Flying forward was only delaying the inevitable, but I had no smart thoughts!
Maybe hiding—no, the hornet would find us before we could!
Suddenly, without warning, my Commando Bees silently and unanimously turned around and raised their hammers.
When I looked back, they were already only a few meters away from the hornet, flying right toward her!
My eyes widened.
'This… This might give me a chance to hide. Their sacrifice—I can't let it go in vain! It's not like I can stop them, either…'
I flew to the ground and dashed for the nearest ground hole.
From there, I watched my daughters meet the hornet head on.
B5331 swung her hammer at the hornet, while B5445 and B5458 tried to get to the hornet's wings.
A swing of the hornet's claws tore the hammer out of B5331's hands. The massive monster lunged, grabbing B5331's torso. Her mouth opened wide and almost engulfed the helpless bee's head…
Almost!
With a surge of relief, I saw the hornet recoiling in pain and letting B5331 go. Her mouth was wounded by spikes on B5331's armor!
〔Hornet〕
〔Health〕: 30 / 31
The hornet lost 1 health point. Only one…
B5445 and B5458 swung their hammers, trying to get at the hornet's wings, but she recovered before they could connect.
The hornet moved, and their blows struck only the hornet's tail armor, not leaving more than a scratch.
My heart sank again. My heart beat deafeningly loud and fast in my ears, like a bird's wings.
Then a giant shadow fell upon the hornet, and a massive scaled maw closed over the upper part of her body.
'It wasn't my heart beating. It was that thing's wings!'
As quickly as it swooped in, the monster flew away with its prey. The gust of wind from its wings blew the Commando Bees a meter down. Then, not a trace of the gigantic beast remained.
I was left to stand in place, gaping at where it just was.
'Are we… saved?'
Then,
'We are saved!'
And finally,
'A dragon! This was a real fucking dragon!'
I only saw a glimpse of the creature through the gaps between foliage: a crocodile-like mouth and dark blue wings. It was *definitely* a dragon!
My Commando Bees landed next to me.
To my relief, even B5331 only had surface injuries and almost full health. I almost reached to hug her, then remembered the spiky armor on us both.
"Thank god, you are both okay! We were so lucky that this dragon didn't eat us all—our camouflage must've helped. Now let's get the hell away from here even faster!"
Commando Bees all nodded.
B5445 poked her dirty cheek, then licked it and grimaced.
"The huge hunter didn't want to eat dirt," she whispered. "Smart."
More nods.
Of course, they were unfazed by almost dying right now. I huffed.
"You focus on the wrong things, girls. Oh, and we will talk about your reckless behavior later… give me a warning next time, or something—you almost gave your poor father a heart attack…"
***
As soon as we got back into the hive, still wet from washing in a pond nearby, I started frantically preparing the Operation "Kill It With Fire".
The framework for it was already there.
Attacking directly was a *terrible* idea. Unless I somehow came up with gun technology tomorrow, the hornets would tear bees apart.
But perhaps a small, stealthy, well-trained team stood a chance of sneaking into the hornets' nest at night, while they were asleep, and torching the entire place.
This team was already waiting, and while I scouted with a few of them, the rest were improving their stealth training on their own.
Next evening, after a full day of final preparations, I gathered my kill team again. They all stood near the exit, prepared to leave—even B5331.
She wasn't wounded, and her huge, black eyes were too pleading, so I let her be a part of this.
It was disturbing how eager she and other Commando Bees were to go on this *incredibly risky* mission.
Each of them stood with a serious expression on their youthful faces. Besides armor and hammers, they had new rope belts with loops for their knives, jugs with honey, spare candles, and leaf-wrapped bits of flammable tree resin.
Each of their crude candles could burn through the entire night. Since Commandos didn't need to keep all candles lit at all times, they had more than enough to reach the hornet nest without losing the fire.
Even if their candle got extinguished, I taught them how to get fire with friction.
In their hands, each Commando Bee carried a wax jug with a single candle inside, waiting to be lit. Leaves were stuck with tree resin all over their bodies for extra camouflage.
Ambrosia was there next to me, watching the sendoff with a silent, regal air.
Hundreds of curious bees, already done with their daily duties, gathered at a distance to look at us.
I gave my Commando Bees one last evaluating look and forced a smile.
"You are as ready as I can get you to be. I really don't want to just send you out on this way too risky mission. One day, all bees will live long, happy lives. And not because some goddess told me to!"
Commando Bees puffed their chests a little, but said nothing.
"You know what to do already. Reach the hornet nest, sneak inside, and burn it to the ground. It's probably built from paper, or wood—very flammable. Even if it's made from wax, you know it can burn, too. Then escape before the hornets get you!"
Commando Bees nodded.
I cleared my throat and turned to Ambrosia.
"You don't want to tell them anything before they leave, Amby? A word of encouragement?"
"No, you've said enough for two people. Three people." She paused. "Three and a half."
She turned to the side. There was waiting a single Craftsman Bee, twitching with excitement and holding a lit candle with all four hands.
"Give the Commandos a fire, Craftsman Bee."
The Sergeant Commandos raised their jug-protected candles. Without a word, they went toward the exit and took off into the evening.
Soon, they disappeared from sight.
'Goddess of Bees… If you care at all, grant them safe return!'