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A new dawn bled across the Dune Flats, revealing a battlefield unrecognisable from the day before. Where once one million disciplined soldiers had stood, scarcely half that number remained and those survivors wore exhaustion like cracked lacquer on their carapaces.
Four hundred thousand ants soldiers had died. Over a hundred thousand ants were very badly injured. Losing a leg or arm or fatal injury. Rest of them are exhausted from the battle. The underling’s of the desert ruler had retreat far far away, when the desert ruler fell in battle.
Shattered drake shells littered the sand. Wounded hornet mounts lay tethered in orderly rows, dics siphoning venom and saliva. But amid the battle ruin, jubilation thrumd: banners snapped, buglers thrilled a concise eighth-note flourish, and the Queen of the Ant-Kingdom descended from the air. Dust devils died under her eight-star aura, as though forbidden to whirl in her presence. Beside her stood other eight star ants.
Kai stood among the workers brigades near the rear, Miryam the egg snug in his satchel and throbbing softly with grief. He craned for a glimpse of the monarch’s face, still hidden by a shimring black veil, only her eyes were visible. To either side floated her daughters: Princess Thea in argent armour that sparkled with fresh polish, and Princess Mia, every edge of her new seven-star aura ticulously banked so as not to embarrass her elder sister but impossible to hide. They just joined her a few seconds ago.
The desert was silent as the Queen spoke, not with clarion oration, but with a voice as calm and total as moonlight on dead dunes.
"Children of the Ant Empire," the veil rustled but no features erged, "A’zhorath has fallen. The war is over. Victory is ours. Her core is mine, it will be our kingdom’s jewel of glory."
She raised her hands. The generals, Oryx and Caldera, produced a crystal reliquary holding the Desert Ruler’s Star core, the thing pulsing like a second sun. The sight made Miryam the egg shiver so fiercely Kai felt it through the leather.
"Our casualties are grave, yet our victory is absolute. All honour to those who sleep beneath the sand. Their nas shall be carved onto the Pillar of Resplendent Sacrifice."
A half million voices, hoarse yet fervent, chanted the ritual response: "May their ichor quicken the dawn!"
"Long live the Queen."
"Long live the Queen."
"Long live the Queen."
The Queen turned slightly toward her daughters. "Princess Thea, Vanguard Spear, your vanguard claid the forward oasis and ensured enemy retreat. Your rit is recorded. You will accompany back to Ever-Amber Palace and present your trophies at court."
Thea bowed low with a smug smile invisible to most but not to Kai, who caught the gleam in her eye.
"Princess Mia, Dawn Blade, your squad secured the inner tunnels and collected all the valuable treasure. Your rit is recorded. You have permission to withdraw with ." Mia’s shoulders tightened; Kai sensed her preparing a request but the Queen lifted her hands for silence. "Yet I require your imdiate presence at the palace to debrief star-crystal contamination protocols. Thea will lead the logistical follow-up."
Kai’s mandibles clicked. "Thea gets field glory; Mia gets library duty." Typical palace politics.
The Queen faced the crowd again. "General Pearl returns with to oversee star core stabilisation. General Oryx and General Caldera depart for the Glass Wastes. General Irontide" a towering, iron-hued eight-star with planet-weight shoulders "will remain. He didn’t participate in the battle. He got full strength. He bears command of the half-legion, the caravan of relics, and the sacred task: transport A’zhorath’s body back to the ant kingdom. Under him, every claw, mandible, and stinger shall obey!"
A shout of assent rolled outward. Kai’s belly knotted. "The husk?" The desert ruler’s corpse was as big as a mountain. How would re worker ants move it?
The Queen answered his unspoken question with icy efficiency. "The Ruler’s body will be segnted into twelve titanic carrages, each borne by two-hundred fifty specialized hauler platforms. Worker divisions Delta through Zeta shall harness, lubricate, and guard. The Legion’s remaining heavy phalanxes will encircle."
"Rember," the Queen concluded, "beasts will seek what belongs to us. Should any clan, pack, or Ruler-pawn attack our convoy, they shall witness the steel of the Empire. Bring the husk ho. Bring every scale, every tooth, every grain of Ruler sand. This is your living vow."
She extended both hands. A column of white fla spiralled skyward which signaled the campaign’s end. Then, with a swirl of mantle, she floated eastward. Princess Thea trailed smugly; Mia hesitated, her eyes searching until they t Kai’s across the sea of ants. She parted her mandibles, wanting to speak, but the Queen ordered her to go with her. She gave a small nod, hopeful, helpless, then followed her mother into the sky.
Kai felt an invisible string snap. He was alone again, responsibilities heavier than the corpse they would soon haul.
By midday, sizzling saw-worms and rune-saws screeched through A’zhorath’s glacé scales. The workers chewed with acid sprayers, carving twelve wagon-sized ribs encircled by harness rings. Kai served as a section lead: mapping tendon anchor-points, organising lubricant flow, ensuring shock-absorber crystals inserted through joints so the flesh did not tear as it moved.
Kai’s division is Delta-19, he was assigned to carry the Ruler’s body. He exhaled. No escaping the assignnt.
The husk’s interior slled heartbreakingly like Miryam the egg, a rich cinnamon-amber essence. Each ti Kai’s blade sliced a ligant, the egg whimpered inside his satchel. He kept stroking the pouch, murmuring: "I’m sorry, little one. Your mother’s gift will live inside you. Don’t be sad." The comfort cald both. Kai connected the egg with his soul. So he also felt the sadness from the egg.
General Irontide stalked among teams barking his iron voiced orders: "Platform twelve, faster! Hydro-rollers at eight-degrees tilt! We will roll at dawn tomorrow! Don’t slack off. Finish your work fast."
No chance to slip away for personal hunts. Kai thought about Darius, he hadn’t seen him since the underground crystal mining. "That snake is probably hiding behind Thea, gloating." With battalions stretched thin, no one questioned his absence.
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