Here's the next chapter on how they escaped from the Queen's hands.
OF THE ESCAPE OF THE FRIENDS (Chapter 1.4)
Ban continued walking as if nothing was happening, not noticing some guards following him closely. The peaple looked at him, fearing what would happen after rumors of guards killing innocent peaple started going abroad. He came before the Gate of the city, and called the guards above.
"Hey, I'm leaving! Please open the d-" He had no time for the next word as one of the guards punched him on the head, and the other werestled him to the ground. Ban fought against the guards, took one by the neck and threw him at the wall, and the other came by the rear and kicked Ban in the Back. He fell to the ground and the guard started laughing. The other guard was knocked out, at the bottom of the wall. Ban stood up and punched him in the face, but then the guard kicked him on the head and Ban was left unconscious.
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The Queen, sat on her massive throne, ordered the guards to take Zan to her presence. He still was blindfolded, and his hands were handcuffed. He was thrown to the floor. The Queen cruelly laughed, and then spoke:
"So" she said with her ugly voice, which was unpleasant to the ear "You are the mighty Zan, who has dared my power. I have learned you and your friends have wished to go, away, far far away,to Garvarson, the town of the fools." She laughed out loud "They defy my power, know that I'm gonna burn that city to ashes. To Ashes,!" She laughed maniatically. Only then did Zan notice his handcuffs were bigger than his hands, so he could easily escape.
"Look who's a fool" he thought.
He rapidly took off the handcuffs and the blindfold. The Queen was surprised. She took out a small sword from the throne. Zan ran through the corridors of the palace. Guards were hot on pursuit. He jumped a sword aimed at his knees, ducked left at an arrow, which hit a guard, and jumped at a small spear. He passed many corridors and at last, he saw the door. It was open. He saw the stairs to reach the small house, which was in a small hill. Without thinking, he throwed himself at the floor and rolled down the stairs. The guards tried following, but their heavy armor made them clumsy, and they fell on their way. Zan ran, ran away, and then jumped into Ban's home. Ban was nowhere to be seen, and only then he realized where his friends were.
"That Queen's gonna pay!" He thought, he ran out of the house after a quick drink, to rescue his friends.
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Ban suddenly woke up from his unconsciousness. He was being taken in a small cart. He saw the guards were unaware of him, and were talking about their reward for taking him to the Queen. He turned his head and saw Lan, his head was full of blood, "they punched him, allright" he thought. "innocent Lan." Then, in the street, he saw a guy running at top speed at him. He rocognized Zan. He was very tired, and at last reached them. The guards didn't notice his presence.
"Hey Za--"
"Shhhhhhhhhhhh" he wispered "imma get you outta here"
He ran towards the guards and punched one in the face. The other looked around too late so see Zan's leg in kicking position. He was kicked in the stomach. The guard fell to the ground. Then, Ban and Zan put on the guards' uniforms, and disguised themselves, and put a blanket in Lan's unconscious body, and some pots and jars on the cart. They looked like guards going to some outpost in the frontier. They took the cart on which Lan was covered, and went to the gate.
"The Queen sent us to an errand in the border with Antopolis!" Zan screamed. "Urgent. We need to get there fast!"
The guards inmediately opened, and they were free. They happily sang after they were many yards away from the city. They marched, resting liittle, covering their tracks. After a week, Lan woke up, but he was badly injured, for the guard had punched him with his Iron Gauntlet, and the ants threw to the floor the heavy armor, for now there was no danger, and wore their normal clothes. So he rested while the others happily cooked, hunted and sang, hapy to be far away from the Queen and her malice. At last, after a month'ss journey, they saw the great city, its great white tower shone in the light of the sun, the great wall shimmering white, the massive doors open, hundreds of ants going in, and in the skies, hundreds of ants with butterflies as steeds, went to West, North and South, the butterflies loaded with rare spices and ornate pots. The guards were many, and they were completely armored in Iron, with golden ornaments shining in the sun, always ready. From the great white tower, the great flag of the city was proudly shown to all the ants.
But when they reached the gate, the guards on the ground, inpecting the new ants who came to live in the city asked for their names. They had told them their names, and the guards had told them to change them. One of the warriors came forth, and gave them a dictionary, and some prefixes and suffixes. The new names were: Banis, meaning "New Ban", Zarratonix, meaning "Zan the Brave" and Laelenic meaning "The good one".
So they were inspected, and when they saw they were free of weapons or armor, they gave them entrance to the city. If the city was impressive from the outside, it was ten times as impressing from the inside, for there was no Adobe House, but all were made of Marble, and plants were everywere, covering an patch not occupied by a house. The roads were made of perfectly alligned rocks, so none tripped. The city was great, yes, and the ants were shown to their house. Nearby was the Great City's Market, full of busy ants, buying and selling. They were given a small manual of the city's rules:
1. Thou shall not slay any fellow civilians, unless thou art under danger of death thyself.
2. Thou shall pay the taxes, five iron coins a year, and one golden coin.
3. Thou shall not rob
After, in public, swore an oath to keep them, they were given entrance to their house again, there where three beds covered with nice blankets, one couch, a table, four chairs for the table, a fireplace to cook and a white wooden door, because these were courtesy of the King himself, for he had many riches and wished to give them to the citizens. Also, nearby too was the theater, and the bank, but other buildings, like the tavern, were far away, but mani taxis-a cart with worms pulling it-were in the city, and the worms had been carefully given the genes, for selective breeding had been used, so the worms endured many hours at top speeds, which were as fast as some ants.
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In a dark chamber, far from the city, war leaders planned an attack, but these weren't ants, but wicked beasts many times the size of the ants. in Garvarson they were known as the "Podialtiri" which means "the giant killer", and in Antopolis as Fell'Dresdo which means "huge beast", and finally, in the Queen's city, they were know simply as 'Mantises'. After deciding carefully, they chose an anthill to attack.
