POBee 442.1 - Mistaken Identi-Bee?

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter considered her options. The Fourth of the Seventh’s soldiers had been able to drive off the hive-burner, so fortunately the enemy wasn’t on par with the ones that had assaulted King’s realm. She would not need to try and rush reinforcements to their location.

Unfortunately, the Fourth of the Seventh’s soldiers had their own mission: scouting the hive-burners’ territory and supporting the pixie queen. They could not stay to guard the new bees indefinitely, the First Daughter needed to come up with a longer-term solution.

One possibility would be to establish a mini-hive. The Fourth of the Seventh had laid a variety of sleeping eggs in the mobile hive that accompanied the pixie queen, including a broodmother egg. If the Fourth of the Seventh’s bees woke up that broodmother, they could establish a new hive that could remain to support the new bees.

But there were problems with that approach…mainly, a lack of food. The First Daughter had no idea if the surrounding area could support a monster bee hive of any size. The Fourth of the Seventh’s bees had not found many flowers with decent mana on their journey, so she was not optimistic. And, moreover…her instincts were warning her of a coming threat. Out in the Beyond, the trees were changing color and the air was growing colder. Her instincts told her that a long cold would soon befall the Beyond, when no flowers would bloom and no workers could forage.

That was irrelevant within King’s realm, where the light and warmth never faded and the flowers never ceased to bloom, but a new hive established in hive-burner territory would have to survive on the resources of the Beyond. Her instincts told her that a hive established now would face disaster. And even if it managed to survive, it would not be capable of defending the new bees from hive-burners.

What, then, could she do? Try to evacuate the new hives? That would fail for the same reason, if the hives abandoned their colonies now, they would freeze and starve in the harsh times to come. The Fourth of the Seventh’s bees could try to take them into their mobile hive, but there were too many of them. The mobile hive could not fit that many bees, nor did it have the honey reserves to support them all when the foraging stopped. Maybe she could ask some of the other new bees in hive-burner territory that the Fourth of the Seventh’s children had brought into the hive of hives…but each of those hives only had enough honey for themselves. Asking them to take in other hives might doom them all to starvation.

The First Daughter buzzed her wings…for her thoughts were turning towards dark directions. The mobile hive couldn’t save the hives, but it could save the queens. The Fourth of the Seventh’s children could tend to them over the long cold and help them set back up afterwards. But…that would mean condemning entire hives of workers and brood, forcing the queens to sacrifice all of their children to survive. The exact dilemma the First Daughter had sworn to prevent.

Try as she might, though, she couldn’t think of any alternatives. The new bees were just too far away, the hive of hives didn’t have enough resources in the area and couldn’t send any help. This…was likely a problem the hive of hives couldn’t solve on its own…

It was then that the First Daughter received a visitor. The Conduit flew into her section of the Beecity and landed before her, tapping her antennae against the First Daughter’s own.

“First Daughter needs help?”

The First Daughter could not lie to the Conduit.

“Yes, new bees in trouble. Hive-burners attacking, but hive of hives can’t protect…”

The First Daughter relayed the situation to the Conduit, sending her the report from the Fourth of the Seventh’s bees. A moment later, the Conduit burst out into a frantic dance.

“First Daughter! Those not hive-burners! Tell Fourth of Seventh’s bee don’t kill!”

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The First Daughter couldn’t help but step back.

“Not…hive-burners? But was burning hive?”

The Conduit danced a forceful negative, vibrating heavily to emphasize the point.

“Fire was under hive, not on hive! Human wasn’t burning, was smoking! King used to do before could dance with bees, makes bees not sting! Human not hive-burner, might be hive-builder!”

The Conduit sent memories along with her dance. The First Daughter watched as King himself built used a fire stick to fill the Conduit’s own hive with smoke. She watched as King opened up the hive while the workers were unable to attack. King manipulated the hive as he willed, even taking an entire tray of honey…but he did not harm the hive, nor did he let the fire spread to it.

It…was true. Building fire under a hive was not solely the action of a hive-burner. It could not be, if it was something that King himself used to do.

The First Daughter’s antennae drooped. Because…if that wasn’t a hive-burner…then the hive of hives may have just made a terrible mistake.

“Conduit…hive of hives already attacked. What do?”

Heigiosa stood before one of the traitor’s Towers, now completely surrounded by half of the Dragon Banner Army and the followers of the God of Light. The treacherous Tower Lord in question had wisely stepped out of his domain with only a handful of Tower Guards escorting him. His face was set in a grim expression…but he only inclined his head, not appearing particularly contrite.

“Oracle Heigiosa, I acknowledge I am outmatched and am prepared to surrender. What terms will you offer me?”

Heigiosa gave him a sweet smile.

“Unconditional.”

The Tower Lord frowned.

“That is no term, Oracle. Please, be reasonable. I may not be able to defeat you, but I can certainly bleed you. But I’d rather not, I’ve no love for Konilias, who has abandoned me in any case. Offer me decent terms and I will offer no resistance, then you can save your strength for your true enemy.”

Heigiosa’s smile dropped.

“You came to my city and slaughtered my people, your fellow humans, without cause or provocation. You and your master plotted behind my back for years and you never once thought to warn me. You now make war in opposition to the very gods themselves. Tell me, Einikos, what is the reasonable response to such things? So, these are the terms I offer to you. You shall surrender yourself unconditionally and pray that I show you greater mercy than you showed the innocent people of the City of Light. Or you shall fight. Yes, you shall cost me time. You may even claim some blood. But you will lose and then will be subjected to the same terms I am offering now…only I shall be feeling far less merciful then. Be grateful, Einikos, that you were not one of the masterminds behind this treachery. I will not offer them terms as generous as these.”

Heigiosa began to glow as she spoke, the light stark and scorching. Einikos winced, his face starting to pale. He glanced around at the assembled army. Wyverns growled and their riders didn’t bother calming them. A haze distorted the Dragon Banner Army as the temperature rose around them. The ever gracious and charitable Followers of Light…glared at him, not a shred of mercy upon their faces.

He glanced at his own Tower Guard, but they refused to meet the gazes of their enemy, hanging their heads low. Einikos slowly raised his hands.

“…I surrender, unconditionally. Please, have mercy upon me.”

Heigiosa narrowed her eyes.

“So be it. I grant to you your life, Einikos, so long as you cooperate. All else you have forfeited by your own actions.”

Heigiosa took a deep breath and shook her head as the Dragon Banner Army secured the soon-to-be-former Tower Lord. She probably could have handled that more diplomatically, she was fortunate she hadn’t driven Einikos to resist until the end. But…when she thought of the City of Light, of the people who perished in the initial assault, of the brave City Guard and bees who sacrificed themselves to hold the enemy back…she found that she couldn’t speak kindly to those responsible. To those who had ordered their armies to turn upon their own comrades without second thought, and for what? Greater power? The traitor, may the gods ever curse his name, practically ran the Conclave! He already had more power than any mortal human had ever commanded! A worse and less meaningful reason for bloodshed she could scarcely imagine.

So, no. She had very little mercy for those who had gone along with it. What mercy should she show those who would burn her home for little more than greed?

It was then that she received a couple of messages…messages that instantly doused the fire building within her. In its place, a great chill spread throughout her.

New mission received: Prevent war between Tower Keeper Belissar’s bees and the beekeepers of the Conclave.

The God of Bees would like to offer you a mission. Accept?

Heigiosa’s eyes went as wide as they could go.

“God of Light, pray tell me…what has happened?!”