The Bee Dungeon
Chapter 277: Bee-hold the Land of the Fair!

Belissar had started his day only for Tarwantrad to come and invite him to the Compact. It was convenient timing, seeing as he needed to inform Queen Vanieskon of the expansion purification anyways. Princess Finnakynne then arrived and proclaimed that she would also accompany them. Belissar could tell from Tarwantrad’s reaction that the pixie was acting incredibly abnormally…but, well, it didn’t particularly affect him so he simply proceeded with preparations for the visit.

The bees intended to accompany him with a good chunk of the army, but Belissar realized showing up with a monster army might not make the best first impression. He discussed with Wardmaster Varilold what might be appropriate, and so brought down his escort to Niobee, Metsaitti, and ten bees of soldier size or greater. A long hive of hives dance resulted as the bees debated how best to protect him and in the end Belissar had to remind them that the magical compact he signed with the fair folk would prevent them from harming him. The bees had still been reluctant but ultimately settled on a team mostly consisting of soldiers from the Firstborn’s hive, who were stronger than the others thanks to her evolution, plus a couple of archers and an assassin to deal the damage necessary with such small numbers.

By that point, Tarwantrad had mostly recovered from her shock at Finnakynne's change of address, though she was still staring at the pixie princess with suspicion, while Finnakynne herself waited stoically by the door. Belissar waved to them both.

“Ok, I think we’re ready.”

Finnakynne nodded with that strangely serious look on her face.

“Good, then let’s go.”

Tarwantrad eyed her one last time before turning to Belissar and smiling.

“Yes! Please, follow me!”

Tarwantrad led them into her dungeon. They made a quick stop by the Fourth of the Seventh’s Third Daughter’s hive so Belissar could check on her in-person, after which Tarwantrad led them through a shortcut to the entrance of her dungeon. And then, finally, Belissar stepped into the land of the fair, the first mortal to do so since the days before the Hunger.

Tarwantrad’s dungeon was surrounded by a forest of exceptionally large trees, with trunks as wide as he was tall at the minimum. The ground below was sparse as a result of the trees overhead, but he could see some buildings a short ways away. These appeared as if they were grown straight out of the ground, with trees bending their trunks to form the frames of the homes. Belissar glanced up at the trees and gasped. The buildings were not limited to the ground, homes were built around and even in the trunks of the giant trees with walkways and bridges crisscrossing overhead. Belissar could see elves like Tarwantrad walking along one, dressed in simple green and brown clothes that blended into the tree trunks and canopy above.

Tarwantrad waved around.

“Welcome to the land of the fair, Belissar. This is Viryaskog, the home of the green elves, my people.”

Belissar’s eyes widened as he began to notice the mana. Mana filled the forest, from the people to the trees to even the ground and air. It was similar in density to the Fairy Grove rooms he had but was not a chaotic swirl of clashing rainbows like there. Here, green, brown, yellow, and blue lights flowed together in smooth, winding rivers, merging and separating in gentle streams. He could even see the leaves of the trees sway as the streams touched them, drinking up the glowing mana.

“It’s beautiful.”

Tarwantrad gave him a warm smile.

“I’m glad you finally have a chance to see it.”

Finnakynne watched them both in silence. She furrowed her brow, but did not say anything.

Tarwantrad then led the group through the forest. The green elves stared and clamored as their group passed through but seemed to calm down once they saw Tarwantrad. Belissar watched as the mana streams wrapped around them, hastening their steps and guiding them away from roots and bumps in the trail they traveled. It was like the Fairy Grove’s affect, only helping them forward instead of getting them lost.

As such, they made great time and soon left the forest. Before them was a gentle slope leading to a large plateau, upon which Belissar could see a city. Tarwantrad led them up the slope and Belissar took a closer look. The city itself featured a diverse, almost mismatched collection of buildings. Buildings made of trees like the ones he had seen in Viryaskog, elegantly curved buildings made of white wood, stone buildings with intricate patterns carved into their sides. A building that was a collection of tiny buildings all stacked on top of each other, even one that looked like a tunnel through a mound of dirt, but with doors and windows that promised a fully furnished interior.

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Within the city were fair folk of all shapes and sizes. Belissar saw various kinds of elves, pixies flying through the air, people that were half or twice his size. There even appeared to be talking animals here or there

Tarwantrad waved to the city.

“This is Calwaskon City, formed after the signing of the compact of the same name. It’s meant as a place where all the different fair folk can meet and interact, and where general citizens of the Compact who don’t wish to live under the authority of any individual signatory make their homes. It’s where I go most often to meet with the other Circle masters, it’s a great place where you can find nearly everything the land of the fair has to offer.”

Finnakynne then pointed to the side.

“Later though, we’ll get caught by people curious about Beely if we try to go through.”

Tarwantrad frowned and then sighed.

“I guess you’re right. We’ll circle around the city for now until after we visit the pixies.”

Belissar nodded silently as he took in the sights. When he looked away from the city, he saw roads and trails leading down the hill into all sorts of different terrain. Forests like the Viryaskog, mountains towering into the sky, a volcano far larger than the one he had towering over a lava field that stretched out to the horizon. His eyes widened as he saw a huge lake that did so as well, was that the sea Nenavann had told him about? And all these places sat side by side, with huge streams of mana flowing from them and into the city, where they formed a big rainbow swirl before splitting off and heading back.

If Belissar hadn’t known any better, he would have thought he was in another Tower. He glanced up at the bee on his head.

“What do you think, Niobee?”

Niobee buzzed and danced about.

“Is ok. Mana is nice, but no hives, less flowers than King’s hive of hives.”

Belissar blinked and then chuckled. Tarwantrad stopped to giggle, eventually ending up in a full-blown laugh. Even Finnakynne broke out of her weird mood to snicker.

“Ok, I would love to see everyone’s face if they heard that, especially those silver elves. The bees are not impressed by all that complicated architecture they insisted was oh so important, huh?”

Tarwantrad wiped a tear from her eye as she stopped laughing.

“Don’t worry, Niobee, there are indeed more flowers than you can see from here. I’ll make sure to show you one of the gardens later.”

Niobee danced happily at that.

“Flower one is best flower one, has lots more flowers and hives for bees!”

Tarwantrad puffed up for the rest of the trip after that declaration…at least until they arrived at the pixie forest. Belissar blinked…and then grinned as they circled around the city and the pixies’ home came into view. Down at the bottom of the city hill, a gigantic flower meadow spread out before them with a forest of short, flowering trees. Niobee picked up and began spinning in circle on his head.

“Better! Amazing, incredible! Almost as amazing as King’s hive of hives!”

Tarwantrad shrunk a bit at that. Finnakynne, however, didn’t say anything about it, instead turning around to give Belissar and Niobee a serious look once they got to the bottom of the hill.

“Be careful, you two, and stay on guard, Niobee. It sure looks pretty, but this might be the most dangerous place in the land of the fair to a mortal. Nothing is as it seems in the pixie forest. Don’t stray from the road, and don’t touch anything unless I tell you it’s ok. There are flowers here that can put you into an indefinite slumber, or turn you into a toad, or push you to say yes to anything asked of you, just as an example.”

Belissar gulped at first…but then paused and tilted his head.

“Huh, could we get any of those for the Tower? If the bees could forage from them safely, it’d be amazing…”

Finnakynne opened her mouth to respond, but the answer came from above them.

“Indeed you can, Tower Keeper Belissar. As per your agreement, Queen Vanieskon intends to send you a gardener to advise you on just that.”

Belissar looked up and found Henilett flying down towards them. She came to a stop to float next to Finnakynne with her usual sly smile.

“And, indeed, Her Highness here is correct on the dangers of our home to the unaware. As such, Her Majesty has sent me to greet you. I can guide you to Her Majesty safely, or I can take care of business with you directly if you’d prefer not to risk the journey. Just let me know your preference.”

She glanced at Finnakynne, but the pixie princess didn’t say anything in response. Henilett raised an eyebrow for a second before turning back to Belissar. Belissar thought for a moment.

“Well, I wanted to let Queen Vanieskon know I plan to attempt an expansion purification three days from now…oh, including today.”

Henilett’s smile dropped as she immediately adopted a serious expression.

“I see. In that case, Queen Vanieskon will want to send you reinforcements so long as you wish for them. May we send a representative to discuss the defenses with you and the Wardmaster later today?”

Belissar nodded.

“Yes, I’d appreciate that.”

Henilett returned his nod and locked eyes with him.

“Of course, Tower Keeper. We will do all that we can to ensure your success.”

Belissar smiled at that.

“Well, that’s all I had to talk about for now. If you’re sending someone later then I don’t need to talk about the details right now?”

Henilett shook her head.

“You are welcome to speak with Queen Vanieskon and enjoy her hospitality at any time, Tower Keeper. As far as the defense, it is best we coordinate with the Wardmaster and the rest of your defenders as well.”

Belissar nodded.

“Ok, Tarwantrad was going to show me around the Compact a bit first, so we’ll head out to do that now. Would around dinnertime work?”

Henilett smiled and nodded.

“We’ll be there when you’re ready for us.

Belissar then glanced at Finnakynne. The pixie princess took a deep breath, then turned to him and nodded.

“Go ahead, Beely.”

Belissar turned to Tarwantrad. She glanced at Finnakynne as well, then shrugged and led the way back towards the city. Belissar was curious as to what was going on with the pixie as well…but he didn’t really know if he was involved or what he could do. Besides, she was just talking with her mom, something he had longed to do for many years. It didn’t feel like something he should interrupt…