Chapter 1752 – Expanded Nursery

As it turns out, the nursery isn’t quite where I remember it being. The fortress is still absurdly vast, and rooms are being repurposed all the time. One of the resident Brood Tenders, a lovely sister of mine by the name of Tendant, leads me to where I want to go and explains the reasons behind the shift.

“As our territory has expanded, we’ve gained control of more Krath villages. Hundreds, at this point. They aren’t always able to evacuate properly, the poor things.”

The Brood Tender clacks her mandibles despondently, and I can’t help but wonder if the innate compassion of her caste has gone a little too far. All Brood Tenders should be loving, caring teachers for the young, of course, but feeling sorry for the Krath? I mean… they’re the Krath! A nastier, more conniving and generally yucky species has yet to be found on Pangera. Literally!

“Leaving behind their eggs must be such a painful decision,” the Tender goes on, unaware of my inner conflict. “And not all of the eggs survive the transition, which is just… just awful. Even so, we have managed to recover many more viable eggs and hatch our darling little snails. As a result, we needed to greatly expand the snailcare facility.”

“Well… how many snails do we have now?” I ask.

From what I remember, there weren’t that many of them before. A few dozen, maybe a hundred?

“Over two thousand,” Tendant tells me brightly. “We’ve had to divide them into smaller groups. They really don’t like being over-crowded. The last hatching was just a few days ago. They’re so small just after they hatch. So precious.”

Two thousand?!

That’s… way more than expected. At this rate, we may actually have a viable population of these cleansed Krath. Will the Chal Empire return to its former glory? Under the protective umbrella of their ant allies, of course.

“Well, I just came to see the first group.”

“Oh, I’m sure Theresant won’t have a problem with that,” Tendant informs me as we arrive out the front of two large doors carved with an intricate depiction of ants and snails working together in harmony.

As it turns out, Theresant is slightly worried about letting me see the Chal.

“Aren’t you being a little too protective?” I say, irritated.

After arguing with her for ten minutes, I’m starting to get a bit offended.

“Just what is it you think I’m going to do to them?”

“You are well known for tickling the grubs and rolling them around, Eldest,” she informs me, a little snippily.

“Not anymore,” I protest. “I’m much too large and my antennae are way too heavy. And I resent the implication I would happily crush the snails to death! Do you think I have that little self control?”

Still visibly reluctant, Theresant finally lets me inside the facility. I’m sure it’s because of my persuasive arguments and not because I threatened to just walk through the wall. After all, I’m famed for my reasonableness.

Unfortunately, I’m too large to actually go inside the rooms dedicated to the care of the Chal, so Theresant has kindly offered to bring them out to see me.

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I have to say, the snailcare facility really does have a tranquil and nurturing feeling about it. The air is still and peaceful, every ant in the place moves with a grace and quiet joy that seems to suffuse the very stones. Inside the courtyard in which I’m waiting, there are several different gardens, each based on a different theme, the arrangements evoking different thoughts and feelings from the viewer. This feeling is… almost spiritual.

And the sounds! I can’t quite describe it. I can’t really hear anything fully, but through the general quiet I can detect the odd note that hangs in the air, quivering with an energy and life all of its own.

I have to wait a while. At first I thought Theresant just lied to me, but then I have to concede they are snails, and not very large ones at that. I can’t expect them to move quickly. They don’t call it ‘snail’s pace’ for nothing.

When Theresant returns, she is visibly fretting, hovering over a group of snails accompanied by an almost equal number of Brood Tenders.

This time I am offended! Is that really necessary? Sheesh!