Chrysalis

It would be an understatement to say that Enid was nervous. The first time her husband had taken her into the Dungeon, she'd been nervous. When smuggling Karak shells from the blue desert, she was nervous. Marching into the heart of the Colony's nest? She was distinctly nervous. When representatives had approached her about the ants wishing to engage in further cooperation with the refugees living on the surface, she'd nearly fallen out of her chair. It was true that the people had grown more comfortable in the presence of the monsters, even Enid herself had experienced a profound shift in attitude toward them, but she'd felt that the ants were more or less uncaring of the humans who were their neighbours.

Certainly, they were curious. Even now members of the Colony, almost exclusively mages and crafters, wandered through the town, observing, questioning. It was hard for a craftsman to go a day without having a giant insect poke its antennae through a window and start asking about this or that. Some found it intrusive, but the ants certainly did more than their fair share of work around the place. Whether it was tilling fields, sourcing construction materials, extending the irrigation system that they themselves had built, the Colony did a lot to help a group of people they didn't really owe anything to.

She stepped carefully as they continued to tread through what must be close to sacred ground to the ants. They'd trudged through the Dungeon for many hours to make it to this subterranean nest. The town council had been more than a little apprehensive about journeying this deep, in the frontier kingdoms there were very few people who were able to venture to the second strata safely. Aarran the Bowyer had been amongst the most hesitant to venture down, yet the Colony had managed to make the trip almost boring.

Being escorted by a full hundred monsters seemed almost extravagant, but they'd done a remarkable job. Enid didn't think she'd even heard a monster during the entire trip, a ridiculous thought under normal circumstances, yet the sheer numerical strength of the Colony made the impossible possible.

"I still don't believe what I'm seeing."

Enid rolled her eyes and looked at Isaac as he gazed with wonder at the intricate carvings that adorned every wall that they'd passed. She herself had been shocked at the quality of the work. Her mercantile spirit had ignited at the sight of the intricate details. Work of this quality would have high demand in several markets that she could think of. She'd have to see if she could track down the artist during her visit.

"Try and focus, Isaac. We're here representing Renewal as members of the council. Stop gawping at the walls and try to project a little dignity," she snapped wryly.

The guard captain did straighten up, but it didn't last long. Five minutes later he was staring idiotically at something else. Enid went to rebuke him again, but Aarran cut her off.

"Leave him be, Mayor. I can hardly keep my mouth shut myself. If you'd told me something like this existed in the Dungeon, I'd have called you a liar to your face."

She turned her glare in this new direction, but the grizzled old craftsman was as immune to her ire as always. He merely shrugged and went back to carefully placing his feet as they navigated the tunnels.

[Are there any problems?] the slightly alien voice of her guide rang in her mind.

the connection and

think my people are just a little surprised at how far your family

had noticed that the best way to compliment an ant was to praise their

the concepts that we

learn them from

idea to do that,] the mage

another observation that Enid had made. They were almost incorrigible in their determination to assign credit and or praise to Anthony, often for things that he himself wouldn't agree had anything to do with him. Indeed, after considering the value

a large central chamber. Its size and perfectly uniform shape was enough to impress the visitors, but the elaborate carvings on the walls, when viewed alongside the truly massive carving of Anthony in the centre, were beautifully illuminated by glowing orbs placed around the base. The walls and floor of the room bristled with ants, climbing over each

Glory to the Colony!" came a call

“GLORY!”

of monsters, the delegation turned to see a group of robed figures approaching them after having exited a nearby tunnel. At their lead, as

when you were going to show up," Enid

joy at living in such close proximity to the ants and Enid averted her gaze from the disturbing sight. "The

erupted in a unified shout

waited for them to finish before he continued. "- have been very accommodating. It seems that they were impressed at how useful my comrades and I proved to be during the siege and now wish to engage in a

mayor of

"I thought you'd all end up getting in the way before dying in a comical and stupid manner after making fools of

Beyn's expression turned hurt.

You surely wouldn't

"PRAISE! PRAISE!"

just die? Especially