Hell's Ascendant (Mantles of Power Book 3)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “Mm… I plan to offer them to some of the angels in my service. The ones I can trust, of course,” Estalia explained, looking at the bodies, just a hint of nervousness in her voice. “I don’t trust the other demon lords to leave us alone, now that you’ve unveiled yourself.”

  “I can’t say as I blame you, there,” Anna admitted, tilting her head as she thought, then smiled a little. “That said, I think you have the right idea. It also helps with your plans to help bring more people into your faith, hm?”

  “Indeed! I’ve heard that my followers in the heavens have found people to be far more receptive of late, too,” Estalia agreed, her worry fading as she grinned up at Anna. “We’re making progress, one day at a time. Now we just have to keep it up, hm?”

  “Very true,” Anna agreed, and she smiled as she closed the door, then pulled Estalia into an embrace as she murmured, “That, however, can wait until tomorrow. We haven’t had nearly enough time together, so I suggest we take advantage while we can.”

  Estalia simply giggled and stood on her toes as she murmured. “Come down here and kiss me, then.”

  Anna happily obliged.

  The End

  With this, the Mantles of Power trilogy comes to an end. It’s funny, since less than a year ago I started writing the opening scene of Heaven’s Fallen on a whim, only to have it take over in a way I never expected. I had to set it aside to finish the rest of the Through the Fire trilogy, but I kept coming back to the story, and I’m glad I did. There were a lot of twists and turns to the story, and when I started I had no idea where the end point would be. If you’ll review this book I’d greatly appreciate it, as it does wonders for convincing others to look at my books.

  For now, it’s time for me to move on to other projects. I’m working on a book in the Ancient Dreams series, Crisis of Faith, and it appears that this time my muse is with me! However, another book snuck up on me called Sting & Song which I wrote as a side project on Patreon, which I just released. After Crisis of Faith, I intend to start on the next book of the Lilith’s Shadow series, the first of four more books I have planned. I hope that many of you will join me in the future!

  May your imaginations soar, and allow you to dream of impossible things.

  Thank you all for reading Hell’s Ascendant! You can find Sting & Song below!

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  If you want to find more of my books, you can find them at the following link.

  Books by Benjamin Medrano

  If you want to see early drafts of my work or help select secondary characters to be illustrated, you can always join my Patreon, or you can get early chapters of upcoming novels and their announcements through my newsletter, both linked below.

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  Also, if you’d care to review this story, I’d greatly appreciate it! Again, thank you for reading Hell’s Ascendant. You can find a sneak-peek of Sting & Song on the following page.

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  Prologue

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Xinra said, the disbelief in her voice almost palpable. “A deific flush?”

  All the gods stared at the cards laying on the table in front of Yonra. The deity was sitting back, grinning like a loon as he replied. “What? I told you that my luck had to turn eventually.”

  They all looked at Besalk, and the god of luck quickly raised his hands defensively, protesting. “I had nothing to do with it! Yonra’s luck may have been abysmal every other game, but I’ve never used my powers for or against him.”

  “In that case it means that Yonra wins.” Assyran said evenly, and he smiled as he added. “According to the rules laid down before this millennium’s contest, a deific flush means that all participants owe Yonra a major boon.”

  Everyone was silent briefly, and they stared at Assyran for a long moment. He was the Balancer of Scales, which was why everyone was happy to have him judging their contests, at least most of the time. Then they looked at Yonra in trepidation, seeing the grin on the bearded, blond deity’s face.

  “Uh-oh.” Fayliss murmured, the goddess of beauty eying him warily.

  “Oh, don’t get your panties in a twist, Fay. I’m not going to ask you for anything you’ll object to. As a matter of fact, I know exactly what I want, and it’s a minor price to pay for all of you.” Yonra said, rolling his eyes, and all the others tensed more. Yonra was a god of chaos, and they never trusted him when he smiled like that.

  “What might that be?” Xinra asked warily.

  Yonra snapped his fingers, and a sheaf of paper popped into existence in front of each of the gods, including Assyran, who took it with a raised eyebrow and slight smile. The various deities picked the pages up, reading them as Yonra spoke.

  “The world’s gotten too boring, so I want a new species. Nothing that will break the balance that you so desperately adore, but something interesting,” the deity said, grinning broadly. “What I want is—”

  “Bee-girls?” Demask demanded, his deep voice filled with shock.

  The others stared at the papers, then at Yonra. After a moment he replied mildly. “Yes, bee-girls. And bee-boys, but considering bees, they probably won’t be as common.”

  “Why? What do you have planned?” Fayliss asked suspiciously.

  “I don’t have anything planned, I just want to have some fun. I very carefully made sure the proposal won’t have anything that any of you object to.” Yonra replied, buffing his nails on his robe. “In fact, as long as you all agree to it, I’ll consider the favors… spent.”

  Everyone looked at Assyran, and the deity smiled slightly. “The favors he’s owed are his to call in, not my own. The proposal appears to be within the bounds of merely two greater favors, let alone as many as he has won.”

  “See?” Yonra said, and grinned. “Look, I’ll even agree to allow you to fix any problems that arise afterward, as long as the changes are kept to the minimum necessary to fix the issue. I just want my bee-girls, damn it.”

  Fayliss looked over the papers, and after a moment she nodded slowly. “In that case… I will agree to this.”

  The other deities hesitated, then voiced their own agreement as Yonra’s grin widened still more. And as their agreement was voiced, the world beneath them remained unaware of how much things were about to change.

  Chapter 1

  The giant bee quickly circled the rose, humming happily to herself. Half her inventory was full already, which meant that she was making good progress. The queen would likely be pleased with her. Still, it wouldn’t do to wander into range of a wasp or spider in her eagerness, so she examined her surroundings carefully.

  The rose was large and attractive, and she practically salivated at the nectar she could smell from within. It would likely finish filling her inventory, and she didn’t see or smell any signs of danger. Not even from the fleshy creatures that occasionally hunted her kindred.

  So the bee headed into the flower, her humming growing still happier.

  The adventurers had cut their way deep into the hive, and many workers had fallen trying to block their advance. The attackers were two humans, a dwarf, three half-elves, and an elf, all of whom had taken precautions to protect themselves from the venomous stings of the workers. They’d taken some injuries so far, but in return they’d felled dozens of workers, and at last they’d made it into the queen’s chambers.

  A swarm of workers, including several of the queen’s attendants, descended on the intruders desperately, and they could see the hulking figure of the queen past the attacking bees.

  With a yell a human warrior waved his shield and stomped, creating a shockwave that knocked the insects back. The elf chanted briefly and extended her staff, and an eruption of lightning blasted through the bees, stunning them as they twitched and fell to the ground.

  “Quick, get her while they’re stunned!” the dwarf called out, her voice clear.

  The group charged into the
chamber, all the wax cells around them glistening with honey and pollen, and the queen began to bite and sting as she tried to defend herself. They surrounded her quickly, though, and she began flagging as they landed several telling blows, including one of the half-elves burying a dagger in one of her wings to keep her from flying.

  She staggered to the side as a hammer cracked her abdomen, and the attackers exclaimed in excitement as the other bees were starting to come to their senses. The queen felt the faintest sense of regret, wishing she could do something to protect her hive. In that moment she felt the offer, and she instantly seized the chance and agreed.

  Evolve Hive into Apis Hive?

  Evolving into Apis Hive

  A flash of white light blasted through the hive, blinding the attackers as they recoiled in surprise. As the light faded, the queen found herself changed. Echoing in her mind was a statement, but she ignored it, instead looking down at herself in surprise, at the same time as her attackers looked at her in shock.

  The queen’s body was now more like that of her attackers, similar to that of a human, and with vision that focused forward. Her body was sheathed in black chitin armor, much like their warrior wore plate, but it had multiple yellow stripes across its surface and was cracked where she’d been injured. In one hand she held a rapier made of black chitin which shone with a layer of green liquid along its length. Beyond her attackers she could see her workers and drones, and they were slowly standing up again in shapes similar to her own, disoriented. Their eyes were black, with gold irises that looked faceted, and black pupils within, while each bore a pair of antennae. Most were workers, all of which were female, while the drones were male, as they should be.

  “What the… bees don’t do this, do they? Could it be a curse?” a human asked, looking at one of the half-elves. “Don’t tell me we did this for nothing?”

  “No, this isn’t something normal,” the half-elf replied quickly, her voice perplexed. “I’ll Analyze her—”

  “For the queen!” one of the drones called out, raising his rapier high, and he charged the elven mage in the back.

  “What—” the elven woman began, looking stunned, but she reacted a little too slowly, and cried out in pain as he buried his blade in her stomach.

  The others swarmed forward, brandishing their weapons as the intruders struggled to react, trying to rebuild a defensive line.

  “Royal Command, defend the hive!” the queen said quickly, her amazement turning to anger, and she felt mana surge, and a golden aura radiated from her, causing her subordinates speed increase as their attacks hit harder.

  “What in the hells?” the dwarf yelped, but at that moment more bees entered the chamber, all of them in their new, humanoid form, and each of them grew stronger as they entered the queen’s aura.

  The attackers quickly fell under the flood of attacking bees. Their mage fell first despite the efforts of their priest to save her, then the bees focused on the lightly armored priest and rogues, until at last only the dwarf and heavily armored warrior remained. Even they fell, though the cost was another two dozen bees. At last it was done, though, and the queen noticed took note of the message in her mind.

  Evolution Complete: Apis Hive

  Evolution Complete: Apis Queen Level 10

  Level Up: Apis Queen Level 17

  She considered the message for a long moment, then dismissed it with a thought. It didn’t matter, not really. Instead she looked at her hive and considered, then spoke firmly. “Deal with the fallen and the intruders. Keep their equipment, we have need of it.”

  “Yes, My Queen.” a surviving attendant said, the woman curtseying deeply, a diaphanous golden gown attached to her armor.

  “My Queen?” one worker said, kneeling and lowering her head. “Might I request thy wisdom?”

  “Speak,” the queen ordered, feeling somewhat impatient with the woman. The number of dead she’d seen so far horrified her, and she wanted to know the full extent of the damage to the hive.

  “I have been offered the chance to evolve into an Apis Warrior or to remain a worker. What would best serve the hive?” the worker asked respectfully, her head bowed, and the queen’s anger eased as she realized that the interruption was of use.

  “Evolve, and secure the hive. Ensure that all intruders have been dealt with,” the queen ordered, and scowled at the attackers. “We are displeased by this assault.”

  “Yes, My Queen.” the worker replied, and quickly stood, a soft glow enveloping her body.

  The hive set to work, and the queen smiled in satisfaction. Even if most of the hive had lost their wings, save for her and the most powerful workers in the room, she believed that the risk had been worth taking. After all, otherwise she’d be dead.

  The bee unsteadily struggled to her feet, and held onto the edge of a petal as she glanced over the edge of the rose. Only minutes before she’d been happily harvesting nectar and pollen, and now… now she was different. She swallowed hard as she saw the long, long fall to the ground below.

  Then she asked plaintively, utterly confused by her situation. “What happened to my wings?”

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