Chrysalis

"Vibrant! We need to get to the Queen!" Grant punched out her pheromone message with all of her strength.

"Wha? To Mother? Why?" The fast moving ant slowed down for just a moment to respond.

"Garralosh is coming to the wall! We need to bring her back a bit closer to the nest. Heal her if we can!"

"Okay! :D" Vibrant replied.

Grant was frustrated by her sibling’s seemingly flippant attitude but bit back her anger and tried to focus. For the colony to have the highest chance of success, the plan needed to be followed. Draw the Queen back to the eighth wall and she can fight against Garralosh there.

If they did that, then maybe they would buy enough time for the Eldest to awaken and then perhaps they might just survive.

"How fast are you?!" Vibrant asked.

"Fast enough," Grant grit her mandibles and replied.

"Then let’s go! Follow me!" Vibrant chirped before she turned around and ran toward a member of her squad.

"Give us a boost!" She called and the soldier in question ducked her head to allow Vibrant to race up onto her back.

Bewildered, Grant had only a moment to think before she threw herself forward and she too leapt from the poor soldier’s back.

"Gogogogogogo!" Vibrant cackled as her legs flashed at impossible speed and she took off across the backs of ants and monsters alike, racing toward the place the Queen was fighting.

her balance

laughed with delight and began to fire acid into the crowd of monsters

cursed. Since she was behind the other ant, this only made keeping up all

monster and onto the still glowing carapace of the

out, exhausted. "Garralosh herself is coming! The colony is going to pull back

the creature already, child."

What?

little higher up her mother’s back and looked out over the roiling mass of monsters. The entire battlefield was a mess. Biomass, broken walls spread before her like a carpet. The ground was pockmarked with holes, traps and to her right she could see the human wall beset by

reveal her enormous teeth in a cruel grin, Garralosh stomped her way forward. Every time one of her feet came down the ground groaned beneath her weight. Any Biomass she stepped on was crushed to paste. The giant crocodile looked inevitable, like a mountain of scales and teeth. Her claws gleamed, each looked hard as diamond and

supposed to

chop me in half with one bite, no doubt! I wonder

to the wall, Mother! The colony will be able to support you from there,

The Queen’s antennae drooped.

"Very well, child."

through the field, stabbing down with her legs to spear monsters on the way. The closer she came to the wall, the more ants swarmed around her. They feasted on any enemy that was foolish enough to come too close and when

begun to slack as their mother approached. The largest Crocs were the first to pull back, followed by their younger siblings and then the horde monsters. The prepared barrage of the artillery spells and interference tactics of the shadow

dozen of the small ants climbed over her,

and sighed. She had begun to run low on mana. Her infused carapace put a great deal of strain on her core and it wouldn’t be long until she

barrage from the top of their final wall. The encroaching Garralosh spawn suffered from the rain of acid, the numerous traps and

CRUNCH.

hand reached over the wall. Claws dug into the packed dirt and muscles bunched as the mother of crocodiles pulled her massive frame over the seventh wall. She

fear, respect, or if they were cowed by the crushing aura that she emitted. The ants grew still as their nemesis drew closer. After a week of frenzied battle and preparation, she was finally

a distance of one hundred metres, it was clear to see that Garralosh towered over the Queen. Even without standing up, the Croc was far more massive than the largest ant in the colony. It