Re:Ant Lord-Chapter 150: First Surge

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It had shown him Miryam as a full grown force of nature. Luna as a general queen. Himself... a king, maybe. A symbol. But not safe. Not untouched.

And then the guardian... the shadow. He shuddered. "She saw it," he murmured. "She sees it. She shared it to warn me?"

The system answered, but more carefully now:

[Possibility: Vision shared as warning, emotional guidance, or instinctual tether.] [Possibility: Dream is not a vision at all. Could be symbolic, the product of subconscious aura fusion between host and Miryam. Just a kids dream.]

[Unknown variable: Future sight anomaly unconfirmed. Insufficient data to finalize.]

[Conclusion: The vision may be a true glimpse. Or it may be nothing. But Miryam asked you to choose. That part... is real.]

Kai’s hands curled slowly over the furs mattress. He looked out the mouth of the tent.

The basin glowed with that eerie silver sheen, sparks drifting like ghost petals in the rain. "I already chose," he said. "When I took them with me. When I brought her here."

His voice was firmer now. The weight of the vision still rested in his chest, but it no longer pressed like a curse.

It felt like a compass. The kind that only points forward.

He lay back again, adjusting the sling gently to cradle Miryam against his heart. The wyrmling murmured something in her sleep and twitched her tail, her soul link briefly pulsing with warmth.

Kai closed his eyes. Tomorrow will bring storms. Maybe blood. Maybe glory. But tonight... he chose to hold them close.

Luna shifted in her sleep, murmuring something about "come play with mommy". Kai watched her face, so peaceful now, and felt the storm churn in his chest again.

Right before dawn, the rift changed. It no longer whispered. It howled.

The sound started deep like wind moving through hollow bones, then rose into a shrieking pitch that echoed across the basin. The cyclone of silver light at the rift’s heart spun faster, threads of aura twisting like molten thread on a cosmic loom.

Then, it widened.

Lightning no longer flickered, it lashed upward in bladed forks, carving jagged lines into the clouds above. Sparks danced from stone to stone, flickering along the ancient monoliths buried in the crater below.

Kai snapped awake, rising to his feet as if yanked by a cord. "This is it," he said. "Things are about to go crazy. Get ready."

His voice cut through the stillness like steel across silk. The camp was already stirring. His squad didn’t hesitate.

Skyweaver leapt from her roost in the stalactites, her wings unfurling with a ripple of violet membrane. Her antennae pulsed, reading the fluctuating essence patterns. She and TunnelCrown moved fast, grabbing the prefabricated mirror poles Kai had prepped before coming here. The poles were forged with angled glass infused with aura, silver colour designed to bounce stray beams of concentrated essence light away from their ledge, preventing discovery or vaporization.

Tunnel Crown slammed the first pole into the rocky ledge and twisted it, locking it into the stone. Skyweaver buzzed past him, angling a shard to reflect a sudden pulse of silver light, just in time. The beam struck the glass and scattered upward harmlessly like shattered moonlight.

Stone Ram and Iron Rampant braced the siege sled in place. They shifted into partial beast form muscles bulging under chitin etched skin as they dug their hooves into the slope. They stabilized the sled’s wheels with boulder wedges, ready for fast escape or aggressive descent.

Luna helped Heart Mason unwrap the essence dampener salves, setting them beside the emergency flasks. She looked up once, toward the rippling sky, her lips tight.

Then she saw Kai heading down the ridge alone. She was beside him a heartbeat later. Shadeclaw was guardian Miryam. ƒreewebɳovel.com

The two of them descended a narrow ledge of stone tongues that jutted from the cliffside like broken fangs. The wind buffeted them with metallic grit. Far below, the silver vortex consumed the three spiral streams of essence flowing down from the opposing cliffs.

Kai paused, crouched low against a pointed ridge, and pulled a stinglet from his side pouch.

It was a tiny metal sphere no larger than a knuckle, laced with rune-etchings and aura mesh. He whispered a command into it, and it pulsed faintly with crimson light.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he hurled it into the nearest spiral stream.

The stinglet rode the current, bouncing from edge to edge like a fish caught in a drain swirl. It glowed brighter as it traveled, first crimson, then gold, before vanishing into the pool at the basin’s heart.

Kai’s eyes glowed with Aura Insight.

"Stable flow," he said, confirming what his instincts already screamed. "This spiral can be tapped."

He rose and extended his spear into the air, letting a globule of falling essence strike the blade. The droplet clung to the edge, viscous, silver bright, with threads of color squirming inside like veins of light trapped in oil.

"The spear didn’t melt. That is good."

He tilted the weapon carefully and let the droplet fall into a waiting quartz vial. The container was double rimmed with soul steel and bound by a rune locked stopper. Once sealed, the vial stopped glowing but inside, the essence pulsed gently like a living heart.

Back at the ledge, Luna had already prepared a small bowl of star-milk, rich, cloudy, slightly blue. She added the drop of essence with precise fingers. The milk swirled for a second, then turned faintly opalescent.

Miryam stirred in the sling, her tail twitching once as if she sensed the energy in the air. Her eyes blinked open, still sleepy, but the smell caught her attention.

She climbed out of the sling by herself, an improvement from yesterday and padded toward the bowl.

Kai knelt beside her. "Only one drop. Just to see."

The wyrmling sniffed the bowl, then tilted her head, curious. Her tongue flicked once. Then, without hesitation, she began to drink.