It was the third day since the Runner had left in search of Ali. And it was the third day that Timothy has been fighting the aliens. The Queen had decided that it would be best for Timothy to be familiar with fighting with aliens in the case the Lesser Queen sends her Warriors on him.
Timothy stood alone in a cleared out space in the middle of the Hive. A Warrior alien stood on the opposite side of the clearing. It hissed and swung its tail behind it. Then, its tail came forward like a whip, aiming straight for Timothy. Instead of running away, Timothy shifted his body so the tail shot past him. Timothy ran forward and jumped into the air. The Warrior took advantage of Timothy being suspended and launched its tail up at him. Timothy watched as the sharp barb at the end of the alien's tail came toward him, moving fast. But, just before it hit him, the alien shifted so the barb didn't puncture Timothy; instead, it sent him crashing into the wall.
Timothy groaned as he got slowly to his feet. The aliens he has to fight deliberately avoided doing anything that might puncture his skin; unfortunately, they weren't above doing things to leave him bruised for the next few days.
Attacking from above is not the best when going up against a Warrior, The Queen lectured, If that had been an enemy, you would have been impaled.
"I know," Timothy said, gritting his teeth. The alien hissed and came ran forward again and whipped its tail toward Timothy. Timothy dodged it again, but before the alien could pull it back, he grabbed it and pulled the alien towards him. The alien screeched as it was pulled off its feet and dragged
on the ground. Timothy leaped on to the alien's back and pinned its head down. A whistling sound warned Timothy of the alien's tail and he was able to grab it and pin it down too.
The alien thrashed around and screeched as it tried to throw Timothy off. Then it went still and let out a hiss of defeat. Timothy stepped off the alien and walked over to the Queen. She bowed her head and said, Well done, that was your fastest time yet.
Timothy let out a deep breath and smiled. It was always good to get praises from the Queen. Suddenly, the Queen turned her head to the stairs. Timothy turned, too, to see what it was.
The Runner alien came running down the stairs and hissed happily to the Queen; pleased at completing his mission. Following him was a woman wearing a black dress that was torn at the knee. She had long, black hair that flowed down her back. She gazed down into the Hive and when her eyes rested on Timothy she smiled. Behind her was a man with light blonde hair; he wore black pants and a faded grey shirt. Triangle scars adjourned his head from an incident that had happened a long time ago. He smiled as well when he saw Timothy. Another Runner alien followed behind the man.
"Mom, Dad; I'm glad you could come back," Timothy said. Ali opened her mouth to say something but closed it again and turned to the Queen. Timothy turned to stare at the Queen too and saw that her mouth was open but wasn't making a sound. He turned back to his mother and saw that she was staring at him again.
"My daughter told me what has been happening and why you need to go see your siblings," Ali said.
"You don't mind watching the Hive while I'm gone?"
"Are you kidding?!" Ali said with a gentle laugh, "You seem to have forgotten who I am."
Timothy grinned and said, "I thought you'd say something like that."
Ali's smile vanished and her face suddenly became serious, "Timothy, you must be very careful when you approach the other Hives. If the Queen is really breaking connection; there is nothing stopping her from having her aliens attack you—" Ali broke off and tilted her head to the side in thought. She looked back to her son and said, "Before you leave, I want you to get something that might yield some protection. Go upstairs and head to the entrance. Just glance down the hallways on your way there and one of them will have something down it. There will be a weapon along with a body; take the weapon, it might prove some use to you."
Timothy opened his mouth to speak but closed it when the Queen spoke. She spoke both to him and Ali, Are you sure that he will be able to use that?
"I'm positive, he'll know what to do with it," Ali said.
"What is it?" Timothy demanded.
"You'll see," Ali said with a dark grin. Timothy knew what his mother was like all too well and started to get worried about what might be waiting for him. Then Ali turned and walked slowly through the Hive. Mike followed behind slowly. TJ had run past Mike to walk next to Ali and Ali rested her hand on TJ's shoulder affectionately.
Timothy waited until his parents were out of earshot before saying, "Mom is treating me a little coldly, isn't she? She treats TJ more like a son than me."
You have to understand the situation from her point of view, The Queen said, She has not seen you in a while and she has known TJ longer.
"But you would think she would care for me at least a little," Timothy insisted, "She would always tell me how much she loved me."
And she still does, Timothy sent the Queen a strange look and she continued, You have to understand what kind of past your mother went through.
"What does her past have to do with this?"
Everything; her mother died when she was born and her father hated her for it. She never knew how to properly love.
"But she wasn't always like that," Timothy repeated.
She loved you and your siblings because she did not want you to have to feel the same pain she did. Now that you are older, she does not think she has to show you the same love as before.
"That isn't how a mother should act," Timothy said and he could feel the anger rushing through his body.
But she does not know that, The Queen said gently, Be thankful she showed you any love at all. She could have treated you the way she was treated. Instantly, Timothy's hatred evaporated and his eyes softened. You had better get going, The Queen said, I am sending along with you a couple of my Warriors for protection if necessary.
"What do I do if I can't get the Lesser back under control?" Timothy asked.
Let me deal with that, The Queen's voice was full of venom.
Timothy walked down the hallways in search of the weapon his mother spoke of. The three Warrior aliens that were accompanying him walked behind him while scouting out the area. Suddenly, all three stopped and turned to peer down one of the hallways. Timothy doubled back and peered down with them.
It was too dark to make out what was there, but it looked like there was a figure down at the end of the hallway. Timothy turned to the aliens and they nodded; they couldn't sense any forms of life. Timothy cautiously walked down the hallway toward the dark mass. Soon, he was standing a few feet from it and he could make out arms and legs in the dark. The thing looked as though it had been dead for a while but it showed no signs of having decomposed. Timothy took another step and his foot his something. He looked down and saw a small staff. He picked it up cautiously and held it out in front of him and parallel to the ground; he noticed that one end was pointed and sharp. His hands seemed to fit perfectly in the small groves along the spear and Timothy felt what seemed to be a button. He squeezed the spear and, with a few clicks, it suddenly extended to double its normal size.
Timothy yelled and dropped the spear, the aliens behind him let out alarmed hisses. He stared at the spear cautiously; expecting it to do something else. He guessed this had to be the weapon his mother was referring to. Timothy slowly reached down and picked the spear back up. He squeezed it again and it shrank back to the way it was before. Timothy carefully slid the spear into his pocket; making sure the spiked tip stuck up. Then he turned back and followed the Warriors back into the open hallway and toward the entrance doors.
Timothy considered himself lucky as he ran behind the Warriors. They were able to communicate back to the Queen and get messages from the Queen that he could not. With them, Timothy was able to stay on track in locating his sister's Hive. As he ran, he placed a hand in his pocket to feel the spear that he had taken. He prayed that he would not have to use it.
One of the Warriors hissed and the group stopped. Timothy stopped too and gave the Warriors a confused look. One of them turned sideways and offered its back to Timothy.
"That's okay; I can walk," Timothy said.
The Warrior hissed and tilted its head to the side. Timothy waited for a moment as the Warrior spoke to the Queen, then he heard the Queen's voice in his head, Timothy, I know that you do not want to ride on a Warrior's back, but you must. Warriors are not as fast as Runners but they are faster than you; even with your alien DNA.
Timothy groaned, sometimes he was really envious of the aliens; they had the ability to talk back to the Queen from a long distance. He wished he could tell the Queen how he felt about having to ride on a Warrior's back. But, as he thought about it, he knew the Queen wanted to get him to the Hive quicker so he can stop the Lesser Queen. So he climbed on to the Warrior's back and nestled in between the four dorsal spikes on the Warriors back. The alien hissed and the group took off again; moving at a much quicker pace.
Timothy watched as the scenery flew past him as the Warriors ran. Soon, they began an upwards climb up the mountain. Lulled by the rhythmic movements of the Warrior, Timothy felt himselfdrifting off. He tried to stay awake, but his eye lids became heavy and his head fell against the Warrior's back.