A Nurse in Disguise

It was impossible to say how long Nephila lay on the ground. One moment she was trying to save the nymphs. The next she was on her side, limbs spasming sporadically as she tried to keep doing her duty to her charges, even while her thoughts tried to reassert themselves.
As her mind cleared and she was able to take note of her surroundings, she realized it couldn't have been too long since she could still hear fighting. But...But the sounds were much quieter. Had this invader - whoever they were - been pushed back at the last moment?

As she breathed in, she was smacked with an overwhelming stench of death and ichor. The smell of a hard fought battle. Nephila fought down a gag and tried to breathe in more deeply through her mouth instead, but her attempts were stymied by the realization that something was pressing down heavily on her side, keeping her from taking a full breath and pinning her to the ground.

She slowly tried to look around, blinking away the dust and grime that clouded her vision. From her position on the ground, she could not see much of the room, but was able to determine that she was trapped by a part of the ceiling that had given way. She started to thank the Queen for her luck in not being crushed, only to realize that instead she would be stuck here for however long the battle went on...possibly even longer as the workers would need to clear a way through the rubble and bodies higher up first.

Panic welled up inside her once again, before she forced it back down with determination. If help wouldn't reach her in time then she'd have to rescue herself! She had her magic still, and at least some movement in her legs. She would have to figure something out - at least give herself space to breathe!

Testing the slab above her, careful to not move it in a way that would make it shift and crush her for good, Nephila found she could lift it juuuust barely if she pushed with her magic and her body. However she couldn't move from that position. She searched around again, desperation once again clawing at the back of her mind, trying to find anything that would help her.

Her eyes fell on a large stone resting nearby. Idly wondering if it was the same rock that had knocked her out in the first place, she pulled it close with her magic. Pushing the slab up once again, she was able to wedge the large rock underneath it, and keep it from coming down quite as far when she released it.

It wasn't much, but it would be enough.

Carefully. Slowly. Nephila worked her way out from underneath the slab. Barely moving an inch at a time, only able to wiggle her way forwards when she exhaled. She fought every inch of her way to freedom before - with a triumphant cry! - she pulled herself fully out from underneath it and stood up - taking in her first full breath since waking up!

She had lived! And saved herself! Now she needed to take stock of the little ones. Some of them were likely hurt by the same collapse, and any that she could save would need immediate help!

Only…

Nephila collapsed against the wall. Unable to hold herself up.

Dimly, she realized why she hadn't heard any cries of pain or fear from the nymphs.

The guards hadn't beaten back the enemy.

As she looked around her nursery, the throbbing in her head that had been there since she woke up began to pound, and her breaths came short and fast as she found it harder to breath now than when she had been under the slab of rock.

Her nursery had become an abattoir.

Nymphs were slain all around the room where they had tried to run from their attackers. Grubs that she had taken such care to make safe from the same rubble that eventually knocked her out were smashed where she'd laid them. She searched through the bodies, barely able to see through her tears or breathe through her sobbing. Hoping that even one of them had survived, but no. Dimly, she realized that she was the only thing left alive in that room. And she needed to get out of there now. She couldn't bear to stay in this room of death any longer.

There was still fighting up above, far away, so far away now, but still blocking her exit that way. She knew there was still the escape tunnel, but through the pounding in her head and her grief she couldn't remember where it was hidden.

It was covered with an illusion, but where was it? She had already searched all over the nursery hoping to find life, now she searched again hoping to find freedom. Growing more and more desperate to escape as the weight of the entire mountain above felt to be crushing her down once again.

"Think, Nephila, think!" She shouted to herself. It was too much. She needed to calm herself down before she worked herself into a panic once more. She stopped in a corner that stank of death a little less than the rest of the nursery, and slumped up against the wall to catch her breath…

..only to fall straight through the illusion and crash onto her side.

Found it, she dizzily thought.

Picking herself up off the ground once again, she began walking down the tunnel. It went on seemingly forever in front of her. On and on through twists and turns, only continuing to move through with sheer determination and the realization that every step she took the air got cleaner and fresher.

Finally, she came to the end of the tunnel. She readied herself to take to the air and escape for good, looking through the trees that concealed the mouth of the tunnel when - for the first time since she'd awoken - a feeling from the Hive Mind broke through and caught her attention.

It was defeat.

In shock she looked back at her Hive through a gap in the trees and could see what looked like a last desperate attempt to break free from the attack and escape. A mass of her hivemates flying out in one last gamble to save the Queen...and Nephila's shock turned to horror as her hivemates were swarmed by the massive hive attacking them. One by one they were brought down. Even at this distance, the Hive Mind grew quieter and quieter as fewer and fewer members remained.

The tears came when she felt her Queen's voice disappear from the Mind. With her loss, the retreat of her hivemates fell apart for good. Each individual desperately tried to scatter and find their own path to freedom, but each and every one of them ran into hundreds of the attacking drones. Every death was like another knife to Nephila's heart. They were so few in number that she could hear the individual voices, hear their last moments before they too were snuffed out. Until finally...there was silence.

Nephila had thought that the quiet after the first alarm had been oppressive, but it was nothing. Nothing compared to the silence she felt now.

It was way too much. She had watched her world end right in front of her, unable to even move. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. She collapsed down one final time and lay there. Sobbing, and whimpering to herself and only herself under the cover of the trees. For the first time in her life she felt truly and utterly alone.