The Bee Dungeon

Side Story 82.2 - The Will of the Gods

Side Story 82.2 - The Will of the Gods

Ruckanos diverted course the moment he was out of sight of his lord father’s Tower. Well, he knew his lord father had eyes and ears everywhere in his domain, so it wasn’t like he’d remain unaware. But, Ruckanos had a plan, one that was fully in line with both his mission and his punishment.

And so, they touched down in the charred ruins of the village where this all started.

His guards frowned as he touched down and disembarked. The captain followed and walked up to him.

“Commander, may I ask your intentions? Our orders were quite clear.”

Ruckanos scowled as the captain dropped the lord title from his name. But he had no time to lose so instead he turned and walked over to one of the other wyverns, the one carrying the oldest member of their group.

“Augur, time to earn your trade. Do anything you can to try and trace where my Tower went.”

The augur frowned.

“Commander, I must warn you that tracing a Tower after its birth is impossible.”

Ruckanos narrowed his eyes at the man.

“We are about to embark upon a suicide mission. If we want even the slightest chance of survival, we need a direction at the very least. If there was any time to innovate on your trade, it is now, old man. You should be motivated most of all, as I imagine the journey will be hardest on you.”

The augur frowned and then sighed, moving to disembark.

“I will do what I can, but do not expect a miracle.”

Ruckanos scoffed.

“At this point, I expect little.”

The augur and Ruckanos walked to the field behind a charred apiary, the place they had seen the Tower’s birth, while the captain ordered the rest of the guards to rest for a bit. The augur knelt down, feeling the grass a bit.

“…I believe it was around here, or at least this is as close as we can tell given the passage of time. I will attempt a divination, but that is about all I can do.”

Ruckanos heaved a sigh.

“Stop blabbering and get to it.”

The augur heaved his own sigh and then reached into his robes. He began to carve a circle full of ancient symbols into the dirt and the grass. He then pulled out a bottle full of bright red liquid and placed it in the center before turning to Ruckanos.

“Commander, do you have anything you can offer to the gods? Perhaps they will look more favorably upon us if so.”

Ruckanos heaved a dramatic sigh this time.

“What do you think, augur? Do you think my lord father showered me in riches before sending me off to die? No, I have nothing in my possession that can be spared. I am offering my very life in the service of the gods as well as all of yours, the least they can do is show me where to go.”

The augur frowned but turned back to the circle and closed his eyes. He began to speak in a soft whisper and the magic circle glowed with blue light as he filled it with his mana.

But then he gasped, and his eyes shot open. The blue light began to turn into a golden yellow and then the bottle disappeared. The augur began to tremble.

“C-Commander…I…it’s a miracle.”

Ruckanos glared at him.

“Out with it. What has happened?”

The augur continued to shake as he looked up into the sky.

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“…the gods have spoken. I did not recognize the voice but…I have a heading. The journey…will be incredibly long, but I know where to go. The gods have smiled upon our mission.”

Ruckanos paused for a moment before his face broke out into a grin. So, the gods themselves approved of his mission, huh? Suddenly that tiny spark of hope that rose in his chest now exploded into a roaring inferno. He now knew the location of his lost Tower, one that he knew for a fact would be young, weak, and ruled by some dying peasant. Maybe the gods had already struck the fool down for his transgressions and the Tower would be…waiting for its rightful ruler. Either way, the chances of surviving…and more…had improved dramatically.

And what were terrible odds in the face of the will of the gods? If they themselves were supporting his quest, then what did he have to fear? Or maybe…maybe he had been chosen for even more than the usual Tower Lord. Maybe this would all be better for him in the end, to reclaim his Tower…and in a location far beyond the reach of the Conclave and the High Council. He rose to his feet and walked back to the captain.

“Captain, we leave immediately. And now, we know where we’re going.”

The queen inspected the hive once more. Her antennae drooped as she took stock of their current honey stores.

They weren’t going to make it.

When a rival hive of humans had arrived and burnt down the Hive-Builder’s own colony, she and all the rival queens had been forced to flee. They lost their homes, their brood, and, worst of all in the current situation, their winter stores. They all were forced into a mad scramble to build new hives and gather enough nectar to survive the coming chill.

And that was when the queen made a fatal mistake.

She once had a special worker different from all others. The worker had somehow accumulated enough mana to become something different. Her dances were more complex and precise, while her stings were more powerful and deadly to their enemies without threatening her own life. She lived for many years, far beyond any of her sisters, and any honey she made was of the highest quality, imbued with bits of mana that elevated it beyond the rest. Drinking that honey had caused the queen to accumulate some mana of her own, opening her eyes and mind in ways she still couldn’t fully understand.

The queen had come to rely upon that worker above all others. And so, when the inferno happened and the queen found said worker was missing afterwards, she panicked. She had committed the majority of her workforce to search for that one worker…and found nothing. So, while the rival queens had managed to rebuild their hives to some semblance of function, she had expended her hive’s dwindling resources on a fruitless chase.

Her hive, built on an exposed tree branch, wasn’t even fully enclosed, and the days were already growing colder. Her honey stockpiles were barely enough to last the next week, much less the frozen months that were coming. If she had found her missing worker, she could imbue the honey with mana to increase its nutrition, allowing them to stretch it out. But she had not, and now the situation was dire.

It was then that she heard a noise. The noise of humans.

Since she had not scouted for good locations, she had set up her hive just beyond the ruins of their old home. Now, she saw humans walking there once more. Humans she recognized.

The very ones who had taken the Hive-Builder and her worker from her.

Her wings buzzed and her hive stopped their work as they looked to her. She began her dance, preparing to fly once more. She planned to take her entire hive on this flight. Perhaps, this was for the best. If her hive had any chance of survival, she would have to let this opportunity slip away. If they were doomed anyways, if they could not possibly survive the winter, then at the very least they would take down the monsters responsible for their plight. She could avenge her worker and the Hive-Builder.

But then, golden light filled her vision. Suddenly, she found herself in a hive beyond all hives, with golden walls of honey and wax stretching out further than her eyes could see in any direction. Worker bees crawled and flew all around her…and more. Bees of sorts she had never seen passed her by…and queens worked alongside the workers.

And at the center of it all was a bee. A bee she had never seen and had not known…and yet instantly recognized, for she had always known her. She stood before the Queen of All Bees. She moved to dance her salute but the Queen of All Bees moved first. The queen froze as she watched the Queen of All Bees dance. When it was over, what could she do but salute?

When her perception returned to her own hive, she found her workers crowding around her, waiting for her to move. But instead, she began to dance once more, issuing new orders. As she planned, the entire hive rose into the air. But unlike she planned, they hovered over her hive first, chewing through the half-built wax. They carried whatever honey and brood they could and then flew off as one.

They kept low to the ground, just barely above the blades of grass and the flowers of the field. They slowed the beating of their wings to the slowest speed that could keep them aloft, minimizing their buzzing. And then…they ignored the humans, instead making their way towards the giant, winged reptiles that were tied down nearby, hovering over to the largest of the beasts.

They then landed on one of the large bags tied to the reptile’s side, and crawled inside. They crawled their way to the very bottom of the package, where a grand stock of provisions rested. There, they curled up into a ball and began building a small amount of wax, just enough to give them shelter.

Soon, the queen felt the beast stir, and then lift into the air. She could only wonder where the Queen of All Bees was sending her.

And when she would be permitted to have her revenge.