Game of Life

Chapter 9

"A beehive?" I echoed his words, a renewed flutter of fear working its way into my core. It just had to be bees.

As if a response to my thoughts a vicious buzzing rose up from all sides, eliciting screams from those we had just managed to silence.

"We can handle that, no big." Eric swallowed thickly, even he was afraid of the swarming little creatures.

We backed tighter together when the noise increased, indicating that the swarm was getting closer. A pile of bodies so close it became suffocatingly hot. The rancid smell of their unwashed bodies assualted my nose, enough to make my eyes water from more than just fear.

"Oh bullocks," Darren swore, "It's just a little bit of bees, grow up. Look at what we've faced so far! And you all are scared of little insects! One zap of lightning will have 'em down and out."

His words did little to alleviate the panic but it gave me a tinge of confidence. We had faced down a giant worm, a massive eagle, an elephant of darkness, a fire wolf and a tiger made of lightning! This wouldn't be a test of strength, he was testing our will to act in the face of fear. Fight, or face one of the most painful ways to die. One thousand stingers. I regretted my cowardice from before, at least the others would have given a quick death.

"We have to fight." I could barely choke out the words. "He's testing us, we can't let him win." When nothing followed my words I raised my voice to a shout. "Do you want to suffer death through stings? Giving up does nothing but guarantee the worst possible death we can have here."

I pushed my way through the hordes of people until I stood alone to the side of one of the openings. "We can't give up now!"

"That's the spirit Calla!" Severins approval rang loudly through the hive and I scanned the area trying to locate him, finding him floating above. "Now, why don't you pick someone?" He sunk to the ground as he spoke, landing gleefully by my side.

"For what?" A sheepish grin was all I got in answer and I shook my head, refusing to play this game.

"It's nothing bad I assure you," he pressed for an answer.

"They aren't going to die?"

"Not from this, but everyone dies eventually."

I bit my lip. "Eric." Severin clapped his hands with glee.

"Come up here boy and claim your prize!" he squealed.

The group slowly parted so Eric could walk through. His movements were stiff as he walked, terror evident on his face as he stopped beside me.

Severin grinned and reached out a hand, grasping Eric's arm with one hand while waving the other around. "A gift. Open your hand."

He did as he was told and a swirl of darkness rose up from his hand. "What is this?"

"A second element," Severin purred, "Enjoy! Now!" He turned to address the others. "Defeat the queen and this round is over." With that he snapped his fingers and everyone else disappeared, leaving me alone with Severin and Eric.

"What did you just do?" Eric demanded.

"Well it wouldn't be fun if I left you all together to search for the queen, now would it? Everyone has been paired up and scattered around the hive. The first to find, and defeat, her gets to choose what the next beastie is."

"Defeat her? By themselves?"

"Like the boy said, it's just a group of little insects."

"Why are you doing this?" Eric was bristling with rage.