The day had finally come. Belissar stood before the nexus door. Niobee was sitting on his head as had become her usual place, Frelis glanced about on his shoulder, and the Fourth of the Seventh was flying laps overhead. Three squads of soldier bees hovered just behind him, including one of the bumblebees. Chief Rohsuak and Juosiutik stood to either side of him, the latter tapping one of her feet.
All of them waited in the Fairy Grove. And then, finally, the nexus door sprang to life and Tarwantrad emerged.
“Hi Belissar! Ready to see my dungeon?”
“Yes. All of us are.”
Tarwantrad beamed and waved to Niobee, Frelis, and the Fourth of the Seventh. She greeted Chief Rohsuak in turn before turning to the last of Belissar’s group.
“Hi! You must be Juosiutik, it’s nice to meet you!”
Juosiutik nodded quickly.
“Yes! I’m Juosiutik! You’re Tarwantrad, right? I’ve heard so much about you!”
“…hi. Yes, that’s me.”
Wardmaster Varilold nodded and stood up straight.
“It’s good to meet you. Now, to get this out of the way, Dungeon Master Tarwantrad, by order of the Conclave you are not to permit any outsiders to pass through the wards protecting the nexus door, including Tower Keeper Belissar and his subordinates. For now, they must not pass beyond this room. Understood?”
Tarwantrad rolled her eyes.
“A stupid order, but yes. That’s why I had to try and recreate as much of my entire dungeon as I could in a single room, after all. Since when does the Conclave get to interfere with Circle dungeons anyways?”
Wardmaster Varilold smirked.
“Ever since you opened an unsanctioned nexus door that both ensures our survival and exposes us to the outside world. Well, you’re not wrong about the Conclave acting foolishly as well, which is why I went and redid all of my wards to be outside of this room instead of by the nexus.”
She then placed her right hand across her chest and bowed her head before extending her hand out towards him.
“Tower Keeper Belissar, you have my sincerest gratitude. The others may not have acknowledged it yet, but your cooperation is reversing the doom of our people.”
Belissar remained silent for a moment as he decided how to respond.
She gave him a smile.
“Indeed I am. Let me know should you ever need help; I can only overrule the signatories on matters of the wards and of existential threats to the Conclave but any emergency that threatens your dungeon or the nexus door within it would qualify. Hopefully, the signatories will open to you sooner than that and we can discuss adding some wards to your defenses before any crisis, as I am repeatedly warning them about. I will also invite you to a banquet at that time. For now, I hope that you will enjoy your time here, and that Dungeon Master Tarwantrad will show you her finest hospitality in our stead. May you find safe refuge, Tower Keeper.”
With that, she turned and marched away. Tarwantrad stared at her back.
“…Wardmaster Varilold never participates in banquets, much less holding one…”
She then shook her head.
“Well, enough of the Conclave being dumb! I have something more to show you, Belissar!”
“I look forward to it.”
Tarwantrad made a mischievous smile.
“Ok, you can come out now, everyone.”
Belissar then began to hear buzzing and saw the flowers around the hill began to stir. Bees began to climb out from under the flowers or from underground burrows and took to the air. Tarwantrad flared her mana and the bees flew towards her, landing upon the flowers woven into her hair and clothes. She held out her hands and turned to Belissar with a grin.
“These are my bees, what do you think?”
Belissar’s eyes widened as he stared at them.
Indeed, Belissar was initially struck by the colors. There were little bees in red and black. There were bright blue and green bees that almost appeared to be glowing. There were bees that almost seemed like they had leaves and flowers growing on them. Tarwantrad smiled warmly as she looked at the bees landing on her.
“Stingless bees, mason bees, orchid bees, leafcutter bees…my bees may not be as powerful as yours, but I’ve tried to raise as many different types as I could and I’m quite fond of them.”
A moment later, the Fourth of the Seventh dove down to hover before Tarwantrad.
“New bees! Amazing, incredible! Want to join hive of hives?”