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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wicht" data-source="post: 1165492" data-attributes="member: 221">4.Bare scooted smoothly down and out of the tree and examined his unconscious companion.  There were no signs of bleeding from the fall and Hullifan’s breathing continued smoothly.  Finding no injuries to treat Bare considered his options.  After a moment of thought he hefted Hullifan’s body over his shoulder and then staggered away from the tree.  He reasoned that more ants might investigate and it would be better to be elsewhere.  He chose a small hollow about 100 yards from their original camping sight and gently lowered Hullifan’s body to the ground.  Then he settled himself down to keep watch.  As morning broke Hullifan returned to consciousness.  He had a headache and his shoulders and neck were sore, but other than that he seemed fine.  They decided to ignore their few injuries and continue to search for their master’s desired honey.  The alternative, namely facing an irate Tamilthim Redimolvan, did not seem like much of an option.The gentle weather of the previous day continued and the walk was pleasant.  They chatted softly of this and that as they journeyed and generally enjoyed themselves.  Which was probably why they did not hear the giant bee until they were almost on top of it.  They entered into a small clearing filled with large flowers and there it was, about five feet long and making a terrific buzzing noise as it flitted around the meadow, apparently examining the smell of the flowers.  The giant bee took no notice of the two elves as it continued from flower to flower.  The flowers were each about a foot wide but they were still rather dwarfed by the enormous flying insect.  The two elves stood for a moment, thoughts rushing through their heads.  Hullifan started to draw out his bow.“Don’t…,” began Bare, but his warning was unnecessary.  The Bee had already taken flight, heading almost straight north at a speed that was too fast for the elves to realistically expect to keep up with.“What should we do?”  asked Hullifan.“Follow it,” said Bare as he started walking north, “It’s probably going towards its hive.”Bare led them due north, following the bee’s trajectory.  Whether by luck or skill, he led them straight to where they wanted to go.  The two elves heard the bees long before they saw them.  The sound of a small bee can often be quite loud, but there was no missing the tumultuous humming of the hive of giant bees.  The elves crested a small rise and saw a bowl in the earth in front of them.  The sides of the depression were about ten feet deep and fairly steep.  In the middle of the bowl, was a huge, apparently hollow, tree trunk.  It had a diameter of about twenty feet and it’s highest point was some twenty feet above the lip of the depression.  There were no holes in the side of the trunk to be seen, but it was evident that giant bees were flying in and out of the top.  There was no other vegetation in the bowl other than grass and a few scraggly bushes and so the elves spotted the holes in the ground with ease.  There were about five of them that the two elves could see, scattered around the base of the tree trunk.  The diameter of each hole was about three or four feet and upon occasion one of the bees would crawl in or out of the earth instead of flying into or out of the tree trunk.  “Now what,” said Bare as he gazed over the scene.  He could count at least ten bees at any given time and it was likely there were more than that, with others either away or in the hive somewhere.  Attacking all of them was clearly futile.  At the moment the bees seemed unconcerned about the two elves, but aggression on the elves’ part would likely change that.  The two elves began wondering about methods of entering the hive without fighting every single bee.“We could put them to sleep with smoke,” suggested Hullifan.  Bare failed to show any surprise at Hullifan knowing that minor bit of bee lore.“It would take an awful lot of smoke, they are pretty big bees and that’s a pretty big hive” said Bare, “What do have?”“We have a jar of oil,” said Hullifan, “I bought it just for making smoke.”  They looked a moment at the single jar of oil that Hullifan produced from his backpack and then looked over at the immense trunk.  Hullifan wordlessly put the oil back into his pack and the two elves sank back into contemplation.“I could cast dancing lights around the trunk,” suggested Hullifan after a bit.  But neither elf could think of any benefit to be gained from doing so.“How about a ghost sound, imitating lots of bees?” asked Hullifan a moment later.“Could you imitate lots of bees?” asked Bare curiously.Hullifan considered it and listened closely to the sound of the bees for a moment.“Probably could match one of them,” he admitted.“Go ahead,” said Bare, wanting to see what such a sound would do to the bees.Hullifan concentrated for a moment and then with a word and a wave of his hand he caused a bee-like hum to erupt out of some bushes about thirty feet further along the edge of the bowl.   One of the giant bees left off its activities for a moment and flew in to investigate the noise.  It hovered over the bushes from which the sound had emanated for a second or two and then flying low, the bee passed by the head of the two elves and proceeded to return to its original chore of flying around the top of the giant tree trunk.“I could do it again,” suggested Hullifan.  But it was apparent that fake noises were not going to scatter the bees from the area.Bare considered what he knew of bees for a little while.  “Bees sleep at night,” he said at last.“We could go in when they were asleep then,” said Hullifan, “It would be easier.”Bare nodded in agreement.That decided, the two elves moved a short ways away from the lip of the depression and spent the day idly, resting and thinking.  When night came, they both were well refreshed and felt ready for an excursion into the hive.  They waited for about an hour to allow the bees time to begin resting before moving gingerly to the lip of the depression.  They peered below.  To their elven eyes the ground was well lit by the light of the half-moon.  There was no sign of movement around the great trunk nor in the air above them.  No sound of buzzing bees could be heard.  They slid gently down into the depression and moved stealthily toward the closest ground opening with all the intense concentration of master criminals after a huge haul.They paused at the mouth of one of the holes in the ground and considered the options.  The opening was too small to enter upright and it would certainly be too small to enter together.  One of them would have to crawl down into the hive of giant bees first.  “I’ll go first,” said Hullifan excitedly.  The sneakiness of their endeavor was apparently inducing a certain amount of bold rashness in him.  “Alright,” said Bare.Hullifan drew his sword and then skidded headfirst into the hole and crawled a short ways on his hands and knees. The hole, which was dry and earthy, with bits of roots hanging down from above, widened a bit past the mouth of the tunnel allowing more than enough room for maneuvering.  One problem did present itself however about ten feet into the tunnel.  The light outside the tunnel failed to reach in and through the dirt.  Even with their sharp eyesight, the elves could make out very little once they got past a certain point.“We need a light,” said Hullifan to Bare, whispering softly.“It might wake up the bees,” whispered Bare back.“But we won’t be able to see to find the honey,” said Hullifan back.“What can we use for a light?” asked Bare, “Do we have any candles or anything?”“I didn’t buy any,” said Hullifan, “Didn’t you?”“No.”“I can make a magical light,” said Hullifan.“It might wake the bees.”“We have to see.”  Neither elf noticed their voices had started gradually getting louder as they conversed.Hullifan looked around at the walls of the tunnel and muttering a few arcane words, he touched them at a spot just behind his head.  A steady glow erupted, bathing the tunnel in light and casting shadows on the other side of the elves.  With the tunnel now lit, at least in one spot, Hullifan continued to crawl forward again, as stealthily as possible.  He made it another five feet before he encountered another difficulty.It was a giant bee, very much awake, though whether it had been the light that had bothered it or the sound of the elves might have been difficult to determine.  What Hullifan did determine quickly enough was that the bee was not very happy.  Its agitated movements, coupled with the way it was trying to curl its stinger around to strike at him, gave him the definite impression that it was upset.Hullifan wasted no time in trying to stab the bee with his sword.  But the limited amount of space afforded to him by the tunnel made it tricky.  He thrust feebly forward and the bee swatted his blade aside as it mowed toward him.  Behind Hullifan, Bare was discovering the dual difficulty of trying to fire a long bow in the middle of a four and a half foot wide tunnel past and around a comrade.  By some stroke of luck or skill he managed to get off a shot.  However the arrow completely missed its target and ricocheted off a dirt wall and snapped apart against the opposite wall a few feet further down the tunnel.  The bee lunged at Hullifan with its stinger and Hullifan managed to dodge against the side of the tunnel wall, parrying the stinger slightly with his sword.  It was enough of an opening to allow Bare a second shot with his bow.  This arrow flew straight into the giant bee and stuck.  The bee was not dead however and it lunged forward with its stinger again.  This time Hullifan was too slow and the sharp, poisoned stinger drove home, straight into his side.  With a lurch the giant bee propelled itself back, the stinger ripping away from its torso.  The bee shuddered twice and then collapsed against the bottom of the tunnel, unmoving.  Hullifan grunted from pain and reaching down he grasped the stinger and pulled to get it out.  It did not slide out smoothly, it was barbed.  Despite the pain he managed to extract it and gingerly he poked at the wound.  It burned, likely from poison as much as the sheer mutilation of flesh, but other than pain, there seemed to be little effect from the massive sting.  The two elves were now presented with a slight problem in the form of the giant dead bee.  It was partially blocking the way forward.“We could burn it,” suggested Hullifan, “We do have the oil.”Bare, though, upon considering the size of the bee, and the mass of bodily fluids no doubt within the bee, formed the educated opinion that it would not burn well with only a mere flask of oil to ignite it.  There seemed to be little other option but wiggle over the body.  Hullifan again went first, crawling over the bee and then past it.A new fragrance began to fill the tunnel as they went forward.  It was the unmistakable smell of honey.  Lots of honey.  Eagerly, but quietly, they went forward another ten feet or so, around a bend in the tunnel and up just a bit.  The tunnel widened out suddenly, becoming an earthen chamber with a high ceiling.  By the aid of the dim magical light that streamed twenty feet down through the tunnel and into the room, Hullifan and Bare could make out the shape of five slumbering giant bees, each in various places in the room.  They could also see the giant honeycombs on the other side of the beesNow all they had to do was cross the room without waking the bees and steal a jar full of honey.</blockquote>

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