Chrysalis

The walls glow with molten light as the dragon's breath fades and we rocket through the narrow space. I can hear Tiny growling behind me as his hands and fur get singed by the rocks but we don't have time to deal with it.

He thinks he has it rough. I'm the one at the front, shoving the still boiling Biomass out of the way and trudging through flaming carapaces, breaking them underfoot. This is nasty! Fortunately the tunnel isn't that long, I can already see the next wave of termites rushing in to reinforce.

Well we can't have that!

My brains spin at incredible speed and mana churns inside me and in the air around. I'm pulling in a lot of juice right now, and have been for a while. I need to get my claws back into some regular tunnel so I can tap the mana veins there; don't want my core to be even approaching low on power.

Bolts of pure kinetic force fly forward like the fists of a truly angry ant and slam into the leading termites, knocking them off balance. They emit an angry chitter and try to rush forward again, only to meet with another barrage, then another.

We're coming through!

The force mana flies as I literally pummel the insects backwards while I continue to run toward them, the rest of the gang following up behind me. When I get close enough I initiate a charge, dropping my head and digging in my claws for traction.

I can hear them sizzle as I do so, which is far from ideal, but I rocket forward like a magnificent, sparkling missile.

CRASH!

the momentum I can summon, sending tons of monstrous insect flying backwards. The impact sends a tremendous jolt through my entire body, to the point I can almost feel my carapace crackling like wrapping paper. A moment later I'm dropping down into the tunnel proper and I have to

filled with the

entire ceiling is covered in termites! The narrow opening I launched through was half

come as a

Look out below!

fired from a jet engine, pure, hot and unbelievably loud. In the

mana. Gimme that juice! I push my brains to the limit, even the main mind pitching in to draw and shape

Tiny crashing down with his surprising grace. Crinis, a dark mass of tentacles with no centre,

time,] I tell the others, [Tiny, unleash the lightning. Crinis, help Invidia keep them

whooping with joy as

his arms. As his hands begin to glow with unbearably bright

follows up on his elder's good work. With more room to work in, the two are able to deploy their devastating area-effect abilities to inflict maximal damage. Sarah and Crinis circle in close, making sure that no stray bugs slip through the

to unleash a barrage of spells unlike anything I've produced before, pushing my new skills and the combined power of

than when the roof fell down, but unless I find a way to get some separation between us at the termites so we can

means dumping everything I have into

ready!] I shout to the others. [Get