As we descended deeper into the dim, earth-bound tunnels, the air grew heavier, almost oppressive.

The little golem, ever vigilant, suddenly stopped, his rocky eyes narrowing as he muttered, “Invaders! Attack!”

The moles around us stiffened, their small bodies trembling slightly, picking up on some unseen threat ahead.

Krothe, perched on my shoulder, tilted his head, his voice a soft, ominous whisper. “Something… is ahead.”

I strained my ears and heard it—a low, persistent clicking noise, like bones being scraped together in the darkness.

I signaled to a few golems, who grabbed torches and hurled them into the depths.

As the torches arced through the air, they landed and rolled along the ground, casting flickering shadows that danced ominously against the walls.

In their unsteady glow, I saw them: red ants, their carapaces gleaming with an unnatural, fiery sheen.

Each one was as large as a small wolf, their mandibles clicking as they sensed our presence.

Their eyes, black and devoid of emotion, fixated on us with a primal, mindless rage.

The ants emitted a strange sound—“Gee… gee…”—a grating, unsettling noise that reverberated through the tunnel.

Krothe’s eyes gleamed as he tilted his head, listening.

“They’re warning us… telling us to go back,” he translated.

But retreat wasn’t an option.

I raised my hand, signaling my golems forward.

They lumbered ahead, their stone bodies grinding against the earth, each step shaking the ground with weight and power.

The ants, undeterred, bristled with aggression, their mandibles clacking as they charged.

The first ant lunged forward, mandibles wide, aiming for a golem’s leg.

With a powerful crunch, its jaws clamped down, but the ant’s teeth barely scratched the golem’s hardened rock exterior.

The golem countered, lifting a fist and smashing it down with force, shattering the ant’s head in an explosion of green fluid and chitin.

Another golem engaged, swinging its massive arm to swat an ant against the tunnel wall, its exoskeleton cracking on impact.

But more ants surged forward, their rage intensifying with each of their fallen comrades.

They swarmed around the golems, clawing, biting, and clawing, their collective clicks and screeches filling the air in a cacophony of primal fury.

"Gee… gre! Gee… ge!" they chittered, their voices growing louder, echoing off the walls until the sound became a nightmarish chorus.

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With every fallen ant, more voices joined, their desperate, frenzied cries rattling in my skull.

The moles around me began to tremble.

I could see their wide eyes darting around, the fear evident as the red ants’ cries intensified, growing into a relentless, angry tide of noise.

Krothe leaned close to me, feathers fluffed up in tension.

"They’re calling more reinforcements… This is just the beginning."

I stepped forward, watching as the ants clawed, again and again, at the golems’ stone bodies.

Some were clever, targeting weak points where the golems’ stone joints moved, aiming to chip and wear them down.

The golems retaliated with brutal efficiency, but their movements were starting to slow.

Realizing we needed more than brute force, I scanned the tunnel walls.

“Block the entrances!” I shouted.

The little golem nodded, taking several larger stones and placing them against narrow choke points in the tunnel, narrowing the space even further.

With fewer paths to advance, the ants were forced to line up, and our golems took full advantage, smashing down with methodical precision.

With every swing, a red ant was crushed, yet more kept coming, relentless in their advance.

Suddenly, an ant burst through one of the blocked passages, lunging at a mole who was scrambling to dig us an exit.

I leaped forward, summoning my own hand transforming into a long blade slashing the ant down before it reached him.

It writhed on the ground, its body convulsing before it finally stilled.

The mole looked up at me, his eyes wide with gratitude mixed with lingering fear.

The tunnel continued to fill with the ants’ furious cries, their unyielding swarm pressing forward even as their comrades fell.

The battle was far from over, and I could feel the weight of their hive’s collective wrath growing, a looming shadow we would have to face head-on.

“What should we do?” Krothe’s voice held a slight tremor as he looked at me, his wings folded tight against his body.

I thought quickly, scanning the dark tunnel around us as the relentless chants of the ants echoed, their numbers seemingly swelling with each passing moment.

My mind raced through possibilities until one stood out, risky but feasible.

"Dig upward," I said firmly.

Krothe’s beak clicked in concern. “Are you sure? Digging down is one thing, but going up…”

He didn’t have to finish.

Digging up was like tearing through the ceiling of a fragile house, with every bit of earth holding the potential to crumble, raining down on us.

And here, in the heart of an ant colony, we didn’t know what we’d encounter if we breached another section of their territory.

But with the swarm pressing closer, the option of retreat was gone.

“Yes. Quickly. The golems will hold them back.”

The horned moles sprang into action.

They scrambled to the tunnel wall and angled their claws upward, slicing through the packed earth with swift, sure strokes.

Soil tumbled down as they dug, their claws scraping and slicing in a steady rhythm.

The moles were swift, carving out chunks of dirt, and though soil and small stones fell around us, they managed to keep the tunnel ceiling intact.

Meanwhile, I turned to the golems. “Hold the line. Don’t let any through.”

They lumbered into position, forming a sturdy wall of rock, stone fists clenched and raised, ready for the impending assault.

The first wave of ants surged forward, their jaws snapping, eyes glinting with fury.

One of my golems met them head-on, swinging a massive arm and shattering an ant’s hard shell with a brutal punch.

Another golem planted itself at the front, taking hits from the ants’ mandibles, their sharp jaws barely scratching its thick stone body.

As each golem took damage, they would shuffle back slightly, and I would rush to repair their cracked limbs or chipped edges with matter manipulation, reinforcing them to withstand the ongoing onslaught.

Every time an ant attempted to squeeze through a crack, another golem would block it, slamming down a fist or sweeping a leg to knock them back.

“Gee…Greee!” the ants screamed as they crashed against the golems, piling up in an aggressive, frenzied swarm.

They hissed and spat, their mandibles tearing and scraping, but the golems held firm, creating a brutal barrier against the swarm.

Above us, the moles worked tirelessly, digging the new tunnel higher and higher, their swift claws forming a passage that tilted upward.

The leader of the horned moles let out a quick signal, and one by one, his group began to retreat up the newly dug path, their bodies agile as they clambered upward.

I watched, waiting until they had all moved up to safety.

Then, I turned to Krothe and the little golem.

“Go now,” I urged, nodding toward the opening.

Krothe flapped his wings, casting a final wary glance at the thrashing line of ants before he took flight, carefully navigating up the sloping passage.

The little golem followed, clambering with a mix of excitement and fear.

With a heavy heart, I called the first line of golems to begin retreating.

They backed up slowly, their solid forms blocking the path, allowing the ants only a trickle forward.

One golem stood firm while others moved up the tunnel, its massive arms swatting away the ants that dared approach.

As it neared the exit, I directed the last golem to fill in the space, pushing rubble and loose earth into the tunnel, sealing it off with a temporary barricade.

I was the last to climb, feeling every vibration and echo of the ants below as they chipped away at our defenses, their relentless scratching and shrieking loud in the cramped tunnel.

The sound sent chills down my spine, but I pressed forward, urging myself upward as the golems finished sealing off the last of our old path.

Finally, I reached the new tunnel and scrambled up, breathing heavily.

Behind me, the golems pushed more dirt and stone into the remaining cracks, sealing away the ants for now.

The sound of their claws against the makeshift barricade continued, muffled but persistent.

Yet, I knew we had gained some precious time.

With everyone now above, we continued moving, each step forward marked by a renewed sense of urgency.

The moles dug as fast as they could, carving out our path, while the golems continued reinforcing and sealing each section behind us.

We pressed on, a desperate but determined band, forging our way through the depths of this hostile hive, knowing that each step took us closer to our goal.