Suddenly, it was dark and windy. Sun had hidden below the horizon. The rumbling sound of quiet was mistily seeping into our surrounding. In this tense, aggravated situation, wriggling motes of air drilled into my wide open pores and stole my warmth, cooling my excitement. I’ve always had a very close relationship with trouble. It’s a friend who always comes to pester me when I’m happy and jovial!

[Sight] expanded my vision, and [Vision’s] special ability [Night vision] cleared away the foggy reminisce of darkness hiding the assailants in its blinding cloak. I could see their composed statures with my eyes, and their numbers appeared naked to my senses.

There were thirty of them. Washed colorless in the similar grey my companions adorned in this darkness, one of them, their leader, stepped forward on the high pedestal of waiving leaf she stood upon and shouted feverishly, “Welcome Commander Yuvi,” She paused and looked around, “David and the others. Welcome to the farm.”

David took a step forward as his eyes reflected her face; his halting steps brought with them a sad understanding, one which gouged another wound in his already shaking spirit. Commander Yuvi and our hostess exchanged pleasantries, and we started walking. The captain of our welcoming party flapped her wings and joined us in the middle of the giant army which quietly marched forward into the maze of towering pillars and disorienting land of old, lifeless leaves.

Her antennas waved hopelessly as she walked beside David, in a different rhythm they walked, together. Their synchronizing steps told the story of their relationship; and their stiff movement spoke volume of their emotions. Pyro poked me with his antennas, gesturing toward them with his eyes. Understanding his intentions, I did what any sensible ant would have done; we eavesdropped on them.

“Lime, what happened to Lemon?”

“Captain… died two nights ago, unfortunately. It was a flier.”

“I’m truly sorry for your loss, Lime. He was a good ant; a loyal friend.”

“I know.” Quiet flowed between them for a long melting second before she came to terms with her emotions and suggested David to remain focused. “You stay vigilant, alright. The farm is not safe anymore.”

Her sad tale was just another incident in the folds and wrinkles of the shade we lived in; and unfortunately, her loss mattered naught to anyone; like everything else which lived here to one day die, decay, and join the dirt beneath our feet. Her grief was hers and hers alone.

I and Pyro exchanged glances -Considering whether to intervene between them or not- and ended up peering at the strangers from the farm. Their tense movements and floundering antennas gave a detailed report of their emotional state. If anything, the dread of a daunting and unknown future made me slightly restless as we slowly walked toward our destination.

Meanwhile, one of the more enthusiastic soldiers from the farming community spoke to me. He was the only one of his team with not a shred of worry marring his exteriors.

“Excuse me, can I ask you seniors something? How is the world outside? Is it wide and beautiful like the others say?” in a single breath he asked.

I wanted to say that it is a horrendous hell, this world we live in, but the glimmer in his eyes, on one hand, made me repulse and, on another hand, made me consider the value of his hopes and dreams. His seniors had already started shattering his desires by filling his mind with truths. I could almost see it on his face, hidden behind the glint in his eyes, his desperations. Therefore, I decided to let him keep his innocence until he was ready to challenge the world with his own conquest.

“What’s your name?” I politely asked and he gave me a shock.

“It’s Billy sir.” He said and I went ‘Oh…’

Unknowingly, he strung a chord which sung a very personal melody inside my mind. It made me solemn, made me think about all the time which I had spent away from those I cherished.

‘I’ll definitely call them once this thing settles down. Then I’ll create my own team and we all will go out on an adventure.’ I thought. It was a foolish, irresponsible promise which I had only made to console my aching spirit. It was a dream which although I wanted to bring into reality, but similarly feared to bring into existence.

Billy’s natural glare was tantamount to Tiny’s curious gaze, who was similarly energetic and intelligent most of the times, but also preposterously dumb during those few crucial moments during which one expected her to excel. She was generous in her own way, and looking at Billy’s proudly confident face made me even more remorseful.

“The world is beautiful Billy. Just prepare yourself for tough times and you’ll be alright.” I said and Dark added, “The world is beautiful, but only if you live long enough to see its beauty. Otherwise, it’s a dark and gloomy place where mentally susceptible beings only become others food.”

His warning made Billy solemn. His head dropped from Darks harsh and bold truth, so I decided to add some words to push his confidence; just a small boost for my friend's sake.

“It’s alright. He’s just curious. I’m sure I was also like him before becoming a scavenger.”

“Oh, I’m sure you were nothing like him or the other soldiers,” Pyro commented from ahead, shaking his antennas.

“Still, I also feel that they are really lucky.” he continued. “They don’t venture out and past the boundary of the farm; and live most of their lives here, protected. I said the world is harsh, but they are the ones who’ll still be here, living and dreaming, long after we are gone.”

“And that is the reason as to why it’s us who are out there and not them,” David added and we spent the next some minutes in silence to soak the wisdom contained in his words.

Billy also heard them and his head dropped from shame once again. His eyes were the mirrors of his thoughts. Bare they lay for anyone to see, but no one paid him any attention. Once again I was reminded of the difficulties I had faced since my first day as an ant.

This world of shade was a pitfall with no end in sight. It is not all flowers and cones of snow like most of the ants thought. It’s wild and ferocious and holds no ground for innocent minds and curious spirits. Only those with a bit of unseen dread lingering around them made it out alive; others, they all simply turned into nutrients over time.

“Ah! There it is.” I heard from behind and it brought me out of my reverie. Then Dark materialized right in front of me, his shadow extending forward, saying, “We are here.”

“Where is it?” confused, I asked. I didn’t see a single shadow of the colony in front of me, much less a farm bustling with life.

“Up, look up.” And there it stood, a majestic pin shaped empire prospering over a thick web of dry branches right in the middle of this mindless mumble of green flora. It was a mores, undulating along with the wind and its foundation, peacefully existing along with nature: hidden from the land crawlers and protected from ground forces. It was the perfect hideout. One look was enough for me to name it the true pinnacle of ant architecture.

The web of branches extended from the middle of the colony toward the faraway plants, connecting them together. Ants of various shapes and sizes walked upon these branching highways: Some were red, some green, some gigantic, but most were plum carriers with bulging abdomens. The ratio of carriers to soldiers that I could see from the ground was 6 to 4- with six being the number of carriers for every four soldiers.

The branches removed the need for those defenseless carriers to ever touch the ground, protecting them from a hidden attack, and allowing them to farm nonstop. I was still peering at the connected stations, the various farms where the carriers ended their journeys when a voice spoke in our minds.

“How was your journey sir Yuvi?” a green-winged ant asked. It had two radiant globes hanging from the end of his antennas -lighting him and his surroundings. He stood along with six strongly built soldiers -three each on his left and right side- at the end of the only branch connecting the cone-shaped colonies pointed bottom with the ground.

“It was alright, Glow.” Replied commander Yuvi and David flinched beside him upon hearing the voice.

“Hey, David, I see that you have also arrived. Tell me, how was your journey? I hope you didn’t lose your whole team this time to mystery beasts of the shade. ”hinted Glow feeling amused.

“You…”

I could almost see sparks glowing at the place their sights met. It was not a warm welcome. I kind of understood why Dark had brought his shadow tentacles out. He knew this was going to happen. Pyro was also glancing at me, shaking his antennas, probably thinking I was going to act. He was right in thinking so.

“I hope we are not too late.” Commander Yuvi intervened, breaking the cold mate going between the two captains.

“You are on time, sir. We were just waiting for-”

I heard Glow clenching his mandibles when Commander Yuvi ignored the rest of his sentence and shifted his attention to David. Now that was an amusing sight to behold. The others, including Dark and Lime, agreed with me.

“Are you ready David?”

“Will the others agree to my proposition, sir?” Commander Yuvi shook his antennas at his words.

“No one wants to die, David. You don’t want to die. I don’t want to die,” Yuvi said staring at Glow in bold arrogance, one fitting his position and age. “And these rotten bastards surely don’t want to die.”

Glow lost his glow for a second and decided to retrieve without us. “Oh, I suddenly remembered something I forgot to take care of. Please forgive me commander for my impudence! I’ll take my leave first.”

We placed strict attention on his body which shivered every now and then as he retreated. It gave us a good topic to talk about during our journey back to home; but for now, Commander Yuvi commanded his soldiers to wait for him, and David tasked us (Me and Genma) with something similar.

“This is your first time here right? Why don’t you both go and tour the farm?”

“But captain I-“

“You have already done enough. Let me handle this thing. Don’t worry. We’ll join you soon.”

I really wanted to go with them, but he was being stubborn and in the end, I regretfully agreed to follow his order.

“Alright,” I said and they started climbing the bridge.

“Don’t forget to ask for honeydew on the farm.” I heard Pyro’s moan.

“I agree,” Dark concluded.

“Can I go with them?” Mink asked David without moving from his initial position, looking between us and him. “I also want to drink the dew!” but David stopped him before he could create a scene. “We need your strength to scare them in the meeting, Mink. Also, everyone gets a taste in the chamber.”

“Ohhh!”Now with a purpose, Mink urged them to move faster and soon they were inside the aerial fortress.

Sending them away with my eyes, feeling helpless and anticipation at the same time, I looked back at captain Lime. “Who should I ask for a tour of the farm?” I asked and Billy directly looked at his captain lime with excitement. Lime didn’t agree, but she didn’t disagree either. And reluctantly we decided to follow their lead.

We followed behind them and climbed the dry branch that led us inside the colony. We arrived in a small chamber with three tunnels leading into the colony. David and the others had already entered one of the tunnels. I could have seen their mana signature with [mana vision] if I wanted to, but there was no point in doing so.

“This way,” Billy said and we entered the middle tunnel which led us to a spacious hub right at the center of the colony. Thousands of plum carriers were waiting inside: some sleeping and some standing; their bodies covering every inch of available space there. It is to be noted that a single fully evolved carrier could carry enough food to feed a meal to over a hundred ants. That’s why seeing so many of them in one place was such a shocking affair to both me and Genma.

“What is this place?” I murmured in daze and Billy -now fervent with a mission- decided to quench my curiosity.

“Amazing right? This old colony is the command station used to control the farm. There are four levels. Three can be accessed from the tunnels at the base while the last one where the meeting is taking place. There was a time when my colony of green ferret ants used to live here, but some things happened, which only the current queen knows, and we shifted someplace else- somewhere much safer.”

“Is that someplace safer than this aerial fortress that can hold such a great army?”

“Our captain thinks so,” He glanced at Lime and whispered so she wouldn’t hear. “So it must be. And just so you know, this facility can house an army worth of soldiers and is never empty. Right above your head, there are ten thousand ants sleeping right now and an equal number of carriers on the level below.”

“Your colony must be a mega-sized giant if they can send so many ants here?” Genma spoke mesmerized and surely stupefied by the numbers this kid so easily talked about. Our colony on the other hand didn’t even have ten thousand ants remaining anymore!

“The world surely worked in mysterious ways.” I said that having no understanding of the scale at which the actual giant forces of this world moved.

“They are not ants from my colony.” His proud toward his home was efferent when he said ‘my’. “Every colony sends two thousand ants to support the farm. And my colony just keeps everything working.”

“Are you coming or not?” we heard Captain Lime freezing cold voice splinter our conversation and also put to our attention that we three were the only one left inside the fortress of our group. She and her troops were already walking upon the bridge which disappeared somewhere toward the northeast past the towering plants.

Feeling embarrassed, we pushed our voices down our mouths and followed behind them, starting our short journey to the other side of the dry bridge.