The Bee Dungeon

Chapter 374 - Bee-tween Loyalties

As the Tower Guard gathered outside, Belissar met with his own human allies. Hirkolos, Sehfitis, and General Rippotis’ liaison all stood before him. He looked at the liaison first.

“So...if any of Starami’s Tower Guard try to surrender, I’m planning to accept. Would General Rippotis have anything to say about it?”

The liaison stood at attention.

“No, Tower Keeper. Conclave policy is that prisoners belong to the Tower that captures them. The former Lord Starami has gone rogue, you are free to subjugate him and those who follow him as you deem fit.”

The liaison’s face scrunched up.

“Even if...they must be handed over to the fey...fair folk.”

Belissar didn’t plan to do that...but he also hadn’t actually thought about what to do with any Tower Lords who surrendered, so he didn’t reply to that just yet. Instead, he turned to Hirkolos. Hirkolos, however, spoke first.

“Tower Keeper Belissar, could I make a request?”

Belissar nodded and Hirkolos stood at attention.

“If the Tower Guard surrender, I would like to be the one to welcome them.”

Belissar furrowed his brow. That was what Belissar planned to ask Hirkolos, Henilett had suggested that the Tower Guard might be more comfortable surrendering to a human than to a monster, fair folk, or beastkin...but Belissar did have some reservations.

“Are you sure? It could be dangerous if they plan to betray us...”

Hirkolos stood firm.

“I’m sure, Tower Keeper. I was one of the first Tower Guards to hurt you and the first to realize that was wrong. If others are realizing that too, then I want to help them. I owe it to you, to them, and to the gods to try, no matter the risk.”

Sehfitis nodded along.

“I as well, Tower Keeper. As one of the augurs, I bear responsibility for the state of the Tower Guard and our failure to honor the gods. It is my duty now to help them understand the truth.”

Belissar glanced at both of them.

“I understand, thank you both, you’ll definitely help if it happens. I don’t want either of you to get hurt, though, so I’ll ask the bee army to prepare to help you in case something goes wrong.”

Both humans smiled and saluted to him. Belissar looked at them both a moment longer...they had originally been part of an attack on his Tower, but now Hirkolos and Sehfitis were part of it. They were the only two humans Belissar now trusted...the first two besides Mrs. Imkomos and his own parents. He realized now he didn’t want anything bad to happen to them...so he really hoped the Tower Guards weren’t lying to him about the surrender.

And one way or another, he’d soon find out. The Tower Guards around the entrance had just started to move...

Captain Auschias drew his sword and pointed it towards the Tower gates.

“Move in!”

At his command, Germistis blew the horn to signal an advance. The captains they had managed to speak with rallied their troops and began marching. Captain Auschias stepped forward while Beroura and another Tower Guard opened the gates.

Captain Auschias led his men into the Tower, into the large entry hall with the statues of the gods. He looked up towards the statue of the God of Light, finding it blocked off with canvases hastily patched together and strung on nails hammered into the walls.

The captain assigned to maintain the siege walked out of the Tower Guards’ assault camp to meet him, a frown on his face.

“Captain Auschias? The attack isn’t beginning yet, is it? Our lord has yet to return...and where is Starami’s Claw? You cannot survive the next room without them.”

Several Tower Guards had followed the siege captain...including Fulepou. Captain Auschias gave them a nod. As one, the Tower Guards escorting the siege captain drew their swords and pointed them at the siege captain’s neck and back. The Tower Guards remaining in the siege camp now rose to their feet. Half of them drew blades and moved to assist their captain...but the other half blocked their way on Auschias’ behalf.

Captain Auschias turned to the canvas blocking the God of Light’s statues and unleashed a fire breath over it. It was likely the last dragonbreath he’d ever breathe so he held nothing back. The canvas quickly burned away, revealing the God of Light’s statue in all its splendor. Captain Auschias did not miss that she now wore a smile on her face, not the stern look he had heard about. He had to move quickly though, so he tore his eyes away and unleashed his mana into the Tower’s.

“Tower Lord! We have come to surrender! All I ask is that you spare those who lay down their arms!”

In that instant, a crack of thunder echoed across the room. The Tower Guards Captain Auschias led cried out. Even Captain Auschias could not suppress a wince as a jolt of power raced through his body.

Stolen novel; please report.

You have broken your oath before the God of Dragons.

The God of Dragons revokes his blessings upon you.

Captain Auschias nearly stumbled as he felt his strength leave him...and yet, he felt relieved. The God of Dragons revoking his blessing had been a given but normally breaking an oath such as that carried worse punishment. That the God of Dragons merely withdrew his blessing was a sign that the gods were indeed displeased with Lord Starami.

Still, that left him and all who followed him as mere mortal men...the siege captain hadn’t realized it yet but they were hardly a threat to him now...nor to the monsters assigned to the siege camp. They had but moments before Lord Starami’s loyal defenders realized their weakness and moved to punish them.

All their hopes now rested upon the fey Tower Lord they had attacked coming to their aid.

“Over here!”

Before anyone had processed what had occurred, a vortex of light swirled into being in front of the God of Light’s statue, a previously hidden shortcut no doubt. And out of it stepped a young man in the uniform of a Tower Guard candidate, who called out to them in the tongue of the Conclave.

Captain Auschias raised his sword into the air before pointing it at the shortcut.

“Anyone who would not betray the God of Light, through that shortcut!”

The former Tower Guards that followed him regained themselves upon hearing his voice. They shook off the loss of their blessings as best they could and began marching towards the shortcut at a brisk pace. Captain Auschias stayed behind for now, not all of his followers could fit in this room at once so more would be marching in from outside.

The siege captain snarled as he grasped the situation.

“Traitor! Captain Auschias, in all my years, I would have never expected you of all people to become an oathbreaker!”

Captain Auschias shook his head.

“Captain Treustos, I abandon my duty to Lord Starami because he has abandoned his. To the Conclave and to the gods themselves. Will you do the same?”

Captain Treustos narrowed his eyes. He began to stir up his mana and reach for his sword...

The Tower Guards behind him stabbed him in the neck and the back. With their blessings gone, they struggled to pierce the captain’s armor and even his skin...but their blades were still well-made and enchanted to boot. The captain did not have his defenses up yet, so one of the blades slipped into a gap in his armor and into his neck. The enchanted blade managed to pierce through and Captain Treustos fell.

Captain Auschias froze for a moment, his entire torso going ice cold at the sight of a man he had trained and fought with being killed by his fellow Tower Guard. But before he could waver, the monsters in the room roared. Drakes on standby began to rampage through the siege camp, attacking the guards there that sided with Captain Auschias. The former Tower Guards fought back...but they no longer had the blessings to cut through drake scales or resist drake claws. And those guards who remained loyal to Lord Starami took the opportunity to attack as well, Auschias’s supporters in the siege camp were quickly cut down.

The monsters and Tower Guards who retained their blessings now turned their attention on the column of defectors trying to escape into the Tower. Captain Auschias grimaced, even as Fulepou, Beroura, and Germistis steeled themselves and formed a line in front of the siege camp. Without their blessings, the only way they’d hold the line would be through blood.

But before the loyalist force could attack, the Tower Guard candidate who had called out to them rushed into the room and stepped in front of the line. He held up his shield and stirred up his mana. Golden light took the shape of honeycomb and spread out in a barrier across the line.

“Go! We’ll hold them off!”

As the man spoke, a second shortcut appeared, this time by the bee statue that stood in the place reserved for the Tower’s main patron. A group of fey in silver armor and a swarm of monster bees charged out right when the loyal Tower Guards began attacking the barrier with their dragonbreath. The Tower Guard and drakes were blindsided, arrows struck their sides even as monster bees dove down from above. They fell back into the siege camp, activating defensive barriers and regrouping...but they were not attacking the deserters any longer.

Captain Auschias turned his full attention to getting his followers through the shortcut as quickly and smoothly as possible. The Tower Lord was already generous beyond expectations to intervene against the siege camp, but Starami’s Claw could attack at any time and Captain Auschias didn’t dare hope the Tower Lord would confront them on his behalf. He needed to get his people away before that happened...

Starami took several deep breaths in a row. Neither emotion nor haste could be tolerated, he reminded himself. The fey wanted him to rush. They wanted him to lash out in wrath and run right into their ambushes.

So, when his own Tower Guard betrayed him and began defecting to the enemy, Starami absolutely refused to react according to his emotions. He forced down the wrath bubbling inside his chest and the smoke wafting from his mouth. He resisted the urge to order his elites to cut down the traitors immediately, even as they crowded around the entrance to the rogue Tower. He forced himself to consider the situation with a ruthlessly objective eye.

The traitors consisted of Captain Auschias, a useful but limited man who had failed to achieve the heights necessary to become an elite, a bunch of rank and file who had only managed to achieve the minimum blessing to be counted as Tower Guards, and some surviving Tower Guard candidates from the supply base. They were hardly the core of Starami’s army, losing them would only lose him warm bodies to throw upon the fey’s defenses and he had plenty of kobolds for that job. If anything, losing them would reduce the burden on his now very limited supplies.

And they would be of no use to the fey. By leaving his service they had broken their oaths before the God of Dragons, they were now mere mortals who could not stand against even the weakest of Tower Guards. In truth, their loss meant little to Starami’s overall chances. He still had his elites, he still had his monsters, and he even still had the bulk of the Tower Guard with him.

Still, treason had to be punished and he could not let his remaining troops waver, morale was still an issue and this wouldn’t help. But there was no need to rush. His elites could intervene now, but they might run into a fey ambush while he was still away with the bulk of his army. So, Starami ordered them to hold their ground and stay their wrath.

He would soon arrive and lead the retribution himself, with the full might of his forces. The fey would not provoke him into spreading his strength, he would punish the traitors and the fey both on his own terms. And if some of the traitors managed to escape into the Tower in the meantime...then Starami would simply punish them later, should his assault succeed. The worst he could do to them, therefore, was to ignore them for now and instead focus on achieving victory over the fey. And even if he failed, it may be crueler to leave the traitors at the fey’s mercy. They may come to wish he had killed them.

So, Starami ordered his elites to wait for his return...and ordered his army to pick up their pace. He would be patient...but he would also destroy any of the traitors that remained when he arrived. He had already passed the fields and crossed down into the Underway, it would not be long before he could enact his retribution upon those who dared betray him...