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BD - Chapter 334 - The Return of the Tower Lords
🕑 Added 2025-11-17 20:05:01 +0000 UTCJust as the negotiation room began descending into chaos, Velebee reached out to Belissar.
“Hive-Builder! Queen of All Bees says new Hive-Burners not here to burn hives, want to talk with Hive-Builder! Says should talk to first before sting.”
Belissar frowned but raised his voice to convey the message.
“I’ve just received word from the Oracle of Bees. She says these Tower Lords are not here to fight, but to negotiate.”
Henilett, who had remained calm and sipping the tea Belissar had provided, smiled slightly.
“So, the negotiation contingency then? Fortunately, we have a group of representatives already present.”
Belissar nodded. He and the Compact had discussed various scenarios involving the Tower Lords’ return and already knew what to do. Fortunately, thanks to the ongoing negotiations with the sigmaka, they were already prepared to speak with the Tower Lords, should they prove reasonable. All Belissar had to do…was continuously brush Niobee’s back as she buzzed.
“Hive-Burners! Here to hurt King and hives! Will sting!”
Belissar did his best to calm her down before she ordered the hive of hives to attack. Niobee was…not fond of the Hive-Burners, as Velebee had called them, and her anger spread to the hive of hives even more quickly than last time, courtesy of the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter’s hivelink.
Belissar…didn’t think much better of the Tower Lords, if he was honest, so he was calming himself down as much as the bees. He just reminded himself that the God of Bees was vouching for this group…and that speaking with the Tower Lords could potentially avert a conflict entirely, preventing all potential losses for his bees, the karnuq, and his allies. He then focused on the party that was not prepared for this contingency, turning to the sigmaka delegation.
“We’re going to try and talk with them, so long as they’re peaceful. What will you do?”
The sigmaka talked among themselves. First Queen Nyoyanke had returned to manage the sigmaka’s home once it was clear the talks would take some back and forth, so ultimately Second Queen Berbiya responded on their behalf.
“We will join you. We may not have settled all of our differences, but we are allies now, so we should present a unified front to this threat.”
Belissar nodded in acknowledgement, while Henilett smiled.
And so, the joint alliance of humans, bees, beastkin, and fey prepared to meet the Tower Lords…
***
The hive of hives continued to monitor the progress of the Tower Lords’ group through nomadic bees hiding in the canopy of the forest that stretched out in the direction of the Tower Lords. The Tower Lords’ group was a small contingent, only about a dozen wyverns, though the leading one was notably larger than the others. A few bird shades formed and began flying towards the group, but they were quickly dispatched by archers among the contingent, without even the need for magic, so the hive of hives remained on standby.
Wardmaster Varilold and her wardens, along with Queen Vanieskon and her Royal Pixie Guard, quickly pulled away from their ward-work to rejoin the diplomats, while word was sent to request reinforcements from both the Compact and the sigmaka. Belissar’s bee army and the karnuq were soon joined by an honor guard of silver elf warriors in gleaming mithril armor, a black elf man carrying a lot of swords along his belt and on his back, and the sigmaka’s royal guard under Fourth Queen Pezuya.
The wardens were deployed with the bee scouts to the edge of the purified zone, to both scout out and make contact with the incoming humans. They, too, waited in the forest, joined by a handful of green elf rangers. They made ready their wards and bows as the Tower Lord’s group landed at the very edge of the purified zone. One of the wardens shouted towards the group.
“Halt, and come no further! State your identity and your purpose in these lands!”
The rider of the largest wyvern…or rather, a dragon by the fair folk’s reckoning, dismounted and stepped forward. He took off his helmet to reveal himself as a human man, seemingly approaching middle-age. He remained relaxed, leaving his weapons either strapped to his side or back with his dragon mount. He opened his mouth and projected his voice out towards the forest, clear to the ear of the wardens but not overly loud or forceful.
“I am General Rippotis, member of the Conclave of Tower Lords’ High Council and disciple of the God of Fire. I come seeking a Tower lost from the Conclaves’ lands as well as the fair folk of the Calwaskon Compact, in order to negotiate peace between our peoples.”
The warden who shouted stepped out from behind the trees, revealing herself to the group. The other humans tensed, but General Rippotis remained calm.
“Very well, if you come in peace then we will guide you to our representatives. Leave your weapons sheathed and do not harm your escorts.”
The warden held one of her fists up and the forest erupted into buzzing. A big formation of soldier bees rose from the canopy of the forest and made their way towards the group. The humans reached for their weapons but General Rippotis raised his hand and they stopped. The soldier bees took up a formation surrounding the group and stopped.
“Follow them.”
General Rippotis nodded at the warden’s command and then shouted to his troops.
“Mount up! Weapons sheathed!”
He returned to his own mount as his troops followed his command, then the dragon and wyverns began to beat their wings and rise into the air. The soldier bee formation rose along with them, surrounding them on all sides, then began to lead them over the forest at a cautious pace.
The group soon approached clearing around Belissar’s Tower. The bees heard General Rippotis chuckle as the Tower came into view.
“No doubt as to which god this Tower belongs to.”
The bees directed the group to land at the very edge of the clearing, where a formation of silver elf warriors and karnuq waited…along with Hirkolos. General Rippotis’ troops muttered to each other once they saw him.
One of the silver elves spoke up.
“Stop there! Bring only two of your guards, leave the rest and your mounts behind.”
The humans tensed again but General Rippotis complied with the command, calming his dragon before dismounting. Two of his troops followed along, taking a small bag with them at the general's command, while the rest remained with the dragon and wyverns. Hirkolos and the karnuq lead those to a place where the karnuq and bees were assembling a wyvern stable.
The silver elves, meanwhile, surrounded General Rippotis and his two guards and began to march them to the negotiation building at the center of the clearing, all while the bee army buzzed overhead.
The elves stopped them there as one of them went inside to announce the General’s arrival. Only then was General Rippotis allowed inside.
The fair folk and sigmaka representatives surrounded the far side of the table, standing together in a semi-circle surrounding the entrance. At their center stood…Chief Rohsuak.
“Welcome, General Rippotis of the Conclave of Tower Lords. I am Chief Rohsuak of the karnuq, disciple of the God of Fire, sworn defender and representative of Tower Keeper Belissar, and I welcome you on his behalf.”
***
Belissar watched from his Tower through the eyes of Chief Rohsuak and the bees as General Rippotis approached the negotiation building. He was joined by Niobee and the First of the Fifth's First Daughter, Sehfitis, the First Spiderkin Queen, Nenavann, Tarwantrad, Tamosmed, Finnakynne, and Queen Vanieskon, all listening as he and the bees relayed the events to them. The Compact had sent representatives instead of the signatories in order to feel out the Tower Lords and, in the worse case, to prevent exposing the signatories to danger if the Tower Lords attempted to deceive them. The sigmaka did much the same by sending their second, third, and fourth queens while keeping King Ratuatapi and their first queen at home. Chief Rohsuak proposed doing likewise for Belissar’s Tower, so she was the one to meet with the Tower Lords instead of him.
Belissar…could only admit it had been a good idea in retrospect. The heat raging in his chest from both Niobee’s anger and his own memories made him doubt if he could speak politely to the Tower Lords, it was all he could do to keep the bee army calm at the moment. Additionally…Belissar couldn’t help but stare in surprise at the man the Tower Lords had sent.
General Rippotis. The General Rippotis. Commander of the Dragon Banner Army, member of the High Council, lord of the Tower of Fire. One of the heroes who had saved humanity from the Hunger in ancient times, who had fought alongside Oracle of Light Heigiosa and the Good Wizard Konilias against the wicked kings of old and the corruption they unleashed. Who had held the line to preserve the last fragment of humanity until the God of Light acknowledged their pleas and granted to them the first Tower. The first three Tower Lords, the first ever chosen by the gods to save the world, the defacto leaders of the High Council as a result. Even a peasant like Belissar knew of their tale, everyone who lived in the lands of the Conclave did.
Though, Belissar no longer knew how much of that tale he believed. Was any of it true, or was the entire thing another lie concocted by the Tower Lords? Was General Rippotis a hero who had saved humanity…or something else entirely? Surely, he must know the truth of what happened…and therefore, surely, he must know all the lies that had been told. In fact, wouldn’t the first Tower Lords be the ones who created all the lies in the first place? Wasn’t General Rippotis the one to blame for everything the Conclave had ever done?
Belissar was glad he was not meeting the general first, as he wasn’t sure he could have contained himself at that thought. He nearly lost control of the hive of hives’ own anger in that moment, leading to another wave of threatening buzzing through the bee army. He took a deep breath and tried to put his own anger to the side as best he could. The general claimed he was here to negotiate peace and the God of Bees, the one responsible for most of the good he had experienced since becoming a Tower Keeper, vouched for that. In honor of her, he would try to hear the general out, as best he could.
If nothing else, the fact that a member of the High Council, and one of the three first Tower Lords no less, had come in person meant the Conclave was taking this matter very seriously indeed. And now, as Chief Rohsuak greeted the man, Belissar would find out if the general was honest about making peace…or if that was just another lie too.
Author’s Note:
The non-bees are back and making King and Conduit feel bad! Let’s sting them! The evil non-bee that lied to King and that…got blessed by the Queen of All Bees, raised bees, and made them happy? And Queen of All Bees says don’t sting?
…huh? What? That’s…um…what do we do?! Is that non-bee silly and evil or blessed and admirable? Do we sting them or welcome them as a friend of bees? This is, um, uhhhhh…I'm so confused, I don't even know if this chapter desperately needs a bee name, or if it's too silly to deserve one!
…Chief Rohsuak and other non-bees, go deal with them while we figure it out!
Anyways!
How will the meeting between General Rippotis and the representatives of the alliance go? Does General Rippotis truly wish to make peace, or is it yet another lie of the Tower Lords? Will Niobee sting the Hive-Burner or does the Queen of All Bees have different plans? Tune in next time, to find out!
Comments
Presten
I wonder what kind of recovery or damage control will happen when the subjugation army arrives and acts in a way to cause Belissar and the alliance to think Rippotis betrayed them. Then again, the Queen of bees vouched for him so that should at least keep things somewhat contained.
Dire
In the News: New species of Horned 'Devil' Bee found in Western Australia.
Fernando Oliveira
Thanks for the chapter. Loved it. So relieved to see that it was the general. He's level headed enough to actually get some negotiating done. Poor belissar has to calm his own rage and the bees, these are the hive burners after all, lol. Tho he's blessed by the goddess of bees so has earned humanity a second chance. Can't wait for the next chapter.
