Det ran his fingers carefully across the white carapace of the small, white ant. Almost closing his eyes, he focused entirely on the sensation beneath his fingertips. No doubt about it, this was exactly the same as the walls inside the mistship. Exactly like that and…

  “Challenge completed. Rewards calculating,” a mechanical voice echoed through the room, so loud Det dropped the ant and drew his sword. The mechant clunked to the floor, while Det spun, looking for whatever had spoken. There wasn’t anything around him, aside from a narrow tunnel he hadn’t seen before, tucked further behind the mulcher opposite where he’d come from. One that angled further down.

  Definitely not the way I want to go.

  True to his thoughts, he spun and dashed—no, really, he limped—back around to the front of the mulcher where Meliza and the teenaged boy should be. Right where they were supposed to be, with an ink-wolf and ink-rat with them, he looked for any threats. Or, more importantly, anything big enough to have a voice as loud as he’d heard.

  Then again, considering what it had said… maybe it wasn’t a threat. It had said something about a reward.

  Please don’t be bigger ants. That’s not a reward I want at all.

  “Did either of you see what spoke?” Det asked.

  The boy, curled up practically behind the ink-wolf tucked his head into his arms and shook his head. He wasn’t going to be much help.

  “Meliza?” Det asked.

  One hand wrapped in the ink-fur of the wolf guarding her, the other hand lifted, one finger pointing. Directly behind Det, because, of course.

  Turning and fully expecting to see a rhino-sized ant looming over him, it was oddly a letdown to instead see… nothing. Well, that wasn’t completely true, with a terminal next to the mulcher frantically working.

  That looks like a 3-D printer…

  Even as Det watched, a watermelon-sized block of white material was whittled away at an unbelievable speed. Seconds, that was all it took, before two items—of some kind—lay in its place. Another second had a multitude of small arms stretch out from the sides of the same machine—some like soldering irons, while others carried small components—that completed the work. All in all, from start to finish, it couldn’t have taken more than six seconds.

  “Rewards complete. Please collect,” that same mechanical voice said again. This time, Det could tell exactly where it came from. The printer that’d just crafted a pair of… white ceramic items.

  Is this where Captain Simmons and General Vans got that white armor? And Jeckles his pistol?

  If that were true—and these were the kinds of items that could increase Det’s strength—he needed them. Why they hell they came from weird ant-emergences that fed people to mulching-horror-machines was something he would ask the captain. A look back at Meliza and the boy, and neither of them were moving. Probably because of how close the printer was to the mulcher.

  Are these items made from people…? No, that can’t be. And, even if they are, what’s done is done. I can’t change that they died. These things might help me get back to Nat and Yumi.

  Decision made—consequences be damned—Det hobbled up to the printer to get a better look at what the machine had made. Why it had called this whole thing a challenge and issued ‘rewards’ wasn’t a question for right now. Instead, his attention was firmly focused on what he’d found.

  On the left, the only way to describe the item was to call it an eyepatch. One made of white ceramic, of course, with a thick band that split into a Y-shape to go around his ear. From the looks of things, it was meant to be worn over his left eye. Beyond that, he couldn’t see anything that made it stand out.

  The other item, on the right, wasn’t much bigger. A half-glove for his right hand that would cover from wrist to his second knuckles. It kind of reminded him of a biker glove, complete with some extra padding. There was also some kind of small battery or canister-looking component back near the wrist.

  One more look around to make sure nothing was going to jump out at him—all clear for the moment—and Det sheathed his sword again, then reached out and touched the two items. When nothing happened then, Det grabbed the pair and took a step back.

  Still nothing bad happened, so he slid the glove on his hand. To call it a perfect fit would’ve been an understatement. It fit like… a glove.

  Det groaned internally at his own pun, but flexed his hand and fingers to see if he felt anything he should be worried about. Considering he’d seen Vans, Simmons, and Jeckles all wearing equipment like this, he’d figured it was safe to put on. Still, it was nice to be right about that, and he slipped the eyepatch over his face.

  As soon as it was in place, the white ceramic directly in front of his eye transformed, becoming a kind of blue, transparent glass or plastic. Before Det even had a chance to question that, a HUD appeared in front of his eye, like he was wearing smart-glasses. Just moving his eye, his new glove came into view, and a circle appeared around it in his new HUD. A second of attention to it spooled out a short phrase beside it.

  Wordless Half-Glove, E-Rank

  While Det didn’t expect his new glove to talk, the ‘wordless’ part didn’t really make sense. Then again, since his eyepatch had just labeled the glove for him, he could ignore that part for the moment. What else could it identify?

  Turning around, he got his next answer almost immediately, with circles and words appearing next to Meliza, his ink-animals, and the teenage boy. Interestingly, the two kids didn’t get a Rank, and were instead specifically listed as Unranked by the eyepiece. No names, even though he knew Meliza’s name. Just Unranked.

  The two ink-animals on the other hand came up as ReSouled Constructs, E-Rank. Guess the eyepatch doesn’t want to call him Deathmaw either…

  Other than the circles for those four, there wasn’t any…

  Det paused. Now that he was looking—really looking—the ant bodies didn’t have circles, but they did have small dots. It was almost like they’d been hidden on a second layer of the HUD until he wanted to see them. More attention on one pulled up a short phrase for the ant at his feet.

  Wordless Ant, E-Rank.

  Huh, and it’s in red text. What about the kids…? Green text? I have to assume the red one is because of it bloody trying to kill me.

  And, there was that wordless thing again. Was that what these things were called? Wordless? True, it hadn’t spoken to him, but the name seemed bigger than that somehow. When he ran into the three, full Mistguard, he’d have to see if their gear also bore Wordless titles.

  As for the glove, what could it…?

  The distant sound of tap-tap-tapping ground his thoughts to a halt. Coming from that tunnel behind the mulcher. It sounded far too much like the ants had, albeit on a size-scale similar to the large, white one, for him to want to stick around. In other words, not something he wanted to deal with, now only having three wolves and two civilians with him. Not to mention a broken leg.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  “And that’s our cue to go,” Det said, quick-hobbling over to the two children. “Up we go, then down that tunnel.” He pointed in the direction he’d come from, the ink-wolf alpha—Deathmaw—standing and taking a step in that direction. Since Meliza had a hand wrapped up in his dense, ink-fur, she had two choices. Go with him or be forced to let go.

  She chose the smart option that didn’t involve getting left with a possible swarm of ants. The teenaged boy had the same thought, getting to his feet and sticking close to the large wolf, while the whole group made a break for the tunnel. They’d have to pick Meliza’s mother up on the way, then hope the tentacled ink-creatures would slow any ants trying to follow them. Just getting above ground wouldn’t be enough. They needed to get back to…

  A titanic BOOM shook the room and caused the red lights contained within the viral discs on the walls to flicker.

  “Whatever that was,” Det said. “Let’s hope it doesn’t find us.” Unless, of course, it’s Vans and Simmons sticking it to some giant ant…

  Since Det had never really been that lucky, he kept the group moving. It really was a miracle he could keep going with a leg as broken as his was. The pain was there, and throbbing, but it was manageable. Felt more like bad bruising than the utter agony it had been right when he’d first gotten the break. The supposed ‘armor’ of his uniform hadn’t done much to protect him… or had it? Would the injury have been even worse without the high boot protecting him?

  Just one of many things he’d ask when Jeckles—hopefully—put him back together again. He didn’t have a baseline for what the armor was supposed to do, or how much protection it provided. Hell, for all he knew, maybe it was just like Kevlar. That only did so much when it came to blunt or crushing damage, which would make sense. The armor wasn’t any heavier than Det’s old fencing gear, so he couldn’t really expect more protection.

  Cept, uh, magic.

  Grumbling to himself about the armor and constantly looking over his shoulder got the group back to where he’d left Meliza’s mother. As long as no ants had come from behind to…

  “Mom!” Meliza said, letting go of Deathmaw’s inky fur to rush ahead to her mother. The young girl didn’t even give the clawed-teddy-bear—or the two sets of tentacles hanging from the ceiling—a second look before she was at her mother’s side. Thankfully for Melizza, none of the ink-creations considered the girl a threat, either.

  Good thing. That would’ve been awkward…

  “Meliza,” the woman said from where she’d pulled herself to sit against the wall. “You’re okay!” Tears fell from the woman’s eyes, streaking her dirty face as soon as her daughter fell into her arms. “I was so worried…”

  “Mom,” Meliza cried, the floodgates opening as the fear and the trauma caught up all at once. “It… it… mom.”

  “I know, dear,” her mother said, rubbing the back of Meliza’s head and trying to soothe her. A glance went in Det’s direction, but settled instead on the teenaged boy. “Ruffal, is that you? You made it too? Oh, thank goodness.”

  Unsurprisingly, the boy didn’t answer, his furtive gaze going from the woman, to the ink-constructs, and back to the direction they’d come from. The tapping of ant-feet had faded somewhat as the group had moved, but it was a good reminder they weren’t out of danger yet.

  “We need to keep going,” Det said. “We can’t stay down in these tunnels.”

  “You’re the one who did all this?” the woman said, her eyes ‘pointing’ at the inky creatures she’d woken up to. “You saved these two?”

  “They were all that was left,” Det said pointedly. “And, if we stay here…” he didn’t need to finish the statement for the woman to get the message.

  In her embrace, Meliza continued to cry, the safety of her mother’s arms trumping the danger of the dark tunnel and what called it home.

  “Mel,” the woman said. “Mel, we need to keep moving. You need to be brave a bit longer. Can you do that, for mommy?”

  Meliza’s head shook as she buried her head deeper in her mother’s shoulder.

  “Mel,” the woman said again. “I know you can do this. Just a little further, then we’ll be back outside. You want that, don’t you? I can’t carry you, so you need to walk.”

  “I…” Meliza started, her voice like fragile glass.

  “Will be the brave girl I know you are,” Meliza’s mother said. “I know you’ve been so brave already. That’s how you got back to me. You can do it just a little longer. Can’t you, Mel?”

  There was a second of silence. Then five. Ten.

  Det’s head went back to the direction they’d just come from. Was that tapping his imagination? Probably not. Just as he opened his mouth to offer his support to what Meliza’s mother was saying, the little girl spoke up.

  “I can be brave for you, mom,” Meliza said.

  Not a moment too soon, either, with vibrations coming through the floor as if something large was following them down the tunnel. Having seen his fair share of dinosaur movies, Det knew all too well situations like this never ended well.

  “We’re moving,” he said. “And we’re doing it fast.”

  “My legs,” Meliza’s mother said as she forced herself to her feet.

  “Will have to carry you,” Det said. “You told your little girl to be brave, and it’s time for you to show her how it’s done.”

  “I’ll help,” Ruffal said, the first words to leave his mouth since Det had found him. And, true to those words, he slid his shoulder under one of the mother’s arms, and half-carried her past the second set of hanging tentacles and down the hall.

  The killer-ink-teddy followed beside the woman, his job of protecting her not yet over. Since the tentacles couldn’t move from their spot, they wiggled what looked like farewells, then stood ready to offer what they could in slowing down anything else that came through the tunnel.

  “Thanks,” Det said without really thinking about it, and continued down the tunnel as fast as he could go. His leg wasn’t getting any less broken with each step, but it also wasn’t getting worse like it would’ve back on earth.

  Deathmaw padded softly beside him, while the final two surviving members of the Pack trailed in the rear. If anything did come for them—and got past the tentacles—those two wolves would be the first thing they’d have to deal with.

  Giving the stomping of whatever is following us, that just means they’ll be the first snack.

  Still, even with the constant thundering steps that shook the floor—along with the occasional BOOM that seemed to be slowing them down—the group got to the hole in the bottom of the tavern without getting mandibled to death.

  “How are going to get back up?” Meliza’s mother asked. “Those monster ants carried me down…”

  Det didn’t need to answer, five tentacles coming down to grab the woman, Meliza and Ruffal.

  “Ignore the groping,” Det said weakly, the tentacles’ behavior bordering barely on the safe side of hentai. Luckily, it only took a few seconds to deposit the group back up on the inn floor, before the inky limbs came back down for the others.

  Det and the alpha went next, with the teddy, rat, and wolves coming last. By this point, Det couldn’t just feel the steps charging in their direction, he could clearly hear them too. The two sets of tentacles he’d left in the tunnel hadn’t done anything to slow it, which meant this set wouldn’t do much better.

  “Whatever that is, it’s coming,” Det said. “Get outside.”

  “Then where?” the woman asked. “Where are we going?”

  “Wish I had an answer for you lady, other than ‘anywhere but here’,” Det said. “Now, get!”

  Thankfully, instead of arguing, or maybe because Ruffal was already heading out, and he had her arm over his shoulder, the woman was out the door within a few seconds.

  That left Det behind with his final three members of the Pack, the alpha looking at him like it was planning to stay behind and offer its life to slow down whatever was coming.

  For once, it was Det’s turn to look at it like it was an idiot. “We both know there’s nothing you can do to stop it, at least not here. You’re coming with me, in case there are more ants outside.”

  The wolf gave him a low growl, though Det didn’t have the attention to translate it, his last ink bottle and one of his brushes back out in his hand. If whatever that was decided to come through the inn, well, he’d leave a surprise for it.

  Broad strokes over the course of fifteen seconds—the building shaking more and more with each approaching step—filled the floor with a wasteful amount of ink and one of Det’s worst renditions. Quality aside, he more than made up for it in quantity, and it wasn’t like this particular image required an attention to fine details. All it needed to do was burn.

  Empty bottle and brush going back to where he’d gotten them, Det shooed the three wolves out of the building, then put both hands to the floor. Magic surged out of his fingers, flowed along the dozens of thick, black lines, then brought a shimmering glow as if motes of silver rose from inside. Moving like a line of dominos falling, the glow—and the magic—spread to the far ends of the image, and within two seconds, it ignited.

  As in, literally ignited.

  The entire floor erupted in black-ink-flames, charging across the fallen-ant bodies from the initial battle, then crawling up the walls, and along the ceiling. The black fire even crawled over the side of the hole, and down into the tunnel. If whatever was chasing Det and the others wanted to come up the hole after them, it would have to work for it.

  Either way, Det didn’t want to be around there to see it, so he spun on his heel and limped out the front door of the building. As he cleared the front porch, black flames leapt out of the windows of the building, then spread up the wooden walls toward the second floor. Inside and out, the building ‘burned’, though as Det joined the others and spun around to look at his handiwork, it was clear the building wasn’t burning in the traditional sense.

  The flames spread along the wood, but didn’t consume it.

  Hopefully whatever came out of the tunnel would burn a little better than…

  BOOOOOOOM, Det’s thoughts cut off as the entire building exploded.