Chapter 536: 536

“Why did I think this was a good idea?”

“I have to say, Eldest, I’m not entirely sure . I wasn’t surprised when you suggested it though . “

“I get the feeling that’s almost an insult, Propellant… . “

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Eldest . My respect for you knows no bounds . “

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not anymore . “

“What’s sarcastic mean?”

…

“I’m starting to think that you and the others need another round of training . It’ll take care of this poor attitude I’m starting to detect . “

“Ah, no . I mean . Please . We are… far too busy, Eldest . “

“I suppose that’s true . You guys have it rough, what with all the expectations that are put on you . I really appreciate all the work that you do . “

“We do what we must so that the Colony will thrive . “

“As do we all I suppose… You’d better head on back now, Propellant . It won’t be long until they arrive . “

“Good luck, Eldest . Don’t forget the contingency plans and reserves . “

Heh . As if I’m going to use them .

“If you don’t call on us, we’ll probably run out on our own and get killed . “

Dammit .

“Did you put Leeroy in charge or something?!”

“Of course not, but we could . “

More training is definitely on the cards for the council . Especially Leeroy . That damn fool of ant is nothing but a headache and now the others are starting to weaponize her suicidal tendencies against me . They know I can’t allow that moronic ant to get herself, or others, killed . At the same time, they know I’ll never allow another ant to put themselves in danger in order to save me . So they’re manipulating me into ensuring that I won’t refuse to bring out the reinforcements in case something does go wrong .

Haaa . It’s hard being an authority figure in a group of such self-sacrificing creatures . Nobody is willing to take a step back, especially when the stakes are high . In fact, the higher the stakes, the more eager they become to throw themselves in the fire .

“Fine . If I need help, I’ll ask for it . Okay?”

Seemingly satisfied, the mage turns and dashes up the tunnel to re-join the others . Which leaves me and my pets to face the oncoming Golgari . Not that we intend to fight them, naturally . It might come to that, but only in the very worst of circumstances . The lack of scent trails did seem to mess with the trackers hunting us, but only for a time . The guys with the pets no longer go out to scout nearly as often, seemingly relegated to a minor role as the enemy relies on some other method to track us .

They weren’t tracking the hostages, we’d managed to establish that . When the two Shapers were shifted to another tunnel, the Golgari showed no sign of shifting from the path of the Colony . We next checked if Jim or Sarah were being tracked but they showed no reaction to the two of them either . Now it was time to see if it was me they were after . The only way to do that was to dangle myself like a juicy worm down a side tunnel as the Colony continued on their merry way .

Now here we are, my pets and I, waiting to see if the Golgari will divert themselves to follow me, or follow the rest of the ants . Once again the stealth skill comes into play as I wait for the enemy to approach, and they do, at their own steady pace . The procession is mostly unchanged from the last time I saw it, the various members in the same positions . I haven’t seen a supply train yet but I presume it must be toward the back . I can’t imagine all these massive humanoids are going to march this far on an empty stomach .

Oh, here we go . Now we come to it . They reach the divide in the tunnel not a hundred metres away from where I hide and come to a stop . It’s a little odd to see the enemy in this way, stretching, chatting and working kinks out of their backs as they wait for a decision to be made . I can see where the conferring is taking place . The armoured figures in the centre of the column are discussing quite animatedly . It’s hard to make out this far away, but the fact that something is being considered down there is clear .

Perhaps they do know where I am… That’s… not a good thing . Not good at all . After a few minutes of waiting, the decision of the column becomes clear . Surprisingly, they split . A small party of fifteen breaks off to move down the tunnel towards me whilst the others continue on their path, unerringly following the colony as they’ve done all this time . Unfortunately for me, it looks like quite a few beefy characters are heading my way . It’ll get messy if we wait much longer .

[Come on gang . Let’s get the heck out of here . ]

Creeping carefully, we retreat down the tunnel, trying to stay out of sight . But something doesn’t quite seem right . These Golgari are moving swiftly . Way too swiftly . In fact… aren’t they just charging?!

[Forget the sneaking! Book it!]

No longer bothering to try and hide our presence, we start sprinting down the tunnel in a mad dash! Behind, the Golgari see us and pick up their own pace .

Dammit! Not only did they know which direction I was in, they even knew I was close! How!? There must be a spell or something of the like on me . When and how they put it on me doesn’t matter now . The only thing that matters now, is do I turn and fight? Or try to flee? Should I bring the Colony in to be part of the ambush? There’s a chance we can overwhelm these guys and thin the column that hunts us . I need to get a look and see who’s come to fight me .

I risk a slight turn to bring the sprinting fighters into my view . Oh yeah, they’ve brought out the big guns . Several of those huge monsters, and even one of the armoured figures . I’m not a fan of this at all! Looks like some Shapers have come also… In fact… they look a touch familiar…