Chrysalis

[How long will the curious one remain imprisoned within the mouth?]

[Until she's learned not to be a massive pain in my commercial zone.]

A wave of heat washes over me from behind.

[What is this… commercial zone?]

[You know what? Never mind.]

The already sweltering temperatures of the third stratum inch up a couple of degrees as Al literally burns with a level of curiosity that, being honest, I just can't be bothered dealing with right now. All I'd wanted to do is hang out in the demon city and see what they got up to in there. Is that too much to ask? Apparently, yes. I'd kind of expected that things would go wrong, I mean, they tend to. Tiny would get into a fight, or Crinis would accidently mind-control somebody, or Invidia would nab something he shouldn't and then all hell would break loose.

I make it sound as if I'd expected my pets to be the cause of any issues, but I can be honest with myself. I fully expected that I'd be responsible for some kind of drama, be it getting into a fight I shouldn't have, pinching stuff I shouldn't or mind controlling someone. What I didn't expect was a damned hatchling to go freaking crazy on me!

Now the only way we're going to get back into Roklu is at the head of an army. Good thing the Colony is probably going to assault the place in fairly short order. In the meantime, we'll just have to hang out down here, I suppose. Not that it isn't exciting!

[I … dislike this place.]

Al has a distinctly displeased tone to his usually flat and unemotional voice which surprises me enough that I turn around to face him.

[What about it makes you so unhappy?] I ask. [Isn't this the place that you were born?]

The floating eye of fire swings around the plains around us in one irritated swoop.

[All demons are born of the plains. From the moment we emerge from the spawn points we know nothing but a desperate battle to survive, surrounded on all sides by foes. We consume each other until we piece together our sentience, bit by bit as we evolve. Even those who try to escape the fighting and climb the pillar are thrown back down. Until we reach tier six, we aren't considered a real demon.]

sound like a good upbringing at all,] I sympathise, [but isn't life like that for all monsters? Most of my kind are born within the comfort and safety of the nest, surrounded by family, but I personally was born on

The demon eye glitters.

up and survive only by fighting for their lives, though some hide and cower in the dark in

a certain worm that I

isn't common for a demon to actually enjoy returning to the

Fair enough I suppose.

moment we are clinging to the pillar a hundred

really are a lot of them, aren't there?] I say,

to purge them all, the spawn rate will increase until the numbers return. This is the natural state

it? This is the normal rate for

like what it was during the wave. When the wave was at its

bulbous bodies fights maniacally against any of their own kind they can reach. Seeing how tightly packed

it's pure chaos, a frenzy of feeding and fighting that just goes on and on as new demons crawl from between cracks in the ground to replace those that have fallen. When I pan my attention across the wider plains, the scene is replicated everywhere I can see, for kilometres and kilometres, in every

awful lot of

than it's worth to harvest,] Al comments, [not that you or I would gain anything from hunting prey such as

thinking about

of little hatchlings who would be more than happy to feast on these demons. Looking over the vast plains and the unending supply

well get down there...] I

reach the bottom, I tentatively put my first claw down onto the ground, trying to find a gap I can place my leg without squishing any demons in the process. To my surprise, they almost flow away from me, creating space where I won't crush them underfoot.

that?] I point out the strange phenomenon

away from those more powerful

[Weird…]

flares in a

Anything that is more powerful than themselves is food for