BD - POBee 445.1 - A Predator's Bee-lemma (Patreon)

Belissar took Sehfitis and Hirkolos aside and confessed to them what had happened, apologizing for not calling for them when the God of Light had descended.

Sehfitis, however, merely stared wide-eyed at the sky.

“…the God of Light…incarnated? Here? In the flesh?”

Belissar shrank down, but managed to nod.

“Yes…again, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…”

Sehfitis took a moment to respond, then suddenly shook his head.

“No, Tower Keeper. That was a momentous occasion, I cannot blame you for forgetting all else but her presence. I doubt I would have done any differently. Moreover, as much as I long to see the God of Light in person, I am in no position to complain. I still have much to atone for, to be blessed with the presence of the gods themselves is not a boon I can demand.”

Sehfitis then smiled, warm and sincere.

“No, rather, I find great comfort in this news. That the God of Light deems you and your Tower so important and in such regard that she would incarnate, the first time in over a thousand years…could there be any greater proof that we were right to support you? Our work here is blessed, I can now say there is no where I would rather be. I appreciate your concern for me, Tower Keeper, but do not disparage yourself on my account. Should the God of Light decide to grace me with her presence in this life, then she shall. It is enough for me to know how greatly she approves of you.”

Hirkolos saluted, also with a smile.

“I feel much the same. It is an honor to serve you, Tower Keeper Belissar. Truly, you are the Tower Keeper I wished to fight for all along.”

Belissar was happy the pair weren’t upset, but he did ask a memory bee to remind him about them the next time the God of Light incarnated in his Tower. Afterwards, Hirkolos and Sehfitis left to greet the former Tower Guards Auchias had recommended. Belissar, meanwhile, had a new chimeric bee spawning soon, so went to take care of that in the meantime…

***

The Second Chimeric Cuckoo Queen of the First Dynasty of the First Chimeric Cuckoo Spawner, the first of her line as the prey called her, watched as the Great Essence-Weaver, the prey empress, and her older rival greeted a third of their kind. She watched as the older rival flared her essence to the new chimeric queen, as if the prey hadn’t dumped it all upon her. As if she had done anything to acquire it at all.

It was obvious to Second Chimeric Queen that her older rival was trying to emulate the prey empress, perhaps in an attempt to receive more essence from her. But she had no intention to interfere, the Great Essence-Weaver himself watched over them and did not object, so how could she? Besides, she had no interest in playing with the prey, or with her rivals.

After all, she was born to hunt.

Which left her more than little confused about her present situation. Yes, it was clear that the Great Essence-Weaver had grand plans, for prey and predator both. Yes, it was nice to have an entire hive of prey workers and honey and larva moltings dumped upon her right after her spawning. She had everything she could ever want, without ever having to snap her jaws once and without ever putting herself in danger. Without ever hunting.

And yet…she found herself restless. She was born to infiltrate, to deceive, to hunt, and to conquer. She was doing none of that and would never, at least not with the Great Essence-Weaver’s prey.

The Great Essence-Weaver, the older rival, and the prey empress all took the newcomer to another prey hive that had been prepared for them. They did not seem to need Second Chimeric Queen as the Great Essence-Weaver did not request that she follow them. So, she slipped away, flying off into the sky.

 She could eat the larva moltings and command the thrall workers…but she could do that later as well. They would wait for her and this…hive of hives, as the prey called it, would give her more on demand. The older rival was content with that and seemed to be focusing on convincing the prey as much, siphoning off more of their resources with hardly any effort.

Second Chimeric Queen, though, decided to do something different. Rather than press the prey for resources, she would test how tightly they would contain her. She’d fly and observe the Great Essence-Weaver’s realm, seeing for herself what he had wrought. Seeing for herself his grand plans…and, maybe, what sort of role he intended for her to play. If she would ever have a chance to employ the instincts he wove into her very being.

She approached the prey’s hive, disguising herself as a worker. It was a poor disguise, for she did not even employ the essence she held within her, but for some reason she did not want to use that essence that she had been handed. Plus, she didn’t want to be fully disguised, she wanted to see what the prey would do when she approached their very hives, walked among their delicious brood…

The prey’s guards…did not stop her. They just danced instead.

“Hi, Second Chimeric Queen. What need?”

Part of her didn’t want to talk to the prey…but her instincts told her to respond in kind. That was good infiltration, after all. And, she was doing this to test the limits placed upon her, so it would be good to see how these preys reacted.

“Nothing, just want see hive of hives. See…the brood.”

One of the guards buzzed, but the other kept dancing.

“Ok! Let know if want show you where.”

Second Chimeric Queen found herself at a loss. That…was not the respond she expected.

“…ok. Will…go now, then…”

She carefully stepped into the prey hive…and the guards did nothing. For some reason, she was disappointed…

***

Second Chimeric Queen quickly left the prey hives. She could look all she wanted, she could even walk right up to the brood chambers. It was irrelevant, though, because the Great Essence-Weaver had commanded her not to harm the prey. The prey seemed to know it, too. They did not bother to contain her…for they had no need to.

She found observing the delicious brood was simply torture when she knew she couldn’t do anything, so she left. Now she was wandering the Great Essence-Weaver’s realm, seeing what else there might be. She saw the big fuzzy preys, impressive specimens she’d have loved to hunt…but they just flew circles around her and gave her a larva molting instead. She met the hive of wounded preys…which was unfortunate proof that the Great Essence-Weaver would not let them hunt crippled and useless preys either. She met burning preys and toxic preys and swimming preys…all of whom offered her moltings that she declined.

And no matter where she went, no matter how far she flew, the prey didn’t seem to mind. They did not try to restrict her, or even to keep a particularly close eye on her.

She considered going back. At this rate, she didn’t know if she would find what she was looking for. She didn’t even know what she was looking for. So long as the Great Essence-Weaver forbade her from harming the prey…then what could she do? Where could she ever use her instincts? Where could she hunt and claim essence for herself?

But she couldn’t think of anything else to do, so she flew through another shortcut, one that the prey empress’s bees didn’t seem to visit as much. Maybe there would be something here other than another of the empress’s thrall hives…

Unfortunately, she had scarcely arrived before she found more soldier preys…or so she had thought. However, on closer inspect, she noticed that these preys were different than the others, covered in sleek, black chitin with fewer hairs. Her instincts told her that these were a different species altogether, so she decided to observe them.

The soldiers flew across the field…then suddenly started to dive. Second Chimeric Queen quickly dropped to the ground and took cover in the flowers…until she realized they weren’t diving towards her. She climbed to the top of a flower to determine what they were attacking…

There, she saw the prey soldiers swooping towards a large creature of some sort, one completely covered in hairs. The creature bounded across the field on large hind legs, trying to escape from the soldiers, but a second squad got in its way. The creature tried to stop and turn, only for a third squad to strike from above. Big jaws ripped into the creature’s neck, dispatching it with ease.

Second Chimeric Queen found herself staring. What were these soldiers doing? Were these creatures enemies, invaders that defied the Great Essence-Weaver?

The prey soldiers were then joined by workers, workers from a different species if she wasn’t mistaken. These workers ignored all the nearby flowers, instead flying straight for the creature…

And then they started to forage its blood.

Second Chimeric Queen froze. Her wings fluttered as she processed what was happening. Were these preys…eating the creature? Were these creatures the prey of the prey? Were these preys…hunting?

Second Chimeric Queen watched further. After the workers were finished, the prey soldiers picked up the creature’s corpse and carried it away. Second Chimeric Queen followed along, instinctually mimicking the prey’s appearance. If the prey noticed her, they gave no indication of it, and so she was able to follow them right back to their hives.

And when she saw these preys’ hives…she halted altogether, slowly drifting to the ground. All across the ground were corpses of creatures, more like the one she had seen, and ones much larger. And all across the corpses were prey bees…biting, chewing, dismembering. They were undeniably feeding upon the creatures.

Which meant…they were hunting after all. These creatures were their prey.

Second Chimeric Queen didn’t even notice when the prey bees spotted her, not until two of the prey queens approached her. The bigger of the two unleashed a wave of pheromones and mana. Second Chimeric Queen instinctively absorbed these and attuned herself to them, allowing her to understand the other bee.

“Hi new sister! Am First Butcher, what need?”

Second Chimeric Queen couldn’t help but release pheromones of her own.

“First Butcher…are eating preys? Hunting preys?”

“Am!”

Second Chimeric Queen buzzed her wings.

“And Great Essence-Weaver…lets? Didn’t tell to not hunt preys?”

“Lets! Made meats so could hunt!”

For a brief moment, Second Chimeric Queen wondered why she was forbidden from hunting her prey while these preys weren’t. But she soon had a second thought, an idea growing within her mind.

If these preys were allowed to hunt their preys and she took their essence…couldn’t she hunt their preys too? The Great Essence-Weaver had specified not to hurt bee preys…but that clearly did not apply to these creatures. So…wasn’t this a way she could hunt after all?

She looked upon the prey called First Butcher. First Butcher had big, sharp fangs, perfect for hunting and consuming. Her body was sleek, built for speed and for diving into big preys. She lacked the hairs and pollen baskets for gathering pollen…because she was built to consume prey. The hints of her essence told Second Chimeric Queen as much. First Butcher wasn’t just a prey.

She was a fellow hunter. A prey that was also a predator.

Second Chimeric Queen wanted her essence. She wanted to hunt this predator prey and to become an even better predator. But since she couldn’t hunt First Butcher…she’d do the next best thing.

“Can help hunt? If help hunt, will give essence?”

First Butcher paused…then unleashed a powerful surge of pheromones that slammed into Second Chimeric Queen.

“Ok! Will teach new little sister how hunt meats! Also, what essence?”

Second Chimeric Queen couldn’t help but spin around as the prey essence within her wanted. It wasn’t what she imagined…but the Great Essence-Weaver had a place for predators after all. And thus…she would be permitted to hunt.

Author’s Note:

…is it a good idea to teach a chimeric cuckoo bee to hunt meats? Ehhh…well, it certainly beats her hunting bees, so proceed! I’m sure it will be fine, in fact, it’s bees teaching her, so it’ll be amazing and incredible!

Right?

Anyways!

Will Sehfitis and Hirkolos get to meet the God of Light? Will Second Chimeric Cuckoo Queen get to hunt? Is it a good idea to teach a chimeric cuckoo bee to hunt meats? Tune in next time, to find out!