“It took Equin about a yeaw of wibin’ an’ twadin’ wiff dah Changewings, befowe dey twusted fwuffy enough to finawwy inbite me into dewe Hibe. If Equin was to descwibe his fiwst impwessions, it wouwd hab been that fwuffy had entewed dah deepest depths of dah Undewwowwd’s Wabywinths.”
[A paragraph from the United Hives/Changeling section from the book, Book Of The Known World. Authored by Equin “The Adventurer”]
[Pov Emily]
It was clear from Billows tone that we were to follow his orders or there would be serious consequences, there was just one thing I wanted to do before we headed down.
“Hey Biwwow, do 'ou mind if Emiwy has wowd wiff Mukaw.”
Billow looks back at me looking slightly annoyed and frustrated, he speaks in a quick and condescending tone.
“Make it quick!”
I head towards Mukar, who had just started entering his ship. As he looks up at me I speak, putting on my best smile.
“Fank ‘ou fo’ what ‘ou hab done fo’ me an’ fwuffy’s fwiends, Emiwy wiww nebah fowget dis act of kindness.”
Mukar smiles and we shake hooves, he speaks to me one last time.
“Awways, bestes’ of wuck fo’ ‘ou an’ am mission.”
With that I turn to start following Billow.
As we walk off the dock with the wagon, Dar looks at Billow slightly confused and speaks.
“Am dewe somewhewe to put dah waccoon an’ wagon Biwwow, ow am we bwingin’ them as weww?”
Billow speaks in a tone much like the one he spoke to me in, this time pointing at the Changeling guard that was next to him.
“Quickly put their things in safe keeping!”
The Changeling guards responds in less than a second.
“Yes sir!”
The Changeling guard gets on top of the wagon and begins leading it towards what I assume is the stables, judging by how long the building was. As we continue to walk Billow starts speaking, the annoyance in his voice somehow even greater.
“You couldn’t have come at a worse time, the grand Queen isn’t one for interruptions at the… Moment”
Aubrey is the first to speak, sounding confused and a bit concerned.
“Why, am she sick?”
Billow’s face now looked as though he regretted saying that and he responded quickly with only a four word answer.
“She’s a bit sick.”
After 5 minutes of following Billow we had arrived at the large fortress we saw as we entered port. Now seeing the place up close, I felt the hairs on the back on my neck get up as I could sense it’s scale. The walls of the fort were both large and wide, like it’d could take on anything and still stand easily. I could understand why to, with this place protecting the entrance to you’re largest city, you’d want it well protected. Billow takes out a green and blue cloth from his armor and starts waving it, as he looks up and the gate guards and shouts at them.
“Lower the gate!”
A few seconds later we can hear the sounds of cogs and mechanical parts and Billow puts away the cloth as the gate slowly starts begins rising. Just as the gate gets to the point where we could enter the Changeling guard who handled our wagon comes running towards us, and once he stops he is completely out of breath, Billows looks down at him and speaks.
“Acceptable…”
Entering the fort I saw all the stuff you’d usually see, many Barracks, weapon & armor smiths, mustering grounds and Raccoon stables, but what I saw in the very center must have been the entrance. The grass mound was about half the height of the walls, and at it’s bottom sat an entrance that looked more appropriate on a mine than a city. what was inside was completely dark and the entrance looked as though on the brink of falling apart, on top of it was what I assumed to be the banner of the United Hives. It was a white background with a crown in it’s center that looked familiar, and less than a few seconds later I recognized it. In my book there was a section of Soul’s second journey to Chicago and in it I saw the banner of Chrysalis’s Changelings, that crown looked almost identical to it, the only difference being instead of a cyan blue crown, this one was golden.
We make our way closer and closer to the mound, and once we finally get to the hives entrance Billow stops and speaks.
“It’s going to be a long way down, so watch you’re step.”
With that knowledge we entered the mound and found ourselves in a empty dimly lit room room with stairs. Billow and the guard start heading down instantly, and after a moment of hesitation from us, I nod to the others and we start heading down as well. As we begin descending the cramped stairs Kri speaks, sounding ticked off.
“I can barely fit through this thing!”
Aubrey adds on, sounding equally ticked.
“'Ou said it, feews as packed as dah Seaside Mawket in hewe!”
By the time Aubrey had said that we had caught up with the Changeling Guard, with Billow nowhere in sight. Seeing an opportunity to put to rest some growing curiosity I speak to the guard.
“Whewe did Biwwow go?”
He responds less than a second later.
“Went on ahead, always does that.”
I continue to speak, his response the perfect bridge.
“What’s up wiff him anyway? he wooks diffewent fwom dah Changewings Emiwy seen, an’ cewtainwy a diffewent attitude as weww…”
The guard pauses for a few moments than speaks, with everyone behind me seeming to pay attention as well.
“Billow is what we Changelings call a Xenifer, or what you outsiders call a “Fertile Changeling male” That basically means he was born with riches and power.”
Dar chimes in.
“Fewtiwe… Does that mean?”
The Changeling guards speaks, this time slightly comedic.
“Ahh yes! Once a month when a Changeling Queen needs to produce a fresh batch of eggs she get’s her choosing of one of the Xenifer’s and the lucky Changeling gets to go to her chamber, and well. I think you know the rest…”
Our faces ranged from intrigued (Kri) and downright disgusted (Dar) and after that the Changeling guard decides to ask a question.
“Name’s Hua by the way, so I was wondering what’s going on out east?”
[5 minutes of us explaining everything we knew later]
“Shit that sounds horrible! Real bad situation.”
I speak, adding on.
"That’s why we nee’ am hewp, if we faww ebewyone does. We nu can awwow dis to happen. "
Right before I had the chance to speak again Hua speaks, his voice a bit louder.
“It seems we finally reached the Hive City!”
With that we reach the end of the stairs, with a simple door blocking us. Hua goes to it and opens the door allowing us to enter Hive City.
To describe Hive City, it would have been like entering a book of crazy tales or mythology, it was simply incredible. Infront of us was a long colossal cavern, made of chiseled stone and metal beams. Everywhere around me I saw what looked to be buildings, with carved out interiors and them having windows and doors. Changelings were everywhere, all going about their day, with some even pulling small wagons loaded with all sorts of things. And not just that, looking up I could see a dozen bridges with what looked like a layers of more city and that the very top of the cavern you could see the ancient pipes of the old civilization and a giant chandelier that lit the entire cavern. As all of us continue to look in amazement Hua speaks.
“What you’re looking at is just 1% of Hive City.”
I was about to respond, than I heard the voice of Billow walking towards us.
“Finally, here send this report straight to the Queen!”
Billow goes and gives Hua some papers, Hua responds.
“Yes sir!”
As Hua begins leaving he turns and waves goodbye, than runs off in a random direction.
Once he is out of sight, Billow looks at us and speaks.
“Follow me closely, my office isn’t that far”
As Billow starts walking we follow him, remembering to stay in a single file line or be crushed by the dozens of Changelings going in both directions. As we walk a few Changelings turn to look at us, them obviously shocked by the foreign visitors. Dar speaks.
“An’ Daw thought Nickew city was bad, 'ou nu can wecognize anyone in dis pwace!”
Surprisingly Billow is the first to respond, him having a slightly offended tone.
“Recognize anyone!? You outsiders and you’re inferior senses! To recognize someone in Hive City is to smell them, each Changeling is born a unique sent! “Recognize anyone…” Hmh!”
After that things were pretty silent and 10 minutes of walking later we had reached a 2 story tall carved structure, with a sign out front.
“Hive City center securities office”
As we enter I see that compared to it’s exterior, the office looked extremely regal. Fine wooden walls, a large dark red rug, expensive looking furniture. This place heavily reminded me of the embassy back in Chicago, and as I looked, Billow spoke.
“Take a seat, over there.”
Billow points to the couch near a desk and we head over, taking a seat in silence. billow takes a seat at the desk and speaks, his voice now having a more neutral tired tone.
“I have so much paperwork to do because of you, let’s just get started…”
And with that we began. Firstly it was mostly just background information, who we were and who we worked with, with Billow looking pretty interested in what Kri had to say. Than after that we started talking about the threat to the east, with mostly me, Kri and Dar saying as much as we knew. After about 30 minutes Billow looked down at his notes completely speechless, and after a few seconds he looks back up and spoke.
“Ok, how about we talk about you’re mission, tell me Emily who-”
The door opened with a slam and I saw a Changeling guard (Hua?) Billow speaks, visible annoyance on his face.
“Hua what is it now, I thought I gave you orders!”
Hua speaks, looking shocked.
“Sir it’s the Grand Queen! She- She- Here take this!”
Hua gives Billow a note and his face turns to one of shock. He speaks.
“What, but! Are you sure this is what she wants Hua!”
Hua speaks.
“She looked more lively than ever sir! Even cracked a joke!”
Billow sighs and turns to us, speaking.
“Follow me, leave you’re weapons here.”
This whole thing had left me confused, I speak as I grab my sword and put it on the desk.
“What’s goin’ on hewe?”
Billow speaks, the condescension in his face completely gone.
“It’s the Grand Queen, she request a personal audience with you.”
The Queen wants a personal audience with us!? This was probably the best news possible, if we were able to get her on our side, we’d surely have the changelings support! Billow speaks to himself as he takes a few steps further.
“Viltra I hope you know what you’re doing…” Fin
Thank you for reading my story! It feels so good to finally get this series back on track and to write this story. I hope to have the next part done in very early January, and I hope you have a good day and wish you the best new year!