"Enemy attack!!!"
A desperate scream broke the tense atmosphere. The bright sunny sky was overtaken by what seemed to be a dark mist-like cloud. The cloud rippled as it rapidly expanded. There was an odd reverberating noise in the air oscillating in a tempo like the beating of drums. The noise began to increase in volume and tempo as the dark mist-like cloud approached the stronghold.
Zane squinted his eyes upwards in confusion trying to analyze and figure out the odd phenomenon.
It was no cloud.
The odd sounds were from the countless beating of wings from a swarm of a variety of giant humanoid insects that blocked out the sky.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One by one they pelted down like spears of rain, crashing into a barrier of light that enclosed the fortress. The barrier shook as it strongly held against the bombardment. However, the attacks did not cease and only increased in intensity by the second.
Those armored guards patrolling the walls rushed into the huge enclosed turrets that lined the tops of the walls. The turrets glowed with magic circles and artillery weapons as they prepared themselves to fight back. Everyone around grabbed the weapons nearby and braced themselves for a clash.
"Newbies! Follow me if you want to live!" Yelled a beautiful rabbit-eared woman in a black business suit. She was at the head of a small line of new citizens deeper in the stronghold. As she ran off, those in line frantically followed closely behind as she made her way to the closest metallic door.
Zane was running full speed from the entrance to catch up to the fellow escaping citizens, however, he wasn't in the best of shape and could not quickly close the distance.
"Everyone!!! Show those dirty bastard bugs the power of the Embst Sovereignty! Prepare to fight back! On my mark, shut down the barrier!" A man donned in heavy black armor yelled from the top of the entrance wall.
Zane looked back and up towards the sudden bellow while still running forward.
The man held a black sword that sparked and crackled with red electricity. The man fiercely glared at his sworn enemy before the hatred in his eyes calmed into a poised focus. Pointing his sword at the rampaging swarm, his cold voice calmly swept through the area as his mana burst forth, "Burn. Valiant lightning!"
Flashes of thick red lightning ripped through the skies as it tore through the swarm of insects. The man's attack was devastatingly powerful. It instantly cleared the majority of the once blocked out sky. A barrage of magic and artillery were unleashed at the same time against the insect army.
Fried and broken bug carcasses from the lightning crashed into the ground all around. Zane dodged and rolled away from the body of a huge praying mantis that smashed and blocked his path to the rabbit-eared lady. The sky cleared, but it was raining down body parts and the bugs that were still partially alive. Zane's path was blocked, and he could no longer make it to the rabbit lady.
Moving away while dodging around the insects, Zane bolted to the nearest doorway. The closest door was on his right, and he ran towards it with his life. The metallic double door was the same as the others, but to the knowing or trained eye it was different.
Zane pushed to open the door, but it did not budge. The door was locked and sealed.
"Crrrriiiiiieeeiiikkk!!!" A deafening screech coming find right behind Zane made him curl down covering his ears. As he turned to look, all he saw was a large set of claws slashing at him. Adrenaline surged through his veins as he looked at the blade-like claws about to take his life. Time slowed and images of pictures of his parents flashed before his eyes.
With inhuman reaction he dodge and rolled to the side, but his shoulder was still slashed. Lucky for Zane, the giant humanoid dragonfly was not interested in him. It clawed through the metallic door as it forcelly tore it apart. Quickly making itself inside, Zane was still paralyzed by the events that occurred.
There were still plenty of bugs and they were still fighting all those around, but Zane seemed to think they were all headed in his direction. To his dismay, more humanoid insects quickly approached his area and cornered him with nowhere but the door to go.
There were no good solutions. Making up his mind, Zane ran through the broken door, hoping there would be some alternate route that would allow him to escape. As he ran inside, the path led to steps only going downwards. He could hear the yells of the guards as they fought to keep the bugs from entering the door, but he could see the bugs pushing in at their peril. Whatever they wanted was here and they were willing to sacrifice themselves to obtain it.
As some weakened bugs got through, Zane went down the steps faster to avoid getting trampled or killed. The staircase downwards was much deeper than Zane had anticipated.
Zane thought to himself. "What is this place? What's so deep down here? I must have gone down 3 floors already."
As if answering his question, the staircase ended. It opened into a single small room. Every wall was engraved with symbols and formations, but they were all dull and lifeless. There were two items hovering midair over a glowing engraved metallic pedestal: an odd chipped cube etched with unknown symbols, and a chrysalis with a glowing rainbow hue floated.
The humanoid dragonfly broke through the last barrier and the glow of the engraved pedestal went out. With another set of hands it gently caught and caressed the two items to its abdomen.
The bug was more humanoid than insect. It had half the face of a man as it had the jaws of a dragonfly, and its beautiful eyes were compounded with thousands of lenses in a deep gradient of blue and green. Besides the bug's wings, carpice, and extra set of hands, it was surprisingly very humanlike.
After collecting its objective, it turned around looking to escape out back through the staircase. Zane was caught unknowing what to do. He froze as the humanoid dragonfly glared dangerously at him.
The shouts of the people coming down the stairs made the dragonfly panic. It was ready to fight its way back up, but a look at the treasures it held in its second pair of hands made it give a look of reluctance and sorrow. Looking at Zane it made a decision.
"Human."
Zane was shocked that the giant bug-like creature could speak. He was afraid of it killing him and remained cautious.
"I know you are new citizens. You do not understand this war. Please. Save the master. In return I am giving you this cube."
Zane was flabbergasted. His mind was reeling with confusion and endless questions. "Why would I help you? And for a cube?"
The bug gave one last a soft gentle look at the chrysalis before looking straight at Zane.
"You have no choice in the matter. Remember my words if you want to live. Never disclose anything about this matter to anyone, or you shall face a fate worse than death."
Zane was confused and suspicious of the words he was told, but he was stunned when the dragonfly humanoid lunged at him. It moved so quickly that he could not react. His arms were gripped tightly by its claws causing him deep cuts as he began to bleed. Zane could not struggle as a sudden sharp pain tore through his hand and chest.
It had pressed the glowing chrysalis onto Zane's hand and the chrysalis latched on like a parasite as it dug into Zane's flesh and disappeared. The chipped cube was dipped in Zane's blood. It reacted by turning into a liquid that burned into Zane's chest before fading into nothing.
With its goals achieved, the humanoid dragonfly knocked Zane unconscious and carried him rushing out. It made a piercing shriek that echoed into the distance. A second swarm came rushing into the stronghold causing havoc and chaos. The bugs in the staircase went on a frenzy as they madly attacked all the guards and knights. Hidden in the chaos, the dragonfly humanoid pulled Zane out and hid him under a pile of dead insects.
The humanoid dragonfly knew their battle was lost, but now there was hope. With enough time and luck, their sacrifices today would not be in vain. In an all out suicide attack, all the nearby insects fought crazed in an attempt to take down all they could.
Unbeknownst to the chaos around, Zane was still unconscious inside the dark pile of dead bodies. The light of a messy blue screen with errors and incoherent symbols lit up Zane's unconscious face.
***
>|^+.| er.$&ror ^**{\|
Rebooting… scanning… system imitation detected… overwriting… hiding functions… awaiting host…
***