The angry smog grass elementals had been holding the line, fighting the many magic mutated grass insects that were trying to make their way into the kingdom of the undead that belonged to a single skull. The angry grass elementals could not push forward without the direction of Burnet from above to help direct them, and they could only hold the insect at bay.
To add to their troubles, the grass pixies new war beast hunted them. It knew better than to attack them as both the angry grass spiders and the angry grass centipedes moved in groups, never moving alone among the sea of green grass. This prevented the grass monster from picking them off, but they weren't completely safe, as the great serpent still attacked them using hit-and-run attacks to do damage before blending back into the tall green grass.
So the angry grass elementals were forced to hold a line they weren't entirely sure actually was what was within the grass maze. Well, a grass monster sent by the grass pixies came launching raids at them, making them quite angry. Though they couldn't act on their anger, that was until they saw Bunet and her undead hornets come through the smog wall, and they then knew the push for the base of the grass pixies was back on.
Though the rage grass elementals were surprised to see that the undead hornets weren't flying alone, they were flying with the butterflies, and on the ground a column of rage grass catapults was making their way into the sea of grass. The angry grass elementals were very pleased by this sudden influx of reinforcements, as now they could press the attack as all those born from necrotic rage smog wish to do.
Bunet watched from up above as her undead hornet swarm paired up with the rage grass catapults as they split up from their column to go searching for the home of their enemy, the grass pixies. She looked to her side, filled with a quiet rage as she watched her comrade for this push, Horter, gather his own troops, the undead butterflies, and have them perform some strange little dance above the sea of grass.
Seeing this as a waste of time and of Horter messing around, she was about to inform him he needed to get on task in a very polite and aggressive manner, benefiting a commander. That's when she heard him say a skill that was an army tactic. ENTRAPMENT OF POISON WINGS.
Bunet then watched stunned as the undead butterflies began to form in groups of five, linking up their wings, causing a dazzling display of purple and black from their wings. Which was quickly enslaving the rabid magical insects belowing them that Bunet could make out. Horter saw the shock look on Bunet's face and flew over to her.
"You didn't think I was just resting in the kingdom, did you? No, I was developing my tactics as a commander, creating this skill. I do look forward to seeing the skill you have developed out on the front of your hornet swarms, Bunet." Horter said, radiating a smug presence from every inch of his being.
Bunet didn't respond, as she hadn't developed any army skills, not even knowing that was a thing, and having been focused on finding the location of the enemy's main base. So, not wanting to admit she didn't have an equal army skill, she simply turned around and focused back on organizing the search of her hornets.
Horter watched her fly away from him, his smugness somehow coming off stronger as he watched her go. Then he turned around and got back to guiding his undead butterflies as they enslaved more and more of the magical insects in the grass to their will.
Bunet, embarrassed by her lack of an army skill, decided to make up for it with a ferocious push and her undead natural sting ability. So she began to, in concert with the rage grass catapults, make for a rapid push trying to find the enemy base through sheer tenacity and ferocious pace. This wasn't working as much as she would like, as the damn grass serpent kept attacking her troops in fast raids, killing one or two undead hornets before disappearing back into the grass.
She tried to coordinate her forces to trap the damn serpent, but it wasn't working as the serpent escaped her attempts at encirclement again and again. Bunet's rage built and built with each failed attempt until she was filled to bursting, her two sets of mandibles giving off a hard grinding noise.
"Well, it seems you are doing about as well as I am, it would seem." Horter said, suddenly appearing as if by magic, beside Burnet. Shocked by his sudden appearance, she turned to him, bearing her mandibles threateningly. "It would seem you were too frustrated by our mutual green friend to notice me making my way over." Horter stated simply not reacting to Bunet's feral stance.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Bunet held herself back but made no room to reply to Horter's statement. "Well, it would seem the conversation relies on me once again. The serpent the grass pixie has sent against us has been attacking both of our keeping, both yours and mine, from finding where the main base lies." Horter stated that he was simply informing Bunet that Horter's forces had been getting attacked as well by the grass serpent.
She looked at him, momentarily judging him, then asked the important question. "Then what do you suppose we do about it?" Bunet asked, simply wondering where he was going with this. Hotter gave her a searching look for a moment, then responded.
"Well, it's quite simple, my dear comrade; we work together." Hotter told Bunet simply she looked at him for a moment stunned, which wasn't considering the animosity between them due to their conflicting natures. But sadly she knew he was right and nodded her head slowly in agreement, and so the two combined their powers of command over their different undead swarms.
This allowed them to quickly find the grass serpent, as it could not escape the eye of all the undead flyers that flew both in the grass and above it. Soon enough, through their strained cooperation, Bunet and Horter cast a web around the serpent, with their forces bringing the rage grass tank to bear with the enslaved insects on their flanks and the undead hornets and undead butterflies above to finish the encirclement.
Bunet, seeing the only true enemy that she had found since she had first set out of the smog wall with her first hornet swarm, seeing said enemy was trapped within their encirclement, gave the order. "Attack!" Bunet screeched through the connection she had with the undead forces, causing all of them to move on the trapped grass serpent.
The serpent used all of its ability to fight back, using its flexibility and reach to keep the undead forces at bay for as long as it could, but there were too many, and it clearly couldn't destroy any of the angry grass catapults unless it tried to strangle them, which would leave itself vulnerable to the others. The serpent knew it was living on borrowed time as it felt itself take more and more damage and was about to make one final great lunge to take down as many as it could.
That's when the serpent noticed that a small gap had opened, and it leaped through it, making speed as it went across the ground as fast as it could to leave behind the encirclement. Just as the grass serpent gained some distance, it heard the frustrated shriek of a creature it had not heard before, causing it to try and double its pace.
Bunet had just let out a shriek of frustration before turning on Horter. "What have you done?" Bunet shrieked at Horter as he had allowed a gap to appear in their encirclement. Horter looked back calmly at her, stoking her rage, but before she could make a dive at him, he spoke to her.
"Simple, we wounded the grass serpent enough to hurt it rather badly, then I let it escape before the finishing blow could be administered." Horter admitted freely, causing a shriek of rage to come from Bunet before she gathered her swarm to attack Horter and his clearly traitorous forces.
"I did this because where would a wounded grass snake go when it's hurt?" Horter said, causing Bunet to stop gathering her undead hornet swarm abruptly and stare at him before turning to see a single undead butterfly far away from its comrades, seeming to follow something in the grass as it shifted direction.
Then she looked back at Horter, and the both of them began to laugh from strange insect throats that were never meant to do such things. This was because both found it hilarious that the one thing that had been such a menace to them would now be such a great aid.
Not to mention the fact that the happiness that came with knowing they would finally do what they had originally set out to do and counterattack the home of grass pixies for their raid of the kingdom of Maxwell. The unnatural laughter of the two Undead commanders filled the sea of grass, becoming a dark omen of what was to come for the grass pixie clan to the south.