***

An ant stepped out of the mass and approached me. I looked at the princess and she teetered to my side. All around the soldiers were becoming rowdy again and had started pushing each other. Even the termite in the pit was growing aggressive. For some reason, I felt its antennae on me. The sensation was cold enough to chill my chest.

We exchanged our ID’s and she commenced the conversation. What do you want to know? She asked. She was an old one, a rare one more than a thousand days old! Even her scars had scars of their own.

I told her the story and she disagreed. Outside the prison is where I found it, dazed and lost. As for why I didn’t kill it? Call it a coincidence. We had just finished this pit for the purpose of training the young against steep climbs with enemy troops atop. Now, I have fought termites in wars before, but none were quite like it, neither this big nor hard. So I decided to keep it to train the kids; since we are on the cusp of a new war and all. You can’t be surprised if you know what to expect.

And it followed you all the way down here?

It quietly followed me to the floor, yes. She said, though even she knew how hard to believe that statement was. It only became aggressive at the entrance. We managed as you can see; Anything else? She asked.

Be careful! Princess suddenly scented. The soldier acted before I could react. I felt betrayed when the soldier pushed me back. First, surprise, and then horror overtook the feeling as a pair of mandibles held the old warrior from the chest and lift her up from the ground. There was a sharp crunch and her pieces fell to either side of the termite, eyes growing colder, mandibles flaring at a past phantom before her body seized all activity.

The termite had broken free.

Finally, I sensed the damn scent of alarm floating in the air and cursed my broken antennae. The termite had pulled a guard down in the pit and killed it, then climbed over and caught the 2564th soldier.

Get up! Princess pulled me to my feet as the panicking soldiers drowned the termite in poison, a technique that should have paralyzed it, but didn’t. It decapitated a gunner and turned toward us. I was right about it being engrossed with me. It charged through the soldiers straight at us.

A soldier managed to get his mandibles around its hind leg. The termite slowed but didn’t stop and pulled the soldier along. Another tried to catch it but died to its mandibles before she could get on.

Princess was frozen still. This was not supposed to happen. I separated from her. It followed me. I ran. A soldier rammed her mandibles into its abdomen — Useless. Nothing seemed to phase it. Another soldier dragged from its middle leg. The termite struggled and faltered when another got on its back. Its legs buckled and it fell to the ground, screeching. More soldiers piled atop of it as it struggled to get its legs under its body, but the soldiers knew how to handle large adversaries. They stretched its legs flat on the ground, completely immobilizing it in seconds.

One tried to kill it. I charged into the soldiers and pushed her away as she tried to stab her mandibles into the termite's head.

Don’t, I said. We need it alive.

You want more of us to die? The soldier blasted. A storm of pheromones was forming around us. The alarm was spreading, engulfing everyone’s sanities.

No! Another tried to get past me flaring the scent of valor, high on the thrill. I pushed my mandibles into his, deflecting them. The graphical squiggles overrode my sight for a second before I willed them away. I had no time for them.

Princess! I yelled. Quickly, do it quickly. The soldiers were advancing. Sanity was being forgotten under the alarm’s effect. The youngest gave first. Soon they would be rushing to tear the termite apart, and anyone that tried to stop them along with it. Princess tried to push toward me, but the soldiers were many and she too far. She couldn’t make it.

I sensed her desperation from our new link. Not, now, her eyes seemed to be saying. We are so close. Not now. We had finally found a clue. She had only overlooked the explorers because she had somewhere else to concentrate her thoughts. How could I have let the soldiers kill the termite when it was her only hope?

The termite stirred. I was still parrying soldiers when it somehow got its hind legs free and jumped. Next thing I knew, I was underneath it, the soldiers rushing at us, its mandibles around my chest and pain flourishing inside me. I tolerated the pain. I heard the soldiers raise the banner of death for the termite and panicked. Amidst their rage was the sweet calling of the princess. But it was faint and almost indistinguishable. I tried to move but there was no wiggle room. Moreover, with my legs facing up, my struggle was meaningless.

They stabbed the termite. Its mandibles loosened. I was trying to swivel out of its grip, when the termite’s antennae flashed in front of my eyes, reminding me of my purpose.

It is too late. It’s already dying. The little voice inside me said.

It was right; the glow was fading from the termite's eyes. I felt life draining from my chest. Then the glow flickered and grew stronger. It was a horrifying realization, but also a chance. I wrapped my antennae around it’s, and the world grew silent. First, I felt nothing, and then my whole consciousness was pulled into the termite’s mind.

Its metabolism had stopped, heart growing cold, nervous cortex shutting off. His memories were decaying. A black fog of Death was quickly spreading from the edges of its memory vertices and toward the central node, sucking the life out of the memory tendrils that had grown off from the main roots.

I was surprised but forced my perception toward its central node where I found carnage, hunger, and darkness. Past them was a layer of fear and love. Something had already decayed its most precious memories. What I saw were small flashes of color amidst an eternity of darkness.

It had an unquenchable hunger; a pain that was eating it from the inside and was spreading. Then I saw a sight — his first one. There was a tree, one that shouldered the sky. It had hundreds and thousands of branches and an uncountable number of roots. Millions upon millions of termites lived inside it — gorging it from the inside, growing numerous and strong. There was pain, not from the termites, but from the tree. The tree cried and its cry resonated with the termite, making it angry. Only a few heard the cry and something changed in them. I wanted to see more, but the vision cut off. There was darkness, then there was a flash of light and I was pulled away from the termite's mind. I believed I was returning back to my mind, but I was wrong!

I was pulled into the tree: up the hollow roots and into the tunnels gorged through the entirety of its dying husk. I passed through cavities (wounds) some thriving (infested) and others abandoned (dead). I stopped in front of the light at the heart of the tree, a dark sphere with a violet glow.

Behind it, something moved. It was a giant beast, a horrible creation. It opened its serrated maw that encompassed the whole world and swallowed me.

I woke up.

I tried to stand, but someone held me. Stay, they released; it was a familiar scent. I was close enough to see who it was but didn’t have to. Princess stood behind a wall of colorful notifications. I willed them to go away, but they persisted. I ignored them the best I could.

I was wet and cold, not freezing but at a nice temperature to stop my injuries from flaring. She looked tired. I tried to stand up again and she slapped me gently on the head. Stay still. She said. What else could I do?

After some time she moved onto stretching my limbs. I felt embarrassed.

What happened? I asked her to keep my thoughts from straying.

You lost consciousness. She scented nonchalantly.

She made it seem like it was nothing. I wanted to press her for more information, but let the thought go. Other things took precedence.

What happened to the termites? I asked a feeling rose inside her before it was snubbed.

It died. She told me. It was already dying and the internal connection completely burned out its mind. She raised her face and looked at me with her oval eyes. That was pretty foolish of you. If I hadn’t pulled you out at the right time your mind would have died along with its. You came this close —she put her face right in front of mine, not even a hairsbreadth separating us apart— to dying.

She pulled back before anything could happen. Though my drumming heart said something had happened.

She hesitated, antennae moving above her head in a different rhythm than irritation. I felt her resolve and she finally asked: did you find anything from the termite?

I tried to remember, but my memory was a mess. There were flashes of what I had seen, but also pain that came from trying to remember more than what I already could.

I don’t’ know. I told her and She believed me.

I was doing a final check of my antennae when the ground started vibrating. It wasn’t a passing tremor, but a sign of the city coming to life. Something had happened while I was unconscious. Princess confirmed my thoughts.

Messengers arrived from the western border city, Akhari-Killa-Ji (Last fortress of heaven), baring grave news. They are under siege. She told me. We are at war.