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.

judgement. I think people were just excited after

tried to

groused. “Deepward wasn’t that

burned their city to

“Yes… that.”

and helped them to lift, freeing it from the crumbling bricks that weighed

we got to Jagtown,” Alis said firmly, “they

they were really scared,” Jern observed, remembering. “People in Jagtown really seemed to want to avoid me. More than usual,

people tended to avoid him at the

Alis sniffed.

out some good manners and hospitality, then that says a lot more about them than it

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 the

nest of monstrous ants right next to your city probably wasn’t great for your nerves. In some ways, it

got

and came to rest against the face of a statue commemorating the mining city’s founder. Some pilgrims had pulled it

were super nice. We didn’t show up with any ants. We kept most of the pilgrims well back from the gates. Beyn did everything he

saw it. Beyn, the ants, 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.

just said so, then Jern was pretty

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 regretful things

forced to let the pilgrims loose on the city. If the ants had found out what was said…. Jern didn’t want to think about