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!

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

and the real laser blasts out from the eye, spearing down

MOTHER!

CHOMP!

alive or dead. My body feels dead. Am I dead? Is Gandalf going to speak to

can still move them! Aha! I live! I’M ALIVE! Almost unable to believe it, I start tapping my head all over with my antennae, just trying to

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

a giddy excitement welling up inside me,

still live! Screw you Dungeon! Get stuffed Shapers! I roll

I haven't received the

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 minor miracle that it's

wanted …

down on the now pitifully broken

freakin' weird

CHOMP!