Oyonshe was completely spent. He had been shouting nonstop for hours, constantly channeling his Ability to project his voice and convey his feelings. Even when he was running from the side street near the mercenary district all the way here to the city center, he hadn’t stopped yelling, working tirelessly to empower and encourage the Fighters.
And then he arrived there, just after the Rotor fell. People needed encouragement and hope more than ever, and he would be happy to oblige. If not for one thing.
The Queen had given him a new task. It was still a task that required him to use his Ability, but it wasn’t simply to rouse and give hope to a trodden people. It was to goad those same people into risking their lives once again. And there was nothing Oyonshe could do to stop them.
The sounds of fighting on the other side of the Rotor’s shaft had all but died down. He was still shouting, still trying to bolster the spirits of those who were still in shock. Before, his words had been unusually effective. He felt the influence of not just his own Mind at work, but of two other, vastly more powerful presences. Now though? Now it was just him.
His words barely registered in his own ears; he truly had no idea what he was saying. A man in armor much too large for his slender frame looked up at Oyonshe. An emaciated young woman did the same. An older man, staring listlessly into the sky, didn’t pay him any attention. Were his words not passionate enough? Not the right ones for that man’s age group? Without being sure of what he was even saying, Oyonshe couldn’t really adapt.
His Ability simply fell flat when compared to the bees. They were like insurmountable mountains. Belphegora, one of the so-called Valkybees, Oyonshe had seen briefly. Thanks to the Link, he knew which bee she was, and both saw and felt her peeking over the Rotor’s shaft. Her power to manipulate the perceptions of the people was much like his own, but more specialized in the realm of human emotion. Without her, he would never have reignited the people’s passion.
But hers was not the power Oyonshe feared. It was the other one, one far more subtle and ominous. A sing-song tune that pulled his own Mind into its thrall. This power, this influence from the one he now knew was called ‘Beck,’ wasn’t just similar to Oyonshe’s Ability. It was practically identical, albeit far more potent and refined. When Oyonshe was in the heat of the moment, following the Queen’s order, he began to notice it. The gentle song merged with his voice, directly influencing the Minds of the crowd. It seemed impossible; manipulating someone’s Mind directly like that was an unbelievable feat.
Oyonshe would know. He had studied significantly to find ways to enhance his Ability, and found that direct Mind manipulation was considered to be impossible without either decades of experience, an absolutely unfair Ability, a Mind with a degree above 8, or even a combination of those.
The bees certainly didn’t have the experience of old masters, he knew that much. So for them to have one of, or even both of the other two…. To say it was frightening was an understatement.
“—“ Oyonshe continued shouting, still not hearing his own words. But he soon noticed something; the old man wasn’t the only person ignoring him anymore. What could be…?
He saw it. A group of mercenaries were approaching the city center, dragging a screaming man wearing chains behind them. They came from the northwest, so they were encountering the Fighters’ flank, and when one of the Fighter commanders jogged up to them, Oyonshe watched with some trepidation. What would happen?
With a start, information flooded the teen’s head. He understood the commander was Linked, and had begun walking alongside the mercenaries, pumping his fist in the air and cheering, as part of the overall scheme. The mercenaries were also cheering. They were Linked as well.
Only then did Oyonshe realize who the screaming man was. It was the City Lord of Yiwi, the target of the Fighters from the very beginning.
And that infuriating man was now just another member of the hive.
Oyonshe ran over to amplify the cheers and rousing words near the City Lord. It was part of the plan, after all, albeit a plan he knew practically nothing about. And so, he fell in line with the rest of the hive, sparing them a glance. The mercenary dragging the City Lord’s chains, Toh, nodded at Oyonshe. And so the procession grew in size and presence. The Fighters on this side of the shaft slowly began to rise, the object of their ire being captured infusing them once again with indomitable will.
All that remained was to surmount the Rotor and show the rest of the city that the war was truly over.
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This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Boy, do humans know how to build.
I made a note to send Bess a ton of information about the city, especially its wall. Maybe she could draw some inspiration to make something really sturdy. Looking at the sun set over Yiwi’s wall and buildings just as I arrived, I could really begin to appreciate their work.
“So? You have been seeing this sight consistently for some time now. Ben has surveyed the city in its virtual entirety.”
Well, sure, but seeing it in person provokes a completely different reaction. The colors of the sun, the sparkling metal, the smoke and destruction. It was really a sight to behold, and this coming from someone who lived in a place where human engineering made this world’s buildings look like little toys.
Of course, it was a sight to behold, not a sight to look at and say, ‘boy, this city sure does look like a nice, peaceful place to retire.’ Which was part of the reason I was here.
“Motherio! Oh, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” I heard Ben shout before nearly crashing into me. Belphegora ended up catching him with her Mind, preventing him from slamming into me.
Can’t say I would’ve hated that, though…
“Everyone. Good to see you all as well, even if it hasn’t been too long. Can I just say, you’ve all done fantastic work here, and the Yiwi Operation has turned out to be a rousing success!”
My swarm cheered as one, sounding out a grand cacophony in our heads. If someone on the outside happened to be watching, they would just hear a bunch of buzzing bees. How did I know? Because I was watching through the eyes of one of the markswoman mercenary twins. Nothing special, really, just seeing and hearing through the eyes and ears of dozens of creatures at once, processing and understanding everything they experienced and thought at once.
“Now, I have a few things to do. And you all are going to help me. First order of business is Linking all the most important people. Beatrice has already compiled a list of the most crucial figures, and you’ll be receiving it soon. You’ll see Hayrey’s upper echelon, the leadership of the Ehra Group, managers in Yemonto Co., some of the merchants’ employees, Harven employees, and a bunch of mercenaries. Lower priority are regular civilians, except for a few that may have seen or heard too much.”
“Besides Links, there are several other errands to run. The gates need to be fortified to prevent people getting in or out. That’s a temporary solution, so we’ll have to find other ways of suppressing information from leaving the city. Next, I want to recover the bodies of the bees that fell in battle.”
They were quiet at that last one. The children were reflecting their parent, showing remorse and pain over the lost. What’s more, Belphegora and Belial knew I wasn’t all that happy with their sacrifice strategy. Not that I would punish them for it; it wasn’t something worth dwelling over. They knew I was unhappy, and judging by their thoughts, I knew that was enough.
“As you all left the city center, the City Lord arrived to ‘announce’ the end of the war. Not that everything has been perfectly resolved, unfortunately. Tons of mercenaries are still causing problems. The people are basically shattered. Civilians are majorly unhappy with the, let’s say, lenient treatment of the city lord. But none of that should concern you; I’m telling you so you can be informed. Leave the worrying to me. Instead, let’s get to work. First thing in the morning, I’m gonna do something fun to show the people of Yiwi that something’s lurking in their town. Hop to it!”
And with that, the swarm scattered, no longer a unified whole. Now only accompanied by Bend, a few other injured warriors, Beckham, Becky, and Belphegora, I settled down outside the wall. Oh, I could find some abandoned house in the city or even forcefully commandeer a Linked human’s house as a hotel room, but I wasn’t confident enough in my hold over the entire city for something like that. Didn’t want to have to deal with assassins or whatever. Nope, better to just hang out here in the meantime.
My perspective rapidly jumped between various places. But the ones I lingered on were focused on the city center. In there, the fighting had finally ended, and yet things were still totally out of wack. People were yelling, screaming, throwing things. It had been going on for hours, ever since Toh paraded the City Lord around and stopped the actual fighting for good.
No, nothing could ever just be easy. The civilians who didn’t break down and fall to pieces instead began calling for the Lord’s head. The mercenaries who weren’t Linked got all heated when ordered to stand down by their superiors. Word of monsters being behind the Rotor’s fall and so on was already spreading. Unfortunately, on that last point, it felt like an inevitability after the Yelah squad were ‘released’ from the Link. The rumors and information passed onto team leaders and individuals, then spread to lower-level mercenaries. Mercs talked, and civilians overheard them. Some civilians saw the swarm. Some mercenaries were helping people from both sides, and sometimes the shadowy mysterious beasts were brought up.
And that was why I was here.
“This sort of complicated thing is also highly annoying to me. I wonder if my mother ever considered the implications of spreading far and wide? Though, she likely never have had to deal with such politics. It was either be content or grow too much and be exterminated. It is actually something I have been giving thought to lately. Our desire to grow is something innate to bees, but my mother never went nearly so far. She grew the hive, certainly, but it was a much slower, more measured process. Our innate desire is something that could only be fulfilled slowly, but now that we posses incredible power, our desire has actually grown. I wonder: will we ever be satisfied? When can we say that we are content with the size of the hive? With the number of bees?”
…
“I know, I know. My thoughts are irrelevant. They are not present, as I so passionately complained to you before. But still. This entire situation with Yiwi has truly broadened my horizons. I was once relegated to my mother’s comparatively small hive, which itself was contained within the forest. But soon we will control a solid portion of the forest much larger than my mother could have ever dreamed. And looking at the city, especially through your eyes, I see an unimaginable wealth of food, information, potential. When Bess completes her dome and moves on to the next layer, our hive will be truly enormous. And if she completes another? It will border this city. It won’t be long before this satellite hive of Yiwi is completely encompassed in the hive proper. And yet, how can we contain it all? Please excuse my ramblings; I have had a lot on my mind, since I have not been as directly involved with the Operation itself.”
No! No, this is great! Go ahead and spout your philosophical shit. It’s very interesting, and something that’s been lingering on my mind just as much. It really is important stuff to consider. When will it end? How far can we go? If the Vultuous Forest is step one, then that’s pretty crazy. It’s not like the forest is a small place. And outside of it, there’s all these humans and shit to deal with.
Well, as it comes. If we ever feel satisfied, we can stop, and if not? Then just keep going.
Speaking of moving forward, we have some time to kill while the bees do some cleanup Linking. Before we discuss things with the new leadership of Yiwi, ensure our foothold, meet Yelah, and do the cleanup tomorrow morning, I’ve gotta know. Have you given any thought to the thing I asked about?
“Of course. It is a necessary step in further conquest, and with the acquisition of this human city, the necessity only grows. There are simply too many humans to realistically control. In order to maintain an iron grip over Yiwi and properly expand the hive, we will need more bees. So, I do have some ideas as to how you can create more queens.”