Chrysalis

From the floor of the third stratum, four giant pillars were rising. Compressed stone, marked with grooves, rotated upward from an enormous base of gathered material. Around the base of each laboured a thousand earth mages, combining their will to enable the great working, shifting thousands of tons of rock with their minds alone.

Hundreds of metres above, lashed with the burning wind and flecks of ash that filled the air of this layer of the Dungeon, yet more thousands of ants gripped tight to the sides of the columns as they drew ever closer to the plate above. A barrage of spells fell toward them, deflected by shields and broken apart by yet more mages, but some fell through, crashing into massive soldiers who absorbed the blows with their hardened carapace.

Atop glittering platforms of pure energy, teams of demons battle in the air, flinging magic and their own bodies at each other for control of the sky, such as it is, around the outer edge of the plate.

Yet more ants mass around the base of the assault columns, grouping together in teams before they begin to ascend. The stone will make contact any moment now, they need to be in position for the final assault.

The air is filled with flashes of magic, smoke and fire, making it difficult for Sloan to see, but she can grasp enough of the situation from her position on the command hill to make a snap judgement.

"Move out the healer teams, we want them coming in right behind the assault crews."

"Yes, general!"

scouts to the forward firing position. I want the edge of that plate

"Understood!"

the dedicated relay stations. A mixture of mind magic and enchanted pheromone projectors would be used to spread the word over wide distances in a short time frame. In thirty seconds her instructions could hit any

the third stratum, only slightly larger than Roklu had been when the Eldest had found it. The petty lord who ruled over it had been the unfortunate recipient of the Colony's eye and now faced an assault the scale of which could not have

hundreds of demons had massed against the city and it could not possibly hope to stand against their combined might. Brixin commanded the gathered demon forces, her demonic heart pounding with glee

way up a world pillar that stood dozens of kilometres from Roklu, on the opposite side from the contested land with the kaarmodo. For now, the Colony

"Contact!"

pillar, a living carpet that

moment our teams rush over the edge. Tell the demons to unleash their maximum firepower. Are those artillery

"Artillery firing!"

extended series of low thumping sounds as four separate batteries of specially evolved scouts launched their enormous payloads of compressed acid into the air. Huge streaks of sizzling fluid arced through the sky before they fell upon the plate. The demons in the landing zones, trying to hold off the encroaching forces are forced back from the edge, lest they be overcome. No sooner does the first barrage land that the second is in the air,

lands, it's

fiery eyed human warriors leap from their specially prepared floating platforms onto the plate to fight alongside them. Enervated by the