“WE ARE BATHED IN HER BENEVOLENT LIGHT!”
“WE SEEK!”
“WHERE SHE HAS LED, WE SHALL FOLLOW!”
“WE SEEK!”
“ETERNAL REST! ETERNAL GLORY! IT IS NOW HERS! SOON, IT WILL BE OURS!”
“WE SEEK!”
The column of Immortals continued to march through the ranks of ants who had parted for them. Towards the front of their formation, the Reliquary of Eternal Rest was borne upon their backs, its sacred smokes infused with pheromonal messages of hope and comfort.
“Death is near! Glory to the Colony! The end has come! Death is near!”
The waves of pheromones rolled over the ants to either side, who rolled their antennae and clacked their mandibles, unimpressed.
Leeroy continued to exhort her followers all the way to the head of the column. By the time they reached the end of the bridge, the Immortals had been whipped into a frenzy, their hearts surging with devotion to the Colony and eyes ablaze with a desperate need to lay down their lives.
The Reliquary had a multiplicative effect on the eagerness of the Immortals. They were so eager to fly into battle their armour rattled on their backs.
Of course, it wasn’t possible. The bridge hadn’t been finished yet.
The steel clad column came to a halt with surprising discipline and the Immortals sat, lowering their bodies down to rest, though, sadly for them, not permanently.
With their shock troops in position, the Colony once more got to work extending the bridge. Earth magic churned once again as thousands of minds linked together to work the energy that suffused the air. The bombardment continued as they worked, but it had become clear that the ka’armodo lacked the firepower to break the Colony’s defences.
The bridge inevitably completed its journey, connecting to the termite mountain and terminating on the shore. The ants looked out over the unbroken fields of white fungus, but there was no sign of their enemy.
Which meant it was fire time.
Leading the fire mages, an ecstatic, almost rapturous Propellant stepped forward.
“Ant mages! Prepare to burn! Burn it all! ALL OF IT TO THE GROUND! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Fire exploded in all directions, setting the fungal forest ablaze. Huge orbs of pure blue flame were lobbed further up the mountain, starting spot fires that rapidly spread. In a matter of moments a raging inferno blazed across the mountain.
The Immortals braced themselves, waiting for any response from the termites, but none was forthcoming. Which suited Propellant just fine.
“More fire! MORE! IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL!” she raged as she launched more and more flaming missiles deeper into enemy territory.
For over an hour the fire burned, sweeping over the fungus with breathtaking speed. Pillars of flame roared dozens of metres into the air, the ashes burning so hot they started new fires wherever they landed. When the fuel had burned itself out, all that remained was charred ground that still sizzled with remembered heat. In the distance, the smoke still billowed up into the sky, the fungus burning over the horizon.
But the silence was deafening. The Colony had expected to see the enemy boiling out of their tunnels to fight, filled with rage and ready to defend their precious garden. Instead, the mighty column of ants looked out over a barren field, devoid of the foe they sought.
Leeroy stepped forward.
“Let’s go,” she said.
Determined, the Immortals began to march. With luck, none of them would return. The Reliquary of Eternal Rest marched with them, the peaceful gaze of Cardigant upon their every step.
With their heavily armoured shock troops in the lead, the rest of the army followed behind, flowing over the landscape like a natural disaster. The formation continued to be a tight column, the troops on high alert. This was not friendly territory; the ground did not belong to them.
Every lump of dirt, every rock, every smouldering tree could conceal a tunnel or cavern filled with termites. Mages extended their senses as far as they could, even going so far as to harden the ground beneath them as they marched.
Still, the termites did not emerge.
The ka’armodo clearly held their charges on a tight leash. They would hold their monstrous army at bay until the ants had been drawn as far forward as possible.
Despite knowing this, the Colony advanced. Their resolution did not waver. They would see the enemy destroyed here today, regardless of the tricks and stratagems. When the battle was done, one insect would reign supreme.
Tense and alert, the army marched all the way to the mouth of the termite nest itself. Although repairs had been made, signs of the damage caused by the Eldest could still be seen, the horrific power that they had unleashed had scarred the mountain itself.
It was here that the enemy finally made themselves known.
Massed ranks of termites, thousands upon thousands, filled the wide nest entrance. Blind faces and long mandibles rose high as the ants came close enough for them to scent.
On both sides the rage began to build, mandibles clacked with piercing force, the sound echoing off the rock. Neither side could tolerate the other. Neither side would tolerate the other.
When they were a kilometre apart, the Colony came to a halt, the long narrow column beginning to redeploy. Mages continued to firm up the ground and sense whatever they could of the tunnels beneath.
Results were sketchy, they weren’t able to detect anything clearly. The ka’armodo had been busy, working against them to ensure they wouldn’t know where the surprise attack would come.
No matter, this was also within their expectations. In this, the final confrontation, nothing had been left to chance!
The two armies faced each other across the open ground. The ants quivered with excitement, ready to unleash their wrath upon the termite foe.
At the head of the column, the Immortals quivered even more intently, to the point their armour rattled against that of the soldier standing next to them. The constant drum beat of metal on metal filled the air, a deafening din that set every antenna on the mountain to quivering.
“Damn it, Leeroy! Knock it off!” the Eldest complained.
Having completely lost focus at this point, the leader of the steel column took that as instructions to charge.
“LEEEEEEEEROY!” she screamed.
