Luno woke up with the jar beside his face.
That wasn't unusual.
The strange part was that he didn't remember putting it there.
He lay still for a moment, staring through the glass. A beetle clung to a twig near the top while several smaller insects crawled through the leaves below.
"Morning."
The beetle moved its antennae.
Luno narrowed his eyes.
"Don't act innocent. One of you moved this."
Nothing.
From inside his hat on the floor came Spark's sleepy voice.
"They're bugs."
"I know what they are."
"Then why are you interrogating them?"
"Because they're acting weird."
"They probably think you're weird."
Luno sat up.
"That doesn't even make sense."
Something faint touched the back of his mind.
Warm.
Luno froze.
He looked around the room.
Kel was still asleep across from him. The younger orphans hadn't started moving yet.
"Spark?"
"What?"
"Did you say something?"
"No."
Luno looked at the jar.
The beetle remained against the glass.
For some reason, Luno felt like it was looking directly at him.
He reached out and touched the jar.
Warmth gathered in his fingertips.
The insects stirred.
And the feeling came again.
Warm.
Luno jerked his hand away.
The room went quiet.
Spark poked his head from beneath the hat.
"What?"
Luno stared at the jar.
"Nothing."
Spark sighed.
"You and Kel say that too much."
---
Harven's mission that morning sounded simple.
Three farms north of Durnfield had lost livestock during the past few nights. Goats mostly, with two sheep missing from another farm.
The squad stood around Harven's desk while he explained it.
"Find the animals. Find out what's taking them. If there's a threat to the farms, identify it."
Doss looked disappointed.
"We're looking for goats?"
"Missing goats," Luno said.
"That's not better."
Harven ignored him and looked at Kel and Luno.
"Last night?"
Kel understood immediately.
"Sensing."
Harven nodded.
Luno touched the jar at his side without thinking.
"External Qi affects the environment," he said. "Internal Qi can be sensed gathering inside somebody's body. Soul Qi is more like intent and emotion."
"Good."
Harven pointed toward the door.
"Use it."
Kel frowned. "That's all?"
"Were you expecting me to come with you?"
"No."
"Good."
Kel didn't move.
Harven stared back.
"You know something."
"I know lots of things."
Luno groaned.
"He did it again."
Harven's mouth twitched.
"Go find the goats."
---
The northern grasslands were quiet when they arrived.
Too quiet, according to Luno.
Kel didn't know what that meant.
"It means quiet," he said.
"I know what quiet means."
"Then why'd you say it like that?"
"Because it feels different."
Doss walked past them. "You two argue about everything."
Kel and Luno answered together.
"No, we don't."
Mira laughed.
They reached the first damaged fence a few minutes later. One post had been knocked loose, and hoofprints led away from the farm toward the taller grass.
Luno crouched.
"Looks easy enough."
Kel looked toward the grasslands.
"Which means it isn't."
Luno nodded.
They were learning.
The tracks lasted for a while before becoming harder to follow. Dry earth replaced softer soil, and eventually the hoofprints disappeared completely.
Doss threw his hands up.
"Well, that's it."
Mira looked at him. "That's what?"
"No tracks."
"That doesn't mean the animals stopped existing."
"You got another way to find them?"
Luno barely heard the argument.
His jar was rattling.
He lifted it.
The insects were moving strangely again.
Not panicking.
Gathering.
Several had pressed themselves against the side facing the grasslands.
Luno touched the glass.
"What?"
Warmth moved into his fingertips.
He felt it this time.
Not enough to hurt. It was almost comfortable, like holding his hands near a small fire.
The warmth moved through the glass.
The insects became more active.
Then something whispered inside Luno's head.
Out.
He pulled his hand away.
The insects scattered.
Luno stared.
Spark shifted beneath his hat.
"You heard that."
Luno's stomach tightened.
"Heard what?"
"You know what."
Kel called from ahead.
"Luno!"
"Coming!"
Luno hurried after the squad.
But his hand never left the jar.
---
They searched for another half hour.
Nothing.
Kel tried Harven's sensing exercise. He closed his eyes and stood in the grass, trying to feel the wind and anything that didn't belong.
Doss watched him.
"What's he doing?"
"Training," Mira said.
"He looks asleep."
Kel opened one eye.
"I can hear you."
Luno would've laughed any other day.
Instead he was staring at the jar again.
Out.
This time the voice wasn't exactly a voice.
It was more like a thought that hadn't come from him.
Luno swallowed.
He touched the glass.
"What do you want?"
The insects crowded toward his fingers.
Several feelings hit him at once.
Out.
Find.
Hungry.
That last one was definitely different.
Luno nearly dropped the jar.
"Spark."
"I know."
"You hear them?"
"No."
Luno looked up.
Spark continued quietly.
"But I feel you hearing them."
That somehow made even less sense.
Luno moved away from the others.
He crouched and placed the jar in the grass.
His fingers found the lid.
Then stopped.
He had carried these insects everywhere.
Fed them.
Protected them.
Talked to them when nobody else wanted to listen to him.
He'd lost some over the years. That happened no matter how careful he was.
But opening the jar here was different.
If they flew away, that was it.
Kel noticed him.
"What are you doing?"
Luno didn't answer.
Help.
His fingers tightened around the lid.
Another impression followed.
Find.
Luno whispered, "The goats?"
The jar erupted with movement.
Kel came closer.
"Luno?"
"They think they can find them."
Kel stared at him.
"Who?"
Luno looked up.
"My insects."
There was a pause.
Doss laughed.
Mira elbowed him.
Kel didn't laugh.
"How do you know?"
Luno wished he had an answer.
"I can hear them."
Kel glanced at the jar.
"Like Spark?"
"No."
Luno struggled to explain it.
"Spark talks. This is different. It's like… thoughts. Little pieces."
Kel crouched beside him.
"And they're telling you they can find the livestock?"
"I think."
"You think?"
"I'm new at talking to bugs!"
Kel almost smiled.
Luno looked back at the jar.
"I have to let them out."
That removed Kel's smile.
"All of them?"
Luno nodded.
"What if they don't come back?"
That was exactly the problem.
Luno stared through the glass.
A beetle pressed against it.
Trust.
His chest tightened.
For years, the jar had kept them safe.
Maybe it had also been keeping them trapped.
Luno slowly twisted the lid.
"Okay."
He took a breath.
"You guys better come back."
Spark whispered, "They will."
Luno opened the jar.
For one second, nothing happened.
Then the hive poured out.
Beetles climbed over the rim. Winged insects lifted into the air. Smaller ones disappeared immediately into the grass.
Luno almost panicked.
"Wait—don't go too far!"
The insects scattered in every direction.
His stomach dropped.
He couldn't see half of them anymore.
Then—
Here.
Luno froze.
Another presence touched his mind.
Here.
Then another.
Here.
Not voices exactly.
Points.
Tiny pieces of awareness spread around him.
Luno closed his eyes.
For the first time, the darkness wasn't empty.
He couldn't see through their eyes.
Not yet.
But he could feel where some of them were.
One ahead.
Two left.
Several behind.
A cluster moving through the grass.
His mouth slowly opened.
"Kel."
"What?"
"I can feel them."
---
They followed Luno.
That alone felt strange.
Usually Kel walked first while Luno watched everything around them.
Now Luno moved through the grass with his eyes half closed, stopping whenever another faint impression entered his mind.
Nothing.
Grass.
Food.
One insect apparently found something worth eating and became completely useless.
"Focus," Luno muttered.
Doss looked at him.
"Did you just yell at a bug?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
They kept moving.
Then Luno stopped.
Something new had entered the hive.
Not a word.
Fear.
Sharp and nervous.
It wasn't coming from one insect.
Several had found the same place.
Luno turned east.
"That way."
Kel didn't question him.
The squad moved.
A few minutes later, they heard it.
A goat bleating.
Puck's eyes widened.
"No way."
They pushed through the tall grass and found a shallow depression hidden between two rocky rises.
Six goats and two sheep were packed together inside it.
Alive.
Terrified.
Doss stared at Luno.
"You actually found them."
Luno barely heard him.
His insects were everywhere.
On rocks.
In grass.
Some crawling near the livestock.
And somehow Luno could feel them.
Faintly.
Messily.
But they were there.
Then every insect went still.
Luno's smile disappeared.
Danger.
His head snapped up.
"Kel."
Kel had already noticed something.
The wind changed.
Grass bent on their left while everything on the right remained still.
External Qi.
Kel raised his hand.
"Everybody together."
A low growl came from somewhere beyond the grass.
Toma went pale.
Luno felt that too.
Fear.
Soul.
Then he felt something else through the insects.
Movement.
Fast.
Coming toward them.
"LEFT!"
A lean gray beast exploded from the grass.
Kel stepped in front of Toma.
Qi tightened inside the creature's legs.
Internal.
Kel sensed it a heartbeat before the beast jumped.
He moved.
His fist came up.
The strange current inside his body rushed into his arm, and his punch caught the creature across the jaw.
It crashed sideways through the grass.
Doss raised his club.
"Finally."
"Don't chase it!" Kel shouted.
Doss stopped.
Barely.
More growls surrounded them.
Luno closed his eyes.
The hive spread farther.
Tiny pieces of awareness moved through the grass.
One beast.
Another.
Another.
"Three!"
Kel looked at him.
"You sure?"
Luno listened.
A fourth cluster of insects suddenly scattered.
"Four!"
Kel smiled despite himself.
"That's better."
The beasts tried twice more.
This time the squad knew where they were coming from.
Mira guarded the livestock. Doss protected the left. Toma stayed close to Puck despite his fear.
Kel watched for Internal Qi.
And Luno listened to the hive.
The attackers never got close again.
Eventually the growling faded.
One by one, Luno felt the insects calm.
"Gone."
Nobody moved immediately.
Then Doss looked at the goats.
"So… we won?"
One goat headbutted him.
Mira laughed.
"Looks like it."
---
Luno didn't put the insects back into the jar on the walk home.
That surprised him most.
Some returned on their own and crawled across his shoulders. Others moved through the grass nearby.
A beetle landed on his hat.
Spark complained.
"Too crowded."
Luno smiled.
"Get used to it."
Kel walked beside him.
"You okay?"
Luno looked at the empty jar hanging from his belt.
For years he'd thought the jar was where his insects belonged.
Now he wasn't sure.
"I think so."
A tiny presence touched his mind.
Here.
Then another.
Here.
Luno smiled.
"Yeah."
He looked across the moving grass.
"I think I'm good."
At Durnfield's gate, Harven was waiting.
His eyes went immediately to the empty jar.
Then to the insects crawling across Luno's shoulders.
Then to Kel.
"Livestock?"
"Found them," Kel said.
Harven looked at Luno.
"How?"
Luno hesitated.
"My hive helped."
Harven's expression changed.
Just slightly.
Not surprise.
Interest.
Luno noticed.
"You knew this could happen?"
"No."
For once, Harven answered immediately.
That worried Luno more.
Harven looked at the insects again.
"Can you still sense them?"
Luno nodded.
"Some."
"Can you make them come back?"
Luno looked toward the grass.
He didn't know.
So he thought about them.
Not an order.
Just the same feeling he'd had when touching the jar.
Come.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the grass began to move.
One insect returned.
Then another.
Then dozens.
They crawled up Luno's boots, onto his clothes, and toward the jar.
Luno stared.
Harven did too.
Kel grinned.
"Well."
Luno looked at him.
Kel nodded toward the insects.
"Guess they like you."
Luno smiled.
"No."
A dozen tiny voices brushed against his mind.
Hive.
Luno touched the jar.
Warmth answered.
"They're family."
Harven watched him carefully.
Last night's lesson had taught Luno how to sense Qi around him.
Somehow, the boy had turned that lesson inward and outward at the same time.
Toward the insects he'd been feeding his Qi without ever realizing it.
Harven looked toward the setting sun.
Tonight's training would need to change again.
Because whatever was happening between Luno and his hive, Harven wasn't going to let the boy stumble through it alone.
End of Chapter 14 — Voices in the Hive