The Bee Dungeon
POBear 291.1 - Un-Bear-able Training Bee-gins!

With the Tower Keeper’s meeting concluded, Chief Rohsuak made her way back to the karnuq’s settlement, followed by a line of chittering spiderkin. She chuckled and shook her head. She had lived a long time, she had seen and fought many things. But never in all her years did she imagine that she would be training a nest of spiderkin to fight alongside her people…and hives of monster bees and the mystical fey to boot. Life truly was strange at times.

She arrived at her destination, close to the main village. It was a bit cramped for combat training, but it would do for today…and was necessary for her own plans. She turned to face the spiderkin.

“Form a line in front of me, please.”

Chief Rohsuak waved from side to side to indicated which way the line should go. The First Spiderkin Queen stood right in front of her, then the other spiderkin began filing in on either side of her so that they all stood before the chief. And as Chief Rohsuak had predicated, the karnuq in the village noticed the commotion. Right on cue, one of the hunters walked up behind her.

“Chief…are you really going to train…spiderkin?”

Chief Rohsuak turned around and crossed her arms, giving the hunter a frown.

“I am going to train any defender of the Tower who is willing to learn from me. Spiderkin though they may be, these cubs seem quite enthusiastic to do so.”

Chief Rohsuak stared the hunter in the eyes. He definitely wanted to say something else, but ultimately held his tongue and averted his gaze.

“Don’t be a coward!”

Paloiku, second of the karnuq hunters, marched up to the hunter and glared at him.

“We are proud karnuq hunters, not timid cave rats. Speak what you mean. You are bothered because none of the karnuq have the guts to train with the Blazing Berserker, and now she is instructing the children of our enemies instead. So, you complain to the chief for training the willing, rather than mustering the courage to join them.”

She slammed her spear into the ground and then turned to Chief Rohsuak.

“I say no more. Chief, please let me join the training as well.”

Chief Rohsuak raised an eyebrow, working hard to keep a frown on her face for now.

“Oh? Are you certain, Paloiku? You’ve avoided such training before.”

Paloiku held her gaze with resolve on her face.

“I have grown comfortable and complacent. The sheer ease of our lives in this place compared to before led me to flinch from pain. But I can’t do that anymore. The Hunger just marched through three rooms of the Tower and we were powerless to stop it. We barely contributed anything to this battle while the Tower Keeper’s bees halted the enemy with their very lives and his new allies tore the shades apart with mystical powers. I have to do more, we have to do more if we want to keep our place as the Tower’s defenders.”

Chief Rohsuak finally let a smile grow on her face. Paloiku had stated the exact issue she was concerned about…and the reason she was using the spiderkin to provoke her own people.

“Well said. As I stated, I will train all defenders of the Tower who are willing. I am glad to find our people among them.”

The other karnuq looked at one another. The first hunter who spoke gulped…and then growled.

“Ok, fine. I’ll take on the challenge.”

One by one, the hunters reluctantly joined the group. Chief Rohsuak grinned. Now, she just needed to wait for the last arrivals. A buzzing sound overhead signaled she had arrived.

The Firstborn descended down with several squads of bees and danced a salute.

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“Hi. Honored to join karnuq queen and spiderkin hive. Look forward to learn.”

Chief Rohsuak shook her head.

“Please, the honor is ours. We have as much to learn from you as you from us.”

Indeed, Chief Rohsuak had specifically requested the Firstborn’s help. She knew that as both a disciple of fire and as a former berserker, her fighting style did not fully match the Tower Keeper’s army. She couldn’t just teach the spiderkin and her hunters how to fight, she needed to teach them how to fight as the bee army did. Likewise, it would not be good if she inspired all of the spiderkin and hunters to seek after the God of Fire at the expense of the Tower’s primary patron. So, she had decided to cooperate with the bees in this training…and the Firstborn was the most powerful individual bee in the army. Chief Rohsuak hoped that together they would both serve as inspiration for the trainees.

And now that the defenders of the tower, bee, karnuq, and spiderkin were all gathered together, Chief Rohsuak could start the fun part. She would admit that she did enjoy watching the hunters shiver as she smiled.

“Let’s begin.”

Hirkolos was hard at working wiping away at his wyvern’s scales. The scales themselves were quite resilient to both wear and decay, but dirt and debris could get caught between them and irritate the wyvern. There was little the wyvern itself could do to address that with its own big limbs, so it fell to the rider to take care of. Plus, it served as a bonding moment. The wyvern expressed as much as it twisted its neck around to nuzzle Hirkolos’s side. Hirkolos smiled and rubbed the wyvern’s head.

“There you go, all clean now.”

The wyvern rumbled in response. It then spread it wings out and plopped down right on the ground, basking in the warm sun overhead. Hirkolos smiled again and then turned to see how the other was doing.

The other wyvern was still bound in the barn the karnuq had built, as its rider was no longer available to keep it calm. Though that may change soon enough. Hirkolos’ eyes widened a bit as he saw the wyvern relaxing and laying its head down while its caretaker scrubbed its scales.

“Wow, I think she’s starting to trust you, Paisijik.”

The karnuq beekeeper turned to him with a grin. She had offered to help him with the wyverns as thanks for his help with the bees, apparently her parents had taken care of animals in the past as well.

“You think? Think I’ll be able to ride her soon?”

Hirkolos thought for a moment.

“Hm…maybe. Maybe we can try unbinding her head tomorrow and see if she nips at you.”

Paisijik’s grin grew and she rubbed the wyvern’s side.

“Hear that, girl? Treat me nice and you can get out of this place.”

The wyvern huffed but otherwise did not respond. Hirkolos, however, furrowed his brow.

“But…you want to become a wyvern rider Paisijik? I thought you were learning beekeeping from the Tower Keeper? Shouldn’t you focus on that?”

He certainly appreciated Paisijik’s help…but the Tower Keeper had entrusted her with some of his bees, which he loved above all else. Hirkolos himself had a soft spot for Velebee and her hive after the long trip he spent with her, so he didn’t want to pull one of the beekeepers away from her duty.

Paisijik, however, shook her head.

“No, that’s not it. I want to learn to ride this girl for the sake of my beekeeping.”

Hirkolos stared blankly and Paisijik laughed. She held out her hand and pulsed her mana. A worker bee foraging flowers nearby stopped her work and flew over to land on Paisijik’s hand. Paisijik pulled out a small flask and poured out a drop of water for the bee.

“So far, my blessing helps me speak with and manage the bees…but that doesn’t really matter with monster bees, does it? I know they’re only acting like normal bees, we’ve all seen and spoken with the others in the Tower and the bee army. These bees don’t need a normal beekeeper at all, honestly, and I don’t truly need a beekeeper blessing to work with them.”

She then looked over to the wyvern.

“But…I know there’s more to this blessing than what I’ve seen so far. And you’ve seen them right? The pixies riding on the backs of the bees? The bee armor and bee lances they have?”

She turned to face Hirkolos.

“I want to fight with the bees one day. The pixies clearly could, so a defender of a Tower of the God of Bees who has a bee-related blessing from her must be able to as well. My blessing…it does more than pacify bees. It lets me give them my mana, makes it easier for them to process honey or lay eggs or take care of the brood. Perhaps…one day, I could do something like that for soldier bees as well. But…I’m a bit big to ride on a bee, so I need some other way to fly into battle with them.”

Her expression fell but she kept eye contact with him.

“That and…I’ve told you before, my family used to take care of larger animals like this. I don’t regret taking the Blessing of the Beekeeper and I don’t plan to change my path. But…if I can revive some of the skills my family once used, then I will.”

Hirkolos found himself at a loss for words. What could he even say? The karnuq had experienced so much loss…meanwhile, Hirkolos and his fellows had been killing their own people. A new wave of guilt and shame clutched at his chest.

But it wasn’t about him, today. He couldn’t change what he had done or what Paisijik had lost. What he could do was use his skills to help her reclaim a bit of it…and protect it going forward. Her, her people, the Tower, its Keeper, and the bees.

So, he forced himself to nod.

“I see. I’ll help you, however I can.”

Paisijik said nothing more but managed to return a smile and a nod.