Webs & Wards (Beesong Chronicles Book 2)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “Not that I can see. Check the enemies for any sign of the seal, and make it quick,” Abigail said, shoving the box into her inventory with a sigh. “Even if we don’t find it, we’re going to have to retreat quickly. The apis can’t hold our escape route open forever.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Brianna replied, and the adventurers quickly turned to get to work while Abigail glanced up at the apis, and how they were now heroically fighting the army ants without pause, giving her and the others time to recover.

  She couldn’t have done this without them, Abigail admitted to herself, and likely would have been dragged away before much longer if they hadn’t come to the rescue. She’d have to find some way of thanking them later.

  For now, she went to search the other bodies in the area. Anything valuable enough which they could carry, she’d grab as well. There was no reason not to. Hopefully Silverhoof would be able to help as well, once he arrived.

  Chapter 44

  “We’ve returned, my queen,” the attendant said, and the queen looked up, pausing at the sight of the apis.

  While the attendant looked like she was in good health, her skirt had been burnt away, there was a hole punched through her armor over the right side of her chest, and her left antennae was missing. It was enough to make the queen think she had visited the humblebees to be healed, but if that were the case, the queen would smell them on the attendant. That meant that those they’d aided had healed the attendant, which improved the queen’s opinion of them.

  “Good. Were you successful?” the queen asked, setting aside the wax sheet that the humblebees had prepared for her. She’d heard of the ‘paper’ that Joy had described, but the apis didn’t have any yet, so they were using what they did have. The problem was that the sheets were fragile, so she had to be careful.

  “We were able to kill or capture the invaders, but they found the seal, and somehow took it away, my queen,” the attendant replied respectfully, nodding to her. “We also killed a large number of ants, which should make it easier on the hive for a short time.”

  The queen nodded, considering for a few moments. “That is good. How many apis were lost?”

  “Between both fights, seventy-three apis died. The others were able to be healed,” the attendant reported, relaxing slightly. “We were asked to keep the way out open, mostly. They also offered us a gift, in thanks for our help!”

  “Oh?” the queen asked, her curiosity roused. “What sort of gift?”

  Instead of speaking, the attendant pulled out a wax jar and opened it to take out a chunk of reddish rock. The queen sat up at the sight of the stone, and the attendant explained happily. “They heard that we needed ore from Joy, so they gave us what they had. There are ninety-eight pieces of iron ore, my queen.”

  “That… is a wonderful gesture. Give it to our highest-level warriors,” the queen said, relief rushing through her. Then she paused and asked, “Are Brianna, Cora, Joy, and Stella alive?”

  “They are. Joy was injured, but was healed after the fight,” the attendant said, nodding respectfully. “I was also told that we probably will get some help with the ants soon.”

  “Good. That’s very good,” the queen said, smiling gently at the attendant, and let out a breath of relief as she murmured, “The hive will survive.”

  “Yes, my queen,” the other apis murmured, and the queen felt less tension than she had since they’d encountered the army ants.

  They had hope at last. Now the only thing to do was to ensure it wasn’t dashed. And that meant contacting the Tulip Hive.

  * * *

  “I never want to drink a potion again. Ever,” Joy said firmly, laying her head on the table, and Cora couldn’t help laughing.

  “Even if they’d save your life?” Brianna asked, sounding a bit amused.

  “They’re terrible,” Joy said, lifting her head to look at Brianna in disbelief. “Why would someone do that to themselves? Why?”

  “Most people don’t hate the taste of healing potions, Joy,” Stella said, shrugging and taking a drink, wrinkling her nose. “I’m guessing that since apis don’t drink anything but honey and water, they just don’t taste right. Maybe the alchemists could come up with something that wouldn’t taste as bad, though.”

  “That’s not a bad thought,” Cora agreed, tapping her chin thoughtfully and trying to ignore the sorry excuse for wine that filled her cup, instead keeping an eye on Joy. The apis was far too prone to getting herself in trouble.

  They were back in Bearton, and while they’d managed to escape the Teeming Jungle without any permanent deaths, a quarter of the other adventurers had resurrected in the temple. Even their retreat hadn’t been easy, as Cora had nearly lost a leg to an army ant that hadn’t been as dead as Brianna had thought it was. At least they’d all leveled again, except for Stella, and Cora was planning to change jobs before going to bed. She was a bit envious of Joy, who’d leveled twice, to her amazement.

  Once back, they’d received what amounted to a hero’s welcome. The locals were ecstatic about the invaders having been driven off, and Cora had almost laughed herself unconscious the first time Joy had called them Skyfishers. In either case, they’d been given a modest amount of coin apiece and been offered free room and board. The latter seemed like an excellent offer, at least until they’d learned that the enemy soldiers had drank every drop of decent alcohol in the town. They were getting what the soldiers hadn’t been willing to touch.

  “Possibly. I’m sure we can mention it to some alchemists, and they’ll figure it out,” Brianna said, shrugging dismissively as she sat back in her chair. “Question is… what do we do now? I’m pretty sure that we’ve successfully opened trade with the hive, so that just leaves the ore.”

  “I’m sure we can find out where to find it back in Irador. I doubt they’ll have enough on hand for our purposes, but we have the coin to order it,” Stella said, adjusting her position, wincing, then stood. “Still, I think I need to take a bath and sleep. It’s been a long couple of days.”

  “Not a bad idea… in fact, I think I’ll join you,” Brianna said, standing up, and Cora blinked as she watched the two go, a little surprised by how suddenly they were leaving, but picked up her cup to take a drink, debating whether she should go to bed too. She was tired.

  Joy raised her head, her antennae rising as she watched the two go, and her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at them, then at Cora. The apis seemed to contemplate for a few seconds, then asked, “Cora? Why did they smell like mating pheromones? They’re both female, so unless they’re planning to find a male, it seems odd.”

  Cora choked on her wine, sputtering a little as she did a double take, just barely catching a glimpse of Brianna’s red hair as she headed up the stairs, then gasped, “They what?”

  “Did… I say something wrong?” Joy asked, her antennae lowering slightly.

  “No, it’s just… they’re…” Cora began, and stopped, taking a deep breath as she calmed herself, blushing as she thought about the two women, and her confusion grew. “Why would they be attracted to one another? They’re nothing alike!”

  “Um… I don’t know? And they’re planning to mate with each other?” Joy asked, looking perplexed. “But they’re women!”

  “We don’t know that. But whatever you do, don’t ask them,” Cora said, flushing a little as she looked at Joy, and her expression softened. “Either way… some people don’t sleep together to mate, Joy. They do it for pleasure, because they like one another and enjoy it. It’s also a private thing, which is why I said not to ask them. They’ll share if they want to.”

  “Oh,” Joy said, looking at the stairs, then smiled, looking at Cora. “I’m sorry!”

  “Sorry about what?” Cora asked, the change of Joy’s focus jarring.

  “Well, I didn’t realize why you had those pheromones when in bed, and I don’t have the bits. I’m sorry!” Joy explained, and one of the nearby maids did a double take.

  As it happened, Cora learned
that it was not possible to die of mortification. On the other hand, with the way her cheeks were heating, she might be able to heat a forge.

  “Joy… this is the sort of conversation for in private,” Cora hissed, frustration and affection rushing through her in equal measure.

  “Sorry!” Joy said, but her words didn’t diminish her smile.

  Cora simply sighed in aggravation. Sometimes she wished she could hate Joy. She simply couldn’t.

  Epilogue

  “They what?” Alethus asked, much of his pleasure vanishing as he read the letter in disbelief.

  No one was present to hear his outburst, which he was quite thankful for. They weren’t even across the border yet, but what he’d read was just too surprising to believe.

  Damaris and her entire battalion had died, or damned near the entire battalion, at least. Based on the numbers in the report, he was rather certain that there were very few who had avoided dying, and the majority of those missing had been claimed by death permanently.

  He could barely believe that it was the same group of adventurers who’d led him into the trap that’d proven his undoing this time as well, though in a very different manner. An entire army of apis joining the one who’d fooled him… that was a shock, and one he couldn’t have anticipated. The army ants were an unpleasant surprise as well, but at least it meant that Duke Dorma would be forced to split his forces. As it was, Alethus wasn’t going to ask for any of those who’d died to join him, not since he didn’t want to risk them dying permanently.

  “I think… I’m going to have to see if there are any apis hives near my borders, if this fails,” Alethus muttered, sitting back in his chair and musing, looking at the letter. “If I can bring them under my command, they’d obviously be useful. Self-sacrificing, numerous, fearless… an intriguing mix. Later, though.”

  Alethus set the thought aside and let out a sigh, pulling out a sheet of parchment to send a reply.

  The only saving grace about all of this was that he got the second seal fragment. Once he had the third, Irador would fall, and in all likelihood, Alethus would be the new Dark Lord.

  He smiled at the thought, as he did like the ring of the title.

  The End

  * * *

  I love Joy. More to the point, I love writing about Joy. She’s fun, enthusiastic, and she brightens my day in virtually every scene where she exists. Not every scene, as she is rather brutally ruthless from time to time, but she’s oddly innocent in a lot of ways… and I really don’t see that changing. She’s the type of character who sees the world as it is, nods, and continues doing what she does because what the rest of the world thinks has no bearing on her beliefs. It’s somewhat fascinating to me, how she does it.

  Still, Joy isn’t the only main character, she simply seems to steal the show when I’m writing, if I’m being honest. I strive to include more content from the perspective of others, in part to show that while she’s part of the world, she isn’t the only person that matters. Joy, as much as I love her, is a single apis out of hundreds of thousands. But enough about that.

  Thank you for reading Webs & Wards! This book was more difficult to write than Sting & Song was, but it was also much more complex in many ways. I have a third book planned, and fully intend to write it at the same time as I’m working on Lilith’s Shadow and my other main projects.

  I hope you enjoyed the book, and that you’ll enjoy the next one as well! My next book is Queen’s Move, book 3 of my Lilith’s Shadow series, and you can find a sample of it on the next page.

  Order Queen’s Move Now!

  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 Webs & Wards.

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  Prologue

  Thursday, April 17th, 2031

  Earth Orbit, Sol

  The satellite wasn’t anything special as far as satellites went. A simple communications satellite, its primary use was retransmitting television signals, though there were enough other functions to keep it constantly in use. It was expected to last another three years, unless its owner paid for a refit. Unfortunately for the owner, it lasted only about ten more seconds.

  The mass of metal that hit the satellite took it offline instantly, likely causing a great deal of consternation among the technicians, and the debris also created a much larger blip on the military sensors than the escape pod had generated so far.

  As it hit the atmosphere, the escape pod’s sides shuddered and it split into five separate sections, each going a different direction as they plunged into Earth’s gravity well at an angle that would incinerate most human craft.

  Before anyone had a chance to react, the five objects landed across the southwestern United States, each of them slowing extremely rapidly before impact, yet still plowing craters into the countryside.

  No movement came from four of the pods, and while they opened to give the appearance that someone might have left, it was the fifth one that held an occupant. It took several moments before the figure moved, and then only slowly dragging itself free of the crash webbing. The figure was sheathed in chitinous orange plates that faded toward a dull red at the edges, and it was approximately humanoid in form, with long, cable-like braids extending from the back of its head.

  The figure paused, looking around the pod before gathering several pieces of equipment, along with a large crate in one hand before inputting a combination into the console on the wall. Only then did the figure take flight, flickering into near-invisibility as light bent around it as it flew to the north.

  Less than a minute after the figure’s departure, the pod and all the copies surged with power, then detonated in a hail of metal that destroyed everything inside them, including two other figures like the one which departed in each of them.

  By the time the first reconnaissance plane passed overhead, there was nothing for the military to find but a deep crater in the ground and shattered metal and biological remnants over the countryside.

  Chapter 1

  Monday, April 21st, 2031

  Glendale, Utah

  “Hello, inspector.” Lilith said, calmly offering her hand to the man as she studiously ignored the cameras she could see from the roadside. She was unfortunately used to the attention at this point, even if this was more pronounced than it had been before she’d gone into hiding.

  Her guest was a man of middling height, with a close-trimmed brown beard and immaculate uniform, which she suspected was unusual for someone coming to inspect a construction site. His brown eyes were fixed on Lilith, and he seemed frozen for a moment before shaking himself and taking her hand. The tag he was wearing said Drew, which she suspected was his first name. She also had to wonder if he was an undercover police officer, with as calm as he seemed to be.

  “You must be Lilith Carpenter, based on the pictures I’ve seen.” Drew said, smiling at her as he nodded politely. “I’d say it’s a pleasure, but who knows? As long as this is nice and quiet, I’ll be happy.”

  “Quiet seems to be a relative term. I barely got here before the news crews showed up, and I’ve spotted at least three heroes in the vicinity as well. It’s almost like they don’t trust me.” Lilith replied, glancing toward the street sardonically, then admitted. “Though it could be that they’re watching for villains to attack me. That would be nice.”

  “I certainly wouldn’t object to that! Now, I’m here to perform an inspection of your house. All the non-disclosure agreements have been signed.” Drew said, straightening as he looked past her.
“That said, when someone requests permission to visually obscure their construction site, we’re used to them using tarps or the like. Not something like… that.”

  Lilith smiled in private satisfaction, turning around as she murmured. “Yes, well, my AI insisted on proper security. She believes that allowing others to see the building while it’s under construction is a security breach.”

  The area was quite different from San Francisco, Lilith had to admit, though there was still a faint scent of saltwater in the air. The Great Salt Lake wasn’t that close, but it was near enough that most days she could smell it, and mountains ringed the horizon. On the other hand, she was more focused on her new property, which she’d had ringed with a simple brick and mortar wall that was just over four feet tall. At the moment the ground was barren as well, but her property was two hundred feet on a side, giving a good fifty feet of clearance around what was to be her new home.

  Not that anyone could make out the building under construction. The shimmering dome at the center of her property was a hundred feet across, and it completely distorted the view of what was inside, though some movement could be seen. The distortion generator was something only the military normally used, or a few superheroes and villains who could make them, yet Circe had added one to the construction unit without hesitation when Lilith asked her how to build a secure new home.

  “Have you had many problems with that?” Drew asked, slowly starting toward the dome, looking a little hesitant. “It’s safe to approach, right?”

  “Yes, it’s safe. As for problems…” Lilith paused, considering what to tell the man, then shrugged. “Three minor villains and one major one had made attempts at inserting surveillance devices inside the perimeter, while nine others have jumped the fence to intrude as well. Once the police stationed an officer nearby, the intrusions trailed off, but they’ve been unfortunately common. That’s why there’s a shield that prevents anyone from moving far into the outer shell, then another distortion field just inside that. Getting inside the outer shell doesn’t help at all, and if they do, Circe simply contacts the authorities.”