“That was dumb,” Theodore said in a harsh whisper.

  Just ahead of him Roger stopped, turning around quickly. He walked back toward Theodore, eyes bright with anger.

  “What did you say to me?”

  He stopped only inches from Theodore, glaring down at the shorter man. Theodore had to fight the urge to step back, to let himself shrink. But he didn’t. This wasn’t like the times when he had first met Roger, when the older man had all the strength and the power. This time it was Theodore that was in charge. It was time to remind Roger of that.

  “I said that what you did back there was dumb,” Theodore said, returning Roger’s glare.

  He added a bit of his own power. Not his Class Abilities given by the Connected System, but the powers given by the Voice. The ones that made him the leader of the Hive. Theodore sent a jolt of energy through the thin link of the Hive.

  Roger grimaced in pain, taking a step back. He reached up and grasped both sides of his head, biting back a cry. Theodore glanced around. It was just the two of them. Malcolm and Eric had already entered the Clanhold, Mike Turner had lagged behind but got tired of following Theodore and Roger. He’d disappeared somewhere else. Josh Hauser and his people, Theodore could feel them through the Link. Most of them, a couple of them weren’t part of the Hive. Yet. They had gone into their barracks building. That left just Roger and Theodore, who had been heading for their building.

  “You needlessly provoked Lochlan. Now he’ll be suspicious,” Theodore said, taking a step forward, putting energy into his Presence.

  Roger cowered down, clutching at his head.

  “Please,” he whimpered.

  “Be more careful,” Theodore said, walking past Roger.

  As he did, he released the energy he sent through the link. He heard Roger collapse to the ground, breathing heavily. Theodore smiled.

  He was still smiling as he climbed the steps, opening the door and stepping into the building. It was cold, no fire going. No one had bothered lighting one. That meant the only one in the building was Jim. The older man was useless. People said the stress of the Connection had gotten to him, that he had snapped. He spent most of his days just wandering around the Clanhold, getting in the way. People took pity on him, made sure he was clothed and fed.

  The man was pathetic. He couldn’t handle the connection with the Hive. That little link had broken Jim.

  Theodore shook his head, opening the door to the man’s room. Jim lay on his bed, curled up in a ball, moving restlessly in his sleep, muttering constantly.

  “Shut up,” Theodore snapped.

  Jim instantly became quiet, but didn’t stop moving.

  Stepping back into the hallway, Theodore turned toward the door he shared with Roger and two others. Neither of the others were there yet, probably being friendly in the cafeteria, just like Theodore told them to be. He didn’t bother closing the door to Jim’s room. Let his roommates deal with it.

  The door to the outside opened, letting in a blast of cold air. Roger walked in, angrily muttering to himself. He looked up, seeing Theodore staring at him. Roger lowered his head, stopped muttering and headed for the fireplace.

  The man had come close to ruining everything. Lochlan, rightfully, would start to be suspicious that something was going on. Roger had always been arrogant, but earlier had been too forceful. He’d gone too far. Theodore already knew that Lochlan had questions and worries. Rogers actions would just heighten that paranoia.

  They were going to be watched.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Up until then, it had served Theodore and the Voice’s plans to have Roger be the center of attention, to be the loud and arrogant braggart. But there was a limit to how far Roger would go. That limit had been crossed. Theodore wasn’t sure what had pushed Roger to cross it. Too much pressure from the link?

  Possibly.

  All it meant was that the plans would have to be pushed up. Theodore had been waiting for the Spring. More time to build the stress in the Clan, to find more members for the Hive. He was tired of waiting though. It was time for Lochlan Brady to learn who the real ruler in the Northwood Territory was.

  Theodore smiled as he laid down, not bothering to change out of his dirty and bloody clothes. He pulled the blanket tighter, hearing Roger getting the fire going in the outer room.

  Soon it would all change.

  Very soon because the Voice was almost there.

  ***

  Ankorik shifted his large feet, watching the impressions the long toes made. The digits were rounded and thick at the ends, making odd patterns in the snow as he lazily moved each independently. Three toes on each long foot.

  He sat hunched down, the natural position, looking out over the frozen pond. Just one of many in the woods that his Clan of Anura were now calling home. Long fingers curled over the wide handle of his mace. Made out of heavy reed wood covered in knots, Ankorik had killed many monsters in the swamps of his homeworld. Since coming to this new world, he had killed many more.

  He liked the new world. Not as much as his home, but it was interesting and different. A young Anura, he had longed for life outside of the swamps. As was common for all the young of his people. The swamps could be confining, often too familiar. There was nowhere that other Anura had not been before. Dangerous, but mostly known.

  Coming to this new world, he had been told it was called Earth, was different. Everything was new. Exciting. New vegetation. New trees. Even the swamps and marshes were different. They smelled different, tasted different on his long tongue.

  And the natives. They were unlike anything Ankorik had ever seen before. Shorter than his people, covered in a dry skin. Different colored skin like his people but it was all that one shade. No spots, streaks or patches of different colors. They had small heads with fur only on the top, some of the males having fur on their faces, but their bodies were hairless. Like his people, they wore clothing but in different styles. The natives had small hands and feet, their hands having four short fingers and an even shorter thumb.

  Ankorik held up one of his hands, looking at the three long fingers and the rounded ends. His body was all a light green, his rough hide having the common wet texture to it, even in the bitter cold of this world’s latest season. The underside of his long arms were a light tan, as were the undersides of his fingers, the rounded ends a darker tan. He didn’t understand how a people could be all one color. Their heads were the oddest things. Round and small, not flat and wide like those of his people. Their eyes were so tiny, how could they see anything?

  He was eager to meet them.

  Aside from that one time he’d been caught observing them across the pond, the same one he sat in front of, Ankorik had wanted to meet the natives. The Middle Elder of Clan Willowreed, in charge of their Expedition, had denied it. There were too many potential enemies in the woods around them. It was not time to make their presence known.

  Soon though.

  Ankorik could not wait. It looked like the natives needed allies. There were a lot of enemies around them, some they knew and had fought already, and some that they did not know existed yet. The Anura were few. It was always that way when they were sent out on a mission of alliance. They never came to the new Connected worlds to reap and harvest Resources, but to assist the natives, to help them grow in their own power and that of the Connection.

  He shivered, feeling the harsh wind bite into the exposed parts of his arms and legs. The Anura could handle the cold, but what this latest season had brought was something else. It was harsh and biting, most of his small Clan staying huddled in the cave system they had found. Only Ankorik, and other young like him, ventured out. The rest were content to stay by the fires and wait for the cold season to pass.

  He couldn’t understand why. This was all so new and exciting. Especially when the frozen bits of rain fell from the sky. The first time he had seen it, the event was wondrous. He’d danced in the forest, enjoying the feel as it fell and gathered on his body. It was cold but light, and just amazing.

  Just like everything in this new world.