I still stood there, staring into the darkening sky for a moment longer. With Ambrosia at my sight, I felt more motivated to fight. Not just for myself, but for her.
'And at least one of us will always have a calm head.'
We stood in silence for a little longer. Other bees began moving to their sleeping cells. I shifted closer to Ambrosia's side.
"What if the hornets don't die?" she asked.
I blinked.
"What if?… They should die! Our Commando Bees will burn their hive, and those hornets which won't die in the fire will eventually die from exposure or hunger."
"But what if they don't?"
"Then they will be even more murderous than they already are… And they will fly all over the place, killing and eating everything they see…"
I shivered.
Ambrosia turned to me and narrowed her eyes.
"This means we can't relax at all. Until the Commando Bees return with news of success, or until we realize they failed, we should all stay inside the hive and be ready to defend it. Will our food stores last us long enough?"
I checked them and counted in my head.
〔Resources〕:
> Food: 458 units
> Building materials: 47 units
"We have… Uh, since there are 25 thousand bees, then 18 days' worth of food. More than enough!"
Ambrosia smiled pleasingly.
"Yes, this is good. It will take us no time at all to prepare food for the next winter—after the hornets are dealt with."
"Well, that's still far away. Anyway, you know what this means, Amby? I'm inventing holidays! We will have holidays until Commando Bees return."
Which they *absolutely* would. There was no other option. Their mission was risky, but also *super easy*. Bees slept like the dead—surely hornets would, too!
I kept telling myself that and trying not to bite my nails. Of course, there was no way I would fall asleep tonight.
***
THE GODDESS OF BEES, THE GREAT WONDER OF THE WINGED TRIBES, THE BEAUTIFUL AND NOURISHING MOTHER, NAMELESS BECAUSE NAMES ARE A HUMAN CONCEPT, SEES ALL THINGS.
At the moment, she watched a group of twenty bees sneak toward a big, dark, quiet hole at the side of a mountain—a hornet nest.
They were smeared with dirt and wearing armor made of bones and old stingers—a disgustingly human behavior. The goddess almost wanted to kill her Chosen One all over again for teaching bees those things.
But for now, she was patient. It was all for the sake of world domination.
Sergeant Commando B5331 took a spare candle from her belt, lit it from her own burning candle, and passed it to her subordinates. In total silence, all the Commando Bees lit their candles one by one.
They understood each other without words and shared the same determination.
The glances they exchanged said, "Yeah, I'm also eager to burn this place, save our colony, and be heroes. Even if we die, as long as we succeed, it will all be worth it."
Near the entrance, the Commando Bees saw several massive hornets sleeping on the ground.
Their massive antennae twitched slightly when Commando Bees crept past them, breathing as softly as they could, but the hornets didn't stir.
Inside, the cave was as massive as the bees' own hive. Walls of hexagonal cells stretched as far as the bees could see.
At the sight of the first hive cell, they paused in shock.
Like their father guessed, the cell's walls were built from a wood-like material instead of wax. And the cell itself was seven meters in height. It, alone, was the size of the Queen's royal chambers!
There was also a hornet sleeping inside, so the Commando Bees moved deeper into the hive.
Father has given them instructions on how best to burn this place. Following them, the two teams split. One stayed near the entrance, and the other went deeper, until it reached what seemed like the center of the hive.
It all looked the same: sleeping hornets and tall wooden walls.
Both teams smeared tree resin they brought with them over walls of several empty cells. Then the outer team waited.
The inner team dropped several burning candles right next to the tree resin. The material quickly caught fire, which slowly but surely spread to the hive walls.
Still silent, the Commando Bees returned to the entrance. Behind them, the crackling of the fire was getting louder and louder.
They were almost near the exit when they heard the beating of a pair of massive wings.
The team sped to a run.
When the outer team saw them approaching, they threw their own candles at the resin-smeared wood and ran with them.
Behind them, fire and hornets were rising at once.
Sergeant Commando B5445 glanced back. She knew the hornets weren't fully awake yet. Although running was stealthier, she decided their team had a higher chance of getting away if they flew.
She leaped into the air, and other Commando Bees followed without delay. Wings of 20 bees buzzed loudly at once.
The hornets near the entrance raised their heads, then stood up.
They were sleepy and confused, but they smelled the scent of bees in the air coming from their wings. It activated their predatory instinct.
Without thinking, four hornets flew after the Commando Bees.
As fire was spreading over their hive, more and more hornets tried to escape. Some were stopped by the secondary fire that started near the entrance, but some pushed right through it. One by one, dozens of hornets left the hive to spread in all directions!
Then, many of them mindlessly followed the hornets, who were already flying somewhere—the hornets who were chasing Commando Bees.
The hornets caught up with bees in seconds. Three fastest hornets reached out toward the slowest bees.
Hearing their approach, Commando Bees slowed down and turned, trying to land a good hit with their hammers—but their blows didn't even scratch the hornets' armor.
As the first hornet grabbed a Commando Bee with her gigantic hand, ignoring the armor spikes like they were nothing, and brought the bee toward her maw…
B5445 realized she had made a terrible mistake.