Comb and broken chunks of stone flew into the air as Titus’ warriors slammed into the hive entrance. Mana-powered warrior abilities blasted almost all obstacles out of their way. The bulk of the debris exploded forward through the entrance. The fighters charged right behind it.

One warrior stumbled against a stubborn chunk of stone. But Bryn was there to steady him while Tasar slammed into the blockage with his shield. His Force Bash cleared the obstacle, and the three of them were back into formation a moment later.

Pax focused on keeping his position as their team jostled and pushed through the destroyed entrance. It was obvious this was a job for the warriors, not mages. At least, not until they got powerful enough to use spells to blast through barriers like that.

Shields up. They’ve built an ambush spot just inside.

Rin’s warning came right as they burst through the rubble of what was once the entrance.

Pax triggered Haste, scanning ahead with his Sphere as he quickly adjusted their plans. Keep moving. Bash through whatever they have with abilities. Rush through to the other side of the ambush and then turn and attack.

With true professionalism, Titus’ crew kept churning their legs, pushing into the hive with shields high and mana pumping. As he made it into the inner hive, Pax blinked in surprise.

He’d expected a tight warren of dim tunnels. Instead, a huge, open space greeted them. Above, the ceiling vaulted up to a large, irregular dome, completely covered in comb. The pulsing that had ceased out front was very active here, sending flashes of pale light back and forth in a pattern that made him dizzy when he tried to focus on it.

He shook his head, looking down and focusing on staying right behind Bryn and Tasar as they fought to follow the charging warriors ahead of them. It was quickly clear how the glitterflare beasts planned to ambush them.

They’d raised a shoulder-high barrier of thick comb in a semicircle just fifteen feet in front of the entrance. The beasts had built protective alcoves along the upper edge of the wall. The larger, more menacing guardians came boiling out of them in a rush. More than twice the size of the fighters, they flew toward the invaders with an uncanny speed. Flipping around at the last moment, they drove forward with their stingers glistening like rapiers.

Amil, Flame Wall at my Ghostlight marking, now. Drop it until Titus says to drop it. Pax tagged a spot just ahead of the incoming guardians. I’ll hit with my Flashbangs and Bulwarks out front. Warriors, keep charging with shields up.

A rush of flame blasted in front of the most concentrated attackers, startling them into jerking off course in instinctive fear. Pax dropped his Sphere to give him the mana for a series of rapid Flashbangs and Bulwarks lining the narrow passage they were aiming for. The warriors barreled directly toward the flames, knocking aside any guardians that made it through.

Amil. Drop it now. Titus’ voice was clipped and clear.

His wall of flames disappeared in a puff. Their wedge of powerful warriors hit the comb wall behind it with a hard squelch and another burst of colorless warrior mana. Like the entrance, the wall was no match for the concentrated power and abilities of the experienced warriors.

A moment later, they were through, rushing into the open area of the hive. A riot of color caught Pax’s attention. Were those flowers? Sudden bursts of smell assaulted their senses as they tramped through a field of knee-high, multicolored flowers. Pax’s head swam.

Thankfully, they’d already made it a significant distance from the wall.

Turn around and turtle formation, now. Horrid. Dahni. Take care of the debuffs.

In a smooth motion that Bryn had to be admiring, Titus’ crew spread out to encircle the student crew. They encompassed everyone in a protected position moments later.

Keep defenses up and focus on the ones I mark. We’ll pick them off one by one. Rin. You, Talpa and Whisk are on assassin duty while they’re focused on us.

A roaring, buzzing filled the air around them as the guardians went berserk. Their attack on the inner hive, or possibly the trampled flowers and cloying smell they gave off, had enraged them.

The next few moments were a confusing mess as everyone did their best to hold off the onslaught of powerful airborne attackers with a lot more room to maneuver than the weaker fighters had had in the hallway.

Pax had to pull on Haste and Sphere again to keep track of it all. With a speed that taxed his mind, he tagged the most injured guardian he could sense, hastening to the next when the team’s focused power drove it into the ground.

Yells of pain and the flicker of Dahni’s buffs made it clear that all the damage wasn’t one sided. Pax almost tagged a faltering guardian, only to sense something like a wet blanket suddenly engulfing it.

Did you call for pest control, Master? Whisk sounded so excited. I got this one covered.

Pax had already moved on to mark another when Whisk’s words penetrated. A laugh sputtered out before he could stop it. You’re doing great, Whisk.

More minutes of furious battle passed. Abilities and spells flew among spears and arrows that dropped more and more guardians. Rin became a single person army, the guardians’ focus on the larger group making it easier for her to attack from stealth.

She wove her Levitate and Veil together and used her knives and arrows to deadly effect. Her blows were adept at finding weak points between the guardians’ sheets of natural armor. The tide of the battle turned in their favor. But then Pax sensed a sudden flare of air mana among the largest guardians still left.

They’re charging an air attack! Pax warned. Titus, tell Crissum to help us disrupt them. Amil, time for your Cyclone Vortex. It’ll suck the rest of the beasts in close and do damage while we finish them. We can handle it.

Got it. Titus’ answer was terse and focused.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Pax readied his own close-quarter defenses and watched for an opportunity to use his stored spell to help his allies survive the coming onslaught. Two guardians got off some kind of wind blade attack while Amil’s Vortex was still charging.

One came from above, aimed directly at their vulnerable center. Dahni! Incoming! As he sent the warning, Pax threw out his ice mana into a small tight Mirror directly over Dahni’s head, knowing his Bulwark wouldn’t do as well against a magical attack.

The Mirror deflected just enough of the attack to give Dahni time to lurch to the side as he flicked a chunk of earth up into the air. It exploded, spraying everyone with rocky dust, but Dahni weathered the attack with only a few slashes that sliced along the gaps in his vambraces on one arm.

Titus’ archer wasn’t so lucky. He grunted in pain, falling back with blood welling up through the gaps along the side of his torso armor. He immediately had a healing potion in hand, so Pax jerked his attention back to the fight.

Amil’s Vortex swirled around them with exceptional power, sucking everything airborne toward him. The guardians’ previous hit-and-run tactics were impossible in the face of the powerful, draining winds.

“I’ve only got thirty seconds of this!” Amil yelled out so everyone could hear, the strain clear in his voice.

With no need to be told, everyone unloaded whatever abilities and spells they had left. Pax grabbed a chunk of his remaining mana and focused on the idea he’d been saving for a time when their enemies were disoriented and likely more vulnerable.

Remembering how well Amil’s Flame Wall had worked, he concentrated, drawing from his well of creativity and mana reserves. With a mental push, Pax crafted an illusion of a swarming inferno bursting out from each of his allies. He added the shimmer and twist of the heated air along with the image of thick, choking smoke billowing into the sky.

When he’d cemented the sea of roaring flames in his mind, he threw the image out to every guardian he could reach. The reaction was immediate and chaotic.

The guardians, already reeling from Amil’s Vortex and everyone’s attacks, now faced what seemed like an all-consuming blaze. They darted through the air frantically. Some crashed into each other in their panic. Others veered wildly off course in desperate attempts to escape the illusory flames.

Pax’s allies took immediate advantage, unleashing a coordinated barrage of abilities and spells. One by one, they picked off the remaining guardians. Pax caught a flash of movement in his peripheral vision. A guardian injured on the ground launched up toward an unaware Crissim.

Knowing he didn’t have the mana for anything big, Pax shoved forward past his crew, leading with his shield. With a quick twist of his light mana, he unleashed the Diverting Gust Crissim had gifted him earlier. The rush of the spell was enough to make Pax skid back, boots digging into the churned up ground. To his satisfaction, he watched the powerful spell slam the guardian off course and up into the air, where others could see and kill it.

The power of the rushing spell made Crissim spun around a moment too late, wide-eyed with his hands out and mana flaring. When he saw what happened, he shot Pax a grateful look before rejoining the fight. Thankfully, it wound down quickly after that. The guardian that had attacked Crissim was one of the last.

Moments later, Titus yelled out for everyone to hold.

Pax looked at him blearily, his Sphere scanning a now empty ceiling for more enemies. He only found one, a large guardian whose wings buzzed in an injured staccato pattern as it fought to stay aloft, almost grounded.

An arrow out of the distance arched through the air to hit it. To Pax’s surprise, Titus darted forward and stuck his shield out. The arrow thunked into the heavy shield, deflecting off into the ground. The guardian didn’t appreciate Titus’ defense, instantly spinning in a weak attempt to aim its stinger at the intruder within reach.

With an almost negligent motion, Titus batted it down to the ground with a fist. “This one is mine.”

A quick glance confirmed that all their attackers were down. They’d torn up the ground all around them, exposing some stone under the thick layer of dirt and debris covering what had once been the third level of the light headquarters.

Now that they weren’t in the middle of a veritable storm of battle, Pax took a moment to survey the spacious inner hive. They’d churned up the surrounding ground, destroying the flowers. But past their immediate area, more of them basked in the faint glow from the comb filling the walls.

A flicker of movement toward the far side of the chamber caught his attention, and he almost called everyone back to readiness. But as he watched, he saw much smaller creatures flitting from one flower to another, gathering something with mechanical precision and gentle buzzing. Unlike the fighters and guardians, they seemed to pose no threat.

Above, Pax noticed several large, cylindrical breaks in the continuous comb. A more natural light shone from them, suggesting a connection somewhere above to the surface. If they let out at the top of the mountain, which was pretty high up, it would explain why they’d received no warnings to watch for swarm activity from other rebels.

They still needed to finish exploring the inner hive and especially find the stairwell to the fourth level. But for now, it seemed safe enough to take a few moments to heal and recover.

Around him, the others had already relaxed, their formation loosening as they took stock of their surroundings. Bryn, Tasar and two of Titus’ warriors moved to secure the perimeter of their group.

Rin walked up with a victorious smile as her Mist Veil fell away from her. Her keen eyes still scanned the area, while Whisk fairly jiggled with excitement draped over her shoulders in the shape of a shawl. Talpa popped to the surface with a couple of flowers in his mouth that he chewed with an inquisitive expression on his face.

Rin approached Pax with a curious expression and gestured at the expanse of flowers and industrious drones. “Nice victory, but who knew a place like this existed up here?”

Pax nodded, still processing the unexpected tranquility of the hive’s inner sanctum once the guardians were dead. “It’s almost peaceful,” he said, though he remained alert for any signs of danger. “But we can’t let our guard down completely. There are still the drones over there and probably some kind of queen beast to lay all the eggs in the comb. Not to mention, if those are exits to the surface, there might be more fighters returning through them.”

“So, do we wipe this place out? Or see what our crafters can make of it?” She was giving the flowers a closer look.

Talpa spit out the blue one he’d tried to eat, but then specifically picked out a second red one.

Are those any good, Talpa?

Yep. Makes me feel good. Energy feels better after eating.

Pax looked at the surrounding fields with a new interest. “Talpa thinks some of them are good for his energy. It should be interesting to see what our alchemist crafters think of them.”

Dahni looked up with interest, Pax’s words distracting him from his healing of Titus’ archer. “I know the rebellion could really use more potion ingredients. So, if there’s even the slightest possibility that this all came from some ancient mage’s garden of valuable alchemical plants, we could have just scored another gold mine for us and the rebels.”

Rin blinked at that, flickers of avarice easy to read in her expression as she looked out at all the flowers. “That would also explain the high level and size of these beasts. Insects-type beasts usually don’t get this big. But if they had a steady diet of strong herbs . . .”

“Pax?” Titus’ call pulled Pax’s attention from contemplating how valuable the field of flowers might be.

His brother threaded his way through the other warriors, his arms busy with something that made him grunt in effort. To Pax’s surprise, he saw Titus had his arms wrapped around the last surviving guardian. He hadn’t killed it himself, like Pax had thought he wanted to. Instead, he’d trussed it up in a lot of rope and carried it in his arms toward Pax, doing his best to keep the writhing beast’s stinger away from him.

Pax stared for a long moment, the post-battle exhaustion finally hitting him and dulling his thoughts. Maybe he should take a mana potion despite Dahni’s field helping him recover all the mana he’d used.

Seeing his expression, Titus paused, suddenly looking unsure. “If you’re too worn out, I understand. We can try later.”

“Too tired for what?” Pax felt totally lost.

Titus looked surprised. “To help me Tame this lady. She’s the perfect companion for a warrior officer, don’t you think?”