Webs & Wards (Beesong Chronicles Book 2)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “I don’t like how much stone there is, and there’s not enough plants, but at least there’s lots of people!” Joy said, seeming to sidestep a porter almost effortlessly.

  Cora envied the apis’s near-instinctive grasp of how to move through the city crowds, since she often had a harder time, and had been knocked over a few times over the years. On the other hand, Joy also was craning her neck, trying to look every direction at once.

  They were in Irador, approaching the guild house, and the streets were crowded. Shops dotted the sides of the street, selling everything from potions and alchemy supplies to weapons, armor, camping equipment, and magical charms. The last was something that slightly tempted Cora, but she firmly stepped on the impulse to purchase something she didn’t really need when they were going to get better gear soon enough.

  The guild house was looming ahead of them, and the sight of it was a welcome one to Cora. It was an impressive building with three large floors, all of them sturdy masonry, along with several magical lanterns hanging from the eaves. Most guild houses had at least two floors, but few of them took as much space as those in large cities, where hundreds of adventurers often were based out of, and she did enjoy visiting them, even if they were loud and the quests went quickly.

  “You really like crowds, don’t you?” Stella asked, sounding almost as amused as Cora was.

  “Of course! I don’t like being alone, as even when I slept back at the hive, there were dozens of us in the same room. Having a room on my own makes it hard to sleep, especially in those big rooms we’ve had on the road,” Joy said, and her shiver didn’t look feigned, which made Cora blink a couple of times.

  “Really? I didn’t know that, and you didn’t say anything before this,” Cora said, looking at Joy in askance, a bit distracted from the sight of the guild house. “Most adventurers prefer having their own rooms, in my experience.”

  “I didn’t talk about it because you all seemed quite happy to be at inns,” Joy said calmly, giving a slight shrug as she added, “I preferred the campsites, personally. Even if they were colder, the company was nice.”

  Cora opened her mouth, then shut it again, shaking her head wryly. Joy confused her sometimes, but she was starting to understand the apis a little better, now. Joy was cheerful, enthusiastic, and more than willing to ask questions about just about anything. On the other hand, the apis was also reluctant to do anything which she felt might cause problems or upset others, so she’d just not talk about something except when asked, like they’d just done. It was mildly frustrating to Cora, but only mildly, when compared to how Joy had kept her lifespan to herself.

  “If you’d said something, it’s entirely possible that someone might have been willing to room with you. There have been plenty of times when I roomed with a couple of other people, even if it’s mostly to save money,” Brianna said dryly, looking at Joy with a grin. “Heck, me and Cora have done it a few times, for that matter! It’s just that most people like the privacy, and we didn’t want to intrude.”

  “Oh!” Joy said, and her cheeks turned a slightly brighter shade of yellow as she blushed, then bowed her head. “I’ll remember that! I didn’t think about it that way.”

  “It’s fine, Joy,” Cora said, then focused on the door to the guild as they approached it.

  The guild hadn’t bothered with closing the inner door, leaving it propped open for people to enter and exit, which also probably helped get fresh air into the building. From the music she could hear, along with a lot of people, that was probably a good thing. Joy’s nose wrinkled as well, which Cora suspected was probably because she could smell the copious amounts of alcohol from inside. Joy’s aversion to fruit juice that ‘had gone off’ amused the elf to no end, but she tried not to tease the apis about it.

  They entered the guild, and a wave of noise and warmth washed over them. The tavern area was much larger than the one in Seldrim, and at the back of the room was a stage where a quartet was performing music. Servers were tending to dozens of adventurers, and Cora only gave them a glance before going back to what she was doing, since none of the adventurers looked like they were people she knew, and they weren’t particularly unusual species, either.

  Instead, she headed for the desk where the secretaries were, and as she did, Cora resisted the urge to smile. The one in the center was a bit more unusual than most, as they were one of the lizardfolk. She thought they were male, since their scales were a muted brown, but the lizardfolk looked up at her approach, blinking through spectacles with amber eyes for a moment.

  “My apologies, but if I’m not mistaken, one of your number is an apis,” the lizardfolk said in a deep, distinctly male voice as he looked at Joy, then took off his glasses, polished them, and put them back on. “So far as I know, there’s only one apis adventurer so far. Might you be her?”

  “Hi! I’m Joy!” the apis replied, grinning as she looked at the lizardman in fascination, then asked, “Who are you? And what, I should ask. I’ve never seen someone like you before!”

  “Ah, in that regard, we’re alike,” the lizardman said, giving a toothy smile. “I’m named Viperbite, or Viper for short, and I’m one of the varanus, more commonly known as lizardfolk. We most commonly live in lakes and swamps, so aren’t the most common species in these parts. I must say, I’m surprised to see you here. Last I heard, you were only level seven.”

  “I’m afraid we went through a lot of difficult situations after that, and leveled a fair amount,” Cora interrupted with a smile, drawing Viper’s attention. “I’m Cora, and my companions are Brianna, Joy, and Stella. We’ve brought a dispatch from Guildmaster Isolde of Seldrim, to be delivered directly to Guildmaster Silverhoof.”

  “Ah! I think I saw something about that, but I wasn’t told who would be bringing it,” Viper said, nodding firmly as he added, “One minute, please. Let me see what the instructions were.”

  “Of course,” Cora said, and waited patiently as Viper shuffled through papers.

  As he did, a bunch of other adventurers were looking over at them curiously, and Cora was rather certain she knew why they were looking. Elves and humans weren’t anything out of the ordinary, not among adventurers, so it pretty much had to be Joy they were looking at. The rest of them weren’t pretty enough to get that kind of reaction.

  She was just glad that none of the adventurers seemed inclined to come over and interrupt, since that would be awkward. On the other hand, Joy was openly staring at different people and objects as she turned in place, examining the room. It was amusing, in Cora’s opinion… as was the way Stella was keeping a close eye on the apis.

  “You find something interesting, Joy?” Brianna finally asked, eyeing the apis as she tried, and failed, to suppress a smile.

  “I’m just looking at the building and people. There are so many more people than in Seldrim. Plus, there’s a lot of interesting bits on the ceiling and walls… those are nails, right?” Joy asked, her gaze intent as she examined the ceiling above them closely, and Cora looked up to see the faint, glittering ends of nails flush with the boards above them.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Cora said, a grin creeping across her face. “Is it the first time you’ve seen them?”

  “Nope! I saw some at a blacksmith’s shop, when I was searching for ore, but I hadn’t really looked for how they were used,” Joy said brightly, looking back at Cora with her customarily cheerful expression. “I wonder if I could do that?”

  “Possibly, but unless you’re willing to change jobs to something like a carpenter, you probably wouldn’t be very good at it,” Brianna chimed in, and Joy wrinkled her nose unhappily.

  “A carpenter? Um, no, that would make leveling harder for me,” Joy said, shaking her head firmly. “Besides, how would I travel with you if I did?”

  “An excellent point, which many people don’t consider when they think about changing jobs,” Viper interjected, looking up from the papers and adjusting his spectacles. “I found the document in questi
on, and it appears that we were told that a detailed dispatch was on its way, as well as the fact you were witnesses to at least some of the… incident.”

  Viper stressed the last word, glancing toward the main room warily, and Cora blinked in surprise, then frowned. His caution surprised her, considering that Isolde had told the entire guild what was going on back in Seldrim, but she wasn’t about to annoy him by saying something.

  “I do understand. In that case, may we see the Guildmaster? Or is he away?” Cora asked, glancing at the others speculatively. All but Joy seemed to be more cautious, now.

  “Oh, he’s here. In fact, I believe he’s dealing with the last of this week’s paperwork, which he never enjoys. It’s part of why I was hoping to avoid interrupting, to let him finish up and relax,” Viper said, standing and nodding. “If you’d follow me, I’ll take you to him.”

  Cora nodded, and stepped out of the way, allowing Viper to circle the desk, then he led them away from the tavern floor. Since the stairs were on the other side of the tavern, Cora debated internally. Given the Guildmaster’s name, she’d been wondering whether he was a centaur, faun, minotaur, satyr, or some other more esoteric species… or if he was just a human with an odd name. Considering the direction, she suspected that he was either a centaur or minotaur, as stairs would be more difficult for those species. She could still be wrong, but she’d be willing to bet money on it.

  They followed Viper to a door, which he opened to show a rather wide, tall hallway. He led them down it, explaining. “These are the offices of the guild leaders in Irador, though I should caution you shouldn’t expect to meet with them often. Most of them are far too busy to help in most situations.”

  “Fair enough,” Cora murmured, then paused, considering for a moment, then asked, “Actually… you might be able to answer one of our questions for us. Do you know if any large apis hives are in the region? Aside from back in the Flower Forest, I mean.”

  “Well… yes? We’ve gotten reports about different apis hives, but how big is an entirely different question. See, we know of at least five within Astonia, if not more. Amusingly, there are four inside the duchy, or on its borders… but I digress,” Viper said, rubbing his chin as he paused outside a door. “The problem is that they’ve all started a lot of construction, so no one knows how large a hive is to begin with.”

  “Ten thousand would be a small one, but anything above sixty thousand and the hive splits,” Joy replied instantly, prompting everyone to stop and stare at her. The apis looked at them, then asked, her cheer fading slightly. “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No… I’m just surprised you can determine the numbers that precisely. Do you know how big your hive was?” Cora asked, a little shocked despite herself. She didn’t know Joy knew that much about numbers. “The attendant told Brianna and I how big it is, but… I’m just curious if you knew.”

  “Well, it’s just part of being an apis. Making honey is easier, the more apis you have, just like with bees. If they could, a queen would make a hive that was huge, but they can’t sustain more than sixty thousand apis,” Joy said, cheering up visibly. “I bet they’d try to make cities together, but queens can’t stand one another. They’d fight to the death, so splitting up is the only way to make it work. But, my hive was about thirty thousand apis, if I remember right. Probably a bit lower, now.”

  “Hmm. That is a lot of apis,” Viper said, adjusting his spectacles again, and an obvious frown on his face. “I didn’t realize there were quite that many of your kind in a hive, though it does explain a few things.”

  “I’m glad I could help!” Joy said brightly.

  Viper knocked on the door at the end of the hall, then opened it, clearing his throat, but not before someone else spoke, in a deep, angry voice. “Damn it, Viper! I’m almost done with these reports so don’t you dare rush me!”

  “That isn’t why I’m here, Guildmaster. The dispatch from Seldrim has arrived, and the adventurers who brought it are required to hand it over in person,” Viper said calmly, as if he were yelled at every day. On the other hand, when Cora thought about adventurers, that was entirely likely.

  “What? That… well, send them in, then,” the man huffed, obviously somewhat put out, though why was another question entirely.

  “Of course, sir,” Viper said, stepping out of the way and gesturing into the room with a toothy smile. “Here you are, ladies.”

  “Thank you, Viper,” Cora said, nodding graciously to him, then stepped into the room.

  The first thing Cora noticed was that she’d been right, the Guildmaster was a centaur. Silverhoof was a tall man, with long, dark hair done in braids, bronzed skin, and had a sable coat of hair on his lower body. He was behind a large desk, and she had to crane her neck to look at him, he was enough taller than her. There was also a door in the wall behind the desk, which she suspected was probably a private exit, since she thought the wall was against the stables. Silverhoof also looked a touch grumpy.

  On the other hand, his expression brightened a bit when he saw Joy, looking curiously at her as he asked, “Say, is that an apis with you?”

  “Yep! My name’s Joy!” she replied, grinning up at him. “What are you?”

  “Hmm… you’re an odd one. As for me, I’m a centaur. Have you never seen one before?” Silverhoof asked, just as the door shut behind them. Cora opened her mouth to speak, but Joy beat her to it.

  “Nope!” Joy said, considering a bare moment before asking. “Do you really have silver hooves? That sounds heavy.”

  Only Joy would dare ask that, Cora reflected, as Brianna snickered softly beside her.

  Chapter 12

  The man blinked at her, and for a moment he looked perplexed, which didn’t make sense to Joy. Her question had been simple, at least she’d thought so. At last he answered, a note of confusion in his voice.

  “No, they aren’t. My hooves were bright white when I was born, so I was given the name Silverhoof,” the centaur said at last, one of his hooves clopping against the floor.

  “Ah, Guildmaster? I’m Cora, and this is Brianna and Stella. We’re companions of Joy’s, and have a dispatch for you,” Cora interrupted, drawing Silverhoof’s attention away from Joy as she pulled a packet out of her pouch, one that had been wrapped in thick brown paper. “It’s from Guildmaster Isolde.”

  “Of course. I was told a message was coming, but magical communication doesn’t provide much detail,” Silverhoof said, extending his hand, and Cora handed it up to him. The centaur set it on his desk but didn’t open it, somewhat to Joy’s surprise. Instead, he looked at them and asked, “So, I’m given to understand that you faced a demon when you were trying to leave the mines? I did learn at least that much.”

  “That’s right,” Cora said, glancing over at Joy and hesitating, then she smiled awkwardly as her cheeks colored, and she continued. “Alethus is a level forty-eight demon, according to another person he captured, but we rescued. I didn’t have a chance to use Analyze on him, so I can’t be sure, but he looked like either a hellion or incubus to me.”

  “Most unfortunate that you encountered someone like that in an area like Seldrim. It’s even more unfortunate that Isolde couldn’t catch up with him, as she’d have dealt with our problem one way or another,” Silverhoof said, letting out a sigh of frustration. “She’s the most powerful guild member in the duchy, and most of the kingdom for that matter, so… well, never mind that. What do you know of his goals?”

  “Not much, I’m afraid,” Stella said, speaking up calmly. “Guildmaster Isolde told us that he stole a seal placed by Tarngard to contain a powerful monster, and that she knew there were at least two more seals, but not much more was known when we left.”

  “He was also manipulating a clan of motini in the mines, who were going to eat or sacrifice intruders,” Brianna added, her arms crossed in front of her. “I hate to think about what would have happened to the captives, had Joy failed in her rescue attempt. We sure wouldn’t have been ab
le to fight our way over to them once he appeared.”

  “Truly?” Silverhoof asked, his eyebrows rising as he looked at Joy again, looking quite curious. “How did you manage that?”

  “I’m a Rogue, so I kept to the shadows and waited for a chance. Once Cora started breaking the pillar, I killed the guards and freed them,” Joy said, then paused and admitted, “Then a rock hit me in the head, and everything went fuzzy. I think that’s why I missed when I tried to stab him in the eye.”

  “You what?” Silverhoof demanded, suddenly focused on her. “Tried to stab who in the eye?”

  “The demon, Alethus. He had me by the throat and had just cast a poison spell at Cora. I panicked, and tried to stab him in the eye with a piece of titansteel,” Joy said, and shrugged, letting out a sigh. “I missed, and he threw me away from him.”

  “You still almost put his eye out, which is damned impressive for someone almost forty levels lower than him,” Brianna said, her voice calm. “Then you drew him into that trap with the flower minks, too. Don’t sell yourself short, Joy; you were the most valuable person in the mines by far.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without any of you, though,” Joy replied, smiling back at the human happily. “I couldn’t have broken the pillar, and they’d have caught me without all of you distracting them.”

  Silverhoof cleared his throat, stopping their argument as Joy looked back up at him, and he smiled, a glint of something different in his eyes as he looked at Joy, speaking gravely. “Regardless of who contributed, I must agree with… Brianna, was it? Managing to inflict that kind of injury on someone of so much higher level than you is an incredible feat, and you shouldn’t sell it short. Well done, even if you didn’t kill him.”

  “Thank you,” Joy said, blushing slightly. “It was all I could think of to do at the time. He was way too strong, and they told me about weak points before.”

  “Then you learned well,” Silverhoof said, nodding firmly, then looking around at them. “Now, is there anything you needed to ask me? I need to finish reviewing these reports, then the dispatch.”