Time passed quickly in the rush of preparations. The Cullens memorized every spell that Bella knew or was in her books. The wolves and other Quileutes were doing their best to do the same and had a pretty good idea about what the enemy could throw at them.
Edward and Jasper managed to obtain a sufficient supply of military equipment and weaponry. There were probably some troubles when they were closing the most important deal but they said nothing and only their grins and several extra sniper rifles in their possession indicated that the dealer attempted to rip them off.
Esme surprised Bella pleasantly by her attitude. She turned out not to be as pacifistic as Carlisle was, and she was quite willing to kill anything that posed a threat. Of course, her family was aware that she wasn't the Stepford wife she occasionally played for humans but there was still a palpable change in her. Carlisle hoped that it was merely a reappearance of her adventurous self from her human childhood and not an emergence of vampiric blood-thirstiness.
Jasper helped Bella to improve her non-magical fighting skills. After all, he used to be a soldier. He quickly found out that shooting at moving or distant targets wasn't one of her strengths. On the other hand, she had a quick eye and fast reflexes. He surmised that her strength would be in shooting at multiple, near, static targets. Bella elected not to remark that she would use magic in such a case.
Bella also finished the quantum entanglement communicators for her and Edward. They were based on the same principle as her father's mirror but it exploited their telepathic abilities instead of relaying image and sound. Basically, he was always able to hear Bella as if she was in his range. On the other hand, Edward had some difficulties with sending his thoughts to Bella through his wristwatch but they were working on it. The advantage of such a solution was the impossibility of eavesdropping on the communication. Also, when Edward focused on his wristwatch, it helped him to keep from actively scanning his surroundings and giving himself away in the process.
After first test of the devices, Jasper got an excellent idea. He asked Bella to create magical remote detonators, which could be used instead of standard detonators based on a radio signal. She agreed that such a thing should be simpler than the communicators and before too long, they successfully detonated a small brick of C4 with first prototype. The advantage of flawless functionality even in heavily jammed areas (such as Hogwarts or the British Ministry of Magic) was unquestionable.
Jacob agreed to take steps to ensure his transformation. One weekend, he went with Bella and Edward to see a brutal war film (Bella's selection). Bella wasn't surprised when neither Jacob nor Edward had anything to say to each other. When they went to a bistro afterwards, she had to do all the talking. Still, apart from his growth spurt, Jacob showed no signs of transforming (such as increased volatility).
The research and production of useful potions progressed as well but very soon encountered an unavoidable obstacle - a lack of ingredients. It was because of this why Bella came to the Cullens' house with a proposal one day.
"Alice! What's the most exotic material you've ever worked with?" she asked right away.
Alice looked back at her in confusion and asked for clarification, "How do you mean that? As in fashion-wise?"
"Fashionable, practical - anything that can be worn."
Alice remembered a time when she had designed a cute night-shirt of experimental fibres.
"I think she meant something of natural origin," called Edward from upstairs.
Alice leaned her head in contemplation and answered, "Well, skins and furs of various rain forest animals then. A snake-skin would also count, I guess. Why do you ask?"
Bella grinned conspiratorially and asked, "Would you like a chance to work with a material which is far more exotic than that and truly challenging?"
The conversation caught interest of all the other Cullens who were home at the time. They assembled in the living room in time to hear Alice's next question, "Are you talking about silk of giant spiders?"
"Nope. But you're getting closer."
"So it's something insect related?"
Bella raised her hands with her index fingers pointing upwards and used them to emphasise every word of her answer, "Armour of giant ants."
Emmett bobbed his head as a silent sign of acknowledgement but Alice was more confused than before. "What would I want to craft from that?" she asked.
"Well, an armour of course. What else?" replied Bella.
"Armour?" repeated Alice.
"Of course. Most kinds of giant magical insects are quite resistant against magic thanks to their armour and ants are no exception. However, that's beside the point. What we need even more are potion ingredients from their bodies."
Edward shook his head and spoke, "OK, I think you are loosing us here. Let's assemble the whole family for this. It seems that you have something on your mind."
Once they were all sitting around the dining table, Bella started to explain, "As I've told you, the Quileutes are maintaining a very limited connection with the rest of the magical community in the North America. Thanks to this, I've heard a bit of interesting information recently which could be of great use to us."
"And that is?" asked Jasper.
"In Nevada, at a certain place well hidden from eyes of non-magical people, is a colony of giant ants. It's run by a group of wizards who harvest valuable substances that can be found in those ants or around them for that matter - saliva, excrements, stores of pre-processed food, and such."
"And what use is that colony to us?" asked Edward. "It's not like we can go there to buy something."
"I'm getting to it. The... well, let's call it a company, started to downsize even before Voldemort was seen at the Ministry. They did it because they feared that a crisis was coming and that people might not buy as much ingredients for aphrodisiacs, for example, as before. And afterwards, they took it to a whole new level - it's almost two years since they've shut down completely. They've been selling out their stores for some time but other than that, they've become pretty much dormant."
Carlisle looked intrigued and spoke, "That's peculiar. One would say that a war would increase the demand for ingredients for certain potions."
Bella shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe they didn't study economy and marketing at Yale. My guess is that they are waiting for what happens and preparing to refocus their production. After all, being dormant costs them nothing since they just have to employ a guard or two to keep the ants in and any muggles out. The colony will recuperate in the meantime and when the war comes, they will hire cheap workers among the fugitives."
"OK, so you just want to go there and steal some of those ants?" asked Rosalie.
"Like I've said, the colony is left to its natural existence without any interference from outside. If two or three specimen go missing, no one will even notice."
They discussed the matter afterwards. Bella told them that she needed them to take care of the logistics - transportation, tools, and such. The scientist in Carlisle was curious about the ants themselves and Bella told him that they were about a meter long and were very similar to their miniature cousins. Jasper and Edward wanted to know what kind of ingredients was she aiming to get and what she wanted to do with them. In the end, they agreed.
Bella told her friends in La Push about the decision and final plans were made next day. Carlisle and Emmett both wanted to see the ants so they were first to sign up for the trip. Alice and Edward were also to accompany them. On the other hand, Rosalie showed no interest in the ants and Esme decided to stay with her. Jasper thought that there was no reason for too many of them going and stayed behind as well. Also, he thought it ill advised to leave the home-front without a good protection.
From the pack, only Sam and Jared went, since Paul lacked their self-control (and likewise, somebody had to stay behind). They planned that if they got caught poaching, they would claim that they received a report of the colony being out of control and came to subdue the situation for the lack of anything better to do. Also, an older Quileute who knew a thing or two about insect carapaces was to come and Jacob was accompanying him to help him with anything he would need.
When the weekend came, everything was already taken care of and Edward picked Bella up in his Volvo. They joined Emmett in his Jeep and Alice and Carlisle in a rented van. The four Quileutes arrived in a Jeep and a pickup - both vehicles were in a passing condition and capable of the long journey. Carlisle had an argument with Jared.
"We don't want to cause any trouble!" exclaimed Carlisle. Jared was armed with a machine gun. He wasn't the only armed person around but nobody else thought to bring artillery (though Sam had considered bringing his new Desert Eagle before he had decided not to be stupid and had opted for his old CZ).
"I know! I don't expect or want to run into any but do you remember all those sci-fi movies about creepy insect-like aliens?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, they always come at space-marines in strong waves and the marines keep crushing them with their heavy weaponry and the aliens just keep coming..."
"Actually, I don't watch such films. Perhaps you would care to explain your reasoning."
Jared scratched his head and asked, "Well, can you imagine how it would look like if you erased those heavy weapons?"
Emmett was grinning as he listened to the argument. Bella leaned from the window and called at Carlisle, "Give him a break. Bugs give him creeps so he needs the gun for psychological reasons."
Emmett laughed when he heard that. Bella scolded him, "Remember, those ants are magical creatures and while they can't kill a vampire, it would be stupid to ignore them if they attacked you. For example, they could use their acid to dissolve some details off your pretty face."
Emmett took offence and retorted, "Now wait a minute. Have you said pretty? I think you are confusing me with Edward."
Edward groaned and hit a button that controlled all the windows. He started the engine again and embarked on the journey to Nevada. The others got in their vehicles and followed after him.
Night came when they were in Oregon. Sam switched with Jared behind the wheel while the Quileute that Jacob drove with lied down in the cargo space of the van and let Alice drove (since Jacob didn't have a licence yet). They stopped for a while a few hours after midnight so the non-vampires could rest a bit.
They arrived to a warehouse late at morning. The things they had requested were already there - tables, vats, and other equipment. They spent the forenoon by resting, eating, and unpacking the tools they had brought.
When noon approached, they decided to set out to the anthill. Jacob and the old Quileute remained behind at the warehouse while the others took the two Jeeps and drove off to their destination.
"Do you see anything?" asked Bella the others while she tinkered with some kind of a small magical device she had created back in Forks. They were hidden among bushes on a small terrain elevation. The vampires were looking around for any sign of movement. Sam had a pair of binoculars. Jared was pondering whether there were giant aphids as well. Alice commented that there was no signal.
"There!" almost shouted Emmett after some time and pointed in a direction.
Sam quickly searched with his binoculars and there it was - an ant worker, scurrying in a distance. The alpha watched the arthropod and felt a mixture of curiosity and uneasiness.
"Wait a minute, something doesn't fit here..." added Emmett.
"Indeed. Could you take a look, Bella?" agreed Carlisle.
Bella did so and after a while, she remarked, "Cute. Your point?"
Carlisle asked patiently, "Have you noticed the size of that thing?"
"Well, that's why are they called giant ants. Again, what's your point?"
"I don't think she can see it," noted Edward.
"See what?" asked Sam.
"It's two meters long, not one."
Bella took another look and passed the binoculars to Jared. She scratched her head and pondered, "Well, maybe they are meant to be a meter long without legs and antennae."
Jared clutched the binoculars firmly and in a tight voice proposed another theory, "Or maybe the owners are feeding them something to make them bigger so they could make more money. Oh boy, this is just like those movies - it starts with a bit of mystery but give it a half an hour..."
"Shut up," ordered him Sam.
Jared, who was still clutching the binoculars, tensed suddenly. The vampires turned their heads and watched as well. Bella and Sam asked what was happening and the vampires merely responded with words like "peculiar" or "interesting".
Finally, Jared spoke in a stumped voice, "The bloody ant just attacked a coyote! It maimed the animal and now it's carrying it back to the anthill. Alive!"
"It's strange - most kinds of ants are supposed to be collectors, not predators," said Carlisle. "That's why are they called janitors of the forest."
"Bella, is this a normal behaviour for this kind?" asked Edward.
She shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I don't know - I was mostly interested in their economic uses. Probably not though. However, since it's obviously returning, we can track it back home."
The vampires picked up the bags of sugar they had brought.
"Wait a minute? Why should we follow it? Why don't we simply grab it and head home?" asked Jared though he knew that one set of armour wouldn't be enough.
Bella gave him a crooked smile and replied, "Well, you said it yourself - it starts with a mystery and that means we have to learn more. However, you can stay behind if you want."
"No, thank you!" snapped Jared. "They guy who stays behind gets always eaten as first."
They clambered after the ant for almost a half an hour, entirely convinced that running into a guard was the worst thing that could happen. They didn't see any other ants or anything else of interest. However, the magical gadget that Bella had been playing with earlier started to act out. She took it from her pocket and watched as it burned out (it was one-time use).
"What is it?" asked Carlisle. "Have we triggered an alarm?"
"No, nothing like that," answered Bella. "It's why have I brought this. It seems more like some kind of a weak jamming field."
"What does it jam?" asked Alice.
"I don't know. Could you put some distance between us, please? Maybe the way your gift is jammed will tell us more."
Alice found out that there was no apparent interference with her gift at the moment. Bella surmised that the field had to be very weak. As for its purpose, maybe it repelled muggles, maybe it complicated apparition. She wasn't willing to investigate further since that would require usage of magic.
Finally they arrived to a large but shallow valley. It was surrounded by cliffs which were collapsed in many places. Several canyons were connected to the valley. Emmett pointed towards it and said, "I think we found something."
Bella brought the binoculars to her eyes and saw roofs of some buildings between the rocks and cliffs. "Let's take a look," she said.
As they walked, Alice appeared worried. Edward knew that it was because she started to have trouble seeing anything and not just because of the wolves. It rather seemed as if there was jamming all around them. He whispered to her not to worry about that.
"So, this is where they processed the ingredients?" asked Sam when they stood on a cliff above the buildings.
Bella kept scanning the complex with the binoculars and answered, "Yes, everything besides the sales office was here. We should be able to get to the anthill from here..." Her voice trailed off and she turned towards Sam and Jared with a confused face. "This is strange. I knew that they've ceased the production but these buildings are completely deserted."
Some of the Cullens just silently nodded so Sam grabbed the binoculars and took a look himself. The complex was not only deserted but also in quite a desolate state. Doors ajar, broken windows, dirt everywhere and there were even some ants prowling the halls and corridors. Everybody with the exception of Bella could smell their stench.
She said, "Well, they probably did some math and figured out that cleaning and fixing the buildings when they return was cheaper than keeping them guarded. Now, let's grab a few of them and get out of here."
Jared was quick to oppose, "You know, I feel like a frog which is being slowly boiled. The difference between me and the rest of you is that I do realize this." He was ostentatiously checking his machine gun as he said that.
"That's a myth, you know," uttered Carlisle.
Jared ignored him and pondered, "Hmm, I think that we should find some dead employees in about five minutes."
Sam shook his head as if he was tired by Jared's warnings despite being increasingly worried himself. Then he did something rather stupid. Maybe he wanted to cut the discussion down before it started, maybe he wanted to hurry up, or maybe he simply didn't think about it. Instead of going back a little and descending through a narrow path between the cliffs, he stepped to the edge of their observatory and jumped down. It was no more than ten meters high so it would be completely normal in a normal situation (for a shape-shifter). He landed and his powerful legs compensated the impact. What wasn't compensated was the heavy thud of his boots. Emmett looked like he was about to follow but he stopped himself in time - after all, his brain had a memory and processing power of a computer.
"Sam, you fool!" hissed Edward. He kept his voice normal because he knew that the shifter would hear him. The alpha looked upward in confusion.
"Don't you ever watch movies? No vibrations!" said Jared.
Carlisle gave Jared an admonishing look and explained to Sam, "Ants have a very good sense for them."
"How was I supposed to know that?" hissed Sam back.
"Everybody knows that, even me!" retorted Emmett.
"Never mind. Catch," said Carlisle and threw Sam a bag of sugar. Alice followed the suit.
"Plant that sugar," instructed him Edward. "Let's hope that they won't follow us."
Sam did as Edward said and met the others where the path emerged into the valley.
"We need to find a place from which we can observe the sugar and stay hidden at the same time," said Bella and started to look around. She pointed at the edge of the complex. "That broom-shed," she ordered.
As they ran, Jared voiced his hope in finding something still flyable in there. His hopes were quickly crushed. First, the Cullens seemed to grow more sombre when they entered. Jared failed to notice that and went straight to a small window. Then he turned around and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He noticed Sam's stillness and followed the direction of his gaze. Finally, he recognized the shape in the corner of the room.
"Is being accused of poaching still our greatest concern?" asked Edward a rhetorical question.
The shape belonged to a skeleton of a human. Jared sank to the ground and leaned on his machine gun.
"I hate it when I'm being right," he said in a voice that somebody could describe as whiny.
"Bella, can you apparate us out of here?" asked Sam.
"Seven people on such a short notice?" she replied. "Are you crazy? Plus, we don't know what that field I have discovered does."
"We could use our speed to escape," proposed Alice.
"Why the hell are you talking about retreating?" growled Emmett.
"They are here," whispered Carlisle who had been observing the sugar for the whole time.
Several ants, similar to the first one they had seen, arrived to the sugar and started to collect it in their second stomachs. There was also one more ant with them. It was slightly bigger but lanky. Furthermore, its head looked different. It started to touch the ground around with its antennae, both feeling and smelling for any traces.
"What is it doing? Are they supposed to do that?" whispered Emmett.
Bella agreed that the operators of the colony were probably dropping some sugar around when it was needed. Then again, she wasn't sure whether the ants were able to accept it as a common occurrence. Regardless, it was impossible for the ant scout to miss the combined scent of a human, vampires, and shape-shifters.
"Is it going to follow us here?" muttered Jared.
The ant did something different though. It lowered its head and started to rut its mandibles against its legs, almost at the ground level. The resulting sound was rather unpleasant.
"Is it calling for reinforcements?" asked Sam.
"Ants don't have ears. However..." replied Edward, crouched, and touched the floor with his fingers. "However, the vibrations it's creating are more than enough."
Jared lost his nerve at that moment and took aim at the ant through the window.
Sam grabbed his wrist in time and scolded him, "Wait, we need to think this through! Not to mention that you would destroy our eardrums in a room this small."
"Emmett, no!" hissed Edward but the door already closed behind his brother. In next moment, they heard a distant thud and a crunch of an exoskeleton. Emmett hit the scout with a large stone.
"You idiot!" hissed Edward again, when Emmett returned with a grin on his face.
"What? I stopped him from calling for reinforcements."
"Not exactly..." said Bella and pointed.
They looked out of the window and true enough, the ant was still trashing around. What was worse, it was still creating vibrations, just different ones. Bella sighed, took a silencer from her pocket and handed it to Edward.
"Just for the case the guards are near - they would find gunshots even more suspicious than this racket," she explained.
There was some distance between them and the ant but it was no problem for a vampire to compute the trajectory. Edward put a few bullets in places which were vulnerable from Emmett's attack or due to the armour being thinner there. He shook his head in frustration, removed the silencer, and aimed again.
"I think it's finished," stopped him Carlisle, noting that the vibrations stopped. Whether it was due to the ant's injuries or because the message was over was unclear. "Are they supposed to be this resilient?" he added but received no response.
Sam checked his handgun and said, "Obviously, we can't stay here - they would overrun us in this small shed." For a moment, he regretted not bringing his Desert Eagle. Then again, his 9mm had greater magazine capacity.
"What are you talking about? They are just ants!" argued Emmett.
"I say let's get out of here," said Jared resolutely and walked out of the door.
The others followed after him. Once outside, they saw that Jared was headed away from the complex.
"Wait! Where are you going?" called Sam after him as quietly as possible.
Jared turned back and replied, "Well, we need to get out of here before his buddies..."
He didn't finish the sentence because the breeze shifted in that moment. Everybody with the exception of Bella tensed and turned in the direction Jared was heading a moment ago.
"What a hell is this supposed to mean?" stated Jared with a false indignation and back-pedalled.
"Shall we punch through?" asked Emmett.
"No, I think we shall retreat. Something isn't right here," replied Carlisle.
"What is it?" asked Bella through gritted teeth.
Edward just pointed towards the cliffs. He grabbed her arm and started to pull her away slowly. She kept looking back and before too long, the skyline behind them became decorated by many antennae.
"This is wrong," said Edward to Bella and kept pulling at her arm. "Behaviour of ants is directed by chemical interactions between them that allows a simple cooperation. They shouldn't be able to act like a pack... or like an army for that matter."
"I admit, that's strange," she replied unsurely. "Maybe there is some kind of a logical explanation."
Jared exclaimed, "Don't you watch movies at all? They have simply become more intelligent!" He turned to Edward and asked, "Hey, radar, can you hear something from them?"
"Of course not," retorted Edward shortly.
The line got denser as more ants arrived, there was no space left between them. Then they moved forward. There were ants dropping from the cliffs, others streamed in from the canyons. Bella and her friends ran in the opposite direction, hoping to get away from them for long enough to discuss the situation.
A short while later, something happened that convinced them that such a thing was not going to happen. As it was, the scouts and workers that rallied to the alarm call weren't there to attack them - they were just meant to herd them. Jared was running at the front of the group at the moment so he was one of the first who saw it.
"Shit, this ain't good," he said as he slowed down.
A throng of ants streamed in the valley from the mouth of the canyon they were headed to. However, they were quite different from the previous two types of ants they had encountered so far. For the starters, they were three meters long (with legs) and they were much bulkier. Their armour was thick and massive and their jaws were much stronger. It was some kind of a warrior class obviously.
"Hey guys, have you noticed how everything that Jared fears is coming true in this place?" sneered Emmett.
Jared made no response and thought about kneeling and opening fire but Edward called at him, "Don't waste the ammo, you won't do much damage from this distance."
"We need to find some cover!" shouted Bella and looked around.
There was an old and shabby building near them. The whole party ran to it, throwing occasional glances at the advancing ants. Edward reached it first and kicked the door open. The stench of ants was noticeable in the air and it was quite recent too but it seemed that the building was empty.
The others followed him inside without waiting for a signal from him. Bella used her wand to seal the entrance. It was first time she used magic that day. She looked around and asked, "Where's Emmett?"
Edward groaned - his bulky brother decided not to hide inside, where he wouldn't do much good anyway. Alice rushed to a window and had a speedy conversation with Emmett who appeared to be preparing to charge the advancing warriors. Jared wasted no time and ran up to the second floor where he found a window from which he could see the workers and scouts.
"OK, we need to make a decision - quickly!" stated Bella.
Edward asked her, "The cliffs aren't so far. Can you apparate with Sam and Jared up there?"
"In two trips, yes. Unless the field prevents it."
"Then we may have some means of escaping," commented Carlisle.
"We can't leave until we know what's going on here. Who knows what would come after us?" said Sam and imagined clouds of flying ants attacking La Push.
In that moment, Jared pulled the trigger of his machine gun and a sound of gunfire drummed through the whole building. The bullets ripped into the wave of attacking workers and scouts and proved effective against their armour which was noticeably thinner than that of the warrior class.
At the same time, Emmett charged the warriors, making sure to pick up as much speed as possible. His fist connected with chitin and the resulting crack reverberated through the valley and merged with the sound of the machine gun fire. The results were rather extensive too - the armour was destroyed and the ant was thrown several meters back where he remained lying with occasional twitches. What was terrifying to anybody who gave it a deeper thought was the fact that the ant wasn't turned into a pile of goo in such a devastating attack.
Moreover, Emmett lost his momentum (which was to be expected given the weight of the ants). The other warriors closed on him without a second thought. Emmett bypassed mandibles of an attacking ant and grabbed its front legs. He was about to try to swing the ant around when another ant attacked him from behind. This attack didn't catch Emmett by surprise (of course) and he moved to evade the bite. However, he probably underestimated the strength of the ant and focused on breaking the legs he was holding instead. As a result, the ant rammed into him by a side of its head and managed to send him to the ground.
As he was going down, he realized that it wasn't his strength and granite skin that was his main advantage in that fight and decided to play on his speed instead. He rolled quickly between the legs of the ant until he was right under its belly. He turned on his back, coiled like a spring and kicked against the ant with his feet. There was a crunch of the armour and the ant flew away.
As soon as Emmett's view cleared, another ant entered it. Emmett was preparing to deflect its attack when the ant was speared by an iron rod. He looked back in the direction it flew from and saw Edward standing in a window. Somebody, probably Bella, tossed him another rod which had one of its ends transfigured into a sharp point.
"Retreat! Come back here!" shouted Alice who was at the moment fortifying the ground floor against the incoming ants. Emmett did as she wanted and started to head back to the building. Not right away though - he always ran back a little, then turned back, and charged the ants again. He managed to repeat this thrice before he ran out of space.
In the meantime, even more warriors circumvented him and advanced on the building from another direction. Jared emptied an entire belt into the scouts and workers by that time. When he heard an empty click, he remembered that he had only two more boxes of ammo in his backpack. Not that it was too little - had the others known about his reserves, they would have considered it an overkill. However, if he had known what was coming, he would have brought more. He barely had time to finish that thought when Edward came to a stop next to him and helped him to reload with one hand, while he tentatively ran his other hand over the barrel to cool it down a little.
"Go downstairs and help to repel the warriors, they are close enough now. And think before you shoot!" he told him strongly.
Jared didn't even think about discussing anything and did as he was told. Edward returned to Bella who finished transfiguring anything that Edward could use as a projectile. She tried a few minor spells on the warrior ants but they kept rebounding off their thick armour. So, she set a dry bush that was in their way on fire at least.
"I'll be of better use downstairs," she told Edward. "Keep watching over the situation from here."
He nodded and speared another ant. Bella drew her handgun as she was running down the stairs. She found Sam busy shooting the scouts and workers from a window. She a manned a window near him and opened fire as well, making sure to aim properly each time. Because their armour wasn't as thick, the handguns were able to penetrate on a short distance. The trick was hitting a weak spot. Their heads were big and armoured but unlike in the case of the warriors, their middle parts (where all the legs meet) weren't. Edward was able to exploit this from his position and quite a few scouts and workers found themselves split in two parts by a well aimed brick. Sam and Bella, if they aimed at an ant from a side, managed to perforate such weak spots as well.
Bella emptied second magazine before too long and decided not to bother with reloading. Instead, she switched back to her wand and started to burn the mentioned middle parts of the ants. Also, if the angle wasn't good, crushing (or cutting) of their legs turned out to be effective in immobilising them. When one of the ants got too near for Bella's liking, she hit him with a slightly overcharged Avada Kedavra right between its mandibles. There was an explosion as the curse reacted with the chitin but enough of its energy reached the neural gland of the ant and killed it on spot. Everybody tensed - Bella's usage of dark magic was a definite testament of the seriousness of the situation. Only some of the vampires stopped to think that the usage of an unforgivable curse could get them in even greater trouble than they were currently in.
The most heated fights were taking place on the opposite side of the building. Jared luckily abandoned any thoughts of smiting wave after wave of enemies with full automatic fire. Instead, he was firing short, precise bursts at the advancing warriors. He noticed that even when all that an ant was presenting to him was its head, he could still punch through if he landed all the slugs at the same place at a perpendicular angle (which was no small feat due to the shape of their heads).
Edward ran out of make-shift spears quickly and anything else he could throw. He drew his gun and started to blind the warriors by shooting their compound eyes and antennae. Emmett kept fighting them in close combat. Alice was in charge of keeping their fort intact. Whenever an ant got close enough to start chewing its way through, she would rip its mandibles off and barricade the breach again. Still, as the onslaught of the ants grew stronger, the building started to shake in its substructure.
While everybody was fighting, Carlisle took time to ponder their situation, look at the surroundings of the building their were in, and explore the building itself. Shortly after they had entered it, he had felt a gentle breeze and was still unsure about its origin. He had to help Alice with fortifications but returned to his search before too long. The breeze was coming from the outside, that much was sure. However, it was unclear where the air was going.
After a while, Carlisle was willing to swear that it was being sucked into a place somewhere inside the building. Finally, ignoring the sounds of fighting and shouts of his companions, he reached a room where the breeze seemed to be directed. He opened a door and the breeze immediately grew stronger. However, Carlisle barely registered that thought because his mind was at the moment occupied by a sight which looked as if taken from an alien movie. There was almost no floor left in the room. There was only empty space, gaping at Carlisle. When he looked in the darkness below, his vampire vision revealed remnants of a basement and a tunnel. It appeared as if the tunnel was partially carved into the sandstone and partially corroded out by acid. Remembering that there was a battle going on nearby, he hurried to complete his explorations and descended into the basement.
In the meantime, Bella and Sam developed a new way of cooperation - Bella used a focussed freezing spell which made a small part of an ant's armour brittle and Sam hit that area with his gun. The only problem was that new ants were coming more quickly than they could destroy using this method. Before too long, an ant stuck its ugly head into Bella's window. She wasted no time and dropped to the floor to evade the pincers. Then she fired a strong blasting curse into the wall under the window. As expected, the propelled debris threw the ant away (which was something that the curse itself wouldn't do because of its armour). Unfortunately, the chunk of the wall that went missing was bigger than Bella expected. As if to taunt the witch, a few more pieces of the wall next to the window crumbled as well.
"What are you doing over there?" shouted Sam and reloaded. He realized that he was running out of magazines. He had no time to ponder about that because the ants redoubled their onslaught on the weakened wall. More of them slipped into the blind spot between Sam's and Bella's firing angles and after a moment, Bella could hear the thuds and see the dust falling from the wall next to the hole she had created.
"Edward!" she cried, hoping for some support from the above. The vampire on the second floor briefly considered the situation. His ayes quickly scanned the ceiling and spotted a large beam supporting it. Not being able to come up with a better idea on such a short notice, he formed his right hand into an open fist and used it to smash through the beam and severe it on one side. He repeated the action on the other side and torn the beam from its position. Once he had the beam in his arms, he aligned it in parallel with the wall which was right above Sam's and Bella's position. Then he charged the wall, holding the beam in front of him.
Sam and Bella were considering retreating already when the attacking ants were hit by a falling wall. The debris was followed by Edward doing some kind of handstand on the beam he used to topple the wall. He managed to squish a few more ants this way. One of them actually squirted its guts. A brief thought flashed through Sam's mind about how fortunate they were that Jared didn't see it. Edward didn't even waste any time to turn around and throw a glance at Bella and jumped back into the second floor. Only then, in a reaction to what he saw through Carlisle's eyes, he froze for a moment and whispered, "Uh oh..."
At the same moment, Jared was still repelling the never ending throng of warriors. The problem was that he had to focus his fire on individual ants while he needed to subdue an entire crowd. He barely registered the heat that radiated from the barrel and thought more about the ammunition and the fact that there was no time for reloading. Then what had to happen happened - the gun gave an empty click and an ant which was mere three meters away from him kept advancing.
Jared felt as if somebody replaced his blood with ice and for a moment his mind was completely focussed on the image of the ant's ugly head which was growing quickly. Then he remembered himself and back-pedalled. A pair of strong jaws snapped in the space that was a moment ago occupied by his head. Jared kept retreating until he felt rubble against his feet. In that moment, the ant warrior did something that startled him even more - it literally walked through the wall as it gave away to the ant's bulky form. Jared yelped and almost fell on his back. He stopped his fall with his hand while his other hand kept clutching the machine gun.
Jared looked around and saw that Alice was at the moment fending off ants at another breach. The walls of the house were shaking and Edward was yelling something from upstairs. Jared looked back at the ant that was after him and saw that it was weaving its legs through the hole in the wall. He wasted no time and picked himself up just when the ant charged at him. Jared ran away from it and dove into a nearest door. The ant reached the door just when Jared slammed it shut behind him. As a result, the ant's head went through the door which Jared would find quite comical if he wasn't at the moment overwhelmed by his arachnophobia. Still, he had enough presence of mind to overcome his repulsion and use that opportunity to give the ant a proper kick. If it was a mere worker, Jared's superhuman strength would be enough to deprive the ant of its head. However, the warrior's head managed to stay attached, even though Jared could hear something crunch. The ant staggered and Jared wanted to attempt again but the ant tore through the door and snapped at him. Jared didn't wait for the ant to tear through the door-frame as well and continued in his retreat.
The young shape-shifter kept looking over his shoulder as he ran. A small part of his mind registered that the others were dealing with their own fair share of foes and that he had to defeat the ant on his own. So the main problem was: how to kill a giant ant without touching it too much? With that question in mind, he rammed his shoulder into yet another door. As he barged into the hall behind it, he briefly glanced back again. As a result, his shock was quite profound when he heard a crack and felt his leg going through the wooden floor. Then he realized that he wasn't attacked by an ant or something even worse and that the floor was just rotten. He didn't bother to ask himself how the planks managed to get into such a state in such a relatively arid environment.
Jared's relief was short-lived. He heard the warrior ant tearing through the corridor only a little while later. He quickly righted himself and gave a push with his other leg to pull himself up. His action had a different result though - his other leg broke through the mouldy wood as well. Hence, when the ant caught up with him, it found him buried in the floor up to his waist. Jared looked up to the monster looming above him and only then he weakly croaked, "Help."
The ant studied Jared with its compound eyes for a moment before he reared up in preparation for an attack. Luckily for Jared, who was becoming quite scared at the moment, that attack never came. Carlisle burst into the hall through another door and struck the ant's head with an open palm. The head came cleanly off because the integrity of the ant's "neck" had been disturbed by Jared's kick a bit. Jared watched with disgust slime and various entrails coming from the opening. He looked at the doctor and said meekly, "Thanks."
"We need to hurry," said Carlisle and offered Jared his hand to help him out of the floor.
Jared was about to take it but he pulled away suddenly and exclaimed, "Hey! You touched an ant with that hand!"
He even raised his hands, palms against Carlisle, to make a point. That didn't prove very wise because the moment he stopped supporting himself, he sank even lower. The floor around him gave away with a crack and he fell in the basement. Carlisle attempted to catch him but he missed by inches. In the end, he barely avoided falling down himself.
Carlisle had been intending to tell everybody to leave the building before the incident with the ant. However, with Jared being down there, he wasn't sure what to do any more. Should he try to get the boy out of there? Should they all follow him underground and retreat through the tunnel?
At that time, Edward was already bellowing at everybody, "The whole structure is undermined! It's not going to hold much longer!"
Sam heard him well enough but was in no position to act on this piece of information because he and Bella were running away from some pursuing ants at the moment just like Jared had shortly before them. Sam heard what Edward was shouting and told Bella, "Hey, there's supposed to be an empty space under us."
Bella turned back and quickly replied, "Good thinking." She fired several spells on the floor between them and the pursuing ants. Sam shouted his "Noooo!" but the floor was already opening under their pursuers.
Emmett stopped fighting the ants for a moment and glanced at the building behind him. He saw that the dirt around the building was crumbling and falling somewhere underground. He heard Bella casting some kind of a physical shield just in time before the building cracked in a middle.
Emmett was at that moment attacked by another ant so he had no time to ponder what should he do. When he looked back again, the collapsing building was already being swallowed by the earth. The last thing he saw was Edward's worried face and his arms flailing around to retain balance. Everything was concealed by dust in next moment.