There is No Epic Loot Here, Only Puns

46: Ballad of the Great

"Yes... I know... I know...I know," Delta agreed as Queen Lizzie buzzed angry at the utterly theft of her royal honey. Several squirming larvae wriggled with hunger. The Queen seemed to compose herself and buzz softly. Delta floated near the crown of the stone pillar. The buzzing seemed to rise and fall in a lulling pattern.

Delta got the rough gist of it.

"Nu just got excited and I guess he lost his head. I'm having Devina fetch the honey as best she can but a lot of it is already mixed into the pitfall hole soil," Delta explained. Rale moved the broken log to a field of flowers where it made a nice peaceful scene before he heaved the new and whole log bridge back into place.

The old log had many holes and cracks running through where Nu had... improved it. The vine traps with hoisted people by their ankles were already turned into nice scenery vines, the rather oddly placed rocks near the base of the tree where someone may cut themselves free and land and break their ankles... looked more decorative then dangerous now.

Delta felt a headache appear when she thought of the obvious fake treasure chest in Bob's pool, place just so it was visible but out of reach. She simply pushed it to the bottom, giving the dancing crabs a castle to rule from and something for Bob to play with.

She did not want to even think of the spring traps in the beds...

It wouldn't kill anyone, Nu was careful about that but people would need therapy for the noise and suddenly folding of the beds for years to come.

This is silly. I was simply offering ideas where they presented themselves.

"Nu, go back to the corner," Delta said calmly without looking at the floating box. Nu moved to face her.

Delta, this is twice now that something has tried to attack you. Three if you think about the farmer... but that is not the point here. You can't just contract everything we unearth or what comes barging in. You have nothing but a mud pit, a few goblins and Fran as a defence. Boary is adequate and The greater Mushroom and Bob are good... if they wander near his pool or down the secret corridor, but the point remains. You are throwing caution to the wind if you die, it isn't just you. I die, the goblins die, Fran dies, Bob dies, your stupid pet mime dies from hunger. Everything that is the dungeon will simply fade away if you die!

Delta hesitated as Nu's words grew bigger in his box.

"But... it all worked out," she defended weakly and Nu just rippled.

You cannot contract any more monsters. You began with three slots and got a mere one more when creating level two. Your goblins, the duck, and now Renny. You cannot make more. Your valuable tactics of befriending anything and taking care of its needs come with a limit. Now what? How will you stop some monster killing us all by eating you? Do you expect Ruli to give up her life to defend you? Deo to live in the dungeon and forget his own life? You need to think about us, not just what you want.

Nu blinked and vanished. Delta stared at the space and sighed, putting a hand to her face as if to ward off Nu's words.

But she wasn't going to deny the fact that she came very close to dying when Renny appeared. If she hadn't glimpsed the number vision and saw that glimmer of hope...

Delta would either be dead or have Ruli become a murderer for her.

The Queen buzzed and flew to hover never Delta's nose. The bee touched it and Delta felt a flash of connection.

A dozen or so points of view suddenly filled Delta's mind. Distorted visions of pollen and large petals, endless streams of 'flower' and 'Queen' flowed between the voices and they all collected in the Queen's head. The Queen made a choice and some of the tired bees flew further and further from the hive to gather more nectar.

"But, they'll not make it back healthy if they're that tired," Delta protested and the Queen twitched again and a dozen or so wiggling eyes appeared. The heavy pang of hunger surrounded Delta and she winced.

"But... the babies will die if you don't make them," Delta whispered. The Queen moved back, a feeling of regret and determination flowed through her.

"It's not easy being in charge, is it?" Delta asked honestly and the Bee bounced off Delta's nose and almost chided her in a series of buzzes. Delta itched the spot and looked around.

"It's all here because of me. If I go... it all goes," she agreed and Nu flickered into view with no words on his screen.

"We do this together. No more of the mad genius crap," Delta said, eyeing him with a side look.