Chapter 8: Entry into the Shadow Lands
I charged in alongside the other roaches. Each one ahead of me vanished into the darkness, and I ran straight in with no fear.
I made it through that dark fog, and as soon as I did, I felt isolated and cold. I no longer felt connected to the Queen. I couldn't even smell her scent.
The other roaches also felt the same. A wave of confusion came over us over the loss of that connection.
The ground beneath me turned black and muddy. There was an abundance of mushrooms of various sizes. Some as large at towers. Some as small as a bug. It felt more like a forest of mushrooms than trees. They had a bit of a luminescent glow. Bright blue fireflies flew around the forest. The clouds above were pitch black. There was only a slight blue glow amidst the inner dome.
But there was no time to think, or look at the environment.
It instantly turned into a war zone. The dark elves expected us. A volley of arrows came from amidst the mushrooms. We were getting shot at from every corner. We could barely see them as they hid among the densely populated forest.
As the other roaches became confused and the general wasn't there, I had to step up and lead.
"Together, siblings!" I yelled charging forward.
And that brought the other roaches together.
They yelled their battle cries and charged with me. I took cover behind one of the mushrooms and started firing my electric crossbow. The others started firing their electric crossbows. Bolts of lightning streamed through the forest, but didn't light the mushrooms on fire.
I could barely see anything. Our bolts slightly lit up the battlefield, but it was like a dark fog ate away at them. This was the Shadow Lands. A desolate place cursed with magic and dark elves.
Hornet took cover and began firing at dark elves with relative ease. She was able to see them from very far without the need of a scope.
Viking charged forward with the rest of the roaches. He got hit by a number of arrows, but kept going forward. His exoskeleton was thick enough to bounce back most arrows. However, Viking wasn't able to reach any of the dark elves hiding and jumping from mushroom to mushroom. He grabbed one of his fallen comrade's electric crossbows and fired. He complained that he wished that they would fight up front.
Cutter followed right behind Viking throwing knives at the dark elves.
Doc kept close by me while continuing to fire more bolts.
"So, Roach," Doc said, "How do you like the Shadow Lands? Pretty spooky, eh?"
"Not now, Doc," I said while concentrating on where the dark elves hid.
The waves of roaches grew larger. When new ones came through the barrier, they were met with confusion at first, but quickly went into the fight.
Many roaches died, but I couldn't worry about anybody else right now.
The dark elves continued to shoot arrows in the shadows, but they were losing ground.
And as soon as the bronze giants went through the barrier shooting large bolts of lightning towards them, the dark elves began to retreat further back.
They were running. I moved forward along with the rest of my siblings. I came upon one of the corpses of the dark elves. A male. Looked to have been shot in the chest by a bolt. His eyes were wide open, but there was no color in them. He had a dark complexion with long, pointed ears. He wore black, leather armor. He had a bow right next to him. He carried a quiver and a curved blade.
That was the first time I saw their kind. I thought they were strange creatures, but formidable. They were more cautious in their fighting. They may not have had the numbers, but they used the environment to their advantage.
The dark elves took to the skies riding wyverns and floating sharks. They had a steel collar around their necks with some kind of glowing runes. The dark elves fired arrows from above at us and threw down small pouches.
As soon as those pouches hit the ground, they exploded into a blazing fury before being dissipating without a trace. They destroyed bronze giants and roaches alike.
The wyverns were hard to shoot at. The dark elves maneuvered them with ease. Even the bronze giants couldn't properly shoot them down.
And then the ground shook. A giant, skeletal hand came out from underneath the corpses of both dark elves and roaches. It grabbed onto one of the wyverns and crushed it. It was one of General Kull's magics. He walked out casually deflecting any arrow that was aimed at him with his sword made entirely of bone. He started shooting bolts of lighting from his left, bronze arm. He fired straight at one of the wyverns. It fell straight to the ground dead before impact.
Then, the bronze being that was with him dashed forward with incredible speed. He jumped onto the mushrooms and sliced the dark elves with his two halberds as if he didn't need to see them to know where they hid.
It was unreal. But we were winning.
"Keep up the assault!" I yelled while shooting lighting as the roaches hurried forward, "Keep it up, siblings!"
"For the Queen!" Doc yelled.
"Glory to the Quee-!" another roach yelled right before getting struck in the eye by an arrow.
After a heavy battle with many casualties on both sides, the dark elves retreated back into the shadows.
The battle ended. It was a victory, and we all cheered. But it wasn't over, just yet. That was only the beginning.
We set up a camp along the perimeters of the dome.
The other roaches were uncertain about this new general. I understood their uncertainty. We were no longer connected to the Queen while in this magical dome. I didn't even feel the usual ecstasy one would feel after winning a battle.
However, many of them looked up to me, Hornet, and Doc. Since nobody was saying anything, including our general, to ease their worries, I decided to step up and reassure them.
"Listen, brother and sisters!" I yelled to my fellow comrades. General Kull and the bronze being also listened.
I continued, "We may not be connected to the Queen, but we are the Queen's soldiers. We may not feel her, but she is there. Who here would rather go back and disappoint the Queen? She is counting on us to win and bring glory to the empire! Glory to the Queen!"
The other roaches cheered in excitement. They cried out, "Glory to the Queen! Glory to the Queen! Glory to the Queen!"
Viking, Cutter, and Doc joined in with the cheers. Hornet came by me and said, "Nice going, Roach. I didn't think you had that kind of leadership abilities in you?"
She walked away, while the bronze being came towards me. I felt threatened by it and instinctively went for my sword. I didn't unsheathe it, but had my hand gripping the handle tightly.
"I am not here to fight you. General Kull wants to see you," it said in a monotone voice.
I followed the bronze being towards the general and asked it, "If we're going to be working together, I'd like to know whether you have any hard feelings about our fight. I remember you were a guard for the dwarven king. I didn't expect you to change over to our side so quickly after what happened. Why did you change loyalties so easily, bronze guy?"
"I do not have feelings over trivial matters. I was reprogrammed into joining the Queen. My loyalty is to her cause," it said, "Also, I prefer not to be called 'bronze guy'. My designation is KR-01."
"KR-01? Sounds like a strange name. Or is that your species name?"
"KR stands for Killer Robot. I am a tool just like you. The only difference is that you are a biological creature. And I am purely a mechanical automaton. You do not need to worry about my loyalty. My loyalty is the Queen's empire."
I was interested in this creature - or automaton as it called itself. I was willing to believe that it was what it said it was. I was unfamiliar with the idea of these machines, but if they worked for the Queen, then I would work alongside them without any problem.
Since he gave me his name, I decided to introduce myself, "Well, you can call me Roach."
"Of course. That is your species. You are roaches."
"No. I meant my name is Roach. Instead of being called 'a' roach. Just call me Roach."
"The difference is minimal to you creatures."
"Maybe. But it's easier to identify each other with names."
With that, he led me straight to General Kull standing above a plateau. He looked straight at the forest ignoring my presence. He had a commanding presence. He was large, threatening, and seemed to be constantly angry.
"General, you wished to speak with me?" I asked.
"Stand at attention!" General Kull commanded.
I stood up properly.
"Your obedience is noted," he said, "I heard your little speech. Very impressive for a roach."
"May I speak freely, sir?"
"Go ahead."
"The other soldiers just needed some reassurance. It will help morale knowing that, even though we aren't connected to the Queen, we will still bring glory to her."
"Fine. I brought you up here because I feel the other roaches don't trust me."
"It's not that they don't trust you, sir. They don't know you. We're just used to following direct orders from the Queen."
"Of course. Of course. Anyways, you seem to gain the trust of the others very easily. I want to know whether the roaches will be ready to move out in three hours."
"We'll be ready."
"Good."
"Sir, if I may ask, what's the plan?"
"The plan?" Kull said, "Simple. We march straight through, take the capital - Hiroga City - and hold it."
I thought that would be the plan after what happened before. It seemed to be the only plan of attack, but I was sure that there had to be an alternative. I understood that any one of us could die in any second. But, if possible, I didn't want other roaches to die needlessly in battle without providing any glory for the queen.
"Sir, are you sure that there isn't a better way to capturing the capital? I'm sure it's heavily defended and -"
"Are you questioning me, bug!?" Kull exclaimed angrily.
"No, sir."
"Good. Now leave my sight, roach."
I walked away. He called me roach, but I knew he wasn't referring to my name. I knew that General Kull's orders were to be followed exactly as if the Queen had ordered it. But it didn't feel right. However, I just had to hope that General Kull knew what he was doing. I was just a simple roach, after all.
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