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?! This

my antennae almost without thinking about it, my ant instincts kicking in and overriding my more rational behaviour as I try to scramble for

Holy heck!

in the center of her thorax a deep and wide wound has opened in her carapace, within the wound I’m sure I can see

Is that her core?!

Had that skill gone any further then it might have damaged the core directly, something I feel very confident would be immediately fatal to

Why is her core so weak?! It should be full of mana and

mana I can out of my own core and sending it in a stream of mist towards the Queens. Without knowing if it will help in any

different I think? The response

she not getting enough

I shout as loudly as I can to all of the surrounding workers, "rush in there and destroy everything and then take mother inside and

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

to heal yourself!" I urge the Queen, "your injuries are

start trying to heal the injured workers before she bothers to cast the spell on herself.

to carry herself away, slowly and painfully moving towards the farm. Half the colony has assembled to help her, many workers walking straight under

go, still

have to trust

the top of the anthill where several workers have surrounded him, tapping him with

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

going to be

slowly lift my head until my captive is forced onto her toes. Eventually she reaches up to grab my mandibles with her hands in

done I begin the decent. Fortunately we don’t need to go far until I can stash the Queen in my own personal

I lower her to the ground

second I do, a Titan-Croca smacks

mind rocks back and forth within my head as if it were a bell that had been struck by a

BOOM!

if I’d actually been hit. Despite being disoriented I can tell that my body hasn’t been hit. Something is attacking my mind! Darkness threatens to overwhelm me but I barely manage to