"We didn't really mean to burn Torpin's rest," Alis protested. "People just got a bit carried away."
"We were lucky the Colony was there to keep casualties to a minimum and help rebuild. Things could have gotten very nasty," Jern said.
"They provoked us!"
The gentle giant next to her frowned.
"Just because someone teases me, doesn't mean I should punch them in the face. You're the one who told me that."
"That's… true. Of course that's true. But they shouldn't have said anything about the Great One!"
Jern thought for a while and then nodded. There hadn't been any need to insult their saviour like that. It was almost as if the leader of Torpin's Rest wanted to provoke them.
He stepped over a pile of rubble, and extended a hand to Alis, which she grasped as she clambered over it.
"Then what about Deepward?" he asked.
His friend released his hand and brushed off her dress, trying to pat away the dust and ash.
"Deepward was… a lapse in judgement. I think people were just excited after Torpin's Rest."
"Priest Beyn tried to stop them…."
"They really should have listened," Alis groused. "Deepward wasn't that rude to us. Still, a little more manners and…"
"And we wouldn't have burned their city to the ground?"
"Yes… that."
They came across several ants struggling to shift a beam of charred wood, carvers, judging by the size, so Jern put down his axe and helped them to lift, freeing it from the crumbling bricks that weighed it down. They waggled their antennae at him in gratitude and he smiled back before he picked up his axe and continued to walk.
"At least they were a lot more welcoming when we got to Jagtown," Alis said firmly, "they let us in, Beyn preached, we rested and then left peacefully."
"I think they were really scared," Jern observed, remembering. "People in Jagtown really seemed to want to avoid me. More than usual, I mean."
As big as he was, people tended to avoid him at the best of times.
Alis sniffed.
"Well, if a little fear is what it takes to bring out some good manners and hospitality, then that says a lot more about them than it does about us!"
He supposed there was some truth to that. If the pilgrims had received a normal welcome, then none of this would have happened. He wondered if the hostile reaction they got was due to the pilgrims, or perhaps because these smaller cities were extremely paranoid living right on the edges of the Colony's territory.
Having such an enormous and prosperous nest of monstrous ants right next to your city probably wasn't great for your nerves. In some ways, it might have been better if the Colony had just conquered them so they could find out everything was fine and just relax.
"Then we got here, to Blackrock."
Jern kicked a rock. It skittered across what remained of the shattered street and came to rest against the face of a statue commemorating the mining city's founder. Some pilgrims had pulled it down during the siege.
"Okay, this one is definitely not our fault!" Alis proclaimed, jabbing him in the chest with one finger. "We were super nice. We didn't show up with any ants. We kept most of the pilgrims well back from the gates. Beyn did everything he could to appear non-threatening and harmless. How can anyone blame us for…" she waved a hand at the ruined city around them, "... what happened?"
She wasn't completely wrong, as Jern saw it. Beyn, the ants, and the pilgrims had decided that getting into spiritual disagreements and burning down cities was not what the pilgrimage was about, so they'd made every effort to minimise the chances of something going wrong. Every effort to avoid offence, or the appearance of threat had been taken.
Yet the people of Blackrock really, really didn't want them nearby. Which was fine. If they'd just said so, then Jern was pretty sure the pilgrims would have turned around and kept moving.
But they didn't just say so. They hung banners on their walls mocking the Colony. They sang songs making fun of Beyn, of the pilgrims and the Great One. If that had been all, it might have been alright, maybe. When the delegation of Blackrock said regretful things about the Queen…
Beyn had been forced to let the pilgrims loose on the city. If the ants had found out what was said…. Jern didn't want to think about it.
He looked over the smoking ruins of Blackrock. Once a large and industrious mining town, now a blasted crater.
"I think we did something good here," he decided, kicking another rock.
Alis nodded firmly.
"I'm glad you agree. We should probably head back to the others. Priest Beyn is probably close to finishing his sermon."
The two wandered back toward the gathering, and indeed, Beyn was in full sonorous swing, preaching his heart out to the huddled and shivering residents of this once-proud city.
"A better life awaits you now!" he proclaimed. "Living in the light of truth, protected, sheltered, by the mighty carapace of the Colony. You will think back on this day and remember it fondly as the day your lives changed forever. For the better! And any who wish to join us on our holy pilgrimage are more than welcome. The time of the Great One's ascendance draws ever nearer!"
The ants were already helping to rebuild, setting up a defensive perimeter to defend against the wave and settling in for the long haul. Eventually, more ants would come to join their column to make up for those who stayed behind.
And some people would join them too. Jern wasn't sure why, but some always did. He could see it in the crowd already. A few shining eyes here and there, some ecstatic gazes filled with wonder. Those people would leave behind everything they had ever known and join the pilgrims in their long march into the depths.
"I just hope we don't burn any more cities down," Jern sighed.
He didn't like the smoke.