Belissar furrowed his brow as the timer counted down.
Initial Purification attempt in 5 seconds...
Initial Purification attempt in 4 seconds...
Initial Purification attempt in 3 seconds...
Initial Purification attempt in 2 seconds...
Initial Purification attempt in 1 second...
Initial Purification attempt commencing.
Once again Belissar and the Tower began to grow hot. Every part of the Tower began to shine. The sky, the trees, even the flowers glowed faintly.
And the gates to the Hunger swung open once more.
Belissar gulped as the black mass surged into the Flower Meadow. The nightmare every mother frightened their children with, the horror that no man or woman dared to face.
But once again, the edges of the gateway began to glow. Belissar heard a screeching noise as the tendrils of the Hunger fell back into the writhing mass. It condensed down as it did before, and once again, a black paw with massive claws stepped out and dug into the dirt.
Sweat dripped down Belissar’s neck as the shade’s long snout emerged, growling as it stepped into the dungeon. Belissar tightened his grip on his torch and pulled out his knife with his other hand. The shade lifted its head into the sky and roared.
Initial Purification attempt begun. Remaining hostiles: 1
Belissar lifted his torch with a shaky hand.
“C-Come and get me...”
He winced as his voice cracked. The shade brought its head down to stare at him, then burst out running towards him with a snarl.
Belissar turned and ran, his heart pounding. He was very much having second thoughts as to this plan. What was he, a peasant who had never experienced an actual battle in his life, doing trying to confront a shade of the Hunger?! Those jaws could snap him in half! The claws on its paws were as large as his hand! The barb on its tail would pierce right through him!
This was a monstrosity that trained soldiers would break and run from. That even the most hardened of the Tower Guard would tremble at the thought of.
And Belissar thought he could face it down?!
He regretted every choice he had made as he ran. He felt a rumble in the ground as the shade’s feet pounded behind him. He heard the snarling from behind. He thought he could feel the creature’s breath on his back...
But then he realized that was his imagination, for the creature’s snarls weren’t coming from behind him. He glanced over and his eyes widened.
The monster had leapt through the trees and was running along the hill to Belissar’s right, trying to run around him and head him off.
“N-No!”
If the monster didn’t follow him as he wanted, then his entire plan would fail. He had failed. He should have known a couple of trees and a gentle slope wouldn’t bother a monster like that. He should have known no plan thought up by a peasant could match the might of a Tower Lord.
He had no choice but to run now and abandon this foolish recklessness.
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Until he heard the buzzing.
“King!”
The conduit bee glowed once again as she flew towards the monster, a swarm of bees following behind her. Belissar’s eyes widened as the monster came to a halt, snapping and snarling as the bees buzzed around it, trying to sting through its black and twisting fur. The monster took a deep breath...
Images of dying bees raining from the sky filled Belissar’s eyes.
“Fall back!”
Heat filled Belissar’s chest and imbued his shout. The bees immediately began flying away even as black misted surged out from the monster. But because of Belissar’s shout, most of the bees escaped, only a small handful of stragglers were caught by the edge of the mist.
Belissar grit his teeth and forced himself to breathe. No, this wasn’t how he was going to let it end. Even if his plan was going to fail, he wasn’t going to just break and run. The bees wouldn’t let him; they would sacrifice themselves if he did. And he wouldn’t let that happen, not after all he had seen, not after all he had sworn.
He waved the torch in the air.
“Come and get me, monster!”
His voice held this time. The shade turned to him and snarled, then leapt at him with a roar. Belissar jumped back and turned to run. But since he had stopped to get the shade’s attention, it would take him some time to build up speed, while the shade needed only a leap to do the same. It would catch him before he made it...
Again, the conduit bee and the swarm swooped down from above. Belissar furrowed his brow. He had hoped he could keep the bees back...but at this point it was clear he could not succeed alone.
“Don’t go all at once! Keep it moving in my direction!”
The bees buzzed and began splitting up into smaller groups that swooped down one by one. The monster snapped at them but they would fly off immediately to be replaced by the next group. And when the monster took a deep breath, they all flew back.
Eventually, the monster began to bark. It took a deep breath and waved its head around, sending out clouds of black mist billowing in a wave ahead. It didn’t manage to catch the latest group accosting it, but the next wave of bees was forced back, unable to approach through the wall of mist ahead of them. The monster then turned its eyes to Belissar. It roared and pounced towards him.
And Belissar...stopped running. He stood still as the monster rushed towards him.
His heart pounded in his chest. He felt his legs try to lift off the ground. He felt the sweat drip down his face, stinging his eyes. He felt faint and his vision swirled.
But he forced himself to stand still. He resisted the urge to shut his eyes, even as he stared his death in the face. He held the torch in front of him, the flame wavering as his arms trembled and the branch shook. The flame had burned down low enough the branch that he could feel the heat on his hands.
The monster had nearly reached him. It opened its jaws, its tail wrapped around its body to swing at Belissar, it lifted its paws and extended its claws.
And then it vanished with a yelp as the ground vanished beneath its feet. Belissar heard a crash followed by a second yelp.
His heart leapt in his chest and his legs turned to jelly but he resisted the urge to fall to the ground. The hardest part was over, but this battle wasn’t finished yet.
Belissar cautiously crept to the edge of the hole while the bees began to buzz overhead. He peered over the side.
The monster was tangled at the bottom, twisting about to get back on its feet. It was surrounded by yellow walls as honeycomb lined the pit. The black fur covered in mist glistened slightly as honey, twigs, and dandelion stems stuck to it, before turning black and wilting. Honey, stems, and twigs covered the bottom in a large mat.
The monster shook its head at it rose to its feet. It looked at Belissar and snarled. It stepped forward to the edge and tried to dig its claws into the wall.
Belissar narrowed his eyes and held out his torch.
“This is for my bees.”
He dropped the torch.
The bottom of the pit burst into flames as honey and kindling caught fire. The flames spread to the monster’s fur due to the honey and stems stuck to it. The monster roared and fell back. It tried to roll across the ground...only to set more of the honey and stems alight, spreading the fire.
Belissar knew that one weapon a farmer had that every predator feared was fire. And as a beekeeper, he knew that beeswax made an excellent candle.
The fire continued to grow as the twigs and the wax caught fire as well. The monster roared and raced along the edges, but the fire had spread to the entire pit, and even the walls thanks to the wax on it. The monster crouched down and tried to leap out of the pit, but Belissar had made it as deep as he could and it failed to reach the edge. It tried to dig its claws into the walls but they couldn’t hold its weight, and it fell back once again.
It tried to unleash the black mist once again, but it had no effect on the flames, and there was nothing living for it to kill.
Eventually, its movement slowed down, and its roars grew soft. Soon, it fell to the ground and moved no more. Black mist began to rise from the flames and mix with the smoke as the monster’s body disintegrated.
All hostiles defeated. Purification successful.
Belissar fell back onto his bottom as the message passed before his sight. His eyes began to grow wide.
The monster...was dead?
The plan...had worked?
“We...won?”
Belissar blinked, and then started to giggle. Soon, he began to laugh.
And all around him, the Tower began to glow...