Chrysalis

Leeroy’s heart was afire.

“Onward, sisters!” she roared, her pheromones rolling across the battlefield like a wave. “Surely today, we will find that which we seek!”

“We seek!”

Her own call was obliterated by the reply of the massed Immortals. They numbered five thousand now, and for Leeroy, charging at the head of their ranks was like being locked to the peak of a collapsing mountain.

The reliquary of the fallen Immortal covered all of them in its blessed light, and Leeroy felt her soul singing as the massed enemies loomed ever larger in her eyes.

As the wave had gone on, the number of powerful monsters who descended from the sky, or rose from below the ground, or emerged from the depths of the lakes, never ceased to swell. The defences of the mountain had been as well constructed as the Colony could manage in the time they’d been given, but even with all their preparations, it proved impossible to clear the monsters from their mountain fortress fast enough.

So the number of rampaging monsters grew. And grew. And grew.

They fought each other, mostly, but the Colony strove desperately to push them away from the mountain-nest to prevent damaging it. Now that they had secured a safe haven on the fourth stratum, they would do anything to keep it.

Including letting the Immortals loose on the battlefield.

“We Seek!”

The tidal wave of pheromones released by the armoured column was so thick it hung like a fog over their heads. As they charged, that fog was caught by their legs and frames, swirling around their feet until it appeared as though they ran atop a cloud.

In the field ahead, Leeroy could see an immense pack of monsters thrashing and fighting before the gates of the nest. To many, it would have appeared like a nightmare brought to life, a whirlpool of death and destruction. Powerful monsters battled there. Sinuous lizards that swam through the air like eels, emerald scales glittering in the light; spirits of wind, water and earth towered a dozen metres into the air, manipulating the elements to their will. Horrific, bloated creatures of the deep, thrumming with a powerful aura and overwhelming life, forced themselves onto the land, fanged maws a bottomless pit of hunger.

To Leeroy and her followers, it was like a glimpse of heaven.

and seven beasts, fat from feasting on the abundant weak prey

she begged within her

the strain. They held, but only just. As her spirit screamed for release, Leeroy braced herself, angled her carapace,

popped like balloons as thousands of tons of massed ants smashed into them like an Ancient’s fist. To Leeroy, this was the moment she lived for. Ahead, monster after monster stood,

was compressed between an unstoppable object and an immovable obstacle. This time, she hoped, it would be enough.

ever, she

as did the third. The Immortals trampled over the battlefield, running wild through and over their opponents until they finally ran out of steam, more than half of the horde flattened in their

Then the fighting began.

monsters could not hope to match. They battled recklessly, leaving

the finest layered and enchanted metal the forges of the Colony could produce, that it simply didn’t matter

serpent raised itself high, jaws open, a burning light flickering within, and she leapt, flinging herself into the open maw! Bright green fire licked her armour,

Not enough!

one of her sisters had pinned down a writhing elemental of earth. The creature raised up a portion of itself, hardening the shifting stone into a shining spear that plunged down

taking the blow at the perfect moment. The stone shattered, showering her with rubble, and she

NOT ENOUGH!

unleash its cleansing fire. If she wasn’t struck down before it was ready, then

That didn’t seem likely.

to be

itself out of the water. Surely, a tier seven beast, its open maw was the size of a human house, and its writhing tentacles were as thick as

This was perfect!

COLONY!” she screamed, and rushed forward,

making a flawless sacrifice play! Deep down, she knew the Eldest

lunged forward, and Leeroy was there. Without hesitation, she flung herself into the creature's mouth, kicking with her legs to shove herself