As the hunters surged within, The roof began to fall Fractured chitin underfoot, Whilst ichor soaked the halls Then gathering, the pack reformed, For once they’d all consumed, They flooded from the earth in which The hive was now a tomb A rushing mass of fur and claws, The host would move as one Provided each could keep apace, Those creatures feared none Each component of the whole, A spoke, for now, that linked Dispensable—when it should break, The rest would let it sink When river’s water blocked their path, They lingered over moss A chain of stones bound shore to bank, And each would have to cross They navigated snout to tail, The smallest one was knocked As treacherous waters surged, It shattered on the rocks One component of the whole, A spoke, that now, had snapped Dispensable—it served no use, The others would adapt Silently, it understood, And, broken beyond mend, It watched the other hunters leave, Then waited for the end