The Bee Dungeon

Tears welled up in Belissar’s eyes as he looked down at the bee in his hands. The lightning had changed color and turned into a wing. He had no idea what had happened but the important part was that the bee was going to be ok. Her body was no longer twitching and she was still alive, he could feel her mana growing stronger. She slowly began to move around and climbed up his arm to rest on his shoulder. Belissar smiled and laughed as he wiped his eyes with his free hand.

It was only one out of all the bees that had died that day so far, but he had saved at least one of them from death. And, hopefully, she wouldn’t be the only one.

He placed her down as the medicinal bees began to arrive and pour over her, brushing her with their antenna and mana. Niobee returned with an army of worker bees from the Apiary, each carrying cells filled with healing herb honey. He nodded at her and then turned to the soldier bee army arriving from the front.

“Gather up the wounded, we’re going to take care of them all.”

But as he spoke, Niobee suddenly began to glow. Belissar’s eyes widened.

“Niobee?!”

A moment later, she was covered in light so bright Belissar had to shield his eyes.

As Belissar moved to help the other wounded bees, Chief Rohsuak and her people were gathered by the entrance to the Underway. Soon though, she heard the perimeter scouts begin to shout. She turned her head in the direction of the Sacred Den.

She could see a bright light from that direction, even with all the trees between them and the Sacred Den. She felt a wave of mana pass them by. Even those without mana of their own began to glance around from the slight warmth, for her it was more like a roaring flame.

“I guess I was worried for nothing. Well done, Sacred Den Master.”

She motioned to her people to return to their home.

Belissar lowered his hand as the light faded...and then his jaw dropped. A soldier bee now flew where Niobee had once been. A soldier bee with a missing antenna.

“Niobee?”

The soldier bee began dancing.

“Yes, King?”

Belissar let out his breath. If Niobee was fine, he could deal with whatever had happened later. Like he would with those messages trying to distract him or those intense flows of burning hot mana rushing through the Tower and beyond.

Right now, he had bees to heal.

Medicinal workers began to guide wounded soldier bees to cells full of healing herb honey, lightly jabbing them with their thin stingers on occasion. More soldier bees came and went, carrying their wounded sisters to the medicinal workers. Meanwhile, the soldiers led Belissar to the most heavily wounded, those who could not be moved at all. He did the magic honey thing his mana had done for the first wounded soldier, filling them with mana in hopes of stabilizing them.

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Some made it. For others, the mana honey simply seemed to ease their pain as they passed. Belissar teared up at that but kept moving to the next one that needed his help.

The first wounded soldier still stood on his shoulder. He had wanted her to rest but she had insisted and he had no time to argue, so he brought her along. He soon learned why she had wanted to come as they found other bees who had been burned by the first lightning surge. One by one, she climbed to them and brushed them with her lightning wing. Soon, the black lightning arcing from their bodies turned yellow as well, after which Belissar’s honey could heal their wounds.

They worked hard until every bee that could be saved was stabilized, and every bee that could not was accounted for. After that, every bee gathered by the Memorial. All those who were wounded stood on the beehouse, while the rest hovered in the skies around. One by one, Belissar placed the remains of the fallen inside the Memorial, and new words appeared on the pillars as the bee carvings danced. When it was done, Belissar took a step back and lowered his head towards the beehouse.

“Thank you, for your sacrifices. We won today because of you.”

Niobee then led the bees in their solemn dance. The wounded soldiers joined in as they were able, and the bee carvings followed suit. Belissar watched as the Shrine of Bees and the Memorial itself began to glow faintly.

Today had been a victory, but at great cost. Twelve soldier bees had perished and another fifteen had received wounds to varying degrees, mostly due to lightning burns. Belissar thought he had done all he could to prepare but the shade had defied all of his expectations, and the bees paid the price. In fact, had it not been for the wounded soldier’s attack at precisely the right time and place to trigger a honey trap, they likely would not have won at all. He himself might have died, and he didn’t know if he’d come back, or what would have happened to the Tower in that case. He was reminded once again that he had a long way to go as a dungeon master. His defenses may have been impressive compared to the wolf-like minor shades, but they fell apart immediately against a new kind of foe.

But, though Belissar’s heart ached at the thought of all the bees that had perished, this time he did not regret it. This exact scenario was what he had been worried about when he made the decision to expand. His Tower was not prepared for a flying enemy that could channel lightning. They couldn’t have been. More queens, more flowers of the types he had, and more soldier bees would not have changed the outcome today, while the Pit Traps and the fires he had prepared had been entirely useless. And most of all, he couldn’t have known the threat he was facing before he started the purification. His Tower and his bees needed more options to deal with future threats, including ones he couldn’t predict for ahead of time.

And thanks to the courage and sacrifice of the bees, they had gained just that.

Expansion successful.

Reward: Floor limit increased to 2. Receive one perk choice, and two random reward choices.

But he would deal with that a bit later. Soon the dance came to a close and Belissar made a smile.

“Let’s celebrate. Today we won, thanks to you all.”

The air exploded into motion as thousands of bees began to zip about. Belissar brought out as many trays of honey as he had. Even the mad honey trays, which apparently didn’t poison the bees themselves. Workers buzzed around and brought honey to the soldiers while countless bees of many different hives danced together and brushed each other’s antenna. Belissar looked over to the Apiary queens and nodded at them with a smile.

“Thanks for making all that honey for this.”

The Apiary queens danced happily at his thanks. Belissar felt a bit of the ache in his chest fade as he watched the bees all around him.

This was why he didn’t regret his decisions. The bees themselves were full of nothing but joy tonight, the wounded no less than the healthy. They didn’t mind the sacrifices and they didn’t fear death or pain. So, Belissar would honor that courage, and celebrate what they had achieved. He would still do what he could to minimize the sacrifices, but neither would he run from them if they were necessary.

And he would bring ruin upon those who caused them.

At that point, Niobee flew over to him, carrying a chunk of honeycomb with her new, larger body.

“King! King should eat too!”

He smiled and held his hand out. Niobee placed the honeycomb in it.

“Thanks, Niobee.”

He took a bite and then held out his other hand. Niobee landed in it, barely fitting now. He then held out the honeycomb for her and she drank from it. He grinned as her wings fluttered.

The celebrations continued even as the sun went down.

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