The Bee Dungeon

Belissar shivered as the chill of the Hunger assaulted him all over. He could fill the Hunger pushing in along the edges of the purified area around the Tower, seeping into the flows of the Tower’s mana. But he had no time to sit and tremble. He barely managed to put the entrance back into the Dirt Tunnels before the doors of his Tower slammed open and the Hunger began to pour in. The Hunger once again coalesced at the entrance and a massive foot crashed into the ground, digging deep into the dirt.

Belissar rushed to organize his defenses as the shade slowly emerged. He sent out a call to all his bees and the karnuq, informing them of the situation. Niobee had already moved to the soldier bee army, the soldier bees and sprayers now rushing to set up their formations by the first floor Flower Meadow entrance. The karnuq cut their celebration short as hunters grabbed their spears and rushed for the staircase. Belissar was once again immensely glad he had put a Dirt Tunnels room between the entrance and the Flower Meadow, as it seemed they could set up in time.

Though, in this case, time was not the concern.

This time, there was no fast and lithe cat, nor a soaring bird. The shade vaguely resembled a turtle, though longer and squatter than any turtle Belissar had seen before. It sat low to the ground on six legs, though its sheer size was such that it’d still be as tall as Belissar. While the ever-present mist of the Hunger still obscured the exact texture of its body, Belissar felt that its back seemed more solid than normal, like thick plates sealed together, with countless spikes growing out from them. Its head was squat and barely extended out of the plates, save for its massive beak. Its tail was tipped with several spikes the size of Belissar’s arm. This was a solid, powerful shade that caused dirt to shake off the tunnel walls with each step it took. It seemed the Hunger was no longer attempting to outrun his bees.

The good news was that the shade was by no means fast. The bees and karnuq had all the time in the world to arrive at the Flower Meadow and set themselves up. Chief Rohsuak and Metsaitti came up to him.

“Sacred Den Master, what’s the situation?”

Belissar was about to respond when he thought of something. He quickly called over Niobee and the bee queen in charge of the army today.

“There’s a massive shade moving through the Dirt Tunnels. Here’s what it looks like…”

Belissar went on to describe the shade in as much detail as he could.

“I’m worried, to be honest. The past few shades have all attempted to run past the bee army. This one is not even going to try. It’s got to be really powerful then, right?”

Chief Rohsuak crossed her arms.

“Hm, that assessment is likely correct. The Hunger will adapt its approach if stopped.”

Belissar gulped but shook his head.

“Well, since it’s slow, maybe it’ll fall into one of the traps…”

Even as he spoke, the shade encountered the first Pit Trap in the Dirt Tunnels, one Belissar had moved near the entrance. One of its feet passed straight through the false ground.

The shade, however, did not fall, as it still had five feet on solid ground. It simply pulled its leg up and to the side, gripping onto the side of the pit with its claws. The Hunger seeped into the dirt wall of the pit and corrupted it…and turned it more solid than before. The shade then gripped these solid sections with its middle two legs and extended out over the pit until its front legs touched the far side.

Belissar grimaced as he turned to the bee queen. So much for that plan.

“Please, be careful. We don’t know what it will do. It can bypass the Pit Traps so we’ll have to stop it ourselves.”

The bee queen saluted. A communer came up to her and she began dancing out her orders, adjusting the soldier bees’ formation. They took some distance from the entrance, with sprayers moving up to the front rows in order to engage at a distance.

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Chief Rohsuak began to smile, though, and lifted a hand.

“If it’s as slow as you say, I should be able to help. I may need more mana, though.”

Belissar nodded.

“I have more mana honey upstairs, let me grab it.”

But Niobee flew in front of him.

“King! Bees help!”

Belissar turned his attention to the Apiary and found the bees already preparing to transport medicinal honey down to the first floor. He nodded and sent a message to the First of the Fifth, letting her know they needed regular mana honey and soon.

The First of the Fifth had heard the King and the Conduit’s call, and was already organizing the supply run. The Second of the Sixth’s workers were producing medicinal honey as fast as they could, while workers from the First of the Fifth and all the other hives were chewing through the wax, separating the honeycomb into chunks small enough for the Apiary soldiers to carry. She then heard the King’s command.

“King called! Wants regular mana honey first!”

Immediately her workers began flying back to her hive to prepare her own honey while the First of the Fifth organized the other queens. They had plenty of honey but they had not prepared the comb for transport, so it would take a bit of time to chew it into transportable size. Time that the King might not have. The First of the Fifth buzzed her wings but there was only so much she could do.

Until as she turned around in her dance, she saw more bees on approach. The First of the Fifth paused her dance as the newcomer arrived.

“Fourth of the Seventh? Why are you here?”

The Fourth of the Seventh danced happily.

“Helping!”

The First of the Fifth’s wings calmed a bit as she saw both the soldiers she had given to the Fourth of the Seventh along with new soldiers the Fourth of the Seventh had raised herself.

“Thanks, will help a lot. Please help carry…”

But the Fourth of the Seventh interrupted her.

“One moment! Need to try something!”

The First of the Fifth was about to object, but it was then that she noticed the Fourth of the Seventh’s soldiers were already carrying something. Vines made of flower stems woven together…much like the King’s. Most of them were bundled up into bunches held by the soldiers’ legs, but the ends of the vines appeared to be wrapped around the soldiers’ thoraxes, abdomens, and back legs.

The First of the Fifth fell still. That…was the work of the King. So either the Fourth of the Seventh was here on orders of the King…or she had replicated his work on his own. Either way, the First of the Fifth could not respond immediately.

While she tried to react, the Fourth of the Seventh took her workers and soldiers to the First of the Fifth’s own hive. The First of the Fifth’s workers landed on top of the hive, tapping a glowing tray of honeycomb and causing it to remove itself from the beehouse as it did when the King came to gather his tribute. But, before the workers could start chewing it into chunks, the Fourth of the Seventh’s soldiers landed. They let go of the vines in their legs, then picked up the ends with their mandibles. A soldier each traveled to the four corners of the square tray, and then chewed through the cell in the corner. They then pushed the vine through the hole and began wrapping it around the edge of the wooden frame.

One they were done, the Fourth of the Seventh’s workers moved in. They began adding wax and propolis to the vines wrapped around the frames, securing them in place.

A moment later, the soldiers began to beat their wings and rise into the air.

And the entire honeycomb tray lifted with them. The Fourth of the Seventh began dancing rapidly.

“It works!”

The First of the Fifth merely watched in stunned silence for a moment before breaking out into dance.

“Fourth of the Seventh, have more of those vines?!”

The Fourth of the Seventh confirmed.

“Yes!”

Her soldiers didn’t only have the vines wrapped around themselves, but several bundles of different vines. The First of the Fifth quickly called over the Apiary soldiers. Without further command, the Fourth of the Seventh told her workers to begin wrapping the vines around the Apiary soldiers.

“Learned from King and karnuq! Stems help carry things! Thought could make moving honey easier!”

The First of the Fifth could only admire the wisdom of the King…and the Fourth of the Seventh for noticing his will.

“You’ve done well, just like King wants. Let’s move! King needs honey, let’s bring whole trays!”

Every bee of the Apiary saluted at that as the workers began to tie entire trays to the Apiary soldiers.

Shortly after giving the command, Belissar was treated to the sight of soldier bees carrying entire trays of honeycomb by linen ropes wrapped around their bodies and looped through the trays. He simply stared for a moment.

That…was an excellent idea. He should have thought of that after having the bees carry torches via the same method.

In any case, Belissar took the mana honeycomb tray while the bees chewed through the vines holding it. He then turned and handed it to Chief Rohsuak.

“Will this work?”

Chief Rohsuak licked her lips with a smile as a flame appeared and danced around her hand.

“Oh, that will do nicely. Thank you, Sacred Den Master.”

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