“Sure! I’m excited to meet this other hive, it’s also why I bought so much lemonade!” Joy said, slipping on her pack and adjusting it, then nodded firmly. “I’m sure they’ll like it too.”
Cora laughed, opening the door to lead the way out. She’d already had breakfast, so the only thing they needed to do was find Brianna and Stella so they could leave. In fact, somewhat to Cora’s surprise, neither of the other women were waiting for them upstairs or in the common room. Cora considered, then shrugged, instead returning the key to the innkeeper, which the ruddy-faced man accepted with a smile.
Joy almost bounced over to the window, peering through the open shutters as she hummed and bounced to herself, and the scratching of a maid sweeping the floor was barely audible over the conversations of the inn’s other guests, most of whom were fellow adventurers. From the sound of things, Cora suspected that most of them were just getting started in their jobs and were primarily learning by hunting the low-level monsters around the city.
A minute later Stella came down the stairs, giving a gentle nod as she returned her key to the innkeeper as well, then approached Cora, her voice calm. “Are we waiting on Brianna, then?”
“That’s right. Once she’s here, we can get moving,” Cora confirmed, glancing at Joy as she considered, then asked, “How bad do you think the Teeming Jungle will be? I’ve never been to a jungle before, and with it being suitable for up to level twenty adventurers… well, I’m a bit nervous.”
“You were gathering information too,” Stella pointed out, and Cora couldn’t help a slight blush, but the human just shrugged. “That said… from what I heard, it shouldn’t be too bad. Not many adventurers go there for the most part, just a handful at any one time since it doesn’t have many useful ingredients compared to other areas appropriate for the level.”
“Mm… that isn’t too different from what I learned, either. There are enough other areas in the kingdom for that level range that are considered better to adventure in that it just isn’t popular, coupled with how close it is to the border,” Cora agreed, letting out a soft sigh. “Still, we aren’t that far away, on the whole.”
“True, and—” Stella began, then fell silent as Brianna entered the room, looking more awake than she had at breakfast. Brianna headed straight for the innkeeper, and Stella watched her, an impassive look on her face.
Cora sighed, looking to make sure Joy wasn’t too close. The apis was watching a bird in the street outside in fascination, so Cora spoke softly. “You’re still having trouble with Brianna?”
“She disrespected my faith and my goddess. I can’t say I’m… upset with her, but I also don’t trust her like before,” Stella said calmly, glancing at Cora and giving a reluctant smile. “I suppose I shouldn’t be so frustrated due to a single comment, but… I’ve had trouble with it before. It’s another part of why I came east.”
“I’m sorry,” Cora replied, wincing in sympathy for Stella, her worry growing stronger. She’d honestly thought that they were getting along well, and had hoped that the four of them might form a more permanent adventuring group. Even if Joy ended up leaving after she became a queen, there was always the hope of getting another companion, but if Brianna and Stella didn’t get along… well, it wasn’t something she could do anything about.
“Don’t be. You haven’t done anything to upset me, and you can’t control anyone else,” Stella replied, looking away from Brianna and smiling a little more warmly, then nodded toward Joy with a grin. “Just like no one can control her. Goddess knows what’s going through her head some days.”
“Yes, well, I think it’s fairly straightforward, most of the time. Joy just wants to enjoy life, in the time she has. She’s mentioned that enough times,” Cora said, then nodded as Brianna approached. “Hey, Bri. Ready to go?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Brianna said, smiling broadly and rolling her shoulders. “I suppose it’s time for us to run into a challenge, for a change. Well, aside from the nightmare of the mines… but how were we supposed to prepare for that?”
“True, true… but that’s why I bought a couple of potions, just to be safe,” Cora replied, cringing when she thought about how much the two potions had cost. One was a potent antitoxin, while the other was a healing potion, which would have saved her life the previous time around, but they also cost about as much apiece as the staff she’d ordered. It was ridiculously expensive for their level, but she wasn’t going to leave things to chance if she could.
“Indeed. Shall we go?” Stella asked, and at Cora’s nod, the human raised her voice slightly. “Joy! We’re ready, are you?”
“Oh, right! Sure, let’s get on the road!” Joy replied cheerfully, turning away from the window abruptly, her wings fluttering slightly behind her. The apis nodded, and asked, “How far is it to Bearton?”
“It’ll take us about four days to get there since the road meanders a bit heading to the town,” Cora said, shrugging as she added, “If we could go in a straight line it’d be easier, but there’s a rather nasty swamp that the road goes around.”
“I see! Not too far, compared to Seldrim,” Joy said, nodding a couple of times as she thought, then shrugged. “Let’s go! Not that I know the way, so, um, could someone show me?”
“Sure, I can do that,” Brianna spoke up, grinning, and the redhead quickly headed for the door, with Joy following her.
“Time to get moving,” Cora said, adjusting the straps of her backpack, then followed Joy at a more sedate pace.
While the elf was confident in her endurance, she’d come to terms with Joy’s seemingly bottomless well of energy. There was no point in wearing herself out trying to keep up with the apis.
Chapter 18
Abigail the Red resisted the urge to growl in frustration again, though she was quickly beginning to despair of anyone coming to her rescue, or of getting out, for that matter.
She’d often taken pride in how well-maintained she’d kept the guild prison, despite how rarely it’d been used, but her diligence had backfired in this particular case. The cells were sturdy, built with enchanted materials intended to keep anyone from a minotaur to a motini confined, and that meant brute strength wasn’t enough to escape them. But that wasn’t all her captors had done, of course not. No, they’d brought a collar with them that drained her mana and locked it around her neck. Oh, given enough time she could overload the device, but that was why they came by to drain the mana from its crystal every few days. She’d tried removing the crystal, but couldn’t get it to budge.
Worse was how their leader came in to taunt her, and often to go through documents taken from the archives in front of Abigail. It was obvious that the woman was trying to get Abigail to give information away, but that didn’t mean that the treatment wasn’t effective, since every so often Abigail simply couldn’t help herself.
Damaris wasn’t the prettiest human Abigail had seen, but neither was the woman plain. She had a slightly stronger jaw than Abigail would have preferred, and her brown hair was neatly braided and coiled around her head, which was obviously meant to make it easier to wear a helmet. The most striking aspect of the woman were her bright hazel eyes and lips that were somewhat fuller than normal, as well as her large, athletic figure. She only wore a dagger and relatively normal clothing when she came into the cell, which was split in two by iron bars, but Abigail remembered facing the woman in her near-black armor as she wielded a sword. How outmatched Abigail had been was galling, but to be expected when she was outnumbered six to one, and hadn’t had time to gear up properly.
“You know, I’m glad we attacked when we did. We got a letter via your message book last night, warning you that the seal I’m looking for is being threatened,” Damaris said idly, looking at a document calmly, and glanced up as Abigail’s right eye twitched. “They asked if you’d seen anything out of place in the region, and asked if you needed any reinforcements. I’m very happy that offer didn’t come through before we arrived… as it is,
I’m also glad I have an excellent forger and plenty of examples of your handwriting. I doubt any reinforcements are going to come riding to the rescue, Abby.”
“Eat shit and die,” Abigail replied caustically, glowering at the woman, then sat a little farther back in her chair. “You’re not going to be able to keep what happened here secret for long.”
“No, I’m not. I’m happy that they haven’t figured it out after a week, but two… at that point it’ll be pushing it, somewhat. Still, by the time they learn, we’ll probably be gone, along with you,” Damaris replied, grinning as she added, “See, My Lord asked me to bring you back with me if I could. On the other hand, if you’d just tell me how to break this code, I’d be more inclined to misplace you on the way back.”
Abigail glowered back at the woman, biting back the comments she wanted to make, along with a little fear.
She wasn’t sure who Damaris served, not exactly, but the skill of the soldiers that had attacked Bearton was obvious and sobering. They’d crushed the defenders almost effortlessly, and the leaders had beaten Abigail and her assistants easily enough they had to be at least level twenty to twenty-five, if not even higher in a couple of cases. There were enough tales of things the Kingdoms of Darkness did to captives that being taken with them was something Abigail feared, especially since she knew she was considered rather beautiful. She did not want to end up the plaything of some nobleman.
On the other hand, there was no way in all the hells that she was going to tell the woman what the code was for the reports she was examining. There was too much sensitive information kept in that code, and Abigail knew that anyone after the seals from Tarngard didn’t have Astonia’s best interests in mind. Any of the creatures that the ancient kingdom had trapped would be devastating if they were released, so she wasn’t going to help the woman find them.
“No? Well, then. We’ll figure it out. At least I can tell enough of what this is saying to know that Velk was right about it being in the Teeming Jungle,” Damaris said, smiling at Abigail wickedly. “Even if we can’t decode this, my people are going to search for it and find it. It’s just a matter of time.”
“I hope they all die there,” Abigail retorted, crossing her arms and glowering at Damaris still more as she inched backward.
Damaris simply laughed, her smile broadening as she murmured, “I doubt that will happen.”
Chapter 19
“Gabe, something feels off to me,” Felix said, his voice soft in the hush of the Teeming Jungle.
“No, really?” Gabe replied sarcastically, looking around nervously. “What was it, the lack of birds? Or other animals, for the most part? Oh, wait, maybe it was the fact we haven’t run into anything since we got here?”
“Gabe, shut your mouth,” Dramond ordered, the orc’s deep voice cold as he looked around the forest warily. “We know something’s wrong, and don’t need you distracting everyone.”
“Sorry, sir.” Gabe replied, swallowing hard as he turned back to watching the jungle around them nervously. The fronds were thick, making it hard to see very far, and Gabe didn’t like how little light there was filtering through the upper canopy. Gabe had never been in a jungle before, so this was a lot darker and more crowded than he was used to.
A sudden snap made Gabe jump, then he realized one of the others had stepped on a twig, prompting Gabe to laugh nervously, then continue forward through the jungle, wondering why it felt so much like he was being watched.
* * *
The scout rested on a branch, watching the humans, orcs, and other species slowly advancing into the jungle. The big one in the back was of particular concern, so the scout intended to focus on it. They hadn’t noticed any of the apis, but that was to be expected, after they’d taken pains to paint all their armor black and set up proper hiding places.
On the other hand, as much as she wanted to attack them then and there, it wasn’t time yet. The scout wasn’t the one in command of this strike force, so she simply held her bow, an arrow nocked and ready.
The intruders really were ignorant, as well, the scout noticed. There were several indications that a giant spider had made its lair here, at least until the apis had dealt with the creature, and they didn’t even seem to notice as they drew steadily closer to where its trapdoor was. Not that the spider was around to teach them their errors, unfortunately. The apis almost wished that it was still around to surprise them, but not really. Spiders were evil creatures, after all.
Their leader raised her hand in the corner of the scout’s vision, and she tensed, quickly and quietly drawing the string of her bow as she took aim at the creature that one of the priests had called a giant.
The invaders were about to get a most unwelcome surprise.
* * *
Gabe wasn’t sure what made him dodge. Maybe he was just so nervous that he dodged at the slightest hint of movement or sound, but it really didn’t matter. He simply dodged, then heard the hissing sounds and thumps of arrows slamming into the ground and flesh, and the bellow of pain from Kadrin was deafening.
“The hells?” Dramond exclaimed, and when Gabe glanced over, he saw the orc tearing an arrow with a barbed black head from his armor.
Far more shocking were the others, though, as nearly half the squad had been hit once or twice, and far more of the arrows had punched through their armor than Gabe would have expected. In the back, Kadrin staggered, then fell backward, with a dozen arrows protruding from the giant’s face. The impact of Kadrin’s body hitting the ground shook the earth, and Gabe focused on himself. He hastily raised his shield, just in time for a belated arrow to bounce off it, and a chorus of female voices rang out.
“For the hive!” the apis exclaimed, and with that they descended from the branches above, causing Gabe’s eyes to widen in shock.
Unlike the apis they’d been told about, these weren’t simply women with black and yellow hair in similarly colored armor, nor were they only armed with rapiers. These women’s hair had been dyed black, and black paint had disguised their armor to help them blend in. Oh, they were still beautiful, but that was a cold comfort as over thirty of them descended with spears, rapiers, and even a pair of them armed with wicked chitinous battle-axes, while more apis stayed in the trees with their bows.
“Oh, shit!” Felix gasped, clutching at the arrow buried in his arm, but the man hastily grabbed his sword, obviously planning to fight as well.
Before they could do anything else, Dramond shocked Gabe by snarling out, “Retreat!”
“Minor Healing Aura!” Jaime added a moment later, the priestess cowering behind the orc as he started to fall back, and a glowing green aura rippled out across the group, partially healing their injuries.
Gabe swore, quickly trying to fall back, but with the apis descending on him, he didn’t dare turn tail and run. Not unless he wanted a spear or arrow in his back, and he quickly raised the shield again to deflect the first attack.
This was going to be really unpleasant.
* * *
The scout stopped firing as the intruders retreated past the border of the forest, nodding firmly to herself. The queen had commanded that a message be sent, and this should suffice, the apis suspected. At least three of the intruders had perished, possibly four, but their companions had dragged them out of the jungle with them. All but the giant, at least. It had been big, but that made it a large target, too.
Oh, the enemy had done well enough in return, as one of the apis had been severely injured during the attack, but the scout thought the woman would be able to survive until they got her to the priests.
“Here!” one of the warriors said happily as she flew up, offering the scout a handful of arrows. “These smell like they’re yours!”
“Oh, thank you! It’s much easier when I don’t have to make more of them,” The scout replied, nodding in appreciation as she took the arrows, examining them closely. A couple of the arrows looked like they’d need to be repaired, but they looked like they were i
n good shape. “How far did they run?”
“I’m not sure. They ran around a pile of rocks, so we couldn’t see them anymore,” the warrior replied with a shrug, glancing behind them.
“Ah, that would do it. Well, I hope they got the point. The queen wanted us to send a message,” the scout said, smiling and shrugging. “They can’t just kill our workers and expect us to ignore it!”
“I’m sure they did. They got a lot of points, after all!” the warrior replied, grinning broadly, and the scout couldn’t help giggling at the woman’s reply.
“True!” the scout said, and glanced toward the edge of the jungle before nodding. “I’ll help the injured warrior back to the hive. See you there!”
“Yep!” the warrior said, and turned away, heading down to where more arrows were buried in the ground.
For her part, the scout considered the edge of the jungle again, then shrugged and turned to help the injured apis. She didn’t want the other apis to die, after all. That’d be sad, if it could be prevented.
* * *
“Hells, their weapons were damned well poisoned!” Felix said, his face horribly pale at this point, and Gabe quickly tightened the tourniquet they’d fashioned.
“No shit, they were bees! Did you think that the apis would lose their venom just because they changed?” Gabe demanded, glancing over at Jaime nervously. The priestess was helping some of the others, but he thought she’d be able to get to Felix in time. “How bad is this poison, boss?”
“It’s a bit nasty, but it doesn’t take effect that fast, assuming you don’t get hit somewhere vital. Then you’re probably dead, like those three,” Dramond said, nodding at the fallen grimly. “Hopefully they resurrected back home, but no way to know for sure… You’ll be fine, Felix, just bear it for a minute. Unlike Kadrin.”
Webs & Wards (Beesong Chronicles Book 2) Page 13
