Yasmine had seen the captain focused on his work. During the more intense moments of the last wave, he'd been relentless in his energy and application, but this time something was different. Gone was the calm, determined figure that she was accustomed to, replaced by a beast with so much nervous energy he almost vibrated in place. He roared and shouted through the communication arrays and at anyone who happened to cross his path. He bullied and intimidated everyone who so much as queried a word that came out of his mouth. She could have accepted that, perhaps, considering the situation they were in, especially knowing what he had told her, but the wild look in his eye coupled with the rictus grin plastered on his face unnerved her to no end. Wanting to escape, she'd offered to act as a liaison and assist the citizens falling back to the square.
There was panic in the streets by the time she arrived, the news of the gates being abandoned had spread like wildfire, causing an uproar that threatened to turn an orderly retreat into a riot. Yasmine was forced to intervene multiple times in her first few minutes outside to prevent altercations between city folks and the guards trying to protect them.
"Get to the square! Take nothing with you but what you can carry! Move with all haste! Volunteers to the armoury!"
The crush in the streets was unbearable, only her superior physical stats due to her Class allowing her to press through the crowds. On every corner, a guardsmen or volunteer hollered out orders at the top of their lungs as teams went door to door. There wasn't enough time to ensure everyone obeyed the command, anyone who chose to stay in their homes would be abandoned. Left to fend for themselves against the ravenous ants.
She shivered as she considered the fate that awaited those who didn't listen. A fate she couldn't even warn them about. It was only a matter of time before the true nature of this invasion was revealed, but every second between now and then allowed them save precious lives. Yasmine had no doubt that the instant the citizens realised they were being invaded by ants, a mad panic would descend.
As she neared the market on Dionys street she found the guard out in force, funnelling people toward the square and the inner wall to be found there. She rushed forward, flashing the insignia on her uniform the moment she arrived.
"Lieutenant Yasmine," Sargent Lyssa saluted hurriedly, "are there new orders?"
She shook her head.
"At the moment we continue to get as many people into the square as we can."
Lyssa nodded grimly before she turned back to the hundreds of terrified people rushing past.
"Does the captain really think all of these people are going to fit? The town hall doesn't have enough room for this, surely? Are they planning to activate the gates?"
"I don't know," Yasmine said softly, "we don't control the gates, the council does. It's possible they're reaching out for aid, or for somewhere to receive us, but we haven't heard from them."
"Useless bastards," the Sargent spat, "If their ancestors could see what their blood has come to."
Yasmine swallowed her agreement. There was little point ragging on their rulers now.
"I'll head upstairs," she indicated Merry's fine potions and wares, an alchemist shop with an upstairs residence, "see if I can get a better view."
"Right you are lieutenant."
Inside the market was mayhem as the merchants tried to load their wares into carts to bring with them or were zealously defending their cash boxes. Yasmine had no time for any of them, ignoring their indignant screams as she rushed into Merry's and kicked down the door blocking the stairs. Good thing the fussy old man wasn't home, otherwise he'd have pitched a fit. She leapt up four stairs at a time and burst onto the westward facing balcony just in time to see something she would never forget.
From the west gate entrance crept an enormous ant, taller than a person and long. It's long mandibles were barbed and cruel, but it's carapace glittered with the most beautiful light. An earthy red colour with a rear segment of pure black, the creature poised at the gateway and gazed down on the city from above like a pitiless conqueror. It stood eerily still and made not a sound for a handful of breaths as Yasmine felt a scream constrict her throat.
What was this creature? Tier four, five?! An ant!? There were thousands more of them out there, she knew that, if there were more like this one, what sort of chance did they have?
CLACK!
Even from hundreds of metres away, she clearly heard the sound. The great monster had opened those horrific jaws wide and slammed them shut with unspeakable force, the piercing sound tore through the din of the city with ease. From where she stood, Yasmine could see the people in the streets turn and look, start pointing as they discovered where the noise was coming from.
A terrified hush descended on Rylleh as that monster gazed down on them, not an ounce of mercy reflected in its frame. When it finally moved, it was slow, one leg a time, it stalked down the ramp that lead to the city itself and from the tunnel behind it emerged an enormous, dark ape that crackled with electricity, another smaller shape on its back. As the creature slowly began to move amongst the buildings, another ant emerged from the tunnel, even larger that the first. This one didn't hesitate, but moved forward immediately, clearing the way for what came next.
From out of the tunnel came an explosion of monstrous ants, dozens of them at once, crawling over every available space of the entrance. They ran up the walls, towards the ceiling, fanning out in all directions as more and more poured out each second. If anything, the flow increased with each heartbeat until the area around the entrance was carpeted in a living wave of giant insects.
As if a spell were broken, a great cry rose from the people of Rylleh. A unified scream of pure terror that emanated from thousands of throats. In an instant, the semi-orderly evacuation was over and the crowd transformed into a frantic mob. Rather than watch her own people shove and crush each other, Yasmine reached up with shaking hands to grip the eave above her head and pull herself onto the roof. Her stomach churned and she struggled to contain her bile as she righted her balance and looked around.
From the east, the north and south, the scene was repeated. The inner sanctuary of the Rylleh had been punctured so easily by these creatures and now they came in a great flood to wash the city away. She fell to her knees, no longer able to stand. For a reason she couldn't explain, she turned back to gaze at the first ant to enter, and found herself staring at something new.
A thousand barbed tentacles rose from the ant's back, attached to a central trunk that housed three separate, gaping maws of pure darkness. As tears began to roll down her face, Yasmine watched as each of those mouths opened impossibly wide, paused, then screamed, a piercing wail that blew through every mortal soul that heard it and rattled their minds like weathervanes.
That sound seeped through their ears, into their brains before it sunk into a deeper place, a primal place of fear and terror that every child knows and adults wish they could forget. For many, the madness that followed was almost a relief.
