Knowing how bad he is at fighting, I’ve little doubt he’s burrowed himself as deep and far as he can from any tunnel or Expanse, and he’ll stay there until the wave is passed. He lived a long time that way, I don’t expect his habits are going to change now.
“Hey, eldest, slacking off I see?”
“Brendant? What do you mean?” I gesture down at my missing limbs. “What exactly are you expecting of me in this situation, eh?”
“Not much, I suppose,” she clacks her mandibles, seemingly quite chipper. “The council wants to have a full meeting in a few hours, once we get a better sense of where we stand. The wave is going to be a real problem, and the nest is in pretty bad shape.”
“What about the other nests?” I ask. “Have we had any word on how they’re travelling?”
“Runners are on the way as we speak. We should hear back before the meeting.”
I’m nervous about those other nests. They’re smaller and less protected than this one. Even if the golgari and Legion left them alone, I fear the wave will be a huge challenge for them to overcome.
“What’s the most important undertaking right now? What’s got the highest priority?” I’m curious about what they’re focusing on.
The big soldier thinks about that.
“Probably moving the hatchlings up to the surface training grounds. If we don’t manage to move them before the wave starts, it’s going to be a nightmare to shift them later. There’s thousands of the little sisters packed away under the Queen’s chambers, and they need to get to the Academy as quickly as we can manage.”
“I guess we can restart the farm project as well,” I muse. “They were able to provide a ton of Biomass during the first wave. And I guess we need to secure the surface nests as well. There’s no guarantee that any nasties that climb up from below will bump into us here, they might get all the way to the surface…”
Holy moly, I’m starting to see the sheer body of work in front of us. Brendant recognises the realisation flicker in my antennae and clicks her mandibles in understanding.
“Get well soon, eldest. There’s plenty for you to do.”
Great. She skitters off to organise more escort groups for hatchlings, and I continue to flop about as the small stumps that will become my new legs continue to sprout. Before much time has passed, I feel a familiar mind reach out to me.
[Not looking so hot over there, kid. Not exactly the mighty Ancient I had in mind.]
What the?
[Granin!]
I use a few legs on one side to spin my body around and find the big Shaper standing behind me with his two Triad-mates by his side.
[What the hell happened to you, you old brick head?] I cry. [I thought you were stuck with the golgari?]
He pulls a face.
[Bah. It’s all politics. I wanted to stay and help out with the Cult and try to clean up the mess we were left with when the city found out about the stupid games they were playing. Instead, the Balta clan went nuts, demanded they be given the rights to hunt you down as a matter of honour, and drafted me into the expedition. Typical Warrior Circle rubbish,] he spat. [On the fringes of the empire, the Houses can do whatever they want and get away with it, the interior doesn’t care. I swear, the whole golgari race has been in decline ever since the Cataclysm. Too much pride isn’t healthy, especially when a giant worm shows up and eats everyone.]
I can tell the old Shaper is deeply irritated, so I let him grumble for a few seconds before I follow up with another question.
[What’s your plan now? You going to hang around?]
[If you’ll have me,] he shrugs. [I’m not good for much, but I happen to be an expert in monster evolution, and between the three of us here, we can be a big help. The later evolutions are very different from the first, the options really widen up.]
Wot?
[MORE options? You have to be kidding me! The menu lists are a mile long!]
He chuckles.
[You are certainly not going to like this, then. Good thing you have us around. No rush, there’s still time until you evolve again. What’s your Level, anyway?]
Uhhh, good question. I’ve been pretty much ignoring the System messages for days now. I’ll take a quick peak.
HOLY MOLY! Seventy-three?
156. Close to Power
My reaction must have given something away. Granin was always quite good at reading me. Amazingly so, considering I don’t have facial muscles and therefore no expression to speak of. Perhaps his many decades of experience working with monsters has given him some sort of sixth sense.
[What’s your Level?] he asks again.
[Bit rude, just up and asking like that, isn’t it?] I feel exposed.
He grunts.
[Keep your false modesty. There’s a whole nest of ants here who need your strength, so out with it.]
[Seventy-three.]
He whistles. [That’s close. You’re going to need that consultation before too long. With the wave coming, those Levels and the Biomass requirements should be filled fairly quick.]
He pauses our conversation to turn and speak to Torrina and Corun. The three of them converse in rapid tones for a short time before he turns back to me.
[Sounds like you haven’t exactly been availing yourself of the help I sent you,] he tells me sourly.
Now I feel a little guilty. The two golgari cultists had abandoned their people to help me because they, along with Granin, saw potential for something great in me. I’ve just never been much of a careful planner. Or a deep thinker. Or patient… Hang on a second. Am I just stupid?
[Don’t think about it too much,] Granin sighs. [I know you can’t be bothered thinking about this stuff. Since you aren’t going anywhere until the little stumps wiggling on your side grow a bit more, I may as well explain a couple of things.]
The big Shaper lowers himself to the ground and sits in front of me, looking at me face to face.
[The thing you need to keep in mind, is that monsters are stronger than people.]
That doesn’t seem right. That Titus guy was crazy strong. He carved down one of the frickin’ gates by himself! As if sensing my protest before it arrives, Granin raises a hand.
[I know, alright? Just stop thinking for a minute and listen. Yes, individuals can become very strong. You might even say monstrously strong.] He smirks before he settles and continues.
[In the legends, during the Rending, the great golgari heroes were supposedly capable of truly ridiculous feats. One of the first Shapers was supposedly so strong in Earth Magic, he could conjure a mountain to smash his foes with. Whether or not that’s true, none can say. Now, whilst that strength might seem impressive, the number of golgari, human, Folk, or any other race who manage to achieve that kind of power are less than one in a million. Way less. The other indisputable fact is, no person has ever matched the kind of strength the Ancients possess, and each of them, is a monster.]
[How many billions of monsters does it take before one rises to the Level of an Ancient?] I say sceptically. [All you’ve really told me is that monsters have higher potential.]
Granin waves a hand.
[We’re getting a little sidetracked, talking about the Ancients. What I was more trying to emphasise is that, generally speaking, a monster is stronger than a human. Strong monsters need teams of strong people to bring them down. Eventually, some monsters get powerful enough that large teams of up to a hundred are necessary. You’ve probably met a few like that, surely?]
Garralosh, obviously, but she was a special case, being a reincarnator like me. Though, I have seen strong monsters. The giant whale fish thing I glimpsed in the first Expanse I visited in the second stratum, or the giant spider mama who was such a pain in the butt. Seeing agreement in me, he continues.