They were all gone. The Queen's presence was non-existent. He felt lost. What was he supposed to do now? Without the Queen to give him orders, he had no purpose. His host was running through the jungle, unaware of the creature's presence in his chest.

The aftershock of the explosion shook the trees around him. He glanced over his shoulder, the pyramid was gone. It had been completely destroyed. Gulping, he slumped to the ground, shock setting in.

He knew he should be leaving his host soon, but what was he going to do after he left it?

Selva crouched behind the tree, eyes frantically searching the jungle around her. What had caused the sudden rush of wind? The smell of smoke hung in the air as well, but she couldn't hear the tell-tale crackling of flames. She stayed crouched there for a while, watching anxiously. Birds and monkeys resumed their usual chattering in the canopy above, adding their voices to the trickle of water coming from the large river off to her right. Selva remained still. Her bow was sitting loosely in her hand, an arrow notched and ready. A rustle from a clump of bushes to her left caught her attention, and she lifted the bow slowly, repositioning herself so she was facing the danger. She heard his breathing before she saw him, and had time to duck around the tree a bit so she was out of sight. A man stumbled out of the bushes and past the tree, heading for the river. He was clutching at his chest and drawing in deep ragged breaths. Selva followed him, silently slipping through bushes and long grass. He stopped at the river's edge and fell to his knees, gasping in pain. Selva crouched behind a fallen tree to watch him. He was grunting to himself, saying words she couldn't understand. Her parents had taught her English, but she didn't recognise any of the words coming from the man. He arched his back suddenly, then screamed before falling back completely. Selva could see the hole in his chest, and had her bow ready again, eyes scanning the foliage on the other side of the river. She couldn't spot anyone, but he had to have been shot. What else could have done that to his chest? A squealing sound diverted her attention from the far bank and she stared at the small snake-like creature writhing on the grass beside the dead man. She eyed it warily. It wasn't like any of the snakes she'd seen before. It was still making that awful screeching sound. If it wasn't careful, it was going to attract predators. Selva scanned the area around her quickly before standing to leave. The creature spotted her and lunged towards her, still squealing. Selva stared at it. It seemed to be an infant. Growing up in the jungle, she had learned to recognise the body language of animals. The body language of this strange creature suggested it was hungry and scared. She crouched down and held her hand out to it. It hissed, trying to mask it's fear with anger and hostility. Selva grinned. It reminded her of herself. She made small chirping noises to it while she cut a piece of flesh off the dead monkey hanging from her belt. Still chirping at it, she held out the meat, hoping it wouldn't bite her hand as well as the meat. The creature didn't hesitate, launching itself at the offered food.