Royal Guard (A litRPG fic) (Book-1 Complete)

This was a case of worry becoming reality.

The flying predator was so massive the large frog easily fitted its feathered white talons. I could make out its underbelly from my position, inside the frog's wet mouth. Covered in layers of white feathers, it shone a prismatic hue every time the sky predator swerved left or right, letting sunlight trace over them.
Outside, wide blew strong and scraping. Staying under it was a daring venture for the overconfident and strong; I was neither.

It took me far away from 43^rd city and my companions. How far? I couldn’t distinguish. Even the map, a system tool, a skill that showed my position relative to the geography, displayed me in a circle of black nothingness. Using it was my step toward adapting to the system; a little late, but better than never. The skill depended upon my knowledge of the surroundings to chart, and since was lost in a white haze somewhere up in the sky with no idea of the direction I was heading, it had stopped recording for the time being.

I was heading toward the unknown and alone. Time turned unease into fear for me, the fate of my city and the princess whom I had left behind. Later confidence kicked in and confused me.

You are done. My inner voice laughed. Let’s see how you finish your quest now.
It needed a whip on its blasted bottom and be reminded that it was my inner voice.
Why don’t you jump? It said. You might make it to the ground in a single piece.

That surprised me. But suddenly the air grew cold around me. The bird dove and I saw water, blue sparkling water that roared like thunder and stung like poison. The sky predator pushed its free leg into the water body, skirting, opening a wound on the surface that closed behind us. It drank from the river, letting me a sight of its face. It had green circular eyes with a rim of yellow around it, a pointed beak that was large and sharp enough to pierce right through the frog. A long feathery mane curved along with the shape of its neck. It climbed back to the sky once it finished drinking and my sight grew hazy again.

Well, you missed the chance. Better luck next time. My inner voice mocked. I grew pensive and sat back inside the frog's open mouth, eating its flesh to stay full and drinking the rising blood to keep hydrated. The red blood was too salty for my liking. We were so high up it was impossible to make out anything.

Eventually, we slowed. The sky predator went into a dive, wings folded, legs stretched behind. I almost got thrown away by the pressure and only survived thanks to the frog.

It wasn’t long before it pushed its wings out and flapped them to hover and slowly descend into the crown of a tree. I felt alive again as the drowning wind stopped and lively sounds erupted around me. The sudden explosion of greenery was emotionally overwhelmingly, after the never-ending white. I felt like I was at home again, but deep down I knew I might never return.

The all too familiar scents grounded me. Just a bit more and I could at least be back to my part of the world. The sky was not where I belonged.

Is the ground where you belong? You really think so? Even after meeting the frog and knowing the truth?
I ignored it.
We were getting closer to the source of the sounds, the sharp chirps, the cries of hunger. Sensitive hearing was too sensitive sometimes. The sky predator slowly lowered herself into the largest tree around, for as far as I was concerned.

Hidden between the branches and leaves was an enormous construction weaved from twigs, flexible reeds, and grass blades. It was carefully placed at the point where one of the larger branches extended into two. The sharp chirps were coming from it, loud enough to attract the attention of a predator, just like the frog. I wondered if there was something wrong with these creatures, whether they didn’t understand the meaning of vigilance. Did they lose fear with their size? But the chirps stopped when she took perch next to the nest that was far too open, too accessible —the latter being the reason behind its hollow base and an open top.

Me, mother! FEED ME! I heard as the frog was lifted and then dropped in the nest.

I braced for impact, which came as a sudden jolt and then pounding. I first thought of running outside, but ran the other way, inside, when the carnivorous murderous chicks pounced upon the frog.

They shredded the frog apart in minutes. The difference between us horrified me. Tens of ants had lost their lives to give the others a chance to attack it. The carcass would have nourished thousands for the coming days, slowly eating through it!

They are going to eat you along with the frog. My inner voice said. You better make a run for it while they are distracted.

There was a lull that made me wonder if they were done feeding, but I was wrong.
The chicks started fighting over the last portions of the frog. The carcass was pulled and thrown around. That’s when I knew I had to leave. Inside the frog was not safe anymore, which was ironic. I rushed out of its mouth.

The ground was a barely wide strip of dried grass blade that demanded my full attention. Around me the chicks danced, causing surprisingly small tremors.
The nest worked wonderfully as a shock dampener. I changed direction when a fuzz wall of feathery flesh blocked my path. Clawed feet drummed the nest, small wings flapped and loud chirps created a ruckus. The largest one among the three was trying to monopolize the whole frog. Two were fighting it. I noticed a fourth one, gigantic in its own right, but frail compared to the others resting to the side of the nest. It looked hungry but made no motion to fight for a portion.

It had given up.

I wondered why they couldn’t share the frog then shook my head to clear my mind. This was no time for useless wonderment. My life was in danger. I would die the moment they noticed me.
Too late!
A claw crushed me.
That would have been the end of me if the ground was solid. Thankfully, it was not.

I fell through the senseless weaved construction of twigs and grass that the chicks called their nest. It made no sense to me. I couldn’t see intelligence in this. Were they not afraid of predators, of wind and rain, the elements, of diseases and parasites?

My world turned upside down. Stunned, I rolled over twigs and leaves only to find myself completely catatonic lying somewhere deep inside the nest. Only my antennae moved, which they did from neural misfiring rather than intention.

The world inside that multi-layered construction was deep and dark. Barely illuminated by sunlight, shadows drove into the gaps, and filled them with darkness, while the burning edges of the materials gave it a sense of depth. The outside noises barely reached inside. I didn’t know I was looking for solace until I found it there. The passing light made the shadows like a living-moving creature, hiding inside the nest. Well, its addition wouldn’t have made any difference to my condition even if it was true.
Weary soldiers that survived the outside alone never told their stories. They only warned to be cautious. To stay on the trail, stay with the horde, never lose your way.

Our strength lies in numbers.

I lost consciousness right there midst the dancing lights and the warmth.

Night had fallen outside when I came awoke, and the world was under the veil of darkness. I climbed back to the surface —It was easier said than done, but not impossible. The sky predator was inside the nest, sleeping with the chicks under her wings, three of them. The frog was nowhere to be seen and another being, shelled and multi-legged, lay half-eaten to the side.

I passed by pieces of its broken shell, attracted by the lavish scent it was releasing. I wanted to leave, but hunger won me over. The scent was too inviting.

I approached the body with caution as the fourth chick, the malnourished one, slept right next to it. Far away a hopper cried for a mate. Wind careering through the leaves kept the night awake. The chick stirred in front of me as a cold gust swept through, but didn’t come awake. Soon, I was digging into the succulent mass, forgetting my woes for the time being. The nervousness gave way to stress eating and my abdomen swelled with each bite I took.

Lost in feeding, it was too late by the time my senses woke and alarmed me.

The fourth chick was awake!

My heart thrummed. It stared at me, head cocked and eyes staring in interest and confusion. I stared back in dread, legs refusing to move. The stalemate continued until confidence kicked in and I found some strength in my legs. I rushed away from the multi-legged monster and down into the layered protection of the warm nest. Deep I went and lay there. I worried it would look for me, but it surprisingly didn’t.

However, that was enough excitement for one night. Heart told me to leave, and my mind laughed at the proposition.

Where are you planning to go? It’s the middle of the night. My inner voice said. I couldn’t argue.
The night didn’t belong to us ants. I was starting to doubt whether even day belonged to us or not. And it was safe in there, warm and protected. I didn’t think any smaller predator would risk coming close to the nest while the sky predator slept inside.

The night passed uneventfully.

***
The next morning, the real owners of the nest, the chicks, started crying again in hunger, especially the largest one, the bully. Their mother, the sky predator had it tough. I was starting to pity her. Back in the city, the whole population was there for the sake of taking care of the queen and the newborn nymphs, that didn’t make you go insane with their cries of hunger.

The chicks stopped crying the moment their mother left for hunting. At least they knew to be careful. I had trouble understanding why there was no one to protect them while their mother hunted. Where were their community, their soldiers, and warrior? The difference was uncanny.

At least we ants had a community to rely upon. These predators, though monstrously strong, were far too lonely.

I planned to look around. As for direction, any would do, unless it took me into danger. I was too lost to care. Going back to the surface was unnerving since it was day time, but I was careful and vigilant.
To my surprise, the chicks were busy beating the fourth one for food; I could smell the scent of my late night’s meal coming from it. To think a family would hurt one of their own… but they were distracted and it was as good an opportunity as any I would have found. Taking a chance, I rushed toward the nest wall, cruised over it, and climbed atop. It was a green-green world, a maze of branches thick and thin. Sky a distant invisible thing, similar to the ground.

I was too high up to jump.

I picked my way through a set of branches, walking toward the center of the tree, toward the trunk. Falling down was not an option. In a territory unknown, I had to be careful. Who knew what hid in the layer of foliage, waiting for a prey to fall from the tree?
The wind blew sequentially up there.

I hadn’t gone much further from the nest, only a few branches away, when my senses started tingling. My eyes saw nothing and my antennae found no one. Until I heard a swish and saw a familiar tongue shot toward me. It was long, elastic, and slimy; reminding me of the frog and the terror it had caused midst the lines of our soldiers. I was sure to die. However, it barely brushed past me and struck something behind. The thing had been hiding. I only saw it while the tongue was receding back into the mouth of the frog? There was a large brown mass jittering, stuck at the tip of the tongue, legs flailing, antennae blurring. It was helpless.

The pink tentacle disappeared somewhere in front of me, and I was none too wise to understand the shading hell that had happened. Where was the frog? Why was I still alive? Senses were no longer at unrest. Hair heard no movement. The air stood still for a moment. The hunter suddenly appeared, right in front of my eye.

It was no frog!

It had been hiding in plain sight, invisible to my naked eyes!

An explosion of colors brought it out from hiding. A smattering of orange made the tip of its chewing mouth, red and green and blue made the fingers that wrapped around the branch I was using as a bridge. Yellow flowered atop its horned eyeless head, and beyond. I stood motionless until its binocular eyes moved around in a haphazard manner and then fixated upon me one by one.

That’s when I turned around and ran. It didn’t pursue me, but I was terrified. Up this branch, down that leaf, I somehow ended up following the trail back to the nest where the chicks no longer fought and were sleeping. I knew the smallest of movement would bring them awake and screaming in hunger, but I couldn’t create that kind of movement anyways.

In the nest, the fourth chick was once again lying to one side, but this time a wet reflecting red marred the side of her belly. The others had pecked her. The wound and the blood were still fresh.

She saw me and gave a chirp. Picked something up from behind and rushed toward me bouncing from one leg to another.

I just had about enough at that point. I was really exhausted. For a second a voice rose in me yelling at the chick to eat me. Dread had nothing on me. Anger flared, sight reddened, but the effect came undone when the chick dropped the thing she carried: a piece of the shelled beast that she had fought to save from her siblings. She happily chirped, telling me to eat.

I escaped.

What in the shade was wrong with her? Her behavior made no sense. Why would she do that? She was a predator and I was her prey!

Panic started to rise, but I pushed it away for the time being. It would erupt soon, but I could wait until I had found myself a good resting place to cry and worry.

I hid in the weaved mass, protected from all around, warm and cozy. I was uncertain of the chicks surviving if the hunter made its way to the nest. That thing was no frog. It had a mouth large enough to devour one instantly and a shell that looked tough and resistant. And it would come. Any predator worth the title would not leave such —relatively— easy targets alone.

It will make a meal out of the chicks —my inner demon laughed— especially the fourth one. The others will somehow escape, but she will be caught.


Not my problem! I yelled at it, the brazen, daring, shading voice. How dare it make fun of me!
The sky predator diligently came back, this time crying a dead mouse.

It smelled of death but everything had a small odor of death to them. You are dying every day.

She must have noticed the wounds on her daughter because this time she decided to feed them herself. Even though the biggest one cried for more, she fed them all equally, before flying away once again. She didn’t notice anything wrong with her surroundings, however. There would have been alarms ringing by now if something like that had entered so near our territory.

The three didn’t harry their sister needlessly but they warned her to stay out of their way.
Hunger was difficult to hold. You should have taken the help when it was given. I scolded myself for thinking such a baseless thing. A predator doesn’t help its prey. Maybe it considered me less than one? That made as much sense as me making it back to the 43^rd city tomorrow.

Princess, I don’t think I’m going to make it. Once the thought would have been accompanied by notions of freedom, responsibility, and even likeness, but now there was only longing.

Be afraid. Her scent crisp and clear, I remembered. Be afraid. It echoed, again and again, until I was tired of it. Only then it changed. Break free.
I came awoke from the nightmare. I must have worried myself to sleep because I didn’t remember it happening. Surprisingly, my head was clear as the sky above. I knew what I needed to do: Have to find my way to the 47^th city. It was stubbornness, something I had gotten from her.

There were no trails to take me there, but event eh first trials had to be laid before there were any. Confidence didn’t mean I rushed out of the nest on an adventure. The hunter was waiting out there, somewhere it wouldn’t be noticed. It hadn’t attacked yet, but soon it would. For all I knew it could be hiding nearby, indistinguishable from nature, waiting for an opportunity.

That, I thought, will be my opportunity to escape.

However, I could only hold on without food for so long. And the system was no help. It blared in my mind messages of low endurance, something I had never heard before. They were warning, ploys to get the wheels rolling. The surface was the only place where I could get food, but the young chick was waiting for me when left my hiding place in the nest. The sight of her grey beak right above my head almost gave me a heart attack. She chirped happily, but from so close, it was no worse than an attack. I was stunned, couldn’t move, and couldn’t escape.

The big bully came awake at her chirp. Hiding food! He cried and pounced at her, and not just with his sharp beak. He even tried to claw her face, to blind her. She shrieked, this time in pain instead of hunger. The other two also came awake and started crying. They weren’t behind the bully. I dreaded for my life but the young chick shielded me. She didn’t move, even unfurled her wings to stop her brothers. They weren’t large like her mother, but feathered and daunting in their own right. That was an act of unexpected kindness.

They were still pecking her back when the stun lifted. I shied away from them under the twigs, but maybe she didn’t notice because she didn’t move.

Give! Give! The others chirped while she kept crying.

A drop of something sweet fell from her eyes and right atop of my head, unnaturally missing all the obstruction on the way. It was warm and sad.

I rushed out of my hiding spot, charged at her belly, dampening my momentum by rolling id-air. Yes, I did that. She noticed me and fluttered her wings in worry.

Don’t, was the only thing I could make out in a hurry, but that was enough. Why did everyone only wanted to give and never receive anything in return? I was being so stupid. The fate of my whole race was on the line. The princess was waiting for my return. And I was charging toward a predator a million times my size. What could I do alone?

I climbed atop of her head and charged toward the big bully. I prayed to the shade to not take me so early and targeted the aggressor’s eye. The bully lifted his head in surprise and I missed, bouncing off his beak.

But I found balance at the bridge of his nose, and out of options, released all my pheromones in an act to overwhelm him. I don’t know if it worked, but he sneezed and I was flung back. My savior, the fourth chick caught me, as the bully entered a sneezing fit. So maybe it did work? At least it got him off of her.
Did you see that? I released, only for the pheromones to fall upon a bald head. Communication was going to be a problem. The other two weighed their options and learning that she was only hiding a mere ant, not a frog's legs, and decided to play it safe. They stepped back in a show of vigilance, staring between their leader and their sister, wondering what had happened.

I climbed atop her head as she fluttered her wings up and down in glee, an action that took her feet off the ground. Somehow she was flying, which was a happy occasion for her. There was just one small problem: My senses were tingling in absolute horror.

The shade had heard my plea and sent the hunter.

 

What do you suggest, Red? Silver asked.

They were near the farm, in hiding, and depressed. The merchants hadn’t given them the slightest clue regarding the place, and reality was proving definitely far more challenging than their expectations.

Robbing this place was going to be a troublesome affair for sure. And Red agreed with the sentiment.
I suggest we turn around, run away deeper into the forest, and try to make it on our own.


Others thought he was acting hysterical; well, he was pretty damn serious! But Silver was not impressed.
Red changed his tone at the flaccid reception. Want to know the truth so bad? Alright, he scented. I’ll explain,

They were hidden pretty well inside a stalwart red berry bush growing at the feet of a mulberry tree. Green definitely knew her stuff when it came to scouting and finding useful places. There were two hundred of them and no matter how Silver erased their scents he was bound to slip up at some point. But she had taken care of even that! The red berry bush had a pungent odor to it that usually kept pests away, but they were using it to mask their odor. It was ingenious and Silver was thankful for her thoughtfulness.

Red continued. There is a sentry post right in front of us. It’s not even hidden, and there are good three hundred soldiers manning it. And you say there are others to its left and right? Both at a distance that can be easily covered in just a few minutes of time during an emergency?

They were far enough from the sentry post that only Silver was able to gather information, which by no means meant that it was a disadvantage, but Red had his own perspective. He knew there were bound to be key things that his strong-headed leader would gloss over, but could prove useful for their Endeavour.

However, good as Silver ‘the mighty fang’ might be, even he couldn’t see the farm. They were a good few hundred heads away from it, with the advanced posts right in between.

If we are to infiltrate the farm beyond —Red was finishing up his report, which basically spelled ‘D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R’ from the D to the R and chocked the soldiers with the scents now that he was being truthful— We’ll have to go through them without letting them cause an alarm. Not going to happen. He added upon noticing Green stirring to his left.

She was discontented with the stark refusal; he could have at least heard her piece, right? Sure it would be difficult for all of them to slip through, but who said she couldn’t do it alone? She could slip through and, and…
Don’t let her get away, Black.
I know.
Well, there went her plan in the pit. But she would try anyway. How would she succeed against strangers if she couldn’t even give the slip to her friends (to those she knew left, right, and around)?

That’s just one of the things. Red continued, worried. We don’t even know what we have to steal? He was so worried precipitation was starting to form on his head.

Honeydew. Silver got their attention. You can smell its sweet taste in the air.

I think only you can smell something so far away, leader. Black said and turned toward the merchants. Well, the lot of them were fishing stars in the sky, and it wasn’t easy to get hold of them once they were like that. He dared poke one in the head and they all stirred awake from their… sleep?

Is it true? Are we here to rob honeydew?

At first, the question confused the merchants, until Black explained, and they all nodded in glee.
You impress us more and more, troop leader. One of the merchants said.

Black felt something rising inside him. He suppressed it, leading his left antennae to twitch a few times. He was lucky to avoid embarrassment.

Someone really needed to bind them together and poke their insides, to find out everything that was wrong with them. Just how could they act lost and attentive at the same time? It was over Black’s head. Only Yellow seemed to have an easier time around them. He had learned to ignore their eccentricity, even their existence.

Yes, another merchant, a frail and weak looking worker picked up the conversation. The farm produces honeydew and enough of it every day to feed the army for a week.


Did they send us to the other side of the river to rob such a dangerous place for a week’s worth of food? Red didn’t like the answer. That makes no sense. He knew the army commanders wanted to deal with them, but this is too low even for them.

Of course, the biggest of the merchants answered. The scent he released was deep, impactful, and serious, completely opposite of the previous speaker. We never said that was all there was to their stores. There is a distribution center deep inside the farm that stores everyday produce for monthly distributions to the alliance. That is the place you will rob.

How much? Silver asked.

Obviously, there is enough to start a war over it, troop leader.

It is all too good to be true. Red shook his head. And the alliance is also a problem. If one of the sentries alone has two to three hundred soldiers, then there are bound to be thousands protecting the farm, and even more of them keeping the stores safe.

There are fourteen thousand soldiers on the farm, approximately. The Merchants added, raising heartbeats ad causing scented murmurs among the two hundred soldiers. The colonies are also not far, and the tower is a safe hold that can’t be broken into easily. The reinforcements can arrive in less than two hours, dumping nearly two million soldiers into the fray.

No wonder the army doesn’t want to directly butt heads with the alliance. Black added, antennae shaking knowingly.

Green stirred. So when am I going in for a quick look around? She was woefully ignored. Well, she would get her turn. She always does. It was just a matter of time and safety. The others would come around, beg her, and everything would be perfect.

So, what are your thoughts, Red? Silver asked for the second time and he couldn’t stall any longer. His leader had asked for his opinion and since warning hadn’t worked he was sure the truth would. Well, it should! A lot of lives depended on it.

Truthfully, right now I don’t have anything. We need to get Green inside and have her take a look around. We don’t know anything behind the farm and the alliance. We chased the eight-legged goliath for a whole week, looking over its habits and activity periods before deciding the how, where, and when.


So you mean we need to infiltrate the farm as a member and gather information? Silver asked.
But that’s impossible. Red let out in exasperation.
Is it Impossible? Silver asked the merchants, who all stood up together, as if ready to march off into the farm without a moment’s hesitation.
We can get you into the farm. They said.
But you want something in return. Silver took the words right out of their heads. The merchants pounced at the chance.

Nothing much: We only want to know who you are, your history, your story, everything. It excites us much to know that there are still some places we haven’t been to and species we haven’t met. It gives us a purpose.

The others also stood a little forward, antennae straightened, interested. Everyone in the army knew Silver Fang, but no one knew him really. He had appeared out of nowhere one day and taken the army by a storm. He demanded to be put at the front of the line when everyone wanted to do the exact opposite, and there he earned himself a reputation and a name.

Do you want to look inside my head? Silver asked.

How else will we know the truths from the lies? The merchants wanted to perform an I.C with Silver, and however interested the slaved might be about their leader’s past, they bared fangs at the merchants upon learning their true intention. They had crossed the line.

Don’t agree. Red snapped. I-I’ll make sure to find a way.

Black took action. He stepped toward the merchants, and the slaved moved with him.
Yellow didn’t say anything but quietly pointed his bottom toward them and waited. That seemed to get the point across as the merchants wavered.

Look at the lot of you getting serious. A merchant, their spokesperson with a neutral tone scented. They didn’t even rise up from their resting position when warned. Did they not care for their lives? The question confused and abated more than a few of the slaved, including Black, and he had seen enough in the army to know that no amount of training and thwart instincts.

But the merchants were so nonchalant he couldn’t help but ponder whether it was actually the result of training or something else.

We are only joking, of course. Although the offer stands; you can ask us anything in return—

Silver interrupted. Of equal value, he completed the sentence. That seemed to get the merchants more riled up than having two hundred soldiers ready to butcher them.

So you have indeed met one of ours before. But why don’t we recall anything? Anyways, we can only take forty of you with us, and they won’t be able to leave the farm once in. So think about that. Tell us when you are ready.

***

Now stay here unless called. No mischief. You are under watch. We have brought you here, but they haven’t agreed to take you in yet. We’ll go talk with the authorities. I’m sure they’ll like you all. Just whatever you do —don’t wander off. They’ll send someone to pick you up if everything goes right.


The merchants finished their speech and left the group exposed and trapped. They followed a pair of rock ants, big, hard-shelled giants that could easily wrestle with a young bee if they had to, and disappeared into the thicket of plants beyond the sentry post, leaving them on the ground with no place to hide.

The merchants had put them in a real bind. The antennae pointing at them only proved it to be true.
I don’t like this. Red said. We are too exposed. And I don’t think the merchants can be trusted.
It’s alright. Silver answered. There was no unease to him; however, the same couldn’t be said about the group behind him.

The two of them had picked forty soldiers and workers, as the merchants had insisted, and followed them out of their hiding place. The other group led by Black had retreated for the time being; and Green though relentless to go to the farm was forced to go with them. The group would have to hunt and live; basically what they had been doing, but without Silver looking out for them. And it would be up to Green to keep them safe and fed.

The soldiers rose to attention when a group of five approached them from the advanced camp. It was led by a large black jawbreaker ant with a mean pair of serrated mandibles hanging in front of her face. The group stopped a few heads away from Silver and his band of misfits, while the jawbreaker approached closer.

Captain, she addressed Silver, earning a few pointed glares, but continued unabated. Our chief, the black baroness, sends her greetings and offers refreshments for your weary minds. She also apologizes for having you stay in the open, but that’s the protocol. She hopes you understand.

Thanks your chief for the refreshments. We happily accept them.
Red advised caution but was taken back upon learning that the refreshment in question was actually honeydew.
The slaved were delirious at the offer; refusing it would have not been good for other psychology. Accepting the offer displayed their leader’s confidence, which allowed them to finally relax.
The sweet nectar refreshed their minds and washed their tiredness. It filled them with much-needed energy.
However, just when everything was going great, a scent rose from the post that sent their host sprawling. Her soldiers fidgeted in nervousness, and so did she.
What’s wrong? Red asked. He had to tap her head to get her attention. And even then she acted scared and horrified.
The commander of the advanced posts is coming. She said, packing up and leaving, but stopped midway to warn them. Don’t get on her bad side. She said and they hurried off toward the camp post.

She made it back just in time as another group appeared from the thicket of plants ground trash.

The progression stopped at the post, noticed them, and changed direction. The commander was a warrior, days and days old. That much was easy to see from the battles marks cladding her exterior. She wasn’t a giant, however, but a digger of the mountains: Large orange head, with short but thick mandibles, a smaller black abdomen, and spread out legs to keep her center of gravity closer to the ground. Ants similar to her made the ensemble. And she was hostile from the get-go.

No introduction, no greeting. She dived directly to the bite the bone.
Are you the ones with the merchants? She scented.
Yes. Red answered.
Has the army sent you?
That bit sent Red into a thinking sprawl.

We are not at the liberty to say anything. Silver answered for Red was taking too much time. He might often leave decisions to his captains, but there were times when he took the command in his hands, and this was that time. The commander was clearly hostile and stubborn. Only someone who could be equally stubborn could handle those like her. Red was not it.

We’ll see about that. The short, but stable commander scented. She was not large, but she was wide. Everything about her scented of power. You, she pointed an antenna at a young worker, one of the only three that Silver had picked. Come forward.

The worker looked at Silver who nodded and the worker followed.

Do you know why I called you forward? The captain asked.
The worker shook his head, hairs standing straight from nervousness.

A group is as strong as its weakest link, and you clearly are the weakest link of this group. Now you will either tell me what the army is planning, or I’m going to kill you.

The slaved stirred into action as the commander’s ensemble caught the worker. The angry soldiers stopped when they saw their leader not budging, however, the worker was not released. The worker was young, but he had been together with Silver since the day he created his team of the slaves. He had seen his leader do some incredible-incredible things. He would go far to say things that no one else could do.
However, he also knew that the army constricted him and this was a consignment by them and there was a chance Silver wouldn’t help him. He looked ready to struggle his way out of the predicament when his antennae stood up buzzing, and he relaxed.
I’m going to give you three breaths of time. The commander said. You either come out clean, or I’ll kill you.
Three, the captain finished counting. So you have chosen death. She said and snapped her mandible at the worker's neck.
Silver watched it happen. Red contracted his antennae. The soldiers fidgeted as the worker was let go and he fell to the ground.

The commander let out amusement as the youngling crawled away from her, fear finally taking control of her. The worker didn’t leak pheromones and he didn’t cry for help till the end, but that didn’t mean he was fine. Red heaved him up to his feet. Silvers pat his back, which made him lift his head. Confidence returned, but he stumbled a few steps in. The soldiers caught and welcomed him back. But his thrumming heart said all that he couldn’t.

He believed when the commander said she would kill him and she wanted to do it till the last moment, until the snap. He had lived long enough to know that it was no acting.
Well, at least the merchants didn’t lie about your group being daring, captain. Silver did not humor her.

They seemed docile enough to be useful. Let’s see how to fare against enemies larger than them. They are yours, shepherdess. The commander left with her ensemble, leaving behind a small worker whom no one had noticed until then. Green would have loved to spare some time with, for the shepherdess looked exactly like her, with the difference of their sizes, of course. Green was a soldier, a scout, a
Umm, if you will follow me, please? The tiny shepherdess politely requested.
Add the difference of their temperaments to the previous statement, because Green wasn’t the kind of soldier to say please. It would need a miracle to happen for the words to come from her.

 

A different hunter arrived that the one I was expecting. This one was longer, brown, scaled, and tubular; like an earthworm that I had seen hiding in the mud. It slithered over the nest, hissing, tasting the raw scent of life that the chicks oozed, and blocking any escape path. The chicks couldn’t have escaped anyways. I had never seen their mother leave by climbing down the tree. She had always flown away and returned by flying —which they hadn’t learned yet.

How should I describe the feeling it rose inside me? I had all but given up on determining the size difference at this point. The world was vast and there were bound to be even bigger predators out there. Maybe the hisser was also someone’s prey. Maybe there was an even higher mountain than the one I had mounted. All could be possible at this point.

The system agreed.

---

You have learned another TRUTH of the world: There is always a higher mountain to climb.
You have acquired a new skill: Reckless Courage.​

---

[Reckless Courage][Lv-1/10][Tier-1][Passive]
[The skill increases your stats when you are up against giants.]
[Effect: Your stats increase by 10% every skill level.]
[Reward: Your strength increases by .1 Points every skill level.]​

---

The truth scared me. Did it want me to rush at the hisser and fight? Well, not a chance.

I was nothing to it. The hisser was for the chicks what the earthworm was for me, but it didn’t shy away like the worm. It was confident, even smug. It hissed, split tongue undulating in front of its slit mouth. What do we have here? The air vibrated. What fresh taste! Yum-Yum! I’ll be sure to enjoy you pretty little things.

It called the chick’s pretty little things! One would have to be courageous and reckless to fight that; maybe even downright suicidal. No wonder the skill was named as such. Not me, though. Not me.
The chicks cried for help. Help, Mother, help!

The twin brothers wailed, while their sister pulled back to the nest wall, heaving, scared, and shaking. She squirmed down and rolled into a ball, the same way she acted when her brothers bullied her.

It’s not going to save you. I told her, but she didn’t listen, didn’t hear. It was hopeless. How was I to save her? Did I have to be reckless? Did I need to put my life on the line, again?

The bully was the first to act; of course, he was. Rotten to the core, the bully and the hisser were not much different from each other.

Surprisingly, he opened his wings and started fluttering them, and chirping loudly in quick successions, bellowing. It somehow worked. The hisser pulled back in confusion.

It’s working. He chirped and the twins joined him. They jumped up and down, wings fluttering, feathers ruffled, breaking away, and flying aggressively in front of the hisser.

The hisser was left dumbfounded but by the prey that should have been helpless in front of it. It was in an awkward situation.

Success made the twins grew confident. They pushed forward and clawing air the same way they clawed their sister, believing the hisser would mimic her for some reason. Things changed, however, when the bully saw a chance and ran toward the edge of the nest, wings fluttering faster and faster. He didn’t wait for his brother and jumped off. Only the sound of him crashing through the leaves and branches reached the nest. What became of him was highly doubtful.

However, his escape made the hisser hiss in fury. It didn’t like its prey getting away and pulled back out of the nest. It wasn’t leaving. I knew that maneuver. It was similar to me getting on my haunches to charge at them. It was coming! But the twins didn’t understand; they couldn’t believe their brother had thrown himself off the nest. That meant death! Their mother hadn’t taught them how to fly yet. However, But this worry and confusion made them cease activity, giving the hisser the opportunity it sought.

It sprung at the twins with its mouth stretched open, purple tongue hidden and large fangs visible. Hunger flared in its eyes. I smelled poison ooze out from the tip of its fangs, burning killing poison of the kind I had never sensed before. It made me cringe away, my heart race. Such was the momentum behind its rush that the air itself hissed in its honor. The hisser gave the twins no chance. One of them was already dead the moment it came into motion.

It struck. There was a scream and a screech of the dying kind —everyone makes it when they try to scream and breathe at the same time. The twin that survived fluttered his wings in horror, struck between the nest wall and the bark brown scaled back of the living terror. The other fluttered his wings in a dying struggle; much the same way our legs do the death jitters. The hisser caught it tightly inside its mouth, large fangs buried deep inside its chest pushing poison into its bloodstream.
Too horrifying!
It’s your chance! The voice said. Run!
I rushed down the feathery neck, into the nest wall, and out the other side. I was free. I had saved my life. There was still the other hunter waiting somewhere down the path.
We’ll deal with it when it comes.
Heart pounded like never before.
The hisser hadn’t come for me, but I couldn’t help feel dreadful. Maybe I would have been better off without my sight and hearing.
And better off lost and dead, too?
I wouldn’t have lost my way if I was normal. An ant should never see these giant monsters. We were better off fighting over our small patch of land, calling ourselves the owners when it never truly belonged to us. Is this what the explorers are used to seeing and fighting?
Could they have returned alive after fighting them, my dear friend? My inner voice asked.
It was no wonder they acted like they didn’t care about anything anymore.

It was easy to see how burdened my mind felt. I was talking to myself.
Well, it was about time you grew senile. My mind laughed and grew quiet. It was different today for some reason.

I thought I had escaped the hisser by leaving the nest, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. What I had seen inside was just its head! The rest of its body was outside, coiled around the main branch like a vine growing around a plant, like a parasite. A deadly screech rose from the nest. The hisser stirred. The length of it rolled around the tree branch and started moving toward the nest.

It has nothing to do with me. I decided and climbed over the hissers scaled back. I had to do that; it would have crushed me in its attempt to fill the nest, otherwise. It had patterns similar to the frog on its back. Dark black circles and long thin lines made the most of them.

Weren’t these patterns there to better hide their bearers? So even something like it has to hide?

Well, there was an undeniable difference in size between the hisser and the moving mountain.
Forward! I had to tell myself because I was not moving. For all my worry and horror, I was still letting it take me back. My heart didn’t want to go.
You are not a savior. I told myself. You are an ant, small, and powerless. You can’t save her. It is her life, her problem. Let her deal with it.
Break free, I heard Princess Tinbuji whisper.
Not today. No!
Break free!
The hisser suddenly quickened. The sudden acceleration threw my senses haywire. I couldn’t make out left from right, and the voices were no good either. I clenched the groves between its scales to keep me steady.
I had to decide my next steps. I couldn’t let it carry me back without a plan: I could either let go and fall down and maybe get lucky enough to catch a draft of air and get carried toward a leaf or a branch, or ride the hisser's tailback to the nest and do everything I can to help the fourth chick.
It would be my decision, not a scream from her, the taunting of my inner voice, or some another convoluted reason. I would do it for myself. I had nothing to prove by going back. I was to the hisser what dirt was to me. It would be only to save —laughable, my inner voice taunted. It was enjoying itself. But I had nothing to prove.

For all my considerations, in the end, it was her hurtful scream that made up my mind.

---

Reckless courage has activated.
All stats increased by 10%.​

---

I rode the tail until it slowed again, and then rushed up the hissers back as fast as I could. I could have been faster if I was using all my legs, but retracting the two middle ones for balance had its adverse effects.

I knew I would be protected there because it couldn’t see on its back. I hope the scales numbed its sensitivity, because my exoskeleton did, and it was only for the hairs on my body that I could actually perceive the world. But it didn’t notice me. I would have had a difficult time escaping otherwise, for it was flexible enough to lick its own back —at least the lower portions where I was.

The frog wasn’t able to handle us once we were on its back; I hope the hisser would be the same. For all their size and mass and strength, these predators had such an obvious weakness. Well, most ants couldn’t even see, but that was a different thing. We were born to rule the underground.

Over the nest, the hisser was coiled around one of the two brothers and was engulfing him completely. His head was already deep inside its horrifyingly stretched jaw. The hisser wasn’t eating it rather taking hold with its tiny sharp teeth and trying to wrap its slippery throat around the corpse. It was an unreal sight; my first and hopefully last.

The other brother was fluttering his wings, crying for help, while the one I cared about, the malnourished fourth chick, was surprisingly pecking the hisser, and trying to make it leave her brother. There was a far chance of that happening.

I knew she could stand for herself as she had for me, but I didn’t know she would go even against something like the hisser. That was courageous of her. She would have been better of worrying about herself though, but some of us as just different.

I jumped toward her. I was too light to get her attention but appearing in front of her eyes did surprise her. She gave me a happy chirp then got back to pecking. I wanted to explain that it wouldn’t work; the hisser’s scales were too hard. Her beak wasn’t going to get through.

She got through and drew red, fragrant blood. Even the monster had a softer belly when compared to its back.

I had learned my lesson from the frog. I wasn’t going to climb inside there. The hisser had a thick layer of muscles behind the skin, and I knew from experience how hard it was to get through them. I would have been crushed had I tried entering its body from the wound.
However, it was pissed that a small prey that should have been cowering in fear was able to leave it a wound.

The tail whipped toward her. I heard the twang, but couldn’t stop it. I fell atop of the tail as it struck her belly. A sharp painful chirp rose from her throat and she was flung to the nest wall, which absorbed the shock, but the tail did leave a red and quickly bluing bruise behind.

Anger flared, but I nabbed it before it could take away my intelligence. The hisser wasn’t an opponent to go berserk against.
I’ll show you! I decided.
Dealt with the nuisance, the pecker, the tail moved out of the way and directly above its head. I had an easier time jumping than running, but I did miss my mark and fell a distance from its head —though still on its scaled back—and slipped, but held by gripping the grove between its scales. That could have been difficult.

Confidence rose as I closed the distance between its head and me, allowing me to see how easy my target was. At least the frog could swat its head to defend; the hisser had no limbs!

I admit doubting the need for my six legs when it was doing great without even one. Even the frogs required only two legs to move about; the other pair was for support and various other things, but movement.
By the time I reached its head, it had all but engulfed the second brother.

If I was late it would have definitely gone for the fourth chick next, for hurting it. I knew because I would have done the same.

I wasn’t going for its scales. They were impenetrable. Maybe there was another predator that could do it, but not I. This time I laughed at the notion. A few days ago, the TRUTH had horrified me, and now I had seen so many inconceivable things that I was starting to wonder if it even mattered. Since I had never seen these humongous monsters before leaving the city, it only meant that our lives were separate. We were not dependent upon each other and hence could safely co-exist; unlike the termites.

I climbed its head and its slit eyes appeared in my sight like two large globes rising from the horizon. I felt like I was trying to catch the sun from the sky. My plan was to hurt it so much it decides to run away. I was banking upon pain. And for that, I needed to hurt it deep and long.

I picked my target and got on my haunches. I charged I stabbed, it cried.

I struck and stabbed so deep, I tore through the outer membrane of its soft left eye and sunk deeper into the viscous fluids below. I only heard a confused chirp before the darkness swallowed me. A hiss resonated through its whole body and I felt it shift. But my work wasn’t done. Ants don’t have oxygen reserves; so I was basically drowning the moment I entered its eye.

I was swift and stabbed everywhere. It convulsed from pain, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to go deeper, act meaner, and stab harder, but my body was growing cold.

I couldn’t breathe. I was chocking on its eye fluids when the system saved me.

---

You stupid ant, go outside. You can’t swim!
You have acquired a new skill: Hydrophobic constitution.​

---

[Hydrophobic constitution][Lv-1/10][Tier-1][Resistance]
[Water doesn’t stick to your body.]
[Reward: Your Constitution gains .1 points per level.]​

---

It’s time. You better prepare yourself.
You have collected 50 skills and acquired title skill collector in the process.​

---

[Skill Collector][Title]
[It is just a representation of your achievement. Or is it?]
[Reward: Evolving Greed from tier-0 to tier 1.]
[Calibrating]​

---

I don’t know whether the skill helped or not, but I was somehow able to make my way toward the wound. I was desperate for air.

Eerie red numerical figures rose out of my head with every passing second. I believed I was going to die.
Then somehow the shaking lined me perfectly with the wound and the force pulled me from the eye and flung me out of the nest. I was losing consciousness.

There were confused chirps. The hisser was standing tall above the nest, and shaking its head in pain.

My eye, my eye! It was crying, over and over again.

I worried about what I might find at the bottom of the tree, but the top of the tree worried me too. What was going to happen to the chick? Surprisingly, I wasn’t the only one falling from the nest. She had jumped after me, chirping in worry, fluttering her wings and descending down like a real sky predator. Oh, she almost fell but handled herself. Well, almost like one. Her mother would have been proud, nonetheless.
I lost her behind the branches and the leaves. My blurring sight focused again since I could breathe, but I lost conscious still —not because of anything physical, but because of the surprise that the system held for me.

---

Calibrations complete.
Good luck completing Greed’s first trial.​

---

 

An alarm was spreading in the air. The protocol demanded a soldier to call for help upon encountering an invader. There was a caterpillar on the loose in the area under Silver’s supervision. It was only a matter of time before groups from the nearby areas gathered to stake claim over the catch in the name of help. A soldier hurriedly arrived carrying the news of their encounter. Red was at the site and the situation was under control. They had learned early how important it was for a captain to be present at the site. The lesson had cost them a caterpillar, and everything to their opponents.

Silver sped up, leaving the soldier behind. They had divided work. Silver was to handle the invaders and Red was to find a way to the center of the green wonder, legally. The last bit was important because there was no way for them to force their way through the hundreds and thousands of soldiers protecting the farm.
Yes, they had successfully infiltrated the farm and had even received a place to protect.

Yes, they were each allowed a drop of honeydew every day. But everyone on the outer perimeter of the farm enjoyed the same benefits or the lack-there-of them. The drop of honeydew was nothing; it could barely even provide a rush of energy. Well, at least it was sweet.

And they had to get their own food —hence the intense competition over the invaders. The alliance of eight different ant cities, it sounded nice to hear but the reality was much different and dirty. There was a war going between the different groups and everyone wanted to profit.

The plants on the farm were connected to each other through the leaves. Some leaves were big enough to overlap one another, and others were glued together with a mixture of dirt and saliva, creating bridges in the process. The alliance soldiers used these bridges to get around; his way was more romantic. He jumped from the end of the leaf he was occupying and dropped atop of another a distance away. The leaves were too small, too young to bridge the gap.

The plants were connected, but the bridges were not all on the same plane. Some were on the upper levels of the plants and others were below, needing one to climb up and down, wasting time and effort. Sometimes you could see the invaders eating though the young plants, but couldn’t get to them in time because of the overly convoluted passages.
His group of slaved were using this delay in response to snatch every invader they could find. It wasn’t out of greed, but Red’s proposal to get the authorities' attention, and small revenge for stealing from them. Their destination was the tower at the center of the farm, not the outskirts.

As they stood, the bridges acted more like a measure to keep the soldiers moving, to keep them from growing lazy.

Maneuverability was the key. And his workers were busy taking care of that problem. They had already connected five of the fifteen plants under his supervision to one another; another day, and they would have the whole area connected and battle-ready.

One would assume the thousands of soldiers must have been gathered to protect some really obscene secret, but it was nothing like that. There was no secret to be found at the farm, only small green parasitic ticks called aphids that sucked the plant marrow and produced honeydew.

Yes, the small (merely two ant head large) creatures produced the universally favored honeydew.
They were clustered at the various plant nodes in small bunches of five to larger coalitions of thirty. Silver found the creatures funny.

They were so dependent on ants to keep them safe that they only move for a shepherdess to when a shepherdess arrives to take them to the tower. A prey that didn’t run and protectors that never arrived on time, it was no wonder the caterpillars frequently visited the outer regions.

Silver could see a soldier waiting behind one, tapping its back with her antennae. A clear drop slowly grew larger from its anus, which the soldier drank and left. That was honeydew —not otherworldly nectar as its sweetness suggested, but the aphids dropping.

Some members of his group claimed they were better off when they didn’t know the truth. Red in turn exclaimed at the importance of coexistence that the farm put on the display. He claimed the army would have decimated the whole place and moved on, not stopping to understand its true worth (These were his exacts words).

His soldiers were already wrapping up the fight when Silver arrived at the area under attack. They were up against a giant caterpillar that fashioned some very aggressive colors and patterns upon its body. The thick spikes jutting from the entre of its back were no playthings either, but his group of slaved knew how to deal with these large and fluffy packets of meat.

The caterpillar was held almost glued to the leaf and was being shredded into pieces as he approached closer.

There were other groups, gathered outside the boundary of his area, feverishly watching his soldiers at work. Antennae erect, some zealously waited for a call of help so they could ask for a portion of the caterpillar in return, while the group that directly shared their eastern border was releasing anger. His group might have an easy time filling their abdomens, but these groups usually needed help from multiple neighbors, thinning their meals in the process. So there was a heavy competition over the bugs and critters that sometimes raided the plants. They were only brazen because help usually never arrived on time.
The leader of their eastern neighbor, a group of dirt ants —pale, yellow, and small— was in one-sided discussion with captain Red.

That belongs to us. She was passively complaining from the other side of the border. It was in ‘our’ territory! Which she didn’t dare cross.
It ‘is’ clearly in ‘our’ territory. Red commented in passing. He was juggling his attention between the workers narrowing the gap between two leaves with a dead leaf they had fetched from the ground, the soldiers fighting the beast, and the angry neighbor. It was actually a compliment in itself that even under the burden he had commented.

But you took it from us! One of mine reported seeing—

Leader, Red released out loud. That was his indication to the opportunists and the troublemakers to get on their way. The yellow ant was the first to scurry far, but she didn’t leave for good and neither did the others. They seemed to be expected something, which was a cause of concern. Red wondered if he’ll have to ask Silver to show-off his strength once again. No, that would do no good. Silver needed to be kept as a deterrent against aggression, and that would only work if he was kept as a mysterious figure.

Silver stopped beside the caterpillar that had coiled in defense to protect its life. Red stopped everything and stood behind him. Are you having any trouble? He asked. Red shook his antennae. The onlookers were still not leaving.
Well, they weren’t trying anything either.

None, he answered.
Silver touched his antennae for more private communication. It was not a foolproof method, as it was hard to contain the chemicals from spreading, but that was not a problem for Silver. The pheromones listened to him. Red had never heard of someone with such precise control over the scents. It was just one of the reasons Red respected him.

And how is ‘our’ mission progressing? Have you found a way to get us closer to the tower?
I am still asking around. Give me some time. The others don’t like us much, you see. Maybe the shepherdess would know something.


Speak of the devil. The shepherdess, that frail leafcutter ant who was the complete opposite of Green was approaching. Tagging her was a whole group of giant black jawbreaker ants, the same kind that the merchants had followed to the depths of the tower, where they had taken perch and forgotten about them. There was still no news of those slippery snails. Well, the merchants only promised them entrance to the farm, which they had fulfilled. The rest depended upon them. They were most likely waiting in the tower, sipping honeydew day and night, enjoying their stay.

Red noticed the excitement rising from the onlookers. They surprisingly seemed to have been waiting for her arrival. He couldn’t figure out the reason but told Silver about his findings just to be sure.

There were ten of those big black giants, and they didn’t stop for the shepherdess to get Silver’s permission. They went straight to pick up the pieces of the caterpillar that the slaved had prepared for them. Both sides were already accustomed to the trade.

The jawbreakers were also one of the eight members of the alliance and worked as the defenders of the tower.

Silver would need to get through a whole bunch of them if he wanted to have any chance at robbing the place. And if he was to make anything out from the fire burning in the eyes of his slaved, they were ready to pounce at his order. Not yet. It still wasn’t time.

The shepherdess approached Red but stumbled on the way upon noticing Silver standing behind him. She had grown to fear him since he had fought a caterpillar alone and killed it. Not only her, but others were also starting to fear him for the feat.

I have… the caterpillar; she pointed a trembling antenna toward the carcass only to notice that the jawbreakers were already tracing their steps back to the tower with the caterpillar in tow. She had called them for her protection! Where were they going leaving her alone? She almost ran away but froze when Silver put his attention upon her.

Red enjoyed her company exactly because of her awkwardness.

Lurching and shaking she continued. This makes it your ten-tenth offering to the tower. Th-this completes your quota to defend the outer perimeter. She continued, nervousness giving way to fear and dread. This was an opportunity that every shepherdess waited and dreaded at the same time.

The groups banished to the outer regions rarely ever managed the quota of ten invaders between sharing the prize with their helpers and feeding.

According to tradition —she barely released— those who have proved themselves in the outer perimeter of the farm can move inwards toward the densely populated areas for a better stipend of honeydew and—
let’s go. Silver interrupted.

She was taken back. The inner region was a dangerous place that was under constant threat by creatures of various strengths. There was no group that willingly agreed to work there! There had even been cases of shepherdesses being hurt for giving the news. She had cried in her chamber before coming out today, and even said farewells to her friends. This group of mismatched ants was far too scary. She was sure to be taken hostage at the very least.

Let’s hear her first, leader. Red scented, barely controlling his excitement. She must have more to tell us. He decided to observe caution. Their neighbors couldn’t be excited just because they were being sent to the inner region right? He wondered how they would react if they knew the situation was exactly what his group desired.

The shepherdess looked around. They had even created bridges! According to her friends, personal bridges were the first sign when a group expected to stay for a long time at the outer regions.

Inner regions are dangerous. There are many bugs hiding there in plain sight that mimic our behavior. Of course, there are benefits befitting the danger. She read the memorized lines one after another without a single fumble. She wanted to get through them as quickly as she could. This was the part where the groups usually grow cold feet. Your group will receive five drops of honeydew and one free meal each every day—

That’s enough. Silver interrupted. Shall we leave now?

Yes? But why what about the bridges and your reputation here?

What about them? Silver asked. While Red observed.

He was very interested in the shock circulating among his neighbors. They expected drama, not for them to agree so easily. Even the shepherdess looked lost for words. The onlookers were starting to whisper. Most were simply relieved that they were finally leaving. It had only been a day, but the caterpillars they had caught could have easily fed ten groups for a few days. BY offering them to the tower they had basically taken away their food. No wonder they were relieved.

Nothing, the shepherdess scented, growing relieved. Wasn’t this way too easy? There was bound to be a catch! She expected the silver monster —but even monsters couldn’t kill a caterpillar all alone— to throw some demands her way, but he was far too nonchalant. Did he not care about his safety or at least the safety of those under him? Well, the rugged group didn’t look like they were in any need of help. But still! What about the warnings, and the stories?

Who asks for hardship? Who asks for challenges? They are maniacs. She decided. Well, shouldn’t she be happy? They had already agreed. She only needed to make it official and she would be enjoying a bigger stipend for herself and an additional percentage of honeydew for her city.

She grew pensive. What if this group made it to the tower to protect the stores? She shook her head to uproot the through. That was in simple words… impossible.

Red was mused to see their neighbors celebrating their leave. The slaved thought they were congratulating them and waved their antennae in response. They had experienced a similar change in reputation in the army. It’s better this way. He decided.

The plants grew lush and green the deeper they went. Silver could see proper plants at a distance rather than the young sprouts of the outer region. The age difference between the plants had created a fictional boundary separating the two regions.

Red’s antennae buzzed with excitement. He was also taking the nearby scents to create a better picture of his surroundings.

A long straight bridge of leaves made the last stretch of the divide between the inner and the outer regions. This area was fairly populated by both soldier and aphid population, compared to the perimeter. The bridge looked proper and cared for. It alone was a big step up from the outer circuit where the bridges were sparse and convenience was non-existent.

The movement of their group was causing a small commotion. Heads were turning to see the unfortunate being forced into the gate to hell.

There was a check post in the middle of the bridge, noticeable from its dirt construction. Manned by mere four black jawbreakers, the check post was neither to allow nor bar entrance.

Their shepherdess asked Silver to stay at a distance and took charge. She approached the guards and released trace amounts of a pheromone that was unique in its demanding way. It was the only way of communicating with the jawbreakers. They did not understand complex signals.

Once the guard nodded she confidently gestured the group to approach. Finally away from the group, she felt safe again.

Silver was the first to cross. What does the pheromone do? He asked as one of the four touched his back. He surprisingly showed no reaction to being touched, which she found very unnerving. They were jawbreakers! They were known for their inability to regulate strength when biting; hence their name: the jawbreakers.

Oh, she had turned and almost ran back the first time she had seen one of the giants.
No.
It was pointless to compare her with the monster.
He had killed a monstrous caterpillar alone. Why would he fear a mere jawbreaker? Even considering that was a mistake on her part.

It’s a temporary passport. She plainly answered, which he casually accepted.

The plants were finally starting to show their age near the end of the bridge. They were huge and multileveled with at least ten levels to them. There was another check post at the end of the bridge; this one was actually protected by only one ant, a large-headed mountain ant.

They are known for their loud scents. The shepherdess scented as if that explained everything.
Past it was the inner region, and it definitely looked like someplace a soldier should strive for.
The plants there were greener and taller. Red counted seven stories above his head. It was dark inside, however. The bridges, though complete, also blocked sunlight. Soldiers milled about without worries of boundaries. There was an explosion in the aphid population; hundreds could be seen sticking on the plants, filling their abdomens without stopping.

There was enough sweetness in the air to send the slaved on a euphoric trip down the memory lane. Red worried that this environment would be a bad influence on the soldiers; Silver disagreed.

The solders grew denser. And so did the sweet scent. It was an inviting place for any critter. Silver agreed with that statement. No wonder it was also more dangerous.
Most of the soldiers showed no interest in them. They seemed disinterested even.
The shepherdess took them westward.

This is the region you will be protecting. There are no actual boundaries, but if you are found loitering when your region is under attack it will affect your whole group. So you all better take care.

The shepherdess was explaining when a pheromone in the air got her attention, and of everyone else around.
The scent was riding the wind from the North, bringing along the message of danger and an immediate need for backup. The scent contained no other details and was so thin it wasn’t clear whether the backup was still needed or not.

Soldiers were breaking away from the group all around them to respond to the alarm. They were gathering together into a small mass, ready to march off in the direction of the scent. The oldest soldier had taken the role of a leader.

Can I join? Silver asked and the shepherdess could only agree. There was no reason to stop him. However, that didn’t stop her heart from getting restless.
Will he be alright?
Worry about the others if you have to. Red scented and asked her to take them to their destination. He’ll be alright. Red added, much to persuade himself as her. Nothing can happen to him until he finds the one he has been looking for.
She believed him.

 

By the time Silver reached the source of the scent, the group had expanded by another six soldiers to a total of twenty-three ants. The other group, the one that had set off the alarm, was busy shearing a pile of aphids to shreds. They were too few, and the pile was getting away.

It was a terrible sight.

The mountainous pile of aphids was neither defending nor attacking. It only focused on running —even with all the weight it carried. It was moving down an offshoot branch, banking upon reaching the plant shaft and opening a straight path to the ground.

The group was trying to contain it, but the pile of dead aphids it carried on its back protected it from all kinds of harassments: the soldiers couldn’t get its legs or sting it. They were basically planting themselves in its way and obstructing it with brute force; not a bad idea against someone that wasn’t fighting back. However, they were right in calling for help.

That’s the corpse piler.
I don’t know whether we are lucky or unfortunate.
At least, no one will get hurt. The whispers rose among the soldiers.

Marksmen, their leader called, and as many as fifteen soldiers separated for the group. You all know the routine. As for the rest of you —she told the rugged bunch of which Silver was an unusual part— Drag it to a leaf. Don’t fight it on the branch. Half will help the other group, and the rest will wait. It will make a run for it once the pile is off. Catch it. Anchor it to the leaf and spread its legs. Hold it down. Don’t let it run. It runs, it hides, and it’ll be back again later. Let’s catch it this time around.


It was a simple plan of action, nothing too complex that a newcomer like Silver wouldn’t understand. Silver expected some kind of pushback by the soldiers. There was none, which was unexpected since the groups in the outer region fist decided the compensation and talked about the rest. Either, it was already decided or the compensation was based upon your effort, something Silver could get behind.
However, not everything was as clean as it looked. The group leader clearly held animosity against the dirt ants, for all four of them were put in the group that was to stop the corpse piler from running, which was coincidently the most dangerous task of all. Silver asked to be a part of that group.

What kind of a beast is it? Silver asked, causing a few heads to turn and antennae to follow him.

It is our greatest enemy. The group leader said and they were off, down the leaf bridge and up the plant stem. The first group intercepted the intruder near the node and pulled it back. A single soldier couldn’t even budge it, but together they managed somehow. It took all seven of them and the soldiers of the other group to successfully bring it over a nearby leaf. It was strong for sure. Well, someone that could carry the dead bodies of over a hundred aphids on its back and looked like a beetle was sure to be strong.

Silver and the second group created a barricade around it as the others started shearing the pile of its body. There was nervousness spreading among those who stood around him. Not everyone wanted to be there.

Silver was observing the process when the soldier standing to his left opened a conversation with him.
You are new on the farm, right?
Yes. Silver answered, allowing the soldier to lead the conversation, which she did.
Of course, you are. Only the young, ignorant, and crazy ask to be a part of this group. Which one are you?
Maybe she expected a rise out of him because she was taken back when Silver accepted that he was ignorant.
Of course, you are. She continued, pressing harder. Do you even know what that thing is? I believe you have never seen anything like that in your entire life.
What should I expect?
Death! She said with great seriousness, but again, Silver casually accepted her remark causing her to grow flustered. A few antennae turned her way, circulating amusement.

Other newcomers would have already started shaking with fear. Why was this unusual looking ant so different? Shall she get someone else? No. She had her pride. The ant might be tough, but he smelled of pompous upbringing. His body was as pristine as a nymph’s sleek bottom. No way had he ever been to a battle with armor so clean. He didn’t even have the scent of death lingering around him, or dirt sticking inside the folds of his exoskeleton. Actually, the more she noticed these uncanny coincidences the more she hesitated. How had the silver ant lived his life to be so calm and clean?

Their leader raised an alarm, telling them to stay focused. She straightened at first, nervousness reaching its peak, but relaxed and let some fear leak out upon noticing that the situation hadn’t changed much. There was a long way to go. The pile was dense and high. The aphids might be dead but they still held their scent, which was spreading. It was a cause of concern. There was a chance that another predator might follow the scent back to the farm.

She was so lost in thoughts that she almost missed when Silver asked her about the corpse piler. That was not calmness she had noticed, but confidence. She was sure of it. She decided to play it safe this time, to do him a favor. She could con someone else if she lived. And if she was right, well, that was great then wasn’t it?

It’s a hideous killer, she scented —not that she could see much but others called it hideous and so it was. It sucks the aphids dry and covers its body with their corpses. The corpses mask its scent and keep its hidden while it goes around feeding on the aphids —truly vicious. Even the beetles don’t come close to it in terms of viciousness.

The great beetles are also interested in the farm?
What do you think they eat? She pressed, maybe a bit too hard, for even she felt embarrassed about it. The corpse piler, the beetles, and the caterpillars, all of them love the aphids! Sometimes I wonder whether it’s really the honeydew that we are farming or the other way around.

Silver nodded.

That went better than she was expecting. Now that her hesitation was out of the way, she decided to press for some information, too. The merchants were not the only ones who dealt with information. And he didn’t give her the impression of someone hard to deal with. He was basically of the silent type. The farm was more than what it seemed from above. One needed to be prepared out there, or there was no knowing when a fake alarm might lead to an ambush.

Say, which of the eleven cities do you belong to? I am ⁴36786₅ (number 36786, fourth-generation, sixth lay) from the city, Miti-da-mehal, of the west. She started lightly. Usually, everyone carried the pheromone of their city like a flag, but the silver ant was scentless. It was not information worth much, but how he reacted would allow her to decide her next step.

The merchants brought us.
It was not an answer 786^th was expecting. She had heard about the situation related to the merchants. What was it? Something about warnings, and extortion —the army!
Say, Silver suddenly initiated the conversation and she almost had a heart attack. Will I get into the tower if I can kill ten others like this corpse piler?

Wha-What? Her next words made no sense. That was so unlike her! What was she doing, getting flustered over his words? However, where did that come from? What’s the motive, the reason? The ones brought by the merchants wanted to get into the tower! She had unexpectedly hit huge.

Maybe he wanted to enter the tower because of the safety, the same reason as everyone else, or to give a show of strength as a warning? How could it be so simple? Alright, alright, no need to get excited, but there was nothing wrong with keeping their activity in-check, either.

It could be her ticket out of the farm and back to her home. Well, not that place. They shunted her out here into danger; maybe someone else would like her as a mercenary. Everyone likes information gatherers: especially ones they can dispose of later. There was no need for the sarcasm but, duly noted. It was a good point.
Did your shepherdess say that? She did not tell you the whole truth if she did. In the inner region, you have to protect.
Protect the farm?
And the residents, 786^th nudged Silver on the side and instantly regretted it. She didn’t show it, however; she was a professional. Can’t have a farm if no one is there, right?

So, killing it won’t do?

Kill, that? She scented out loud, attracting another group of antennas and another round of amusement. There really was no place for outcasts like her. Well, that suckered all enthusiasm from her.
The soldiers were almost done with the pile. It was half of its previous height and slanting toward the left. It would be coming at them anytime. The others forming the barricade were already getting ready. She got ready too — ready to run.

It is not a caterpillar that won’t fight back. 786^th scented, morosely. The things that attack the inner region aren’t so easy to kill. Our best effort is always to keep the aphids safe whenever there is a swarm and keep them from destroying the plants. Rarely anything is ever killed in the inner region. Take the corpse piler’s example: this is the fifth time that we have caught it. It escaped the last four times.

I understand. Silver said.

786^th felt relieved for some reason. She had gotten overly emotional at the end. The heavy chest was not a feeling that she liked. The amusement of her group was the cause. Well, they were not in the wrong either; since it was her meddling in the desert ant’s affair that had brought them all in their current situation, after all.

The other group was almost done peeling the layer of aphids from the corpse piler. It wouldn’t be long before the intruder was caught, and if it managed to slip past them again… well, that was that then.

However, things didn’t pan out the way she expected. First, the pile of aphids folded upon itself. That bit was expected. It always happened like that. But Instead of getting caught, the intruder instead managed to catch a soldier during the commotion; which was new. It usually made a run for its life, but for whatever reason decided to give a show of strength. Who knew whether it was tired of running or there was some other reason behind the change, but it lifted a soldier in its large curved pincers and started shaking her as a warning to everyone. Come close and I kill her, the aggressive gesture meant.

Don’t hesitate! Hold it before it escapes! The leader bellowed, and it was suddenly their turn to act.
Eight serrated legs, an armored back, pinched face, and pincers that were larger than its head. A layer of thin bristles over the unarmored parts; It was bulkier compared to a hopper but sat flatter on the leaf. All in all, it was one nasty looking bugger.

It snapped its pinchers shut, killing the soldier and pushed another as he tried to hold its leg. A second later, it was suddenly rushing toward them, the last barricade. It would be free if it managed to get past, for the fifth consecutive time. And that would be a shame.

Poison flared, bullets were shot, but the beast was too fast for the marksmen to aim. It crashed into them and blasted through. Call it luck or misfortune, but it came straight toward the 786^th soldier. A rock crusher ant managed to get a hold of its bloated bottom, but it slipped through before the others could pounce. It shed the extra weight and sped up even faster, blurring through the formation at ease. The poison irritated it more than anything, but it managed nonetheless.

Now the beast only needed to find a safe place to hide for some time before the ants lost interest and it could go back to feeding on the soft, plush aphids. The last barricade didn’t even enter its eyes. He had a fart just thinking about the easy life ahead.

786^th was getting ready to… do something, whether to escape or try her luck she hadn’t figured out yet when Silver moved forward.
Don’t be heroic. She blurted out. It has already escaped four times; one more time is not going to change anything. Her remark earned her scowls, which she found less annoying than dirt.

I’m getting into the tower.
I told you to protect the farm if you want to get into the tower!
That’s what I don’t understand. Silver scented. Won’t I be protecting the farm by killing this thing?
And he off, charging toward the corpse piler that was equally as confused about his actions as 786^th. What was he trying to accomplish by charging alone? The others had tried to stop it, hadn’t they? They were mercilessly slaughtered for nothing. However, history was written that day.

It was not an equal fight. Everyone watched as the two collided. It was Goliath versus ant, and unbelievably the ant won. It was fast, but Silver was faster. He slid under its mandibles that were trying to cut him in two, jumped when he was right under its jaw, causing it to lift up.

It was still confused when his mandible glowed a shimmering blue and snapped. That was the last thing the corpse piler saw before its head fell on the leaf, rolled, and stopped at 786^th soldier’s feet. She couldn’t believe it. No one could.
It was an impossible feat, but also the truth.
The corpse piler was dead.

 

I remembered falling from the nest, the hisser rising straight up in eye bursting pain, and the chick that jumped after me. I don’t know what she was thinking. She was too bloody compassionate for her own good. Maybe she wanted to prove that she was different from her brothers.

Did she think she could save me? Like I needed saving. Height didn’t matter to me. It was the floor, the predator infested ground, the foliage, and the beasts hidden inside the shadows that scared me; height —not so much.
Stop thinking about the past and concentrate on the present. Look at your surroundings. You don’t have time to waste daydreaming.

And there it was… my sarcastic inner voice. It was a different being at this point. I wouldn’t have been surprised if that turned out to be true.
Really, where was I? I could see nothing. It wasn’t night time. Night had never looked so bleak, so desolate. My surroundings were too… how should I describe my surroundings? They were too empty, too devoid of everything.
Where are you looking? The voice came again. Stop being distracted by the darkness and concentrate ahead of you. Your trial is starting.
How did my inner voice know that? I craned my neck to look behind and saw something hovering right behind me. It was an ember, orange and dark, but an ember still.
I heaved up to my legs and made an abrupt turn. All of my legs were present, and unexpectedly working. Even the middle left one that I had lost to… what had I lost it to again? Too much had happened in-between. I couldn’t remember.
The ember —it was still there, hovering like a stain in the air.

What are you? I questioned, but there was no answer.
I panicked when it drew closer to my face, but it thankfully stopped at a distance. I was ready to swat it with my antennae otherwise.
Vigilance is good. The voice came, directly in my head. Being afraid of something you don’t know is even better.
is it internal connection, was the first thought that came to my mind, but the voice denied it.

Start walking. It told me; and for better or worse, I followed the command like a broken tool. There was nothing else to do. I had to find a way out anyway.

The ground was dirt, of the compressed kind, and I was inside a tunnel, familiarly dark and narrow. I couldn’t figure how I got there, but the uncanny resemblance that the tunnel had to those of my city was unnerving, to say the least. However, there were no indications of the tunnel having ever been used. That was fairly odd.

The walk was short. Soon I found something hovering at the end of the tunnel: an unnaturally glowing mist. It glowed in multiple shades of blue with a hint of red mixed in. The mist churned as I went closer and someone appeared on the other side of it.

At first, I saw one, but my excitement fell when I noticed the other three familiar shapes. Before I knew it, the mist had surrounded me from all sides and I was standing right behind the lone ant. It was… not real? The figure though closely resembled a worker was clearly made up of the mist. Its shining body was a dead giveaway.

That’s all I could think for a moment before the other three pushed him to the ground. They shoved their mandibles at him in a threatening gesture. They all were workers —detailed by their short mandibles and their small bodies— and familiar.

That’s you. The voice pointed at the one on the ground, the one being bullied. I was thankful. I wouldn’t have known that was me, otherwise.

Sarcasm, I like it. Finally, you are showing some character.

I couldn’t hear them, for there were no chemicals scents from their exchange. But I didn’t need to. I exceptionally remembered this evening.

One of the three bulkier older workers held my apparitions neck in her mandible and I felt my neck tingle. This had happened right after my digging method was rejected by the council of workers. The three were sent by them to force me into giving up, which I had, easily.

I noticed the red mist that wasn’t mixing with the blue kind move closer to my apparition.

Fight back! A voice resounded in the tunnel. It was unlike the one that belonged to the ember. it was harsh and deep and echoing. The mist that made my apparition started boiling as if wanting to fight back. Kill them! The voice continued in hatred. Take what’s yours!

The voice repeated itself and the mist started coalescing. It echoed in the narrow tunnels, setting my senses on fire. Something very wrong was happening and I had no idea what. I feared my misty apparition would do as was told, but it didn’t.

I lowered my head. That’s how I had reacted in reality and also what repeated in front of me. The apparitions disappeared as the mist started churning, happy to find me so close, and moved deeper into the tunnel, opening my path.

That was Greed trying to meddle in your affairs. Now, start walking. The trial hasn’t ended yet. The ember explained. That was enough evidence to learn that it could read my mind.

How do you know that? Who are you?
Concentrate on what’s important. You will know everything when the time comes.

NO! I retaliated in panic. I’m not moving until you tell me what’s going on! And what’s this trial you keep speaking about?
You fulfilled the condition required for Greed to evolve. Clearing the trial is the second condition.
Heart pounding, I asked, What if I fail?
Then you die.

***

I went deeper and saw the mist again. It was waiting for me and came into action upon my touch.
Another apparition formed from the mist, this time it belonged to Princess Tinbuji. She stood motionlessly to my left, antennae entangled around the air. The mist hadn't cared to create her caretaker. It wasn't long before my apparition suddenly formed from the mist to my right and started moving toward her. Then the sergeant appeared and stopped me.

I knew where this was going.

Next, two soldiers appeared carrying a crazy worker. Red mist hovered over her head and seeped into her mouth, whirling inside her. Her form was barely visible under its influence.

This was where I had died protecting the princess. My heart pounded as memories returned and my chest started aching.

The crazy worker slipped from the soldier’s mandible and rushed toward the princess. The sergeant rushed right toward her.

The voice reverberated in the tunnels again as the apparitions froze in motion. Does her life matter more than yours? Why would you protect her? Stay back. You don’t need to protect her. Protect yourself! The voice grated against my consciousness, echoing loud and heavy.

But I protected the princess and died.

The mist fizzed and boiled, strengthening, and thickening. The apparitions disappeared one by one as the mist started churning and once again disappeared deeper down the tunnel, opening another path for me to follow.

The next time around, I found myself at the rim of the pit outside the city. I looked inside and surely, I was there at the bottom, hiding between rotting bodies, scared of the infections, and the soldiers searching for me. My apparition was looking outside, at the princess. The voice spoke again, words that sent a shiver down my back.

She can help you! It said. Reach her. She can’t fight back. Make her help you. Force her. Show her your memories!
I acted.
The mist quivered around me, growing darker and thicker. It shuddered in pain as the inky redness grew; like a sickness. It took over some of the blue particles, giving the calm blue mist a hint of ominous red.
Yes, yes. Greed bellowed, causing the tunnel to resonate with it and grow narrower.

That’s when you gave in to your desire. The ember explained. You didn’t care about her safety and pushed to protect yourself. You became selfish.

But that was my decision. I was trying to survive. Anyone could have done it. I—

How can you be sure? It stressed. You didn’t fight back against the workers bullied you or the council rejected your method. But suddenly you decided to get your way even if it meant harming the one you had died protecting?

Then what should I have done? I asked, but there was no answer.
The mist moved again. It only went slightly deeper before I found it again.
This time the princess asked me whether I would like to go with the harvesters.
Yes, say yes! The voice bellowed and I easily agreed. It was my desire to be a part of the harvesters. Why would I decline the offer when the opportunity arose? It was my only chance! Should I have said no?

Greed laughed again and the mist shuddered in pain. The red sickness grew further, converting more blue mist into its ominous shade.
I had a bad feeling about this.

Next time I entered the mist, my apparition was with the harvesters, following the princess, but she wasn’t the point of attention. There were only two apparitions, me and my partner. I missed her. Watching me ignore and refuse her help again and again deepened the wound in my heart that had opened after learning that she was dead. It hurt more because I didn't do that under Greed's influence, but my own selfishness.
Greed laughed as the mist quivered and grew another shade darker. The ominous red was beginning to take a hazy shape.

Carry onwards. The ember advised. Good or bad, these were your decisions. You need to see which once were influenced by Greed and which were not. The experience will help you next time.

I didn’t listen to Greed when it asked me to forsake Princess Tinbuji and save my life from the termite. That caused some of the red mist to revert back to their previous blue shade.

The sickness whittled further when I fought my anger and didn’t kill the soldier on the 41^st floor.
Greed got angry and the blue shade of the mist strengthened when I helped the injured during the termite's raid, or when I followed Princess to the mushroom farm instead of letting her go alone.

The sickness completely dispersed when I promised Princess to reach the 47^th city in her stead, leaving a red bead the size of my head floating inside the pulsating blue mist at the end. That was it.

---

Congratulations! You have overcome Greed’s first trial.
Greed has evolved to Tier-1.​

---

[Greed][Tier-1][Vessel-0/1][Essence]
[????]
[Effects:]
Infinite skill affinity
There is a small chance of your most-used skills gaining a level when you level up.
Skills can’t gain experience.
????​

---

The tunnel warped and disappeared, throwing me into darkness. I felt a pull starting to grow strong on my body when the ember glowed once again around me.
You didn’t succumb to Greed this time. But that doesn’t mean you are out of danger. Never forget what you saw here. Greed is a sickness. It is going to try and infect you again. Don’t fall for its tricks. A selfish life is not a happy life.
I had so many things to say, but pulled away before I could even begin, and kicked out.

 

Hey, buzz, you awake? Is he awake, Shri? I really can’t figure it out. Mind turning his face toward me? No? Well, keep to yourself then. Don’t come running to me if I don’t talk to you anymore!

The loud and obnoxious scent pulled me out of sleep. I was too tired to wake up, mind blank, and sight hazy. Some kind of drunkard was throwing pheromones around like crazy. I gave a mental groan and fell back into that sleep induced darkness.

Come on now, wake up, kid. You continue sleeping like that and you won’t be alive to see another morning!


You are missing the setting sun. Don’t the colors just remind you of flowers and their sweet-sweet nectar? Wait, you are not a bee. Flowers wouldn’t attract you.

Whoever it was, gave up at that point, but not for long. They, however, changed their target.

Have you had a partner yet, Shri? Well, you do look kind of bulbous, if you don’t mind me poking. What —didn’t like that one, either? Come on! It was a great joke; it’s you who is too stiff and tight assed. Don’t you worry? I like you just the way you are! What, how are you still not impressed? I think there’s something wrong with you, Shri.


Well, I had something to say, too. And it was not all retarded quips and drunken comments. How someone could have such a lousy control over the pheromones? He was blowing them in enough quantities to saturate our surroundings. That would have gotten him locked up back in the city. Wait! I was not in the city!

I pulled away from the sleep-induced darkness like I would from an infection.

Stay away from him, Shri. The screamer was continuing. I’ll retaliate, otherwise. You don’t know my anger, yet.
Plants, leaves, web, and a shading spider!

My senses screamed of danger. I came wide awake! The spider was a goliath, nefarious, and salivating. Fangs protracted and pincers cleaning its straw mouth, she was coming for me, tip-toeing upon the straight thread. I bolted. Well, I tried. I couldn’t move. I pushed and heaved and even shook my body like I was having a seizure. But my efforts were wasted. I didn’t budge an inch.

I was on my back and glued to the monster's dreadful creation, the web.

She stopped right beside me and I panicked. I scented alarm with everything I had. I called for help. I scented emotions of the kind I had never felt before, and help came.

Oh, you are finally awake, kid. The scent was powerful and demanding and mind-numbing.

Chirpers and hissers had nothing on a spider. I could have escaped them anytime, but spiders are nefarious in our community for their traps. They eat their prey slowly over the days. They are the worst.
Thought you were dead. The scent continued. I tried calling you, but you were not listening at all. Name’s Barry, by the way. What do you call yourself?

Help! I turned. I don’t know what I was hoping from someone so merry, but what I found was not hope. There was a hornet looking at me. It was cocooned from chest to end and only had its head left outside.

I would have liked to react to the situation, but that’s when I felt the spider’s hairy legs descend upon my body. Immovable as I was I could do nothing to stop her. She bit me; one of her fangs pierced my bottom and delivered a cocktail of toxins that would have instantly turned my insides into goop were it not for the system. However, mysteries as it was, even the system couldn’t protect me completely. My sight grew colorful as the poison traveled to my head. Limbs stiffened right away. I tried something, but then the memories of my tussle with the ember and the mist resurfaced, paralyzing me. I didn’t hear anything after that.

I was completely bound to the web when I woke up. A cocoon of shining grey covered me so tight there was no leeway to move. I was no longer paralyzed, but even flexing my limbs didn’t budge the cocoon. It was a hopeless situation. It was the end. I was going to die.

Calm down, kid. You are not helping anyone like that. That thing is not so easy to get out of once caught. The giant hornet told me and then addressed the spider. See, this is why I don’t introduce you to others. Everyone starts panicking upon finding your identity. Can’t you web yourself a disguise or something? Like those beetles that carry their whole homes on their back? You can get some flowers maybe and cover that ugly face. That alone will be a huge improvement.

My head swam when the spider bit the hornet. His abdomen quivered as she sucked a few healthy gulps from inside him and pulled back. It was true. The spiders really kept their prey alive!

Maybe it was an act of asserting dominance, but the spider went as far as to twist the hornet’s antennae, causing him to buzz in pain. But even that didn’t stop him from cursing her as she was retreating back to her hiding place.

Yeah, run back to the side and stay there, you webbeber, Web-blobeber, web-bieber —oh, I’m too tired.
He noticed me watching. For a moment we both started. It was obviously he who broke the silence.
That’s Shri, by the way.
There was a vibration from the net. I could sense it now that I was calm. What else could I be? Panic and strength had already proved to be worthless.
Shri likes jewelry. He said, pointing one quivering antenna toward the other end of the hexagonal web.

Shrunken, mummified bodies hung from the web ends like small trinkets. It was not a good sign. My chances of escaping were looking really grim.

Wait! He could understand her. So maybe he could convince her to let us go. I gave another hard pull, but the cocoon was unbreakable. Just how strong was her web?

I decided to try my luck. You can understand her? I asked.

Of course, I can. Who do you think I am?

Can you tell her to let me go? I need to be away. I told him my reason, the summary of my journey, and aim. He was highly impressed. There was one problem, however.

That’s very romantic. He said. I like it. This kind of aim is worth protecting. It’s just that —there came the excuses. I would have been better off without the hope— do you think I’d be here if she listened.
That was fair.

She’s obviously deaf. The hornet scented loud enough to ring my head. The spider furiously tapped the web in return. I wondered how he could be so confident. We were literally seconds from death. If anything, he should have been weak and weary, catatonic from fear.

Oh, here she comes. Don’t let her stick you —not that you can resist. However, keep in mind: she injects you, and you are done. Good luck. Hope you survive.

Mt heart undulated in synch with the web. She was coming directly for me. I cringed away into the grey cocoon, trying to hide inside my prison. The only positive news was that her fangs were retracted back, but the poking straw shaped jaw more than made up for it in the negatives. She wasted no time.

Positioned her legs around my cocoon and jaw at my abdomen, and bit into my abdomen through the cocoon without damaging it. My strength waned. A big bright numerical five rose out of my head, followed by slowly trickling ones and twos of yellow. Soon I couldn’t even keep my head up and lost consciousness.

The sky was covered in a veil of black clouds when I came back. The shuddering wind was blowing the web everywhere, trying to free it from the constraints. I believe we would have had a much better chance of survival if the wind did blow it away. But the spider had been thoughtful. She had added a few more anchors to keep the construction floating, though the design had become a mess. We had another guest stuck on the web: a hoverfly. The hornet was still around, and still as merry as ever.

He noticed me waking up and welcomed my back with a cocktail of pheromones to drive my hangover away.

Did you think of any plans while you were concentrating?

I was unconscious! I would have shouted, if not for the following information.
It’s going to eat us tonight.

I thought sensibly. It was not time to panic. We needed to find a path to freedom or somehow make the spider let us go.

Anyway, he said, think you can do anything about our situation with your mandible? I heard your kind can cut through anything if you push hard enough.

I turned my face to let him see my missing mandible, giving him much disbelief. He cursed as if that was the extent of his plan. I was not even surprised. He was not normal. Maybe all hornets were like that? No. How could I judge an entire species based on a single encounter. I was distracting myself and it was working.

What rotten luck. Mind telling us where you lost it? That’s Giant by the way. He told me pointing an antenna below at the hoverfly, who buzzed his wings in response. He was still trying to escape. Good choice. Just that it wasn’t so easy to escape the web once caught. Now that I was calm and collected I could see how panicking was not helping Giant, instead, it was making the web wind tighter and tighter around him. It wasn’t long before the wing that it had free was also stuck the web.

I do mind. I said not feeling so well.
Come on! How else do you want to pass time? By sleeping, or maybe counting fireflies in the sky? Well, not tonight.
There were clouds in the sky. What if it rains?

Don’t get your hopes up. Barry curbed my enthusiasm. She will drag us under a leaf if it does rain, and that will be that.
Don’t you have any good news?
Now that you mention it, I do have one. Look to your left? He said.
There was a fresh cocoon hanging from the end of the web. That’s Marcus. She finished eating him an hour ago. So there is a chance that she won’t eat us tonight.
This is tomfoolery, nothing more! I lashed and he lashed back, blasting pheromones stronger than ever.

What? You have something better to add? If so, tell that to poor Marcus. He also believed in miracles and now he’s dead —gone! I can’t be gone yet. I have to bring back the news of an invasion to my home. I can’t die here!

However, the night came and brought Shri —as Barry had named the spider— to eat us.

She went to him first and ate two of his legs. She tried to eat more but he finally had enough leeway to flutter his wings and that got her off him. Yeah, stay away from me, Shri. I don’t like you like that. I had to give it to him; he had a heart so big it was growing out of his chest. If I didn’t know any better I would say he didn’t care about his life. But that would be a wrong claim.

And then Shri teetered toward me. It was amazing how easily she could move even under the wind.
That reminds me of Marcus. The wind carried the pheromones to me. You are about the same size as him. Better not let her get you again.

No. I screamed, but the spider was too much. I couldn’t move, couldn’t act. Charging with the skill took me nowhere. The web was too sticky, too strong.
Her legs felt the cocoon, finding a good place to stick me. Saliva dripped from her mouth. She was going to enjoy eating me alive!

Buzz your wings! The stupid hornet advised. I had no wings. All I had were my pheromones.
I targeted the spider's face and overwhelmed, causing an explosion of pheromones at point-blank.
Whoa, what is this? This is amazing. The hornet cried from the other side. He was enjoying the attack a variant from which had frozen a whole company of ants on the 40^th floor.

It had no effect on Shri.
Do it again. The hornet exclaimed. I thought he was onto something. Do it one more time before you die! This rush is AMAZING!
Like hell, I could or would do it again! It was my only shot. The spider’s mouth grew closer. Just when I thought this was it, a familiar chirp rose somewhere in the distance, sending a shiver down my bound back?
Something moved in the white boundlessness of my sight. The spider was about to dig into me when the chick swooped down from the sky and tore through the web in a single sweep. The web stuck to her face as she careened through the ferns and the bushes. Winds flung Giant off the web and he plunged into the foliage below; while Barry chanted bird over and over again. It was good to know that even he had his limits. What was not good to see was the large tree that we were approaching at breakneck speeds. However, the chick banked toward the left, dodging at the last moment, midst mine and Barry’s fearful releases. Flying was too shading much for my heart.

It wasn’t long before we were on the ground. The chick rubbed her face into one of the feathery wings and cleaned the web and us and then pecked us out. She snipped the cocoon and freed me and almost ate Barry. I had to douse him in my pheromones to sway her into letting him go.

The spider fell out of her beak when she chirped, but she was quick to pick it back up from the ground, munch it into a paste and engulf it. That was the end of a menace.

Shri, no! Don’t leave me. Barry cried as I released him from his binds. At least return my limbs!

His condition did not look good. The spider had eaten him away. Only his front legs remained and even his wings were damaged. He was in no condition to fly, and I thought I had it bad.

I’m alive, aren’t I? That’s all that matters. The wing will heal. And these two legs are more than enough for me. He said moving them in front of my face. They barely twitched at his command.

You should learn something from him. My inner voice, the ember that lived inside me, spoke up for the first time in what felt like ages. I agreed.

Where are we going? The chick chirped excitedly. The world is so big. The wind is so cold. The sky is so empty. Where are we going, next?

I wanted to return to the 43^rd city as soon as possible. It was only right that the chick took me back for the delay that her mother had caused. But I took a step back. Clouds rumbled above scaring the chick. The rain was coming. There was no way I was getting anywhere tonight. And there were also my considerations about Greed and its workings. Selfishness strengthened the sickness, the result of which I didn’t want to know.

I couldn’t figure if it would be selfish of me to force the chick to help me or not. She would be of much help, but I would be separating her from her mother. This is what the Ember had meant when it told me to be selfless rather than being selfish.

However, her mother was not around, and I didn’t want the chick to be alone anymore; not after what I knew about her. She deserved a better life. We all did.

Say, I asked Barry. How far is your home?

Not far at all! He said, understanding. The sun sat in that direction so that means we need to go that way. He said pointing to my left.
Are you sure?
Of course, He buzzed and flexed his jaw from the resulting pain. Wh-who forgets the-the-ir way home? But how are we getting there before it rains?
I looked at the chick. She was feverishly looking at the lights in the sky, though the rumble scared her. She hid her head between her feathery wings every time lightning lit the sky pink.
What do you think about riding her? I pointed at the chick and Barry buzzed in painful excitement. He better stop buzzing!

Of course, Madhuri will help us, but will she listen to you?

He named her, too. That was… fair? I also had my number and Barry… actually, who gave him the name? Maybe every hornet had names? And what about Shri —did he name her, too? Did he also have a name for me? Maybe he was still waiting for my introduction.

I shook my head as the sky rumbled and a cold shuddering gust ruffled the forest. It was time to find out whether the chick —Madhuri, the ember whispered in my head and had a laughing fit— well, whether she would follow me or not. Selfish or selfless, It was not intelligent to spend the night in the open; especially since it was raining.

 

We were struggling to stay afloat.

Madhuri was still just a chick and the way she flew was nowhere near as graceful as her mother. She didn’t have the strength to clench her stomach while afloat, resulting in her behind end hanging below her wings. She couldn’t fly straight for the life of her and wobbled all the way, but it was still miles better than the effort I would have to produce to bring Barry home to his colony.

She’s gliding to save strength. Barry told me as I grew concerned about her constant drops. That’s how most of these birds learn to fly.

A bird he called her. I asked if he was giving her another name and he became defensive. Everyone knows that one. Just like how you are an ant and I am a hornet; she is a bird.

He was pretty amused when I told him that we had called them sky predators for ages.

That fits. He said. Considering birds eat ants. But they don’t eat us. Someone really needed to tell him how painfully direct he was. Well, not me. I was more interested in knowing why the sky predators, or birds as he called them, didn’t eat them. He looked scary to me, for sure. But to her, to Madhuri, he was but a bite-sized snack.

It has nothing to do with size. We were simply born special, superior.
Yeah?
Absolutely; See this?
He shoved his butt toward my face and protracted the tip of his stinger.

I scoffed. We also had that. I must have leaked my thoughts again… because he went ahead to shove the full length out. And I was impressed. He was big. The stinger was almost as large as my head, and it was thick. That thing could have easily penetrated my body from front to back. Add the strong poison that oozed from the tip, yep, it was no wonder the birds didn’t target hornets.

I think I saved Madhuri by spraying my pheromones all over Barry’s body. She would have attacked him otherwise, and things would have escalated quickly from there. Had he poked her at the wrong place she could have ended up with a swollen belly. That would have all but ended our chance of us making anywhere with her crying from the contractions.

The shaky flight and the wind were alright; since we could snuggle under her feathery warm coat. She squirmed every time Barry moved, scraping her skin, but between staying afloat and flying in the dark, she got used to it pretty quickly. As for how we controlled her. We didn’t. She followed the scent of my pheromones, which I had to keep throwing out every time I recovered enough to hold some sway over her. According to Barry, his colony was straight ahead, but Madhuri never actually flew straight. So it was both troublesome for her and me.

I had to constantly run out of her warm feathery coat and into the cold numbing winds to correct our course as Barry dictated, which meant even more correction over time because even he was starting to have doubts.

The forest looks the same at night. He blamed. I was too exhausted to refute his claim but kept an eye on my map to make sure we wouldn’t be going around in circles. But the map was static and refreshed into a blank slate every time we crossed a certain distance, two hundred ant lengths to be exact —I counted. And it only showed the portion that I had personally explored; the rest remained covered. It was still better than nothing, even with all the flaws.

I was still debating what to do with the skills. The trial had almost curbed the little enthusiasm I had regarding the system. The evil was out of the box. Now I knew cultivating strength with the system meant being in a constant tussle with Greed, the sickness that lived inside me, and my safety was but a delusion.

There was also the slot that had opened after Greed evolved to tier-1. But I was already against the idea of making Princess a vessel of Greed. As a vessel, she might only connect tot eh system, but since there was a chance of her forming a shard of Greed —whatever it was— I was against the whole idea, altogether. There would neither be any vessels nor any leaks about the system. The world shade was dark enough already.

The rain arrived at just the right moment because that’s when neither Barry nor I were feeling well. Madhuri was exhausted beyond belief. It poured into the forest and quickly drowned all sounds of life. We had kept going in a trance —Madhuri flew, I corrected course, and Barry slept— but rain connected us back to reality, bringing exhaustion from the back of our minds to the front.

We had to quickly hide. Madhuri wouldn’t listen until Barry bit her neck and pulled her toward the trees. He made sure not to hurt her too much, but it pained me that we were not any better than her brothers. We were also hurting her to get things done our way. I promised myself to see my behavior and not hurt her in the future —unless it was a matter of life and death. Selfish or not I couldn’t let her die on me now, could I?
The same I made Barry promise. He reluctantly agreed.

We took residence inside a squirrel hole. Madhuri found it, a lesson she had most likely learned after being evicted from the nest. However, the squirrels that lived there didn’t like her intrusion. They cursed in ways impossible to understand, clicking a racket that would have called a number of night predators to the hole if it wasn’t raining outside. In the end, they pissed at her and ran out. Have no idea where they went. Not far, probably and hopefully, because we left as soon as the rain stopped near midnight.

Barry woke me and Madhuri came awoke because of us. She shuddered and gave a lonely chirp upon finding that she was alone again. I released a packet of pheromone to let her know that I was around, causing her to flutter her wings and do the hoping dance. And that was it for her sleep and my hibernation.
Barry and I looked out to see if our surroundings were clear. Madhuri followed suit for the gist and giggles. I uselessly tried to make her stop chirping, as the forest was too silent after the rain and her high octave voice ringed among the trees like a beaming signal.

A twig snapped at a distance, the wind ruffled the leaf, a scent arose nearby, Barry saw something move and it startled Madhuri. We flew out of the hole like chased by a ghost.

What was it? I asked, vibrating antennae to increase my range of detection.

Barry shook his head. I have no idea, but it was most likely nothing good.


At this point, we had more problems than solutions. There was hunger, danger, mental exhaustion, and aches. Madhuri was so hungry I could hear her stomach grumbling. I thought it was the sky until Barry explained to me that it wasn’t something so far away. She didn’t cry out as she would have done were she still in the nest. Actually, I had never heard her cry out of hunger, even when her mother was there to feed her children. Most of the crying was done by her brothers, especially the large selfish one.

I don’t want to turn out like him. I thought.
Then be selfless. The ember stirred.
Cry she might not, but she was easily distracted by every little movement. Fluttering leaves distracted her the most, for they must have looked like flying critters to her eyes in the dark forest.

As a matter of fact, I was also hungry, but Barry told me the hive wasn’t far and we would be able to eat till our stomachs burst. And that kept my hopes up.

It wasn’t long before Barry grew excited. There, he pointed into the distance, too far from my eyes to see. My sight was still limited by the skill level, but I could taste the sweetness in the air. It was minute but I could sense it. I didn’t even have to vibrate my antennae; the smell was all over the place. Madhuri liked it too, for she even chirped to happiness.

A dark city grew large past the cover of trees, branches, and leaves. Hidden between branches of a large tree with white trunk and waxed elliptical leaves, grew a large construction, dark and alive. It covered well over a quarter of the trees western side, sprawling between branches small and big. A buzzing cacophony had the air trembling. It was BEES!

Shading hell, we are too late. Barry cursed. The damn moths are already here.


The city was under attack by what he called moths, giants to me, but equal to the BEES! Hairy white and thick black dotted wings of grey, the moths were stark in contrast to their dark-yellow opponents. That didn’t matter. Why were we at a Bee Hive? Barry was a Hornet! What was he doing worrying about them? That was like me going out of my way to protect the termites. Something like this was against the very nature of things.

The only relief was that when Madhuri called food, she meant the moths and not the bees. However, that didn’t mean the bee wouldn’t retaliate. For all I knew, they were already in frenzy, and a bird in their midst would be like throwing lightning at a dead tree. A fire was bound to flare from their meeting.

However, Barry was prepared. He openly shared his passport pheromone with me and Madhuri. He didn’t just give it to her, but sprayed it over her head, covering a large part of to make her seem like just another bee —or a group of them— cruising through. But allowed to evaporate, it wouldn’t last long.

The bees didn’t attack us when Madhuri pushed into the buzzing, swishing crowd of moths and them. She confused them, which was good. And they pulled back from her, intimidated by her size. Thankfully, she was intelligent or nurtured enough to know the difference between something she could eat and something she shouldn’t. Bee's weren't much different from a hornet, and eating one alive… the thought alone made me squirm in nervousness.

However, the colony acted differently. The workers congregated together to produce a warning by buzzing their bodies, creating aggressive patterns over the hive. They wanted her to stay away, and she firmly got the message.

The moths weren’t many, but they were surprisingly immune to the bee stings. A drop of the poison would have killed one of my own ten times over, but the moths acted like they didn’t care. They were all over the hive, pushing past the workers and cracking open the hexagonal pods to drink honey and steal the eggs and larvae.

I was seeing a pattern here, and the possibility scared me. Was there a chance that the moths were also similar to the termites that had raided the city, Agnee-Rath-Ji, my home? They too were immune to poison, after all.

The moths were having the time of their life until the sky predator happened. She was slow, but the moths weren’t blurring fast either.

Madhuri pounced at them like a hungry beast. She picked one with her baby claws directly from the air, taking perch on a nearby branch to eat it before flying off to get another. She didn’t have to say how much she liked the moths; her crisp chips and burning enthusiasm was all the indication I needed.

Go, girl! Kill them all. Barry encouraged her, but he was forgetting something.

Her passport won’t last long. I told him. It’s only a matter of time before your friends, which I hope they are—
They are my friends. He interrupted. You might think I’m after the queen but that’s not true. Believe me.
I’m sure it was the truth, but his personal agendas were not the problem.

We need to get her help before the bees go against her. She won’t survive if they swarmed her.

I would have told Madhuri to roll back on the chirps, for they played a big role in warning the moths, the reason why she sometimes missed her mark. Sadly, it was already something that two insects, one ant, and a hornet, were riding a bird. Guiding her in a certain direction was the limit of my ability; the rest depended all upon her.

She decimated the moths. However, the passport that Barry had given her was not foolproof. The bees were still confused about her, but they were starting to realize the truth and growing vigilant.

I chocked when she almost ate a bee in the heat of the moment. She became careful not to touch those hairy, buzzing spearheads going berserk after one painful sting. She nicely resisted the sting, making me wonder if she was also resistant. She had a good run, but it was clear to see that the bees were starting to get suspicious of her. The pheromone had run its course.

We need to get her help. The soldiers are starting to see through her.
Then we need to meet the queen. Barry advised. Only she can give her a passport to roam freely around.
I looked at the hive. There were gazillion bees covering it.
That’s not going to be possible. I said.
It’ll be a life and death situation in a few moments, right?
Do it. I told him.
He bit her on the neck and steered her away from the commotion.

She had given the bees the upper hand. The voids she left tin h moth defense became the reason for their demise. Bees had more than one weapon. The stinger was actually their last weapon of choice. Their jaws were also fairly thick and strong, and there were only a few hundred moths flying around. Opportunists as they were, the bees saw their chance and clung to the moths. Many wings were plucked that day.

What do the moths want? I asked my partner in crime as he steered her toward one of the closest trees.
Eggs, basically: to eat and implant. Their larvae eat through honeycombs like a sickness. And honey. No matter who it is, everyone likes the sweet delicacy.

Honeydew?

Don’t compare the pure golden nectar that is honey to the watered-down plant extract that your kind likes to drink. I reckon you have never had some before. Well, don’t worry soon you’ll be drowning in it.

I didn’t want to drown in honey but sure; I also wanted to find out the cause of the sweetness in the air.

We pulled her to a tree some way from the hive and got off her; well, I pulled Barry down. He needed some nutrition’s in his body. He was surprisingly light for someone his size. His battered and bruised body was proof of his suffering at the fangs of Shri.

Madhuri surprisingly tried to fly off but took perch on the branch when I released an overwhelming amount of pheromones near her face, causing her to sneeze. It was all I could do. Things would have taken an ugly turn if she didn’t remember that it was the same thing I had done to stop her brothers from hurting her. Thankfully she remembered.

The bees soon finished their work and approached us. Their heightened buzzing made me really nervous. They were bees and we were not. In simple terms, we were trespassing into their territory.

Didn’t you want to know why I named the spider-Shri?
Yes? It’s not the time for it, but sure. Tell me. I said. I liked the distraction.
You are a buzzkill sometimes. You know. Anyways, Shri means Mr.
That surprised me. But the spider was a female—
Exactly, He nodded his head, looking at me, antennae quivering.

We both burst out into amusement, and Madhuri joined us simply because it was fun to laugh together. It was no wonder Shri hated him. I’ll never forget the confusion that the bees released. That sent us into another fit, causing the bees that were already hesitant about dropping near us to keep hover instead.
They weren’t vigilant, simply stupefied!

 

You better control your pheromones when in the hive. I don’t want you to end up with more holes than you already have. Barry said.

Very funny, It wasn’t; it was offensive.

Nah, maybe a few more holes will help you relax. Calm down. The bees know you are a friend. They wouldn’t be carrying you, otherwise. Right, marshal thirty-five and thirty-seven?

The marshals —I had taken to the names too keenly— were annoyed and irritated. One carried me, and three carried Barry holding him from the front, mid and back because he was heavy. All that exquisite armor was bound to weight him down.

I’m calm. I told him. I was not calm. If anything, I was excited and scared, also nervous.

I was surprised to find that the bees weren’t a single bit interested in the moth’s carcasses. They left them out to rot. Well, Madhuri had the feast of her life. I could only hope she wouldn’t overdo it.

The bees were frightened of her, and it didn’t help that she wanted to follow me. She had agreed to stay away from the hive, but that had come at the expense of me having to butt heads with her, literally; I didn’t feel right about it. Seriously, though, I even got two skills out of the exchange and a dent in my forehead. Just kidding; it was simply a concussion and a normal head-splitting ache.

As for the skills, well, I was not too excited about them. Since the more I had the closer I would get to my second trial. However, I couldn’t see any way out of this loop. If anything, I only needed to be selfless and could enjoy the strength and opportunity that the skills presented. But that was the hardest part of it all. I had been more selfish in this one night than my entire life. The second trial was bound to be tough

---

Yeah! We are gonna break that skull and break that bone and we gonna do it without a weapon in hand!
You have acquired a new skill: Martial arts mastery.​

---

[Martial arts][Lv-1/10][Tier-1][Mastery]
[It’s an art of self-defense.]
[Effect: Skill: Head butt unlocked.]
***
[Head Butt][Lv-1/10][Tier-1][Active]
[Heads are hard and they can break a lot of things. Just make you don’t hit something too hard or you might end up with a fracture or two, alright? Peace.]​

---

It was Princess Tinbuji’s dream to visit the bees. She wanted to form a partnership with them. I made sure to take a souvenir for her.

Thousands of workers bees hung from the hive, sleeping.

The hive itself was not protected by an outer wall. The workers protected it with their bodies, which was a bit too extreme for me.

The hive was fundamentally different from an ant colony. The bees did not hide like us. They were fearless, mostly, and buzzing. The buzzing was everywhere. Even at night when they were supposed to be asleep. I guess it was a special night.

I wondered how they controlled the temperature and humidity. I tempted Barry into talking, which obviously didn’t take much.

They buzz. He said. That’s all they do. To warm or cool the hive, to give directions, to warn or excite others, to ask for food; they do all that by buzzing.

It’s not as simple as that. Marshal thirty-fifth was vexed. She almost dropped Barry when he ignored her, but the others pulled him up.

From outside the hive looked like one giant structure, but there were free spaces in-between every comb. It was mostly made up of hundreds of deep hexagonal cells, each half the size of a bee and equally deep and yellow in color. The hive was but a queen’s chamber scaled up to size.

They use these cells for everything, from laying eggs to storing honey. The bees are obsessed with them.

I’m saying again. Don’t make fun of the hive. These things are not so simple. Eggs are only laid when the temperature is warm, and the cells that are used to store honey cannot be used for other purp— He’s not listening, is he?

Barry was once again looking away. He either didn’t like her or he didn’t care.
I was listening. I let her know. She was not happy.
The colony was quickly going back to sleep. It’s what they do at night. Barry said. What about you lot? Do you have some off time?
I shook my head, not knowing that it was a trap. We don’t really sleep.
That explains why you are always on the edge.
The workers parted to let us in deeper. A few were chewing something and using it to repair the hive. Well, at least those awake were.
Its honey wax, Barry explained. He pointed an antenna at a worker; she was sucking drops of condensation from the back of another worker. That was the honey wax he was talking about, a by-product of the honey that Princess wanted so badly. The worker collected the wax and started chewing it.

I asked Barry why she was doing it, but his knowledge was clearly lacking. For this and that, He said, not shy of laughed at. I would have let the topic drop if Marshal thirty-fifth hadn’t come to the rescue, again.

Chewing makes the wax soft and malleable. The other marshals motivated her and she continued. Malleability is important to keep the combs thin and flexible. The hexagonal form only appears after the wax solidifies. Marshal thirty-four and six rubbed her back in affection, causing her to look away. But her vibrating abdomen let known her happiness to everyone.

Still, I was surprised that there were no chambers, tunnels, or farms, but only honeycombs and the cells. Many of the cells had larvae growing, topped full with something sweet and thick, others had eggs at the bottom, while a few were empty and some were sealed off with honey wax.

The marshals dropped Barry into a cell that was larger than most, to complement his large body, and called workers who filled it to the brim with something grey and sweet.

It’s a royal jelly bath. You just wait. I’ll be up by the time the sky grows light.

Have a speedy recovery. I wished and was taken further in, deeper where the queen was working.

Marshal thirty-seven dropped me close to her and took rest behind. A few workers rushed to her with offers of food and other services. She was asked while I was force-fed and meticulously cleaned, by not one but three aggressively enthusiastic workers. It was the most harrowing experience of my life. They were not gentle and pulled my limbs every way to stretch and clean the most intimate of place. They smelled of flowers from up close, but with jaws like theirs, they were nightmare incarnates. I was only able to keep my sanity because I knew they didn’t eat meat.

I later learned that most of the workers had never left the colony. I was the first foreigner they were meeting on a friendly basis, and that was the cause behind their zeal. I felt like a ball of fuzz when they were done with me. One pushed me toward the queen, and then raced away following her companions to pester the queen to sleep.

Welcome, little traveler. The queen buzzed her wings and touched my head. She was slender and mobile, unlike queen Agnee, my mother. She was only slightly larger than a normal worker, a giant for me, and had a red-colored abdomen. She had no caretakers, feeding and massaging her.

You have done me an invaluable service today, child of Fire. Tell me how I can repay the favor and I will see to your needs. She scented that while pumping an egg into an empty cell, after which she moved onto the next cell, asking me to come along.

She was large enough to walk over the cells, but for me, they were not less than inescapable traps. I managed somehow by keeping my balance on the footpaths that the top adjoined cells created.

I am lo-lost — I almost fell into a cell but didn’t let the experience startle me into inactivity— your highness. I said. It would be kind of you if you can point me toward the city of embers.

You have fallen far from the fire, child. It would be a perilous journey back. Won’t you accept my offer to stay?

That’s very generous of you, your highness, but I am on a mission. The fate of my city depends on me. For that, I would have to decline your offer.

That’s unfortunate. She said. Her eyes glowed with a glint of something sinister, but she blew it before it could catch fire. Maybe the thought was the reason that she decided to reward me? I would never know. Now go, rest. I heard you have never tasted honey before? Well, now you can.


That was my reward: a cell of honey. She also gave me some passport pheromone, enough of it to last for the next couple of days. Finishing our dealing she let the workers drag her away. They were reluctant to let her wait any longer. The night was growing older by the second and her days were already long enough. They didn’t want her to tire out.

Since I was left to my own device, I decided to roam around, and sightseeing. However, it soon became apparent that the beehive was much less interesting than an ant colony. It was abundantly chaotic but structurally bare. Having lived in the narrow confines of our dark tunnels, the differences were enough to keep me from getting bored. I knew the hive would grow hectic in the day and the thought planted an eagerness in me that was simply wonderful. The last few days had been too bleak and dreary in comparison.

I was thankful for the opportunity and a worker showed me to the cell of honey that was rewarded to me.

Wasn’t I worried about taking a souvenir for Princess Tinbuji?

Well, she would have to believe me once she tasted the honey. It was an absolutely wonderful delicacy! Honeydew had nothing on it. Barry didn’t know how to describe it. Honey was liquid happiness. So sweet, so nutrition’s, so slimy, and there was enough of it to drown me three times over. That was enough honey to last exactly a hundred ants the whole shading day!

I didn’t dare eat more than a single drop, but even that proved too much for me. Gone was my tiredness and worries. Energy coursed through me, bringing me the strength to do anything. And it was a sustained rush; unlike the short burst provided by honeydew.

The honey gave me so much focus that I ended up spending a large part of the night watching a worker repairing the hive wall. But when the high faded, it also took the happiness along with it and left a void in me. The bees were used to honey's adverse effects, whereas I was left drained and tired.

Feeling lonely I went out, saw Madhuri nestled on a branch nearby, and took a seat close by. I couldn’t sleep. I missed my city, Princess and safety. It felt like such a long time ago when I had dreamt of becoming a harvester. Life before it was all but a blur at this point. So many things had happened. However, the adventure was worth it. What I had witnessed and gone through were not common experiences. Princess would agree with me.

Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet, fool. A female droning entered my senses and a shiver went down my back. I looked around, but couldn’t find anyone.

A tongue swiped the back of my head, while the droning came again. You smell of Barry. What happened to him? Are you the food that he’s caught for me? That’s sweet of him.

I saw her. She gleamed under the moonlight. There was barely a buzz about her. She was long and slender, and silent as the night. Thin long legs allowed her to silently move around. Her colors were too monotonic, too metallic. She was a wasp of the parasitic family —an ants worst nightmare.

I ran without looking where I was going.

There were stories about those of her kind, there are always stories. But this one I had personally witnessed.

There was a nymph that had been injected by one during my caretaker days. I remember feeling fearful of the wasp, staying vigilant at days. That nymph died a painful death as the wasp larvae slowly ate her from the inside and tore out of her.

She easily caught and pinned me to the ground. Heart pounded. I had only thought of charging when she curled her abdomen toward me, bringing the hair-thin ovipositor out and pointing it at my abdomen. She was taunting me. Still, want to run? She asked. I fizzled, considered my options, and melted like frost under sunlight to her warning. There was nothing I could do than to let her lead me around.
Eventually, she got off my back.
Where’s that fool, Barry?
He’s recuperating.
Recuperating? Bah, is he in a royal jelly sleeping?
Yes? Was there something wrong with that? Perhaps.
Hmm, I thought you were lying. Well, anyways. I’m hungry.
Please don’t eat me. That wasn’t me being submissive. A wasp was not an opponent I could deal with. I didn’t have to try to find out. She was an apex predator that killed spiders to lay eggs; I was still just an ant.
Then bring me, honey.

No need. He’s not one of your toys to boss around, Bella. Barry came. Wings buzzing, he was slowly flying toward us. He looked much better since the last I had seen him, healthier. He’s a friend. And we don’t eat friends.

You look good. She buzzed her wings to laughter. And he joined her.

That moment screamed at me to mind my business and stop intruding between them, but I stayed firm out of fear of being chased by a parasitic wasp.

Did you bring the honey?
How could I not? Barry buzzed and she rushed him.
She literally disappeared and appeared in front of him.
Oh no! Would she kill a friend? The thought arose in my mind.

A gust rushed through the tree, playing with the leaves as the two entered a passionate mouth-to-mouth exchange. I had never seen anything so erotic in my entire life. Their antennae coiled around each other as they stood straight releasing sexual emotion. Wings flapped and they slowly rose into the air, jaws moving in a familiarly motivated manner. Bella wrapped her body around Barry’s and held him tight with all her legs. They continued the exchange mid-air until Barry pulled away. The sexual tension tuned into a heated stare, which Bella broke by floating back to the branch.

He introduced her as a friend from his previous life when he used to travel the forest with his band of misfits. I finally got a chance to ask him about his family, and he was not reluctant to share.

They are dead. He didn’t shy away, but I felt bad for digging out the old wound. I apologized, but he buzzed to denial.

That’s just how life is. You can’t morn for the loss forever. Yesterday it was them, tomorrow it will be me. You can’t stop living out of fear. Anyways, this is my home, now. He said, proudly. I’m a proud guardian of the hive.

But you are a hornet and this is a beehive. Don’t you yearn to return to your home?
I do yearn —He admitted— but for the friends that I lost. You see, home is somewhere you are happy and loved. He looked at the hive behind and then at Bella. And I couldn’t have been happier anywhere else.

The wasp quivered and they had another mouth to mouth exchange. This time she returned some of the honey back to him, causing her abdomen to shrink and his to swell, slightly.

Bella asked us if we would like to go on a stroll. She had found a very good beetle to munch. Barry claimed to be tired, which I doubted. He seemed energetic enough to me.
She turned to me. How about you? She asked. Want to catch a beetle with me? I dare you to admit to having done something so exciting in your entire ant life.

I killed a frog! I retaliated. It just came out of me. My shading antennae acted up at the wrong time. I tried to do damage control, but the devil was already out.

And we survived a spider. Barry added, causing Bella’s eyes to shine. They literally started glowing. Well, it happened in my mind at least.
And Madhuri listens to him, follows him like he’s her mother.
Who did you name now?
Her. Barry pointed to Madhuri and Bella instantly grew infinitesimally more interested in me.

She brought her face close to mine, staring through me. Her jaw faintly smelled of honey, which made my stomach slightly tug at my insides.
I shuddered.
Start telling. She said and I was retelling my life story to two giant predators, causing them to grow more and more interested with every chemical word that I released. Even I felt shivers just recalling everything.

Some tales are fabricated to scare the listeners; while others are recalling an accident or an event. Then there are some stories that bring glory to the listeners, like embers conquest of the termite lands. I didn’t realize it then, but I was also writing an epic with my actions, one that would be known to everyone from an ant to a bee and even beyond.

But my story was still in the making, and I still had a lot of work ahead of me.

You are pretty far from home, little one. Bella scented, and then stirred, remembering something that got her excited. She stated buzzing, eager to act. I just remembered. She said, excitement getting the best of her. It took her a few moments worth of time to come around, but it was worth it because she held the key to my conundrum. I can get you to this city you want to visit.

 

786 couldn’t concentrate on even being lazy.

Three days since the incident and the corpse piler’s death was still the most talked about topic on the farm. She grew flustered just thinking that she had compared the dazzling ant to a nymph’s sleek bottom.

What kind of an information broker was she when she couldn’t even gauge the strength of someone standing right next to her? It was an amateur mistake. She had grown overconfident. It’s good that others hadn’t caught up to the fact, yet. That meant her prices were still the same. But professionally, it was a complete failure on her part.

Monster hunter, that’s the nickname those present at the scene gave Silver. And it stuck like an aphid to a plant. Controversy and gossip weren’t the only things he had brought. The farm was changing. The groups that had grown complacent had woken to the harsh reality that change was on the horizon.

And after a lifetime of idling, they had finally gotten up and started combing their territories and saving aphid lives. The tribute to the tower had increased by 300 percent in the last two days alone. It was a height of activity that no one was expecting —making the authorities wonder how the farm was still standing when it was riddled with interlopers.

Sure, there were also groups that didn’t jump on the bandwagon for a variety of reasons —like 786^th and her group of dirt ants— but even they were nervous about their inactivity.
And the result of the group’s sudden aggressiveness was an unexpectedly period of peace, and it was awkward. The inner region was supposed to be chaotic, but now the day was almost coming to an end and not a single alarm had risen.

This growing nervousness and insecurity among her group was really putting a lot of unwanted stress on them, and consequentially on her. She could sense them getting ready to use her as a wet board to cure their emotional instability. They would blame her for something and she would whisk out their so-called secrets, like little sparks, and ignite their lazy asses. They would then burn for a while, and then slowly come around asking her forgiveness.

Well, not today.

She was sick of the usual games. She got up from the young green leaf that was under her private space and left the territory altogether.

Much better; now she only needed to get her mind back on track and she’d be just fine.

All around her ants squirmed. Here and there were jawbreakers carrying pieces of dead invaders, with shepherdesses excitingly shuffling behind them. The groups were hard at work to escape the brunt of the evaluation coming at the end of the week. As for getting into the tower, they only worried about reaching the newly risen average. The rest didn’t bother most of them. Only one group could make it to the tower and that group was already decided. So why bother. It was not like there was a reward for the trouble.

786^th visited the place where the invader was killed. Once a regular place like any other, it was slowly growing into the new central hub of activity, at least for the western region. History was rewritten there; of course, it was a special place. A one of a kind dirt spire had been erected where the corpse piler had fallen. It depicted a pair of mandibles in full bloom, arising out of the leaf to cut the emptiness above. Soldiers had gathered from all over the farm to forget their personal grievances and become a part of something larger.

Some waved at 786^th and she waved back. She didn’t forget to con them for a drop of honeydew. Everyone always carried some with them since the daily drops were not accumulative and had to be taken every day to not be at loss. It was easy. Most of the soldiers only knew how to fight, and that was the extent of their lives. Her group thought they could contain her by taking her food source; well, she had news for them.

She went to see the tower next. It was just one of the things she did. There was not getting in there for her. It was a purposeless visit. Only a select few were allowed near the tower, but there was a plant that had grown past the others in height, and from the top of it the tower could barely be seen. Not many visited it because nostalgia was not a sought after emotion in the ant society, but she was different; the others had made sure she wouldn’t forget it ever. Most said the tower was a natural construction, but there were some who doubted it. It was far too symmetrical to be natural, they argued.

But her plans changed when she saw a shepherdess. She was coming from the tower, and not just any shepherdess, but the one that worked for the monster hunter. The shepherdesses were easy to distinguish since all of them were workers on a farm filled with soldiers. Two jawbreakers accompanied her; it was a routine rather than a preventive measure since no one would dare attack one of them. The shepherdesses worked for the farm, attacking them meant attacking the farm, and there could only be one result of that.

786 followed after her. It just happened. One moment she was up thinking about the tower, and then she was rushing behind the shepherdess, keeping her distance. It was too bold of her. She had never followed someone in the open before! She almost felt antennae turning toward way, few eyes watching. Heart pounded in nervousness; it was like a dream where things just happened. Was she planning on meeting the monster hunter, the silver enigma? That would be very courageous of her.

No, her habits kicked in when she noticed the group approaching and hid behind a group of young budding leaves. She retracted her scents as she would on a mission and waited. Hiding was the first thing she had learned and it was her greatest strength. She was confident that she could be hiding in the middle of someone's territory, and they wouldn’t know.

It was all so stupid, however, so embarrassing. She wasn’t on a mission! Why was she hiding? She could have asked the shepherdesses permission and follow her into the territory to meet him if she wanted. However, if she was caught —I won’t be, caught— but you never know. And where was that confidence coming from? There was no difference in failing once. Success didn’t matter much in her business, but failing meant repercussions of the kind one was better off not knowing.

However, she had to admit, it was a nice hiding spot. She was pretty well hidden and the leaves masked her scent. With the wind blowing in her direction, she would easily catch all they said, while they wouldn’t catch a whiff of her.

It wasn’t like she wasn’t interested. A leader who knew how to fight, everyone wanted to know about him.
Information on Silver and his group was highly sought after, but none had anything on them. Neither their plans nor their motivations were known. She hadn’t told anyone what she knew yet. It just didn’t cross her mind. It was another failure on her part as an information broker.

A piece of information’s only as valuable as its demand. It was a matter of time before the others figured out that the monster hunter was vying for the tower. Perhaps, they already knew, hence the sudden aggressiveness in hunting invaders? 786^th would look into it, or not. However, she had to say, hiding and eavesdropping on others brought her much excitement. She preferred this state of constant danger. Here she was in her element, quickly growing confident and interested. Old habits die hard.

It was a mix of these emotions, and circumstances that brought the group in the range of her detection, and she decided to stay. It was an opportunity that many were trying to create, but none had managed to get hold of. What kind of a broker refuses free information?
A broke broker, she thought, finding amusement in peril.
But where were the pheromones? The wind still blew toward her from the group, but it held not a single mote of information. It was clean. Well, it contained various tidbits from far away groups, but none from the one she wanted. That was odd. Never in her days as an information gatherer had she ever been in a situation quite like this.

...Bounty… more… tower….
There it is. She was finally getting something. What was it, bounty, tower, so they wanted to kill more invaders to get into the tower? She wondered how much this information was worth it. Well, not much since it was a common goal.
Idea?... three days… limit…
So they were under constraints? Some kind of baffling challenge the merchants had thrown at them? That was so like those stuck up bastards. Not her thoughts, just what she had heard from others. It was a nice trick, however. She would keep it in mind. The pressure is a great stimulant, after all. But getting to the tower in a week? That was impossible; as impossible as killing the corpse piler, alone. So that means pretty possible. Well, if it was he…

But there hadn’t been any alarms. Could be that the groups would rather let the interlopers escape than to let others have a stake in them? And not all groups participated in this new wave of aggressive maneuvers.

We have a guest.

Oh, that was pretty clear. Wait a minute! She almost had a heart attack when she felt a pair of extremely sharp mandibles —they had cut down a shading corpse piler— held her from the chest and pulled her out of hiding. She felt like a helpless nymph being carried by a caretaker for transportation to the incubation chamber.

Please don’t kill me. The fear and alarm just slipped out of her without control. It was the big ant himself who had personally decided to give her a taste of his strength. She was lucky to be alive!
I can help you get more kills. I can show you where to find more intruders. I can help you get to the tower in a week.
The last one’s a lie. Different sent. Someone who could talk directly with the monster hunter? It was Red, the captain strategist. The rest I’m not so sure about. How much did you let her hear?

Let her hear? Like there was someone around with that kind of control over the pheromones.
But he killed the corpse piler. She thought. This was a dangerous line of thought. Explaining everything with, ‘because it’s him’ was not information that anyone would pay to buy.

Stop! She screamed in her mind. It is no time to be worrying about that!
Well, one thing was sure, she was pretty vulnerable for someone who claimed to have years of experience spying on others.

She is pretty interesting. Silver scented. 786^th latched on to the words like a shading leech! He called her interesting. In her experience that meant she still had hope. I’m sure this is the first time she’s been caught.

It shows. Red said touching her antennae. He caressed her segments, reading her life file, then reached the middle and stopped. Something sparked between them. They both stared at each other with eyes that couldn’t see and instantly felt a connection forming that every fellow intellectual would upon finding others like them.
She is pretty interesting indeed. Hope grew another limb. She might survive this.
What are you doing here? The shepherdess finally couldn’t hold it inside. She was more scared than 786^th. It was her territory. The others couldn’t simply barge in there —without permission being the keyword and her main concern. She was afraid of what the soldier had heard and the effect it would have on her relationship with the crew.

It vexed her when the soldier treated her like a worker, by ignoring her. She hadn’t left her peaceful life behind to be treated this way!

I’m telling the truth. 786^th scented. I can help you get to the tower.
The shepherdess rose but was interrupted again, this time by Red, another soldier. And how do you plan to do that? He asked.
By sharing my secrets with you. 786^th wasn’t lying; she had an idea about their conundrum.

Shepherdess scoffed. What secrets could you have? She said. You and your group are very popular, miss. Your group has made the least amount of tributes for the last five weeks. What secrets can you have?

Don’t claim to know something when you, in fact, don’t, Shepherdess. 786 started. You will get hurt.

I’m the shepherdess. I work for the farm.

That might be true, but they are against the members of the alliance.786 replied. Not the farm itself.
I know them, too. The shepherdess insisted, but 786 had-had enough. She wanted out of the constraints. He could kill her if he wanted, not like she was living a highly valuable life anyways.
Put me down. She told the silver monster, with a bite of the chemicals. He followed, no questions were asked or suggestions given. Neither he nor anyone else as a matter of fact acted in anyways to restrain her movements.
It was all too different from what she had predicted.
She felt like an aphid, trapped by her hunger and the inability to recognize harm. Were they signaling her to run so they could act in self-defense? It was a brilliant maneuver if that was so.
She didn’t like this treatment. At least she could retaliate against her companions. This silence was torturous. And it showed when she replied to the shepherdess.

You should ask around about your so-called friends. They think you are a soft target. She let it rest there. There was much she had come to know while digging around in the last two days, but all her information was without proof. Half-truths such information was called in broker’s terms: something they were supposed to know, but not tell, for they generally did more harm than good.

What is that supposed to mean?
Silver interrupted them.
That’s enough. Tell me, what are you planning?

I’m planning to let you into my territory and hunt to your heart’s content. We haven’t cleaned our plants for a while. And I might know others who might let you in, too —for a share of the rewards. Those without ability are the greediest, after all. Not every group cleaned their house when the fire you lit scalded the farm.
That was only one half of it.
Shepherdess, The defeated leaf cutter raised her head, and her deflated antennae sprung up with life when she heard her role in the plan that 786^th had cooked up. They will need your help to get all the achievement points. The groups can have the 30% meat that you’ll receive for every tribute. But they must get all the achievements. It’ll be up to you to make it happen. They can’t get to the tower without you.
And then she turned toward the group, the main actors of the play. Nothing matters if you can’t kill the invaders. You should have no problem with that, right?
Silver released amusement. The others joined.

Seems like a plan to me. Red scented. And it was decided. They would shake the farm from its very roots and collect the fruits that dropped to the ground.

***
Silver stood outside 786’s territory. She had been gone for well over ten minutes.
Only twenty of his group stood beside him, scared at the prospect of fighting aliens under his leadership. Red had stayed behind to lead the rest. 786^th warned them of subterfuge. Certain groups are already vying to destroy your reputation before it climbs any higher. And an empty territory will be too easy a target for anyone to give up.

The shepherdess refuted her claim but had doubts when she was told in confidence that it had happened before. So in a sense, the inner regions weren’t much better than the outer ones. 786^th called it a political mess and refrained from adding anything more to the discussion. It’s too broad a topic to be taking on our first meeting. She had told them.

But Silver and his slaved weren’t alone. For better or worse, he had gathered a mass of spectators. They wanted to see the monster killer in action. The news that he was moving had traveled far and wide, attracting soldiers from every corner of the farm.
Most had gathered for a show, while some were there to gauge his strength and the danger his group represented to the political stability of the farm; there were also few with sinister motivation. All in all, his actions had caused the first of its kind festival where at least one soldier from every known and unknown group was present.

The crowd would have put his slaved soldiers under a lot of pressure if they hadn’t experienced a similar phase of popularity at the army.

Finally, 786 approached. She had a spring to her steps and shine to her face. The rest of her group trudged behind her, antennae straight and pointed and buzzing. They were angry at her, scared of Silver, and excited at the prospect. They really wanted that 30% markup of whatever was caught in their territory. That was free food. It was not something they wanted to give up after having spent their days dieting on the honeydew, which they had already gotten over. They wanted meat, and that’s how she had gotten them to agree.

Th-they ag-ag-ree to the terms? The shepherdess made it somehow. The group was pulling in too much attention for her sanity to bear. The crowd stirred behind them, wanting to know what they were doing, but the two kept their talks precise and practiced and didn’t divulge more information than necessary. 786 didn’t have any problem with the attention; it annoyed her if anything.

So we can come in now? Silver asked.
Do you promise the markup? You won’t try to cheat us afterward? The territory owners asked one after another. Usually, this type of exchange would be performed by the shepherdesses, since it was their territory and the groups were only assigned as guardians, but their shepherdess had already left them on their own. She was trying to get assigned to a different group. This pack of dirt was not worth stressing over in her eyes.

Silver nodded. I will only take what we have promised.
They hesitated at first, but some motivation from 786^th pulled them along.
Then you can come in.

786^th took the lead and the group finally made into the territory. The owners also hurried behind them.

The crowd tried to enter, but the shepherdess stopped them. She might be intimidated, but she held authority in the farm that no soldier could refute. And the crowd was intimidated. Not by her show of anger, but by the twenty jawbreakers that stood between them and the shepherdess. They were her authority. She had come prepared.

The crowd had to make do with speculations, but just a minute in and there was already an alarm in the air. That did a great job of unsettling them. But the alarm was neutered before the spectators could even band to invade the territory in the name of help. An alarm raised three times was an open invitation for help, but raised once, it only commanded vigilance.
The shepherdess ordered the jawbreakers to kill anyone that tries to go past them and hurried inside. The crowd felt an opportunity wasted. Had she asked them to immobilize or stop and the crowd could have overwhelmed the guards with numbers without any risk but asked to kill… well, the shepherdess had given the correct order in her haste. She simply did not want to miss the group in action, especially Silver.

She still regretted not being there when he killed the corpse piler: not for missing him in action, but for letting the other groups rob him of his achievements in the name of being a helper.
Now she was afraid of them getting snatched from her. She needed to make sure that their newfound popularity wouldn’t attract parasites. The groups were given at random, but it was up to the shepherdess’s ability to keep them. Her test had already begun.

She found them congregating over a branch that was slanting toward the ground. There was a huge aphid signal in the middle of it and for some reason, it had attracted Silver, the enigma.
What did you find? She asked, hurrying, but they didn’t have to tell her. The aphid signal was morphing, changing ever so slightly as if being undone. This was a level of camouflage that she had never even heard about. How did he find it? The process was slow and aggravating, but a new face appeared once it was done.

The thing was large enough to coil around the branch and was feeding upon aphids without creating any disturbance. It wasn’t slaughtering them like the corpse piler, rather tapping their backs with its long antennas like an ant, and was drinking the dew. It was graceful in its movement and crawled at a very slow pace. Its multiple legs moved like a wave, one after another, slowly moving its hefty body forward.

What can you tell me about that? Silver asked the shepherdess. There was nothing she could say. It was her first time sensing such signals. Just goes to show how dangerous life on the farm was. 786’s group was having it hard. They were releasing disbelief; even the ever so confident 786 was lurching, trying to hide. They had been living with this something so close to them? The height was disbelief was unimaginable.

It is a caterpillar of some kind. I don’t know. The shepherdess said. a caterpillar could be dealt with. She had seen the hunting smaller ones on the outer region. Sure they could take care of another. It was just another larger caterpillar, nothing too complex. She was hopeful because that was all she could be at the moment. There was a lot depending on whether they could hunt it or not. She had jumped the gun and loaned the jawbreakers. They would need to be used or her position would be in danger.

Kill it. Silver announced, and his confused but vigilant group pounced at the being with everything they had got. They were taught to fight that way, without assuming their enemies as either weak or strong.
Their confidence rose when silver joined them.
The caterpillar tried to run, but it could barely move away from them with its crippling motion. They had more trouble trying to keep it from jumping off the plant. There came a point when Silver just gave up on attacking it and put all his strength into holding it where they could reach it. He believed in his soldiers.

He took hold of it from the middle, and wave as the thing might, it couldn’t get free.

Its demise came when the soldiers managed to drill a hole into its flexible and bouncy grey outer skin and crawled inside. It didn’t survive much longer after that.

Finally, right when the night was on the cusp of breaking in, they called the jawbreakers and let them carry the pieces to the tower they had prepared to the tower. But it soon became apparent that if the transfer was left to the jawbreakers alone they would be there all night. So after discussing with 786 and intimidating the territory owners, the shepherdess went outside to ask for help. They were promised meat and the loyalists created a chain from the site to the tower.

Everyone, from an enthusiast to a hater, watched or sensed as ants from different castes and areas banded together and hauled the largest creature ever seen on the farm.
Speculations arose and fell as the transfer stretched into the night, making stars out of everyone that was even loosely related to the group —be it as a neighbor, or for as simple as having talked to the group once.
However, the real shock came when the situation repeated the very next day, alerting the groups of the core region. Then the various groups stopped accepting Silvers requests, putting a stop to their growth.

 

Let’s land there.

I found it confusing that all the females I had met did things on their own terms. Just where were the normal ones who liked to follow and do as told? Perhaps it was their way of retaliation against the rule that only Royal males were allowed to lead a company. I was onto something, for sure.

The finders lead. It’s as simple as that. And it’s her hunt. Barry told me and added his biased opinion on top of it like a garnish.

Bella gingerly landed atop her chose the place, the star-shaped leaf of a green flowerless weed. It was the only of its kind, growing unrelated midst refreshing flowers of multiple colors, as far as I could see. The leaf wasn’t wide, but they were plenty and long; its odor pungent.

The plant will hide our odor and us. She explained without being asked. The beetle has a strong sense of smell. It won’t land if it caught even a whiff of your scent in the air. As a wasp she obviously knew the tendencies of her prey, there was nothing wrong with that.
And we waited.

The time was early enough that the grass below was still wet with dew, though the sky had already grown light. It was a clearing in the middle of the forest and we were on an adventure. Correction: She was on a hunt and we were simply tagging along. She didn’t need us. I believed she had an agenda in bringing us along, and I wasn’t wrong.

Barry hovered atop the leaf and dropped me, then landing right behind Bella, shuffling on the way down.

I’m like a flying caterpillar. He jabbed, but it was clear as the sky above that his handicap was causing him some annoyance. His once funny comments were starting to smell of light sarcasm. Neither Bella, nor Barry himself had noticed it yet, but it was true that he had difficulty controlling his body.

Weren’t you going to help me find my way back? Can’t you find something once you have helped me?

You want me to find something to lay eggs on the way? Are you stupid? Where will I find another beetle like this one? Suddenly, she dropped the conversation to concentrate on our surroundings. She vibrated her antennae to filter the finer molecules and licked the ends to taste what she had caught.

It’s coming. She announced and warned us against unneeded movements. Hide, and don’t move a hair; I’ll have to deposit my eggs inside you both if it escaped. It’s nearby.

We both males, unsure and bewildered at her warning, did as were told. Her ovipositor was as much a threat as the beetle. For all I knew, she had already deposited eggs inside my body and was only acting to care because we were her investments. No one would want their children to die before they are even born, right?

The droning of the beetle was not quite anything like the buzzing of a bee or a hornet for that matter. It was scary and drowning, heavy and oppressive. I felt it with my body, and so did Barry.
No. Barry gave his verdict, but Bella had her eyes set and antennae watching.

Yes. Just remember the plan and everything will be alright.

I didn’t think so. The Beetle had just entered my range of sight and I was not pleased with what I was seeing. I hated the situation more and more the closer approached.

We can’t distract that! Barry said, pointing an antenna at the big black giant armored flying rock with a horn that was approaching us with a drone that had drowned all activity nearby.
Oh, I’m sure you will more than distract it. She scented, sizing him from top to bottom. It was the worst time for a joke, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

The droning intensified as the beetle approached, reaching the peak when it flew over our head. We silently watched it passed by and lowered itself to the ground in front of its burrow.
Thick armored legs, armored back, armored face, armored abdomen, a horn, even its underbelly was armored.
That’s a beetle? I asked, dazed beyond belief. Even Barry squirmed in resignation.
Yes. We’ll be hunting that today. It was amusing how confidently she said it like it was just another day for her. Sure she had upped the ante by choosing to hunt the beetle rather than, let’s say, a spider —but up there between the leaves, hiding and stalking and waiting for her chance, she was in her zone.

She was challenging herself, the same way a worker would by deciding to dig out the pebble blocking its way instead of going around it.

That thing has more armor than it has skin.
Of course, my babies will have the best foundation.
There is a difference between a foundational and a whole shading mountain! How many eggs are you planning to hatch at once?
One hundred, Bella answered proudly.
That’s impossible. You can only lay ten eggs at a time, at most.
I know. But a girl can dream, right? And who said I need to lay the eggs all at the same time?

Barry decided to end it there. She had already decided.
One hundred eggs meant one hundred more wasps roaming the shade to parasitize other beings, including ants. A shudder went through me. She needed dissuading instead of help. The world was surely going to need a savior sooner or later. Well, not me. My claws were already full and, who in their right mind would try to stop her? I was repeating myself.

That hungry quiver that overtook her abdomen said she was hunting the beetle at all costs, and I needed her help to get back. So yes, when she signaled me to start my act I rushed down the plant like the helpless victim of a deranged predators abuse, which was not far from the truth.

Even on the ground, the beetle flapped its wings, creating a draft that pushed at me, halting my progression. Up close it looked like a rock, really. It gleamed in the sunlight. I honestly couldn’t find a single place that wasn’t covered in that black hard skeleton.

It was a flower in full bloom and I was a still-growing bud. That was the only comparison I could make as things stood.
A buzzing came from behind me. I’m going to catch you. It playfully meant. The beetle stirred into action ahead of me.

Help! I released, even though it wasn’t going to understand me. I did it more out of habit than need. It had no antennae, so releasing pheromones was pointless.

The beetle ignored me, and I bumped into its back end to see if that gets me attention; it did not. The buzzing came again. Where are you hiding? It was said playfully. Hurry up.
The latter was meant for me. Bella must have been growing anxious.

Out of option, I charged at one of its legs, because they were the only visible place not covered in armor. A charging head butt got its attention but also rang my head like an empty cocoon. The force from my action rippled inside its body, causing it to lift up the affected leg and give out a low warning hum.

It slowly turned toward me —too slowly. That was a weakness, alright. I made a record of it in my memory, so I wouldn’t forget. You never know when it might come to use. Memory was a skill. Its use was exactly what I had mentioned above. It gave me the ability to keep records, both visual and sensory, so I wouldn’t forget. It was a surprisingly nice skill, though it didn’t have much use other than that.

It watched me as I rushed underneath it. There was ample space for me to hide there even though the beetle squat low on the ground. I was hiding from my superficial chaser: an act that Bella had created to distract the being.

Barry arrived not too late, buzzing with a fanfare.

They talked in the language of bugs. I could understand but had no way to convey my thoughts. Thankfully, both my companions had antennae. I couldn’t even begin to think where I would be at this point in time without them. Sure they were eccentric and both had their quirks, but inside they were warm and caring, even more so than real siblings.
You are hiding something that belongs to the mighty Bezonian of bezzindroid Spires. Barry repeated in pompous aggression, which brought amusement out of me. Return it or you will face my wrath. My army is hiding nearby, just so you know.
Take it.
Well, that didn’t work. The nonchalance threw Barry off the loop. The beetle was moving again; surprisingly, limping on the leg I had struck.
What now? The scent rained around me and I decided to take things into my hands, as Bella had demanded; or I could have the egg implanted in me. I wasn’t so stocked about the latter option.

I hooked my claws around the leg it limped with and started stabbing with my one sharp mandible. The leg might not be armored, but it was thick and strong; I couldn’t penetrate or hurt it in any way. Still, the plan worked, the beetle was annoyed. It shook the leg, hoping that would take me out. I had iron claws; no way was I letting go so easily.

Annoying the beetle was really fun for some reason. I was worried, but not scared. I was more fearful of its armor than off slipping and getting squashed. I didn’t realize it, but something had changed inside me. Somehow, I had become more brazen and confident, both of which were very un-ant like.

However, it soon became apparent that clinging to its leg was a bad idea. It wasn’t producing any real result. Results are the most important. If efforts weren’t giving results then either the method was wrong or I wasn’t pushing harder. In my case, it was the former. My presence was too meager to really put the beetle in a bind. I needed to act courageously, to act recklessly. The situation demanded me to stop worrying. I had two formidable friends to help me. They would save me if push came to shove. This was my chance to prepare for the day I might have to fight a beetle with real consequences on the line. I already knew that it had trouble turning, what else I find out would help shrink the differences between us.

Reckless courage activated. I looked up and started climbing. From the joint, it was a straight path, a much easier journey. My destination was its back, but I coincidently saw a gap between the armor where its head was connected to the chest. Its neck was unprotected!

See! Courage was opening my options. Currently, I lacked the capability to hurt it, but tomorrow, a month later, after my other skills had evolved to tier-2 like Greed, who knows, I might have the strength to win against the same beetle.

But it didn’t stay silent. The beetle buzzed and started flapping its wings. I almost fell when it jumped up to gain elevation. I barely held to a spike that was extending from its armor and heaved back onto its thigh. It was armored, at least on the upper portion and slippery; so I had to be extra careful not to slip off. I wondered how much it weighted. Obviously the answer was, less than the bird, the frog and all those nasty not insects, and more than me. But the beetle was different; it was one of us. All the armor could have easily been on my or Barry’s or Bella’s bodies. Maybe there was a skill—

Hold that train of thoughts, I have something to say. The voice in my head said. DONT BE GREEDY, FOOL! Now, pay attention to your task. You might slip, otherwise.


That scream was akin to the cold, piercing splash of a raindrop right upon my head. My mind became clear. I made it to the beetles back in a careful hurry, but it was windy up there. The draft created by its humongous wings was not something cute; it would have been blown away if I wasn’t vigilant. No wonder Barry was still hesitating to pounce at the beetle. Well, in the next moment he did just that.

I cursed him for his despicable timing. Turns out iron claws were susceptible to failure when a third variable was loaded upon them. The sudden impact canceled the skill and I was flung right off the curvature.

The beetle in return was instantly enraged. What are you doing? He buzzed; being pushed didn’t hurt it much. The weight and size difference between them was enough that the impact made the beetle wobble, but not fall, which Barry must not have anticipated.
In return, it was he who had difficulty staying up. He should have tried stinging it, instead. Well, there was irony in that, too.

The leg I had hurt saved me. But I was in no position to thank it for being there for me, even though I had hurt it.

The beetle found his balance and rose higher. Barry took his time shaking, but he also arrived with time to spare. This time he tried to sting the beetle, but he had had enough. The beetle went to ram his split ended horn into Barry, which he barely dodged. But the beetle was relentless in his pursuit. Barry tried to cling to it to save his life, but that was a tall order for him with only two legs. The beetle didn’t seem to care anyway. He was confident about his defensive capabilities.

I wondered how Bella planned to handle the menacing beetle, for it was proving far from an idle match against a hornet and an ant. What if she had planned to let Barry handle it from the very start, to take advantage of his kindness? But she called us a distraction and asked us to keep it occupied while it slowly approached. After all, it was us who had gotten too confident and caused this result.
Let’s just get it back to the ground for now. I thought and climbed atop its back again, and this time made sure to spread my weight equally across my legs to better handle any unsuspected impacts.
The beetle knew I was on its back and it tried everything in its arsenal to get me off. I guess it didn’t like someone ridding it from the back.
Barry flew right next to my ride. He looked haggard. Maybe he was not up to speed, yet. Shri had made a meal out of him for days; the after-effects were bound to last him for at least the same amount of time.

Apparently, it was once again up to me to produce a result, and I was confident. I knew its weakness; its neck was my target. I could deal with it. I let Barry know the same so he could stop worrying. Its wings produced a mind-numbing drone from up close. I didn’t want to be get sucked into them, for that would cause a bad end to my day. So I crawled through the gap between them like I would get through the narrow confines of a tunnel and reached its neck. It was indeed not armored, just that it was also impenetrable by my mandible.

Barry’s stinger would do, and the venom would take the beetle out for good. I stood up to call Barry, but he was distracted by something and not paying attention. All of a sudden the beetle sped up and I could no longer stay down. A bubble of air had gotten trapped under my aerodynamic chest. At level one the skill was no help rather a nuisance. Oh no, the thought had barely formed when the bubble burst and I was thrown back, right into the left-wing.
I don’t know what happened next.
I might have ripped the wing because I remember freely falling toward the ground, and the beetle was tumbling down right behind me. The lone wing it had continued beating was making him spin. We both crashed. The beetle being heavier pushed past me, but one of its legs caught me square on the chest.

When I found my senses Bella was dragging the beetle toward its own burrow. I was lying on its back. Both of its wings had been plucked and the protective covers ripped off. It was alive. I could feel its metabolism, though slowed down to a crawl. It had entered the state of slow death, a preventive measure similar to my own hibernation. It would wake up one day, driven by the pain of being torn apart from the inside, and then finally it will cease to exist. That was no other end waiting for it.

It reminded me of the nymph.

I felt dizzy and scared. What had I done? It was as much a statement as it was a question.
Are you staying? She asked me. To think I was friends with her,
Is that sarcasm I detect? Perhaps, I should burry you along with beetle.
Take me. I told Barry. He lifted me in his arms and took me away. I didn’t like being carried. I just gave up when even being helped reminded me of my nymph days. I needed rest.
We flew back to the hive. It wasn’t far, but Barry was exhausted. Neither of us said anything on the way. It was an odd feeling, one I didn’t like. Maybe it was exhaustion. Perhaps I could ignore it.

Madhuri was waiting for me and started beating her wings upon seeing us return. She flew toward us and accompanied us back to the hive. Watching her so happy and made the feeling grow inside me. I finally knew what it was. I was afraid of saying goodbye. This was where we were going to part. Bella would accompany me for a while and then I’d be on my own and the thought of being alone scared me. It was the end of our adventure together.

I knew I might never meet someone who would show such emotions toward me. And it was hard, but it was time to go.
I wasn’t going to take her with me. Greed was a part of it, but I simply didn’t want to exploit her kind nature anymore. The next excursion was going to be a dangerous one and she had already suffered enough.

I worried that her mother must be worried sick, finding the nest ransacked and her children missing. She might be waiting for her back in the nest if the snake no longer occupied it.

The queen was putting an egg in a cell when I saw her. She worked far too hard and rested too little. The workers were busy keeping her healthy, a simple life that I envied. I wished I could take their place right beside her.

What can I do for you, child of fire? She greeted me.
We are leaving today, your highness. Please, receive my gratitude for your hospitability and kindness. I hope there comes a day when ants and bees live together.
I receive your gratitude, child of fire, and will look forward to that day. But for now, can I ask a promise from you?
Yes?
Will you dissuade our guardian from leaving? I don’t know why he keeps insisting on following you on your quest, but he’s adamant. I wouldn’t have anything against his wish if he was of health, but he’s suffering and he has suffered enough. There’s nothing I can do, but I think he will listen to you. At least, I hope so.
When did he ask you?

This morning, he came to see me at the first light, fought with the workers to wake me up, and then created a commotion. The queen scented and buzzed to happiness. It reminded me of the day he had found us, lost and exhausted. He was arrogant then, and young. We knew we couldn’t hurt him and he used the knowledge to extort honey from us.


The queen put her attention back on me. That was long ago. He’s still impulsive and irrational, but he’s was a hornet then. He’s a bee now and we take care of one of ours.
I left the queen with the promise to do my best. It was not my intention to take him with me, not before and certainly not now. I found him with Bella, waiting right next to Madhuri. They were getting ready.

I didn’t have to say anything. Barry knew I had been to see the queen and he knew what she had asked of me.

I’m coming and you can’t stop me. He let me know. He was not asking for my permission but telling me about his decision.
But your condition—
He buzzed to amusement, shaking his head. I’ll still be a hundred times more impressive against foes than you.
Why do you want to do it? I asked him with a straight face. Don’t you have everything here? Aren’t you home?
I didn’t want pity, and if he was being stubborn to repay me for bringing him back to the hive, then I would tell him that he had already done that ten times over by sharing his passport. I needed to know his reason so I wouldn’t have doubts on the way.

That’s right. He said. And I won't stop until I take you back to your home. Besides, you are family. And we bees take care of our own.
My heart was thumping. Bella looked pretty amused by the wholes situation. Madhuri wanted to take to the sky, already. As for me, I felt fantastic.
Now you are cheating. You are throwing others lines as yours. The queen wants you to stay.

I know. He said buzzing to respect. But the child has learned to fly. Now it’s time for him to leave the nest. Isn’t that right, Madhuri?
She tilted her head at his pheromone. I believe she was wondering whether to eat him or not.

I rubbed my face into her warm feathers and climbed atop of her head. I decided to enjoy our last flight together and part on a happy note.
But, I guess, there were no partings for me that day. A surprise awaited at the end of our short journey. The nest was empty, and her mother was not around.

 

We waited for Madhuri’s mother to return. I genuinely hoped she would come. However, the longer we waited, the anxious I grew. It was difficult to ignore the voice in my head telling me to just be on the way, I had waited enough. Every time the voice rose I felt myself wavering. It was Greed, and it laughed at my indecisiveness.

I wasn’t the only one growing impatient. Barry and Bella were both done with waiting, too.

How long do we have to wait? One of the two asked. I was too engrossed in my thoughts regarding Greed and the consequence to pay attention.

I looked up and started thinking out loud. I wasn’t answering the question, but it had indeed steered my thoughts. She usually comes back from the hunt around this time to feed her chicks. Doesn’t she Madhuri?

She gave me a meaningless chirp just because I was paying her attention. She was too pure of the world.

Do we really have to do this? I perfectly caught that. Bella was done waiting.

I don’t know. I told her. I really didn’t. Would I leave Madhuri alone on the off chance that her mother was stuck somewhere? It was a difficult thought to process. I could leave her. She had demonstrated intelligence. She knew when I wanted her to stay and she had obeyed multiple times. The problem was that she’d go ahead and wait without moving, much like she was used to waiting in the nest for her mother to return with food. Only her circumstances had changed; inside, she was still the same chick.

We waited till noon, and then threatened by Bella to get moving I decided that we had waited enough. We climbed onto Madhuri’s back and she flew, all too happy to leave. She seemed aware of her surroundings but didn’t show any care to the nest. Rising higher, she encircled the tree once, and then we were on our way, following Bella’s instructions as she led us deeper into the forest.

Barry insisted on leading. He was enamored by the idea of teaching Madhuri’s to fly. And this time even Bella couldn’t simply stare him down. They fought and then he stopped moving. I know what happened, but I don’t want to think about it. Some things are better left in the dark.

The good news was that Bella knew exactly where she wanted to take us. The bad news was that she wouldn’t tell us what to expect.
Madhuri was already much better at flying. Even Barry admitted it. She was a genius flyer.

For a bird, he commented from where Bella had hidden him underneath the feathers.

His paralysis had worn off a long while ago, but he refused to come out of his hiding space. Bella had apologized already, but he was playing deaf to her. I understood his feelings. The feathery encompass was too warm and cozy to simply leave.

Madhuri still moved like a physical ripple passing through the world, rising and falling as she surpassed her limits over and over again. She had learned to glide and only beat her wings to reach a peak height from where she could glide into a curve. Those were Bella’s thoughts; I had no idea what she said. For me flying meant traveling through the air, unobstructed by the obstacles that littered the shaded land.

Bella brought us to a small mound clear of all grass or greenery. There was but a green pod of fresh leaves pinned to the ground with such force that even playful gusts of wind weren’t able to move it. Someone had purposefully created it, for there was no such creation in nature.

What are we doing here? I asked Bella with all seriousness I could muster and she asked me to wait. This time I was done waiting. I was about to pick up a fight with her when Barry came out of the feathers behind me and pulled me back.

He shook his head. You don’t want to do that. He could see that I wasn’t satisfied. Give her a chance. She’s not the type to scheme against others.


Meanwhile, Bella had jumped off and was fast approaching the pod. We wouldn’t have known had she not blasted her wings to create a short burst of sound to break her speed of descent.

The pod attracted me for various reasons. How nice would it be for one to have that while on the journey to a faraway place? A place of protection, of rest; I could already see its importance on a journey to a far away.
We anxiously waited for her return, and finally, Bella came out of the pod, leading a bunch of small creatures behind —they were ants.

They looked like me but without the red dot that identified me as an ember ant. Their erect antennae were a good enough identification, however. They were smaller than me; their workers barely reaching my chest and soldier only half a head taller.

Bella gestured us to get down, but I hesitated. A bird in the air was already considered a bad omen among many ant colonies, but having one land directly at the doorsteps, even tamed, would be considered the greatest disrespect to the hosts.

The ants might even attack Madhuri out of fear. And I didn’t want that. So I tried to steer her away from the pod, but Madhuri decided against me.

She saw something move in the grass a few ant lengths from the camp and dropped to the ground like lightning. She had squelched a grasshopper and was quick to bite and swallow it down. Did that help? The ants showed disbelief.

I got off and started walking toward the group. I could have told Madhuri to stay, but there was no panic rising or alarm ringing. Actually, they were too bare of pheromones. Even the site seemed to have been meticulously scrubbed of all traces. But why go to such extents? What was the point? If camouflage was their reason, then they had already failed by choosing this bare top of the mound, where everyone and their dead relatives could easily find them.

They were also far too quiet. The soldiers I knew would have been whispering and panicking simply from the sight of a wasp, but they were following Bella as if she represented them no threat! It was all a bit too unnerving. The pod had contained all of their numbers. There were barely thirty of them.

Their small numbers could have been a simple portrayal of weakness. There could be more of them hiding nearby. They were simply too suspicious. A group of mere thirty ants had no work being out in the open.
Bella must know something; she wouldn’t have brought us to them otherwise. They must be special in some way to have caught her attention. I thought and decided to believe in her.

They stopped at a distance and Bella happily returned to our side.

Aren’t they just suspicious? That was the first thing she said after returning. I turned toward Barry and he was just as puzzled as me. Not very confidence-inducing, I should say.
She must have felt like an explanation was needed, for she continued in much the same manner despite the cold response.
There’s most likely something wrong with them. They literally don’t behave like ants, like anything as a matter of fact. What she said was the truth. They were simply staring at us as if they all could see. But there was only one royal male among them.
But they are pretty useful. They are the ones who told me about the beetle for the price for a price of course.
What did they ask?
They asked me to deposit an egg in one of them.
What? Barry couldn’t believe it.

I couldn’t either.

Even I wasn’t sure I had sensed right. Bella agreed with us. I thought they didn’t want me to do it at first, but no, I had heard the truth. They watched me while I deposited an egg inside one of them and it was a very shameful experience, I’ll admit —much like how it felt exchanging honey with you while he watched.


Oh, OH! That was very, Barry looked between me and the group behind, and his abdomen started quivering in excitement. Do you want to do it again, while everyone watches?
Shading hell, stop you two. Can we get back to the topic, jeez?
You can be a mood blocker sometimes, you know. Anyways, they might know how to get to the 47^th city of yours. That got my attention, and much like Barry I also started quivering. Bella continued. Be wary though, they will try to wear you down with their words. Make sure that you keep calm.

I nodded.

Your is a very fascinating group. The scent rose from the group. Never thought the day would come when we would see an ant, a hornet and a wasp together, and riding a sky predator.
See? I told Barry. I was not joking when I said we call the birds, sky predators!

That’s pretty embarrassing if you ask me. But sure, you have my apologies for only considering you a backwater loony.
What’s that about? Bella asked and Barry told her about how we met and the back-story.

These two had too much influence over me. I was slowly growing to be become like them, uncaring outwardly and a mess inside. Confidence was a great quality to have, but losing vigilance wasn’t something mere ants like me could afford. Hence, I put my attention back on the group.

What brings you back, Bella-wan-dire? How did you like the beetle? Would you like another recommendation? We promise the price will be fair as last time. One of the campers scented in a plain tone of chemical with no bite or emotion. How was that possible? How could someone control a detail so fine, while I couldn’t even get my thoughts to stay in my head?

A caterpillar for a beetle; I would say it was fair had you caught the beetle for me.


We delve in information, not hunting, Bella-Wan-Dire. Another camper scented in much the same way. She was sleeping until just a few moments ago, made the comment, and went back to sleep again.
Another sired in her place and picked up the conversation where the old one had left. We’ll give you a discount next time since you brought us a customer.


What are they doing? I whispered as softly as I could, which was pointless out of me. Why are they taking turns? How does that even work?
I haven’t the slightest idea. Bella answered, and then Barry picked up the conversation, mimicking our hosts. Aren’t you all like that? He scented.
Very funny,

Oh, an ember —what are you doing so far from home. How did you even get here?
I’m trying to get home.
And what’s stopping you?
I have to get to the 47^th city of the Embers heavenly kingdom, the Door-Darshan-Ji? But I don’t know where it is.

They didn’t give an answer right away, which was a good sign. I couldn’t have accepted it any other way.

Back in my city, only the explorers knew how to get there. The question was, how would we know if they were lying? I believed it would be alright unless they wanted to perform an internal connection in return for the directions. Then we would have a problem. But the system decided otherwise. My line of thoughts bore me a skill.

---

Yeah, don’t just believe anyone. That’s just going to put you in a very tough spot someday. Be vigilant, always look out for clues, and investigate.
You have acquired a new skill: Investigate.​

---

[Investigate][Lv-1/10][Tier-1][Active]
[Every investigator worth two scents knows that anyone and everyone can and would lie if the situation arises.]
[Effect: Tool: Lie detection is available.]
[Lie detection: sieve truths from lies.]
[Cost: 1 END/second.]​

---

The campers were stirring again. I hurriedly activated the tool before they could make a claim. The system had thrown me a lifeline, and I made it a priority to catch it.

I stood a bit straighter when they made the claim: We know the way.
Lie detections aid it was the truth. I pressed once again.

Do you really know the way, or are you lying?

We don’t lie. It was again the truth. Satisfied with the result, I hurriedly deactivated the skill. That was 5 points of endurance gone into the wind. I only had 15 points in total. The price was too steep. I didn’t know how useful it would get in the future, but for now, this was all the limelight it was getting.

Bella-wan, I dropped it. Bella told me there is a price for the information. Do you want another caterpillar? I was really thinking of salvaging the one that Madhuri had eaten.

No. Another among the campers stirred and scented. We want to know about you. Someone who is friends with a hornet and a wasp and a sky predator must have a very entertaining story, won’t you agree?
It was really difficult to get used to their way of conversing. Someone needed to have a long talk with them about customer service, because they stank at it like a pile of rotting bodies.

My two giant friends also stirred at the proposal. I hadn’t told them my story, yet, so they were more than interested in knowing why I was on this mission of mine. So I started retelling my life story, removing the detail about the system. The campers stopped me when I was telling them that my city was now at war with the termites and the soldiers had traveled far west to confront them.

That’s excellent news. One of them announced to my confusion.
How many days ago was that?
Two, no three,
So are you telling me the direction now?
No, we are taking you thee.
Yes? I was befuddled. We were far from home. How were they expecting too—
Madhuri chirped behind me. She wanted to fly., Of course, they wanted a ride. Who doesn’t want to fly at least once in their life? I agreed.
We are the merchants. It was nice doing business with you.
I didn’t want to share my passport with them and Madhuri wouldn’t let them onto her back anyways. In the end, we decided to have them enter the leaf pod and Madhuri to carry it. There was no other way.

But Madhuri came through, she picked up the pod and we were flying again. This time we flew higher than the tree level and in the sky where the clouds swell and grew without obstruction and everything was blue.
The merchants, as they called themselves, gave instructions. They tried to lead Madhuri, copying me, but it didn’t work for them and they got back to giving m instruction instead.

We crossed the river. I felt the cold wash over me again. It was enlightening that there was such a large body of water, endlessly cutting through the land.

What lies at the end of the river? I asked and Barry responded.
The same thing that lies at the start of it,
Treasure? I asked to which he shook his head.
Mystery,
Somewhere on the river bank, the 43^rd city lied. I wondered if Star was still fighting the frogs or had the soldiers already dealt with them. And what happened to the band of soldiers that had occupied me on the way? Whether they had returned or where they still in the city.
We rested on the river bank, while the merchants took leave.

Stick to the river and go east until you see a large group of rocks. That’s your destination.
What about a tower?

The 47^th has no tower. I was told. In the wilderness, they needed to act inconspicuous. Towers attract unwanted attention.

It wasn’t a lie.

I was haunted by how cold the air around the river was. Madhuri found earthworms nearby and savored a taste. While something with a shell as hard as rock and pincers as large as its body attacked us, causing us to cut our rest short and make a run for it. Our journey had been tiring, but it was passing uneventfully, causing us to grow laid back. But we were vigilant like a crack of thunder in the sky after we took flight this time.

Our short adventure ended when Bella saw the large group of rocks that the merchant talked about. My companions grew excited, I grew nervous, and Madhuri gave a low warning chirp. Suddenly the sky wasn’t as limitless as before; we had company. Barry let me know that something was approaching us from far.
It’s fast, blindingly so.

It was happening again. The period of peace was the calm before the storm. And the storm had found us.

Madhuri turned tail and made a frantic escape, but she could barely fly, while her chaser had the sky and its current mapped in the back of his mind. I scented Madhuri to dive, but there was a world of difference between his and her ability. We were far too high in the sky; it was a combined result of Madhuri's enthusiasm and our lacking knowledge of the dangers of the sky.

Compared to the dark and humid shade, the sky was open and free, but it was all a trap.

Whatever the case, our situation grew bleak when our host arrived. In a matter of seconds, it grew from a dark brown point in the sky to an object of absolute terror. This time Madhuri was a bud in front of the wildflower in full blossom. A Piercing gaze, sharp wide beak, and a pair of wings large enough to grab the sky; it opened its yellow talons and pounced at Madhuri.

Come here, little fella! The horrifying creature sounded. Where are hurrying so late in the morning?


Bella froze, Barry bit and steered Madhuri away from the clawed talons of death. Madhuri swayed just enough to escape its clutched as the big brown feathery sky giant swooshed past us, but one of its wings caught her directly on the head. The impact drove her out of flight and tumble down the sky, a helpless target. I don’t know how we held onto her, but we did. However, there was no time to be idling. The predator was coming around, gliding a wind current and rising toward us for another round.

This time the hunter didn’t miss a second time and snatched Madhuri right out of the sky. Its claws dug into Madhuri’s flesh and drew blood, dying her white feathers red and causing her to chirp in pain. We couldn’t do anything to stop it from taking hold of her, but that wasn’t the end. We retaliated and showed the big bad bird what it meant to have friends.

You are not alone. I scented even though Madhuri was unconscious. Bella understood the danger better than us and rose from the feathers to sting the hard talons. Barry followed right behind her.
It burns. It squealed and let her go. It tried a second time and met with the same result; ultimately giving up on what was most likely an easy prey.

However, Madhuri was unconscious and in a free-fall toward a gruesome death. Sting her. I told Bella. She could control her poison. Don’t poison her or egg her please, but sting her. The sharp pain will wake her up. I knew from experience.

She showed concern, but the land was growing closer, and in the end, followed through. We were out of options.
Madhuri woke up with a start.

She had a delayed response, causing the land to grow infinitely more vivid to my eyes. I almost thought we were dead when she finally pulled through. She didn’t fly, didn’t even try to beat her wings. Instead, she spread her wings out wide with a cry. Drop by drop blood seeped from her wound, falling down as glistening pearls of bright red. Gliding was the one thing she had practiced over and over again, and that’s what saved her life.
She shed most of her momentum gliding toward the land, bur crashed nonetheless, sketching a short trail in her wake.

Somehow we had beat the odds and survived against a bigger predator. However, we could celebrate. Madhuri might not be dead, but she was hurt.

 

I was anxious.

Madhuri was pretty banged up. There didn’t seem to be anything broken, but blood continuously leaked from the claw wound. She shuddered like a leaf tormented by wind, about to break away from the branch. How could we let her separate from us?

Bella had to poison Madhuri to keep her still. Her movements aggravated her wounds. It was the toughest time of my life.

We disinfected the wound with honey and sealed it up with a mixture of dirt and saliva, but she didn’t wake up.

The two had to hold the wound until the mixture dried, but to think the cement could be used in this way; of course, the idea was a growth of my mind. Only a worker that had been harassed by other workers for outing them to the authorities, and had the experience of almost dying to the rapidly drying cement could have thought of using it in such an innovating way.

Honey was Barry’s idea. He had enough baths in the royal jelly and honey to know that the two were interchangeable. Thankfully, the claws hadn’t punctured Madhuri’s body or we may have lost her, just like that.

However, it was a dire situation. I felt like I would implode onto me from worry. Her fever was going out of control. She was burning up. That’s when Bella came through with an idea. She dug a burrow and buried her inside it. Of course, Bella made sure to keep Madhuri’s face outside so she could breathe.

She said it would keep Madhuri cool and not to mention protect her from predators, because the mound hid and masked her at the same time.

It was a dream come true to watch her extradite dirt from under Bella and then back over her. There was no way a worker ant would ever come close to her way. Digging was built into her. Her long rear legs were exceptional at digging and throwing stuff away, and at the rate that they moved was just gorgeous. I think my heart broke a little to see her work being unrecognized. Well, I made sure to tell her how beautiful she was while she worked.

Barry and I couldn’t help her in covering Madhuri, but we could help remove the bloodstains of which there were a lot. The red pungent blood once again reminded me of the moving mountain. It had slowly slipped from my mind, but still represented the same amount of terror as the day I had realized the truth.

However, having seen predators being preyed one after another, I was starting to believe that the moving mountain might not be all there was that the world had to offer in terms of either size or strength. It was not a line of thought I was comfortable with, but a distraction I very much needed.

We weren’t far from the rock formation described by the merchants. If they were right and my skill hadn’t doped me, then we were right outside the territory of the 47^th city. There was just one problem. A whole swarm of termites occupied the territory and surrounded the city, even the sky. The whole area smelled of them. And by the amount of or lack thereof activity by the ants I was sure they had been pushed deep into the city, and most likely into the vault with no escape. They could also be all dead.

So the princess was right. The raid on our city was in fact a distraction. The termites had successfully managed to bait us to the west, which was in the completely opposite direction, while they comfortably ate away the most important city in our history; since never before had a daughter city managed to grow and prosper more than the mother.

However, those were my assumptions. My life had been kind enough to prove me wrong at every step, and teach me the wisdom in my first teacher, the aged warrior’s words. She had advised me to never assume anything, whether strength, weakness, or in this case, the truth.

It meant I needed to go through with my task no matter how impossible it looked. I had to get into the city, even if meant being chased by the whole termite swarm. I should have expected this; it’s just that, I was so busy surviving that there was no time to think about my destination. My journey was far too extraordinary.

It was not a good sign. I had to keep reminding myself that this was not a rescue mission. There was no saving anyone. I was not capable enough. I would need a miracle to survive myself.

And this was the cause of my anxiousness. So close to my destination, I didn’t want to waste a single more minute, but Madhuri was hurt and unconscious. I couldn’t simply leave her on her own; that would be akin to abandoning her. It was not going to happen.

However, as the day passed and he termites grew into action I could wait no longer. I had already wasted too many days, too much time. In the world of ants, kingdoms fall in a matter of days.
So with a heavy heart, I got up to leave, but Barry noticed me and my intentions. A bond had formed between us. If I could tell his innermost thoughts from the slightest of buzzing, then it was no wonder that he could do the same.

Look —he told Bella who was feeding Madhuri honey from her reserves— someone is trying to commit suicide.
She didn’t pay attention at first but gave up after Barry’s consistently poked her on the back. Where? She said with zero enthusiasm.
There, that little guy thinks he can just up and leave and no one will notice anything.
Does he now? Bella was done feeding. And from the way her abdomen swayed, I say she was getting ready to pounce at the poor little guy trying to escape the two monsters.

What do you think are his chances? Barry continued with the buzzing. I see that there are plenty of termites around. And his destination, the group of rocks, is pretty far.

If he went alone there is no chance of him making it? But what is if he has help? Hmm, from someone who knows how to get in and out of places, quietly. Someone who can be stealthy and wouldn’t stand out with their over the done colors and bloated size. Barry pulled back at her shift of attention. Do you know anyone like that?

Yeah, well, I might. He said, buzzing his wings to peace. Please have a go, is what he meant. That all about sealed my fate.

It made me amused and sad. It was funny to see how easily Bella could curb Barry’s enthusiasm, but also sad that she was asking to accompany me on this mission that they deemed risky, and I was going to agree. I was sure Greed was laughing at me, but the circumstances demanded me to be selfish.

Will there ever come a day when I won’t have to put others' lives on the line? The thought echoed in my mind but was caught by someone before it could take hold and leech from my mental capabilities.

Sure. The little voice in my mind lectured. You might lack strength now, but you will get there someday. When and how depends upon your will and desperation. And then you will learn that lone strength can only take you so far.

Bella had already made the decision, but my heartbeat again. I felt helpless. But Madhuri, I worried, causing Barry to come into action. He flew up and took perch atop the mound that was her.
I’ll take care of her. He announced. So you take care of him. Don’t let him die. He told Bella.
I wasn’t planning to.
So, what now? I asked Bella and as it turns out she had everything planned out from the start. Meaning she expected to be doing this. I assumed she wasn’t a thinker, and I was wrong again.

Now you learn to sneak. Bella looked me over from head to the back and changed her mind. That might never happen. She admitted to herself. But you will still need to learn to hide and walk like a wasp.
We don’t have time for games.
Do you want to get caught for having your leg out when hiding?
It seemed like a bad thing so I shook my head.
Bella continued. I can’t take care of you all the way. The group of rocks is too far. She said buzzing to impatient. Most of what I do is done with speed. So you will have to show me you can at least keep up with me. I doubt it but come on: Show me how fast you can go.

Just do as she says. Barry buzzed to annoyance. I remembered the little talk we had after taking flight with the merchants in tow. We had been together for so long that I had forgotten she was still a parasitic wasp. Even the big bad hornet listened to her. And why did it matter if we were a few more minutes late? It wasn’t like the termites were stirring a commotion or getting ready to sweep the city clean.
Do you want my quickest?
Yes, don’t hold back. You can attack me if you want.
Don’t be stupid. Barry scented. It was amazing that he could still laugh and tease, even in his condition.

She released amusement as I took a position. Legs bent, abdomen raised, head straight. She asked for my fastest. Well, by charging up I could go pretty fast. And she was surprised to see me flying straight at her. I was aiming for a head butt, but there was a burst of sound from her wing and she disappeared from my sight. The skill canceled when that happened, sending me into a roll and causing me to eat dirt, something I had already perfected.

The key to rolling with an ant’s inflexible body was in letting the momentum be the guide. Rolling was far easier than trying to use the momentum to do a front flip and stand back on the feet in one sleek motion. That bit was far too complex for my ant brain to comprehend and my body to perform.

She was standing back in the same position when I turned around, antennae erect in earnest. I don’t think she was expecting that.
Can all ants do that?
No.
Figure; I wouldn’t have managed to get so many children out of your kind if all of you were so impressive.
That was plainly blunt of her. Maybe she was retaliating? Well, whatever it was I expected nothing less from her uncaring egged ass.

However, Barry had a much difficult question to ask. Can anyone else do that? The answer to that lied in my silence. I was not going to humor him. What he asked was a secret I had long decided to take to my grave. And I wasn’t planning to die any time soon.

Just where did that come from. I was hoping she wouldn’t ask me for the details and was thankful when she decided to let it go.
She had other things to ask. Like: How good is your control?
What do you mean?
I mean, do you overshoot or under? Can you do this?

She swayed, her wings fluttered, there was a burst of sound and then disappeared out of my sight, reappeared next to me, and then disappeared once again before I could touch her.
I couldn’t find her anywhere. No senses worked. Then she walked out from behind a nearby grass shoot.

When did you get there? I asked in surprise.
When you were not looking, She buzzed to amusement.
I saw Barry scratching his head. It was no wonder that she could move about so freely around the hive. How do you catch someone you can’t see? You just pretend they don’t exist.
You want me to move like that? I can barely perform it a dozen times before it becomes too taxing for my body.

She wasn’t surprised. That I can get behind. I’ll take note to not push you too hard when we are finally on the move. Are you hiding any more surprises?
I didn’t have any skills related to hiding so the answer was no. As a result, she asked me to hide from her. We’ll go once I can’t find you in less than three heartbeats. But she always found me and told me how she did it.

You left a scent trail. Your foot was showing. You left prints all over the place. Do you call that hiding? Your scent trail makes all the dead ones roll in their graves. Be still. Stop moving. Become one with your surroundings. What’s the point of digging a hole if you are going to leave the signs all over the place? And then finally, she hesitated and fell into the trap I had dug for her. I succeeded; I slipped through her detection.

---

What are you doing earning this thief like skill? Don’t tell anyone how proud that makes me. It’s the perfect skill to *omitted*.
You have acquired a new skill: Sneak ​

---

[Sneak][Lv-1/10][Tier-1][Active]
[Your steps leave behind no clues.]
[The skill consumes 1 point of Endurance every ten steps. Deactivates automatically when your endurance drops to 50%.]​

---

I did it!
You did it! You showed her. You—
That was unexpected. She said. It was my way of deterring your motivation, but with this and what you can do with your movements; maybe we’ll have a chance.

I was ready.

We said goodbye to Barry. I did it from far by waving my antenna, while she exchanged honey, transferring her reserves to him so he could feed Madhuri from time to time. He needed all the motivation he could get. Done with the pleasantries we were on our way. Luckily, we had fallen far from the termite occupied area; otherwise, we would have had it for real. It was a long walk ahead of us. Half an hour later, and the distance was getting on our nerves.

This would have been so much easier if we could fly.

She agreed. Anyone with a pair of wings would say the same. Any idea why they are roaming the sky like they own the place? Don’t they fear being attacked by a sky predator?

I did my best to ignore the jab and answered her as earnestly as possible.

They could be planning to raid the 47^th city. That’s how they attacked us. I told her. The termites made their royal lineage carry the soldiers and deposited them on top of our tower. It was a desperate situation. No one thought the city would ever see an attack mounted upon her by anyone, much less by termites. We had grown far too comfortable and paid for it dearly.

No wonder your queen went on war. Heck, I would do the same if anyone tried to touch my burrows.
Not the same. I never told her that.

She had heard my story and knew my relation with Princess Tinbuji and how I became her royal guard. She asked me about her and I entertained her to the best of my ability. Still, I can’t figure out how praising Princess caused Bella to hate her.

I could almost taste the lush sarcasm that she coated the chemical words in when explained that it was my decision to go on this journey. I could have kept going because I liked talking about Princess, but something told me I would be better off staying clear of that landfill for now.

So I changed the topic to our current circumstance and the termites: how to deal with them, what to do if cornered, or if they found us out; those sorts of things. However, somehow or another we still wound around talking about my story, at least this time the topic was different.

What if I caught some termites for you to perform an I.C? Won’t they know everything that has happened here? It’ll be so much easier than infiltrating a city in the middle of the day, with no idea whether it’s occupied by the termites or empty inside.

No, no, I shuddered at the mere mention of that. I’m never doing that again. The last time I tried it on a termite the connection almost killed me and put me out of commission for a whole day.

Come-on, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

What? No. There is something wrong with them. It doesn’t work and I’m not doing it?
She stopped in the middle of our trek through a dry bush to ask me I was sure. I told her I was absolutely sure.

Then you better come back here. Her words puzzled me. There’s a termite outside, on top of that blade of grass. It hasn’t seen us yet, but it will if you keep going that way.
I followed her and hid, but when I looked there was no termite anywhere.

Just checking to make sure you follow me. She nonchalantly said and went ahead to climb the grass blade behaving like nothing was wrong. I watched her for a time before following, wondering what had I gotten myself into.

But that was the first and last time she played a joke like that on me. I followed her up to the grass blade and she was moving ahead without an inch of hesitation. We kept to the top of the blades, and I only learned a bit later than we had entered the area patrolled by the termites when I smelled a group of them pass down below.

On top of the blades, I was neither fast nor nimble as her. She had her wings to fall back to whenever she missed her stepped, which she rarely ever did, but I had to keep wasting my charges to keep up with her.

One charge used meant one less point of endurance. And it was not just a measure of my skills, but also stamina. Needless to say, I was beyond uncomfortable following her and slowing her down at every step, which she bluntly admitted to and berated me for.

I would have an easier time getting going there alone. I might even be able to return by the time you reach the city —which in itself is a big if. How about it?

But will you know what to find? I retaliated, calmly because we were in termite territory. How will you differentiate between something wrong and regular? And I can follow you. It was the truth. No one would expect a meager ant to keep up with a wasp, but I was doing it.

She faltered.
And so we continued on our mission. Over the blades and inside the shades; she made me hide in the space between two sibling grass shoots, and under the foliage. Where ever there was a place to hide we hid; and she gave me my third lesson when we were cornered.

If there is an option to hide, you hide. She said. We looked at a group of termites, five of them coming directly toward us. There’s always a danger of getting detected; there is no need to add to is by needlessly butting heads with your opponents. But there are times when you can’t hide.

The termites had caught us naked at the wrong time. There was no way to hide without getting detected and causing an alarm; hence the dilemma.

We had made it deep into the termite occupied territory, and so close to their advanced posts the territory was crawling with their white soldiers. There was no account claiming to have seen termites moving about out of their wood carved cities.

And they were very efficient in their duties. It should be noted that I had managed to slip through the patrolling guards of my city when I didn’t even know anything, and now we were backed up to a wall even though I was following a master of sneaking.

We were only hidden from them because there was a difference in our line of sight. But we were sure to get caught if they came closer.

What would you do in this situation? Bella asked me. There had been many such questions on the way, some of which I had answered wrongly and others easily. This one, however, took me through a wild chase at the end of which I found nothing. So I fired in the haze, hoping to get lucky.

We remain hidden? Maybe dig—
Can you dig fast enough without them finding out, and also cover the traces? Even I don’t claim to be good at both.
No,
Then think about it again. There is no need to hurry or worry.

It was difficult to get used to her. At one moment she would be absolutely serious with no leeway, and then suddenly she’d flip and make a joke, usually a sarcastic one. That was her in a nutshell. The more time I spent with her the more I was realizing that she like Barry had found her own way of coping with stress. That’s what her untimely jokes were.

I came up with an answer. Do we need to distract them?

You are right, She said. I felt a weight lift from my chest but a thorn takes its place when she told me to distract them, and disappeared with a subdued buzz of wings.

The buzzing might have been subdued, but the termites noticed me none the less. Their large heads were equipped with vibration sensors. I wondered if she didn’t know or didn’t care. It was most likely the latter, again. The females around me really had no respect for us of the opposite gender.

However, I didn’t have to move. Bella appeared behind the group out of nowhere. I saw their antennae standing erect and heads quiver in fear. But there was nothing they could do. I got a firsthand display of the terror that a cornered wasp could cause. There was a reason her kind was feared by all that lived in the shade.

She skewered one, injected another, pushed a soldier at the one rushing toward me, and separated the head of the last one —all in one seamless motion. One moment they were standing and in the next moment they were done, dead, and breathless.

She disappeared again with a burst of sound from her wings, and appeared standing above the two she had subdued. Her abdomen pointed at them, the ovipositor glistened with a drop of her decomposing poison. A poison was so strong it made my head dizzy just by standing nearby, in a quantity that could have easily dissolve the two termites into compost and dissolved that compost into the dirt.

Good distraction. She lectured me while the two termites squirmed underneath her like earthworms. But distraction is not enough when you are infiltrating. When trying to escape then sure, but you don’t want to alert your opponents in any form or shape otherwise.

I worried that the termites would mark us, putting an end to our spying, but they didn’t for some reason. I didn’t realize that I was being swayed by her poison even though I was helped by the system, while they were basically naked.

In the end, she skewered the one that was acting courageous and trying to bite her leg in the eye and broke the last one's neck.

The best method is to kill them as quickly and quietly as you can. That’s the only way to be sure that no one notices. You will need to hide the bodies though.

I charged toward her with my mandible straight and the aura of stab coating the edges and stabbed through her… afterimage, dealing with the termites she had only injected. The termite had gotten up. They system congratulated me for killing a Gluttonous Termite and granted me experience, but I had something else on my mind.

You didn’t poison her!
I had to see whether you could handle one on your own or you were simply a whistleblower. She looked at the termite that lay at my feet, chest blasted pen, and its fluids marring my face. Pretty impressive, but how do you plan to clean that mess?
I hadn’t thought about that.
We hid the bodies in the space between the grass shoots and pushed them down so they wouldn’t rise up. I had the brilliant idea of digging them a grave until Bella called me stupid. She didn’t tell me why it was such a bad idea.
We finished cleaning the place and were on our way, however, we had only just passed the advanced post that we entered, what can only be described as a battlefield.
It was fresh. The battle hadn’t happened long ago. The plants still bore signs of poison damage and the dirt still had the stench of death to it. Torn limbs littered the whole place. Most of them belonged to ants, legs, mandibles, all broken and mangled.
This is not the work of anyone sane. Bella commented.

Are you all alright? She asked. I was not. She understood and gave me time to adjust. The advanced post to our right was close enough that I could barely see it sticking out from above the grass shoots. I had an inkling that they were the culprit.

I was still lost in thoughts when Bella pushed me. Sentries, she said and we were hurrying to find a place to hide. We found a small burrow. It had seen usage because there were scents lingering inside, scents that belonged to ants, to ants I personally knew.

The 5555^th soldier, the one who had almost gotten me killed and the hateful ones was here and alive. The scent was recent and if the following trail said anything they had been taken alive to the advanced post.

Turns out, there was no need to go around the advanced post, after all.

 

The advanced sentry post towers around the 47^th weren’t as tall as the ones around the 43^rd city. They were barely as large as an average grass shoot, making them almost indistinguishable from far. While we build high and few, the termites seemed to find the solution to build small and many as a much better alternative. It didn’t make sense to my young mind, but Bella would have had much to add to my contemplation had I asked, but I was more worried about something else.

How many termites were there? Because my heart wanted me to save my friends and was on a war against my brain that wanted me to go to the city, meet the citizens, get my answers, and finish my mission. The friends could come next. But I knew that wasn’t true. I could accomplish one goal and the security at the other will tighten enough to make it mission impossible.

We could either save my friends, my companions who had believed in my mission and Princess Tinbuji’s concerns; or search the elusive rock city, Door-Darshan-Ji, for answers I had been through hell and back, again and again.

Choosing one meant abandoning the other. The dilemma was torturous. It was Friends over society. Present versus the future. The queen would have asked me to pursue the present. She would have something like: The illusory future captivates so that we forget how dazzling and absolutely marvelous the preset is. She talked like that. That was the issue she had raised to deny Princess Tinbuji’s help the first time around.

Princess would surely— she wasn’t heartless enough to give up on her friends was she? How could I doubt that? Hadn’t she tried to stop me? Hadn’t she?

What are you doing there with your abdomen? Are you self-servicing? Well, come on, now. The patrol has passed. We can leave. Bella didn’t know. Hence she could still make jokes. But when I told her she left the decision to me. Your mission, your choice, She said. That’s all the help she offered.

Even greed didn’t care. It was happy with whatever I chose. It was a win-win situation for it.

In the end, I chose to save my friends. I— can’t abandon them. I told Bella. I chose to save and tried to justify it with reasons and excuses.

I couldn’t dare lift my head. Eyes watched the grains of dirt beneath my feet that made the ground. What happens if you take away a handful of grains? You are left with a hole. What if you take away all of them? The foundation crumbles and you are left with nothing to stand upon. I was choosing the latter by giving up on my goal, the destination I had given so much for.

I had chosen to look away; like the time I was forced by the workers union to abandon my digging method. I thought I had changed. I thought, I thought I was no longer the same ant. But deep down I was still the same —a coward.

Break free!
I can’t!
Break free!

You are not giving up! The voice in my head bellowed. The ember glowed with a spark hot and bright. You can do this. You are not the same. You wouldn’t have gone against the frog, or taken the mantle for the chick if you hadn’t changed! You wouldn’t have saved your precious Madhuri, and you went against the hisser, didn’t you. And you did it all alone.

Alone—

It clicked. The word brought me back to my feet. I started moving and then running. I was going alone. I had done it before. I—
Oye, what’s wrong? Bella asked.
I’m doing it. I was too confident, too invested. I couldn’t even see her. My eyes were already on the prize. I was so excited about coming up with the path with no regrets that I had forgotten to tell Bella her role in my solo plan.

What are you doing now? Are you running away? I don’t think Barry will like it much if I told him that a few torn limbs and empty eyes had you shaking like a witless brush, and scared you into abandoning the job what you had set out to do.

No. I pushed my face right against her. Where was this rush coming from? Whatever the case, it was working! I’m saving them, my companions. I pushed the pheromones out of my antennae, a whole bucket load of them. They gave me their faith. I have to return the favor.

That’s good and all, but why are you in such a hurry. Were you going to leave me behind?

NO. You-you will go to the city. Shading hell, I forgot to tell you. I want you to go alone. We won’t abandon anyone. We will get them both. Greed won’t get the last laugh?
I was so excited at the prospect that I had almost forgotten the other side of the story: the reason she was with me in the first place. But I already had one leg out and the rest in motion; there was no stopping me now.

Greed? What’s that? Bella said. I really want to hit you on the head and take you back so Barry can have some words with you, but I like this train of thoughts. I can have some fun if I’m to do this alone. Tell me more.
And we planned. We spent a long-long minute planning the ins and the outs, the dos, and don’ts. Time slows down when you know what you are doing when you have a plan, and when your partner is as stupid as you.

So we decided that she would go to the rock city because there was no way I was making it here all alone. We didn’t know but our fate was written the moment we made the choice. The only thing left to do was for us to get into motion and play our roles as we had decided.

I told her everything she would need to know to find survivors.

If the city’s compromised, which it most likely is, then the survivors will be at the center of the city inside the vault, that’s the queen's chamber.
I’ve never been to one. It’ll be exciting. I heard all your queens are so fat and bulbous that they can’t even move. Is that right?
I ignored her commentary. Actually, it didn’t even register in my mind. That’s what happens when you are too focused on something. It’s not good to be too enthusiastic. It would have been bad if Bella was only all talk and no bark.
I continued. The city might be different with no towers and hidden constructions, but there is no way they changed the queen chamber. It will be protected and impenetrable from the outside. They won’t allow you in, even if you have my sent, but I want you to have it, in case the situation isn’t as hopeless as I’m assuming.

She’d need my scent to convince the survivors that she was a friend —if there were any survivors. We were banking on the positive— so I gave it to her. Even though she could exploit it, but from what I had seen I knew she didn’t need such an underhanded method. Subterfuge was reserved by the weak.

I’m a wasp. I have my pride. She let me know when she saw me hesitate.

They will fear you. I told her. They won’t open the vault. Don’t let them. Ask them what happened. When the termites arrived and what was the message that the ant marked ¹7111₃, (first-generation, 3^rd lay and number 7111) carried. Ask them if the mother city is in danger, and anyway, we can help them.

What if I find only termites inside and no ants? Bella asked. Do you want me to kill them?

No. I didn’t let the thought take hold. We had much to accomplish. I didn’t have time for self-doubt. There will be some survivors. I told and pressed as if repeating the same words would turn them into truths. The nurses would have tried to save as many eggs as possible. And if we aren’t too late, they will be alive down their somewhere, feeding on the eggs and waiting for a chance to pass on the news of the cities fall.

As for her other offer, I refused it. Please, don’t put your life in danger. Come back if you find no ants. I don’t want to lose you and Barry needs you.
The last bit just escaped from me and it humored her.
She asked me what I was planning and I told her about the scent trail that led toward the advanced post. Seeing as how there was no scent of death or pain lingering inside the burrow, chances were they had only been taken captive.

I’m going to infiltrate the advanced post. I told her and she stood up a bit straighter, eyes sharper. Her antennae twitched. She was uncertain.
Do you want to go alone? She questioned, buzzing to reason. I knew she had much to say, but she stopped herself. For the first time, I saw her being concerned. Even Madhuri’s condition hadn’t baffled her so.
You won’t let me come with you? She asked when I didn’t respond.
I shook my head. You know I can’t let you do that. We both have to act at the same time. It’s the only chance we’ll get. I want to do it right.

Besides, I started, the scent trail—
She interrupted and finished the sentence for me. The scent trail could be bait for a fool to give his life. I shivered at the thought. Anyways, she buzzed to annoyance and then to contemplation. I thought she was going to reject my offer, but she had news for me.
Since we are already doing this, She said. How about I help you get inside first.
My antennae stood erect. I was interested. How?
She buzzed to mischievousness. Didn’t you say the termites attacked your city from the west to distract your forces?
I almost jumped up in elation. Are you proposing—
Yes, She slapped me on the back with an antenna, and gave a hearty dose of signals that screamed danger in my mind and sent a shiver down my spine? She was planning something big, bad, and ugly. I knew from the way her abdomen quivered that she was excited, and not many things excited her.

Let’s give them a flavor of their own brain matter.
That’s not the saying—
Oh, who cares. Are you in or not?
Let’s do this.
She left the burrow ahead of me and went exactly in the direction opposite to the advanced post I was targeting. The termites didn’t create their posts tall, but there were many of them spread across the territory.
She needed to choose the perfect place to act so our target group was alerted first. I was not worried about her. She planned to distract the patrolling guards and then rush for the 47^th city.
The termites shouldn’t be able to make the connection. But I planned to be quick so there were no mishaps.
The alarm rose.
ENEMY! WASP! WEST: BETWEEN W7 AND W8!

And it repeated over and over again, spreading and moving with the wind, alerting the patrolling sentries and opening my path.

They rushed past the burrow, antennae straight and heads vibrating in a low warning. They were pulling away from everyone, even those on the lookout over the grass blades. Did they not care about the chaos being a distraction? Did they not even think about it? Perhaps they had so few ground encounters that they didn’t know about the concept. Or they were worried about something? What? About the city's retaliation? It was too late for that.

Whatever the case, their poor coordination meant I would have an easier time sneaking past the patrolling sentries. However, the numbers congregating in the west did get me worried for Bella’s safety. I hoped she’d see the termites coming before they had her surrounded. The city was our goal, not mutual destruction.

The ground vibrated regularly; I waited for the termites to pass. It was all the same for sensitive hearing. Anyone could feel the vibrations, heavy or soft, low, or high, but only a handful few knew how to read them, to know the information that vibrations contained. It was a sense lost to most. I would have missed so many things had the aged warrior not beaten it into me.

The skill was bound by range, however. Still, it allowed me to read the position and the numbers that passed overground. I had counted one hundred and the termites were still going strong. Bella really needed to get her to move on. It would be a lost fight soon. The termites might mean nothing to her, but they could shoot a jet of acid from their foreheads. A few shots connected at the wrong place would easily injure her, too.
I left the burrow as soon as the ground stopped rumbling. The wind had blown the alarm east. Hopefully, it wouldn’t cause her too much problem.

Since the sun was right over my head, the shade was lighter and shadows all scrunched up at the foot of the grass shoots.

There was a time when the rock lying in front of me would have seemed an obstacle to cross; it still did, but now I knew I could hide behind it. I did hide behind the rock when I saw a soldier rushing directly toward me. The scent of death masked me. I would have problems once I was out of the battlefield, but until then I didn’t need to worry about anything thing other than hiding.

I rolled into a ball and the termite passed by without noticing anything unusual. There was no need to butt heads unnecessarily.

But the area wasn’t all empty. Some of the sentries had remained, and they were vigilant. That time Bella might have simply tried to test me by joking about a termite on the grass blade, but I saw one right outside. It was a royal male with infrared eyes and was looking directly in my direction.

I waited for him to turn, but a gust ruffled through the shade before that. It was enough distraction for me to sneak past. I hid behind a piece of old and dried broken branch to see if he had noticed me, or had turned. He showed no interest and I pushed deeper.

I had to climb a grass blade and lie flat when a patrolling party of seven went past me. They were scared for some reason and kept looking in the direction where Bella had caused the commotion. Did they fear the disturbance to reach them? Just what had happened here? Ultimately Bella would have some answers for me, but for now, I needed to get into that advanced tower and do my part.

However, the patrols doubled from there. The difficulty rose substantially. I really missed Bella; she would have swished and swooshed me over and under the crevices and grass shoots, not letting anyone know. It was not easy to keep my senses spread out for such a long time. It was exhausting to simply keep my eyes focused, but to have my senses spread and antennae searching for signs of termites approaching was just cruelly painful.
I dug into the dirt to hide from another party. My heart thrummed deeply when one of them stopped right next to me, antennae vibrating. She had found something. I prayed to the shade to help me out this time. I was a goner, otherwise.

What is it? Her friends asked, but she couldn’t explain what she had found and was called back but the leader of the patrolling unit. I finally relaxed when they disappeared somewhere to my left.

Just where were they hiding so many of them? It was like a whole battalion was out in the field for training or something. And to think Bella had so easily led me around them when they were still spread out and not distracted. Respect rose instantly for her.

If I was to believe the connection I had shared with the termite back in the city, then there were millions of them living in that giant tree in the middle of nowhere. If even a portion of them had made it to the 47^th city; now that’s what you call a nightmare.

However, Just a bit further up and I had to confront one of them. She was refusing to budge from her position and standing right outside a white hollow something that really looked like a buried skull of something gigantic. I neither doubted nor accepted the thought. What it was but an excellent place to hide and make a dash for the dried bush a bit further up, that’s it. There was no need to needlessly add emotions to landmarks I was not going to visit again.

I charged right at the termites and carried her right into the fake skeleton. I got up covered in her blood; she didn’t. I looked around for trouble, but no one had noticed anything. I cleaned myself, rubbed some dirt back on my body, and charged for the bush.

I would have left a giant trial in my wake had I not been thorough with the cleaning.

The bush was dry and made sounds as I picked my way through it, careful as I was I still was but an amateur. I peeked through it; the tower lied just up ahead. To think I made it so far, Bella would be proud. And ready to point out the mistake I had made on the way, the situations I could have avoided, and the time I had wasted. There was probably no getting around that.

I was getting ahead of myself. There was still much to do.

The advanced post was definitely a termite creation. It was short, wide, and oval; not the geometry that an ant would choose.
Ten winged males surrounded the post, keeping watch. A group of four covered the entrance. I saw two groups of ten patrolling nearby.
This was too much protection for a single sentry post. They were treating it like a Queen’s antechamber chamber.

One thing was sure: the termites didn’t know how to use an advanced post. They were having the sentries protect the construction, instead of it being the other way around. It looked pretty amusing to my ant brain.

But the trail led directly into the post. Most surprising was its consistency. There were no signs of struggle, panic, or alert and alarm. I did, however, detect confusion from both the trail and the guards. It wasn’t actually even a trail, just the leftover emissions of a group that had passed through. Just what had caused a group of ants to casually walk into an enemy lair without a hint of struggle?

However, everything ended when an alarm rose into the air behind me. A group stood there, proud. The female soldier who I thought I had evaded stood beside the leader; her gait was confident and mandibles snapping.

That wasn’t all. The patrolling squads that covered my left and right were slowly closing in. I was trapped. It was laughable. However, the entrance was only blocked by four soldiers. Inside would be narrow tunnels and closed chambers. I could make a stand in there. And the others were also inside, somewhere. Together we could hold off the termites until Bella returned from the city. She would come for sure once she knew I wasn’t back yet.

I had a plan.

I pushed for the entrance.

I charged right through the guards but found myself in a wide antechamber with even more soldiers waiting for some action.
The termites outside blocked the exit, while the ones inside slowly approached me, antennae pointed and heads vibrating in a warning.

Don’t do anything reckless. Don’t be afraid.
Tricks, my thoughts said. All are ploys to make you drop your defenses.
The tension gnawed at my sanity. The situation was on the cusp of exploding into a mess.
Then a snap echoed and they rushed me.
I fought. I fought. I charged and slashed and stabbed. I pushed them to create some space. I jumped over them, rolled under their legs. It was tiring, but I tried to push deeper, to find my friends. I needed to see for myself. Was this it? Was this all I had? My endurance fell. I could no longer charge at the termites. My head had been ringing constantly. The system congratulated me for gaining experience, for leveling up, for some of my skills gaining levels.

Only five dead; there was still so many to go through. I was tired.

I needed a weapon, something different; something that wouldn’t take an arm and a leg to use. What if I whipped with stab coiled around my antennae?
I whipped one and cut her head off clean. They stopped attacking. I whipped and another leg fell to my right, and an antenna fell to my left.
My sight had turned blood red. I could no longer see the termites. I knew they were all around me, trying to catch me. My intelligence was dwindling with every second, but why weren’t they attacking? I stabbed one directly in the head and she only tried to defend. Where were the acid jets, the razor-sharp mandibles that could eat right through a tree?
My antennae were caught.

Someone held me from the chest, another grabbed my abdomen. I was going to die. They were going to make an example out of me for retaliating against them, for others to see and fear.
They stretched my legs. I remembered the graveyard, the torn limbs, and the missing bodies. They were going to kill me like that. Fear overtook anger. My sight returned, but eyes still couldn’t see. I was spent, my consciousness was fading. I couldn’t do anything. I was bound.

What do you want? I overwhelmed. That was all of my pheromones, released in one quick blast. It worked against the termites. They dropped me. Perhaps, I should have started with it and then picked up with charge. A thought to feed my stubborn will. I was free but too exhausted. I couldn’t get up.

A pair of antennae touched my head.

It’s alright. They said. Don’t be afraid. It’s alright.
How could it be alright? I was in the middle of enemy territory. I was—
I remembered that scent! It was the 5555^th soldier, the stubborn fool who had raised the alarm on me when I had no passport! She was not alone. I sensed other ants beside her. Some I knew, others I didn’t. The hateful one was trying to force an I.C on me, but pulled back when I noticed. That was so like her.

The termites were also around. They hadn’t saved me, but they weren’t attacking. They—

What happened here? I asked, stupefied and the leader Star —of course, he was with them— answered.

You need to hear what the termites have to say. He said. They have a very interesting story. I, personally, never thought I’d say this but, there’s a chance that the termites aren’t the enemies you were looking for.

 

I was fed, cared for, and healed. Star had brought more than just my team along for the journey. There were soldiers from the delegation, his adviser —whose role in the situation had become drastically important— and a healer.
She had a six-digit identity number that started with a four and ended with another four. She was tired; they all were. I didn’t have to guess. There were far too few of them. A delegation so far would have at least had a couple of dozen members, while only a dozen occupied the chamber. The worst was the absence of my troop leader Y2K and the comedian 384^th. They did not make it.
Did the termites—
5555^th soldier shook her head. She held my antennae as tightly as she could both out of need and worry for me. The loss of her teammates had hit her hard. She was in mourning and I was her only reprise.

Beside my community members, there were also two termites in the chamber, standing at the exit, keeping an eye on us —especially me. I knew I was staring. That I couldn’t help. Everyone had time to digest whatever they had learned, but I was still playing catch.

Suddenly the 5555^th soldier stirred beside me. It wasn’t the termites. She scented. What attacked us was-was indescribable. It was malice given form and let loose. It carried the signature of an ant, but its scents made no sense. They were all very powerful and mind-numbing, containing emotions that were binding and hurtful. They were many, a whole army and they attacked us without any cause, and-and—

5555^th was shaking. I rubbed her head with my antennae. Moving the antennae hurt far more than anything, but I continued regardless, for the touch soothed her. The constant usage had put a big strain on them. I was lucky that they were still attached to my head. She dropped her head from the stimulation, unable to hold her emotions in check. I was washed in the scent of her torment. It was not a good experience.

Star noticed it soon enough and took her away to the back of the chamber. Suddenly left alone, I grew nervous. My mind started racing again and I grew worried for all of us and those not with us. Thankfully, he returned a while later and took a seat beside me. My heart calmed a little from his presence.

How are you? He asked.
Confused, I confessed. What happened here, Star? I came here looking for answers, but all I see are more questions. The mystery is starting to irritate me.
What’s Star?
It’s the name I gave you because of the… I didn’t know how to break the subject to him. I had given him the name on impulse, to remember him among the numerous new faces that had suddenly arrived at our doorstep. I never thought he would confront me about it.

He touched his forehead with a front leg and released amusement.

I’ll be fair. He touched my head. I have been called Scar before, but Star… you give me too much honor.
I— I tied to apologize, but he pounced through without giving me the time to make amends.
Well, anyways. He looked away. It must be an embarrassing subject of matter that he didn’t want to talk about. I dropped it on the cue. Where do you want me to start?
Start from the very beginning. I told him and he nodded.

Apparently, after killing the frogs, which they did thanks to my tip regarding the frog’s blind spot, he found himself filled with anxiety and worry. The reason behind my journey kept him on the move, but he couldn’t find anything to do. The frogs provided enough meat for them to go without hunting for weeks. And since most of his troops were leaving to join the war on the western front he felt truly anxious.

He had promised to bring me there, to the 47^th city, but since I was taken by a frog —he didn’t use the word, dead, which I was thankful for— he couldn’t live with himself.
So you made up your mind, banded together with the few soldiers you could find, and decided to curb your anxiety, to see if I was right, or wrong?

No. She forced me to come. He pointed at the 5555^th soldier. She was talking with the hateful one, who was cleaning her antennae and taking care of her? When did that happen?
Turns out, I had missed an important point of development between the two.

She was Very persuasive. He scented, making me look away from the two and back at him. I couldn’t deny her request. Truth to be told, I was looking for an excuse to leave the city. The sudden peace and the stillness made me nervous. It directly clashed with your warning. It was a matter of time before I would have picked up and left with my troops anyway, but she accelerated the process. And we managed to save you thinks time.

There were only six of us from the beginning. With two dead, one missing, and the last one I believe having returned back to the city, they must have felt pretty lonely. But to think she would decide to follow through in my place and Star would keep his word,

Thank You. It was the least I could say.
No, thank you. If it wasn’t for you who knows how many more would have died to the frogs. And from what I have seen here… He shifted on his feet, becoming uncomfortable and growing serious.
You must want to know what happened here, right? Are you ready? Can you get up?

I nodded. He helped me up, held me when I stumbled, and stretched my limbs. The soldiers watched from the side, whispering to each other and getting ready as if we were going to war.

I was shaking after the stretching, but it was a case of weakness rather than injury. I was delighted to be back on my feet again, but the emotion wasn’t enough. The termites had to be plotting something. But why save the others then? It made absolutely no shading sense!

Alright, I’ll be right back. He left me standing on my own to talk with the two termites that carefully listened to him and then left the chamber.

No one came to take their place.

I was so surprised, even Star grew concerned.
What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Do you want me to call a healer?

I held him tightly instead. My head spun like a feather in freefall, but I needed to get to the bottom of the situation before the termites return. They were not here to keep an eye on you all? I conveyed by touching his antenna. Direct contact was the safest form of communication around. Even it leaked chemicals, but not on the level that a scented message did.

Star stood a bit straighter at the mention, then grew visibly relaxed and patted my back. That must mean something, right? He was either really confident regarding the termites and the situation or-or… I had no idea what else it could mean.

I would have assumed the same if I was in your place, but you don’t have to worry about them; at least not for now.

It was really hard to believe. Those back home would have laughed at me if I told them that I saw ants and termites living under the same roof and cooperating with each other. We just had too much bad blood between us. What was happening around me was nothing short of a miracle; if it was really happening that is. I was half sure it was a ploy by the termites and the survivors were simply clutching at the short straws to stay alive.

This was their land once! We pushed them out in the name of territorial expansion and made them scramble for a new home in the desert where nothing grew. There was no way they were letting that memory to rest. The Embers would have burned with a vengeance until we had our revenge, had the same happened to us.

You are absolutely sure this isn’t some ploy by them? I asked, clutching at straws and hoping that he wasn’t completely siding with them because that would be plainly awful. Star was the leader of the campaign. The soldiers were going to listen to him no matter the order.

Well, I believe in cause and effect. The rain brought us the frogs, and trouble at home caused you to search out for a solution outside. Similarly, the termites will want revenge for being thrown out of their own territory, but that’s for the future. He scented. I breathed in relief. At least he wasn’t delusional enough to believe everything the white liars had fed him.
He continued, antennae moving to face the exit. Right now we are facing the same storm and I believe they say the truth. However, in the future, when the situation is under control? Who knows what will happen. You should talk to my advisor if you want to discuss the future; I only believe in the present.

Alright, I could work with him if he only believed them for the time being.
So what is it? I asked, finally confident enough to venture deeper into the termite's trap.
That suddenly curbed all of his enthusiasm. Star, whom even the giant frogs couldn’t scare, grew gloomy. His antennae dropped to the floor and head followed. I believed him when he told me to have patience, but it wasn’t enough.

The termites went to call their elder. He’ll show you everything you want to know. He didn’t seem comfortable talking about it but explained further upon noticing my blatant show of dissatisfaction, which included: antennae whirling, ground tapping with for legs, and beating with the abdomen. It was a classic technique and caused him much amusement, however, his vigilant remained. The way he stood on his haunches, ready to run, made me wonder and reminded me again of the graveyard, the torn limbs, and the chaotic scents.

You will understand everything once you have seen that thing. The story will make sense then. Everything will seem like lies without it. Believe me; we have all been through this. Why do you think the soldiers pity you?
Did they pity me? A quick look told me he was right. At least all their antennae were still upon me. They had seen a sky predator take the frog and me along with it. No one comes alive from that kind of an incident. They were bound to be suspicious and intrigued. I wasn’t the only one impatient about the truth. And Star wasn’t any different.

Say, He started, mandibles playfully open. What happened to you after the sky predator took the frog you were trying to kill?

The soldiers slid closer toward us at his loud mention. He was clutching onto the tip of the grass blade to not slip into dismay, but I wasn’t in the mood of telling my heroic tale. No need for pepper snorting; it was a heroic tale, alright, an epic journey.

I forced his mandible close by pushing them with my antennae and told him to ask me later.
You will only understand everything once you have seen that thing. My story will make sense then. You will call me a liar otherwise.

Alright, alright— no need to repeat my own words. I understand.
Our conversation ended, but the wait continued. However, the mystery did unnerve me. Fortunately, I sensed someone coming around the corner and my mind went silent. The termites entered the chamber; their numbers had increased from two to three.

Elder, Star dropped his left antennae and head in respect. That itself made me uncomfortable. The new termite was far too young to be an elder or maybe she wasn’t.
While the soldiers were pale white with hints of light brown to their exoskeleton, she looked to have baked in the sun all her life. Only her jaw retained the natural whiteness, the rest of her was reddish-brown, though not a single scar marred her body.
But I felt something stir inside me when she put her attention upon me. A wave of emotions hit me left, center, and right, and I couldn’t find a place to run toward. The emotions made me want to respect her. It was not a good sign. I retaliated. I stood my ground, fought the rush. I had experience dealing with such attacks, and it was the only thing between my free will and forced submission. No wonder Star was singing their praises. However, to think there was someone else who could use overwhelm, and in such a way that made the target obey instead of taking them out for good… I could not be impressed. That would have been her victory.

Eventually, the rush passed and I stumbled a few steps back from the sudden release of the pressure. She was surprised and impressed, but that didn’t mean she started favoring me all of a sudden.

I had killed five of her soldiers, most of whom I had stopped fighting back. I understood that we would never come on equal terms. If anything, my little stunt had only proved that even if a termite decided to step back, an ant might not. It was not a healthy gesture from us, considering they were trying to help us —that’s what I understood from my conversation with Star.

And that’s the question she started with.
Why didn’t you stop?
There was no answer to that. I could only question her in return. Since we were not going to be on the same leaf, there was no need to be friendly either.
What are you doing here?

We are here to take back what’s rightfully ours; to take back what your kind forcefully took from us. What do you think?
I will think of it as the truth and return to warm the mother city, Agnee-Rath-Ji, the fire that burden your kind away from this land in the first place. That reminder got me a reaction. Her soldiers buzzed their heads in a warning. The elder also couldn’t hide the spark of fear that had come into existence at the mention. That was a win for me, and I felt her agitation when she spoke next.

And you think I will allow you to do that? If you think YOU have intimidated us then you are a fool, worker.
Just think about it —I went for her neck— if a worker could push into your stronghold, what could a soldier have accomplished if they were as desperate as me? I waved an antenna toward the soldiers. How many would have died to them before they succumbed to weakness —not her soldiers? Do you wish to know?
You have a lot of heart little worker, spurting such words and showing so much hatred when you are in the middle of MY camp.
I’m an ember ant, number ⁵99₆ (5^th gen, 6^th lay, number 99). I might not be fire incarnate, but a spark still burns inside me like the rest of them. You will need more than petty ticks to extinguish it.

Alright, 99, let’s see whether the fire you speak off is the real deal or a figment of your imagination.
Let’s go.
We were not leaving for a fight. She had just agreed to show me what Star was talking about, to unveil the mystery.
The elder left the chamber with her two guards. They didn’t forget to give me their warning head shakes, but that was protocol. Only Star followed me. We were led higher up the advanced post. The others had shown extreme reaction and even repulsion at the idea. It was suspicious, but everything was suspicious and nothing made sense, so it was all the same in the end.

The termite’s construction didn’t have small, narrow tunnels that opened into larger chambers, but open halls stuffed with soldier termites. Even the passageways were large enough to house soldiers, and they stared at us as we passed through. I pondered the chance of them pouncing at our backs and found it extremely unlikely. They already had us boxed inside the post structure, living on their mercy.

However, the sickly white termites moved into action every time we passed close to one, afraid as if we were monsters. An unhealthy number of them were young and newborn. No wonder they were so quick on their feet. The seniors were rare and far in between. And that was a problem. If they had a queen tucked inside one of those advanced posts, pumping eggs by the thousands, then the area was as good as theirs.

The higher we climbed the louder our surroundings became. A chaotic banging rang above our heads. There was something trapped above. I could feel it and its rage. So mind-numbing it was I almost lost myself for a second. I had to shake Star to wake him for he was lost to its rhythms. That curbed all my excitement and put worry in its stead. Maybe the termites weren’t really all talk and did indeed have something show me.
This was where the elder stopped and faced me with a warning. She had no eyes but could see me still. I knew because the opposite didn’t make sense.

What you are going to see is what we are fighting. Don’t get too close, or this time I won’t stop my soldiers. She advised and climbed up the last stretch.
I found Star staring at the ceiling, his antennae straight and body tense. He was shaking slightly.
Are you all alright?
Huh, oh, yes.
You can stay here if you want. He actually contemplated the idea, making me wonder what could be waiting for us above, but he decided that he had to do it.
I can’t leave you alone with that thing up there now, can I?
That’s real mature. I scented. He pushed me forward and took lead himself, lowering his weight to the ground and gearing up to face that which scared him so much.
It was dark inside the final hall and filled with a scent that had no head or tail. It meant nothing but was full of emotions at the same time. It detailed of pain and hunger, mostly the latter, but also of fear and madness.
There were soldiers inside, a large group of them, and all were staring at the center where the cause of the commotion lay. It was a giant… ant?

One of our own: an ember ant! I could see the red spots on her body. They glowed in the darkness like real embers! The ant gave a bust of scent at our admission. It was rage. I knew because I had lived it, and understood it better than anyone else.
It had the form of an ant: six legs, tri-segmented body, and mandibles; but that’ also where the similarities ended. If the termite inside the pit back on the 41^st floor of my city was a beast, then this, whatever this was, was a true monster.
It had wriggling antennae growing out of its body at more than one place. It was taller, at least three heads taller than Star, who was a giant of a soldier himself, and sturdier. Ants have an exoskeleton protecting the body; its exoskeleton had spikes growing out at the ends, and was at least twice as thick. So thick, it was protruding up from the base and could be distinguished easily from the flesh beneath. It reminded me of stone because that’s what it looked like. The ant looked like a stone that had grown flesh and limbs!

Somehow the termites had fixed it to the floor by cementing its limbs and had also created bars of the same cement to separate the chamber into two.
What is that? I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was a nightmare incarnate. How could something like it exist in nature?
That’s a tanker from your city in the rock. Don’t get too close to it. The various antennae move irrespective of the body and can crush you in seconds.

I couldn’t even distinguish its gender. It was all too convoluted a mess; too many pointed ends, skeleton and antennae that swayed in the air.
What happened to it? That’s… Anger flared inside me when I thought about the termites that were immune to poison. Did you do that?
Yes, The elder said, making me freeze on the spot. The ‘No’ that followed put some life back inside me. I swear to the shade that was she a little late I would have charged at her without faring for the consequences.

This is the infection that we are fighting, that you will be fighting if your kind wants to survive.

Lie detection said it was the truth. But she had admitted to being the cause of the infection. She wouldn’t have told us that if she didn’t have an answer prepared, but she didn’t know that I had the means to catch her lies.
The elder sat down on the ground, facing us. Behind her, the monster continued fidgeting, trying to get out of its confines, but I knew getting out of the cement was impossible once it had hardened. I had almost succumbed to it at the tower. I poked Star on the chest to know what was happening, but he was as confused as me.

The elder asked us to sit down. Well, what else could I do? Things weren’t exactly going my way. I hoped Bella would be alright. The monster ant looked menacing from appearance alone. If it also had the sharpness in its movements then she would be in danger. Well, she was intelligent and a wasp; infected or not the ants were still ants. She spent her day’s hunting spiders; ants weren’t going to be a problem for her. And she could always bail.

The termites were a problem, which I needed to thoroughly understand. And our host looked like she was ready to open up a treasure of secrets that no one but her kind knew. The silence made me anxious, but what followed was a pit full of rotten bodies that I would have been better off not knowing.
For you to know the truth behind the infection —the elder started— you must first know what happened to us after we were defeated by your queen and thrown out of this piece of land. You need to know our story.

 

We were left stranded in the desert with no way forward. Nothing grew or lived there. There was no greenery, no trees, or even shade. You may think the last one was a boon in disguise, but in the desert, you yearn for shade, even if it hides the deadliest of predators known to you. The desert is one such place.

You queen spared our lives, for which we are thankful, but we didn’t stop hating her. We hated her from the bottom of our hearts, some of us still do, others not so much. I had only been a month old then, recently out of the community service. Yes, even we go through the hell named community service.

It happened too suddenly. We were defeated in a single day. Most of us didn’t even know what happened. One moment we were going about our lives, repairing the wall, digging the drains, deepening the well, and suddenly there was panic circulating in the city, filling the tunnels, chaos spreading.

Anyways, that is not part of the story that I wish to convey. War brings chaos; that’s the truth. But you can’t even begin to fathom what we went through in the desert. Out here we die once and that’s it; there we died every day, killed every day, survived in the body but died a little more inside. Every day was a fight for our survival.

The desert burned in the day, growing hot enough to melt exoskeleton and burn flesh; while at night, it froze anyone that dared sleep under the sky outside. We had to constantly dig burrows in the sand to survive day or night. We could only travel in the early morning before sunrise, and in the evening during the sunset. Death roamed the desert at all other times. But there was nothing to eat. No critters, no tress, grass, creatures, nothing. You could keep looking for miles and miles and see nothing, but shimmering glittering grains of the same sunburned sand.


We would have been better off if your queen had just ordered to kill us; but no, she had to let us survive, put us through the misery that would make sure that we wouldn’t return. That is a journey you don’t dare take twice.


Some of us lost our minds. A few others never woke from their night sleep. Some burned away to the sand at day and many… we ate. We ate our own. We ate the weak first, and the old, but soon there were none of those left, so we started fighting each other, killing each other. The winner got to eat while the loser was eaten.


You might think that during this time we must have hated your whole kind, but you’d be wrong. The desert forces you to forget everything. We also forgot everything. By the time our numbers dwindled to a tenth of what we had started with there was no hate left in us. We only wanted to keep going, to reach the end of the desert and survive. Many who got afraid of the way we lived separated from the main group and disappeared into the sand dunes.

A whole week, that’s how long we walked in the burning heat of the desert, killing and eating each other. We never knew nature could be so scary.


For us hope arrived in the form of a giant tree. Incredible, that’s how the royals defined it. They said it was inconceivably huge. It stood in the desert like a lush brown wall. The shade it created alone was a huge overtaking to cross; it took us a whole day of continuous walking to get to its base.

We anchored at the tree-like termites to a tree. I know that’s a popular saying among your kind.

We ate, filled our strength, ate some more, and we never left. It was the most delicious meal I had ever had.

The tree gave us strength and helped us prosper. Since it was large enough and its branches many, there was no need for the royal females to take flight. They mated with the few males that were still alive and carved cities in the depths of the tree.

They took control of the different sections, dividing the branches, the trunk, the crown, and the roots among them. The first generation of newly turned queens took over the trunk, and slowly but steadily we digested the tree. The next generation grew upward, taking over the branches, and creating cities of their own. It has been years and the tree still stands strong. We are still eating it, living in it, but no longer out of need, instead of necessity.


You asked me what caused the infection.


I’ll confess that it originated from us, but we are not the cause. The tree is causing it all! It is different from other trees. It gave us strength and helped us prosper, but also bound us without us noticing anything. We can’t leave it any longer. If we don’t feed upon it we change. We become like this creature.


Many tried to leave, but they all return at some point, changed into mindless husks of their previous selves, stronger, impressive, and invulnerable, but also crazy, enraged, and murderous. They then attacked their own brothers and sisters, not distinguishing one from the other, killing and eating them, and growing even stronger.

However, we were handling that. Yes, we killed our own, but that’s the only solution to the complex problem. Just to be clear, there is no returning back for someone who is infected. The change is permanent. And the Tree has absolute control over those creatures.

But things changed when a large group, a battalion, thousands strong, attacked us in the middle of the night. They were ants, from here, the hidden city in the rocks. At that time there was no guessing. They pushed through our tunnels, crazy and out of their minds, killing and eating anything they saw moving.


We stopped the raid, killed them all, buried our dead, and followed their tracks to this place. And we have been here ever since because we don’t want to imagine an army of undying ants raiding us in the middle of the night. They become stronger the closer they get to the tree, out here they can still be killed. But in the desert, they regenerate torn limb and heal wounds in a moment. You have never seen ants that look like beetles and move like wasps, but they exist and you don’t want to meet them.

As for us, we are stuck on the tree, unable to leave, and neither do we want to leave. We were happy there until the infection spread to your kind. And don’t even think about bringing the war to us. We have been evicted from our land once. It won’t be allowed to happen again.

With the warning, the termite elder slipped into rest. A soldier brought her water and she drank by the mouthful’s, allowing her abdomen to expand freely.

It was one heck of a story, alright. I felt pretty overwhelmed. Star was not feeling any different. And according to lie detection, it was all true. To think there was a tree out there that could control others to curb the infestation raging through its body. That alone was a big enough reason to destroy it. Common sense dictated, the termites should have eaten through it already, but that was clearly not the case.

I could refuse to believe her despite the confirmation by lie detection, but that wouldn’t get me anywhere. Anyhow, the elder termite hadn’t told us everything; there were still some holes left for me to fill.

It is an unbelievable story. I scented. I just have a few more questions to ask. I’ll believe you one hundred percent if you can answer them.
Ask away.
She was confident. Well, she might slip and tell more than necessary if she was over her head, so it was not a problem for me.

Alright, I accepted her offer and asked away. How was the 47^th city infected? According to you, your kind —I apologized and changed my words when the soldiers buzzed their heads in warning— I mean, one needs to eat your home tree to get infected, right? Then how did the infection spread so far and into us ants, when we only eat meat and mushrooms?

There was no suspicious movement from her. She was prepared and answered confidently. Someone of the infected must have made their way here and gotten eaten. You ants consider us a delicacy, don’t you?
That was a fact I couldn’t deny.
Seeing that I had no comeback this time, she continued haughtily.
There must have been a spreader among the infected. That’s the only explanation I have.
What’s a spreader?
Not all that change can infect others, but there are those among them that can. We call them spreaders and they are what we are trying to stop with our barricade.

I needed time to digest that information, but she pressed to put pressure on me.
Do you have any more questions?
Just one more, I hurriedly scented when I saw her getting up. The rock city… it is dead. Yes?
Yes. She nodded. Good, she allowed me another question.
Then what was the ant that we found in our territory, near the Agnee-rath-Ji? Why were there termites carrying it?

Suddenly, she released… sympathy? That got a rise out of me. I couldn’t help getting annoyed. I didn’t want her sympathy; I wanted an answer. This was an answer in wanted to hear the most. Who was the ant and what was it doing so far from home? If it wasn’t bringing us news of termite attack on the 47^th city then what was it bringing? It was the mystery that had stubbed Princess and I, and the best of us; and launched me on this quest in the first place.

I could see that she was hesitating. No, she wasn’t afraid, but considerate.
Do you really want to know?
I’m here to find the answer to this one question. That’s all I’m here to do.
She shook her head. You might not like the truth.
I’ll take my chances.

She persisted still but gave up when I stared back without hesitation.

Pointing her antennae straight at my head, she straightened her slouching back and dived right into it. It was a carrier of the infection —She dropped the poison— another spreader; similar to the one that changed this city into a dead zone.

Heart thrummed in my chest. She continued regardless.

The termites were already infected and they were trying to infect your city. We raided to kill it, but when that plan failed we made sure that your queen would go to war with us, and send as many soldiers away from the city as possible. So the elder at site ordered to kill as many they could. The city couldn’t be saved, but at least the entirety of your army was.

No… It was the truth and I was in denial. Silence followed, but soon I was going at her again, making excuses.

Bu-butt you killed the ant! We found his mangled corpse hidden deep in the mushroom farm. And we know it was done by a termite because princess found a wooden scent, and she has a great set of antennae.

However, the termite elder wanted nothing to do with our failure. She denied the accusation, even though it was a matter of pride. That is wrong. Either your princess was mistaken or someone duped you because one of us would have never taken the carrier to the mushrooms.

I had a bad feeling about this. Why? I found myself standing on my feet, denial changing into anxiousness and fear. Princess and I, we both knew that something was wrong, but the confirmation of it… it still came as a heavy blow to my head.

The infection needs a medium to grow. The elder answered. It needs something to feed upon before spreading. And what could be a better medium than the nutritious mushrooms?

Then the city—
I’m afraid…

I was walking backward, fear and horror leaking out of my antennae. The infected ant screamed ahead of me, banging her head on the ground as if laughing at my fate. The elder had to be lying — but the skill confirmed the truth! The system might be harsh on me, but it was also fair. Then what did it mean? What the hell did it all mean?
Princess can’t be dead!

Star looked at me silently, a quiver of helplessness waking his antennae from slumber.

SHE IS NOT DEAD! I burst out the pheromones, causing the soldiers to grow alarmed and come into action. The elder raised an antenna, telling them to let me be. The prisoner grew frantic; Star grew solemn instead. He tried to stop me, but I was already pulling back toward the hallways. My heart yearned to escape, to rush out of the post and its confinement, to leave for the city, my home, for the princess.

She can’t be dead! I told Star one again.
He didn’t react, only kept advancing toward me, to grapple and tackle me to the ground. I was hyperventilating.
I have to go back to tell her the truth. There is still time. There has to be.

How could she be dead? I still hadn’t told her about my adventures, about the birds, the frogs, and the bees? How could she die without fulfilling her dreams? She had so many things to do, so much to achieve! There was no way she was dead. I could still feel her inside me, I could— the feeling wasn’t there. My emotions didn’t churn because of her. My heart was silent as the world inside the pouring rain.

I couldn’t feel her.
This is why we need to work together. The elder scented. I heard her but didn’t understand. Your city might be dead, but you can still help by taking the information to the soldiers. Her scent was a drone over my consciousness. We might have pulled them away from harm’s way, but they are still adamant about revenge. I was starting to smolder. They might listen to you. Do you understand the role you have to play!

I was about to burst when someone collided with my back. The sudden shock numbed my mind, calming my nerves. I would have gone in to rage, but the shock came at the right time. Feet shuffled behind me. A termite’s soldier rushed past me and into the hall.

She was bleeding. No. It was not her blood. Well, someone must be bleeding. Distractions, yes, anything would do; anything that would take my mind off the truth, the cold, jagged, piercing truth would do. The soldier had come at the perfect time.

What happened?

The infected — The Infected from the city are attacking, elder! Soldiers around me came to their feet one after another. It was grave news.
Excellent! I scented. Thankfully, everyone was too occupied to hear me.
The soldier continued. They are coming right toward us.
How is that possible? It’s still daytime!
They are chasing someone.

I turned on my claws and ran out. It had to be her. They had to be chasing Bella.
Where—
Whom?
A wasp—

I heard behind me, but I was already out of the hall and pushing through panicking soldiers. It was too much information for me. Were the termites really protecting us?

What a load of bull. The elder had already clarified that they were trying to save their neck. They couldn’t leave the city alone even if they wanted. Unchecked, the infection would spread and take over all there was, and where would that leave them? They might have the population on their side, but they were still stuck on the tree. Well, most of them were, considering there were so of them roaming around me, so far from their fictional tree. Maybe, I should have pressed her about this. The thought came far too late.

I fell back on the dream I had when I connected with the termite. I had seen the termites and the tree that she talked about. I had felt the cry of someone’s rage pass through them, changing them. Turns out I had always possessed the answer, just didn’t know how to interpret it? How amusing was that?

Well, not as amusing as the outside, for it was turning into hell.

 

The Outside was getting rowdy and very distracting; I liked it, the situation. The termites were ready to point their mandibles at the enemies. There was fear in the air, of not the hindering but motivational kind. It pulled the termites together. They were courageous, I’d give them that, but their lacking knowledge on war formations and warfare, in general, smelled of trouble.

Fear might be omnipresent, but the termites were also brimming with energy. They were not going to back away. In this sense, they were not much different from us ants, though lacking in every department. They had numbers on their side, but wars are won with strategies, not numbers.

I joined them.

You— A soldier noticed me; she must have seen me in action because she pulled back trembling. What are you doing here?

I’ll be joining you.

NO! She resisted. Fall back, go, and hide. The ants can’t infect us, but you are Not safe.

I answered with silence and by standing my ground. I had gone against all odds to try saving Star, the 5555^th soldier, and others; Bella meant the same to me. Truth to be told, I was sure she wouldn’t need much saving from us. If anything, I needed to be there to protect the termites form her. She didn’t know about the status change, after all.

What about the princess? A voice, loud and brazen, rang in my head. I ignored it the best I could. Distractions — I needed distractions. I couldn’t simply leave and let Greed have it either. My decision was all but made.
I climbed atop the advanced post building to reach a better vantage point. I wasn’t trying to see the infected. They were out of the range covered by Sight, even though it had recently improved thanks to the level up and the resultant skill up. But the infected were fast approaching, and they were not far away.

Bella must have truly raised hell in the city.

The flying termites were the first to clear the sky. They were of the royal linage, the new wave of information carriers, and played far too important a role to be sacrificed like regular grunts.

Star soon appeared from the entrance; his troops followed right behind. 5555^th was also among them. With the hateful one right beside her, I was not worried about her safety.

What are you doing? The hateful one asked me? Are you trying to die again?
No,
I had mounted the post to feel the wind. I couldn’t see, but we ants sensed the world with our antennae, not eyes. I vibrated mine to higher and higher frequencies, creating a loud buzz, and collecting the finer particles from far. My blood turned cold when I inspected the catch. There must have been thousands of them, all releasing a disgusting rotting stench. What I found was a mass of different scents mixed together, one that only forms when a large group comes together, individuals becoming indistinguishable from one another.

If nothing was done the infected were sure to pierce through the termite’s flimsy barricade. Enthusiasm was the only thing we had going for our side. We couldn’t let them get past us, that would spell disaster for everyone; and If another spreader escaped?

NO! It couldn’t be allowed.

Star! I called and rushed down the post toward him. Take charge of the termites! I blasted around, spreading the scent so everyone could hear me. The termites cringed at my suggestion, but there was no time to think. We needed to move soon if we were to hold back the infected.

They have their own leaders, kid. I can’t do that. The elder won’t agree—

They have none to guide them. They only have their elder, who also has no war experience. You also know it. He still hesitated. I pressed harder. They won’t survive, Star. You have to lead them. Where do you think the infected will go if they managed to escape? Think about it.

That got his attention and put the fear in him. Fear would do him good, challenge his consciousness, and help him decide. I wasn’t worried about him; Star knew how to overcome fear.

I believe the frogs were the only reason 43^rd city still stood untainted. I could not for the sake of my sanity fathom any other reason, as to why the infected must have decided to skip the 43^rd and go straight for us. Or there could have been more than one of them. Makes one wonder who else had been infected and how far the infection had spread.

You need to stop interrupting me first. Give me some respect, alright.
But—
Now, He exploded with amusement and pushed toward the termites. Who needs some help? Come to me. Hey, you —He pointed toward a royal watcher keeping eye on our surroundings— How far can you see?
Me?
We don’t have time to waste son, how far can you— No, forget that. How long before the termites enter your protective lines?
Do you mean how long before they reach here? The watcher asked, confused.
It'll be too late by then! Don’t you know anything?

Maybe a little too enthusiastic —the watcher was scared— but his energy was required. Battlefields suited him more than narrow and dark confines. This was where he thrived.

The graveyard where I found your trail: how long before they reach it? The place was a good hundred ant length from us. That was enough distance for an imaginary first line of defense.
The watcher consulted with his group and came up with a number.
Ten minutes, give or take.

Star raised his antennae in amazement. So three minutes it is —workable.

No, at least eight- the watcher was left amazed and disgruntled, for Star had already moved forward. He had no time for chit-chat. This was the power of someone who had a handle on the situation they were put in, whether foreign or rural. Enthusiasm was important, bur expertise would always triumph raw energy. There is a reason why workers dug and soldiers hunted.

Star moved through the termite ranks like a storm, pulling them together at places and separating them at others. He made a few to bend their legs to hold position and others to run forward. He placed gunners at strategic places, made a few collect foliage to narrow the channel the infected might rush in through. Most of it was things I didn’t know. He hadn’t used any tactics against the frogs, but that would have been a pointless endeavor; but against opponents like ants, well, he was in the zone.

A few termites challenged his position and power, but he only had to tackle the few to the ground and others easily came through. The termites were surprisingly vulnerable to forceful practices. I was quick to take note.
Alright, that was one part. Star alone couldn’t have handled everything, but he had his adviser and troops. They might be simple soldiers under him, but together they had enough battle experience between them to put the whole might of the termite's force to shame.

He divided his soldiers and promoted them to captains with one hundred termite soldiers under each of them. That was too many soldiers for a single captain to handle, but he only had so many soldiers left. Most of them had lost their lives running from the infected.

This was the only way to make sure that his orders would reach everyone. The termites had no ranks among them. They had party leaders, but all were independent. No wonder the elder had asked me to help put the fire that was raging in the west. The army must have had quite some fun fighting against the termites. I just hoped they wouldn’t follow them into the desert. That would be suicidal if the stories were true.

It had only been two minutes when the watcher raised the alarm. He felt embarrassed about his prediction and it showed up in his scent.

March! March! March! March!

Star blasted the scent and the captains got their troops moving.

I rushed at the front with Star. He wasn’t one to stay behind, which was actually a bad thing considering he was the commander, but who was to make him stay —well, not me. The soldiers displayed more confidence now that they were all together and moving side by side. This was one of the effects of having others to rely upon. Considering how scared the termites were at first, their newly found confidence was an improvement, even though it was momentary.

—How many will be there this time?
—A hundred, one thousand?
—Does it matter?

The termites talked as I passed through them. These were some heavy thoughts, but none of them ran away. The knowledge sent a shiver down my spine. They released their fear, living it, and pushing through. That was a quality missing in even battle-hardened ants.

A few hundred heads ahead the battle raged. Blood flowed continuously as the soldiers from neighboring posts engaged with the irregularly shaped monsters that were infected.
The battlefield was a mess as expected.

There was chaos everywhere. The soldiers fought alone, without a leader to order them to fall back, to group up or push through. This was not war but a brawl, and soon to turn into a massacre.
Those present on the site were surprised to see us leading the termites, but there was no time to curb their discomfort. The infected had the upper hand. Thankfully, they seemed more interested in eating after killing than helping another in danger.

ENGAGE! Star released the pheromone and jumped into the fray. The newly promoted captains raised their scents and the termites somehow joined them and raised a united flag above their heads. That was the strength of the termites. You could put two termites from different colonies together and they would work together, no problem; do it with ants and you’d have bloodshed. I didn’t know it at that time, but someday I would.

There was no passing through the graveyard. It stretched ahead all the way through. Just how many battles had been fought to turn an entire stretch of land into a graveyard? How many had been killed, and how many more were going to die again before the infection was curbed?

I pushed an infected to the ground and passed by while others took care of it. I evaded a tentacle by rolling on the ground, pushed Star away as another jumped at us from atop a grass blade, and charged straight into a group that was rushing toward us. I head-butted the one in lead, pushing him into the others, separating them. They were quick on their feet, but the soldiers were right behind me. Small groups of ten soldiers each separated from the main army to handle the injured infected, while star led the rest forward. They were to join back with us afterward. It was a good strategy, but too slow.

I needed to find Bella. I couldn’t smell her, for the air was saturated with all the various scents, orders, and emotions. However, I could hear the drone of her buzzing wings up ahead.
I informed Star of my intentions and moved away from the group.
I hadn’t gone far when I found her in the middle of it all, enjoying the chaos. The ants and the termites —infected or not— had nothing on her. They couldn’t even touch her, but they were many and she was alone. Accidents happen.
Bella must have seen me because I heard a burst of wings and she appeared in front of me. The termite’s around me screeched at the sudden appearance of a wasp in their midst. Got so scared they broke formation and ran for their lives. Many found their wits and returned, but only a few stayed in their position, unnerved and holding still. Star was rushing toward me, to help. I told him to do his thing, that she, a wasp was the friend I was talking about.

He didn’t believe me and almost attacked Bella when she wrapped me in her legs and jumped into the air. To him, it must have looked like she was kidnapping me for injecting an egg. I thought the same, but she was simply happy to see me again.
You survived!
I did, Bella, Now, let’s go down.
I really believed I’d have to scrape your body from the termite's den. I knew Madhuri would be sad; At least your precious Shree would have gotten another trinket to hang from the edge of her web!
Not funny. I told her and got a look below.

We were high enough to get a look at the whole battlefield —courtesy of my improved sight. There were thousands of those mangled, monsters below. Star had been taken back, but he was quick to get on his feet. He was an expert at warfare and knew better than to be distracted in the middle of a battle.

The termites had the number advantage, but they were quickly losing that. The infected were strong. Star and his captains stood in front of the ants like immovable stones. His group was also hit hard, but his strategy impressed the termites. They either copied him by grouping themselves or joined his group. However, this was not a small skirmish as the elder had described. This was for worse. It was like the whole of the rock city had come knocking at the termite’s door.

What did you do? I complained to Bella. I didn’t tell you to bring them out!
Oh, live a little. I was afraid the termites would have caught you. I was only creating a little diversion. The previous one worked like a charm, didn’t it?

I struggled to get out of her legs, but they didn’t budge and I had to make do with complaining.
You call this a diversion? Just what did you do to make them so angry?
I might have killed someone… She confessed. I stared and she melted. Their queen… I think I killed her.

Someone? That was someone? No wonder the ants were out for blood! But she had a lot more to say now that the bird had flown out from the nest.

I tied injecting an egg into her, but she simply exploded from her behind end like a caterpillar. I wasn’t trying to kill her. I just wanted my baby to be born of the royal linage, be taken care by others.

Did you… find any survivors?

I hoped but she had nothing for me. No survivors. She told me. But there was a giant mushroom growing in the heart of the city.
It was no help.
What about you? Found your friends? Or was it a dead end? You didn’t kill someone important from their side, right? I don’t want to be lectured now only to later find that you were also being chased by the termites for the same reason.
I found them. I told her and smacked my head on her chest when she tried to congratulate me. It just happened. They are down there, helping the termites. Her expressions changed to confusion upon learning the truth.
The ants are your enemies? I knew your kind couldn’t digest one another, but I thought you were different. It just makes me sad.
Are you?
Not really.
Anyway, we don’t have time for that. The termites are friends. Just remember that. We need to save them.
Curse the salivating mouth of a female spider, when did That happen?
It just LOOK OU—

An infected had flown dangerously close to her back. It had its mandibles open and scissoring, tentacles reaching, and abdomen quivering. It was fast, but she was faster.

She flipped mid-air, dodging it with a burst of wings, and used the resulting momentum to swat it to the ground with her abdomen. She didn’t forget to ask for my opinion, and I truthfully told her it was beautifully executed. But that wasn’t the only infected aiming for her. There were a dozen more winged flyers, with squirming pustules the size of a small head poking out of their backs, and bladed limbs flying toward her.

They could have flown away, but they didn’t. They chose to attack a lone wasp flying in their territory instead. I could only be thankful for their hunger.

The winged infected ants were large and bold. They pounced at Bella without hesitation, mandibles sharp as a blade of grass. They didn’t seem to care about the size difference —they were smaller, like workers in front of a soldier.
Bella noticed her disadvantage before even exchanging moves. I was a burden on her and she was quick to drop me on the ground, before flying back into their midst. I had no time to worry about her health. She could handle her own; it was I who needed to pay attention to my surroundings.

 

Bodies fell around me. Poison and acid mist had mixed to create a fog that spread with the wind. It was thin and harmless, but morbidly blinding. It interfered with both my sight and antennae.

The battlefield was a mess. No one knew what was happening. It was questionable whether we were winning or losing.

My senses tingled continuously. Sunlight made the fog glimmer and created shadowy monsters of the objects. They induced more fear than the actual monsters.

I charged at a call for help, only to find the termite already dead. The mist distorted the scent messages and trails, changing them into incoherent wails and stretched echoes.

I almost had a heart attack when a body fell to the ground next to me. I charged away to save myself only to collide with an infected, incidentally saving the soldier it was targeting. There were body parts lying to my left and right: a head half-eaten, a chest sheared in two. The sight was nauseating, but the infected was delirious; I had somehow destroyed one of its antennae. It was an opportunity and I accepted it with haste. They could regenerate, these monstrous bastards, and there was enough flesh lying around to aid its recovery and more. I pounced at the first chance I got, stabbed my mandible into its chest, and pulled it to the ground.

It floundered underneath me screaming and snapping its mandible at my face, intending to get lucky. The wound didn’t kill it so I stabbed again and again until it stopped moving. It still didn’t die, even though its chest was shredded and poked full of holes.

I was pulled away by a group of termites whom I barely knew. They didn’t introduce themselves but were quick to dismantle the infected ant body limb by limb, killing it in the process.

You have killed a Puppet of gluttony. Experience earned. Level 3/10.

The message rang in my head.

Finally, they introduced themselves as a group under Star and asked me to join them. I agreed.

We ran around killing infected, but there was an uncountable number of them, and we were a small group of six. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves backed away underneath a grass blade with four infected looking for us. They had found our scent; it was a matter of time before they were upon us.

Let’s separate. The idea came from one of my partners and the others were quick to act. They all went in different directions, while I stayed behind to keep the infected occupied. I was confident that I could survive and decided to engage the infected so they could safely escape. It wasn’t a choice forced upon me, but a decision I made for myself. Greed only played a small part in it. I understood that I couldn’t possibly save everyone. There were termites dying all around me, but that was war and it was bloody. However, I was tired of running all the time and I wanted to fight.

That’s why, when the fantastic four noticed me, yet hesitated between accompanying me or going after the others —they had found their scents— I caused an overwhelming blast of pheromones and got their attention.

Only one of them had tentacles growing out of its body and a thicker exoskeleton; the rest were bulkier compared to a normal ant soldier, but not different otherwise. The infected pounced at me with tentacles swirling in the air and mandibles snapping. Their abdomens quivered in hunger. They wanted a taste of me.

I made a tactical retreat before they could take hold of me, which they did try. I ran up the grass shoot, created a scent beacon further ahead, and hid behind an adjacent grass blade. The scent of death was strong so high up from the ground. It proved to be an excellent cover as the four rushed passed me and lashed at the beacon without any hesitation.

I could have run, but I chose to attack. I sneaked toward them and attacked the tentacle monster on the back. There was intelligence in taking the strongest out in the first strike, but the infected couldn’t be killed in a single strike. Maybe there was a trick to killing them in a single blow? Well, I hadn’t found it and the result was my opponent’s retaliation. Its one hundred tentacles swished and swirled at me, hitting my body with enough force to remind me of the aged warrior and her training. I held onto her despite everything. Toughness was one of the skills that had risen from the level up and it proved effective, but I couldn’t have done it without Pain resistance.
I pestered through the pain and pulled my head down instead of away. It was hard to cut through its chit infused flesh, but I did it somehow and tore open its back. Its black nauseating blood covered my face, but I was happy with the result. It jolted forward in shock and pain, causing me to fall away. We both fell to the ground. I got up; it lurched and floundered, having a seizure. There were no termites free to finish it for me, but it did have help. However, it was in pain. If they could feel pain then there was still hope.

One of the remaining three tried to feed it flesh so it could recover. It was such an easy target. Charge, head butt, and explosion. Its head exploded into flesh and bits, covering me in a grey slush and making a target out of me.
My experience increased again. Of course! They could only regenerate by eating! One needed a head and a mouth to eat, didn’t they? Why hadn’t anyone else found the weakness until now?

Can anyone else burst their head like a soft and warm newly laid egg? The voice in my head laid it out for me. The answer was no.

I killed the injured one the same way and turned toward the other two. They chose to find an easier target instead. Fear, an emotion of the living; watching them scampering for their lives made me wonder if they could be healed, changed back, returned to their previous lives… saved.

Maybe in the future, it would be possible, but for now, it was a blood bath.

One infected could easily take down a whole bunch of termites before falling. I helped as much as I could, but what help could I give? I was not Bella; she was a monster among monsters.

But I protected the termites, grouped those that were lost and alone, made a few take the injured back to the advanced barracks, and worked with rest to kill the infected one by one.

The ants had poison but I was resistant to it. We killed but a drop in the ocean. However, even that was enough to raise my levels. Poison resistance and toughness saw unprecedented growth; while every other skill woke from their slumber at least once. There was only a slight chance for a skill to grow with level up; I guess the pressure, the restlessness, and the fighting must have triggered them somehow.

It wasn’t long before I was level 5 and strong enough to go head-on head with an infected, but it was still a stalemate. That’s when Bella came down to take me.
Let’s go.
What why?
She pointed in the air, to the east. A larger group, at least one hundred strong, was flying toward us. And they were not like the infected that crawled on the ground. No sir! They were bulkier, stronger, larger, and worst of all, uglier in every possible way. They made the tentacle atrocities look like hapless workers. They looked like the termite giants that had almost taken over the tower during the raid.

Bella pulled me into the sky, using my lapse in attention to take me away, but I pulled back. I charged toward the ground, getting away from her before she could hold me immobilized between her legs, and stood up rolling.
You promised you would listen to me! You are going to die! The buzz of her wings droned above me.

I looked around, there was death everywhere.

I’m not leaving them. I scented. I don’t know whether it reached her or not, but I knew one thing… she left me. She left me all alone in the middle of the infected and flew away.

I moved around in a daze for the next few seconds. How could she leave me? I accidentally ended up following Star’s tracks and found him making a last push against the infected. He had bunched up the remaining termites together and created a group that was a few hundred strong. There were two only termites for everyone infected. That’s when I understood that it was already too late. Bella was right. This was suicide. But how could she leave me? How could—

A flying monster dropped amongst Star’s group of termites, crushing a soldier with the force of its weight alone. Star noticed the enemy reinforcements coming from the sky just a second late and called a retreat, but it was already too late by then.

Bella didn’t tell him anything either.

The newcomers dropped from the sky into the battlefield. Not all of them had aimed for the termites, but those that had found themselves surrounded. They raised their heads, roared, and started the slaughter. The termites could do nothing against them. They were panicking, losing hope. This was not going to do. They had done so much, almost achieved the impossible. Someone needed to set an example. The winged infected were exactly like the beetle that Bella had us trap: they were large and hard hitters, but also slow. Their legs were short and inflexible. They had wings for a reason. If a beetle armored from top to bottom could be killed then there was no way those cheap imitations couldn’t be; I was sure of it.

As for Bella: I could do nothing, but believe in her. She was bold and loud-mouthed, creating chaos wherever she went, but she was not a backstabber. I was sure she’d be back. She wasn’t one to run away from a hard fight! She was a wasp; and wasps are prideful.

I charged into the mayhem collecting my pheromones at the bulbous ends of my antennae to release them at the right moment. Someone needed to set an example for the others to follow. It was easy to find the perfect ant for the mission. I chose myself. Who else could do the things I could? None was the answer; so there was no misunderstanding.

WATCH ME! I overwhelmed a blast using half my pheromone.

Everyone stopped for a second. The infected might be monsters, but they also had antennae, and the skill worked on everyone with a pair. The paralysis lasted for less than a moment, but that was all the time I needed. I whipped my antennae at anyone that tried to get close and stabbed the infected in the head to take them out. It was their weaknesses, about time someone also made it their problem.

I was taxed by my endurance as I charged for the largest winged infected ant near me, but it was the only way I could get past the swarming infected. It must have been a royal male once, leading a good team and waiting for the festival of rebirth. Now it was a hunk of flesh and chitin armor, and I was going to kill it.

I didn’t think the going would be easy, and it wasn’t. I was pulled out of the charge by a smaller infected ant. I had believed it as something impossible until then, but the infected had fairly wrapped a tentacle around my left rear leg, crushing it in the process. The leg was lost, pulled directly out of the socket. It hurt; oh, it hurt so badly! I could have eaten a whole infected one to curb the pain. But that was not an option now, was it? I burned through another point of endurance, coming dangerously close to the last few points, and charged away.

No time to waste. The termites looked at me. I had their attention and needed to pounce on the opportunity to give them hope.

The smaller infected gave way when their larger counterpart roared. It charged toward me, snapping its mandibles to induce fear. Well, all it did was make it easier for me. We collided. It barely missed by a heads margin, but I didn’t miss the opportunity. I came out of charge sliding underneath its snapping mandible and stabbed my mandible into the bottom of its jaw. I pulled. My strength against its defense: I came out stronger. The lone mandible tore through its flesh, goring it a new slit for a mouth.

Big or small, ants are ants. The monster released pain, enough of it to make everyone cringe away. A grey slush dripped from the wound as I pulled out and climbed atop its head.
Ants need their antennae to go about their daily lives. I wondered if the same was true for these things or not? I cut the pair and my conjunction held true. The monster fell to the ground, unable to hold its weight. It was my victory. And I was waiting for this moment.

CUT THEIR LEGS! PULL THEM APART! WE CAN DO THIS!

The message spread into the termite ranks like a wildfire. It burned hope into them. If I could kill a giant then they could do the same. Conviction replaced fear. The termites charged forward. Step by step they took back the land that the infected had claimed. I took lead beside Star. He was thoroughly convinced.

Is this the end, kid? He asked, antennae moving in front of his face. His eyes, however, burned with hope. The termite soldiers were right behind us, following without a hint of doubt. This was a message for them.
I suppose it is.
Never thought I would die fighting alongside termites.
Do you know the best part? I said.
What?
No one will know of this battle if we lose. Or die. Everyone will assume that the termites destroyed the 47th city; they will look at the broken limbs, call it cruelty, and raise a united front against them.

The soldiers whispered behind us.

What can we do to change it? Star, let me have the honor, and I did it justice to the best of my ability.
We need to survive. I said with dignity. Everything that you did out here is meaningless otherwise.

But the infected are strong and reinforced. He complained, becoming the soldier’s voice.

I looked at the sky. The blue color and the clouds were still far for my eyes, but I could see a shape growing larger.
They are not the only ones with reinforcements. I told him, confusing him.
A shadow grew to cover the battlefield, a chirp resounded, pausing all activity for a moment. Ants or termites, infected or not, there was no one who didn’t know the terror of a sky predator.
We also have help.


Fear rose behind me as Madhuri spread her wings and passed over my head. The wind she created blew my antennae forward and spread fear from us to the infected.

She landed in the middle of our enemies, sliding over their bodies and instantly killing a third of them. That was a big blow to the infected and a huge boost of morale to our side. Under Star's leadership, the soldiers engaged with the infected once again, for the last time.

Madhuri’s chirp put strength back into their bodies.

They didn’t know that she was injured. And I didn’t tell them. They had finally found hope; I wasn’t going to be the one to break them once again.

The infected tried to hurt Madhuri, to get her to leave, but she wasn’t alone. Barry was with her.

I heard a burst of wings as Bella appeared in front of me. Star squirmed at her presence, but he already knew she was not an enemy. It didn’t matter whether he considered her a friend or not, but he released amusement as Madhuri released another chirp and started stomping, decimating all resistance that the winged infected tried putting against her.

Bella buzzed to apologize, but also presented me a leg to take. Madhuri was a huge deterrent, but she was also hurt. She needs you. Bella scented. I agreed.

If there was time to curse I would have cursed the living shit out of her for bringing Madhuri into the mess. Hadn’t she had enough, already? Did we have to hurt her more to get our things done?

But I caught the leg she had extended instead, and we flew toward the center of this new frontier.
We need to keep the ants away from her wounds. I told Bella. Ants were notorious for finding weaknesses. I didn’t even want to imagine the result if even one of the infected made it inside her.

But Madhuri burned with passion. She stomped without care or worry. She pecked one to my worry but spat it out right away. The mutated anomaly must have tasted horrible. She had made a meal out of thousands of moths at the beehive, but the ants were infected and could infect her, too. She cried when they climbed her back, but Barry stood an unmovable wall between them and her. However, he was one and they were many.
I overwhelmed a bust of pheromones to let her know I was around and that got her excited.

Where were you? I was afraid. I thought you left me too! She had much to say, all of which was about me. It made my heart grow warm.
Barry apologized for bringing Madhuri into the mess.
It was her idea. He scented, pushing all the blame on Bella.
I understand. I told him.

We tensed when a winged infected landed right atop of Madhuri’s chest and crawled into her wound. However, Bella was quick to the uptake. She pulled it out before it could do damage and threw it toward Barry who punctured it in the chest. It was still moving when I head-butted it to the ground; I don’t know what happened to it afterward.

I was falling but Bella caught me and dropped me over another group on the ground that was trying to climb Madhuri’s feet. I overwhelmed a burst of pheromones, which paralyzed them and attracted Madhuri’s attention. She saw the infected and stomped them to oblivion. Star came with a group of termite soldiers to help, but I pushed him away.

She can’t distinguish between friend and foe. I told him and he understood. The termites kept their distance from her thereafter.

Bella and Barry didn’t stay idle either; they took care of their own share of trouble. The heavy immobile winged infected were nothing in front of them —especially Bella; she shone against opponents her size. They had no trouble keeping them down, but the monsters could regenerate, and that annoyed Bella like nothing else.

I don’t like my prey moving about after I have killed them.
What could I say? None of us did.
It wasn’t long before the battle finally ended. We didn’t manage to kill them all, but they fled back to the city in the rocks. It was our win.

The termites couldn’t believe it when the infected started retreating. The soldiers wanted to chase, but Star ordered them to fall back.

Treasure the win, but don’t forget about our losses. Remember the comrades that fell here today. Remember their sacrifice. Our enemies will be back. You will have another chance for revenge but fall back for now. It’s enough. The soldiers followed him and took the bodies back with them.

There were no victory celebrations, only a bunch of tired beings looking back at the life they had lived, reminiscing the bonds that were broken forever.

I was talking with Bella when he came to me. Bella saw him and decided to leave us alone.

Alright, I’ll see you two lovebirds later. There is no greater feeling than stabbing retreating enemies in the back. And she was gone.
Star was staring in the direction Bella had disappeared into, and he was mighty interested in Madhuri. She was still stomping the infected that squirmed every now and then, making sure they were dead with no chance of waking up again.

These are the friends you were talking about? He asked.
What do you think?
I think I need to hear that story of yours. Something tells me it won’t be an ordinary tale.
I slapped him on the back and told him to take care.
Are you going somewhere? He asked, stopping, antennae raised above his head in dismay. He wasn’t expecting me that, but the time had come.
Yes. I told him, looking away to the east, past the rock city, and the horrors it contained.
I’m going home.

 

Green shuffled from one branch to another, scraping the tree bark with her mandibles without care. She wasn’t looking for food, or scouting the area for potential enemies, simply traveling. She was on an adventure to curb her boredom.

A few days ago her feet would have led her in the direction of the farm; but she had gotten over that initial phase of reckless angry overreaction, ‘how did he leave me behind!’ Now she was in a relatively calm phase of ‘revenge against the stupid leader who thinks he is better than me and can stop me from going where I want to go!’ Those were her exacts thoughts after Yellow caught her sneaking away on the first night and second night, and the third one.

She didn’t want to mess with him because he was cool; and that poison bullet stung worse than a bad brush with a musty-crusty flower (made up name for a yellow purple striped flower with irritatingly poisonous leaves), but her motto demanded payback.

She wasn’t going to mess with Yellow. Firstly, he scared her. Secondly, he was cool. Third and most importantly, he was only following Black's order. Now Black, ho-ho, she was going to get him in the worst way possible. He needed to be taught a lesson for messing with her. Did he think the shade belonged to him and its denizens were his subjects? Well, she had news for him, and it was all bad.

So she was on a trek through the uncharted parts of the forest with revenge on her mind. She knew Black would follow her from a distance, like always. Oh, she knew, alight; she was a scout. Finding those trying to hide from her was her job. He could be hiding ten ant heads under the foliage and she would know because that nymph brained mandible snapper sucked at hiding.

His strained movements created enough noise that she feared he would attract something or another. And those accidental releases of alarm whenever something shocked him… oh, they really worried her. What if something got him before time to have her fun with him? That would be too bad. And it was not like she wanted him to get eaten by some critter! Whose bottom would she tickle then? She’d have done something else if she knew taking revenge was so troublesome.

As for the farm… it was too bad that no trials lead straight to it. Apparently, it was for security purposes. Since a trail could also lead the farm security straight back to their camp, exposing their activities and finding the tunnel before it was even complete.

That’s what Black told her, but she knew the truth. They wanted to keep her away from the farm!

Well, tough luck with that because she already knew the general direction. North of the camp, right from the musty-crusty flower, then around the furry mountain that moved sometimes and straight from the Boogey-Woogie bug. The last one was a dancing bug with glowing behind end. And then… well, that’s how far she had gotten last time before she was caught.
She had let them catch her. How else would they have caught a scout in the middle of the forest, with the sun retiring from the sky for the day? Stupid Black thought he was better than her. She would show him.

Why not now?

Black was following her, wasn’t he? A plan formed in Green’s mind. She’d have her revenge and even get free of the distraction. Excited to see Black vent in frustration, she went out of her way to put a scent signal at the edge of a leaf, creating a beacon as her leader called it, cut it off and let the wind take it away from the branch. She almost released amusement imagining the result, but held herself back and quickly hid between a group of leaves.

Black appeared only a breath later and carefully sneaked after the scent. He was chanting to himself to be silent as a feather and flexible as the wind. Green found it impossible to hold her pee back; this was too hilarious.

She peed from pleasure when Black started shaking and snapping his mandibles in anger. He had noticed the trail leading away from the branch and into the abyss below.
Who jumps from the top of a tree? That stupid, Green little—
He vented and Green heard everything, enjoying herself to the fullest.

She had much fun watching him vex. It would have been fun to watch him go off the rail and follow her beacon to the bottom of the tree— but she decided to let him off the hook. Yes, he was trying to keep her on an extended leash, but their circumstances were wild and the situation deserved prudence.

Green wasn’t stupid. She might have her mood swings and tempers, but she knew better than to damage the team because of such a small matter. It wasn’t like her, but they were not in their zone anymore. The forest inside the army’s territory was a tamed beast compared to the unfazed and unchained wilderness they were in. Who better to know the difference than her, a scout?
Well, she had better make her mind fast, because Black was about ready to jump after her, or the leaf that she had thrown down. That would be fun to watch…

Let’s not, she decided.

She came out of her hiding spot, sneaked past the bunch of leaves separating them, and slowly made her way toward Black. She might have given up on taking big revenge —for now— but there was nothing wrong with a few small ones. She could tickle his ticklish bottom, right? He always showed such an extreme reaction to that. She decided it was alright. Might be even better than having him think she had run away forever.

But she had only taken a few steps when suddenly her surroundings grew odd and something heavy brushed against her consciousness. Somehow her legs buckled and she stumbled forward. That was… worrisome. Not to ignore the fact that Black was running toward her. How did he know that she was behind him? Did he know where she was hiding? That would mean he was voluntarily playing her game. He wasn’t someone nice like that. He was saying something.

—Behind you?
What did that mean? Did he mean to look behind? Was it a trick? Black and trick, those were not the words she ever thought to use in the same sentence.
—Look behind you!


Oh, no. She finally noticed. There was something behind her. It was large and crude, huge, humongous, scaled, and deadly: A lizard. How had she not noticed it until now? She had failed to notice danger; it was a failure on her part as a scout.

The lizard was gearing to attack, readying its body for a quick straight lunge. She recognized the movement. It wasn’t much different from how her leader had taught them to move. Only the scale was larger, easily distinguishable, and slow.

The green, arrow-headed creature had its legs bent. It was behaving exactly like how Silver had taught them. It was going to come straight at her, lightning quick. The only way to survive was by dodging to the side, not forward or backward, but to the side. She had to be quick. She was quick, the quickest of the captains under the strongest leader. Red was the smartest, yellow was the most accurate, and black was a pain in the bottom.

She was to wait till the last moment until it lunged at her. What else had Silver told them? Ah, yes. Don’t move before it does. Be ready. One—

It moved. She remembered and rolled away… just that her legs gave up at the last moment from the tension. She couldn’t move. She was scared, horrified, paralyzed. Her heartbeat crazily. She was still right in its path and very likely to be eaten. Its mouth grew large in front of her. The foul odor spread to engulf everything in her surroundings. She tasted it. Death —it reeked of death.
But somehow when the mouth closed she was still outside, distinguishable from the lizard, a living entity. Did she escape the jaws of death? How? When?

She hadn’t found strength where there was none. No. Black had pushed her out of the harm’s way, and they were falling, together. He held her under his legs, tightly hugged, protected.
It’ll be alright. You are safe. Don’t be afraid. He was telling her the same thing over and over again.

Was it alright though? They had survived; but were they safe?

Hey! Can you hear me? She could hear his voice. The signal was there, but it was faint, barely registering in her mind, stuck in the moment where the lizard had almost eaten her. Almost wasn’t enough to give the moment justice. She had died. The difference between life and death had been—

Green!

Alright, alright, she heard that loud and clear. She pushed Black away when he tied to make an internal connection with her, and they fell separately into the foliage covering the ground below.
She was up on her feet when he found her, a little dazed and out of it, but perfectly intact otherwise.

Are you hurt anywhere? Are you fine?

So much talking, so less walking. What could happen to her? She was not a recently laid egg that needed to be pampered! Or a nymph that needed to be carried everywhere. But he had saved her and she should at least answer him properly. Didn’t her leader tell them to respect their saviors? Yes, he did. But enough with that!

We need to get back. This is why I was telling you to no run away alone. This place is not the army’s backyard where you could run around without worry. What would have happened if I hadn’t followed you? You worry me sick!

YOU WORRY ME SICK, YOU OLD STINKING BRAIN FART!

She didn’t say that obviously. Somethings are better kept to yourself until the right moment. However, Black had put his life on the line to save her. So he deserved to lecture her. She might be crazy about the mind but was also fair of the heart.

But he kept going and going and she reached the limit of her patience. She was fair, but Black was too boring. Who told him to abuse his newly found grace? She was wrong, fine! Just get the move on; she was sure he would keep talking even if his ass was on fire. She had doubts about his priorities.

I’m sorry for running away. She apologized. Black was taken back. But can we go now? I thought we were getting late?
You apologized. That was a statement, but whatever. She might seem normal enough, but deep down she was afraid the lizard would follow them to the ground. It was no wonder she was in a hurry to get out of there.
Yes. Now, let’s go back, shall we?

What? Just like that? You are not going to retaliate? Make me chase you further into the jungle? Black put his antennae over her chest and behind to check if she was alright. She allowed this much, but he better not touch anywhere inappropriate like her antennae. The goodwill period would expire then.
You are not hurt, are you? Are you afraid?

Well, that did it. Now she was losing respect. Next thing she knew he’d be coming after her to tickle her bottom in the name of revenge. She couldn’t have that. That would make her the laughing stock again.

What’s that? She pointed toward the tree trunk, and she tickled his bottom when he turned like it was the last time she was doing it, then turned heel and ran away. She didn’t rush deeper into the forest, but back toward their camp. Black chased right after her, fuming and furiously bleating.

Who told him to make fun of her? Only she had the right to make fun of others! No one else had the privilege. However, deep inside, she felt warm and wanted.

They had a surprise waiting for them when they finally returned. Silver had sent them a scent message and he wanted their help.

---

You can go in, Shepherdess.

The small, orange headed mountain driver released a scent that drove the jawbreakers to the walls, opening the way for her. The mountain drive ants were her competition, the group that currently occupied the defense station in the tower.

They were the ones that had forced the other groups to refuse her request to hunt inside their territories. They were the bad guys.

They controlled all the checkpoints, and nothing happened without their permission. It was no wonder that the other groups feared them.
The shepherdess was staring when the guard raised her antennae in a questioning manner.
Any way I can help you, Shepherdess?

She shook her head and rushed out of the dirt creation that was the checkpoint. She stopped only when she had made it to the other side of the bridge. She had to pass three such checkpoints to travel from the inner region to the core area where the tower stood erect. Her heart had thrummed crazily every time one of them had asked her identity.

They could bar her from entering the tower by simply rejecting her identity. According to 786^th soldier, the information broker that had helped her crew in the last few days, they had done that to others and the same could happen to her. Her every word had been an eye-opening experience for the shepherdess. She used to believe the farm was fair, but the reality was darker than the confining depths of her colony where she used to work tirelessly from day to night to shred leaves for fermentation.

The tower got her attention when she tried to take her mind off the matter. She remembered hearing someone describe it as a beast, frozen in time and space with its mouth open and legs all jumbled together.

It was the central hub, the master station for all and everyone of any worth. She could sense Jawbreakers standing in line, laden with tributes and shepherdesses from other regions raising flags to be allowed to submit the tributes. The giant jawbreakers stood guard at every junction.

A series of trails connected the bridge to the tower, each distinct from the other. Together they covered the network of roots that made the ground floor, providing pathways to the various sections and escape routes.

The shepherdess took one of the trails and made her way toward the tower. She didn’t have any reason to panic, besides the call form the top of the tower where the eight took office, but she was shaking. The other shepherdesses took note of her and waved in her direction. She waved back out of habit, but then remembered the information brokers warning and fell into a deeper hole down the self-humiliation lane.

Her evaluation had come too early. She hadn’t even and time to prepare for it, yet. There were only two reasons it could have been fast-forwarded so early. Either the decision had already been made and she was found lacking, or the authorities had decided that she could handle the rising stars.

Failure meant a return ticket back to the narrow confines of her colony and the tiresome work of shredding leaves without rest. She would not accept it, but did she have a choice?
Thinking about the group reassured her.

With conviction, she climbed the tower. The residents recognized her but none approached, for even they knew that she hadn’t been recognized yet. Right above the ground floor was resident quarters for the shepherdesses and the jawbreakers. Her burrow was on the fifth floor.

The security was stricter inside. There were more pit stops, but nothing too unusual. You get used to all the checking and cleaning. That’s important. Nobody wants to carry a parasite inside and get everyone infected; worse, to spoil the honeydew. Jawbreakers occupied every corner from the first to the fourth floor, moving about doing nothing, protecting the tower, and waiting to be called to tow tributes from the farm. She was to go further up, to the tenth floor, the top of the tower.

An elevator shaft bypassed the sixth to the ninth floor. That was where the honeydew was stored. And no one was allowed into those floors without permission, even the shepherdesses.
In the end, the elevator shaft opened into a large and circular but empty chamber. The ringed base was similar to the rings of a tree, but the tower was clearly not a tree unless it was hollowed out; a strange thought for someone in her situation. She should be more worried about her evaluation than the history of the tower, but it was a nice distraction. It helped her calm down.

She crossed the echoing chamber to the other side. For some reason the chamber worked like an amphitheater, causing even her shallow steps to ring like drums in the emptiness. The hall was nothing but a waiting room, one easily large enough to dwarf any queen’s chamber. The shepherdesses had always wondered its purpose since no one was allowed into the tower without permission and only a select few other than the authoritative figure ever placed a foot on the top floor. Maybe it was a symbol saying you are all alone from up here. It could be. Her thoughts occupied her until there was a movement from the other side.

Finally the doorkeeper, a flat-headed ant that kept the passage closed, slid away to let her pass through. She could only be impressed by it. Usually, thoughts regarding its origin would have followed, but this time she only felt numb. Fear had caught up to her. This was the moment every shepherdess dreaded.

Here she comes.

Nine sets of hardened eyes inquired her as she entered the chamber. All were royalty and male, except one. A few faces softened at her admittance, the rest hardened. The shepherdess grew dazed from the attention. The scrutinizing gazes of the representatives had such an effect on her.

These Nine ants were the strongest beings of their respective colonies or at least held some amount of influence in their areas.

The ants sat in a circle with their backs to the walls. There were no guards inside, nor any advisers or followers. It was her and the leaders, all alone in the chamber. One could figure out the farm's political dynamics just by knowing who sat with whom and how far from the others they sat. 786^th had drilled her with all the information she’d need to make the conjunction, but she forgot all of that when she sensed the ninth scent in the chamber.

It was memorizing; it was captivating; it belonged to a princess, and everyone knew there was no place for a princess on the farm. Unless, she was the guest of honor, the representative from the true owner of the farm, and the leader of the alliance.

What was happening? Why would someone so important be present for a simple evaluation of a shepherdess? Or maybe the evaluation wasn’t so simple after all and her fate wasn’t deeded. Was her group that special? Well, there was no doubt about that.

Don’t be afraid, child. The shepherdess couldn’t believe it, the princess spoke to her. Her scent was enthralling, so full of emotions, so drawing. She almost forgot all fear from the suggestion alone.
Come forward.
She went.
Your evaluation has been canceled, Shepherdess. Her heart thrummed. Instead, we have a proposal for you. And it skipped a beat.
The door slid close behind her, separating the chamber from the outside world and trapping her with a decision that would decide her fate on the farm.

 

786th Soldiers P.O.V​

---

Atop the tallest plant in the inner region, the world was quiet and serene. Gentle wind flowed there, keeping the misery and struggles of the farm away. 786^th loved the quiet and the emptiness. It was her hiding spot, a place to escape from the farm, and its worries.

However, it was a different day and she wasn’t alone.

Silver was there with her. He was staring west, but that was not where he was looking. His antennae were abuzz, vibrating at a sweltering high rate that 786^th couldn’t even begin to fathom. A vortex had formed around his antennae, sucking particles from far. It was a scary scene. She was mad at what he was doing to her place, but the interest kept her rooted.
What’s he like looking for? 786^th asked Red, Silvers shadow. That ant did not leave his leader's side, unless he was specifically asked to, which she hadn’t seen happen, yet. Apparently, he was a strategist? So someone like her? Well, she wondered about that.
She asked him for an answer and he gave her a puzzle.
My Leader is looking for something that the others can’t handle. Red told her. At least he answered. Had she asked someone from her colony—

Alright, she walked right into that one. The two might have warmed up to her, but that didn’t mean they would start discussing their plans with her, too. She was an outsider. She understood, but the vigilance was suspicious. Everyone knew they wanted to get into the tower; so what was with all the planning and the terse question she’d been asked? Maybe they had a different objective? They could be planning to destroy the tower for all she knew.

Wait! What if she was right?
No, that was an impossible job. Anyways, the army wanted to be a part of the alliance, not to destroy it.

A warm touch on the back brought her back to reality. It was Red, and he looked concerned.
What are you thinking? He asked whilst rubbing some warmth into her.

She was startled but quickly realized that she wasn’t on a mission and she hadn’t been caught. For better or worse, the latter had already happened and her situation was the aftermath.
She liked the rubbing, however, and the warmth it provided. When was the last time someone had cared for her?
She didn’t remember.
Never, popped up in her mind, but she shook it away.
Nothing, She replied instead. Red nodded and pulled his antennae back.
Did he have to do that though? That warmth felt so great. And he was walking away. She sort of panicked and scented out the first thing that came into her mind to make him stop.

I was thinking about your objective. She felt embarrassed saying that, but he stopped and turned around. That was her intention, right? It meant he was interested. She had his attention. Now only if he could start rubbing her back again. Sadly it didn’t happen. She was being too greedy.

So, what are your thoughts? Red asked her. She had wasted too much time again; better start talking before he goes away again. This is what she wanted; she found it difficult to cope with the thought.

786^th went deep into thoughts and come up with something that had been irking her since last night. You don’t need to get into the tower to show your might. Everyone has already seen it. So why do you want to get into the tower?

Red stood a bit straighter at the mention, attentive. Wait a minute. Was she on the right path?
Like what? He asked, amused, but he couldn’t hide the nervous twitch from her. It surprised her much. So much she didn’t know what to do with it.

I haven’t gotten to that part yet. She scented and curbed eh shaking of her abdomen. It was acting up again.

Take your time. Red glanced at Silver who was yet to move from his position. We have some.
Are you trying to destroy the tower? She scented and moaned mentally. She had already thought about this. Why did she have to act stupid in front of him of all the others?

I don’t think that’s possible for a bunch of ants. Red released. See? Now he was laughing at her. What if he suddenly thought that she was different from him? What if he grew distant?
Red continued unaware of the storm that his amusement had set off in her mind.
Destroying the tower serves no purpose. He scented. We are mercenaries, not terrorists. There is a difference.

Ah, the word ‘purpose’’ set off 786^th soldier's mind ablaze. She hadn’t thought about that yet. What was their purpose? What made the tower so special? Well, it was the safest place, but safety was the last thing on their mind. They weren’t there for the tower either. The alliance representatives resided inside the tower, but they were just that, representatives and nothing more; sure they had a large force under them working on the farm, but even that was but a small battalion considering what a colony usually housed. Killing them would produce no results. Then there was just one thing left.

And she figured it out. It was so simple. They were at the farm because the army wanted honeydew and what else could they be doing instead of—
Shading hell, you want to steal the Honeydew!

She inspected Silver for a reaction, a turn of the head, fidgeting of the antennae, a quiver of nervousness, or a shiver down the back, but there was nothing. As for her immediate neighbor, Red showed all the reactions and more. And it made her nervous. She had done it this time. Sure there were only three of them up there and she could run, but the possibility of her getting away was slimmer than them actually managing to steal from the farm. There was only one thing left to do then.

Scared as she was, she raised the question that only someone insane would.
Am, am I right? She asked.

It depends, Red scented. He was staring between her and his leader, nervous and shaking. Then suddenly he was fine like it didn’t matter.

786^th took a step back. That change was scary. It was the difference between deciding and having decided upon her fate. Maybe she should have blurted that last piece of information out like that. What was wrong with her? What kind of an information broker admits about knowing others' secrets?
A dead one, she thought and pulled away from Red even further. They were far too close.
Now, what is going to happen to me? She asked and received an answer.
You can sell the information for your freedom. Isn’t that what you wanted?
She couldn’t determine if Red was being sarcastic or hysterical, but a reply was good. She had seen many executions while spying, and all had one thing in common —the silence.

Most murders are committed on impulse. What she needed was to bide for time; and starting a conversation was a natural way to accomplish that.
Freedom is a matter of perspective. She scented. In other words, it’s a lie. If you are not bound by society, then you are bound by your passion or others expectations. There is no getting out of the cycle.

So what do you want to do? Red asked another question, another excruciating moment when she was forced to wonder whether she would survive or not.
I want to be away from here. Shading fire, she was letting fear dictate her. Now they knew she was afraid as if all of her backing away and delaying hadn’t already told them such.
Do you want to return to your colony? I can understand that feeling.

No. Her feet stopped. She stood at the edge of the leaf. A step further and she would have fallen off. The realization jolted her out of fear.
So where do you want to go?
She heard the question and in that time and moment, when her mind was suddenly empty, the answer just slipped out of her.
Someplace I can call home.

A breeze rose up from the farm at the same time, bringing along an alarm from the farm. Red hurried to his leader’s side. As for her… did they not care about her running away? He had left her wide open, free to do anything she wanted. She was once again in a situation where she couldn’t decide whether to run or wait.

She ran… after Red. It couldn’t be a coincidence that they had asked her to take them to the highest place in the inner region. With the leader looking out for something and then the sudden alarm, it made her suspicious and she loved this mystery. Oh, it burned her insides to know the truth. She couldn’t wait any longer. Not like she had anywhere to go or be. And she knew too much. Therefore, she went to their side, stood at the edge of the leaf with them, and peered into the distance even though she couldn’t see.

Her antennae caught something without her having to vibrate them. The vortex that Silver had created was to feed her curiosity for a while. She found it amazing how far the scents were coming from.

What’s happening? She was going to ask but held herself back when she noticed the grim atmosphere between them.

They have outdone themselves. Siler scented.
Will you be alright? Red asked.
We are not going to discuss this again. Return to our territory. The others will be coming up soon.

Silver finished saying and jumped off the leaf, disappearing from her senses altogether. That was numbingly daring of him. Everyone knew that a fall wouldn’t kill them, but to knowingly jump off from the tallest plant in the whole inner region… that was foolishness to her, not bravery.

Will he be alright?
He’ll be fine. It’s us who need to worry about ourselves.

The alarm rose once again and spread throughout the farm. The heart jumped up in her chest. The farm was not abuzz because of a mere interloper. An alarm raised in a territory meant an interloper; spread in a region it was a call for help. But with the whole farm alight in the scent of alarm, it could only mean one thing, a raid. The farm was being raided and 786^th had strong suspicions that the two were somehow responsible.

---

Shepherdess's P.O.V​

---

The shepherdess sat in a corner of her burrow, head bowed and antennae slumped to the ground. She was still inside the tower, locked and contained by the authorities. Why? That was a simple question to answer. She was no longer a shepherdess and was in waiting to be sent back to her colony. They were yet to take her privileges and I.D since the jawbreakers guarding her would have attacked otherwise, but it no longer mattered.
She was done, all was lost. There was nothing left for her to do. After everything she had done for her colony, they had betrayed her. To think they would sell her for a bare minimum profit when they could have had a crew sitting in the tower and earning them a flat 5% of the total honeydew produced each week. They had most likely been pressured into accepting the deal, but to think they would betray her. 786^th soldier was right: she was too naïve for her own good.

That’s when she sensed the commotion and the fear and felt the vibrations. They were abrupt in their timing, but shallow and soft in nature. The tower was the reason behind the latter; it was built too strong, too stable. The vibrations making it to her burrow on the fifth floor meant the farm was in danger.

She stumbled to her feet in a hurry, only to remember why she was caged in the first place. The thought took her back to the ground, slumped but thoughtful. She was not a shepherdess anymore. She no longer needed to worry about the farm and its worries.

Anyways, there were guards outside the burrow, guarding her like she was precious honeydew. Until they were outside she wasn’t going anywhere. They would know what was happening. No. First of all, they were jawbreakers; it would be pointless to ask them anything. Secondly, there was a rock wedged blocking the exit and sealing it from the outside. It wasn’t an airtight seal; scents could still reach in and out. They weren’t trying to kill her. And thirdly, the farm and its denizens could go to hell for all she cared.

The vibrations stopped first, but a panicked alarm took its place, spreading in the tower.

Raid! Raid! Moving East to North! All personal, report to the battle station!

The alarm echoed inside her small chamber.

The tower could keep the vibrations to a minimum, and allow the scent molecules to propagate further than any dirt creation ever could at the same time. In a sense, it was far better than an amphitheater. It was no wonder everyone was interested in knowing about the creator. There was a time when she would have spent hours in dazing wondering the same, but those days were already in the past.

The alarm pulled the shepherdess —correction: the former shepherdess— back to her feet. This time around she didn’t stop her feet and rushed at the exit.

She felt restless. The raid couldn’t have come at a worse time. She understood her crew better than anyone. They were sure to jump at the opportunity to increase their tribute and try getting that spot in the tower, whether it was a raid of flying beetles or an army of interlopers.

What if they managed to kill it, them? No, that was a baseless thought. And, the authorities had already decided to not accept any tributes from them this week. She had opposed, of course, but they were already decided and were only asking for her cooperation, not consent. She needed to tell them that. Her crew needed to know the truth.

She pushed at the rock blocking her exit and started banging at it with the clubbed ends of her antennae when it didn’t budge.

Let me out! Let me out!

There was no answer. She already knew the reason and was only making sure that there was no one outside. Sure her emotions took control of the situation, but there was no harm in a bit of vigilance.
The reason was simple: The jawbreakers guarding her would have had their priority shifted toward the alarm, and if she was right, it meant there would be no one standing guard outside.

But what could she do? She was stuck. The rock could only be taken away from the outside. She couldn’t do anything. She was small and weak, a worker. She couldn’t possibly force the rock out!
She remembered being sold by her colony and the pledge she made to herself.
Never bow to anyone. That is what she had promised to herself. It was damn time she started acting upon it. She needed to be courageous. And she was a worker. She might not be good at fighting, but there was something she was good at and coincidently, it was exactly the skill she needed to get out.

She started digging around the rock.

---

Red’s P.O.V​

---

Red took a deep breath as his leader leaped off the plant. No worries. He understood better than anyone what the silver enigma could do. Nonetheless, it unnerved him still to sense someone standing right next to him disappear away like a mimic. He stopped that train of thoughts before it could open old wounds.

786^th soldier stood by his side, equally baffled by not just Silvers unhesitant display of courage, but also by the whole situation.

He took her scent in through his antenna; there was fear mixed in with excitement and wonder. She really was so different from the others. He had never met another soldier who could scent her emotions; other than his leader, but he was a different case. That one could do anything. But for a common soldier to be able to emit emotions was truly remarkable.

All were freaks around him. He was the only one normal. Well, someone needed to take care of the misfits.

That’s a lizard he went after. 786 told him. He nodded. It was a general signal telling others that he as listening. He never understood why everyone always needed these wasteful shows of acceptance. He stood next to her and hence was forced to taste all that she scented. There was too much insecurity around. If his leader had taught him right, it meant she was nervous. His leader did indeed go after a lizard after all. Those idiots really did outdo themselves.

It’s a raid. Do you understand? You probably don’t. There will be deaths, thousands of them! Do you understand? How could you let him go alone?

Now what to do in this situation? He opted for silence, but it soon became too awkward between them.
So back to the territory it was. He turned to leave, but 786th stopped him. She jumped at him. It was a startling experience for Red. He turned stiff from the closeness, but his mind raced.

Are you trying to kill me? He asked and almost exclaimed upon realizing that the past was repeating itself; the only difference being, this time around she had him cornered. Her antennae though… the scent they released was intoxicating. He couldn’t help try to tangle his antennae around them. Well, he would have if she hadn’t pushed away from him.

What are you trying to do? She scented, no her haunches, hiding her antennae between her forelegs.

It confused him. Shouldn’t I be the one to ask you that? You jumped at Me.
You tried to form an internal connection with me!
Ah, he finally realized. That was unexpectedly rude of him. How did that happen? That wasn’t like him, now, was it? It was the scents, he realized. Well, what could he do to make things better?
I-I apologize.

For some reason, he didn’t enjoy the silence that followed. Didn’t he have something to do? Oh, yes, he had to return to the territory. He could dally a few more minutes; the others would need time to come through. However, what to do with her? Now, wasn’t that a conundrum.

She could spoil the plan if he let her go. There was that. And she could get them all killed. There was also that. Hadn’t his leader told him to take care of her? Needless to say, he was very tempted to just let her go. But he could almost taste her excitement in the air; she wanted to come, to see what they were planning. He was not delusional to the truth that she had figured out most of it.

He wondered if she was being plainly deliberate with the scents, or seriously had no idea. As a fellow on the path of wisdom he understood her better than anyone else and made a decision that would make Black cringe in disgust and call him an idiot.

Will you come with me? Red asked the 786^th soldier and he was right. Her antennae instantly came to a standstill above her head. She became lost in thoughts again, but only for a fraction of second, and came into motion soon after. She was decided from the start.

Where are we going?
Red scented: To meet the idiots I call family.

---

Silver’s P.O.V​

---

Silver jumped from leaf to leaf, plant to plant, making west at a blistering pace. The lizard had left a path of destruction in its wake, killing soldiers that courageously stood in front of it, and sweeping away those that had hidden under the leaves.
Silver had no difficulty chasing after it, but the sight he saw on the way numbed him internally.

The lizard had invaded deep into the eastern territory, devastated the bridges of the outer region, then changed direction and made north.
Soldiers had rushed into the affected region from the nearby territories. Most stayed back watching, but a few had come forward to help the shepherdesses move the aphids to safe shelters nearby, and move the injured to the nurse stations. Those that stayed back used the mayhem as an opportunity to catch scared interlopers running for their lives.

A few volunteers took positions at the leaves for lookout, while the rest banded together to chase the lizard.

They were all from different territories and different colonies. Outside the farm, they would have been enemies, but inside they were only rivals, competitors in a horde to earn a larger share of honeydew. It was no wonder most of them retreated, but the real wonder was the group that came forward to help. It showed that the farm wasn’t all rotten and hopeless. There was still some compassion left in the living occupying the farm's veins.
Those left behind stood stiff and scared, afraid the lizard would come back.

Silver rushed past them without stopping. One part of him wanted to help those in need, but he kept going. It was a difficult decision, but he made it easy because he also had those counting on him. He didn’t want to cause this, the carnage, the deaths. He was sure to have protected the farm if the circumstances were different. But he had no choice this time around.

Since he couldn’t save everyone, he would save those he could.

It was on the boundary of the inner region where he found the lizard. Soldiers were putting a strong front against it, but the lizard was not one to get pushed around. It was slowly eating through their numbers, one bite at a time. A drastic change was needed, and soon. That’s where Silver came in.

The soldiers faring well were in the process of moving the injured away from the site.
Silver pushed past the injured and the dead. He knew none of them, but they seemed to know him, or they were generally good of heart because they tried to stop him. However, Silver wasn’t one to back down after making up his mind.

It was evening. The sun was setting, and the world growing cold. Half the sky was filled with clouds and the other half was quickly turning grey. A wild wind was blowing around the corner.

The lizard was green, with an arrow-shaped head and scaled skin. There were black patterns swirling down its head that stretched over its back and faded at its abdomen. It was humongous, almost twenty-two ant lengths large and seven ant lengths tall. It had its tail wrapped around the stem of a plant and looked to be in no mood to move away.

Alarm spread as the lizard slipped between the leaves and the branches toward the front line. The leader of the expedition sounded a retreat, but the lizard was not like the frogs. It whipped around the obstacles, moving with a grace that the monster its size didn’t deserve.

A swipe of its red triangular mouth and a whole team disappeared from the back of the group. The soldiers were quickly losing hope. They couldn’t even drive it out of the farm. It was impossible to fight it.
They needed reinforcements, but the leader, a large-headed brown sand ant, cursed at the thought. She knew better to hope the greedy would help unless the beast was on the verge of dying.

But help arrived, and it came in the form of a dazzling silver bullet that shone brightly under the waning sunlight.

Silver rushed up, getting higher than the lizard and jumped at it. He crashed onto the lizards back with enough force to curve its spine. All movement stopped when the lizard uttered a wail of pain. That was impossible. The same swords passed through everyone's minds.

But the lizard twisted its body, clearly not comfortable after the blow. It fell down to the ground. The soldiers cheered, believing it was leaving, but it was quick to climb back up. It would have run away against anything else, but against a prey it could not even distinguish from the other mouthfuls of food around, it could not leave. Anger tugged at its mind, telling it to kill them all. The lizard could not ignore the call.

It followed the scent of its prey and found Silver standing alone at a leaf. The lizard showed its blood-red mouth to openly challenge Silver and changed when the tiny stomach weight didn’t retreat.

Silvers had limited options against the lizard. He didn’t want to hurt the beast for it had a purpose in the plan, but subduing it was also not an option. The lizard was quick-footed, and the stage was far from optimum. But the atmosphere was growing cold and the wind was starting to blow. Whatever calories the monster had absorbed in the day had already been sucked out of it. It had replenished some by eating the farm soldiers, but it was huffing and puffing, and clearly tired. Silver could feel its heart beating at a much higher rate than normal.

The soldiers had already retreated far back, so far that none of them could see what was happening. However, they could sense the commotion and it frightened them.

Then suddenly the commotion stopped. However, before they could even guess the result, the lizard stumbled and trundled toward them. They saw each other and the lizard changed directions, diving deeper into the farm.
However, there were no celebrations. Another alarm rose high into the air instead, this one representing danger of the utmost level. The lizard was leaving but in the wrong direction. It was heading straight toward the center, the core area, in the direction of the tower. And there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

 

Madhuri was happy to see me.
W-where are w-we going now? She chirped and fought through the pain that arose every time she beat her wings. She tolerated it until I reached her then slumped to the ground. Her wings were in bad shape.
All the rolling and crashing had done a number on them. Bella said they were sprained, not broken. She was teaching Madhuri to refrain from beating them unnecessarily, but it was taking a toll on both of them. One was irritated and the other was tired.

However, even in pain, she rubbed her beak against me. Let’s not talk about what others thought of this when even I felt scared every time she demanded me to rub her face or climb her beak so she could see me properly. I feared she would accidentally eat me or squish me. There was no difference between them. I would be dead either way.

Even Barry agreed that it was a scary sight. Multiple times the termite soldiers thought the sky predator was attacking me and advanced against her to save me.
I lauded their effort and apologized for the nuisance. Never thought I would say this, but it was a proud feeling to be cherished by so many, even termites.

Unfortunately, they refused to see her as a friend —which I was secretly thankful for. Madhuri couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe. The termites weren’t any different from the moths that she had hunted near the beehive, only smaller in size and larger in number. It was a thought I left buried under my other worries. I didn’t want another thing grating against my conscious.

I rubbed her beak and climbed atop. I released a smidgen of my scent because it calmed her. She looked at me. Her big complex eyes watched me, but she was tired and it showed.
We looked at each other, an ant and a bird. Normally, we would have never made acquaintances, but there we were, away from our homes, half lost and worried for our loved ones, and remarkably trustful of one another. A Partnership of misery, the elder termite called it. I strongly disagreed.

However, we were to part there, and the decision tore at my consciousness like the sharp bladed arms of an assassin bug. I feared losing her too. I parted with princess and danger found her. I feared something similar would happen to Madhuri if I left her. But I had no choice.
A drone of buzzing wings told me the duo had finally arrived. Madhuri had dozed off, but woke up to see who it was and then closed her eyes again. I liked that she could close her eyes. At least one of us could decide what to see and what to ignore. Bella softly landed on Madhuri’s featherless head and took perch. I knew the question was coming even before it was asked. They had been at it since the skirmish, asking after me and everything.

Are you thinking about it again? There it was; at least she left it open by not asking anything specific. She knew about my thoughts and was surprisingly sensible about it. Barry on the other hand had been teasing me ever since he had learned that everything I had done was for a Princess —I meant because of a Princess, stupid antennae.

It was Barry who initiated the conversation.

Is he still occupied with his imaginary princess?
Do you think I should give him some honey? Bella asked him. Maybe that will cheer him up?
Honey, you can’t Honey him with Honey. That only works on me. What he needs is to get off his ass and get going. Or the princess will remain imaginary all his life.

Bella jumped at him, wrapped her legs around his body like a caterpillar clinging to a branch, not intending to let go.
Will you think of me when you are away? She buzzed.
Oh, I would not, really. It was a mistake, but the piercing sharp ovipositor rectified the situation. Because I’m not leaving you, Honey. He added.

I almost jumped to my feet. I thought he was being serious, but he had simply forgotten about our arrangement. It was typical of him. He was someone who had forgotten the way back to his hive; what were an ant and his request in front of that? Thankfully, Bella was there to remind him.

You are going with him. Did you forget that?
Oh, He was surprised and turned toward me and I nodded. They dipped starkly when he stopped beating his wings, but caught up to it quickly. Yeah, there was that.
He asked Bella to let him go, then flew and landed over Madhuri’s neck and hid under the warm carpet of feathers. She stirred when his sharp contours grated against her skin but didn’t come awake. She had gotten used to us meddling around.

Good job. I told Bella, a complaint. Now he’s also sulking.
He’ll be alright. It is you I worry about.
She ignored my bafflement and started cleaning her limbs one by one. She was so sleek, and with the sun to her back, her figure looked far too erotic for my heart to stay calm.

I looked away and accidentally saw two royal termites pointing their antennae toward us. They were telling our tale of bravery and courage to a few soldiers. I turned my antennae toward them to hear what they were saying.
Do you think the ants are friends to all the bees and the hornets?
I have to shit.
Maybe that’s how they subdued a sky predator? Think we can get one?
It’s happening; take cover!

Nope. I cut away from them before I could hear any more nonsense.

We were still in the graveyard. Star was keeping the termites busy by making them gather the dead from both sides. Far too many had died, less because of overwhelming might and more because of the lacking discipline.
The idea of gathering the dead was foreign to the termites. One soldier had even come forward to ask him the point of wasting energy collecting bodies that were of no use. I thought Star would get angry, grow repulsive even, but he was unfamiliarly considerate and polite instead; like a mother explaining to its kids, he explained the reason behind the activity.

It’s to show respect to the dead. You respect the soldiers who fought alongside you and died ahead of you. You respect them for their courage and their bravery. You respect them for giving their life to protect something. So they will know in death that they didn’t die in vain. So that when your day comes and you are down in the dirt, you will know that you didn’t die in vain. That you were protecting something, upholding a value, fighting alongside your comrades, and you were not alone.

He’s a shrewd one. Bella commented. I could not agree. Asking her got me nothing as she refused to explain. You’ll know when you know. It was the only thing she said.
Those who were not gathering the dead were digging holes to bury the infected. We didn’t want another infection spreading from the corpses.

And then there was a third group that was being grilled by Star. He was teaching them discipline and the importance of order. These fifty or so termites were the ones that had shown exceptional talent during the battle and had been promoted to the rank of captain.

The makeshift army that he had created was only going to grow from there. And to put a nail in the coffin, Star had decided to stay behind to teach the termites the art of ground warfare. The rest would be returning on foot, while Barry and I were going to take fly back.

The hateful one had found the idea repulsive. It will bite you on your ass. She had told her senior in rank and age. I was not against the idea, but I didn’t want him to prepare a force that could one day put us in a bind or take us down either. I had asked him to be vigilant and prudent. Star was compassionate, but not a fool.

The 5555^th soldier wanted to come with me but I could not agree to her.
Bella tapped my back with her antennae. You are not alone anymore. She let me know.
I know.
If you can save her then bring her back here. If not…
I’ll send Barry—
She interrupted me with a crackling slap on the top of my head and buzzed her wings to anger.
Come back fool, Was what I understood between the buzzing of my head and her wings. Or I’ll come to find you.
I would have released amusement if it wasn’t for the stabbing pain. Don’t mess with a wasp, just don’t. But she was not joking.
I’ll bring all my children and every other parasitic wasp I know with me and we’ll deposit eggs in anything we find moving. So don’t even think about dying or I’ll make sure that everyone follows behind you.

So much for a farewell; thanks for the added pressure. I’m sure it’ll be very helpful. I chocked on the words, buried the thought deep inside my mind, and just looked away from her.

I apologized instead. For both, taking Barry with me and leaving Madhuri to her care. I hoped she wouldn’t be angry over the issue, and she wasn’t or she didn’t show. She buzzed to excitement instead.
Are you kidding me? We are going to have so much fun. She’ll be such a big help to hunt down creatures I could never touch before. I’ll finally have revenge against the shameful mantis that has been stealing my prey. It and its friends will never see us coming.

I doubted they wouldn’t see a bird flying toward them, but even that will still be miles better than me taking her with me.

Someone needed to be there to help her in need, and feed her. I didn’t believe she would be able to hunt on her own until her wings healed. Barry would have been of no help since he fed on flowers, while Bella knew all there was to know about the habits and habitats of prey, and had the means to handle her. And Madhuri feared her ovipositor ever since she had injected her with the paralyzing poison and made her sleep.

That is how Bella intended to keep her from coming after us. I worried the poor bird would become scarred for life, but there was no way I was taking her with me in her condition; I was not possibly going to leave her there all alone. The termites acted friendly, but we had too much bad blood between us. They would be taking over the stretch of land after the infestation was curbed. And I didn’t know where things would go from there.

However, the danger wasn’t over yet. The city in the group of rocks still housed plenty of infected; the only reprise was that their queen was dead thanks to one genius blunder by our very own Bella.
Sooner or later the rest would also meet their maker, Star was staying back to take care of that problem. Maybe my words that the next was his home city had influenced him too much, but he was happy.
Finally, I analyzed my status. It had been such a long time that I didn’t even know what to expect.

STATUS: 5-6-99
Level & Rank	5/10 [0]	Willpower	Low-Low
Endurance	20.7/25.7	Dexterity	Low-Low
Mana	0/12.6	Perception	Low-Med
Species	Ember Ant (Common)	Hardness	Low-Med
End Reg. (.48/hour)	Mana reg. (0/hour)	Calories	16/26.5
Stat gain/Level: +.1 CONS, +.1 STR/ +.1 AGI
Strength	2	Intelligence	2.2
Agility	1.8	Wisdom	1.9
Charisma	0.4	Luck
Greed	54	Constitution	5.3
Titles:	Master of Greed, Loud mouthed Traitor, Royal Guard, TRUTH, Skill collector,
Skills:
Sin	Greed*(-)
Racial	Digging(5), I.C(1+1), Ant sense(3+2), Bite(2), Absorption(4), Pheromone Control(2+3), Climb(1+1), Tracking(3), Hibernation(1), Balance(3+1),
General	Universal Tongue(n/a), Movement(3), Patience(5), Focus(5), Hygiene(7+3), Tenacity(1+2), Toughness(1+2), Anger(1), Sight(1+4), Roll(1), Dodge(1+1), Feather fall(1), Vigor(1+1), Examine(1), Memory(3), Breathing(3+1), Confidence(+2), Leadership(+2), Reckless courage(+4)
Utility	Confusion(1), Premonition(1), Analyze(1), Overwhelm(2), Map(1), Iron Claws(1), Sneak(1)
Resistance	Thermal(1), Poison(1+3), Acid(1+2), Charm(1), Stress(1+1), Strain(1), Mental Corruption(1), Overwhelm(1), Pain(1+1), Hydrophobic(1), Aerodynamic(1+1)
Mastery	Bare handed(1), Sharp weapon(+2), Martial arts(+1)
	Charge(2), Stab(+2), Head butt(+1)

There were a lot of small and large changes. I had a few more skills, the stats were way higher —Constitution had a large lead against the others— and there was a change in Perception and Hardness.

No wonder I felt so invigorated and sharper, but one look at my friends, and I knew I had a long way ahead of me. And they weren’t even that strong. I had only seen the denizens of light; real monsters lived where the shade was the darkest.

However, it was also true that I had outlived thousands and grown stronger from the encounter. And if there was no limit to my growth then I only needed to stay alive, and surely the day would come when I’d be able to stand tall in front of even the hisser without backing down.

Something else that had changed was my thoughts regarding the system. I no longer believed it to be a manifestation of Evil, and even believed that Greed wasn’t a menace that couldn’t be avoided. Both acted according to my actions. My fate was in my hands.

There was just one more thing left to do. One of the skills on the status was blinking, and glowing in a green hue. I wondered what that was about.

Call the skill, boy. The voice suddenly spoke in my head. About time you evolved a skill.

Until then only Greed had evolved. And I dreaded being called back into the void where the mist of my memories resided. But the ember slumbering inside my head had news for me.
Don’t worry. This is a good thing.

I believed the voice. I called the skill and a new, more dazzling prompt opened in front of me.

---

Skill: Hygiene has reached the maximum level. It is presenting you with the option to: Remove or replace.​

---

The words didn’t mean much to me and the voice inside my head told me it was my choice.
Pick one. It said. Well, I picked remove and that was it. Wait—​

---

You have acquired a new skill: Clean.​

---

[Clean][Lv-1/25][Tier-2][Active]
[Cleanliness is the most important thing if one is to survive from infection and general discomfort]
[Effect: It removes all dirt and dust covering your body; the effectiveness depends upon the skill level.]
[Cost: It costs one point of Endurance regardless of skill level.]​

---

It was an active skill and a very useful one from the description. As an ant, I understood the importance of cleanliness better than anyone else. Cleaning my body was a major activity; it was something that needed to be done every day and done right. If the skill could take lace of manual rubbing and scrubbing it would not only save me quite a lot of hassle but also time and effort.

The skill activation felt like a breeze hitting my body. I felt a coldness wash over me and then, surely, my antennae felt a lot less clogged and a lot more perspective to the world. The effect was clearly not very strong yet, but it was a start. In the future with more levels, it was bound to grow infinitely more important than anything else.

This was it. I had done and achieved everything and more than I had started out to achieve. The termites had this place under control and I had what I needed. It was time for me to say my farewells and prepare for the end.
I stood up.
Leaving? Bella asked.

I nodded and she nodded back. I climbed over Madhuri’s crown and found Barry sleeping on her neck under the blanket of her warm feathers. There was a burst of wings and Bella was upon him before I could wake him.
He wouldn’t have awakened at my insistence, but she had him up and full of delicious honey in seconds.

Are you done gloating? He asked me, buzzing his wings to annoyance. It earned him a tight slap right at the back of his head. It was beautifully executed. He buzzed in pain, and I thanked Bella for everything. She accepted.

She buzzed to sadness for a moment then changed it to strength and blessings, and gave me a parting gift, her scent. Suddenly, I smelled of a wasp. It was faint but would be more than enough to scare away scroungers and smaller parasites. It was not just a mere gift, but a mark of friendship and honor. I accepted it gracefully, and the system celebrated this moment with another gift.

---

Scents, each one is unique, there are none two alike. It is not just a favor when one imparts their scent upon another. The Wasp named Bella-Dire has claimed you as her own.
You have acquired a new Title: Friends with Wasps.​

---

[Friends with Wasps][Title]
[Scent fades in time, but the mark of friendship is forever to remain.]
[Effect: Wasps will refrain from putting an egg inside you and might even listen to you.]​

---

Oh. Barry exclaimed. What about me? Where is my gift?

Bella had the perfect gift for him. She brought out the deferrer, her ovipositor, and curved it toward him.
Did you not enjoy stabbing me? She asked, menacingly, oppressively. I could not understand the meaning, but seeing Barry in a rush to get away from her, I knew something had occurred between them when they were away. She didn’t look hurt, so I couldn’t determine when and how he had stabbed her.

Barry wanted to leave right away, but well, I noticed Star running toward us with his adviser in tow. Star carried the small petite worker in his mandibles like a nymph, and it was an oddly comical sight. His adviser looked scared but also determined. I had no choice but to delay our departure for a little longer.

Let’s leave. Barry asserted, but how could I leave without meeting Star one last time. He was coming straight from the outfields. What if he had something important to say or ask?

I jumped down from Madhuri’s head as Bella tackled Barry into the air right behind me. It’s nothing serious. They are only playing. Deceiving myself with that, I made a short way to Star.

We met a few paces from Madhuri. And I was right; He had a request.

Kid, I’ll be frank. I want you to take my adviser with you. He’s being needlessly paranoid.
The adviser raised her head to complain but faltered under the pressure exerted by Star.
Is that the only reason? I asked.

Of course not, He enthusiastically blasted the pheromones. The adviser fell to the ground right away; I resisted.
Drop him at the 43^rdcity, my home, will you? He carried on unaware of the trouble he was causing. Queen Nadiea needs to know everything that has happened here.

I pitied the termites. They would soon learn that the one they had chosen to lead them was far crazier than any infected they would find inside the city of rocks.
That was all he had to tell me. Then he turned toward his adviser and started instructing her at her job.

Request scouts to nearby cities the first thing. Worry about the rest later. Don’t bother her with your stories until you have requested her for scouts and reinforcements. We need to know if the nearby cities are safe or not. And don’t forget to warn her about the mushrooms. Don’t hold anything back. Lastly, I want ten thousand soldiers here in three days. Make that happen. The city in the rocks will be ours.
The last one baffled me.
What about the termites? Don’t they want to take over after the infestation is curbed?

Surprisingly, he said no, and released honor. They promised me they don’t want the land. They only want to kill the infected.
And you believe them? I questioned.
Do you have a brighter idea? He asked.

I had nothing.

The adviser looked like she had a thing or two to say, but knew better than to interrupt Star. Having said his piece Star… left. He obviously did not think it through. I was still thinking about how to take her with us when Barry appeared beside me. He looked, haggard, drained. He was not in the best of conditions but wanted to leave, quickly, right there and then. His antenna hectically swirled above his head. He was scared.

Can we go now, please? He asked so pathetically it made me shudder.

We need to take her with. Can you carry us both?
Huh? It was like he lost character for a second. Are you insulting me? He buzzed with the pride of a hornet. Then he remembered something and quickly returned to his previous scared, scarred avatar. Sure, sure. Just come on.

Alright, let’s go.
Barry wrapped his only legs around my chest and lifted off. My feet slowly left the ground. However, the lift-off wasn’t as effortless or smooth as it should have been.

Did you eat a whole beetle or something? He complained. Why do you weigh so much?
It was not a joke. His fluttering wings created quite a buzz, more so than usual. He never complained when carrying Bella. Did he mean I was heavier than her, a wasp multiples times larger than my size? Things would have become problematic if he had a hard time staying afloat, but the extra strength from the training paid out big, and he was able to become stable.

Carrying the adviser proved difficult but in a different way. Not because of her weight. No. Barry didn’t even feel any additional strain. He compared her to a feather. I was a bit zealous... but he was right for sure. The reason was her caste. She was a worker, just like me, and I had a title called the loud-mouthed traitor.

The adviser made sure that I understood she didn’t want to be near me. First, she escaped every time I tried to hug her and then shuddered in repulsion when I managed to take a hold of her. She didn’t scream for help, but might as well had done that too, for the crowd that had formed around would have loved to see a little more drama. I heard the hateful one complaining to the 555^th soldiers about the reason behind my bad reputation.

A burst of wind and we were flying. The termites all stopped working as they sensed us leaving. They raised a scented salute, while Madhuri chirped in distress. She tried to run after us, but Bella controlled her and scared her back.
I saw 5555^th soldier and the hateful one standing next to Star, all three stood holding a different set of emotions. One burned with duty, another was in a dilemma, and the last one was being emotional.

I released my farewell and Barry took flight. Up we went and in seconds we were so far from the rock city and the graveyard they couldn’t even be seen.
The adviser continued fidgeting between my legs until her feet left the ground.
You better stop acting up now. She didn’t until I loosened my legs around her a bit. That’s when it dawned upon her that her life was in my hands. A little slipup from me and, oops, she’d be gone.
She became quiet as a dead body after that, but not for long.

Our destination was east. We were going to follow the river, from a distance —we hadn’t yet forgotten about the bird hunter.
The adviser continued fidgeting between my legs until her feet left the ground.
You better stop acting up now. She didn’t until I loosened my legs around her a bit. That’s when it dawned upon her that her life was in my hands. A little slipup from me and, oops, she’d be gone.
She became quiet as a dead body after that, but not for long.

Flying with Madhuri was very different than being carried by Barry. Comparing the two was like putting a soldier against a worker. Flying with Madhuri felt like standing tall against the wind, but with Barry, the world blurred past my sight, wind constantly pushed against my body, and the scents constantly slapped against my antennae, opening a new olfactory world to my mind. It was a whole new experience and brought me a rush of excitement that nothing ever had.

And I was not the only one to appreciate the thrill and the opportunity.
This. Is. Amazing! The adviser let out. We were of the same caste, with the same bodily limitations, though given a different set of duties, were bound to never leave the ground. Yet there we were, flying through the sky like it was no one’s business. We were the first workers to fly, even if with assistance.

I know, right! Yes, I replied; and yes, she listened when I told her about the princess and her dream. She won’t believe me when I tell her this. Barry you’ll have to take her for a flight. Is freedom was something physical, this would be it.
You forget your grievances when you are experiencing something so majestic for the first time. The thing between us wasn’t personal. It was an induction of the system, something superficial. And as I learned from the course of our flight, the title and their effects weren’t absolute.

Why. Can’t she. Fly? The adviser asked, mandibles flaring from excitement. Does she not —have wings?
That’s right.
That’s. Sad. She acknowledged. My queen didn’t have wings either. She was. Once. A resident queen of the central city. Until the region around the 43^rd city. Was won from the termites. And given to her.
T-that hap-happened? Barry joined into our conversation, but quickly realized he should focus on flying. Those sudden drops in altitude were scary as the shade below.

Yes. And if your princess. Was born in the 43^rd. we would have found her. A place to rule. That’s. What. The law dictates.

I was surprised, envious, and then nonchalant. I couldn’t find the right words to say. Barry rescued me from my selfish thoughts with his comedy and wits.

Yeah. And who would have saved you then? He chimed in on my behalf. There were no drops in altitude this time. He must have been feeling pretty well to be able to do both fly and talk. Everything happens for a reason, kid. Remember the past and worry about today. That’s my motto, and I haven’t met anyone who was happier in life than me.

Turns out it was not only Barry who had found his voice again. The adviser also had a few words for Barry.
It’s flawed—
Until she was interrupted. But she wasn’t one to back down. She was usually down to earth and nervous around Star, but there was no way she would have been able to stay his adviser for such a long time without being able to talk back to him. And it showed when the two entered a debate regarding the importance of present on the future, and whether it mattered.

I fizzled out of the conversation at that point. The present, the future, neither would have mattered to me if the city was already dead and the princess had turned into one of the infected. The thought was painful; it made me solemn. I couldn’t tune with them after that. My heart grew numb. I was them in body, but my mind was a blank slate. I was sulking and I had all the right to be down.

The ember stirred when it had enough of my behavior. Are you sacred?
I didn’t find its question interesting enough to answer, but it wasn’t done yet.

It is difficult, isn’t it? Coping with your thoughts and reality can be challenging at times. You must feel like a puppet on strings, a fool.
My heart thrummed again. Emotion boiled. That’s exactly how I felt.
And it makes you mad, doesn’t it?
It truly made me delirious. It enraged me. Worst of all, the situation made me hopeless.
Everyone reacts differently under pressure. Some grow silent —like you— and others grow violent. But that’s life. You can have expectations, but it’s usually better to prepare for the worse.

I didn’t want another piece of advice. I wanted a path to follow, a light at the end of the tunnel, something to latch onto. The ember must have heard me, because it had no advice for me.

I can’t advise you on how to cope with anxiousness. But you need to put everything aside for a moment and start planning. You’ll have some leeway if you know what you are doing once you are there. Expect the worst and prepare for the impossible, so that when the challenge is difficult but possibly you have something to fall upon.
I missed the landmarks, the desolations, the winds, and the river because I was planning my steps, but it was worth it all. I had a plan going by the time we reached the 43^rd city.

My two companions were engaged in friendly banter about flowers when I put my focus back to the present.

Rise and shine, little guy. Barry was in a very good mood.
Where are we?
We are halfway there. Look ahead.


The 43^rd city was right in front of us. I could finally see the city in its entirety and it was truly an absolutely marvelous creation. And visible was the river that flowed right beside the city. From the ground, the distance had appeared safe enough, but from up there I could see that the city was built far too close to the river.

However, the flood braking system really showed its prowess here. The river was not flooding and the system was under repair, but I could imagine how it would all come to work when the river raged.

The tall and thick shields to remove the force from the flowing water, the many wells to collect the excess water, and the channels to drain it all away; it was all too wonderful. Everything was perfectly designed and looked like a gigantic dirt flower mid-bloom. It was not luck that even with regular flooding the city still stood stall.

The last time I was there, the frogs had destroyed a portion of the tower. But it had already been repaired. No croaks rang around the city.

I wondered how the termites could have designed a method so sophisticated, and why they had built the city there in the first place. There were plenty of other places for them to create a tower, but no, they had specifically chosen this place. Why? It was usually princess Tinbuji’s department to wonder. However, since she was not around I picked up that mantle.

However, the most important question of all was not about what the termites had achieved in the past, but what were they up to in the present.
Although the elder termite had promised Star having no plans of coming back, since they were prospering atop the tree, I could not help doubt her claim.

Ask any worker to choose between a life of digging and freedom, and they would instantly choose the latter. I was once a worker, and I knew how difficult the former option was. The outside called to me every day, and I was only able to hold on because of the breaks I took whenever I went outside to dump trash in the pit.

How could the termites give up on the land they were so close to obtaining, and decide to stay trapped atop the tree, with only the desert around them and no place to go? It didn’t make sense.
I discussed it with both Barry and the adviser and we reached the same decision: to listen, but not believe their words as the truth.

I’ll ask the same question to my queen. The adviser let me know. She will know what to make of it.

The patrolling sentries and the workers almost had a heart attack when they sensed and saw Barry, an absolute beast of a creature, landing so close to the city tower.
We dropped the adviser in front of the entrance and then took flight again. The adviser wanted us to meet the queen, but I had delayed the destination enough.

Hundreds of soldiers rushed out of the tower pointing their mandibles at her. Thankfully, they recognized her scent and understood that one of their own had returned before anything bad could happen.

I was sure they’d have a lot to ask her but hoped they wouldn’t delay her from meeting the queen. The information she carried was important and their future depended on how quickly they responded to the situation.
The sky was still blue and the air, warm and stinging, instead of the evenings refreshing. We had plenty of time before night covered everything in darkness and washed the world in cold. We hadn’t taken even an hour to reach the 43^rd when the journey would have taken me days on foot.

This was it. The truth was only a few minutes away. We flew high enough that I would have been able to see the city, were my sight not limited by my level.
But I recognized everything from there on ahead.

The mound, the swamp, and the sand dunes, nothing had changed, but everything looked so different from the top.
My heart beat faster the closer we drew to the city. Barry understood me. It wasn’t long ago when he was in a similar situation and had asked for my help to take him to the hive. He was also bringing the news of a moth invasion tot eh hive. I finally understood how he must have felt that night.

Scared? He asked and I wholeheartedly agreed. It’ll be alright. Relax. You’ll know the truth in a matter of minutes. There is no need to get anxious right now.
He meant well, but it didn’t help. If anything, my worry grew into fear as we crossed the mound where I had seen my first beetle and the swamp where the earthworm had hidden from our expedition.

I feared for the state of the city, for the queen, the residents, but the most I worried was for my dear princess. She wasn’t one to hide in the presence of danger. I hoped she was alright. I hoped they all were alright, but my hopes were crushed when we entered the territory adjacent to the city.

It was horrifyingly silent. Nothing lived there. It was empty. Only wind careened through the shrubs and the herbs, the grass, and the ferns. All the intruders were gone. The grass which used to be full of hoppers and other crawlers danced freely in the wind.
The quiet was not a good sign and the scent that lingered there made my heart grow cold.
Barry sped up. He was exhausted but knew the state of my heart better than me.

It wasn’t long before I saw the advanced posts and the city behind the small conical towers.

The tower in the center had been destroyed by a giant white mushroom. It had pushed through the western wing, demolishing half of it. The rubble from the destruction was still lying at the foot of the tower.
A black mass hovered above the curved mushroom head, while a battle played out on the flat field below. A horde of infected residents fought a battalion of soldiers, but they were holding them back.
I didn’t want to admit it but, the truth was in front of my eyes. Everything was over. The residents were infected. The city destroyed. And Princess...

Take me to the tower!
Barry didn’t hesitate and made a beeline toward the tower.
I wanted to see it for myself. I needed to see her for myself. And if she was also infected… if she was no longer the Princess that had saved me when everyone was against me, the Princess I loved, then I would free her, even if I had to die as a result. I’d accept death to free her from a lifetime of rage and anger.

 

We’ll need a distraction. Captain of the explorers put it to everyone’s attention.

The Giant stood up, stumbling. Is it time, already?

He was delirious. The blood loss was taking its toll on him. The nurse supported him up, but he kept shaking like a yellow leaf.
Captain— He shook his head, but that didn’t seem to clear his head because he was still a bit woozy on his feet. What are your orders?
The Giant took a stumbling step forward only for the nurse to stand in his way and cling to his legs. Commander, please, She requested. Let me try once again. With time I can, maybe—

It’s enough, number eleven. We have talked about this. And he agrees. Don’t you?

I do. The giant shoved the nurse aside and started walking toward the exit. It’s my life, he blasted the scent. Therefore it’s my choice. I won’t die shivering in a cold burrow, lost to sleep. No. That’s not the way I’ll go. Give me my order, captain. Let me loose.


It finally dawned upon me. The nurse was trying to stop him because he wanted to die. No. he was already dying. His wounds would have healed with time, but his slit abdomen was fatal with no chance of recovery. It reminded me of the soldier that had refused help because she didn’t want to be a burden on the colony. This wasn’t it. The giant —he wanted to die on his own terms. There was a difference. One I would understand, but much later in life. For now, it only felt like a deceitful lie to me, another manipulation by the captain. And it saddened me that he didn’t spare his own either.

You have to enter the city at all costs. The captain ordered him. Try to reach the third floor at least. And rampage; call as many of the infected to you as possible.

My hair stood up from fright the longer he talked; and he wasn’t done by any measure.

The captain continued. Most of them should be stationed on the upper floors, but you never know. And he heartlessly sent his own companion to a brutal death.

The giant kept nodding all the way to the exit, dragging his feet. The long-legged stood at the exit, but she didn’t block his path. They didn’t say anything to each other. He swayed a few steps at the exit and slowly climbed away, leaving with a quiet farewell. The captain sent the two soldiers in the chamber after the Giant, ordering them to help him in every way possible, and make sure the distraction works.

Then he called forward the old warrior who had shown me the way.
Are you a captain?
Yes, Commander! She gave a scented salute and lowered her antennae with respect.
What do you think about sneaking into the city and rescuing the Queen?
It’ll be a great honor, sir.
Then meet us at the front lines and bring twenty soldiers with you. GO.

She waved her antennae at me before leaving.

The wind was starting to lose its warmth by the time I came out of the burrow. The day was coming to an end. The battle would have ended for the day normally, but the infected could survive the cold. The termites had given many accounts of the infected attacking them during the night. It was safe to assume the same would occur there.

I had already informed the acting commander and she was busy taking precautionary measures.

Barry still flew amidst the infected. As it turns out, Bella was not the only one who enjoyed a bit of carnage. He wouldn’t have impressed her otherwise. A wasp-like her needed excitement in her life.

I didn’t worry about him. He was flying circles around the winged infected. They were a few years too early to be fighting with him. A flying throng of infected soldiers would have been a much-balanced opponent for him. The infected workers barely had a harder shell and some improved strength; they were like nymphs compared to the tentacle monstrosities that most infected soldiers transferred into.

I followed the explorers to the front line. The nurse boiled for action, while the other two were motivated at least. That’s all I could figure out from watching them. I might have curbed the floor with them, but they were professionals at this. There were stories of harvesters, of diggers and the royals, but of the explorers, there were only myths. They were a mysterious bunch, allowed to come and leave at any time. Their only job was to keep finding new places to harvest food. It didn’t matter how dangerous a place it was or how far. And I was going to be a part of them. It should have been an exciting experience. Sadly, it wasn’t.

As for the battlefield, the Giant was really causing quite a lot of mayhem. He was really pushing through the infected even though he was basically half dead. His presence had also revitalized the soldiers and motivated them to keep fighting. He could have accomplished so much more if he wasn’t dying.

Unfortunately, the place we were fighting for, the city was in ruins. There were mushrooms growing on the surface. The tower had been turned into rubble.

The white behemoth that had taken its place was truly a marvel to behold, even though it was just a mushroom. We had found the ant at the foot of that thing. Needless to say, the infection had everything to do with its sudden explosive growth, and I had a premonition it was not a good idea to be around it for long.

Commander, The old warrior joined us just as we were separating from the army. She noticed me and gave a scented salute. Duty called so she didn’t wait for my reaction, but I was too bamboozled by the respectful gesture to act anyway. The soldiers she had brought followed her example, giving me my virgin experience with respect.

As for our destination, we comfortably reached the area where the air shafts had been dug. The three obviously knew how to move around unnoticed, and the twenty soldiers they had chosen weren’t any bad. I had no difficulty sneaking behind them

There were times when the infected noticed us, but we took care of them before they could call the others. There was enough grass cover to hide our tracks. The soldiers went down first. We followed after they sent the clear signal.

The shaft was narrow. The soldiers must have had a difficult time getting down, as did the explorers, but It was not a problem for me. I was small, I was nimble, and I was a worker. I was made for getting through narrow spaces.

At the bottom of shafts, the chamber laid, still half dug and far from finishing. We climbed down the walls as the shafts were dug onto the roof and the captain took lead. My heart raced. I was nervous before, but my heart thrummed with an echo as soon as I set foot on the floor. The dried-up connection between me and Princess stirred once again, but it was weak and I knew something was wrong.

Memories arose in my mind only to be pushed back. I could be sentimental or I could concentrate on my mission. The princess was out there somewhere. I needed to find her, not look for her in my memories.

The soldiers surrounded up in a shield formation and we left the chamber behind, entering the tunnel that led straight to the city. We slowed at the junction and I felt movement up ahead. I went to inform the others, but the captain had already noticed the same. He tapped the old warrior’s abdomen and she instructed the others to stop; all done without releasing a single trace of pheromone. The infected were perversely attracted toward scents. A single trace of scent and we could have had a horde of them rushing at us and trapping us inside.

The tunnel was empty, but there was an infected at the junction connecting the tunnel to the city. It was alone, but the numbers didn’t matter when we were in the middle of the enemy lair. A single alarm would have had us scrambling for cover or running for our lives. There was no margin for error.

Captain instructed the old warrior to wait for his signal. The order was passed from soldier to soldier. There was no need to guess what he was waiting for. And in under a minute there was a commotion. The Giant must have entered the city because suddenly an angry vibration took overall movement. The infected ahead of us screamed and rushed away, leaving us free to enter the city.

I stood up, nervousness making me move, but the long-legged one pulled me back. A few more infected rushed up in the meantime, coming from the depths. They were soldiers. Most might have left for the war, but some had stayed behind to protect the city. Soldiers were needed to keep the city working normally so the queen could lay a new crop of eggs.

There were bound to be hundreds and thousands of eggs and nymphs sealed inside the Queen's chamber. There was still hope for the city if the Queen was alive and the eggs were safe and protected. We might have needed to create a new city from scratch though, but that wouldn’t have been a problem.

Finally, we started moving again. The city had never been so empty: even during the rain when everyone had hidden inside warm shelters, or after the soldiers had gone to war, there were plenty of workers and nurses moving in the tunnels going about their work.

However, it was different. The tunnels turned hauntingly quiet after all the infected left; it caused our steps to echo. And since the only trails left were those old and deteriorated, our mission felt more like an expedition into an abandoned city rather than a rescue mission into the heart of our own. It was as if I had been transported back to the tunnel under the rocky mountain which had started it all.

We were awkwardly slow in our climb to the 25^th floor. There wasn’t anyone around, but our city structure was a very good conductor of vibrations. Although we couldn’t quite feel the surface, since we were far underground, a group of vibrations moving together was the same as leaving a trail behind us for anyone listening.

Hence, we moved irregularly to camouflage our movement with that of the natural vibration of the city and walked one at a time.

This was all knowledge that the explorers shared. I knew none of it. Their experience showed, and it brought us to the 25^th floor without a single hiccup. However, the floor was suspiciously empty. Sure there was a giant rampaging inside the city, but why would the infected leave the most important place of the city unguarded?

Where are they? The nurse asked.
Doesn’t matter. The captain answered.
It’s a trap. The long-legged one scented.
The soldiers grew uneasy. They tightened their protection. Closed the gaps and came closer.
It’s the infected, the captain scented to ease the pressure. Who knows what they are thinking or whether they can even think?

Half-eaten limbs lay outside the chamber. I even noticed the thick coin head of a door guard. That sent a shiver down my spine, but the only entrance to the queen chamber was still blocked. The coin head of a guard was perfectly wedged inside the opening. I wondered where the other one had come from.

The head of a coin guard was not something that could be shaved away by the mandibles of an ant. Poison would only kill the guard, sealing the entrance until she was removed by force. Moreover, since the infected could not use acid, I would have found it more surprising if they had somehow gotten through.

All that left was for us to instruct the coin guard to clear the entrance. Usually, only the royal guards situated right outside know the combination of scents to open the door, but the explorers were the only exception to this. It was the reason why the captain of the explorers and the acting commander had to risk his life by sneaking into the enemy lair.

I had my senses opened and expanded since we had landed, but they had not caught anything. It truly seemed like the infected had abandoned the floor since they couldn’t get inside the queen's chamber. But the long-legged one was sure it was a trap.

The infected could have found a method to escape detection and be waiting around for the entrance to clear, so they could finally have a taste of the eggs and the nymphs stored inside, but I doubted it.
The soldiers encircled the door and the captain approached it with caution. The soldiers were basically forfeiting their lives by standing guard outside since they would be the first to engage whatever came for the entrances.
The door guard accepted the captain’s scent and cleared the entrance. I looked around, but there was still no movement. They entered, but my heart lurched when I was about to follow them.
Princess wasn’t inside.

For a second I felt her again. I had her again for a second. She was confused, tired, scared, and she was in pain. So much pain it numbed my head. I called out to her and she noticed me, but then our connection cut off again and she was lost to me. I was left drained, but I knew where she was.

She was down, deep into the depths of the colony. There was only one place she could have run to if she had escaped the queen’s chamber. She was definitely on the 41^st floor! I didn’t have to search for the answer; it appeared to me on its own.

The long-legged one called me from the door.
Aren’t youse coming?
I—
Then suddenly my surroundings turned cold. My head turned away, outside the shield of protection that the soldiers had created. I believed to find monsters rushing at us, but there was nothing there. The soldiers, however, looked back, toward me, behind me, inside the chamber, and they had their antennae erect in fear, mandible open from sheer fright. The shiver that went down my spine was the coldest I had ever sensed.

A scent of morbid desperation spread out from behind me. I turned in time to see the nurse running toward the door.
She was scared and out of her wits ends. Fear had her in its clutches. Her antennae frantic, she dashed, but something smacked her to the ground. The impact was so hard, it was heard by everyone and the nurse, the top of her head had been blasted open. She fell lifelessly to the ground. I watched as a tentacle, purple and pulsating, thick as her head and nimble as my antennae, wrapped around her torso and slowly pulled her away and out of sight.

The quiet lasted for a mere minute before infected starting pouring into the 25^th floor from all over the place. They were coming from the ground, from the ceiling, from the walls! The soldiers got on their haunches to fix their balance and became ready to encounter the infected. They knew it was going to be a massacre. They knew they were about to die. However, none of the twenty soldiers, including the old warrior, backed away from the fight.
I wanted to run away, but I didn’t.

The soldiers had followed us without question. The captain might have sent one of his own to death, but I couldn’t do the same.
Down, everyone, down! I scented with the authority of a leader. I had the skill, and it had its sway. The soldiers were confused as they fell to the ground. They followed my order or the system made them follow, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that they followed and that I needed to deliver a miracle.

I collected more scents and burst away an overwhelming wave of pheromones at the infected. There were far too many of them, but my capacity had also increased since the first time I had used the skill.
I could almost sense the crescent wave of pheromones that spread with me at the center. It was blindingly fast and the infected dropped from its mere touch as it passed through their swarm, overwhelming them at a moment’s notice.

Soon there was quiet again. The soldiers, a few of them had been hit, but it was not lethal.
RUN! I scented. The soldiers didn’t move. They too were overwhelmed but by the sight of a worker taking care of the infected, not by the skill.
THEY ARE NOT DEAD! GET UP AND RUN!

If that didn’t do the trick, then the next wave of infected that was rushing into the floor did the work. The soldiers were up and running, right after me. I did one more thing. I picked up the coin head that lay on the ground. It wasn’t heavy by any measure, for me, but I had to stab my mandible into its backside, into the soft tissue where its skull was attached once. That was the only way. I had only a single mandible, and it was only good as a blade. The soldiers looked at me confused as they picked up the few that had been hit by overwhelm. There was no time to explain. We pushed down the tunnel and onto the twenty-sixth floor.
However, there was movement below us and up was already a dead end.

The soldiers made it for the air ducts in the secondary queen’s chamber, while I separated from them.
Where are you going? The old warrior scented in panic as she chased me. That was a mistake. However, she wasn’t alone. Three soldiers followed her, asking her the same question she had asked me.

I am a royal guard, warrior. I have to save my Princess. It wasn’t a good enough reason for her. But I had nothing else, and it was too late by then, anyway.

You will die if you go down. She informed me. I thanked her for the information and entered the elevator shaft connecting the twenty-sixth floor to the thirty-first. I thought I lost her there, but she appeared only a heartbeat later, carrying the three soldiers in tow. My heart grew warm. She had come to help me.

Nope.

RUN! THE INFECTED ARE COMING! She warned as she ran past me. The three soldiers weren’t slow either. It almost made me laugh, but I held it back.
The infected poured into the shaft behind us like a tide of water. The tunnel shook vigorously as they pushed after us, screaming hunger of the level that I had never felt before. The three soldiers swayed, but she slapped them back to normal.

I charged forward, slowed beside the old warrior to ask to tell her I was taking lead and then pled ahead.

I presented myself to danger by taking the lead, but the most resistance we met on the way down was a group of seven, with one that had tentacles growing out of its body. The danger they presented wasn’t by their strength, but by the delay they caused us.

I had to take care of the tentacle monster while the other four handled the rest. The last time I had tussled with a tentacle atrocity, I had won by sneaking up to it and dealing it a fatal blow. This time I fought it head-on, but I had also leveled up in the meantime while it wasn’t mature by any means. Its tentacles though whirled at me like a storm, barely nicked my armor. It was not my match, which was a good thing.

It took me five points of endurance to kill it. I was surprised to see one of the soldiers using the coin head to defend against the infected and push it back. The coin head was still doing its job even though its owner was dead. But the coin head also occupied her mandibles, making it impossible for her to kill any. Well, she had help. So did the infected, but the difference between the two was apparent. The infected fought alone, though they did come to help another when it called, while the soldiers moved as the old warrior willed them, truly using her experience to battle multiple opponents and it showed.

I went to help them when I was done with the tentacle monster and then we rushed away again. The three took care of the rest. It helped that I leveled up again. It was due. However, the gap that we had created between the horde and us had shrunk again.
We hurried. Another overwhelming burst of pheromones helped keep the swarm at bay, but with that, I had run out of pheromones. I barely had enough to converse with the others.

They were scared, they were hurting, but most of all they were angry with me. And they were rightfully entitled to their anger because they would have been outside already and enjoying a sip of cold evening wind if it wasn’t for me. However, they knew it was their decision to follow the old warrior and therefore kept their grievances in check.

It would have been impossible to go past the thirty-first floor if soldiers still occupied the chambers, but the soldiers were at war, save for a few that were left behind to protect the city. I had no difficulty getting through them. It’s just that my endurance fell faster than I would fall from a tree, but it was alright. My rude companions, they liked me more and more as I kept killing the infected without needing their help.

We met a claw full of infected on the way; some we pushed past, others we killed. I was another level up by the time we reached the 40^th floor and that’s where our progression came to a halt.
When we entered the chamber was empty, but there was a wooden scent all over the place. The fungus that once grew only on the 41^st floor had taken over the 40^th floor, too. I was surprised and walked ahead of the others in a daze. It was a mistake.

I realized too late, but we were not alone in the chamber.

It was an ambush. They jumped at us from the ceiling. There were seven of them, infected, nimble, and full of killing intent. None jumped at me. One of the soldiers was very unlucky as four went straight for her. Even though I charged, I couldn’t save her. But I had her killer pay the price in full.

The old warrior scented remorse and killed the one that had jumped at her, while the one with the coin head once again deflected her opponents, this time efficiently keeping two of them occupied. The last soldier took a blow to his head and lay flat. He lost consciousness.

There was no time to wonder, as another group of twelve infected dug out from the walls and encircled us.

Surprising as it was, the two infected that had survived an encounter with us pulled back at this point and joined the encirclement. The horde was going to be there any minute. However, these infected were different. They were, how should I put this, they were changed surely, but in control of themselves.

They weren’t like the others infected that were blinded by hunger and anger. And they surprisingly felt familiar, like I had seen them before, and knew them personally. It was odd. While I tried to fondle old memories to see if I remembered any of them, they looked at my group as a predator looks at its prey. I had Goosebumps. And I wasn’t the only one feeling them. The old warrior shared the sentiment. The solider with the shield was shivering. She had dragged the unconscious soldier to our side, which was significantly resourceful of her.

Maybe I shouldn’t have followed you after all. The old warrior scented, making small talk. She was nervous but ready to handle anything that happened next. The others might already be in the warmth of the advanced towers and sipping on honeydew for all we know.

I was surprised by her emotional revelation. Do we still have honeydew?

Well, the army took most of it, so yeah, when the soldiers returned they brought some of it back.

I would really like a taste of it. I had to admit this small talk really got my appetite going again.

What I want is Honeydew wine. The soldier holding the coin head also chimed in. The normal thing is too sweet for my taste.
I have never had any. I told her and she reacted in every possible way other than jumping at me.

Say, how long are they going to keep watching us? She asked a second later. Shall we act if they aren’t feeling like it? This coin head might look light, but it’s really heavy. I would like to put it down if it’s alright with you.
NO. I told the soldiers. We need it.

Haven’t you had enough already?

Who was that? The soldier asked. I remembered that scent with my body. The slashes left by her antennae started throbbing as she appeared from the other side of the chamber.

Her antennae swayed in the air above her head as she approached us. The aged warrior walked slowly, deliberately dragging her steps. She looked much better, stronger, and healthier.
YOU! My anger poured out. I charged past the encirclement of infected and directly at her. But something strangely familiar occurred. Antennae, other than the pair that peacefully whirled above her head, slapped me out of charge and volleyed me back into the encirclement. It was her doing. None other could move their antennae like that.

Never thought I would see you again, boy. Well, welcome back.
She was one of them. She was also one of the infected.

 

The aged warrior watched me get on my feet, with her eyes. So not only had she become a real monster, but she could also see, now? Great! And her mandibles were back. A dangerous-looking pair with a blade so sharp it would gleam in the daylight; I had no doubt about that.

Are you alright? The old warrior asked me. She was itching to help, but her attention was already divided in twelve ways. She didn’t want to take the risk.
I’m fine, thanks. Though, I admit, my chest burned where the antennae had struck me. It was not a light injury. I should have expected nothing less from the master of antennae art.
That’s great news. The aged warrior chimed in. I almost thought I squished you like an ant.
Don’t get ahead of yourself. You are also an ant.
Oh, you have found your voice, I see. But you better control it or I’ll be forced to straighten your self-esteem with some whipping.

She had gotten scarier, alright. The shiver that shook my body can be a testament to that. It was no wonder I grew silent. And she liked being the dominant one very much. That hadn’t changed at all.

Now, you have two choices. She clapped her antennae, well, the pair at her head and the soldier, her protégée, the one I had almost killed, and whom I considered a friend, climbed into the chamber behind her. He dragged a large cube of strongly fragrant mushroom. Its sweet scent quickly overtook the wooden scent of the fungus in the chamber.

It had the same appearance as before: White, soft, and jiggling. However, its sweet fragrance was inviting, mesmerizing. Much like the ant lions pit, it called me, but I knew the horror that waited on the other side of that invitation. I heard my companions hunger after it. I didn’t have any water on me to free their minds. Well, a few slaps to the back of their heads produced the same result.

Looks like your companions already know what to do. The aged warrior scented. Accept the call, eat the fruit of Gluttony, and become one of us. Refuse, retaliate, interfere with the other's decision, and I’ll force-feed it to you. You can choose to become like him, She slapped her protégée on the back. His lost antennae had grown back and he appeared happy. However, his uncharacteristic silence spilled all there was I needed to know to make my decision.

Or you can become like them. She pointed behind us. Shading hell! The horde had caught up to us, but they refused to enter the chamber and continued watching from the other side. Even the mindless knew to be silent in front of her.

Was it you? I genuinely wanted to know. I deserved to have my questions answered. Did you kill the ant and put its corpse in the mushroom farm? Did you spread the infection?
Yes, Yes, and yes. Now decide.
The old warrior poked my side. Can I ask what’s happening here? And why she wants to feed us instead of killing us?
Did the termites not tell them anything? And I realized I had forgotten to ask the explorers who had warned them. Well, first thing first. That’s the infection carrier. I answered. You eat that and you become one of them, an infected.
Whoa. That’s a lot to take in. I had only turned away from her when she poked me again.
I know it’s not the perfect time, but did you go to the 47^th city to figure this out?
Yes.
That’s—
The thundering sound of a whip slashing the air put the stop to her questions. They were a big help, however. I was no longer shaking. I was nervous, but I had a plan. Nothing bad had happened yet. We could still survive this.

Just tell me why you did it and I’ll tell you my decision. I can’t say I would hate you if it was for revenge.

It was for revenge.

The soldier almost leaked something. It was difficult to ignore him, but I did and shook my head.

Then you went too far. I scented. You should have tried to change the rules, to end slavery and equalize the status of workers and soldiers, but you chose the wrong path.

She didn’t sound so enthusiastic about my suggestions. I wanted revenge kid, not to become a diplomat. And my plans had nothing to do with the slaves and their treatment. She lost me there and it was noticed. Weren’t you curious about how I lost my mandibles?

I felt embarrassed. Did you know?

You had no control over your antennae, which… haven’t acted up once since you have stepped foot in here. Your olfactory control improved? In what three days?
Four days. I corrected her. Just why couldn’t anyone get the days right? It was absurd.
And don’t forget about the story. You already have us encircled and there is a horde of infected behind us. We are not going anywhere.

She released amusement. I saw fondness in her eyes, but she quickly covered it up with irritation. You are right about the last part. Alright, under whose command did we defeat the termites and sent them running? The old warrior tried to answer, but she was interrupted. It wasn’t a question; the aged warrior was merely being dramatic. It was mine. We defeated them under my leadership.

You commanded the city forces? I did the same mistake as the old warrior, and it got me scolded. I apologized for butting in and she continued the story.

However, that’s where our ideas differed. The queen wanted to eradicate the termites and I was against the decision. You have been to 43^rd city, haven’t you?
I nodded.
And what do you think of their flooding mechanism?
It is beautiful.
But the queen didn’t understand. I wanted to slave the termites, to make them create such marvels for us. Think about how different our lives would have been if I was allowed to have my way with them.
The three of us were stupefied.

The aged warrior reacted to our reaction. I wasn’t a saint either, but they were devils in ant skin. I was removed from my post when I refused to act and my general, the boy I had taught, took my seat. I knew he had queen’s ears, but I didn’t think she would agree to his idea. Taking him under my wing was a mistake I made.

She vexed by slamming her antennae at the ground. Good thing we were far away from her. When the dust settled she stood in her place with the antennae back in their original position, pointing straight above.

I’ll be cleaning my antenna with the wax of his eyes when the time comes. Looking back at us she continued. They did everything right to take control of the army from me, but they didn’t kill me, and that was a mistake. By the time they caught me, I had already sent my most loyal soldiers to help the termites escape. That’s the story.

And they followed your order? The old warrior asked.

Haven’t you also followed an order to your death?
She was going to refute her claim, but I stopped her.
Did Princess know about your plan? I asked in her stead.
No. She is too full of righteousness, too pure. But she did know the story.
No wonder she didn’t like the commander.

We both grew nostalgic. I shouldn’t have mentioned her.

She’s a lovely child, strong but also unfortunate. I nodded. She will make a lovely queen.

Teacher… I called and her antennae turned stiff as if experiencing fright. Where is Princess? I asked, but she didn’t move, gave no answer. What did you do to her?
A whole minute passed before she finally stirred and answered.
I gave her wings.
Get down. I politely scented.
Get down? She repeated behind me amused.

But my words were not for her. The duo standing to my left knew what I meant. They had seen the horde of infected losing themselves the last time I had scented the words.

As my antennae fizzled with activity, they crouched on the ground, dropped their antennae, and hid their heads. I took a step forward, pushed it deep into the ground collecting all of my pheromones, every single molecule, and blasted it in an overwhelming ring.

The infected couldn’t counter and dropped to the floor like dry leaves falling from a tree at the touch of a passing breeze. The aged warrior also dropped her head, though she stayed standing. The old warrior picked up the unconscious soldier and we ran toward the other side of the chamber, to the entrance that led into the 41^st floor.

The soldier holding the round and thick coin head saw the size of the entrance and finally understood why I didn’t allow him to drop it. He almost fell from the excitement but held himself.

I didn’t even sense what happened next, but I was rolling on the floor before I knew it. The pain that pierced through my chest was bad. The world spun, and my sight rolled in and out, fading and appearing and fading again. I didn’t have the time to worry about the other two. They had been hit, too, and sent flying far away from me. My weight had kept me from joining them on the flight. I couldn’t figure out whether it was a good or a bad thing; my thoughts were all jumbled up.

I heard the warning snap of a hundred whips behind me when I stopped rolling. Overwhelm had failed to stop her. The realization was a horrifying one. The skill had never failed until then. It was a bigger blow than the one that had caught me unguarded.

Who taught you to do that? Her exoskeleton grew Red as she burned with anger. Something throbbed under her skin. Maybe it did work but in the opposite way. The first time I had used the skill, it had produced just about the same result. She looked like madness —really scary.

I had Bella teach me Sneak; however, that wasn’t the point. My companions, I looked to my left and found them down with pain. The old warrior was fidgeting, having convulsions. The attack had blasted away two of her left legs; while the other one had his back caved in. He would survive, they both would.

Yes.

You lying unfilial child!

Her anger flared. She grew a bit taller, harder, and stronger.
Her mandibles grow more menacing and antennae grew even longer. She released a loud blast of pheromones, repeating the skill I was so proud of, but with greater range and precision.

The blast hit me squarely. I swayed. I dug my claws into the ground as the pheromones reaped havoc to my senses and mind. Thankfully, I had plenty of resistance and my mind held. It was a hassle to stand up, but I did. I fought with the flaring chest pain and got some feet under me, only to see her swinging every single one of her thick antennae at me, with enough force to tear the air and make it cry out in pain.

I would not have survived a hit. I charged at her to get as close as possible while the antennae were still mid-swing. I had stab covering the edge of my mandible and I pierced. She raised her head and let out another blast of pheromone. This time I swayed back. The antennae stuck my back hard; again and again, they struck me. I survived because I was far too close to her and she couldn’t swing them properly.

My exoskeleton was hard enough that it didn’t break, but it indeed cracked. I bled, but also stayed on my feet. It’s nothing I told myself. Reckless courage activated at this point. The system deemed my opponent impossible for me, someone, on the level of a bird or a hisser. It was a laughable matter in its own right. Would have done it too if I had time to breathe.

Join us. You will keep your sanity if you accept the change. You can’t stop it. Not now. The aged warrior was still at it, but I didn’t think she meant it anymore. For either, she acknowledged my strength and wanted to subdue me before forcing me to change, or as I thought, the infection was taking over her mind.

Her whips were too quick for my eyes, but I inspected their path and motion. The next time she attacked I stopped one with the flick of my antennae.
A crackling snap ensued from the point where our antennae met.

I stumbled to the side from the force of the impact, while light returned to her eyes.

--You blocked that? But it won’t be enough.
Then she looked away from me for a second.
The others had found consciousness and were getting up, on both sides. The infected were quicker because they didn’t care about mental nuisance and body balance. It didn’t come as a surprise when most of them fell to the floor on their second step. Whatever the case, it allowed my companions to get a hold of the situation.

The monster that was the aged warrior charged toward them. I went right after her. I slashed one of her legs, causing her to stumble.
The old warrior shook off her daze in the meantime and raised her head. She must have been scared to death to sense a true monster and more of them charging toward her.
But she kept her cool. Her battle-hardened mind knew how to react under pressure. She slapped the soldiers awake. Both stood up. The one who had been carrying the coin head was a bit woozy, but she didn’t let him fall asleep again. It was a matter of their life and death.

The infected were starting to come around too, but the bigger problem was that the aged warrior was targeting them. Maybe she was simply trying to get into the chamber so she could threaten me with the princess? I couldn’t let her do any of those.

The leg I had cut recovered when she stabbed an antenna into one of the infected passing by. The infected grew weaker whereas she recovered. That was… unexpectedly horrifying, both to witness and believe. Her strides grew longer after feeding, but I was still faster than her. I didn’t lose hope. She could heal so I needed to keep hurting her. The answer was as easy as that.

I charged under her, letting the skill take me into a grounded flight. I pierced her underbelly as charge carried me forward. There was a rip and I had opened a large slit on her underbelly. The cut wasn’t smooth and nether was the experience, but that finally stopped her, for a while.

The aged warrior cursed me in ways I didn’t know existed, as her rotten insides fell out of her abdomen. A sizzling liquid boiled out of the wound, drenching me and the floor below. It burned, worse than the acid of a termite, even an infected one. There was no shelving the pain off to my skills. It hurt like having my antennae ripped off my head. I could only live through the pain since I didn’t have any water on me.
But that wasn’t enough to kill either of us. I remembered I didn’t need water and cleaned myself. A natural coldness washed me as the skill removed all traces of acid off my body.

Horrifying was the sight of her insides that squired on the ground, as if alive.
I rolled away from her as her mandible snapped close above my head. She wasn’t anywhere near me, but the sound was horrible indeed. One snip was all it would have taken. I backed away as her antennae collected four infected slaves that were rushing past her and pulled them into her body. She didn’t eat them like a normal infected but pulled them into her body. The antennae retracted like worms burring back into the ground and they took the infected with them, assimilating them into her body.

I couldn’t have stopped her even if I wanted. So I did the next best thing. I scented the old warrior to run and took care of an infected that was trying to reach past me.

Meanwhile, a shudder passed through the aged warrior’s body. The insides that had only been squiggling outside climbed back inside the abdomen and the wound mended. I happened exactly that way. Then she started changing. Her body grew bulkier, uglier. A mass of flesh grew to cover her exoskeleton, and jet black plates like that on Barry’s body grew above them. Her legs exploded one by one, and creations of solid white chitin took their place. Flesh grew to cover them and then finally plate armor.

Her mandibles pushed out of her face as she let out an undulating scream from her throat. I bolted at that point.
Run! I advised the old warrior and the soldier. They were thinking of helping me. I doubted they would be of any help. RUN to the 41^st and get ready to block the—
I ran out of pheromones, but they understood. There were not far from the entrance. The old warrior gave me a scent of understanding.
The coin head and the tunnel opening were of exactly the same size, a perfect fit. And why wouldn’t they be? Everyone knew the 41^st used to be the queen's own abode: it was warm, large, and protected by the crystals from the top and rocks from below.
I had no idea why she moved out of it, but something must have happened for the most important place in the whole city to be turned into a slum.

The old warrior carried the coin head as one soldier helped the other walk.

I kept the infected at bay as they made way to the entrance. Still, no matter how I tried, three infected managed to slip past me. The old warrior saved the other two by blocking the rush with the coin head. However, these infected were not like others. They could coordinate with each other.

They caught the soldier that had been unconscious until just a minute ago and tore him to shreds. The infected slave instantly turned toward the other one instead of eating the food they had procured. So they could not only coordinate but even have a different sense of priorities? No wonder the aged warrior gave us a choice. The thought gave me jitters.

We were lucky that the aged warrior was still occupied with her transformation. Maybe she didn’t expect it to take so long, or she didn’t care about the delay and was confident about the end result? Whatever the case, the anxiousness was making my head race, and it was only producing bad thoughts. Because there was no way someone who had single-handedly —doubtful, but there was no other clue—planned the downfall of the mightiest colony of ants, would make a silly mistake of looking down on her opponent.

So when her transformation gave me time to meet with the others and get to the other side of the tunnel, my heart couldn’t help but grow nervous. There shouldn’t have been anyone else besides her to pose a problem for us. The connection was vague, but it had pointed directly here the last time it had flared.

Our eyes met, for real this time. She waved her antennae at me raising goosebumps all over my body.

Close it! I scented as rushed into the entrance and rolled on the cold floor with an infected in tow. It squirmed under me as the old warrior and the soldier together pushed the door into the entrance and took position behind it.
The infected bit into my chest, but it only caused me discomfort, no pain. Its mandible couldn’t cut through my armor, but mine did.
I leveled up the moment I killed it. Level 9, but it didn’t matter.

There was a second of silence then she knocked on the door once from the other side, and then after a pause, she repeated again.
The sound from the impact traveled all the way down the straight tunnel, echoing like the pain and remorse of the dying that once echoed in the tunnel. And the echoes produced a sound, one that only I could hear, thanks to a method that she had personally taught me. It was a message and I didn’t find it strange at all. She had lived for far too long, and all of her methods had been one stranger than the other. All I knew was that the infected listened to her and she had enough experience to turn the war on its head. She had destroyed the termite’s empire all alone. The history would repeat once again if she wasn’t stopped.

This thing can’t hold me for long, boy. Go meet your princess, she’d down there. I give you five minutes, but after that, I’m coming in. Prepare yourself. It was the message that echoed. The banging continued, slowly getting faster and stronger. She was trying to be dramatic.

Let’s go. I told the others. They looked between me and the door, their antennae acting up in nervousness, and slowly stepped away from it. The coin head held its place.

Five minutes. I told them. That’s all we have. We need to hurry. There has to be an escape route inside.

 

A shading lizard! You didn’t find anything smaller?
Did leader complain?
He said you overdid yourself.
I don’t understand. Black’s antennae spread out in puzzlement. How is that bad, Red?
Green was the first to shine a light on the argument. That’s a compliment. She let known.
It is a compliment. 786^th soldier thought the same.

Red had a moment of confusion. What’s this? He asked Green. You of all are siding with him?

Green flared her mandibles and stretched her back. She was obliviously trying to irritate Red. If her antics didn’t do it then her answer did.
I do vividly remember someone telling me they were no longer on good terms with me.

What happened between the two? Red let out in bewilderment.
Yellow shrugged his antennae.

Well, this was hopeless, but Red was excited again. They were all together after so long. He couldn’t explain how great it felt. This group, together, would be able to do pull off anything he threw their way. They had done amazing things in the past; he just needed one more miracle out of the dynamic trio.

Green had coined the term after they had won their first battle together without their leader’s help —who else could have thought of something so tedious? She called it a trio because she didn’t think Red was Dynamic enough, and because quadruplet was not a cool word.

However, Red was also scared inside.

There were not many places to hide on the farm, and they had infiltrated deep within. The cherry on top was the attention they were under. It was good that he had refuted Silver's decision to bring the others over as soon as possible. He had no choice this time. The alarm in the air was a good distraction, and all the other groups were busy taking care of themselves. They wouldn’t have gotten a better chance than this.

Red still thought they were being too hasty, but Silver was adamant about doing it right away and this time he had no other choice than to obey.

How many of you are there? 786^th soldiers scent brought him out of the daze.

Red was overthinking again, and he had forgotten about her. He should have been more attentive, and now she had their attention. What if they scared her away? How could he blunder so badly after finally finding someone like himself?

However, he had a delayed reaction and the result was Black interested in her, in a bad way. Red personally knew how suspicious he could be. The faint white line on his chest throbbed as he remembered the past. No time to waste. He had to go rescue her before she told them she was a spy.

I’m an information broker.
I have never heard of it. Black asked Green and she was equally as baffled as him. Yellow had no idea either. All right, that wasn’t bad. Now if they could only wrap up their conversation. Well, Black wasn’t done yet. Of course, he wasn’t!

And how did you meet them?
I was S—

Well, that was enough.

She’s an insider of the farm. Red pushed between them. His heart was going to tear out of his chest. He was scared they would find out… find out that she was exchanging important information with them in return for nothing?
What was he scared for? She hadn’t done anything to warrant their ire. If anything, they would be fawning over her if they knew how much she had helped them over the last couple of days; more than him actually.
They would have already been in the tower and having an easy time getting away with the loot if the other group hadn’t played dirty. And it would have been all cause of her.

Red knew what he was afraid of, but he didn’t want to admit. He was afraid she would get dazzled by their charms and get tired of him. He wasn’t worried for her! Red was worried for himself. Because he was in—

Yellow suddenly got low on the floor, turned his antennae parallel to the ground, and started vibrating them. There was a reason why he never talked. He was always looking for enemies, intruders, spies, dangers. He couldn’t give them his attention because he had his attention on all of them, and everything around. It was the job that captain had given him and the job he was good at.
And when his antennae turned like that it only meant one thing,

East, third plant from left, one level higher, small, a worker, scared, female, she hasn’t noticed. Go.

He had found an intruder. Green, Black, Him, they all ran in three different directions to catch the spy. Red stayed because he wasn’t good at such things. What he was good at was thinking, and he was already simulating how to react if the spy, or whatever it was, managed to slip away.

What just happened? 786 asked, confused, and perplexed.
Yellow found a spy.
The others had already disappeared from their view.
East, third plant —I can’t even sense behind the first! How did he do it? Surprise covered the chemical packets of thoughts she released. She had no check over her emotions, and that’s what he liked about her. Shit. He was thinking about the wrong things. He needed to prepare for the worst case.

He ordered the soldiers to gather and made them share their farm identities. The scent was but a proof of identity, unique and almost impossible to duplicate, but still, a set of chemicals; and scents could be shared. They only needed to make sure that everyone at least kept a set concentration with them, or the scent would be too faint.

However, they would be moving in groups. Alone the soldiers might raise suspicion, but together, the scent would be strong enough to fool those with dull senses.
He didn’t have a plan. They had failed to figure out the tower structure, had failed to get close to it. They had failed at almost everything. The only thing they had not failed at was getting the farm on alert. Red had concerns, but that time was over. It was, do or die time.

The dynamic trio returned. Red was ready to send the soldiers rushing toward the tower, but much to his relief, they had caught the spy. It was none other than the shepherdess.
Back held her from the chest. There was only one way he could hold her, and her stiff limbs told how hard she was trying not to move. Red hoped she would stay calm, or scared in her case because he knew things could get very ugly, very quickly when Black was involved.

Her antennae stood up erect in hope when she noticed Red. Him she knew. The others… they didn’t even have the farm’s I.D! She feared they were also raiding the farm, along with the lizard. It wasn’t normal for two different groups to raid the farm at the same time, but there had been plenty of such cases in the past. It was a classic example of one profiting from another’s hard work.

The shepherdess believed her crew was dead when they came to get her, however, finding Red and the information broker 786^th both alive and well calmed her down a little.
Where have you been Shepherdess? Red asked and she did get an inkling that the situation wasn’t ideal.

I was captured… She answered. And I’m no longer a shepherdess. She had escaped captivity to stop them from needlessly putting their life on the line, and now she was captured again. Where did it all go wrong?
Do you know her, Red? Black asked, causing his prisoner's antennae to start moving.
Yes.
Do you want me to put her down?
Relief washed over the shepherdess, but it wasn’t for long.

…No, Red had a headache brewing.
What? She couldn’t believe it. After so much she had done for them! After everything she had… When did she do something for them? She secretly grew embarrassed and it turned her silent.

Hey, little sister, you should explain yourself if you want to get out of his hold. It was surprisingly Green who had advice for the shepherdess. Better do it quickly because the one holding you gets irritated from the smallest things. You don’t know when might go snap, snap on your body.


The shepherdess shivered. Green's playful yet strong scent was far too familiar for her comfort. It reminded her of home, of the place where she wasn’t cared for, where the soldiers harassed her.
Yes, sir. She released out of habit. She thought she had escaped that place, but she stopped for one second and the past caught up to her.
However, she told them everything, every single detail, because she wanted to live.

At the end of her story, Black softly put her back on the leafy floor and stepped away from her. The shepherdess was so exhausted she lay flat right there in front of everyone.
A moment later she raised her head and sensed the unusual sense of camaraderie from everyone.
You are not going to hurt me?
Red’s antennae shook. How would we live with ourselves if we did that, shepherdess?

My heart was thrumming, you know. Shepherdess pulled back a bit when Green came too close for comfort. They noticed her, but it was Green, there was no stopping her before she had said her piece. Yet, Black tried.
Green—
It was wasted effort as green launched herself at the poor worker.

To think they confined you in your own barrack —How heartless and stupid. You did very well escaping and coming right to us. I would have turned their little tower upside down if they had done something like that to me, but you are too small to do something like that. So don’t do it. This proves it. We are doing a good thing, everyone. Let’s rob their honeydew and put an end to their tyranny!

Oh, shading hell. Black hurriedly lifted her from the ground and took her away.
Red hoped in vain for the shepherdess to ignore Green’s banter.

Why did she say at the end? She asked, and that was the end of his hope.

Red’s head started throbbing again. Now her fate lied in his hands, and he couldn’t decide.
He could imprison her again.

Heartless as it was, it was a much better option than killing her. She might be their shepherdess, but she first and foremost belonged to the farm. There was no way he could let her go. But she had already proved that she could escape captivity. That meant someone needed to stay behind to keep an eye on her. But with what he planned—
He looked at everyone around. How could he leave one of them behind? Silver wouldn’t agree to it, and neither did his heart.
This was his job. He was the strategist, the thinking, the decider. Cruel or hard, heatless, or deceitful; it was his job to make decisions. Lives depended upon him and suddenly, the pressure was huge.
786 noticed his slumped antennae and asked after him, but what should he have told her?

Actually, he didn’t have to say or decide anything, because the shepherdess had something to say.
I can help. She scented, strongly, lively again, antennae whirling lively above her head. 786^th fidgeted, Red’s thoughts calmed down. There was nothing wrong with those words.
Red couldn’t believe the seriousness he had just tasted. Did she really mean it, or was she trying to be smart and rectify the situation?

Maybe a bit of both, he thought. Well, he was in luck because he needed her more than he knew, and she had an explanation, which was good enough for him.

Her legs shook with nervousness as she opened up. I’m no longer a shepherdess, you know. And like she, the soldier said, the farm deserved to be robbed. She finished and hid her antennae between her legs from shyness. I just have one question. Did you bring the lizard to the farm?

Red turned toward the returning duo. They were confused by the sudden attention. Green asked around for the context and jumped up from joy upon learning that the little sister she had found thought it was an amazing execution.

SEE! Green blasted the scent into them to let them all know. Didn’t I say it would work out?
Red cringed, but yellow told him it was all right.
Black raised his antennae and surprisingly rubbed her head in affection. Something really had happened between them. Red decided to find out later, but for now, they needed to get going. They finally had someone who knew the layout of the tower in and out. With this, they finally had a chance. They could do it.
***
The core region was really lively. An alarm of the highest level and greatest intensity was quickly spreading in the air.
The root ways (pathways made from adjoined roots) in front of the tower were abuzz with angry jawbreaker ants. There was a horde of them outside, protecting the tower from the lizard. It was there, scrambling in front of the tower, refusing to leave. The jawbreakers had it bloody. Some hung from its tough and coarse hide, alive, mandibles dug deep into its flesh; while others were mere heads, bodies already crushed and lost to the mayhem that it had caused.

The lizard had tried to eat those black giant ants but had given up after the third swipe of its tongue. It had painfully learned what a mindless, single-minded opponent could do when it didn’t care for its life.
The tower surroundings were a mess. The alarm rose unabated, trails crisscrossed the whole area, and signals for help and attack mixed together turning indistinguishable. Soldiers ran around blind from the eyes and scent.
And in-between this mess, shepherdesses were bringing in aphids from the farm for safekeeping at the tower.

The aphids were notoriously known for wandering off when not stuck to a plant. The shepherdesses had to work hard to keep their hordes together, but there was one among them that was stupidly clumsy and immature to handle her horde of aphids. They had her running all over the tower.

She reached the height of stupidity when she finally managed to get them together, but took them into the tower instead of bringing them to the aphid pen. It would have been an amusing situation if the tower wasn’t under raid, but that didn’t mean anyone went to help her. Everyone was tied with their own situation, and the farm was not a charitable institute.

No one knew, but the shepherdess they called clumsy had sneaked almost two hundred soldiers into the tower, and they were none too wise enough to notice. Green was the first to remove the cover of aphids that she and everyone else donned to hide; just like a corpse piler. They used living aphids because the shepherdess had to have something to show for the commotion when the others finally came to help her and used honeydew to keep the aphids fixed on their backs.

786^th never would have believed getting into the tower would be so easy. If she told others… No! What if she used her knowledge to rob some honeydew every once in a while? She wouldn’t have to worry about getting food for the rest of her life! This was an exceptional windfall. She could even have workers massaging her limbs all day, every day, for the rest of her life. She could live like a queen!

Her only clam was not being the one to come up with the method. The corpse piler had always been there, hadn’t it? How come a newcomer, who had even been on the farm for a whole week, had used it as inspiration and pulled off the biggest heist —they were still in the middle of it, but it was a done deal in her mind since they had already crossed the biggest hurdle— while they, who had been at the farm for hundreds and hundreds of days, couldn’t?

Don’t kick yourself over it. Red patted her back while removing the aphids from her abdomen. He was perversely slow with it… and she liked it.
You would have also come up with something if there was a pair of mandibles hanging over your neck, too. He consoled her.
That was overly dark, wasn’t it? Did he mean there was a danger to their lives if they didn’t rob the farm? She stiffened for a second, but Red pulled her along as everyone else was already gathering around the shepherdess. They needed to get out of the open. The ground floor of the tower was too open for them to be loitering around.
The shepherdess got them started on the path leading higher. She’d have to come back to gather the aphids, but she had to tell them what to expect. It was just as important as getting into the tower.
The tower should be empty. She told Red. The others were also around but hey scared her. You have to take the main route up. It goes through the residential area, where we shepherdess reside.
She looked ahead, at the small army marching ahead of her.
They shouldn’t be a problem for you all; just don’t kill any.
We won’t. Black promised. Anything else we should be careful about?

She almost jumped from his heavy, piercing scent, but kept her head down and gave him what he wanted.
Above that is the jawbreakers hallway where they wait to be called by us. It should be empty, but be careful. Take care of them quickly if you find any. And no matter what happens, don’t let them lose their minds. You’ll be trapped if that happens.

Can we go now? Green itched for some action.

Just one more thing, The shepherdess stopped at the threshold of the first floor. She raised her head and advised with utmost seriousness. Run up the tower if that happens. The big eight, I mean the farm committee resides at the top floor. Take them hostage if it comes to that. Now go.


Finally! The sentiment was shared by all of them. Green was the first one to rush up the main pathway; the others weren’t far behind her.

The shepherdess returned to the ground floor. Red ordered the charge and Black-led them up. They went shoulder to shoulder, blocking the path from side to side. The tower excited them very much. It was truly different from what they were used to. The pathways were wide, the walls were clean and polished, and the ceilings were tall. They liked it much better than the narrow confines that they had lived all their life and the living breathing bivouac that one of them had lived in.

There were shepherdesses in the burrows from the third floor up. Luckily, they had enough poison between the two hundred of them to put them all to sleep. A soldier might be able to take a 50% bullet of poison, but as workers, only a few of the shepherdesses were able to stay conscious after taking a 25% concentration poison bullet to the head.

The fifth floor made them nervous, but it turned out to be empty as the shepherdess had promised. None among them wanted to fight a jawbreaker. They had seen what those monsters had done to the lizard, and they were happy to get a free pass to their destination.

What posed them a challenge wasn’t the security —since there was none— but the content of the storage room.
What’s this? Red asked in bewilderment. How could anyone answer when they were also in shock?

The storage room was empty.

They were in the right place. The shepherdess hadn’t duped them. The whole chamber, pretty large one, larger than a queen’s chamber, smelled strongly of the lovely sweet nectar they called honeydew. It’s just that someone had already cleaned the chamber before them.

Green released amusement.
Everyone stared at her and then burst out with the same emotion. It was despair.
An amorphous touch on the back woke Red from the shock.
What now? He was asked, but he had nothing.
I suggest we leave before we are caught. Yellow advised.
Red disagreed strongly. He thought long and hard about his reasoning and decided to stick with the truth in the end. We can’t leave. I don’t want to be chased by the army.

Still, he kept thinking and realized that the one who might know something was not among them. So he called Green and told her to bring the shepherdess.

Finally, I can roam—

You have one minute. I’m complaining to captain if you are late by even a second. He knew hollow warning woodlot work on her so he started drumming the floor with his abdomen. Each echoing beat was one less second for Green to act.
So stressful! She left in her wake as she rushed back out of the chamber.
Red stopped drumming soon after.
Not going to count? Black asked.
What’s the point? She’ll be back before its one minute.


786^th soldier rubbed some warmth into his body by rubbing his back. It helped him relax. His companions had a reaction to his closeness to 786^th soldier, but he was not in the brightest of moods to pay them attention. Where did things go wrong? Did the merchants dupe them for some convoluted reason, or under the Army chief’s orders? Or was it the shepherdess?

Green barged into the chamber before his thoughts could go down that route. She carried the shepherdess like she’d carry a leaf, dropped the baggage, and slumped to the ground. Both of them were exhausted, one mentally and the other physically. Black offered Green a massage, which she happily accepted. No such offer was given to the shepherdess.

She was similarly bewildered, however, after sensing the empty chamber.
How? Where?
That’s what we want to know. How and where? Why is the chamber empty? And don’t lie.
Wh-when did I l-lie?
I know. Red conceded, apologized, and asked her to think. Think about what could have happened here. Who could have taken the honeydew?
She had a reaction to the last question. Someone who had taken the honeydew; she had an inkling to who it could be. 786^th soldier was the one who noticed her reaction. She didn’t shout at her like the others. That would have only scared the poor worker.

786^th tapped her on the cheek instead. What do you have? She asked.
The shepherdess hesitated at first, considering the importance of her observation, but told 786^th everything that was on her mind in the end.
This is it! 786^th proclaimed. Her antennae buzzed in excitement. You have to tell the others.
You do it.
NO! 786^th rejected the offer and called others' attention. Everyone, she has something to say.

Black took a step forward, but Red stopped him.
Tell us.
I saw someone. The shepherdess started. I was called to the top floor, yesterday—
786 interrupted her. Get to the point, girl, don’t dally with the pointless.

The shepherdess nodded. The farm is run by the representatives of the eight cities that form the alliance. But the alliance only run the farm, it is owned by another group, the ones that created the alliance.

And what has she got to do with our situation. Red asked.

The leader doesn’t interfere with how the farm is run, but everyone knows that once every month they collect honeydew. And they are never seen again until the next time.

786 picked up. No one knows how they do it. They don’t take the honeydew by the land or the air. They could be using the nights cover to take their share, but it’s still day, and believe me, when I say this, the honeydew wasn’t taken too long ago.

Search the room. Red gave the order.
What? Why? Black asked.
The tower has a secret passage Black, that’s why. Search every corner. And inform us if you find anything.
Almost two hundred ants searched the chamber for a whole minute, and they found nothing, not even a single trace of anything suspicious.
Black was growing impatient. Green still hadn’t stopped looking in the corners, checking the roof, and even the floor.

Red was burning up from nervousness. He knew Silver wouldn’t be able to keep the lizard at the tower forever. There were far too many of those bloody jawbreaker ants. And the lizard was already injured when they were sneaking into the tower. It might even be on the verge of dying. They didn’t have much time. Time was slipping and he was starting to believe that it would have been better to retreat as Yellow had suggested.
That’s when 786^th came to their rescue. She hadn’t found a clue. No. But she had an idea.
They had exhausted every physical mean, her idea was to rack their brain and find a solution.

She pulled the shepherdess to Red’s side and asked them both to form an I.C with her.
How’s that going to help? Red questioned.
I don’t know for certain, but there’s nothing wrong with trying something different, right?
The two looked at her bewildered and agreed when she insisted.
All three of them had different information about the tower.

The shepherdess knew the layout of the tower in and out. She lived there. It was the place she called home. It wasn’t the warmest of places, but it was hers and she was very fond of it.

786^th soldier had always been curious about the tower and its creation. The farm residents were still divided about whether the tower was a natural creation or a construction. It was far too symmetrical to be natural.
And Red had the mind to cook up a scheme to sneak into the tower without getting caught. And believe it or not, he had also found the answer to their problem.
He gently broke the connection. The other two swayed from the dizziness that assaulted after the connection was broken, but it couldn’t stop them from getting excited.
You think this is it? The shepherdess asked.
We have to find out. 786 answered.

Come with me, Black. Red called first, then pulled him along when he dallied. He dragged him to the wall opposite to the entrance. There was no entrance there.
We have looked captain, but there is nothing here. A soldier told him, but Red was determined. Break this wall. He ordered Black with the seriousness of a commander.
So what if they hadn’t found a path? They were ants and they could make their own path.

Black nudged him back. Stay there. He told him and started digging. The soldiers rushed to help, and believe it or not, they found what they were looking for: a secondary entrance. It led to another elevator shaft, which from the concentrated scent of honeydew they concurred had actually been used recently!
Shading hell! Black couldn’t believe it. How did you know?
The answer lay in symmetry. Everyone knows the tower is symmetrical. 786 nodded vigorously. But none really thinks what that means. In this case, it meant that the tower had a hidden elevator shaft directly opposite the one everyone uses every day. Am I right Shepherdess?

The shepherdess copied 786^th and vigorously nodded her head.
They had done it. They had solved the mystery that no one knew know existed. Now they only needed to do what they were best at. They needed to hunt.
All right, Red clapped his antennae. Let’s start packing everyone. Shepherdess, please bring yellow to a nearby window. I saw a few, find one that overlooks leader. Inform him to meet us outside. We’ll leave clues for him to follow. And Black,

I’m on it.

The shepherdess left with Yellow, and Black instructed the soldiers to an arrow formation: a strong ant at the front, two snappers on either side and a gunner at the middle, followed by a short tail of common soldiers. The group of soldiers went in first to scout ahead. The rest followed them once Yellow returned with the Shepherdess.

The elevator shaft was exactly what it sounded like. It was a straight path to the bottom floor. However, it didn’t end at the surface like the other one. It continued out of the tower, into one of the countless root ways that together created the farm's core area. The root had been hollowed out and twisted and turned as it led them further and further away from the tower. 786^th soldier noticed a subtle declining slope designed into the round tunnel, letting them know they were approaching the surface.

They marveled at the ingenuity of it all.

Who could have come up with the idea? Red couldn’t hide his awe. I need to meet them and become their student because this is a work of art.
Do you think this was created? 786 couldn’t believe it. Who could have created this perfectly round and hollow tube inside a root?
I know it’s unbelievable, but there is no way this is natural. Roots aren’t hollow.

The shepherdess also had a few things to say.

To think a secret like this has always been underneath the tower. And we didn’t know. And most never will.
But its woods, one of the workers from the army questioned. We can’t chew through the wood?
However, termites can. Someone answered causing the army to grow solemn.
786 couldn’t understand why. The shepherdess had no clue either. And others didn’t tell them.
It’s not a secret. Red told her. We just don’t like to talk about it. It brings bad luck.
She dropped the topic.

Finally, after a long and somber walk through the marvelous, warm root canal, they saw light at the end. Whoever had created it had taken their time because this was not a project that could be finished in a day or two. They climbed out of the exit and found themselves deep inside the forest far from the farm. Out of the root canal, they changed formation again, this time to a full circular shield with the four at the center. It was once again Black's army to lead.

Red sent Green and yellow to leave scent signals for their leader to follow. They would have had to find the farm first, and the root was no help because it was completely underground. A dark hole in the ground was all could be seen of it, with no indication of where it led or what it housed.
They didn’t have to search for their enemy because luck was on their side, and a trail was on the ground. And they encountered the thieves only a hundred and some ant lengths from the exit.

Their enemies were only sixty in number, but they smelled strong. They were huge in comparison to their mixed and matched army of former slaves. Black as the night, they had huge chests and thick wide mandibles.
Jawbreakers… Red sensed the change happening behind him. His army was growing nervous. They had seen those monsters in actions and knew what they could do. To his left, the shepherdess fared no better.

Black rubbed his head. It will be alright. He told Red and the soldiers. You all lot have been through far worse than this. And help is coming. We can wait until the leader arrives. The soldiers stirred, their bodies relaxed, worry evaporated, but Black had a few more words for them. However, do you all really want to wait for help? Do you all really want to prove to our leader that we are not worth a grain of sand without him? That we are helpless, untrustworthy, and impotent! That he should have accepted the army’s offer and let us rot as slaves because we are not worth him!

Antennae rose in trepidation over the speech. Soldiers stepped away for him in panic. 786^th also felt Black's anger and swayed back, but Red held her. He supported her.

There was a reason why Silver had given the burden of leading his army to Black. He was a born leader and would have made captain in the army if it wasn’t for his immature and brazen nature and if he hadn’t bitten his sergeant legs off and eaten them.

This one was going to be a hard battle, but there was no way they were losing after coming so far.
The jawbreakers were rolling large balls of solid sweet honeydew by pushing them with their hind legs, like beetles. Riding a jawbreaker at the back of the entourage was the princess. Black had a whiff of her scent, and he had to admit, she was intoxicatingly arousing.

The princess had beautifully curved edges, long velvety antennae, a strong hard exoskeleton, and patches of red over the black canvas. The patches looked like a fire grazing through the black lands.
What kind of an ant is that? 786^th asked.
I don’t know. The shepherdess said. She was feeling the scent and it was quickening her heartbeats. I-I have no, no idea. No one knows what they call themselves. Everyone calls them the leader of the alliance.
Well, Red had news for them. She’s an ember ant.

The two turned toward him.

Do you know them? One asked in confused excitement. How did he know? Wasn’t it supposed to be a secret?
They rule on the other side of the river… used to rule. Red corrected himself.
What happened? The shepherdess was interested.
An infection took them out.
No one survived?
It’s complicated. You should ask the leader if you are interested. He knows much more about them.
So what now? 786^th asked.
And Black proposed a simple solution: Now, we attack.

---

***Silvers P.O.V***​

---

Silver received yellow’s message. He didn’t understand the content. Red asked him to leave the farm and follow the signals. Something must have happened in the tower. He though. But the message didn’t urge him to be quick. And they even asked him to keep the jawbreakers occupied for a little while. He didn’t know what had changed, but he believed in them.

He rode the lizard for a few more minutes, before twisting its neck to steer it out of the farm when the groups of the inner region decided to join the fray.

Well, it was about time. The ants called jawbreakers were too much for the lizard to handle. So much so that their numbers hadn’t felt a dent while the lizard was a bloody mess. He didn’t know what made Red change the plan. They were supposed to signal him to bring the lizard to the tower, fill its body with whatever they found in the tower and take off riding its back.

They could have been caught, but there were no such signs from the tower. Thieves in the tower would have caused quite a commotion. However, nothing out of order had happened. His belief in his soldiers was strong enough to make him leave them even though he feared the bad, the worse, and the ugly.

His tension relieved when he found the striking signals only Yellow could leave, south of the farm. He followed them and found his soldiers fighting with the jawbreakers. They outnumbered their opponent one to three, yet they were having a hard time. They’ll need to practice more he decided.
He took a quick overview of the battlefield.

Red and the 786th soldier were keeping a princess hostage. They held her from the wings and she solemnly sat in front of them. Of course, he expected nothing less from the one who abhorred working hard himself.
Green was running everywhere, trying to snip legs, but it was not easy for her either. The jawbreakers snapped their mandibles at her whenever they sensed her around. She had finally met her match.

The jawbreakers being ant-sized made it challenging for his army to quickly cope with them. It was easier to kill bigger opponents because of their size disadvantage, but the jawbreakers were really aggressive, extremely strong and highly protected. And they had a size advantage.

Silver let the lizard go. Killing it would have only left signs for others to follow, while still bloody and covered in the scent molecules from the farmers, it was a nice target to distract his chasers. And there were chasers, he had sensed them. The lizard didn’t wait a second before it lurched over the foliage, trundled into the bushes and disappeared into the green wilderness of the forest.

Silver jumped down from the branch. The touch of warm gentle air filled his being with joy. His captain’s advised him to be careful, but he didn’t worry about this. There was a time when he worried about every little thing, but that time was long past, and now he was almost free.

Silver crashed into the middle of the battlefield, and everyone fell down to the ground, while he stood up. They weren’t dead, just unconscious. He didn’t abhor killing. He might be many things, but foremost he was an ant, and ants kill first and ask the reason later. But he wasn’t unreasonable either.

He approached Red and the 786^th soldier. That girl had been a big help to him.
Commander—
Captain, who is she? He asked with glowing eyes fixated right upon the princess, curious and excited.

The princess was shell shocked from the sight behind him. She could not believe what she had just witnessed. That ant had taken down a whole battalion worth of soldier without doing anything! Everyone would call her mad if she told them this! Who would believe her?

What did you do to them? She asked, but deep down she felt scared, more scared than being in the presence of her mother.
Silver shook his head to her in reply. It’s good that you can still answer, but I’ll be the one asking the questions, Princess.

She snapped her mandibles at him. I have nothing to say to the like of you! You might have ambushed us, but Mother won’t forgive you. Unless you run to the other side of the world, she’ll find whoever you are, and—

You talk too much.

The princess fidgeted when Silver forced an internal connection upon her. She was repulsed by his touch. She hated him for doing this to her. An internal connection was a sacred thing. Her mother had warned her to not let anyone make the connection. She decided to commit suicide when the aggressor, the sliver charlatan started reading her memories, but the exchange wasn’t one-sided. She also got information from him, information that he specifically provided. That control over his memories, the princess had Goosebumps erupt all over her body. But the memories… she could not move even after the connection was skillfully broken.

She had heard the story over and over again in her life but never believed it. She always thought it was propaganda by the central committee to keep them listening. But now, after what she had seen, after what he had shown her… she could not help but doubt everything.

It didn’t come as a surprise to her when he told her that he wouldn’t kill her or the jawbreakers.
We’ll even return the honeydew.
Leader!
Wh-What —she tried to calm her heart, but it refused to slow down. She was better than this. She was a princess of the alliance. She had her pride.
She knew he was waiting for this moment, but what else could she do? And she was also curious. Now that she knew what she knew, she really wanted to know what would happen next.

What do you want in return? She asked and he asked her exactly what he had told her during their connection.
I want to meet your queen.
*****
****
***
**
*
Silver marched with the embers. The princess had kept her promise. She had taken his request to her mother and this was the result. The owner of the farm, the leader of the alliance, the one he wanted to meet had agreed to his proposal.

His army, they watched from far, for sure, but also kept their distance. Their safety was of the utmost importance to him. He alone had followed the princess and the jawbreakers to the city, so she wouldn’t know where his soldiers hid.

The force leading him toward the city contained one hundred soldiers. They didn’t speak to him. And he liked the silence. It allowed Silver to feel, to know if he was right, or simply delusional.
The mysterious city had no advanced posts or towers. There was a well-trodden path, a mountain of rocks, and an entrance. Situated deep within the forest it was not very easy to find.
The princess had warned Silver to not try anything stupid, before leaving him in the care of the soldiers that had come to receive her.
The soldiers accompanying him looked exactly like the jawbreakers but were smaller and obviously intelligent.
The soldiers tried but their intimidations didn’t faze him. They were stopped for inspection at the entrance, where they proceeded to clean him, only find that there was nothing to clean.
Silver’s heart started beating when he entered the city. The princess surprisingly waited for him there. She asked him to follow her and took the lead.
The city was built like the farm tower.

He expected a normal city of ants, but what he saw was greater than that. There were large chambers, wide passageways, and more. Everyone worked, even the soldiers. There was no distinction between the castes. There were no workers and soldiers, only those bigger and smaller, younger and older.
Each step he took woke his slumbering feelings.

The past that he had lost touch with came back to play with his emotions in full tide.
He almost dashed into the depths but knew to hold himself back. He had only this one chance to do this properly. There would be no next time, only war.

They progressed irritatingly slow, deliberately they delayed: Passing him through check pots after checkpoints, checking him, cleaning him. However, they couldn’t delay him forever.
Finally, he stood in front of the queen’s chamber, barred to him by a coin headed door guard. Memories resurfaced. In his mind, he was almost thrown back to the past.
The door opened. His heart grew excited. Emotions filled him. There was perturbation, discontentment, nervousness, and even vague resentment.

His antennae trembled when he set foot inside the chamber. There were guards inside, covering the whole chamber, guarding heir queen. And it had been cleared of caretakers and eggs. Gunners stood with their ends pointed at him. Tankers blocked his path.

Of course, they were suspicious and vigilant.
Silver’s eyes found the queen at the back of the chamber. She was large and watched him seriously. Their eyes met and his heart almost stopped beating.

He dropped his antennae to the ground and raised the scent flag that he hadn’t in a very long time. The scent perturbed the soldiers, but caused the queen to grow dazed at first, then nostalgic, and at last angry.
YOU! She scented a loud burst of pheromones that filled the chamber with her anger. Silver also felt it, but differently, more personally, inside him. And while the soldiers only sensed their queen’s anger, Silver also sensed her misery and longing, her pain and sadness.

Why do you have that scent? It can’t be — you can’t be— The queen released soft wisps of scents that disturbed the soldiers far greatly. They grew aggressive, but an order by the queen turned them solemn.
Stand down, soldiers.
Her general retaliated, but she didn’t listen.
Let him in. She called and the general could only raise a salute to her name and open a passage.
Silver felt her emotion riot the closer he got to her. Her disbelief filled him. He dropped his antennae onto the ground in respect and flared the scent she had given when she was still a princess.
He raised his antennae for her to take and she accepted. The soldier's discourse, they connected internally. When they separated the queen had no more doubts and was beyond emotional. An internal connection was what had first brought them together the first time around, and it brought them together for the second time.

Is it really you? The queen still couldn’t believe it.
Silver nodded and scented proudly, with love.
Your royal guard reports for duty, Princess Tinbuji.
~Fin~