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.

know," Victor

can stop her?" Burke

chance," Victor

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

antennae toward the battle that

have caused more deaths than she saved. There is nowhere else to retreat to now,

have to help her!"

we will.

"Let’s go!"

were overwhelmed by the din of battle. The roar of the

Before they could reach the edge of the wall, the Queen and the ferocious worker and artisan

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

them and the unfortunate creature was buried under a swarm of

hundreds of ants fell back from the edge, lest the inferno claim them. The wash of heat was felt dozens of metres away as the air crackled

to take a backward step was

she didn’t appear to care, her attention was seized by the face of

raised her head before 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

continued to pour out her acid, the powerful stream rained down on monsters up to thirty metres away. When acid and flame met, the stream exploded into boiling hot clouds of

drain all her acid away, the Queen relented in her opening salvo and clacked

Sloan sputtered,

needed here," the Queen spoke sharply, unwilling to

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

respond, another scent intruded on

she barrelled forward, excitement and rage evident in every inch of

rush forward. The enthusiastic approach she didn’t mind, it was the complete

tried to call, but to

cut her

this time, Sloan! I will fight, MY