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.

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

coming”, she warned

do that,” her chief guard

Queen clacked

am far stronger than you children,

positions in front of the Queen. She repressed the urge to thwack them, they were only acting out of love, as her friend Enid had told her. Despite their actions being sub-optimal and

fight with her own protectors moments before they were engaged in battle. Instead, she braced herself, antennae beginning to shine with healing mana as

pool of larva. Frenzied bloodlust

clashing against each other with total abandon, each knowing

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

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 shapes and sizes, some gouting flames, others were

they became, yet these creatures seemed devoid of thought. Each one radiated a single-minded obsession with death and destruction, a need that had become focused

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