Suddenly it all falls quiet. For a moment he thinks they've won, and that the prize will be given any moment now (because after all this biting badness, there sure as hell better be a prize), but then something rises from the hill and the warrior realises that the battle is far from over. This ant is obviously the queen, and like the queen of all species (in his head, Vadir purrs pointedly) she is far larger and stronger than her kin. From her carapace launch dozens of tiny icicles, and Volterra flinches aside as one comes directly towards him. It doesn't prevent the small javelin from embedding itself into his muscular shoulder, however, and he hisses and pins his ears as pain floods through him. Blood trickles down his leg, coating the corpses of the few ants that cling obstinately to his skin.

Where ARE you? he bellows to his dragons. Vadir's flame could see off this ant queen in seconds, but both red and gold's mental voices are dim when they reply. "Hunting in the north." They send him an image of snow and ice, of deer pursued across the tundra, and the Indomitable knows they'd never get back in time to help him. He must improvise. Fire obviously works, so with a glance around at the others nearby to see what they plan to do, he summons his magic again.

This time, instead of creating dozens of tiny spiders, he focuses his strength on creating one medium-sized dragon-golem, modelled on his own fearsome companions. The dragon-golem has eyes of molten fire, glowing like stars in its rugged, crude stone head with tapered snout and savage teeth. He's amazed that it can actually fly given its weight, but he's reminded of Isopia's stone creatures soaring through the air and reminds himself that magic is magic, with its own set of rules. The golem is cumbersome, but hopefully effective.

The golem beats its great rock wings and slams towards the ant queen. Like Vadir or Vérzés would do, it attempts to approach from above and tries to tackle the ant queen towards the ground, the cracks in its stone skin holding enough lava inside to hopefully burn her to a crisp as it tries to clutch her in its death grip. The other gathered horses will hopefully try to disrupt the nest and access the main body of the ants - Volterra wants to take down the queen.