The Bee Dungeon

PONon-Bee 375.1 - To Harm a Dragon

Starami drove off the healers from their tent while the members of his Claw stood in silence, poor expressions on their faces. Starami snarled as a fresh wave of pain shot through his body.

He had burns, pricks, and stings all over. His vision was still cloudy and he was still finding ethereal stingers left in his body, continuing to inflict additional pain upon him. Worse still, the healers proved unable to heal the wounds, the best they could do was alleviate the pain.

After all, the wounds were not merely physical. The gods themselves had struck him...and yet, he endured. He ignored the pain and rose to his feet. His elites frowned.

“My lord...”

Starami rumbled.

“I know what that room is. A Hall of Purification, a holy room said to be gifted to only the most devout of Tower Lords of Light. A room that can annihilate entire purification waves outright and test the hearts of challengers.”

Klinpidas the Dragonblade furrowed his brow.

“Then...the gods truly do stand against us? Are we going to retreat?”

Starami narrowed his eyes.

“No.”

All of his remaining elites stared at him as he clenched his fists.

“All the trickery of the fey. All the monsters and traps a rogue Tower could employ without restraint. Subhumans ambushing us from below. Now even a direct blow from the gods. And yet...we still stand. The gods themselves have failed to strike us down, our bodies may be maimed but our power is undiminished. The fey have tried every trick imaginable to redirect our blades, they even have the gods supporting them...but they still fear to challenge us directly. I have already decided that I will assault this Tower with all my might, that I will bet my life on victory. I will not stop now, not until my foes fall before me or every ounce of my power is spent.”Starami paused to take a breath.

“And if the gods do not want to see this Tower destroyed? Then let them tell the fey to submit! The Hall of Purification cannot be used continuously, the gods have missed their chance to destroy me! Come, we shall punish the fey for their mistake and show the world that no one, not fey, subhuman, or the gods themselves, can stand before our might! The dragons in human form!”

The members of Starami’s Claw started to grin and chuckle, the air hummed as their mana stirred. Starami marched out of the tent, holding his head high and his back straight in spite of the pain.

Starami had reached his limit, fire raged in his chest and demanded to be released. Everything had conspired against him this past year: his idiot progeny had failed to claim a Tower out of sheer stupidity, that conniving Stadvolous had used every opportunity to suppress him, the fey had conspired to whisk General Rippotis away, and now even the gods themselves acted against him. An entire lifetime of effort and planning had been brought to the brink of ruin in mere months by one instance of abysmal judgement and all that transpired from it, while every power in the Conclave and indeed the world seemed intent upon stripping away everything he had achieved.

Starami now decided that if he was going to lose everything...then he would not surrender quietly. If the fey and the gods had the power to stop him, then he would force them to use it. If the entire world wanted to take all that he had, then he would make them pry it from his cold, dead hands.

So, Starami marched from his tent. The Tower Guard watched his every move, he spoke to them a single command.

“Follow.”

Then he marched to the Tower, his mana blazing and forming a dragon around him. His true dragon landed behind him, kicking up dust and shaking the ground as it landed. Starami’s Claw marched with it, forming dragons of their own, a procession of raw power that dared anyone to challenge them, even the gods.

This story has been stolen from novelhall. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The Tower Guard wore shameful expressions, but they obeyed and formed up behind him. Starami marched right into the Tower, completely undeterred by the power of the gods that had struck against him.

They would need more than that to stop a dragon.

Meanwhile, Captain Karpakynne frowned when her home and workplace of the last few days started to dive down towards the Tower.

“Time to go.”

The digging monster bee assassin buzzed but obediently took off. Captain Karpakynne followed along with a sigh, the both of them heading towards the nearest external shortcut hidden in the woods.

Well, they hadn’t killed the dragon after all. She glanced at the lance in her hands. Maybe it wouldn’t be that easy to restore the Order of Hive and Stinger after all. Maybe there was something she was missing.

She shook her head and focused on flying as fast as she could. One way or another, the battle still raged. Maybe she’d get another chance to bring down a foe with the bees. She only hoped she hadn’t wasted the past few days, she could’ve used that time against all the mortals below...

Starami marched right through the Hall of Purification. He knew now why the fey had not bothered to break the siege, they had the power to eliminate any purifications regardless of his army’s interference. He hadn’t been besieging them in any meaningful way at all.

That would now change. As he had predicted, the fey did not trigger the Hall of Purification again. Could not, otherwise they certainly would not have held back as he crossed the room with his full power. He came to a stop at the entrance to the deadly water room and shifted his dragon cloak into a more aquatic form. Ansari may have been the best in his Tower at channeling the power of sea dragons, but he was not the only one who could. He gave his command via Tower message, giving the fey no opportunity to overhear his intent.

“We will all traverse this room at once. Ansari will lead the way, I, the dragon, and Starami’s Claw shall follow with every Water-aligned Tower Guard. Ansari will clear a path, we will use our cloaks to strengthen the weak. Stand fast and show me your might if you wish to survive.”

The weaker Tower Guards were not encouraged by his mana-laden command but Starami didn’t care. He and each of Starami’s Claw gathered as many stronger Tower Guards and monsters into their dragon cloaks as they could. The true dragon did not form a visible cloak but it did not need to, a true dragon could endure in practically any environment for at least a limited time.

The other Tower Guards with any skill in the Water-attribute formed dragon cloaks or Water barriers as they were able around groups of weaker Tower Guards and monsters. They fidgeted and gulped when they thought Starami wasn’t looking, but they knew his command was absolute as his mana gripped them.

Then, as one, the army marched into the room of instant death.

Immediately, water pressed against Starami’s dragon cloak but failed to break through his defenses. As he commanded, Ansari took the vanguard while Starami and the rest of his elites formed up around the weaker Tower Guards, letting their cloaks block at least some of the water and mana for the group. Starami considered doing it the other way around to save his elites’ mana...but decided that would be inefficient. The room was a known environmental hazard that cost the fey no additional expenditure; any casualties taken, even among the weak, would be a pure loss for his side. It was better to preserve the weak until they could be used to drain the fey’s strength...or to scout out whatever new tricks the fey had further in the Tower.

As one, the group began swimming forward towards the mana storm. An underwater river of incredible pressure blocked their path...and Ansari swam right into it, cutting it in two. Starami and his other elites went next, tightening their formation so their dragon cloaks overlapped. The weaker Tower Guards within their formation managed to survive after all.

Next they passed through a region of Dark mana that blocked all senses...but that was irrelevant with Starami present and in direct mana contact with his subordinates. He could simply guide them and keep them together even if none of them could perceive anything else around them. The formation would not break because of mere darkness...

Then he heard a woman giggle.

Something lashed against his dragon cloak, wrapping around it and trying to peel it away. Starami narrowed his eyes.

“Be on guard, the fey are here.”

Unfortunately, it turned out their formation was not perfect, Starami did not have enough elites for complete coverage. One of the weaker Tower Guards was suddenly yanked out of the protection of the formation, his barrier and passengers along with him. Starami’s perception of those sworn defenders was immediately cut off, indicating they had perished.

Starami took a deep breath and let out a dragon breath, this time channeling the power of a Light dragon. The volatile ambient mana from the storm rushed towards him, putting additional pressure on his dragon cloak, but he ignored it. He unleashed a burst of light from his mouth, piercing through the Dark mana all around them and momentarily illuminating the room.

For a brief instance, Starami caught sight of a woman in the distance. Her body was blue and transparent, blending into the water around her if not for his light reflecting off her and making her glow, while her hair was formed in tendrils that waved around her face like an eerie halo. She wore a vicious grin on her face, seemingly making eye contact with him in the brief moment before she melded back into the depths.

It seemed this room was no longer unoccupied...