Mongu’nin had gotten lost on a scouting mission into the tunnels and had not only survived, but thrived under the pressure, achieving the coveted evolution to tier seven and enough power to threaten Grokus’ position. If the lord were to stir himself and venture out into the city, there were now two rivals who could move against him, not odds that he liked. So had the long standoff begun, with Grokus unwilling to move, Allocrix not wanting to make a move, and Mongu’nin seeking to strengthen himself by devouring the weaker of his two obstacles before trying to conquer the city for himself.
This state of uncertainty hung over the city for years and went a long way to ruining Grokus’ appetite before he was finally willing to try and break the deadlock. Out of desperation, he agreed to host the Church of the Path and provide the… materials, for their practices from his own citizens. With a steady source of experience, it was only a matter of time until he grew in strength to the point he no longer needed to fear his rivals and could once again eat in peace.
Then more trouble just kept coming! The attention the church brought to his city was unwelcome. A powerful and ambitious lord rose in nearby Orpule, and lately, that damned ant! Just thinking of that irritating insect was enough to churn the acid in his gut.
He’d hoped that introducing the interloper from the first stratum might tip the apple cart a little, or perhaps even draw the church into cleaning up the problem for him. Instead, the damned invader just destroyed half the city and fled, but only after stirring Mongu’nin into a rage that lasted an entire day! To top things off, Allocrix appeared to have allied himself with the newcomers, and there were steady reports of suspicious activity at the top of the pillar. Not to mention the growing pressure from Brixin, the neighbouring city lord.
[As I told you before, I know nothing of secret forces dispatched to act against your city, Brixin! If your raiding parties have been destroyed, then it is not by my hand!]
The mind array that connected his mind to that of his fellow lord, far away in Orpule, crackled with indignant energy.
[Do you expect me to believe a word that comes out of your mouth, Grokus? Two of my raid groups have vanished, one of them not so much as an hour ago, and you really think I’ll accept your denials? INSOLENCE. I will not tolerate this insult! I am escalating our formal war to one of conquest.]
One massive hand froze in the act of shovelling food into his mouth as he processed this, and Grokus cursed internally. Despite the bluster, he could almost detect the smug radiating off Brixin from where she sat.
[You’ve been looking for any excuse to escalate this war,] the enormous demon rumbled dangerously. [I wouldn’t put it past you to have destroyed your own raiding parties in order to pull this.]
Brixin was not intimidated. Far from it, this was the conflict she craved.
[I am coming for you myself, Grokus. I’m not even an hour away. Make sure you fatten yourself up a little more before I get there.]
The array went dead. He shoved it away and resumed shovelling Biomass into his maw. Inside, his vast stomach that occupied not only this dimension, but another as well, rumbled in displeasure at the delay. He would need his strength soon enough. How long had it been since he was forced to fight?
He turned to his attendant demons.
[Rally the city,] he demanded. [A full invasion will occur in an hour. Ensure Mongu’nin knows who the real enemy is.]
If that fool decided to rampage again, then all would be for naught. This was a bad position to be in, but all wasn’t lost yet. If things went well, it might even turn to his favour. He would need to call on the human, Alir Vinting—drag him out of his chapel if he had to. With the church on his side, he would have a chance to repulse the attack from Orpule, and with a little luck, remove one of his rivals at the same time. If only Allocrix were still in the city, then he would have been able to move against that threat as well…
[City lord! Something is happening above!]
[What?]
Unwilling to deal with more surprises, Grokus craned the humanoid neck of his upper body back so he could stare directly up the pillar to where it connected with the world above. It was difficult to make out, even for senses as finely attuned as his own, but something was going on up there. Wait, is something dropping down? At first, it was a steady downpour of loose soil, then rocks, then boulders that began to fall, most of them missing the city, but a few crashing on buildings with a resounding roar.
Then came the spears.
Honed pillars of gleaming steel, the four spears fell like hammer blows from an angry god, smashing through whatever they landed on and penetrating deep into the stone plate Roklu resided on. Blinking all of his eyes in bewilderment, Grokus stared as four separate cords, each one metres thick, gradually wound up and pulled tight, connecting the plate to the roof high above in four new places. The acid in his stomach roiled unpleasantly.
Just what on Pangera was happening?
133. The ants go Marching
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Sloan asked Cobalt tentatively.
“Sure? Of course I’m sure! Did you think I sat around here crunching numbers between my mandibles for twenty hours just for the heck of it?”
“I just wanted to check! Please, keep working.” The general made a tactical retreat to where several other Council members were standing at a safe distance.
“Gotta be careful around the carvers right now,” Wills greeted her. “They are more than a little touchy.”
“Can’t really say I blame them,” Sloan muttered. “Considering how hard they’ve been working, and the constant threat of being dragged off for torpor.”
“That reminds me,” Bella chipped in. “Didn’t Cobalt get dragged away yesterday?”
“She did. The moment she woke up, she was back at it,” Wills confirmed.
They all fell silent as they internally paid tribute to the incredible fortitude of the carvers, the great builders of the Colony. To face down not only an insurmountable amount of work, but the torpor police at the same time, it took more courage than most soldiers would dream of claiming.
Wills took another look at the huge steel constructs being assembled.
“Just so I get this straight in my mind,” she said. “They want to drop these down and drive them into the plate that holds the city so we can run down the cables in order to assault the city?”
“That sums it up,” Sloan said.
“I don’t know… that doesn’t seem… nuts, to any of you?”
“It’s a bit extreme,” Sloan agreed. “Although when you think about it, there aren’t really any safe ways to assault the city from up here. You either climb the pillar, an idea I’ve ruled out since our enemy is likely prepared for such an approach—though we doubt they expect a serious assault from above at all. Or, you make your own way down. We considered creating a unit of flying soldiers or scouts to secure a landing ground for us, but the evolutionary costs are prohibitive.”
“We’re looking at it as a possibility for tier six scouts,” Wills said absently, still staring at the huge spears. “That’ll be a while off happening yet.”
The number of tier five members of the Colony was slowly increasing, but there weren’t many, barely more than a thousand, each and every one of which would be participating in this assault. To counterbalance that, the fact that the Eldest had reached tier six had inspired the ants to reach for that next threshold. Indeed, another member of the Colony had already crossed it.