The Bee Dungeon

POBee 108.1 - Exploration Bee-gins!

POBee 108.1 - Exploration Bee-gins!

But the Third of the Sixth was not the only one about to fly to their destiny. The joint hive of the Orchard was a flurry of activity. A large group of bees gathered at the front of the hive, including several newly born soldiers and a new communer, a contingent of workers, and all of the scouts who normally would have spread out beyond the Tower. And, of course, the two queens and the communer. The communer was scrambling around the ground, moving as fast as her legs and wings would carry her as she kept brushing different bees with her antennae.

“Ok, have soldiers?”

The Fourth of the Seventh followed her.

“Yes!”

“Workers to build mini-hive?”

“Yes!”

“Have honey for trip?”

The Fourth of the Seventh crawled over to a piece of honeycomb, which was being tied by many smaller ropes to the worker bees.

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“Not going to get distracted until mini-hive built, right?”

The Fourth of the Seventh flew over to her first communer and brushed antennae.

“Communer, is going to be alright. Not leaving forever, will be back quick! Communer can watch the entire way!”

The communer’s antennae and wings drooped but she paused and allowed her queen to continue brushing her.

“Sure? Queen promises?”

The Fourth of the Seventh used her antennae to turn the communer around, so that she was facing the bees preparing to depart.

“Promise! And won’t be alone! Soldiers will protect, workers will take care, communer will keep track. And if anything happens, will come right back! Believe in sisters!”

The communer drooped a bit more before picking herself up.

“Ok, go ahead. Stay safe. And…enjoy, queen.”

The Fourth of the Seventh brushed her communer once more before turning to the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter, and all of the newborn queens standing behind her. They all had the same expression, and the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter danced for them all.

“Fourth of the Seventh…coming back, right?”

The Fourth of the Seventh brushed her antennae as well.

“Yes, promise! Will come back lots!”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter began a happy dance.

“Ok! Then go ahead!”

“Ok!”

A moment later, the Fourth of the Seventh gave the command.

“Let’s go!”

The air filled with buzzing as her force took off. They flew through the entrance to the Flower Meadow, not even pausing to greet the Flower Meadow queens as they flew on. They were on a mission for the King and no bee would wish to delay them. So, they flew through the Bee Barrack’s entrance hall and then to the special entrance the King had made especially for his bees. It was a tight squeeze for the Fourth of the Seventh but she managed to make it through, emerging into a dark cavern illuminated only by the soft glow of the Queen of All Bees’ shrine, and the gate to the Beyond. She could feel the mana of the King’s realm flow through the gate, surging out to fight an eternal battle with the invader all around them.

For the first time in her life, she was about to leave the protection of the King’s realm, where his mana surrounded her and bound her to every other thing that existed. She would be facing the Beyond, a place of unknown and peril, where the mana of the world ignored its inhabitants…at best. For a single moment, the Fourth of the Seventh hesitated. She longed to see all that her scouts had reported to her…but was that really worth braving the Beyond? Was it really worth leaving the riches and the comfort the King had built for them?

But ultimately, she would not know the answer until she experienced it for herself, and she did not wish to send her workers to a task she was unwilling to face. So, with one final spin of her antennae, she pushed forward and through the gate.

She paused midair as the sun beat down on her for the first time. She trembled a bit as the mana of the Beyond crashed against her body. There was no warm, gentle suffusion as what happened with the King’s mana, but a chilly wind battering her body without passing through. But within that current came a counter. The King’s mana passed through her once more, a small river of it flowing out from the Tower and to her, buffeting her against the cold and callous mana all around her. With that support, she was able to shake off the feeling and take in her surroundings.

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There was no neat and orderly division of rooms here, no entrance ways to pass through. A field of flowers stretched right out into a forest of trees, like a Flower Meadow surrounded by Orchards, only with their trees far more densely packed. The Fourth of the Seventh’s mind raced at the idea of the rooms just…bleeding into one another, mixing together with no barrier.

And then, she turned around and glanced her home for the first time. She wondered why the King called it a tower, and now she knew. Her home was a mighty pillar, a tree towering into the sky but made of stone and wax instead of wood. A glowing light nearly as bright as the sun adorned its roof, spreading its light and mana out into the Beyond. Upon the walls was a golden banner with a diligent worker gathering nectar from a flower, which the Fourth of the Seventh instinctively recognized as the symbol of the Queen of All Bees.

Truly, the King was great to have build such a thing.

But her workers were starting to tug at her so she shook herself and turned in the direction the scouts indicated. Because soon she would have plenty of time to observe and explore the world around her. But first and foremost, she needed to prepare a new hive, a place where her scouts could rest and replenish themselves. And now that she had experienced the cold of the Beyond herself, she was all the more determined to grant her loyal workers as much of the comfort of home as she could. So, she set forth, following after the scouts as the soldiers took up a formation around her.

They flew through the forest, trees so tightly packed that their leaves blotted out the sun, creating dim and dark places even in the middle of the day. The Fourth of the Seventh watched as the world shimmered and faded all around her as she passed through shaded areas. It was fascinating, but it was only the beginning.

Soon, they arrived at their destination and the Fourth of the Seventh beheld something entirely knew. Structures made of stone, stones she knew had not been scattered randomly. They had been placed with purpose, hinting at a grander structure that may have once towered over the land. It was even vaguely reminiscent of the King’s constructions, only far less grand and in a state of decay. She wondered who built it and what sort of hive it may have housed.

But now, it would house hers. This was the place the Firstborn’s scouts had discovered mana flowers in the past. As such, it would make an ideal location for a new hive. The concentration of mana was denser here than anywhere else the scouts had identified thus far. That would make the hive more comfortable for the monster bees, as well as assisting with the production of honey. If they were lucky, maybe there’d even be more mana flowers around.

Likewise, the structure itself provided an ideal location. The scouts led the Fourth of the Seventh to a sheltered alcove on top of the one of the rock structures where the rocks blocked the wind on three sides. The Fourth of the Seventh landed in the alcove and paced about it, examining every inch before turning to her workers. She began to dance.

“Looks great! Let’s get to work, then!”

Her workers and saluted and construction of the mini-hive began.

Somewhere else far, far away, Ruckanos stood imperiously at the edge of their camp as the scouts returned. They had set up in a small forest clearing, hidden from the Tower in the area by the trees.

“Well?”

The scouts shook their heads.

“No settlements near the Tower, sir.”

Ruckanos sighed and shook his head.

“Well, let’s forage what we can, then.”

A wyvern could fly far and fast, a species that in the wild was known to spend nearly all of their time in the air. But even they required food and rest eventually, so Ruckanos was forced to put down whenever they found a purified area. Ideally, they would find a settlement of relatively civilized folk who they could…persuade to offer supplies. Unfortunately, they had no such luck yet. Records of past Grand Subjugations indicated that beyond the boundaries of the Conclave, the vast majority of Towers were small and their purified zones unoccupied by civilized people, or even subhumans.

And were he a normal Grand Subjugation participant, this would have been a great find. A small Tower like this would be relatively easy to intimidate…or conquer. But Ruckanos was no normal participant. He had been chosen by the gods for this mission, and he would not waste time on any Tower but the one he was seeking. The gods demanded thus.

Additionally, his force was quite small even as far as the initial scouting wave was concerned. If they wanted to have the strength to deal with the target Tower, they could not afford any casualties enroute. So, he would ignore this minor Tower for now, and content himself with the bounty of its territory. Assuming there was any bounty to find. An isolated Tower like this was not guaranteed to have any edible flora or fauna dwelling in its territory at all.

Just then, he heard a buzzing. A bee flew past his face, landing on a flower a short distance from his feet. He scowled and pulled back the mana he had subconsciously stirred up. For some reason, despite their isolation, every single purified territory they had landed in had bees. In the past, he would have blown away any such creature that dared approach him, especially the ones armed with stingers. However, this was to be a long journey where preserving their strength was critical. Ruckanos could not permit himself any unnecessary expenditure of any resource, including his own mana. So, he just kept scowling and backed away from the creature.

If they at least had the decency to offer up their honey, he might have forgiven them. But, for some reason, his scouts had failed to find a single beehive in any of the purified territories despite the constant presence of the workers. But Ruckanos shook his head and cleared those thoughts. It was a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things. Such paltry creatures paled in comparison to a mission from the gods, so he’d treat them as the gods did…

Later that night, one of Ruckanos’s entourage walked over to his wyvern. He glanced around before opening the pack, and slowly removing some of his provisions. After a bit, he found something he had not packed at all. A small beehive, covered in wax. A big bee poked her head out of the hole, the queen herself if he wasn’t mistaken.

The man…smiled.

“Hello little bee. We’re leaving tomorrow so don’t send out your workers, ok?”

The queen buzzed her wings. The man didn’t know if she could actually understand him, but he figured these weren’t normal bees when they didn’t swarm him after he first discovered them. He took his water pouch and dripped a small pool on top of the hive. The queen and a couple of the workers came out to drink from it. The man watched them for a bit.

“Sure you don’t want to stay here? Lots of flowers here, you know?”

But the bees ignored him, finished drinking, and then climbed back into their hive. The man sighed.

“No again, huh? I don’t think you want to go where we’re headed, little bee. None of us are coming back, you know? I hoped you would make it but…I guess you can’t understand me after all. Ah well, as long as you’re happy for now, I guess. That would make one of us on this trip…”

The man slowly repacked his provisions before turning in for the night. They had a long trip ahead of them and no end in sight the man wanted to consider…