“You want me to go inside the mountain?” Isaac asked, surprised.

He turned and gazed out over the open waters toward the Legion fleet. It didn’t look like they were moving at all. Perhaps they had no plans to head ashore at this stop?

He turned back to the Eran.

“I’m good,” he said, smiling broadly and knuckling his moustache. “I like it out here on the water.”

But what if the Legion decided to dock later? It could happen.

“Check in with me again later, though,” he suggested, his eyes sliding back to the other fleet. “The situation might change.”

Eran Thouris, leader of the trade mission and head negotiator of the Brathian Island Conglomerate, fixed him with a hard stare. This was the kind of look that Isaac had become accustomed to over the years. When you said ‘no’ to a person whom you were in no position to refuse, they tended to give you this kind of look.

“Anthony has ordered it,” she said with finality. “You and your fellow cavalry men and women are to accompany a small team of carvers within the mountain. You are to organise and lead them. Begin now. We disembark in ten minutes.”

Plops.

Finally, he was close to Morrelia again, and she remained tantalisingly out of reach, just on the horizon, haunting his waking hours along with his sleeping ones. Sometimes he swore he saw her, standing proud on the deck of the lead Legion ship, like an all-conquering Queen of old.

Irritated, he stomped over to Anthony, still sprawled in the middle of the deck, idly waggling his antennae and generally being huge. Isaac still wasn’t sure exactly how he could speak using the ants’ pheromone language, he certainly hoped his Class change hadn’t blessed him with a new organ, but it worked somehow.

Talking to Cavalant had ensured he was proficient, as well. That ant was one hell of a critic.

“Did you really order me to go ashore?” he demanded of the giant monster.

Anthony didn’t turn around, because he couldn’t.

“Yes. It’s the best way to keep our people safe.”

Isaac slumped. If Anthony had decreed it, then it was going to happen. The ants did whatever he told them to do, usually, even though Isaac had no idea why.

“Why are you in charge, anyway? I don’t really understand how it works.”

“I’m the oldest.”

“So?”

He could almost feel the mental sigh rolling off the giant ant.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“You aren’t an ant, so don’t worry about it, Isaac. Get your people together to get on shore. Help keep my siblings safe. Besides, the only reason you want to stay out here is because you think the Legion won’t go ashore. They will. In small numbers, but they will.”

“Why small numbers?”

“Because I’m out here. The only reason they came this far is to kill me, remember? The Legion didn’t sail a fleet all over the fourth for tea and biscuits.”

Isaac stroked his moustache and pondered for a moment.

“Do you think….?”

“I don’t know if Morrelia is going to go ashore or not! Holy moly, Isaac. I swear your brain has gone to mush. Get your act together, man.”

The demon floating overhead thrashed and spat, no doubt saying something to Anthony via mental communication.

“You’re both weird,” Anthony huffed. “Try and focus, Isaac. I want my family to come back safe. That includes you. Now get going.”

Left without a choice, Isaac grumbled before turning around and heading below deck to find the rest of his squad. Cavalant was the first to detect something was different.

“New orders?” she asked, rapidly cleaning her antennae. “I don’t know why they bothered to tell you, the Eldest should just tell me these things.”

“We’re heading into the mountain,” Isaac sighed. “I think there’s going to be nothing but a road full of plops ahead.”

“Pessimist,” his partner dismissed his concerns too quickly. “The Eldest is here, things are going to be fine.”

All of the ants talked about Anthony like that, but Isaac struggled to share their confidence at times. After all, when their minds connected, the giant monster who towered over him sounded so young.

It made sense, all the ants were young… but stil….

“Alright then,” Isaac announced aloud to the other riders. “We’ve got a mission straight from the big guy himself. The golgari aren’t letting many ants inside, so we are going in. Get your stuff together. We have five minutes.”

Just like that, Isaac found himself as part of the official delegation striding off the smaller landing ship, across the wooden boards extended from the shore, and into a stone tunnel shaped into the side of the mountain. Within, the delegation found a welcoming party of golgari waiting for their arrival.

There were only six of them, which was a surprise, each coated in brilliantly gleaming minerals that formed their second skin. And of course, they were huge, each towering over Isaac, easily eight feet tall if they were an inch.

“We are representatives of the trading circle,” the central figure bowed at the waist in welcome. “My name is Gemmas. I extend our warmest welcome to the representative of the Brathian Island Conglomerate.”

Not a word of greeting for the ants of the Colony. Isaac felt compelled to share a message using his magical pheromones.

“Cavalant? This is plops, right here.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m telling you, this is going to go bad.”

“Based on what evidence? Now be quiet and keep your eyes open.”

Eran was replying, her tone rather more curt than one would normally expect from such a seasoned negotiator.

“I thank you for your welcome, we have felt the weight of it already. As you see, we have brought only a hundred members of the Colony with us into Greystone. I hope that assuages any fears or terrors your people may have felt?”

If any of these insults were landing with Gemmas, it didn’t show on her rock-covered face.

“Please, this way,” she gestured for them to follow her further into the dark tunnel. “There are members of the Shapers circle, Warriors circle, and Noble circle waiting to greet you deeper within the mountain.”

Isaac’s hand tightened around the pole of his spear.

He really didn’t like this.