Since so spiderkin had escaped the vanguard, the army abandoned the slow, stealthy approach and began to march as quickly as they could. They soon ca to a spot where the Underway expanded into a giant cavern supported by pillars, a place tall enough for the bees to fly. The bee scouts reported the spiderkin arriving in force at the far side of the cavern, led by a large spiderkin with noticeably greater mana than her peers. It seed both armies settled on the sa place for their battle.
The cavern was full of webs, so the army had to take its ti removing them while deploying. The spiderkin spread out through the cavern in the anti and were making their way towards the army. The karnuq took up the center while the sigmaka guarded the flanks. The bees stayed grounded behind the karnuq’s shields for the mont, as they knew from Princess Finnakynne’s plight that the spiderkin would respond if they detected anyone flying. They would take shelter until the battle was joined in earnest.
Belissar and Chief Rohsuak had both moved into the Underway and waited in the tunnel behind the cavern, just in case their magic was needed. Belissar watched through the senses of the bees as the two forces approached. Spiderkin crawled up on the floors, on the roof, and up webs strung between the pillars.
He resisted the urge to call out as he watched the spiderkin start to draw bows. The bees had already inford the army through the communers and they had a plan. As soon as the two forces marched within range of each other, every light bee traveling with the army flew up into the air and unleashed bright flashes of light. The spiderkin hissed as the flashes stunned their sensitive eyesight. And they were completely exposed for the karnuq, sigmaka, and monster bee archers to launch attacks of their own.
The fight was on. The spiderkin didn’t stay stunned for long and returned arrows. Spiderkin on the roofs and pillars began tossing nets weighted with stones through the air to trap the karnuq and sigmaka below. Monster bee sprayers and archers began flying up into the air to target them in return. The spiderkin changed targets and tossed their nets at the bees, while the bees launched stingers and toxic sprays. Bees were caught in nets and pulled to the ground, spiderkin were doused by sprays and shot by stingers and fell from their perches. The trapper threw out her own webs to pull the tangled bees to safety...but she was only one bee.
And then the digging hive struck. The digging hive had taken advantage of the subterranean environnt and tunneled up above the roof of the cavern back when they were searching for the spiderkin nest. Digging monster bee soldiers now used these tunnels to burst from the roof and sting the spiderkin hanging there. Soon, all the spiderkin above ground level were occupied fending off sprayers, archers, and digging soldiers attacking from all directions.
On the ground, the army was gaining ground. The spiderkin arrows couldn’t penetrate the karnuq’s shields. The sigmaka, on the other hand, were launching balls and sprays of noxious compounds ahead of them, disrupting any spiderkin attacks on the flanks. All seed to be going well.
So, the spiderkin made their move. Spiderkin pulled on web strings, unleashing bundles of rocks held up by webs on the roof. Larger spiderkin imbued their arrows with Dark mana for their next volley. Angry wolf-moles trapped in webs were tossed and unleashed towards the army.
The Tower’s champions responded. Honeycomb made of golden mana spread out in front of the army as Hirkolos moved to block the incoming arrows. Lightning stingers from the battlecaster squads pulverized the rocks following from above. Tyghak’s squad of blessed karnuq took down the wolf-moles with their mana attacks.
An arrow packed with exceptionally dense mana shot from the spiderkin and struck Hirkolos’s barrier. The honeycomb shield cracked and shattered, Hirkolos himself fell backwards. A larger spiderkin woman stood in front the rest, a bow glowing with dark purple mana. The other spiderkin rallied around her as she stepped up to fight. The spiderkin queen made her appearance.
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And that’s what the bees were waiting for. Three squads of soldiers took to the air and flew over the spiderkin. The soldiers from the single soldier bee spawner Belissar had installed in the Apiary had previously trained to drop fire radish slivers into Pit Traps. They had not had much chance to shine recently, as the Hunger’s shades had largely learned to evade the traps. But now, finally, they were able to join the bee army in open combat.
And this ti, rather than fire radish slivers, they were working together to carry the pots provided by Juosiutik. They let go as they approached the spiderkin lines and their aim was true. The pots broke open, bringing the fire radish slivers tied to their sides into contact with the mana honey-based concoctions within.
The entire cavern erupted. Spiderkin hissed as flas and lightning and poisonous vapors exploded in their midst. The queen herself vanished under fla and smoke.
The Fourth of the Seventh and her nomadic bees took to the skies and began to beat their wings, creating a gust of wind to ensure the fires and toxic smoke blew away from the army…and deeper into the cavern.
The digging bee scouts on the far side of the cavern reported in.
“Spider-King things running back to hive!”
Belissar exhaled his breath. He frowned, though, as one of the scouts caught sight of the large spiderkin. She had smoke rising from her body, but she was still alive. He turned to Chief Rohsuak.
“They’re running. It looks like we won…but the queen ran with them, so I guess it’s not over just yet.”
Chief Rohsuak gave him a smile.
“She’ll be most dangerous now that she’s cornered…but this is already a great victory, Tower Keeper. We have the chance to end a threat that has driven us to run ti and ti again.”
Belissar nodded back, furrowing his brow as he looked back over the army. They had to wait for the flas to die down and the poisonous vapors to thin out, so they were taking the chance to take care of the wounded. The Second of the Sixth and her hive were already hard at work. Neither the karnuq nor the sigmaka’s defenses were perfect, so there were arrows to remove and poison to cure. A couple of sigmaka were in critical condition. Most of the bees evaded the worst of it, but the sprayers and archers hadn’t escaped unscathed. A few were hit by lucky arrows. The ones caught in nets were freed but a few had caught stray attacks while stuck on the ground. A few sprayers had perished from direct hits. So digging soldiers were hurt engaging the spiderkin in lee as well.
Belissar gripped his fists. He forced himself to take a deep breath. He knew this could happen, and the battle wasn’t over yet, so there well may be more to co. He couldn’t bring back the bees they lost, but what he could do was finish this fight and ensure their sacrifice was not in vain.
Fortunately, the magical flas died down quickly as they consud the mana honey, while the Fourth of the Seventh’s hive was able to blow the vapors away. The army was soon ready to move out once more. The flas had lted many of the webs in the cavern as well, easing their march.
They ca to the end of the cavern. The digging scouts led them away from the larger exit to the rest of the underway and to a small entrance on the left side wall. Within was a network of small tunnels. Since their numbers would be restricted, tsaitti took Hirkolos, the other fully blessed karnuq, one squad of monster bee archers, and one squad of monster bee battlecasters to lead the way, though the digging bees would be tunneling through the walls around them in case they needed reinforcents.
They made their way carefully, with Noigakkuq and digging bees checking the way ahead. They found the remnants of webs that once sealed off the tunnels, but these had been recently torn down. The group stayed on their guard, but the spiderkin didn’t launch any more ambushes. They found so web-triggered traps and even a pit trap, but these had been disabled and the pit had been exposed. Noigakkuq and the bees could, however, still sense powerful mana ahead, so they knew the queen was still there.
They followed that mana until they arrived at a chamber in the center of the network. There, they found the queen…leaning on a web hammock. Behind her, about a dozen eggs the size of a small human child were clustered against one of the walls.
tsaitti gripped his spear and stirred his mana. The queen lifted her hand. She opened her mouth but began hacking and coughing. Only after she regained control of her breathing did she speak. Her voice was chittering and raspy…but Belissar could clearly understand it.
“Hold, bearkin warrior. Let speak with your Sacred Den Master and I won’t resist any further.”
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