The Bee Dungeon

PONon-Bee 371.3 - Bee Aware of Your Flanks

Captains Auschias and Kamchitis reported to the one member of Starami’s Claw that was uninjured, the one with a Water-aligned blessing. Said elite was entirely uninterested in running after what was likely another false alarm, so he left it to the captains to investigate. The majority of the soldiers and monsters in the main camp were to remain in case they were needed to maintain the Tower siege, so the captains could only take a few squads of Tower Guards on standby for such situations.

And so, the captains set off to the supply camp with roughly thirty grumbling Tower Guards in tow. Much fuss was made about false alarms, Hunger-bitten fey, and incompetent mages along the way...which was drowned out by the growing sounds of the detection barriers as the group mad their way down the largest of the supply tunnels. Captain Auschias held up a hand to bring the guards to a halt, then made the pre-arranged gesture to draw weapons and form a line. He had detected mana up ahead...

Every eye in the group widened when the source of the mana came into view. One of the Tower Guard candidates assigned to work in the supply base ran at a full sprint. He was in simple work clothes, without even a single piece of armor...so the Tower Guards could see the bleeding scratch on his shoulder. He had a wild look in his eyes, the moment he saw them he started waving his hands and shouted even over the din of the detection barriers.

“HELP!”

Captains Auschias and Kamchitis immediately leaped into action, marching down the tunnel at a rapid pace. The Tower Guards around them formed up and followed along without any prompting, all grumbling replaced with focus as the group rushed to the bottom of the tunnel.

They hit the bottom and confirmed that this was no false alarm.

Spiderkin and monsters poured out of another supply tunnel to their left, charging and launching arrows into the camp. Tower Guard candidates and supply couriers panicked and ran and tried to hide behind crates and barrels. Drakes and wyverns snarled and snapped at wolf-moles and night panthers and giant spiders, but they were heavy-laden with saddle bags and the spiderkin further tied them down with their web arrows. Kobolds ran amok, mostly getting in the way or running for the nearest tunnel, their wranglers on the ground and riddled with arrows.

Captain Auschias stepped forward to angle towards the nearest spiderkin, but Captain Kamchitis blocked him with his arm. Captain Kamchitis quickly pointed to Captain Auschias and the supply camp, then made the gesture for retreat, after which he turned towards the spiderkin to the left and created a mana barrier over his shield. Captain Auschias frowned but they had no time to argue, so instead he ran towards the center of the camp and unleashed his mana.

The detection barrier make a sound like shattering glass as it broke under the trigger for confirming an attack. His mana also washed over the scattered Tower Guard candidates, drawing their attention. But since they’re training wasn’t complete and they were also people who weren’t Tower Guards at all present, Captain Auschias lifted his sword high and shouted with a mana-boosted voice.

“TOWER GUARD, TO ME!”

He also lifted his shield and spread a mana barrier, blocking the arrows that he knew would come his way once he drew attention to himself. For the Tower Guard candidates and the civilian couriers, he was a lighthouse piercing through the storm. Every human in the room who heard him began rushing towards him...sprinting in blind panic. The spiderkin began shooting them down with ease.

Captain Auschias grabbed the closest armed guard candidate as the boy tried to run past him, spun him around, and pushed down on his shoulder.

“Tower Guard! Raise your shield!”

The candidate’s eyes quivered but Captain Auschias saw some focus return to them. The boy glanced down at the shield in his hand as if surprised to see it, only for an arrow to rush past his face. He quickly lifted the shield and hid behind it, pushing out what mana he could into a half-trained shield.

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Captain Auschias didn’t bother to correct his demeanor, instead spreading his own mana to firm up the candidate’s shield. An arrow flew straight towards the candidate...but just barely failed to penetrate the mana. The candidate blinked.

Other armed candidates saw this and ran towards the captain, hastily throwing up their shields. Those with mana and some amount of training tried to create mana barriers, others were only protected by the physical shields, but the act of joining the line started to create a drop of order in the sea of chaos. Those without shields or training started to take cover behind them, which at least stopped them from running in panic. Captain Auschias’ mana also touched the drakes and wyverns and kobolds that came from spawners, who reacted to the mana of their home Tower and started to charge in his direction, further drawing the attention of the spiderkin. Once he had a semblance of a formation and was certain the candidates beside him wouldn’t immediately break and scatter, he began to slowly march backwards, falling back towards the tunnel he arrived from at a steady pace.

In the meantime, Captain Kamchitis formed up the Tower Guards and lead a charge into the spiderkin pouring from the other supply tunnel. The group unleashed a joint fire breath that engulfed the next wave of spiderkin and monsters, catching them off-guard. The Tower Guard then charged into the fray, cutting down the burning survivors with mana-coated blades. Captain Kamchitis then split his group in two, one half standing at the entrance of the spiderkin’s entry tunnel to block off further reinforcements, the other half moving to attack the enemy in the supply base.

The arrival of true Tower Guards emboldened the candidates around Captain Auschias while also drawing the attention of the spiderkin. Captain Auschias was thus able to lead the survivors in a relatively orderly retreat.

He sent a final glance to Captain Kamchitis, but the other captain was occupied fending off a giant spider monster while also blocking arrows coming from spiderkin on the cavern’s ceiling. Captain Auschias hesitated no longer and led the survivors back into the supply tunnel he came from.

Once away from the battle, he abandoned pretense and began marching back towards the main base as fast as his legs could carry him. All the while...and not without a sense of irony...calling for Lord Starami’s attention with all the mana he could muster.

Lord Starami marched back from the fortress with his head held high. Many of the whispers and the glances his Tower Guard had been giving him before had all but vanished, replaced by a reminder of their lord’s overwhelming might. He still had his doubts about this campaign and the ease with which he had defeated the fey...but a victory was still a victory. Now was the time for him to display confidence and put some spine back into troops. The mischief of the fey? The displeasure of the gods? All things could be overcome with raw power, such was the way of a dragon.

And some of it was not an act at all. Now having won a victory in this campaign, Starami could look at things with a more objective eye. He could admit to himself now that he had panicked and lost his nerve. The failure to contain General Rippotis, the unexpected design of the rogue Tower, the displeasure of the gods, the legends of the fey...all of it had pushed him into unusual haste. He had been acting desperately, like a frightened child, and so had been clay in the fey’s hands. He had not acted like the mighty should.

But he was mighty and now he remembered it. The fey could be as mischievous as they liked, but they could not hide the fact that they feared his power. And even though the gods were displeased with him, they still had not stripped him of that power. He had not lost yet. He did not need the rush or to panic, this siege was the fey’s problem, not his. He simply needed to remain calm and use his power well, it would be the fey’s burden to stop him.

So, he marched back feeling much better about his chances than he had in a long time...until several of his Tower Guards began urging calling for his attention. He sent his Tower sight to them to see what the fuss was...and found a horde of spiderkin swarming over his supply base.

Starami came to a halt on his march. Spiderkin? Here? How was that possible? They were beyond the largest sea of Hunger the Conclave had ever encountered, how had spiderkin spread across it? And how had his army missed signs of an infestation this large in their initial sweeps? They dug the tunnels to and from the supply base, there shouldn’t have been any way for a swarm this large to go around them!

A moment later, he scowled, as he realized the answer. So, this was the fey’s plan! This was why they gave up their fortress with practically no resistance...they had already achieved their goal! They had spiderkin under their spell just waiting for an opportunity...and he had given it to them! They had hidden the route to the surface before, their agents slipped in and out of his detection barriers without a trace...could it be they concealed an entire spiderkin swarm too?!

Starami had just shown off his power...and it seemed the fey had responded in kind...