Chrysalis

With my precious friends back by my side, I feel complete again. They fill in a hollow deep inside that not even the Vestibule can reach. With Tiny, Invidia and Crinis with me again, I can feel the confidence that was shattered by my confrontation with Rammon start to return. It was something I didn’t even realise I’d lost until it started to reform itself, deep inside, in the presence of these three.

[I can’t tell you how nice it is to see you all again,] I tell them, clacking my mandibles happily.

With our reunion done, and the unit reforged once again, the question that quickly bubbles in my mind, is what next?

This is the Colony! There’s always a million things to do, and getting those finished only creates another million jobs that follow along. Things to build, territory to secure, grubs to tickle, threats to quell and prosperity to ensure. There’s dangerous people out there, dangerous monsters, and they won’t be able to resist a juicy little apple like my family forever, so the imperative to get stronger is always there.

Not to mention, the deeper drive that sits uncomfortably in my guts. The hook placed there by the Ancients continues to twist and grind, a pain that won’t ever go away, no matter how I try. If I even think about going up to the third stratum, maybe to meet with my mother, it twists sharply in my guts. Only when I release the thought does it unwind.

It makes me furious. More than that, it makes me resentful. I hate that they have this control over me, this method to manipulate my thoughts. It’s like a drum beating inside my body.

Go deeper. Go deeper. Go deeper. Go deeper.

When I think about travelling down to the fifth, and deeper, that blade starts to loosen, just a little, giving me a tiny hint of release. It’s insidious, and I can fully appreciate just what they are doing to me.

The problem is, there’s nothing I can do about it! I don’t know how to get the damn thing out of me, and apparently nobody else does either. All I can do is get down there and chomp the Ancients right in the face when I see them.

Stupid, old, monsters.

can do without having to go too far. The Colony is still fighting in the tunnels beneath the fortress, I can help with that. We’re

ever forgive or forget what they’ve done, and I won’t ever allow them to realise their desire. For now, there’s not much I’m willing to do on that front. Brilliant is on the job, fact-finding and gathering information, and she’ll pull in all the other groups within the Colony that she needs to in order to learn what we need to know. Once

this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any

I need to touch base with the Council and see what’s going on

isn’t that hard to find Victor. She’s been here coordinating the Colony’s forces in the fourth tirelessly, and she’s still right

isn’t the same frantic, desperate energy there was during the wave, which is

Victor! How are you doing?

“Eldest? You’re finally back?”

I got back a little bit ago. How are things around here? How

“Busy. I’m busy.”

over one of those three dimensional maps she loves so much. This one shows the fortress and the absolute web of tunnels beneath us. Seeing it really drives home just how deep it goes down there. The fourth stratum is absolutely massive. The mountains tower high into the air, holding the roof of the stratum so far above our heads, then the lakes plunge deep, seriously deep. Beneath all of that, there are the tunnels. A vast network of passages that touch every mountain on this entire layer of

enormous, putting

that you’re

sharp look. “I’ve got about a dozen jobs that you could take care of for me, but are you

now? I just got here! I’m here saying hello to you! How the heck am I supposed to know what you want

talking to me for almost

just chill out a little now. Can you get the Council together for me? I want