Chrysalis

I can already hear the fighting. The sounds of clashing steel and snapping mandibles tug at my claws and I have to force myself to resist charging blindly into the fray like a shinier, much smarter Leeroy. Keeping myself so still has never been so hard before. Then again, the only member of my family that I know was exposed to danger in my previous life was myself. In Pangera, I have thousands of siblings exposed to terrible danger almost every day. It's enough to drive a person nuts.

The Vestibule makes my situation even worse, but if I focus then I can filter out their whispers.

We have a plan and I'm going to stick to it. When the fighting gets hot here at the gate, I'm going to be right in the thick of it, which is where I want to be. At the front gate, the lead force of a few thousand is busy putting the Legion through their paces using all of the same tricks and tactics that we spent on them the first time around. River of acid, magic barrage, the works. They'll have to fight their way through all of it a second time before they even get through the first gate. By the time they reach me here, I'm hoping that they'll be all tuckered out and want to quit and go home.

More likely they'll be mad as hell and wanting to carve me into itty bitty pieces but at the very least they'll have worked to get here. The ants and humans on this side of the picture need every edge we can get.

"How confident are you, Eldest?" Advant asks.

The powerful soldier stands next to me in the dark, her antennae twitching in a rarely seen sign of nerves.

"We're going to win," I tell her with certainty, "we're ants. What can they possibly do against us?"

"They've managed to bottle us up in our nest and destroy the outer gate."

"Bah. Just a flesh wound."

"You nearly got cut in half."

said, just a flesh

is just

perfectly fine now aren't

A beat.

you're saying the Colony might get cut in half but

I'm saying we'll be

…

"I think so too."

keep our scent conversation private from them, not that I felt any need. I truly believe that we will win. My family has been incredible from the moment I found them in this life and I refuse to believe they

BOOM!

a gap that rapidly widens as more of my siblings push it open as they retreat. It looks like the line has buckled

When they reach us, the lines part in unison to allow the wounded through, medics already rushing forward to work their magic. The air is tense now as we watch and wait for the enemy to show their faces. It takes longer than I expect, they must

gate Titus cut into is in particularly bad shape. That mad

in tense silence as the legionaries force open gates and reassemble themselves into the disciplined, impenetrable ranks that we have come to know them for. Our side watches it all happen, unwilling to be baited into a fight other than the one we've prepared for. These buggers are crafty. They looked all

holding up

myself for what may come of it. If

in a few hours, the Colony will be freed

sounds calm, but the words are about as batty

what sort of destiny

curious to learn what he thinks this rapidly swelling pile of