Matthew woke up to a soft crackling sound, and a warm breeze. He cracked open an eye to see a low tunnel covered in shining moss that made his head stab with pain.
He groaned, turning to the side, a small fire burned not so far from him, and Stella sat beside it. She stood smiling weakly at him, her green eyes full of relief, and her long blonde hair scattered.
"Thank god, I thought you were dead or on the way there at least."
Matthew sat up weakly, activating War blood to increase his regenerative speed. Many Hive beasts fell to his sword so the speed of his recovery jumped rapidly.
He let out a sharp breath as a warmth spread through him.
Stella winced, "Are you alright?"
"Yep, or I'm getting better at least. My skill is healing me, but we need to move." He answered, hauling his aching body up.
"Why?" She asked, glancing, behind them skittishly.
"Don't know where we are, but we're still in the dunes." he summoned Clear justice and Lovely doll. "If someone lit a fire in your house you'd come check it out, wouldn't you?"
They left the desolate tunnel, it was bright and easy to see through. The ceiling hung low, making him crouch. He asked, quietly as they crept forward.
"What happened while I was asleep?"
They had apparently been taken to the hive's nest and were supposed to be put in some green, alien cocoon that pulsed and screamed as the creatures inside were absorbed.
The Hive was invaded by a couple of Sword demons so she dragged Matthew away to escape. One of fishers had also been caught, and helped her carry Matthew away; the boy left them behind as the Hive came after them.
Stella dragged Matthew into an alcove and hid.
"How did they not sense your mind?" Matthew asked cautiously.
Stella gave him a unsure look, holding her bag tighter. "I don't feel their psychic attacks and I don't think they can sense my mind."
Matthew raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. It wasn't impossible, just rather strange and her demeanor told him she was hiding something. Matthew stopped, turning around to place a knife at her neck.
"You're lying."
"I'm not!" she denied frantically. "I didn't say anything because I was scared, what if there was something wrong with my brain? Or was I under some sort of control."
Matthew immediately took the knife away and shrugged. "Might just be Potency."
Stella relaxed considering his words. Parker told them about the new bar on his status that displayed his Potency.
It was a value that measured your affinities with certain abilities and rated them on how effective they were.
It was generally a measurement of how much damage or force you could generate with that attack. Matthew assumed Stella had an extremely low or high potency for mind magic.
They walked through the Hive's nest, Stella kept glancing back at him and glaring at the road ahead. She finally turned to him, asking.
"Did you have to threaten me?"
"Quickest way to make you talk, without you wondering if I'll think you're stupid and waste more time."
"So, you don't think I'm stupid?"
"Astute observation, sherlock."
The little jab earned him a kick to the shin, and the silent treatment for the next three minutes. They only spoke again when they heard clicking sounds coming from behind them.
Stella paled, her voice shaking. "What do we do?"
"Hide. They can only sense minds."
She seemed unsure he wouldn't be sensed, but Matthew had actually thought he was better off than her till she revealed her brain was so small it couldn't be sensed.
He summoned Old cat and put it on.
Then they pressed their bodies against the wall so they wouldn't get in the way. Matthew cleared his mind, closing his eyes to focus on the faint thrumming of the river of sand.
The clicks of the two Hive beast's spiked legs were the only indicator of their arrival, their huge segmented bodies covered in powerful chitin armour. He could hear Stella's frantic breaths, but the passing beast did not react.
"If you're gonna be so scared, then don't look at them at least." he grumbled, looking down the long corridor breaking into two different paths.
"That was just so unreal." she refuted.
"They aren't sensing you now, but if you overdo it we'll get killed."
Stella nodded weakly, looking down the corridor to the fork in the path. "Where are we going?"
"You were awake the whole time, right? Then you'll lead us down the path they brought you through. If we keep our stealth and take the right turns we should get back to the river of sand"
She nodded, admiring his quick decision making, a shadow of a frown found its way onto her face though. "The other fishers. They got put in those cocoons, can we save them?"
"No way boss. If that's their queen's room, then it's bound to be highly guarded. They'll have special ways to detect hidden intruders. Besides, do you think we can get there without bumping shoulders with some Hive beasts?"
Stella remained quiet, but a somber look pervaded her gaze. Matthew sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's not ideal, but we can't win everytime. That guy that abandoned you, did you think he wanted to do that? He had to prioritise his survival."
Matthew didn't mention that the guy was dead or recaptured, but the point was the same. They began to walk back to where Stella remembered the throne room being, she had a borderline inhuman memory and easily led him through the tunnels.
They encountered more and more Hive beasts making them stop, but they were making decent headway. He warned as they walked through the low tunnel.
"No fights, they all share one mind. Once one knows we're here they all do. Also you dragged me this far?"
Stella smiled sheepishly, "I didn't realise we'd gone so far, guess i'm a lot stronger than i thought."
They finally reached the nest.
It was dark, but held many small shuttling forms, and deeper inside the room shone with a green, ominous glow, and shook with the cluster of almost thousands of Hive beasts. The shadows of the cavern flickered dancing among the morbid pile of the insect monsters.
The cavern was high and narrow like an open injury, from the entrance of the cavern they could hear the moans and screams of unfortunate creatures trapped in the cocoon. Stella's eyes became a more horrified green in the light of the nest.
"We can't leave them like this. Paul, Kory, John… this isn't right."
Matthew watched her cautiously, about to say something when he heard a skittering sound. They both planted themselves against the walls, waiting for a Hive beast to cross the corner.
Instead a Sword demon appeared, it stopped, eyes narrowing on them.
"Matthew, that's not a Hive beast."
He opened his eyes and cursed his luck
No time to think, or regret. Both of them lunged at each other immediately.