Ari moved through the meadow, parting the tall stalks with his forearms.
As the greenery thinned, the earth hardened beneath his steps. The land dipped sharply ahead, revealing a maw cut into the ridge of black rock. The stone shelf above the entrance was scarred and lightless.
Ari stopped at the threshold and looked into the opening.
There's nothing but darkness.
So this is the Hollow Foundry of Shadows.
Ari exhaled.
Behind him, a small formation of ants emerged from the meadow.
A shift in the air followed.
Seraphina descended first, her wings folding in with a controlled snap as her feet touched down near the entrance. Nytheris followed without haste, his black wings drawing tight against his back as he landed silently beside her.
Two more guardian butterflies descended from above moments later.
"My, my... Looks like my dear sister was right for once. It really was hiding right under our noses." A faint smile crossed Seraphina's face. "It's almost amusing, in a miserable sort of way. No wonder that tyrant managed to get the better of her."
"Listen up," Quinn said, stepping forward.
"We're entering the moths' lair. Stay alert, and don't let your guard down. Something tells me this battle is going to be unlike anything we've faced before."
"As our captain made clear, the threat is at least sergeant grade. Do not attack on your own. You move together, or you don't move at all. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Ari turned toward them, his voice low.
"Corporal Quinn. That won't be necessary."
The soldiers exchanged brief looks.
"I'll be entering the cave alone, together with Seraphina and Nytheris. The rest of you stay here."
"How bold we've become."
Seraphina looked toward Ari.
"I don't remember giving you permission to use my name so casually, Lance Corporal. Learn your place."
Ari's eye twitched.
I'm already starting to regret having her here.
Nytheris stiffened.
"What's the meaning of this? You're planning to enter a moth's lair where they have the advantage in both numbers and terrain. The three of us going in alone is a death sentence."
"I thought ants relied on numbers for safety."
"Isn't that how you survive?"
Nytheris's eyes glinted.
"He has a point." Quinn looked toward Ari. "Are you sure about this, Ari?"
"If Magnus is as powerful as the butterflies claim, then a direct approach won't stop him. You won't survive against him. And don't forget, he has a swarm of hundreds of moths."
"I know that..."
Ari smiled.
"But I won't risk losing anyone from the colony." He turned toward the cave. His armored foot scraped against the ground.
"We're only scouting the area."
He took another step toward the darkness.
"I won't be reckless.
Quinn folded her arms.
Well, shucks. He's definitely gotten arrogant.
She watched Ari approach the cave.
But for some reason...
A small smile appeared on her face.
I can't help but believe him.
"You two keep watch above."
Ari paused at the threshold. One of the soldiers approached and handed him a long strand of bioluminescent fungi.
"Thanks."
He accepted it, wrapping the glowing strand around his forearm. Its faint light spread across his armor as his fingers closed around it.
"Understood."
The two butterflies answered together. Their wings lifted a moment later. Air shifted around them as they rose. The air inside the cave moved slowly.
The walls shifted between smooth stone and jagged edges, each surface slick with moisture.
The long strands of bioluminescent fungi wrapped around Ari cast a muted glow through the darkness, illuminating the tunnel ahead and the uneven ground beneath their feet.
After several steps, Ari broke off a short piece of the glowing growth. He pressed it against the wall behind them before continuing deeper into the cave.
With each step he glanced briefly toward Nytheris.
I wonder what he's thinking.
The tunnel opened without warning into a chamber that swallowed the glow of the fungi whole. Ari's light barely reached the ceiling somewhere far above, water dripped in a slow, uneven rhythm. At the center of the space stood a single rise of natural rock, worn smooth, and nothing else.
"Would you look at that."
Seraphina lifted one hand and brushed her orange hair back from her face.
"Not a moth in sight."
She glanced at Ari.
"Looks like your intuition was right. This place was definitely inhabited by moths."
Nytheris came to a stop behind her.
Seraphina's hand snapped to her side.
Her thorned whip shot from its sheath and cut through the air toward him. The barbs caught the green glow of the fungi as they passed.
Nytheris's eyes widened as he threw himself backward. The whip snapped past his face, catching his cheek before striking the rock behind him splitting it apart with a sharp snap that sent pieces of stone scattering across the ground.
A thin line opened across his skin. Blood trickled down his face.
"Why did you attack me?"
Nytheris turned toward her.
"Seraphina, what were you thinking?"
Ari stepped forward and reached for her shoulder.
She brushed his hand away.
"We haven't confirmed the Moonveil Blossom's location." Ari looked between them. "We don't have answers from him yet."
"There's no need for us to hesitate anymore." Seraphina said. "We know the truth now. He's nothing more than Magnus's pawn."
Nytheris lowered his head. A quiet laugh escaped him.
"Heh..."
He slowly raised his head toward the ceiling.
"After all these years serving as your sister's guardian..."
"This is the treatment I get?"
He wiped the blood from his cheek.
"I'd expect nothing less from the likes of you Monarchs."
"So you finally dropped the act?" Seraphina asked.
"You said it yourself. You served her for years. I knew you back then."
"You were never this pitiful."
The tip of the whip lowered toward him.
"And you never once fawned for sympathy."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Savor your final breaths... because they'll be your last."
Nytheris lowered his hand.
"How could I betray the Kaleidoscope?"
His voice dropped.
"I've served and lived among you for over a decade."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"I fought for Ignatia. I protected her with everything I had."
"You still don't understand, do you?" Ari said.
"We already knew your intentions long before we stepped into this cave."
"And what's that?" Nytheris asked.
"From our first encounter, something didn't add up." Ari looked at him. "You landed that night with black wings and a nearly black exoskeleton, the only one of your kind who did. No other guardian, no other Monarch, shared this trait.
He paused.
"The resemblance to moths was obvious, if anyone had thought to look."
"You were also unharmed after a battle that left Ignatia severely wounded."
Ari continued.
"And your first reaction to me wasn't caution."
His eyes narrowed.
"It was hostility. Immediately."
"That told me I wasn't part of your plans. I was an unexpected variable."
"That's why your attitude changed. You went from calm and respectful toward your Monarch... to hostile toward me."
"So that's it?" Nytheris let out a short laugh. "That's what makes you think I betrayed my Monarch?"
"If that had been my only reason, I would've abandoned my suspicions right then and there." Ari loosened the fungi vines around his forearm and let them fall against the stone.
"But there's more. You know a Butterfly guardian named Garren , he was injured in the battle against the moths in this meadow, and we treated him in our recovery chambers. He told me what happened when he was ambushed that night. The moths impaled them all above the meadow. And he saw you looking down at them. You did nothing."
"Can you hurry this along?" Seraphina said, hand on her hip. "Your explanation is starting to bore me."
Ari glanced at her.
Ignore her.
He looked back at Nytheris.
"I also know you left the colony that night under the excuse of going on patrol."
Nytheris clicked his tongue.
"You might've noticed an ant squad following you."
"What you didn't know was that they saw everything."
"A moth and you, above the forest."
"That black exoskeleton gave you away."
Nytheris's jaw tightened.
"And that was the final piece I needed."
Ari glanced around the chamber.
"The Hollow Foundry of Shadows is nothing more than an abandoned cave."
"So why make it sound like a threat?"
"During that meeting, you brought up the southern burrows without being asked."
Ari's hand rested on the hilt of the mandible at his side.
"You claimed you'd seen moth activity there."
"But you never reported it to your Monarch."
"Though that doesn't matter."
Ari folded his hand.
"Because that meeting was a decoy."
"What do you mean...?"
Nytheris's eyes narrowed.
"Did it ever occur to you that our force was too small to defeat Magnus and his moths?"
"You knew this would end one of two ways."
"Either we accepted our fate..."
He paused.
"...or we already knew this place was empty."
Nytheris's eyes widened slightly.
"As we speak, our main unit, led by Ignatia and captain Valeria, is heading toward the southern burrows."
"It seems to me you already knew the moths were there."
"Coming here only confirmed it."
"So this is checkmate, Nytheris."
Nytheris suddenly laughed.
He raised one hand and covered his eyes.
"Heh..."
His shoulders shook once.
"Hehehe..."
The laugh grew louder.
"Hahahaha..."
"To think a mere ant like yourself figured all that out..."
He lowered his hand.
"...after I spent years right under the Monarchs' skin."
"I didn't expect that."
He looked directly at Ari.
"I'm impressed."
"But you fools are wrong about a lot of things."
Nytheris straightened.
"For one, I never betrayed Monarch Ignatia. I was never on your side to begin with."
"And I'm not Magnus's pawn."
One corner of his mouth lifted.
"I only used him."
"It made achieving my goals much easier."