Chrysalis

I’ve got a ship to myself, pretty much. A wide, flat-topped barge with enough room for me to lie down and stretch my legs, allowing the fresh, watery breeze kicking off the surface of the lake to run through my antennae and over my carapace. It’s not a bad life.

Flatteringly, they’ve plopped me in the middle of the fleet, surrounded on all sides by the majestic vessels of the Island Conglomerate. There are worse ways to travel, I guess is what I’m saying.

I did offer to fly myself there with gravity magic, but my fellow ants decided we should just accept the hospitality of our trading partners and do things their way. Fine by me, I suppose. It’s just a shame they miss out on such a wondrous sight as the great flying Anthony!

“How are you, Eldest?”

Every now and again, other ants are brought aboard to catch up with me. Thankfully, the brathian haven’t allowed the… more enthusiastic humans travelling with us to board my ship. I can still hear them from where I am, shouting and praising away on another boat further back while I flop about on mine.

Today, Cobalt has popped over and I’m glad for the company of the little ant. Not having my three closest friends and closest companions around has left me feeling lonelier than I’d expected.

“I’m fine, Cobalt. Just watching the world go by.”

It really is something. I haven’t been in the fourth stratum long enough to get a good look at everything, but it’s like the place was designed for eye-candy. Everywhere you look, there are stunning views. Even with near three-sixty degree vision and thousands of lenses, I’m still not able to drink it all in.

The waters of the Lake are bright, almost crystalline, filled to the brim with life and water mana. A whole ecosystem of monsters live down there, fish, sharks, squids, giant fish, giant sharks, giant squids. Every once in a while, something breaks the surface, showering the surrounds in drops of water that shine like jewels.

Beyond that are the mountains. Rising from well below the water line, they tower up into the sky beyond the level I can see, meeting the bottom of the third stratum somewhere kilometres overhead, obscured by mist and cloud. Each one is an absolute titan, and whenever we pass close enough by one, they are absolutely bursting with life. Monsters, plants, plant monsters, oversized and filled with vigour, they shake the ground with their steps as we drift by, spectators to the struggle.

“I never really expected to see so many settlements. It’s kind of weird to see people just… hanging around,” I say.

Eldest?” Cobalt asks, confused. “They’re

particular. “I was just pointing

settlements, large cities, inhabited mountains. I think we saw an inhabited flying island as well. It flew overhead, which was interesting. The brathians were quite mad about it, though. Showering down from that particular island was one of

has been stolen; if detected

down to the Mother Tree. She can be an unreliable and somewhat dangerous neighbour. The mountains close to where she makes her home have been largely abandoned over the years, and now it’s considered too difficult, or too expensive to root

“Huh.”

so rich. When everyone else moved out, he picked up his Conglomerate and moved in, judging that the Tree wouldn’t

to be so unsociable? Sheesh. You can’t even tolerate people living in a mountain next to you? I’ll

built on the sides of the mountains and not inside them, but apparently none of them are big enough

is going to be stopping

“Lakespire? Wow.”

doesn’t sound like much, but with the wind and water manipulation going into moving these boats, we are moving. I wouldn’t be shocked if we’d travelled well

told you

to put the entire fleet in

to be a surprise. My ship has pulled closer, I think it’s time for me to

then. Thanks for

and is promptly yoinked out of the air by a wind mage, who pulls her back onto her own ship. Just when I’m wondering if I should nap or continue to admire the view, Marzban emerges from below deck with his son, Theraz, by his

[Greetings.]

[Hello, again, Olivis.]