The bees were a great ally for Albie. He just had to figure out how to use them. From what he had read in Sculpting Life any small adjustment to a creature had a large impact. The book also had details on the diets of bees. These were not carnivores. They could be altered but it would take time and practice. If he could modify the queen, he would greatly affect the hive but if she died the hive would die out. He would have to alter the workers one at a time to attempt to make them carnivores that could grow blood stones.
With the moon out Albie walked with the aid of magic. He would first try to make the bees a bit larger. He attempted to grow one bee but after it grew to about three inches it lost its ability to fly. It had become a large bee shaped worm. With the lifeforce of the plants around him he grew the bee shrank the bee changed body parts individually. Albie lost his connection with the bee after he attempted to change its organs around. The pail mage leached the life force out of the dead bee and called the next from the hive. He killed Many bees until he produced a stable bee about five inches long. It could fly faster than her sisters and had a huge stinger.
When he touched the bees mind. It was hungry and tired. The creature was to large to fit in the hive, so Albie had some other bees bring it honey. He sensed the bees gave it the portions of ten bees, but it could not stay full. It just became hungrier and hungrier. The giant be could not be sated. Albie reached into its mind and felt it starving. He drained it of life killing it.
More experiments would be needed if this was to work. Albie grew another bee but this time he tried to change its mouth and stomach. The recycled life force grew the bee sharp teeth. He sent it into the woods where he felt it desperately try to hunt unsuccessfully. Its thoughts confused by the dark and its drive to eat an animal. It didn't really understand a need to eat another creature. It grew weak in flight and died.
It was a failed attempt. He could not train a bee to hunt at night. Not without teaching it to see at night first and that was something the young mage did not think he could teach a bee. He would need to give them something more available. He would have to give them a few pieces of himself.
The next be he grew he ordered to take a bite from his arm. It did as he willed and bit a thumb sized chunk of flesh from his arm. It hurt despite his numbed state. The teeth were sharp and vicious. The bee however felt fuller and sluggish.
Albie drained a nearby bush to dust to heal the bite. He looked inside of the bee and saw it was not absorbing life from his flesh. The bee was full but didn't seem to be getting any life from it. The book mentioned changing a diet meant changing how a creature digested food. Bees tended to eat mostly liquids and a little bit of pollen. The book had recommended not changing the state of a creatures eating habits all at once. That if one wanted to change a creature diet, they would also have to alter its stomach. It was a delicate proses to change such a fragile organ. Albie tried to modify the bee's stomach, but the bees stomach acid became too powerful and the Albie felt the poor creature's anguish as it melted from the inside out. It was horrifying to watch but something clicked in Albie. Perhaps the creatures could just drink the flesh. Albie grew another bee. This one did not have sharp teeth. Albie offered it his arm and it spit acid onto him then began to drink the liquified skin. His skin melting hurt terribly. It was only a small wound, but it was unpleasant. Albie healed himself with his magic. The next step would to get it to spit acid. But for now, Albie bit his thumb to bleed and ordered the acid spiting bee to drink the magic rich blood. It did as ordered and Albie felt something grow inside the bee. A magic force began to solidify in the creature. A week life energy began to grow inside the bee. Albie felt his hunger grow but resisted the urge to eat this first child.
As he walked through the night and the next day, he grew more bees. He improved there acid spitting ability and life of the bees. They could eat enough to survive. Much of his skin was sacrificed and regrown. Eventually the bees learned to eat plants and unwary bugs. When day came the pack of bees hunted down and ate a rabbit. Melting and consuming every part of it. They could spit the acid a foot. These bees were monsters.
Five inches long. Black and yellow with huge stingers. They flew on even larger wings and dripped acid from there tube-like mouths. They had no fur only slick carapace. Nature had never created such a thing and their father loved all of them.
By the next night Albie could see the city walls of Yourz. His vengeance would begin here with the deaths of the soldiers loyal to her majesty. He would destroy the solders inside. Those cowards who would slaughter the unarmed and dare surrender to him would suffer greatly to broaden his understanding of the body. This lord Brand would also die. Especially if it meant he would get Cats half of the moon charm. Albie grabbed the crystal on his chest. He coughed black flehm onto the ground beside him. The 20 monstrous bees floated around him some taking pieces of flesh from his body. That would be healed as a nearby plant wilted. The bees in the hive buzzed in response to his anger. Sending signals of support into his mind. The phantom panes in his chest ached as he walked to the walls the smell of ash still on the wind. The traveler had said all the defenders would be dead by now. Only enemies remained inside. The people of Yourz would be avenged. The moon mage would let not one damned murderer escape.