Chrysalis

Chapter 647

Myrrin continued to push hard alongside her brothers and sisters of steel. The grim men and women of the Legion battled hard with little rest against endless waves of insects. She pulled her helmet off for a moment and sat, leaning her back against the rough tunnel wall. Without the aid of her helmet, the oppressive darkness of the second strata swept over her once more. She'd had her helmet on for so long she'd almost forgotten how dark it was, she could barely see her own hand in front of her face.

"Myrrin, got any space on that wall for a weary mage?" came the tired voice of Donnelan.

The young Legionary snorted in derision.

"A tired mage? How would it be possible to see such a thing? Standing at the back and waving your hands around can't be that tiring can it?"

"Leave off," came the grumbled reply as Donnelan leaned back into the wall and slid down to a seated position. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to contest the minds of these stupid ants? There's no end to them."

She felt her curiosity piqued.

"I can't really. What's it like?"

Her friend shuddered.

"I imagine it's similar to what it feels like on the front. You push forward and immediately get jumped by a dozen opponents that swarm over you in seconds. After that it's just a desperate wrestle until they give up or someone else comes along and saves you."

She nodded.

"Sounds about right," she said quietly.

She fell silent for a moment before she barked out a humourless laugh.

"What's so funny?" Donnelan asked.

in

on end against the

but chuckle

fight. Days without sleep. The commander pushing us forward like a slave

Myrrin refuted, "not the same

"How do you figure?"

many monsters, but they were mindless, in a frenzy. The moment they saw us, they charged forward and didn't

trailed away and

cunning," he finished the thought for her

flanks, sneak attacks trying to cut off their supplies, attempted tunnel collapses, mental assaults, barrages of spells, reinforced stone walls bristling with spikes. It was brutal, draining and constant. At any moment there could be four or five tunneling attempts going on in different locations throughout the area of Dungeon they'd captured. Not a single one had ever succeeded, but the ants didn't stop trying. At first Myrrin had thought they were just being stupid, but she'd seen how draining it had been for the mages and auxiliaries to haul their detecting equipment around, setting it up all over again every time the front moved. They even

for a period of minutes, the ants would be behind them, filling the tunnels in an instant and crawling over every wall and ceiling as they sought

said, "this is so much worse. I'd much rather throw fireballs until I passed out than engage

us they crawl on top of each other to reach us. It's like watching a living wall of monsters

The mage shrugged.

not surprised

she sighed and pulled on her

some people, I have a solemn duty to perform and I won't be caught

you would if you could,"

"Hells yes."

Myrrin could see her fellow Legionaries hurrying forward as they prepared for the next push. The centurions huddled together not far away, pouring over scout reports and discussing the overall strategy. Things had

her would break and she would be consumed by that void. It had held, of course, and the rest of the fight had gone according to expectations, but when she saw that creature across the field from her, she couldn't help but worry. The giant ape pet that had reportedly been a key factor in the retreat hadn't been seen since that

came the call and

feet. "I hear we expect to reach their nest

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