The Bee Dungeon

The Firstborn paced about as she waited for her mana to regenerate. She knew she should conserve every bit of energy she had, but she couldn’t help it. She had a lot on her mind, lately.

First were the newcomers. They were giants who appeared much like the King, yet they also had features her instincts warned her about, indicative of vicious threats. But the King had asked her to stay her hand, and apparently the Queen of All Bees approved of their presence here, so the Firstborn’s soldiers held back their stingers. Still, she could not be comfortable with the presence of outsiders in their midst, ones who could not even dance to convey their intentions! The King could understand them, as powerful and wise as he was, but even he was wary of them. Fortunately, they had not approached the hives. The Firstborn wasn’t sure how to respond if they did.

And now, one was pushing the King to run, and driving him to the point of exhaustion. The Firstborn had been ready to strike them low but the King apparently did not consider this a hostile act. The Conduit had confirmed with him and revealed that he was training.

It was that news that had the Firstborn pacing about. The King was training. That meant...he was planning to join the fray once again. The Firstborn’s hopes had been dashed. Now that the army of the Flower Meadow was powerful enough to face the invader head-on and now that the Apiary soldiers could carry the flames on their own, she had hoped the King could withdraw from the fighting and remain in safety. But apparently, he was not satisfied yet.

It was no mystery why, for the Firstborn was there when the Queen of All Bees blessed the King’s memorial. She saw the way he looked upon each of the symbols displayed there. As he honored her fallen warriors. As he lavished praise upon the wounded one, the one she had only continued to feed because of the King’s attention.

The Firstborn then detected the stirring of mana and turned her body. A new soldier was pushing against its cocoon and starting to emerge. Medicinal workers helped pull away the cocoon and brushed their antenna across the soldier as it stepped out of its cell. A soldier with purple pile.

Thanks to the aid of the First of the Fifth, the Firstborn had raised a new type of soldier, one that would have the same toxins used by the King’s honey traps. The Firstborn crawled over and brushed the soldier’s antenna. She responded with a salute dance before marching off to join the army in their training.

This was a good first step. Medicinal workers had taken over the task of tending the brood, improving the health of her hive as well as freeing up her other workers for increased foraging, and the new soldier would hopefully increase the impact of the army’s attacks.

But the Firstborn felt it was not enough. She had made a stronger bee army, but she had not yet created the strongest bee army. She had not yet raised an army so powerful that the King could send them into battle without worry.