Chrysalis

After further hours of roaming back and forth, trying to get a sniff of our prey whilst fending off the endless tide of demons, we finally get another hint.

It’s Al who manages to catch a glimpse, and he lets us know with his usual even demeanour.

[I found something,] he says.

[Oh yeah? Like what?]

[I believe I have detected a trace of almost pure ash mana. It is… unusual.]

[Get at the point, man, enough of your waffling!]

[What are… waffles?]

[Argh! Damn your endless curiosity! What is so unusual about this ash mana?]

He glares at me, which is quite the intimidating glare, I might add, and I know that the question of breakfast foods has only been delayed, not resolved. Nevertheless, he continues.

[Its purity.]

I swear to gandalf, I’m about to flatten this damn eyeball into a pancake. Perhaps he senses my rising ire, because he elaborates without further prompting.

[I suspect it has come from Pyrixan. Only she, that I’m aware of, could manifest such a powerful and concentrated form of that mana.]

[Goody.]

Is it nice to know we got a hint of our enemies? Yes, of course, but I’d rather it didn’t come in the form of manifested destruction in the form of concentrated ash mana.

[Where are they?] I sigh.

[I found the trail at the edge of my awareness. Several kilometres that way.]

can sense

[I can.]

closer and see

[Agreed…. Now, waffles.]

[Oh for -... fine.]

breakfast baking. I’ve been told that waffles are great with syrup; personally, I never had the chance to try it, but these are

ten minutes of careful

[It’s them.]

a shock to

[What? Are you sure?]

flares with

[I am.]

good news! We finally caught up to them! How about that,

me an eager thumbs up, Crinis flops a limp tentacle and Invidia simply flutters his wings as he holds his little body aloft, glaring into the distance. That serves as a timely reminder that we aren’t in peak shape. Tiny might be eager to battle, but he’s been healed dozens of times over the last

we’re almost certainly walking into a

away from my Colony, it had better be a trap. If they went

thought, is it a trap, if you know it’s

He stares at me.

unsure

element of surprise an essential component of a trap, or is it

confused, so I let the

restrain our mana signatures, Al and I sharing the burden of handling Tiny’s since the big ape can’t

spot us if someone wanted to. Amongst the seething ocean of demons, we stick out like a sore thumb. I’m huge, for one, and we’re covered in a moving purple dome of energy that

domain in order to make

Will I?

thing down. We’d be swept away in a tidal wave of nibbling demon larvae. No way,