Chapter 39: Chapter 39: LONG LOST TRAILS
The forest changed after the Weaver vanished. It didn’t hum with victory. It breathed in silence, slow and cautious, like it was waiting for something to happen.
Buzz felt it first. The gold in his veins didn’t burn anymore—it pulsed. Each beat sank deeper, moving like it was trying to sync with the roots beneath him. Every step through the dirt sent tremors up his legs, and every tremor carried whispers. Not words, but tones—echoes of something that remembered him.
Zza moved ahead, silk stretched across her shoulders, claws steady even though her wounds hadn’t closed. Her silk still shimmered faint blue from the Weaver’s light, but under it faint veins of gold glowed, threading through the fiber like cracks spreading through glass.
They had been walking since dawn, following the faint glimmers that marked where the newborn’s essence had spread. The gold dust hung in the air like pollen, soft but constant, leading them deeper into the forest’s heart.
Zza crouched near a thick root that jutted from the ground. She pressed a claw against the bark. "It’s in here too," she murmured. "Every root carries it. It’s spreading faster than I thought."
Buzz joined her, tracing his claws along the same spot. The bark was warm. Too warm. When he pressed harder, a faint pulse ran through it, in time with his own heartbeat.
His chest tightened. "It’s syncing with me."
Zza looked up sharply. "Buzz—"
He stepped back, shaking his head. "I’m fine." He wasn’t. The gold inside him stirred when he lied, a soft burn spreading through his side. "It’s just the residue. It doesn’t mean anything."
Zza didn’t believe him. Her silk trembled faintly between her claws, as if preparing to bind him if she had to. "You said that when the Queen first touched you. And now her blood sings every time you breathe."
Buzz forced a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. "Then I’ll make it sing louder than hers."
They moved again, pushing deeper until the trees began to change. Their trunks grew pale and smooth, no bark, no moss—just white wood, polished like bone. The air grew heavy, thick with humidity and the faint scent of rot sweetened by gold.
When they reached the clearing, Zza stopped dead.
The ground was covered in nests. Hundreds of small golden pods, each no larger than a fist, woven into the roots like fruit on a dead tree. They pulsed faintly, soft and rhythmic, a glow beneath the soil that made the clearing look alive from within.
Zza’s voice came quiet. "It’s not just eggs. It’s a network."
Buzz crouched beside the nearest one. It shimmered faintly when his shadow crossed it. He reached out, but Zza grabbed his arm before he could touch it.
"Don’t," she hissed.
He looked at her. "If we’re going to kill them, we need to understand them first."
"They’re learning from the forest," she said. "If you touch it, it’ll learn from you too."
He hesitated, his claws inches from the pod. The gold inside his veins pulsed again, matching the pod’s rhythm. He felt his chest seize, the beat syncing perfectly for a breath. The pod’s glow brightened.
He tore his hand back and stumbled. "It felt me."
Zza was already pulling silk from her claws, weaving it into a tight barrier around the nearest cluster. "Then don’t give it another taste."
Buzz steadied himself, pressing a hand against his chest. "It’s not reacting to the forest. It’s reacting to me. The others might not even know we’re here."
Zza frowned. "Then you lead it away. You’re the bait."
He gave her a look. "That’s comforting."
She shot back, "You’re the one it wants. If you can pull its attention, I can find the core. Every network has a heart. Cut it, and the rest dies."
Buzz scanned the field of glowing pods. The gold veins in his arms throbbed harder now, pushing against his shell like they wanted out. "Fine. But if it talks to me, I’m not answering."
He stepped into the clearing. Each step made the pods react—first one, then a dozen. Their glow brightened, the rhythm syncing to his pulse until the ground itself seemed to beat with him. The light climbed up the trees, threads of gold twisting through the roots and branches like veins reaching toward him.
The whispers returned. Louder this time. Still no words, but emotion—familiar, intimate. Recognition.
He closed his eyes, gripping his head. Images flashed across his mind: the Queen’s mandibles dripping gold, her eyes unblinking, her voice smooth as honey and sharp as blades. *You were mine once.*
Buzz’s breath came fast. He shook his head, trying to throw her voice out. But it wasn’t memory. It was present.
Zza shouted from behind him, her voice distant. "Buzz! It’s activating!"
He opened his eyes. The pods had split open. Thin streams of gold rose from them, forming shapes—half-formed larvae, transparent and trembling. Their bodies flickered between flesh and light, wings just beginning to form.
Zza threw her silk wide, spinning it into nets. She caught three of the hatchlings mid-rise, slamming them back into the ground where they sizzled. The others darted higher, too fast, too fluid.
Buzz gritted his teeth. His claws burned, and when he swung, gold fire trailed behind them. The energy from his veins poured out, reacting to the newborns as if answering their call. Each swing burned holes in the air, cutting through the nearest figures.
Zza shouted, "You’re feeding it!"
He didn’t stop. Every hit landed harder, cleaner. The gold flame spread along the ground, burning the smaller pods, turning them to ash. But the roots below glowed brighter. For every hatchling that died, three more rose.
Zza fell beside him, her silk flying in all directions. "Buzz, we need to find the core!"
He turned. "Where?"
"Listen," she said, her voice trembling. "The heart always hums under the noise."
He focused, closing his eyes. Beneath the crackle of fire, beneath the shrieks of hatching creatures, there it was—a low hum, slow and deliberate, pulsing from deeper underground.
He dug. Claws into dirt, muscles shaking. The hum grew louder with each layer he tore through. The gold veins in his arms throbbed so hard it hurt. When he reached it, the earth beneath him cracked open, and light poured through.
The heart wasn’t a pod. It was alive.
A massive orb of gold pulsed beneath the soil, threads of light extending from it into the forest. It wasn’t just feeding the nests—it was connected to every root, every drop of gold in the forest.
And when it pulsed, Buzz felt his chest respond.
Zza screamed his name, but it was too late. The light pulled him forward, wrapping around his arms, his neck, his chest.
He couldn’t breathe. The gold pressed against his shell, whispering in waves. This time the words were clear.
*You carry my voice. You carry my blood. Let me in, and we will finish what she began.*
Buzz tried to pull back, but his claws wouldn’t move. The warmth turned to burning, then to numbness. His eyes flickered gold, and he felt his thoughts blur.
Zza threw herself at him, her silk wrapping around his arms, trying to drag him away. The gold light burned through her threads, but she didn’t stop. "Buzz! You’re stronger than this! You don’t belong to her!"
He turned his head toward her. His voice came low, strange. "Maybe I do. Maybe that’s why I’m still alive."
Zza’s claws struck his face, sharp enough to cut. "You’re alive because you fought! Don’t stop now!"
The strike jolted him. His breath hitched. The gold inside him shuddered, faltered. He dug his claws into the ground again and screamed. The gold light tore from his chest in a burst, splattering the clearing like molten rain. The orb recoiled, its light dimming.
Zza yanked him back just as the heart cracked. Gold fissures spread across its surface, and the hum turned to a shriek. The remaining pods burst, spilling half-grown hatchlings that dissolved before they hit the air.
Buzz hit the ground hard, coughing blood. His skin smoked where the gold had touched him, but his eyes were clear again. The light in the clearing faded until only embers remained.
Zza collapsed beside him, panting. "Tell me you didn’t let it in."
He wiped his mouth with the back of his claw. "I didn’t. But I think it left something behind."
The dirt under them pulsed once more, faint but steady. The gold wasn’t gone. It had moved deeper, hiding from them.
Zza leaned back, exhausted. "Then it’s still growing."
Buzz nodded. "Yeah. And next time it wakes, it won’t just be the forest."
They sat in silence, the glow beneath the earth slowly fading into quiet.
Buzz looked at his hands, at the faint cracks where gold still glimmered under his shell. "It’s part of me now," he said softly.
Zza’s silk wrapped around his wrist, gentle this time. "Then we make it part of our fight. Before it learns how to become something worse."
He looked at her, and for the first time since the Queen’s fall, he smiled without forcing it. "We hunt it together?"
Zza nodded. "Always."
The forest above them shifted, leaves rustling as if listening.
Deep beneath their feet, the heart pulsed again—faint, cautious, alive.
The newborn wasn’t gone. It was remembering.