Bittersweet Legacy

Skitter moved fluidly as she avoided the swing of a fist and used her wings to push herself up into the cavity of his midsection where she easily sent her chitinous hoof into his abdomen. The sound of his coughing and gagging as he began to stumble back a step wasn’t enough as she moved with him this time throwing a strike at his chest before backing off to watch him fall to his knees and choke from the lack of oxygen getting to his lungs.

Skitter was about to begin berating the creature but a hiss from behind her kept her silent as her queen strode forward, her horn lighting up as she tossed the body back against a green veined wall.

“What is with this weakness?” she demanded. “Do you think that if you do not fight, then I would dismiss you?”

She did not wait for a response.

“If you continue to disappoint me, I will not hold back on punishing you, and I can guarantee you that your punishment will be far worse than your training.” With every little word she spat out at the bipedal creature before her she pressed it further into the wall, slowly cracks appeared as its torso was slowly crushed beneath the pressure of her magic, her face close to his.

“As a matter of fact, let me treat you,” Without further alluding to her comment her horn sparked to life as electricity surged through his body lighting him up from the inside out.

The scream which echoed out from its throat sent shivers through Skitters body as she unconsciously took a step back. She could see flecks of blood erupting from his screams alone, before more than a few seconds her queen stopped before another spark surged forth through his body, but now another spell was cast creating dozens of small cuts across his skin.

The only sound that began to grow in intensity to match his screams was her queen’s laughter, as she surged more electricity through his body, more red lines from small cuts erupted all over his body now becoming worse and finally his chest heaved as if she was using her magic to slowly tear his heart from within him.

Finally, she stopped, withdrawing the magic, her breathing seemed in time with his heaving shuddering from his body as it convulsed on the ground before her.

Queen Nepidae raised her head, a smile splitting her mouth wider than normal, a strange, delighted look in her eyes as she stood there over him.

“And that is simply the weakest spells of what I can do; Oh, I can bring you to such depths of pain, the simplest of torture would be arousing for you. Now,” she said as she lowered her head next to his, lowering her voice to a whisper, “Fight or die and be reborn in hell where I will hold no mercy for you.”

Skitter sat back, her eyes wide and her body shivering as if death were reaching for her. Never had she seen her queen like this, and it renewed her reverence of her queen.

“Now get up,” Her queen demanded.

It seemed to hesitate and whine briefly before it grunted and rolled its body over to begin to lift itself from the ground. Little by little, first it stood its torso from the ground, hands and legs holding it up as its body shook mightily. Then it raised itself up so that it only sat on its knees before hunching and setting one hand to a raised leg and slowly lifting itself up. It wavered as if it would fall, but a foot moved to keep it up, stamping down against the ground.

Another wide smile as her eyes narrowed, “Good my little golem. Now do as I say and fight.” She said, her voice tight as her horn sparked. But no more magic surged through his body, instead it seemed to speak encouragement as his body stiffened as though expecting more from the queen.

After a few seconds, Queen Nepidae moved back from the biped she now called Golem and simply spared a glance at Skitter.

Golem slowly approached Skitter before stopping a few feet away, he breathed in and close his eyes.

Skitter watched as lines of red began to streak down jaggedly across his body creating strange markings from his blood. His eyes opened and he kept them downcast, in that moment Skitter thought only that he was filled with such sorrow before he raised his eyes to her.

They grew distant and Skitter lowered her body and stepped forward, testing to see if he was paying any attention.

Yes, his eyes followed her movements, yet it seemed as if he refused to move to do anything more.

A spark of her horn as she stamped a foot creating a pulse of green and black smoke to rise up around her hiding her form. She moved as the smoke billowed out to take in his form and quickly, she made her way behind Golem to strike.

Golem seemed to have anticipated her move as he was turning to face her as she squared herself to strike at what she thought was his back.

Golem moved his arm back as if to throw a punch and skitter using her wings moved to avoid it only to find one of his legs shooting out striking her instead at the side of her body. She had moved within its reach thinking she only had to lower herself to avoid a strike of a fist, but quickly understood Golem was not holding back after her queens newly promised threats.

With his foot striking her, she moved back trying her best to hide any pain, but he was in front of her before she could even think what to do next. A fist struck out and it was fortunate that she had taken time to hone her skills in combat as now her body began to move to protect her blocking his strike.

She struck out only to find his own body moving to block her his eyes seeming focused on something somewhere else.

They moved striking and blocking each other for several seconds before Skitter took an opening not to strike but to retreat.

“Good, but not good enough, you’re just moving in time with my body. We are exchanging blows, but you need to find an opening and strike to end the fight, not drag it out.” She chastised.

She took the time she had as he slowly stepped toward her to catch her breath. She thought as quickly as she could and lunged at his center of mass.

She was surprised to see his body move as he lowered himself using his shoulder to block her, but it wasn’t enough, she thought as she opened her mouth to bite him only for her teeth to scrap over his clothing as a hand had grabbed her and yanked her back and away.

As she altered her body to reassert her balance and try to form a new attack she was surprised he had rushed in at her as she turned her head to face him.

She dodged his strike with an arm by using her wings only for him to throw his body to tackle at her as well.

They hit hard; her wings barely able to keep from being torn as she felt herself slide across the floor with his weight on top of her.

His face was close, his hands placed to keep her forelegs from striking at him, though she did try to loosen herself from his grip.

As they came to a stop, Skitter looked up into his face and saw once more a deep kind of sadness, yet beneath it there was a speck of darkness. She knew that look well enough with her time away from the hive.

There they were, Skitter pinned to the ground, the biped creature now called Golem sat over her keeping her from moving, their bodies seeming to scream in pain from their exertion. As she stared into green and brown flecked colors of his eyes, she felt something. She didn’t know what it was, it was as if there was something filling her within, and yet left her feeling so light and empty as if she were hollow.

Just as her head began to raise up her mind began to panic as her thoughts began to quickly catch-up confusion taking over for just a few seconds she hadn’t realized her mouth had been so close to his.

With a frustrated grunt she moved and struck her head against his causing him to yell out in pain and once more she was free. She turned and full on ran from him to get as much distance as she could and turned to see him trying to follow her. It was against her queen’s orders, but her mind felt strange, and it just happened.

As she turned, seeing him running after her, she lit her horn and sent a spell streaking out striking him in the chest and knocking him back.

With a gasp, she halted herself and diminished the magic and spared a quick glance at her queen who stood there watching, not stopping them, not seeking to punish her.

She was expecting her to use her magic at some point, and it would be another aspect for his training to be aware that other creatures, not all, but enough could use magic. It seemed to her that it was a weakness as he didn’t seem capable of magic as far as she could tell.

She looked back seeing that Golem had tumbled to try and keep his body from striking the ground in one point thus injuring himself. He had altered his body to spread out the impact and was picking himself back up again.

She had to think while she could, if it was necessary to use magic against him, would it be too overwhelming for him to solely use magic, or would she need to use it sparingly to ensure his growth.

Golem stood to his feet, wavering slightly as exhaustion was beginning to take hold of him. He wiped at his mouth before turning to spit out a bit of blood at the ground and on shaking legs he moved forward.

With a deep breath, Skitter let it out slowly, she felt she knew what to do. As in any situation, overusing magic was a waste, but using it too sparingly was pointless as well as it would fall under a necessary form of reliance. A pattern of cause and effect. As in a real combat scenario against a real enemy one must use everything when it was at their advantage.

Her wings fluttered and Skitter raised herself high into the air to avoid Golem completely before moving to rush past him, her horn glowing.

Golem lashed out, trying to strike and jump at her but missed as she used her spell not only to make her body move faster, but also, she used the speed and angle of her body to strike at him at the same time.

They continued until Golem could no longer stand back up, until he was laid out unconscious. Her queen no longer remained to witness the training as there was still so much more to do with the hive.

Skitter walked over to Golem, looking around to ensure no others were nearby. She looked down at his still form, breathing heavily, eyes closed. She lowered her face to his, slowly.

At first, nothing seemed to happen, until it felt as though she would press her face against his, even though she were still inches from him, the panic and swell of feelings began to take hold again forcing her back.

Breathing heavily, she wondered what it meant.