Eeeeenid. Eeeeeeeeeeeenid!

“What in blazes is that?!” The former mayor of renewal sat bolt upright in bed.

Thiiiiis is the ghost of Anthoooonyyyyy. Whooooaaaaooooaaaaa.

“The what?!” The old woman boggled as she reached to her nightstand to grab her shawl and wrap it around her shoulders.

Yesssssss. I’m totally deaaaaaaaaaad. Spooooooooky!

“Oh pish, you irritating ant,” she scoffed into the empty room. “I’ll believe it when I see your rotting carcass in front of me.”

But I would get eaaaaaaaten. I mean, I have been eeeeeaten.

Enid rolled her eyes. As disturbing as it was to have the ‘Great One’s’ voice echoing through her room, or mind, it was hard to tell, he continued to be utterly dreadful at deception of any kind.

“You’ve been eaten, have you? How did you taste?” she asked, folding her thin arms across her chest.

Deliciooooous. Like a pluuuump roast chiiiiiiicken.

“How would you know how you tasted?”

By the look of satiiiiiisfaaaaaaction on my enemy’s faaaaaaaaace!

“And how would you see that if you were dead?”

With my ghoooooost vision. Ooooooooooooo!

He really was determined to try and make this work. Enid brought up a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. It was bad enough he had to wake her up, but now he was starting to give her a headache.

“Would you stop being ridiculous?” she snapped. “I’m an old woman and I need my rest. If you want to play silly tricks and annoy people, do it to Beyn, he’d probably enjoy it, I simply don’t have the patience.”

A long pause.

[I could have been dead, you know. It’s not like I’m immortal or anything.]

Anthony’s voice rang out in her mind in a more normal way now that he had abandoned this ‘ghost’ pretence.

[If you died and came back to life as a ghost, I think the last thing you would feel the need to do is haunt me,] she thought back at him, but then wondered if he could hear the internal dialogue. There was no sense of a mind bridge connecting them… how was he doing this?

[What’s going on, Anthony? How are you talking to me?]

[You probably don’t want to know….]

[What? Why wouldn’t I want to know? Have you done something to me?]

[No. If I explained it, you would be forced to compare yourself to Beyn, though.]

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[Pass.]

[Exactly.]

[So… where are you?] Enid huffed. [I came all the way down to the fourth to try and catch up with you, and I’ve been waiting for weeks now. Just what have you been up to?]

[Oh, you know. Fighting tier eight demons, battling the wave, training the youth. Not much.]

[Well then, you have plenty of time to come and visit an old woman before she kicks the bucket,] Enid smiled. [When can I expect you?]

[You should have considered being a monster. We don’t even age.]

[Oh, that’s a tactful thing to say.]

[I know, right? I’ve been working hard on my tact.]

[I was being sarcastic.]

[Dammit!]

[Anthony…]

[All right, all right. I’m in the nest anyway, so I can be over there pretty quick. See you in an hour.]

[How do you know where I am?]

[Because… reasons.]

[Are you sensing me with mind magic?]

[Ssssssssure. Let’s go with that.]

[I don’t like the sound of that.]

[You shouldn’t! See you soon.]

Grumbling to herself, Enid slowly pushed herself out of bed and got dressed, unsure how that giant, idiotic ant was supposed to meet her inside the unfinished guest accommodation of the nest. It was quite understandable that this section of the fortress had been left unfinished, considering the ants hadn’t expected anyone to actually come down here and use these rooms for some time yet. She was surprised they’d actually let her come in the first place. Probably, her relatively close relationship with the Eldest was responsible for that. As it stood, she was the only human resident of the fourth stratum who wasn’t a dedicated fighter, and she relied on the ants for everything.

She felt bad for the Colony, having to wait on her hand and foot, but they refused any offer of apology. Seniority meant a lot to them, and as old as Enid was, they seemed to think that granted her a level of status.

Half an hour later, a soft knocking came at her door and Enid shuffled toward it, wondering if Anthony had somehow managed to shrink himself into the corridor.

Of course, that wasn’t the case. When she opened the door, she found herself greeted by two smaller ants, mages, who soon connected a mind bridge.

[Hello Enid,] they greeted her, [we’ve been asked to escort you to a chamber so you can speak to the Eldest.]

[Oh you needn’t bother,] she told them, [if you tell me where to go, I’ll be fine to walk on my own.]

The two ants nodded as if they understood, then swiftly enveloped her with force magic and gently placed her on one of their backs.

[This won’t take a moment,] one of them assured her as they began a smooth scuttle down the corridor.

Enid rolled her eyes. She thought if she’d stayed with the humans, they’d start to baby her as she deteriorated. Who could have foreseen that the ants would be even worse!?

At the end of the corridor, which curved around the internal wall that separated the inner and outer fortress, she knew there was a large open chamber, which wasis where she assumed she would find Anthony. She peered ahead and saw something enormous sway across the entrance, momentarily blocking the light.

[What was that?] she squawked.

[I believe the Eldest has arrived,] one of her escorts informed her.

Just how big had that damned ‘Great One’ gotten? She was almost afraid to look. Feeling slightly ridiculous, she kept her eyes down as she was carried into the open space, only daring to look up after she had taken several steadying breaths.

She’d heard about tier seven monsters, of course. Her dear husband, Derrion, had seen a few over the course of his career, but never fought one. A level of power that she had hoped to never see.

Now, when she glanced up, she didn’t see anything at all. Where had he gone?

She heard a scratching sound overhead….

When she turned her eyes to the ceiling, she saw him, gigantic, clutching to the ceiling like a vision from her nightmares.

[Boo!] Anthony cried in her mind.

Enid clutched at her chest and fell backwards.