17. Escape

Fire burst out above them. Red ants came to the edge of the hole and peered down at them, heads tilted quizzically. One stepped onto the sand experimentally and slid, sideways and out of control, until it reached Rowan. Hooked feet found a hold on his skin, and the ant climbed down his body.

“Oh shit! Oh fuck!” Rowan screeched. He slapped at the ant, knocking it off him.

The ant landed in the sand and swirled down toward the ant lion. Against the bulk of the ant lion, the large ant looked almost normal-sized.

A giant claw descended and pinned the ant in place. The ant lion whirled around and devoured it in two clicks of its mandibles, dribbling ant juices into the sand.

“It loves ants!” Kaidu shouted, excited.

“Tell it to take them, then!” Rowan snapped, batting ants off his body. Ants surged over him, biting at his legs and ankles ferociously. Acid pain roiled up his body. He kicked them off one by one. They refused to let go, but tightened their mandibles at his kicks. Rowan grabbed at their mandibles and forced them off, peeling them apart. His blood stained the sand red, mixing with ant juices.

Poison Resist activated. Itching and burning from ant bites lessened.

Kaidu glanced over. His eyes went wide. “Rowan, your shoes!”

“What? I know they’re unfashionable, but now isn’t the time!” Rowan snapped. An ant stepped in his mouth, and he pushed it away.

“They’re going after your shoes! You stepped on the ant, the ant hormones are on your flipflops!”

Rowan opened his mouth to snarl something nasty, but halfway there, his eyes lit up. He bucked his body and kicked as hard as he could, not at the ants, but to toss off his own shoes. The flipflops flew into the air and smacked the ant lion in the face.

The ant lion growled and whirled, jabbing its mandibles at Rowan.

His blood ran cold. This had better work.

Ants hesitated. The ones already latched on held their grip, but the new ones turned, antennae following the arc of the shoes. They chittered, almost talking amongst themselves.

The largest ant stepped onto Rowan. Rowan stiffened. Heat radiated off this ant, and fluid sloshed in the first segment of its translucent body. Weight pressed into his body with each step of its six feet, the ant at least ten, maybe twenty pounds. Mandibles easily large enough to chop his thigh in half click-clicked as it worked its jaws. It tilted its head and regarded him with flat, black eyes, then turned to the flipflops. Antennae twitched, feeling the air.

“Go for it! Go after it, dammit!” Rowan muttered under his breath, afraid to move with the fire-breathing ant on top of him

All at once, the large ant jumped off Rowan. It reared up and threw itself at the ant lion, spouting fire, mandibles spread wide. The other ants followed. Smaller mandibles detached from from Rowan as the mass of ants rushed at the ant lion.

The ant lion roared and slammed the large ant. It bent down and snatched up a mouthful of smaller ants, crunching them happily. Ants clamped onto its legs and climbed up its body. Unharmed, it shook itself. Ants plunged into the sand, some half-crushed, others missing limbs. Mindless of the harm to their bodies, the ants jumped back up and charged the ant lion again.

Kaidu lunged and grabbed the edge. With a huff, he pulled his body up, then started to draw his legs up.

Still stuck in the sand, Rowan grabbed his ankle before he could climb all the way up and pulled himself to solid ground. Throwing his body over the edge, he laid there for a second, panting.

“That hurt!” Kaidu snapped, rubbing his ankle.

Lips pressed together, Rowan climbed the rest of the way over the edge and pointed at his gnawed-on ankles. Blood flowed freely. His skin swelled and reddened around the worst of the bites, and the others showed signs of swelling. “You think that doesn’t?”

Kaidu narrowed his eyes at Rowan. After a moment, he turned away. Under his breath, he muttered, “If you hurt someone every time you get hurt, no one’s going to stay around you.”

“If you don’t take that stick out of your ass, same,” Rowan grumbled back.

They glared at each other. With a harrumph, Kaidu turned away first. “We should get away before more fire ants come.”

“Concur.” Barefoot, feeling each prickle and branch under his feet, Rowan followed Kaidu back into the forest.