Chrysalis

When Sarah woke, she felt a deep sense of peace. She remembered this feeling, from before, when the rage had burned itself out and she had collapsed, exhausted, in a tunnel. When she woke, the fear and anger were blessedly muted, consumed. It wouldn’t last long. She would slowly rouse herself to find the signs of battle all around her, claw marks dug into the walls, remnants of Biomass hanging from the ceiling and no idea what had happened.

From there it was only a matter of time until she succumbed again.

This time, it was different. She woke surrounded by ants, the warm light of their healing magic covering her and offerings of food placed in front of her. She ate gratefully. Replenishing her energy would be just as important as the healing.

With food in her stomach and the worst of her wounds on the mend, she felt comfortable enough to stand up and make her way back toward the ant fortifications. No doubt the fighting continued somewhere, but she was not ready to contribute, emotionally or physically.

She looked forward to a break. Some time to relax and relish this sense of peace would be wonderful.

It lasted a full ten minutes until she remembered something she really shouldn’t have forgotten.

Jim!

He’d reached out to her just before she’d fallen asleep. Surrounded by the Colony, there was no chance he would be able to get away!

him. Held captive by the golgari, they had relied on each other for support. He’d been the first and only other reincarnated monster she’d ever seen until

supported each other, laughed together.

he’d betrayed the Colony. Despite the terrible consequences, the eggs and larvae who had been killed without ever really having a chance to live, it was difficult to think of

he thought his actions were right, she had no idea. What he’d done was

would the Colony

their friend, he had been their ally only for a short time. To them, he was nothing less than a killer of the young. She couldn’t think of a worse crime in the

person from Earth. Would Anthony really be able to just… kill him? Even though

thought, she realised just how wrong it was. Just a monster? What did that even mean? How were any of the thousands and thousands of ants in the Colony less worthy,

two were fundamentally different. Anthony had dived into his new life as a monster, creating a new existence and bringing

spirits, uncertain, afraid. Neither had been able to properly adjust to Pangera, or what they had become. In some ways, she felt that

kill another former human? Someone with similar experiences, similar memories? And what if he did? Would she have the right to ask for leniency? Would it even be right

way back to the Colony staging grounds. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t find any good answers. What was morally right had never been clear to her in her previous life, why

easy when sentient