We started the next morning with rock carrying. It was simple: move heavy stones from a giant pile into a marked-off area, just like the shellfish areas had been marked.
The stones were piled on the deep sand where the beach rose up to the high dunes. Tall seagrass bordered the upper edge of the sand, ending in a copse of trees that extended inland toward the distant hills. Cool wind blew in off the ocean, ruffling my hair as I lined up next to Chen.
Three Masters stood in front of the rock pile, all Soldiers. The largest one was a bright golden color. Another was more mottled brown, and the third had scars all along the plates of its left side. Bright morning sun threw their massive shadows onto the waving grasses at their backs.
The golden one clicked, gesturing with his pincers. “Get. Go. Drop. More.”
It meant pick up a stone, carry it over to the destination area, put it down, and repeat. I stretched out my shoulders and cracked my neck. Ready to go.
The wind shifted and all three of the Soldiers tensed, feelers twitching. The two larger ones darted away into the seagrass, leaving the scarred Soldier behind.
“Stay,” it clicked, and we all huddled together behind the rocks.
I peered out over the pile of stones. Over the top of the high grass, the raised tails of the two Master Soldiers slipped together into the trees.
“What’s out there?” Chen whispered.
“Can’t tell.”
The Soldier guarding us clicked for silence.
I edged away from it around the other side of the rock pile. Our Soldiers were on the trail of something, and I didn’t want to miss it.
A dark brown shape burst from the trees. It ran on two legs, and I could hear its ragged breathing as it lunged through the grass toward us. A Feral. Maybe the one Chen had seen yesterday, lurking near the Forbidden Zone when we raced to White Rock. It was taller than me, and its skin lighter. It had a thick beard and was wrapped in some kind of strange cloth, tight around its legs.
My mouth hung open as the creature ran straight toward us. I couldn’t move, frozen in terror, my feet dug into the sand. Feral. They were dangerous. Everyone knew that. There was no threat our Soldiers couldn’t protect us from, but of all the creatures that lurked in the forests, Ferals were the ones we feared most. We whispered stories about them in the night. If a Feral got into the Hive, it would kill all the children. They were stronger than us Lowforms, and they hated us because we were safe inside and they were left to the horrors of the outside world.
The Soldiers emerged from the trees behind it in hot pursuit.
Behind me, the rest of the boys scrambled backwards, but I was paralyzed by the sight of the thing heading right for me.
With a flip of its tail, the scarred Soldier knocked me out of the way, placing itself between me and the approaching Feral. I stumbled back and crouched low in the sand.
The creature skidded to a halt, surrounded by the three Soldiers.
It’s all right. They won’t let it get us.
With a terrifying shriek, the Feral lunged for me. I barely registered the motion as the scarred Soldier whipped its tail around, driving the thick barb into the creature’s side. When it pulled the barb away, blood leaked from the hole it left.
The Feral dropped to its knees. In seconds, the venom from the Soldier would paralyze it, ending the threat to our Hive.
Sound gurgled from its throat. It almost sounded like words.
“You . . . you . . . we . . .”
Words. Ridiculous. The grunting noises ended as the venom took hold and the Feral collapsed in the sand.
The Soldiers parted and I got a better look at the creature. It looked just like a Lowform. Male. Older than anyone I’d ever known. His eyes were still moving, though the rest of his body was limp on the ground. His breathing was shallow and labored.
My heart swelled with pride. This monster had come to destroy us. If our Soldiers weren’t so brave, he would have snuck into the Hive and killed all the babies in the Mothers’ Hall deep in the tunnels. My skin was chilled in the warm air as I stared at him. The thing was heading straight for me. He would have killed me too, but our Soldiers protected me. They put themselves between me and the evil creature that lay on the ground before me. I hadn’t even known he was out there, lying in wait.
The brown Soldier grabbed the Feral’s arm in its pincer and dragged him through the sand, leaving a trench in the deep powder. His eyes rolled in his head. They locked onto mine as the Soldier dragged him past me, and another shiver raced down my back.
I watched the Soldier pull the thing all the way to the Hive, disappearing into the shadowy entrance.
Chen appeared by my side. He peered out toward the tree line. “Do you think there are more out there?”
I looked at the two remaining Soldiers grooming brambles off their legs. They paid no attention to us or to the forest behind them.
“No,” I said. My shoulders relaxed and I sighed, my heart slowing back to normal. “They’d know if there were. Nothing’s out there.”
I grinned at him. “We’re always safe with our Masters around.”