Chrysalis

Hartos looked around and was satisfied with what he saw. The mercenaries had managed to penetrate the mountain in good order, and despite the intensifying attacks from the ants, they had maintained their formation.

He couldn’t help but sneer. Those fools who’d refused to join him would be crying bloody tears when they saw the haul he returned with. Thousands and thousands of ants surrounded them already, and soon enough they’d be dead, just waiting for their cores to be extracted.

But it didn’t hurt to be careful.

“Artis!” he barked.

“What?” his long-time crewmember replied, sounding harried.

“I need you for a second.”

“Make it quick,” she snapped, “this shield doesn’t maintain itself.”

He frowned, both at her tone and the implication of her words.

“Are we really being pressured that hard?”

The mage glared at him.

“Of course we are! Look around you, the bugs are endless! No matter how much firepower we pump out, they keep coming.”

“But you can hold?”

“Yes, we can hold. It’s just very difficult work!”

He nodded.

“Good. I want you to check and make sure the mythic is still asleep. We don’t want to be in here when the damn thing wakes up.”

“That’s the truth,” the mage muttered.

She fumbled about in her robes and removed the array from one of her dozens of pockets. She stared at it intensely for a few moments.

“Well?” Hartos demanded.

“There’s tens of thousands of monsters in this mountain, wait a damned second.”

He turned his eyes back to the struggle along the perimeter as the mage continued to study the device.

she said finally.

“You’re sure.”

the mythic and us, but a signal that strong is hard to miss. I’m sure. Now

“Go for it.”

dwell on the best case scenario. If they managed to dig in deep enough and snag

a little deeper and we can set up a perimeter. Then we

of the shields as the insects continued to press in on them from all sides, but so long as the mages held the barriers in place, they would hold the

numbers, it didn’t matter where they fought them, on the surface or in the heart of the nest. In fact, the nest was better, since that’s where most

the more experienced fighters closer to the edge.

to make a fortune?”

noted how tense he looked. The pressure was

ready,”

steadied him with a firm

start pulling them into the shield and harvesting cores. You’ll be drowning in them soon

a deep breath to settle his

forward to it,” he

start! Listen to your crew leaders and keep your eyes on the prize! Efficient killing and harvesting is what we’re here for. No

out. Twice the size of a human, the giant soldiers were intimidating beasts, especially when they came in large numbers. They were everywhere, climbing over the roof, on the walls, even walking on the shield itself or lunging up from beneath. Along with the rising heat the deeper they went, it was an oppressive, suffocating way to

flung another slash through the shield.

Hartos chuckled.

Perhaps they’re protecting something and don’t want to leave their posts, or they’re fighting other monsters, or a hundred other reasons. Besides, even if more came, it wouldn’t make a difference, we haven’t

called

to work then,”

orders to the hundreds of gathered mercenaries, but before he said a word, the world turned

vanished, like a magic trick. He didn’t have time to be afraid, the only thing in his mind was confusion as the ground beneath his feet simply disappeared and he began to fall into the

of mandibles scraping and scratching at the

his arms, trying to grab hold of something,

around him as the entire expedition plunged

crashed into the stone floor, landing on his side. He managed to brace

was that?” Hartos bellowed from somewhere nearby. “Sound off! Get the shields

rang out, harsh and authoritative, but with an undercurrent of tension that sent a chill

the light?!”

back to the ground in relief when he didn’t see any ants nearby. His mind had conjured a thousand ravenous mouths ready to descend on him and the other members

Where were they? They’d been everywhere around them only

Something shifted behind him.

he heard someone