An excerpt from the novel i'm working on.

  

 He stood arms akimbo, his skeletal joints folded, incredibly flexible, just as he had since the moon rose,        he looked at the horde before him and it took his breath away, it made him restless, and it felt quite unfair to have such a huge burden on his muscular shoulders, he scanned the surrounding darkness expertly, it would be hours before the light would pierce the inner recesses of their underground abode. He closed his eyes meditatively, he had to accomplish this great task before him, from the dawn of time, just as others before him had done, soon he could feel their worries and regrets, swamping him, yet like his forebears, shirking his duties never crossed his mind, the task was here and must be accomplished successfully.

He slowly began reciting the preparations for the umpteenth time……………………………………………

The internal clock had started ticking in him, several suns ago, he had felt it and had been slow to understand its meaning, then the waters had returned, ferocious and threatening, roaring like giant white dragons, they had crumbled the outer walls of the city, bringing fear like a dark cloud with them, the inhabitants murmured and became restless, after the second stampede which took some lives, the search was initiated and word was soon spread around, travelling like a bush fire during the Harmattan, they were searching for the pointer.

He had felt it ominous and threatening, they were coming for him just like each pointer before him had known, and as helpless as usual, all he could do was wait. it was the order of things from time before suns, from times before the moon…………

The Formicidae are an ancient race, their folklores tell of a time when their physical and morphological structures were more larger and complex, according to the old one kra, there was a time, when they could look a Hymenopteris in the very face, he said this when he returned from a very successful nectar expedition, he said they started shrinking in size and transforming, when the entire horde drank at the pool, during the time of Cretaceous. Some believed him, but some did not, old kra loved to make up stories, so much that fact was indistinguishable from fiction at times.

Kra and his tales were usually ignored; all they knew were what they looked like, powerful mandibles, large eyes, their narrow waists and large heads, were a source of great pride to this race.