Chapter 575 Attack on Rylleh pt 10 (1/2)

The moment this Wallace guy revealed the locations of the gates, the Colony sprang into action. I could hear orders being snapped out as ants began to gather in teams, flooding away towards the fort on the outskirts of the city. Even my heart skipped a beat. This could be a major blunder! We'd antic.i.p.ated the gates would be here, in the centre, and so they were, but we didn't foresee that there'd be more around the edge of the city! Almost all our forces are concentrated here for the final pus.h.!.+ If those gates open and those Legion nutters come pouring out…

”One of us should go,” I tell Mother, ”those Legion soldiers are no joke, as I recall.”

Though I was super weak back then. I have no idea what their relative strength would be now, realistically.

”Which of us should it be?” she asks me. ”I'm willing to go where I'm most needed.”

I hesitate. I need to stay here to help communicate, but I'm worried that the fort will prove to be the more dangerous of the options.

”Go to the fort,” I tell her reluctantly, ”as soon as I'm done here, I'll head up there as well, just in case. Make sure you take a few members of the council up there with you. If it turns serious, we'd rather have more firepower than we need than not enough.”

The Queen's antennae twitch.

”What about you, child? Will you be alright here?”

I suspect she thinks I'm taking on too much here.

”Not to worry,” I a.s.sure her, ”I alone would be enough.”

The Queen turns to leave and rushes to join the flow of ants marching into the distance as I focus back onto the idiot priest and the negotiations taking place with the guard captain, Wallace.

[We want to get in and dismantle that gate as soon as possible,] I urge Beyn, [no delays, we get in there, right now.]

The two humans continue to exchange their inefficient, noisy words as I wait, impatient to get moving. If I can smack this thing down fast enough, then maybe I'll be able to make it over to that fort in the event something nasty starts up over there. I think Beyn can sense my impatience as my mental communication becomes more and more curt. After a few more minutes, I run out of patience.

[Tell them we will have access to the gate within the next two minutes or we'll be charging over the wall and bringing it down ourselves, no more stalling.]

[He's worried about sending ants within the wall. The people are unlikely to react well.]

The priest sounds highly offended that our reception would be anything less than celebratory, but I can understand what the captain is worried about. If a riot breaks out inside, where I imagine people are densely packed, then the potential for fatalities will skyrocket. I harden my heart to the possibility.

[Tell him that's not our problem. If his people can't control themselves then they become another obstacle that we'll overcome. Those gates are coming down. Now.]

Injected with my determination, Beyn toughens his stance and delivers our ultimatum. Rather than sweat, flinch, or any of the other behaviours I would expect, he looks as if he's about to laugh before he turns back toward the walls. We give him a single minute to let the people on the other side of the wall know we're coming before we follow.

The waiting is unbearable. The Colony and I stand around, impatient as the seconds tick by.

”Do you really think they'll let us in?” Advant asks.

”They will if they know what's good for them!” Propellant cackles.