Chrysalis

The Queen was having a great day. Her mandibles gnashed with joy as she rushed across the plains, the small demon larvae wiggling out of her way as she chased down her prey. It had taken some time to get down the pillar, avoiding the inhabitants of the plate city as her delegation made their way down below.

“Mother, surely now you’ve had enough. Isn’t it time to return and see to your tasks?”

The Queen continued to munch on Biomass as she replied.

“Yes, I do believe you are right. This has been a most pleasant hunt, but I am nearly full. I thank you for allowing me to indulge myself.”

She was acutely aware that she had inconvenienced her children with her demands, which was precisely why she didn’t like to do it. The frustration she felt at being coddled had bubbled under the surface for a long time before she had finally had enough. With this outing, she felt her stress had been relieved. For at least a good while, she would be able to accept her children being overly protective.

“It’s time to return to the nest,” she announced. “Is everyone here? Make sure that none are left behind.”

The guards reacted a little oddly as their roles were flipped from trying to shepherd the Queen to being shepherded by her in a flash. She rounded them up, thanking them for their hard work, ensuring that each and every one of them was accounted for before they began to make their way back to the pillar.

Half the distance had been covered without incident, crossing over the plains as the larval demons scurried out of the way, but before they could complete the journey, something changed.

a faint scent brushed against them. She wasn’t sure what it was she sensed, except that

warned

that,” her chief guard replied. “You should get

clacked with

than you children,

out of love, as her friend Enid had told her. Despite their actions being sub-optimal and a poor use of their available resources, she

do to fight with her own protectors moments before they were engaged in battle. Instead, she

narrow opening in the ground, exploding upward like a plume of fire rising from a pool of larva. Frenzied bloodlust rolled from the creatures

each other with total abandon, each knowing that in a fight

over her children as she charged forward, her great mandibles snapping around the first unfortunate foe to catch her

ants clashed with demons, a frenzied whirl of battle that was dazzling in her multifaceted eyes. There was no consistency or pattern among the attackers that she could detect. The demons came in all

the demon, the more capable of reason they became, yet these creatures seemed devoid of

they worked together to team up on the demons, lunging and ducking, latching onto legs, arms and whatever limbs