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AR Chapter 347
🕑 Added 2025-03-18 19:27:44 +0000 UTC[Joral POV]
The light of morning woke him, and Joral rolled over. He’d been forced to rest last night, pulled back from the nests and pushed into the sands of a bath by several of his mates, where he was then scrubbed clean of the caked on ant guts. Though he’d known that he was absolutely filthy, the worthless creatures simply wouldn’t listen to him, and he didn’t mind being covered in their remnants. He’d accepted the help, cleanliness, and rest, though.
Blinking his eyes roughly, Joral groaned to himself. Sheck stirred at that, but Joral couldn’t bring himself to mind too much about that. Instead, he thought more deeply about what to do about the damned ants. Wherever he went, he could calm them enough to keep them from tearing everything nearby to shreds, but as soon as he left, their insanity resumed and climbed to a fever pitch. There weren’t enough Kou’Tal in the Empire to calm the miles and miles worth of ants that, now that they’d been well and truly angered, continued pouring out of the mountain as if the entire damned thing was made of them.
But what controlled the ants? What drove them to such continuous violence and rage? Joral stood and walked out of the small lean-to he and his mates had claimed. The city’s construction was progressing, though more and more slowly as more and more of the Empire’s workforce was made to work on subjugating, or at least staving off the advances of, the ants. The grand plans of sweeping spires and beautiful buildings were bogged down by the insidious, permanent presence of the ants. Instead of plans for the future and laying and tending to eggs, at least four out of five keelish were sent to work on the ant extermination.
“Stay with us.” Sheck murmured as she woke up. She looked up at him and Joral didn’t hide the grin that her sleepy voice gave him. “Let others take care of the problems today.”
“No, I can’t. You know that.” He answered, nuzzling at the base of her skull and gently pushing her to lay back down. She whined a little in the back of her throat, but she quickly fell back and snuggled into the warm space he’d left behind. Joral nodded his head happily as he walked out of their little home and walked towards the herds. He knew that there were other things that needed his attention, that the herds had been sufficiently domesticated that the touch of a Kou’Tal was no longer necessary. Even so, he enjoyed the brief moments he could steal with the creatures.
“Herdmaster.” Greeted the guards at the gate. Joral didn’t quite remember their names, as every experienced and capable guard had been pulled away to deal with one of the dozens of infestations of the ants.
Joral didn’t need to respond as he strode past, but he appreciated their recognition of him. Several days ago, he’d been forced to knock an ignorant keelish around when they’d challenged his place, and though he might have welcomed the challenge in a less exhausting time, now, it was just a hindrance and annoyance. How that fool had managed to miss the fact that he was a Keel was just a testament to how little he deserved mercy.
The lead hyena of the pack interrupted his thoughts as she nuzzled into his chest. Joral didn’t care to name the herds, but he did recognize them as they all came closer.
“Hello there.” He murmured to her as he scratched at her ear. The rest of the pack of hyenas pressed in close to him, begging for treats, but he didn’t feed them. They’d receive their meals when it was time, and he wasn’t their keeper, not any more. Joral walked through the assembled hyenas and out of the designated “predator” section of the herds’ stables, then the oxfiends, and finally the axebeaks and goats. So many creatures held here, and they were suffering from being kept back from grazing and moving as much as they should. That was probably the most frustrating of the effects from the ants’ surge in presence. They provided a steady source of food for the Empire, so most considered them to be a boon, or at least a resource to exploit. But Joral saw the effects from their presence on the herds.
With a sigh, Joral stood and walked away from the creatures, though they all seemed to want him to stay with them. He was a source of peace for them, but that same peace didn’t come to the ants, not longer term. What would it be, though? Why was it that they weren’t so influenced by his magic as the others were?
Joral resolved himself and walked out. He needed to find out what spurred the ants on. There had to be more than mindless aggression, surely. What would they care about? Questions and more swirled through Jorals mind as he ran through the mountains towards the western border, the site of the greatest conflict with the ants. Maybe there were just more of them there than in other places, but whatever the reason was, Joral heard the shrieked commands and hissed curses long before he saw the pit where the bulk of the battle took place.
When he stepped close, Joral laid eyes on the frustratingly familiar sight of the battle against the ants. Thousands of chitinous bodies swelled like a wave as they pushed forward out of the hole that they were constantly expanding and excavating. The sight of their shiny black bodies was both revolting and boring by now, as they sent themselves into the grinder that was the keelish forces. Their mandibles snapped in an eerie, staccato drumbeat behind the calls of keelish commands. The keelish, mostly khatif at this point, shredded dozens of ants every second, tossing their bodies out of the way. Some were held back as rations, but many more were hurled towards those clambering out of the hole, hoping to slow the attack even a little.
“On the north, prepare to push in in three, two, one, PUSH!” Took’s voice carried over the assembled keelish, and they moved in unison, as if they were just fingers on her hand. There, on the north side, Joral saw the modest arsenal of weapons that Ytte and some of her subordinates had created, the long sticks tipped with sharpened stone serving to hold back many of the ants while those closer tore the creatures to pieces with fang and claw. The marching keelish speared through the ants, pushing back the line almost all the way to the edge of the colony’s exit.
The ants pushed to surround the keelish, but Took had prepared another two teams to smash in on the disoriented and distracted ants, and the lines all pushed in deeper and deeper, each one staggered just enough to confuse the ants and draw their attention to the flanks of those who had just pushed past them. Within two minutes, the keelish had established a firm perimeter, keeping the ants from leveraging their greater numbers, and there were hundreds of ant bodies left in their wake.
“Just in time.” Took said as Joral approached. “Are you ready yet for your work to begin?”
“Of course.” Joral responded with a sigh. “Do we have any news about when they’ll be subjugated?”
Took merely cocked her head and smirked in response and Joral hung his head. “I thought that would be the case. I’ll see what I can do.”
Joral extended his presence, his mind stilling the ants and weakening their rage. He felt their emotions, simple as they were, and pulled up on their understanding while quashing the anger. It wasn’t immediate, but their struggles to take more land were pushed down, and the ants instead focused on firming up their defensive lines and wandering back and forth. Joral continued to enforce a sense of calm on the ants as they pressed in, and he gritted his teeth. How could they find a permanent solution to this? And when would the True Alpha be back to help?
Comments
Migos
Really looking forward to the next Ashlani pov. Finally there is a good opportunity for growth in his leadership skills. Although he was the swarm alpha, he felt more like a guide than a true leader. Really looking forward how not having sybil do everything for him, cuz it was boring, will change his perspective and competence.
No_Creative_Name
Ugh. Patreon's gone through some updates and they're being stupid. I'll edit it. I didn't realize when I was uploading it.
inkaral
Huh. Why is the entire chapter bold?
