The Bee Dungeon

Starami walked through an Underway tunnel with a scowl on his face. His troops stopped to salute him but he did not bother to reply.

“Captain, why are the lot of you running around like headless kobolds?!”

The captain held his salute.

“My lord! We’re searching for the tunnel General Rippotis used to escape!”

Starami held his head and groaned. The rıghtful source is novel•fire.net

“Useless.”

Then he stepped over to the part of the tunnel he very distinctly remembered General Rippotis coming and going from. It appeared as a solid wall at a glance but a Tower Lord blessed by the gods was not so easily fooled. He inhaled and then unleashed a breath of fire all along the wall.

There was a noise like cracking glass and then the wall crumbled, revealing a wall of glowing wards behind it.

Starami turned and glowered at his troops once more.

“Captain, you are aware we are dealing with the fey, yes? And yet, you were deceived by a simple glamour! Keep your wits about you or you will end up as a pixie’s pet! Now, bring down these wards and get a move on! Time is ticking, we must not let General Rippotis leave this place!”

Starami didn’t bother waiting for the captain’s reply as he backed away to a safe distance. Fey wards did not break quietly and who knew what was waiting for them on the other side…

The alliance began their final preparations as Queen Vanieskon announced her glamour had been broken. With the shortcuts allowing movement between the Tower and the sigmaka, the sigmaka no longer needed to hold back the bulk of their forces. As such, Fourth Queen Pezuya, the sigmaka’s warrior queen, arrived to take over for Second Queen Berbiya, bringing along with her significantly more sigmaka warriors than originally planned. The fair folk, meanwhile, were busy doing everything in their power to turn the purified area into a death zone, building traps and casting wards all across the forests and ruins.

Belissar, meanwhile, rearranged his Tower rooms for the coming fight. On General Rippotis’ advice, he placed the battle Fairy Grove as the first room, followed by the Abyssal Trench. General Rippotis warned that Starami would have Water mages among his Dragon-aligned Tower Guard who may be able to traverse the deep seas and would even be capable of transporting other forces across, so Belissar couldn’t rely on the Abyssal Trench to stop them entirely. Still, it would significantly slow down transport and communications, especially with the mana storm making it far more dangerous to traverse.

The general warned him not to place it first, however, because Belissar’s own monsters and allies also couldn’t fight within the room and it would be dangerous to let Starami occupy the entrance of the Tower unchecked. So, they would start off with the Fairy Grove, which would be the hardest room for Starami to control that Belissar’s forces could also fight in without issue. The Fairy Grove’s effects would also assist in concealing shortcuts and make it harder for Starami to fully contain an emergency purification, should one occur during the fight.

Still, it was everyone’s hope that the Belissar’s Tower wouldn’t be besieged in the first place, so for now, Belissar prepared his forces to intervene should General Rippotis fail. The pixies, with Tamosmed’s help, had prepared a whole new batch of bee armor, of a brand new design as well. Since the majority of Belissar’s bees would not have pixie riders, they abandoned the full saddles used by the Order of Hive and Stinger and instead made simple sashes that could easily clasp around a bee’s torso for the barrier enchantments. For the sacrificial enchantments, they used little brooches that could pin right onto the sashes.

And they had prepared a lot of brooches and sashes. There wasn’t enough for every single bee in the army, but there was enough for all of the evolved types, with some to spare for some of the soldiers and sprayers.

And so, monster bee knights, captains, lancers, glaivers, archers, battlecasters, sprayers, and soldiers all flew into the pixies’ Apiary and landed, then the pixies would wrap the sashes around while guiding the each bee through the blood compacts with the sacrificial artifacts, after which the bee would take off to be replaced with the next. Belissar watched the process with a smile on his face.

“Tower Keeper, could we have a moment of your time?”

Belissar turned around to find Queen Vanieskon, Henilett, and Tamosmed standing behind him.

“Gladly, what do you need?”

Queen Vanieskon gave him a sly smile and shook her head.

“Nothing, Tower Keeper. We are here now to fulfill one of our promises to you.”

She motioned to Tamosmed. The black elf was carrying a sack on his back, he now brought it forward and gently placed it down, then removed its contents. Belissar blinked.

Tamosmed had laid out a set of black and yellow armor, much like that of the Order of Hive and Stinger. Only, this set was human-sized.

“Scaling up purely aesthetic pixie armor into a usable piece took some work, but I managed. Here, try it on so I can make the final adjustments. Also, none of us had a Blessing of Bees, so the enchantments are barebones for now, just the standard protection setup. We figured it’d be best to let you and your bees work out that part.”

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Belissar grinned.

“No, this is amazing! Thank you all!”

Tamosmed helped Belissar put on the armor while noting areas where it didn’t fit well. In the meantime, he and the two pixies explained the armor’s enchantments to Belissar, as well as empty slots left for future enchantments. Belissar noted with glee that there was even a space on the helmet for Niobee to ride on.

He glanced up at her once he had finished putting it on.

“What do you think?”

Niobee buzzed.

“King shouldn’t fight, should stay safe!”

Belissar blinked and then chuckled.

“Yes, I will, as much as I can. But if I had to fight…then what do you think?”

Niobee stopped buzzing and stood still for a bit, then carefully stepped out her response.

“If helps King stay safe, then good. Can fit here, watch over King. That good.”

Belissar smiled and then turned to Tamosmed.

“Well, looks like you have her approval. I like it too.”

Tamosmed waved his hand in front of his face.

“This is just our first attempt. Wait until we figure out your bee magic and how to integrate it into the armor. We’ll make something much better then.”

Queen Vanieskon stepped in.

“And we will absolutely ensure you live to see it, Tower Keeper Belissar. With that in mind, we’ve prepared many sacrificial artifacts for you. Let’s set them up now, if you don’t mind?”

Belissar agreed and called over a bloodsucking bee to help with the process.

And so, Belissar and his bee army armored up with as much protection as the pixies had been able to prepare. They were as ready for the fight as they could be.

There was only one thing left to do before it began.

General Rippotis inspected his troops, split into two groups of six riders each. The two squad leaders stood at attention with resolute expressions…but the riders behind them fidgeted and openly frowned. The general kept his expression calm, but inwardly he wanted to shake his head.

It couldn’t be helped, most of his riders here were young, several of them had just finished training. All of his veterans had either deployed to the Grand Subjugation or were guarding the Tower against the Hunger. He had brought along this bunch to get them some experience, but he had not expected to fight a war.

But now, this bunch was all he had to stop a full assault by a Tower Lord.

“Rider Rekletos, something on your mind? Speak freely.”

The new recruit jumped at his direct address. The young man held his tongue for a moment, so the general gave him a reassuring nod. He finally began to speak.

“General…are we really going to fight alone? Against an entire army? Shouldn’t we let the subhumans…err, beastkin and fey fight? In fact, why are we helping them against ourselves?!”

No one else spoke up, but General Rippotis could tell the others all agreed. Even the two squad leaders furrowed their brows. General Rippotis crossed his arms.

“Tell me, riders of the Dragon Banner Army, what is the mission of the Dragon Banner Army?”

The riders glanced around at the sudden question. The two squad leaders, on the other hand, stood at attention and immediately replied.

“Honor the gods and defend humanity!”

General Rippotis frowned.

“What was that?”

The other riders fell in line. This time, when they all joined the squad leaders.

“Honor the gods and defend humanity!”

General Rippotis nodded.

“The gods have involved themselves in this matter more than any other since the day we first received the Towers. The God of Fire has commanded me directly. The God of Light broke her silence and commanded Oracle Heigiosa. Their intentions are abundantly clear. For the sake of humanity, in the name of the gods, for the sake of the entire world, we are to bring peace between ourselves, the beastkin, and the fey. No inhabitant of this world is to spill the blood of the other any longer, not until the Hunger itself is defeated. So says the God of Light herself, she who saved humanity and the world!”

General Rippotis scowled.

“But the former lord Starami now defies us. He ignores the authority of the High Council, he ignores the very word of the gods! He now seeks to bring death and destruction to this place, to start the very war the gods commanded us to stop! Will you, soldiers of the Dragon Banner Army, let him? Will you let one of our own spit in the face of the gods? Will you let him bring the wrath of the fey against all of humanity?”

The squad leaders saluted.

“No!”

The riders followed along, though they still hesitated. General Rippotis unleashed his mana, bursting into flames. Raklasi responded, rising onto his back legs. The dragon spread his wings and let out a roar, shaking the soldiers in front of them. Their wyverns all lowered their heads before the mightier dragonkin.

General Rippotis made a small smirk.

“And what does the traitor bring against us? A mere army? Hah. Raklasi and I have faced worse before. I’ll show these rogues what it means to stand against the Dragon Banner Army. You boys and girls just follow along and watch our backs.”

The riders saluted. The squad leaders barked an order and the riders began preparing to mount their wyverns as well. General Rippotis made a small nod. New though they may be, they were soldiers of the Dragon Banner Army. They’d do their part.

General Rippotis was about to mount Raklasi himself when he noticed a visitor approaching. He walked over and inclined his head.

“Tower Keeper Belissar, may I help you? Forgive me, but we are short on time.”

Tower Keeper Belissar approached, surrounded by an escort of soldier bees, though two of the bees were notably different sizes from the rest. One of them was even the size of a large dog, maybe larger! Tower Keeper Belissar furrowed his brow.

“Right, I’ll be quick. Since you might have to fight together, I wanted to introduce you to the bees in charge of the bee army.”

He pointed to the big one.

“This is the First Queen of the Second Dynasty of the First Spawner, we call her Firstborn for short. She’ll be leading the bees from the front.”

He then pointed to the next biggest one, about the size of a forearm.

“This is the Fourth Queen of the First Dynasty of the Second Spawner, we call her Fourth of the Second. She has overall command of the bee army today.”

Both of the bees began to dance, the one called Firstborn taking the lead.

“Will be ready to fight when need.”

General Rippotis watched as the Firstborn danced, her steps sure and steady. He watched as all the bees in the area looked to her and followed her lead, even the other queen, dancing a salute together once the Firstborn concluded her dance. He understood, he knew exactly what she was, regardless of whether he knew her species name or not.

She was the general of the Tower Keeper’s army, and one who led from the front. General Rippotis couldn’t help a small smile. So, this is what a queen commander looked like when fully unleashed. He gave her a salute.

“General Rippotis of the Dragon Banner Army and the Tower of Fire. It’s an honor to meet you both, queen commanders of Tower Keeper Belissar’s armies. I do not plan to lose today, but I’ll be counting on you if the worst occurs.”

The Firstborn replied with a salute dance of her own.

“So long as fight for King and hive of hives, hive of hives will fight for too. Will protect, together.”

General Rippotis couldn’t help but stare for a second. A monster…was fighting to protect? All while it was the Tower Guard who came to destroy. Once again, many thoughts began to swirl in his mind...and he wondered if he should have let the queen commanders loose after all...

But there was no time, so General Rippotis put it all aside and mounted his dragon. Then, dragon, wyvern, human, and bee all took to the skies together, exiting the Tower and taking up their positions in the purified area.

And so began the final wait, as Starami’s forces continuously struck the wards in the Underway below…