The Bee Dungeon
Author: Icalos
Chapter 326 - A Mischievous Bee-ward
Belissar returned to his home, spending the remainder of the day in rest. He knew he had plenty to do, checking out the new rooms, offering mead to the God of Mischief, or making preparations for the sigmaka’s meeting with the Compact…but it didn’t feel right to just go back to business as usual. He had spent his entire life doing just that, avoiding his grief, so he forced himself to take a moment and reflect.
He still missed his parents and Mrs. Imkomos terribly…but he could finally rest assured they were taken care of. He now knew the gods would take care of them…and he wasn’t alone anymore. With the bees, the karnuq, the fair folk, and everyone around him, he could finally move on and set his eyes forward.
And so, Belissar fell asleep exhausted but at peace, and awoke feeling lighter than he ever had before. He even smiled to himself as Niobee landed on his head and he brushed her back, ready to take on whatever the day would bring…
Belissar’s eyes widened for a second before he chuckled. The day was starting off strong, that was for sure…
Belissar got up and made an offering to his patron gods, then interrupted his morning routine with a quick trip to Velebee. After confirming the God of Bees wanted him to, he accepted the God of Death’s mission…or missions, as it turned out.
At first, Belissar whistled. He had to complete not just one but
missions this time for the blessing. But…it made sense. This was the God of Death, the arbiter of every mortal soul that passed into the afterlife. He could imagine the God of Death would not give out a blessing lightly, so it was only natural he would have to work hard for it.
But…the more he thought about it, the less work it seemed. He was already working on both shifting a room to Death and evolving a Death-type monster bee queen. Once he did that the bees would naturally make Death attribute honey which he could turn to mead. And Hesfalle seemed like she’d take good care of Death bees, so he’d be willing to send her one too.
So…all he had to do was make sure the Death room kept coming along and then wait for it to shift natures. He smiled and nodded.
“Got it, I’ll do my best to get those done right away.”
***
In the meantime, though, he had a lot of other business to attend to…and since Velebee’s hive was by the karnuq settlement, he stopped by Sehfitis’s home there. There was another god’s mission he might be able to complete right now with a little help from the augur.
Sehfitis, however, frowned.
“The God of Mischief, was it? I’m…sorry to say this, Tower Keeper, but I do not know the rites to make an offering to him.”
Belissar sighed.
“I guess the Tower Lords’ doctrine never spoke that highly of him…”
Sehfitis shook his head.
“That is true, but that is not the issue. There are indeed Tower Lords, if very, very few, devoted to the God of Mischief. The issue is…the God of Mischief has never made it clear what his rites actually are, if he has a consistent rite at all. Every single successful offering to the God of Mischief used a completely different method from each other and no repeated method ever worked…except for one that did, several times, until it stopped working without warning. It appears to be the God of Mischief’s method
to have a consistent method. I am sorry, Tower Keeper. The God of Mischief is the one god the augurs cannot help you reach.”
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Belissar shrugged and smiled.
“Don’t worry, it’s not a problem. I just asked since I was already here, but Finnakynne can help us if not.”
Sehfitis raised an eyebrow.
“Finnakynne? One of the pixies, correct?”
Belissar nodded.
“Yes, and dungeon master and demi-god of Mischief. So if anyone knows, it’s her.”
Sehfitis froze and his eyes went as wide as they could go. He began to tremble violently.
“Tower Keeper…did you say…demigod?”
Belissar nodded again. Sehfitis took a deep breath.
“By the gods…a living, breathing demigod right in our very midst…but, one of the fey. A pixie at that…and born of the God of Mischief…by the gods…”
Sehfitis clutched his head and leaned over the table, muttering to himself. Belissar blinked at the strength of the augur’s response. Perhaps he had grown too used to issues related to the gods these days?
But, well, he needed to go speak to said demi-god about a matter of the gods at that very moment, so he rose to his feet.
“That was all I needed so…I’ll leave you to it?”
Sehfitis barely managed a salute before returning to his muttering. Belissar quietly slipped out of the room…
He then made his way over to the bumblebee meadow and smiled. The flowers now grew as tall as his head, while some of the bumblebee workers were now as big as soldier bees…and growing. Even the bumblebee soldiers were now helping with the foraging, rolling around to cover their hairs in pollen for the workers to pull off back at home.
And it was out there, foraging the flowers, that he found Finnakynne riding on her favorite bumblebee soldier as the bee led a formation of her sisters. The pixie waved her hands as they flew, causing the flowers below to explode with pollen that then flew towards and latched onto the soldiers. She caught sight of Belissar and waved with a bright smile. The bumblebee soldiers turned in response and soon Belissar was being tackled by pollen-covered bumblebees. Finnakynne giggled.
“Hi Beely! Are you here to check on Bumbly and the others?”
Belissar smiled.
“Well, that too. But I also have a question for you…”
Finnakynne’s eyes widened. She crossed her arms as Belissar explained the situation…but then her eyes widened again and she laughed.
“Well, Beely,
Daddy likes us to play pranks on people to offer him stuff. But…this time he seems really excited for the mead. He even sent me a mission just to tell you to offer it to him directly! He never just takes stuff directly!”
Belissar blinked and then smiled.
“Well, ok then. Any mead is fine?”
Finnakynne nodded…but then paused and began to smirk.
“Oh! Do you have any mead from the maddening honey?! He’d love that!”
Belissar grinned and nodded. Finnakynne patted the bumblebees and then followed along as Belissar returned to the Apiary farmhouse. He gathered up a jar of mead made from maddening honey and stepped outside.
“So…I just…offer it? Right here, just like that?”
Finnakynne grinned.
“Yep!”
Belissar nodded.
“Ok, then. Here goes. God of Mischief…thank you for all your help! Here’s some mead for you, hope you like it!”
He closed his eyes and lifted up the jar. He felt the weight vanish from his hands and opened his eyes.
The jar was gone…while a message from the Tower appeared in its place.
Belissar happily danced about. It seemed the God of Mischief was happy with the mead after all!
But then, Belissar noticed the Finnakynne was frowning.
“Finnakynne? What wrong?”
Finnakynne grimaced and looked down.
“Beely…I’m really sorry! I should have warned you but…daddy did something to you both!”
It was then that Belissar realized his view was higher than it normally was…and that he had a much wider but somewhat blurrier field of view.
That…was weird. He buzzed his wings as he tried to figure out what had happened…
And then realized that now he had wings.
Just then, a loud voice cut through his thoughts.
“King! Where did King go?!”
Belissar slowly directed his attention down. His body was right where it should be and seemed to be fine…save that he wasn’t in it. His body was instead looking down at the ground and frantically running around. And he was sitting on top of it…
He slowly began to dance.
“Niobee?”
His body froze and tried to glance up…but since he was clinging to its head he moved with it. His body reached up and gently pat his back.
“King?”
“Yes, is me. Is you in there, Niobee?”
“King!”
Niobee reached up, grabbed him, and clutched him to his old body’s chest.
“King! King’s ok! Thank goodness…”
Belissar spread soothing pheromones since he couldn’t dance.
“Ok! Glad Niobee ok too!”
Then, Belissar realized something. He crawled out of Niobee’s arms and began beating his wings…and lifted up into the air. He was flying! He was…
“Niobee! I’m bee now! Amazing, incredible!”
Niobee blinked and then grinned. Soon she lifted Belissar’s old hands and ran about.
“King is a bee now! And Niobee is like King! Amazing, incredible!”
Belissar zipped about, fully enjoying his new wings, while Niobee ran around with him. Meanwhile Finnakynne was staring and blinking with wide eyes.
“Wait…they’re
about being pranked like this? Huh?”
He still missed his parents and Mrs. Imkomos terribly…but he could finally rest assured they were taken care of. He now knew the gods would take care of them…and he wasn’t alone anymore. With the bees, the karnuq, the fair folk, and everyone around him, he could finally move on and set his eyes forward.
And so, Belissar fell asleep exhausted but at peace, and awoke feeling lighter than he ever had before. He even smiled to himself as Niobee landed on his head and he brushed her back, ready to take on whatever the day would bring…
Belissar’s eyes widened for a second before he chuckled. The day was starting off strong, that was for sure…
Belissar got up and made an offering to his patron gods, then interrupted his morning routine with a quick trip to Velebee. After confirming the God of Bees wanted him to, he accepted the God of Death’s mission…or missions, as it turned out.
At first, Belissar whistled. He had to complete not just one but
missions this time for the blessing. But…it made sense. This was the God of Death, the arbiter of every mortal soul that passed into the afterlife. He could imagine the God of Death would not give out a blessing lightly, so it was only natural he would have to work hard for it.
But…the more he thought about it, the less work it seemed. He was already working on both shifting a room to Death and evolving a Death-type monster bee queen. Once he did that the bees would naturally make Death attribute honey which he could turn to mead. And Hesfalle seemed like she’d take good care of Death bees, so he’d be willing to send her one too.
So…all he had to do was make sure the Death room kept coming along and then wait for it to shift natures. He smiled and nodded.
“Got it, I’ll do my best to get those done right away.”
***
In the meantime, though, he had a lot of other business to attend to…and since Velebee’s hive was by the karnuq settlement, he stopped by Sehfitis’s home there. There was another god’s mission he might be able to complete right now with a little help from the augur.
Sehfitis, however, frowned.
“The God of Mischief, was it? I’m…sorry to say this, Tower Keeper, but I do not know the rites to make an offering to him.”
Belissar sighed.
“I guess the Tower Lords’ doctrine never spoke that highly of him…”
Sehfitis shook his head.
“That is true, but that is not the issue. There are indeed Tower Lords, if very, very few, devoted to the God of Mischief. The issue is…the God of Mischief has never made it clear what his rites actually are, if he has a consistent rite at all. Every single successful offering to the God of Mischief used a completely different method from each other and no repeated method ever worked…except for one that did, several times, until it stopped working without warning. It appears to be the God of Mischief’s method
to have a consistent method. I am sorry, Tower Keeper. The God of Mischief is the one god the augurs cannot help you reach.”
Did you know this story is from NovelBin? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Belissar shrugged and smiled.
“Don’t worry, it’s not a problem. I just asked since I was already here, but Finnakynne can help us if not.”
Sehfitis raised an eyebrow.
“Finnakynne? One of the pixies, correct?”
Belissar nodded.
“Yes, and dungeon master and demi-god of Mischief. So if anyone knows, it’s her.”
Sehfitis froze and his eyes went as wide as they could go. He began to tremble violently.
“Tower Keeper…did you say…demigod?”
Belissar nodded again. Sehfitis took a deep breath.
“By the gods…a living, breathing demigod right in our very midst…but, one of the fey. A pixie at that…and born of the God of Mischief…by the gods…”
Sehfitis clutched his head and leaned over the table, muttering to himself. Belissar blinked at the strength of the augur’s response. Perhaps he had grown too used to issues related to the gods these days?
But, well, he needed to go speak to said demi-god about a matter of the gods at that very moment, so he rose to his feet.
“That was all I needed so…I’ll leave you to it?”
Sehfitis barely managed a salute before returning to his muttering. Belissar quietly slipped out of the room…
He then made his way over to the bumblebee meadow and smiled. The flowers now grew as tall as his head, while some of the bumblebee workers were now as big as soldier bees…and growing. Even the bumblebee soldiers were now helping with the foraging, rolling around to cover their hairs in pollen for the workers to pull off back at home.
And it was out there, foraging the flowers, that he found Finnakynne riding on her favorite bumblebee soldier as the bee led a formation of her sisters. The pixie waved her hands as they flew, causing the flowers below to explode with pollen that then flew towards and latched onto the soldiers. She caught sight of Belissar and waved with a bright smile. The bumblebee soldiers turned in response and soon Belissar was being tackled by pollen-covered bumblebees. Finnakynne giggled.
“Hi Beely! Are you here to check on Bumbly and the others?”
Belissar smiled.
“Well, that too. But I also have a question for you…”
Finnakynne’s eyes widened. She crossed her arms as Belissar explained the situation…but then her eyes widened again and she laughed.
“Well, Beely,
Daddy likes us to play pranks on people to offer him stuff. But…this time he seems really excited for the mead. He even sent me a mission just to tell you to offer it to him directly! He never just takes stuff directly!”
Belissar blinked and then smiled.
“Well, ok then. Any mead is fine?”
Finnakynne nodded…but then paused and began to smirk.
“Oh! Do you have any mead from the maddening honey?! He’d love that!”
Belissar grinned and nodded. Finnakynne patted the bumblebees and then followed along as Belissar returned to the Apiary farmhouse. He gathered up a jar of mead made from maddening honey and stepped outside.
“So…I just…offer it? Right here, just like that?”
Finnakynne grinned.
“Yep!”
Belissar nodded.
“Ok, then. Here goes. God of Mischief…thank you for all your help! Here’s some mead for you, hope you like it!”
He closed his eyes and lifted up the jar. He felt the weight vanish from his hands and opened his eyes.
The jar was gone…while a message from the Tower appeared in its place.
Belissar happily danced about. It seemed the God of Mischief was happy with the mead after all!
But then, Belissar noticed the Finnakynne was frowning.
“Finnakynne? What wrong?”
Finnakynne grimaced and looked down.
“Beely…I’m really sorry! I should have warned you but…daddy did something to you both!”
It was then that Belissar realized his view was higher than it normally was…and that he had a much wider but somewhat blurrier field of view.
That…was weird. He buzzed his wings as he tried to figure out what had happened…
And then realized that now he had wings.
Just then, a loud voice cut through his thoughts.
“King! Where did King go?!”
Belissar slowly directed his attention down. His body was right where it should be and seemed to be fine…save that he wasn’t in it. His body was instead looking down at the ground and frantically running around. And he was sitting on top of it…
He slowly began to dance.
“Niobee?”
His body froze and tried to glance up…but since he was clinging to its head he moved with it. His body reached up and gently pat his back.
“King?”
“Yes, is me. Is you in there, Niobee?”
“King!”
Niobee reached up, grabbed him, and clutched him to his old body’s chest.
“King! King’s ok! Thank goodness…”
Belissar spread soothing pheromones since he couldn’t dance.
“Ok! Glad Niobee ok too!”
Then, Belissar realized something. He crawled out of Niobee’s arms and began beating his wings…and lifted up into the air. He was flying! He was…
“Niobee! I’m bee now! Amazing, incredible!”
Niobee blinked and then grinned. Soon she lifted Belissar’s old hands and ran about.
“King is a bee now! And Niobee is like King! Amazing, incredible!”
Belissar zipped about, fully enjoying his new wings, while Niobee ran around with him. Meanwhile Finnakynne was staring and blinking with wide eyes.
“Wait…they’re
about being pranked like this? Huh?”