BD - POBear 249.1 - Bear-ly Acceptable Outcome

Having made his decision, Belissar had the bees move the spiderkin eggs to the Orchard grove, clustering them around the trunks of the trees. He wanted them close to the bee army if they did turn out to be hostile after they hatched, but didn’t want them exposed to purifications in the battle meadow, so he figured keeping them in the main shortcut room was the best compromise. After setting them in place, he asked the Second of the Sixth’s hive to take a closer look. She brought over some of her brood tender workers who crawled around the eggs, inspecting them with their antennae. Belissar watched over them and waited for their verdict.

After spending a few minutes inspecting each egg, a few of the brood tenders flew over to him to report.

“Eggs fine, will grow on own!”

Belissar let out a small sigh. It would have been awkward to get all worked up over these eggs if they wouldn’t even hatch, so it was a relief to hear they would be fine.

“Great, thanks for checking. Do they need anything?”

“Eggs drinking mana! Don’t need, but still doing.”

Belissar tilted his head.

“Any idea why?”

The bees swayed about as their dance slowed down.

“Don’t know, sorry.”

Belissar shook his head and gave them a smile.

“It’s fine, you’ve done a great job. Well, we might as well make sure they have mana, just in case they need it. Let me know if there’s any changes or if they need anything.”

The bees picked up again.

“Ok!”

Belissar then created a dozen spell bees, one for each egg. The spell bees landed on the eggs and then melted into them, suffusing the shells with mana. Belissar glanced up at Niobee.

“Hey Niobee, can you have the bees remind me to give the eggs mana each day?”

“Ok!”

Belissar smiled at his ever reliable friend.

“Thanks Niobee. I guess we’ll see how they grow.”

With that, Belissar finished up a long day.

***

In the karnuq settlement, Chief Rohsuak stood before her people as they ate their breakfast. She took a deep breath, letting her mana heat up the air as she exhaled it. Ever since she took charge, she had learned to hone her emotions, unleashing them only if and when she deemed it helpful. A critical skill for any berserker, much less one in a position of leadership.

She would need that skill today. She turned and nodded at Metsaitti, who shouted on her behalf.

“Everyone listen up! The Chief has announcements to make!”

The sounds of morning chit chat and eating died down as the karnuq all turned to face her. She thanked Metsaitti before straightening her back as best she could.

“As you all know, yesterday was a great victory. For the first time since our sojourn began, we not only fended off a spiderkin attack, but destroyed their nest and drove them from the area.”

The whole clan erupted into cheers. Chief Rohsuak gave them a few minutes to express their joy before she moved onto the hard part. She took a deep breath once they had settled down.

“Regarding the survivors, Tower Keeper Belissar has decided to take in and raise the unhatched spiderkin eggs.”

A deathly silence fell over the clan. Eventually, Juosiutik was the one to break it, a dark look on her face.

“Chief…you can’t be serious, right? Tower Keeper Belissar…is going to raise a spiderkin nest?”

Chief Rohsuak looked her in the eye.

“I am, and he is.”

The spell was broken as the whole clan erupted in protest. Chief Rohsuak let them vent for a bit before imbuing her voice with her mana. A small jet of flame shot from her mouth as she shouted.

“ENOUGH!”

The whole clan fell silent at her outburst. She slowly moved her gaze across them, giving an intense look at each and every one of them. She allowed her own anger to smolder and color her voice.

“I know well what we have lost to the spiderkin and the danger they pose. I have expressed the risks to the Tower Keeper and he has made his decision. This is his will, they are now under his protection. And you all know the Tower Keeper’s number one rule: do not harm his people. The same protection he extends to his bees, and to us as well, he now extends to them. None of us shall harm them, understood?”

The entire clan looked like she had shoved something bitter in their mouths, which she effectively had. She herself didn’t feel comfortable with the situation. But she had long learned that she could not allow her emotions to make decisions for her, at least not without considering the consequences in full.

And she had known that this situation had been inevitable. Tower Keeper Belissar was not a karnuq of their clan, nor were they bees of his hives. They had lived entirely different lives before meeting, it was only a matter of time before they encountered an issue they could not agree on. The fury they had for their spiderkin enemies was matched by the fury Belissar had for his Tower Lords and the ways they had apparently acted.

She had decided what she would do in this circumstance back when she had decided to swear to his service. Try to convince him if she could, submit if she could not. She had decided to bet her people’s future on Belissar, but that required that they follow him loyally, even when they’d rather not. This was the moment when their relationship with the Tower Keeper would be tested.

Which meant that she now had to convince her people to at least tolerate the presence of their greatest enemy.

She waved her hand across their village. The homes the bees had helped them build, the fields of crops providing them with a permanent source of food, even the plates and utensils they were currently holding.

“Remember, we have sworn to Tower Keeper Belissar’s service, and he has repaid us for it well. So, when you think on all that we have lost to the spiderkin, think also of all that the Tower Keeper has given us. Think of the future we now have because of his provision and protection. Think of all that we stand to lose if we betray his trust now. A debt of blood is hard to forgive, but remember that it is the Tower Keeper who keeps us from losing anyone more. If we had not had the support of his bee army, the metal and alchemical ingredients from his Tower, the blessings from his patron, or the weapons from his allies, we would not have defeated these spiderkin at all. He has earned the right to make this decision.”

Her people’s expressions eased ever so slightly, but they still hadn’t accept it. She needed to make one final push…for both them and herself.

“And consider that these are not the same spiderkin who killed our people. These are infants who have not even been born yet. The Tower Keeper is not commanding us to befriend our enemies. He is commanding us not to harm children who have yet to harm anyone.”

One of the karnuq furrowed his brow.

“But what happens when they hatch and attack us?”

Chief Rohsuak gave him a pointed look.

“If they are hostile when they hatch, then the Tower Keeper has declared he will deal with them. He is keeping them with his bees, they are more than capable of handling a few young spiderkin. We will not be attacked by them, regardless of if they are hostile or not. Trust in the Tower Keeper even if you cannot trust the spiderkin children.”

She moved another intense glare across the clan.

“But that means that, to fulfill your oaths to the Tower Keeper as witnessed by the gods themselves, you will NOT act violently if you see those spiderkin children in the future. Trust that Tower Keeper Belissar, who has protected us so far against both shade and spiderkin, will continue to do so. He won’t suffer us to harm them, but neither has he suffered them to harm us. The corpses of the spiderkin lying in the ground beneath us attest to that.”

The clan still looked uncomfortable, but they slowly began to nod. Chief Rohsuak finally relaxed her expression and slowly exhaled her breath.

“That is all. Now, let’s continue building our new lives here, in the abundance and safety of Belissar’s Tower.”

She finally hunched over as the karnuq began scattering to their morning tasks. She sighed once more. Metsaitti looked over to her in concern.

“Are you ok?”

She chuckled.

“I’m old. Probably too old for this. How strange it is that the Blazing Berserker was now asking her people to forgive a blood debt. I never would have forgiven such a debt myself in my youth.”

Metsaitti chuckled.

“When you were younger, you also would have charged into a spiderkin nest alone immediately upon encountering them.”

Chief Rohsuak rolled her eyes before joining in his chuckle.

“Lucky us I’m too old for that.”

She then gave him a serious look.

“What about you? What do you think of this?”

Metsaitti shook his head.

“I’m concerned as the rest of them. I’ve never heard of a spiderkin of any age who wasn’t hostile to everything around them and I’ve lost friends to them like we all have.”

He then cracked a small smile and stirred up his mana, warming the air around them with a faint buzzing noise.

“But I’ve also never heard of monster bees, the God of Bees, or humans. And now I use the blessing of the God of Bees to fight alongside monster bees on behalf of a human. So, if the Tower Keeper wants to try and raise some spiderkin eggs, I won’t be the one to tell him he can’t. As you said, he’s earned that much trust from us.”

Chief Rohsuak smiled back at that. Metsaitti then dropped his smile.

“I do think we need to inform him of all of our past enemies, though. He needs to know who we have bad blood with before we encounter any more. This whole affair makes it clear he won’t be pleased if we resume any old fights.”

Chief Rohsuak just nodded silently at that.

Author’s Note:

Ugh, the karnuq being silly non-bees again. Don’t they know that as long as another hive’s bee offers nectar and pollen and then coats themselves in your hive’s pheromones that you just accept them and put them to work?

…the eggs haven’t offered nectar and pollen yet? That’s…um…well, I’m sure they’ll gather some eventually! And if they don’t, they’ll just get the sting, so it’s fine! So yes, the non-bees are just being silly!

Anyways!

Can Belissar and the bees take care of the spiderkin eggs? Will they become hostile when they hatch? Will the karnuq accept them if not? Tune in next time, to find out!