The elders of the nine pixie clans craftsmen were of a slow and methodical mindset. This made them slow to act, taking their time to consider their vast experiences and the skills they have acquired over the years. This usual method of dealing with things has allowed them to deal with most problems. Sadly, such methods would not work this time, and the elders knew this as they rode within the center of their creation.

The nine grass pixie craftsman elders were commanding the army of grass serpents that had their fellow grass pixie craftsman inside of them. The elders found themselves having to react quickly and without much forethought to a rapidly changing situation, forcing the elders to rally on instinct and quick action rather than their usually calm and methodical approach. Though the nine pixie craftsman elders knew that this was the nature of war, to have a rapidly changing situation.

Though the elders had hoped to be able to at least plan a little for their invasion within their grass hydras. They weren't allowed this and were forced to give up on their earlier plans as they were ambushed long before they got to the point they were supposed to be in their siege of the undead kingdom of Smog. Which was the way of things the elders knew: no plan survived first contact with an enemy, not even getting to the battlefield.

So the elders found themselves managing a counterattack as hordes of vicious insects attacked from every direction. The craftsman commanded the grass serpents they were in to destroy the rampaging insects, which the grass serpents did with gusto, their serpent nature causing them to instinctively want to devour and hunt insects no matter their state or form, despite the grass serpents being far more grass than serpent.

The nine elders of the grass pixie craftsman instead did not control a grass serpent; they instead directed a different head of the grass hydra they were in. The battle was intense, as even though the grass serpents and grass hydras had size and durability on the rabid insects that charged them, the insects were relentless and heedless of the lives the grass serpent army was claiming as they continued to charge at them.

That was until they suddenly stopped and broke off their attack. The grass snake army did not pursue as they had become separated and strung out from the ambush. The elders seeing the danger in their current position, especially as it was unlikely that the rapid insects were done with them quite yet. So the elders communed among themselves for a moment before giving the order and having the grass snake army form up into an ever-shifting ball so that they would be ready for the next attack.

"Form together, unite the army into one!" The elders said their voice echoing out of the nine heads of the grass hydra. The grass serpent rushed to obey, coiling and wrapping around themselves, forming one giant pile of grass serpents that would be difficult to move or swarm with the grass hydra at its center, directing the ever-shifting mass of grass serpents.

As it would turn out this forming up was the correct descion as the insect horde returned just as ferocious as before. The battle was once more a clash of magic grass craftsman vs. enraged insectoid. Though this time the enraged insects were far more organized, putting the grass snake army on the back foot, or back tail, as more appropriate.

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The grass snakes found themselves facing enraged battalions of mantises from one direction and then, once they had dealt with them, they were dealing with enraged ants and beetles from two other directions. The battle was ever shifting, with the enemy seeming to be always probing, looking for any weakness in their formation or any force of grass snakes that was weaker than the other.

The elders within the grass hydra found themselves having to move their hydra from the center of their ball formation on more than one occasion to help a force of grass snakes that had been strained by multiple attacks. The elders thought on the situation, wondering who was commanding such a force of enraged insects, as it was clear they were commanded, but by whom the elders asked themselves.

Eventually the elders came to their answer by finding the undead butterflies that had been flying above the battlefield. They had just been missed by the grass serpent army because they were so focused on the melee that they spared no attention to the skies, where nothing was attacking them from. Though now that the elders were now actively looking for the one commanding the insect horde attacking them, they spotted the undead butterflies and their strange colors.

The battle went on, the elders commanding their forces better now that they knew to watch for the undead butterflies above commanding them as a sign of where an attack was about to come from. Though as the battle continued and the elders commanded their fellow craftsmen through ever more swarms of rabid insects, they had to repair their grass serpents even as the enraged insects were still tearing at them. The elders came to a conclusion as the battle raged that undead butterflies may have been leading the enraged insect swarms, but something else was leading them.

As the undead butterflies were leading basic insect swarms of a single species rather well. But there were a few times when the species hadn't gotten mixed up in a melee, and their lack of command ability showed as they had a hard time commanding multiple insect species. So with the rather complex proving tactics being used by the insect swarm as a whole, it meant something else was ordering the undead butterflies to have them do such complex maneuvers.

So the question for the elders and the army was where was this commander, and how could they get to him, for it was clear the enraged insects were without number? So if they wanted any chance of victory against the enemy that has surrounded them, they had to deal with the enemy's leader in hopes that that would cause them to either fall upon themselves or become far less tactical, thus becoming easier to deal with.

So the elders put all their knowledge together to try and find where the hidden commander could be. They used their nature as pixies, which made them sensitive to magic, along with their knowledge of the realm of the pixie grasslands, to find where the enemy commander was hiding, as he would not belong, and that otherness would give them away to the magic senses of the elders.

The elders spent a long while focusing their senses outward, scanning their surroundings. This caused the grass hydra they were in to become a bit rabid without their direction. Though the elders efforts were soon paid off when they found what they believed to be the commander far above in the sky on some kind of giant undead airship. Now knowing this information, the elders prepared to make the strike that would end this battle.