NOVPUBThe hornet jerked to the side, instinctively dodging Whisper's charge, even if its actual threat was minimal. Whisper's dagger, although forged from human-smelted steel by Bloodimina's field Craftsmen, could leave only scratches on the murder hornet's chitin.
Now the hornet swiped casually at Whisper, barely paying her attention.
This time, Whisper was ready for this move. She blocked the hornet's claws with her dagger, although the blow made her hands feel like jelly and threw her entire body back a few meters.
It would've been a great time to escape, but Whisper couldn't. She could read the hornet's thoughts, and knew that the monster still wanted to sting Farini.
She already turned back to him, intent on breaching the human's clothing, while Farini frantically and fruitlessly tried to shake her off.
So instead of leaving, Whisper charged at the hornet again!
'Give up!' she mentally shouted at the creature.
The hornet jolted, distracted by Whisper's telepathy, and Whisper smashed into her back. This time, Whisper aimed right for the wings.
Each of them was large and thick enough to break Whisper's bones with an unlucky blow, but they were still the most fragile parts of a hornet.
Whisper's dagger tore into one, leaving a deep gash, and making the hornet screech in pain and anger.
She beat her wings and shook with her entire body, trying to shake Whisper off her back.
The Agent Bee clutched to the monster's back with all her hands and feet, holding for her dear life. The hornet's claws swiped at her blindly, cutting through the air only centimeters away from Whisper. Just behind her, the hornet's wings beat the air, threatening to smash Whisper if she moved even a little.
And Farini moved too, trying to shake off them both!
All the shaking was rattling Whisper's bones so hard, she feared they would break on their own. She wanted to close her eyes, but didn't dare to, instead watching out for the hornet's claws.
All the Whisper's strength was spent just on holding on! She had to—for her own survival, for the survival of her human, for the success of the Empire!
She didn't know how long the hornet shook like that, only that eventually she stopped. By then, Whisper's hands felt like they were stuffed with rocks, but she still held onto her dagger with a vice-like grip.
As soon as the hornet stopped moving, Whisper stabbed her at the base of a wing.
The hornet screeched even louder and spun with her entire body so hard that Whisper's tired hands couldn't hold her onto the monster's back anymore.
The bee was thrown back, only for the hornet to catch her. The monster was barely flying on three wings, and the pair was falling—but before they will reach the far-below ground, she had time to kill Whisper ten times over.
The long claws tore into Whisper's shoulders and hips, leaving deep wounds. The hornet opened her mouth, large enough to bite off a bee's head in one snap of jaws.
Farini shouted something alarmed in human language from above, but what could a single slow and clumsy human do? And all the bees were too far away.
Whisper knew she was doomed. Some other Agent would have to take her place.
This was a time for death…
But death was the time of the biggest heroics!
The knowledge of her doom made Whisper's blood blaze. If she didn't have to care for her life, she could push beyond anything normally possible.
"AAAAAAAAAARGH!" Whisper shouted, releasing her pain and fury.
Although each movement made the hornet's claws dig deeper in her, Whisper stabbed with her dagger where she could reach—a joint of the hornet's wrist.
There was a gap between chitin plates there, and the steel went right into it. The hornet jolting, and one of her hands released Whisper—but only one. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
The others only wounded Whisper deeper. Blood poured below.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
Whisper kept stabbing. Each blow was weaker, and less precise than the last, but she never stopped stabbing and screaming. Soon, her throat got hoarse, and she started screaming telepathically.
All her rage and fury became focused on a single creature—the hornet. And nothing but her mind was limiting how loudly Whisper could shout.
Then there was nothing left in Whisper's mind but stabbing and shouting.
And then Whisper realized nothing was holding her anymore.
She refocused her eyes and saw that the hornet stopped moving! She looked still twitching—but maybe this was just the headwind.
Since both the hornet and Whisper were still falling, and the ground was only a few dozen meters below.
With a start, Whisper beat her wings, slowly lowering herself on top of a large tree leaf, while the hornet smashed into the trees a dozen meters to the side.
Now she definitely had to be dead.
'Agent Whisper! Agent Whisper, is that you?! Look behind you!' someone's telepathic shout made Whisper look around.
She half-expected to see another hornet, but instead saw a squadron of bees approaching her in the distance! They were too far to shout, so that was why they used telepathy.
'Agent Whisper, what happened here? What help do you need? We saw fleeing humans,' the same telepath messaged Whisper again. She remembered the voice, but her wounds made it hard to think…
Ah, that was one of the Lieutenant Beemarines of Bloodimina.
'What happened here…' Whisper began to reply and paused, dazed with realization.
Did she just kill the hornet? Stabbed her to death? Stunned her with telepathy? The bee was too weak to really think about the "hows". But she knew one thing.
This was the most heroic deed of her life! So far.
Whisper spat some blood from her mouth to the side and beamed from ear to ear.
'Something bad happened, but I saved the day. Agent Whisper, with the strength of ten Beemarines! Other guys, back to the temple, need the help more. Their hornet is still alive, I bet!'
