The Bee Dungeon

Konilias’ already foul mood got worse as every shrine in his Tower shifted, the offering chests sinking into the ground. The statues of the God of Dragons changed too, no longer standing majestically but now snarling and looming over anyone who approached. He knew Heigiosa would take some convincing, but he really thought he could bring her around. He didn’t expect her to just attack him out of nowhere! Why? Why had she done that?! They were comrades who had fought together for centuries, weren’t they?! Had the God of Light interfered? Was it Rippotis? Of course it would be Rippotis!
And now the gods themselves voiced their displeasure. Konilias had expected the God of Light would not be pleased, but he had thought that if he could just convince Heigiosa then the God she served would come around too. In the worst case, he had at least expected his own patron not to turn on him! The God of Dragons was supposed to approve of ambition and was supposed to be jealous of what belonged to him! He was not supposed to move against his loyal followers at the behest of other gods!
He returned to find his dragon-riding collaborators in chaos. Some were shouting at each other, some were wailing to the sky, others were holding themselves and trembling. Konilias scowled.
“Get ahold of yourselves! This is not becoming of those who command dragons and wield their power!”
One of the Tower Lords flew their dragon up to him. The man then narrowed his eyes.
“This situation is your doing, Konilias. You assured us you could convince Oracle Heigiosa to join us. Instead, she has taken up arms against you and the gods themselves have taken her side. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Konilias scoffed.
“I need not explain myself to you, Mitargatis. Did you think we could overturn the entire Conclave without encountering setbacks? I have a contingency plan, though I had hoped not to use it.”
Mitargatis crossed his arms.
“Oh? You have a contingency plan? Well then, let’s hear it. I’m waiting in anticipation for your contingency plan for the very gods who created our Towers turning against us.”
Konilias ignored the barb and instead motioned down.
“We attack the city. We’ll draw Oracle Heigiosa out and capture her while High Councilor Stadvolous destroys the Dragon Banner Army and the Tower of Fire. Once we have Heigiosa and General Rippotis is dealt with, the rest of the Conclave will have no choice but to follow our lead. The God of Light wants to save the world above all else, when it is clear we have control of the Conclave, we will appeal to her to work with us for the good of humanity.”
Mitargatis laughed.
“So,
He wheeled his dragon around, turning his back to Konilias.
“I’ve heard enough. You are a complete fool, Konilias, and I was one too for ever trusting you. I will return to my Tower and await the judgement of the gods. You should too, lest you make it even worse.”
With that, Mitargatis flew away…taking his share of the monster army with him. Konilias narrowed his eyes and considered if he should kill the man. He could…but the monsters would fight back and damage the rest of the army. It might cause more damage than letting him leave would.
“So, that’s it, Mitargatis? You will just lie down and die? Surely you must know we are dead either way, the Oracle of Light just attempted to execute me on the spot. That is what awaits us all if we surrender.”
Konilias turned to face the other Tower Lords, addressing them instead.
“That is your choice. Follow me and do everything we can to take our future into our own hands, with a plan that actually has a chance of success. And if we die, we die on our own terms, fighting with all that we have. Or you can lie down like a frightened pup and die with naught but a whimper.”
The remaining Tower Lords frowned, glancing at one another. One or two more slipped away...but the rest stayed. One of them looked down and furrowed his brow.
“…what choice do we have now? But…must we attack the City of Light itself? If we must do this, couldn’t we attack the Oracle’s Tower directly? What purpose will slaughtering the God of Light’s people serve?”
Konilias shook his head.
“Oracle Heigiosa has never sent an army out on a Grand Subjugation like the other Tower Lords do. She also has not bred an army of monsters like we have. So, what do you think she’s done with her Tower over all these years?”
Konilias pointed to the Tower that rose up into the sky.
“Oracle Heigiosa has turned her Tower into humanity’s last bastion. Her defenses are the toughest of any Tower in the world. Her Tower Guard do not march on subjugations because they swear never to leave their posts for their entire lives. Her Tower is designed to endure even if the rest of the Conclave falls and it is all that remains of the world. The army we have here will never breach it. Then what? Besiege her? Within her Tower are fields, farms, forests, lakes, oceans, mountains, mines…everything she would need to sustain human civilization indefinitely should the Hunger swallow everything else. It is impossible to starve her out. Try to take her first floor and wait for purifications? Her Tower is the oldest and the tallest of all, the purifications she faces are thus the greatest and most terrible of all. Do you think we can survive the shades that assault a Tower that size without a Tower’s worth of prepared defenses, much less contain them?”
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Konilias shook his head.
“No. So long as Oracle Heigiosa remains inside her Tower, we cannot reach her. We
draw her out if we are to capture her, if we are to survive. We must give her a reason to come out and face us.”
The Tower Lords’ faces scrunched up…but none could say anything else. After all, Konilias had presented them a way out when they could think of no other. No matter how brutal. No matter how distasteful.
Konilias turned and faced the Tower of Light once more.
“Come, Heigiosa, acknowledge it is your loss. Stop this now and you can spare all of your people.”
A barrier of light burst into being over the city in response. Konilias took a deep breath.
“Launch the attack.”
The alliance leaders and General Rippotis rushed to write down a bargain they could agree on, then quickly moved to military planning. Wardmaster Varilold took command of the conversation.
“So, General Rippotis, you need to leave immediately?”
General Rippotis nodded.
“Yes, and I will need your help. If Starami notices me leaving, he will send his wyverns after me. We can’t outrun riderless wyverns and fighting over the Hunger is suicidal. We will need you to hold him back until we can get away. If you have any means to speed up fliers, that would help as well.”
Queen Vanieskon smiled.
“I can assist you with both of those problems. I will use my glamours to conceal our departure and my enchantments to hasten our return.”
General Rippotis raised an eyebrow.
“Our?”
Queen Vanieskon’s smile grew.
“Why, I’m coming with you, of course. You requested our full commitment to your war, didn’t you, General?”
General Rippotis groaned but nodded.
“Under the circumstances I can’t complain. I can’t guarantee your safety, though.”
Queen Vanieskon chuckled.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that.”
Forgemaster Ughlarer frowned.
“Hold it there, Vanieskon. I won’t object to you going, but I’m damn well laying down some rules before we let you loose in a human country on your own…”
Belissar, meanwhile, tuned out the signatories as they began to negotiate over Queen Vanieskon joining General Rippotis’ force. Belissar had his own decision to make.
He frowned as he swapped to his Tower sight. He stared at his bees as they flew around, keeping an eye on the meteor impact sight for any sign of movement. He stared specifically at the nomadic bees gliding on their big wings as they shifted the direction of the wind with their mana.
He had bees that could help General Rippotis return faster. The God of Light herself had requested that he help the general do so. But…that would mean sending his bees away from the Tower…and into a war far away. Was that something he was willing to do?
He tuned his mana into the mana of the hive of hives, watching the queens dance with one another. The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter coordinated them all as usual
The Fourth of the Seventh was still happily zipping around.
The bee army was already moving their formations around.
The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter turned her attention to the Third of the Sixth and the Third of the Third.
…it seemed the bees liked General Rippotis’ meteor attack and were now trying to set fire to boulders dropped by the Third of the Third’s construction squad. More than that, all of the hive of hives were working hard, all of them doing everything they could to prepare for the coming conflict.
At the mention of the bumble helper, Belissar turned his attention to Finnakynne. He remembered how upset she had been after the fight with the spiderkin, so he checked on her.
He found her with the bumblebees. She was frowning…but she was still with her favorite bumblebee soldier even as the bumblebees flew with the army. She was currently wrapping the bumblebee soldiers with increasing layers of mana. She was living up to the bees' name for her, even though another fight with mortals was coming.
Belissar furrowed his brow and turned his Tower sight to the memorial. He watched the hive of the fallen stand guard over its pillars and its central beehouse. He looked to the bee carvings on the pillars, which began to dance as he focused on them, conveying the pillar’s contents in the language of the bees.
He teared up as he remembered the bees who died because he failed to notice the incoming danger or do anything to prepare for it.
The tears fell down his face as he remembered the message from those queens passed on by the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter, confirming that the queens of the First Dynasty were happy in the God of Bees’ realm now. That they were not at all upset that they had died…only happy that there were still bees to protect him.
Belissar watched the bee carvings continue to dance, reminding him of the soldier bee squad that perished fighting a shade, the only survivor of which was Beero. They reminded him of the soldiers who held a shade down in a Pit Trap and told Belissar to set them on fire along with the enemy. The bees shot from the sky by the spiky salamander, the bees who were caught by spiderkins' webs...he watched the carvings dance and remembered each and every bee who had died for his Tower.
And remembered that not a single one of them had hesitated to do so.
He took a deep breath and made his choice. Many times before had he resolved to honor the bees’ loyalty and willingness to sacrifice on his behalf. Many times before had he acknowledged that this was what the bees and the God of Bees herself wanted. Many times before had he resolved to let them defend the Tower, even at the risk of their lives.
But now, now was the time where he would truly have to face it. When, for the good of the Tower and for the will of the gods, he would have to send bees into certain danger, to a place where he could not help them if they were hurt. But…it was the right choice. The God of Light had asked him to help with the approval of the God of Bees. And if the Tower Lords were fighting each other…well, General Rippotis’ side wanted to make peace with him. Starami’s had sent him to attack Belissar’s Tower. There was no question that Belissar needed General Rippotis to win.
The only question was did Belissar have the resolve to help with all the means he had available? Belissar decided that…if he truly meant any of his former resolutions, if he truly wanted to honor the bees…he would at least see what they had to dance on the matter.
He made a quick request to the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter and the Fourth of the Seventh. The Fourth of the Seventh agreed immediately, though, strangely, the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter did not, even though it was Belissar’s request. Eventually, though, the Fourth of the Seventh convinced her and she agreed as well. The hive of hives quickly conferred after that and supported the proposal. The bees, as always, were ready to do anything they could to help.
So, Belissar would as well.
With that, Belissar opened his eyes. He was going to wipe his face but it turned out Niobee had arranged for bees to drink his tears before they became too apparent. He gave her a quick smile before turning to the conversation.
“General Rippotis, sorry to interrupt but would bees that generate wind for long-distance travel help?”