It has been a hectic few days, Lyn, Gloria, and Evergreen were working like crazy to figure out how to deal with a wasp horde far bigger than they could have ever imagined. Gloria had called her allies and warned her neighbors that the horde posed a bigger threat than they originally thought.

Lyn had also spent those few days trying to get to know Evergreen better, feeling a little betrayed that she didn’t mention how important she actually was. It turned out that Evergreen did not get to spend a lot of time out or had the chance to make friends and have fun, so despite knowing she shouldn’t, she wanted to enjoy the taste of freedom for a bit longer than she probably should have.

What was even more surprising, was that the name of Evergreen was not yet official, which meant that it was more an alias than an actual name. Which was pretty sad, all things considered, and when asked why, found out that her mother was not ready yet to give her a name, since names hold power. Like Gloria was named so that she would bring glory to house Viridia, and also after a flower. Which Lyn somewhat understood with a nod, names were important after all...

Lyn also made friends with the black princess she fought before in the arena. It turned out the rumor that she would follow the one who defeated her was true. When asked why, she replied with the fact that she was thirteenth in line to the throne, and such a loss would have made her lose any chance of winning it. So she swore to pledge herself, and her seven hundred ants, to whoever bested her, if they would have them.

Lyn was certainly not going to turn them down, she needed every help she could get to grow her hive. It also came with the benefit that she could send a letter directly to her mother about what was going on. Something that Gloria was very interested in because it turned out the black princess was the daughter of not just a powerful hive, but one strong enough to subjugate a red ant hive, and a blue ant hive, with a green ant hive being a vassal.

This meant that the black princess she fought gave direct access to a very powerful potential ally in the fight against the wasp horde. Yet, despite all this, Gloria’s allies, the black princesses mother maybe leaning in, and even Anya using her extensive merchant network to help bring it all together still was not enough to take on the wasp horde.

Worst, even though the word was spread, many did not want to fight for fear of worse retaliation should they do so. There was no guarantee that if they fought, that they would win, or that they would survive if they lost and made themselves an enemy of the horde. Which forced Lyn to make a promise she wasn’t sure she could keep, one where she promised a safe haven that can not be reached by any wasp, hornet, or termite.

She was just going to keep quiet about what the safe haven was and pray that her master did not mind that she was writing checks that she may not be able to keep.

But what was truly grueling, was having to talk to some of those leaders and queens of many other successful hives, and swear on her name that she did in fact, have a safe haven that they could all retreat to should things go south. It sent a shiver down her spine every time she did, swearing by your name was a big deal that held severe consequences to the one who breaks their vow on their name. A feeling she didn’t enjoy having, like a noose around her neck, a new one added each time she had to make it.

But with how rushed everything was, she really didn’t have a choice, the next fog storm would be in a few days, and if they couldn’t get enough hives to join, or enough zapper hives to help fight back the lightning wasp's blitzkrieg, then they were in for a world of hurt.

What was worse, was the fact that Lyn didn’t get to go back to her hive and help it grow, no matter how much she wished she could. Things were going so fast, she simply did not have the time and worried constantly about it.

Thankfully she got letters from her sister and the young queen that everything was going just fine without her, and that they were preparing for the fight the best they could. Which helped ease Lyn’s heart and made her more determined to see things through here, even if most of it seemed like it was going over her head.

At least she got to see Evergreen in action, it was amazing to see her help keep things organized and help her mother get things moving, sometimes without ever having to ask each other for confirmation or permission, they both knew what they had to do and Evergreen helped both quickly, effectively, and efficiently.

By the time they were done, Lyn’s zappers finally arrived alongside a few of her sisters, a little over a hundred. Thankfully this was augmented by a few thousand by charitable donations of a few zapper hives, totaling a little over ten thousand zappers with their own commanders. If lightning wasps were rarer than zappers like they hoped they were, and that the new wasp mutation into lightning wasps was a new thing, then at most there would be maybe a thousand lightning wasps, maybe two thousand at most.

Though they were well aware that whatever army the wasp horde would be sending probably wasn’t their whole strength. Since it was believed, thanks to some scouting and spying, that the wasp horde used their lightning wasps Sparingly, and did not think there would be much contention for the lake, which by all accounts they will be trying to take tomorrow.

With that, everyone started to gear up for the battle ahead, Lyn spent one last night with Evergreen and did her best to mentally prepare herself for the battle to come.

---

The fog storm rolled in, bathing everything in a thick dark, and somewhat purplish cloud that almost seemed to smother everything it came into contact with.

Lyn breathed in and out as she tried to calm her beating heart, her small band of zappers lying with her, their lights dormant, waiting to go into action at any time. She and a few thousand others were hiding in the most likely location that the wasp horde would be going through. They were confident of this because the wasp horde were very brazen and arrogant, they did not believe that anyone could oppose them, so moved into places like they owned it.

It also made a bit of sense considering that most really couldn’t stop them when they were in a fog storm. Not many could fight back or at all in such a thing.

As Lyn waited, small figures started to appear in her vision. She tensed, thinking it might be an enemy, but it was only one of the rare glowing fishes that flowed through the fog storm as if it were water. She relaxed just a bit, only to jump when an eel struck from nowhere like lightning to devour the unsuspecting prey. This was soon later followed by an octopus-like thing that was camouflaged by the backdrop of the fog storm that then grabbed the eel and then ate it as it struggled in vain.

Floaters, things almost like jellyfish soon slowly floated along, scaring the octopus away with their numbers and stinging tendrils. Followed by a small school of fish, which brushed by a leaf that scared a zapper off its hiding place, and was then immediately set upon and eaten by the surrounding fish.

Floating sparks of electric energy floated along the path of the fog storm, one going so far as to flow right in front of Lyn. She didn’t know if it was instinct or not, but she inhaled the spark and felt very energized thanks to it. It didn’t really taste like anything, but she kinda wanted another…

But such thoughts were put on hold, for finally, after hours of waiting, she saw a few flickers growing in the distance. At first, nothing but specks, but as time went on, they grew until they were like glowing orbs in the dark fog. At first a few dozen, then a few hundred, finally… thousands… led by a few wasp insect-kin.

Lyn gulped at the large and ferocious-looking enemy. Wondering if this was such a good idea after all. She waited for the signal.

Her body tensed, her nerves were on edge and she did her best to stop from shaking, watching as the wasp horde went deeper into the ambush they had planned. Taking a deep breath she jumped again when lightning flowed through the fog, it struck one of the wasp insect-kin and a few of its nearby followers, burning them to a crisp.

The horde paused for a moment, making Lyn catch her breath, but they slowly got moving again, though this time more spread out than they were before.

And after a few more moments, the signal was giving and thousands of zappers got up from their hiding places and swarmed the surprised lightning wasps. Descending on them with a wild frenzy of fear and euphoria that could only be had in war and in the fog storm that seemed to have supercharged them.

Lyn charged with her zappers, rushing the horde in unison with all the other zappers, a few of her brethren giving a battle cry as they did so.

But as she charged, her mind rushed with fear. This was far different than anything she had ever faced before, this was war, and she knew from what she learned from Ren that war was dangerous and uncompromising, especially on the battlefield. They did all they could to prepare, but none of that could prepare her heart. She was afraid of dying, and as she rushed the horde, she found them to be bigger and meaner looking than she realized.

But she couldn’t slow down, she was moving with the flow of her comrades, she carried them forward, just as they carried her, none could turn back now…

Lyn skewered a nearby wasp by surprise, it hovered confused, trying to figure out where the greatest threat was as she blindsided it, it beat its wings futilely but she kept it in place. twisting her spear she sent some of her aura to tear at its insides before pulling out and letting it drop to the ground.

Lyn sighed with relief, only to be roared at from the side as a wasp insect-kin pointed her out and charged with a few of her soldiers. Lyn paled, but a few of her own followers gave their own war cry and charged to defend their queen. This quelled any fear she had as it was changed into determination to fight alongside them and prove them their trust in her was warranted.

The two sides clashed and she was pushed back hard, she beat her wings to get some distance as surprise showed on her face at the sheer strength of her opponent. Who was also far larger than she first realized.

The two clashed once more, their comrades fighting and dying next to them. This time Lyn put more of her strength to meet her opponent's spear, which resulted in a deadlock for a few seconds. Pushing off, they gained some distance between each other, watching each other closely.

But Lyn realized, like most insect-kin, her adversary did not use aura, which meant she might just have an edge on her. Charging what she hoped to be the final time, she flared her aura up and sped up her wings, determined to pierce through and demoralize her enemies.

She charged forward, faster than she ever went before, only to have spears clash and then flung over the side, redirected as it were, much to Lyn’s surprise. What followed was a volley of spear thrusts from her opponent.

Lyn tried to block and dodge them, but with great difficulty, using far more of her aura to do so than she wanted. She then came to the conclusion that her opponent was far stronger than she first thought, and that her raw strength more than made up for her lack of aura. Worse, even for Lyn, it was clear to see that her adversary had far more experience than she, and was slowly being pushed back because of it.

But Lyn had a master and a lover to go back home to, so she did something she was too afraid to test out before but was going to do now anyway. Jumping back, she raised her spear to gather the ambient lightning essence of the fog storm, she then flung a wave of lightning at her opponent, who looked wide-eyed at the attack for only but a moment before she dodged it.

Lyn cursed herself for doing something so stupid, if it weren't for the surprise aspect of the attack, it wouldn’t have worked since it took a few seconds for her to do something like that, which in a battle, wasn’t very smart. Either way, she prepared her spear and got ready for the next clash. Only… it didn’t come…

“That was an impressive trick there… tell me… do you have a name?” Lyn’s opponent asked.

Lyn blinked, a little put off, thinking for a few seconds. “... it's… Lyn…” she replied.

“I am Xenith. first in line to the horde. It would be an honor to fight someone of your caliber.” the wasp-kin said.

Lyn stared at Xenith for a few moments, before giving a small nod and preparing her spear once more. Xenith smiled at that and prepared her own spear and the two went at it again.

Sparks flew from their weapons, both sides not bothering to give an inch, both more determined than ever to prove themselves to each other. Xenith went harder, sometimes ignoring some attacks in the hopes that she could get her more deadlier ones in. Lyn went faster, trying to attack at any perceived weak points and avoid Xenith’s powerful swings and thrusts.

Flaring up her aura, Lyn kicked Xenith back and charged, only to be redirected again by Xenith’s experience. The two then become locked face to face as they fought, being pushed and pushing each other. One such push landed and sent them hurtling through the air to bounce off of something. Only for it to turn out to be another fog storm octopus that they had to work together to avoid and fend off.

The octopus, being fed up with them, slapped them away into a school of floating fish that they bounced off of and had to protect themselves from, sometimes littering back to back as the fish tried to make them their next prey.

Once that was done, they went back to their fighting, right into the middle of the ever-shifting battlefield where more and more zapper and wasps fought and died, fighting each other as much as the soldiers that sometimes got in the way.

A boom was heard and they both instinctively ducked, though the explosion wasn’t very close to them. A fairy airship that had been warded for the fog storm a few days prior to the battle entered the field, the fairies doing their best to prepare their spell cannons once more. Causing another explosion to take the battlefield, fighting off the wasps that then tried to warm them, alongside some of the exotic wildlife of the fog storm.

Xenith laughed. “You brought an airship to fight? That thing won't last a few minutes in here! Lightning warding or no!”

“Ya, well… we were aware that it might not be perfect, but the point was to kill as many wasps as possible before it went down. Which I feel it's doing a good job at.” Lyn said with a smile, as another explosion rocked the battlefield.

Xenith grinned, “I like that kind of crazy.” then charged once more to continue the fight.

Back and forth they went until a nearby explosion sent them hurtling through the air, they then did their best to fight through that inconvenience, landing on the trunk of a tree and jumping off it to take the air once more. Lyn flinging lightning at Xenith and being fired back in turn, even though both were resistant to lightning to some degree, it still would hurt and perhaps create an opening for the other to exploit.

The fight continued, even as more explosions bloomed, even as schools of fish swam through, eating friends and foe alike, even as octopus’s nabbed any they could, and zappers and wasps not careful of their surroundings found themselves colliding into floaters. A crazy scene where the opponent you were trying to kill one second, you fought together the next as the dangers of the fog storm laid bare its horrors. The battle seemingly doing its best to attract more of these creatures.

Lyn and Xenith were both getting more and more tired as their fight continued. They both knew they couldn’t continue this, it simply wasn’t possible, and oddly enough, Lyn didn’t hate Xenith. She didn’t know why, but there was a conversation happening between them as they fought, she wasn’t sure what was being said, but it spoke to them on a certain level.

But Lyn couldn’t drag this on, so she did the only thing she could think of that might give her more of an edge. Focusing, she tried once more to gather the storm like she did before, raising her spear up high she…

Completely got electrocuted by a stray lightning bolt… much to the shock of Xenith and the literal one of Lyn…

But as tens of thousands of volts coursed through her body, she gritted her teeth and swerved the bolt at Xenith who was definitely not expecting such a thing.

Xenith Screamed out in pain, her body not meant to handle so much electricity. She fell hard to the floor and its growing pile of bodies.

Lyn, tired, burnt, and fried, raised her spear and gave a mighty battle cry which was followed up by the remaining zappers. The wasps, demoralized at seeing their leader killed with such a great show of force, turned to flee, broken and beaten. They will not soon forget this.

Once she saw the backs of her enemies, Lyn allowed herself to fall, landing not far from Xenith. Turning onto her back, she looked up as the fog storm slowly passed and her zappers came running to check up on her.

Looking back to where Xenith laid, she was somewhat surprised to see the barest hint of breath from her body. Giving a few orders to her zappers, she told them to take Xenith into custody and take care of the wounded, whether zapper or wasp.

With that done, she closed her eyes to sleep.