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 excited after

Beyn tried to

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

wouldn’t have burned their

“Yes… that.”

several ants struggling to shift 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.

to Jagtown,” Alis

scared,” Jern observed, remembering. “People in Jagtown

was, people tended to avoid

Alis sniffed.

good manners and hospitality, then that says a lot more about

that. If the pilgrims had received a normal welcome, then none of this would 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 of

enormous and prosperous nest of monstrous ants right next to your city probably wasn’t great for your nerves. In some ways, it might have been better if the Colony had just conquered them so they could find out everything was fine

got here, to

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.

nice. We didn’t show up with any ants. We kept most of the pilgrims well back from the gates. Beyn did everything he could to appear non-threatening and harmless. How

and the pilgrims had 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 something going wrong. Every effort to avoid offence, or the

people of Blackrock really, really didn’t want them nearby. Which was fine. If they’d just said so, then Jern was pretty sure the pilgrims would have turned

of Beyn, of the pilgrims and the Great One. If that had been all, it might have been alright, maybe. When the delegation of Blackrock said

city. If the ants had found out what was said…. Jern didn’t want to think