The Bee Dungeon

And so, time passed. Belissar still hadn’t managed to control his mana outside of his body yet, but today his lack of progress did not cross his mind. No, today, Belissar had other things to consider, for he had just finished the latest purification. He selected another ten mana, bringing his numbers to the current values:

Mana: 132/300

With this latest increase, he had reached his goal. He could now conduct an expansion purification.

Attempt expansion purification? Estimated purification strength: small.

Belissar hesitated at that. He did not know how strong a small purification would be, but he couldn’t imagine it would be weaker than the minor purifications. It could be as strong as the initial purification...or stronger, for he didn’t know what the intial purification was classified as. His bees were both capable and numerous at this point and his traps all stocked and prepared, but they had only been tested by the weaker shades thus far. He still didn’t know if they could handle the shade from the initial purification as easily as they did its smaller kin.

And if the next purification was stronger than that...then sacrifice would be inevitable, and victory would not be guaranteed at all. Belissar would almost certainly have to watch his bees fall and could end up losing everything he had built so far. He had been so focused on reaching this point that he hadn’t truly considered the risks involved.

He got up from his chair and gathered some honeycomb. He made his way to the Shrine of Bees in the Flower Meadow. He placed the honeycomb in the chest and then knelt in front of the statue of the God of Bees. Niobee followed along quietly, as she always did.

“Do you have any guidance for me? I...don’t want to see my bees get hurt again.”

He felt a slight warmth and opened his eyes. The Shrine was glowing slightly. The glow then faded, which allowed Belissar to catch a glimpse of another light. He turned to the side and saw the nearby Bee Memorial. Both the beehouse at its center and the pillars surrounding it glowed faintly.

Belissar stared at the memorial for a minute. He walked over, looking over the pillars and the numbers inscribed there. He saw the carved bees dancing up and down them. He looked over to the beehouse that held the remains of the fallen. The wounded soldier bee stood guard there and began a salute dance at his approach.

The frown on Belissar’s face shrank and his body relaxed, even as his eyes narrowed. The bees never hesitated to sacrifice themselves. Niobee, the workers and queens of the First Dynasty of the First Spawner, the soldiers who had perished in the purifications that followed. The soldier who stood before him now, and who had not once complained about her permanent crippling. And the memorial itself, that encouraged such sacrifice.

Even though she had not spoken with words, Belissar knew what the God of Bees was trying to say. It made sense. She was the God of Bees, and bees were born to sacrifice for the hive. She would not fear those sacrifices.

And, if he were to be a King of Bees like they called him, neither could he.

Belissar took a deep breath.

“For the good of the hive, huh?”

The soldier bee immediately danced a salute...and Belissar’s eyes widened as the bee carvings in the memorial followed suit. Belissar looked to Niobee, his constant companion. She did not wait for his question before beginning her dance.

“Bees ready. King is best king, bees follow.”

Belissar made a slight smirk and nodded.

He did not wish to see any of his bees fall. He did not wish to see his Tower devastated once again. He did not want to take this risk. But he knew that he must. If the Tower and the hives were to grow, Belissar needed new options. New rooms, new flowers, new bee types, new perks. Now that he knew that the existing queens could bear new ones, the Tower’s current space started feeling small. It may not be long before all the existing flowers were claimed.

As for the worst case...well, the worst case was why Belissar needed to take this risk in the first place. A shade would slay all of his bees, tear down all he had built, and corrupt his core...and that wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to his Tower. Belissar had had a chance to rebuild and recover even from that disaster. It would be painful beyond belief if he had to do so again...but he at least knew it was possible.

But the Tower Lords, on the other hand, were an unknown threat. Belissar had no idea what they might be capable of...or if it would be possible for him to recover from what they could do. The risk presented by a small purification now might be dwarfed in comparison to the threat of the Tower Lords down the line.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Belissar resolved himself. For the good of the hive...for the good of all the hives, they needed to take some risks now. He sent a call to the bees...to all the bees. He requested all the queens and as many of their brood as could be spared. Soon, the sound of buzzing wings grew as loud as a roaring fire. The sky and the ground turned yellow and black as bees hovered in the air or landed on the flowers below. Countless eyes looked at him as the queens flew ahead of them. Niobee took some distance from him to join the queens at their head. Belissar’s heart constricted as he thought of subjecting them all to danger, but he forced himself to speak.

“We...now have an opportunity for greater growth than we’ve seen so far. But...it comes with greater danger. We, um, will probably have to face a battle worse than anything we’ve encountered so far. I...cannot guarantee that we all will survive. ”

He furrowed his brow as he thought of the initial purification.

“I cannot even guarantee that we will win.”

He paused as he looked at each and every queen. They hovered in the air, waiting for his next words.

“So, um, I wanted to ask you all. Are you ready to face the greatest challenge you have faced so far, even if you must risk death and destruction?”

Belissar nearly took a step back as he was battered by the roar of buzzing wings. Every bee immediately danced a salute, all as one.

“Then...I think we need to do this. For the good of the hives, and to grow strong enough to face whatever threats come later. We’ll attempt the expansion purification tomorrow at the normal purification time. Um, do whatever you need to do to prepare.”

The air roared with another synced salute, and then exploded into motion as the bee swarm began to move. The queens raced back to their hives, the soldiers immediately began to split into squads and conduct maneuvers, while the workers spread out across every flower they could find. Belissar exhaled his breath.

Niobee stayed and flew before his eyes.

“King, ok?”

Belissar slowly nodded.

“Yes. I’m just...I think bees are going to die tomorrow.”

Niobee flew straight and steady.

“Bees ready. Fight for hive.”

Belissar nodded.

“I know. But I still don’t like seeing you all get hurt.”

Niobee paused for a minute before flying slowly.

“When Niobee caught, was going to die. That fine, Niobee just worker, queen had many. But then, King helped, saved. Gave honey.”

Belissar’s eyes were fixed on Niobee as she danced. She slowly began to speed up.

“Niobee not even King’s worker then. Niobee knew King best king. But King was alone, needed workers, needed hive.”

Her wings began to buzz louder.

“Then, others hurt King.”

She slowed down a bit.

“Now, King has hive, has workers. Now, hive protects King, helps king.”

Belissar smiled and lifted his finger. Niobee landed on it and he gently brushed her back.

“...thanks, Niobee. How about we try to protect each other from now on?”

Niobee flew off his finger and began dancing rapidly.

“No! King is king! Workers, soldiers protect queens, King!”

Belissar chuckled as Niobee continued to dance. His steps were just a bit lighter as he returned to the farmhouse for the night.

Chief Rohsuak lifted an eyebrow.

“A break, you say?”

The Sacred Den Master nodded.

“We have a big fight coming up, so I want to make sure everything’s prepared.”

Chief Rohsuak rubbed her chin and then nodded.

“I see. Is there danger approaching?”

The Den Master paused for a moment before shaking his head.

“Um, I don’t think so. Not unless you saw something on the way here?”

Chief Rohsuak shook her head and the Den Master continued.

“It’s more...I have to do this to expand the Tower.”

Chief Rohsuak nodded. She didn’t know many details of a Sacred Den’s inner workings, but that made sense given what little she knew.

“I see. In that case, it is wise to prepare for battle. Should I return tomorrow?”

The Den Master paused again.

“Um, maybe? I, um, might be busy.”

Chief Rohsuak gave him an encouraging smile.

“How about I check in the day after to see how things are going, and we can decide our future schedule from there?”

The Den Master nodded.

“Um, yeah, that sounds good.”

Chief Rohsuak nodded and then turned to Metsaitti and his hunters.

“Let’s all take a break then.”

The other hunters began to complain but Metsaitti just nodded and told them to pack it up. Soon, they were walking with Chief Rohsuak back to their camp.

“Metsaitti.”

“Yes, Chief?”

“Take your hunters and scout the Underway. I’ll make sure everyone is prepared.”

Metsaitti nodded.

“Right away.”

The other hunters, bless their hearts, just looked confused. Fortunately, Metsaitti had caught on, and took them ahead. Chief Rohsuak let out a sigh.

She had heard tales of Sacred Dens falling. It was rare, but it did happen. The Sacred Den Master was clearly anxious...or rather, more anxious than normal as far as she could tell. If he was attempting something big, then the risks would be big as well.

She considered offering assistance for a brief moment before burying that idea. Her people were teetering on the edge of a knife as they were. The situation would already be extremely grim if they had to pack up and continue their sojourn now. If the Sacred Den Master lost his fight they might have to do just that, and would need every advantage possible to survive. So, if they lost any of their hunters to injury or death trying to help, it could mean the death of them all.

And the Den Master, for his part, did not seem to trust them yet. He had not even told them his name yet, nor made any attempt to engage with the hunters passing by him every day. He hardly spoke to Chief Rohsuak outside of their lessons. It did not seem to occur to him to even request their help. Which was fortunate, since Chief Rohsuak could not offer that help. As much as she wished to keep this Sacred Den around, their relationship was not close enough to risk everything on it.

So, she would prepare for the worst. She turned back towards the Tower and bowed her head. She lifted up a small prayer to both the God of Bees and to her own patron.

“Best of luck to you, Sacred Den Master. I sincerely hope to meet you again.”

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