Belissar nearly skipped his way home when the meeting finally concluded. Two! Two new bees had evolved while he was away! He couldn’t wait to see them! Even now, he focused in on the new one and brought up her description…
Tunneling Nomadic Monster Bee Worker
Notable Skills: Rapid Tunneling, Throw Pebbles, Poison Sting, Sacrificial Strike, Store Food, Brood Offspring
Description: A nomadic monster bee raised on honey imbued with Ground mana. Optimized for traveling far and wide underground, the tunneling nomadic bees use a combination of ground mana and command over air and vibrations to break up the ground and carry debris around them, allowing them to ‘swim’ through the ground at surprising speeds. In battle, tunneling nomadic bees can use these abilities to launch dirt and debris out of the ground to distract and injure their foes. The tunneling nomadic monster bees also possess enhanced senses, including mana and vibration sensing, both to keep track of their surroundings and to maintain contact with their hive.
Their wings are shortened for better use underground, so while they retain the ability to fly they lose some of the speed and long-distance gliding the base nomadic monster bees possess, and their ability to generate wind is noticeably weaker.
This one is a worker, and has expanded pollen baskets and nectar crops to carry large amounts of food for long trips, as well as enhanced senses for locating the roots of flowering plants.
He hadn’t gotten a notification from the Tower for this one, as it was another attributed-variation of an existing monster bee type. But he had heard the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter announce the new kind of bee through the hive link, and Niobee also made sure to inform him, so he was able to learn about this one before the bees showed her to him. Just another benefit of the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter’s evolution!
This bee in particular had him excited, because she sounded perfect to scout the Underway and keep an eye out for the spiderkin lurking deeper within. That, in turn, would be perfect for helping the wardens stay safe when they started to set up defenses down there, and to give Belissar early warning to request help from the Compact if need be.
Belissar paused for a second and began to rub his chin. Thinking about the spiderkin and the Underway reminded him of the sigmaka, in fact. His alliance with them only officially covered the Tower Lords and the Hunger. Though they had ultimately agreed to work together during the battle against the smaller spiderkin band, perhaps they should consider officially coordinating against the larger spiderkin horde as well?
After all, Belissar was supposed to inform the sigmaka that the Compact wanted to negotiate with them anyways, so he’d have the opportunity to bring it up. And…the fair folk now wanted to extend wards across the sigmaka’s lands. Belissar originally limited his alliance with the sigmaka to avoid being drawn into fights…but if his and the Compact’s defenses would end up encompassing the sigmaka too, then perhaps that might not be an issue?
Belissar decided he’d discuss it with his council tonight…after visiting and congratulating the newly evolved bees, that was!
Later that evening, after Tower Keeper Belissar had gone home and concluded his own council there, Queen Vanieskon leaned back against her throne in the Pixie Court. Henilett hovered to her side, while Captain Karpakynne flew in after finishing the day’s business in Belissar’s Tower. Henilett gave the captain her signature knowing smile.
“So, Captain. How did the royal guard fare against the Hunger?”
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Captain Karpakynne grinned.
“Oh, we’re a bunch of bumbling children who barely know which way the pointy end goes. But…we did it. We took down a shade of the Hunger with physical arms, without relying on either the monsters or traps of a dungeon. A few of them have even learned the joy of fighting with steel, perhaps there is hope the Flower Knights or the Order of Hive and Stinger will rise again one day. I’m assuming it went well with the Compact?”
Henilett’s sly smile grew.
“But of course. Her Majesty went there personally, after all. The Compact has indeed agreed to let the Circle loose…and is ready to welcome new acquisitions in the land of mortals. They will soon open negotiations with the sigmaka as well, further expanding our responsibilities in the mortal realm…”
Captain Karpakynne and Henilett both began to cackle. Captain Karpakynne then turned to Queen Vanieskon and saluted.
“My queen, what is your command?”
Queen Vanieskon’s impassive mask cracked and she made a small smile of her own.
“For now, train and prepare. Learn from the bees that have overcome the dangers we will soon face. The guard must be ready for an excursion into the face of the Hunger…ready to assist when that horde of spiderkins threatens our allies once again.”
“The spiderkin horde that, according to what our human has told us, possesses dungeons of its own…and a might-makes-right, winner-takes-all culture.”
Queen Vanieskon’s smile grew predatory.
“Precisely. Now, we wait and prepare until the spiderkin find our human…or he finds them.”
The next day, King Ratuatapi and the queens of the sigmaka once again came together for a council. Second Queen Berbiya and Fourth Queen Pezuya had brought urgent news from Tower Keeper Belissar: the fair folk he had informed them of had decided to send a delegation to the sigmaka to discuss building joint defenses. They had precious little time to decide how they wanted to approach the situation.
Second Queen Berbiya shrugged.
“What is there to decide? The Tower Keeper stated he has already formed a defensive alliance with the fair folk, as he already has with us, and that the fair folk are interested in cooperating with us as well. I see no reason why we should reject expanding the alliance, it will only improve our odds should the humans attack. Or the spiderkin, if anything, we should get him to commit to helping us against them too.” This update is available on novel✦fire.net
Third Queen Penaseconza sneered.
“The honey is addling your brain I see, Berbiya. The Tower Keeper didn’t just ally with these fairies, he joined their faction outright by his own admission! Without informing us! I thought he agreed to stay out of our lands, but now he wants us to let fairies, of all things, through all of our defenses! He is not on our side with this, we have no idea of his or the fairies’ intentions! He could be planning to betray us to them right now!”
All the queens eyes widened and turned to King Ratuatapi at their center. He was frowning and did his best to straighten himself.
“No, I trust Tower Keeper Belissar. He did inform me of the fair folk before this and has been our friend ever since we met him…even when we planned otherwise. Don’t speak ill of him, Penaseconza.”
All the queens glanced at one another with surprised expressions. The First Queen cleared her throat.
“Ahem, of course, my king, none of us intend to question our ally’s character. But it is the case that he has made bargains we are not aware of with a party we do not know. We simply wish to consider how we may best approach these negotiations under those circumstances.”
King Ratuatapi furrowed his brow but slowly began to nod.
“That’s fine, then, but let’s try to work with him, ok?”
The First Queen gave a placating smile.
“Of course, of course. Now then…Fourth Queen Pezuya, what is your assessment of the military situation?”
Fourth Queen Pezuya sighed and shook her head.
“How am I supposed to answer that question? We know nothing of the fair folk besides that they exist. Our only references are fairy tales from a time before the Hunger. I’ve not seen any of them in-person, much less what their armies might be capable of. I cannot even begin to plan to defend us against them, or evaluate what they could contribute as allies.”
She shook her head but then fixed the First Queen with a grim gaze.
“All I can say is this: we’ve already bet our continued existence on our alliance with the Tower Keeper. If he wants to expand that alliance, what choice do we have but to agree and hope for the best? My best warriors still struggle to overcome even the first room of his Sacred Den and we don’t even have to fight the bees! You want my assessment of the military situation? My assessment is that we must do everything we can to ensure the Tower Keeper is committed to protecting us because we are helpless otherwise.”
Silence hung over the sigmaka for a moment. Third Queen Penaseconza grimaced.
“Is it…really that bad? I thought you already got a blessing yourself, and some of your warriors too.”
Fourth Queen Pezuya nodded without hesitation.
“He recently started purifications while we were challenging. He made sure none of us were nearby to see what happened but I could feel the sheer amount of mana the bee army threw at the Hunger, all the way from the other side of the room. The paltry amount I’ve gained doesn’t even match what the karnuq chief breathes out subconsciously. It will take years for us to catch up, if ever, and we have been told that both the humans and spiderkin have Sacred Dens of their own. If either of them attack us before then, we need the Tower Keeper’s help…and that of whatever allies he chooses to bring.”
King Ratuatapi spoke up again, making the queens jump slightly.
“Then…it sounds like we should welcome this. Maybe we should ask him for more help, too?”
The First Queen glanced about.
Second Queen Berbiya decided to speak up.
“An excellent decision, my king. Should we move on to discuss what additional terms we will aim for when we agree to this alliance?”
The First Queen shot her a look.
“Before we agree to this alliance.”
The second queen just smiled back at her.