Chapter 89: Chapter 89

When the next day began, Belissar made his way to the new flame radish node in the Apiary. As with other resource plant nodes, a few of the flowers were glowing slightly. He pulled on these and the whole plant came out, including a brand new, fully grown flame radish at the bottom. He very carefully took one of these over to the Shrine of Bees and, as he had and continued to do with all the products he gathered, placed the radish within the wax chest, watching very carefully for any sign of flames.

“Thank you again, for everything. I hope you like it.”

The statue and chest glowed with light. When the light faded and Belissar opened up the chest, the flame radish was gone. He exhaled his breath; the offering had gone well and with no unintentional fires.

With that, he continued on his day. He gathered the remaining flame radishes and stored them in the pot he left in the Apiary’s campfire pit. He then gathered and offered some healing herbs, mana flowers, and honey trays before storing the remainder. He didn’t gather every resource in his Tower every day, but more medicine was always good to have, the mana flowers were supposedly very useful and valuable, and the Apiary bees were happy whenever he accepted honey from them, so he always gathered those three at the very least.

After that, Belissar considered his next move. The minor purification cooldown finished in the morning today, so he could start one right away if he wanted. But he did not. Instead, he walked over to the Flower Meadow. He found the soldier bee army had already started their training, with one of the queens leading them. She came and saluted to him.

“Good morning! Um...”

He took a minute to figure out how to word his question.

“If two of the normal wolf-shades attacked, how would it go?”

The queen immediately began to dance, indicating that the army would bring it down. Belissar rubbed his chin.

Niobee paused, swaying about in the air for a moment before she suddenly started zipping.

“King...can make honey! And hives! And bees! King is best king! Definitely not useless drone! Niobee knew!”

Belissar started chuckling and smiled at her.

“Well...I guess I can, in a way. So, do you want some? I already made it so I’d appreciate it if you could help me with it.”

Belissar’s grin grew as Niobee hovered in front of his hand and drank up the pool of honey in his hand. If it made Niobee this happy, then even this small bit of magic was something incredible. ℟𝐀𐌽ỌʙÊs̩

After Niobee had drank her fill, Belissar got to work on the Flower Meadow beehouse. He sawed the dry wood provided by the bear people into appropriately sized planks and cut grooves into them that would fit together. He then started laying out a foundation for the house, slotting the grooves together.

It...was a bit slow going. Belissar was no stranger to lifting heavy objects, but handling large pieces of wood like that alone was a bit much. Still, he was determined to see it through, however hard it was or however long it took. His bees deserved no less.

And before he knew it, it was about time for the purification. He put the last log into place and then rubbed his arms and back. But the day was wearing on and he needed to at least gather a flame radish, so he had to stop here. He heaved a sigh.

He really hoped it would go well today...

The First Queen of the First Dynasty of the Fourth Spawner, the first of her line, flew through the ranks of her soldiers. She flew to the very front of the army, where her hive gathered at the entrance of the King’s realm. Where the invader would soon arrive. She danced as her soldiers saluted.

The designated leader soldier replied.

“Everything ready, queen! Ready to fight!”

She looked at the entrance for a while longer, the place that would soon become a battlefield. She slowly began to back up, keeping her eyes on the entrance for as long as she could before turning around and flying to take her place at the head of the reserved force.

Long had the First of the Fourth had her soldiers report of their deeds. Long had she watched them train against imaginary foes. Long had she listened to the stories told by the Conduit of the First Dynasty of the First Spawner and their courageous, if doomed, final stand. Long had she stood on the very top of her hive, straining her eyes to catch even the smallest glimpse of the battles in progress.

Sometimes, she wished she could join the army as it flew to the fight. But she knew her place. If not for her and her fellow queens, there would not be an army, so she did the next best thing and raised the mightiest soldiers she could.

She had burned with rage when their army was nearly defeated.

But...she would admit that she had been ecstatic when the Firstborn proposed how to prevent such a thing from happening again. She, along with the other queens of the Flower Meadow, would now have the chance to lead from the front, like the courageous queens of the First Dynasty on their final stand. She patiently waited her turn, but she could hardly stand still these last three days as she watched the other queens fly with the army, and listened to them recount tales of the battle in question.

And now, it was her turn. And her patience had granted her an unexpected reward. Today, on the day of her command, the King had acknowledged their growing might. He would once again entrust them with a battle of greater proportions, send them against a mightier foe than the daily invader. She would be the first to test her might in such a battle.