Honestly, the destruction is on such a broad scale and so indiscriminate, there has to be a good reason.
I don’t necessarily agree with her though. Who knows why giant lizards with magic slaves make decisions?
[Could it be land?] I ask. [Perhaps they want to exterminate the minor kingdoms here and move in without anyone thinking they were behind it?]
She shakes her head, rejecting my suggestion outright. [What would be the point? They could walk in and stomp the minor kingdoms with almost no effort anyway. And who would care if they did? The only reason these lands were settled in the first place is because nobody wanted them!]
[Okay, well the next suggestion is a little worse. Weapons testing?]
[What do you mean?]
My inability to shrug really gets me down sometimes. There is an equivalent antennae movement that we ants use, but nobody else seems to understand it.
[Well, you’ve managed to tame a big bad monster, something that is too strong for the first stratum and possibly stronger than most things on the second. Presumably, if you keep growing the monster, helping it to evolve and manage the Mana that you give it, you could control it forever. Might be a bit of work, but it would sure be a heck of a lot less resource intensive than raising a pet to be as strong as Garralosh.]
[And the testing?]
[If you’ve got this creature under your control, why not see how well it works? They’ve put decades’ worth of effort into it, may as well see if the project is going to be worth further investment.]
Morrelia’s expression is a mask of horror. [You really think they’d destroy entire kingdoms filled with people just for that?]
I shrug again. Antennae are the best.
[I’m not a giant lizard with hundreds of years of life behind me. You tell me. Does that sound like something they’d do?]
Reluctantly, the berserker nods.
[The Ka’armodo aren’t without rivals. They compete for resources in the Dungeon with numerous groups and empires. I still can’t believe that they would go this far…]
I step over to the visibly emotional Morrelia and pat her on the shoulder with an antenna.
[People, lizards. They all suck. This is why I’m happy I’m an ant.]
Smooth.
71. Advance
We lay low in the Dungeon for hours. The dirt and stone surrounding us mean we hear nothing of our pursuers. Even if they pass within ten metres of us. Warfare amongst the regular monsters remains as constant as always, at least when they aren’t brainwashed by some fat ass croc.
Haaa… I really need to get back to the colony. All of this stress is giving me a potty mouth. Some downtime might be nice.
[We need to get back to the village,] Morrelia sends over our mental connection, catching me by surprise.
She’s been brooding and punching the walls in fits of anger. I could tell she wasn’t too pleased by what I’d had to say. Who even knew if it was the truth. To me, it doesn’t really matter why an empire of elderly lizards is unleashing a Dungeon monster on their weaker neighbours. What matters is that they have, and how we’re going to cope with it.
[If we rush back to the colony, won’t we just lead them straight there?] I protest.
Leading the horde and Garralosh down onto my family is not my idea of being a filial worker. I can already see the twenty, rolling their antennae with frustration at this new mess I’ve caused them whilst refusing to say anything about it because I’m technically the eldest.
[We aren’t dealing with back kingdom hedge wizards now, Anthony,] Morrelia growls. [They’ll have scried out the entire south by now, since they know which direction we came from. Maybe they’d done that even before we poked the hive with a stick. Point is, they’ll know about the village and the colony. They aren’t going to leave them be.]
Gawd.
[A tiny little village and colony of harmless ants? Why would they go to all that effort?] I mutter.
Morrelia snorts at my use of the word ‘harmless.’ I don’t think she’s buying just how innocent and loveable we are. Perhaps she knows what we might be capable of…
[They came here to eradicate the people. I don’t think they’ll leave before the job is done. Besides, I don’t think they’ll want you or I to survive, given what we’ve seen.]
Makes sense. It doesn’t really mean much if you’ve raised a secret weapon that nobody knows you can control, if someone has seen you controlling it.
Dammit!
[The only way we actually make it out of this alive, outside of fleeing through the Dungeon, is to rally the colony and village and fight against them?]
The warrior’s face twists at my mention of fleeing through the Dungeon. Like the very thought is repellent to her. Hey! I didn’t actually consider doing it! As if I would leave the colony alone to fend for itself in its time of trial. That is my family right there.
[Correct,] Morrelia said. [I have no idea how, but the only way we make it out is if we fight. If we try to flee, they’ll hunt us down. I don’t know a way that we could hide from their scrying magic, we just don’t have the Skills.]
And fleeing into the wilderness would put the colony at risk right when we were beginning to explode in our potential. If we’d had an extra month, then I wouldn’t be nearly this worried. The number of ants the colony would be able to wield by then would smash the horde following Garralosh and drag the stupid croc down into the mud.
As it is, we just don’t have the firepower.
The villagers are in much the same position. The training and Dungeon expeditions have done a lot to take a collection of former farmers, labourers and traders and put them on the road to becoming proper warriors. They just aren’t there yet. There isn’t enough of them and they aren’t far enough along in their Skill development to turn the tide against a monster like Garralosh.
[Okay then. First thing first, we need to get the heck out of here and we need to do it fast,] I decide.
[You have a plan?] Morrelia asks, her eyes sharpening on me.
[Nope,] I admit. [Plans aren’t really my strong point. I was thinking we could just bust out the way we came in and hightail it south. It’s not subtle, but it gets us there as quickly as possible.]
Morrelia stares at me for a moment before she throws back her head and barks out a laugh.
[Too bad the Legion doesn’t accept monsters in the ranks,] she chuckles. [I have a feeling you’d fit right in.]
I turn my antennae toward the woman, reading the air around her subconsciously. She constantly talks about the Legion, not directly of course, but always mentioning it here and there. I know her father is a massive big shot with them, but what about Morrelia? She’s powerful, very much so. Why isn’t she a member? I refuse to believe she was kicked out.
[So—]
[I quit after my brother died in the service,] she interrupts.
How does someone read what an ant is about to say? I don’t even have facial muscles on the outside! Still, what she said did raise another question.
[How—]
[My father did not take it well,] she answers.
And judging by the steeled expression on the berserker’s face, I’m not going to get any more information out of her. I think I’ve pried enough anyway.
[So, we break through the front?] I ask.
[I think it’s most likely the horde will have returned to Garralosh’s side. They can’t have their monsters rushing around in the Dungeon forever, even if they can replenish their stock during the wave. Let’s go with your idea. If we run into too much opposition, we can retreat back to this position and try to find another way out,] Morrelia suggests.