The Legendary Beekeeper-Chapter 39: A god amongst bees

The star lit up at that.

"Then I shall descend to meet you."And its light was torn from the dark fabric of space.

The woman muttered something beside him before taking a step back. "Brace yourself, my Lord," she said, eyes still focused on the now starless sky. "It is a sentinel which descends upon us."

Han did not understand what she meant... not at that moment, at least. However, her meaning came to him only a second later.

As if the sky were but a sheet of black glass, something shattered a gaping hole through its centre, and whatever energies it had caged back sank through.

A miasma of cold blue light bled into the sky, bubbling out into thunderous storm clouds. Blue and gold energies wrestled within them, sending sparks of flame down onto the field below.

Fires began to erupt all around him, and he was reminded of the devils he wished to make deals with. Of the planet eaters, he wished to tame.

A bolt of golden lightning struck the ground right in front of him, showering the field in a raw blast of dust and debris.

The woman had opened her wings to shield him from the fallout; however, it did little to dull the cold fear that now grasped at his heart.

Han waited breathless for the debris to settle. For the creature to appear from its veil of dust and ash. Those few seconds felt to him like hours, and when they were finally over...

Silence.

A strange silence stalked through the meadows of the flower plane, chilling the air so that every breath came out as mist.

His ’world’ was still burning with the energies of those strange clouds, but around him there was only black ice. Han did not need to ask what a sentinel was, for he knew the answer.

The titan in front of him, a tower made flesh and bone, couldn’t be anything but an agent of death.

"I greet you, whisperer." The words shook the very ground beneath him. And in front of him bowed an 8-meter goliath, so tall he could barely make out the golden helm that shrouded its face.

6 wings, black as night, sprouted like blades from its back. And armour, blue as the black depths of the ocean, covered its four muscled arms.

Shock and awe subdued Han to silence, and it was the woman beside him who spoke first. "This is sacred ground, Sentinel. Call off your stalkers."

And for the first time, Han noticed the monstrous bees that surrounded them, hidden slightly by the shadows cast by the roaring fires.

"I did not mean disrespect, priestess," the Sentinel said; however, there was sarcasm in its tone. And with a snapping boom of its fingers, the monstrous bees turned to golden dust.

"You are punier up close," the sentinel joked, taking a step forward. And only a step it was, but it caused cracks to tear through the ground.

"Is there a need for you to be in this form, sentinel?" the woman... priestess, beside him spat. "Are you planning on going to battle?"

The sentinel took a moment to respond. "Is it not battle for which I have been summoned here?" a genuine question. And Han realised a moment too late that the question had been posed to him.

"It-it is for battle yes." He had spoken in English, his mind too overwhelmed to use the thought-language of the Hive.

Han had expected a monster, yes. But a monster like the ones from his vision. This thing was nothing like that. It was a god; godlier than the priestess beside him, godlier than Beelaques herself.

Why would such a thing come here? Why would it willingly place itself upon his leash?

"Demands. You said you had demands," Han added quickly, trying to calm himself.

The sentinel did not respond immediately. Han noticed it favoured this sort of dramatic silence. And the booming voice with which it cut through the silence only served to heighten this effect.

"Request," the sentinel corrected.

’Humility,’ Han thought. And from this, he knew that the beast must want something from him, something so outrageous it would even tuck away arrogance.

"If it is something I can give, I will give it," Han said, finding the courage to advance from behind the priestess’s wings.

He felt so cold standing in front of the creature. What sort of magic was it using to do this?

The creature got down on one knee so that it might better gaze upon Han. "I wish for a soul."

Han’s brows furrowed. "A soul?"

"Yes."

He turned to the priestess. Perhaps souls were a different concept within the Hive. After all, why would a murder god ask a mortal being such as him for something it could take with its own hands?

"Speak clearly, sentinel," the priestess snarled. Her expression was strained, and a faint golden light glowed in the palms of her hands. What was she so weary about?

The sentinel was an overwhelming force, yes, but she must’ve seen many like him before.

Was she afraid it would attack them?

And for the first time, Han considered that possibility.

For to make dealings with the devil, is to put yourself at risk of damnation.

"You may be a priestess, but I will remind you that this is a matter between lords."

’Lords? So this thing...’ Han wasn’t completely certain how the hierarchy worked within the Hive, but it was clear that he and the sentinel ranked higher than the priestess.

So then did that mean it could kill him without sanction? His mind now became muddied with the voice of death, and it was the best he could do to keep his wings from shivering.

"She’s right. Speak clearly," he said instead. And in his mind, he spoke a mantra. ’Appear weak, when you are strong. And strong when you are weak."

The sentinel sent out a booming laugh at that. "It is indeed those same lips that made a fool of Beelaques," he said in between laughs. "Then I shall speak plainly."

"I will join your council, shed my shell and power so that I may be chained upon your dominion."

"And in exchange?" Han asked, bracing himself for what he knew would be an unthinkable demand.

And once again, the sentinel let silence thaw before its response, so that fear could fester within Han’s mind.

"I seek the soul of the god named Architect."