I know that I’m alright, but what about the Colony?! Taking in the sights as my eyes gradually lose the glare, I can see that my siblings have not escaped unscathed. Closer to the centre of the gathered ants, they were safer, having the full benefit of the shields woven overhead, but near the outer edge of that circle, things look much more grim.
Already the healers are picking their way over the wounded, administering desperately needed first aid. Every ant who can be saved will be saved, of that I have no doubt. But the fires of vengeance have been lit in me now. No chance I let them get away unscathed for this!
My sentiment is also echoed by the Colony, who bristle with outrage and determination. The ant tide will not be denied! CANNOT be denied!
My mind constructs spin furiously, bringing yet another mana type to the fore, namely Healing Magic, to get me back on my feet again. Far above our heads, the magic-oriented tier seven demons that Brixin reserved to defend her seat of power float, looking down on the remnants of their failed strategy. Doubtless, they hoped to triumph here in one fell swoop, but it wasn’t to be!
I’m not sure what their next play will be, but I have the utmost confidence we shall sweep that aside also.
“Come down here!” I roar using my pheromones and waggling my broken legs at them. “I’ll bite your ankles off!”
In the distance, I can still hear Sarah’s endless bellow. She must still be tearing through Orpule on a rage-drunk rampage, followed by a squad of ants who are going to try their level best to keep her from wrecking the entire place. I feel sorry for any demon that gets in her way at this point; once she gets wound up, she is absurdly hard to stop.
Speaking of squads following me around.
“Protectant? You lot still alive?”
A short pause.
“Yes. Please don’t jump into shadow portals that we can’t follow you through in future,” comes a clipped reply from thin air.
That’s a relief, I was worried they’d gotten themselves baked in the blast.
“Alright then, it’s time to bring these demons down and show them what’s what. Can someone go and get Tiny for me? I’m going to need him for this.”
“Uhm, are you talking to us?” Protectant asks, again not revealing herself.
“Of course! Who else is here to smell these pheromones?”
“Right…”
I turn my mind to Crinis and connect with her.
[How’s things, Crinis? Did you pull through alright?]
She was badly singed on the extremities, and I don’t doubt she lost a lot of her flesh in the blast, especially before I ordered her to pull back.
[You should have let me protect you,] she mumbles in my mind.
I shake my head.
[No chance. You aren’t allowed to die before me, that’s an order.]
She falls silent, a helpless pile of unshapen shadow goo on the ground beside me. I feel a little bad about ordering her like that. I hate restricting them, but I feel this one with all of my heart. None of them are allowed to die before me.
37. Assault on Orpule, Finale
With the demons high overhead, the only way the Colony could reach them was to unleash their best spells and acid blasts, doing everything possible to force the demons down, or at least drain them of mana so they were no longer a threat.
As I watch, it appears to be working. The demons use shields to block attacks as they move their stupid discs around, dodging the worst of the largely untargeted barrage, but there’s just so much stuff being thrown at them that they can’t possibly dodge it all.
As I lay here healing, I do my part to contribute to the struggle, hurling Gravity Bolts by the dozen at the demons, hoping to snag them and force them to come down to our level. At the very least, it’ll become harder for them to keep themselves in the air if they get heavier. Fairly soon, Tiny returns to my side and I don’t waste any time repeating the order that I gave to Crinis to him as well. When Invidia pops up, worn out from helping my siblings shield themselves, I tell him too.
[You are not allowed to die before me. That’s an order.]
Invidia doesn’t react outside of a slow blink, and Tiny just looks confused, but that’s fine. As long as I’ve given them the order, they’ll have to obey it.
[Alright then, Tiny, we have an issue that you can help me with. Invidia, try and help heal Crinis up, and grab her some Biomass… actually, hold on.]
“Someone go and get Crinis Biomass. She needs to regenerate.”
“Er… Is that—”
“Yes, I’m talking to you, Protectant! Get it done! I’m hardly going to be going anywhere right now, am I?”
I waggle my broken legs in the air for emphasis. A few moments later, I’m confident they are gone.
[Alright then, here’s the deal. I’m going to lighten myself and Tiny is going to throw me into the air so I can bring the demons down to ground level. Make sense?]
[Master! No!]
[For all we know, they are just holding their ground up there until they charge up another doom ball and obliterate this entire plate. They were surely going to blow up half of it with the last one! I can’t reach them from down here, but from up there, I can.]
[How are you going to land? I can’t catch you again, and you’re already injured!] Crinis protests vehemently.
[Bit of food into you and you’ll be back to catching ants in no time,] I reassure her. [Besides, we have more help this time. Invidia can slow me down with barriers, and Tiny can catch me in his big, beefy arms, right?]
Tiny nods seriously and flexes. Invidia blinks once.
[See? No problem, I’ll be fine.]
Crinis is obviously not convinced, but I need to do something to bring this situation to a swift resolution. The more time passes, the more advantageous this will be for the demons as they recover their energy and possibly wind up for another strike.
Working fast, I take hold of my Gravity Mana with my minds. Inverting spell patterns is a tricky business, but there are a few cases where I know how to get it to work, and the Gravity Bolt is one of them. I blast myself with the modified spell over and over again and notice with surprise how my antennae can feel the gravitational field around my body beginning to shift. This gives me rather precise control over how much of my mana I need to use.
After all, I still need to fall. If I get it wrong and start floating, I’ll be in serious trouble. I’d rather not spend too much time drifting through the air in front of Brixin and her crew if I can help it!
Once I get the balance right, I turn to Tiny and give him a nod. With a broad grin, the giant ape slaps his massive hands against his chest to warm himself up before lifting me with a two-handed grip. I can tell from the look on his face that I’m lighter than he expected, but it’s still awkward to get a decent grip on me.
[Alright then, Tiny. I want you to fling me straight up as hard as you can. Got it?]
[Hrm.]
[Don’t forget to catch me when I come down.]
And by that delightful blank stare, he’s already forgotten…
[Okaaaaay. Now!]
With a tremendous rush of force, Tiny leans back then throws both his hands up, propelling me straight up into the air like an insectile missile. The force of the air pressure flattens my antennae back to my head, and my eyes blur. Beneath me, the plate plummets away, becoming uncomfortably small as I look down on the battle still raging there. Despite the insanity, my minds are working overtime, preparing the barrage of spells I’ll unleash the moment I reach the apex of my flight.
Holy moly, I am going to come down hard… I hope those two are up to the task.