Apparently that someone was an army ant scouting party. He really shouldn’t have been surprised when they got attacked while Divara was in one of her mumbling sessions. They’ve nearly doubled their travel time with how often they were stopping, they were bound to get noticed eventually.

  He really shouldn’t have been surprised, but it wasn’t exactly easy to stay calm when three giant ants fell on you from above. Atlas was not pleased.

  The stallion bucked like a bull, crushing two of the ants underneath his raging hooves and throwing Harold off of his saddle. Thankfully Atlas didn’t step on him, he had no interest in testing his armor against a warhorse, especially not against Atlas.

  The third ant was quickly dispatched by Harold’s sword. Despite the embarrassment of being thrown off his mount like an amateur stable boy, it felt good to have something flowing down his blade, even if it wasn’t exactly blood. These feelings were noticed and were promptly ignored.

  “Well, you certainly weren’t lying about having the finest mount in all the lands, his rider on the other hand seems to be a little too desperate to hug an ant, jumping down like that. Makes me wonder whether I should’ve hired just the mount, he’s definitely more civilised compared to his rider”

  His companion’s words were also ignored, he had taken up a policy of neither feeding nor trying to put out the fire in the hopes that it’ll burn out on its own.

  “We seriously need to get a move on, you can have your samples after we get out of army ant territory”

  She thought for a moment before sighing, “I suppose you’re right. I have most of what I need anyway”

  Harold smirked, his heart bursting with satisfaction as he remounted Atlas, she was starting to actually listen to him! Soon enough he’ll have her eating out of his palms (literally if his quest for learning to cook comes to fruition within the next few weeks).

  Divara seemed to have noticed his good mood, staring at him with one eyebrow raised before turning around and continuing down their path. They left the corpses unburned, there was no need to do so when their death pheromones would only pull the swarm in the same direction it was already moving towards, away from the frontier.

  “So, why do these roads exist anyways? I’m guessing the forest doesn’t naturally create convenient infrastructure for humans to traverse through” he asked.

  “It’s made by ants” Divara replied. “Leaf cutters more specifically, they used to be the uncontested rulers of Altena before the frontier was established. They were surrounded on all sides by humans, elves and army ants; the campaign against leaf cutters was hardly a fair fight, but it still took centuries to exterminate them. Even now the supercolony beyond the silver dragon’s territory still stands, making leaf cutters still the largest force in Altena”

  “Well I know that” his history education lightly glanced over the campaign against leaf cutters “How do they do it? Altena with its quick growth should’ve retaken these paths long ago”

  “That, we still don’t know. Some people like to act all high and mighty, lording their intelligence over the ant hordes, but there’s much we still have to learn from them. Most of my teachers agree that ants naturally have a far better understanding of magic in comparison to humans”

  “Hmm” Not the clear cut answer he was hoping for, he supposed that’s why they were trying to study these creatures in the first place.

  Such small conversations filled most of their travels, they didn’t really have much else to talk about, and Divara seemed to be enjoying them. Harold was as well, though he would never openly admit it, only a barrage of teasing awaited if he did so.

  The sun eventually set, the glow of the trees dying down along with it, another one of the mysteries of great Altena. They marched onward nevertheless, they had a lot of ground to cover. They were marching through an overgrowth tunnel, with only the faint glow of lanterns to light up their path their current surroundings could’ve been mistaken for an underground cavern. The only thing dissuading such a notion was the warm breeze and the smell of nature.

  The forest was quite overgrown in general, but the wooden walls of an overgrowth tunnel was thick enough to prevent passage through it entirely. Pike formations were employed in these passageways to decimate leaf cutter minor and mediae work parties, at least until the majors showed up.

  Majors, the dreaded soldiers of leaf cutters, he’s read through many terrified accounts of their strength and size. He was itching to find out whether he and Atlas can drive a lance through their armored bodies or not.

  He’ll find out soon enough when they arrive at their destination.

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The next day was mostly calm, ignoring one attack from a pack of grey wolves. It was actually a good sign to encounter predators other than army ants, it meant they’ve likely left the reach of their scouting parties.

  The pack fled after one of their brethren was cut down and another one’s skull was cracked open like an egg by hooves. Divara felt the need to remark on the fact that his horse still had a higher body count than he did. He responded by apologising to her for killing her brethren, noting her wolfish smirk and sharp canines.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  The number of trees actually lessened as they went deeper into the forest, but their size increased exponentially. By the time they arrived at their destination the trees were tall enough to completely tower over even the great frontier walls.

  Massive trunks of wood stretched over one hundred meters into the air, spreading out into branches larger than entire trees from back home. Leaves cast great shadows down upon them, the sky having turned into a great expanse of green rather than blue.

  This was Riesegen Baum, the former center of the elven clans and now the base of operations of a fledgling leaf cutter ant nest.

  Even from down here he could see the trail, stretching out over branches and vines connected by bridges formed of ant bodies. Thousands of minor and mediae workers cut and carried leaves several meters in length, their foraging trail going out as far as the eye could see, into a colony that was likely an underground masterpiece of engineering larger than even the dwarven forts of the Otgon mountains.

  Breathtaking was the first word to come to his mind, he dismounted Atlas and took a moment to simply take in his surroundings. His serene moment didn’t last very long as Divara suddenly pulled him aside, Atlas followed dutifully as always.

  He was about to question her actions before she pointed towards something in the distance, it was a major. He felt the word didn’t quite do it justice, ‘humongous’ probably would've fit much better. Between a troll and a major, he couldn’t tell which one was bigger, but he definitely knew which one was deadlier.

  The head of the major bulged with muscles, its mandibles glistening in the sun as they rapidly clicked together, the accounts of these things chewing through chainmail in seconds suddenly didn’t feel so impossible anymore. But any threat its weapons created was secondary to a major’s main feature.

  Their exoskeleton gleaned, shining like a plate of metal. The reason for its metallic appearance was simple, it was metal. Leaf cutters are one of the few species capable of advanced metallurgy, the exact specifics were vague but they used acids to purify ores dug out of the ground to plaster over their majors, forming a thin but formidable armor that’s become one of the main reasons why leaf cutter colonies were so dangerous.

  Harold found himself not being scared in the slightest, he had experience with large armored creatures, a single gap was all he needed. Leaf cutter metallurgy was advanced, but their designs certainly weren't. He could see gaps between the plates of metal made to allow movement, that’s where he’ll strike should he be forced to fight one.

  When he is forced to fight one, he doubted they’ll be able to avoid conflict during their multi week stay, and leafcutters are renown for being territorial.

  Divara tugged on his arm before whispering into his ears, “Look! A scouting party’s broken off the main trail” she pointed at a Major leading three mediae heading north.

  “Let’s ambush them”

  Harold was flabbergasted “What? Really?”

  “Yeah, I want to study the plate on that major, nobody’s gotten to see a fresh one still on the body for a long time, this is a big deal!” Divara said to him, showing off her iconic smirk.

  Every bit of his training on battlefield tactics told him that this was a terrible idea. They didn’t have a camp to fallback to, they didn’t know the surrounding area, hell they didn’t even know if there was another foraging trail nearby in the direction the small group is headed towards.

  But he was itching for a fight, and Divara’s smirk had an aura of invincibility, he nodded along despite the foolishness of such an action.

  The pair of them followed after the four ants, keeping them in sight while still maintaining enough distance to avoid being detected. After deeming that they’ve made enough distance from the trail, Harold charged.

  Just like always, walk, trot, canter, gallop. A cloud of dust behind, a glistening lance upfront with the strength of a warhorse backing it up. He intended to kill the major in a single hit, the giant creature turned around just as Harold came within striking distance, too late to dodge now. He lowered his lance, aiming at a gap between the plates.

  The major did, in fact, not dodge. But Harold still failed to reach his desired decisive victory. The major slightly turned its head to the right, Harold’s lance made connection but failed to pierce, instead sliding off of plate reinforced exoskeleton.

  ‘Tsk’ he failed, but he was the best jouster at the academy for a reason, his redirected lance found connection in a mediae while another was trampled under Atlas. Two left.

  He turned around after distancing himself to see the major charging him while the last mediae approached Divara.

  “Don’t worry about me! Deal with the major” She yelled, he could already see energy gathering in her hands as she chanted in a language he didn’t know. He was far more concerned about the major.

  He and Atlas charged once again, Harold was prepared for the major’s tricks this time. His enemy also seemed to understand, as it met the charge head on this time. Harold’s lance got caught in between the plates on its head the moment they made contact, reaching flesh but not piercing deep enough to kill.

  At this moment, Harold’s strong grip worked against him, he flew off his mount while still holding his lance. The ant kept charging, thinking quickly on his feet Harold landed on his feet, legs locked and prepared to push back against the mountain of muscle that was a leafcutter major, however insane the idea of challenging it in a match of strength was.

  Expectedly, his push back meant little. His lance was the only thing keeping the two of them apart as Harold slid across the ground, plowing dirt as he went. He let out a blood curdling warcry, his muscles being pushed to their limits as his bones creaked under the charge of the major.

  But as he screamed, a primal unnatural well of strength flowed out from within him. The major slowed, losing steam as the opposition increased. Perhaps Harold would’ve been able to stop the beast entirely, had it not been for him being slammed against a tree.

  The lance shattered upon the sudden impact, his back likely would’ve done the same if he didn’t have armor on. Harold drew his sword in a single instant, and an instant later the major had its mandibles locked around his body. He did his best to push it away with his sword, but was no match for the ant bearing down on him.

  It slowly sawed through his blade and armor, not even enchanted steel being able to hold up against the relentless assault of chitin for long. One, two, three, four… a painfully long thirteen seconds later the attack ended as an orb of fire hit the major from behind.

  The ant turned around as it screeched in pain, it had just locked its eyes onto Divara when—

  ‘BANG’

  A deafening sound rang out, Harold noted with a dazed mind that Divara appeared to be holding a tube of metal with smoke coming out its end. The leafcutter flailed around in pain as its mighty armor was pierced like paper, in its rage it completely forgot about Harold and charged its new foe.

  Divara was just turning around to flee when a storm of arrows flew from above, targeting the legs of the major with masterful precision. The charge that was being wound up screeched to a halt, all six of its legs were disabled.

  Harold stabbed his sword between the plates in its head, piercing to the brain and finally killing the raging beast, so that was the might of a leafcutter major.

  Harold looked down at his armor, it was already beginning to fill itself back in but it had nearly been pierced. He was seconds away from dying. His blade wasn’t doing much better, it took on the brunt of the attack after all. It had already fixed itself thanks to its enchantment, but he could see the dullness of the part that was used to block.

  “Are you okay?” Divara yelled as she rode over, worry clearly evident in her face.

  “Never better, almost died is all. You have any other beasts that need dissecting? Maybe a gryphon or a dragon?”

  His employer sighed in relief, “Idiot” is all she had to say.

  “Well look who it is! If it isn’t Sir Harold the ‘brute’” Harold turned around in shock to see a familiar face. At the head of a small group of elves was a mercenary crossbowman with an annoying smirk smeared across his rugged skin.

  “Vannol?!”