Chrysalis

“Congratulations,” Enid smiled down on the still recovering young woman.

“Thank you mayor,” Lilin replied, radiantly happy despite what she’d just been through.

“We’re very happy,” her husband Phillip said as he stared lovingly down at his wife.

“And how has the care you’ve received been?’

“Oh, just perfect,” Lilin said.

“We couldn’t be happier, mayor. Thank you,” Phillip said.

“That’s good. After the effort we put into building this place, I’m glad it’s all come together.”

[We told you it would be fine,] the on-rotation ant-medic said. [I still don’t understand why you doubted us in the first place. When is the Colony anything but first-rate?]

[I should have believed in you,] Enid admitted, [but even I wasn’t sure how well you would be able to run a maternity ward. You don’t know anything about human reproduction.]

[Bah,] the ant groused, [our queens give birth hundreds of times every day. You think we can’t heal someone who has given birth only once? Don’t be ridiculous. Now get out of the way, I need to check the patient.]

Healers, medics and doctors always managed to be rude and ill-tempered. Even the non-human ones! In some ways, Enid took comfort knowing that this fact of life was even more universal than she’d thought.

its head just barely high enough to see over the top of the bed Lilin rested in. Even if the eyes didn’t quite reach, the antennae certainly did. The recovering mother was lightly tapped and brushed by those curious

they imparted a quick burst

and began to

been cleaned up and checked. It will return to

it was that she could see a genuine Dungeon monster skittering around with a newborn in its grip and feel

was a younger, less evolved healer.

baby boy returned to her arms. As Phillip leaned in to embrace them both, Enid brushed a tear from her eye. Such a touching scene, one that she would never

will leave you

she smiled at

less than a year ago that they had fled the ruins of their homes,

one hand to pat at the expertly cut stone walls before she exited the facility, doing her best to stay out of everyone’s

deep drainage ditches along both sides, they were the sort of roads only the wealthiest lived on in Liria. This sort of mage-work was laborious, and expensive, which made it rare, at least, rare before the catastrophe. Every street in Renewal was formed this

some credit for that, but even there, the influence of the Colony was felt. Traffic flowed so smoothly,

to her destination, the citizens pleased to see her and unafraid to approach and ask whatever questions were on their minds. She welcomed it. Where not long ago these exchanges were a never ending series of disasters as too few resources were divided

fact, the people were

in time, her own office situated in the same building. She walked behind her desk and sat with

hands for a few minutes. They were so stiff these days, and healing magic didn’t help

but she carefully pondered each word, which dragged out the time. As

the time to place it in an envelope and seal it, but decided against it. A waste of paper. Too inefficient, as the