by Yusuke Kishi
“However, before they even had time to savor the intoxicating taste of victory, the Mayfly colony was destroyed,” Squealer said sadly, lamenting the colony that had disappeared off the stage of history leaving only a fleeting glow. “Since it was such a small colony, once the Mayfly colony lost Ioki as its trump card, it quickly became fodder for the neighboring groups. Even so, if the old ways of war had not changed, they might have been able to hold out just defending themselves. Ironically, it was through Ioki’s own strategy that the Mayfly colony was starved to the point that they had no alternative but to surrender unconditionally.”
“What happens to the queerats of the losing colony?” I asked.
It couldn’t be that they would all be massacred?
“The queen is executed and the rest of the members become slaves. As long as they live they are treated as less than scum, and when they die they are left out to rot and fertilize the fields.”
We were silent. When I think about it now, this too was probably part of Squealer’s plan. Satoru mouthed something silently. It looked like he was saying, “Ants…”
Of course, ants. On one side, queerats show a disposition similar to humans, but on the other, they also have the cruelty of social insects. The purpose for their wars on other colonies was the same as the amazon ants’ invasion of other anthills–to acquire laborers.
“…to be honest, there is a reason I’ve been telling you about all this,” Squealer sat on the ground looking very dignified. “In the past few days of battling with the Ground Spiders, we have lost all the bases that allow access to the outside world. The special envoys we sent to request help from neighboring colonies have probably been caught and executed. In other words, it is a matter of life and death for our colony right now. The arrival of the young gods must be a sign from heaven that we will be saved from destruction. Just like Buddha returning to life from hell.”
Satoru gave me a fleeting look. The conversation was heading in the direction we least wanted it to go.
“I am fully aware that asking the gods to be involved in our lowly affairs is pure insolence. But I must ask for you to save our colony. Please bring down the hammer of vengeance upon these heretic Ground Spiders who fear not even the gods.”
Satoru cleared his throat, “We’d like very much to help you, but we can’t decide these things on our own.”
“Why not? With just one thought, you could destroy them all.”
Satoru chose his words carefully, “Queerats are a protected species so we can’t kill them arbitrarily. We have to apply for extermination of harmful wildlife at the town hall and with the Department of Health.”
“I understand, ” Squealer made a last-ditch effort, “but as it stands, we will inevitably be eliminated. Please have mercy. You don’t need to kill them all. Just a modest attack to break their siege on us, after that we will find a way. Please…”
As Squealer was about to speak again, a messenger appeared and whispered in its ear. His attitude changed completely and he listened haughtily to the messenger. Eventually, he turned back toward us with a slightly confused look.
“I understand. It is late now, so I will ask again tomorrow morning. The two of you must be tired, but will you please meet our queen before you rest?”
“The queen?”
I considered it. On one hand, I wanted to see a queerat queen, but on the other, it was almost daybreak and so much had happened in the past twenty-four hours that I was completely exhausted.
“The queen is in a nearby bunker. She would be very delighted to meet the gods.”
“Alright, we’ll see her for a bit. But everything else waits until tomorrow,” Satoru said, suppressing a yawn.
We followed Squealer through the field. We stopped in front of a particularly large anthill-shaped tower, but I didn’t see the entrance anywhere.
“If you please. It looks dirty, but this is the entrance,” Squealer parted the dry grass, revealing a hole about a meter across.
“What? You go in through here?” I was filled with trepidation.
“It would be better if the queen could come up and meet us,” Satoru said, also sounding a little unsettled.
“I’m deeply sorry. But the tunnel is only big enough for the soldiers, the queen would not be able to exit through here. She is waiting in the hall below.”
Well, we have no choice. It would be a hassle to refuse an audience with the queen now, and since we didn’t have cantus anymore, I didn’t want to start a fight.
Satoru came in after me. It was considerably colder than it had been outside. The entrance was smooth and daubed with clay, and the tunnel itself was made of compact dirt mixed with dried grass, supposedly to prevent slippage. I was afraid I would fall down the vertical shaft, but thanks to the two queerats below us, the climb was easy. The queerats hung onto the walls of the tunnel and slowed our descent like fluffy cushions. The two of us realized that it would be pointless trying gain purchase on the vertical walls, so we basically had to climb down on the queerats’ shoulders.
About twenty or thirty meters later, the tunnel suddenly opened up. We stood up and looked around, but it was too dark to tell how big the cavern was. The stench of mold and animals reached my nostrils, making my hair stand on end.
“Please wait a moment,” Squealer said from behind us.
Turning around, we saw only his eyes glittering in the darkness. I knew that wild animals had luminous eyes, but I couldn’t shake off the unpleasant feeling I got from seeing them.
Squealer struck a flint and lit a small torch. I was blinded by the light for a second. Once again, I realized how reassuring it was to have light.
“This way.”
I thought we were in a huge hall, but the light revealed it to be no bigger than a six tatami room. There were three horizontal tunnels going in different directions. Squealer led the way with the torch. The queerats walking upright cast strange, wavering shadows on the walls of the room.
“Please watch your head.”
The ceiling gradually lowered as the tunnel widened. The queerats probably usually ran through here on all fours.
As we walked through the dark underground with only the torch for light, a strange, unreal feeling came over me. I couldn’t quite believe I was here.
On the other hand, we became aware of an overwhelmingly realistic presence. It was the smell that had assaulted us earlier. The tunnel was filled with the odor of queerats and as we went deeper, the smell became stronger. It was the smell Squealer and the other soldiers had, but layered with another stench closer to that of decay. Moreover, it was so strong that it was almost choking me.
Next, a complex series of low sounds caught our attention. Listening closely, it sounded like a pair of bellows, with sounds of distant thunder mixed in. Irregular vibrations rumbled through the walls of the tunnel. Like something extremely heavy was crawling around…
I could feel the vibrations under my feet. My body seized up in fear, but I didn’t tell Satoru that I wanted to go back. If I showed weakness in front of Squealer, who knows what might happen later.
“How much farther?” Satoru tried to act calm, but his voice shook a little.
“It’s just over there.”
He wasn’t lying. Less than twenty meters later, the tunnel curved broadly to the right. Squealer fell prostrate and started crying out in a high-pitched voice.
The response was an earth-shattering growl. A low frequency wave rippled through our bodies like a strong wind.
“The queen is honored to meet you,” Squealer said.
Satoru looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t get the words out.
“…the honor is ours. We are delighted to be in your presence. Tell her that,” I replied.
Squealer nodded and resumed his squeaking report to the queen.
Suddenly, the queen started speaking in human language, startling us.
“Grrrr…G-od-s ★È. Plea-se…ʃ△è…he-ere.”
H
er voice was a low rumble mixed with the strange creak you hear when you grind your teeth, but somehow I understood that she was inviting us in.
We looked at each other, then started forward slowly around the bend. The disgusting smell intensified until it was almost unbearable.
Squealer stopped at the bend, holding the torch. The light shining from behind made it hard to make out the queen’s appearance. However, from its silhouette and the intense heat it gave off, I could tell that the creature crouched there was of abnormal size.
“★☆…gagaga! □■! …◇◆!”
A gust of hot air washed over us. I instinctively turn my face away, but the sounds that next reached my ears surprised me again.
“Ggg…g-od-s. Welcome. Very-honored.”
The queen was speaking to us in falsetto so that the range of her voice was audible to humans. What was even more surprising was that the voice was unmistakably female.
For about five minutes after that, we talked with the queen. Unfortunately, I can’t remember anything about our conversations. Maybe because we were extremely tired and anxious, or maybe because what happened later was even more dramatic.
The catalyst was something trivial. The queen apologized for making us stand so long and called for two queerats to act as chairs even after we declined the offer politely. Squealer, still holding the torch, came along with the two queerats.
The bright flame of the torch lit up the cavern, and the queen.
Because the queen’s voice had been unexpectedly gentle throughout the conversation, our initial fear had abated somewhat. That’s why we were doubly shocked when we saw her actual appearance.
My first impression of her was of a giant hornworm with four short legs and a tail.
Pale, sickly skin from lack of sunlight and rings of wrinkles encircling her body made the resemblance all the stronger. But the defining difference was her face. Half of the giant head was covered in brown spots, though they would probably be red under the sun. Her eyes were tiny beads buried under layers of skin, and her sharp, chisel-shaped teeth were hidden behind strong, thick jaws. Around her neck was a necklace of crimson almadine, glowing fluorite, beryl, and cordierite sparkling in the light.
Her appearance exposed, the queen roared and charged. We flinched, but she was aiming for something off to the side.
She caught Squealer in her mouth and lifted him easily into the air, shaking him violently from side to side. Squealer shrieked and dropped the torch. The cavern was plunged into darkness. I could hear the queen’s angry growls punctuated by Squealer’s intermittent screams, and the two queerats shivering in a corner, scratching at the dirt with their claws.
“Queen, wait,” I mustered up all my courage and spoke. “Don’t kill Squealer! He didn’t do it on purpose.”
Satoru squeezed my arm. It was a risky venture trying to placate the raging queen. But if a human god didn’t intervene in this kind of situation, it might arouse suspicion.
The queen was unresponsive for a moment, then casually dropped Squealer. Then she deftly changed directions (it was still pitch black, so I felt instead of seeing her movements), slipped by us and disappeared into the depths of the cavern.
Squealer lay trembling for a while, then gathered himself and turned toward us.
“Thank you for intervening to save my life.”
“That surprised us,” Satoru said hoarsely after a pause.
“But the queen never intended to kill you, did she?” I asked.
Squealer didn’t answer.
“…Gods, you must be tired. I will prepare sleeping quarters, so please rest well tonight.” Squealer picked up the torch and lit it again.
I looked at the chain mail he was wearing and shuddered unintentionally. Metal links had been bitten off and the leather armor underneath had large holes from which blood was seeping out. Squealer was obviously wounded, but was doing his best not to show pain in front of us.
“It’s definitely weird. There’s something strange about the queen,” Satoru whispered in my ear on the way to our sleeping quarters. “Be careful. You never know what’ll happen if you piss her off.”
They had just managed to avoid a malicious foreign colony, only to go home to the rule of an insane queen.
Why was the queen so enraged anyway? Even with that kind of appearance, talking to her was like talking to another female, so it wasn’t unpleasant. Unless it was that she didn’t want us to see her at all?
But I was too sleepy to care anymore.
We were shown to a plain dirt room. It was a little chilly inside, but the ground was spread with dry straw that was unexpectedly comfortable. We lay down inside and fell asleep in a second.
My eyes snapped open.
I couldn’t tell what time it was since everything was pitch black, but I couldn’t have been asleep for more than an hour.
My body still felt heavy with fatigue. But I had a feeling that I should get up. Some strange warning in the back of my mind.
“Satoru…Satoru!”
I shook him, but he showed no signs of waking up. I guess that’s understandable. When I touched Satoru’s face, I could still feel the dried blood caked on his skin. There hadn’t been time to clean it properly before we fell asleep.
“Satoru! Wake up!”
Although I felt sorry for him, there wasn’t time for me to wake him up gently. I covered his mouth and nose with my hands.
Satoru started squirming and flailing, grabbing at my hands to stop me from suffocating him.
“What do you want…let me sleep.”
“No. Get up now. Understand? There’s danger.”
Satoru opened his eyes reluctantly, but still seemed half asleep. He made no move to get up.
“What danger…?”
“Just a feeling. Something bad is coming.”
“What’s bad?”
I didn’t answer. Satoru looked confused. After a moment of silence, he turned around with a “goodnight” and went back to sleep.
“Satoru. I know you’re tired, but if you don’t get up now, you might never get up again.”
Satoru rubbed his head, “What are you talking about? Did you have a nightmare?”
“It’s not a nightmare. Or a premonition. Your mind processes the things that happen during the day while you sleep. And now, mine is saying that something dangerous is coming.”
“Fine, then let’s hear what kind of danger it is. It’s all organized and clear, right?”
I crossed my arms and thought. I felt like I was on the brink of understanding. Something was off. We were all overlooking some unexpected hazard.
“…we believed Squealer’s story too easily, I think.”
“You mean he’s lying about something?” Satoru finally looked like he was starting to wake up.
“Not really. Of course, he might not have been completely honest, but I think most of what he said was true. Squealer himself probably doesn’t realize it either. That’s what I think. But that’s probably the most dangerous thing.”
As I spoke, the warning in my head began to take on a solid form.
“An attack. I’m sure of it. Tonight. Probably right before dawn, when our forces are weakest, the Ground Spiders are going to attack.”
“It can’t be. Remember what Squealer said? Queerat wars follow the rules of Go.”
“That’s their assumption. Think about it. The Ground Spiders are wild and foreign. Why would they follow Ioki’s military strategies?”
“But if they raid the tunnels to capture us, they would be following the same tactics as ours.”
“Sure, that sort of maneuver is probably universal among queerats. But the Ground spiders might come up with another strategy.”
“I guess that’s not impossible…” Satoru sighed, as if he wanted to say that I was just being overly anxious and that there was nothing concrete to base my theory on.
“That’s it!” I shouted, “I finally figured out that strange feeling I couldn’t put my f
inger on.”
“Before you say anything, remember that time when Rijin killed the Ground Spiders. They weren’t fighting underground, right? They met us aboveground,” Satoru said quickly. He was finally fully awake now.
“That’s because he buried them alive earlier. They must have realized that it was useless to hide underground.”
“But that was their first time dealing with cantus, right? How did they come up with a new strategy so quickly?”
“They knew they had a disadvantage, so they tried to drive us off with sheer numbers.”
“That’s what I think too. But once the fighting actually started, shouldn’t they have tried to hide underground? But instead they fired a shot right at us. Because that’s the way they fight.”
“But capturing an underground colony by attacking from above…”
“There has to be another way. One that’s faster than establishing a base and sealing off your opponent.” Satoru fell silent. “…if what you say is right, now that they know about cantus, they must have realized that they have no other option but to launch a surprise attack.”
Even in the darkness, I could sense him shake his head despondently.
“That’s not all. Even if the Robber Fly colony has powerful humans on their side, the Ground Spiders would have learned from the fight with Rijin that it’s still possible to kill humans with a surprise attack. .”
An ominous chill was creeping up my back, becoming stronger by the second.
There might not be much time left.
Chapter 4
“Let’s run away,” Satoru said.
“To where?”
“Anywhere, as long as we get away from this nest,” Satoru stood up and made to look outside the sleeping area. “Saki, do you remember? The path we took here was pretty complicated.”
“Yeah, maybe. My memory is a little hazy, so I’m not too sure…”
I tried to recall the sequence of turns from the queen’s hall to where we were now.
“I can’t. I know we went left in the very beginning, but after that the directions are all mixed up.”
My sense of direction wasn’t the best to begin with. It’s not so bad when I can repeat the same route multiple times, but even then if I have to reverse the directions in my head, I still get confused.
