Chrysalis

[Haul that monkey butt, Tiny! We need to move, move, move!] I shout as I zip after my pets.

Invidia has seized hold of the big ape with his stick-thin arms and clings to his black fur as Tiny leaps and bounds forward with all of his strength, making the little demon flap like a flag in a high wind. Lagging behind as always is Jim, and I catch up to him in no time.

[Jim! You need to pick up the pace! The Warriors have caught up to us!]

[What?! How many? He shrieks.

[Just the one.]

[Did you … finish it?] He asks, desperately.

[No time. Doesn't matter anyway, there'll be more in the area, which is why we need to move.]

[I'm trying, damn you... I'm not … built for this!]

His thoughts come with gaps breaking up each sentence as if he doesn't have the energy to think coherently anymore. The stress of the situation is having a distinct effect on him as well. I'll try to reassure him.

[Don't worry, Jim. Just a few more minutes and we'll make it to the Colony. I can sense them, hundreds, maybe thousands. Just keep pushing, and we'll get there. I won't leave you behind. If the Golgari catch up, I'll hold them off with my pets, alright?]

[O-Okay…]

worm. Keep at

We continue to run, but it's a nervous thing, with my antennae focusing more behind me than in front of me. Thanks to my particular brand of compound vision, it's not a big deal to focus in all directions. It won't take long for the Warrior I left behind to catch up again, that mental barrage is something

my mind in case I need a bit more of that brand of magic. It's plenty useful for distracting and disrupting enemies without doing anything too lethal to them. If I'm forced to it though, I'll abandon it for a more direct form of persuasive magic.

of shadow creepers poke their heads up before hissing in our

us. More chaos

they get tangled up with the Warriors, then I'll be a happy little insect but based on my knowledge of the monsters they'll probably let

and a ripple of feeling

BOOM!

guys coming from?! I can't even

dash forward, my legs

Gogogogogogo! WHOA!

BOOM!

Another one!

to dash off once again before a blade of light erupts from the shadows on my right, cutting off my path of escape. Don't underestimate me, you punks! Do you think I'm going back to dance for your amusement?! Don't make me laugh! I throw myself forward directly into the line of the blade and allow it to strike my side

OOF!

once more. They're going to have to do better than that if want to get

carapace as medieval armour. When a soldier or knight was properly kitted out with padded wool, leather and chainmail, it was pretty much impossible to hurt with them a sword slash, which was the entire point. To deal damage, you needed to use either massive blunt force, like a heavy axe or hammer, or punch through it with a powerful stab. That's precisely how my diamond carapace works, whilst also being way shinier. I'm incredibly resistant to cutting, and thanks to my inner-plating, I'm pretty damn hard to crack with blunt force. The last way to try and get through is with a powerful

light my way, I'm more than happy to take them. Just don't cut off

more distance. I'm frantic for every last metre of space of I can get. Each step brings me that little bit closer to safety and a little further from not being in control of my destiny. I won't have it again! I refuse! Damn stone-heads, just get out of my way already! Their stubborn refusal to let me go is driving my anger toward them to rise, to the point where I don't even mind if they reach the Colony alongside me. That will just mean that none of them will return to

Arrrgh! No! Bad Anthony!

the brakes and screech to a halt as I call out to