Chrysalis

“WE ARE BATHED IN HER BENEVOLENT LIGHT!”

“WE SEEK!”

“WHERE SHE HAS LED, WE SHALL FOLLOW!”

“WE SEEK!”

“ETERNAL REST! ETERNAL GLORY! IT IS NOW HERS! SOON, IT WILL BE OURS!”

“WE SEEK!”

The column of Immortals continued to march through the ranks of ants who had parted for them. Towards the front of their formation, the Reliquary of Eternal Rest was borne upon their backs, its sacred smokes infused with pheromonal messages of hope and comfort.

“Death is near! Glory to the Colony! The end has come! Death is near!”

The waves of pheromones rolled over the ants to either side, who rolled their antennae and clacked their mandibles, unimpressed.

Leeroy continued to exhort her followers all the way to the head of the column. By the time they reached the end of the bridge, the Immortals had been whipped into a frenzy, their hearts surging with devotion to the Colony and eyes ablaze with a desperate need to lay down their lives.

The Reliquary had a multiplicative effect on the eagerness of the Immortals. They were so eager to fly into battle their armour rattled on their backs.

wasn’t possible. The bridge

and the Immortals sat, lowering their bodies down

Colony once more got to work extending the bridge. Earth magic churned once again as thousands of minds linked together to work the energy that suffused

completed its journey, connecting to the termite mountain and terminating on the shore. The ants

meant it was

an ecstatic, almost

it all! ALL OF IT TO

fungal forest ablaze. Huge orbs of pure blue flame were lobbed further up the mountain, starting spot fires that

Immortals braced themselves, waiting for any response from the termites,

BEAUTIFUL!” she raged as she launched more and

started new fires wherever they landed.

was deafening. The Colony had expected to see the enemy boiling out of their tunnels to fight, filled with rage and ready to defend their precious garden. Instead, the mighty column of ants looked out over a barren field, devoid of the foe

Leeroy stepped forward.

“Let’s go,” she said.

march. With luck, none of them would return. The Reliquary

lead, the rest of the army followed behind, flowing over the landscape like a natural disaster. The formation continued to be a tight column, the troops on high alert.

or cavern filled with termites. Mages extended their senses as

termites

They would hold their monstrous army at bay until the ants had been drawn as far

not waver. They would see the enemy destroyed here today, regardless of the

the mouth of the termite nest itself. Although repairs had been made, signs of the damage caused by the Eldest could still be