5 THE ANTHILL

  Before Medhan set off for the Forge Mount he created a queen ant the size of a table. He instructed it to build a tunnel system beneath his workshop. When he returned a year later, the Anthill had become a vast system that went kilometres in every direction, populated by legions of artificial insects.

  It was into this hidden fortress that Medhan deposited the ember and began furnishing the Anthill with equipment and fittings. He unleashed his mind and kindled the flame and began injecting ideas into reality.

  When Ahlum came the second time, she did not wait patiently at the door. She barged into the workshop and found him deep in alchemical work. He had been warned of her approach long before by his remote agents and he intended to keep the underground faculties' exposure limited.

  She was angry and claimed he had made three grave errors on his quest.

1. You should have left the girl there to rot! Her arrogance is unchecked. She desires the blade but lacks the strength to wield it much less the desire to fight the fallen ones.

2. You should have used the horn to call us at once, while the Mount was vulnerable. Now she sits in the Forge Throne, all of her defences armed against any who would approach.

3. You should have killed her and taken everything she now claims as her own. Already she sets the gods against me. The most foolish gods plan a rebellion. These I do not worry about. But wiser heads consider abandonment and she has already taken orders for voidcraft.

  Medhan absorbed the beratement while continuing his work. He was dripping bright liquids into different miniature trees and observing their reaction. Sometimes he would snip leaves and dissolve them and test them with fire and other chemicals.

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  He spoke in his even, quiet tone. "I cannot change the past. I can, however, start on your original issue now."

  "Well, the girl is my problem now. Solve that."

  Medhan exhaled audibly. Ahlum flushed red with indignation. "If I go to war with the Forge Mount, how many of her kin will flock to her? How many gods will I have to kill before the others in your pantheon decide that I am their problem and they try to solve me?"

  She said nothing so he continued. "I have made something useful. This species of tree will shield minds from the voidborn. They feed on their psychic waves so they'll grow quickly. Use these to protect towns and cities while I work on ways to track the towers." Then with an almost lacklustre interest, he blasphemed. "Let the gods leave if they want. Mortals will rise or they will die on their own merits."

  Ahlum accepted the offered bag of seeds but said he should not underestimate the power and danger of the gods. When she had departed, she was perturbed. Both of the Wrights had not been easily awed and treated her with scant respect. Perhaps she had more problems than she initially thought.