Chapter 1493 – Look Who Finally Decided to Show Up

[About time you got involved,] I rant, prodding at the roots of the Mother Tree with my antennae.

The roots quiver and slide around each other, creating a menacing hissing sound, but I’m not intimidated.

[You want to threaten me? Down here? I don’t think so!] I roar, prodding at the fibrous plant matter more aggressively. [You said you’d turn up ages ago, and only now you follow through? Do you have any idea how hard I’ve had to work in these tunnels? It’s been outrageous!]

The roots turn towards me and start to waggle rudely, which causes my mandibles to twitch. Just before I can start pruning this mannerless hedge, I’m interrupted by a gathering of the bruan’chii approaching their mother with warmth and love in their eyes.

Honestly, what has she done to deserve such treatment? As far as I can see, the offspring are far more agreeable than the parent. Something no ant would ever dare to claim about themselves.

The smaller, regular bruan’chii are so little to me now I have to be careful not to squish them as I move over to allow them the space to gather around their mother. The blue mana has extended out to this point in the tunnel now, finally letting the tree-ish people through to welcome their parent.

I mean, regular bruan’chii are around the same size as a person, perhaps a little bigger, but I’m too huge at this point for that to matter. The Grove Keepers, on the other hand, are significantly larger than a person and can still look me in the eyes, though I outmass them to a hilarious degree. Much more tree-like than their smaller brethren, the Grove Keepers are chunky, with thick, wooden limbs covered in leafy vines and deep, green or brown eyes that seem to hold a deeper wisdom that can only be found by being made of wood or something.

As if wood is as awesome as diamond! Just nonsense.

There are two of the huge Keepers here with the group, and one approaches me, holding up a hand in welcome. I feel their mind reach out to mine, and I accept the bridge, allowing it to snap into place.

[Greetings to you, great ant,] they say in a deep, slow voice.

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[Hey there. Nice to see you. Hope everything has been… not as unpleasant as it could be while you’ve been down here.]

The bruan’chii didn’t have to show up to support our invasion of the fifth, but they did, even though the Mother Tree hadn’t been keen on the idea. They’ve been very helpful across the base, chipping in on the front lines, helping the medical teams, and carrying truly ridiculous quantities of building materials.