**Evening all! How are things? I hope all is well and everyone is staying safe! I just wanted to write a note to let you all know that the end is near! O man, this had been a great time! This does not mean the end of Amun's journey in any form, but he is so close to a rescue he can taste it! So stay tuned, leave a comment and let me know how you are liking the story, or if your aren't! Either way, exciting times ahead!**

Chapter 23: Stubborn

"Hold on, so the internet knows about us? What does that even mean?" Emilia asked as the two royal aliens continued their run through the jungle. Amun had taken the time on their long trip towards town to fill his queen in on what he had learnt.

"It would seem so. Honestly, I have no idea what it means, other than the fact that people know more about us than I would like. The fact that people know my name is a bit of a concern. How much else do they know?" He asked, more to himself than Emilia.

"I do not know my king, but I do agree, I don't think I like that fact either." Amun did not need to be connected mentally to the queen to know she was afraid, it was in her words. He would be lying if he said that he was not. They had tried very hard over the past few years to cover their tracks and live unknown in the middle of the mountains, where no humans would ever be. Apparently the few times that Amun had been in public had been enough for people to stay very interested.

As the two alien royals ran, deep within the thick vegetation, their daughters ran with them, using the trees and densely cover jungle floor, to sprint alongside their parents. Amun and Emilia still had to run at about a quarter of their speed, their much larger legs giving them quite the advantage when it came to speed.

Amun would have gladly given a few of his daughters a ride if they were tired, but he was afraid the precious cargo between his back spikes, was all he could carry safely. He looked over to Emilia's back where a similar cocoon was also secured to her spin between her spikes.

Just in that moment, he felt the xeno within his cocoon shift quickly, kicking and moving. He reached out to his daughter to calm her down.

"It's ok Erica, my daughter, everything is alright." He tried to sounds as gentle as he could, but could tell that she was in a bit of a panic.

"Trouble! Running! I...need to run. We are in trouble!" Erica replied as she tossed back and forth within the protective cocoon upon his back. He had to calm her down, she was nowhere near ready to emerge yet.

"Shhhhh my daughter, everything is alright. I am running yes, but we are not in trouble. I just need you to focus. You remember Scarlette yes? Your bigger sister? I need you to focus on what she looked like. Big and strong, like your mother."

"Sc...Scarlette...I...I remember. She was...strong, a praetorian. I wanted to be strong like her. I want to be her." He thoughts were broken and almost had no coherency to them. It was a bit strange, but Amun did not believe she was in any danger. Thankfully Amun only had to direct her thoughts, not control them.

"Yes Erica, you wanted to be strong like her. You need to keep her in your mind, keep focus on her shape and body. You will be strong I promise. Try to relax." As he finished, he could feel her mind settle and become very dossal. Almost in the dream like state they use as sleep, but not quite. He felt the mental pull of Emilia and looked to his queen. " It's alright, Erica was just a bit nervous from the running." Emilia giggled.

"I haven't had a peep out of Molly. I actually need to check on her every once in a while to make sure she is not totally asleep!" She explained as she dodged through a cluster of tree trunks. "By the way, what is the plan?" She asked her king, Amun took a moment to gather his thoughts.

"If we can follow the workers that get picked up each day, we should be able to locate the lab from there. Should be a piece of cake." He tried to sound reassuring, but honestly, he had no idea if it would ever be that easy. The feelings of disbelief from Emilia flooded his mind.

"Amun, we can't just run in like that. We know they are tracking us, especially after you messed up their submarine. They're probably not happy about that. I don't want to run into a lab full of guns and get blown to hell." She explained. It was the harsh truth, the last thing he wanted was to be foolish and get his hive killed. They had to play this one smart. Smarter than he knew their lead scientist was. Amun thought as he ran, going over all the options.

"The woman said that they were clear cutting the forest...perhaps if we find out why, we can gain some sort of leverage."

"How so?"

"Guerrilla tactics. If we can disrupt what they are doing, and force their hand, we can be there when they slip up and attack." He explained. "We will need to stay mobile and hidden for this to work. I know it's a bit of a gamble, but I think we can stay lost if we stay hidden under the jungle canopy. Then, strike where and when we can, and disappear."

"Is that why you wanted Erica and Molly to change? Bigger guns?"

"Exactly, I want every advantage we can get. Scarlette and Rowena have been invaluable since they changed, we could use more advantages like them on our side. I would rather crush them quickly, then drag this out, but we will make this work." He felt Emilia's silent agreement, then felt Erica shift once more.

"Crush...I want to crush those bad men...they tried to kill us...kill my sisters." Erica whispered to her father.

"Shhhhh my daughter, you will I promise. You and Molly both, you will help crush them."

"Yes...get stronger...crush them...crush..." Her words trailed off as she fell back into a calmer state. Amun looked to Emilia and heard only one soft word from Molly.

"...Crush..." That was all. The two royals looked to one another as they jogged before continuing their journey.

It did not take them much longer to come to the tree line of jungle that surrounded the small city that the woman, Alex, had told them about. He and Emilia crouched low to the ground and looked out between the trees, which was not easy with hose dense the jungle was. They had to get rather close, risking the chance of being seen. It was not a very large city, no building stood over four stories tall. Yet, it looked alive and buzzing.

From the higher ground that they were on, they could see small cars and buses zipping this was and that. Complex roads cut lines through the landscape, looking like giant snakes that had made paths upon the ground. Amun noticed that there were many different smells coming to him upon the wind. He spent a few seconds to enjoy them. Spices that were very pleasant tickled his senses, and there was just a hint of cooking meat that ticked his mind. It was making him hungry.

He tried to ignore his stomach for the time being and wanted to focus on where these trucks would most likely be coming into town from. The highway that they had followed seemed like the likely candidate, but he thought that they would have noticed the clear cutting on the way. There were a few other roads that seemed large enough to take truck loads of people out of the city, but he was worried about separating his family in order to watch them all. He feared he might have to which placed fear in his mind.

He let loose a huff of air, trying to clear the worry from his mind. Part of him regretted allowing his family to come along with him, putting them all at risk. However, he knew that they would not have taken no for an answer. He remembered when Abby had first learnt he was leaving, she would not let him go alone. So they would just have to be careful, and solve one problem at a time.

He wished he had his river, he wanted to cool down, it was indeed hot. It did not seem to bother his daughters in the slightest. He turned to look up his family. Some were sun bathing, others were playing, the usual activity of his hive. It always brought a smile to his face and made him glow with pride. As he watched over his daughters, Abby approached him with something in her hands.

"Father...do we have time to play?" He mentally smiled. They had not had much time to play their game of hide and seek for quite the while now. She must be itching to play. Amun looked to the rock that she had in her clawed hands and was a bit shocked when he recognized it as the geode she had found in the mountains. She had carried it this entire time! Amun reached down and took the small rock from her hands. Her tail twitching back and forth in excitement.

"Of course we can, my daughter. I think I would like that a lot." Abby pulled back her lips in a very human type smile before running off to join her sisters in a game of 'hunt'. Amun would go and hide the rock as she played. The king turned to his queen.

"I'll be back my love. I've got a rock to hide." He said as he showed her the cracked half of the geode.

"Alright, think you could bring back a cow or sheep? I didn't realize I was this hungry." It had indeed been a while since they had eaten. He could use something himself.

"Cheeseburger? Double meat burrito?" He joked.

"You think they come in our size, because that would be amazing!" They both laughed at the image of something that big.

"I'll see if I can find anything. We may have to send our daughters out, they are probably hungry as well." She nodded her crowned head before her attention was grabbed by Sara who approached.

"Come mother! Let's play!" The excited drone called out then leapt and began to crawl on top of her mother. Emilia stood to her full height and started to follow her daughter deeper into the jungle. She turned and looked over her shoulder at Amun.

"Don't take too long my king." Then she was off to play with her daughters. He was swept over with happiness in that moment, he felt blessed to have such a family. He also enjoyed the sway of Emilia's hips and tail. He shook his head, no time for playful thoughts.

He did not take too long before making his way into a more remote part of the jungle, looking for a perfect spot to hide the gem stone for his daughter. He tried to remember all the ways she had found it in the past and avoided making the same mistakes again. So he avoided any mud and strong smelling plants. If he brought back any significant pheromones, she would find the gem in no time.

He continued his walk for a short while until he came across something that caught his interest. Within the trees and vegetation of the jungle, a large cave opening now towered in front of him. It was carved into a small cliff face that was covered in vines and moss. The vegetation almost hid the entrance perfectly. It would easily fit most of his hive and keep them out of site. It would also serve as a good spot for Abby to find her stone and double as a nice way for her to discover the cave herself. So Amun placed it half hidden within the rocks that created the opening, not wanting to make it impossible to find it.

A sudden sound caught his attention, something was above him on the cliff. His body immediately tensed up, his tail now hovering over his shoulder. Part of him hoped it was something he could bring back to eat, the other part was worried that it was a human hiking in the jungle. He did not move, only listened as it approached the cliff. Suddenly Amun was met with the face of Alex that now looked down at him from up high. The meet each other's gaze for more than a few seconds.

"Damn it."