Chrysalis

When the mana starts to drop, it drops fast. One second I’m up to my eyeballs in the stuff, absolutely drowning in energy, the next it’s receding so quickly I feel like I’m going to get swept down a stratum if I don’t hold onto the ground.

So. That’s it? Just like that?

Hanging from the top of my tunnel, I feel relieved and a bit… disappointed? Look, I’m not asking for the Legion to come knocking on the Colony’s door every wave, but I kind of expected something. This wave has ended with a murmur rather than a roar.

Ah well, it is what it is.

I drop off the roof, stretch out a bit, clean my antennae, then walk back into the nest. Time to go find something else to do, I suppose. Back in the central command chamber, the generals are running around like mad, as always. I find Sloan right in the middle of it all.

“Hey there, Sloan. What’s happening?”

“The wave is ending,” she says, obviously distracted.

I poke her on the head with an antenna.

“Yeah… so why is everyone so busy? Shouldn’t you be winding down? Slowing your roll a little bit? The wave is over.”

She sighs and turns to face me properly.

“The wave being over means the siege has ended. It’s once again safe to venture out of the fortress and into the tunnels.”

“Right. So?”

the lower tunnels and completing the lower sections of the

Ah.

expect we’ll come under attack? I hadn’t heard of

of an impending attack, Eldest. Better to be prepared. If you’ll excuse me, we are in the process of organising over a dozen

Solant out there,” I tell her and the general pauses for a second before she nods in

what the little general needs after this protracted defensive battle. Leaving the generals to it, I go find a nice nook to tuck myself into, out of the way, and let the Will of the

same direction. It’s amazing, when I allow myself to indulge in it, just to feel the unity of the Colony. I may be the only creature who gets to feel it like this in the entire lifetime of my family, which is a real shame. Others can see how well my siblings work together, the thousands and

and needs, all working to better the life of the ant next to them.

are there humans here? And I think I

out just who has come to visit. It doesn’t take long for them to find me, either. A procession of robed priests, each with antennae rising from their hoods, make

Royal Road. If you

use any pheromones, so none of us ants are all that bothered. I

part. It appears that now the wave is over, the humans have decided it’s safe for them to come and live at this level. That’s handy. Incorporating the

a few lives, then I’m willing to put up with a bit of chanting and kneeling.

gang. Time to assemble. Come and

friends to gather. Crinis, Tiny and Invidia all look weary after the long weeks of fighting. The big ape is singed in places, still-healing wounds marking his enormous arms and shoulders. Crinis glomps onto me the moment she’s in range, moulding herself onto my

feel a sense of satisfaction

guys reached