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.

I’m ready for the consequences. Or if I’ll even survive them. However, ready or not, it’s

going to produce? I’m floating on a boat, for

The only thing I can do to try and stave off the monstrous pull that’s going to come

spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has

work once again, sucking in mana and pushing it through the construct. If I can create a Well that covers the entire fleet, it might be enough to cancel out at least some of the pull

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 the impact. I simply can’t push my brains as hard as

soldiers trying to impose order and tie down

as they can to get away from

in my mind for a second before I clack my mandibles in irritation. Morrelia’s over there, I can’t leave them out of the loop. With great effort, I weave together a mind bridge and fling it toward the Legion ships, hoping it will cover the

does, if

down so you don’t get sucked off the deck of your ships! My

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

the plummeting stone, and I’m pleased enough to see that my aim was on point at

body down to the deck 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 the edge of the ship. If I

second later, it

gravity thanks to a mutation, buzz like a phone set to