Page 52 of The Inheritance
I slipped into the fissure, moving slowly and quietly. It was about ten feet deep. Beyond that, the passage widened into another cave chamber steeped in gloom and dappled with pools of pale light coming from above. I flexed. One hundred and twelve yards to the other wall. A lot of open space, and the floor was unnaturally clear. The wasps must’ve removed all of the debris that originally littered the chamber. Once I exited the fissure, I would be exposed.
A step.
Another.
A whisper of something large shifting its weight on the right, just outside the passageway. I had expected the wasp to strike from above, but it sounded like it was on the ground instead.
I stopped, poised on my toes. My fingers trembled. Fear filled me. I was overflowing with it.
Another faint whisper. The wasp was waiting just feet away, ready to ambush me the moment I entered. I had to rely on speed.
I darted into the nest, angling to the left. A shadow fell over me and I dove forward, rolled, and came back to my feet.
A massive wasp bore down on me. It was as big as the lake dragon, riding on six huge, segmented legs, each armed with two chitin claws the size of sickles.
Crap.
The wasp charged me. It wasn’t flying. It ran across the floor, straight at me, swiping at me with its terrible claws. I darted back and forth like a terrified rabbit.
Right, left, left, too many fucking legs, right…
The wasp swiped at me like a hockey player armed with deadly scythes. It was trying to skewer me and drag me to its terrible mouth where two sets of sharp mandibles would shred the flesh off my bones and rip me apart.
The world shrank to the stone floor of the cavern, the pools of light, and the horrible creature behind me. All my instincts screamed in panic. I had to run away. I had to run from this thing back through the fissure, but I couldn’t find it. The walls were a dizzying whirlwind.
I was out of breath. I was disoriented. I couldn’t even think long enough to come up with a plan. All I could do was run for my life. Running wouldn’t work for too much longer. I would die here, in this nest.
Something dark and shaggy shot out of the wall. Before my brain processed what it was, Bear charged at the wasp.
“No! Bear, no!”
The German Shepherd clamped her jaws on one of the wasp’s middle legs. The insect shook it and flung Bear off.
“No!”
One of the wasp’s legs sliced like a scythe. I saw it coming. I had stopped running because of Bear and now it was too late. I jerked back, but not fast enough. The blow swept me off my feet. I rolled across the floor, pain smashing into my side. The wasp reared above me. Its front leg came down like a hammer. One of the two claws pierced my right thigh, scraping the bone.
Bear leaped out from the side and bit the leg impaling me. The wasp queen didn’t even notice. The other claw clamped on my other leg. The ragged chitin sank into my flesh. I felt myself being lifted, up to where the horrible mandibles clicked.
No.
I sliced at the wasp leg pinning me. My sword cut through chitin like it was a twig. The wasp recoiled. I yanked the severed stump out of my thigh and rolled to my feet.
Fuck this shit. Why the hell was I running?
Bear snarled next to me.
The wasp swiped at me with its uninjured front leg. It was huge and fast, but I was faster. I leaned out of the way. The leg carved through the spot where I had been. The wasp swiped again, and I stepped back again, just out of reach.
Strike, dodge. Strike, dodge. It couldn’t touch me.
I flexed, stretching time like a rubber band, forcing my senses into overdrive. The uninjured front leg struck at me, slow like molasses. I cut it, dashed under the wasp, severing the other legs with quick strikes as I sprinted past, and emerged behind the monster insect. A second and it was over. The world restarted, and the queen crashed to the floor, the stumps of her legs jerking in wild spasms.
Bear howled.
I took a running start and jumped. My leap carried me through the air, and I landed on the queen’s fat abdomen and dashed toward her head.
The queen’s huge wings stirred. It was trying to fly.
