The Bee Dungeon

Noigakkuq sheepishly stepped out of the tree line as her guide bee led her into a small clearing. Metsaitti had gathered the karnuq there. A brightly colored swarm of worker bees spread out, with at least one bee hovering around each of the karnuq, while squads of soldier bees formed up overhead. One of the soldier queens conferred with Metsaitti, relaying the bee army’s own experiences in this confusing room. He paused his conversation as he caught sight of her.

“Ah, there you are, Noigakkuq. Come, I was just speaking to the Firstborn here on how we should approach this room. We could use your insight.”

Noigakkuq’s face fell.

“Do you really?”

Metsaitti frowned.

“Look at me, Noigakkuq.”

He waited until she lifted her head before continuing.

“Tyhgak should have said it, but in case he forgot to mention it, you and I are the only ones to have received combat blessings from the God of Bees. Mine, however, is a hybrid blessing with the God of Fire, and I spent years with the blessing of the lancer before that. You have a pure and unique blessing from the God of Bees and all of your training and techniques stem from it. We’re exploring new territory here, so your skills are the only lead we have for how humanoids can learn bee style combat.”

He gave her a stern look.

“So, we need you here, teaching the rest of us what you have discovered, and figuring out how we can better coordinate with our fellow defenders in the sky. You have already proved yourself and we cannot afford for you to run off in an attempt to do more. You are part of the hunters now, and I expect you to cooperate as a good hunter should. Understand?”

Noigakkuq could only nod slowly.

“…I got it.”

Metsaitti’s gaze soften.

“Good. Now then, come and listen to the Firstborn here. Her army has already suffered at the hands of this room, so we had better learn from her how to avoid that.”

Noigakkuq nodded and took a step forward…before she suddenly clutched at her nose and screamed.

“Noigakkuq! What happened?!”

She forced her words out as she plugged her nose and her eyes teared up.

“Too many…smells. Tons of mana, something happening.”

Metsaitti grabbed his spear and turned to the Firstborn, only to find the bees already buzzing and zipping about. The Firstborn was dancing and trying to restore order, with one of the color workers zipping about in front of her. He instead turned to his own hunters, all of which were glancing about and preparing to fight in response to their bee guides’ sudden outburst.

Whatever was happening, the bees were already starting to prepare. He had better ensure the karnuq did likewise…

Belissar was speaking with Chief Rohsuak and Muuraqi on making new homes for the latest additions to the hive of hives when he suddenly stumbled. He nearly lost his footing but managed to catch him. He clearly didn’t do so with grace, as both the karnuq were looking at him with concern.

“Tower Keeper Belissar, are you alright?”

Belissar’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

“I don’t know. The Tower just got hit with a huge spike of mana.”

Muuraqi’s eyes widened while Chief Rohsuak’s narrowed. The chief straightened herself.

“Are we under attack? Should I recall the hunters?”

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Belissar frowned.

“No…they’re already there. It’s not the Hunger, though, so I’m not sure how we should respond.”

The mana spike did not send a chill down his spine as the Hunger always did, so he knew this wasn’t a sudden purification. Moreover, the mana spike was centered on a particular location and not the entrance. No, the mana in the newest Fairy Grove had kicked up into a whirlwind. Gales rustled the leaves of the trees, the ground seemed to tremble, the trees swayed their branches and churned the ground with their routes. Mana began to swirl like a tornado around one of the fairy circles before blasting out in waves that shook the room.

It seemed the Fairy Groves may not be safe after all.

The Firstborn and the soldier bee army, the Fourth of the Seventh’s Second Daughter and her hive of chromatic bees, and Metsaitti and the karnuq hunters were all already there for a training session. Belissar wasn’t sure, though, whether he should have them head to the circle in question or retreat out of the room. Was the Fairy Grove about to spawn monsters? Start a purification? Explode? Curse everyone within? Belissar had no idea, all he knew about fairy circles were from fairy tales and his bees’ own experiences, so how could he possibly determine what was happening…

Unknown entity attempting connection with room: 1F Fairy Grove. Permit?

Well, he should have guessed the Tower would know, at the very least. The power of the gods was not as ignorant as he…nor as helpless. Apparently, he could just reject the connection and solve the problem…hopefully.

He was about to do just that when a bee zipped in front of him.

“Hivebuilder! Queen of All Bees has message!”

Belissar’s eyes widened as Velebee flew before him and began to dance. He took a glance at the Tower’s question still hanging in the air before shaking his head. A message from his patron took priority.

“Got it, what did she say?”

“Queen of All Bees says Hivebuild should let.”

Belissar raised an eyebrow.

“Should let? Is that it?”

Velebee’s dance slowed a bit.

“Yes, is all.”

Belissar nodded.

“Got it, thank Velebee.”

He rubbed his chin for a second. Well, vague message aside, under the circumstances he couldn’t help but assume the God of Bees was referring to the connection message. He didn’t know what else she could mean. If that was the case…he should…allow this random connection tearing up one of the Fairy Groves?

Belissar gulped. But he took a deep breath and steeled himself. The God of Bees hadn’t led him astray thus far, so if she went as far as sending him an oracle on this, he decided he would trust her. It wasn’t like he knew what was going on, so he wasn’t going to reject the opinion of a god that did.

He turned to Chief Rohsuak.

“Something is trying to connect to the Tower through the new Fairy Grove. The God of Bees apparently wants us to let it in. I’m going to ask the bee army to gather there and then head there myself before we do. Would you mind coming along, and with your hunters too?”

Chief Rohsuak immediately saluted.

“As you say, Tower Keeper.”

Belissar relayed the orders to the Firstborn and then made his way to the Fairy Grove. He winced as he stepped inside, the swirling mana made his skin prickle. He confirmed it wasn’t actually hurting him or his bees before pressing onward. One of the chromatic bees met with him and guided him to the site in question.

The soldier bees and karnuq had already gathered around the fairy circle in question, this one in the center of a small clearing. The bees and karnuq hung at the edge of the tree line, partly for cover and partly because that was as close as was safe. The mana surged and condensed in the center of the fairy circle at regular intervals before new spikes of mana struck it and caused it to disperse through the room. Whenever it did, the clearing became chaos. Grass randomly grew and wilted, trees buckled and swayed. The air spun and whirled, the ground churned and groaned. Sparks of light and flame appeared and vanished alongside short spurts of rain and hail, shadows danced along the ground.

Belissar gulped as he joined Metsaitti, the Firstborn, and the Fourth of the Seventh’s Second Daughter. All three of them saluted once they saw him.

“King!”

“Tower Keeper.”

Belissar nodded at them and then turned towards the fairy circle. His heart pounded as he beheld the sheer chaos in the clearing. The thing trying to connect was causing all this…and he was about to let it into his Tower? He would not have considered such a thing had the God of Bees not directly told him he should.

So, instead of shutting it down and fleeing as all wisdom and instinct told him he should, he took a deep breath.

“I’m going to permit it. I don’t know what’s going to happen, so everyone be ready.”

Both karnuq and bee saluted and informed their charges. The soldier bee formations hovered in the air, sprayers lining the clearing while lancers positioned themselves high in the sky and directly above. Karnuq gripped their spears, hoisted their shields, and nocked their bows. The Firstborn danced and Metsaitti nodded at him.

Belissar took one last breath, deep and along, before he looked to the message.

Unknown entity attempting connection with room: 1F Fairy Grove. Permit?

Belissar forced himself to nod.

“Yes, permit.”

The clearing burst into an even greater surge of mana, the chaotic phenomena intensifying. Leaves and flowers ripped off the nearest trees in powerful gusts of wind before circling towards the center of the clearing, twisting and twirling their way around hail and sparks of flame. They began to spin in a circle above the center of the fairy ring. Once they aligned in a full circle, the mana began to reverse, the circle of leaves and petals sucking it in. There was one last burst of mana and all the chaotic phenomena began to die down, leaving the fairy circle as it originally was.

Save for the circle of leaves and petals still flying in a rotating circle through the air…

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