Re:Ant Lord-Chapter 71: Day’s Trek

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Darius was out there, presumably forging new schemes or he is on his way back to ant kingdom. Who knows! And the star crystal mine, now partially collapsed, hid secrets that might have changed all their lives. Kai alone holding the stolen star crystal liquid inside his expanded storage, plus the star crystals he had gathered.

With stony resolve, Kai stared across the sunrise-hued horizon. "I’ll get stronger," he muttered under his breath, recalling the betrayal and Lomar’s final sacrifice. "I’ll kill that bastard with my own hands." He repeated. He would not let it go unpunished.

Turning to Vexor, who cradled a small portion of water for himself, Kai tried to keep his voice strong. "We need to keep traveling," he said. "Renna may wake eventually, or maybe not. But we owe it to him to try and find real treatment."

Vexor nodded, sorrow clouding his eyes. The road ahead looked daunting, but neither Kai nor Vexor hesitated. Their battered hearts refused to let despair claim them.

Thus, under the warm dawn light, Kai carefully lifted Renna again, carrying the unconscious male ant on his back. Vexor trudged along beside him, glancing frequently at the forest’s edge. Each step away from the shattered hillside was a step closer to confrontation with Darius or the unknown. But they had no choice.

The only path was forward, forging through the wilderness with a thirst for vengeance and the flicker of hope that at least one friend might still be saved.

No final celebration or rest awaited them, only the tireless call to keep marching, to keep living. And so they set off, hearts steeled by sorrow and anger, determined to rewrite the fate that had nearly entombed them all.

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Three days later...

The sky was still dark when Kai opened his eyes, lying on a patch of flattened grass at the edge of a crumbling hillside. The faint hush of wind brushed across his antennae, and the scent of morning dew hung in the air.

Nearby, Vexor stood watch, his battered exoskeleton reflecting the final glimmers of dying starlight. Renna lay still unconscious and many wounds half-covered with bandages.

Three days earlier, they had escaped from the collapsed star crystal mine, carrying Renna out of a makeshift tunnel that Kai and Vexor had slowly carved using their limited strength. They had spent two nights resting in that spot on the hill, too weary to travel far and too worried about Renna to risk moving quickly. Vexor also needed some time to recover some of his strength.

The horrors inside the cavern remained fresh in Kai’s mind: their savage battles, the monstrous predator, and the tragic loss of their comrades. He tried to bury those painful memories deep, focusing instead on the immediate problem: how to keep Renna and get back to the Ant Kingdom.

When dawn broke over the horizon, filling the sky with gentle pink and orange, Kai stirred, gently shaking Vexor from his light doze. "It’s morning," he said softly. "We should gather what strength we have and begin our journey." Vexor nodded. Though he still felt pain in his cracked exoskeleton, he could at least walk. Renna, however, remained locked in a feverish slumber, sometimes moaning in discomfort.

Kai bent over their unconscious comrade. "Renna," he whispered. "Another day... Hopefully you’ll wake soon." The only response was a faint stirring, his mandibles twitching as if trapped in a dream.

They had no time to linger, so Kai carefully lifted Renna onto his back. He carried the male ant in a sturdy harness fashioned from scraps of cloth and rope. Vexor stood guard, spear in hand, though his stance was shaky.

The morning light revealed a wide swath of uneven ground ahead, rocks, fallen logs, and clusters of spiny shrubs. Past that, the edge of a forest swayed gently with a fresh breeze, marking the first step in a long trek home.

The day’s early breeze felt cool, refreshing yet somber. With a measured breath, Kai put one foot forward, Vexor trailing behind. They were leaving the tragic site of the collapsed mine with heavy hearts, carrying far more sorrow than supplies. Yet there was no choice but to press on.

The first stretch of their journey led downhill, away from the steep hillside. Each step Kai took jarred his weary limbs, but he gritted his mandibles and pressed on. Renna’s weight across his back proved heavier than he imagined, especially with all the leftover food and water weighing him down.

He can’t put food and water inside his storage. What will he answer... When Vexor asks him where the food and water comes from? Vexor was too weak to carry anything. Kai also kept some star crystals out, so that no one could question him when he gave them to princess Mia. And the memory of a friend lost, a memory that fueled Kai’s to press on.

Vexor occasionally stumbled on loose rocks, panting from the heat that began to rise with the sun’s ascent. He still wore bandages around his midsection where the beast’s claws had torn him.

Blood stained the cloth, but it had dried to a dull brown. The forest was about half a day’s walk away, and they advanced slowly, half-limping, half-struggling over the bumpy terrain.

They faced their first challenge when they encountered a shallow place with jagged stones at the bottom. Perhaps, in normal times, a small jump or climb would suffice, but with Renna unconscious and both Kai and Vexor wounded, it became an ordeal.

They scouted a path along the rim until finding a place where broken logs formed a makeshift bridge. The logs teetered precariously with each step, so Kai crossed first, carrying Renna. Vexor followed, arms outstretched for balance, a quiet hiss escaping him every time the wood creaked.

Though tension spiked in those moments of fear that the logs might snap or that some hidden predator or beast might strike them. Yet, they managed to cross safely. Their hearts pounded in unison, relief flooding them when their feet landed on solid ground. Then they trudged onward. The sun rose higher, beating down with surprising intensity, turning the day hot and humid.