Chapter 143 Mind games (1/2)

Only now do I remember my two pa.s.sengers that I'd thrown off in a rush. Poor Crinis! The little thing can't even see!

[Crinis! Crinis! Where are you?!] I frantically yell in my mental channel.

Turning quickly I unceremoniously drag the Queen this way and that until I notice some movement in the gra.s.s on the forest floor. Rus.h.i.+ng over I see several little tentacles extended straight up, wiggling frantically.

There it is!

I carefully place one of my legs so that it is just touching the seeking limbs.

[It's me! Climb up!]

Moments a later a much more relaxed blob is resting on my back and a very small worker has emerged from behind a nearby tree to climb up onto my head. Mini crew a.s.sembled I return, Queen in tow, to the scene of the carnage.

Surrounded by the remains of her own deceased children the Queen isn't looking good. A horde of workers are rus.h.i.+ng about her, their anxiety is plain in their disjointed movements, darting backwards and forwards, unsure what they should do to help the situation.

The human Queen seems rather unhappy about being this close to such a ma.s.sive monster but I hardly care. Her people are what caused this problem, if she gets uncomfortable I'll shed no tears. If she tries to harm the real Queen then she will very quickly regret it.

”Mother! Are you ok?!” I cry.

In my mind I hadn't imagined she could be injured this badly, she'd always seemed so indestructible that even if I worried about her getting injured, I hadn't really believed it would happen.

Her super hard carapace met its match in those devastating sword skills today, numerous cuts and gashes mar her body, some of them very deep.

”I will … be ok” she replies, her usual calm voice strained to the limit.

”Can you heal yourself? Cast some magic?” I urge her worriedly.

She doesn't reply for a moment, her great body heaving as she labours to draw in air.

”No …. Strength” she manages finally.

No strength!? What the heck does that mean? She can't concentrate enough to cast the spell? Does she not have enough mana?! This is really bad!

Becoming more concerned every moment I start to tap up and down her wounds with my antennae almost without thinking about it, my ant instincts kicking in and overriding my more rational behaviour as I try to scramble for a solution.

Holy heck!

One of these cuts is way too deep! Right in the center of her thorax a deep and wide wound has opened in her carapace, within the wound I'm sure I can see something glittering.

Is that her core?!

A chill strikes me to the bone. Had that skill gone any further then it might have damaged the core directly, something I feel very confident would be immediately fatal to a monster. Just a few more inches and mother would have perished.

Appalled by the thought I turn on my mana sense and examine her core. Usually blazing bright, her core is more of a dim ember right now. Why is her core so weak?! It should be full of mana and packed with energy! Is this why she seems so weak? Is there something wrong with her core?

Desperate to make a difference I start pulling all of the mana I can out of my own core and sending it in a stream of mist towards the Queens. Without knowing if it will help in any way I persist until my core has almost been tapped completely dry of mp before I flick on my mana sense again and anxiously seek any changes.

There is a slight different I think? The response I get seems a little more energetic this time.

Is she not getting enough mana in her core?

”Take the Queen into the farm!” I shout as loudly as I can to all of the surrounding workers, ”rush in there and destroy everything and then take mother inside and protect her!”

If she needs more mana then placing her inside the farm is going to be the best place we can find in the short term. If the workers pack in there tightly enough then there is practically no chance that a monster will be able to sp.a.w.n and have a chance of hurting the Queen.

”As soon as you can you need to heal yourself!” I urge the Queen, ”your injuries are very serious!”

I'm worried she'll start trying to heal the injured workers before she bothers to cast the spell on herself. She is usually selfless to a fault!