Chrysalis

The Storm rages in the sky

The Madness lurks in the dark

The Eye watches all

Whilst

Their Master sleeps

Until The Day

When All Become One in Him.

- Prayer of the Faithful

With reluctance I let the construct dissolve away and give my brains a chance to rest as the battle draws nearer. I'm still not proficient enough with it to employ the thing in battle, better to give my all to pump out a gravity bomb and then do what I can to support the ants around me. No matter how sneaky I get, the bombs haven't managed to inflict any casualties after the first, but if I stop throwing them then perhaps the Legion would start to spread their numbers thinner and push us harder on a wider front, something I don't want. So every fight starts with a bang, so to speak, as long as I'm around, just to keep them on their toes.

"Are you ready, Eldest?" Wills asks as my pets and I push our way to the front.

"Rested as I've ever been," I lie, "how about you? Manage to get a bit of torpor in between battles?"

My antennae poke forward in an accusatory manner as I ask my pointed question. The scout backs up defensively.

to retreat as I move forward. "I'll get some rest after

I raise an antenna.

That's all I

I lower the appendage.

is a weapon. We need our decision makers to be sharp and thinking clearly, not fatigued and run off their feet. If we make mistakes, our family

I just spent my allocated rest time practicing a fiendishly difficult mental construct and burned through my mental reserves just before showing up to a fight. Thankfully, I have the Vestibule in my back pocket, which means I'll be able to recover to

it's just hard to find the time, there's a

ask sceptically. "Find some scouts you can trust to help cover

we get to the nest, the more thorough and elaborate the preparations the carvers have been able to make. Where once were simple tunnels, walls and ambush points are now pit fall traps,

it hasn't been enough to stop them. Even as the ants form themselves into silent ranks, layer on layer of ferocious insect ready to fight, the Legion has begun to form up opposite us. Similar to us, they are strangely quiet as they arrange themselves in

Won't be long now.

point. After almost ten of these conflicts over the last few days, the process has become somewhat routine. Indeed, things begin to follow the expected pattern. Recognising my presence, the Legion soldiers begin their measured approach in the face of a hail of

driving away all thought of anything else the moment it appears. The enemy responds smoothly to the appearance of the magic, doing everything they can to weaken it from the second I unleash it. Even with Invidia helping to distract them by unleashing all the magic he can, the soldiers stand firm and manage to disperse the spell by

whip together an ice construct and start hurling spears at the approaching wall as fast as I can. This much is totally standard by this time, things are proceeding as expected. If it continues along the usual lines, I expect

than his usual restless moping during this part of the battle, Tiny is agitated, thumping his chest and bellowing his rage at the encroaching Legion soldiers. The great ape’s eyes have turned a deep red and lightning has already begun

you alright buddy?] I ask him,

electricity. When his blows fail to leave much of an impact, his anger grows even

big guy, don't do

Too late.

his dark wings and leaps forward from the wall,

you doing you idiot!?] I mentally roar at him but he