The Bee Dungeon
Author: Icalos
Chapter 305 - Bee Restored!
Belissar wore a peaceful smile as he gathered himself. To know that even the bees he had failed were taken care of lifted a weight off his shoulders he had carried since that fateful day. And beyond just the guilt of having let them die…he now knew that death was not the end for his bees.
That bore some reflection on his approach as Tower Keeper. If fallen bees would be taken care of by the God of Bees herself, then perhaps bee deaths were not such a terrible thing. Belissar would always value the lives of each and every one of his bees and do his utmost to protect them…but perhaps he could permit them some of the sacrifices they were built to make. Perhaps he could divert his focus into honoring and thanking those bees who sacrificed rather than spend all of his efforts trying to avoid them.
Well, he had already come to that realization a while back and several times at that. But now…he was starting to feel like he could accept it emotionally. And…maybe…if all this applied to humans as well…perhaps he could come to terms with the deaths of his parents and guardian too.
But those reflections would have to wait, as Belissar received yet another surprise today. Fortunately, though, the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter provided the answer as she sent word through the hive of hives.
Belissar turned his attention outward and, indeed, he found the Fourth of the Seventh out in the purified forest dancing with a hive of honeybees. Belissar’s eyes widened…because he was pretty sure that part of the forest had been scouted already. And yet…there were bees there.
“Belissar, did something else happen?”
Belissar nodded at Tarwantrad’s question.
“The Fourth of the Seventh just found a hive of honeybees outside of the Tower…one that wasn’t there before.”
Tarwantrad tilted her head.
“Did they come from your Tower? Or maybe from outside the purified zone?”
Belissar shook his head.
“I don’t think so. All of the new queens have stayed in the Tower so far…and these bees are regular honeybees, not monster bees. As for coming from outside…I don’t know, but the Fourth of the Seventh found them close to the Tower, not at the edges. She keeps some scouts around the area so she probably would’ve noticed sooner if they came from outside…”
Tarwantrad crossed her arms and hummed to herself.
“Huh. That’s…curious…”
Belissar joined her in contemplating. Curious indeed…then he jumped, having thought of an idea.
“We could ask Velebee? Maybe the God of Bees would know?”
Tarwantrad nodded.
“It’s worth a try.”
Niobee immediately started dancing on his head.
“Ok! Will ask queen mother!”
Belissar blinked as he felt Niobee’s mana surge through the link connecting all the different hives. Just a moment later, a wave of mana came flowing back. Niobee danced to tell Tarwantrad, but Belissar was able to interpret the reply from Velebee directly before she even started.
Both Belissar and Tarwantrad’s eyes widened. They glanced at each other. Tarwantrad spoke in a daze.
“The God of Bees…made more bees in your purified zone? That’s…this is…”
Belissar was barely more cognizant.
“…amazing.”
Tarwantrad began to tremble.
“Belissar…it’s more than that. Much more. We in the Circle…no, we in the entire Compact have been doing all we could all this time to preserve as much of the world before the Hunger as we could. But this…the God of Bees just restored a bit of the world by herself. I’ve never heard of that happening before. I…I think I need to tell Nenavann, right away.”
Belissar just nodded and Tarwantrad quickly rushed back to the Compact. Belissar wasn’t as affected by this revelation as Tarwantrad apparently was…but even he could understand what this meant. If the God of Bees could just create more bees in the purified areas whenever she wanted…then she could restore bees to parts of the world where they were lost. And if the other gods could do likewise…then anything in the world that was lost could be reborn.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from NovelBin. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
That was pretty amazing to Belissar…but also somewhat hard to grasp. He had lived his whole life in a world with the Hunger, after all, so he didn’t know what had been lost beforehand. So, what was more important to him was this: there were new bees in the area that had apparently joined the hive of hives. And there may be more to come in the future. A smile broke out on his face.
He considered what to do with them. His first instinct was to bring them into the Tower and give them a beehouse like the others. But the God of Bees said she wanted bees back in the world, so it wouldn’t do for him to take them all to his Tower.
He checked on the bees themselves. He found the Fourth of the Seventh giving them some of her honey and assigning soldiers and a communer to watch over them. Afterwards…the honeybees went back to their normal business.
Belissar smiled again. His bees were already taking care of the newcomers, it seemed, and those honeybees seemed perfectly happy where they were. Belissar decided, as the old beekeeper instructed him long ago, to just let the bees be bees for now. He’d just keep an eye on them and help if there were any problems, but otherwise he’d let them live and spread across the world as the God of Bees wished.
The day wrapped up with another purification, a turtle repeat. The digging assassin again combined with the other poison traps in the Digging Tunnels to take it down without a fuss. The only thing offered in the rewards was a torch feature redundant with beeswax candles, so Belissar took more mana instead.
And so began the next day. Belissar’s morning routine went quicker than ever, he found he could now listen in on the hive of hives to get an immediate glimpse of his bees’ status and plans for the day. He still made the rounds to check on the bees in-person and make offerings to the gods, then decided what he’d do. He decided to start by checking on the mead, particular the experimental batch intended for the God of Water, when…
He turned his attention to the nexus door and found Tarwantrad, Nenavann, and even Queen Vanieskon had just burst through. There was also a green elf woman Belissar didn’t recognized, dressed in simple gardener’s clothes adorned with flowers much like Tarwantrad’s.
They seemed agitated, so Belissar decided to take care of his visitors first. He picked up Velebee, who settled on top of Niobee’s back, and then made his way over. By the time he arrived, even Wardmaster Varilold had stopped working on the wards to join the other fair folk. He had barely entered the visitor tent when Nenavann waved to him.
“Belissar…pardon my haste, but is it true? Did the God of Bees truly create a honeybee hive in your Tower’s purified area? Not from your bees, not brought from somewhere else?”
Belissar nodded.
“She told us herself when we asked Velebee, her oracle. The hive has joined my defenders, my bees have confirmed their memories only go back a day, and start in the purified area.”
The fair folk all looked at each other with wide eyes, even Queen Vanieskon. Nenavann collapsed onto one of the chairs in the tent.
“By the gods…”
Belissar glanced around. Tarwantrad caught his expression and began to explain.
“Belissar…Nenavann told me yesterday. The gods don’t do that in the land of the fair, so we didn’t know it was possible. I guess we should have realized it when you mentioned expansions. But now that we have…your tower is even more important now. You can not only reclaim the land from the Hunger, the gods can potentially restore everything that was lost.”
Nenavann spoke in a whisper.
“Like Erynmor’s forests…”
Wardmaster Varilold crossed her arms.
“We need to determine why it works here but not in the land of the fair’s dungeons.”
Tarwantrad nodded and motioned to the green elf Belissar hadn’t met.
“Speaking of which, Belissar, this is Almablom, the Oracle of Flowers. I’m sorry I didn’t ask if I could bring her ahead of time.”
Almablom managed a smile.
“Hello, Tower Keeper Belissar. I’ve been waiting to meet you.”
Belissar returned the smile.
“Nice to meet you, the God of Flowers has been great help to us.”
Almablom paused for a moment and then giggled.
“She is pleased to hear that.”
Belissar then motioned to his head.
“The big bee is Niobee, my friend and Conduit. The bee on top of her is Velebee, her mother and the Oracle of Bees.”
Almablom was about to speak when suddenly the flowers woven into her clothes and hair began to glow and grow larger. Velebee glowed for a second herself, then took off and landed on one of the flowers. Almablom blinked for a second before smiling.
“The God of Flowers is well-pleased I was able to meet the God of Bees’ Oracle.”
Nenavann watched for a moment longer before speaking again.
“I apologize for cutting in but…do either of the gods have anything to say on this matter?”
Both Almablom and Velebee glowed for a second. Almablom nodded while Velebee danced a confirmation.
“Yes, the God of Flowers can confirm that gods can restore parts of the world related to their aspects in the purified zones.”
“Queen of All Bees says can.”
Queen Vanieskon let out a deep sigh, then fell back into one of the chairs with a tired look. Everyone turned to face her. She held her head in her hand, taking a moment before speaking.
“If that is the case…then, unfortunately, I know what has occurred. We of the fair folk have always had a more fluid relationship with the gods than the mortals, we often considered ourselves closer to them in nature than to the mortals. It was in this spirit that the pixie queen who created the Land of the Fair negotiated with the gods regarding it. There was…an agreement on how and when the gods could interact with it. An agreement that we never revised. I…thought that it would be to our disadvantage to renegotiate our relationship with the gods when dependent on their dungeons for survival so I never attempted it…”
She took a deep breath and let out another sigh.
“It seems…that agreement has come to haunt us, now that the world depends on the gods to undo the damage done by the Hunger.”
Nenavann’s face fell.
“So…all this time…we could have been restoring the world and everything in it. But…by restricting ourselves to the land of the fair…we missed all this entirely.”
Wardmaster Varilold also looked pained but straightened herself up.
“What’s done is done, we cannot change the past. What is clear is that it is even more imperative that we solidify our connection back to the land of mortals. Tower Keeper Belissar…I think under the circumstances that I’d like to begin placing wards out in your purified area, to secure it against external threats. Do I have your permission to do so?”
Belissar didn’t mind that at all.
“Yes, as long as they don’t mess with the bees…the new ones too. Oh, you need to talk to the sigmaka before doing anything over their land, I think.”
Wardmaster Varilold nodded.
“Understood, we will have to establish contact with them right away then. Queen Vanieskon, can I ask for your assistance with both these matters?”
Queen Vanieskon rose back to her feet.
“Absolutely, Wardmaster. We will ensure nothing threatens this tower.
”
That bore some reflection on his approach as Tower Keeper. If fallen bees would be taken care of by the God of Bees herself, then perhaps bee deaths were not such a terrible thing. Belissar would always value the lives of each and every one of his bees and do his utmost to protect them…but perhaps he could permit them some of the sacrifices they were built to make. Perhaps he could divert his focus into honoring and thanking those bees who sacrificed rather than spend all of his efforts trying to avoid them.
Well, he had already come to that realization a while back and several times at that. But now…he was starting to feel like he could accept it emotionally. And…maybe…if all this applied to humans as well…perhaps he could come to terms with the deaths of his parents and guardian too.
But those reflections would have to wait, as Belissar received yet another surprise today. Fortunately, though, the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter provided the answer as she sent word through the hive of hives.
Belissar turned his attention outward and, indeed, he found the Fourth of the Seventh out in the purified forest dancing with a hive of honeybees. Belissar’s eyes widened…because he was pretty sure that part of the forest had been scouted already. And yet…there were bees there.
“Belissar, did something else happen?”
Belissar nodded at Tarwantrad’s question.
“The Fourth of the Seventh just found a hive of honeybees outside of the Tower…one that wasn’t there before.”
Tarwantrad tilted her head.
“Did they come from your Tower? Or maybe from outside the purified zone?”
Belissar shook his head.
“I don’t think so. All of the new queens have stayed in the Tower so far…and these bees are regular honeybees, not monster bees. As for coming from outside…I don’t know, but the Fourth of the Seventh found them close to the Tower, not at the edges. She keeps some scouts around the area so she probably would’ve noticed sooner if they came from outside…”
Tarwantrad crossed her arms and hummed to herself.
“Huh. That’s…curious…”
Belissar joined her in contemplating. Curious indeed…then he jumped, having thought of an idea.
“We could ask Velebee? Maybe the God of Bees would know?”
Tarwantrad nodded.
“It’s worth a try.”
Niobee immediately started dancing on his head.
“Ok! Will ask queen mother!”
Belissar blinked as he felt Niobee’s mana surge through the link connecting all the different hives. Just a moment later, a wave of mana came flowing back. Niobee danced to tell Tarwantrad, but Belissar was able to interpret the reply from Velebee directly before she even started.
Both Belissar and Tarwantrad’s eyes widened. They glanced at each other. Tarwantrad spoke in a daze.
“The God of Bees…made more bees in your purified zone? That’s…this is…”
Belissar was barely more cognizant.
“…amazing.”
Tarwantrad began to tremble.
“Belissar…it’s more than that. Much more. We in the Circle…no, we in the entire Compact have been doing all we could all this time to preserve as much of the world before the Hunger as we could. But this…the God of Bees just restored a bit of the world by herself. I’ve never heard of that happening before. I…I think I need to tell Nenavann, right away.”
Belissar just nodded and Tarwantrad quickly rushed back to the Compact. Belissar wasn’t as affected by this revelation as Tarwantrad apparently was…but even he could understand what this meant. If the God of Bees could just create more bees in the purified areas whenever she wanted…then she could restore bees to parts of the world where they were lost. And if the other gods could do likewise…then anything in the world that was lost could be reborn.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from NovelBin. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
That was pretty amazing to Belissar…but also somewhat hard to grasp. He had lived his whole life in a world with the Hunger, after all, so he didn’t know what had been lost beforehand. So, what was more important to him was this: there were new bees in the area that had apparently joined the hive of hives. And there may be more to come in the future. A smile broke out on his face.
He considered what to do with them. His first instinct was to bring them into the Tower and give them a beehouse like the others. But the God of Bees said she wanted bees back in the world, so it wouldn’t do for him to take them all to his Tower.
He checked on the bees themselves. He found the Fourth of the Seventh giving them some of her honey and assigning soldiers and a communer to watch over them. Afterwards…the honeybees went back to their normal business.
Belissar smiled again. His bees were already taking care of the newcomers, it seemed, and those honeybees seemed perfectly happy where they were. Belissar decided, as the old beekeeper instructed him long ago, to just let the bees be bees for now. He’d just keep an eye on them and help if there were any problems, but otherwise he’d let them live and spread across the world as the God of Bees wished.
The day wrapped up with another purification, a turtle repeat. The digging assassin again combined with the other poison traps in the Digging Tunnels to take it down without a fuss. The only thing offered in the rewards was a torch feature redundant with beeswax candles, so Belissar took more mana instead.
And so began the next day. Belissar’s morning routine went quicker than ever, he found he could now listen in on the hive of hives to get an immediate glimpse of his bees’ status and plans for the day. He still made the rounds to check on the bees in-person and make offerings to the gods, then decided what he’d do. He decided to start by checking on the mead, particular the experimental batch intended for the God of Water, when…
He turned his attention to the nexus door and found Tarwantrad, Nenavann, and even Queen Vanieskon had just burst through. There was also a green elf woman Belissar didn’t recognized, dressed in simple gardener’s clothes adorned with flowers much like Tarwantrad’s.
They seemed agitated, so Belissar decided to take care of his visitors first. He picked up Velebee, who settled on top of Niobee’s back, and then made his way over. By the time he arrived, even Wardmaster Varilold had stopped working on the wards to join the other fair folk. He had barely entered the visitor tent when Nenavann waved to him.
“Belissar…pardon my haste, but is it true? Did the God of Bees truly create a honeybee hive in your Tower’s purified area? Not from your bees, not brought from somewhere else?”
Belissar nodded.
“She told us herself when we asked Velebee, her oracle. The hive has joined my defenders, my bees have confirmed their memories only go back a day, and start in the purified area.”
The fair folk all looked at each other with wide eyes, even Queen Vanieskon. Nenavann collapsed onto one of the chairs in the tent.
“By the gods…”
Belissar glanced around. Tarwantrad caught his expression and began to explain.
“Belissar…Nenavann told me yesterday. The gods don’t do that in the land of the fair, so we didn’t know it was possible. I guess we should have realized it when you mentioned expansions. But now that we have…your tower is even more important now. You can not only reclaim the land from the Hunger, the gods can potentially restore everything that was lost.”
Nenavann spoke in a whisper.
“Like Erynmor’s forests…”
Wardmaster Varilold crossed her arms.
“We need to determine why it works here but not in the land of the fair’s dungeons.”
Tarwantrad nodded and motioned to the green elf Belissar hadn’t met.
“Speaking of which, Belissar, this is Almablom, the Oracle of Flowers. I’m sorry I didn’t ask if I could bring her ahead of time.”
Almablom managed a smile.
“Hello, Tower Keeper Belissar. I’ve been waiting to meet you.”
Belissar returned the smile.
“Nice to meet you, the God of Flowers has been great help to us.”
Almablom paused for a moment and then giggled.
“She is pleased to hear that.”
Belissar then motioned to his head.
“The big bee is Niobee, my friend and Conduit. The bee on top of her is Velebee, her mother and the Oracle of Bees.”
Almablom was about to speak when suddenly the flowers woven into her clothes and hair began to glow and grow larger. Velebee glowed for a second herself, then took off and landed on one of the flowers. Almablom blinked for a second before smiling.
“The God of Flowers is well-pleased I was able to meet the God of Bees’ Oracle.”
Nenavann watched for a moment longer before speaking again.
“I apologize for cutting in but…do either of the gods have anything to say on this matter?”
Both Almablom and Velebee glowed for a second. Almablom nodded while Velebee danced a confirmation.
“Yes, the God of Flowers can confirm that gods can restore parts of the world related to their aspects in the purified zones.”
“Queen of All Bees says can.”
Queen Vanieskon let out a deep sigh, then fell back into one of the chairs with a tired look. Everyone turned to face her. She held her head in her hand, taking a moment before speaking.
“If that is the case…then, unfortunately, I know what has occurred. We of the fair folk have always had a more fluid relationship with the gods than the mortals, we often considered ourselves closer to them in nature than to the mortals. It was in this spirit that the pixie queen who created the Land of the Fair negotiated with the gods regarding it. There was…an agreement on how and when the gods could interact with it. An agreement that we never revised. I…thought that it would be to our disadvantage to renegotiate our relationship with the gods when dependent on their dungeons for survival so I never attempted it…”
She took a deep breath and let out another sigh.
“It seems…that agreement has come to haunt us, now that the world depends on the gods to undo the damage done by the Hunger.”
Nenavann’s face fell.
“So…all this time…we could have been restoring the world and everything in it. But…by restricting ourselves to the land of the fair…we missed all this entirely.”
Wardmaster Varilold also looked pained but straightened herself up.
“What’s done is done, we cannot change the past. What is clear is that it is even more imperative that we solidify our connection back to the land of mortals. Tower Keeper Belissar…I think under the circumstances that I’d like to begin placing wards out in your purified area, to secure it against external threats. Do I have your permission to do so?”
Belissar didn’t mind that at all.
“Yes, as long as they don’t mess with the bees…the new ones too. Oh, you need to talk to the sigmaka before doing anything over their land, I think.”
Wardmaster Varilold nodded.
“Understood, we will have to establish contact with them right away then. Queen Vanieskon, can I ask for your assistance with both these matters?”
Queen Vanieskon rose back to her feet.
“Absolutely, Wardmaster. We will ensure nothing threatens this tower.
”