Between a Rock and a Carapace

53. Face to… Thing

Granin was hopeful in his heart as moved closer to the creature. He’d anticipated this moment ever since he’d been informed a new Ancient candidate was identified. Even better, one whom the Abyssal Legion was ignorant of. He’d had to exert a great deal of effort, alongside the other members of the cult, to put together a few delves to search the second stratum beneath the ruins of Liria.

By some miracle, they’d found it.

Golgari stood in their Triads around the monster, weapons drawn and eyes darting attentively. Several bore exterior damage to their true skin, a testament to the difficulty they endured.

The creature was large, larger than expected. Six thin, dark legs rose from the second of its body segments, where they bent sharply back down to the ground. The mandibles were barbaric. Long and jagged, with spikes for gripping, ridges for crushing and tearing, and judging by the broad head, plenty of muscle mass behind them.

Surprisingly colourful for an ant, the monster’s body was rust-red, but the gleam of light off that carapace showed it had been coated with another substance. Most disconcerting were the eyes. Multifaceted and unblinking, those eyes stared in all directions at once, watching all of them. He was certain a fierce intelligence and powerful will to survive resided there.

Surrounded by six warriors with blades drawn and held down by weighted netting, Granin didn’t doubt for a second that the monstrous ant would be desperate to escape. He would need to communicate with it, and soon, to prevent tragedy from occurring.

“Are you listening to me?” an outraged voice broke into the Shaper’s thoughts.

The old Shaper suppressed a sigh and turned away from his magnificent catch to address the younger golgari. He reminded himself to be patient, that out in the Dungeon, it wasn’t he who made the decisions. One false move could undo the work the cult had done to get to this point. He wouldn’t let it come to that.

“I apologise, Warrior Balta. I was distracted by the monster you and your brave men and women have been able to capture. Your family’s reputation is clearly well-deserved.”

One didn’t become an Elder Shaper without a century or two worth of schmoozing practice under their skin. His smooth words had the desired effect as the puffed-up scion of a wealthy house swallowed his anger at being ignored and allowed his childish temper to be tamped by the praise directed to his family.

“So long as you understand who is the leader of this expedition.”

“It is you, of course,” the words came easy to the wily Shaper’s lips. “As the highest Levelled warrior among us, the responsibility is yours.”

The Shaper smoothed over the rough stone and placated the younger warrior, inwardly muttering at the ridiculous necessity. Calm now that the proper deference had been shown, Coriinam Balta gestured with one glittering hand to the restrained monster.

“I’m not sure why it was so necessary I come out here to restrain this… thing. Should I remove the core?”

“No!” Granin exclaimed before he moderated his tone. “No,” he repeated. “It is not for the core that the Shapers sought to capture this monster. Now that we have it, we are to transport it via a gateway to the field academy beneath Ogrinnore.”

The silver-flecked face of Coriinam twisted at the incredulous nature of these instructions.

“Transport the creature? Has your true skin turned your brain to granite? This monster wasn’t easy for us to capture! How are we supposed to march through an Expanse and bring it with us? Just kill the thing and be done with it!”

As if you could have caught it without us, Granin grumbled internally. He interjected to cut off the hot-headed idiot before he took a sword to the precious specimen, keenly aware that all this time, they were being watched by the unblinking eyes of the monster.

“Whilst I defer to your command in the field, Balta, I must remind you that the Shapers’ Circle has provided the funding for this delve and set the terms. Should we return without the creature alive, then that would surely become a blemish on your record.”

Balta’s eyes widened, outrage boiling up inside him. A blemish on his record? Unthinkable!

“Fine! We bring the creature back, alive! But I will ensure it is crippled for the journey. I won’t accept arguments on this. The safety of the Triads is my highest priority.”

Being a vengeful little ass is your highest priority. Granin controlled himself and refrained from speaking such words. So long as they could get the candidate monster back to the cult, all would be well. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too angered by the limestone idiot’s antics.

“If you will allow me, leader, I would like to have a moment to work my craft on the creature. I may be able to intimidate or dominate it into cooperation.”

Balta grunted and turned away, displaying the contempt for Shaping that was so common amongst his class. This suited Granin just fine. The fewer eyes on him, the better.

He took a breath and closed his eyes to centre himself. His head still throbbed from the earlier exertions, and this was a risky thing to do. If the monster attacked him, it would be difficult to fend it off in his weakened state. The fact that the ant was capable of Mind Magic was one of the few things the cult knew about it.

Granin steadied his breathing and centred himself before he began to weave a Mind Bridge between himself and the creature. He didn’t try to hide what he was doing, the giant ant’s focus no doubt homing in on him from only ten metres away, perfectly, disturbingly still.

An old and experienced Shaper with extremely high Skill Levels, it didn’t take him long to form the connection. He was hesitant to solidify the link, but he couldn’t hesitate for long. Who knew how much time Balta would give him?

[Do not be alarmed. I only mean to speak with you. I do not mean you harm.]

The ant didn’t move or react in any way. Not even a twitch of its long and dangling antennae. Finally, a voice echoed back in Granin’s mind.

[You’ve got a strange way of showing it, rocky.]