THE GIGAS

pg 5

Alert: scenes of violence, uncomfortable topics, etc....... Happy 📚 reading...

Finally, this was the last chamber entrance on this side. Our hard work has paid off after hours of excavating and rest will be soon rewarded once we finish. We could tell this was the chamber we are looking for, it was much wider and taller the farther we dug into its entrance.

Instead of the usual height and width of the other previous chambers this one was made for the inner most nest members, the queen and her harem. They could all fit comfortably together in the same hallway, if they so wished.

We carefully broke through a final wall of rubble to the large chamber. The light scent of her pheromones lingered in the air of the chamber and the long loud click that was just bearable outside was deafening at such close proximity. None of us made a sound announcing our presence, we just stood there stupified.

Had anyone besides me have any experience with the etiquette required for interaction with such a mythical being? i guess not.

My dirty palms sweat with apprehension, she will not like it if we ignored formal conventions. I cleared my throat and moistened my mouth in anticipation of my speech. I can not wait for the others to make a deadly blunder, I will take the initiative for our collective safety.

"Greetings, Queen. This humble servant extends his respect to you" as I assume the proper male curtsy bow. The others realizing their own rudeness followed suit with the same greeting and bow. None of us want to catch her ire and it was very apparent that the group I am with had never been in this type situation before.

It took her a moment before she gently clicked her acknowledgement of us. We fidgeted unsure what to do next so we stayed bowing at the chamber room entrance. The silence between our group and her lengthened, the air heavy with unspoken anticipation as we waited, holding our collective breath.

" Take my male concubines with you first" she said after a long moment of silence. Our eyes widen as her breathy sing song voice gave us our first order. We exhaled in relief, the breath that we had withheld for so long now gone.

The males she spoke of came out from underneath her perimeter it seemed. It was difficult to see accurately since the light barely touched the shadowy figure of the queen. The concubines must've all laid next to their mate when the collapse happened. They sauntered over to our group eager to leave, relief was etched into each of their faces and we got to work immediately.

My group put together the stones we each had, the light that emanated from one them was soft and just enough light for our sensitive eyes. It was one the last remnants of our technology.

These stones have a durable half life of a thousand years.

We made a torch of cold light with them to guide the inner most members of the nest past the remains of the back hall to the entrance hall.

" You, newcomer, stay back." As I was about to leave with the newly formed group. This was definitely an order and I stiffened in trepidation. I stood still on the spot, quiet and waiting.

" why him? Am I not enough for you?" A male spoke out of turn his voice venomous. He insinuated so much with that simple sentence flung out into air, as if I had purposely coveted the attention of the queen by simply existing in this space. As if I wanted his 'prime' position. My teeth clenched together inside my mouth, I tasted the saltiness of my own blood. I had unintentionally bit into my own cheek, the pain minor compared to this unwelcome audience.

She stayed mercifully silent, choosing to ignore the male's rebuke. He must be her favorite because any other would have been beaten into submission.