Chapter 16 – Colony (3)

Chapter 16 – Colony (3)

Rowan let himself collapse, falling to the cold stone floor. His muscles burned. It was as if both his legs were aflame, and the exhaustion was beginning to set in as the adrenaline faded.

So he lay his head back on the floor and let his body relax.

Then, a droplet hit his head. Blinking in surprise, he looked up at the stone ceiling. The cave roof was covered in a cobweb of small cracks and fissures. And every few seconds, drops would fall to the floor. Usually, they would land atop the stalagmites, which made sense, but occasionally, they would drip onto other parts of the floor.

Realizing just how thirsty he was, Rowan opened his mouth to catch the droplets; he didn’t want to waste the water he got with his rations.

But he stopped himself at the last moment. What if it was coming from the lake he’d originally fallen into? Forcing himself to wait, Rowan observed the water droplets pooling on the floor.

There were just a few, so it took quite a while, but eventually, there was enough to actually be able to make out details about the liquid.

Inspecting it, he realized they didn’t seem to share the same luster or dark color as the lake. Even if it had the same poisonous properties, his stats had saved him last time. And now, they were far better, so he would probably be fine.

He spent several minutes catching water droplets in his mouth, slowly chipping away at his thirst. It was slow going, but it was better this than to waste what little he had left in his waterskin.

Though the dripping water did bring up a question. Where was it coming from? There were stalagmites and stalactites scattered about, sure, but nowhere but here had there been so much dripping water.

If there were some kind of underground river or lake where he could get fresh water, that would be perfect. Alas, even if it was probably just meters up from where he was, Rowan had no way to get there.

Once he’d finally gotten his fill, he sat back down. There didn’t seem to be any negative effects from the water, and he was still tired. After making sure there weren’t any ants on his side of the stalagmite wall, he relaxed, ready to let both his mind and body rest.

But, after just a few minutes of blissful rest, he was jerked back to consciousness by a deafening crash and the sound of cracking stone.

Before he could even react, he was pelted with shards of stone. Thankfully, none managed to break his skin.

Pushing himself upright, Rowan glanced around in alarm. With his mind exhausted and eyes still bleary, it took him longer than it should’ve to spot the source, but a few seconds later, he saw it.

It seemed the ironclad ant had decided the best way of getting to him was not to find another way to the tunnel he was in, but to go straight through the stalagmites.

And to his horror, it was working.

The cluster of stalagmites was several layers thick, but a single blow from the colossal insect had sent fissures through several stone spikes, and some of the smaller stalagmites had split in two, unable to stand up to the ant’s might.

“For fuck’s sake…” Rowan muttered, rubbing his eyes. “Can you just…not?”

Shaking his head, he moved away from the crumbling barrier. It wasn’t quite a run, but his already exhausted limbs were doing their best.

His arms were getting tired as well from holding his mace. It’d been especially bad during his flight from his ironclad pursuer, and he’d needed to switch hands several times to continue holding it.

Still, he dragged his battered body onward, refusing to give up. He’d made it this far; he wasn’t just going to give up because of exhaustion.

If he could get far enough away that the creature lost his trail, he could rest. But for now, he would push on.

So he continued, marching ever onward.

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As he stumbled through winding tunnels, Rowan realized he’d barely seen any ants since he’d slipped through the stlagmites.

He’d only seen a few workers scattered about, but he’d taken special care to avoid them. He took a moment to try to puzzle out why, but his mind was simply too exhausted to form any kind of complicated thoughts.