Chrysalis

The Queen looked down on her children and felt joy swell in her heart. It always did when they thronged around her, looking busy and enjoying their lives. No matter what they did, the Colony threw their whole selves into the task, as an ant should, and she took great pride in the achievements of her children.

Even if that task happened to be fighting.

The number of her children throwing themselves into the battle continued to swell, and they fought with furious efficiency. Every caste, ants of all shapes and sizes, fighting against the demons as if they were possessed of a spirit of cold, insectile rage.

She wasn’t sure what had them so riled up, but it was pleasing to see nonetheless. The next time she enjoyed tea with the human, Enid, she would have to remember this moment and share it.

Another wave of healing light burst from her antennae, washing over the gathered ants, and they responded by redoubling their efforts against the surging demons.

The number of monsters that rose from the tunnels below had continued to rise all this time; it seemed that the only real limiting factor was the width of the opening they had to climb through. The size and strength of the demons was also climbing. Stronger tier six creatures emerged one after another, with even the odd tier seven mixed in. Only a constant barrage of acid and magic from the ever increasing ranks of mages and scouts kept them from barreling into the melee and cutting apart the less powerful frontline ants.

Despite the fearsome third stratum monsters gaining in strength, the fight was turning the other way. After Vibrant arrived, followed by her followers racing into the conflict, the trickle of ant reinforcements turned into a flood.

Thousands more arrived every minute, throwing themselves forward relentlessly.

“Mother, it’s time to leave!” Wills called up to her.

are fighting,”

her

over

the scout, one of her large antennae twitching, a thwacking

right in front of me,” she said flatly.

crazy. It’s not that it’s become too dangerous for you here,

she did, so if she wanted to remove them from this danger, then she had to

Across the whole stratum? What is

She didn’t believe that Wills would lie to her, in fact, she didn’t know what a lie was, but she knew

some sort of madness. The demons who follow them are attacking everyone. The only reason these nutters are trying to kill us is because we happen to be the first things they see. If we leave, they’ll fight something else and we

for a moment

she said. “Organise a fighting retreat. I will withdraw along with the

leave and take the brunt of the damage, but the

said instead before she

she announced to the generals as she found them. “Form a front line of soldiers, keep the artillery firing from range, stagger the lines one hundred metres apart. I

follow the orders,

easy to reorganise the ranks in the middle of a frenetic battle, but the ants were disciplined to the point of absurdity, and well drilled. Reform the line right in the face of the enemy? Of course! How

they’d shifted their formation into a dense half circle, the Queen positioned in the centre