Chapter 644 The prize

Tiny’s fists are a sight to behold. Tireless and dauntless, his hands flash out faster than the ant eye can see, each strike accompanied by a flash of light as fists of pure energy materialise and crash into his targets like trucks. As I watch he winds up and unleashes a devastating uppercut that starts at his feet and finishes above his head. An arc of light materialises from the fist and rises underneath a legionary soldier and lifts them with tremendous force to crash into the ceiling.

Holy heck! That had to hurt.

Despite the spectacular success of that swing, Tiny received numerous cuts and strikes during the wind up and recovery. He can’t afford to take much more damage! Get back you tin-cans! Get back!

Doom Chomp!

The intimidating jaws of dark energy gnash and bite at the swirling melee around us. It’s hard to penetrate the powerful armour of the Legion, but I know I manage to get a few good bites in here and there as I use my body as a living shield for Tiny. Invidia is doing all he can to distract the enemy and keep his ape charge standing, healing and shielding Tiny in a dizzying display of magical prowess. So far, it’s just enough to keep the big guy swinging, along with my own impressive diamond carapace absorbing it’s fair share of blows.

In fact, would it be fair to say that they are targeting me more than Tiny right now?!

A barrage of weapon strikes flash out of the darkness at me, carving gouges in my carapace and knocking my weight around. My nerves allow me to make precision, last second dodges that keep my legs attached to my body and protect my eyes from being punctured. The battlefield truly has descended into a complete mess, with fanatical ants literally throwing their bodies at the enemy, crawling over the roof and dropping onto the Legion from above.

More and more ants join the fray until the entire tunnel is just a seething mass of ants. Once the numbers get high enough, Tiny and I can finally relax, since there aren’t enough soldiers with a clear shot at us to cause significant issues. Once they realise they can’t claim the major prize, the enemy begin a fighting retreat. When they manage to group together, the Legion soldiers are adept at layering their shields and combining their strikes to sweep away a number of ants at once, giving themselves breathing room to try and free more of their allies.

I push forward hard in an attempt to stay on the front lines in order to protect my siblings, but there’s so darn many of them that I’d have to crush them in order to get through. After ten minutes of shoving and snapping whenever I can, I suddenly find myself alone in the field.

Did… did we win?

“FOR THE COLONY!”

“CHARGE!”

“GET ‘EM!”

The Colony has clearly not had enough of chomping on the Legion. The ants surge forward, hungry to extract their full measure of vengeance now that they finally have the upper mandible.

[Crinis! Block them! Don’t let the Colony pursue them!]

The Legion has been diligent in seizing our strongholds and bringing their line forward in unison. I’ve no doubt that if we chase them down the tunnel we’ll run into traps and reinforcements. If we aren’t careful, they’ll flip this victory into a defeat before we can blink!

The horde of ants rushes forward but the shadows deepen beyond black in front of them and a forest of tentacles rises from the floors. In the blink of an eye a forest of dark, writhing limbs have risen in front of them, blocking the path of the charge.

“Get back!” I call, “get back to our walls!”

With persistent calls and the odd THWACK! I manage to get the Colony turned around. I get that they’re excited but I sure as heck don’t want to lose any more of them. Indeed, the battlefield is littered with wounded and fallen ants. They may have managed to pile on and get within biting range of the Legion for a change, but that doesn’t change the fact that those armoured soldiers pack a ridiculous punch in a small package.

The healers are already out in full force, gathering up the wounded and providing emergency treatment. Nutritious Biomass is delivered to those in most need to help kick start the natural healing process and get them back on their feet faster. I ask Invidia to help out where he can as I wearily survey the battlefield. It was a short and sharp conflict, but I’m completely exhausted. I might actually need some torpor after that one.

I wander around and find Tiny slumped against the wall with a satisfied smile on his face and his body covered in wounds. I almost call Invidia back to take care of the ape but I stop myself when I realise that most of the injuries are already closed. Even so, he must have come close to losing all of his HP multiple times in that fight. I swear at one point I saw him with one arm barely hanging on. Even with Invidia in his back pocket, he still isn’t protected enough to make it out of engagements like this in one piece.

[You dumb gorilla,] I sigh at him, [fighting is good and all, but you need to make it out alive or it doesn’t count.]

[Harr,] he scoffs and then winces as his wounds flare up.

[You deserve that. Rest you big lug, I’ll try and get some food for you.]

Predictably, his eyes light up at the mention of food and he nods at me with vigour. Predictable.

“Quite the unexpected fight, Eldest.”

Gah! I didn’t even notice Wills creep up on me, I was so preoccupied.

“Don’t blame me,” I say, “I had nothing to do with it. Tiny decided he wanted to fight today.”

“Turns out it was a good thing that he did,” she says, “the real question I have though, is what we’re going to do with all of that.”

With a flick of her antennae, the scout indicates the two dozen or so suits of armour being dragged away towards our own walls.

“I can think of an ant who might want to take a look at those…”