"Fine, so then what do you think that I should do?" I asked, looking around.
I had all these people, but now I need to figure out what to do with them. I was going to have to take them into the Hive, but I also needed to figure out what to do about the insubordination here.
And that was also the problem because I didn't feel like I had the grounds to punish them. I was just as much to blame for this, again; I didn't have a meeting, but they also never mentioned anything, but it was something that they weren't sure about.
"I am sure you know what will have to be done with these ones already, but I think you mean with us. For that, I am not sure, as insubordinate as the act was, the fact that we didn't sit down and make a plan before entering the Hive was part of the cause. Still, Will, broke the order you had given him," Ryan said, but I shook my head no.
"That was the problem, I asked, not ordered, right, Will? If I order you to do something, you will have to stick to that task. I don't want to take free will away or the right to choose if something is too dangerous or not. That is what will happen if I order you," I said, looking at everyone gathered; this was not targeted at any one person.
Everyone stayed quiet, but I could tell that my words were slowly sinking in with the weight of them. Hilda had just told me and confirmed what I had always been worried about; I could completely and autonomously control my Hive with the power of my word.
"This places a huge burden on all of us, and Will and Bob, you will be in charge of the SugaBees until they are settled, and you are not on missions. While I get it, and it is partially my fault for not holding a meeting beforehand, you withheld crucial information that put me at risk," I said, looking directly at Will, and he bowed his head.
"I understand, but I will take care of them myself; you will need Bob soon. This was my choice, and I shall take responsibility for it, but you are right. I did put you in danger, so I will also stay from Talli as well and hang my blades up for now until my task is complete, if that is okay with you?" Will asked and started to take his weapons off.
"No, you can put the weapons down, but you will not punish that sweet girl just because you are an idiot. You did this, remember that, and know that I am very disappointed in the way you choose to deal with this. I hope that in the future, you will be able to finally break free from this childish behavior because I cannot give you another chance, understood?" I asked Will, now looking him in the eyes, at an angle, from a distance.
"Guards, wives, everyone else has a place to be and a job to do. We are going to have to start kicking things up a notch around here. We just took on six hundred percent or so of our capacity, so we are going to have to do a massive expansion of the Hive, so get everyone buzzing," I said, and then waited until the gathered randoms left, and only the Raccoons were left.
"I want to talk to you about the Tellarider, or for you to explain what it is and if it is the same for us to be around these people. What are these things?" I asked, not really sure I wanted to know the answer to these questions but knew I needed to.
"SkinWalkers are a kind of bug that can infect other creatures and then split itself into smaller parts to infect the others. The big weakness is the host range to the other is not great, and the moment they leave the range, the SkinWalker will no longer be able to control them. The bugs are still there, though, but without the host, which must be the Geo-Sect, they will stay dormant," Will explained.
"You seem to know a lot about them," I said after he finished, grabbing my chest as I gave a hard shiver.
"Yeah, I almost got him, but they used innocents as shields; it was a mess. But I know a lot about them because that thing killed my friends. Now I know that it had something to do with the death of most of my family. First, I will help these people that I have saved; that is the Path that I will walk into the next coming," Will said, and then blew away.
My wives and the guards gathered to me and entered the room first, but I waited before I walked in. I needed a moment to collect myself and get my thoughts in order; I needed to get the confirmation out of her for the Hive Task, and hopefully, the Hexpansion will be what we needed.
I walked into the room where my wives and guards were waiting, all surrounding the Queen, Mordiraine, and her unborn children. I only counted five garbage can-sized translucent shells, and I wondered what happened to the rest, but I didn't want to ask that yet.
"Mordiraine, Queen of the SugaBees, can you please confirm that I completed the task that you had asked me? In regards to the Trolls. It is important for me to get this from you; without it, I will have trouble supporting you and you people when I can get them healed," I said, trying not to put emotion in my voice.
"Yes, you have done what you said, and I confirm that you completed the task I requested of you," Moridaraine said right away, and I got the confirmation that I was waiting for.
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