Heretical Fishing

Book 3: Chapter 16: Hivemind

Maria’s hand was once more in mine as we strode through the lush forest. She rested a watermelon-sized rock atop her other hand that was so big I’d almost call it a boulder. Bumblebro and Queen Bee sat on my shoulder, their wings twitching nervously. I reached up and patted the top of their heads with a finger, trying to reassure them.

“Sure you don’t want me to carry that?” I asked Maria, pointing at the mass of stone she carried.

“Are you calling me weak, Fischer?”

I gave her some audacious side-eye, only for her to wiggle her eyebrows back and shoulder pressed the rock with her enhanced muscles.

“Point taken,” I replied.

Shooting a glance back at Snips and her layer of shifting clothes, I recalled my conversation with Bumblebro and Queen Bee’s children before we’d left. Because I’d mentioned their renovation of the honeybee’s hive, they originally thought I wanted them to build some things for New Tropica. While they could surely help on that front in the future, I’d had something else in mind. Thankfully, they’d been happy to go along with my plans—ecstatic, even. It had been at least a quarter hour since they’d agreed, and they still buzzed their wings in excitement, making a pleasant hum wash over the surrounding trees.

When we arrived back at New Tropica, the cultivators that noticed us showed the same level of respect they had earlier. This time, though, their gazes one and all drifted toward Sergeant Snips. She walked with her carapace held high, pride radiating from her. Eyebrows rose, muttered conversation sprung up, and all eyes remained mostly pinned to Snips, completely fixated on my guard crab and her enthralling outfit.

Extending my senses, I found Barry.

“This way, guys,” I said, turning left at the main crossroads and striding for the new headquarters.

As we entered, Theo and Barry turned my way. Borks, who was sleeping beneath an artifact, lifted his head, yawned, wagged his tail, and made to relax again. But then he saw Snips. He did a double take, his ears going alert as he stared at her noisy outfit.

“Oh, hello,” Barry said, smiling at us. “I thought you’d be off fishing by now. To what do we owe the...” He trailed off, his forehead creasing as he caught sight of Snips.

“Snips...” Theo pursed his lips for a long moment before continuing. “Are you aware that you’re wearing bees?”

She blew affirmative bubbles, bobbing her head happily.

The bees, who’d been churning over one another atop their crabby steed since we left their hive, finally stilled. They turned their heads toward Barry and Theo, moving with perfect synchronization as they nodded and buzzed their wings in greeting.

“Bees?” I demanded, adopting the air of an indignant noble. “Not mere bees, my well-intentioned yet misinformed friend! These humble insects are the progeny of one Bumblebro!”

He puffed up on my shoulder, unable to hide his satisfaction with my words.

“And that’s not all!” I continued. “Their blood—wait, do insects have blood?” I shook my head. “Their lineage is so regal—so powerful—that I find my thoughts addled! I ask that you brace yourselves, dear friends! When I reveal their mother, you might need to pick up your jaws from the floor! In your wildest dreams, you would never guess—”

“So Queen Bee and Bumblebro had kids, huh?” Theo asked, projecting his voice to cut me off.

“Congratulation,” Barry said, smiling at Bumblebro and Queen Bee as they took flight from my shoulder. “Are they all awakened...?” Barry’s chi spread out, and when it reached the army of bees Snips was currently wearing as a hat, his eyes flew wide. “They are! Amazing...”

I’d begun scowling when my monologue was rudely interrupted, and it had only deepened as they continued ignoring me.

“They feel strong for their size. How powerful are they?” Theo asked. “Ellis is going to absolutely lose his—”

“Hey!” I yelled, hamming up my petulance. “I was mid-diatribe, you devious disciples!”

Barry snorted, giving me a smirk. “Disciples would imply that you were the leader of this church. Are you sure about that terminology?”

“Pshh!” I waved both hands dismissively. “I’m busy improving my dao. Consider yourself lucky that I haven’t left for some closed-door cultivation.”

“Okay,” Barry replied. “You lost me.”

I grinned. “Good. Anyway, I brought them here for introductions, but they can also perform an important role. I was thinking—”

“Do they have names?” Theo interrupted, yelling over me and pointedly looking at Barry.

“Yeah!” Barry boomed, also ignoring me as he stared at the bees. “Do you have names?”

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“See what I have to deal with, Maria?” I asked, sighing and shaking my head. “These lowly villagers vex me intentionally. Me, of all people.”

Her eyes danced with amusement as she faced Theo and Barry. “They don’t have names yet!” she yelled. “They said they wanted to be named together, so we’ll have to—”

“They’re going to be the scouts that protect our shores!” I bellowed, infusing my words with chi.

Evidently, I had released a little too much.

A pulse of pressure shot from me, slamming into the walls and sending any loose objects in the headquarters flying. Maria stumbled to the side, gripping her rock with both hands so she didn’t drop it. Bumblebro and Queen Bee shot back a full foot, the former catching the latter on his back before they both stabilized. And Borks’s golden fur was swept back, the whites of his eyes visible.

When the walls finally stopped vibrating, I grimaced. “... too much?”

“Note to self,” Theo said, opening his jaw wide and rubbing an ear. “Keep the messing with Fischer to a minimum.”

Barry, rather than being bothered by my whoopsie, faced the bees atop Snips’s head. “I can see their number being a boon for intel, but are they strong enough to protect against cultivators...?”

“Thanks for asking! If you’ll follow us outside...”

They exchanged a look as we led them out, coming to a stop in the middle of the street.

I grinned at Maria. “When you’re ready.”

She shot me a beautiful smile and cocked her arm back, the boulder resting atop her open palm. She took a deep breath, then absolutely launched the rock into the sky as she exhaled. It sailed to the west, spinning slowly in the wind. Power swelled from the bees and a susurration of buzzes sprang to life. I’d already assessed their individual power when we were back in the forest, and I enjoyed Barry and Theo’s similarly impressed looks. The bees took off as a blur, impossible for anyone but a cultivator to see. The first reached the boulder in less than a second, and when he struck the spherical stone, it shattered. Hundreds of stone pieces were ejected from the impact, sailing in every direction.

Before they could go more than a few meters, the rest of the bees struck.

Those rocks that survived the first volley were swiftly dealt with when the yellow-and-black attackers zipped back around and shot through them. Within the space of a breath, anything larger than a pebble was obliterated. A cloud of dust and debris bloomed in the western sky, still spreading out as the bees returned. They landed on Snips’s carapace, all looking rather chuffed with themselves and wiggling into position.

Theo whistled. “Yeah. That should do...”

I nodded. “Even if they couldn’t stand toe-to-toe with a cultivator, they’re fast and agile. They could easily escape and warn us that someone had fled.”

Suddenly, a rhythmic tapping drew all of our attention. I whirled, facing the street it was coming from. I extended my awareness, intent on discovering the source, but the cause of the sound came sprinting around the corner a moment later. Ellis’s feet never stopped moving, even as he skidded around the corner like a panicked cat on polished tiles.

“Who are they?” he screamed, his eyes pinned on mine.

His arms and knees pumped as he sprinted for me at full speed. I had to step aside at the last moment, lest he barrel into me and knock me down.

I grabbed his arm, swinging him around and bringing him to a stop. “Who are—”

“The scouts!” he yelled, not even letting me finish my sentence. “Who are the scouts?”

My brain short-circuited for a moment, but then I realized he was talking about the bees. He must have heard me when I projected my chi earlier, and as I considered him, his eyes only grew more intense. Ellis had always been thirsty for knowledge, but of late, he’d seemed almost manic in his information gathering. He visibly fought down the urge to demand an answer again, shivering as he stared at me.

“Ellis... are you all right, mate?” I asked, holding his shoulders. “You seem...”

“Batshit crazy?” Maria suggested, quirking an eyebrow at the former archivist’s shaking form.

I laughed. “I was going to say intense, but that’s not far off.”

“What? I am fine.” He took a steadying breath, his composure seeming to return. “I just wish to learn who the scouts are. Has someone else ascended?”

“Uh, kind of?” I pointed at Snips and the carpet of bees lining her carapace. “It’s no big deal. Bumblebro and Queen Bee had a bunch of children. They’re all spirit beasts or whatever.”

“They’re what?” Ellis dashed over to them and leaned in close. “Remarkable...” He removed his pad and began scribbling notes, muttering something under his breath about their features.

“For what it’s worth,” Theo said, “Ellis has always been so… passionate. It’s likely just the fact that he’s learning secrets he’s dreamed about his entire life.”

“I can hear you,” Ellis replied, not looking up from his note taking. “But I agree. You are the batshit crazy ones, as Maria so eloquently put it, for not being excited about everything we are learning.” He turned his back to us, adding a physical element to his verbal dismissal. “Perhaps you should reassess how blessed we are.”

I raised a finger and opened my mouth to reply, but came up short. “Huh. He might have a point...”

Bumblebro nodded sagely, landing on my shoulder and giving me a reassuring pat.

“Ah well.” I shrugged at Barry. “That’s all I really wanted to show you guys. Is it okay to leave the planning in your hands?”

“Absolutely.”

“Wonderful. Snips—are you gonna stay with our new bee pals or come with Maria and I?”

She blew questioning bubbles.

“Agreed,” Maria said, looking at me in confusion. “Where are we going?”

“Fishing, of course. I thought we could invite a new friend to try out our heretical lifestyle...”

Snips nodded fervently, shaking some of the bees loose.

“Oh! I’m in!” Maria said. “Who are we inviting, though? I’m not sure if you’ve looked around recently, but we have a lot of new friends.”

“Deklan.” I gave her a wide grin before turning toward Barry. “Do you know where he is?”

“Why am I not surprised?” Barry shook his head with a smile. “Last I saw him, he was at the smithy.”

“Perfect. Catch you guys later.”

The sound of Borks’s claws scrabbling on the stones came from the headquarters, having slept through the demonstration but never one to miss out on a little fishing. Bumblebro and Queen Bee chose to come along too, riding on my shoulder.

With Maria’s hand in mine and a handful of my animal pals along for the ride, we headed off toward the smithy.