"Yes, Father." Invincible-13 saluted.
The next mont, she kneeled on the ground and began saring herself with dirt!
I gaped at it for a mont, then realized that she was just applying camouflage.
The Beemarine took my order incredibly seriously. Now she was creeping toward Scourge on foot, almost blending with the trampled ground around us.
She dashed from a rock to a pothole, using whatever flimsy cover there was to get closer unnoticed. Invincible-13 got as close as 5 ters away from Scourge, and it still paid no attention to it!
Until, without a warning, the dragon stood taller and turned its head toward Invincible-13.
"Careful, slow down! Don't spook it!" I shouted.
Scourge glanced at , and Invincible-13 used the chance. She beat her wings and dashed toward Scourge's back, then hopped on the dragon's hip and held tight with 3 hands that didn't help her service hamr. Compared to the dragon, she looked like a fly on the wall.
"I did as you ordered, Father!" Invincible-13 shouted, while I was clutching my chest in fright.
This wasn't how I imagined this!
"Graw?" Scourge twisted its neck to look at the bee clinging to it.
"Scourge isn't alard, but—"
Explanatory's words were cut off when I shouted again.
"Invincible-13, the wings!"
Scourge raised its wing, about to brush Invincible-13 off, but my warning ca in ti. I exhaled in relief when she flew off the dragon, then gasped again when she just re-attached herself between its wings!
The wings couldn't touch her there, and the dragon's neck was too short for it to reach with its jaws, but…
"Graaa!"
"Oh, *now* it's alard," Explanatory said. "Very common alarm cry. Disaster and Woe react to it, too."
Indeed, they were turning their heads to Scourge, who was trying to look at the insect on its back.
I turned to them and waved my hands threateningly.
"Shoo! Shoo! Don't look—nothing is happening here! NOTHING!"
Now the dragons were looking at , even Scourge. Emboldened, I kept hollering, distracting them.
"That's right! You don't even understand my words, but keep watching! Hey, girls, you help too—shout sothing! Invincible-13, just don't get hit by a dragon!"
My daughters joined like the good girls they were.
"DON'T YOU DARE TO HIT YOUR SISTER!"
"IF YOU DO, WE WILL PLUCK YOU SCALE BY SCALE AND MAKE A POT OUT OF YOUR SKULL!"
"YOU BEASTS ONLY LIVE RIGHT NOW BY THE RCY OF OUR KIND FATHER!"
How good that the dragons didn't understand bee language…
Disaster decided it had enough and took off, slapping with a gust of wind. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire
A mont later, Woe followed.
Scourge was the last, taking Invincible-13 with it, who was still doing her best to blend with its scales.
"Aaaah! Wait, where are you kidnapping my bee?! Invincible-13, co back!"
But by the ti I shouted, the dragons were already so far away that I knew she wouldn't hear .
I stared at the rapidly diminishing silhouettes of dragons, speechless.
Nobody else spoke a word, either.
Explanatory made a note on a wax tablet.
"I will list this test as a partial success, Father. We still have two Beemarines remaining—and all the others, of course. The dragons will co around tomorrow when they get hungry, I'm sure."
"The dragons? I just hope Invincible-13 rembers that she can fly, too, and cos back!"
However, no matter how long I stood there, she never did…
10 minutes later, I told others to notify of any changes and went back to the hive.
At least, like all Beemarines, she had enough snacks to last her for the day, and plenty of survival skills.
***
Next morning, I watched as Scourge flopped its wings, landing on the ground next to the pile of food prepared for it and its friends.
Disaster and Woe weren't around yet; instead…
"Invincible-13!"
An exhausted girl flopped from the dragon's back; it ignored her, going straight for the food instead.
"Destroyer, get a Physician here! Squad, help Invincible-13 out!"
My bodyguards imdiately moved in, bringing Invincible-13 close. To my relief, she was absolutely healthy, although her stamina was at 〔1/21〕 and her hamr was nowhere to be seen.
She blinked her eyes and reached out for .
"Fa… ther… I've seen so much. There's… so much. Water, mountains and beasts..!"
"Yeah, and you will tell all about it, but you need so rest. And food."
Sobody already gave Invincible-13 a jug of nectar. She drank greedily and imdiately looked better.
"I was so high in the sky, I could see the tops of pillar mountains," she blabbered. "On so of them were perched dragons that are ten tis as big as Scourge. We slept near dozens of other black dragons—it was just black all over. I've seen a river that looked normal, until Scourge got close, and I couldn't see the other end anymore! There were other things, too. We can conquer them, or they—us. I knew you would want to know, Father, so I rembered it all!"
"Yes-yes, you did amazing, Invincible-13. Just rest for now. I was my fault for giving you unclear orders, anyway…"
Beemarine did sothing rare for her morphotype—smiled.
"Scourge, he went after food at that incredible place—"
She was interrupted by a flapping of massive wings.
I lifted my head and saw Disaster descending a dozen ters away. In his jaws, it was carrying sothing flat and gleaming like tal.
No, it *was* tal—a brown tal.
The dragon put the thing on the ground and growled loudly. "GRAAAAW!" a.k.a. "Where's my food, you pathetic insects?!"
Then Disaster noticed the food which Scourge was eating already and went to fight for its share.
"Really, you can talk later, Invincible-13," I said. "Physicians will take care of you."
By now we were surrounded by bees eager to help and I knew Invincible-13 will be taken care of.
Most of my attention moved to the object Disaster brought this ti.
'A tal nugget? Oh, that would be aweso! This doesn't look like gold, so maybe the dragons can show us other tal deposits!'
However, when I looked at the object closer, my excitent was diluted with a great deal of apprehension.
Although the object was large enough that I and Amby could use it as a bed with room to spare, I imdiately understood what it was.
A giant bronze coin.
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