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The forest above the Crimson Nest was unnaturally silent. There were no birds. No wind. Only a low, rhythmic thump... like the beat of a distant drum muffled in mud.
Inside her personal rest chamber, Akayoroi’s antennae twitched twice, then it got frozen in mid air. Her hands paused just above a cluster of larvae she was adjusting.
She slled it again. Pheromones of Foreign species. It felt Wet and Foul.
"Seal the eggs, they are our brother and sister, they are our only hope, we must protect them." she commanded.
Her elite escorts, two sleek warriors with stinger scythe-like arms moved without a sound.
Akayoroi stood there. Her eyes narrowed toward the upper tunnel. The scent wasn’t just foreign. It felt like they were here hunting.
Less than two minutes passed before the bark at the forest floor cracked like a ribcage splitting open.
THUMP!
A shadow dropped into the mossy center of the clearing above. Dust leafs, and small dry old three branches exploded from trees. Small beasts ran. The air grew humid.
The monster licked the corner of its wide, warty mouth. Standing nearly two ters tall, thick and squat, the intruder was vaguely humanoid. If humanity ever had a version that lived waist deep in swamp water, fed on rotten fish, and dread of licking sap from the spines of other beasts.
Its stomach swelled grotesquely with every breath. Its skin was li green and blotched, its bulging yellow eyes set wide apart. But the most disturbing thing was the tongue. It was too long, too agile, sliding across its lips even when it wasn’t speaking.
It wore a ragged cape of beast skins, and its toes squelched into the earth like they didn’t belong anywhere dry.
He sniffed the air. "Mmnnnhh... I sll the beauty of red chitin," the Frog Man crooned. "Slippery sweet. Royal. Definitely female."
He slid one clawed hand into the dirt. "The entrance is here. I can feel it. She’s beneath ."
He grinned, revealing rows of mismatched, grinding teeth. It gave a disgusting dialogue, "She is mine. Tonight I will play her. More Specifically, I will play with my tongue. It likes to licks..." This ugly bastard was talking to himself. Giving self complint, "No beauty will deny a handso and sexy man like ."
Inside the Crimson Nest, Akayoroi stood tall before her forty eight remaining warriors. Two had already been dispatched to protect the egg chambers.
"Keep your eyes sharp," she said calmly. "The enemy isn’t an ordinary beast. It’s a five star rank. It is looking for sothing."
A soft click-click echoed as all the assassins ants tapped their stingers once in unison. She didn’t need to order them to fight.
She had trained them for situations like this. What they should do, if sobody or sothing ambushes their ho. But she didn’t anticipate their tunnel wall exploding.
BOOM!
The bark shield ceiling caved inward. Chunks of wood and stone crashed down as the bloated frog body dropped straight into the outer chamber, his weight cracking the hardened floor like a stomp from a sky beast.
Several two star rank warriors jumped back. Two were crushed and badly injured under falling roots.
The Frog Man stood there brushing his belly with one paw.
"Slls like... eggs down here," he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "Fresh virgin beauties. I hit the jackpot."
Akayoroi stepped forward, her carapace gleaming under the faint red lichen lights. "Leave this place. Otherwise you will regret it."
The frogman sniffed again, eyes rolling over her form. His tongue slithered out, waving in the air. "Ohhhh... so it’s you. I knew it. That scent... You’re the leader of this colony. You are the beauty who will serve tonight. I was promised that."
"No one promised to you. Leave now ugly from. You dream of eating swan at? Not happening. Never!" She answered with an angry face.
The Frog Man grinned wider. "You are beautiful. Too beautiful for an ant. I will keep your head if you bite, but if you co quietly, I won’t smash your little sisters. Let tongue play with you. I will give you a good ti."
He leaned forward, tongue flicking, body twitching. "I’ll fill you with thousands."
Akayoroi’s claws snapped into a battle stance. "You’ll bleed before you touch ." She signaled with a twitch of her antenna.
Twenty assassins sprang forward from the tunnel mouth, their bodies flickering like shadows. Blades of hardened chitin glead in the dark. The Frog Man’s eyes rolled, his tongue snapped sideways and caught one ant in mid air.
CRACK!
She hit the wall, unmoving.
"Too slow," the Frog-Man croaked. "But tasty."
The others struck. Dozens of stingers and razor legs. Silent as wind.
His tongue snapped again. His belly inflated. He croaked so loud the tunnel walls shook. A sonic blast echoed, knocking several back into the stone. He swept his massive arms, crushing one ant flat against a wall.
Akayoroi snarled. "Retreat now. Group Three, reroute through the lower flank!" She was one of the highest star ranks in the colony. A three star rank. They weren’t a match for a five star frog man. Behind the fat and ugly frog. There were more of his subordinates standing. All four or five star rank.
Another warrior ducked past the frog’s leg, plunged her blade into his thigh. Green sludge hissed onto the floor.
The Frog-Man bellowed, lashing his tongue out in a wide arc, smashing two into the ground.
"Play nice now," he hissed. "Or I’ll order my servants to finish you all. I want only your leader. Rest of you can warm my servants’ beds. We frog people are experts of tongue."
Akayoroi lunged. "You bastard, Shut your stinky mouth. It slls like shit."
She moved faster than light should’ve allowed in the tunnel. One blink, and she was already behind him. Her claws striking at the back of his knee. He turned, tried to catch her, but her antennae had already warned her.
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