After the Queen captured Harven, what little hope I had left turned to ash. Yafoot was more competent than I ever gave him credit for, and Harven’s scheming would probably have led to the destruction of Yiwi as I knew it anyway.
While trudging home, I felt Ben’s eyes on my neck and Beatrice’s stern gaze on my heart. I tried getting angry again, but Beatrice squashed my emotions without delay. At least she let me be excited to see my Dipee-poo again. Dipbee.
No.
What were Grehn and Vlugh up to? Even though knowledge like that would be useful, the Queen decided I shouldn’t know. I wanted to go get blessed by Lord Hu-Leio again, but I was being steered back home regardless. Just as well. As I approached my building, I saw Dip waiting out front, so I ran up and hugged him.
“Squawk.”
“I know, Dipee, sorry you got bored.”
“Squawk! Squawk squawk!”
“Worried? Oh, Dip. You know you’re always protecting me.”
Poor Dip bowed his head, preening my hair with his beak. I doubt my life had been in danger at Harven’s, but the unexpected nature of the situation did admittedly make me nervous. But with him now on our side…
Well, Yiwi was doomed.
“Let’s just stay in tonight, Dip. I’m… tired.”
Dull metal stairs creaked and old metal door squeaked, and I found myself in my fishy-smelling room. I wasn’t lying when I said I was exhausted; the past week had been like a Mind Collapsed dream. Think of the positives, Yelah.
Rette was alive and recovering. She would probably be mostly safe from the coming conflict, if the Queen had even a shred of mercy. Dip was here with me. Yoho was being more cautious, so he might stay safe as well. With the Yiwi Fighters, Harven, and us mercenaries under their control, the Hive was in a strong position to conquer Yiwi. All that was left would be to Link the leaders of Hayrey and Yemonto Co., betray the City Lord at the last moment, and turn Yiwi into a magnificent foothold for bees in the wider world.
One of those felt different from the others.
After flopping onto my cot, I tossed. Turned. Was this really going to happen? I had lived in this city my whole life, and now I was going to help turn it into a slave colony? It was just wrong. Right?
What would actually happen? I thought back to our first meeting with the bees, that surprise attack that we nearly surpassed, only for us to underestimate the individual power of some of the bees. With Rette injured, our opportunity had been lost. Could I have killed the swarm of bees myself? What if I had seen that the two stronger bees had resisted Rette’s attack, and killed them myself? If Rette hadn’t been injured as badly, could we have escaped?
In the end, we likely wouldn’t have gotten away. I had accepted that long ago, and it no longer weighed on me. No matter what happened with the swarm, we were doomed. Bedivere would likely be able to take on all five of us at once, and the Queen would have arrived eventually.
So then, what about after that? The bees had no medical capabilities, so Rette and Vlugh were in bad condition. The Queen, I was convinced, had been distracted, and had inadvertently fed us rotten meat. For some reason, I was convinced she didn’t mean us harm. Grehn had his doubts, and Vlugh was beside himself at their attempts to control our Minds, but something told me it wasn’t malicious.
What were her goals? The Queen acted goofy and ignorant, but she was clearly intelligent and had a wealth of knowledge of some kind. Why did she want to take control of Yiwi? Couldn’t I convince her and the City Lord to work together?
Naïve.
The Queen wanted to grow her hive and family. And humans were the number one obstacle in her way of that goal. Yiwi was simply a stone along the path, so in her view it would be a part of the hive eventually. But the situation with the City Lord was different. He was searching for something in the ruins of the forest. He was scared of something, even more so than usual.
He was actively opposing the Queen’s goals.
Yiwi’s internal struggles were already threatening to boil over, and the involvement of the bees would worsen the conflict. But what about after? I could see it; if the bees succeeded, my city’s struggles would never end. The people wouldn’t be able to handle being forced to serve under oppressive rule again. I doubted the Queen could Link everyone in the city, but she might try. And no human alive would stand to have their Mind stolen from them.
All the religious figures like the Human Church and any Drevani would defy the bees aggressively, and thousands would die one way or the other. Greedy merchants would try to escape or use innocents as shields. What would big mercenary companies do? Hayrey and Yemonto Co. had branches all over the place, even in other countries. Goloyo… Lady Seiena might come and turn Yiwi into a crater as ruined as the Vultuous Forest. Would armies of mercenaries come to Yiwi’s doors?
Would the King’s army come instead?
Emotions bubbled up, then got crushed, upsetting my stomach, and I slept poorly. My eyes opened to darkness once, twice, multiple times until I finally saw sunlight shining through the window.
Something was… different today. The sun felt brighter. Despite my weary body and bleary Mind, I jumped up, ready to start the day.
“You look like death.”
“Thanks Yoho, I do try my best.”
Just like old times, Yoho was waiting for me outside, so we went to grab a meal. I didn’t leave Dip behind this time. Just in case.
“You look like death, but something’s different about you today. You seem… excited?”
I was excited, and I had no idea why. Maybe I had finally lost my Mind, but a quick check didn’t show ‘Lost’ in my status. Huh. I stared at the sky, catching a glimpse of a little bee. That was Benita, not Ben. She was picking up a flower, probably to take back and add to Belphegora’s pile.
“Yelah?”
“Sorry Yoho. Distracted. Say, you know anything about where the City Lord is?”
“Him?” Yoho cocked his head. “That guy never leaves his office. Actually, interesting thing: I found out from a friend that your boss over at Hayrey was meeting with him yesterday. Wildest thing, considering that nobody is allowed to even see him nowadays.”
I felt a surge of anger flow through me. Not mine this time, but the Queen’s. Or maybe Beatrice? I was no bee, so I couldn’t tell them apart very easily. Either way, I understood their frustration: if I had actually converted the Hayrey executives, then that would have been the most perfect opportunity ever. We could’ve gotten the City Lord himself and rid ourselves of unnecessary conflict.
With tensions this high, I could feel the true thoughts of the bees: ‘Should we risk it all and attack the City Lord?’ I grit my teeth. Any day now, the Yiwi Fighters would attempt a coup. They had planned for it to happen three days from today, a sudden and swift offensive. But the bees could make it happen sooner. Or later. Whichever would allow them to take the City Lord, obtain control of both sides of the conflict, and steadily transition the city into a part of the hive without meaningful resistance.
“You’re a good friend. I hope you can forgive me eventually.”
Yoho cocked his head again. Poor, innocent Yoho. He had grown up so much. Back then, I always had to protect him from cowardly mercenaries and bullies. His parents were kind to me, and he was always so nice. One of the only people who bothered being nice to me. But when I looked into his eyes, I saw something.
Guilt.
He didn’t want to be protected by me, and hated that he needed it. If I didn’t help him, he never would’ve completed his education. Never would have made progress in his dream to found his own mercenary company. And despite the fact that all I asked for was kindness, he insisted on giving me more. So here he was now, a boy I barely recognized, able to hold his own. Sure, he acted like an idiot around me, probably because of his guilt, but he managed to hold his own in a game far more dangerous. Corporate espionage was no easy task. Probably.
I admired him. He put his mind to something and did it, becoming strong so I wouldn’t have to protect him anymore.
Later today, I would be tasked with finding a way to come into direct contact with Hayrey’s executives. It shouldn’t be difficult; I was a golden child, after all. They didn’t know about my failure, so to them I was a promising young mercenary with leadership skills and personal strength.
But it wasn’t time for that yet. So I ate, chatted, and laughed with Yoho until the sun was high in the sky and the store owner started giving us a look.
My chair clattered as I shot up. Eight days, almost exactly.
“Yoho, monster bees are trying to conquer Yiwi. Get the word out to watch out for bees. If you find one of my teammates, send them to the city center. Dip, tell Hayrey.”
“Squawk.”
I channeled my Ability, giving Dip a boost in dexterity and intelligence, and pushing my strength and speed above what could be considered natural. Yoho stared incredulously as I spun and started sprinting towards the City Lord’s office, while Dip dashed away towards Hayrey’s headquarters. He could write our simple glyphs, so he would alert Hayrey of ‘danger.’
The sun shone brilliantly as I ran through the streets. Colors popped and smells assaulted my nose. For more than a week, my senses had been dulled, held under the boot of a monster.
A distant scream of rage and panic echoed in my Mind, remnants of a connection that was now gone. I looked at my hand. Held inside was the curled, dead form of a bee.
My Linker.
I breathed in and smiled, then shouted. I was free! No foreign thoughts went through my head. Nobody peered at my darkest secrets, nobody used my precious memories as middling entertainment, nobody held my life in the palm of their hands.
The nightmare hadn’t ended, but I had taken control back from the clutches of the darkness. I finally let myself feel a bit of hope. The bees had never had a proper opportunity to test the Linkers, so they hadn’t been aware of this. The Linkers, it seemed, could only live so long after attaching to a host. Was that why my emotions had gone crazy and I could act without the influence of the queen? Was it the life of the Linkers fading? Well, it wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t just humans, I was sure of it; Dip’s Linker had died around the same time as mine. I knew my friends would be free as well.
Speaking of. Two blurs appeared in my vision, one huge and one small. I slowed a bit, letting Grehn and Vlugh match my pace for a moment.
“City Lord.”
“Yemonto.”
“Hayr-“
“Dip.”
“Ehra, then.”
I sped up again as Grehn veered to the left and Vlugh doubled back, and I noticed them toss the corpses of their own Linkers to the side. Jill would be an invaluable asset and would hopefully trust Grehn. I wasn’t sure how Vlugh would convince the Ehra Group to break away from the Fighters, but I believed in him. Others underestimated him, but I knew he would always come through when it mattered. I had to trust in him, because if I didn’t, who else would?
Eventually, I skid to a stop in front of the City Lord’s office. It was a big building, just out of the city center. It wasn’t disgustingly extravagant like the merchant buildings, but its sheer size and masterful construction didn’t slouch in the arrogance department.
“I need to speak with the City Lord. Now.” I said with a gasp, trying to move past the guards.
“Sorry, merc. No vi-“
“The entire city is a stake. You’re in danger, Lord!” I tried screaming up at the building. The guards were moving to drag me away, and my options were dwindling. The queen knew. There was no time to waste.
I didn’t care if I caused a panic or got myself in trouble. I jumped, using Dip’s extra strength to crash through a window on the second floor. At the same time, I saw a shadow of Dip’s vision, using his beak to scratch the word ‘danger’ all over the Hayrey lobby. Some mercenaries were laughing or ignoring him, but others, the experienced ones and the ones who knew me well, looked serious. A few guided Dip towards the upper stories. Good. They were trying to put the executives on alert.
“Seize her!”
I dodged a bullet, literally. Not all the guards had guns, but even one was dangerous. I braced, then strengthened my shoulder with Mind before throwing myself at the wall. It buckled and I crashed into the room next door, startling some cowering secretaries.
“I need to speak with the City Lord now.”
“No-nob-nobody-“
No time for this. The door swung open, so I dove behind a desk, waiting for the sound of bullets to pause before jumping out of a window, coiling up and flipping onto the higher floor. Bingo.
“Guards, help! A madwoman!” I could barely hear through the tinted window. A solid kick failed to shatter the dark glass, even with Dip’s extra strength. This paranoid motherfucker. I drew a bit of Mind and bashed the window, taking it down in one strike. The City Lord was there, steadily holding a pistol to my head.
“Danger. Monsters.”
That was enough to get his attention. He hesitated, and I jumped through the window, getting scratched in the process. What sort of metal made glass like this? No time to think; I barreled into the City Lord, the pudgy man stumbling easily. I heard he used to be a fairly powerful man, but I guess those days were behind him.
“City Lord, I’m sorry, but the city is in danger and so are you. Monsters are attacking the city and have been gaining power from the shadows. The Yiwi Fighters have fallen under their control, and so has Harven the loan shark. It’s possible that Yemonto Co. Is also in the process of falling to them. You need to act now.”
The City Lord’s eyes bulged and his mouth was gaping, so I grabbed his arm and forcefully dragged him to his feet. My fears weren’t unfounded; Toh and his two mercenaries had been Linked a full day or more after us, so their Linkers shouldn’t have died yet. If that was true, then the bees would be scrambling, possibly throwing caution to the wind.
Dangerous.
I didn’t know how the queen did in a crisis, but something told me that their caution was born of inexperience, not a lack of competence. It was likely that Yemonto Co. would soon be under bee control, and the only thing that gave me hope was that Jill Yemonto would be more than the bees could handle.
“Stop, stop! Change course. Gather our forces and be on alert, and contact our mercenary allies. Hold on… aren’t you that mercenary girl? The one who said nothing was in the Vultuous Forest?”
The City Lord looked at me, distrust renewed.
“I’m sorry, Lord. I failed. The monsters - a hive of highly intelligent bees - took control of me and my team. Until today, we have been working to destroy Yiwi against our wills.”
“And now you expect me to trust you? Guards, maybe change the change of course. This girl-“
I tossed the corpse of the Linker bee, the one I still had clutched in my fist, onto the City Lord’s stupid wooden desk. It wasn’t much evidence, but there wasn’t much choice for the Lord at this point. He’d believe in me or suffer the consequences.
“The bees have no more hold over me. I don’t know the full extent of the bees’ abilities, and they’re stupidly powerful, so something could still be within me. But I’m warning you, so it’s not all bad. For now, at least, I can once again fight for my home to remain free from the control of a different kind of tyrant.”
I ignored the sputtering of the Lord and turned back to the window. The Rotor slowly spun overhead, as usual. The hope in my chest was replaced with cold. We could fight back now, but it would be difficult. People would get hurt. If the bees won, I would be punished. Maybe even killed.
And you know what? I accepted that.
At the very least, I was free to risk my life on my own terms. As much pain as this conflict would bring, it would be a mercy compared to the dangers that would bear down on my home if the bees took control. I can finally make my move, bee. Your turn.
After the Queen captured Harven, what little hope I had left turned to ash. Yafoot was more competent than I ever gave him credit for, and Harven’s scheming would probably have led to the destruction of Yiwi as I knew it anyway.
While trudging home, I felt Ben’s eyes on my neck and Beatrice’s stern gaze on my heart. I tried getting angry again, but Beatrice squashed my emotions without delay. At least she let me be excited to see my Dipee-poo again. Dipbee.
No.
What were Grehn and Vlugh up to? Even though knowledge like that would be useful, the Queen decided I shouldn’t know. I wanted to go get blessed by Lord Hu-Leio again, but I was being steered back home regardless. Just as well. As I approached my building, I saw Dip waiting out front, so I ran up and hugged him.
“Squawk.”
“I know, Dipee, sorry you got bored.”
“Squawk! Squawk squawk!”
“Worried? Oh, Dip. You know you’re always protecting me.”
Poor Dip bowed his head, preening my hair with his beak. I doubt my life had been in danger at Harven’s, but the unexpected nature of the situation did admittedly make me nervous. But with him now on our side…
Well, Yiwi was doomed.
“Let’s just stay in tonight, Dip. I’m… tired.”
Dull metal stairs creaked and old metal door squeaked, and I found myself in my fishy-smelling room. I wasn’t lying when I said I was exhausted; the past week had been like a Mind Collapsed dream. Think of the positives, Yelah.
Rette was alive and recovering. She would probably be mostly safe from the coming conflict, if the Queen had even a shred of mercy. Dip was here with me. Yoho was being more cautious, so he might stay safe as well. With the Yiwi Fighters, Harven, and us mercenaries under their control, the Hive was in a strong position to conquer Yiwi. All that was left would be to Link the leaders of Hayrey and Yemonto Co., betray the City Lord at the last moment, and turn Yiwi into a magnificent foothold for bees in the wider world.
One of those felt different from the others.
After flopping onto my cot, I tossed. Turned. Was this really going to happen? I had lived in this city my whole life, and now I was going to help turn it into a slave colony? It was just wrong. Right?
What would actually happen? I thought back to our first meeting with the bees, that surprise attack that we nearly surpassed, only for us to underestimate the individual power of some of the bees. With Rette injured, our opportunity had been lost. Could I have killed the swarm of bees myself? What if I had seen that the two stronger bees had resisted Rette’s attack, and killed them myself? If Rette hadn’t been injured as badly, could we have escaped?
In the end, we likely wouldn’t have gotten away. I had accepted that long ago, and it no longer weighed on me. No matter what happened with the swarm, we were doomed. Bedivere would likely be able to take on all five of us at once, and the Queen would have arrived eventually.
So then, what about after that? The bees had no medical capabilities, so Rette and Vlugh were in bad condition. The Queen, I was convinced, had been distracted, and had inadvertently fed us rotten meat. For some reason, I was convinced she didn’t mean us harm. Grehn had his doubts, and Vlugh was beside himself at their attempts to control our Minds, but something told me it wasn’t malicious.
What were her goals? The Queen acted goofy and ignorant, but she was clearly intelligent and had a wealth of knowledge of some kind. Why did she want to take control of Yiwi? Couldn’t I convince her and the City Lord to work together?
Naïve.
The Queen wanted to grow her hive and family. And humans were the number one obstacle in her way of that goal. Yiwi was simply a stone along the path, so in her view it would be a part of the hive eventually. But the situation with the City Lord was different. He was searching for something in the ruins of the forest. He was scared of something, even more so than usual.
He was actively opposing the Queen’s goals.
Yiwi’s internal struggles were already threatening to boil over, and the involvement of the bees would worsen the conflict. But what about after? I could see it; if the bees succeeded, my city’s struggles would never end. The people wouldn’t be able to handle being forced to serve under oppressive rule again. I doubted the Queen could Link everyone in the city, but she might try. And no human alive would stand to have their Mind stolen from them.
All the religious figures like the Human Church and any Drevani would defy the bees aggressively, and thousands would die one way or the other. Greedy merchants would try to escape or use innocents as shields. What would big mercenary companies do? Hayrey and Yemonto Co. had branches all over the place, even in other countries. Goloyo… Lady Seiena might come and turn Yiwi into a crater as ruined as the Vultuous Forest. Would armies of mercenaries come to Yiwi’s doors?
Would the King’s army come instead?
Emotions bubbled up, then got crushed, upsetting my stomach, and I slept poorly. My eyes opened to darkness once, twice, multiple times until I finally saw sunlight shining through the window.
Something was… different today. The sun felt brighter. Despite my weary body and bleary Mind, I jumped up, ready to start the day.
“You look like death.”
“Thanks Yoho, I do try my best.”
Just like old times, Yoho was waiting for me outside, so we went to grab a meal. I didn’t leave Dip behind this time. Just in case.
“You look like death, but something’s different about you today. You seem… excited?”
I was excited, and I had no idea why. Maybe I had finally lost my Mind, but a quick check didn’t show ‘Lost’ in my status. Huh. I stared at the sky, catching a glimpse of a little bee. That was Benita, not Ben. She was picking up a flower, probably to take back and add to Belphegora’s pile.
“Yelah?”
“Sorry Yoho. Distracted. Say, you know anything about where the City Lord is?”
“Him?” Yoho cocked his head. “That guy never leaves his office. Actually, interesting thing: I found out from a friend that your boss over at Hayrey was meeting with him yesterday. Wildest thing, considering that nobody is allowed to even see him nowadays.”
I felt a surge of anger flow through me. Not mine this time, but the Queen’s. Or maybe Beatrice? I was no bee, so I couldn’t tell them apart very easily. Either way, I understood their frustration: if I had actually converted the Hayrey executives, then that would have been the most perfect opportunity ever. We could’ve gotten the City Lord himself and rid ourselves of unnecessary conflict.
With tensions this high, I could feel the true thoughts of the bees: ‘Should we risk it all and attack the City Lord?’ I grit my teeth. Any day now, the Yiwi Fighters would attempt a coup. They had planned for it to happen three days from today, a sudden and swift offensive. But the bees could make it happen sooner. Or later. Whichever would allow them to take the City Lord, obtain control of both sides of the conflict, and steadily transition the city into a part of the hive without meaningful resistance.
“You’re a good friend. I hope you can forgive me eventually.”
Yoho cocked his head again. Poor, innocent Yoho. He had grown up so much. Back then, I always had to protect him from cowardly mercenaries and bullies. His parents were kind to me, and he was always so nice. One of the only people who bothered being nice to me. But when I looked into his eyes, I saw something.
Guilt.
He didn’t want to be protected by me, and hated that he needed it. If I didn’t help him, he never would’ve completed his education. Never would have made progress in his dream to found his own mercenary company. And despite the fact that all I asked for was kindness, he insisted on giving me more. So here he was now, a boy I barely recognized, able to hold his own. Sure, he acted like an idiot around me, probably because of his guilt, but he managed to hold his own in a game far more dangerous. Corporate espionage was no easy task. Probably.
I admired him. He put his mind to something and did it, becoming strong so I wouldn’t have to protect him anymore.
Later today, I would be tasked with finding a way to come into direct contact with Hayrey’s executives. It shouldn’t be difficult; I was a golden child, after all. They didn’t know about my failure, so to them I was a promising young mercenary with leadership skills and personal strength.
But it wasn’t time for that yet. So I ate, chatted, and laughed with Yoho until the sun was high in the sky and the store owner started giving us a look.
My chair clattered as I shot up. Eight days, almost exactly.
“Yoho, monster bees are trying to conquer Yiwi. Get the word out to watch out for bees. If you find one of my teammates, send them to the city center. Dip, tell Hayrey.”
“Squawk.”
I channeled my Ability, giving Dip a boost in dexterity and intelligence, and pushing my strength and speed above what could be considered natural. Yoho stared incredulously as I spun and started sprinting towards the City Lord’s office, while Dip dashed away towards Hayrey’s headquarters. He could write our simple glyphs, so he would alert Hayrey of ‘danger.’
The sun shone brilliantly as I ran through the streets. Colors popped and smells assaulted my nose. For more than a week, my senses had been dulled, held under the boot of a monster.
A distant scream of rage and panic echoed in my Mind, remnants of a connection that was now gone. I looked at my hand. Held inside was the curled, dead form of a bee.
My Linker.
I breathed in and smiled, then shouted. I was free! No foreign thoughts went through my head. Nobody peered at my darkest secrets, nobody used my precious memories as middling entertainment, nobody held my life in the palm of their hands.
The nightmare hadn’t ended, but I had taken control back from the clutches of the darkness. I finally let myself feel a bit of hope. The bees had never had a proper opportunity to test the Linkers, so they hadn’t been aware of this. The Linkers, it seemed, could only live so long after attaching to a host. Was that why my emotions had gone crazy and I could act without the influence of the queen? Was it the life of the Linkers fading? Well, it wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t just humans, I was sure of it; Dip’s Linker had died around the same time as mine. I knew my friends would be free as well.
Speaking of. Two blurs appeared in my vision, one huge and one small. I slowed a bit, letting Grehn and Vlugh match my pace for a moment.
“City Lord.”
“Yemonto.”
“Hayr-“
“Dip.”
“Ehra, then.”
I sped up again as Grehn veered to the left and Vlugh doubled back, and I noticed them toss the corpses of their own Linkers to the side. Jill would be an invaluable asset and would hopefully trust Grehn. I wasn’t sure how Vlugh would convince the Ehra Group to break away from the Fighters, but I believed in him. Others underestimated him, but I knew he would always come through when it mattered. I had to trust in him, because if I didn’t, who else would?
Eventually, I skid to a stop in front of the City Lord’s office. It was a big building, just out of the city center. It wasn’t disgustingly extravagant like the merchant buildings, but its sheer size and masterful construction didn’t slouch in the arrogance department.
“I need to speak with the City Lord. Now.” I said with a gasp, trying to move past the guards.
“Sorry, merc. No vi-“
“The entire city is a stake. You’re in danger, Lord!” I tried screaming up at the building. The guards were moving to drag me away, and my options were dwindling. The queen knew. There was no time to waste.
I didn’t care if I caused a panic or got myself in trouble. I jumped, using Dip’s extra strength to crash through a window on the second floor. At the same time, I saw a shadow of Dip’s vision, using his beak to scratch the word ‘danger’ all over the Hayrey lobby. Some mercenaries were laughing or ignoring him, but others, the experienced ones and the ones who knew me well, looked serious. A few guided Dip towards the upper stories. Good. They were trying to put the executives on alert.
“Seize her!”
I dodged a bullet, literally. Not all the guards had guns, but even one was dangerous. I braced, then strengthened my shoulder with Mind before throwing myself at the wall. It buckled and I crashed into the room next door, startling some cowering secretaries.
“I need to speak with the City Lord now.”
“No-nob-nobody-“
No time for this. The door swung open, so I dove behind a desk, waiting for the sound of bullets to pause before jumping out of a window, coiling up and flipping onto the higher floor. Bingo.
“Guards, help! A madwoman!” I could barely hear through the tinted window. A solid kick failed to shatter the dark glass, even with Dip’s extra strength. This paranoid motherfucker. I drew a bit of Mind and bashed the window, taking it down in one strike. The City Lord was there, steadily holding a pistol to my head.
“Danger. Monsters.”
That was enough to get his attention. He hesitated, and I jumped through the window, getting scratched in the process. What sort of metal made glass like this? No time to think; I barreled into the City Lord, the pudgy man stumbling easily. I heard he used to be a fairly powerful man, but I guess those days were behind him.
“City Lord, I’m sorry, but the city is in danger and so are you. Monsters are attacking the city and have been gaining power from the shadows. The Yiwi Fighters have fallen under their control, and so has Harven the loan shark. It’s possible that Yemonto Co. Is also in the process of falling to them. You need to act now.”
The City Lord’s eyes bulged and his mouth was gaping, so I grabbed his arm and forcefully dragged him to his feet. My fears weren’t unfounded; Toh and his two mercenaries had been Linked a full day or more after us, so their Linkers shouldn’t have died yet. If that was true, then the bees would be scrambling, possibly throwing caution to the wind.
Dangerous.
I didn’t know how the queen did in a crisis, but something told me that their caution was born of inexperience, not a lack of competence. It was likely that Yemonto Co. would soon be under bee control, and the only thing that gave me hope was that Jill Yemonto would be more than the bees could handle.
“Stop, stop! Change course. Gather our forces and be on alert, and contact our mercenary allies. Hold on… aren’t you that mercenary girl? The one who said nothing was in the Vultuous Forest?”
The City Lord looked at me, distrust renewed.
“I’m sorry, Lord. I failed. The monsters - a hive of highly intelligent bees - took control of me and my team. Until today, we have been working to destroy Yiwi against our wills.”
“And now you expect me to trust you? Guards, maybe change the change of course. This girl-“
I tossed the corpse of the Linker bee, the one I still had clutched in my fist, onto the City Lord’s stupid wooden desk. It wasn’t much evidence, but there wasn’t much choice for the Lord at this point. He’d believe in me or suffer the consequences.
“The bees have no more hold over me. I don’t know the full extent of the bees’ abilities, and they’re stupidly powerful, so something could still be within me. But I’m warning you, so it’s not all bad. For now, at least, I can once again fight for my home to remain free from the control of a different kind of tyrant.”
I ignored the sputtering of the Lord and turned back to the window. The Rotor slowly spun overhead, as usual. The hope in my chest was replaced with cold. We could fight back now, but it would be difficult. People would get hurt. If the bees won, I would be punished. Maybe even killed.
And you know what? I accepted that.
At the very least, I was free to risk my life on my own terms. As much pain as this conflict would bring, it would be a mercy compared to the dangers that would bear down on my home if the bees took control. I can finally make my move, bee. Your turn.
