Chrysalis

My massive ant body hurtles through the air as if I've been fired out of a cannon with my mandibles open wide. The air whistles past, pushing my antennae back against my head with the force. I'm seriously moving now, I can almost taste that demon now! Even as I prepare for the chomp, the monster doesn't appear to have given up. Resentment and anger are accumulated in that eye and it flashes blindingly green once more!

I knew it would come down to this! I've no way to dodge and no way out. Flying head on, if that laser hits me it'll drill straight through my head and roast my brain, I can't allow it to happen!

All four of my brains reach out toward the demon and grasp hold of the immense mana flooding into that eye. Being so close to it, I can feel the weave of mana being concentrated in that eye and even in this situation I can appreciate the sheer skill on display. The dense threads of mana are weaved with such speed and precision it shocks me. The little demon is painting a four dimensional masterpiece with thousands of individual brushstrokes in a matter of seconds. The mastery such a feat requires is astounding! Not that I can allow it to happen…

Desperate to prevent the spell from firing I use every bit of my Will to take hold of the mana and rip it apart. As I fly through the air, my jaws prepared to crunch, a contest of minds takes place and I'm severely outmatched. As I try to seize the mana taking shape within the eye and break it, destroying the fragile work the demon has created, it tries to lock the mana in place, holding it firm and denying my attempts even as it races to finish the spell before I can bite it.

Once again I'm left in awe at the sheer mental power of the creature. So this is what a true master of magic looks like! Even though it has evolved one more time than I have, I really didn't expect the difference to be this severe. How the hell does it pack so much raw brain into that tiny body?! It's insane!

It might be an unfair arm wrestle, but it's one that I have no choice but to win! Victory or defeat is measured in a matter of milliseconds. In this strange slow motion world that we occupy I can already see the dark energy that manifests my omen chomp taking shape at the edges of my mandibles. In less than a second they'll expand outward and close on the soft, squishy body of this demon, ending it. I just have to delay the laser beam until then!

Frantic, I redouble my efforts! If you can build, then I'll destroy! RIP! RIP! RIP! RIP! RIP! RIP! RIP! Every mind I possess is working at its maximum capacity, my entire body is screaming in pain. We have to get there in time!

To my horror, my antennae begin to tingle and something I really don't want to see begins to take shape in front of my eyes. From the centre of that bulging eyeball a phantom laser blasts outwards, lancing toward my head, directly between my eyes.

NONONOONONONONONONNONOONOONONONONONONONO!

I'm so damn close!

an insane child going to town on a pinata I cannot be stopped, recklessly trying to destroy every piece of mana I

the real laser blasts out from the eye, spearing down the trail left behind by its future

MOTHER!

CHOMP!

dead? Is Gandalf going to speak to me again or will my soul just dissipate into

them! Aha! I live! I’M ALIVE! Almost unable to believe it, I start tapping my head all

find that it actually did. Right between my eye orbs a significant hole has been drilled directly into my carapace. In a thousandth of a second it probably would have tunnelled all the way through and into my brain. My body goes completely weak with relief. That was way too close. Holy moly, I can't take many more

same time I can feel a giddy excitement welling up inside

Screw you Dungeon! Get stuffed Shapers! I roll with

I haven't received the

is the demon?! Heart in my mouth, I rush to where I'd collided with it and breathe a sigh of relief. It might not be dead, but it's not looking so hot. The eye has been crushed and its body is a wreck. It’s a

… your

the now pitifully broken body

are freakin' weird

CHOMP!