Entoma pressed her body against Inta's back, it was always a slightly chilly feeling his body temperature just wasn't equal to hers, though one thing she noticed in their more intimate moments, 'His blood always moves faster…closer to the surface, like he's trying to feel alive for me…' She wondered about that more than once, was it on purpose, or was it a consequence of his own urgency with her?
Now, in as much pain as she was, his body was cool as a corpse, his arms held beneath her thighs, avoiding even the possibility of touching the injured place, even though it was protected by her own bug armor.
She could feel the stare of his eyes as they went ever deeper into the bowels. The stairs were forty-one in total before they found themselves in a long, wide hallway with numerous small rooms on either side of them, the doors were metal bars, and while there were locks, the rooms each had comfortable looking beds, chamber pots, and basic furnishings. "Dual purpose rooms. For prisoners and for their own use. That sounds like them alright." Entoma remarked, knowing as she did that investigations of Devorian culture suggested they were an economical people when it came to both space and resources, never using two of anything when only one was needed, even when they had an abundance of whatever they were using.
'Admirable, really.' She mentally praised them while she clung to Inta's back until they reached a single door at the far end that was made of metal bars.
Rather it was solid stone and had a crossbar in front of it and a lock for good measure.
"If the queen isn't here-" Inta began.
"You'll buy the hat." Entoma added.
"And eat it raw." Inta finished.
Entoma cocked her head and in spite of her pain she joked, "You're a bold man, Inta." He laughed a little and sent her down gingerly, allowing her to rest her arm on his shoulder while he put his hand to the lock and conjured the blood he needed, a little red ball formed over his palm and then trickled like a stream into the lock, the iron in the blood hardened into the shape of a key and with a little 'click' noise the tumblers slid into place, leaving the lock undone.
He flipped the metal crossbar, a heavy green metal thing, out of the way after undoing the lock and it crashed into the stone wall with a thunderous echo.
He then pressed the door open, it groaned, he pressed a little harder, a noise stirred within. A chain shook and rattled, a steady clicking noise that came off as vaguely curious, filled the void of silence within the room.
"Wait here." Inta mouthed, and Entoma glared at him with all her eyes, but he didn't waver, she finally bowed her head and leaned against the wall, he relaxed and stepped within.
Against the wall was what he could only describe as an… ant woman and a pile of eggs. She was nearly seven feet in height, but slender, four legged with a large oval shape extending from her lower back, her head sat face forward as a human's did, with mandibles half the length of a forearm and two large curved antennae atop her head. The torso was shaped with a woman's curves, and her body was a burgundy red.
She had two arms which ended with three fingered hands, and when she saw Inta, she cocked her head just the way a curious human might have.
She didn't approach, as she was chained to the wall and floor, each leg and arm secured in places.
"You. What you are?" She asked. Her voice was similar to that of the scorpionpeople, her large oval eyes gave away nothing of her thoughts, but the way her words felt were anxious at worst and curious at best.
"A rescuer." Inta answered. "That's all."
"You. Rescue me?" She asked. "Home. Take me back to?" The ant queen looked at him and cocked her head back and forth, her hands moved out as her arms opened as if she were offering an embrace.
"Yes, I'll take you back home, back to the chasm." Inta answered.
Her mandibles clicked rapidly together creating a steady rhythm before she said. "Me. Free me here. Take home to me now. Hurry. Late before, the dead replaced."
"I know, don't worry about a thing. My companion and I can get you out of here." Inta promised and went to the far wall where the chains held her fast, he looked at them closely, they had the tint of orichalcum, and a faint gray that hinted at a touch of adamantite.
'They really aren't taking chances.' Inta thought as he grabbed the chain and pulled, he looked closer. "I'll need to look at the chain where you're secured, are there locks?"
The ant Queen cocked her head back and forth. "Locks maybe. Maybe no locks. Locks? What are those?"
'Strange creature.' Inta thought, but kept those thoughts to himself, and recalled that she lived a life of relative or total isolation.
"Just relax, I won't hurt you, I'm here to help, once I get you free, we'll get you out of here and be gone long before any reinforcements arrive." Inta promised, and the Queen looked at the little pile of white in the corner.
"Eggs. They are mine. They must not be left behind. Leave them for beasts? No. Never. Eggs must be safe." She said and clicked her mandibles together as hard as she could for emphasis.
"Yes, we'll take those too." Inta promised.
That seemed to relax her, and she tilted her head before crouching down to allow Inta to look at the chain around her neck. Inta's blood summoning undid the clasps one by one and the chains fell with a clatter to the floor.
"You are free. Now we need to get you out of here, and we'd better hurry, anakore may be slow, but they can go for a really long time without stopping." Inta urged and stepped away.
"I go. You from here, take me away. With my eggs. Right away." She emphasized.
"How many are there?" Inta asked, "Are these all of them?"
"Know? I? No, I do not. Hooded I am when they come. Some, take maybe? Maybe no." The Queen answered him, and Inta grunted out a blunt acknowledgement.
'There's only one reason to have taken eggs from her." And with that thought, Inta pointed to the door.
"With me. Come now. We go, take eggs with you." He tried to answer her as she spoke, and she stepped away from the wall, and went to follow his directions.