The Bee Dungeon

Belissar grit his teeth as he glanced at the three fallen bees but he tore his eyes away. He knew deep down they were unlikely to win without casualties, but he still had hoped to do so. Unfortunately, the Tower Guard were indeed not to be trifled with.

Worse still was that the humans did not fight like the Hunger did. The shades of the Hunger were relentless. Sure, they might try to bypass a fight when they could, but they always continued moving forward at any cost. Not so with humans, apparently. These ones fell back into the tunnels the moment they saw the bee army…and between the Tower Guard captain’s sword and the mages’ wind and fireballs Belissar didn’t feel safe letting the bees pursue them into the tight corridor.

Luckily, though, they just said their plan out loud where Belissar could hear it, so he knew they planned to press forward. He frowned at that, but relayed their intentions to the Flower Meadow queens and Chief Rohsuak. He then turned to the karnuq. They were all standing in the Orchard, right before the wall of shortcuts.

“Could you help us out? It looks like they’re going to use some big fire spell to try and push through?”

Chief Rohsuak made a predatory grin.

“Oh, are they, now? Worry not, Sacred Den Master. I’ll handle it.”

She began laughing as she began to munch on mana honeycomb. Belissar kept rubbing his chin, though.

“Also, that Tower Guard captain at the front seems pretty strong, fast enough to hit my bees midflight. Any ideas on how to deal with him?”

Chief Rohsuak just smiled and turned to Metsaitti. He sighed and began to roll his shoulders. Then he straightened up and struck his spear into the ground.

Belissar nodded and then the karnuq ran through one of the shortcuts, emerging right next to the entrance of the battle meadow. And just in the nick of time, the humans were in the midst of casting their spell. The fireball was massive…though its red colors seemed somewhat dim compared to Chief Rohsuak’s own spells.

They seemed especially dim as Chief Rohsuak burst into flames and cast a spell of her own. Her fireball was tiny compared to that of the humans, but it burned far brighter. And when it exploded, it wrapped around the other spell and held it down. The bees hovered just over the surface of the flames, but none of them were hurt. Belissar released a sigh of relief.

But the battle had only begun. The Tower Guard captain began barking out orders immediately, but Metsaitti grabbed a spear from one of the other hunters and lobbed it at the man’s head. The captain was forced to block with his shield as Metsaitti rushed forward with own spear, the other karnuq hunters by his side. The other Tower Guards tried to form up around their captain…but as they pointed their shields down towards the karnuq squads of soldier bees began diving them from above. Some were stung right in the face and neck and fell to the ground. Others dove to the ground to avoid the bees, but fell out of the line as a result. Metsaitti’s spear clashed with the captain’s sword and the captain was forced to give ground, separating from the rest of the humans.

And with the spell dealt with and the captain occupied, the bee army began their assault on the remaining humans. Some of the mages formed spells to attack the incoming bees. Smaller fireballs shot into the sky but the bees evaded them. A gust of wind began blowing the soldier bee squads back…but then a bumblebee soldier took the lead and pushed through, with soldier bee squads following in its wake. One of the mages hit the bumblebee with a fireball but she pressed on, not slowing down in the slightest even with her hairs smoking. The bumblebee crashed into one of the mages, knocking him right off his saddle as the soldier bees began attacking the wyvern. The wyvern roared and snapped at them, spinning around to try and knock them away with its tail. Instead, it struck the wyvern next to it, knocking it and its rider over.

A few of the wyverns began to take to the air but the bees were already upon them. Soldier bees began to sting the wyverns’ wings and land on their bodies en masse, pulling them to the ground as they were covered in chitin and angry stingers. Two wyverns managed to break free and begin rising into the sky, only for a shadow to fall over their eyes. Black forms fell from the sky and slammed into the wyverns’ head and bodies, driving them back into the ground. The lancer bees could apparently pierce through wyvern scales without issue.

In the meantime, Metsaitti continued to duel the captain. Metsaitti thrust quickly, pulling back his spear with ease whenever the captain parried him. But the captain’s sword and shield were equally quick and Metsaitti didn’t manage any blows. Indeed, the captain even began to push forward, forcing Metsaitti to step back and keep him at range. Metsaitti grunted and began to stir his mana, coating his spear as he thrust. But the captain did the same with his sword and shield and caught the blow as easily as any other. He knocked the spear away with a swing of his shield and stepped in with his sword. Metsaitti’s eyes widened and he was forced to block with the shaft of his spear, having no time to pull the tip back into place. The captain then smashed his shield into Metsaitti’s side and kicked his abdomen as the karnuq bent forward.

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But Metsaitti was not alone.

“Metsaitti, duck!”

Metsaitti let the captain’s kick knock him to the ground at Belissar’s mental call. As he did, a bright yellow light passed overhead. Beero and the other wounded soldiers had hidden among the flowers as they conducted their dance, and now their lightning sting struck right over the karnuq.

The captain barely had time to bring up his shield, just managing to avoid being impaled by the ephemeral stinger. But the stinger melted away as the lightning composing it jumped into the captain’s shield and then into his body. He grunted and trembled as the lightning coursed through him.

Metsaitti didn’t miss that chance.

He grabbed his spear and scrambled to his feet, pressing the attack. The captain’s mana then burst as he stopped holding back, forming thick coatings around his sword and shield. He thrust forward before Metsaitti arrived and forced the karnuq to the side as a spear from mana extended out from his sword. He began to twist to follow up with a slash, but then a squad of sprayers attacked him from above and behind. He barely managed to block the spray but grunted as stray drops showered over him. He had no time to think about it, though, as he had to block Metsaitti’s spear once again. He could see another one of those lightning spells forming in the field beyond, but Metsaitti kept him fighting. He tried another shield bash. Metsaitti dodged it this time, but the captain used the opportunity to turn and run in the direction of the magic circle…only for a squad of soldier bees to dive him from above. He managed to avoid being stung but one of them collided with his helmet, knocking him off course.

And, coincidentally, right into one of the Pit Traps strewn around the Flower Meadow that Beero and the others were using for cover.

He fell with a crash and was coated by the Sticky Honey Trap below. The Apiary soldiers, hovering above the battle in wait, began to dive even before he rose to his feet. He raised his shield up as he saw something diving down towards him…only for a small sliver of radish to bounce harmlessly off his shield.

At least until it hit the honey.

The wounded guard stood in the tunnels with his wyvern. He turned to the augur next to him, the two of them having been left behind on the death charge. The guard shrugged.

“I guess this is it.”

The augur sighed, letting the weight of his age pull his shoulders down.

“I suppose it is.”

The guard drew his sword with his one good arm, preparing for the end. But just then, he saw a flash of golden light from his bag. He turned to look.

“Hm? Is that you, little…”

Before he finished, a swarm of bees exploded out of the top of his bag and filled the tunnel.

The queen heard fires roaring and humans shouting and the buzzing of wings. Before she could react, though, she found herself once again before the Queen of All Bees. But this time, the Queen of All Bees did not dance herself. In front of her flew four queens with all of their hives. The four queens extended their stingers and sounded the attack, and all four hives flew forward.

The queen needed no encouragement as she returned to the world. She immediate spread as many attack pheromones as she could. Her hive burst out of the bag in a raging swarm and flew down the tunnel. She ignored the two humans behind her in honor of the one who had carried her here and instead flew forward.

And there, she saw him. One of the evil humans, the one who had stood tall above the rest on top of a mighty steed. The one who led the others on that fateful day. He, or maybe she, must be their queen!

So, this queen knew exactly what to do.

As she flew forward, her vision shifted one more. She felt, rather than saw, the four queens with the Queen of All Bees, as if they were flying with her. A surge of mana pulsed out from her and filled her workers, driving them to fly faster than they ever had before.

The visions faded just as her hive burst out of the tunnel…

Ruckanos fell off his wyvern as a truly massive bee collided into him. He rolled along the ground, groaning as he tried to rise to his feet. His eyes widened as he took in the scene before him.

All around him, wyverns roared and men screamed as they drowned in a sea of black and yellow and angry buzzing. A subhuman and the bee monsters worked together and drove the captain into a pit…that subsequently burst into flames. Someone, somewhere, was casting magic and flinging bee stingers made of lightning at anyone managing to stand. Bees with stingers the size and shape of lances dove from the sky like ballistae bolts and pierced right through scale and armor alike.

Ruckanos found himself subconsciously backing up. He began to tremble.

What…was going on? What was happening? Were…were they losing?

“No…how is this possible? The gods…the gods led me here themselves! They want me to win! I’m supposed to win!”

But then he cried out as a jolt of pain shot through the back of his neck. He turned around…to find a swarm of angry bees emerging from the tunnel behind him. He screamed as he vanished beneath angry, buzzing stingers.

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