The Bee Dungeon

Belissar practiced his magic until it was time for the next purification. There were two small bird shades this time, but karnuq archers took down one in the tunnels and the bee army surrounded and dealt with the other when it reached the Flower Meadow.

The next morning Belissar practiced his magic again, seeing if he could replicate the healing herb honey without actually drinking said honey. It took him a couple of tries but eventually he got it right. Now, he’d be much more helpful when trying to save wounded bees.

It still wouldn’t help much in battle, but it was a step in the right direction. More than one right step, even, as Belissar felt that imagining his mana as a swarm of bees just…fit better, for lack of a more descriptive explanation. Like that was the right way to grow further in his magic.

After that, Belissar popped over to the karnuq floor to greet the newest queen. He introduced the newly born Second of the Ninth to Velebee, gave the new queen her instructions, and then headed over to the budding karnuq Apiary. The aspiring beekeepers all watched the Second of the Ninth intently as she examined their latest work, while Belissar took the one successful beekeeper over to the First of the Ninth’s hive.

“Regular bees normally need a few days to start hatching, but monster bees do so overnight, so we should be able to check the hive now.”

The karnuq’s eyes sparkled as they walked over to the hive, noting worker bees already conducting their orientation flights to memorize the way home. Belissar lifted the roof and pulled out one of the trays.

“Here, you can see some of the brood cells. We mostly let the bees do their thing, but there are some things you should take note of. Look closely for any signs of parasites or intruders, or for eggs that seem too small for their cells. Or if you see them building a bigger cell outside of the normal comb, that normally means their raising a new queen and getting ready to split…”

Belissar had taught all the aspiring beekeepers this before, but reviewed with the new beekeeper now that she had a hive of her own. He then instructed her to wait a few days before attempting to gather honey. Well, technically the beehive feature was making honey on its own that she could have taken, but Belissar felt it better to let the bees use that honey to kickstart the growth of the hive.

He heard another karnuq cheer as the Second of the Ninth chose her home. He congratulated the new beekeeper and promised to teach him everything he taught the first once his hive raised its first workers. He then wrapped up the lesson with some feedback for the beehouses that weren’t chosen, and went on his way.

Now, he made his way down the Memorial, where Beero, Niobee, and the Second of the Sixth were working to evolve more battlecasters. He found one squad waiting by the burning honey while one of their number imitated Beero’s feat, while the newer wounded soldiers were all drinking from a tray of regular mana honey or practicing the lightning stinger spell.

Belissar was about to greet them when one of the soldiers began drinking burning honey. He stayed silent and watched as Beero led the soldier through the process, while Niobee directed the Tower’s mana to assist and the Second of the Sixth kept an eye on the soldier’s health. The soldier’s lightning wing faded away, and was slowly replaced by fire. Then the fire faded and was slowly replaced by lightning once more, at which point the soldier was wrapped in a cocoon of light. She emerged as a fully formed battlecaster a moment later and promptly took off into the sky, zipping across the air on her restored wings as Beero had.

Belissar smiled and slowly withdrew without drawing their attention. He had come to see how things were going, and now he had his answer. Three battlecasters had already evolved, so Beero seemed to have the process figured out. It seemed they’d have a full battlecaster squad soon enough.

And indeed, before the day was over, Beero was leading a squad of battlecasters as they danced together in the air. They formed a lightning stinger that shot down from the sky, striking the ground like a true thunderbolt.

Which meant that tomorrow, Belissar would attempt another expansion.

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The next day, after greeting the new Third of the Ninth, everyone went to gather in the battle meadow. Belissar moved the Lava Field in between the Dirt Tunnels and Flower Meadow, and then looked over the forces they had assembled.

The bee army was gathered once again, their formations and movements growing ever more complex. Bumblebee soldiers hovered at the front of soldier bee formations, ready to lead the way. Lancers hung high above the army, positioned so that the sun would blind anyone looking for them. Beero and her battlecaster squad waited at the center of the army, ready to dance at a moment’s notice.

Additionally, two new squads were ready to join the fray. A squad of bright red burning soldiers mingled into the formation, the first soldiers of the Lava Field hives. On the ground was a squad of squat, brown soldiers with especially thick mandibles. The first digging soldier squad dug down into the ground, burrowing under the surface with their abdomens angled upward.

Soon, the bee army would extend its reach into the Dirt Tunnels and the Lava Field. For today, the bees had decided to keep the new soldiers with the main army since there were only a few of each. But even still, the burning soldiers added a new kind of venom to the mix, while the digging soldiers could present a nasty surprise to anyone who only looked up.

Finally was Metsaitti leading the karnuq hunters, with Chief Rohsuak on standby next to Belissar. The karnuq stood ready to face a shade directly should the situation call for it.

Belissar took a deep breath.

“Everyone ready?”

The bees all saluted as one, while Chief Rohsuak and Metsaitti gave him a nod.

Attempt expansion purification? Estimated purification strength: small+.

Expansion purification attempt commencing.

Belissar did his best to ignore the chill of the Hunger and focused all his attention on the gate. If the shade was one better handled in the Dirt Tunnels, he’d have to move the Lava Field out of the way quickly.

At first, Belissar furrowed his brow. Every time before this, the expansion shade had been dramatically different from all who came before it. But not this time. This time, the shade was familiar from the start, as yet another salamander began to take shape and crawl across the ground.

At least until its back began to form. This time, the salamander was no smooth and moist amphibian, nor was it wrapped in flames as before. This time, it was covered from head to tail in short, needle-like spines. The end of its tail flattened like a spade, and the spines grew especially dense on the flat surface.

Expansion purification begun. Remaining hostiles: 1

“Salamander, but covered in spikes!”

The bees saluted while Metsaitti nodded. The Flower Meadow queens, Metsaitti, and the karnuq hunters began discussing what the shade might be and how best to deal with it.

In the meantime, the spiky salamander made its way through the Dirt Tunnels, dealing with the Pit Traps much as the earlier salamander had before. When it encountered the first Sticky Honey Trap, it jumped back right as the trap triggered, then crawled up onto the walls to avoid the honey on the ground. With no other different threats, the salamander thus traversed the room without injury.

In the final tunnel, the salamander growled and shook its head. Smoke filled the tunnel from the beeswax candles, newly restocked with wax from the maddening bees. The salamander then took off at speed, rushing through the hallway as quickly as it could. It reached the Lava Field, seemingly without much effect from the smoke.

Belissar frowned. It seemed he might need to add more candles, or else a way to slow down a shade, if he wanted them to do much. But, well, the humans had dealt with them with ease, so Belissar hadn’t counted on them for this purification.

And just like that, the salamander had cleared the Dirt Tunnels. It was now faced with the smoke, ash, and fire of the Lava Field.

Which, predictably, didn’t appear to discourage it in the slightest. It began crawling forward without any sort of hesitation, making its way to the first lava river. It dove right in and swam across it with ease. It seemed different form or not, this salamander was as resilient to heat as the last.

Perhaps the mini-volcano would have something to say about that, though. Belissar held his breath as the mini-volcano launched its first boulder into the sky. The shade paused and glanced upwards, growling as it saw the flaming boulder streak down towards it.

And then it took off sprinting, moving at surprising speed, wiggling its body back and forth as salamanders did. The first boulder missed, crashing into the ground.

The mini-volcano fired a second.

This one missed as well, landing into one of the lava rivers.

The third nearly hit the mark, spraying the salamander with burning pebbles. It growled, but it was just far enough that the debris didn’t do much damage, and the flames didn’t affect it at all.

It began changing its course anytime the volcano fired, weaving back and forth. The volcano got a few more near-misses, but no direct hits were scored. Fortunately, the salamander traveled as straight a path as it could while maintaining its evasion, so it did not stray close to the burning hives on the edge of the room.

Unfortunately, that meant that it arrived at the room’s exit before the volcano managed to strike it directly.

And just like that, the Tower’s traps had been defeated. It would once again come down to its defenders to put a stop to this shade…

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