Chapter 165: The King's Sorcer-Bee
Belissar grimaced as he arrived at the scene. The Second of the Sixth’s medicinal workers were swarming over the field, injecting healing compounds with their stingers, feeding healing honey to the wounded, and patching over bleeding injuries with wax and propolis. But…hers was but one hive, and there were many wounded to tend to.
The karnuq and the bumblebees presented a particular problem, in that they were much, much larger than the usual bees, and had each taken many wounds. They were, therefore, taking a lot of medicinal workers to tend. Even the Second of the Sixth’s hive was stretched thin.
Belissar did what he could, making medicinal honey with his magic to help feed the wounded, but he was just one man. He could only feed one wounded at a time even though he could make enough honey for more.
And in the meantime, he could see wounded bees across the ground, slowly moving tattered wings as they waited their turn.
He clenched his jaw. If only he could help them. If only he had a better way of getting them the honey. Even as a human many times the size of a bee, he was a drop in the bucket compared to a hive.
As he thought, his mana stirred, feeling as if a swarm of bees flew and crawled within his veins. The mana swarm rushed towards his hands where he was trying to make some more honey, another honeycomb pattern forming out of mana in the air above his palm.
But this time, honey did not drip out of the combs. He felt the mana swarm surge from his body into the comb. Belissar tilted his head as he observed the comb. For a moment, he clenched his jaw tighter. And now, of all times, his spell was failing. He could not even contribute what little he should be capable of.
But then he paused. One of the cells on the honeycomb pattern began to bulge. Belissar’s eyes opened wide.
A translucent bee made of blueish-green mana crawled out of the honeycomb pattern. She spread her wings and flew off with a buzz, landing by the nearest wounded bee. She dripped a small pool of medicinal honey by the bee’s mouth, then flew to its injury and stung a thin medicinal stinger in. She turned back into glowing light that flowed into the injury.