Dionna’s Ranger by Ruby Ryan

Dionna’s Quintelaide is getting another chance to test the Tinker superweapon.
And this time it’s against a real Silithik hive.

Desperate to avoid the Archon’s demands—and his inevitable wrath at Dionna’s unwillingness to share the secret tying runemagic ability she learned from Runemaster Koralingia—Field Marshall Tyronix sends them on a dangerous mission: traveling behind enemy lines to the Daggerscar Canyon, where the Hivemind has erected a hive dedicated to producing the Silithik wasps which have been plaguing the western front. Dionna’s Quint must sneak into the canyon, destroy the hive with their superweapon, and find a way back alive.

But Tyronix isn’t sending them alone. A unit of Archenon archers is reassigned to escort them to the canyon, and to guard them from the constant wasp attacks. A simple duty, until they overhear one of the runemessages from the Archon accusing Dionna’s Quint of treason…
Can Dionna and her Quintmates complete the mission and escape the canyon alive? And more importantly: will it buy Tyronix enough time to convince the Archon of their loyalty?