Chrysalis

The ant stared at them. Rillik, Elly, Drake and Lacos stared back.

A pause.

Rillik swore viciously, then began to turn the boat around, not bothering to hide his frustration.

“Let’s just kill it and get on the mountain,” Drake said. “There’s only one.”

Rillik didn’t bother answering, still openly cursing.

“There is never just one,” Lacos quoted the advice their leader had imparted earlier in the day, then he pointed over the monster.

Drake turned to see where his friend was pointing, it took a moment, but he eventually noticed several sets of antennae poking from behind trees or around the edge of a bush. It was like the ants were hidden, but not so well that they wouldn’t be found if you actually tried to find them.

The ant in front of them clacked its mandibles several times, the sharp, percussive noise ringing out in a rhythm that felt distinctly like mocking laughter.

“Ah, shut up you damn monster,” Rillik growled as he hauled on the oars.

The rest of the crew slumped in the boat.

“That’s the fourth time we’ve tried to land today,” Elly groaned. “How are they always waiting for us when we get there?”

still think we could force a landing,” Drake

his chin in

have made landfall already, maybe hundreds. The ants should have their… jaws? Do they have jaws? Their jaws full dealing with those mercenary groups, but still, we are met by a large number whenever we

for a moment, staring back at the ant still standing in the open, watching

the side, “and why we play it as cautious as we can until

said, “other groups are out there earning

man fumed in his seat, glaring at the mountain as he

have debts I don’t know about, Drake? If this is about money, talk to the group,

bled out of the man, but

quickly, “nothing like

sink into your thick head? Are other groups on the mountain? Yes. Are they making money? Yes. Will they all make it back? Not even close. Every group is going to take heavy losses today, you

to be ants, but isn’t that

just shook his

a minute, would you? You see a monster from the first stratum laughing it up on the fourth and you think you’ve found a free buffet? Don’t be daft. And look at the way they behave. I’ve taught you to analyse monsters, what do

younger mercenaries considered the evidence they’d gathered from a morning of trying to reach the

organised,” Elly said after a moment. “There’s a watch on the shoreline, there has to be. Except that doesn’t make sense…

of monstrous aggression. Baiting tactics, laying traps, even openly taunting us. All signs of intelligent behaviour,” Lacos

possible they even have some sort of primitive tracking device like

him as if he were

up that mountain

silence for a long while until Rillik