--------///----Eclina's POV----\--------

Reina's group gathered around the entrance and seemed to be looking at it with a weird look on their faces. The bird girl even got off Espiral and went over to them as they looked at it with them.

(Endis) " Now that we're here, this looks way different doesn't it? "

(Mina) " True. At first the entrance didn't even look suspicious. Now it's a giant hole in the ground. "

(Eclina) " I don't think i've gone underground before. This is going to be fun. "

(Espiral) " We've gone into caves. Shouldn't it be the same thing? "

(Eclina) " It's close but different. "

And it was. If it was a cave, we wouldn't have much to worry about. But by going underground, there were a bunch of different factors that we would have to be careful of.

(Espiral) " If you say so sis. Stay safe please. "

(Eclina) I'll be fine so get some rest. "

Espiral nodded and laid down by the entrance. Then he flicked his wings out once and then wrapped them around himself. A feather or two came out when he flicked them out. That seemed to get the attention of Reina and her group.

(Reina) " Eclina, is it ok to grab some of Espiral's fallen feathers? "

It was a weird request in my opinion but i didn't really see anything wrong in letting her take them. Espiral didn't need them anyway so its not like we would be losing anything if she took them.

(Eclina) " I don't see why not. Espiral, are you ok with that? "

(Espiral) " Go ahead. I'm not using them. "

(Reina) " Ok. Thanks you two. "

Reina went over to the fallen feathers and slowly started to pick them up and put them in a bag. After she did that, we got ready to head down into the ant infested cove.

(Endis) " Finally. Time for the answers. "

(Eclina) " Pet me first! "

(Mina) " My ti- "

(Reina) " Nope! "

Mina was about to reach out but Reina ran over and got to my side before Mina did and started to scratch behind my ears. The feeling was better then i remembered and i couldn't help but smile as my tails swayed about.

(Mina) " I've been robbed. "

(Reina) " Ah shut it. First come first serve. Not my fault you let your guard down and missed the chance to pet this silky smooth fur of hers. "

(Mina) " It is your fault! You surprised me! "

(Reina) " Nehhh. "

(Mina) " Tch. "

(Ava) " What have we gotten ourselves into? "

(Orven) " I have no idea myself. "

(Endis) " You'll be fine. "

(Ava) " Ehh. "

The bird girl looked reluctant and kept looking towards the lizardman who was sharing her indecisiveness. They both didn't know me and considering how we met, i could understand why they were reluctant to go anywhere with me. I really did understand. Though, pets were higher up on my priorities then worrying about them. There wasn't even a need to worry since i wasn't going to hurt them in the first place.

Reina, Mina and Endis noticed and tried to reassure them as we started to walk in the hole but they were still wary. If it weren't for the ear scratches, then i would probably have tried to say something. But, Mina and Endis were handling it. All i was focusing on now was the terrain and being pet.

(Mina) " So it's more then just the outside... This looks like an entirely different area then the cove we were in earlier. "

(Endis) " I mean, shouldn't that have been expected? A fuckton of ants came out from here. Why wouldn't they change it to how they liked? "

(Mina) " True. "

From what they were saying, it was obvious that it was different, but to me this was the first time i was seeing it. There were holes all around the place, some were big while some were person sized and wide enough for a bigger ant to fit through. The bigger ones were closer to the ground level while the smaller ones were higher up and spread out randomly. There were some on the ceiling, a few spots on the ground and even some that were closer to the way we came.

From my knowledge there were workers, warriors, queen guards and the queen herself. So the smaller holes should be from the workers making the tunnel systems while the bigger ones should be for the warriors, the ones i squashed outside. The warriors should have a few linked areas where they all come from to go through these holes, though i wasn't sure if the instincts of these ants were the same with our ants.

Though it wouldn't hurt to let them know. I looked over to Mina and Endis who were having a different conversation with the bird girl and lizardman, while Reina was happily petting my head. I didn't notice when they had broken off and started their whole conversation but it was time to butt in and let them know about the stuff that i knew.

(Mina) " Hmm. How are we going to figure out which tunnels lead to where? We cant go through them all and Orven's earth sense can't possibly cover them all. "

(Eclina) " I can do that. "

(Endis) " You sure? This place could be a mountain you know. "

(Eclina) " Still fine. I've had a lot of time to work on my elements so something like this isn't that hard. "

(Ava) " Elements? "

(Reina) " It's what beasts call magic. "

(Ava) " Ohh. "

(Mina) " Well, if you say you can do it, lead the way Eclina we'll be right behind you. "

(Eclina) " Yup. I'll keep you all safe. "

(Reina) " We can keep ourselves safe Eclina. Just lead the way and we'll show you what we can do. "

(Orven) " I second this idea. "

(Endis) " That's fine with me. "

(Mina) " You ok with this, Ava? "

(Ava) " If everyone else wants too then i'm fine with it. "

(Mina) " Then we'll be fighting. Just lead the way Eclina. "

(Eclina) " Ok. "

I started up my earth tail and started sending pulses from where i was standing, down and through the tunnels. I could feel where the worker tunnels led, and where some of the worker and warrior ants were. None of them were near us so it was fine, though so far i hadn't been able to find a tunnel to go through that would lead to the queen. Then i decided to turn on my air tail to send some air down the other tunnels.

The air helped me get a more detailed picture on where everything was. But there was still something weird. When it got to certain points, my earth pulses would start acting up and the image would get blurry. So to counter that, i started to send my air in the directions of those blurry signals and see what was going on. That was when i found a place where a lot of the workers were concentrated. They seemed to be doing something, i just didn't know what it was since i couldn't get an acurate picture.

(Eclina) " There's something this way. "

I was pointing towards one of the worker tunnels that led to the area with all of the workers. It was small but i used my earth to expand it so they could follow behind me.

(Mina) " Alright. Time to see what we've got to deal with. "

(Ava) " And to get answers. Don't forget about those! "

(Mina) " Alright. Eclina, start whenever you feel like it. "

(Eclina) " Sure. "

I started walking but i didn't actually know where i should start. I could start with how we met, after the thing with the kingdom was done, or a bit before i left. So i was thinking on what to start on but i looked over to Reina who seemed to have a guess on what i was thinking.

(Reina) " How we met is good. "

(Eclina) " Ok. "

And that's what i started with. I started with how papa smelled Phoenix and we went to them to see what was going on. Though i didn't get to talk for long because the other two interrupted and asked about papa and Phoenix.

(Mina) " From what i remember... Martiq had met Phoenix before, right? Or did i forget something? "

(Eclina) " That's right. "

(Orten) " How do you know her fathers name? "

(Mina) " Hmm... Should we add in our parts, Endis? "

(Endis) " When they come up. We aren't there yet so don't skip ahead. "

(Reina) " He said something smart for once. "

(Endis) " Wait a minute. "

(Mina) " Anyway! Back to Eclina. We can fill in our parts when she gets to it. "

So i went back to it. I talked about what happened after we met up and then i was interrupted again.

(Endis) " I don't remember if that assassin was ever caught. Did they? "

(Reina) " Last i heard, never caught. "

(Endis) " Hmm. "

(Eclina) " Can i start talking again? "

(Reina) " Go ahead. "

I grumbled a little but got back to the story. I managed to go uninterrupted for a while. But then we encountered some of the workers. They were similar to the warriors that were pouring out but they were smaller, had a brownish coat instead of the silver and with mandibles that didn't actually look like mandibles. They looked more like drills. Which was weird. The workers didn't even look threathening either, they just looked weird since they had drill like stuff all over their bodies.

(Mina) " Should i just deal with them? "

(Reina) " I mean... No one else wants too, right? "

(Endis) " Nope. "

(Ava) " No. "

(Orven) " I would rather not. "

(Mina) " Alright. "

Then i felt water start to gather by Mina as the workers were coming towards us. Then the water turned into thin blades that she sent after the ants. The first few blades tore through the ants and then stopped after they couldn't go through anymore. She had to make more to decimate the rest of them. We just sat back and watched the ants fall apart.After she was done, she dusted her hands off and turned back to us.

(Mina) " Welp, back to the story. "

I nodded at that and started the story again. I got a good ways in without being interrupted but then we made it to the area that i couldn't see clearly. It seemed to be a big area that had some weird substance coating the walls. There were workers and some warriors gathered around each other and moving some eggs throughout the tunnels. The eggs seemed to be see through and had some slimy substance around the eggs themselves. That substance seemed similar to what was on the walls but it seemed a little different.

(Mina) " Looks like they're taking eggs to different hatcheries... If we follow them we could find the rest of them and kill off all the children before they hatch. "

(Orven) " However, they will not let that happen. If we are caught we will most likely have to fend off more ants then appeared outside. We will also be in a disadvantageous position in these tunnels. "

(Endis) " Just means we don't have to get caught. "

(Ava) " I don't think we can avoid all of them. "

(Eclina) " Why do we have to avoid them? I can just collapse this whole place after we leave. "

(Reina) " Huh? "

(Eclina) " What? "

It wasn't just Reina that was surprised. They all turned my way and looked at me with looks of disbelief on their faces.

(Mina) " Can you actually do that? "

(Eclina) " Of course. "

(Endis) " Then why not do that from the start? "

(Eclina) " Curious. I've never actually seen anything like this from the things that come out of the rifts. I also want Espiral to get some rest. If i did crush them all, then he wouldn't get to rest at all. That and i wouldn't get pats and to tell the story if i just crushed it all. "

(Endis) " Huh... Well we can just go look for the queen and then let you bring this place down after we kill her. "

(Eclina) " Then let's do that! "

And that was what we were going to do. Though it might end up taking a while. Oh well.