Chrysalis

Chapter 1059: Treachery and the Price That Must Be Paid

My hope gleams in the darkness, a diamond shining in the night.

My hope is a builder, a shifter of earth and stone.

My hope is a seer, who glimpses that which is yet to come.

My hope is a speaker, their words know no boundaries.

My hope defends, protects and shields, a barrier between the light and the dark.

My hope bears the weight of the world upon their carapace, and controls that weight.

My hope sleeps, but will rise again in glory.

– Excerpt from ‘Prayers of the Faithful.’

That cake, seriously delicious. I’m pleasantly surprised by how nice it tasted, to be honest. I don’t know what I expected, whether my monstrous body would just reject tasty things, or if I lacked the ability to taste sweet. There’s been a distinct lack of it in my food thus far, I have to say!

It truly is shocking just how quickly you adjust to things. When I started out, the idea of eating Biomass was almost unbearably disgusting. Monster remains are not pleasant to eat, or look at, or smell, or generally be around in any capacity. After a while, though, it’s just what you eat, so you get used to it and move on.

Now, I’ve learned that, apparently, the Colony has a thriving baking industry! Not to mention this delicious tea!

All around the stadium, there are humans enjoying a cup and munching happily on a bikkie. Even more shocking, the ants above me on the dome are also enjoying a tea break. It’s a little more difficult to manage, since they’re upside down, but somehow they’ve managed it, deploying some sort of pulley system to manoeuvre the beverages and snacks across the roof.

Holy moly. To supply this entire stadium with baked goods and tea, just how many ants are dedicating themselves to the production of tea leaves and sugary treats?!

Should I be surprised, though…? Even on Earth, ants love sugar. In fact, there’s really only two things you need to feed an ant colony: protein, for the grubs and the queens, and sugar water, for hydration and energy. When I could afford it, I’d give my own pet nest a treat and let them have honey.

I haven’t thought of that colony in a long time…. I hope they’re doing alright.

Right now, I have another colony to take care of. Even better, I’m in it! When is this game going to start again?

And when are the Endless going to dig into their cake? Right now, they appear to be standing around it awkwardly.

Are they lactose intolerant? I hope not, I sent them that half as a gesture of goodwill, but I may have offended them by neglecting their dietary requirements!

Claws crossed that isn’t the case…. In fact, even if they can’t eat it, they may feel forced to since it was me that sent it over! That would be a disaster! I’d better check what’s going on over there, that way, I can gracefully head over and take the cake back, sparing them from an embarrassing public episode.

Let me see….

Hmmmm. Ah. Oh. Hmmmmm.

Interesting, to say the least. A devious stratagem, an underhanded method. I’ve been compromised, poisoned, and bamboozled. They tricked me with a tainted cake! I would never have expected a member of my family to break the rules looking for a way to win! I wouldn’t say that the Colony is honourable, per se, it’s more like they don’t think in such roundabout ways, they behave honourably almost by accident. Their path to a solution is almost always straightforward and open, whereas this….

The layers of deception create yet another, metaphorical cake, one baked with betrayal, and filled with chocolatey treacherousness.

I don’t actually feel any different, though, so either this poison hasn’t taken effect yet or I’m simply too huge for it to do anything. Regardless, the kid gloves are certainly off. If they want to break the rules, then I’m more than happy to oblige.

Time for the Eldest to teach a lesson….

~~~

“The Eldest knows now,” Solant stated.

“Are you sure?” Leonidant asked.

The general stared at the giant standing across the pitch from them. She could almost feel the seething energy boiling off that frame.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

~~~

“And we are back, ready for the second half to start!”

[The Stadium is absolutely buzzing with anticipation and I simply can’t wait. We had such a dramatic finish to the first half, and although I can’t quite bring myself to believe it, we may be about to see the Endless lose for the first time ever.]

“That’s the story, but I really don’t think many people will blame them, considering who they’re up against. It almost seems impossible that the Eldest would lose from this point, but if there is one team that I expect to surprise me, then it’s this one.”

[So true. The Eldest is on offence again and I can’t wait to see what they do.]

CRACK!

“I… I don’t believe it, they shattered the ball again!”

CLACK. CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.

[The Eldest is slamming their mandibles together with such power the noise is reverberating through the entire stadium! Come at me! The Eldest is demanding the Endless come and fight it out!]