The Bee Dungeon

Belissar was just admiring the bees working for a bit when suddenly he jumped.

A challenger has been fully blessed.

Gained 20 DP.

He rushed his Tower sight down to the second floor. There, he found Muuraqi kneeling before the Shrine of Bees, as wide-eyed as he was. And there, just like that, a third karnuq had been blessed. Belissar smiled.

At this point, he was extremely happy with his choice to trust the karnuq. They had significantly expanded his plant and mushroom options as they shared their resources. They had helped him build a fireproof beehouse out of stone he would have struggled to gather, much less process and transport. And, certainly not least of all, Chief Rohsuak had handled a purification that gave his bee army trouble.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad having some people around after all.

Putting that aside, however, Belissar did need to consider his defenses, and what he could do to improve them. After double checking what he had, he moved the new Gravilion flower patch to just in front of a Pit Trap by the Flower Meadow entrance. The descriptions said they could randomly make things heavier, so he figured that would make it harder for a shade to jump across a pit, or climb out of it once it fell down. That or it would make them lighter and help them soar across it, but Belissar hoped it would be the helpful option.

Beyond that…Belissar wasn’t sure. He couldn’t imagine the options he had at present working against another turtle shade. Some thorny roses didn’t seem like they would bother a shade that could resist full-speed dive stings by the soldier bees. Though, there was no guarantee the Hunger would try another turtle shade.

There was one option, though. A side effect of Chief Rohsuak setting the Flower Meadow on fire was confirmation that the fire breaks he made actually worked. So didn’t that mean that they could intentionally set the Flower Meadow on fire without putting the Bee Barracks at risk? That’d certainly be on option to take down a shade…assuming the next shade was still vulnerable to fire.

…maybe he should also ask the karnuq their opinions. Metsaitti and Chief Rohsuak had apparently visited other Towers, so they might have some suggestions.

Beyond that, he decided to hold off on the planned expansion purification. The turtle shade was making him a bit wary of taking on another unexpected challenge, and he had just acquired some new options. He at least wanted to give the bees a chance to raise some lancers first. Plus, there was the missions from the gods that might give him something too.

And, above all, Belissar was worried. The Hunger could apparently take it upon itself to attack him when it wanted to. Additionally…every single expansion or emergency purification thus far the Hunger had always tried something new, and something that would specifically bypass one of his defenses. That…made it seem like the Hunger was paying attention to him. And if it was paying attention to what he and his bees were doing inside the Tower, then surely it was paying attention to his Tower purifying a larger and larger area, right?

He didn’t know the answer. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

But, speaking of his Tower purifying a larger area, he should also pay better attention to the Tower’s exterior. And, fortunately enough, it seemed some of his queens were about to make a move on that soon. Just another reason to hold off a bit longer…

The Fourth of the Seventh flew back to her hive with uncharacteristically few deviations in her flight path, with the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter following closely behind. Her communer came out to meet them at the entrance of the hive.

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“Queen ok? Feeling upset?”

The Fourth of the Seventh picked up a bit of speed at that.

“Fine! Happy you asked!”

Her dance slowed a bit.

“It’s just, King is worried. Bee army couldn’t stop invader, needed help from karnuq.”

The communer’s antennae dropped.

“Right, saw through scout. But what can we do if Flower Meadow queens can’t handle? Don’t have many soldiers…”

The Fourth of the Seventh placed her legs firmly on the ground as she danced.

“Doesn’t matter! We do all we can! We’re hive of hives, so if can’t fight, we help!”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter stepped forward at that.

“That’s right, Fourth of the Seventh’s stemmed helped Queen Mother deliver honey.”

The communer rose to her feet and began a salute dance.

“Queen…queen is right. Ok, we work harder then. New queens hatching so lots of work to do.”

The Fourth of the Seventh perked up and rushed into the hive.

“Oh! Want to meet!”

The communer was about to apologize to the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter only to find the second queen had also rushed into the hive. The communer began flying so as not to be left behind. РᴀℕọᛒĘꞨ

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter kept her eyes fixed on the cells as the brood tenders pulled off the wax cap, helping the young queens inside step outside. The First Daughter then stepped forward to brush her own daughter’s antennae.

“Welcome, daughter.”

Her daughter, the First of the Second Generation of the First of the Fifth, shook her body, beat her wings, and then began a salute dance.

“Go now, but once your mating flight is finished, come back, ok?”

Her daughter’s antennae twitched about at random.

“Look, this hive is bigger than one colony. We are part of a hive of hives, and you’ll be too. We’ll all build one big hive together. I’ll help you.”

Her daughter gave a rapid salute, and then set off. The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter then repeated this for each of her daughters before sending them off. Her drones as well, though she didn’t tell them to come back. Drones never survived the depleting of their mana, after all.

A short while later, and a whole squad of queens returned…with mana signatures now a blend of her own and the Fourth of the Seventh’s. She couldn’t help but start a happy dance at that before calming herself, for she had something to take care of.

Not the queens, though. Workers were already directing the new queens to vacant sections of the hive she and the Fourth of the Seventh’s communer had already prepared ahead of time. They would find plenty of space and honey to raise their initial brood, without needing to forage their own nectar. The First Daughter had been gifted honey by her queen mother, so she saw no reason to do differently here. Especially when these queens belonged to the Fourth of the Seventh as well as her…

But no, the queens were all well taken care of. The First Daughter had another task. She found the Fourth of the Seventh’s communer. The communer gave her a salute, and then they both moved to find the Fourth of the Seventh.

Who happened to be with the new queens anyways, telling them stories about the King as it were. The First Daughter let her finish before approaching her.

“Hi! Need me?”

The First Daughter confirmed.

“Yes, have an offer for you.”

She took a moment and adjusted her stance before continuing her dance.

“Does Fourth of the Seventh want to go scout?”

The Fourth of the Seventh, for once, did not move.

“…what?”

“Now that our hive has more queens, including your daughters, will have plenty of workers. Should be fine now if Fourth of the Seventh doesn’t lay everyday. So, if Fourth of the Seventh wants to scout, can now. I’ll take care of our daughters and hive.”

The Fourth of the Seventh trembled.

“That’s…but…”

She turned and glanced at her communer, who danced a confirmation.

“First of the Fifth’s First Daughter and I discussed, won’t be a problem! Want queen to do what queen wants to do. Besides, King asked to go scout, set up mini-hives outside for scouts to rest at. Like queen said, need to help however we can. Queen should help scout. Just take soldiers with, ok?”

The Fourth of the Seventh’s trembling grew until she suddenly burst into flight, zipping around the two of them.

“SERIOUS? CAN? AMAZING! INCREDIBLE! COMMUNER IS BEST COMMUNER! FIRST OF FIFTH’S FIRST DAUGHTER IS BEST JOINT QUEEN!”

Neither the First Daughter nor the communer could help but to join the Fourth of the Seventh in her happy dance. The three then finalized some additional details. They laid some more soldier eggs, as the existing soldiers were needed to weave stems and help the Apiary transport honey trays. The scouts would begin identifying ideal sites for mini-hives in the meantime, and the Fourth of the Seventh would help the new queens get up and running as well.

But, once all that was taken care of…the Fourth of the Seventh’s wildest dreams would come true. Or rather, she would head off an adventure she never dared dream would be possible at all. She would be the first queen ever to see beyond the King’s domain with her own eyes.

And it was all thanks to her two favorite bees. They really were the best.

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