Chapter 905 - Rising Sands pt 3 (Patreon)

Two chaps to catch us up for the week! I enjoyed writing this and fleshing out the kaarmodo a little bit. Fun fact, I actually lived in Indonesia for a while as a kid and I've always loved the komodo dragons. Hope you enjoyed!

Life without the Eldest to guide has been difficult for the Colony. They sleep, a deserved rest to be sure, and in the meantime we have had to adjust, to overcome the challenges that Pangera presents to us without our wisest councillor and most farseeing leader. It has been like growing up for the Colony, in many ways. No longer were we able to rely on someone to guide our destiny, instead we had to collectively decide it for ourselves. Perhaps this was the intention of the Eldest all along, but only know that they sleep are we truly able to break away from this dependence.

I hope they are proud of us for what we have done. I believe they will understand, when the time comes.

• Notes from      the personal writings of Historiant.

In a few scant minutes the kaarmodo and setsulah had gone to work, taking a commanding hold over the mana around them and drawing it in to form intricate weaves of magic. For every kaarmodo there were at least two bondservants, which meant each team contained at least fifteen minds, pooling their mental resources to craft the great siege spells that they would launch to destroy the budding garden of the mother tree.

It was a difficult spell and one that required a powerful collective to craft. The Old One did not join any of the teams, instead he observed the reaction amongst the ants as he worked with his setsulah to craft his own artillery spell. One of the many benefits that age brought was the means necessary to support a greater number of bond servants, and Rassan'tep had been particularly choosy in selecting his setsulah, each of them were powerful mana manipulators with their own specialities. What's more, they were excellent at cooperative spell casting, everything a kaarmodo could possibly ask for. He was exceptionally proud of them.

As for the ants, they didn't appear to have a strong reaction at all, which surprised him. There was almost no chance they were unaware of the spells being woven so close to them, most of the teams that had been formed were putting no effort at all into concealing their work,. As if daring the monsters to do something about it. As he watched, his vision enhanced, he could see the ants still stood at attention in neatly ordered rows.

It was fascinating to observe them. There were many varieties of ant in attendance. Different sizes, different shape, even different colouration. It was easy to determine the purpose of the larger ones, they had thick plating for their carapace, and large heads that were no doubt packed with muscle to enhance their bite strength. A melee or warrior class if ever he'd seen one. This only reinforced his opinion that a frontal charge was tantamount to suicide. One on one, he had little doubt he could crush one of these physical ants, but a hundred to one? Unlikely.

The smaller ant types were no doubt the more magical ones, mages of varying purposes. Against a single kaarmodo, he had no doubt the ants would be laughably outmatched, but that simply wasn't how a swarming insect operated. It mattered nothing if a kaarmodo was better one to one, they would never fight one to one. A single ant was helpless, a hundred thousand of them? A force to be recognised.

These ants were clearly intelligent, and strong, something that he hadn't seen before. It was a worrying development. If possible he did not want to enter an open conflict against them right now, the kingdom had more than enough on its plate fighting off the recurring waves and contesting for territory against the mother tree. There was no need to go looking for enemies.

The massive ant that postured in the lead of the horde caught his eye once more. Large, shiny and with a brightly burning core, there was little doubt that this monster was a powerful individual without any support, yet here it had support in measures. If he judged rightly the other monsters nearby, the only non-ants in the field, were likely to be pets. He could sense the connection somewhat vaguely between them. Another mystery.

The spells were ready and still there was little to sense from the ants. Perhaps they intended to allow the kaarmodo to succeed? Was the intention to demonstrate that they were not in alliance with the tree but would gather in force to defend their borders? Such a thing would be most welcome to the Old One, and ideal outcome.

[Launch,] he sent over the bridge.

At once seven points ignited in a fury of mana. Tremendous columns of flame formed that burned ever hotter at their cores as each of the kaarmodo stepped back from the blaze they had created. The fires drew down on themselves until they formed an impossibly bright core of pure white fire that seared the air until it crackled. Then, all at once, the superheated cores blasted into the air, arcing high as they blazed a trail through the scorched atmosphere of the third stratum.

The temperature skyrocketed and Rassan'tep basked in the heat as he watched to see what the ants would do. Would they continue to not act?

Before the arcing fireballs had reached halfway to their destination, the ants dropped the concealment they had placed around themselves to reveal that they had in fact been hard at work at the entire time. The Old One was impressed. Most of his attention had gone into working on his spell, it was true, but even so he hadn't seen so much a glimmer of what they'd been weaving. It turns out they were constructing an enormous shield, but due to the effort required to keep in hidden, it wasn't yet complete. As he watched a tremendous flood of mana began to sweep around the insect formation, being drawn in and woven at incredible speed as even more energy was pulled out of the monsters themselves and surrendered to the working.

[They are working as one mind,] Ammon'sil observed with wonder, [all of their efforts move as if guided by a single hand.]

[An incredible level of cooperation,] Rassan'tep observed. [Though not all are working on the one spell.]

It was difficult to see, but there were different spells being formed in various pockets around the formation, including by the big ant in the front. Soon these workings took shape and great spears of water were launched into the air, crashing into the fireballs with an explosive burst of steam and fury.

[Not nearly enough,] Ammon'sil said.

[They only intend to weaken them,] his master replied, [reduce the strength so the shield will hold. Look, they go again.]

More spears rose, then more as the ants churned them out as fast as they could manage it. The fireballs ate the water as if it were nothing, the concentrated heat melting them almost before they touched, yet even so, they began to shave away at the mana held within.

Then the large ant unleashed… something.

Even from a kilometre away, Rassan'tep felt a shiver creep across his scales as a deathly howl pierced the air. A sphere of dark purple rose into the sky, packed to bursting with a form of mana that he did not recognise, yet the air itself felt drawn into it, creating a wind that increased in speed the longer the spell hung in the air. When it made contact with a fireball, the sphere expanded rapidly to form a black void such that he had never seen before.

HOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWL.

That dreadful sound only grew more intense as the two spells collided with each other, the energy in both crackling and roiling as each sought to devour the other.

[What is that?] Rassan'tep wondered aloud across the bond.

[I know not, master, but I fear it,] came the reply.

Held in stasis as they fought each other, the kaarmodo was fascinated to see which would break first. He honed his mind to examine the conflicting energy more closely and what he saw shocked him. Ever so slightly, but with increasing speed, the fireball was beginning to break apart. At first, just a tendril broke off and swirled around the darkness before sinking into its core, but soon the tendril swelled until the fire roared around the black sphere as if screaming its death cry.

The energy within the fireball was being eaten! When the horrific sphere finally vanished, that fireball was no more, consumed whole.

He hadn't even realised that the other artillery spells had detonated against the ant shield, which had held. The garden was unharmed and the ants still stood in their silent ranks, unmoving.

They would not be able to destroy the garden, Rassan'tep realised. They did not have the strength to compete against what the ants had brought here today. He would need to convince the others to turn back, that further conflict would be futile, which would take some effort, but with age on his side, they would obey. No doubt their fragile pride had been stung by this failure, but perhaps they wouldn't underestimate this superficially simple monsters next time.

Before he undertook that task, however, there was something else he was curious about.

Without drawing on his bond, he weaved a mind bridge, taking great care to conceal his work as he extended it across the distance between the two armies and felt it connect to the massive ant at the forefront of their ranks.

[Ah… hello, Mr kaarmodo, sir?] the mind spoke to him in a hesitant fashion.

[My name is Rassan'tep, an Old One of the kaarmodo. I have but one question for you, if you would hear it.]

[As long as you don't intend to shoot those damn miniature suns at us again, sure thing, let me hear it.]

[Have you heard of a thing known as the Red Truth?]

[Ah, hell.]