Chrysalis

"Haul your abdomen, Sloan!" Victor yelled at her slower contemporary.

"I’m coming!" Sloan grumbled back.

The two generals were exhausted. They hadn’t fought on the front line during the course of the battle but they’d been debating, planning and coordinating the efforts of the colony without pause for over a day without rest.

"Finally getting to the good part and you want to miss out?" Victor joked.

"I’ll push you into the mouth of a Garralosh spawn," Sloan promised, "watch yourself up there."

"I’m not worried, Leeroy will probably already be in there and can push me out."

At the mention of the more... enthusiastic of their soldier siblings, an irritated twitch flicked through Sloan’s antennae. Now that they’d come to this point, nothing could be held back any longer. Which meant that Leeroy, and the soldiers who’d kept her pinned down in the nest, had been sent back to the wall.

The two generals rushed out of the dark nest and into the bright light of the surface. Victor shielded her eyes with her antennae as best she could as she stared at the carnage taking place beyond the walls. From this high up, she could see the children of Garralosh approach, flames trickling out from between their teeth.

"About time you slackers made it up here," Burke observed from nearby.

"We haven’t been slacking!" Sloan ground out.

"I know that, obviously." Burke turned to Victor. "Why is she so tense?"

"Not much torpor."

"Ah."

The three of them continued to observe the battle. Things were heating up now, and not just because of the flame spewing crocodile monsters. The Queen had re-joined the front line and the ants there had quickly reached a boiling peak of rage and fury.

"We need to get down there," Sloan gasped urgently.

Victor

really think you can stop

a chance,"

convince her to return once. Why not once more?" Sloan protested,

flicked her antennae toward the battle that raged

only reason she retreated last time was because she would have caused more deaths than she saved. There is nowhere else to

to help

we will. Coming

"Let’s go!"

more their senses were overwhelmed by the din of battle. The roar of the monsters, the clash of

Before they could reach the edge of the wall, the Queen and

anger. The ants cared not and made no sound as they doubled their ferocity. For every monster that made it to the top of the wall, four or five ants were there to meet it. The soldiers on the front line were the first to move, they seized the victim in their mandibles and pulled, trying to haul them

of them and the unfortunate creature was buried under a swarm of

edge, lest the

only ant not to take a backward step

by the face of her enemy, after all this time, at last they would feel her

she lunged forward and unleashed a torrent of acid from her mouth! Garralosh spawn in front of her were bathed in acid in an instant, their scales sizzled and melted

metres away. When acid and flame met, the stream exploded into boiling hot clouds of acidic steam that wafted

all her acid away, the Queen relented in her opening salvo and clacked her mandibles eagerly. She

be careful!" Sloan sputtered, exhausted from

back. Not this time. I’m needed here," the Queen spoke sharply, unwilling to waste time

know that! Just ... try not to die!" the general

could respond, another

Sloan! Let’s do this!" Leeroy shouted as she barrelled forward,

she watched her sibling rush forward. The enthusiastic approach she didn’t mind, it was

to call, but to

anticipated her siblings would attempt to cut her off and moved to render

time, Sloan! I will fight,