Author's Note: I'm going to be moving at the end of this month, and I'm currently packing and doing viewings along with working a busy day job. After this Friday, I'm going to be pausing chapters until I'm settled into my new place. Sorry in advance!
Thank you for reading!
# Chapter 21
Anna stood up from where she rested against the tree. Taking a look at the Wandering Oaks nearby, she noticed the runners mostly headed in a single direction. They descended down to the ground rapidly in front of their child trees.
She wouldn't make good time walking on the ground, so she got to work carefully climbing the tree in front of her. The fruit she ate had helped get some energy back in her body, but she was still weak from her captivity and didn't push herself as she climbed the rough bark to the top of the runner.
It was a couple feet in diameter at this point. The runners typically started out small, but would grow in diameter as the child tree fed its nutrients back along the runner to its parent.
It was almost nostalgic walking along them again as she made her way back. Except for the feeling of the rough bark on her soles and the breeze against her naked skin, it felt just like usual when returning from an expedition.
She had done trips down here too many times to count. Every researcher at the Magical Institute of Arborea had to volunteer for the posting, or otherwise get somebody else to do it for them. As a newbie to academia, Anna often made deals with her seniors to do the posting for them in exchange for partial funding of her own projects.
She wasn't going back here for a while if she could help it.
It was relatively safe travelling along the runners. The foliage was so dense around her it almost formed a floor and ceiling, protecting her from being seen by predators from above and below.
Hours passed as she walked and walked. And then walked some more. When she found an edible plant she would stop to eat its fruit or berries. Thankfully, most were juicy enough they helped slake her thirst somewhat as she continued her march towards the exit.
The biodiversity in this forest was immense. The dungeon had existed since long before written history, and they were still finding new species here despite it only being the 2nd layer. Nobody had made it farther than the 42nd, and it is theorized that each layer gets exponentially larger than the last.
Anna was taken out of her thoughts from a dull roar. Insect wings. She quickly laid down on the runner to hopefully hide out of sight, but it was already too late.
A large black beetle the size of a medium dog crashed out of the leaves, making a beeline for her. Holding her stinger tight, she was prepared to try and stab it when she heard the sound of more wings approaching. Shit...
Trying to fight that many wasn't an option, and the beetles only wanted one thing from her.
She got down on her hands and knees, presenting her holes for the insect. It landed on her ass, its feet pulling at her skin as it positioned itself--its ovipositor already thrusting.
More and more insects flew through the foliage to joint it, covering Anna's body. She moaned as the first beetle managed to find her pussy, its slick length gliding down to her core. The prehensile end poked and prodded at her cervix. She felt the end emit pulses of hot slime containing a hormone to force her cervix to dilate.
The beetle pressed harder against her womb entrance as more and more of its friends fucked into her pussy and ass. She could feel herself yielding to the hard length pressing against her slowly dilating cervix until eventually, the beetle ground its way into her womb. Sensing it had reached its goal, the gravid insect began pumping its eggs into her. Each egg accompanied by the hot flash of liquid against her walls as it bred her.