Chrysalis

[Run, run, run!] I holler at the others as we continue to sprint through the mould covered forest.

It really is obnoxious to run through this mess. There's mould beneath us, beside us and crawling up the trees to cover the canopy above us. It's like being in a suffocating winter wonderland except far more horrifying. Especially now that some of it is on fire.

[I don't think more fire will be a good idea, Master!] Crinis suggests as we race through the terrain.

[We might need another distraction soon. Starting a small fire will get the termites off our trail.]

[Won't it just bring more of them?] Sarah demands.

[I mean, yes. But also, yes…]

They be distracted though…

Perhaps that's still not good enough.

[No more fires,] Sarah tells me firmly, [we can think of something else.]

[Hmph. You're just worried about the fungus spores getting inside you,] I mutter.

[I hadn't even thought of that! Anthony!]

[Breathe it in deep. That's the sweet smell of fungus country.]

come here. I hate

the termites are defeated we can remove the mould from this area and return it

alright, the aphids

superiority. Even if we started fungus farming, we wouldn't let

a little panicked

it,] I confirm, [it's getting stronger even.

a somewhat delicate flower internally, but externally she is all beef. Her legs are thicker than a person and positively bulging with muscle underneath all of that fur, much like her shoulders. In fact, the shoulders are even larger. For all of her strength, she isn't much of

to work on your stamina somehow,] I tell her, [how do

she snaps, [that usually takes care of

Oh, right.

now,] I hastily assure her. My antennae waggle

can't really tell how many. Tiny bounds along in my wake, suffering much like Sarah is in this long distance sprint, Invidia perched on his back like a nightmarish bat, green eye blazing with energy as he surveys the land. We rush through a cluster of trees, blasting away the mould that

of us a vast yawning chasm has been carved into the rock, the trees cleared for hundreds of metres in all directions. Like a passageway into the pit of doom, the wide tunnel is completely black on the inside, with no light source to be discerned from this distance. More terrifying still, is the view of the mountain I get from here. There are holes, all over the place, fortified with dirt and each angled differently. It's clear to see that they aren't natural features of the terrain, and judging by the weathering of those areas, they

The whole damn mountain is the

it's just ridiculous! You could fit the main nest of the Colony into this thing

by a host of termites, which is bad enough, but watching from above are five kaarmodo with their attendants

and her group into a fight so that the termites can harvest them

Not. Acceptable.

roar to Tiny who

in an ear shattering roar that shakes the trees around us. Then he's off, bounding across the mould covered stone, his fists cracking the ground

blow up everything I don't

[Even the lizardsssss?]

[Especially them.]