Chrysalis

Rassan'tep kept his eyes lidded to conceal his impatience. Even the heated sand against his scales rubbed him the wrong way, irritating him further. The third stratum, it simply couldn't compare to the fine grain and hot sun of his native desert, but how many decades had it been since he could run freely on the surface? Too many.

[Enough,] he spoke to his chief servant, Ammon'sil, who signalled the others before they stopped producing fire beneath him.

The Old One stretched his hands, his claws flexed and scraped against the sand and he opened his mouth wide, stretching the loose skin and exposing his fangs, each a deadly blade that glistened with venom. Lethargy tugged at his thoughts but he pushed it away, there wasn't the time to sleep.

[You seem very antagonistic toward the ants,] he observed to his guest, [I would like to know why.]

High atop his mound of sand that steamed and sizzled within the confines of the brick walled furnace beneath, the great lizard looked down on the enormous worm who writhed in discomfort. Despite the tough outer covering of the Earth Worm, its flesh was still soft and vulnerable to heat. What would Yarrum think to see one of his own kind display such weakness? A foolish question. Yarrum would eat the entire city in a single bite, never caring if the city was filled with worm-type monsters or not. Of all the ancients, the Eternal Worm had a hunger second only to Tarriflyx.

Though there was quite a distance between the two.

[I-I'm not sure what you mean.]

Even the mind of this creature felt weak, slippery and noxious to Rassan'tep. In control as he was, he felt as if he gripped a poisonous toad as it wriggled within his grip. To think a creature such as this came from the same place as that ant. A much more promising specimen.

[You hate them,] Rassan'tep bared his teeth once more, a childish display, but he was angered. [You seek their destruction and you wish to use the kaarmodo to achieve it, because you are far too weak to achieve your desires alone.]

Sensing his master's distaste, Ammon'sil stepped forward and placed a hand against the Old One's side as he directed a glare at the worm. That such a thing would attempt to dissemble before his master was a sin that he would not forget.

[I b-betrayed them in the past. They seek my death! If they aren't stopped, there will never be a safe place for me in the Dungeon, or anywhere on the planet. They grow so quickly! You haven't seen what I've seen! The enemies they've defeated, the rate of their spread. Already they have a dozen nests, each with two Queens! They produce thousands of young each week. Already they can fight against you, they pushed you away from the garden didn't they? What will happen when there's a million of them? Or a hundred million? I might want them dead, but they are a threat that you cannot deny! Already they've defeated the golgari and the Legion. Will the kaarmodo be next?]

breath and closed its eyes as it probed with its potent

what of the one you wish to

recoiled,

[W-what do -]

thoughts. A female, yes? She is large. Powerful.

his eyes and stared fiercely at the creature,

saved if you do not tell us? Have you even

leaked through

meant… I wanted to bring her

have lost your chance,] Rassan'tep spoke mercilessly, [I have it now.

of my

can,] he flicked his tongue

the worm could

the wave. The Empire of Stone can be traced back to before the Rending, their greatest warriors wield the mightiest blades of living stone this world has ever seen, their bodies coated in precious minerals harder than diamonds. I've seen golgari warriors conceal themselves in flowing magma. I've seen them chew through stone. They have battled the Dungeon for three thousand

[But they were defeated!]

second? Don't be a fool.

retreat with

a looming threat is still a grub in the eyes of the kaarmodo, the Mahaan will never take your warnings seriously enough to bring the required force to bear on

[What?]

worm is so stunned he actually

Mother Tree has called on the ants to protect her from my people and they have answered that call. Your