"I'm going to have nightmares after this..."

Did she want them to stop?

Well yeah, of course she wanted them to stop, she'd rather this not be a memory.

But....how bad did she want them to stop?

Well seeing as it must mean life or death, she was pretty desperate.

Well, that was all I needed to hear. The Swarm broke apart, swirling around them, filling the air with their deafening buzz. But they didnt attack. They stood in the middle of the screaming hurricane, metal bugs zipping around them frantically but moving no closer.

The Swarm was straining against Claire's will, fighting to get past it. Viruss face was first slack with disbelief, then white with fury. She made a violent gesture, and the Swarm buzzed angrily in response.

Her desperation didnt dim, if anything it got stronger at the sound of their buzz.

Virus smiled nastily. "I have underestimated you, Claire Chase," she said, rising higher into the air. "I did not think you would force me to use the scepter, but there you go. Do you know what this does, my dear?" she asked, holding it out before her. Ash looked up sharply. "It took me forever to puzzle it out, but I finally got it." She grinned, triumphant. "It enhances the power of the one who holds it. Isnt that interesting? So, for instance, I could make my darling bugs do this..."

The scepter glowed a sickly green, and in that light, the Swarm started to change. They swelled like ticks full of blood, becoming sharp and spiky, with long stingers and huge curved jaws. Now they were the size of a fist, a horrible cross between a wasp and a scorpion, and their wings scraped against each other like a million knives. And their minds changed, to something more savage, more visceral and predatory.

She stared up at the bugs, her determination not to die becoming strong as she looks at them.

Buzzing furiously, they turned on whatever living thing they could reach, including the guards that had climbed onto the roof, surrounding them. The Thornguards screamed, reeling back and clawing at themselves as the metal bugs swarmed over them, biting and stinging, burrowing into their armor.

Virus giggled madly overhead. "Kill them!" she cried, as several bugs chewed their way into their victims, who fell thrashing and screaming to the ground. Raising their swords, they staggered toward her and Puck, blood pouring from their wounds and the holes in their armor, their eyes empty of reason. Puck met them at the edge of the whirlwind, and the clash of weapons joined the metallic drone of the Swarm.

A Thornguard, covered in bugs, staggered to pick up a crossbow. Raising it up, he loaded an iron bolt and swung it around at Claire. Puck was busy fighting off the other guards and couldnt help. He raised the crossbow, unhindered, and took aim. Puck whirled around, saw his dagger whip out and soar end over end toward the Thornguard, just as he pulled the trigger. The dagger thunked into the guards chest, hurling him off the mezzanine, but it was too late. The bolt was coming toward Claire, and she couldnt do anything about it.

Something huge and black lunged across her vision a split second before the bolt hit home. Ironhorse, covered in bugs and shedding chunks of iron everywhere, stumbled, fighting desperately to stay on his feet. He staggered toward the edge of the overhang, shaking his head as bugs swarmed him viciously. A hoof slipped off the edge, and he lurched sideways.