Chrysalis

[We hate you!]

[Don’t come back!]

[You’re hurting my feelings! Why don’t you fly over here next to me and say that!]

[Get stuffed!]

[In your dreams, mate!]

[Turn off your lousy magic and THEN talk smack, ey? EYYYY?!]

[Why don’t you come over here and make me? Huh? Need me to go easy on you? Too weak for the real stuff?]

[Get off our island!]

[Yeah! You bleedin’ cheat!]

[Bah! All of you can bite my carapace! Your mums are all classy ladies, but you’re rubbish!]

To a chorus of mentally projected howls and insults, I float down and away from the Wandering Isle. Some of the Magpei follow, unwilling to let us go without getting the last word in. I take note of how they keep their distance from me, though, unwilling to be caught up in the gravity well.

Gweheheheh.

It’s taken a lot of mana to maintain it for this long, but it's been worth it. Looking at the suffering expressions of their faces every time they try to fly up and punch me has been a joy, bringing light to my dark, dark heart.

[Are you still going with them?] the mage, Olivis asks me.

[Of course! As long as they’re willing to serve it up, they’re going to get it back.]

[There will never come a time they are unwilling to serve it up. They’re the Magpei. They’ve been doing this for thousands and thousands of years.]

they’re so good at being annoying, I suppose. If there’s a Skill for irritating strangers, they must have it all the way to rank

energy. They want to be discourteous, rude and confrontational? Fine! I

don’t find

[No?]

She looks at me.

her. And in many

are

that old, why do

[No reason.]

as an ant… I guess my age would be… what? Sixteen-ish? Less? Honestly, it’s hard to remember how old I was when I

find this story on Amazon,

have taken an interest in the clockmaking arts. So…

descend, everyone else on the force platform, me lowering myself gracefully with my gravity well, I get a good look at the Legion fleet. Interestingly, they didn’t seem to bother us all that much while we dealt with the Wandering Isle. From what I know, only a few of them came up, not Morrelia,

falling, but no. The massed fleet

creepy! Go look at something else! If they were admiring my glorious carapace, that would be one thing, but this is just them staring at me like a starving person staring at a ham! It’s uncomfortable, to say the

down on the ship, I lower myself into position, flopping on the deck once more. Mapgei are STILL floating overhead, flinging insults at me, but I think I’ve had my fun. With a flicker of concentration, I allow my focus to lapse and the well to dissipate,

oil on an ocean falling back from a

exact moment

that there are other ants

by three of my babysitters, Odin only groans,

didn’t sense their presence at all!] he

specifically evolved and

[Gah! Let me up!]

not to be weird. When we get back to see

struggling demon, I turn to Eran Thouris. I suppose

[So, how was trade?]

contentedly. [There aren’t that many people on the Wandering Isle, but due to its nature, it does an outsized amount of trade. They were quite interested in your foodstuffs, and we’ve arranged some contracts with several distributors. Tea was popular, as was the furniture, oddly enough. They don’t have ready

good news, I

have to put

gives me