Solant knew, of course she knew, how could she not? But the task before her didn’t change, no matter what was going on behind her back.
“Focus your fire forwards! Don’t pay any attention to what’s going on behind! Hold the line!”
The fighting was still intense, though it had slackened, thankfully.
“Are you sure, general? Things are… rather dire back there.”
“Leonidant, I don’t care if the fortress collapses behind us, we will achieve victory here, in this tunnel, at this chokepoint!”
“But the fortress may well have fallen behind us, Solant! We don’t know what’s going on back there!”
For over an hour, reports had flooded to those fighting on the front that any and all communication with the central planning chamber had been lost. The fighters here in the tunnel had been cut off from central command completely.
That didn’t bother Solant so much, she had a job to do, as did every other ant here, and if there was a problem in the nest, that was for others to deal with. The Eldest was back there, for The Queen’s sake! If the Eldest couldn’t deal with it, she assuredly couldn’t.
And so, the fight had gone on.
Then the reports had changed. Not only was the central command chamber enshrouded in darkness, but the shadows were advancing down the tunnels.
Solant had glared at the scout and told her to get back to fighting.
“Rotate!” she demanded, and then twitched when she realised that the next line of soldiers was gone. There was no one to rotate forward.
Instead, all that lay behind her was a black wall of shifting shadows.
“Well… that’s not ideal,” she muttered.
“Yeah, don’t stress about it,” came a familiar scent, followed by the giant head of the Eldest. “You did a good job holding the line. Well done.”
She was pleased for the compliment, but felt it wasn’t deserved.
“We only held because the number of monsters encroaching on our position diminished significantly. If it weren’t for that, we would have… lost.”
The Eldest tapped her on the head with an antenna.
“Oi. Don’t go getting into your head or anything. I’m the one who arranged that,” the Eldest pointed a leg at the darkness behind them, “and I’m also the one who arranged that,” next they pointed a leg forward into the tunnel.
“I’m… not sure what you mean.”
“Give it a second, they’ll be here in a minute.”
The two waited, the Eldest swatting the occasional monster that came down the tunnel as the remaining troops, those not swallowed by the void, rested and healed themselves.
Soon enough, they saw a different type of movement down the tunnel, as a mix of large and small tree-people came into sight. The bruan’chii?
“I called in a favour from that stupid tree to cover the nest for us while everyone catches up on their sleep,” the Eldest said, waving at the newcomers.
A large specimen of a tree waved back before they turned and settled in to defend the tunnel.
“Really nice to have a group like them on our side, even if their mother is a bit of a jerk. Alright, they’ll take things from here, you lot can come with me.”
“What? Where are we going, Eldest?” Leonidant asked, a little worried.
“What do you mean? Straight into this infinite void of darkness and shadow, of course!”
“What?!”
“Relax already. You guys have been diligent in making sure you hit your rest periods on time, right?”
“Of course,” Solant replied, serious. “We were taught to always get proper rest in the Antcademy.”
“And it’s a good idea,” the Eldest approved, “if you don’t get enough rest, if you don’t take proper care of yourself, then your work gets sloppy and all the ants around have to pick up the slack. Extra work for everyone. When too many ants are working exhausted, the mistakes snowball and we end up right in the… plops, I suppose.”
In short order, the giant ant had rounded everyone up and cheerfully led them into the gently shifting void.
“Now, unlike you well behaved members of the Colony, there are those who routinely push the limits, who skip a torpor period here and there, or go for multiple days without resting. When that happens, someone needs to make them see the error of their ways and ensure they get a good night's sleep.”
“Is that what’s happening here?” Solant asked shrewdly.
The Eldest laughed.
“Yes indeed. The entire fortress is getting put into torpor. Way too many ants not doing the right thing. The whole place could have collapsed around us.”
They continued to travel through the darkness, huddled together around the hulking form of the Eldest in their midst. Then, suddenly, shockingly, they were through it, emerging out the other side into the central planning chamber, freed from the shadows.
Though not entirely, tendrils of the dark mist still curled and drifted through the air, smothering the light and deepening the shade. Inside, Solant saw something unbelievable taking place. Ants were everywhere, crawling over every surface, on the room, on the walls, but even more than those ants who were moving, were those who were not.
Row, upon row, upon row of neat beds formed of shaped stone filled the space, each occupied by a member of the Colony, adrift in torpor. Thousands upon thousands of them. As they drew closer, Solant could see that each was tucked in with a thick layer of cloth, a small… toy or doll tucked in under one of their legs.
Throughout the rows, teams of ants moved industriously, carrying containers in their mandibles. When they reached a new bed, they would carefully uncover the ant within and apply the contents of their containers to special cloths that they then rubbed over the slumbering ant’s carapace, leaving it gleaming. Then another ant, a carver, would go over the cleaned area with another specialised material, running it back and forth with their front two legs, until the carapace practically shone.
The decadence… the luxury of it all. How terrible. She shuddered.
The Eldest, of course, noticed her reaction.
“That’s right,” the giant ant observed gleefully, “if you don’t take your rest on time, then you get the full treatment. So much time and effort spent rejuvenating you. How incredibly selfish!”
The ants continued to work without making a sound or a scent, collecting slumbering members of the Colony, tucking them into beds, cleaning them, grooming them.
“Is this happening all over the fortress?” Solant asked, shocked.
“Of course. Everyone is getting the treatment.”
“What about them?” Solant wondered, indicating those who were working.
“They never miss a rest shift. Not even once.”
That was… interesting.
“But who are they?” she wondered.
“Oh, them? Could be anyone, any member of the Colony can be one of them. One of your broodmates is probably one of them, working in the shadows when they aren’t by your side.”
“That’s not possible,” Solant insisted, “we would not hide something like this from each other.”
The Eldest clacked their mandibles together and laughed.
“Oh, is that right? You hear that, Leonidant?”
The scout shifted uncomfortably.
“Anyone can be one of them,” the Eldest went on, not letting Solant question her sister. “Anyone at all. Now, I think we’ve arrived.”
“Arrived where?” Solant asked, but when she looked around, she saw what they meant.
A long row of beds. Empty beds.
“You can hop in yourselves, or, if you prefer, you can enjoy the full experience.”
“Wait. We haven’t missed any torpor,” Solant pointed out, “why do we need to rest?”
“The whole fortress is getting a snooze,” the Eldest insisted, “you are most certainly no exception. You’ve been given special treatment just by seeing all of this,” the big ant waved their antennae around, “most people don’t get a glimpse.”
“And what do you mean by the full experience?”
“Well, if you’re asking about it, you may as well experience it. I’ll even spice it up for you. Get ‘em, Crinis.”
The world was suddenly nothing but darkness, madness and mouths.
Then. Sleep.
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