Prologue

Not so long ago a young boy was lying on his stomach, reading about knights and soldiers, when he noticed a tiny white egg on one of the pages.

From this egg an ant emerged, and the boy trained it to walk on two feet, use swords and carry a shield. The ant’s name was Paladin.

But tragedy struck! A fierce storm swept across the land. It picked up Paladin from his shelter and carried him far away.

Paladin is still trying to get home today and everywhere he travels his legend grows.

It is the legend of an ant who defends the rights of lesser insects, who vanquishes evil.

This is the tale of Paladin and…..

The Masked Assassin

(Sometimes, Paladin spends time in an ant colony, before continuing his journey. This is one of those times.)

Paladin was checking the food stores when he heard an ant calling to him.

‘In here,’ Paladin shouted back, looking at the stacks of seeds they had collected. The storage place was dry and almost full. In winter, many creatures will try to get this food, thought Paladin. This colony needs to build up the size of its army.

‘Where are you?’ came the desperate call.

Paladin was instantly alert. He ran towards the shouting and cursed himself for not sensing the urgency beforehand.

It was one of the nurse ants!

‘What’s the matter?’ Paladin asked. ‘Why wasn’t a worker ant sent?’

‘I don’t know,’ she puffed. ‘I was caring for the eggs and the Queen went quiet and then shouted at me to get you.’

‘Why didn’t a worker bring this message?’

‘I don’t know. She said she’d care for the eggs and that I should get you immediately. Hurry!’

Paladin ran, pushing past ants, trying to get to the Queen’s cell. The only reason a nurse would have been sent was to save time. As he raced down one passageway and another, he tried to see if there was any problem in the colony, but all seemed well. Perhaps there were intruders inside the Queen’s own cell which the nurse hadn’t seen!

Paladin withdrew his sword, and as he entered the Queen’s cell he looked left and right, but she was alone. She stood silently, her hands on her head, and her antennae quivering.

‘Your Majesty?’ Paladin whispered.

‘Listen,’ she ordered. ‘Stop moving.’

Paladin grabbed his breath and stood motionless.

‘Do you feel it?’ she asked.

Paladin concentrated intensely. ‘I can’t detect anything out of the usual.’

‘There’s a strange vibration inside the colony.’

‘I’ve just run through much of it and didn’t notice anything unusual.’ Paladin stood silently trying to sense the movement the Queen had detected.

‘If something had entered the colony the soldiers would have attacked it,’ Paladin said, trying to calm her.

‘What if it came in another way?’

‘The soldiers would quickly pick up its scent and attack it.’

‘Can’t you feel it Paladin?’ The queen’s voice trembled with fear.

‘Your Majesty! Why would a creature enter our colony now? There is so much food outside. If it wanted to attack us for a meal, it could do so outside.’

‘I sense a creature working its way down the main tunnel.’

Paladin frowned.

‘It is coming towards this cell now. Stand firm in the doorway Paladin. Let nothing in!’

Paladin had his second sword out now and his dagger. He stepped towards the doorway, shouting angrily for everyone to stand back. He swirled both swords around and stabbed between them with his dagger. It was a blur of metal that would stop anything from entering.

He stared fiercely at the flow of ants in the passageway. A few stopped, and then continued. One large ant stepped towards Paladin, but the swords whirled dangerously close to its antennae. It disappeared down the passage.

‘It goes away,’ said the Queen. ‘What was that creature?’

‘It was just one of the workers,’ Paladin answered, puzzled. ‘Just one of the workers! Why would something come in here when there is so much food outside?’

‘What if the food was only available in here?’ the Queen whispered.

‘What food is only available here, and not outside?’

The Queen’s eyes widened. She whispered, ‘My eggs! The other chamber!’ She began to shout. ‘Something comes for my eggs Paladin. Something wants my eggs. Get to the egg chamber!’

Paladin dived into the main passageway, calling for soldier ants as he went. The egg chamber was not far from the Queen. Paladin hoped that any intruder would get waylaid by the dozens of passage openings, by the constant interruptions of workers discussing the work on the colony. Paladin sprinted to the egg chamber. No one would stop him. Ants darted out of his way. A surge of soldier ants formed behind him.

Paladin reached the egg chamber and stood near the entrance. Inside were several hundred eggs at various stages of growth. Nurse ants crawled gently over them, checking each egg, making sure the moisture was correct! Making sure they were warm enough! Turning them on a regular basis!

Paladin called for all soldier ants in the area to report to him. Dozens of ants responded, and a battalion of ants was soon arranged as five lines of defence in front of the egg chamber.

Paladin went to the egg chamber but a nurse blocked his way.

‘What can I do for you Paladin?’ she asked defiantly. Paladin almost grinned. She was more formidable than some of the soldiers.

‘Let nothing into this chamber. No workers! No soldiers! No nurses, for the time being. Something is inside the colony, coming for the eggs.’

Several soldiers had overheard Paladin and bristled with energy. Their pincers snipped and their heads swung to and fro.

‘But the eggs must be fetched from the queen, to be brought here.’

Paladin nodded. ‘You can fetch the new eggs after we deal with this danger!’ He turned, and then climbed over the lines of soldiers.

The ants moving up and down the passage were going about their normal business – storing food, cleaning the nest, repairing walls, moving to their daily tasks. They didn’t appear to give the soldiers a second thought. They had no need to because they trusted the soldiers to protect them from their enemies. The ants even brushed up against them as they hurried past.

Suddenly there was a cry from the line of soldier ants. One of them had fallen, was writhing on the ground, screaming!

Paladin swung his swords and called out a warning to the ants moving in the passageway. ‘Stand back! No one comes near the soldiers.’

He tried to see the enemy, but there were only colony ants. Why would one of their own do this?

Paladin darted forward, scenting the ants that were in the passageway. They all had the scent of ants that belonged to the colony. Why had one of them attacked a soldier?

Another scream! Another soldier ant fell. ‘I’ve been stung. I’ve been stung,’ he yelled, twisting on the ground.

‘Reform ranks,’ Paladin called. He saw a worker ant step backwards from the line of soldiers.

‘You there,’ he called. ‘Don’t move.’

Paladin was staring at the worker ant when he heard the call of a nurse ant from behind the soldiers.

‘I must get through. I must get more eggs from the queen.’

Paladin ignored the nurse ant. He didn’t want the worker ant to be lost in the crowd. He ran forward to confront him. ‘Wait! I order you not to move.’

The worker stepped forwards.

Paladin held his sword high, and his shield in front of his stomach. If this worker attacked, he would be ready.

The worker shuffled sideways, and Paladin was suddenly knocked to the ground by a long black abdomen. Somehow, he had been attacked. He rolled twice, trying to get out of reach of the worker ant. But it had him trapped against the side of the tunnel. A tail with a sting, hammered the earth beside him, missing by the smallest fraction. Paladin saw the abdomen swing over him. The sting hammered down again.

Paladin’s shield buckled under the assault. The attack was suddenly over. He looked sideways and saw the worker stepping into the flow of ants in the passage.

Paladin struggled to his feet and staggered to the line of soldiers, who were staring at him bewildered. What had just happened?

The worker ant was gone.

Paladin shook his head, replaying in his mind all that had just occurred. Two ants had been stung. Something had tried to sting him; something with poison in its tail. He had seen a similar attack one other time, which had defeated a human.

‘A wasp!’ yelled Paladin. ‘A wasp is in the nest, disguised with our scent.’

‘I must get through,’ yelled the nurse from the back of the line.

Paladin scanned the crowd of ants in the passage. It would be impossible to see the wasp amongst them because its wings were pressed back, and its sting was curled beneath its body.

Suddenly, another worker ant rushed forward. Perhaps it was trying to make its way down the tunnel, but Paladin couldn’t take the risk. He lashed at the ant, sending it to the ground, revealing a ‘sting-less’ abdomen. Paladin helped the bewildered worker to his feet.

Four other soldier ants were moving past in the tunnel. Paladin called out to them to join the ranks of those protecting the egg chamber.

‘You must stay here,’ ordered Paladin. ‘The wasp may return. It looks like a worker. If it attacks, three of you should go for its antennae.’

All the time he was talking to the soldiers Paladin had been scanning the hundreds of ants before him. Then he saw it.

At the far end of the passageway stood, what appeared to be a worker ant, but Paladin saw that it was taller than those around it. The worker turned to leave the area and Paladin caught a glimpse of the abdomen, curled beneath.

‘There it is,’ cried Paladin, pushing his way into the crowd, yelling for ants to get out of his way. In the back of his mind Paladin thought about the Queen. She was helpless in her chamber. If he didn’t get there in time she could be killed. Her newly laid eggs were defenceless.

Wasps lay their eggs inside the eggs of ants. When the wasp larvae hatch, they eat the baby ants. The queen would see the wasp going from one egg to the next, laying its deadly eggs inside them. Once the wasp larvae are inside, there is no way to tell an uninfected egg from a normal one. The nurse ants would move the eggs, with the wasps inside them, to the hatchery where they would hatch out, and the cycle would begin again.

Paladin dived down one passage and then another. Each time he turned a corner he expected to confront the wasp, however, he soon reached the Queen’s chamber. Two soldier ants lay on the floor, twisting in pain. The Queen was in tears.

The wasp was poised above an egg, ready to inject its larvae.

‘No,’ yelled Paladin, planting his feet and hurling his shield.

The wasp was knocked sideways.

Paladin ran forwards, his swords a blur. The wasp scrambled up and flew across the chamber, towards him.

They clashed head on, and Paladin was knocked to the ground. The wasp hissed and stabbed at him with its terrible stinger.

Paladin anticipated the jabs and rolled quickly. But the wasp beat its wings, causing dust to blind him. And with its feet it kicked at Paladin’s antennae, making him dizzy and uncoordinated.

The wasp cackled. It was strong, deceitful, and clever.

But Paladin knew anger could weaken it. He was on the ground. ‘You cannot win,’ he mocked. “You are a useless wasp. You even rely on us for your eggs.’

The wasp’s fury reverberated around the chamber. It kicked at Paladin, threw him into the side of the chamber. It kicked him again!

Paladin had dropped his swords. His shield was gone. The Queen couldn’t move to help him.

The wasp screamed angrily. It flew around the chamber, spitting out its hate, holding off its kill.  It landed in front of him with eyes of burning yellow.

Paladin withdrew his small dagger but the wasp knocked it away and seized him in cold, hard pincers.

‘Who is useless?’ it screamed. ‘Who is the weak one? I will lay an egg inside you. You are the little one! The useless one! I will…’

She faltered. Her words were cut off.

Fifty soldier ants flooded into the chamber, running towards her. She dropped Paladin and tried to flee but ants were everywhere. They attacked her wherever she landed. They ran at her again and again. She swung her stinger to push them away, but many more ants were arriving. She flew to the roof of the chamber, but ants leapt up and clung to her, and dragged her down.

The wasp was soon on the ground, being bitten by ants.  

Paladin ordered them to stop. He approached and looked at the pitiful creature.

She was in pain but stared angrily at him. ‘You tricked me,’ she spat.

Paladin nodded. ‘You grew so angry your true scent came out and drifted into the colony. I knew they would attack you. As soon as anything is filled with hate it loses.’

The wasp closed its eyes. ‘What now?’

‘You smell of wasp. If you return, we will not show mercy. Soldier ants! Drag her out of the nest!’

And the legend grew of Paladin, who unmasked an assassin and taught the weakness of hatred.