As luck would have it, the bolt lay in precisely the worst spot it could have been.  Not only did it highly de-incentivize flight by way of impressive pain, but it also eluded Clotho's best attempts to reach behind her and pull it out.  Even when she did lay fingers on it, the positioning did not allow her enough strength to wrench the offending projectile free.  Gritting her teeth against the pain, Clotho turned to face the trapdoor through which an increasingly loud noise promised to pour forth vengeful dwarves.  No help had arrived, and the swarm queen expected none would be coming.  [i]How typical of an evil horde.  I'll have to repay the favor some time.[/i]  She limped over to the trapdoor, knowing that while such an act was unnecessary, it made her feel better.  A shrill call resounded from the stridulatory organ in her neck, summoning some of her insect allies to her aide.  Unfortunately, it appeared as if they would arrive, judging by the shouts and clangs immediately below, too late.

Clotho stepped back from the trapdoor, not trusting the dwarves to be stupid enough to stick their heads out one-by-one and be skewered.  A moment later she watched in muted satisfaction as the trapdoor exploded, blown apart into splinters by a fired projectile from below, and immediately after the first dwarf, boosted up by his friends, popped through.  Again Clotho decided to take the cautious route by instantly dodging to the side, but the dwarf, seeing no other enemies at the moment, took his time to aim at her.  A steel ball burst from the metal device in his hands and smashed into Clotho's chest, crushing her newly-regrown armor and driving the wind from her lungs.  [i]These things,[/i] she thought as she gasped for breath, [i]are too clever by half[/i].  When she looked again, two more dwarves had joined the first one, protecting him from the front and either side with hammers as he reloaded his blunderbuss.  Thinking quickly, she darted forward, moving straight from doubled-over to lunging, and vaulted over the gunner's head.  In midair, she twisted herself despite the pain and extended her stinger to nick the gunner's neck.  While only one venom flowed through her systems at the moment, its paralytic properties ensured that the dwarf could not shoot her down as she sprinted for the edge of the building, leaped off, and was grabbed by a perfectly-timed Lambent that responded to her call.  The oversized firefly made a speedy escape, and in no time was circling with its queen near the cavern roof once more.

Putting aside the agony still pulsing from the small of her back, Clotho took stock of the situation.  The dwarves were putting up a stout and noble resistance, but Clotho's horde, guided by her commanding intelligence, was making steady progress.  Though outgunned by the dwarves on multiple fronts, her bugs carried the advantage of adaptability; a single unit of Myrmidons could rush single-file through narrow alleys, form a shield wall to advance down a main street, or clamber over some of the more clustered buildings to appear where the dwarves wanted them least, and always were the dwarves harried by Lambent acid bombers from above.  After making a few localized calls to specific groups, Clotho directed her carrier to zoom toward the nearest storehouse and set her down.  Alone and unbothered for now, Clotho made a discreet entry into the building, intent on finding alchemy but prepared for combat with rapier at the ready.