Chrysalis

Only now do I remember my two passengers that I’d thrown off in a rush. Poor Crinis! The little thing can’t even see!

[Crinis! Crinis! Where are you?!] I frantically yell in my mental channel.

Turning quickly I unceremoniously drag the Queen this way and that until I notice some movement in the grass on the forest floor. Rushing over I see several little tentacles extended straight up, wiggling frantically.

There it is!

I carefully place one of my legs so that it is just touching the seeking limbs.

[It’s me! Climb up!]

Moments a later a much more relaxed blob is resting on my back and a very small worker has emerged from behind a nearby tree to climb up onto my head. Mini crew assembled I return, Queen in tow, to the scene of the carnage.

Surrounded by the remains of her own deceased children the Queen isn’t looking good. A horde of workers are rushing about her, their anxiety is plain in their disjointed movements, darting backwards and forwards, unsure what they should do to help the situation.

The human Queen seems rather unhappy about being this close to such a massive monster but I hardly care. Her people are what caused this problem, if she gets uncomfortable I’ll shed no tears. If she tries to harm the real Queen then she will very quickly regret it.

"Mother! Are you ok?!" I cry.

In my mind I hadn’t imagined she could be injured this badly, she’d always seemed so indestructible that even if I worried about her getting injured, I hadn’t really believed it would happen.

Her super hard carapace met its match in those devastating sword skills today, numerous cuts and gashes mar her body, some of them very deep.

"I will ... be ok" she replies, her usual calm voice strained to the limit.

"Can you heal yourself? Cast some magic?" I urge her worriedly.

She doesn’t reply for a moment, her great body heaving as she labours to draw in air.

Strength" she

mean? She can’t concentrate enough to cast the spell? Does she not have enough mana?!

moment I start to tap up and down her wounds with my antennae almost without thinking about it, my ant instincts kicking in and overriding my more rational behaviour as I try to

Holy heck!

deep! Right in the center of her thorax a deep and wide wound has opened in her carapace,

Is that her core?!

something I feel very confident would be immediately fatal to a monster. Just a few more

her core. Usually blazing bright, her core is more of a dim ember right now. Why is her core so weak?! It

knowing if it will help in any way I persist until my core has almost been tapped completely dry of mp before I flick on

a slight different I think? The response I get seems a little more energetic

she not getting enough mana in

as loudly as I can to all of the surrounding workers, "rush in there and destroy everything

going to be the best place we can find in the short term. If the workers pack in there tightly enough

you need to heal yourself!" I urge

workers before she bothers to cast the spell on herself. She is usually selfless to a

towards the farm. Half the colony has assembled to help her, many workers walking straight under her and using their own backs to lift up their parent, trying

watch her go, still very

have to trust

battlefield to complete his task. He has already transported the officer to the top of the anthill where several workers have surrounded him, tapping him with antennae and taking the odd nibble as he resolutely lies face

the workers as I move past, dragging the human Queen up the side of the ant hill towards

trick now is going to

forced onto her toes. Eventually she reaches up to grab my mandibles with her hands in order

we don’t need to go far until I can stash the Queen in my own personal chamber near the top of the

lower her to the ground and

do, a Titan-Croca smacks

head as if it were a bell that had been struck by a hammer. Gritting my mandibles hard I try to shake it off. What the heck

BOOM!

as if I’d actually been hit. Despite being disoriented I can tell that my body hasn’t been hit. Something is attacking my mind!