A thick, acrid stench of burning filled the air. Scorched ant shells, evaporated bodily fluids, carbonized wing fragments, all these odors mingled together, forming a nauseating wall of smoke. The ground was burnt black and cracked, purple blood pooling into small streams that seeped into the flame hardened soil.
But the ant swarm did not retreat. Two hundred meters away, the golden striped ant's shrieks turned furious and shrill. More ants surged up from the rear, not hundreds this time, but thousands. They trampled over the charred remains of their kin, charging fearlessly into the still warm scorched earth, the purple tide pressing forward once more.
Gabriel's breathing grew slightly heavier.
