Morning marked the end of Sclerite's shift as the sun rose above the mountains and illuminated the Changeling occupied land. It also casted a large shadow in the shape of three Buffalos. However the first thing Sclerite noticed was the sound of a rock being picked up and thrown off the side of the mountain.
"We're under attack!" Sclerite yelled as a rock barely missed the back of his head.
Immediately the others quickly jumped up from their positions and prepared themselves for battle. The three Buffalos who gave away their position began to rush down the mountain to engage the group of Changelings. The one in the lead had one of his horns replaced by carved stone.
"Get out of our land!" he yelled.
"We don't need you here!" yelled one of his friends.
"Go back to your-" the last one was interrupted by Elytra tackling him. She began to slam her hoof into his face over and over.
"Woah!" was all the other one managed to get out before Fang charged in and sank his fangs into his throat.
Seeing this the Buffalo with a stone horn turned around and abandoned his friends. "This isn't over! I will be back and I'd better not find you on our sacred lands again!" He yelled as he retreated like a coward.
Meanwhile Elytra was still beating up that Buffalo she tackled and Fang's victim had a large pool of blood growing from his neck.
"Enough Corporal Elytra!" Carapace yelled. Elytra stopped hitting the Buffalo and pulled him up with a hoof. "Bring him here!" Elytra then shoved him in the direction of Carapace. The Buffalo fell to the ground a foot from Carapace who went over to Sclerite.
Sclerite had been stunned by how quickly the battle ended. He almost didn't notice Carapace coming up to him.
"What have you been doing this whole fight?" he asked leaving Sclerite a bit confused.
"Uh... I was here... doing... something," Sclerite said unable to find the right words for what just happened. Carapace certainly wasn't happy by that response.
He grabbed the Buffalo Elytra had beaten up and forced him down. "Stay right there and don't move!" Carapace went back to Sclerite with disappointment. "You are no use to us if you can't kill anything. I want you to put a big fat hole in his back."
All Sclerite could do was shake his head. "Put a big fat hole. In his fucking back." Carapace said while shoving Sclerite's shoulder.
"No."
"Why the Tartarus not?"
"It's not right." Sclerite said causing Carapace to smack him in the face.
"Not right," he imitated. "We're not here for right and wrong. We're here to kill him!" Carapace said as he pointed towards the Buffalo on the ground. He grabbed Sclerite again. "Why are you here? You're here to kill him! You know why he's here? He's here to kill you!" Carapace started shoving Sclerite's shoulder again. "He's here to kill you Sclerite. He's here to rip your throat out and-"
"Go to Tartarus." Sclerite said.
Carapace smacked Sclerite again before he grabbed him by the neck and held him close. He then pulled Sclerite out, "I'm trying to teach you something. Are you here to get me killed?"
"No."
"Are you here to get me killed?"
"No." Sclerite repeated.
"Then I need you to perform. Now let's get it over with."
"I can't do it."
"Yes you can. I know you can. He kills you! Or you kill him! Simple math. You or him! Pick!"
A group of Changelings heard what was going on and peered over the mountain to see another group of Changelings. They flew down the mountain and landed near Fang and Elytra who looked at the newcomers to acknowledge their presence before looking back at Sclerite and Carapace.
"Just kill me. Kill me. Kill me. Kill me! Kill me! Please! I can't do it!" he said just before Carapace grabbed him and wrestled him down. Sclerite started flailing around, "stop! Please stop."
"Oh no, no. This is the easy part." Carapace said forcing Sclerite's horn to point at the Buffalo that was paralyzed with fear to the point where he couldn't even talk.
"Please don't make me do this. Don't make me do this." Sclerite begged which sounded like a whisper.
"It's alright now. One... two... do it Sclerite." he said as the others began to chime in.
"Do it man! Do it." Fang said.
"Do it Sclerite!" Carapace ordered he then waited a few seconds. "Do it Sclerite!" Another few seconds passed. "Do it Sclerite!" Carapace said with absolutely no patience left in him.
"Ahh!" Sclerite screamed as he fired a magical bolt with all his power into the Buffalo. As soon as Carapace saw the bolt hit the Buffalo he tossed Sclerite to the side and let him fall to the ground. Meanwhile the other Changelings laughed at Sclerite's reaction. That was when Sclerite finally noticed the newcomers.
A few seconds later Sclerite felt a hoof kick his back. "Do your job!" Carapace said as he went over to the newcomers.
These Changelings appeared like the one in Sclerite's dream. They were larger and more muscular than the Changeling's he was used to. Their eyes and chitin were also red instead of blue. The one with a red officer's helmet who was about Sclerite's age saluted to Carapace, "Master Sergeant Tarsal of Queen Formic's Hive. I have been sent to escort you and your group safely to our queen."
"Walk with me." Carapace said. The two Changeling officers left the group and headed off in a random direction. "The first thing I want to say is. You're late we were attacked a few minutes ago and you weren't there. Second. How did you become a Master Sergeant at such an young age?"
"You see..." Tarsal said trying to figure out Carapace's rank.
"Major," Carapace said.
"Alright. You see Major, I got the orders about half an hour ago so I couldn't have arrived to the battle on time. As for how I became a Master Sergeant... let's just say I fought a group of Buffalos by myself once and the lone survivor on their side lost a horn for it." Tarsal said.
"You mean that Buffalo who had that horn replaced by stone?"
"Yep! That's the one!" Tarsal then looked back at Sclerite. "Is he Queen Chrysalis' apprentice? He looks pathetic!"
"Don't underestimate him. He may be small and has a hard time killing but he is a good soldier. He may even be one of the best soldiers I've ever seen." Carapace said with a bit of pride.
"Well let's hope he's worth our time." Tarsal said as the two officers arrived back at the group.
The two officers approached Sclerite while he was still on the ground. He looked up at the two officers and stood up. Carapace looked at him then the rest of the group.
"Move out! We're heading to Queen Formic's Hive." Carapace ordered.
All the Changelings flew off into the mountains. Sclerite looked back at the corpse before rejoining the team without saying another word.