Chrysalis

“We didn’t really mean to burn Torpin’s rest,” Alis protested. “People just got a bit carried away.”

“We were lucky the Colony was there to keep casualties to a minimum and help rebuild. Things could have gotten very nasty,” Jern said.

“They provoked us!”

The gentle giant next to her frowned.

“Just because someone teases me, doesn’t mean I should punch them in the face. You’re the one who told me that.”

“That’s… true. Of course that’s true. But they shouldn’t have said anything about the Great One!”

Jern thought for a while and then nodded. There hadn’t been any need to insult their saviour like that. It was almost as if the leader of Torpin’s Rest wanted to provoke them.

He stepped over a pile of rubble, and extended a hand to Alis, which she grasped as she clambered over it.

“Then what about Deepward?” he asked.

His friend released his hand and brushed off her dress, trying to pat away the dust and ash.

I think people were just

Beyn tried to

really should have listened,” Alis groused. “Deepward wasn’t that rude to us. Still, a little

we wouldn’t have burned their city to the

“Yes… that.”

a beam of charred wood, carvers, judging by the size, so Jern put down his axe and helped them to lift, freeing it from the crumbling bricks that weighed it down. They waggled their antennae at him in gratitude and he smiled back before he picked up

Alis said firmly, “they

really scared,” Jern observed, remembering. “People in Jagtown really seemed to want to avoid

he was, people tended to avoid him at the best of

Alis sniffed.

is what it takes to bring out some good manners

have happened. He wondered if the hostile reaction they got was due to the pilgrims, or perhaps because these smaller cities were extremely paranoid living right on the edges

some ways, it might have been better if

got here,

rock. It skittered across what remained of the shattered street and came to rest against the face of a statue commemorating the mining city’s founder. Some pilgrims

proclaimed, jabbing him in the chest with one finger. “We were super nice. We didn’t show up with any ants. We kept most of the pilgrims well back from the gates.

decided that getting into spiritual disagreements and burning down cities was not what the pilgrimage was about, so they’d made every effort to minimise the chances of

fine. If they’d just said so, then Jern was pretty sure the pilgrims would have turned around and

didn’t just say so. They hung banners on their walls mocking the Colony. They sang songs making fun of Beyn, of the pilgrims and the Great One. If that had been all, it might have been alright, maybe. When

loose on the city. If the ants had found out what was