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AR Chapter 444
🕑 Added 2025-09-15 06:02:03 +0000 UTCThis is me making up for a missed chapter last week. Should be posting like normal tomorrow!
A part of me mentally noted the tone with which the ants invited me in. The formality, the gravitas with which they mentioned the “youngmother“ spoke of their near worship of the ant that I’d only been granted an audience with after months of deliberation. I turned and gestured for Joral and Sybil to accompany me as I strode forward to speak with my guest. That a part of me rankled at the treatment didn’t matter. My useless pride could silence itself for now, there was a relationship to forge. The Royals obviously disliked my insistence of having more of my people accompany me into the chamber that I would be speaking with their representative, but they backed down before too long. After all, if we three wouldn’t be allowed into the place that they had prepared under my feet while surrounded by thousands of their number, there was no possibility for dialogue. Explaining as much to the somewhat simple–minded ants was difficult, but once we succeeded at doing so, we descended.
It was strange as, after so long of living on the surface, I didn’t frequently use my thermal vision anymore. I was hardly ever in the dark these days, and when I was, it was under the light of stars and the moon which illuminated things clearly. At least, enough that with my superhumanly upgraded eyes, I could see clearly. Underground, there was nothing shedding any light, and as the last of the light from the suns up above faded to blackness, I blinked once and felt my perception shift. I relied more consciously on [Tremorsense] than before, and the overwhelming darkness shifted to cool blues while my two companions flared a hot red. The ants generated a small amount of warmth themselves, but were only a muted yellow instead of shedding any notable amount of heat. Between my two senses, I could feel the steps of hundreds of feet all around me, each stilling as I grew close, closer to this creature they treasured so highly.
Follow me.
The royal ants said nothing more as they led the way deeper into the colony, the guards and soldiers falling in around us as we went.
“We should send for more Keel to accompany us.” Sybil stated as she looked at the growing number of our escorts. “You are too important to risk here, and more bodies will permit you to escape with a greater surety.”
“That’s not going to happen.” I clacked my teeth together in emphasis. “We’ve already established that my magic is particularly effective against them, and you ought to remember how me using it in an enclosed space like this ends. I can control and guarantee our escape.”
“Joral, kindly forget what you are about to hear.”
“Of course, Zaaktifi.“
“Ashlani, you are being a prideful fool. I will not argue further, but note that I see this choice as foolish.”
“Duly noted, my mate. I disagree, but it seems we are here.”
As I responded, I felt [Tremorsense] connecting into a nearby chamber where thousands of feet were constantly shifting back and forth around a small plinth. As we showed in, I was unsurprised to see the ants on every wall as well as the roof, their eyes and bodies trained towards us as we entered. The smell of their pheromones was almost blinding. In fact, the odor was so strong in the enclosed space that I could feel the surge of what was probably their anxiety as the scent grew stronger and made my eyes water. I flicked the protective inner eyelids over my eyes, realizing that it effectively didn’t dull my perception at all as I did so. Sure that my two companions would be capable of figuring that out themselves, I took two steps forward, Sybil staying directly on my right flank while Joral was on my left.
“Should I speak or wait for the youngmother to address me herself? I appreciate you meeting with us, but know that I too am a sovereign, and deserve requisite respect and treatment.”
My words echoed in the chamber, the ants shifting once more in response to the vibrations as they filled the air. I looked at my companions and the royals, getting no answers, but it wasn’t long before something else made itself known to me.
The youngmother’s mind's touch was stronger and more independently defined than the other royals I’d “spoken” with. I couldn’t pick any single one of the royals out of the crowd, even were they to speak with me, yet I understood that the youngmother had a stronger ego and sense of self than even the royals from the first touch of her mind. Her title being youngmother had me question whether she was a mother to the young or a mother that was young, and if it was the second, what further changes could I find in contacting a mother or grandmother? What of the queen herself?
Greetings. I was told that your name is Ashy, but I suspect that the little ones were unable to remember your name as it is intended to be stated. Please forgive them, they are trying their best. Now, as you have been no doubt introduced, I am a youngmother.
“Forgive me, my impudence,“ Sybil was the first to speak, letting me realize that the youngmother was connecting her mind with all three of us at the same time, “ but am I also to be called a youngmother? I have children.”
Oh, you have little ones? How many batches have you laid?
As she said as much, the youngmother finally revealed herself somewhat. Her face was different from any of the other ants that we’ve seen. The royals that I’ve seen were smaller in stature than most of the other ants that fought mindlessly in the royals’ absence, though their heads seemed a little larger than the others. When I saw the leader from the country that thrived underfoot, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to see, but it wasn’t what I got, whatever it was. A face with mandibles so small as to be forgettable was followed by two legs, pulling forward a bulbous thorax and abdomen behind where four more legs struggled to support the fattened body parts. The massive creature stood at least four and a half feet tall, quite a bit taller than any of the rest of its number, even the tallest soldiers we saw on the surface, though other, larger specimens stood beside the insect. It drew its antennae through the crooks of its front forelegs as it observed us with unblinking eyes.
The other ants that surrounded her so completely swarmed back forward and gently pulled her back into the protection of their bodies, and I got the distinct impression that she was trying to explain to them that they were being overbearing, but that thought was a fleeting one.
I’m told that being a youngmother for you surface creatures is different from within the Colonies. You are a mother, but you are not the leader, that is correct?
“Yes, the one who spoke is the leader. His name is Ashlani, titled the Zaaktif of the new Empire of the Saharliard.”
Very well! Then I shall speak with you, Zaaktif Ashlani. I’m told you wish to negotiate in order to serve the true queen. Give me your terms.
Comments
No_Creative_Name
Edited. Thanks!
Veldorn
"A part of me mentally noted the in which the ants invited me in." the tone? Missing word here.
