“Bryx the Magnificent, at your service!” I announced with a theatrical bow that showed off my flexibility. “Part-time hero, full-time heartthrob, occasional interior decorator, and currently very lost. You wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had. First, my bee here—say hello, Kevin—”
Kevin buzzed what was definitely not a hello.
“—Kevin decided to chase a butterfly. A butterfly! Can you imagine? We’re in the middle of a dramatic scouting mission and he’s distracted by pretty wings. Though I can’t blame him. Pretty wings are very distracting. Speaking of which, that armor really brings out your eyes. Are those standard issue or did you get them specially made?”
The female guard actually blushed behind her mask. Score one for the Bryx charm.
“He’s with the rebels,” another guard said, not a question.
“Rebels? Me?” I gasped dramatically, hand over my heart. “I’m hurt. Wounded. Mortally offended. I’ll have you know I’m a free agent. An independent contractor of chaos. Available for parties, harvest festivals, and the occasional overthrow of tyrannical regimes. Very reasonable rates. I do offer a group discount if you’re interested.”
“Enough games,” the lead guard snapped. “You’ve seen the channels. You know what we’re doing.”
“Oh, I’ve seen them alright. Mixing Root and Bloom? Very naughty. I’mpretty sure that’s against at least a dozen natural laws and probably a few unnatural ones. Does your mother know what you’re up to? She’d be very disappointed.”
They attacked simultaneously, which was just rude. No warning, no dramatic countdown, not even a ‘prepare to die, rebel scum.’ Where was the showmanship? The style? The basic courtesy of announcing your intent to murder someone?
I dodged the first blade with flexibility that came from having too many joints, bending backward until my head nearly touched my heels. “Whoa! Buy a guy dinner first!”
The second attack I deflected with a sonic pulse that shattered stone and made all five guards stagger. The rampart cracked under the force, pieces falling into the courtyard below with crashes that would definitely attract attention.
“Oops!” I called out cheerfully. “Did I forget to mention the sonic thing? My bad! I really should come with a warning label. ‘Caution: Contains devastating good looks and destructive sound waves.’”
Kevin grew to full size instantly, diving at the nearest guard with stinger extended. The guard barely dodged, rolling aside as Kevin’s stinger punched through solid stone where he’d been standing. The stone sizzled where Kevin’s venom touched it.
“That’s my boy!” I cheered, sending out another sonic pulse that knocked two guards off balance. “Show them why bees are superior to wasps in every way! Better pollinators, better honey producers, better at causing massive property damage!”
The fight was actually going pretty well for about thirty seconds. My sonic pulses kept them disoriented, Kevin was magnificently terrifying, and I was pulling off some genuinely impressive acrobatic moves that I definitely planned to brag about later. I even managed to knock one guard completely off the rampart with a well-timed sonic burst combined with a spinning kick that would have made my combat instructor proud, if I’d ever had one.
But then more guards arrived. Like, a lot more guards. Apparently my sonic pulses weren’t exactly subtle, and the sound of shattering stone hadattracted every guard in a quarter-mile radius.
“Kevin, remember that tactical retreat we practiced?”
He buzzed agreement while stinging a guard in a very uncomfortable place.
“Time to tactically retreat! With style!”
I grabbed onto Kevin as he swooped past, and we shot into the air, arrows whistling past us. One caught Kevin’s wing, tearing through the delicate membrane. He buzzed in pain but kept flying, because Kevin was a champion and champions don’t let little things like arrow wounds stop them.
“You okay, buddy?” I called over the wind.
His buzz translated roughly to “I’ve had worse. Remember the time you convinced me to pollinate those carnivorous orchids?”
“That was for science!”
“That was for a dare!”
“Scientific dare!”
We crashed into a grove a mile away, both of us gasping, bleeding, somehow still alive. Kevin’s left wing was torn, and I was pretty sure I’d cracked something important. Maybe several somethings. But my gorgeous smile was intact, so really, priorities.
“Can you fly?” I asked Kevin, examining his wing.
He buzzed indignantly—of course he could fly. He was insulted I’d even asked. A torn wing was nothing. He’d flown with worse. Like that time I’d accidentally set him on fire. Or the time he’d been half-frozen. Or the time—
“Okay, okay, you’re very tough and very brave,” I said, patting his fuzzy head. “Now, let’s go find Thrak’s forces and tell them we’re all probably going to die if they stick to the plan. But, you know, in a cheerful way.”
But I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d seen. The channels, the weapons, the deliberate mixing of Root and Bloom—it wasn’t just corruption. It was something else. Something planned.
