As she flew away, Joy heard Brianna ask, “How is it that she doesn’t seem tired at all?”
“Former worker bee, remember?” Cora said, her voice still strained. “She said they worked a lot.”
The comment brought a smile to Joy’s face, pleased that Cora had remembered where Joy had come from. For her, the little acknowledgements were almost more important than outright praise. That was mostly embarrassing, at least for her.
“A bee does her part,” Joy murmured, pausing between a pair of trees, her antennae up. She was mostly glad that Brianna and Stella hadn’t argued since they left Irador.
There was something about the area that made her uneasy, though, and she couldn’t quite place what it was. It didn’t help that she was feeling rather strained. She probably needed more water and honey, she decided. She’d eaten two days before, and normally she wasn’t moving quite this much.
A roar and shriek from behind her caused Joy to whip around, though, and her eyes widened as she realized she couldn’t see the others, not through the cluster of trees she’d circled. So she did the only thing that made sense to her, she bolted upward, circling the trees even more quickly than before.
A moment later she came into sight of the others, and her eyes widened as she took in the situation. Cora had a gash in her arm where claws had cut her, while she was holding back a large, spotted feline with her staff, which she’d managed to shove into its mouth sideways. A leopard, Joy recognized an instant later, which was doing its best to get at Cora. At the same time Brianna was fighting another leopard, which had knocked her onto her back.
“Ack!” Joy gasped, and she instantly decided to support Brianna, since Stella was going to Cora’s aid, and darted forward.
The next instant Joy ran into something fibrous and sticky, and her wings came to a sudden stop as they got tangled, yet she didn’t fall. Her hand was stuck halfway to the hilt of her rapier, but Joy’s eyes widened as she looked down, and she saw the near-invisible glitter of a massive web. A web she was in the middle of.
“Uh-oh,” Joy whispered, a flicker of fear rushing through her.
That did explain what had felt wrong, though.
Chapter 26
“Get off me!” Cora exclaimed, shoving the leopard back hard, though she was having a hard time. Its fangs were shaving off splinters from her staff, and she barely managed to dodge as its claws lashed out at her. She’d already been gashed on the arm and could feel blood oozing out of the wound.
Then Stella’s mace hit the leopard in the side of the face, and it jerked sideways, finally backing off slightly. Cora gasped in pain, but took a step away, trying to get a little distance between her and the leopard, then snapped out, “Analyze!”
Jungle Leopard (Level 13, injured)
Attack Power 12
Defense 11
Abilities: Camouflage, Pack Attacker, Lunging Strike
“Power Strike!” Stella snarled, her mace glittering slightly as she invoked the ability and brought it down on the leopard, audibly breaking one of the feline’s ribs, and it backed up more, hissing angrily.
“They’re pack monsters! There might be multiple, do not let them gang up on you!” Cora said, spinning around and swearing as she saw Brianna on the ground. The woman had taken several cuts, and was barely managing to keep the leopard off her throat. Taking quick aim with her staff, Cora exclaimed, “Fire Blast!”
Fire exploded from the tip of her staff and lanced out at the leopard, hitting it practically in the face, and the animal recoiled abruptly, jumping clean off Brianna as it let out a high-pitched roar of pain. Cora flinched at the sound, but it wasn’t as though she had time to worry about her hearing. Brianna took the chance to roll to her feet, nodding at Cora.
“Thanks,” her friend said breathlessly, and her lips pressed together. “Shit.”
Cora looked up, and as she did her face paled a little as she whispered, “Oh, crap.”
The leopard may have slunk back slightly, but it certainly wasn’t dead, and neither were the two additional leopards behind it. Cora glanced back, and to her relief there was still only the one on Stella’s side, but that was a cold comfort, with two more leopards crouched and preparing to pounce.
“I’m not sure if we can deal with this, not while running from the damn scouts,” Brianna murmured, and Cora nodded, making a snap decision, and extended her staff.
“Fire Blast!” she said, and another bolt of flame launched at the leopards, which shrank back as it exploded in a wide burst. “No, but at least they don’t like fire! Joy? Where are you?”
“Uh… in trouble?” Joy’s voice was a little more distant than Cora would’ve preferred, and she spun, then froze, a curse on her lips as a bad situation became even worse.
Joy was about a dozen feet off the ground, caught in a large spider web, one that Cora wouldn’t have been able to see if Joy wasn’t partially tangled in it. The apis was obviously struggling, from the way the web was distorted, but she was definitely stuck. Far, far more important to Cora, though, was the faint figure she could see in the distance, of a huge, eight-legged creature creeping out from behind the trees.
“Crap, I hope this doesn’t hurt you, but… Fire Blast!” Cora used the spell again, and an orb of fire lanced out and exploded below Joy, igniting the web as the apis yelped. Then a roar and curse came from Brianna’s direction and she didn’t have time to worry about Joy for the moment.
The leopards had lunged at Brianna again, and the Swordswoman was barely keeping the three at bay. Just as Cora was about to support her, though, Brianna spoke.
“No! Help Stella, then both of you help!” Brianna snapped out, taking a quick step back so a tree covered a flank, while on the other was an unsteady-looking log. She blocked the snap of one leopard’s mouth with her sword, and barely managed to avoid another.
“Right!” Cora agreed, spinning around, and winced at the sight before her. Stella hadn’t been idle, but neither hand the leopard. It was bloody and injured, one of its legs barely moving, but Stella wasn’t in the best of shape, as it must have gotten around her shield to savage her arm at some point. As Cora turned, it lunged forward, and she acted.
She launched an ice bolt instantly, but this time not at the leopard, but rather the ground where it was about to step. Ice formed where the bolt hit, and the leopard’s lunge turned into a mad scramble to keep its footing as it slid toward Stella.
The human growled, and instead of retreating, Stella took a step into the leopard, leading with her shield and bashing it in the face. While the animal was stunned, the woman promptly brought her mace down on the base of its skull with a crunch that made Cora flinch. It fell to the ground, though, and Stella spun, nodding to Cora as blood trickled down the woman’s cheek.
Neither spoke, instead turning to the rest of the fight, and Cora’s fear grew. This was taking too long, and it was definitely too loud.
* * *
Joy tried to ignore the bubble of panic prompted by the fire below her eating through the web, and she was surprised at how easy it was. Her friends were under siege by leopards, all of them were injured, and there she was, stuck in a web. Useless.
That made her… startlingly angry, honestly. Joy knew she was in danger, since no spider left its web unattended, really, but that was a minor concern. If she were the one in danger she’d be far less concerned, but her friends? No. She would not let the web stop her.
As she thought, Joy thought she caught a hint of recognizable fragrance over the smoke, but it was gone almost as quick as she caught it. Besides, at that moment another strand of webbing snapped, and Joy was finally able to move her right arm enough to reach her rapier.
The apis drew the rapier as quickly as she could, and with two slices she cut the strands of the web closest to her that were on fire. While she would prefer to be free, not having her wings burn was also rather important to her. As her panic started subsiding, she turned her attention to the rest of the webbing, cu
tting herself free as quickly as she could.
It did startle her when she fell down several feet, and stopped with a jerk, swinging on a final strand, but Joy didn’t let it stop her. Not even the sight of eight spindly legs behind her, attached to an immense body, slowed her down. If anything, the sight of the panic-inducing figure gave her impetus, and she cut herself loose with another swipe of her sword. It was a good fifty feet away, anyway, and that gave her at least a few breaths of time to help her friends.
“I hate spiders. I really hate spiders. And you are bad kitties!” Joy exclaimed, charging toward the leopards since her wings were still tangled in webbing. The nearest leopard recoiled a little as she approached, but she didn’t have time to wonder why it seemed worried at the sight of her.
Joy didn’t worry about it, instead pincering the leopard between her and Brianna, distracting it from the human, who managed to give it a solid cut, while Stella and Cora held off another. Of course, that was when the third leapt down out of the trees and knocked Brianna off her feet again.
Stopping wouldn’t have helped anything, so Joy simply stabbed the leopard in front of her, which snarled and swiped at her in response. Then she caught another hint of the scent from earlier, and hope rushed through her.
“Some help would be nice!” Joy called out. “I’m not a bad bee! Bad apis?”
“Joy, we’re kind of busy!” Stella yelped, then was thrown back by the leopard with the burnt face.
“Wasn’t talking to you!” Joy said, backing out of range of a set of claws, and glancing back nervously as she heard the spider approaching. At the same time, the scent was getting closer.
“Then who were you talk—gah!” Brianna began, only to cry out as a pair of jaws closed on her leg. For an instant Joy was worried about what might happen to her.
Then the buzzing filled the air, and two winged figures in black and yellow armor dropped on the leopard that was mauling Brianna, rapiers in hand. Several more apis dropped in moments later, attacking the leopard in front of Joy and the one Stella was fighting, and war cries filled the air.
“Stab!” one exclaimed.
Another was behind Joy, and she grinned at the vengeful tone of voice. “Die, spider!”
“For hive and honey!”
Joy pierced her target’s throat and looked at the nearest apis, exclaiming happily, “Thanks!”
The apis grinned back, looking back toward the spider as she spoke up. “We were hunting the spider, so thanks for playing bait! That was going to be my job.”
“Um, what?” Cora asked, pushing a tangle of hair back from her face as she looked around.
“I was talking to them,” Joy explained helpfully, then frowned. “Um, but doesn’t Brianna need help?”
“We all need help,” Stella said grimly, looking at the two apis who’d finished off the leopard she’d been fighting, then turned away as she moved toward Brianna. “First an ambush, then this.”
“Ambush? You mean those nasty people following you?” the nearby apis asked, her smile fading a little. “They killed a few of our workers. After we killed some of them, they stopped.”
“Yeah, them. They stole the town from the local… well, think of it as a big hive, and attacked us. We were coming to talk to your hive,” Joy replied, nodding firmly, then glanced at the spider, which now had dozens of arrows sticking out of it, along with a few spears, and added, “May we?”
“Um, sure! Why not?” the apis said, smiling again. “Just don’t attack us!”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Brianna groaned, sitting up as Stella’s magic played over her leg.
This wasn’t how they’d planned to meet the apis, but Joy supposed it wasn’t a bad way to go about it, in the end.
Chapter 27
“Ah, crap,” Milton said, stopping in place as he came into sight of the adventurers, and promptly took a step back so he was properly in the shadows.
“What is it?” Trith demanded, the half-elf flicking her braid back in irritation, then wiping her forehead to clear the sweat that had been beading there. At least she hadn’t stepped out into the open, to Milton’s relief.
They’d left most of the rest of the scouts behind in their efforts to keep up with the fleeing adventurers, and it hadn’t been easy, with how they’d lost several people to an ambush the women had set. He and Trith had been keeping their distance to ensure they didn’t get killed as well, but that had almost led to them losing the adventurers. At least until combat had broken out in this direction, anyway.
“Apis. They’ve joined up with a group of damnable apis,” Milton hissed, jerking his thumb toward the tree, and the scene on the other side of it.
Trith blinked, her mouth opening, then it shut again as her lips pressed together tightly and she carefully leaned forward, looking past Milton. He took the chance to glance around the tree himself, his hand tightening around his bow.
The adventurers were only about seventy feet away, at a guess, no more than twenty paces if someone was moving quickly, and they weren’t in good shape. Why was obvious, with a couple of large, dangerous-looking leopards laying in the open, along with the huge carcass of a spider in the background, one that’s main body was the size of a horse.
However, around the adventurers were a multitude of apis, armed with bows, spears, and rapiers. He wasn’t sure how many of them there were at a glance, but there were at least twenty of the apis, and he could see some of them buzzing about as an overwatch, keeping an eye on the area, while the adventurer apis chatted with one of them excitedly, her hands moving in broad gestures.
“Crap. There’s no way we’re catching them if they’ve got an escort like that,” Trith whispered, her face paling a little. “Maybe the apis will leave, and we can follow the adventurers…?”
“If they leave them, sure. But I don’t know if that’s going to happen. Plus, they’re scary enough that tailing them makes me nervous. Aren’t standing orders to leave the apis the hell alone?” Milton asked, glancing at his partner nervously. “I’d rather not get killed, too.”
“Duh,” Trith said, rolling her eyes and letting out a sigh as she leaned back again. She chewed her lower lip gently for a few seconds, and he let her think. Eventually she nodded, murmuring, “Right, the orders are clear, thank the Oathkeeper. Let’s watch them, and if the apis leave them, I’d say we try sniping the adventurers. They’re in bad enough shape that we might be able to take them out, or at least disable them. Hells, maybe reinforcements will show up in time to make it easier. But if they leave with the apis, we see what direction they’re going and back off. Agreed?”
“Definitely,” Milton said, relief rushing through him at her plan. While he’d been thinking something similar, possibly even trying to tail the apis if they moved with the adventurers, he wasn’t nearly as confident that they wouldn’t get in trouble for backing off. Trith understood Leah better, though, so if she was confident they could do it without getting in trouble, he was willing to take her word for it.
Trith nodded, leaning back out to keep watch, and as she did, Milton took the time to calm down and rest. Even if they ended up not being able to follow the adventurers, resting would help.
For a few minutes nothing happened, really. Milton stole a couple of glances at the adventurers as they patched up their warrior enough that she could walk, while the apis collected some items from the dead monsters. Then Trith tensed, obviously nervous as the apis packed up… and swore as the adventurers left with them.
“Well, that sucks,” Milton muttered, watching them start off into the forest, heading more to the southeast instead of the south. “Do you think they’re heading toward the apis hive?”
“I have no idea,” Trith said grimly, letting out a sigh. “Still, let’s watch them, then go report in. The captain isn’t going to be happy.”
No one was going to be happy, in Milton’s opinion, but he didn’t say that. It wasn’t like Trith needed the reminder.
* * *
Cora was a little bewildered by the apis, despite her interaction with the Tulip Hive and Joy. A tiny part of her had expected the apis in the Teeming Jungle to be different, somehow, especially since she’d Analyzed a couple of them and found that they were all over level ten, which was a little intimidating.
Instead, they acted a lot like Joy did, happily chatting with her and looking at Brianna, Cora, and Stella curiously. The major difference between them was that the apis appeared to be almost frighteningly competent when it came to moving through the jungle, as a group of them stopped in mid-sentence and pounced a bush to the side, murdering a giant beetle that’d been laying in wait there.
“Um, pardon me for asking… but why are all of you so violent?” Brianna ventured at last, gesturing at the remains of the beetle. “We met Joy’s former hive, and they didn’t seem nearly as warlike as you are.”
“Really?” the apis who seemed to be the leader asked, blinking at Brianna, then looked at Joy. “I didn’t think we were that different.”
“Me neither. But your jungle is scarier than the Flower Forest. I also don’t see nearly as many flowers,” Joy replied, shrugging a bit. “We don’t have trees at all, just giant flowers.”
“Oh, that would be nice! Getting enough nectar for honey is something of a concern, though we’re pretty sure we can manage,” the leader said, nodding in understanding, then she focused on Brianna. “But we fight because we have to. There’s a colony of ants in the center of the jungle, along with several other types of creatures, and none of them seem to like us. At least they don’t like each other, either. We’ve been fighting them a lot since we turned into apis. That’s why the queen sends us on patrols, to kill the spiders and other predators that are too close to the hive.”
“Ah,” Cora said, not sure how else to react. Brianna looked up though, speaking quickly.
“Wait, ants are giving you trouble? I know Joy said there were some in the Flower Forest, but they didn’t interact with her hive much,” Brianna said, frowning. “Why would these be problematic?”
Webs & Wards (Beesong Chronicles Book 2) Page 17
