tejoka

PotHQ: Chapter 33 (Draft)

Regina was living in a fantasy world now, something that could have come out of a story or movie in the vague memories she had of her former home. She hadn’t processed that fact well enough, hadn’t realized what it meant.

Now, as she considered the visitation by the woman that was clearly implied to be some kind of divine being, she cursed her short-sightedness. And her ignorance too, while she was at it. She’d known that the people of this world, or at least this region, believed...

PotHQ: Chapter 32 (Draft)

Whatever Regina might have been in a previous life before she came to wake up in the egg of a Hive Queen, she was pretty sure it hadn’t been something practical. Like an architect or engineer.

She felt the lack when she looked at the buildings they’d erected. Her hive finally had two log cabins and was in the process of building the third structure. They were bare, rectangular things, with no decorations or finesse. As Regina compared them to the skeleton of the next one, she couldn...

PotHQ: Chapter 31 (Draft)

It started to rain the day after Regina reached level 10. A light drizzle at first, that slowly turned into a pounding rain pouring down on them as they day wore on. Regina and her drones gritted their teeth and continued with their work.

Lots of animals seemed to seek shelter from the rain, and it hampered visibility as well, so Regina kept the Warriors close. With the additional help, despite the weather, work on their log cabin proceeded quickly. They cut down trees and prepared logs...

Interlude: Embers

The monster roared, shaking the leaves of the nearby trees. But she could tell that it was a roar of pain. It crouched, blood dripping from the Lionit’s side.

Janis took a step back, her focus narrowing on her opponent. She breathed deeply, feeling her mana spread through her body and forcing it into shape. It twisted, almost slipping through her mental fingers. A drop of sweat dripped down her forehead and she blinked. Then she was ready and she cast the Spell.

A Magic Missile ...

PotHQ: Chapter 30 (Draft)

The hive settled into a new routine quickly. Very quickly. Clearly, Regina wasn’t the only one who felt good about finally having a bit of space to call their own, and the drones were working hard to develop it into something approaching a real home.

She’d had a long discussion with Max and Tim about their security and defensive measures. In the end, Regina decided that their fortifications would have to wait a little. Not because they weren’t important, but because they wouldn’...

PotHQ: Chapter 29 (Draft)

The monster horde ended the day after her new drones hatched. If Regina had known that, she might have tried to just hide them in the forest.

When Max brought a group of three level one Drones into the outpost, the elves seemed just a little nonplussed. Regina watched them closely. She saw Anuis’ eyes narrow in what might have been realization or intense consideration, and Bianorn glanced at her with a look she found difficult to read. But at least none of them made a problem out of i...

PotHQ: Chapter 28 (Draft)

The monster horde had already lasted for several days, but it would carry on for several days more. Tim had managed to get that information from one of the elven rangers in the group. He didn’t mind it much, since it would offer him and his Hive the opportunity to gain more experience and hopefully levels. But listening to the constant sounds of monsters from the forest around them wore on his nerves, even if he did his best not to show it.

He and Max both reached level 8 the day afte...

PotHQ: Chapter 27 (Draft)

Regina kept glancing back, looking for anyone who might be following them. The boat slowed down, not going quite as fast as during their escape. Everything seemed still and silent behind them except for the monsters.

After a while, when the trees made it hard to see anything, she came to the conclusion that they weren’t followed. Or if they were, she wouldn’t be able to detect them anyway. So she turned her full attention to her more immediate surroundings.

The boat was crampe...

Poll: What would you like?

Hi everyone!

I want to offer some kind of bonus for my patrons, in addition to advance chapters, as thank you for supporting me. I've been considering what to do, but I'm not sure what you all would prefer. So, this poll. Feel free to choose more than one option, and if you have a suggestion that isn't included, please let me know in a comment!

As a note, I probably won't have any kind of regular schedule for this, and the options that take more effort would be rarer. For art, for...

PotHQ: Chapter 26 (Draft)

The sun slowly moved across the sky, and although Regina couldn’t see it, she could tell the passage of time by the activity of the people in the village. There was a guard shift change at some point, and it seemed like more Delvers trickled into the central part of the settlement. And then, of course, there were the elves. Luckily, they had no intention of leaving soon.

Regina had to stop herself from pacing and checking on their progress all the time. While she kept half of her atte...

PotHQ: Chapter 25 (Draft)

Regina paced up and down the room, feeling like the proverbial caged animal. Or caged monster, maybe. It was small and cramped, but no more so than the house they’d been quartered before. Still, she had to take tight turns to continue pacing.

Rather than a dedicated cell, she was in a ground-floor room of the biggest and fanciest house in town, built of stone. It was where the baron and his family lived. Presumably, they just didn’t have a proper prison in this village. A door opene...

PotHQ: Chapter 24 (Draft)

One day. The monsters left them in peace for most of a day. Well, more a night and some change, actually.

As Regina stared out at the group of monsters approaching the village now, she couldn’t help but feel that it still wasn’t enough. But she hoped she was wrong. It wasn’t like she just had her hive to fight them off. And they had used the time they had well.

The morning sun was only just cresting the horizon, but thankfully it came from another direction, so she still got...

PotHQ: Chapter 23 (Draft)

Wearing proper clothing for the first time was an interesting, relieving and also a little annoying experience for Regina. She’d gotten used to not wearing much, and her shell as well as the high temperatures of summer had made it tolerable. But now that she had the option, she’d jumped on it.

Regina ran a hand down the front of her dress, frowning slightly. She wasn’t wearing a bra, since they apparently didn’t exist here, but her chest was small enough that it shouldn’t be m...

PotHQ: Chapter 22 (Draft)

From outside of it, the way the monsters all seemed to home in on the castle was a lot more helpful. Not only did it mean that there were fewer monsters in the fields outside the forest, but it allowed Regina to extrapolate their movements. She could see the patterns in the way the monsters who were outside moved, which made it easier to guide her hive to avoid them.

Their trip away from the castle were the most nerve-wracking of her life. At least in the forest you couldn’t see the m...

PotHQ: Chapter 21 (Draft)

Regina cursed her luck as she looked around. The castle buzzed like a kicked beehive, but the activity had a frantic edge. The gate was half hanging off its hinges, and already the first few monsters had forced their way inside. Soldiers and knights were swarming to the gate to hold it, but the walls weren’t clear either, and a wyvern still lurked at the top of the keep, sending broken tiles and pieces of stone showering down.

She didn’t see Tim and Tia, so she closed her eyes for a...

PotHQ: Chapter 20 (Draft)

Mia didn’t know everything her Queen did. Despite the danger and exhaustion of their journey, it had been obvious that Regina was looking forward to meeting humans. Now that they had, Mia couldn’t help but wonder why. The humans in her Mother’s memories had to be very different than this, because these ones were a little underwhelming.

Not that she was going to say anything. They had taken them in, after all, and while Mia really didn’t like the feeling of being dependent on som...

PotHQ: Chapter 19 (Draft)

As it turned out, Regina had been right in her assumption. There was a settlement close to the river, not too far from the forest’s edge. The thaumaturge with his wyvern led them there, staying silent most of the way. She quickly realized that the military base or outpost was the important part, though. It was built some distance from the village, in the middle of an island in the river.

Because of the limited space, it seemed to have been built mostly upwards. High walls encircled it...

PotHQ: Chapter 18 (Draft)

Max didn’t have to wait long to get the experience the System had banked for him. The next fight after they left the elves, against a group of blue-colored monster snakes that were apparently different races going by the System’s naming, Regina reached level 6 as well.

Max leveled up right away, gaining the associated stat point, this time in Str, before she even checked her own status sheet. The System put her own point into Int again.

They kept going, keeping around a hundre...

PotHQ: Chapter 17 (Draft)

The monster stumbled backwards, trying to rub the sting out of its eye. It had to be a young ‘Troll’ (according to the System), since it only stood a head taller than Regina instead of completely dwarfing her. Its size, bulky physique and oversized club were a poor match for the trees around them, as it might have discovered when it lost the club to a bush.

Max darted forward, cutting right into its knee. Its craggy-looking skin didn’t stop the thrust. The troll stumbled and fell ...

PotHQ: Chapter 16 (Draft)

Regina jerked upright, her heart hammering. Blinking, she looked around, trying to see what had woken her. After a moment, she realized that Tim had shaken her. He was withdrawing his hand now and taking a step back.

She stood up, rubbing her eyes and trying to brush the last dregs of sleep away. It was still dark out, at least mostly. The moon was nearly full, and the eastern horizon might have been just a touch brighter than the west. It still felt like the middle of the night. She’...

PotHQ: Chapter 15 (Draft)

To his credit, Alenas didn’t act intimidated or threatened, but rather as if he was a welcome guest in their camp. Regina didn’t really mind. She offered him a seat by the fire and considered offering some of the cooked meat they’d prepared, but then decided not to. He had to have his own provisions and she didn’t want to give what they had away to spies. Besides, it wasn’t exactly the peak of culinary hospitality.

“It seems you have not been here long, my lady Regina,” he...

PotHQ: Chapter 14 (Draft)

Regina didn’t know how she’d managed to sleep in a tree or out in the open the first few nights. Compared to those, she slept like a baby now.

The shelters were a little small, but they had enough that they weren’t too cramped. The hive also now had enough people to stand a night watch, so she finally slept through the night. Granted, her heap of leaves still wasn’t the most comfortable, but she was nice and warm, at least.

The sun was still out for a long time. Regina sus...

PotHQ: Chapter 13 (Draft)

After she had made sure that none of them was in immediate danger and Mia was caring for Tia, Regina turned her attention to the notification the System held for her.

[You have leveled up]

[Mana: 55/160]

She grinned, then blinked it away. Level 4, yay! Only a few more fights and I’ll see if there are any significant thresholds in this System.

“I leveled up,” she announced to the others. “What about you?”

Tim shook his head, while Max nodded. “I did, a...

PotHQ: Chapter 12 (Draft)

The Workers took exactly as much time to hatch as the Warriors did. Their eggs were a little smaller in the end, but the hatched workers still came up to Regina’s chest.

Like the rest of them, they had six limbs. While the Warriors sported two scythe blade-like implements at the end, the Workers’ were less dangerous and more constructive. Their left one was shaped like a shovel, though you could also use the underside as a hammer, while the right was more of a grasper, with a small ...

PotHQ: Chapter 11

With three people in their improvised camp, Regina felt like she could finally relax a little. They split night watches so everyone got some sleep. It was summer (probably), so the nights were pretty short, anyway, but she felt much better rested.

Max showed Tim around and explained everything they were doing. The younger Warrior tended to be quiet, but took to it with enthusiasm, and with Max’s help he quickly got himself a  shield similar to his. He’d been very helpful in dea...

Path of the Hive Queen - Launch and early chapters

My new story is here! I just submitted the first chapter to RoyalRoad and ScribbleHub. Let's see how long it takes to be approved.

I'm still thinking about how I'm going to handle early chapters for Patrons. Since I plan to have two stories running eventually, just using posts on Patreon is probably going to get too cluttered and confusing. Meanwhile, I've got the first few chapters of the new story for you as a file attached to this post.

Note that this is a (first) draft, and th...

Epilogue (Draft)

… Most consider the end of the Great Zarian War, signified by the Sacking of Lialcil, to be the turning point of this time. I would respectfully disagree and instead point to the wedding of Princess Inaris and Princess Tenira. At that point, the war was already effectively over, as evinced by Their Highnesses’ return to the Empire proper from the southern warfront. The wedding itself thus not only heralded and signified the Empire’s victory and ascension, it also constituted an impo...