The Bee Dungeon

The next day, Belissar made his way to the new Flower Meadow. He arrived just as a new monster bumblebee queen was crawling out the spawner.

Monster Bumblebee Queen Spawner

Monsters: Monster Bumblebee Queen

Cooldown: 23/24 hours

Current Monsters Spawned: 2/4

The bumblebee queen spawner was identical to the monster bee queen spawner, spawning one queen per day until it reached four. Belissar thus greeted the new queen and spent the last mana to build her a new Bee Nest. The queen responded by zipping circles around him.

After that, he made his way over to the karnuq. Right at the entrance of the second floor, Chief Rohsuak had gathered a group of karnuq. She turned to him and nodded.

“Welcome, Sacred Den Master Belissar. May I introduce you to Rakenliuk? He’s our construction expert?”

Belissar turned his gaze to the karnuq man who towered over him. Rakenliuk shook his head.

“Expert’s a strong word, we’ve rarely had to chance to build anything lasting. But I’ll do my best, Sacred Den Master.”

Belissar shook his head.

“Ah, it’s, um, fine. I don’t really know what I’m doing either, so any help will help.”

Soon after, Belissar led the karnuq back to the first floor and the Flower Meadow. He pointed around the Bee Barracks.

“So, I was thinking a ditch in front of this building with a palisade behind it? Um, unless you know of anything better to help guard this area?”

Rakenliuk slowly nodded.

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Belissar then turned to find the soldier bees gathering around him. He smiled at them.

“We’re going to improve the defenses of your home, they’re going to help. Want to help too?”

The soldier bees saluted…and a moment later the air filled with hundreds of beating wings as the entire soldier bee army ceased their training and returned to the Bee Barracks. Belissar turned back to find the karnuq staring with wide eyes.

“Um, the soldier bees helped me build stuff before. They can help lift and move things.”

Rakenliuk just wordlessly nodded his head.

The Firstborn watched through the eyes of her soldiers as the King approached alongside a group of the newcomers, her newly born communer now allowing her to see through her children. She longed to rush out to greet the King, but it was not her day to command the army so her place remained in the barracks, supporting the growth of the army. As usual, her workers were small in number but tireless in their labor, and so needed her support to ensure the army would remain fed. It was even more important than usual because her daughter had started to grow. The communer had also strengthened her connection to the young queen, and the Firstborn could now sense that she wished to grow to her next stage, which would allow her to begin laying soldier eggs of her own.

That was a wonderful thing, but it would take her out of commission for a bit and would require a significant amount of honey to fuel her growth. And since all the Flower Meadow queens had raised daughters at the same time and subsequently began sharing resources, all of their daughters had grown at the same rate and were now at that same stage. Which meant half of all queens in the Bee Barracks now needed extra honey and time away from their work at the exact same time. Not for the first time, the Flower Meadow queens’ drive to build the largest army they could possibly sustain was coming to haunt them.

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The Firstborn and the other mother queens had redoubled their efforts to ensure efficient honey production, trying to squeeze out as much extra honey as they could without overstraining their busy workers. They would normally cut down on soldiers and raise a few extra workers but the recent purification had nearly gone badly, so they were also worried about the strength of the army. As usual, there was just too much they needed to do, and not enough honey for them to do it all.

Little did she know, however, that everything was about to change.

Through her soldiers’ eyes, she caught sight of another visitor. One that made her cease her work for a moment. The First of the Fifth flew into the Flower Meadow, leading a wave of soldier bees, the ones spawned from the soldier bee spawner in the Apiary, as well as a cloud of workers. ℞ἈΝȪ₿ΕＳ

All of them were carrying cells full of honey.

A moment later, the group landed at the entrance of the Bee Barracks. The Firstborn and the other Flower Meadow queens arrived. The Firstborn danced unsteadily.

“First of the Fifth? Nice to see but confused, why here now? Not time for celebration? Need something?”

The First of the Fifth danced the negative.

“King has idea. Wants hive of hives to work together. Flower Meadow queens raise army, but not great at making honey. So, Apiary queens help.”

She then danced to her workers and the soldiers, who began to deliver the honey into three piles.

“This one, regular honey from all Apiary queens. This one medicinal honey from Second of the Sixth, good for brood tenders. This one maddening honey from Third of the Fifth, good for soldiers.”

The Firstborn danced in a daze.

“You’re…giving to us?”

The First of the Fifth’s antennae twitched.

“Yes. Was paying attention, right?”

The Firstborn stood still, and then began a dance of gratitude.

“Thanks, helps a lot! Is perfect, even. How can repay?”

The First of the Fifth stood still for a moment herself before slowly dancing back.

“Protect King and hive of hives. Will be bringing every day. Use to make strong army, ok?”

The Firstborn didn’t even know what to dance. But, eventually, she gathered herself and marched firmly through her steps, giving the First of the Fifth a salute dance.

“Thank you. Will not let you down.”

With that, the First of the Fifth took her leave. The Firstborn and the Flower Meadow queens gathered and distributed the honey throughout their hives. Empty cells were now filled to the brim. Whereas it normally took several days to gather the honey for a single maddening soldier or sprayer, now each of the queens was laying a soldier egg in a cell full of the purple-tinted honey. The medicinal honey was even rarer, and the Firstborn used her batch to lay a new generation of workers that would ensure the health of her hive.

And then, with the normal mana honey, she prepared a large cell for her daughter. Her daughter hesitated but the Firstborn brushed her antennae.

“Go ahead. Have plenty of reserves now, will be ok.”

Her daughter slowly saluted and then curled up into the cell that was much too large for her…for now. The Firstborn watched until her workers had covered up the cell before walking away. She aimlessly wandered the barracks for a moment.

The First of the Fifth had once again blazed a new trail. The Firstborn had made deals with her before, exchanging flowers for honey. The Fourth of the Seventh and the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter had built a joint hive, working together for a common purpose, and the Flower Meadow queens had followed suit. The Flower Meadow queens joined their armies and exchanged command of their soldiers to one another. But in all of these cases both parties benefited. They gave in expectation of receiving in turn.

Now, the First of the Fifth and the other Apiary queens had given them vast quantities of honey…and asked for nothing in response. They worked for the hive of hives not as two rival queens coming to an agreement, but as workers worked to support their queens. They gave without expecting to receive, because there was work to be done and so they did it. They demonstrated how a queen in a hive of hives should truly behave.

The Firstborn was humbled yet again.

She began to turn her mind to what her response should be. One could say the Flower Meadow queens were already acting that way as they had taken on the defense of the hive of hives upon their shoulders, but the Firstborn was not satisfied with merely that. She considered how she, too, could contribute to the hive of hives. She would never catch the Apiary queens in honey production, so sharing resources was not possible. So, was there something that her hive could do that the Apiary couldn’t?

Her eyes turned towards the King as he worked with the karnuq…and the soldier bee army that had naturally started to assist him. She watched as the karnuq dug deep trenches into the ground while the soldier bees carried large pieces of wood. She remembered the King’s efforts to build the barracks…and how they had been able to assist him.

And she started to realize…soldier bees could do far more than simply sting, couldn’t they? And if there was work to be done that a bee could do…then that is what that bee should do.

She determined she had something to bring up to the evening gathering of the barracks queens.

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