Chapter 117: Bee-gin the Expansion
Belissar watched as eight lancer bees climbed high into the sky. They then angled themselves so that their stingers were facing down, and then began beating their wings in the other direction. They fell from the sky like arrows from a bow, plunging down as fast as they could. In but a moment, they struck and plunged their stingers deep into the ground.
Belissar crossed his arms and grunted. This was what he said he was waiting for, and indeed the lancers seem quite powerful. They were far larger than any other bee, even the bumblebee queens. They were even as larger or larger than the mini-shades that the karnuq challengers faced. He guessed they could match any shade he’d seen before…most likely. They might have trouble hitting a cat or bird shade depending on how fast it was moving. But anything they did hit would likely not survive…or at least not emerge unscathed.
And yet, he couldn’t rid himself of that last, lingering anxiety. Every expansion purification shade was a shade he had never seen before, so who knew what this next one would do? Would it be another shade that could defeat everything he could throw at it?
But he shook his head and forced himself to uncross his arms. The fact was he didn’t know, and couldn’t. His bees and his Tower had reached the point he had wanted, so there was nothing for it but to trust in them now. He turned to Niobee and the Firstborn and nodded.
“Well done, I wasn’t expecting you to evolve these until later so, um, nice work. We’ll go ahead and fight an expansion purification then, let’s tell everyone to prepare. Now…um…do your best.”
Belissar was about to warn the Firstborn that this would be a shade they had never seen before and to be careful…but he decided against it. The Flower Meadow queens were the experts at this point and had seen more than enough new shades to know that would be the case. So, he decided just to trust them to know what to do.
The Firstborn danced a solemn salute dance and flew off to the Bee Barracks, while Niobee flew off to inform the Orchard and Apiary bees. Belissar himself went to speak with the karnuq and let them know as well.
He hoped they wouldn’t need Chief Rohsuak’s help this time, but he was going to make sure they had were ready for anything.
Later on in the day, everyone finished their preparations. The soldier bee army was arranged in front of the first floor Flower Meadow’s entrance, while Beero and her wounded lightning bees stood on top of their platform. Chief Rohsuak and the karnuq were waiting by the Bee Barracks, with Chief Rohsuak standing next to a couple mana honeycomb trays delivered by the Apiary queens. The Second of the Sixth, the medicinal queen, had brought most of her hive and was waiting on standby with medicinal honey.