Springswarm

As the last of the winter snow silently dripped to the ground, new bugs emerged from their diapause and metamorphosis. They crept through the trees, fluttered in the breeze, and joined dragon families in their homes. It was springtime. But some unlucky bugs didn't get to see the spring for long. As soon as the bugs met the clearing, it met its end. The bugs were cleared, ripped apart, staying, as carcasses in many pieces.

Chitin littered the ground, severed insect legs jammed in every crevice, picked antenna floating through the drafts. Dragons cheered and conversed from trees surrounding the clearing. Springswarm was one of the major social events of the year, it was a mighty feast for the no longer fasting queens. Above the grizzly forest floor, there was a violent fight for life.

Two hyperactive Spirals danced through the air. Cambrie jumped from branch to branch across the clearing, Spore Creature sliced straight through millions of swarming bugs. They were awkward in the sky. They bumped into the dense trees around the arena and into each other, enraged. Drenched and weighed down with translucent lime blood and snowmelt from the canopies. The spring encumbered the dictators, but Cambrie and Spore Creature were practically cooking in energy. Their metabolisms, set free, raced. Each bug caught further fed their machine-best bodies, they could've been near the speed of lighting.

Their lan gathered nearby to watch their queens show off, decked in red war paint and displaying their all. Nobody was nearly as flexible, as hungry and battle-trained, or as absolutely sadistic as their tiny queens. Cambrie and Spore Creature’s cooperation was a powerful thing. The queens had developed their own "cult"-based society; they were loved and deified. In return, they respected their followers, gave them parties and food. Despite the communist government, however, they didn’t want [i]all[/i] the scientists’ crops or livestock to themselves. It was only bugs that brought that satisfaction to the Spirals.

Their long bodies rolled through the sky. Insect gore rained down to the ground. Spore Creature gnashed at gnats while Cambrie dug up cicadas, bringing down and pulling up prey over and over again. Their catches were devoured instantly, turned to energy in seconds. The hyperactive dragons kept going, caught hundreds and hundreds of mindlessly swarmed bugs, it’s been days at this point. The whole clan was there to watch at some point of the spectacle. Whether to study, admire, or cheer on their leaders, everyone was doing something there. It was a big event for the little clan; the Spirals got their surplus of food, the rest got their dose of blood and drama for the season.

The bugs never learned, and if anything, the more the Spirals cleared the area, the more attractive it seemed to bigger, better bugs.

And then came the jackpot. A massive myriapod, close to half a meter in length, crept into the arena. The Crowned Bonepriest. Everyone anxiously turned their attention towards the Spirals. Powerful chanting had built around the clearing.

Since the Crowned Bonepriest’s food source still hibernates in the early spring, they develop a taste for Spiral. This one, in particular, looks fairly emaciated. This bug would endanger the entire clan the moment a Spiral engaged it. But the duo was confident, and went after it with no hesitaton. A Bonepriest was a rare sight in this forest, and not a good one this time of year, but it’s all these Sprial queens could’ve hoped for.

Spore Creature dove straight to the Bonepriest’s face, grabbing the several-pronged antler in her tiny teeth. She reached down with her feet to clamp the creature’s jaws shut. In turn, it sputtered amber venom, which leaked between her toes, having no effect outside her body. Once the head was secure, Cambrie lept forward and wrapped her form tightly around the centipede’s whole body, forcing it to curl up defensively. With the centipede bound up, Spore Creature started the process of euthanizing the beast, and it was dead in seconds. This was their big meal, and with the big boss down, the spectacle was coming to a close.

For a big finish, the two Spirals decided to go out and find the largest bugs they could. Whoever won would get bragging rights, but that was a big deal with two of them in power.

Cambrie took a lap around the border of the arena, then advanced to the canopies. She was looking for newly grown nymphs– they were easier to find up there, and many of the big ones were adults by spring. Meanwhile, Spore Creature dug through logs and ripped the bark off of trees, knowing a lot of the bigger beetles were larger as larvae.

Spore Creature gripped a very fat grub in her tiny teeth, Cambrie had a hold of a mantis nearly the size of her face. The two swirled around, displaying their proudest catches to the crowd. After the entire event died down and everyone returned to their jobs, the two Spirals settled down and shared their last bugs. They hadn’t slept in nearly a week, but they probably wouldn’t sleep for another. They were pure energy from all the bugs they had gathered. This was the perfect boost for them to stay up and oversee the clan as they prepared day and night for that week, for the upcoming spring and summer seasons.