Slabs of earth dropped through the sky onto the bodyguard ants. Terry jumped back, avoiding the blast at the last moment. Dust flew through the air, mushrooming into a cloud.

Rowan waved his hand in front of his face, coughing.

All around them, ants streamed out from their holes and down the burst walls, chittering wildly, Flame flew all around. Their protector ant reached toward Rowan and Kaidu, but the rush of ants whisked her away.

From the hole, a man and a woman appeared, floating down through the dust. The woman wore armor and held a lance, and the man wore a deep-hooded set of robes. The man’s hand thrust down. A disc floated beneath him, supporting him and the woman.

“Arthur, over here!” the woman shouted, holding out her hand.

Terry ran for the disc. The ants dragged at him, holding him down. He kicked them away and struggled onward, slogging through the bodies like mud. “Lancelot! Tell Morgan to cast Fire!”

Did they call her Lancelot because she uses a Lance? Wait, but then… is Morgan the man? Why not Merlin? Rowan raised his eyebrows. What a messy team.

“That’ll roast you too!” the man shouted from the disc.

“Water? Morgan, please, give me something!”

A passing ant jumped at Rowan. He slapped it away. To the side, Kaidu deflected an ant bite with his scissors.

“Is this an Ant Blessing?” Kaidu asked, brows furrowed.

“They’re too worked up! They don’t know who we are!” Rowan replied. He pointed at the disc. “That’s our only chance!”

“Will they let us on?” Kaidu asked.

“One way to find out!”

Rowan drew the rake. Beside him, Kaidu brandished scissors in both hands. “Remember, no killing.”

Kaidu clicked his tongue.

“Go!”

Pushing the rake before him, Rowan charged into the mess of churning black bodies. Ants flew to the left and right, knocked out of the way. No blue lights lit up this time, but he manipulated the rake with ease. Tines to the floor. Bump the ants out of the way, don’t kill them! Push, no rake!

Kaidu chased after him. Ants leaped at Rowan from the left and the right. He slapped the ants aside with the handles, knocking them away from Rowan. They raced through the dense bodies toward the disc.

Terry struggled toward them. He threw ants off his body. One reared back and bit his face, while another spat fire at his abdomen. Narrowly dodging the fire, he reached out. “Help!”

Rowan shot him a look of disgust, then hesitated. Isn’t this the same as what he did to me? If I leave him here, I’m bullying him just the same way he bullied me. He turned the rake.

“Leave him,” Kaidu snapped.

“We’re riding on his party’s disc! You think they’ll leave without him?” Rowan asked.

Kaidu pressed his lips together and smacked an ant out of the air vehemently. “Be quick about it.”

Terry pushed through the wall of ants and jumped into the narrow space Rowan cleared with his rake. He ran up behind Rowan, pushing Kaidu back, and shoved him onward. “Go, go!”

Rowan stumbled. His rake stuttered over the floor. “Stop it!”

Grabbing an ant, Terry bashed it into the floor. “Hurry!”

“Stop killing them! They’ll swarm us!” Rowan snapped.

“What do you mean? They swarm, no matter what!” Terry replied.

“No, it’s just because…” Rowan stopped short. He narrowed his eyes at Kaidu. Look! He doesn’t know either. It’s not common knowledge!

The ants surged at them, fiercer than before. One of the massive bodyguard ants snapped at Terry’s head. He punched it, and it stumbled back. Seconds later, another bodyguard ant bit at them again. Terry staggered back and stumbled into Rowan.

Rowan tripped. The rake flailed wildly. Ants slipped in the momentary gap and charged at his legs. He kicked them away desperately. “Off, off!”

The bodyguard ant lunged again. Terry ducked. Distracted by the smaller ants, Rowan looked up in time to see dark mandibles closing in on his head.

Shit.

Kaidu appeared suddenly in a flash of light. He drove a pair of scissors into the ant’s big, flat eye and ducked away. Ichor spilled out, splattering onto the floor. The ant screeched and shook its head, trying to knock the scissors out. It wobbled back, crushing the little ants in its way. The other ants whirled on it and bit into it. Chunks of chitin flew. The bodyguard ant struggled, but went down under a mass of ants.

“Go!” Terry shouted.

Rowan charged. They reached the disc. Lancelot hefted Terry onto its back. Rowan jumped up, and Kaidu darted after him, white jacket flowing out behind him.

“Who are they?” Morgan shouted, shaking his hood back to get a better look at Rowan and Kaidu.

“Trash who needed my help,” Terry replied haughtily.

Rowan whirled on him. “We saved your life, ten seconds ago!”

He snorted. “You couldn’t have made it out alive without me. You should be thanking me and my party for rescuing you from that hive.”

“We were fine. You’re the one who—” Rowan stopped himself. He took a deep breath. There’s no point in arguing. Terry’s never going to see it any other way.

The woman smiled and gently nudged Terry out of the way, offering her hand. “I’m Lancelot, a Fighter. Hoping to evolve my class to Cavalier or Paladin! And that’s Morgan, he’s our resident Mage. Thanks for helping Arthur out.”

“Ah… no problem,” Rowan said, taking her hand.

“We’re looking for a Rogue or Pugilist, if either of you know anyone like that? And a Sword Fighter or Swordsman, someone with the potential to evolve to Swordsmaster later,” Lancelot said.

Kaidu twisted his lips and turned away.

“No, sorry…” Rowan smiled apologetically. Topaz already has a party, and I’m sure as hell not intentionally helping anyone who threw us in an anthill.

“What are your classes? It’s impressive you escaped unscathed from that hive with only those improvised weapons. Some kind of Martial class, I’m guessing?”

“Kaidu, Hairdresser.”

“And I’m Rowan, er, a Gardener.”

Lancelot’s smile dimmed. “Aren’t those… support classes?”

Rowan’s face burned. He glanced down. In front of Terry, of all people.

Terry sneered. “Yeah, that’s right. I went to school with Rowan. Used to think he was hot shit and talk down to us about how he’d be a great combat class one day. Look at him now! Pure trash, dragging down other people’s parties. You shouldn’t have entered the Tower if you were just going to be a hassle for other people.”

Rowan jumped at Terry. Kaidu caught him by the arm and held him back. Rowan struggled, gritting between his teeth, “You little shit.”

“You wanna fight? Come at me. I’ll give you another beating like I did back in the square.” Terry grinned and cracked his knuckles.

“Back in the square. Is that the fight you’d like to repeat?” Kaidu asked, eyes glinting dangerously. His grip on Rowan loosened, and he stepped toward Terry.

“Hey, hey, calm down,” Lancelot said, putting her lance between them. “No fighting. We’re all fighting the Tower here, not each other.”

“How naive," Kaidu sneered.

Rowan elbowed him.