Chrysalis

The two sides stare each other down, the tension thick in the air. Outside of myself and the elder Ka'armodo, along with his attendants, nobody is listening in on our conversation, but apparently the body language is enough to put everyone on edge. In front of me stand a hundred giant lizards and five times that many Setsulah. If that was all, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, but I know for a fact that twice that number are lurking in the area, laying low, ready to jump in case things go south.

Behind me stands an army of ten thousand ants, lined up in neat ranks, prepared to attack at a moment's notice. I don't doubt that more are mobilising in the area around us, but the Colony is spread across the stratum at the moment, making it difficult to pull massive numbers together. Given a few more hours, I'm sure we could pull ten times this number together, but we don't have the luxury.

You'd think our odds would be good with these sorts of numbers, but in all honesty, the balance of power is even. The only thing that tilts it in our favour is the presence of myself and the squad. With four powerful, tier six monsters hanging about, we have the advantage, and I think they know it. With the ant army backing us up, they don't have the ability to quickly annihilate us, the amount of shields that will appear the moment they get aggressive is absurd, so when the fight drags out we'll explode into their ranks.

So what we have here is a good ol' Mexican standoff.

The only thing I'm not sure of is whether the lizards want to rumble or not. The Colony doesn't, for the most part, but the lizards? Nobody's sure.

[Are you sure you haven't heard of the termites? Mr Ka'armodo? Causing all sorts of havoc down in the fourth stratum. Thousands of them, hundreds of thousands, hell maybe even millions. They've been attacking the Mother Tree, pushing her to the brink. She might be forced to call on her allies, maybe bring the Folk in. If that happens… who knows what'll go down.]

The giant lizard sets his jaw as he folds his arms across his chest.

They look weird, these older Ka'armodo. Their bodies are slightly elongated, the front raised up to something approximating a human chest with two arms. The rest of them is still the same, an elongated body, possibly eight metres from tip to tail, supported on four thick, sturdy legs tipped with barbed claws.

Each one of these guys is basically a monster in terms of their physical attributes. Combined with their powerful minds, it makes a hell of a combination.

[I have already told you, we don't know anything about these termites of which you speak. The Mother Tree is no friend of ours and her suffering brings me joy. She is nothing but a monster, and monsters should be destroyed, for the safety of all.]

That's a little direct. I'm fairly sure that when he was talking about monsters, he wasn't just referring to the tree.

to help you out. Why don't you call them out? Get them down here so

awkward

of thing. They'd love to be a part of some monster culling like this. Get their hands on the Mother Tree? They'd love it. Or perhaps, they don't have your back anymore, on account of some… shall we say 'toe over the line' activity. The

Ka'armodo looks

the help of the Legion to

so? Then why don't you step up and

hair

what?

I mean… like…

how do I throw them? By the sands, speak some

If you think you outmatch us so heavily,

see your meaning. These idioms do not hold any meaning for us. I am surprised that they do for

fair. I should stop using

[Indeed. This causes confusion.]

so… you

no. We will return.

the Ka'armodo force, which had been posing so aggressively just moments before, turn tail and begin to retreat. I'm so shocked by the turn of events that I reach out to my

the heck did you come out here in the first

to pose and drag us out of our nests? Isn't that a

insect,] he replies as he walks away, carelessly exposing his back to us, supreme in his confidence we won't launch the