Chapter 86: Chapter 86
The First of the Fifth gradually began to speed up as she flew back to her hive. Once she arrived, her workers swarmed around her. A thousand dances asked if she was ok, and what had happened as nearly all her hive now gathered around her.
Soon, she began to dance. Her workers gave her room so that they all could watch.
“We…are not most favored hive.”
Thousands of wings began to buzz as the workers processed her shocking statement, but the First of the Fifth continued.
“But not because we failed. King…loves all bees. King favors all bees. Good hive or bad hive doesn’t matter. He favors all.”
The workers fell silent. All eyes fixed upon her, waiting for their queen. For she had decided what to do.
“So…we will still be best hive! We will work hardest, make most and best honey! We will help King most! And we will be most loving! We will help other bees most too!”
Yes, the First of the Fifth had decided. She apparently could not earn the King’s favor by putting herself forward and above the others. So, instead, she would grow closer to the King in another way. She would follow after his example and become his ideal bee! She, too, would love all bees, she would love them the most! She would be the most loving queen! And then she would be the queen closest to the King, practically his shadow! Maybe he’d even love her more for it!
She had once again found the path to his favor!
“Ok, I’ll prepare and then start it up as soon as we’re both ready, then.”
Belissar made a quick trip back to the Apiary while the soldier bee army redeployed to the Tower entrance. There, he reached into the fire radish pot he left at the campsite. He carefully cut off a small piece of one of the radishes. He paused for a moment before turning to Niobee, flying around him as normal.
“Hey Niobee, could you help me test something? It, um, might hurt.”
Belissar nodded and took a deep breath before holding out the fire radish piece.
“Can you, um, try to pick this up? Be careful not to let any mana or honey touch it, or it might catch fire. And let me know right away if it hurts.”
Niobee flew over. She wrapped her hind legs around the fire radish sliver, using the hairs of her pollen baskets to help hold it in place. She then took off, hovering in the air.
“Can carry! Not hurt!”
Belissar exhaled his breath and nodded.
“Ok, good. Could you gather the Apiary soldiers, then? I’d like to show them this.”
A short while later, Belissar was standing in the Orchard, just in front of the entrance to the Flower Meadow. The Apiary soldiers hovered around him, one of them carrying a fire radish sliver. The soldier bee army, meanwhile, was assembled at the entrance to the Tower.
Belissar triggered the minor purification and once again a small wolf-shade coalesced at the entrance. A squad of bees dove down towards it…but pulled up long before they reached it. Belissar tilted his head at this, but soon discovered why. The squad was composed of sprayers, and they unleashed their toxic attack. The shade was coated in the venom, and then began to roar. It jumped and pounced and swung its tail, but the sprayers were far away and only needed to fly a little higher to remain entirely out of its reach. They didn’t even need to break away after their attack.
They apparently needed a bit of time before they could attack again, but a second squad of sprayers took their place and attacked as well. The shade jumped out of the way, however, and most of the toxic liquids splashed against the ground. The shade took a deep breath and then retaliated with its own black mist attack.
However, the sprayers were mostly evolved from former soldiers and so already knew what to do. They dispersed with practiced efficiency, and with the additional distance between them and the breath attack it was all too easy for them to evade. The black mist dissipated into the air without touching a single bee.
The first squad was then ready again. This time, one bee attacked on its own, causing the shade to dodge. The other bees of the squad then sprayed the shade once it was in motion and couldn’t adjust its course. It roared as it was again doused in toxins.
The second squad attempted this as well. This time, the shade didn’t dodge the first attack, so the others went off course. It still took one attack’s worth in the process, however.
At this point, though, the shade began to wobble. It had been doused with over a dozen soldier bee’s worth of venom at this point, and many of the sprayers evolved from mad honey soldiers and their venom had the same intoxicating effects. The shade stumbled and fell onto the ground, and so could not evade any more of the attacks.
It did not take long before the shade dispersed entirely.