The Bee Dungeon
Chapter 281: Bee-nefits of the Bargain

After receiving Lomedys’ boon, Belissar left with a promise to teach the dungeon master about bloodsucking bees as well as to let him spill the blood of mortals should the opportunity arise. Belissar was more than happy to secure another defender against further Tower Lord or spiderkin attacks and so enthusiastically agreed. Hesfalle also promised to visit soon and help with his hunting room.

The day was growing long at that point, so Belissar headed back to Tarwantrad’s dungeon and then his own. Tarwantrad came along in case there was any way she could help with the upcoming purification, while Wardmaster Varilold was still within his dungeon working on the wards for the nexus door room. All that was left was to wait for the pixies to arrive.

They did not wait long before Henilett arrived with another pixie Belissar hadn’t met yet. Belissar took the Firstborn as the representative of the bee army, the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter who could loop in all the other queens from afar, Chief Rohsuak and Metsaitti, the two humans, and the First Spiderkin Queen and headed to a large tent Varilold’s wardens had set up. The pixies, Tarwantrad, and the wardmaster were already waiting inside, standing around a wooden table. Henilett started things off with a greeting.

“Hello, Tower Keeper Belissar. Thank you for having us today.”

Belissar gave her a sincere smile.

“No, thank you for helping us today.”

Henilett giggled.

“But of course. Now then, allow me to introduce you to Karpakynne, Captain of the Royal Pixie Guard.”

Karpakynne flew forward and gave a salute. She was another pixie woman like Henilett, dressed in a little metal chestpiece and skirt, with a short cloak that barely reached past her shoulders and a pixie-sized sword at her side.

“Karpakynne, Captain of the Royal Pixie Guard and elite pixie knight, at your service, Tower Keeper!”

Belissar turned his smile towards her.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Tower Keeper Belissar.”

Belissar introduced his council to everyone present and then the meeting began. To help the newcomers, the karnuq had prepared a basic map of the tower’s rooms on a wolf-mole skin and spread it out over the table. Belissar started with an explanation of his usual methods.

“We start with the Dirt Tunnels, since it buys us time to see what kind of shade we’re dealing with. Our defenders set up in the shortcut room, except for a couple of digging bee soldiers and the digging assassin, who try to ambush the shade in the tunnels if they can. Once we decide how to handle the shade, I rearrange the rooms and we set up in whichever one will be best against the shade…”

Belissar then recounted past expansion purifications, with the Firstborn, Chief Rohsuak, and Metsaitti adding additional detail here and there. The fair folk all listened quietly until they had finished, then Belissar turned to address them.

“So…any advice or reinforcements you can offer?”

Captain Karpakynne crossed her arms and planted her feet…in the air. She somehow managed to both bark and drag out her response.

“Ab-so-lutely! I tell you, it’s been far too long since my girls and boys have done any real work, they’ve all gone soft and full of sugar! Let’s throw them into the fray, Tower Keeper, and stop this menace with their bodies! Let’s fight, pixie to Hunger, warrior to shade! We’ll cross swords and claws and bring the shade down no matter how many of our lives it takes!”

Captain Karpakynne had drawn her sword midway through her and started swinging it around. Belissar frowned.

“…we generally try to limit casualties, including yours.”

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Captain Karpakynne froze, then slowly lowered her sword.

“Oh. That’s boring.”

Henilett giggled.

“Captain Karpakynne is just playing, Tower Keeper. The Royal Pixie Guard rarely fight with swords at all and are most suited to providing magical support.”

Captain Karpakynne puffed her cheeks.

“I am not playing! I was just making sure the Tower Keeper knew of our firm resolve! And is it too much to ask that our guards at least know which way the pointy end goes? Ugh.”

She then sighed and waved a hand over her sword, causing it to shimmer and vanish.

“Well, if we’re doing it the boring way, yes, pixie magic will have your enemy fighting themselves instead of you, Tower Keeper. I think, too, that our tactics and techniques will fit well with those of your army. I’d like to get us started on joint training if you’d permit it.”

Belissar turned to the Firstborn.

“What do you think, the pixies would like to train with the bee army, they said they can offer a lot of magical support. Want to work with them directly?”

The Firstborn danced the affirmative.

“Happy to learn from King’s allies.”

Belissar then nodded to the pixie captain and relayed the Firstborn’s agreement. Captain Karpakynne grinned in response.

“Excellent! I’m bring my girls and boys over first thing tomorrow morning!”

Henilett glanced over at Belissar with a sly grin.

“Don’t forget the bee armor.”

Belissar’s mind went blank. His neck creaked as he slowly turned his full attention onto Henilett.

“There’s…bee armor?”

Henilett giggled, then punched Captain Karpakynne’s armor. The captain yelped in protest as Henilett’s fist left a dent in the metal.

“The metal here is just for show, the real armor is the cape and the accessories she has hidden underneath. We enchant it to take damage on behalf of the wearer, it’s the only way a pixie can wear armor that’s useful against larger foes. We have plenty that would fit onto your soldier bees and would be happy to share.”

Belissar didn’t even hear Captain Karpakynne complaining about the damage to her fully functional and extremely necessary armor. He gaped at Henilett in silence for a full minute…then his face curled into a massive grin.

“That would be…amazing! Please, we need as many as you can give us! I’ll give you however much honey you want!”

Henilett blinked, then smiled, then paused, then frowned, then mumbled to herself, then slapped her cheeks and sighed before finally turning to Belissar with a strained smile.

“No…it’s just…our part of the bargain. No…honey…necessary…for this, at least.”

Belissar’s smile grew even larger.

“I see. I’d still like to thank you, though. How about this: I’ve invited everyone who helps defend the tower to our victory celebrations. Why don’t you join as well? We serve honey there.”

Henilett shot into the air with her hand raised high.

“I’ll be there!”

She then stopped, coughed, and cleared her throat before putting on another sly smile…with a flush on her cheeks.

“Ahem, I would be honored to participate, Tower Keeper.”

Belissar nodded to her and then chuckled to himself. Bee armor! Finally, he would have a way to protect his bees while letting them fight as they pleased! To his shame, he hadn’t even considered if something like that was possible, but now the pixies would provide it outright! This alone was worth everything he had to do to get the Compact and the pixies on his side.

And they weren’t even done yet. Wardmaster Varilold had an amused smile on her face as she stepped forward.

“We’ll assist as well, Tower Keeper. I will bring a full contingent of battle wardens, we will also train alongside your forces starting tomorrow so you can see what we can do. I can have some of the wardens here split off to work on your defense rooms too, if they work with your digging bees I’m sure we can improve their initial ambushes in the tunnels in the time we have available.”

Belissar turned his grin to the wardmaster.

“That would be great, thank you. Thank you both.”

Tarwantrad then jumped in.

“I can help too, Belissar! I can send some flower monsters!”

But Wardmaster Varilold stepped behind her and clamped her hand on the dungeon master’s shoulder.

“You will not, Dungeon Master Tarwantrad.”

Tarwantrad turned to glare at her.

“Why not?!”

But the wardmaster silenced her with a stern look.

“You will need all of your dungeon monsters at the ready to defend yours. Your dungeon is equally important as Belissar’s is to the future of the Compact, and we do not fully understand the link between them yet. We do not yet know if a purification in his dungeon could impact yours. Likewise, there’s no guarantee the Hunger won’t attempt to assault the wards while Tower Keeper Belissar is expanding. You need to remain as vigilant in your own defense as Tower Keeper Belissar is in his, and that’s an order from the Wardmaster of the Compact.”

Tarwantrad frowned but did not respond. Wardmaster Varilold softened her expression.

“Do not be concerned. We will not let either of your dungeons fall. As Captain Karpakynne said, at the cost of our very lives if need be.”

Captain Karpakynne stopped trying to fix her armor and began nodding smugly.

“See! Varilold knows what we need! As expected of the wardmaster!”

Tarwantrad sighed and hung her head, then turned to Belissar with concern.

“Very well…just promise me you’ll be ok.”

Belissar was able to grin at her.

“With all the help we’re getting…I think we will be.”