The Bee Dungeon

Belissar awoke to a new day. He walked over to the farmhouse’s table and began a breakfast of honeycomb and a cave potato cake the karnuq had given him. Meanwhile, Niobee brought in a number of worker bees, the ones he had shared his thoughts with. They each reported to him on whatever topic he had asked them to remember, sending his Tower sight around as relevant.

“Fourth of Seventh preparing to build mini-hive for scouts.”

Belissar nodded and turned his attention to the Orchard, where the Fourth of the Seventh was gathering a group of soldiers and workers. He frowned just a little when he saw her leave as well. A queen leaving the Tower seemed a bit dangerous to him, but he trusted the bees to know what they were doing. He knew that ultimately a hive’s workers were even more protective of their queens than he was, so they would keep her safe.

“All wounded soldiers can use lightning sting now, practicing together.”

Over the past few days, Belissar, Niobee, and Beero had finished imparting all the wounded soldiers with lightning. From then on, Beero had begun disseminating her magic to them. Belissar briefly glanced over at the Memorial…then froze and turned his full attention there. He had expected to see a bunch of soldier bees all practicing their magic.

Instead, all the wounded soldiers were now gathered in the field off to the side of the Memorial, and assembled into a circle. Beero lead them in a dance and each of them formed the lightning honeycomb pattern of their magic. But then, Beero had them began moving all in a circle, moving their lightning honeycombs as well. Some lightning trailed behind from each of the honeycomb patterns…and then started to link together, until a hexagon of lightning formed in the air above the soldiers.

Beero then changed the course of the dance. One hexagon became two, and then three, and so on and so forth until there was a larger honeycomb pattern formed from the lightning trails of the smaller ones. The pattern locked into place and then flashed.

A huge stinger of lightning appeared and shot from the pattern into the sky, traveling much further than the individual bee’s versions did…or than even Belissar’s could. Belissar’s jaw dropped.

That…that was an attack that could actually threaten a shade, and at a distance long enough that the wounded soldiers’ lack of mobility might not matter. It wasn’t anywhere near what Chief Rohsuak had displayed just yet, but it was a powerful, magical attack his bees had not yet had access to. It was exactly the sort of thing the Tower needed to expand its options.

At that point, Belissar felt Niobee land on his back and tap a dance on him. He brought his attention back to the farmhouse, where the worker bees had ceased their report and were watching him as he zoned out. He flushed a bit and nodded.

“Ah, yeah, sorry. Beero and the wounded soldiers just did something incredible, so I got distracted. They figured out how to cast magic all together, and it was much more impressive than before. I think they might be able to participate in a fight now if we can keep them safe.”

Niobee began a celebratory dance.

“Glad! Soldiers can fight again, help hive of hives!”

The other worker bees began to join in the celebratory dance and Belissar smiled. He went and picked up an extra tray of honeycomb.

“How about we go congratulate them?”

“Ok!”

A short while later, Belissar and Niobee arrived at the first floor Flower Meadow. Beero and the wounded soldiers were just about to try again when they saw him approach and stopped to salute. Belissar placed the honeycomb tray on the ground before them and smiled.

“I saw what you did, excellent work. It’s exactly what we need right now. I wanted to congratulate you and give you a little something in celebration.”

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The wounded soldiers all froze. Beero even collapsed on the ground. And then, a moment later, she scrambled to her feet and began to dance as fast as her legs would carry her. The rest of the wounded soldiers followed suit. Belissar chuckled. The bees really liked praise, didn’t they? He would have to make sure to praise them all more often.

After the celebration, Niobee brought over the Firstborn so Beero could demonstrate the new attack to her. Belissar watched and rubbed his chin. It had a longer range than a sprayer’s attack, but not by all that much in the grand scheme of things. A wolf-shade would probably be able to cross the distance after a single attack. A bird-shade or cat-shade may not even let them finish their dance.

And that was a problem, because for all their magical lightning powers the wounded soldiers were still crippled. They couldn’t fly, and bees were noticeably slower on the ground, so they would not be able to escape a shade if it attacked them. They would get one shot at most against all but the turtle-shades. Belissar wasn’t sure if one of those lightning stingers would be enough to defeat a shade outright…and if it wasn’t, they would lose some or maybe all of the soldiers. So, the question was how would they safely take advantage of this new attack?

Fortunately, Belissar happened to have an easy answer. He brought up the Wooden Platform feature he had gained from building the Orchard’s Bee Apartment. A transparent wooden platform supported by a couple of wooden legs appeared. He found he could adjust the height and width to some degree, though the higher he made the platform the less wide it could be. He went ahead and made it as wide as the wounded soldiers’ joint dance had been, and then as high as it could go otherwise, resulting in a tower about three stories tall. He went ahead and confirmed it and then turned to the bees.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I have something to show you all. Ah, I can carry you, Beero.”

The Firstborn saluted and Belissar held out his arm so that Beero could crawl up onto his shoulder. He walked across the Flower Meadow towards the entrance. There, standing right behind the first firebreak was the new platform.

“What do you think, Beero? I figured if you and the others climb up there, you should be able to attack safely.”

Beero stared at it for a moment before breaking out into an incoherent and rapid dance. Belissar got the sense that she was very much happy, however, so he chuckled. He then turned to the Firstborn with a frown.

“The thing is…I’m not sure how well this platform would hold up if a shade attacks it, so they might need to evacuate. Would your soldiers be able to carry Beero and the others away if they needed to?”

The Firstborn saluted. Niobee then began to dance.

“King! Orchard bees can help! Make more stems to help carry!”

Belissar’s eyes widened as he nodded.

“Ah, that’s a good idea. If we weave slings of some sort, that should make it easier. Thanks for reminding me, Niobee!”

The King then carried all of the wounded soldiers to the platform so they could all take a look and practice their dance. After that, he and the Conduit had left to arrange things with the Orchard queens. The Firstborn had gone to inform the rest of the Flower Meadow queens of the new developments. Soon, they would begin training to carry Beero and her comrades.

Beero and her comrades crawled up one of the wooden pillars supporting it until they were up on the platform itself. Beero stood completely still at the top, feeling the breeze brush past her antennae and her remaining pair of wings as she looked out over the Flower Meadow. She had not seen it from this height since the day she had been wounded. But now, thanks to the King, she could. She glanced around and saw all of her comrades standing still as well, likely all sharing in her thoughts.

And more than that, she and her comrades had done it. They had found a way to rejoin the fight and participate in the battle once again. No longer would they be the soldiers who just had to be fed and kept safe. No longer would she gaze upon the Memorial and numbers that represented the fallen sisters who left her behind, wondering if she should have joined them.

No, now, once again, they would defend their queens, their sisters, the King, and the hive of hives. They would repay the King and the other bees for all the resources and efforts they had expended to save their lives. They would all become true soldiers once again, no longer defined by their injuries but by their will to defeat the invaders, same as their unwounded sisters.

Beero slowly began a dance, once she had never performed before and that did not match any in her instincts. It was reminiscent of the dance the Conduit lead them in whenever the King brought fallen bees to the Memorial, but with elements of a celebratory dance mixed in. Something that matched her present feelings. One by one, the other wounded soldiers began to join her in it, until all of them danced as one. They were not sisters originally as they had come from different queens and different hives but now, now they were united in experience and purpose. They were linked by a bond beyond blood, comrades now who had overcome the impossible together.

For they had lost much, but now, finally, they were going to take some of it back. And they would stop at nothing to defend and repay the King who had given them the chance to do so.

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