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.

continues to retreat as I move

I raise an antenna.

hours! That's all I

I lower the appendage.

We need our decision makers to be sharp and thinking clearly, not fatigued

skip the fact that 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 nearly peak condition soon enough, even if the emotional fatigue is starting to weigh on

the time,

isn't saying the same thing since the day they were born?" I ask sceptically. "Find some scouts you can trust to help

sensing the incoming 'THWACK!' the scout dashes away to help organise the artillery as the front line of ants begins to take shape around the defences. The closer 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, rock falls, hardened rock stakes, reinforced compacted stone barricades and more. I

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

Won't be long now.

try and hide what I'm doing. I've positioned myself at the front of the line and they clearly see me, so I don't see what would be the 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,

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 combining their efforts. Still, I can see the toll it takes on them. Several mages are forced

as fast as I can. This much is totally standard by this time, things are

the battle, Tiny is agitated, thumping his chest and bellowing his rage at the encroaching

alright buddy?] I ask him,

at the enemy and blast them with arcing bolts of electricity. When his blows fail to leave much of an impact, his anger grows even stronger, his

there big guy, don't do anythi-

Too late.

for battle, the massive ape unfurls his dark wings and leaps forward from the

you doing you idiot!?] I mentally roar