Bug Fables: Return of the Giants

Chapter 7

"Alright Sparky Boys," Kabbu said, forcing himself to spit out the words. He really hated that team name. "We're here."

"Yeah I could tell," Mothiva said. "There's a sign right there." She gestured to a sign that said, "You are now entering Defiant Root."

"Leave him alone," Vi murmured to Mothiva. "He likes being a leader—he says stuff like that all the time."

"Oh," Mothiva said. "I was a leader and I never said dumb things like that."

"Well, Kabbu's just different," Vi said. "He says that he doesn't like calling himself the leader, but he's totally the leader. He's always giving motivational speeches and—"

"Ladies?" Kabbu interrupted.

"Sorry," Vi said. "Go on."

"As I was saying," Kabbu said, clearing his throat, "we're here. Now, when we get out there, it's likely going to be very chaotic. We only saw the giant tear down the hive, but after we left, he probably did some more damage. He doesn't like to leave any stones unturned."

"He doesn't like to leave any town un-destroyed," Leif corrected.

"Yeah," Kabbu agreed. "So when we go out there, we have to stay focused. We have to find the queens. I imagine they probably stayed in the same spot we told them to."

"I doubt it," Vi said. "If I was a queen, I wouldn't stand around and wait to be smushed by a giant. I would get the heck out of there!"

"Well, the queens are a great deal more mature than you are," Kabbu said.

"You don't have to be mature to not want to get stomped by a monster," Vi said.

"Ok, enough arguing," Kabbu said. "Cmon everyone. Brace yourselves."

Kabbu jumped through the tunnel. Luckily, the ant guards had cleared out the large glob of honey that had clogged it before. Leif jumped out of the tunnel second, and then Mothiva and Vi jumped out at the same time.

"Huh?" Vi thought out loud. The town looked exactly the same as it did when they left. Half-wrecked buildings and debris laying all over the place.

"Well, it looks like the giant decided to hit the road," Leif said.

"That's weird," said Kabbu. "Why did he painstakingly tear apart The Golden Settlement, but leave Defiant Root like this?"

"Geez," Mothiva said. "This place is a wreck."

"Oh right," Vi said, "you haven't seen Defiant Root yet. Yeah, it's pretty bad."

Vi noticed tears welling in Mothiva's eyes.

"Wha—?" Vi wondered why Mothiva was crying, until she realized she was looking at the hive.

"Oh, you haven't seen the Hive yet, either. Didn't we tell you about that?"

"Yeah," Mothiva said. "You told me about it, but seeing it just completely...gone. It just..."

"I get it," Vi said. "Heck, I lived there."

"The Hive was always one of my favorite places to perform."

Vi tried to ignore how tacky that statement was.

"I can't believe it's gone," Mothiva started bawling.

"Uh." Kabbu didn't know what to say again. He looked to Vi, who shrugged and mouthed the words, "I don't know what to do!"

"Me either," he mouthed back. He took a deep breath and said, "Mothiva, it's okay to be upset, but we need to go find the queens. Would you please try to stay focused until the find them?"