Chrysalis

It’s a strange feeling, watching that terrifying sphere of complete darkness flying upward. More than anyone else, I have an inkling about what’s to come, but even I’m not sure exactly how it will go down.

I only have seconds before the inevitable impact and expansion of the gravity bomb, and here I am, floating on a ship, unable to anchor myself to anything. Ah, hindsight, my old friend, we meet again, here on the edge of extinction.

Even my attempt to warn the ants within range is totally useless. The pull is already so strong that my pheromones are whisked away along with the air around me. My minds are currently sagging inside my head, finally relieved of the incredible strain I put them under, but I force them to keep working, spinning together a broad mind-bridge that I snap onto everyone I can reach.

[THIS IS AN URGENT, IMMINENT THREAT OF DEATH ALERT, AND I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE ROCK. The spell I threw up there is going to go crazy. Ants, you all know what I’m talking about. Weigh these ships down, anchor them to the bottom of the Lake if possible. Activate the bubble shield things because the water is going to rise up all around us. MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!]

People respond, shouting back questions, trying to make sense of what I told them. Thankfully, others are more proactive, already leaping into action. I can feel mana stirring all around me as ants and brathian mages frantically begin to weave magic, trying to keep themselves and the fleet safe.

All the while, that dreadful, horrifying shriek of the wind continues to rattle my carapace and send shivers running through my mandibles.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWLLLL!!!!!

It’s beyond deafening, and this is only the beginning. For the first time, I feel a quiver of genuine fear run through me at the thought of what I have made. This gravity bomb is going to be the biggest, most devastating thing I’ve cast, and it’s not going to be close.

Or if I’ll

about for something I can do to try and protect the fleet. How the heck am I going to counteract the incredible amount of gravity that bomb is going to produce? I’m floating on a boat, for goodness’ sake! There’s no hole I can jump into, no way to burrow down to safety, or create a hardened shield

stave off the monstrous

spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen.

again, sucking in mana and pushing it through the construct. If I

I sure can’t think of them, so I’m going to do this. The only problem is, there’s no way in heck that I’ll have a Gravity Well ready to go before

me, mages trying to coordinate, soldiers trying to impose order and tie down everything they

fast as they can to get away from the drop

Morrelia’s over there, I can’t leave them out of the loop. With great effort, I weave together a mind bridge and

it does, if only

don’t get sucked off the deck of your

muster. I cut the contact immediately, hoping whoever I managed to latch onto is smart

pleased enough to see that my aim was on point at least. The bomb flies directly into the hole carved by the previous

of the ship, but there’s nowhere for me to go. Carefully, I fully crouch, letting the bottom of my carapace rest on the deck, and then extend my legs out, pushing through the gaps in the railing on

second later, it

thanks to a mutation, buzz like a phone set to vibrate. They literally begin to tremble and shake