Chapter 10

The rest of the evening passed without much problems. We spent the night in a cave Lucian tended to use a lot when he came out here. We took turns sleeping, but other than a few barks in the distance the night was peaceful.

The next day we had something more specific planned other than simple plant gathering. As I watched Lucian boil some sweet smelling tree sap he gathered earlier I couldn't help but ask.

“And the boiled sap is going to help us, how exactly?”

“As the water evaporates we’ll be left with a thick sweet syrup.” Well, that told me almost nothing of importance. Before I had the chance to ask he quickly continued. “Then we trade the syrup for honey.”

I looked at him confused. “Trade it? Are there people around here that sell honey?”

Lucian lifted his eyes from the boiling sap and looked at me like I was some sort of idiot. “Of course not. We’re going to trade directly with the bees.” He casually said.

“...Oh right, I forgot the bees personally controlled the export of honey. They really want to keep that part of the market a monopoly don’t they?”

““...””

“Sir?”

“Yes?”

“Pretend for a moment I lived under a rock my whole life. How in the hell would the bees trade honey with us?”

He facepalmed and groaned. “These are not normal bees you fool! They’re the giant man- slaying bees native to the region! They’re famous as a protected species. Did you actually live under a rock?”

“Giant man sla- all right, yeah, you guessed it! I didn't know about the giant man-slaying bees! What the hell are they and why are we doing transactions with them?”

“*Sight* We’ll they’re bees, but bigger. The average one is, uh, bigger than Jim basically.”

“That is big.”

“Quite. They’re actually smart too, enough that we can actually trade with them. Don’t expect too much from them though, they're still bees.”

“So there’s no talking bees, got it.”

“I mean, there might be? They don’t interact that much with people except for the whole honey trade thing.”

The thought of talking bugs sounded terrifying and I would be among the first to set them and everything they relate to on fire. Still, the doctor looked pretty impressed by them so I kept my opinions to myself.

“In any case, the honey we want from them is not normal either. It’s the primary reason they are protected as a species. The honey has healing properties. It can be applied to a number of wounds and when mixed with a few other ingredients you get a basic health potion.”

That was quite interesting actually, not enough to spare them the flame if I see any bee talking to me, but close enough that I might have second thoughts.

“And why are they called man-slaying bees? Are they aggressive?” I really did not want to fight off giant bees. Especially ones that could scream at me in my own language.

“Two reasons. The first of is because, well, they are actually capable of killing you pretty quick.” Of course they can, why couldn’t they I guess. “The other reason was that the name was encouraged by the officials. People were less likely to mess with the poor creatures if they had such a scary name.”

Right...poor creatures. As the sap boiled Lucian told me a few more facts about them. Nothing as interesting as the first few things, but enough to sate my curiosity. In any case, after the syrup formed he poured it in a jar and let it cool.

As we waited he took out a list and began crossing things off of it. When he reached a specific item he frowned. “We still don’t have enough Rock Root.”

“You mean the thing we found with those kobolds yesterday?”

“Yes, we already passed through the places where it usually grew and there was barely any more left.”

“That sounds pretty strange. What is Rock Root useful for anyway?”

“By itself? Nothing, it's just a bitter root, barely any nutritional value in it. But as a compound, it works as a binder for sleeping potions and the like. I use a lot of it when making painkillers.”

“So what? Think the dogmen figured out medicine?”

“That’s preposterous. The highest technology those mangy creatures are capable of is making sticks pointy.”

Right, they didn’t look or acted that smart when I fought them. They had enough brain cells to wield weapons, but not enough to use them with forethought and strategy.

“In any case, it may be a coincidence that those kobolds had a root with them, but if it’s not…”

We’ll have to look into it. I was not a fan of the fury things, but at least I knew I could take them if push came to shove.

“Still, that can wait a day. We have to finish our business with the bees first. Let’s go, Reginald.”

Lucian took the still warm jar of syrup and we continued on our way. This time, he didn’t stop to gather anything else so we walked at a steady pace.

I glanced at my watch and it showed there were only a few minutes left until four p.m. It took a lot longer than I thought to collect the sap, but the doctor had to be careful not to kill the tree.

About another half an hour of walking and I could hear a buzzing sound that became louder and louder as we advanced. Lucian looked unconcerned about it. He knew these things better than me so I kept my mouth shut and decided to follow his lead. If things went south then, well...I’ll figure it out.

The trees opened up into a clearing. Right in the middle of it was a giant structure, reminiscent of a pyramid with hexagonal patterns on it. The material looked similar to wax and, considering what we were here to meet, it might as well have been.

I looked in awe at the giant thing, almost completely forgetting about the extremely loud buzzing that reverberated in my ears.

I saw a couple of the bees walking around the hive’s exterior. Indeed they looked just like a normal bee, but they were at least three meters long. Their stinger was especially intimidating, even my sword looked less deadly than those.

Lucian stopped a few meters away from the clearing and I stood behind him and a bit to the side, one hand resting on the handle of the sword.

“There’s no need for that Reginald. The bees are not violent unless provoked.”

“You can understand my caution sir, there’s not much I can do to keep us alive if they decide to attack us.”

Lucian sat down and placed the opened jar of syrup in front of him. “I understand, but I assure you, I have already done this plenty of times. You’re not the type to lose your cool, but I warn you.” He said and turned to me “The next part is going to be intense. Whatever you do, don’t make any sudden movement and, above all else, don’t attack them.”

I nodded and said I’ll do my best. With that we both turned towards the nest. Lucian brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. The few bees moving on the top of the hive abruptly stopped and collectively turned to us.

“That’s creepy as all hell…”

“Shush Reginald, it’s starting.”

I saw a few bees spreading their wings and making their way towards us. Seeing those things flying towards me with such robotic coordination made me clench my fists in tension. I intentionally took my hand away from the sword, not trusting myself not to draw it when they came close to us.