BD - Chapter 446 - Better Bee Nice! (Patreon)

Belissar stood in the karnuq settlement, by one of their training fields. Hirkolos and Sehfitis stood on either side of him, while soldier bees hovered overhead. In front of him, four former Tower Guards stood at attention. One of them, Soltiotis if Belissar remembered correct, spoke for the group.

“You wanted to see us, Tower Keeper?”

Belissar nodded, then waved back towards the karnuq village.

“What do you think of the karnuq? Of the spiderkin? Of beastkin in general?”

Soltiotis furrowed his brow.

“I…will be honest, Tower Keeper. For all my life, I was told they were the enemy. As a Tower Guard, I was trained to fight them. It is hard not to think of them in that way. But…Augur Sehfitis has already told us the truth of the matter, that they are not the wicked kings of old but their victims, so I’m trying to adjust.”

Belissar rubbed his chin.

“I see. Could you work alongside them? Fight alongside them?”

Soltiotis took a moment to think, then slowly nodded.

“The God of Light herself approves of this place, approved of them. If you ask me to, I’ll do my best.”

Beroura nodded rapidly.

“As the God of Light commands!”

Germistis grunted, but gave a small nod. Fulepou jumped and bowed his head.

“W-We are at your mercy, Tower Keeper. It will be as you say.”

Belissar smiled.

“In that case, how would you all like to work for my Tower? You can become sworn defenders now if you want, or you can take your time and work alongside the Tower for a bit.”

The four humans blinked, then their jaws dropped. Soltiotis spoke in a daze.

“Tower Keeper…you would accept us into your service? As your own Tower Guards?”

Belissar gave him a nod, then made eye contact.

“I would. Auchias told me you four are the ones who first stood up to Starami. The Tower Lords lied to you just like they lied to me, I used to live under Starami’s rule too. But you four realized it, far earlier than I did, and stood up to stop it. I would be honored to have you fight with me and truly serve the gods.”

Three of the humans turned to exchange glances…but Beroura immediately knelt down.

“Tower Keeper, it would be my honor!”

Soltiotis held his head.

“Beroura, you should at least think about it before swearing to another Tower Lord!”

Germistis shook his head.

“I’m not surprised. He’s still giddy from hearing the God of Light.”

Fulepou stepped forward…and then knelt down.

“Merciful Tower Keeper, I am at your service.”

Soltiotis jumped.

“Fulepou, you too?!”

Fulepou glanced at him and nodded.

“He’s already taken Hirkolos and the augur into his service. He spared our lives and ensured that all of us were well-fed. Tell me, Soltiotis, would Starami have done the same?”

Soltiotis grimaced. Germistis grunted…and then knelt down himself.

“That’s a good point, Starami didn’t take prisoners to begin with. I’ll trust in you, Tower Keeper. I pray you are better than my last lord.”

Soltiotis glanced around, spinning his head between the other three. Germistis shrugged.

“Don’t overthink it, Soltiotis. We had to trust in the Tower Keeper from the moment we decided to rebel.”

Soltiotis stared at him for a moment, then sighed.

“We should have at least discussed it before blindly swearing to a new Tower Lord’s service!”

But then he, too, knelt down.

“But the others are right. The God of Light has already declared her support for you, Tower Keeper. I will do likewise.”

Belissar smiled at them all.

“Great! Then, first things first, let’s teach you all to take care of the bees!”

The four humans blinked once more. Sehfitis made an amused grin.

“Do not be mistaken. The God of Light does bless this Tower, but she is only a secondary patron here. Tower Keeper Belissar’s primary patron, as you may have guessed, is the God of Bees. It is only natural you learn how to worship her.”

Belissar nodded.

“You don’t have to be blessed by her, but I do want you all to try it out, at least. Please consider her, I owe her much.”

Sehfitis then glanced over at Beroura.

“Indeed, the God of Bees has few human followers at present, while the God of Light already has many. The God of Bees is new to the Conclave, even, and has no worshippers there yet. Those who would learn her ways would be performing a great service for the gods. I, in fact, could use some help in that task.”

Beroura jumped, then glanced around, then pointed at himself. Sehfitis nodded and Beroura’s eyes widened.

“I-If you would give me another chance, I would be honored, Augur!”

Belissar, however, suddenly stiffened. Sehfitis’s words brought something to his mind, particularly about the God of Bees having no followers or worshippers. Suddenly, Belissar remembered a mission he had yet to complete.

Mission: Revive the Order of Hive and Stinger in progress.

He had promised Captain Karpakynne he would help the pixies learn beekeeping for precisely that reason, to revive an order of pixie knights who once fought alongside bees. If he was going to teach these humans to take care of bees and hopefully to care for the God of Bees, then he should certainly invite the pixies along too.

But…he had another thought. Did the Order of Hive and Stinger have to remain a pixie-only group? His was teaching his own sworn defenders, karnuq and human both, to take care of bees and fight alongside them…exactly what the Order of Hive and Stinger was supposed to do. Captain Karpakynne had mentioned the order riding on bees which Belissar had thought only pixies could do…but the bumblebees were growing larger by the day. Plus, Paisijik had managed to accompany her bees by riding a wyvern. So…couldn’t humans and karnuqs now do everything the Order of Hive and Stinger was supposed to?

And wouldn’t it be appropriate for the sworn defenders of the God of Bees’ Tower to join an order dedicated to bees? Belissar quickly came to a decision.

“Hold that thought, everyone. I need to talk to some people before we get started. Hirkolos, can you guide everyone to the karnuq’s apiary? I’ll meet you all there.”

***

While Tower Keeper Belissar left on whatever business took him away, Hirkolos led the group to the karnuq’s apiary as requested. He caught sight of Paisijik and smiled, lifting his hand in greeting. She saw him and…

She frowned, then crossed her arms. Hirkolos stopped in his tracks.

“Oh, hi Hirkolos. It’s been a while.”

Hirkolos rubbed the back of his head.

“Hi Paisijik. Ah, yes, sorry, I’ve been busy with the other humans.”

Paisijik huffed.

“I understand that, but you should still drop by every now and again. The bees miss you, you know?”

A few of the First of the Ninths’ workers nearby turned to each other, twitching their antennae about.

“Miss nice one? But…nice one didn’t leave? Still in King’s realm? Still working with hive of hives?”

Paisijik didn’t comment on their dance, though, and Hirkolos felt he shouldn’t either. Instead, he just bowed his head.

“I’m sorry, I’ll make sure not to do it again.”

Paisijik narrowed her eyes.

“You’d better. I’d hate to think you forgot all about us the moment you met some of your own people again.”

But before Hirkolos could respond, something yellow and black began zipping past his eyes. Velebee had arrived and was now flying in circles around him.

“Nice one Hirkolos! Where been?! Why not visit?!”

Paisijik blinked, but then nodded along.

“Right?!”

Velebee, however, suddenly stopped her dance and started buzzing.

“Hive-burners! Why hive-burners here?! Will sting!”

Hirkolos quickly raised his hands.

“Ah, don’t sting them, Velebee! Tower Keeper Belissar and I are…going to teach them to be nice!”

Velebee stopped. Her antennae twitched about for a bit before she replied.

“Ok! Nice one is nice so will let teach. Let know if try burn hives, will sting. Oh! Know what do!”

Velebee started to glow with golden light, then flew over and tapped Hirkolos’s forehead with an antenna.

Mission received: Teach hive-burners be nice!

“There! Will help nice one if works!”

Hirkolos found that his words failed him.

Meanwhile, the four new human recruits were staring. Fulepou nudged Soltiotis.

“Is it just me, or is that bee talking…out loud? Like, not just through that fey translation magic?”

Soltiotis kept staring.

“I…uh…think I’m hearing it too.”

Sehfitis chuckled.

“That, my boys, is the Oracle of Bees.”

Beroura gasped.

“A real oracle? It’s my first time seeing one…”

Sehfitis smiled.

“And a sacred bee, channeling the power of the God of Bees herself.”

Beroura stared at the glowing bee with wide eyes.

“…this place is truly blessed by the gods, isn’t it?”

Sehfitis laughed once more, then shook his head.

“Oh…you don’t know the half of it yet…”

“Indeed! I bet you all wouldn’t…bee-lieve it if he told you!”

The four humans spun around as they heard an unknown voice talking behind them…but they found nothing but a bumblebee worker minding its own business…

Author’s Note:

Teaching hive-burners be nice? A laudable goal, though I’d rather King just take care of bees instead of non-bees. But I guess nice one was a hive-burner at one point, so I suppose it might work out.

Though, nice one himself has been getting distracted by non-bees and thus stopped taking care of the bees like he should, so maybe this is a net increase in silliness…

Anyways!

Can King and nice one teach hive-burners be nice? Can best dungeon master revive the Order of Hive and Stinger? Will nice one remember to take care of the bees? Tune in next time, to find out!