The Challenge

The general began to pace back and forth impatiently in front of the shield as the two royalist soldiers cowered beneath their bubble desperately like cowards. He smiled. These pathetic aquatics should never have left the ocean to face him or his queen.

"You fought bravely royalists!" You gave us quite a great struggle to take this mound, far more so than any other foe we have ever defeated. But now it, is finished. For tonight we..."

"Fereen?" Shena cut in abruptly. Already immensely irritated with the insects obnoxious self absorbed words.

"Yea ma'am?" Fereen replied to his friend below eagerly.

"Help me up, I want to see what this bug's face looks like up close before we rip it off." She said calmly.

"Hmff," The general grunted aloud amused at the woman's daring interruption. "Charming."

Shena grunted in pain as she tried to stand again weakly. Only this time having Fereen to help her onto her feet personally. He held his lieutenant's arm around his shoulder to give her the added support she needed, as her weak legs struggled to keep her from collapsing back down. She had to demonstrate to all that she was still a serious threat not to be taken lightly like her comrade. Still a capable leader.

"Battle's... not over yet, crawly." Shena slowly muttered while staring angrily at the old ant waiting intently outside to slaughter them both. The general turned his head slightly intrigued and smiled back, much to her great surprise and disgust. His strange cheeriness and ugly scarred appearance made Shena feel sick to her stomach just by looking at him.

"So your the one in charge then?" said the general, clearly not impressed with his injured opponent. He rubbed his chin with his hand as he inspected her muddied and bloody appearance as if she were a misshapen piece of art. "I must say I'm surprised. I was expecting someone with a bit more experience and a little older. "It is a shame the monarchy is lacking in such poor leadership these days." He grinned.

"Well, a shame for you perhaps.

"But I do agree that the battle has not subsided, and I'm sure we both know how this ends shark. You are surrounded and can barely stand, while we recover and catch our breath's out here thanks to your shield. It will all be over soon. But there is an alternative for you and your last soldier however."

The general then leaned in as close as he could to the shield without touching it and folded his four arms behind is cloaked back to more formally give his offer to his captives.

"I offer you this last chance. Surrender and I will let you live in order to serve our queen, as all species should."

Fereen raised his brow under his helmet at the deranged proposal. He could feel Shena letting out a angry huff of air next to him that was all he needed to hear to know her reply. He turned his head away and back toward the insect to answer for them both.

"You mean slaves right?" Tempting offer but no thanks. We're not really cut out for being in the company of savages who butcher and enslave everyone they come across. It's just common sense I reckon." Said Fereen plainly.

"Savages?" I must say aquatic you offend me." The general put his hand on his chest in a fake humorous display of shock before then gesturing his long off-putting fingers to the left towards Shena.

"You accuse me and my wonderful children of being monsters. But if I can see correctly, your barley standing acquaintance there is a shark. And was it not her kind that was once famed for being far more savage than any other throughout the sea? Even eating your pathetic species? If I'm not mistaken, I think it's fairly common knowledge that Shark's are supposed to eat fish. Not help them continue to live another moment. It's unnatural.

The old ant then made a series of disappointed tsks with his mouth as he shook his massive head back and forth in grave disapproval.

"Such a waste. You could have been so much more than this little shark. But sadly your biggest failure was not embracing your predatory nature fully as we do. Your true instinct is nothing to be ashamed of. Why deny that you are a higher form of life above these mere pieces of flesh? It is only the natural order of things. You know I am right.

Shena clenched her fist in growing anger.

"Yesssss...." he whispered.

"I can sense your true instinct. Your anger. The frustration and self-hatred that has stiffened you all your life. I can see it all laid bare before me as a tapestry of your existence. You needn't conform to such lies you have been told to believe about yourself. And You needn't die a fruitless death defending you're own prey tonight. He is nothing. Just let go. Embrace what you truly are and you will live unshackled by the bonds forced upon you." The insect then gestured to Fereen standing beside her.

"This one is yours's. Ripe for the taking. "Do it and you shall set yourself free from the lie that is keeping you from being what you truly are as we have. He is not you're friend, he is your food. You are predator. You will always be a predator. And you are fully deserving of all that he and the world has to offer you. After all..... " The general then approached closer and whispered to her maliciously. Edging her on to finally let go and give in to her true desires.

"We both know you want to."

Shena ground her broken teeth enraged. It felt like the crushing of broken glass in her mouth. 'This creature dare suggest..?!' The Lieutenant instantly replied without a second thought to, ignoring the lies of an egotistical madman she would never succumb to.

"There is no we Bug. And the the only thing I want tonight more than anything....Is to put a nice solid bolt straight through your big round crawly head."

The general sighed in a shred of brief pity at her final regretful answer. A shame he thought. To see one so young and with such potential led to cling to such lies they are too stubborn to let go of. A pitty.

"Very well. If you seek your own demise. I shall grant it to you."

"But die knowing things might have been different in the coming moments for you little shark. You should have chosen to indulge in your true birthright that you are making the grave mistake by casting aside. Instead, you dishonor yourself and your once proud race in your last moments alive by serving your own prey's animal's foolish ambitions, and the hypocrisy of a dying nation. You are my enemy. But I allowed a small semblance of respect for you before, but now I see there is nothing in you even there worth respecting to begin with." The general's mandibles twitched as his expressionless eyes narrowed inward in gleeful disappointment.

"You've gone soft."

Shena's eyes lowered in uneasiness towards the general comments. Becoming more visibly upset and anxious as the ant continued staring right at her. She wanted to turn her head away in discomfort but kept her cold gaze locked on this creature's ugly appearance in front. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her scarred.

"So what if I've gone soft insect? I'd rather be tame and controlled than be anything like you. I don't eat him and other's because that's the right thing to do, and it's who I really am. But You? you cling to the the ways before like a starving leech nostalgic for the past. You're pathetic. Because despite your sick expectations of what predators should and shouldn't be, you're wrong. That's not how things work anymore bug so don't feed me that bullshit about being superior or being just like you. I'm no better than any of my brave countrymen who I've seen save more people than I can count. But you... You're nothing but a mindless butcher. You're not fit to call yourself sane let alone a leader. And I swear for all the people you've hurt..."

"You and every single one of your children will die before the night is done." She snarled staring right at him.

The general smiled.

"Well given that you're slain soldiers lie in the dirt all around us. I think I'm doing just fine. And besides..."

"I'm not the one hiding behind a wall right now am I?"

Shena spat at the insect standing just outside the shield to no affect.

Now enjoying himself, the general turned to look upon Fereen instead, still not satisfied with his victorious rant against his enemies and continuing to make his point about how they were wrong. He loved to bring these proud arrogant royalist down to his level.

"This sad weak thing is your leader? I'd say she's clearly underqualified by the look of things. A shame. If only your little shark hadn't abandoned her natural status above weaker species, maybe she would have succeeded as a proper warrior, as opposed to dying in the dirt a bloodied weakling alongside them. If she wishes to die as prey, So be it. We shall consume her then as well so there is that to be grateful for I suppose." The general said smugly as he stared directly into Fereen's visor.

Fereen clenched his fist at the generals insult's to his leader and it's Infuriating arrogance he would not tolerate a second longer. This slaver's still viewed the illegal slaughtering of sentient prey species as nothing more than a sick natural right that should be enjoyed and indulged in. He needed to be brought down a peg.

"She's stronger than you think." said Fereen enraged.

"Which is a shame I can't say the same for your kids however. They didn't put up much of a good fight like her. Especially your not your sons."

Fereen then gestured to the numerous corpses around the battlefield of elite flyers with their wings completely severed.

"Ahhh. So this was your doing"

Fereen smiled under his helmet. "Yep."

"We didn't expect you to have so many extra flyers in reserve though. So that's a first."

The general slid his saber back into his scabbard. He would humor this fool until the shield dropped, for he could be patient when the situation demanded it. Especially now that he had them trapped.

"Yes, well we thought it about time to start trying new things, and given how the battle unfolded I'd say the change of structure was worth it."

"Yet still...., you have devastated our numbers." The general looked behind him in a sudden melancholy mood toward is few surviving offspring bloodied and exhausted.

So this was all that was left of his legacy.

The old ant seemed almost remorseful as he now fully saw the high price his personal swarm had to pay in the past weeks in order to claim victory. He could have lingered on his pathetic remorse but soon reminded himself that his children's sacrifice was justified for her majesty in the long run. It had to be.

The general shook himself from his brief moment of inner weakness and continued on with his victorious speech. Smothering his thoughts of doubt by looking down at the pleasant sight of his enemy standing at his mercy before him. The warrior then unveiled a vile smirk as he leaned in closer toward the dome. His mandibles flexing with a an unmatched pride in his children's hard work in bringing these two to him on their knees.

"My swarm was just hired to just invade your nation's lands on the behest of my queen's employers, so this was never personal. It was just business. I'm another life we might have even fought on the same side of this war. If only your nation had offered a higher reward than our wealthy benefactors for our valued service and sacrifices. You water dwellers never even impacted or ruled over us mere "Savages" in your entire culture's history."

Shena stared back annoyed and enraged.

"We'll you sure succeed in making personal I'd say.

The general paced back and forth outside the glowing shield. His children still waiting anxiously like rabid animals for permission to attack. Yet still they stayed put at their father's behest as he continued enlightening these aquatics of their many failings.

"Dealing with us was beneath you, so instead you simply ignored us. And by doing so you assured your own downfall. Although it is true we ants didn't not have much, we still had each other. And that was all we needed to defeat you today. After all, loyalty to a dying nation is a lost cause. But loyalty to a family will always prevail little shark."

"Every Single Time."

The general smiled before quickly turning his attention away from the two royalist trapped in their pathetic dome. They were not deserving anymore of his valued attention. He instead looked back to his last surviving children, standing bloodied and exhausted behind him awaiting his next instruction. He could not be more proud of them, despite how much he tried not to think of it.

"My children! You have fought long and hard over these past weeks. We have struggled and lost many of our kin to these prey in service of our queen. But after these two are dispatched and we regroup with the others, I will see to it that each of you are greatly rewarded for your gallant service!" "This I swear!"

The general walked over to his last three sons, and put his hands on each of their shoulders.

"To you my loyal elites, You have earned the long overdue right to compete in the games, and you shall have swarms of your own to command one day under our sister colonies!!" "This I swear!" He then turned his head toward his other four children on the left.

"And to you my brave daughters. For facing the full force of the deadly onslaught time and time again, you shall live in luxury till the end of your days. Donned in the finest of silks and treasures of the far east, with workers to care for your every need!" "This I swear to you all!!!"

The general smiled graciously as he gestured for his children to come closer for a familiar embrace over their shared hard earned victory together. But before the enthusiastic children could take even a step toward their father. They were interrupted.

"Is it true you round-heads have no names?" said Fereen aloud mockingly. "Must be confusing having to lead thousand's of your fat queen's brats into battle without even knowing which one's which."

The general stopped in his tracks. He slowly turned back around and started walking briskly towards the transparent dome. His mandibles twitching in mounting anger.

"Maybe that's why you barley won this fight. Must have been difficult to give orders. You there attack there! No wait wrong one. you there on the left, no wait more over the left, no wrong again!"

The injured shark practically helpless on the ground began to giggle slightly.

The old raider raised his massive arm high above his head. His fist hit hard against the dome protecting these creatures who would dare mock him and his children after they had wiped out so many of their swarm.

"On the exact moment your shield dies. You die as well fish." the general said with a new snarling voice devoid of all self control as he stared directly through the transparent dome. His eye's seething with a savage degrading fury."

Fereen turned his head to Shena next to him to look for her approval. To which she nodded calmly. He then gently set her back on the ground atop her knees and walked to the edge of the small barrier that divided them from death. Staring directly face to face with the leader of this once mighty swarm by just mere inches.

"By your kids hands I take it. Not your own, Right?" Said Fereen, smiling under his battered helmet. "You're just too old or cowardly to do much fighting yourself nowadays I bet. So instead you just let your kids do all the real dirty work so you don't have to anymore. Especially with that gold cloak on your back and those fancy energy shields you rely on so much. Fereen folded his arms, amused by the old man in front of him. Clearly not impressed with this creature who now was showing his true colors as a coward.

"Those Savanese must be becoming more generous these days to their most valued and desperate customers, begging for their scraps."

The massive general stared down furiously upon the diminutive flyer. The audacity of this imbecile to call him a coward in front of his own soldiers. He was no such thing, he had just been.. cautious. Since becoming a general it was his added responsibility to preserve his own life for the sake of his army. If he died on the front lines, it would have left his offspring leaderless and at the mercy of his enemies.

"I am not above my children, only beneath my queen."

"Then prove it bug, if you're the legendary warrior you say you are, them I'm sure you won't shy away from dealing with just one measly fish and his sword yourself. Fereen raised his hilt from behind his back. The general shifted his furious eyes down to observe it briefly, before locking them back in front with this pest's helmeted face.

"Or are you too old to finish what you started?" Fereen said right at him without a shred of fear. The flying fish ignited his saber, a thin blade of water unleashed instantaneously from within the hilt's container.

The fountain shield's lights began to flicker. Shena turned her head toward the desperately needed device now running on fumes full of dread. Its battery was going to die within seconds.

Despite their only protection now beginning to fail, Fereen still stood undeterred and in front to defend his leader. Swearing to guard her from any more harm. They will not get past me he vowed. They will hurt her and no one else from here on. Fereen would not run. He would not fly away like a coward leaving her to die. He would stand and fight just as he always had beside her. And just as always, he would continue to revel in his enjoyment of taunting his enemy to insanity to his immense pleasure.

"So..., what's your answer bug?" Fereen bowed his sword arm downward. Very proud of the fact that he was managing to make this esteemed and feared general lose his mind before him. "Clock's ticking. I know your little grubs over there would gladly die for you and rip me apart with their bare hands..."

He pointed his saber at the opposite warrior unafraid.

"But would you do the same for them?"