Chapter 113: Bee Bold!
Belissar first turned the question to the bees, as usual. The First of the Fifth was first to speak.
“Burning honey…like King’s fire chasms? King’s fire best fire!”
Belissar chuckled. Well, he was slightly proud, even to this day, of beating a shade of the Hunger with a hole in the ground and a makeshift fire, so he’d admit he enjoyed hearing his bees praise him for it.
The Second First of the First was still hesitating but managed to convey her opinion.
“Bees need be stronger.”
Belissar could always agree with that. He turned to Chief Rohsuak.
“All of the options have merit, Sacred Den Master. Fire resistance is a must for anyone who doesn’t want to be burned by their own blaze. It also sounds as if you’ve already made use of honey and wax as a fuel source, and reinforcing your existing efforts makes them all the more potent. As for the embers…the more ways you have to reinforce your fire, the stronger it will become.”
Belissar stared at her for a moment. At this point, he figured Chief Rohsuak was intentionally holding back her true thoughts, given the vague answers she gave nearly every time. He knew because Mrs. Imokomos used to do that when she was teaching him beekeeping, telling him she wanted to learn for himself. He guessed Chief Rohsuak was trying to help him learn something, but he’d much prefer she gave a straight answer. Their lives were at stake here!
But she just silently smiled at him so he had to give up and think for himself, once again. The First of the Fifth was right in that Honeyed Fuel would build upon his existing defenses. If he added Fire Spouts on top of that, he could even skip the pits and apply the honey-fueled fire plan directly. It would strengthen a proven plan he had pulled off countless times before.