I Became an Ant Lord, So I Built a Hive Full of Beauties

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"Where is my daughter," he said, voice flat and loud enough to carry. "Where is she?"

The line did not move. In the back, two soldiers leaned closer to each other and whispered like fools who like to live near fire.

"Look at him," the first soldier said, forgetting his place. "White hair. That face. Those shoulders."

"Shut up," hissed the second, though his own eyes dragged over Kai with the same envy. "He looks like the stories."

"He looks like the story's ending," the first muttered. "If I had hair like that—"

"Quiet," the captain said without turning. The two snapped their mouths shut like traps.

The captain shifted his stance and lifted his chin by a finger's width. "Who are you," he asked, as if he did not care and wanted to be wrong. "Why are you here? We are soldiers from the Scarlet Ant Kingdom. You show hostile intent to our patrol. Do you know the results of showing killing intent to use? We do not know you. How would we know about your daughter."

From the third rank, a calm voice said, "Captain. He fits the look."

Another voice answered, low and eager. "White hair. Handsome face. Height and build. It must be him. The one we came for. The mountain man."

The captain did not look back. "So you are that man," he said, eyes on Kai. "Thank you for coming to us. Are you the ruler of the mountain at the border of desert and forest."

Kai's jaw flexed. "What if I am," he said. "I do not care about your question. Tell me where my daughter is. You caught her today. Her and her friend."

The captain held his gaze. The moon slid from behind a cloud and laid a pale wash over the sand between them. The man's eyes changed, just a little. Understanding slid in.

"Ah," he said, as if he had found a coin on the ground. "Now I see. You talk about the golden child the vice general caught. A strange little thing. No human form. But the desert moves for her as if she were a queen."

He turned his head at last and pointed at a runner two ranks back. "You," he said. "Go. Tell Vice General Mardek we have found our man. Tell him the mountain leader is here, and that the golden beast child we caught is his daughter. Tell him to ready our rewards. We will bring him the prey."

The runner did not ask for a second time. He broke from the line and started to sprint east along the dune ridge, low and fast. Sand hissed under his sandals.

"You are not going anywhere," Kai said.

He moved. The spear came up in his hand like it had always been there. He chose the line that would take the runner in the second bound. His foot hit the sand. The spear drew back. The air wrapped the point.

The captain stepped in.

He did not waste a word. He took one pace forward and dropped his spear across his body at an angle, blocking the lane with a clean, practiced cut. Kai's spear glanced against it with a hard crack and skidded a fist's width off the mark. The runner felt the wind of it and threw himself lower, feet kicking, elbows tight, gone along the ridge and into the darker cut between dunes.

The line did not cheer. They did not breathe. The only sound for a heartbeat was a small rattle as a leather tie slapped a plate in the wind.

The captain reset his spear and set his feet square to Kai. "You will answer to us first," he said. His tone was even. The men behind him knew what that meant. This would be fast if they could make it fast. If not, it would be ugly.

Forty-nine remained in the crescent. Forty-eight four-stars. One five-star captain. The runner was already a shadow on the silver ridge, shrinking.

Azhara saw it from the lower slope where she shadowed at two hundred meters. She rested two fingers on the string of her bow and did not draw. Not yet. She watched the lines in the sand. She watched for the third squad that always came late from the left. She watched for the small tongues of dust that mean someone is crawling where you cannot see.

Kai did not chase the runner. He felt the hook in his chest pull him east. He cut the line and let it hang there. He looked at the captain and measured him. The man's armor sat right. His stance did not lie. He was not brave by accident. He was brave on purpose.

"You should have let me throw," Kai said.

"You should have stayed home," the captain said.

Behind the captain, the two whispering soldiers could not help themselves. One hissed, "He is going to come like a storm," and the other hissed back, "Then we will be his roof."

"Shields," the captain said.

The front rank shifted as one. Plates lifted and angled. Spear butts dug. The second rank stepped to fill the gaps between shoulders and pointed points over them. The third rank lowered spears to waist height for a second thrust if the first failed.

Kai breathed once, deep and slow. The night tasted like iron and wind. He let the anger settle into the place where his bones met his will. He had eaten two five-star cores only minutes ago, and the light they gave him still ran through his veins like fire with a mind. He felt the urge to let it burn everything between him and the camp. He did not let it rule him. He guided it.

He stepped forward and spoke so his voice reached every ear across the saddle.

"I will say this once," he said. "Move aside. Put your spears down. I will take my daughter and leave. No one here has to die."