《Royal Larva》


 Prologue

    The mother fled.


    She would not be able to keep this up for long. She was not built for endurance, and her many legs trembled with effort. Soon she would have to face them. But before she made her stand, there was one last thing she had to do.


    Racing through the landscape she scanned the surroundings for a suitable location in which to leave her precious charge. Her ventral eyes searched the ground for any promising crack or fissure. She knew they were frequent on this side of the mountain. This was not where she had wanted to go, but it would have to be enough.


    On a whim of luck, her parietal eye caught a waft of essence suspended in the air. She burst toward it, determined to find the source. For a moment, she lost the thin stream suspended in the air.


    She kept on moving in the direction she had seen it. She was desperate.


    A little further on she found herself in front of a huge cliff wall. Conflicted on what direction to follow, she chose the right side. She could not backtrack now.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    It had been the correct choice, because soon afterwards she found the small drift of essence again, a little thicker this time.


    She followed it to its origin. A slit in the cliff wall surrounded by dangling vines.


    Her hind legs were on the verge of collapsing and she knew she would not be able to find a better place. It would have to suffice.


    Squeezing through the slit, she entered and found herself in a small cave. The essence seemed denser here, and the vegetation appeared to be feeding on it. It was a good place.


    She left the small, nearly transparent larva she had been holding in her frontal pincers on a patch of slightly glowing moss. She thought it looked beautiful, a white pearl on a bed of glittering green.


    Her larva.


    With pain in her heart she lowered her head and imprinted on it a set of impressions and instructions. It was all the help she could give to the child.


    Exiting through the narrow slit, the mother started to scuttle down the side of the mountain again. She had to lead them away, as far away as possible.


    She could hear them now, shouting and yipping. She could hear their dogs, barking in a frenzy. She could hear their mounts, frothing at the mouths from the effort of the past hours.


    She had not been easy prey.


    At long last the mountain cliffside bent a little and the mother stopped. She could not go on. She turned towards the direction her attackers would come from and laid down. She needed to rest her exhausted limbs before it began.


    The time for running was over.


    Now it was time to fight.

 1. Barren Rock Company

    Ricardo was excited. They had been chasing it for nearly an entire day now, and he could feel it was growing tired. It would soon not be able to flee them anymore. He couldn''t wait.


    He had done this enough times to get a feeling for the phases of the hunt. The beast was formidable, but it would surely not be able to go on for much longer.


    He could see it up ahead, a few hundred meters in front. Its dark carapace glittered in the open sun.


    Just as he was thinking that, it suddenly tensed, as if something had startled it, and exploded with speed. It went behind a curve in the mountain, and was suddenly out of sight.


    The leader cursed.


    "Faster men, faster! We almost have it, do not slack now!"


    Burying their heels into the flanks of their tired mounts, they picked up speed again and shot after the thing.


    A big cliff, almost completely vertical, appeared up ahead in the side of the mountain. The dogs, who had entered a kind of hunting frenzy now, led them towards the right side. Apparently the beast had gone in this direction.


    They followed the trail for a while. Where was it? Then, Ricardo finally caught a glimpse of black carapace again. He shouted with triumph.


    His comrades, upon seeing the same thing, started to shout too. They yipped and screamed, for the hunt was almost over.


    They continued down the side of the mountain at increasing speed, sure that their quarry could not run for much longer. After a while, a bend appeared in the until now straight cliff wall.


    The company slowed their mad dash and finally ground to a halt. The dogs began to bark in an even more agitated rhythm, apparently having gone completely mad now, and the men grinned in nervous anticipation.


    Up ahead, nested inside the bending cliff wall, was the monster.


    A mass of black chitin plates, it slowly rose up. It had been big when laying down, but was truly impressive once it stood up on multiple legs.


    One of the dogs, emboldened by the loud yapping of its fellow brethren and the apparently weak state of the slowly rising of the beast, launched itself forward toward one of the front legs, in hopes of biting down. Instead, when it leaped into the air, a blindingly fast extremity descended and speared it through the gut.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    With a flick, the brutalized dog was sent flying into the cliff wall. It let out a small whimper when crashing into the jagged stone.


    The leader roared his men into attention. "Bring the dogs back! Call the dogs back! They are of no use now!"


    But the beast did not want to wait. It sprung into action, barreling through the pack of surprised dogs and straight towards the dismounting men.


    "Defensive! Defensive Formation!" a note of panic in his voice.


    This was Ricardo''s clue. He leaped off of his saddle and retrieved the long poleaxe strung on the side of the horse. He took the spiked shield strapped to his back, dug it into the ground, and waited for his comrades to join him. He recognized Tarano''s bulky form to his left, and Marco''s blue shield to his right.


    He grinned madly. He noticed the 2nd line forming behind him, providing a backbone and giving him reassurance that nothing could penetrate their formation.


    His grin fell. The monstrosity was headed straight his way, as tall as 2 bulls and impossibly fast for its size. A bead of cold sweat dropped down his brow.


    He straightened his weapon and leaned the back of it into the ground. Hopefully the beast would impale itself.


    A short prayer.


    Then hell broke loose. The mass of legs and carapace crashed into the formation, sending his comrades flying.


    He saw Tarano, hurtling through the air like a doll thrown by an angry child.


    He saw Marco, try and raise his axe and be knocked down by a flailing black appendage.


    Ricardo himself was miraculously intact, but the upper half of his poleaxe was gone. The beast had passed him, and the sharp spike of his precious weapon must have dug itself into the flank of the monster.


    He unsheathed the short sword at his hip, and with a shrill cry made his way towards the black insectoid. It was rampaging among the soldiers. One of them, it looked like Antonio, had managed to get behind the thing and raised his axe to bury it into its back. One of the big rear legs started to contract. It extended, deceptively slow at first, and then blindingly fast toward Antonio. His axe made contact with the carapace, not penetrating, but cracking the surface.


    The pointed end of the leg caught him in the side, piercing through the leather armor and the ribs and exiting through the other side as if no resistance was present.


    Stuck on the thing''s appendage, his body was dragged along as the beast kept moving amongst the soldiers.


    A gout of orange flame took it on the side. A soldier, too close to the heat, let out a cry as his face was singed.


    The beast staggered, but focused its attention on the flame mage. It bound toward him, determined to eliminate the threat. Whilst he recovered from the huge effort the spell had taken, the company''s second spellcaster launched his own attack on the moving beast.


    The ball of flames took it in the side. An appendage popped from the heat, and green-violet gobs of flesh and fluid sprayed into the air. The monster, unbalanced, tripped, but recovered and fell upon its target. It batted at him with two of its frontal legs. A brief protective barrier flared up, but burst almost instantaneously. The mage was sent flying.


    The monster let out a shriek of triumph and fixed its gaze on its next target.


    Nine black eyes stared at Carano, second battlemage of the barren rock company.

 2. Barren Rock Company

    Casimiro was seething. His men were being slaughtered, and one of his mages was out of combat. His company was in tatters. The beast had proven much more dangerous than anticipated.


    He had to save Carano. He needed the mage alive if they had any hope of slaying the dreaded beast.


    With great regret he took one of the jogi fruits in his belt pouch and bit down hard on it. The dried fruit gave some resistance to the bite, but suddenly it exploded with flavor. Casimiro could feel the violent energy flow through his veins. Without waiting for the full effect to kick in, he dashed to intercept the monster.


    He clashed with his shoulder right into its side. It went hurtling to the ground, diverted from where his mage was standing. It seemed like one of its legs crunched and broke on impact.


    The leader himself was hurting. The carapace had been extremely hard, and his shoulder felt weird. The jogi fruits chaotic energy was still coursing through him, so he could not determine the extent of the injury. But at the very least it must have been fractured. His sword arm dangled uselessly.


    He picked up a shield from the ground with his left arm and filled his lungs with air.


    "SOLDIERS! TO ME! RALLY TO ME!"


    He surveyed the battlefield. What had been a pristine landscape only minutes before was now filled with bodies and gore. He could hear one of his men moaning. He was lying on the ground a few paces away, with his hands on his leg. It seemed the lower half of it was missing.


    How many casualties? It must have been at least a dozen. Probably more than a score. Nearly half his men!This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    What a disaster.


    By now the remaining men had joined him. The dogs too had regrouped and regained some of their courage, and were now yapping and baying at the beast again.


    As for the beast itself, it was slowly rising again. It leaned heavily onto its right flank. Two of its legs were missing, and one dangled lifelessly. It produced a rapid clacking sound with its mandibles, and the canines backed up in surprise.


    "Men, form up!"


    The soldiers set up in a two man line, those that still had shields in front and those with spears or poles in the back row, with Casimiro in the centre and Carano as the only man in the third row.


    "Advance!"


    The line advanced. The beast was with its back to the cliff. It straightened its torso and extended its frontal arms to their full size.


    "Fire!"


    The mage Carano gulped down the yellow vial he had had taken from his belt and let the incinerating energy emanate from his hands. A stream of scorching hot flame shot over the heads of the soldiers, catching the beast straight in its chest.


    It let out a miserable shriek and collapsed.


    "Attack!"


    The thirty or so souls surged forward and and reached the beast. They started battering it with their shields and their short swords, poking it with their spears and poleaxes. The dogs, seeing their masters fall upon the beast, promptly did the same and bit and teared into the legs of the animal. Soon, one of the legs came loose and they dragged it off victoriously.


    Casimiro approached the front of the monster. It had huddled itself into a ball, trying to protect its inner parts. He kicked what he thought was the head of the thing.


    Abruptly, the body exploded into motion and launched itself forward. One of the rear legs pushed on the cliff wall and sent the monster straight into Casimiro. The head, previously tucked in, extended towards him. The beasts mandible bit deep into his right shoulder. It twisted, and separated the arm from the body like a child plucking the wings of a fly.


    Casimiro screamed.


    With the neck exposed now, one of the soldiers sprung into action and buried his sword into the vulnerable section of the beast. With a last guttural sound, it went limp.

 3. Barren Rock Company

    Ricardo was hacking madly at one of the monsters legs. After the fourth or fifth slash, his sword finally slid into the softer joint area and made a satisfying crunching sound. Encouraged, he heaved his sword to strike the final blow and separate the appendage, when the beast suddenly exploded with motion. It pushed itself off the wall and fell on some unlucky fellow that was standing in front of it.


    The movement of the thing had pushed Ricardo away and he had fallen on his butt. Still in his battle frenzy, he scrambled upright and launched himself after the beast. He reached the front of the monster and saw it holding an arm in its mouth. He screamed and shoved his sword into the exposed neck. It penetrated the tissue between the plated area.


    The monster spasmed. Then it went limp.


    Dazed, Ricardo looked around. He saw his fellow soldiers do the same. Then he screamed with triumph, and the rest joined him. They had achieved victory, but it had not been cheap.


    He noticed one of the screams sounded a bit different, and looked at the monsters head. Casimiro, his company leader, was half buried under the chitin cranium. He was panicked, clutching his right shoulder. It was bleeding profusely and, most importantly, lacking an arm attached to it. Ricardo looked at the limb stuck between beast''s mandibles and had to contain himself to resist the urge to throw up.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Cursing, he shouted at the soldier next to him for help and together they tended to agitated Casimiro. He ripped his shirt in two, but then realized the dark greenish fluid it was covered in might not be optimal for the wound and looked around for a more appropriate piece of fabric. A soldier that had been watching tossed him his own, mostly clean, garment. He tied it tight around the wound. It would help stem the bloodflow.


    A hand on his arm. He looked up and saw Carano''s face. His skin was chalky and he looked overexerted, but he made a small gesture and Ricardo nodded. Casimiro, who had calmed down by now, saw this. He tensed visibly, but otherwise complied. The fresh bandage was carefully removed and then the mage hovered his hand above the gaping wound.


    Whoosh


    The maimed leader screamed and then proceeded to slip into unconsciousness. The smell of cooked meat entered Ricardo''s nose and now he could not contain himself. Gagging, he bent over to the side and started to vomit.


    After recovering, they tended to the other wounded as best they could. The mage, exhausted, had to stop a few times.


    Some of the soldiers dug a big pit. It would serve as a mass grave.


    Night had fallen by the time the company, or what was left of it, had reorganized itself. It had been a long day.


    Ricardo''s gaze fell on the mound of fresh dug earth, where his fallen comrades resided.


    Then he looked at the corpse of the now dead beast.


    But it had been worth it. Oh, it had been worth it.

 4. It

    Light. A soft, greenish light.


    That was the first thing it saw.


    It was trapped. Something was covering its body. It needed to get out.


    How could it get out? It was covered. It had to break the thing covering it.


    How could it break it? It had mandibles. It had mandibles!


    It bit through the thing, but could only make a small gash. It needed to bite harder!


    It bit and bit and gnawed. The hole grew bigger and bigger.


    The thing tasted bad!


    Finally, the hole had gotten big enough. It was time to escape!


    It squeezed out of the thing that had trapped it. Membrane. ''Membrane''? The word had appeared in its mind.


    It felt weak. It needed something. Should it eat the green light? How could it eat the green light?


    It could not eat the green light. But where did the light come from?


    It looked around with its tiny eyes. They could not look very far.


    The light came from the ground! The ground was soft. It opened its mandibles and bit on the ground.


    Tasty. Tasty! It was tasty!


    When the green stuff reached its digestive organ, it felt a sudden burst. It felt energized! The energy flowed through its body.


    Moss. It was named moss. The moss was really tasty!Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    It needed more. It began biting down again on the moss, but soon found out it was easier to eat if it used its two limbs to pull a bit on the moss first and then bit down.


    It crawled and combed through the moss, eating as much as it could. But soon its belly was full and it had to rest.


    It laid down and slept.


    When it woke up, it felt slightly bigger. It was hungry again. It needed to eat!


    But there was not much moss left. It had eaten most of it. It tried biting down on the grey ground, but it was not tasty. It did not emit light, and it had been hard. Very very hard.


    The grey ground was called ''Rock''.


    What should it do? It was hungry. It wanted more moss.


    Its eyes were not very good, but there appeared to be more green light far away! It needed to get there.


    Extend one leg, and pull! Extend the other leg, pull!


    Slowly it made its way toward the other source of green light. After a long while, it arrived. More moss!


    Om nom nom nom nom. Moss was really tasty.


    It kept nibbling on the green goodness until a shadow entered its vision. There was a small patch of darkness, as if something was covering the moss. Curious, it approached the small dark spot. Its eyes were not very sharp yet, and it had difficulties seeing things that weren''t close.


    But as soon as it got close, the spot moved!


    The long way crawling had tired it, but it was now intrigued. What was that thing?


    Trying to chase, it started the laborious process of moving, or rather, crawling, after the thing again, with its two frontal appendages. It tried to move less jerkily and instead more smoothly to not alert the dark thing, but when it got too close, the patch escaped again!


    Resigned with its fate, it started to munch on the moss again. After all, there was a lot of moss. And the moss didn''t move!


    It continued with this cycle for a while. It would graze on the moss for a time, and when absolutely full it would just lay down and rest. Then it would wake up again, and nibble on the moss. Sometimes it saw the dark patch in the distance, but trying to get close always resulted in failure.


    It watched the small dark spot with resentment. Some day it would catch it!


    After some cycles of filling itself with the shining moss and digesting, it began to feel tired. Very tired. This was not like when it went to sleep, this was something else. It felt like it needed some secure, secluded place to rest this time. For some reason, it felt it would be vulnerable. Vulnerable to what?


    It had seen a big rock on the way to its current patch of moss, and so it made its way towards that rock.


    Crawling through the darkness with its two legs, it slowly got closer to its objective. Finally, it reached the big object.


    Tired, it lay down inside a small nook the uneven rock formed and went into a deep slumber.