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.]

should never have come here. I hate

are defeated we can remove the mould from

alright, the aphids are

if we started fungus farming, we wouldn't let it run wild

Sarah asks, sounding a little panicked as we

confirm, [it's getting stronger even. Wherever

beef. Her legs are thicker than a person and positively bulging with muscle underneath

on your stamina somehow,] I tell her, [how do you even last in

berserk,] she snaps, [that usually takes care of

Oh, right.

here and now,] I hastily assure her. My antennae waggle furiously

look behind as I do. There are definitely termites on our trail, but I 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 had grown up to fill the space between them and showering

to this point we had been running further inland, heading up the slope of the side of the mountain which had been increasing the further we'd gone and I'd expected that to continue, but it seems as if our opponents had a different concept for this landscape. In front 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,

nest. The whole damn mountain is

expected it, but to see it for myself… it's just ridiculous! You could fit the main nest of the Colony into this thing ten

aren't alone. Not only are they swarmed by a

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

Not. Acceptable.

in there!] I roar to Tiny who is only too happy to

in an ear shattering roar that shakes the trees around us. Then he's off, bounding

blow up everything I

[Even the lizardsssss?]

[Especially them.]