The moment the queen bee spotted Raymond, she didn't hesitate for even a second. With an ear-splitting buzz, she flapped her wings furiously and launched herself straight at him like a bullet, her massive body hurtling through the air.
The other three stinger wasps, meanwhile, continued their slow, labored effort to carry the mangled decoy queen deeper into the woods. Their pace was sluggish, almost pathetic, but it bought Raymond precious time. He let out a quiet breath of relief. If all four had rushed him, especially with the real queen bee among them, the odds would have been grim. But it seemed that while the queen was intelligent, she wasn't particularly strategic or perhaps Sylph's ‘Exploding Fireball’ had rattled her instincts.
Whatever the reason, Raymond had no time to dwell on it. The queen bee was already upon him, her speed far surpassing that of the ordinary stinger wasps. She darted toward him like a predator laser-focused on its prey.