We can’t keep this up, Ben said.

Regina blinked and turned her head, although she couldn’t actually see him. Ben was somewhere about three doors down in the hive’s main base, while Regina was just ambling back to her rooms, more focused on watching through her drones’ eyes than her immediate surroundings.

What do you mean? she asked, trying not to let any anxiety into her voice. She’d thought things had been going well. Sure, they were still losing drones, but the gnomes were also losing soldiers.

The gnomes are getting worn down, Ben said. He sounded slightly amused, probably because he caught an echo of her reaction, but she could tell he was still at least a little worried. We are, too, though. Sort of.

Regina paused walking and leaned against the wall in a small alcove that let drones pass each other more easily. Well, out with it, she said, a bit testily.

Sorry, my Queen. I assume you watched the recent attack on the third column?

Of course. She thought that went rather well. They’d caught a few of the stronger gnomes, anyway.

That’s going to be our last good opportunity, at least for a while, Ben explained. They’re out of the mountains now, and while we got them this time, caught them by surprise, they’re only going to be more alert going forward. I’m not saying it wasn’t worth it, don’t get me wrong. But they are gaining experience. Not just System Experience. He smiled a bit. I guess those who are slow learners don’t tend to make it.

I think I get what you mean. Regina frowned thoughtfully. So, in terms of the ratio, we would need more drones to kill more of them.

Exactly, Ben said. And the problem is that all of our reinforcements are very low-level. The Swarm Drones level up quickly once they actually fight, but only if they survive.

Well. Regina sighed, shook her head and pushed off the wall, continuing on her way. Then there’s nothing for it. You’re right to be worried about the numbers if things take a turn for the worse, and there’s no point taking chances with that.

This is still our best opportunity to whittle them down, he pointed out, but she knew he just thought it needed to be said.

Yeah, but it won’t be our only option to deal with them. We’ll still harry them, keep them on edge, slow them down as much as possible. But it’s probably not wrong to focus more on our preparations.

That is what I was going to suggest, my Queen, Ben said. I’ll make sure we’ll get it to work out.

Regina sent him a mental acknowledgment, then sensed his mind withdrawing from her. She probably needed to make sure he didn’t spend all his time worrying about strategy and took some time off to relax, come to think of it. Maybe she should have a quick word with Dan.

In the meantime, Regina also checked on Ken quickly. The other drone seemed to be recovering well. She was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to suffer from PTSD. Granted, it was a bit early to be certain of that. But the contact with the other drones, his siblings, and the way the psychic link allowed them to be there for him, share reassurance and just help him cope in general was obviously helping. Plus, Regina felt like Hivekind in general were probably pretty resilient, in more than just the physical sense. Anyway, Ken was working hard on his magic, but not hard enough to endanger his health, and he actually seemed to be making good progress.

She quickly exchanged notes with Ida, then glanced at the other information the Keepers had stored in the psychic link recently. There was nothing that really required her attention, and she’d take the time to look over the more technical things in detail later. Their capabilities were growing, and it was harder to get an overview of everything relevant from just a quick impression. She considered that a good thing, though. The more they were able to use this capability, the better. Plus, it’s better than actual paperwork, she thought, grinning slightly to herself.

Regina focused back on her surroundings. She took a quick bath, then changed her clothes, choosing an open tunic with long slits on the side towards the back that allowed her wings full freedom of motion. She was getting sick and tired of staying in the hive’s base, cooped up while her drones fought and died in the south. She wasn’t stupid or reckless enough to actually go to the front, but Regina figured she could get out a little more. Besides, she could probably use the exercise.

Once outside, Regina glanced around. Ira and Dan stood beside her, their arms crossed, while Dan scowled a bit. He’d taken up some of Max’s bodyguarding while the older drone was away. Not that Regina had needed much of a security detail while she was holed up inside the hive, surrounded by her drones.

“Don’t worry, I won’t go too far,” she said.

Dan nodded, giving her a quick smile. She knew he planned to take control of some Winged Drones nearby to keep an eye on her, but she didn’t say anything.

Instead, Regina jumped and beat her wings. She savored the short moment when she was almost weightless, the pull of gravity canceled out by her upwards momentum, before her wings carried her higher. She shot into the sky almost straight up, watching the hive’s base recede below her, before she turned and started circling.

That’s the stuff. She laughed, letting the wind swallow the sound. She hadn’t gotten to do some proper flying in far too long.

Slowly, Regina ascended higher, until the cold felt biting even to her. From this far up, she could see a great distance. Circling around a little, she examined her territory. It wasn’t easy to make out smaller details, but she did get a pretty good idea of the lay of the land. The positions of several of her hive’s bases and outposts were clearly visible, along with streams of water and larger features like the great forest to the west. It was nothing she hadn’t already seen through her Winged Drones’ eyes, of course, but somehow seeing it like this with her own eyes felt different. Maybe that was just her imagination.

A small flock of Winged Drones crossed underneath her, and she watched them for a moment, before she turned her attention away. The hive’s main base bustled with activity, below, and she didn’t need to look to know the positions of all the drones in the vicinity. There were quite a few. Some things weren’t even visible from up here, of course, like the tunnels they’d dug. That was just as well, she’d rather her enemies didn’t get a look at those.

Regina glanced towards the forest, which was clearly visible, if still some distance away. For a moment, she considered going there, before deciding with a sigh that that would probably be too reckless. Even if it would be nice to go check on their original base and the rest of the area, and to visit the elves in person. Although she should probably give them a little more warning if she did decide to visit Ariedel.

She was honestly feeling a bit ambivalent about the elves. She appreciated their support. It might seem a bit sparse considering the elves’ allies were fighting for their very existence, but they hadn’t exactly been allied - or around - for long, and they didn’t have any kind of formal treaty, anyway. So technically, the elves weren’t obligated to help the hive at all. Their logistic support was valuable, though, and so were the people they had sent to help directly. Not so much as fighters, since there were only a few of them, but as teachers. Her drones might have good instincts, but they lacked experience with fighting a war, or knowledge about large-scale combat with the System and magic.

On the other hand, this was probably teaching the elves a great deal about the hive, too. Maybe also about warfare in general, Regina liked to think that they had a few tricks the elves hadn’t really seen before. Either way, she knew Bianorn and the others would bring their newly learned knowledge back to Ariedel once this war was over. I suppose the question is if I should mind that? Regina considered while she slowly beat her wings.

Before she came to any conclusion on the matter, she was distracted by the psychic link. A rather large group of drones was hatching right now, but that wasn’t what caught her attention.

Janis had just started talking to Volance. Regina had sent her back to the elemental’s territory a while ago, and the young mage had spent more than a day walking through it, searching for her. That was probably Volance making some kind of statement. But now the elemental had appeared right in front of her just as Janis passed a bend in a high mountain path. Thor, who’d carried her there and was currently napping on top of a lonely pine tree nearby, woke with a start and took to the air.

“Good to finally see you, grandmother,” Janis said, not bothering to keep her annoyance out of her voice. Focused on her, Regina could sense her relief, though.

“I would say I hoped you didn’t have to wait long, but that would be a lie, since I know how long it’s been,” Volance replied, apparently unperturbed. “So, I assume you have something for me?”

Janis scowled at her for a few seconds longer, before she sighed, visibly relaxed and reached into the messenger bag she was carrying. She took out a book and shoved it at the elemental. “Here.”

The book started floating and moved to Volance’s fingers, who turned it around. Well, ‘book’ might be a bit of a generous term, Regina admitted. It was more of a booklet.

“What’s this, then?”

“A treatise on air,” Janis explained with a slight smirk. “To be more exact, on gases, their composition and their physics. Well, at least the basics of those. I’ll be honest, this is barely more than a primer. But it’s not knowledge you could easily come by anywhere else in the world.”

Volance was quiet for a moment, flipping open the booklet and paging through it. Regina couldn’t help but feel a stirring of pride at it. She’d really gathered everything she could from her memories with this one. It wasn’t like she’d had any special knowledge of physics, atmospheric dynamics, aerostatics or anything, at least as far as she knew. Still, even simple things like the ideal gas law should help Volance a lot. She’d even included the laws of thermodynamics, at least as explanations of principle.

“Well,” Volance mused, “I am familiar with a majority of the content, it seems, but it does appear there are some new things to be learned from this.” She frowned thoughtfully. “And you are most likely right that getting them from anyone but your Hive Queen would be quite difficult.”

“I’m glad you see their value,” Janis responded. Regina could tell she was making herself stay calm and not show any of the smug satisfaction she felt. And to be fair, Janis had been a surprisingly big help in putting this together.

There was a moment of silence while they both looked at each other, evaluating. Janis crossed her arms. Volance drifted a bit on the wind.

Then the elemental sighed and lowered the book. “Alright. I’ll help you. That is why you’re here, isn’t it?”

“Of course.” Janis nodded. She glanced at the book, then back at her grandmother’s face. “There’s more where that came from. We have similar books for the other elements, although they’re not as extensive, arguably.”

Volance nodded. “I’ll help you bring a few others to your side, then. That should be enough.” She frowned, looking contemplative. “I’ll stick around until you’ve defeated the gnomes, but I can’t make any promises beyond that. None of us is going to be unhappy about seeing the little bugs get stepped on - pardon the expression, my dear - but the others won’t like working under someone else’s orders. I suggest you don’t start handing things like this out unless and until you’ve got firm assurances.”

Janis relaxed a little more. “How many of them are going to join us, do you think?” she asked.

“Maybe three or four. I’m not sure. I don’t suppose you’d show me those other little books to gauge what’s in them?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have them on me,” Janis replied. The hive was still making copies of the books, although Regina started getting a few drones to fly at least one copy of each over right away. Janis nodded slightly and continued. “The hive is sending them along, though. I think we can let you take a look.”

Volance cocked her head. “How nice,” she said in an even tone. “Just out of curiosity, what is your status with the Hive?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Senior Infected? Maybe senior indigenous mage?” Janis shrugged. “We don’t really have a formal ranking or anything.”

“’Infected’?” Volance asked, her voice flatter than before.

“Oh, it’s just a term,” Janis quickly assured her. “I wasn’t actually infected with anything.”

“May I check?”

Janis started and cocked her head in a way that reminded Regina of Volance. She quickly asked a wordless question in the psychic link, and after a second of deliberation, Regina answered in the affirmative. She felt a bit nervous about anyone poking around with Janis’ body and, presumably, connection to the hive, but it was probably better to let Volance check on this. Besides, if she showed concern for her granddaughter, Volance should probably have the opportunity to act on it.

“Alright,” Janis answered with a shrug.

Volance stepped in front of her, quickly enough that Janis couldn’t have moved out of the way if she’d tried. She took her hand with one of hers and laid the other on Janis’ forehead. Then she seemed to blink. Regina watched curiously.

Finally, the elemental stepped back again. “I can’t sense anything harmful,” she finally said. “At least not in your body. Mental arts aren’t my forte, but you don’t appear to be under a major compulsion.”

Janis exhaled, and Regina could sense her relief, as well as slight surprise at the depth of the feeling. “Good to know,” she commented in a casual tone.