Webs & Wards (Beesong Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  “Were created perfectly legitimately,” Fayliss interrupted firmly, meeting Xinra’s surprised gaze as she stared back pointedly. “You may not like the strategy Yonra chose, but he won using the rules, not breaking them. I agree that the loophole should be fixed, yes, but undoing the creation of a species simply because you don’t like Yonra isn’t fair.”

  “Precisely. I have to side with Fayliss here,” Assyran agreed, his smile turning to a frown at last. “If we were to take back changes simply because someone disagreed with the strategy used to win, you would lose far more than Yonra, Xinra.”

  For a minute Xinra was silent, then she sat back suddenly, scowling as she crossed her arms defensively. “Fine, then. I still don’t like it.”

  “Speaking of the apis, how are they fitting in? I’ve spent a good deal of time figuring out what Yonra did, so I haven’t been paying attention,” Besalk asked, looking at Fayliss curiously.

  “They’ve been doing… oddly,” Fayliss replied, shifting in her chair as she considered what she’d seen over the past week, as well as being inwardly pleased with at least some of Yonra’s decisions. Despite her frequent annoyance with the god of chaos, she did rather like the apis. After a moment she continued. “There aren’t that many regions in the world where they can survive, since for the most part they can only get enough food in the giant flower regions or the jungles. That said, there are over a hundred hives, and aside from expanding quickly to fit their population, most of them are keeping to themselves and continuing as they have been.”

  “Really? That’s a little surprising… what about those that aren’t keeping to themselves?” Besalk asked, his eyes brightening.

  “The goblins in the Sandstone Mountains attacked a hive in the Viridian Sea,” Xinra interjected, a grudging smile appearing on her face as she continued. “They did decently at first, and in the end they managed to kill about a tenth of the hive before the apis rallied. When they did, though… the apis wiped out the entire attack force, and most of them are nearly level twenty already. Plus, with as fast as they reproduce, that loss isn’t going to last long. I think that the goblins are going to find they’ve met their match for the first time.”

  “There have also been a few minor conflicts between the apis and adventurers here and there, but for the most part there haven’t been any large-scale ones. I think most of the priesthoods are suggesting that caution is in order,” Fayliss added, glancing at Xinra speculatively. The admiration in Xinra’s voice at what the apis had done surprised her a little, but she wasn’t going to point that out. Instead she continued. “I don’t believe that anyone realizes how powerful or organized the apis will be. The only thing that really would contain them is their ability to find food. In any case, I’ve mostly been impressed by a handful of individual apis who’ve left their hives. One of them in particular nearly managed to kill an incubus baron who’s over level forty, and she is only level eleven. She’s a clever girl, I must say.”

  “That… is impressive. Not unheard of, but impressive,” Besalk said, sitting back and smiling in amusement. “I think I’ll have to have a look at them. I’ll admit, Yonra does have a way of shaking things up.”

  “For good or for ill,” Xinra muttered, her smile fading, and Fayliss couldn’t help a nod.

  She didn’t like thinking about what Yonra might be up to, but it wasn’t something she was going to dwell on. Not when Fayliss had far more pressing concerns: paying attention to her various worshippers, as well as trying to figure out how to convert some of the apis to her service. They really were rather interesting.

  Chapter 1

  “They won’t sell it to you,” Joy said, her tone matter of fact, and Cora couldn’t help a blink as she looked back into the apis’s odd eyes, with her bright yellow irises inside black sclera. The apis was pretty, with long blonde hair with black streaks and the odd black antennae protruding from her forehead. Joy’s usual smile was much fainter than normal, though, and she shifted, her translucent wings buzzing behind her briefly.

  “Why not? I know that it’s valuable, based on what you told the others when I was unconscious, but why wouldn’t they even consider selling us some of this… pure royal jelly?” Cora asked, a little perplexed at how confident Joy seemed. “Even if they don’t want money, we could always buy them something they would find valuable, I’d think.”

  “It isn’t that! It’s that making it is really really hard. Every apis eats royal jelly when we hatch, it’s what lets us grow up so fast,” Joy replied quickly, shrugging and grinning. “Queens eat only that as a larva, it’s why they’re queens! But pure royal jelly takes a lot of royal jelly to make, and they refine it more, kind of like nectar turns into honey. I didn’t make it myself, but I think it took months to make some. My being given some was incredible, and a major sacrifice for the hive. They won’t sell it.”

  “Are you saying that we shouldn’t even try? I mean, that’s how you were going to become a queen, right?” Brianna asked, looking at Joy skeptically, her eyes narrowed. “You’re a friend and sacrificing something like that… it’s huge.”

  “No it isn’t. I’m a worker, and we sacrifice ourselves for the good of the hive. To me, you’re all kind of like queens,” Joy replied simply, smiling the entire time. “But if you really want to go ask them, go ahead! I just don’t think they’ll sell it.”

  Stella glanced at Cora and quirked an eyebrow, prompting Cora to smile wryly, shaking her head as she said. “Well… I can’t not try, after what you did for me. Do you want to come with us?”

  “No, no, I want to look around town, and they asked me to leave. It wouldn’t feel right to go back,” Joy said, shaking her head quickly.

  “In that case, why don’t I stay here with her?” Stella offered, looking at Cora and Brianna, her eyes warm as the dark-skinned woman shrugged. “It isn’t that far from the hive, and I don’t want someone luring Joy into making a bad decision.”

  “I’m not going to just believe anyone I run into! You’ve warned me about that!” Joy protested, but the yellow sheen to her cheeks brightened slightly, prompting Cora to look at her skeptically, recognizing the apis’s blush.

  “No, but you also are far too trusting, and I could see someone managing to convince you something was far more valuable than it is. I heard about what happened with the yellow dress, you know… Helen told me that James barely stopped you from paying ten times the price listed on its tag,” Cora said, glancing at Brianna in amusement. “I think having someone nearby to help you is a good idea.”

  “Agreed,” Brianna said firmly, grinning as she added, “The two of us can go to the hive while you shop. I just don’t want to hear about you spending all of your money in one place, alright?”

  “Alright…” Joy said, looking a little resigned, then her antennae perked up. “Still, tell the workers I said hello! I hope they’re doing well!”

  “Sure, we can do that,” Cora said, then laughed softly, a hint of morbid humor welling up as she added, “Assuming they don’t drive me off, anyway! I did attack the hive.”

  “We’ll see when we get there,” Brianna said, shrugging. “At least we’ll have time to run, if so.”

  Cora nodded, and Stella took the chance to stand, speaking calmly. “In that case, why don’t the two of you go? I know there’s supposed to be that meeting at the guild tonight, and you don’t want to be late.”

  “True, true,” Brianna agreed, standing up as well, groaning slightly as she stretched. “Gods, it’s been an eventful few days.”

  “Hopefully it’ll settle down a little. That was… unpleasantly exciting,” Cora said, wrinkling her nose. “I’d like to avoid it in the future.”

  “See you later!” Joy chirped, bouncing to her feet, and all but dashed for the doors, which made Cora wince, wondering what the apis wanted to purchase so much. With as enthusiastic as Joy was, it could be good or bad.

  Stella laughed, nodding to them as she pursued the apis, a warm smile on her face.r />
  “At least one of them is sensible,” Cora murmured, prompting a laugh from Brianna.

  “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t change Joy even if I could. She’s a lovely ray of sunshine in the darkest of moments,” Brianna said, her smile turning a bit wistful as she added, “If it weren’t for her… well, I was worried, you know? I thought I was going to lose you, Cora.”

  “I thought I was going to die, too. I had no idea Joy was holding on to something like that,” Cora said, shaking her head in disbelief. When the demon’s spell had been ravaging her body, she’d known she was going to die and there was no way out of it. Then Joy had sacrificed her pure royal jelly to save her, something Cora couldn’t have asked her for, yet the apis had done it without hesitation. That was touching in a way that Cora couldn’t quite describe, and the elf was determined to pay Joy back for it, one way or another.

  “Me neither,” Brianna agreed, and nodded toward the door. “Shall we? I’m curious to see just what an apis hive is like, after seeing what Joy can do with her wax. There might not be much to it yet, but who knows for sure?”

  “Fair. It was just a hole in the ground when I visited, but that was before they changed,” Cora agreed, and taking her staff from the holder in the corner, then nodded to herself. “Alright, let’s go.”

  Chapter 2

  Joy leaned down in front of the stand, resisting the urge to salivate as she sniffed gently, barely able to smell the honey within the jars. The honey in each jar looked the same from the outside, but she knew better, since the fragrance from within told the tale, and she half-closed her eyes, inhaling again as her wings buzzed slowly behind her.

  “Joy? Is there something strange about the honey?” Stella asked, amusement in her voice.

  “Lavender with a touch of clover,” Joy said happily, pointing at the first jar, then continued, moving across the jars. “Honeysuckle and orange blossoms. Peach and apricot. Ooh, pear and plum, that smells good! This one is a nice medley, with a slight preponderance of tulips, too.”

  “You can tell all of that from the smell?” the vendor asked, prompting Joy to open her eyes fully again, looking up to meet the bearded man’s surprised gaze. “I mean, I know you’re an apis, but I thought honey was honey.”

  “What? Oh no, of course not!” Joy said, shaking her head firmly. “No, the nectar of different flowers is very different, and a good mix of nectar is vital to a good honey. Not that ones made from a single type of flower aren’t particularly tasty, but they aren’t as good for us. That’s what the humblebees said, anyway!”

  “Humblebees?” the man asked, blinking several times.

  “That’s what the apis call their priests,” Stella explained, shrugging as she looked at Joy. “Are you getting anything here, then?”

  “Um, while I’d like to, I think I’ll come back later,” Joy said, looking at the jars longingly, particularly at the pear and plum honey, but forced herself to stand. “While a treat is good, I wasn’t planning to shop for honey. I wanted to see if I could find some silver ore.”

  “Silver ore? What do you need silver ore for?” Stella asked curiously, the woman’s expression growing more intent, to Joy’s rising amusement.

  “That is a secret!” Joy replied triumphantly, grinning at the human as she rolled her eyes, but the woman couldn’t help her own smile.

  “If you say so,” Stella said, shaking her head as she added, “Also, we’re in the wrong part of the market if you want ore. That’s on the other side of the market, near the blacksmiths.”

  “Oh, whoops. I just went in the direction of what smelled good,” Joy said, blushing as she grinned at Stella. “Thanks for coming with me!”

  “Not a problem,” Stella said, nodding to the man as she added, “We’ll see you later.”

  “Sounds good to me,” the merchant said, shaking his head as Joy headed back into the colorful crowds, practically bouncing in excitement while Stella following in her wake.

  She had so many plans for the silver, now that she’d passed tenth level. Joy wasn’t sure how she knew that she could use it, but the possibilities were exciting.

  * * *

  “Ack!” Cora exclaimed, diving out of the way of the superheated spray of foul-smelling liquid, and dirt ground into her robes as she rolled behind a huge leaf.

  Sizzling and bubbling sounds filled the air as there was a sound like heavy raindrops slamming into a forest, and Cora flinched as she saw the leaf bubbling where the spray had hit it.

  “You okay?” Brianna asked breathlessly, then yelped. “Ow! Stop it, you oversized bug!”

  Cora peeked out from behind the leaf and blanched as she saw the beetle Brianna was on top of pull away from the rocks it’d just slammed her friend into. The horse-sized beetle was yellow with mottled red spots, and it was swaying back and forth violently, trying to dislodge Brianna as well as the sword buried in its back.

  Another beetle was nearby, and its abdomen was curled around to point in Cora’s direction, which prompted Cora to quickly pull her head back before it sprayed again. The smell was terrible, but that was what they got for not keeping as close of watch over their surroundings as they should have. Bombardier beetles were one of the more serious threats in the Flower Forest.

  “I’m fine! You? This isn’t a rodeo!” Cora replied, standing up again and brushing off her robe, her thoughts racing. The cone a bombardier beetle could spray was rather wide, which made fighting them difficult at best.

  “My sword is stuck!” Brianna snarled, prompting a wince from Cora. “Incoming!”

  “Crap. Oh shit,” Cora yelped, just as the beetle stepped around the edge of the leaf, its mandibles working as its abdomen arched again. She jumped to the side, and barely in time as it unleashed a boiling, hissing spray of liquid, while she kept running, circling the giant insect.

  The beetle turned quickly, the spray continuing for what seemed like an eternity as Cora barely stayed ahead of it, one hand holding her robes high enough that she could keep moving. If the spray hit her, Cora was certain that if she didn’t die, she’d wish she was dead, as the liquid was well past the point of boiling when it came out of the insect. While she ran, her thoughts raced, and she grimaced, gritting her teeth as she came up with an idea.

  “Die, you stupid, pain in the ass—” Brianna yelled behind Cora, and Cora caught a glimpse of her friend with a dagger out, viciously stabbing the beetle she was on top of in the head, using her sword as a handhold.

  Then the spray ended, and Cora screeched to a halt, spinning to face the beetle that had been attacking, with it far too close for her comfort, pointing her staff at its midsection as she exclaimed, “Lightning Blast!”

  An orb of electricity slammed into the insect, causing it to convulse slightly, but Cora knew that wouldn’t last, not based on some previous experience. Instead, while it twitched she lowered her aim and cast another spell. “Ice Blast!”

  The orb of freezing cold slammed into the tip of the bombardier beetle’s abdomen, encasing it in a layer of freezing ice, and the creature shuddered, then started to move again. Cora turned tail and ran again, her voice taut. “I hope this works!”

  The beetle shook off the electricity and turned to Cora, its abdomen arching around for yet another spray, and Cora ducked behind a gigantic tulip stem this time, her heart pounding as she braced herself for yet another spray.

  There wasn’t any sound for a moment, then a muffled bang split the air, and there was a horrific squelching sound as bits began to rain over the forest floor. Brianna gagged loudly, then demanded, “Oh. Oh gods. What did you do?”

  Cora peeked around the edge of the stem, and her eyes went wide. The beetle Brianna was on had stopped moving, and her friend was staggering, trying to cover her nose to protect herself from the foul gag-worthy stench that filled the air, and yellow liquid had sprayed across Brianna’s armor and hair. Cora’s stomach lurched a little, and she looked at the spot where the beetle had been.

  There wasn’t much
in the spot, but bits of yellow gunk had been blasted across the forest floor, including chunks of exoskeleton and a mostly-intact upper body of the beetle that was still twitching from where it was caught in some thorns thirty feet away. Cora swallowed her bile, trying to speak.

  “I… I plugged the sprayer,” Cora said, barely able to talk as she shuddered. “I thought it’d… keep it from spraying, not do that.”

  “Gods… gods, the smell! It’s all over me!” Brianna said, pulling her sword out of her victim as she retched.

  “I… how about we go hit the river first? I… I think you need to wash off,” Cora said, barely resisting the urge to vomit at this point. “We don’t need what they drop.”

  “No shit!” Brianna agreed, gasping as she began rushing away from the beetles, and Cora followed her as quickly as she could.

  This wasn’t how she’d wanted the trip to the apis hive to start.

  * * *

  “Um, what the hells?” Brianna protested, stopping in shock, while Cora stood with her mouth agape. Both of them were still a little damp from washing off in the river, but that wasn’t something that felt like it mattered, not under the circumstances.

  The last time Cora had been here, there’d been a few honeycombs in sight, along with the odd paper around many hives, but otherwise the hive had been little more than a large cave entrance, nothing more. She’d heard that a few other adventurers had come out to take a look since then, and they’d said that the apis were building, but she hadn’t gotten any details from them.

  Now, she could hardly even recognize the area. A huge, hexagonal palisade had been constructed around the area, though where they’d gotten the trees from was a question Cora couldn’t answer, and the trees were connected by thick layers of wax. The base of the palisade was made from stones, and Cora thought that they were mortared together, but she couldn’t be sure. Either way, the ten-foot tall palisade would have been something of a surprise on its own, but that wasn’t the extent of it. It was the towers that truly shocked her.