143 Open

The Gate was open. 

Any moment creatures would pour out and wreak havoc on anyone and anything in their path.

'Don't panic.'

Isn't this what she had wanted?

A chance to redeem herself after not being able to defend her children at their school? 

A chance to justify her choice to remain behind while others fought valiantly in Antarctica? 

A chance to prove to herself and the world that Queen Bee can do more than just perform well in the Dreamscape?

'Not a very good chance if I end up dead.'

Noble hurried toward the Gate. At the very least, she needed to hold off the first wave until the strike force team could arrive to take over.

The first wave should be mostly dormant creatures. For an Awakened like her, that should not be too much of an issue. 

'It will be fine.'

Summoning her estoc, Queen Bee came to land right before the cracked asphalt met the towering void. The gate was wider than the street and as tall as the buildings around it. In it were vague shapes of the approaching doom.

Six other Awakened were already at the precipice ready to fight. They were not the strike team, and judging by their emotions, none of them were hardened warriors except for perhaps the one closest to her. 

Unlike the others, his face was set in a determined line. The Awakened glanced her direction while his battleax was poised for action.

"Good to see you, Queen Bee." 

By his lack of surprise, he had seen her train rescue a few moments before. 

"I'm Willy," he continued. "Glad you could join us for the fun."

Noble wanted to ask him what his Aspect was, perhaps form a battle plan with him and the others there. 

But before she could open her mouth to coordinate, the shadows hidden in the darkness suddenly burst forth. 

The creatures were a meter and a half high and nearly twice as long. Mandibles protruded from their round heads, clicking with deadly force. Behind them, two empty eye sockets stared out unseeing and brimming with darkness.

Their segmented bodies looked rotten and decayed, with chitin covering the places remaining of the insects' armored exoskeleton. 

On six sharp legs, the abominations lumbered forward, cracking the asphalt with each lurching step. On the top of each head, two wiry antennas twitched at unnatural angles.

The professor took a deep breath.

'Blind? That's good right?' Noble lifted and prepared to slice the first creature with her [Unlikely End].

But just as she was about to lop off the gigantic ant's head, the abomination turned its unseeing gaze in her direction. Instead of cutting through the creature's neck, it landed right between the empty eyes and slashed between the clacking mandibles. 

The result, however, was the same.

[You have slain a Dormant Beast, Decrepit Harvester.]

'Guess they can sense with their antennae,' Bee noted. 'I won't make that mistake twice. 

Looking beside her, a half dozen gigantic insects lay at the Awakened's feet. 

"Make a barrier!" Willy called in the momentary break. 

It was a good idea. The more of the hole that was blocked by bodies, the harder it would be for the remaining creatures to enter their world. Any amount of stalling was a boon.

'Every second counts. How long has it been?' Noble hadn't been counting, but now she wished she had. Had it been one minute? Two?

It was anyone's guess.

'Fight like no help is coming,' she decided. Nothing was certain until the strike team was there. She needed to hold the line or die trying. 

Lifting the ant, she tossed the creature toward the border of the rift. But that millisecond of planning was the only respite they got. 

The relative quiet of the gate ended in a flurry of motion. Hundreds of members of the harvester colony burst from the darkness into the NQSC, full of murderous fury.

With cruel precision, Bee slashed, hacked, and skewered the insects as they dared to enter her world.

The voice of the Spell resounded in her ears, sometimes overlapping itself. Legs, heads, and segmented bodies began to pile around her as she was covered in their fetid blood.

Thankfully, she did not have to stand on the fallen monsters to continue fighting. As soon as the pile got too high, Bee simply floated higher and continued to fight.

The ants, in contrast, had to scurry over their dead to attack their foe. Not that any of them seemed to notice. Their singular goal was destruction. 

Beside her, none of the other six Awakened seemed seriously hurt or wounded. They were, however, beginning to drown in the sheer number of abominations.

The man closest to her, Willy, seemed to have some Aspect related to brute strength. With an ax in one hand, he was simply crushing the skulls of the dormant creatures with the other.

"Watch your back!" He screamed.

The Awakened to his left had allowed one of the harvesters to slip behind the line. Now the monster was back for revenge.

The warning had come just in time. The acrobatic fighter noted the threat and performed what appeared to be an infinite amount of flips to get away. Then with a spinning rope attached to daggers, the Awakened shredded the creature until there was nothing left. 

Seeing the victory, the lady at the far end gave a single final smile before plunging back into the heat of battle. 

Whatever her Aspect was, she always seemed to find the weakest point of the creatures and exploit them to great effect. Although her hits were not as constant as the other Awakened, each strike was used to the greatest effect.

The group was not exactly fighting as a cohesive unit, but they were holding back the tide as best they could. The low level of the Nightmare Creatures was offset by the sheer volume of the enemy involved. 

Noble pressed the [Unlikely End] into the empty eye socket of one of the harvesters and was rewarded with the voice of the Spell in her mind.

'Another one down, too many to go...'

No single kill was taking too much from the Queen, but over time the exertion was adding up. 

'I'm not too tired yet, but I cannot keep going like this forever.'

Mere minutes had passed but it felt like hours. 

The pile of creatures was beginning to look like a barricade. While a few slipped through Bee's defenses, for the most part, she was keeping a firm line.

That was not to say she was completely unharmed.

In order to attack effectively, she also had to sacrifice by taking a few hits along the way.

Just now one of the snapping mandibles had caught her across her cheekbone, nearly unmasking her.

In return for the blow, Bee thrust her estoc into the creature's mouth and activated its enchantment. Its desiccated flesh disintegrated. With an angry hiss, the ant was no more. 

Behind her, she could sense a change. While still looking forward, she used her special vision to sense what was happening behind her. 

Shapes of Awakened entered her mind along with the military vehicles operated by mundane soldiers. All of them were barreling toward her at top speed. 

The strike force had finally arrived!

There was only one problem. Noble furrowed her brow. 

'What in two worlds?'