by Ryan Hodgson
Ashblade chuckled. “Trust me. Even wounded and on the brink of death an Antlion is not any weaker than normal, and like you said he’s still green. He needs real experience.” Draxus looked displeased but nodded obediently.
Joel went with Kali and Revais to the weapon tent afterwards. Ashblade had told them to bring lots of explosives so Bryce came in after them to pack a couple of bags with them. Joel reluctantly grabbed one of the assault rifles and extra ammo clips. “Don’t worry. If anything gets too close just fill it full of lead,” Kali said in an attempt to assuage Joel’s fears. Joel nodded. She smiled and went back to her packing. Joel felt a little better knowing that she would be there to look after him.
After they packed their bags Joel and Revais were given a satchel full of explosives. “Don’t worry these are remote charges,” he said to them. He quickly showed them how to work it and what their blast radius was. They nodded then left with Kali. They met Draxus outside who was standing with Ashblade and the others were also there. “Alright men. Once again your mission is to take out the Queen if there is one. Otherwise just collapse as many tunnels as you can and get out of there. If they come after you then we’ll be forced to retreat south. Good luck!” He said and saluted. Joel and the others returned the salute and followed Draxus to the edge of the camp. The others gave them calls of encouragement and too, “Give ‘em hell!” Joel was nervous beyond belief. How could just four of them attack an entire colony and get away alive? He had a feeling of dread that something bad was going to happen.
***
The next day Elunduil and the others split up again. Elunduil went with Alicia to Cooper’s home while Tanis sought out Angurvadel for insight into the Light. Tim and Cerra went with him so that they too could practice their magic. Elunduil couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward as the two of them walked alone and wasn’t sure what to say. When they arrived at Cooper’s earthen and green hued home Alicia opened the door and they went inside. They heard shuffling of someone moving about and spied Cooper pulling out some books. “It’s good to see you Alicia, and you as well Elunduil!” Cooper said.
They sat at the table which was covered with books. “Now then Alicia I would like to continue where we left off the other day. As for Elunduil I think that I shall have you start with some basic anatomy lessons.” Cooper walked over to a stack of books near a window. He picked up one off the top that was dark green in color with gold Elvin runes emblazoned on the cover. “Here, peruse this book. It has the anatomical structures of the less complex creatures and their functions. Most of the creature’s names are in Elvin tongue but I added descriptions in your language to help.” Elunduil took the book and sat down in a chair at the table while Alicia sat with Cooper.
He spent the rest of the afternoon reading through the book Cooper had given him. Most of the creatures were small insects that bore a similar resemblance to insects from their world. There was even a carnivorous butterfly that preyed on smaller insects. He also noticed a pattern in the general anatomical structure of each insect such as where their eyes and hearts were. Every once in a while he tuned in to Cooper as he explained some diseases and how to deal with them using natural remedies.
He then went on to actually show Alicia how to mix and make various remedies for the next couple of hours. When they were done Alicia excused herself to the bathroom to clean up. Cooper busied himself with straightening up the room. Elunduil decided to return the book to its original place. After he put it away he looked at the mess still present. With a sigh he went and helped Cooper placing the materials away, and by the time they were done Alicia had come back into the room. They bade Cooper farewell and went to meet with the others before taking the transports back to Ragnarok.
On the ride back Tanis found himself sharing a ride with Maria and her friends. He was worn out from training so he didn’t have much to say to them. Maria spoke up and asked, “What happened with that corrupted place?” Tanis looked up. He gave them a brief summary of what had happened. How he had joined up with Elunduil and Tim to purge the area of the corruption. “So… you can use magic now?” she asked when he was done. Tanis gave a half nod.
“Sorta. I can channel something called The Light which is similar to magic. I haven’t really gotten a feel for how to use it when I want though,” he replied. They arrived in Ragnorak and Tanis joined with the others and they all returned back to earth and went home.
The next day Tanis returned with the others and once again went to Angurvadel. Cerra and Tim joined him and Maria and her friends show up as well as a few others. Tanis tried to do the same magic as the others but to no avail. He tried to recollect the feeling when he channeled the Light. He could feel it but he couldn’t come up with a good way to describe how he’d done it. “It is like listening to a voice,” Angurvadel said, shaking Tanis from his reverie. “You must find the voice of the Light and let it fill your mind. Only when you’ve figure out how to listen will you be able to channel the Light and use it. Perhaps meditating will help you?” Tanis nodded. He wasn’t sure why the elder didn’t say anything until today. Perhaps he wanted to see if Tanis could figure it out on his own? Either way he sat down and crossed his legs then shut his eyes.
While Tanis meditated Tim was having his own dilemma. He cast his staff away and turned towards a large boulder and held out a hand. Nothing happened. He picked up his staff, turned to the boulder and repeated the process. A large crack appeared in the boulder. He frowned. He’d never noticed this before since he kept his staff stored on him while using magic, but when he’d been trying a fancy staff twirl while trying to act cool it’d fallen out of his hands and the spell that he’d been about to use… stopped. Well sort of. The energy didn’t disperse or anything but he’d been unable to form the spell he wanted to use to crack the boulder with. The energy kept trying to take shape but it never seemed to be able to form. It just moved aimlessly like it was lost. Thinking back to when the orb had been broken he’d already recognized that the staff became a new conduit for him but he hadn’t thought further than that. “Having trouble Tim?” Angurvadel asked. Tim shook his head.
“No, I merely realized how dependent I am of this staff to help my magic.” The elf nodded. “Indeed. Your staff is like one of your arms. Losing it would be crippling.” Tim gulped. It was an ominous thought. He would have to take counter-measure against such an event. A sudden flash of light smashed into the boulder causing Tim and the elder to look about. Tanis was waving he hands. “I got it! Well sort of.” Angurvadel smiled and went to check on the other students as Tim thought of what he could do to augment his staff so that it would be harder to lose or break.
Suddenly a red-orange ball rolled past him, setting some poor girls shoe on fire when it touched it. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” called out a teen boy as he rushed past Tim and after the ball of lava. A cold blast of air from Cerra and Maria turned the orb to rock and it stopped rolling. “Ah, I should increase its heat resistance!” Tim said and went to work while the girl whose shoe had been burnt lobbed balls of water after the boy who’d made the lava ball.
Elunduil’s day proceeded the same as the day before. He still studied the simpler anatomy of bugs but there was one creature of particular interest to him. It was a giant spider. A creature that could grow to be the size of a bus not including the legs. Joel would burn it. He would burn the spider and everything with it… He let out a sigh. Was Joel okay wherever he was?
***
They’d travelled for two days without pause except to drink water. They’d eaten rations as they’d marched through the dunes. Thankfully they didn’t have to wear their armor and it was light enough that it could be carried on their backs. Joel was actually surprised that it didn’t tire him out within ten minutes. All of his training here had made him much stronger than before. The sun was hanging low in the sky. He estimated that it would be dark in about a half hour. The dune that they were currently walking up was massive. It rose hundreds of feet above everything
else around them and was like a mountain.
They had spent at least half of the day just walking up and by now they had almost reached the summit. Joel pulled out his flask of water and rose up his head to take a sip. In that brief few seconds he bumped into the person in front of him. “So-” Kali put up her fingers near his mouth to stop him. Sensing the situation Joel quietly stowed the flask and followed her up to Draxus and Revais who were… Oh. They had finally made it to the top. Joel and Kali peered over as well and were at loss for words.
What they saw for miles were massive holes in the sand. Each one was large enough to fit several fighter jets but the most prominent feature was the massive sinkhole of quicksand in the middle of everything. It had to be at least a couple of miles across. Dotted throughout this landscape were thousands of Antlions doing whatever their assigned task was. Draxus motioned for them to back up. Once they were behind the lip he spoke, “Well we’ve got one hell of a job ahead of us. However, with the sun going down were going to be at a disadvantage, so we’ll climb back down a bit, take a rest, and strike them just before dawn.” Joel and the others nodded and they started their climb down. After Draxus felt that they reached a safe distance they stopped and set up a temporary camp. Well it wasn’t really much more than them putting their sacks down and rolling out sleeping bags. They would take turns resting and in the morning they would strike. Joel couldn’t sleep even though their journey had been exhausting. Thankfully sitting down for awhile let his body recover. Joel switched with Revais not too long after that and they would continue to rotate until morning arrived.
Chapter 11
Descent into Madness
The time is now. Joel and the others suit up into their black combat armor and ascend the hill. It is still dark out but part the plan is that they would reach one of the tunnels just as the sun starts to rise. Since Joel is a worse shot than the others he is stuck carrying the bulk of the explosives, however the others have some on them just in case they got separated. The anticipation that Joel has been feeling all night is now reaching its peak as they crest the dune. They can just barely make out the nest in front of them as the black night gradually becomes a deep blue. Knowing that they have no time to waste they begin to jog down into the antlion nest. Since the nest was like a giant bowl it would take a bit longer for the shadows of night to recede. Draxus steers them to the closest tunnel that will lead them into the nest.
Several minutes later Joel can clearly see the outline of the tunnel entrance ahead. The sky above them is starting to become a light blue. A piercing screech rends through the air off to their right. “Move it!” Draxus shouts and breaks into a sprint. Joel and the others follow suit and suddenly this is a race. Judging by the sound of the creature’s footsteps and the roars the antlions bearing down on them they will collide with them before they reach the tunnel! Joel grits his teeth and pushes his legs to go faster. He ignores the burning and strain on his muscles and concentrates on getting to the tunnel.
Draxus turns with his assault rifle and points towards the antlions. He opens fire as he runs. Revais and Kali do the same and dozens of pinpricks of heat and light fly through the air at the swarm. There are cries of pain as some of the creatures fell over but the horde didn’t slow. Joel looks ahead and sees that they are nearly there. Draxus makes it into the tunnel first with the others a moment behind him. They turn and open fire on the swarm. Draxus pauses to throw one of the explosives at the horde and when they pass over it he hit the trigger and it detonates. A large fireball throws several of the grotesque creatures through the air and tears through the ones that are closest to the blast. “Damn! That barely slowed them down!” Draxus swears as they retreat further into the tunnel. Joel raises his gun and fires as Draxus reloads. Now that they are this close even he will have a hard time missing.
Draxus throws his explosives alongside the walls of the tunnel as they go further in. His plan is to blow it up and cave in the tunnel behind them. “There’s a split in the path!” Kali calls out. Draxus looks back for a moment. “To the right!” he shouts as he shoots at the swarm. He throws the last explosive on the ground and runs to the split. Joel is right on his heels. The Antlions are within less than twenty feet. Draxus knows that they can’t hold off the swarm and get into the branching tunnel before they are overrun unless he detonates the explosives! Without hesitation he hits the switch in his hand. “Dive!” he yells to Joel as the charges detonate. They jump into the air as the shockwave hit them. The walls begin to crumble and the weight of the sand around the tunnel fall down as the tunnel collapses. Draxus realizes that the explosives are more effective than he thinks as everything around him begins to cave in.
He pulls Joel to his feet and they run. “Go! Keep going!” he yells to Kali and Revais who turn and run. As the world around them rumbles and shake they keep running until finally the tunnel stops collapsing. “That was close,” Draxus said as he caught his breath. “Is everyone still here?” he asked and looked over the group. He realized that someone was missing and turned around. Did Joel get caught in the sand? “What happened to Joel?” Revais asked. Draxus didn’t answer as he dug at the sand. Blast! Joel had been right behind him! Revais and Kali joined Draxus and shoveled the sand with their hands. Several minutes later they stopped. “The antlions are going to find us if we stick around much longer. We have to complete the mission,” Draxus said dryly. Revais and Kali looked away in frustration but they knew he was right. If they didn’t pull this off then everyone else would get overrun. They reluctantly marched down the tunnel and into the depths of the nest.
Little did Draxus and the others realize that Joel had been forced to run down the other tunnel as it collapsed. He’d just barely made it and was currently gathering his wits. “Okay, Joel no need to be worried. You’re just alone in the dark with crazy bugs that want to eat you!” he said into the darkness. He then looked down at his satchel of explosives. A crazy grin crossed his face. “Oh! We’re going to have some fun! Muhahaha!” he cackled evilly and got up. He pulled out one of the charges and placed it on the wall. He walked down the tunnel several hundred feet and put another one, and then another a bit later. He was going to plant every single one of these explosives and collapse the entire tunnel system if he could!
As Joel continued down the tunnels he hummed, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” Something about the darkness called to him. He felt his senses stretch out into the dark far better than he normally could. His ears perked up as he heard the sound of something approach in the distance. He could tell by the footfalls that it wasn’t human. He drew his assault rifle to his chested and waited patiently, like a predator that’s found its next prey. He slowly counted down as the sound got closer. 3… 2… 1… He snaps up like a spear being thrown and shoots a hail of bullets at his target. A few moments later and the creature’s bullet riddled corpse oozed black blood into the sand. Joel chuckled gleefully and continued his journey. Something was telling him that he needed to go deeper into the nest. Somewhere below him must be where the Queen made her lair.
Over an hour and several dead Antlion’s later Joel finally felt like he was getting close to his destination. He couldn’t remember how long ago it had been since he’d run out of ammo but the last few Antlions he’d fought had tasted his blade. He was glad Ashblade had stressed that he bring the sword despite the long journey. His eyes had managed to grow used enough to the darkness that he could tell where the walls where, and right now he came to a tri-split. “Hm? I wonder which way I should go. Which way will lead me to more creatures to slaughter?” He was about to go down the middle tunnel but he heard something from the right tunnel. It was barely audible but he could just make out gun fire. “To the right I go then!” he said excitedly and rushed down the tunnel. The tunnel slanted downward as he traversed it and the further he went the louder the sounds got. He made sure to place more explosives on the walls as he hurried along.
When he reached the end of the tunnel he saw lights
skittering across the body of a grotesque figure. Towering over him at nearly two stories tall is a creature with large pincers and a lion’s mane. The long spindly legs that protrude from the creature’s swollen abdomen are covered with thin, long hairs. Most of the body is buried under a large mound of sand in the middle of the room. Joel concludes that this must be the Queen. Shouts from across the way bring him back to his senses. Right. His comrades are fighting. He looks around and sees that they are alone with the Queen, for now. The soldier Antlions are bound to be on their way to defend their Queen.
Knowing that it will be suicide to charge the Queen with a sword Joel gets within throwing distance and tosses a hand grenade at the Queen. When it lands by her body it detonates and a loud “boom” shakes the room as well as releasing a blinding light. Joel hears shouting as someone pointed a light in his direction. He waves a hand back. The Queen looses a horrible screech and dives into the sands. Joel throws his head about as he follows the noise of the Queen as she burrows through the sand. Judging by where the rumbles are coming from the Queen is… heading for his comrades!
He starts running to them as the Queen burst forth from the sand. He hears an anguished voice call out and Joel can just make out the Queen’s head shaking back and forth. A chill runs through his spine as he realizes that someone has been caught by the Queen’s jaws. Not thinking he dashes through the sand to help. Thanks to his training he was used to running on sand. A surge of red-hot fury rises in him and he roars angrily as he plunges his sword into the Queen’s body. The Queen jerks away and the sword is pulled out of his grasp as the Queen flails. Whoever is in the Queen’s mouth is dropped to the ground. The Queen has a new target.