He had expected ants to come.
What he hadn't expected was them.
When he thought of them, he meant the injured ones—the hunters, the veterans who had gone out to kill for the colony and returned alive. Rust-colored carapaces. Sharp, heavy mandibles. Muscular bodies scarred by battle.
Not one.
Not two.
Many.
They were wounded, yes—but they had experience. That alone made them dangerous.
If he dealt with them, he would be cutting away the strongest fighters the colony possessed.
They advanced as a group, spreading out, trying to encircle him.
He refused to let it happen.
A step left. A step right. He moved constantly, almost dancing between them, keeping his back free. But evasion alone wouldn't save him.
He lunged.
The dagger flashed toward a neck—just like before—but the ant twisted at the last instant. The blow glanced off, slicing into its back instead.
[You inflicted poison on the enemy]
"Damn you" he muttered.
Mandibles snapped shut inches from him. He barely slipped aside.
This time he didn't aim for the head.
He went low.
The ant tried to dodge, but too late. The blade severed its hind legs, dropping it to the stone.
[You inflicted poison on the enemy]
Confidence surged—too much.
He struck again, aiming for a killing blow.
*Chomp*
"Aaargh—fuck!"
The ant's head fell—but another leapt forward and clamped onto his right arm. He had been careless. This was his first true fight against a group. Until now, he had only faced enemies alone.
Pain exploded.
He dropped the dagger and crouched to retrieve it just as another ant lunged for his head. He twisted aside by a hair's breadth.
One thought consumed him.
Escape.
He ran.
His left hand grasped uselessly at the stump where his arm had been. No rubineous and viscous blood spilled—only a bluish fluid mixed with fine, dusty particles.
This wound was different.
This one hurt.
The others had been nothing compared to this.
He sprinted through the main tunnel, past branching corridors where ants dug new passages or widened old ones. Others rushed past, each absorbed in its task.
There was no time to watch or admire.
Only to run.
He began climbing toward the upper levels, using his dagger and feet. Only then did he realize—too late—that the tunnels narrowed as they rose.
Ahead: a fork.
Three paths.
No time.
He chose.
Wrong.
The tunnel ended abruptly—a dead end. A trap, perhaps.
Behind him, a guard charged.
Before, killing one had been easy. Now, injured and bleeding, it felt impossible.
The tunnel was too narrow to dodge. His heart hammered, forcing strength into his limbs.
*Ba-dump*
*Ba-dump*
Then—luck.
The ant slipped on a discarded exoskeleton.
He didn't hesitate. He used its body like a rug, vaulting over it and bursting back into the fork. He took another tunnel—this one wider, sloping upward.
The right choice.
Moments later, dim surface light spilled over him.
He didn't stop.
He ran until the nest was far behind him, searching for shelter—any cavity, any hollow where he could hide.
Somewhere to survive.
Somewhere to heal.
He took—
One step.
Two steps.
This time, he wasn't in a rush.
He needed a place to hide. He needed rest—and rest, here, was dangerous. Still, his body demanded it.
He walked on until the sound of flowing water reached him.
A cascade emerged from the stone ahead, crystal-clear water spilling down into a gentle river. Green leaves dotted with pinkish flowers lined the banks, and fish occasionally broke the surface, gulping air before vanishing back into the depths.
Calling it calming was an understatement.
He approached the waterfall and noticed something unusual.
Behind the curtain of water—solid ground.
Without hesitation, he stepped straight through the falling water and emerged onto dry stone. Moss coated the walls in thick layers of emerald green—some pale and soft, others dark and dense, clinging to the rock like velvet.
The memory of the near-death struggle and the loss of his limb caught up to him.
"I… barely escaped," he whispered—slam.
His legs gave out.
He collapsed onto the ground, exhaustion finally claiming him. His mind went dark as he slipped instantly into sleep, his body entering the same forced recovery state as before.