Chrysalis

Advant told me I should “Preserve my thoughts for future generations of the family,” so… I guess this is me… doing that? To be honest, she’s been hassling me to do this for ages. Only after going on about the “immense value such a record will hold for the young” and how “inspiring such a document would be to the hatchlings” did I agree, but I’m seriously regretting now that I’ve started.

Is it really necessary to preserve my thoughts anyway? Everything I’ve ever done is depicted (somewhat) accurately in a stupid statue somewhere.

Actually, I want that on the record! I NEVER asked for all the murals and statues! In fact, I tried to get them banned! So much for respecting the wishes of the Eldest….

Alright, if you are smelling this scent recording, then here are the words of the Eldest, recorded to further the prosperity of the Colony and to motivate the youth!

Firstly, I want you to poke and bite Advant everytime you see her. Not hard, but enough to be annoying and to hamper her in whatever she does. Yes, that includes during Torpor. May she never know a moment’s peace.

Second. Live freely, be true to yourself, and cherish the bonds of family that tie us together. That’s the whole point, right?

- Excerpt from “The Recording of the Eldest”

Addendum: For the record, I believe the Eldest was joking. Please stop biting me.

- Added at a later date by Advant.

[I see you, little worm!]

[Excuse me? You calling me a worm? You wanna get chomped?!]

A suffocating aura of power wells up as the demon rises from the layer below and I get a clean look at it. I kind of wish I hadn’t.

off its shoulders in waves. Four arms that each end in thick, wickedly curved claws, and a face that not even a mother could love. Unless that mother was a

a jackal and a flaming pit, the monster's appearance is…

violence and all-consuming flame. This dude has to be one of the tier eights. I’ve

me to you!] The demon roars gleefully. [You and your kind will be excised from this place,

you want to kick me out, come

with the force of my will, and I swear the air between us begins to crackle. Even crushed on all sides by so

to work with, but I’ll have to make do with what I’ve got. I call into existence as many mind constructs as I can support with my current abilities, dozens of the things. I reach out and seize control of the surrounding mana, drawing it into me in

My Vestibule thunders with an endless river of power that fills the Altar to bursting.

[Gladly!]

demon to rush at me, those claws are clearly designed for both ripping, and tearing, but it doesn’t happen. Instead, he heaves in a breath and

Then he breathes out.

rigid as an image of a particularly crispy future blasts into my brain and before I can think, my body is

for what I can only describe as an explosion contained in a jet of

Are you alright?!] Crinis cries in

That’s an order! This isn’t someone you can tangle with. That goes for you, Tiny, and you, Invidia as well. Keep

Ah.

your squad the hell away from me. If you didn’t get fried by that blast, you might by the next. Nothing for you to

listen to me. If not, there won’t be much

upright, this demon must be standing over thirty metres tall. Each step is that of a

alive, little worm?

[You’re gonna regret that….]