When the swarm first spotted Myra and Ira rising above the sand dunes, their first thought was a delicious meal. Immediately, their speed increased, hungry and eager for the first bite. Xag, who could only see what his minions could through the fog of war, chittered eagerly.
"Scouts? Follow them, consume them!"
Xag tilted his head, observing the scene from his Weaver console, when several fireballs and wisps of flames rose up behind them. He clicked his mandibles once or twice, watching as these two danced between them evasively.
"Not scouts? Minions fighting each other? Weaver Atlas must be terrified for his future," Xag breathed happily.
This glee quickly turned to alarm, however. Chasing them with a bloodlust and hunger akin to his most deadly minions, dragons flowed up and over the sand dune like a wave.
To his shock, the first line of his insects paused, which led him to shout in frenzied rage. The emotion, relayed to his swarm's commanders, had them rip those insects apart while the rest swarmed over in a battle-hungry fury.
The dragonflies and wasps quickly approached from the rear, and on the horizon, the first dotting of green-skins, screaming and howling, scrambled over the hill with terrifying speed.
'These creatures are quick,' Xag thought, observing the berserk green-skins with red caps and seemingly fresh blood oozing down their faces.
Two hordes of monsters. One consumed with the desire to kill two, the other eager to devour all, and both ready to massacre and slaughter.
When the first lines collided on the ground, the sands near instantly became a sea of different colors of blood and bodily secretions. Red, green, yellow, and orange. Purple from poison. Glass from different liquids.
Insects were ripped apart with claws, their exoskeletons torn off to be used as new weapons, and blood added a fresh, unusual blend of colors to their caps. Bite marks and consumption renewed their energy, their attention turning to the 'allies' of their arch-nemesis.
Goblins were ripped in half or consumed entirely in one bite. Sand-termites erupted from the ground, dragging screeching bodies into the sands below, while others split in half before the termite retreated. Those too slow were dragged out.
The holes left behind created opportunities for dozens of goblins to jump in, and soon even the sands far beneath the battle became textured with blood.
Above them was no different, as dragons desperately tried to break past the swarm of wasps and dragonfly creatures but became caught in a vicious air battle.
Insects dropped en masse in burnt, crispy balls or large chunks of their thoraxes ripped away. Dragons struck by the highly toxic and paralytic wasp venom, or ripped open by hungry mandibles, fell as well. Both became food for the hordes the moment their bodies touched the ground.
Dragons jabbed by the dragonflies' proboscis through their scales, roared in pain. Their bodies expanded and bubbled unnaturally in the air, while the vibrant abdomen of the insect deflated. In a horrific display of blood, guts, and gore, their bodies exploded and a swarm of smaller dragonflies emerged in an angry buzz.
Other insects resembling the ground swarm fell out too, but with the height, their bodies splattered against the sand like wet paint.
Unfortunately for Xag, none of the newly born were ready to be used. Even his special dragonfly would need time, albeit not long, before it could infect another. These minions, given their gifts by his Primordial genes, retreated. Their intelligence was higher than your average insect, and their fertility rate was his highest.
When some of his units, battling with the dragons in the sky, crested the sand dune from whence they came, Xag stepped back from his console in alarm.
Stretching across the endless dunes, these creatures in their madness rampaged forward toward his forces.
'This doesn't make sense! This does not match the combat power shown!'
"You've tricked me," Xag hissed, attempting to grab the fly next to him. All of the previous times, he never had an issue striking the fly—the 'Weaver Assistant'—but now it somehow evaded his strike with ease.
"Weaver Xag, I advise that you focus on your battle. The data was accurate. Your opponent has cleverly hidden his true strength, however, with the creature you are about to see."
"What creature could possibly—?!"
Cresting a sand dune in the far distance, an abomination unlike anything he had ever seen moved over the horizon. Its skin of blackened ichor bubbled and sizzled as numerous creatures fell from it.
"It's... beautiful!" Xag breathed. If a tear could be shed, it would, as his hands gently pressed against the display. "I... must have it! It could complete my swarm and make it unstoppable!"
"Not my children!"
"Not her children!"
"Come back, let us have our revenge!"
"Come back, let her have our revenge!"
A rippling wave of agonized screams echoed from Selena and across the horde of monsters. Xag's gaze, now mixed with intrigue, returned to the culprits of this horde.
"Yesssss!"
Saliva dripped from his mouth, chittering with a mixture of agitation and excitement.
"If I kill them, she will be pleased. Atlas, this is an impressive strategy, but one that can spell your demise."
Myra and Ira danced through, finally making it to the rear of his lines. Upsettingly, they had already struck down multiple of his precious dragonfly abominations. But with there being newly born replacements, and the prize hovering on the horizon, they became acceptable losses to Xag.
'These two must be Specials,' Xag thought, watching as a red protective shield appeared around the dark elf, and occasional red mist shot out from her form, killing assailants.
The unusual appearance of Ira compared to the others, combined with his harder scales that deflected wasp stingers and flames that crisped his beloved dragonflies within seconds, led Xag to this conclusion quickly.
'All of them are so... unique. I want them. I want to devour them and assimilate their abilities.'
"Consume them!"
For the first time in a while, he would use his divine powers. Using 200 Divinity, four-fifths of all his power, the entire battlefield shimmered.
Xag's minions glowed and pulsed, their bodies enlarging and becoming swifter and faster. The abdomens of his dragonflies reinflated, and the speed and potency of the wasps increased.
Within moments, the battle that had been slowly tipping into Selena and Atlas's favor shifted. The swarm, once crumbling under the weight of the opposing horde, began to massacre their opposition with ease.
'This will only last for a few hours,' Xag thought, confident as he watched his swarm butcher the creatures. 'But it is more than enough.'
Meanwhile, outside of this battle, the first engagements between Atlas's true forces and Xag's had begun.
His Primordials, escorted by dragons, skimmed the outskirts of each horde and had already taken losses. Thankfully, retaining their sanity and intelligence, they knew not to charge straight into the horde of insects.
When Celeste watched as the first dragon was struck by a dragonfly-type abomination, its body exploding into a grotesque display of insect babies, her fury knew no bounds. Her flames scorched them, and her guardian Primordials ripped apart the dragonfly-type creature.
The battles from these other portals never became too intense, however, and became lesser still once the battle against Selena began. A majority of each horde retreated toward the portal, making their way with haste toward the main battle and amassing protectively on their side of each portal.
All of Xag's ground forces were mostly useless against Atlas's air forces. Some could shoot acidic balls, but the mutation wasn't perfected or fast enough to be a real threat.
Celeste, as well as the other Primordials and dragons, quickly became the clean-up crew instead. They burned stragglers, hovered over holes and belched flames into them, and quickly began to secure their locations.
'They retain consciousness,' Xag thought, eyeing them with disgust. 'It looks like they refrain from taking the battle to my world.'
Several of the dragons boldly flew close to the portals but swerved away. They kept a wide distance, except for the few foolish and overly ambitious ones.
"None of this makes sense," Xag chittered angrily. "Their numbers are few, but mine are being massacred!"
"Their larvae must be consumed. I must learn their secrets..."
Xag's attention returned to Myra and Ira, who were flying straight toward the portal.
"What are they doing...?"