his desk and quickly thumbed through it. "Ah, here it is. This is what we'll have to deal with," the researcher said as he pointed to a sketch on the middle of the page. "Come here and look at this."

The others huddled around the desk, looking at the small picture on the right side of the page. The details were limited and the drawing itself was somewhat crude, but the major and distinct features still stuck out. The creature drawn resembled a wasp with sharp wings and a long, pointed tail that jutted out of its abdomen. The head was flat and round with most of its area being taken up by a pair of large, black beady eyes.

"That right there is what controls the Insectus. Looks to be the Queen Scout. Her sole purpose is to find an area where to establish a nest and spread forth her offspring to infest the local animal population."

"Gross," Tamma said with a sour face.

"Very. And from what I gathered from my research, the Queen Scout is enormous."

"How big are you talking?" Alson said uneasily. "Like... the size of a bird?"

Chaston shook his head. "If that were the case, I think that would be part of the good news. Data on it is scarce, but there are estimations that a Queen Scout can grow to be up the size of a grizlewulf under the proper conditions."

"Get out of here!" Tamma stepped back and looked at the researcher with pure shock. "And let me guess, Farrowport just happens to have 'the proper conditions.'"

"'Unfortunately, you would be correct."

"I hate hornets!" Alson shouted out. "Of all the things we'd have to go up against, why did it have to be a giant hornet?"

"Armored as well."

Miwah winced as her entire body shuddered. "Please. When can we get to the good news?"

"There is still a bit more that you three need to know about the Queen Scout. Like I just said, she is armored. Long, thick plates make up the exoskeleton. Although firsthand accounts are rare because of the low survival rate of encounters, it is commonly believed that arrows are almost useless against her. Quite an effective trait to have for a flying creature."

"I thought you were on our side, sir."

"I am, Tamma. But I can still admire nature's work."

"Is there any other 'bad news' you would like to tell us about?" an annoyed Alson asked.

"Yes. What I'm about to tell you is probably the worst bit of information out of everything." He turned around and made eye contact with each of his visitors, one at a time. "Now, you know that I am not one to usually follow myths and superstitions, but..."

Tamma rolled her hand in a circle in the air. "But what?"

"But I think it's best if we take this myth as having some amount of creditability to it. I had to delve into the underground floors of Farrowport's library to dig up these books." Chaston put his current book to the side and after sorting through another stack of books, picked up a small and tattered journal. He carefully opened it, making sure none of the loose pages slipped.

"What are you looking at?" Tamma asked as she leaned over Chaston's shoulder to look at the loose pages spread out across his desk.

"This is an old journal of a former colleague of mine. He travelled the world, studying ancient mythologies and legends. Before he disappeared, he managed to send off his notes back to Farrowport. I, along with many others, just assumed his work to be glorified fiction. But as I was going through his notes, much of what he wrote rang true to your experiences." The researcher then wiped the smudges from his glasses and put them back on his face before. His eyes squinted as he brought the journal closer to his face to read the long series of scribbles. With a clear of his throat, he began to read.

"The people of the Ouhani lands have many myths, legends and prophecies that they pass between generations. However, one tale stands out among all the others that brings them great fear and worry. They consider it to be an undeniable fact, something that they are always prepared for once it comes to fruition. It is often believed among the people that a time will come when all wildlife will go mad. They become so ravenous and bloodthirsty that they start attacking everyone that they come across, fighting relentlessly until their final breaths.

Many people will die from the resulting attacks and those that do survive will begin to act like the very animals that assaulted the population. The source of this plague? They say it will start from a bug, roughly the size of a hand. They will multiply throughout the forest and will be under the control of an enormous mother creature. One that has wings and longer stinger, not too different from a hornet.

But the elder that I spoke to claims that it isn't even the end, but rather the beginning. More insects will follow suit in a long series of attacks that will affect the entire world, with each wave being deadlier than the last.

Of course, once I questioned him further, the elder of the village couldn't elaborate any more on what the other 'swarms' would look like. I have heard stories of a maggot-like species infecting animals and making them overly aggressive, but the fact he couldn't explain in any greater detail about the supposed oncoming swarms that follow the first wave makes me believe that this is merely just another tall tale formed by the people of the Ouhani."

Once Chaston finished reading the journal, the entire room went silent as they all stared at the page before them, each one trying to parse through the messy text to verify what was written with their own eyes. "Do you think that's all true, sir," a worried Tamma asked, ending the silence.

"At first, no. The Ouhani and other similar cultures have countless stories similar to that. There is an entity responsible for every element of their daily lives, from the sun shining to healthy children being born. I just assumed that this was just one of the many world-ending prophecies grounded in generational storytelling. But there is this nagging feeling in the back of my head that maybe... just maybe... the Ouahni are right about this."

"I believe those folks one hundred percent!" Tamma said. "After everything we've been through? I'd bet all my money that what the Ouhani have been saying throughout their generations is completely true."

"So a few coins," Miwah said. All three looked at her. Tamma chuckled to herself but Alson and Chaston looked perplexed by her statement. An embarrassed Miwah took a step back and hung her head low.

"Sorry. I think I am becoming a bit too much like Tamma."

"Ah yes. She does have that effect, doesn't she? Anyway, perhaps we could use a bit of good news to go along with that bit of humor. That Queen Scout that I mentioned earlier? It is believed to be in control of all the other Insectus in the area. Without her, they cannot function."

"So you're saying that if we kill the Queen, we get rid of our problem?" Alson asked.

"Exactly."

"I had a feeling we were going to have to kill it anyway," Alson replied. "So I'm not fully sure if this counts as 'good news.' Having to go up a giant hornet that has better armor than ninety-five percent of the Farrowport doesn't exactly make me feel any better."

"Perspective, Alson. Perspective. The main takeaway is that we do have a shot at saving the island."

Miwah and Tamma looked at each other. "Perhaps we could round up some people that would be able to fight," Miwah began. "The bigger our numbers are, the better our chances."

"That is true. I think it is a matter of finding people that would believe us. And then they would have to be open to putting their lives on the line," Chaston replied. "I might know some other people in the Farrowport Guard that may be able to lend a hand."

"And we can keep an eye out for other people to help us out as well," Tamma said. "It's going to be a challenge though. I have a feeling that our odds are going to be roughly... one in a thousand."

"Possibly even less than that," Chaston said with a sigh. "Unfortunately, seems like there isn't much else we can do at the moment. I'll stay here and keep researching this invader. Perhaps I could piece together a way to find out where their Queen likes to reside." The researcher then looked at the two women. "If you girls really think that you could find someone else to help our cause, I think your time would be best spent doing that. As for you Alson, I think that you should return to your post."

"For once, I 'm fine with that. I'll take watching over the entrance to the Governor's District over getting attacked in the middle of Abbus Forest any day."

"As I said before, not much else we can do now. We'll need to stay in touch, so I'd suggest we try to meet at least once a day. That way we can stay on top of this issue."

"I'm fine with that,” Tamma replied. “How about you, Miwah?"

The seamstress nodded. "We will see what we can do."

"Excellent." Chaston closed the journal and placed it on the corner of his desk. "Let's meet tomorrow morning at the same time then. If everything goes right, then Farrowport might actually stand a chance."