I can tell my siblings feel much as I do. It wasn’t enough! We need more! But I have a feeling we won’t have to worry on that front. Just imagining the enormous, bloated termite queen out there somewhere in this fourth stratum, pumping out eggs by the thousands every day, is enough to set my mandibles twitching.
“This is only the beginning!” I declare to my family. “There will be more, thousands more, millions! We have to be ready. Consume the Biomass and harvest their cores, we need to scout, build defences, and prepare. Get to it!”
I can’t let them indulge in their savage mindset anymore; we have too much to do before the termites, and by extension the ka’armodo, learn of our deployment here. I do wonder how the termites scout and locate prey, since they’re completely blind. Likely they have invested in a more advanced form of sensing organ, otherwise the reptiles would have to do a lot of legwork to direct their creations where they want them to go, and something tells me legwork isn’t exactly something a bunch of sunbathing lizards are all too keen on.
I get to consuming the Biomass too. It’s been a while since I paid monsters’ profiles any attention, but let’s see what Gandalf has to say about this one.
[Basic profile of the Edax Animae Termite unlocked.]
[Edax Animae Termite (IV), Soul Eater Termite. Born of a modified queen, this species of termite exists for a singular purpose: to hunt and destroy plant-based monsters. Their mandibles are heavily mutated and attached to a Spirit Receptacle. The soul of those defeated by this monster will be drawn into the organ and devoured over time, furthering the growth and power of the termite.]
Revolting. To think the ka’armodo would believe unleashing such a creature against the world would be acceptable! It’s unthinkable!
Termites that literally consume souls. Such a thing is surely an abomination in the eyes of almost every race on the planet! Imagine, what if the Legion caught wind of something like this? They’d go ballistic! If they think the Colony is something that needs to get wiped out, then I can only imagine that something like this would send them right off the deep end. It might seem a little odd for me to reach out to those nutcases, but someone definitely should. If we can get them on our side for a change, I’d more than welcome it. At the very least, they might be able to put pressure on the ka’armodo to end this madness.
[You have fought well. I see the trust of our Mother was not misplaced,] the Grove Keeper greets me as he walks over, his eyes roaming over the destroyed termites with a quiet satisfaction. [This is only one place where they encroach against the roots of the Mother Tree. There are hundreds of such locations, and more are opening every day as the enemy digs more tunnels.]
[I think you’ll find that the termites might have met their match when it comes to shifting dirt,] I tell the massive Keeper smugly. [But I agree that is something we need to work on, and quickly. By compressing and reinforcing the dirt, we can create barriers that other burrowing insects are going to struggle with. If all goes well, we’ll be able to funnel them into a much more narrow avenue of attack. Once that happens, we can get down to what insects do best.]
[Which is?]
[An all-out grind-fest of a war. Whoever blinks first loses.]
[Hmmmmm… they have no eyes… and you have no eyelids. How is anyone supposed to blink?]
[It’s just a… never mind.]
80. Digging In
The battle frenzy of the Colony was an ephemeral thing. Once the termites are gone, their Biomass consumed, and scent wiped away, my siblings and I are able to return to a more normal state of mind and begin to tackle the numerous problems at hand.
“The mana down here is absurdly thick. I feel like my core is on fire. We should adjust our spell rotations to account for the additional energy,” Propellant mused.
“Any idea what the dominant affinity of the stratum is?” I ask.
“Life, mainly. There’s more, but in small amounts, and it’s an affinity that none of the mages have come across before. It’s something advanced, that’s for sure.”
“Much like ash in the third, and death in the second.”
“It does seem like they have a dominant and more common mana paired with a more powerful and subtler force. Perhaps we can expect more of the same in the stratum below. Something to think about. In the meantime, I’ve pushed every earth-capable mage into the build teams to help fortify our position.”
“What can you tell us so far, Cobalt?”
“Not much. The roots of the Mother Tree are going to make our job a nightmare, I can already see that. They cover a huge amount of ground before they vanish into wherever the heck they go, and all of them are potential targets for the termites. Our fortifications will likely have to build quite a ways forward from this position, but we can’t rely on them completely, since the termites can dig just as well as we can. It’s going to be a difficult defence.”
“The termites are bigger and stronger than us,” I advise the group, “and it’s likely that they outnumber us, given we only have ten thousand here. We have to utilise our strengths to the maximum. That means using your heads and milking our defensive position for all it’s worth. Having said that, we can’t do much without more information. Burke, how do things stand on the scouting front?”
“Tunnel maps are getting filled as we speak, though it’ll be hours before we get a more complete picture. As Cobalt told us, the roots are huge and spread over an absurd amount of territory, the Mother Tree seems to have taken over this entire mountain to support her trunk. Once we trace the termites’ trails back far enough, we can start planning where to construct our choke points and try to funnel the enemy.”
“We need to move fast on that,” I warn them. “We’re vulnerable to being overwhelmed until we get dug in. Not usually a problem we need to worry about.”
Each of the ants clacks their mandibles in amusement as they consider the unusual issue of being outnumbered by a single foe.
“Trust me, Eldest. We couldn’t be moving faster on the scouting if we tried,” Burke assures me.
Which means Vibrant and her group are doing it.
“We have to be hyper-careful when facing this enemy,” I warn everyone. “Their ability to feed on souls is disturbing, to say the least. I want everyone to be as careful as possible as we proceed. I’m going to move with the Grove Keeper and head to the hotspots. There are still ongoing raids from the termites as we speak.”
“Will you be alright on your own, Eldest?”
Advant is clearly concerned.
“I’m never really alone, you know that. Plus, Sarah is here. She’s strong.”
“I still think we should try and bring some humans here. With their aid, we’ll be much stronger.”
I shake my antennae.
“The mana is too thick. The humans are willing to come, but won’t be able to until they’ve adapted to the higher concentration of energy. It could take weeks before they can stay down here for any length of time.”
“I’m just worried,” she frets. “We need every advantage here.”
“I agree. They’ll be here, just not yet, alright? Until then, we just need to hold on for as long as possible.”
“Fine.”
“By the way, has anyone seen Brilliant?”