Hives Heroism by Benjamin Medrano (z-lib.org)

by Unknown

  In the process, the formerly stable cliffside began to shift, and a rumble echoed down the gorge as the cliff began to collapse in a massive, two hundred-yard-long wave. The ground beneath Drana’s feet was shaking, and as the wave of stone fell, she began to laugh and dance, watching the destruction as the landslide ripped away the road, triggering further landslides up and down the canyon from where she was standing. The collapse came astoundingly close to her, the dirt churning and falling away only a few feet from where Drana was standing, sending a jolt of adrenaline through her. The only thing that would be better was if there had been enemy soldiers in position to be buried, but Drana couldn’t have everything.

  The landslide went on for a surprisingly long time, but eventually the ground settled into its new position, and Drana waited for the dust to clear, curious to see if the damage was enough to satisfy Lord Alethus.

  It took a while, but the dust began to clear eventually, and as it did Drana’s smile grew even more. After a moment she announced, “Excellent job, everyone! No one is going to be using that road for a while!”

  “How bad… oh. I didn’t think we’d do that much damage to it!” Jacques said, stepping up next to her and stopping, his eyes wide as he looked back and forth.

  Drana watched his reaction with pleasure, as seeing how other people responded to devastation never got old. The road was entirely gone for at least half the length of the collapse, and in the other areas it was rare that even a quarter of the road was intact. Huge chunks of the cliffside had sheared off and fallen into the depths of the canyon, forming an impromptu dam across the river, which was churning brown where it hit the rubble, and on the other side the water level was starting to drop. Drana paused as she noticed that, recalling that the river was one that fed a small lake in Lord Alethus’s domain, but after a moment she shrugged. Either the dam would hold for a while, or it wouldn’t. It wasn’t her fault if the lake dried up.

  “There must have been more instabilities in the cliffside than expected, but I consider it a job well done,” Drana replied, grinning down at the road again, then shrugged. “Either way, it’ll keep anyone along the border from reinforcing Clarion easily!”

  “Very true, sir.” Jacques replied, saluting respectfully. “I’m always amazed at how skilled you are at this.”

  Drana laughed, patting him on the shoulder as she replied. “Practice, Jacques. It’s just practice. Now, let’s get out of here, hm? The Lord is doubtlessly anxious to hear about our success.”

  “Yes, sir!” Jacques said, starting toward the other soldiers, who had already begun moving toward the trail that would take them down to the road where it was still intact. More soldiers were waiting for them on the road, both to deal with any interlopers and to take word to the main army if Drana had miscalculated, but fortunately that purpose wouldn’t be needed.

  Drana paused, taking a moment to take in the damage she’d dealt to the mountainside and road, then turned to follow the others. She did love her work.

  Alethus opened the message pod and pulled out the slip of paper which had been stashed within it, thankful that the messenger bird hadn’t been eaten by any of the monsters in the area. Windbirds were fast and agile, which was why most countries used them for messages when they didn’t have magical means of communication, but that didn’t make them invulnerable.

  Reading the message, Alethus felt a smile grow on his lips, and after a moment he spoke. “Drana has successfully destroyed the road leading to the border fortresses.”

  Minna looked up from the map she was consulting with a broad smile. “Truly? That will make things far easier for us to deal with. They don’t have anyone in the region who can rebuild roads quickly, after all.”

  “No, though they do have dwarves in Clarion. They’re far too industrious for my taste, but any repairs would take a few weeks at a minimum, which should be more than enough time,” Alethus said, going over the brief message again, then tossed it into the nearby fire, glancing toward the map again. “Assuming we can get to Clarion fast enough, anyway. I must admit, I’m annoyed at how quickly the duke responded.”

  The army was currently on the edge of the Pike River, where originally there had been a sturdy bridge that Alethus had intended to use in the invasion. Unfortunately, Duke Dorma had removed the bridge, leaving only a handful of stone pilings, and his scouts hadn’t been able to catch the force which had removed the spars and other parts of the bridge. Now they were waiting for the engineers to build replacements, and that was taking more time than Alethus liked. Certainly, it might only be a delay of a day, possibly two, but even a day could make all the difference in the world. Still, they wouldn’t be expecting him to use magic items to cross Broken Horse Gorge.

  “Fair, but at least Gort has dealt with several caravans and taken care of a few patrols,” Minna said, tapping the map as she looked at it speculatively. “The only problem is that he might get too adventurous and bite off more than he can chew.”

  “Hopefully not, but… he does get overenthusiastic at times, doesn’t he?” Alethus replied, a smile flickering across his face at the memory of some of the ogre’s antics. Gort was surprisingly intelligent for one of his people, which was why he’d been promoted as far as he had. The biggest problem was that Gort tended to be a little too appreciative of that from time to time.

  “He does. As long as he doesn’t lead an army straight back to us, I’ll be happy,” Minna said, sitting back in her chair with a sigh, and looked up at Alethus in concern. “Sir, are you sure about this? Going into the Shimmerwood with only a handful of troops is incredibly risky. What if a few of the high-level adventurers are watching for something like that?”

  Alethus resisted the urge to sigh at Minna’s protest. The dark-haired woman was a little overprotective from time to time, which he appreciated, but also found aggravating. Which mostly depended on the day and his mood. Setting the message tube aside, he moved to the small bar to pour a drink as he replied patiently. The ruby-hued wine was beautiful in the dim light, and he could practically taste it already.

  “That’s doubtful, Minna. Most of the adventurers who’re high-level enough to be a significant threat are retired or old enough that they won’t be as tough as they used to be,” Alethus said, corking the wine bottle again and swirling his glass. “My trip to the Blackstone Mines was far more dangerous, since Isolde was nearby. According to my informants, she hasn’t left for Irador, so at least I don’t have to worry about her. Of the semi-active adventurers, the only one I’m concerned about is Silverhoof, and he’s the Guildmaster of the entire duchy. Besides, he’s lower level.”

  “He doesn’t have to be high-level. Might I remind you of what a mere level twelve apis did to you?” Minna asked, her tone growing cold. Alethus sighed, taking a sip of his wine.

  “That was different. I was overconfident and followed her into a den of multiple flower minks. If I’d been on my guard, I could have destroyed all of them, but I thought I had her trapped,” Alethus said, turning back to Minna as he shrugged helplessly. “Believe me, I don’t intend to make that mistake again. Unless I’m sure that there aren’t any monsters in the area, I’m going to keep my guard up.”

  “I’d rather you kept your guard up all the time,” Minna replied, which prompted a chuckle from Alethus.

  “No, I don’t think so. That would just wear me out, and there’s only so long you can be on edge before you start missing things,” Alethus told her, shaking his head. “Believe me, I’m going to do everything I can to keep myself alive! All of this is pointless if I die, so I’m going to be cautious, on that you have my word.”

  “If you say so, Milord. I’ll make sure you have an army to come back to,” Minna said, a hard glint to her gaze as she looked up at him.

  “I never doubted that, Minna. You’ve always been a good commander,” Alethus said, smiling warmly at her.

  “Thank you, Milord,” Minna said, the faintest hint of a blush softening her usually harsh attitu
de.

  Alethus rather enjoyed the sight, but he knew better than to say anything about it. That would make the night end quite poorly.

  Chapter 21

  “Ack, bad beasty! Get away!” Joy yelped, ducking as several silver streaks shot past her, one hitting her right arm and penetrating the armor, causing her to hiss in pain.

  The streaks had come from the oversized porcupine-like creature only a few paces away, and it trilled shrilly, revealing a mouth full of very unpleasant fangs. Joy didn’t like the beast at all, especially since it had just launched its spikes at her, and it almost looked like its spines were made of steel.

  “Some help would be nice!” Brianna called out, falling back from another of the creatures quickly, several spikes protruding from her armor as she did so. Then she threw herself to the side as the creature curled into a bristling ball of spikes and rolled at her, barely getting out of the way in time.

  “We’re trying!” Cora snapped back, and Joy glanced over and winced.

  Nearly two dozen of the creatures had hit the side of the caravan almost at the same time, and the results hadn’t been pretty. A few adventurers had already splattered them, but a bunch more were still fighting like they were, and Joy wished that they hadn’t gotten two, unlike most of the teams. As if it sensed her distraction, the porcupine lunged forward, snapping viciously at her.

  Joy bounced backward, her wings snapping out to give her bounce more height, and as she went upward she snatched a dagger from her belt and spat out, “Flurry of Blades!”

  Her arm pumped three times, launching the dagger and two spectral copies of it into the porcupine’s face from only inches away. At that range it was pretty much impossible to miss, and the first dagger put out one of the creature’s eyes, while another bounced off its skull and the other bit deep into its mouth.

  The creature fell back slightly, gagging a little in the process, and as she landed Joy took advantage of the moment to attack again, announcing, “Penetrating Strike!”

  Joy’s rapier punched deep into the creature, and Joy twisted the blade firmly before recovering it, dancing backward again, worried that the creature might attack her again. Fortunately, the creature simply staggered toward her for a couple of steps, blood staining its jagged teeth, then fell to the ground in a heap of gleaming spines. Joy did not like the idea of trying to harvest anything from it.

  Boom!

  The explosion caused Joy to flinch backward, glancing to her right, and her eyes widened as she did so. A huge ball of fire was fading from near the front of the caravan, and she could see rocks and bushes flying all over. Including toward them, and Joy sheltered her head as rocks and vegetation pelted her.

  “What just happened?” Joy asked, peering in the direction cautiously, and from behind her she heard a pained giggle.

  “That was a higher-level mage cutting loose,” Jean said, limping toward her, a spine sticking out of her leg. “Abigail, probably. Damn, I hate steelspikes…”

  A blast of lightning dropped the creature attacking Brianna and Stella, which caused Joy to relax slightly, wincing as she looked at the spike in her arm and hesitantly jiggled it. It hurt, but it didn’t have the telltale feel of something with a barb, so Joy braced herself and pulled it out, resisting the urge to yelp.

  “They’re called steelspikes?” Joy asked, examining the spike with a scowl, not terribly pleased by the yellow blood staining its tip. “I don’t like them. Why’d they attack us?”

  “It’s mating season for them, and we were moving a little too fast,” Brianna said, stopping and resting, one hand on the side of a wagon. Unlike Joy and Jean, it didn’t look like any of the spikes had managed to pierce her armor. “We got into range of a lot of them before rousing their anger, rather than just a handful, like if we were traveling at the speed of most caravans.”

  “That’s the price of being in a hurry,” Cora muttered, shaking her head as she stepped closer, looking between Joy and Jean, then extended a hand and spoke. “Aura of Life.”

  A gentle green glow grew around Cora’s hand, then surrounded her entire body as it radiated in the area. Warmth seeped into Joy’s arm, and she let out a soft sigh as the pain from where the spike had hit her eased. It didn’t heal as fast or completely as when Stella had treated her, but it certainly felt better than it had before, and the healing seemed to be continuous.

  “Thank you, Cora. I have to say, I do love having multiple healers around,” Jean said, pulling the spike out of her leg with a wince. “I always worry about what might happen if Eda gets taken down.”

  “Which is why I insist on each of you having at least one healing potion,” Eda said from behind Joy, her voice slightly tart. “That way, you have a chance to survive if I’m killed, or you can save me if I’m just disabled.”

  “Besides which, I’m not much of a healer. I have the Minor Healing spell as well, but I’m not as good as a dedicated healer like Eda, or even an acolyte,” Cora said, nodding toward Stella, who looked like she’d finished off a steelspike with James a moment before. “Heck, I’m starting to get concerned. I’ve got seven abilities now aside from my elven ones, and as soon as I have eleven, I’m going to have to pick and choose which ones to have ready every day.”

  Eda nodded, her frown easing slightly as she spoke. “I hear you there. I think it’s why so many spellcasters choose to specialize. Once you get dozens of spells of different types, it gets hard to choose which to prepare.”

  “Oh, right! I’d forgotten there was a limit on the number we could have ready for a day!” Joy said, embarrassment rushing through her, and she mentally reached out to check what abilities she had.

  Innate Abilities: Advanced Harvesting, Apis Crafting, Innate Armory.

  Job Abilities: Basic Apis Flight, Enhanced Stealth, Flurry of Blades, Penetrating Strike, Rolling Dodge, Minor Speed Burst, Tendon Slice.

  Quickly counting them, Joy let out a sigh of relief as she nodded, smiling as she said, “I have seven, too! Other than my innate ones, I mean. I can’t believe I forgot!”

  “I think that’s understandable. I think we’ve mentioned the limit what… once? Maybe twice?” Brianna asked, shrugging. “Besides, it’s not something you really have to worry about before level twenty-five or so. Unless you get incredibly lucky and learn a few of the universal abilities before that.”

  “Good luck with that,” Stella said dryly, having come into earshot a few moments before. “That’s insanely rare. How many of us have learned more than Basic Salvaging?”

  Only Cora and James raised their hands, to Joy’s surprise, and the two of them exchanged looks as he asked, “Let me guess… Analyze?”

  “That’s right,” Cora said, smiling wryly. “It’s a common ability among elves, since we all have Keen Senses. I sometimes wonder how useful it actually is.”

  “I don’t know. Gauging the strength of enemies before you run into them can be pretty—” Helen began, only to be interrupted by a bellow from Silverhoof, who could barely be seen from the head of the column.

  “What’re you doing, standing around and chatting? Support your neighbors so we can get moving!” the Guildmaster roared, a bloody halberd held in one hand.

  “Yes, sir!” Brianna replied, almost snapping to attention, then blushed as Cora chuckled. “Cora!”

  “Ah, the joy of being raised in a military family,” Cora said, and smiled. “Well, if he’s that insistent, I suppose we’d best get to work, hm?”

  “Sounds like it,” James said, nodding toward the front of the caravan as he suggested, “We’ll take the front, you take the back?”

  “Sure!” Joy said, rolling her shoulder, then nodded in satisfaction. Her arm seemed to be pretty much healed, so she grinned at Cora broadly as she added, “Thanks!”

  “Just try not to get hurt more,” the elf replied, and they quickly split up to help the other adventurers.

  As they moved, Joy did briefly wonder why they were the ones being yelled at. The other adventu
rers were supposed to be higher level than them, for the most part.

  “There are intruders within our territory, Your Majesty,” the attendant said, and the queen paused, looking away from the pot of soil she’d been watering.

  “There are usually intruders in our territory. What type are these ones?” the queen asked, her voice patient despite her annoyance. Some of her hive had been taking too many lessons from the pieces of knowledge they’d learned about the other civilizations throughout the world. She preferred efficiency over formalities.

  “Fifteen humans, four dwarves, and a strange human-like creature that smells like a dog, Your Majesty,” the attendant replied, a frown flickering across her face. “They have moved to a cave approximately a tenth of a sun’s flight west from the hive and begun setting up a camp.”

  “A cave,” the queen said, not asking a question, as confusion rippled through her. There weren’t any useful minerals in the ground below the forest, from what little she’s managed to learn, which made that unusual. Beyond that, none of the humans and other species had spent the night in the forest in her memory, at least not by choice. It made the entire situation perplexing. “Have they done anything else?”

  “They fought off an annoyed bumblebee and a couple of the ghost wolves, Your Highness,” the attendant said promptly. “What would you like us to do with them?”

  “Nothing,” the queen replied after a moment, mentally dismissing the thought of the intruders. “If they are not damaging the flowers or attacking our workers, ignore them. I’m far more concerned about the wasp nest from last week. Are you certain there’s no way to easily set it on fire?”

  “Unfortunately not, Your Majesty. The only entrance is through a crevice, and the wasps guard it heavily. If we’re to burn their nest, we’ll have to fight through the guards and at least some of the swarm to do so,” the attendant said, her gaze darkening at the change in subject. That much the queen entirely agreed with her on. The huge, black-bodies wasps were making life dangerous for the workers.