Swarm (I Don't Want to be the Hive Queen Book 1) by ValetheHowl

Author:ValetheHowl [ValetheHowl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2022-10-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 47

Night Raid

In an isolated outpost on the border of the Caligare Forest, a sentinel let out a long yawn.

It was well past midnight, and Denam Whis was starting to feel tired. Usually at this hour, he would just drink some vodka to keep himself warm in the chill of that autumn morning and then catch a little nap, but these weren’t normal circumstances. Three weeks ago, the officials from the capital issued a state of alert, which meant the guards were supposed to be particularly vigilant. There had been numerous surprise inspections and quite a lot of guards had been harshly punished for falling asleep on their post.

Muttering some curses against paranoid officials, Denam grabbed his old, battered thermos and poured himself some coffee.

While sipping the hot beverage, he started to feel a bit more optimistic. At least he was used to pulling all-nighters, and he even technically belonged to a semi-nocturnal species.

Denam was a Felid, or catman as they were commonly called, a race well suited for night jobs. Their senses, and especially their night vision, were much better than those of a normal human. Their fur protected them from the night chills, and lying in ambush came almost naturally to them.

Now, Denam was not the typical Felid. While his kin were mostly lithe, agile, and hyperactive, he was fat, clumsy, and lazy. He was the kind of person whose ideal life was an endless nap interrupted only by mealtimes. But because of this, the job of a sentinel suited him perfectly. He was a champion at standing still—provided he didn’t actually have to be standing—and he could sit in one place for hours and hours, only occasionally grabbing something to eat, drink, or smoke.

Still, sitting for so long in the darkness while forcing himself to stay awake was hard. Denam wished he could at least kill some time by taking a smoke, but sadly, smoking was forbidden during guard duty. Not that this would stop him during normal circumstances, but with the risk of a surprise inspection, he didn’t want to take any risks.

So he just stretched himself out, moved his tail with impatience, let out another long yawn, and adjusted himself on his wooden chair, trying to find a comfortable position. After all, why not catch a little nap? he asked himself. It was highly improbable that an inspector would turn up at that hour of the morning. And his hearing was good enough to pick up anyone approaching the tower anyway.

He closed his eyes, wrapped himself in his mantle, and let go of everything.

Despite the cold and the damp air, it wasn’t actually a bad night. It wasn’t raining for starters, a rare exception during this season, and there was no wind whatsoever. Even a few stars were visible in the sky. There were no sounds, not even birds or insects. Everything was completely silent and peaceful.

It was then, in that absolute stillness, that the Felid heard something moving below.

It was a sloshing sound of something quite big moving through the muddy ground that surrounded the tower.

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