Taya was the first to notice that the wind had not changed everywhere.
Close to the ground, the steam was still being drawn towards the river. Only above the wall did the cloud blow back.
"Open the lower pipes," she said. "All of them at once."
The dyers warned that the pressure would rupture the old channels and flood the northern quarter.
Taya raised the whistle to her lips. Three short signals travelled along the wall. In the slums, people began opening their yards and carrying their belongings to the upper floors.
They chose the price for their own district.
Water surged underground. The field in front of the gates collapsed, and the rhinos sank to their chests. The rear ranks kept pushing, and several beasts broke their legs.
Close to the ground, the swarm could distinguish the scents again.
Styx divided the captains. Each received only the nearest mark and a route of retreat. There would be no common command after the attack.
The first brood went in beneath a rhino's armour. The second reached a thunder lizard. The third died in the wolves' fire, but managed to damage the white line.
The freed rhino did not stop. It caught the scent of predators behind it and turned its horn against the herd.
The wolves, their marks gone, headed for the dry part of the field. The swamp beasts plunged into the water. The thunder lizard struck the nearest large creature with lightning instead of the wall.
The single mass began to split into species.
Kane strengthened the signal in the rear ranks. The white lines flared brighter and drove them forwards, straight at the freed beasts.
Styx rose above the field.
The familiar image of the Queen came through the bond: one enormous body capable of holding every route at once. The System promised to restore full control if Styx gathered the captains back to her.
Styx refused.
Instead, she sent each brood a picture of its own section: the mark, the mud, the nearest predator, a possible way out. Some captains chose to attack. Others led their broods away from the wall. Two stayed to pull wounded mosquitoes out of the water.
I did not know every decision in advance.
The white command knew only one objective and could not adapt to hundreds of different actions.
The Void Dragon entered the ravine. Leon did not order him to hold the rift. He indicated the direction with gestures and waited for an answer each time. The beast widened the passage to the river until his injured wing touched the ground.
The herd broke apart a few hundred metres from the gates.
No one on the wall cheered. The northern quarter was disappearing beneath the water, the field was covered with wounded beasts, and three swarm captains were not responding.
Styx remained suspended above the mud.
The red light in her chest broke into separate sparks. They travelled to the captains holding their broods far from the queen.
Mira was the first to notice that the red light was not going out. It was spreading.
"She's dividing the control node."
If Styx kept the entire core, Kane could seize the swarm through her again. If she divided it, the captains would become independent, but the former Queen could never be restored.
I called to her.
The bond carried no command. Only my presence.
Styx released the last large spark and fell into the grass beyond the wall.
I found her beside the body of a dead captain. She had shrunk to her normal size, and her wings had turned transparent. Mosquitoes from different broods settled around her, but none was waiting for a command.
"Quiet," Styx said.
I held out my palm.
Styx did not rise. First she touched the dead captain, preserving her final scent. Only then did she crawl onto my finger.
A new circuit flared on Kane's tower.
Having lost the ability to subjugate the free swarm through its queen, he began drawing the white marks out of the beasts that still remained in the Wildlands.
Mira went pale.
"He's abandoning the pacts. The next mode will recognise only whoever consumes the most bonds."
Kane no longer intended to prove that the law was on his side.
He was preparing the Predator Crown.
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