It wasn’t long before Remi and Maile had caught up to Arya. Remi would have continued running all the way up to Baelie, who was fairly close to the strange looking tree, but Arya stopped her with a firm, outstretched arm.
“Don’t go any closer,” said Arya.
“Why?” Remi asked, though her instincts were somehow telling her the same.
“Because the last thing I need is to worry about saving the lives of two princesses today.”
The tree was even stranger up close. Its trunk was a blended tint of amber and maroon, but most striking of all were the hundreds of thin yellow streaks winding up around it. Long, thin cracks ran through the trunk, as if someone had twisted it like a rope and tore it in places. Catching her breath, Remi stared up at the massive, honey-colored beehive. Even standing more than twenty paces away, or more, the scent emanating from it was so sweet that she suddenly wanted nothing more than to walk up to it and start dipping her hand in for honey. She found herself moving forward and bumped into Arya’s arm once again.
“What’s the big idea?” Remi snapped, but she recoiled the moment she said it. Her own tone took her off-guard. Anger and aggravation dripped from her words.
“What’s happening?” Remi said, forcing herself to look at Arya.
“Not another step closer,” Arya said firmly. “You must trust me, princess.” Remi found herself clenching her teeth but obeying. Maile was still standing several feet behind them, having the better instinct of her sisters.
All the while, Baelie had been inching forward. She now stood directly beneath its branch, spellbound by the beehive above.
“Baelie,” said Arya. “I need you to find my voice. I need you to listen to me. Back away from the tree.”
Yet, Baelie could not hear her. Her eyes were locked on the beehive, and Remi realized that Baelie had no idea they were even there anymore. She was gone. The whole world might as well have not existed.
Then, without warning, Baelie bent her legs, took a deep breath, and leapt into the air. Her fingertips barely grasped the branch, and with diehard effort, she pulled herself up and onto it. Remi’s mouth dropped, as she would have never imagined her sister to be capable of such a physical feat. She took a step backward, oddly feeling the desire for the honey subsiding. She took another step and felt even more like herself again.
“What is it with this tree?” Remi whispered. She took a step forward. Its power grew. The longing for the honey was like a sweet tooth that grew incrementally more powerful with every movement towards the tree.
“Baelie!” Arya said, but once again, the voice did not reach her. “Baelie, listen to me!”
“There’s something very off with this tree,” Remi said, suddenly feeling quite frightened.
“Don’t go nearer to it than you are already,” said Arya. “The closer you get, the more you lose control of yourself, as you can see with your poor sister.”
Remi then realized something. Something terrifying. “Arya . . . can you, yourself, not go closer to the tree than here? Is it truly that dangerous?”
Arya chose her words carefully. “The truth is, I cannot go much further than where I stand right now. Unfortunately, I have yet to pass this particular tribulation, and Lady Glu isn’t around to help. If I were to try and save Baelie as I am now, I would also fall prey to the tree. She has no choice but to overcome it herself.” Remi’s heart began to pound in her chest.
“Why didn’t you stop her before she got this close then?!” Remi cried. “Baelie! Come back!!”
There was no answer.
Baelie had crawled all the way to the hive and wrapped her arms and legs around it. Her hands clawed away and tore at the beehive, frantically attempting to find the honey inside. She began crying out in elation, as though she were possessed.
“Don’t just stand there!” Remi glared at Arya. “Help her! Do something!!”
“Yelling at me will do anything but help your sister,” said Arya. “We must get through to her. So, focus, and help her to find our voices.”
“Baelie!” Remi tried again. “Baelie, please listen! Can you hear my voice!?”
“What kind of test is this?” Maile asked in her same frightened tone.
Arya did not hesitate. “Desire. Temptation. Some believe it is greed. Others, gluttony.”
“Wait,” Remi interrupted. “What did you mean by, ‘fall prey to the tree?’ What’s going to happen to my sister, Arya? The Empress will be upset beyond words if you brought us all the way down here, and one of us dies!”
Arya unclasped two long, brass daggers from her side. “Calm yourself, princess. Your panic does nothing for you, nor anyone else at the moment. We still have time, as they have not awoken yet. Focus your efforts on capturing your sister’s attention, no matter what you have to say, or how you say it.”
“They?” Remi repeated.
“What is it?” Maile whispered. “Is it an evil tree?”
“Not evil,” said Arya. “Just dangerous in all the ways nature can be. This particular tree is known by many names, but most often as the Liquid Sting. The honey inside the hive is the finest in the land. It is so majestic in taste and so enthralling in smell, that its very essence can break even the strongest of wills. The closer you come to the beehive, the stronger the scent becomes, empowering the effect it has on you. Only the strongest of the Force have dared venture closer than a few feet, and most won’t come closer than where I stand now, with the exception of Lady Glu, who does not live on Risia. And of the rest of us, only our Captain can sit peacefully under the hive in meditation.”
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“Only the Captain?” Remi said. “But . . . Lady Scylla, she’s not here . . .”
“Exactly why we must be very careful about how we proceed.”
Baelie’s sounds grew more and more animal-like as she ripped ravenously into the hive. Finally, and with success, Baelie pulled her hand out. On the tip of her finger was a smudge of golden honey. Feeling something powerful pulling at her once again, Remi felt herself take a step forward. Maile ran and grabbed her hand, screaming at her in fear.
Remi came to a sudden stop and took several quick steps backwards. A tear ran down her cheek, and then another. If she couldn’t even contain herself from this far away, what hope was there for Baelie? Together, the two of them watched their sister as she licked the honey from her finger. She cried out in glee, then rammed her hand back into the hive, unable to contain herself.
“Remi!” Maile’s voice was fear-stricken. “We have to help her!”
Remi held her sister’s hand tightly. “Don’t worry, Maile.”
She glanced at Arya. “You have a plan?”
“Somewhat,” said Arya. “We have many protective wards surrounding this tree so that the blood-thirsty wasps within may not pass far from the hive. And even if young Baelie should be stung, we have remedies for the poison. However, there is nothing I can do for her now, as she is. Without Lady Scylla here, we have only the hope of her hearing our voices. We must summon her back to us!”
Remi was frozen stiff. “Blood-thirsty . . . wasps? Aren’t you supposed to be the strongest in our world? Aren’t you supposed to be the guardians of a goddess? Aren’t you supposed to be heroes!? What do you mean we only have the hope of her hearing our voices!? What the heck is that supposed to do!?”
“I understand your fears and doubts, I do. And we are many things, but omnipotent, we are not. We all have weaknesses, as all things do.” Arya clasped Remi’s shoulder. “Believe in your sister. That is how you can help her now!”
Remi felt her hands clamming up. Before she knew it, she was clenching them as hard as she could. “She looks up to you all more than anything, and all you can say is, ‘believe in her?’”
Arya spun a dagger into her grasp. “I promise you that I will do all that I can when the wasps jolt her back to reality. For now, we must stay alert, and wait for the right time. Timing will be everything!”
“Have you done this before?” Remi asked.
“Only in theory, unfortunately,” said Arya. “Now, be ready! We will have only one chance!”
Remi felt a shiver run through her, and her heart pounded in her chest like a hammer. Then, as if the wasps inside had heard Arya’s words, a faint buzzing came to be. Remi could feel the presence of other members of the Force watching from afar and could almost detect the faint laughter of Theresa. The buzzing grew louder, and Remi watched Baelie closely. She was shoving her hands into the crevices she had torn in the hive again and again. Her fingers dripped with honey as she licked them clean. It ran along the edges of her mouth and down her chin, dripping onto her armor.
It was then that they appeared, not out of the beehive, but through cracks in the tree. They crawled and twisted out of the trunk one by one. The bulbous black wasps had beady red eyes and bright yellow twirls swirling around their abdomens. Each one was half the size of Remi’s forearm, and she watched in horror as at least a dozen of them escaped the confines of the tree and began to surround her sister.
“BAELIE! WAKE UP! RUN!!!” Remi screamed desperately, not daring to go any further. It seemed her words reached her sister, but the instant Baelie’s eyes looked up – honey smeared across her face and hands – one of the wasps shot in and jabbed its needle-like stinger into her arm. A split second later, Arya’s dagger speared through the wasp, pinning it straight into the tree trunk.
“Now!” Arya bellowed. “Awaken your sister! Bring her back to us!!!”
A gut-wrenching cry filled the air as Baelie released the beehive and fell to the ground. She landed with a loud thump, looking as if she had just awoken from a dream. Hearing the high-pitched buzz of the swarming wasps, she looked up and saw them descending upon her like a hail of arrows. She finally looked back at Remi and Maile, who were screaming with all their hearts as tears flowed down their faces. A touch of realization came into young Baelie’s eyes, and then there was only fear.
With sudden dexterity that must have been summoned from her innermost will to live, Baelie rolled onto her hands and feet, crawling frantically across the ground. Watching Baelie crawl towards them, Remi knew that she wasn’t going to make it. Baelie’s arm had already swollen beyond the size of an apple where she had been stung, and her sister began to weep as she struggled towards them.
“I don’t care if you’re scared!” Remi glared at Arya. “But I can’t just sit back and do nothing!”
Remi made to dash forward, but felt her body ripped firmly back into place. Arya had grabbed her wrist, and she cried out at her own helplessness. Remi shouted and cursed at Arya, fighting with all she had to be freed. Maile, frozen in fear, wanted to run in and help like Remi, but could not bring herself to move. She found herself crying as she watched, helplessly, from afar.
“Calm yourself, Remi!” With a quick flick of her wrist, Arya tossed Remi back onto her behind. “Your sister wants to join the Force, does she not!?” In a flash, Arya pulled three more daggers from her hip and sent them flying, skewering several more of the wasps that had nearly descended upon Baelie.
“Believe in your sister, Remi! That’s what she needs from you the most! Now, call to her!!”
Remi’s eyes flashed back to Baelie. She met her sister’s gaze and instantly felt her terror. Just behind her, the swarm of black wasps was nearly on top of her. Remi’s heart was hammering in her chest as she crawled forward on both hands, unable to pull her eyes away from Baelie’s. She had to do something, anything. . . .
“Baelie the Snailee!” Remi screamed with all her might. “Snailee!!!”
Baelie’s hand slipped, and she collapsed onto her chest. Two more daggers shot past her head, killing two more of the wasps. The pendant around Baelie’s neck began to glow softly, and she felt some of her strength returning as the words of Remi sunk all the way in.
“Smellington . . .” Baelie growled. “Smellington!!!”
Baelie rolled herself to the side just as a huge wasp slammed its tail into the stone. Rolling backwards and onto her feet, Baelie whipped her stick spear from off her back and spun it into her hands. She smacked another wasp out of the air, then stabbed the point of her stick spear through a second. Turning quickly, but fortunately, she tripped over her feet just as a third wasp whizzed straight past her head, and she avoided a near fatal sting to the neck out of pure luck.
“Smellington!!” Baelie jumped back to her feet, crying out at the top of her lungs.
“How are you going to be Vice-Captain if you get killed by a tree!?” Remi cried at the top of her lungs. “You’ll never even live to get your chance, Snailee! Now, run!!!”
Another three daggers raced past Baelie, piercing cleanly into three wasps. Yet, not a moment later, several wasps tore into Baelie’s arm, stinging her wildly. Baelie screamed out in pain, but she did not let herself fall.
“I will—become the Vice-Captain!!” Baelie cried out through the tears. “I will!!”
Baelie struggled to keep moving as another wasp fell prey to Arya’s dagger. Feeling new strength fueling her, Baelie began to run faster, until she was nearly sprinting at the three of them full blast.
“That’s it, Baelie!! You can do it!!”
Honey dripped and streamed from the sides of her mouth, leaving a trail of sweet spit glittering across the air. And then, dashing with such speed that it nearly blew Remi’s skirt up her legs, Baelie erupted past them. The remaining wasps slammed into an invisible ward, stopping all of them dead in their tracks.
Remi watched in horror as the wasps swarmed about the invisible barrier, infuriated by their intruder’s escape. They clouded around the barrier, their needle-tipped tails dripping with a thick venom that smelt of vomit and rot. After a few fruitless moments, the wasps finally turned tail and their wrathful nature faded. They buzzed back up to the tree and crawled into the trunk one at a time, until the final one entered the deep black trench from whence they came.