Chrysalis

“We aim to advance in ten minutes. Make sure your squads are ready.”

They had spent a week preparing for this expedition, training, theorising, testing. Bella and Ellie had worked overtime, stretching their knowledge of monster anatomy to the very limits, studying the cores of fifth stratum monsters with intense focus.

Solant’s broodmates acknowledged her instructions and rushed off to carry out her word, only Leonidant remaining behind.

“How confident are you?” the scout asked.

“That’s an unusually direct question.”

“These are unusual times.”

“Very true words.”

Solant reflected for a moment.

“We really have come a long way, haven’t we?” she said, cleaning her antennae carefully. “It wasn’t that long ago the only thing we had to worry about was Tunnel Ball and completing our training exercises.”

“The Eldest certainly changed that in a hurry.”

The giant ant had thrown Solant and her broodmates into the thick of the conflict at the earliest possible opportunity. It had been a brutal learning curve, for all of them, but they had grown so fast as a result of the change, it was difficult to view it as a bad thing.

“I believe the Eldest was wise to place us here,” Solant decided. “It’s been an excellent opportunity to develop ourselves and be of use to the family.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. How confident are you?”

Solant considered the question for a moment.

“About half,” she said finally. “It’s lower than I would like, but we need to start testing our ideas sooner rather than later. More certainty will be hard to come by without taking a few risks now.”

you,” the scout reassured her general. “I’m sure we’re going

course,” Solant nodded, “we can’t

the others organising the column. Solant left them to it. She needed to focus on the bigger picture, not spend her time fussing over the minor details before they set out. No matter how much she wanted to. The more she tried to look over their thorax and check their work, the more her broodmates pushed back and told her to find something

capabilities, but

are

Bella, the two core shaper Council members, approaching from the nest. Each

than later if we are on the right track,” Solant said. “I believe in the work that you and your caste members have completed to

we were working on solutions for the

assured her, eyes focusing down the tunnel, but somehow looking far beyond. “For now, that is what we

place in the column

to excuse myself, it’s time to depart. I’ll

hard!” Bella said. “I hope the pets will do us

“I’m sure they will.”

the two behind and took her place amongst the column as it slowly began to move, picking up the pace as the thousands of ants slotted

was grim, as

and down, closer to the fifth, but as reports rolled in, it seemed they would hardly need to travel at all to

percent of the way into their journey, the column

stretch themselves. If things go according to plan, we won’t be here long,” Solant instructed, and the runners raced to

the long line of ants, running a keen eye along the troops as

Sumant said, indicating forward with one

shorter as the wave went on. Now, barely a single kilometre from where they’d started, Solant was

web of goop. It dripped from the ceiling, slid down the walls. Even the air was contaminated, dense with poisonous, acidic gases that

more of itself, spreading, pooling, growing thicker and more noxious by the hour. If nothing was done, it would creep all the way to the nest and then up through the fortress until it spilled out into the waters that surrounded the mountain. At that point, it would become someone else’s problem, the brathian most likely, who

come to that, of

“Any monster sightings?”

“None, thankfully.”

“Then we can deploy.”