Chryrie opened the door that lead down to her dungeons and stared into the blackness. Heat radiated up the stairs and blasted her face, but she showed no emotion either way on the sensation.

Since Dark Lake Manor was on the shore of a volcanic crater lake that had mildly active geothermal springs, the dungeons were unusually warm compared to most such places. It was hot and humid. The perfect place for her plans.

When Alysia's doppelganger took the mage-guards, their hell-hounds, and their shadow-panthers back to Rhilshen and destroyed the Shadow Gate, the lands were left mostly unguarded. Chryrie had wards up on every border and was able to maintain them while she was still mortal. But now she wanted more. She wanted her own guards to ensure the safety of her home.

Chryrie's eyes went over her shoulder as she considered the xenomorph that had been staying in her home. He was perfect for the job. However, he was only one. She needed far more than one. She needed....a Hive.

She looked once more into the hot and humid pit, then smiled as she closed the door. With a flicker of shadow, she had slipped into the In Between. That place that was between all the dimensions and planes of existence. From there she was able to cast out her presence into thousands of worlds and seek out an already established Hive. It wasn't difficult. Once one was located, she let the shadows slip her there and appear startlingly close to the Hive Queen.

Instantly the Hive was filled with bloodcurdling shrieks of rage. She was beset upon by the Hive Praetorians and Warriors. Razor sharp tails, claws, and teeth were aiming to rip her apart. Chryrie took only a single breath before they were all grabbed by the shadows and flung to the farthest corners of the chamber.

The Hive Queen shook her massive and magnificently crowned head in rage and let out another shriek before she leaned in to sniff at Chryrie. The acidic slime dripped onto the demi-goddess, but Chryrie showed no concern of it. Instead she reached out and placed her hand on the Queen's dome and sent her presence to fill the Xenomorph matriarch.

The Queen shrieked again, but this time it was out of fear. This insignificant looking creature that somehow appeared in her Hive was capable of destroying her and the Hive with no effort. The Praetorians shrieked in answer to their Queen, inching closer to Chryrie but wary of touching her. The Warriors and Drones were now all over the walls and ceiling. The chamber was a cacophony of hisses mixed with slimy surface being rubbed against slimy surface.

It took Chryrie only seconds to tap into the Hive mind and convey to the Queen what she wanted. She hadn't come there to harm the Queen or her Hive. She came to procure eggs and start her own Hive.

The Queen hissed but made no move toward Chryrie. Several semi-silent moments later the Queen shrieked again. Chryrie felt the silent commands within the Hive mind. Five eggs were selected and carried to Chryrie. The Queen was also sending four Drones and one Praetorian to not only carry the eggs there, but ensure the Hive was properly started.

Chryrie turned to watch the five death machines as they waited for her instructions. She simply smiled as they were informed of what a shadow-port was, and then the shadows swallowed up all six of them.

Once back within her dungeons, she glanced to the Praetorian and silently commanded that the dungeon be started as her Hive. In turn, the Praetorian screeched at the drones. Each one of them carefully set down their eggs in the largest chamber of the dungeons, then scattered.

Her eyebrows lifted as she watched each drone made a retching noise, and then spit up a blob of something black that she later came to know as a Hive Node. The instant the Nodes landed on ground or wall, they spread out to create the Hive webbing, devouring all organic material in their path to create the structure.

Once they were complete, she touched each one and sent it back to it's home Hive.

As she looked around the transforming dungeons, she couldn't stop herself from feeling a twisted and dark sense of complete glee.

She sat there, on a bench fashioned of rotted wood and chains that attached it to the wall.

Her Hive was obliterated. By her own hand.

Ripper had come to her. But only to tell her that he was leaving and not coming back. He was following the orders of his primary Queen.

The demi-goddess was beyond upset. She was infurated. How dare he" How dare they! She had never asked her prized pet to choose between her and the other Queens. But that one demanded he cut off all ties with Chryrie. How dare she" That....that...

MUTT.

Of course his decision to leave the Hive would infiltrate the Hive Mind. She could already feel the questions. The growing confusion that would lead to dissent. Ripper had a Queen above Chryrie" Did that mean she was not the Ultimate Queen" If he could leave, could they also"

No.

She would not have this.

He had tainted them, and so he would feel their deaths. She ripped away the gifts she had bestowed up on her once favored, and shackled him to the floor with the shadows he had previously been so familiar with.

And then....he would feel every death of every xenomorph within that Hive as if it were his very own. As lightning flew from her fingertips to electrify and kill each one, he would hear their screams and feel their pain.

They exchanged words filled with venom and rage. She threw him from her home and into the streets of Rhydin through a portal.

And so, she sat there.

As the Hive Webbing stretched to consume the corpses of the dead, she sat there. Eventually, once the corpses were gone, she put her hand to the slick walls. It took only a thought before the entirety of the webbing throughout the dungeon was reduced to dust that fell to the floors.

Still, she sat there.

For weeks, she did not move.

She knew Druid would come. Eventually. It was only a matter of time. And when he did, she would simply whisper to him.

"Take them away?"