FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

According to all known laws of biology, there is no way a kobold should be able to fornicate with so many beings. Its body is too small to fit the members of many sapient races without bursting. Tik Tik, of course, fucks anyway because Tik Tik doesn't care what anyone thinks is impossible.

-Eshere, in "The Adventures of Tik Tik."

--

The lush Flower Valley is a part of the Insect Kingdoms-a faraway land once thought impossible for the brave wizard Tik Tik to traverse. However, due to her recent acquisition of powerful artifacts, her proposition with a significant trading corporation, and her expedition set out by her business partner, Baker of Baker's Bakery, the trip is as simple as stepping through the portal from her home base and into the other side.

There, the natural breeze and warmth from the windy valley caress the scales of the pink creature as she steps through and into the flowering field, her body obscured and her vision clouded by flowers that rise to the waists of her taller traveling companions.

Eshere is the first to arrive. She is Tik Tik's sex jelly scribe, eager to record every encounter and new piece of lore and knowledge with her magical pen.

Then, there is Cynwrig, the beetle companion and native inhabitant of the Insect Kingdoms. He is their guide, buzzing above the flowers to scout the fields afar.

Finally, Baker is their liaison for this new and exciting opportunity. He has baked himself a new body for this special occasion. Instead of his usual chocolate pastry chef look, today, he wears the khakis of an explorer but with short shorts and short sleeves to show off his strawberry shortcake body, prepared especially for the dialog he planned to have under his hat wisps out his rose petal hair, explicitly stylized for this endeavor.

Tik Tik sniffs the air, sighing and yipping up from beneath the foliage. "Eshere need come down here. Smell so wonderful! Come here too, Cynwrig."

"Sorry, I can't do that," Cynwrig says, placing one of his four hands upon his forehead as a makeshift sun visor. His antennae twitch as he frowns, watching the sun-drenched field of rainbow flowers swaying placidly in the breeze. "The Insect Kingdoms are dangerous, and you have us directly in one of the most territorial areas."

"Don't worry, Miss Tik. I'll come down with you!" the slime volunteers, sinking beneath the foliage to join her kobold companion in a world darkened by petals and leaves.

"Well, sweetie, I have to say this place is simply beautiful," Baker says, adjusting his backpack's straps. "The park back home has nothing over untamed nature."

"There's nothing untamed about it," Cynwrig says, hovering closer to the chef. "The people here tend not to cultivate, at least not how the people of Anteronia do. These flowers are here to be as free and wild as they can be simply because they are a resource to be drawn upon, not conquered. They're a symbol of the civilization that brings them here, which is why I'm so antsy. This whole field is the result of generations of productive harvests."

"Well, I don't see any signs of civilization around here unless the castle we're looking for is hidden under the flowers?" Baker stands on his toes, pushing the brim of his hat up with a poke of his thumb.

Cynwrig crosses two of his arms and shakes his head. "It's not really a castle. It's more of a... hey, wait... Baker, have you heard from Tik Tik?

--

Eshere slips under the foliage, melting out of her humanoid form so she can join Tik Tik down under the tall flowers. The kobold's eyes are already on various leaves and buds, which look like they could be powerful reagents. Perhaps I should catalog them for later study?

She pinches one of the leaves between two thumbs and tugs it off the stalk, only for the plant to quiver.

Tik Tik stares wide-eyed at the response of the flora before she quickly pockets the leaf. "S-sorry," she offers in the common tongue.

Eshere slides up beside Tik Tik and says. "Maybe you should ride on Baker or me and keep your head above the flowering level for the duration?"

"No, no, it's fine, I just...." She sniffs, scrunching her nose. "Do you smell that?"

Eshere quivers, her red core glowing faintly. "Mildly. It's a floral scent, but... different than what I've been sensing thus far."

"It's not from this flower," Tik Tik says, patting the quivering plant gingerly. "It's deeper in. It smells so nostalgic, but where did I sense this before?"

Shifting up in front of the kobold, the slime's facade morphs into Tik Tik's face, though a green and hazily detailed rendition. Speaking in Tik Tik's voice, she says, "I remember something from an earlier adventure, but I can't quite taste it. Something about your friend Adaeze?"

Tik Tik giggles, stepping deeper into the foliage. "Ah, yes, we ventured deep into the wildlands, and we encountered," she gasps, clasping her cheeks.

Tik Tik's breaths deepen. Her heart rate increases. Her tail flops against the ground. "Oh... oh, that's right..." she says, her feet moving, one step in front of another. Her hands move down over her hood and unclasp it, letting it fall to the wayside.

"The flowers," Eshere says, her voice becoming dull. As she slurps through, her pen slips out, falling next to Tik Tik's hood.

The two girls continue their journey, marching toward the fragrance, smiles on their entranced faces.

Meanwhile, behind them, Baker and Cynwrig call out to their missing friends until, at last, the confectionary construct's boot steps on the discarded pen. He squats down and picks it up, looking at Cynwrig with a frown. "What do you suppose this means, Darling?"

Cynwrig's antennae twitch, and he turns his gaze toward the forest. "It means I really, really suck as a bodyguard."

________________

Tik Tik **and Eshere follow the sweet fragrance that wafts from the deeper field. With each step, Tik Tik discards another piece of clothing, dropping her belt of supplies, including her precious journal with all her magical incantations. She treads with her head held high and her snout sniffing, removing her garments without a second thought save to free her nostrils for more of that great odor.

The deeper they tread, the more the foliage clear from the path, until at one point, the two find a behemoth of a flower, its petals spread as an opening bed, whereupon a feminine figure sits.

Despite being completely unclothed, the humanoid shows no inch of skin; instead, her body is made of brown cuticle with green leaves and vines draped off her in engaging and languid ways. She giggles as she lounges upon the petal of her seat, brushing her dainty fingers over her round cheek. Her eyes are invisible, covered by the curling petals of her vivid orange petals, which were spotted in the same pigment as her cuticle. Long stamen stick up in the air, twitching and swishing in the breeze.**

With Tik Tik's nose pointing straight towards this woman, the kobold falls to her knees, breathing heavily at the wondrous woman's beckoning features.

Eshere cannot help herself but jiggle in glee, speaking out. "It's... It's a Lily Nymph! Just like the one from your adventure in the Wildlands!"

The nymph giggles, a grin spreading over her lips, her teeth white with a slight twinge of green. She speaks up. Her words, though, are in the language of the fey, so neither scholar completely understands her meaning, yet both yearn to hear more of her voice. The fairy crosses one leg over the other, bouncing her toeless foot in front of the kobold and the slime.

Tik Tik lifts her hands up, holding onto the Lily's heel. The kobold leans forward, pressing her mouth against the tip, sighing as she massages the wonderful woman before her. She grasps the ankle with one hand while the fingers of the other press into the sole, massaging and worshiping the goddess of this field.

Eshere slinks forward, climbing up to the flower and taking on a more humanoid form. She reaches for the nymph, who guides her appendage to her cheek, and the Nymph nuzzles against it the caressing extension, her free hand caressing the slimy form of the sex jelly joining her.

"A... a Tiger Lily," Eshere finally says, smiling. "You're gorgeous. And you're more aromatic than the Lily Nymph of the Wildlands. How is your fragrance so divine, oh lady?"

Tiger Lily growls and chomps her teeth in the air as a quick and playful nip before she giggles. Fingers play over the goopy form of the slime girl, brushing under her breasts. At the same time, another hand rubs over the kobold's head ridge, slipping up and down over her horn.

Tik Tik coos as she kisses, her tail swishing over the dirt.

Eshere leans in and whispers to the nymph, "Please, I must know more about you... please, let me be yours."

As she lounges with lovely ladies, the Tiger Lily's stamen quiver again. She glances up, freezing and stiffening as she looks towards the entrance of her demesne.

Tik Tik and Eshere glance back, holding onto their Tiger Lily with a protective grasp.

Cynwrig and Baker both break rush, the beetle wearing Tik Tik's cloak as a cape and the confectioner rushing with all the discarded equipment draped in his arms. The two male friends stop at the scene before them, Baker dropping his jaw while Cynwrig clenches his fists.

Baker says, "Madamoiselle, my friends and I are here on business, and I want to ensure their safety. Tik Tik, do you need assistance?

He takes a few steps forward as he speaks, shifting the various tools and articles in his grasp as he gets closer. But as he approaches, his toe catches onto something.

At that moment, Tiget Lily raises her arm, pulling a vine tight around Baker's ankle.

The chef falls forward, dropping his carefully collected materials all over the ground. As he scrambles to recover them, the roots rise from the dirt, wrapping around his wrists.

He gets to his knees, only for more of those tendrils to tie him up and keep him pinned to the earth.

Cynwrig buzzes forward, readying his fists into a bug boy pummel.

With a casual nod, Tiger Lily smirks at Eshere.

The slime spins around, firing off a portion of herself along the pseudopod that catches to Cynwrig's chest, latching onto him and bringing him up to her in a perverse embrace.

He finds his mouth buried against Eshere's emulated tits, his wings flapping but unable to break free. He presses against her, but his hands and feet get caught in the sticky trap she makes for him.

Through muffled cries, the beetle boy sinks in, disappearing into the minty fresh muck that is his companion. All the while, he looks over towards the kobold, nuzzling her cheek against the Lily Nymph's calf, totally oblivious to the suffering of her friends.

As the whole party finds themselves trapped in a terrible fate, their captor gasps, clasping her mouth. Her stamen vibrates, and she brings her legs in towards one another, squealing gently. However, her captives either cannot pay her any mind or do anything about it in their current situation.

But, they all soon hear the faint buzzing that flits about beyond the trees, waving in as a chaotic unmelodic tune that is nonetheless something of great energy and beauty. Whatever is producing this music is enough to make the Lily Nymph scoot Eshere away from her and kick the kobold away. She licks her palm and straightens out her petals before she sits back on her throne, arms draped over more petals, biting her lip in that sweet, sweet anticipation.

________________

What [c]you need to know about the different sapient species of the world is that they mean interacting with others that are sometimes bizarre and alien. Great care must be taken in communication and appreciation to avoid a terrible mistake that could break down contact--not to mention the loss of a sweet piece of ass. --Tik Tik, in "Lectures on Lasciviousness"

--

The Tiger Lily Nymph lays upon her flower bed, biting her quivering lip. Her fingers scrunch up the petals while her legs gently spread wider and wider, ushering the melodic unmelodic buzzing closer to her center.

Her chest rises and falls as she breathes to match the sound approaching her, her juxtaposition of tension and relaxation an attractive enigma.

But of course, to Tik Tik, everything about this creature is attractive. Her destiny was sealed since the kobold caught a whiff of that enticing aroma. She sits up after being discarded, rubbing her snout where the foot had unceremoniously booped her away in preparation for this next stage--whatever such a stage may be.

The answer comes from the figure descending from the trees, weaving past branches as a golden and brown angel. But instead of a divine messenger, this is a deliverer of the insectile variety.

The forager hardly pays attention to the strange, but not unexpected, scenario before her. There have been struggling men and intoxicated women before her. Her translucent wings thrum at a quick pace, blurring them and keeping herself aloft. She scans the area with compound eyes, counting the odd shapes and checking and cataloging. Her antennae perk and twitch to every slight nuance and detail as four arms and two legs laden with amber fluid hang downward.

Her segmented body is taller than Tik Tik. It is shorter than Cynwrig, with yellow and brown stripes and a fuzzy collar draped over her shoulders.

All over her are clumps of golden dust. Yet, despite the dirtiness or even because of it, her otherworldly beauty shines as particles fall from her form and sprinkle the surroundings with their glimmering shade.

This forager passes by the party, ignoring them and landing at the foot of the flowerbed.

Immediately, she sets off to grace the legs of Tiger Lily with gentle caresses.

Tiger Lily sighs at the beginning of the exchange, calm and unguarded.

Tik Tik's finger twitches.

The forager leans forwards, large eyes looking up toward the flower fairy. Segmented fingers and palms trail up along the fey's thighs, pushing them aside. There is no resistance when the nymph's leg drapes over the edge of her bed, stretching out as she lays exposed before the insect.

With a plaintive hum, the forager's fingers find themselves at the nymph's petals, slipping up and then down, circling all around.

"Aah!"

The forager twitches, stopping for a moment but then sliding both hands to those petals, delicately curling against the lips and pulling them slightly apart.

A finger from the fairy slides up along her side and over her breasts, gently teasing her nipples with a flick before moving up to her collar. She slips up to her jawline and over to her lips, allowing herself to bite the tip and calming down just a tiny bit.

The show is just beginning.

The forager hums, her petite mouth opening up and her long tongue sliding out. It delves into the Lily Nymph, seeking the treasures that she desires. Deeper and deeper it goes, spreading the petals wide, stimulating the nectaries.

Her flower oozes as it quivers in the stimulation. The nymph raises her hips, her legs shaking as soft lapping licks begin the extraction. These are followed by slurps--gentle at first but louder and taking more from her.

"Aaahng... mmmm!"

The forager holds the nymph's thighs down, pinning her to the petals while she sets off to work. The pouches of sweet, sweet nectar swell around her legs as she does. Through the process, the forager keeps her steady action and demeanor, only increasing in intensity as she delves deeper.

Soon, she prods against the ovary.

"AaaaaaafffFA: ?" The nymph shouts as her inner chambers are tended. Her ovules are stimulated and energized by the pollen-coated proboscis.

The way of the natural world continues as the forager squeezes the nymph's thighs, probing her, pumping that tongue, stimulating more and more of that nectar that comes gushing out between her legs. Soon, the forager lets go of her target, the legs falling limply as more screams fill the forest.

"Mmm.. Mm... mm..aah... ah... aaaaaah!"

With one last explosive release, that golden dust explodes from the top of her head and between her legs. This leaves the flower, the forager, and the unfortunate travelers coated in the ejaculate.

Trails of golden chains flow freely around Eshere.

Tik Tik sneezes and coughs from large particles flying into her face.

Baker and Cynwrig are mostly spared, but the forest floor is a yellow mess.

And all throughout this display, the forager stands up. She licks her lips, swallowing the last of the nectar, carrying on her the pollen. She glances around her unexpected audience, twitches her antenna, and then springs her wings free, letting pollen litter the ground.

As she lifts herself into the air, she suddenly stops and looks down. A spectral hand clasps onto her ankle, and sitting there, dusty and messy, is the naked kobold, sniffling and sneezing but looking up with half-lidded and teary eyes at the captive bug.

"You no... ah, leave..." Tik Tik wheezes. "Until Tik Tik talk to you."

The bee hums, her antennae jerking around, but she falls down to land in front of the creature.

"Bright." She hums. "Fertile?"

Tik Tik cackles and coughs, scooting back against the flower, spreading her legs apart, and curling her finger. "Why not come find out, bee girl?'

Looking up to the sky, the forager ticks for a couple moments, tapping the ground with a foot.

And then she climbs down to get up to the kobold, where the gathering begins anew.

________________

The kobold lays back upon the soft earth, spreading her legs for the strange and wondrous creature before her.

The forager slips her spindly legs up along Tik Tik's and up to the kobold's sides, running the tips of her digits against the scaled body. She pauses momentarily, her face hovering in front of the kobold's snatch. The bee's antennae wobble and wiggle, and a quick buzz rises between her wings.

"Something the matter?" Tik Tik asks, fluttering her eyes. "Not getting stage fright, hm?"

The forager's large compound eyes glance upward toward the bright pink creature, pausing for a moment before pressing down between her legs.

Soft sighs of wizardly delight waft through the domain of the Tiger Lily, but even as the pollinated kobold lays back there, serviced by the long licks of the forager's probing tongue, her friends gather up around them, watching.

Baker, coughing, partly to clear the pollen from his perfect dessert body and partly to clear his throat, speaks up. "Tik Tik. I know this is a wonderful new experience for you. We are in dangerous territory and have a schedule to keep."

Cynwrig holds a hand out in front of Baker, shaking his head. The beetle's gaze fixates on the action between the two ladies lying there. "N-no, it's fine. We can wait a moment and let her investigate, right, Eshere? Got your book ready?"

The slime, extracting out clumpy pollen from her cytoplasm, blinks, and scrambles, grabbing her pencil. "R-right, no, sorry, I was distracted."

Eshere slimes up toward the kobold, sinking in to be eye-level with the explorer and the exploring forager. "Alright, Miss Tik, what do you have to say about the eroticism of the insect kingdoms thus far?"

"Beautiful," the Tik Tik huffs. She slides a hand down, pressing it against the forager's head. The bee's antennae stick out, and she buzzes with a higher frequency, her cheeks puffing out.

Scribbling, Eshere notes, "I will choose to spell that correctly."

"Tik Tik know, ah, Eshere know just how to spell that."

Eshere rolls her eyes. "Two E's, yes, Miss Tik."

The bee shudders as her tongue lashes at the kobold. This makes Tik Tik curl up, gasping, her legs against the head.

"Really now," Baker says, shaking his head. "Must we antagonize the poor girl? She's our first contact, after all."

"Just so sexy. Just too good!" Tik Tik says. If she want stop, she can say stop!"

Cynwrig raises a hand. "I know I don't want it to stop."

"Good boy, Cynwraaa!" Tik Tik rolls her eyes back. The tongue finds its way down away from the insides and up to the sensitive nub of the kobold's pleasure center. She arches her back, shuddering, gasping. Her eyes roll back, and she explodes in the purest of blisses, unhindered by the mind numbing of the Lily Nymph's mesmerizing fragrance.

For a moment, the forager continues to lick and slurp upon the kobold, taking in the release with hearty gulps. But a moment after her initial few tastes, she spits and stumbles, pushing herself up and wiping off her tongue. "Blach, blech, faa!"

"Something the matter?" Tik Tik says, taking a few breaths before pushing herself up. "No like sexy time with Tik Tik? Strange, seem be really into it for a while."

"Flower? Not flower!" The bee responds through angered buzzing.

"She doesn't sound too happy, darling," Baker suggests.

Tik Tik waves him off. "It okay! Tik Tik communicate. Tik Tik exchange." She coughs into her hand and focuses her magic, sending her words to the bee. "Not Flower... Tik Tik. Enjoy sexy time with you. Was very fun. Want more fun. Want meet leader and talk fun exchange with friends!"

Between the two women buzzing at each other, Baker rolls his eyes and produces from his pocket a small wafer. He squats in front of the forager, handing the light blue tablet to her. "Please, sweetie, try this. It's quite sweet, you know!"

The floral fragrance and the sugary sweetness slow down the buzzing bee's wings, and her antennae point directly at it.

She snatches it right from his hand, quicker than the eye can see, and tosses the wafer into her mouth, crunching it with an almost motorized precision.

The group watches and waits as the bee sits there, swallowing the macaroon, resting with two hands on her knees and two others twiddling her fingers.

"Ah!?" comes the voice from the forager. "I understand!"

"Good girl," Tik Tik says, pushing herself up. She whisks her clothing back over to herself, slipping into her pants. "Now, Tik Tik can have full conversation no problem!"

"Better yet," Baker corrects, "I can get business done. Now then, shall we begin?"

"No!" the bee squeaks, hopping up and buzzing above the baker. "No business and no conversation! You tricked me into thinking you were a flower and ruined my nectar supply with your tricks! The colony will be woefully behind on production, and it's all your fault!

The sacs in her legs jiggle as she buzzes from Baker to Cynwrig to Tik Tik. "What we did was forbidden, and it goes against everything that is for the betterment of the hive!"

Cynwrig grips his fists tightly, gritting his teeth. But his own antennae flick and twist, pointing upwards. He spreads his wings and launches into the air, past the rest.

Tik Tik slings her shirt over her head, poking her arms through the sleeves. "Hey, hey, no problem. Tik Tik wizard. Tik Tik can help get more nectar. What? We just double-team Lily Nymph a bit? Baker, you want face or body? Eshere can extract lots juices from her!"

"Watch out!"

The shout comes far too late as just as he is saying it, Cynwrig is launched from his perch and sent flying back down into the ground towards the kobold.

Tik Tik raises her hands up, falling back as the beetle boy's body comes crashing down through the foliage and right for her!

________________

It all h[d]appens so fast for the poor kobold. As Cynwrig plummets from the sky, Tik Tik holds her hands up out of instinct, prepared to be bodied hard by the falling friend. But that doesn't happen. Instead, a slimy splash fills her ears as drops of dewy goo fleck over her arms and uncover portions of her face.

Tik Tik lowers her arms, her body trembling. Eshere's form shifts into a wall in front of the kobold, but a Cynwrig-shaped hole punches its way through her body. The beetle himself lays on the ground, his form pinning the heart core of the slime to the grassy ground.

Without her central being to support her body, the slime that stands there is no more than jiggly gelatin, and it collapses into a pile of useless juice on the ground.

Tik Tik scurries up to her hands and knees, reaching out to her collapsed companion, only for the shadow that descends from the sky to take her attention.

A black-and-yellow figure hovers before her, wings buzzing, hands on one side placed upon the side of her abdomen, and two more on the other gripping a white spear pointed with a black tip. She looks like the forager but is slightly taller, her exoskeleton gently bulkier than her compatriot. The humming buzz that rises from this soldier is quick, deep, and annoyed.

"Enemies," she hums, pointing the spear toward Tik Tik. "Intruders."

The forager buzzes, her antennae twitching, her legs and arms shuffling around, nectar buckets.

The warrior snaps her attention towards the forager, connecting to the forager through buzzes, clicks, and movements.

Tik Tik crawls up to Cynwrig and Eshere, placing a hand upon the beetle boy and the crimson core. "Friends, alright?" The kobold asks, gently shaking them.

"Been better," Cynwrig says, coughing.

The core slurps up the tiny droplets of goo that coat the kobold, bringing them together to develop a thin film around her org. A little mouth forms out of the essence and affirms her state with a high-pitched squeak of a "Yes."

Baker steps up between the warrior and his comrades, placing a hand on his breast. "Now, see here, honey, we are not intruders, and we are visitors looking to speak with the leadership of your kingdom. I don't appreciate you flying up here and attacking my associates like that."

The warrior scoffs, gripping her spear three-handed. She rushes forward toward him, thrusting her spear straight toward him.

Baker hops back, just enough for the weapon tip to catch onto his shirt, tearing it asunder, leaving his chest exposed as the shreds of his top hang from his shoulders. Like the rest of his cake body, his chest is soft and fluffy, with the gentlest curves and little strawberry tops serving as his nipples.

He scowls, clenching his fist and throwing a punch, connecting with the warrior's face, and knocking her to the ground.

He stands over her, huffing and rolling his top off his shoulders, exposing his cakey torso for all to see. "Why do you have to be so disagreeable?"

"You are intruders!" The forager says. "No one invited you! You ruined my harvest!"

Baker shrugs, readying himself to fight, but his gaze lingering on his hand is now smashed into a lump of crumbly dough.

The warrior hops up, buzzing and thrusting forward. Baker steps to the side, deflecting the weapon with a deflecting palm. "If I had known I'd be fighting, I'd bring a battle body to this excursion! I'm a chef, first and foremost, darling."

The soldier, flying past Baker, scowls. Her eyes match the forager, stealing a solemn glance at her.

The forager shakes her head quickly, but the soldier closes her eyes. She sticks her butt out towards the enemy combatant. From her rump emerges a pointed black stinger. Her wings beat so fast that they zip back the way she came, heading straight back toward Baker.

The stinger plunges into Baker's chest, burying it deep through his skin. He stands wide-eyed and trembling. Strawberry jam oozes from around his wound, slinking down his body. He coughs, spurting up some of the sweet substance. "You... you really have a way with that, ugh, weapon of yours."

Baker falls to his knees, slumping his shoulders forward. "I'm afraid I'll need to... take a break for a bit, Tik TIk," he admits, chuckling to himself.

The forager, meanwhile, lowers her head, nodding in a solemn moment. "I sacrificed for the hive," she says, taking a moment to look at the forager, buzzing and signing some more words toward the forager.

The forager snuffles and whines, lowering her head and nodding back to her. "Be ready now," she says, her voice grave.

The soldier takes a deep breath and beats her wings again, pulling herself away. She stares upward, looking at the bright blue sky and all the beautiful plants for one last time as she escapes from the clutches of the beast she has defeated, ready for the sweet release as her stinger catches the skin of her enemy.

A moment after first pulling out, she immediately flops down, falling to the ground, her butt and stinger in the air.

Baker blinks, tilting his head. "Oh, my, honey..." he says with a consoling coo. "Did you think... did you think that attack killed either of us? There's no way that huge stinger of yours was ever going to get stuck in this cute body of mine."

The soldier hops up to her feet, clenching her fists and stomping her feet. "What are you!?" She shouts.

"Tik Tik friends try tell you," Tik Tik says, standing up. She flips her hood over her head and turns around, her fingers flexing as she faces the two insect ladies. "But it seem Tik Tik and friends need show things to you."

"What?" The soldier says, gripping her shaft.

"Tik Tik is teacher," The kobold says, pointing a crackling finger toward her opponent, "and now, it time teach you lesson in manners."

________________

The kobold st[e]ands with her eyes obscured by the shadows of her hood, her fingers twitching not in anger or annoyance but in a calm and calculated series of movements.

The soldier hovers opposite her on the field, two hands casually grasping her polearm. Her insect face is a mask of professional resolve. Syrup drips down from her rear, pooling onto the floor.

The forager sits behind the kobold, her wings buzzing, her antennae twitching, and her hands grasping at the ground.

Baker sits on his knees, a hand upon his pierced chest. Cynwrig groans, rolling on the ground, covered in goo. Eshere's body jiggles and wriggles towards her core, forming a tiny-faced blob rather than her fully-fledged body. She whispers out a low, "Be careful, Miss Tik."

The two remain in simulated stillness as the wind whistles by them. It's only when the soldier grips her spear with tighter intention that Tik Tik raises an arm up before her.

The soldier zips up to her, thrusting forward, the spear tip about to strike the kobold. Tik Tik lifts her other hand, and from the ground erupts an ethereal wall, which knocks the spear up and out of the soldier's hand with its pure force.

With her extended arm, Tik Tik etches runes into her wall, drawing arcane symbols of swirling and ponderous script.

The soldier buzzes around the wall and heads towards the scripting spellcaster, her syrup-soaked stinger shining in the sunlight.

Without taking her eyes off her formula, Tik Tik's free hand raises up to the soldier. A ghostly kobold grasper materializes, grabbing the insect woman by the antenna, letting the momentum of her flight cause the hand to tug.

The helping hand dissipates at the moment of tension. The pain that hits the soldier at that moment is enough to change her trajectory, and she flies over Tik Tik's head, stumbling on her feet on the ground a few paces from her.

Tik Tik flashes a grin over at her enemy and slaps her palm upon the scripted circle.

Cracks form along the ethereal wall, glowing with a thick, yellow light. This light illuminates Tik Tik's grinning face, which gives a smile a much wider appearance than its natural ability.

The soldier spins around, sweeping a kick toward the kobold's face, her leg nothing more than a smear of motion as it turns in Tik Tik's direction.

Until, of course, the thing in the wall stops her momentum.

A writhing yellow fabric wriggles from the cracks in the wall, wrapping its elf around the soldier's leg, lifting her up into the air, dangling with her head down towards the ground, her eyes level with Tik Tik's jawline.

More of these tendrils of tatters tear through the hole, latching onto the soldier's multiple arms and legs, pinning her back and preventing her from buzzing herself to an upright position. All she can do is thrash around uselessly, buzzing with such a loud and sharp cadence while the kobold stands, hands behind her back, her broad grin turned to a satisfied sneer.

"Now Tik Tik has you where Tik Tik wants you," the kobold purrs, raising a hand toward her captive foe.

The soldier flinches, but Tik Tik grasps an antenna, squeezing it, stroking the segmented length with her thumb.

The soldier gasps, shudders, and finally lets out a little moan.

Tik Tik giggles. "Tik Tik knew it. Eshere. Write down. We find out more about bees here."

"What about Baker?" Cynwrig says, rubbing his head.

"Oh, don't worry about me," Baker says. "I think I've congealed enough for now. Want a taste before it goes stale?" He holds a finger out towards Cynwrig,

The beetle declines with a grimace.

Eshere gathers enough of herself to grab onto her pen and journal, scribbling away.

"Now, let Tik Tik try up-close magic, yes?" Tik Tik places a finger and thumb upon the forehead of the soldier. She closes her eyes, concentrating, humming, and finally, whispering a string of commands.

The struggling stops and the soldier dangles from the fabric.

"There, soldier feel better?" Tik Tik asks, her hands sliding to the bee's cheeks, squeezing the carapace.

"You are... invasive... dangerous..." the bee responds.

"Dangerous, how?" Tik Tik giggles, leaning in, whispering close to her.

"Aah....mmn... no, dangerous to... to me."

"And your station?"

"Yes."

"You watched the forager."

"Yes."

"You wished to be her."

"Mmm hmm."

"You don't have to work to have Tik Tik," the kobold says, her voice husky. "You just need say word."

The soldier's wings flutter, and she pushes against the bonds. "Plea-mmmph!"

Her words are interrupted by the mouth and the tongue of the eager kobold ambassador. Tik Tik's muscle dances around with the soldier's, her hands clasping tight enough to keep her from pulling away or shaking too wildly.

But the bee isn't going anywhere.

Tik Tik pulls back, saliva bridging between the two of them. The soldier's antennae reaching forward, tickling under the kobold's chin.

"So eager to play now," Tik Tik says. "Remove your worry, and you enjoy sex too."

"Dude..." Cynwrig breathes, sitting on his knees. "No way..."

"Please," the bee says, struggling again with her binds. "Release me. Free me. Show me!"

Tik Tik licks her lips, stepping back. She knocks on the forcefield, and the wall splinters into a spiderweb of cracks before finally shattering into ethereal nothingness.

With nothing to support the tatters, they burst into tiny motes of flame, whisping into a final ghost of a spark.

The soldier falls, but she does not hit her head by the grace of one of Tik Tik's spectral hands. Instead, she is flipped onto the right way and falls back against the kobold, who supports her, one arm around her abdomen and the other at her side. "You're curious about what Tik Tik can do for you," the kobold growls. "You make deal with Tik Tik now."

"Anything," the soldier says, hands sliding up and behind her, grasping for the kobold's cheek.

"Once we're done," Tik Tik whispers in a husky voice, "You show Tik Tik where colony is."

"No!" The forager buzzes. "You can't! That's treason!"

Tik Tik flutters her eyes at the forager. "You want stop Tik Tik? Go and try."

________________

The f[f]orager bee tenses up after hearing Tik Tik's challenge. She clenches her fists and pushes herself up, her wings spreading, ready to pounce.

The soldier, meanwhile, glances at the forager, her head languidly shaking while she rests in the kobold's arms.

The master mage welcomes the limpening form of the solder into her arms. The kobold coos against the insect's antenna, a soft chuckle rising from her voice. "Good idea talk to friend. Enjoy what comes next."

The antenna twitches in response to the sound, warmth, or hot breath. Sooner or later, the wizard will find out which it is that stimulates the soldier. After all, experimentation and discovery are the driving forces in her study.

Those nimble kobold fingers that often craft magnificent contraptions and weave splendid spells now brush along the bee's body, letting the short hairs along her shell dance between digits. "Do you like Tik Tik's touch?" the kobold asks, her voice sultry. She presses her mouth against the soldier's cheek.

The bee does not yield her own moth, but the kobold's reptilian tongue flicks and licks up and down to her neck.

"Do you have name?" Tik Tik asks, one hand returning upward, the other lowering downward, over that thorax, around her front, pushing the bee in, letting those wings brush against her chest.

The soldier buzzes and hums as she loosens up to Tik Tik's ministrations. Her four arms, attached to her thorax, relax and dangle down as her abdomen twitches gently in the slightest of breaths.

"Be quiet for Tik Tik?" the kobold teases. "Naughty girl if not answer question."

The forager scoots closer to the action, bowing her head low and slumping her shoulders. "We have no names," she says. "We are workers. No names are given to workers, for we are all part of the colony."

Tik Tik nods. "Of course you are." Her hand slides up and down the belly of the bee, cupping under the chest area, gripping a fluffy bit that gives her the slightest hint of a chest. "No have names, but have other human qualities."

The forager tilts her head up, frowning. "What do you mean by that?"

"Tik Tik see many bee in wildlands. Small, tiny, even. But none shaped like ones here in insect kingdom." She strokes over that chest, and the soldier pushes it forward, shuddering, sighing.

"Suggest importance in humanoid form. Very interesting. Look at Cynwrig."

Cynwrig hops, his hands going to his lap. "Yes, miss?"

"He is beetle, but shaped more like beetle boy than beetle. You two bees, but shaped like bee ladies. Eshere, write down. Tik Tik sense great mystery!"

The kobold's fingers pinch at the apex of the shape, only to have the soldier gasp and tense up.

"So sensitive, as if have nipple there instead of exoskeleton. Very nice. Tik Tik love, love."

The forager bites her lip, gripping her knees.

"Tik Tik also wonder if have human-like desires? You like eat out Tik Tik, but then get mad." Her fingers travel downward, past the thorax and to the abdomen. "Very strange, very interesting."

"It's because you ruined my nectar," the forager says, squirming, her eyes transfixed upon those fingers and the swaying body of the soldier.

"Yes, sad," Tik Tik says. "Maybe help get more later," she says, soon finding the slit in the carapace. Her fingers stroke along the softer mound and soon press inside.

"Aaaahn!" The soldier gasps, her body tensing up.

"Ooooh," Tik Tik waves toward Eshere. "She like that! Not touch much, but big reaction!"

The soldier she pushes her hips forward, letting the kobold fingers sink deeper within her.

The forager clasps her cheeks, turning away.

"Can look away if want," Tik Tik says. She then leans in to whisper in a husky voice at the soldier. "Tik Tik like enthusiastic consent." Her free hand strokes up the bee's body, soon going over her head in gentle pets before she finds her way to the bee's antenna. The kobold wraps her fingers around the protrusion and strokes up and down, breathing steadily as she does.

"FFFEEEEENnnnn!" The soldier tenses, arches her back, and pushes her hips out, sinking the kobold's fingers deeper into her. "Aaah!?"

Tik Tik strokes the bee, sliding her fingers back and forth over that antenna in alternating movements. The kobold glances toward Cynwrig, a smile curling up from the corner of her mouth. "Tik Tik see you staring, Cynwrig. And you say that bees are dangerous and scary. Tik Tik no see danger. Tik Tik not afraid. Why you?"

Cynwrig clenches his knees, gulping. "Bad experiences," he responds.

"Seem bad here?" Tik Tik says, removing her hand from between the solder's legs.

The soldier cries out, hands clutching onto Tik Tik's shoulders and onto her sides. She shakes and shudders, panting heavily, her compound eyes glimmering.

Tik Tik spreads and swishes her fingers, letting the bee juice bridge and slime over her digits. "Now, then," The kobold says, her teeth shining in her mischievous grin. "Worker here tell Tik Tik where find colony and Tik Tik will make worker feel best she ever felt. How sound?"

The forager gasps, hopping to her feet. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Take care of forager, Cynwrig," Tik Tik barks.

The beetle leaps in front of the forager, hands spread out wide, while two more rest awkwardly by his thighs, fingers spread. "I... I won't let you... m-mess with Miss Tik Tik."

The forager hops up, buzzing into the air, her nectar baskets sloshing as she ascends. "Soldier, you can't tell her. She's-"

"YES!"

The word breaks out of the soldier's mouth, her free antenna bouncing, her hands and legs dancing around.

The forager absorbs all of this and lowers herself. "I... I see. Very well. Yes, let her if you must. I... I understand.

Tik Tik narrows her gaze toward the forager but then turns back toward the soldier, her hand placed at her slit. She presses her nose to the soldier's cheek and says. "Real fun time start soon!"

________________

The s[g]oldier lies on the ground, her back upon the soft grasses and bedding of moss and leaves that line the floral forest floor. Straddling atop her is Tik Tik. The kobold peppers kisses all along her thorax, leaving no spot untouched by her probing mouth, tongue, and digits.

The forager watches this display, her fingers twitching, her eyes shimmering, her mouth open as hot breaths emerge.

"So, are you your own person?"

The beetle's words cross the forager's consciousness. She glances over at him, standing as tall as she can, two hands over her chest and two on her hips. "Does that matter?"

"Maybe," Cynwrig says, catching the erotic scene of the kobold and the soldier, "or maybe it doesn't. I'm curious if I should be as pissed off at you as the soldier."

"Just like I should be as pissed off at you as I am at the kobold?" the forager retorts.

"I've met your kind before," Cynwrig says. "They took away my home for their own, and the way they worked in unison was like they were all parts of a greater body. Do... you recognize me."

The forager frowns at that. "Should I?"

"Eeeah!?"

The two bugs spin around to watch the kobold and the soldier. Tik Tik is up on top of the bee. The kobold's tail delves into the bee's nethers, pumping quickly and sustainably.

The soldier's antennae stand on end, her compound eyes shimmering and swaying, all four hands gripping the ground as her body gyrates against the stimulation.

"Very excitable, yes, yes," Tik Tik teases. "Must not have much experience."

The forager bites her lip, rubbing her arm.

Cynwrig nods. "Tik Tik is something else. I've never met anyone quite like her, even out in the great big world beyond the insect kingdoms."

The forager steps forward, grabbing one hand of the beetle guardian.

Cynwrig blanches. "W-what are you doing?"

"Sorry, but I can't help it. If... if she can do it, I can too!"

With surprising strength, the bee pushes the beetle to the ground, his body making a slight "flumping" sound as it hits the forest bed.

Four hands grab four wrists, and a striped body sits upon the blue iridescence of another. A face comes up to face as large unblinking eyes stare into the same sort of eyes. "Are you like Tik Tik?" The bee asks.

"I... don't understand," Cynwrig says.

The forager's antennae dance and tickle around, brushing up against the beetle's. Cynwrig shudders, pushing his hips upwards against the straddling lady. Even though he tries to hide it, he cannot anymore, and his smallish manhood pokes out at the forager's unused sex.

"You've done this before, haven't you? Like she has?"

The kobold has rolled to the ground, arms wrapped around the soldier's chest. Her legs wrapped around her legs, her tail thrusting in and out at a feverish pace, the soldier gasping and bumping along the penetrative act, her long tongue dangling out.

"Ah, well, no-not quite like that," Cynwrig admits. "I kinda, uh, well, am not that lucky or skilled."

"No?" the forager asks, her antennae drooping.

Cynwrig takes a deep breath, his antennae raising up, rubbing against hers. "N-no, not quite. I... I'm not a strong man, and I'm weak, and I'm passive. That's what that queen liked about me. That's why I resent my weakness."

The forager lets go of his arms, his hands placed upon his shoulders and chest. "Why are you worried about your weakness? Each has strengths and weaknesses; no drone would ever fight as you have."

"W... what's a, ah... Oh...!"

His concentration is broken when she wiggles her abdomen enough to allow him to enter her. She sighs, her wings fluttering in a buzz, rocking her hips, letting him delve deeper into her. Her legs are heavy as they are weighted down by the nectar baskets, leaving Cynwrig pinned entirely. He grasps her sides and shoulders, keeping their antennae locked, rubbing and probing around each other as their bodies connect in ways they never experienced before.

The soldier is down on her knees, her cheek against the ground, rubbing against it as Tik Tik, now behind her, thrusts her fingers, wriggling and spreading digits through the sloppy mess between her legs, watching the two in their more intimate dance.

The kobold giggles, sighing in contentment as the bee's body constricts and contracts around her fingers. The soldier collapses in an orgasmic trance onto the ground.

While licking between her fingers, the kobold sits back and glances toward Eshere. "Get that all down so far?"

The slime scribbles upon her paper, using extra appendages to hold and turn pages as she records every detail with great speed and perfect accuracy.

"I can't tell what they're saying. The buzzing is not quite in my vocabulary, but the way the two look is just... well."

"Bee-utiful?" Tik Tik asks. She holds out her fingers. "Here, Eshere. Maybe taste and can learn more."

"Thank you, Miss Tik," The slime says, "But I need a more personal touch.

Tik Tik licks her fingers, slurping the sex off them as she watches Cynwrig and the forager cuddlefuck their way towards a new friendship. "We may have to find you another bee," the wizard says. "Both are already occupied and used up, hehe."

From under the kobold, a segmented arm raises up, the soldier bee trembling as she points toward the top of the foliage toward the canopy of the floral forest. "T... there..." she lets out before she collapses in a blissful stupor, her chest rising and falling, the once extended hand resting languidly upon her thorax.

"There?" Tik Tik asks, standing and covering her brow with her hand. Through the shade of the trees and her fingers, the kobold gazes towards the sun-warmed plants, waving peacefully on a pleasant day. "Ah, yes, there! Eshere! There bee!"

A yellow head pokes out from the flower's petals, gazing down with an almost sylvan attitude towards these newcomers.

"Be good get information from them while not get hurt, like friend here," Tik Tik says. "Can always take from one these two."

Eshere swirls and congeals and rises, turning into female humanoid form, her ooze becoming the consistency of gelatin. She closes the journal in one hand and hands it over to Tik Tik. The kobold hugs it eagerly, snapping her fingers to produce a pen from nowhere.

"I'd rather do this on my own," says Eshere.

Tik Tik snickers as Eshere walks over to the Tiger Lily's flower. The nymph still lays there, spent and delighted by her previous encounter with the forager, her nectar dripping from her vaginal petals and onto the flower bed. Eshere presses two fingers upon the petal, tracing her digits to pick up the golden viscous liquid, letting it swirl among her green form, dissolving as it incorporates into herself. "It tastes different than the candy you made," she says.

"Makes sense. This isn't the refined product, sweetie," says Baker, laying back on the grass. "It's merely the raw material. You can't expect an eclair when biting into a cacao fruit, you know."

"Maybe not," Eshere says, her body shifting again, gaining the slimy simulacrum of petals over her head, covering her visible eyes, with stamen sticking up high. She smiles and spreads her arms out towards the curious bee up above.

The newcomer flits out of her space and zips downward, flying about the strange new flower. Her own nectar baskets are just as filled as the worker on the ground with Cynwrig. The two of them, of course, are entwined in their cuddly intercourse, their mud breaths joining in with the distinct breezes and rustling of plants.

"Something the matter?" Eshere asks, speaking in the language of the fair folk.

The bee perks up, hearing that voice, so distinctly like one of the flowers, and yet, "You're not a flower," she says. "Right? Where's your color?"

She zips up and down, buzzing around Eshere's form. The slime stands still, letting the bee return to face her.

"No, I want to be a friend, just like Tik Tik and Cynwrig are friends to your fellow workers."

The bee frowns at that, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "Oh, no, no, no. I can't do that, stranger," she says, speaking in the common tongue. "Look at the day. It's getting late, and we must return home to report your activities."

"And what you say about us?" Tik Tik says, stopping her pen and clicking her fingernails on the journal's cover. "Only good things, Tik Tik hopes. Tik Tik can make sure you think good about Tik Tik, yes."

________________

Wh[h]en the kobold steps forward, the bee holds out her hands. Just as suddenly as the kobold starts moving, she stops, slamming against an invisible wall.

Her surprised yelp makes Cynwrig leap from his lovemaking, knocking the forager aside and buzzing toward this newcomer.

"Magic!?" Eshere jumps aside, catching Tik Tik. "These bees know magic!?"

When Cynwrig zips forward, he readies his fists to protect his employer, his vision tunneling in his duty towards the kobold.

"Stop!" Tik Tik shouts, her own spell striking the beetle and sending him tumbling down to the dirt, coughing, his butt in the air, and his balls decidedly blue.

The kobold dusts herself off, her hands behind her back. A wide grin spreads across her face. "So, Bees know more than sex, do they? You know magic, too?"

"We know a great many things," The bee says. "Together, we are unafraid of what you can do to harm us."

She buzzes, landing on the ground, her arms resting behind her back. "Together, we can handle any trouble you may cause."

"Do you think Tik Tik causes trouble?"

"We think you already have."

"Good bee," Tik Tik says. "No, let guard down. Tik Tik like. But Tik Tik have business, and soldier say take Tik Tik to see leader. Magic bee still good to let Tik Tik talk talk?"

"Maybe, but first, we need to let this soldier rest. You," she says, looking at the first forager with twitching antennae.

The first forager lowers her head and scoots away from Cynwrig despite starting to approach him.

Cynwrig groans.

"It been long day," Tik Tik says, sitting back. "Perhaps good time sit back and enjoy company. So, what shall Tik Tik call bee?"

"Me?" says the newcomer. "I'm just another worker bee. Nothing more, nothing less, but you can call me a scout."

--

* * * * * * * * * *

________________

Above th[j][k][l]e floral fields, wings buzz, and colorful critters carry their guests over the scenic view. Cynwrig clings to Eshere's core, and the slime wraps around his chest. The soldier and the forager hold a harness Baker sits on, his light frame holding onto the swing and letting the wind whip through his hair.

In front of them all is the scout, flying a straight line out of the fields and off into parts beyond.

Tik Tik sits upon a green disk of light that floats behind the rest, her head bowed and her legs crossed as her hood covers her face.

"We're approaching!" the Scout proclaims. "It's just over the next hill, can you see?"

"I could hear it long before seeing it," Cynwrig grumbles.

Tik Tik hooks her hood with her thumb and lifts her head. She smiles and stands, her cape fluttering in the wind. "It beautiful!" the kobold calls.

Black dots make way for striped figures zipping up and down through the sky, all heading behind that hill. Their buzz fills the air, the humming thrumming through the bodies of the newly arrived travelers as they get closer and closer. And as the mountain passes under them, they see beyond the enormous structure.

No palace matches the enigmatic beauty or castle that provides better protection than this nest in the Insect Kingdoms. The number of bodies that cover the structure makes it a writhing mass of activity. Foragers and soldiers flit in and out from a multitude of openings. With each such aperture, the ever-vigilant eye of other colony members ensures no strangeness occurs.

The structure is like upside-down towers, reminiscent of golden syrup as it drizzles down over the side of the mountain into necklace-like strands of thick, round pillars. Each of the buildings has more workers at the edge, building more and more upon them, expanding them and increasing the reach of the colony.

The stone bricks that sit next to a few towers are the most fascinating aspect. These remnants show evidence of the previous occupation. Their details are obscured by the busy bees building better structures around them.

"What do you suppose used to be here?" Baker muses, crossing one leg over the other as he stares downward at the complex.

"It could be anything," Cynwrig says. "These folk don't exactly care where they plant themselves, just as long as the location is good for their own purposes."

"Only one way find out secrets of past!" Tik Tik shouts, floating up in front of the party, but as soon as she makes it to the head of the pack, three bees streak up from below to face her, clashing their waxy javelins together to bar her way.

The warriors stare at the procession, communicating with others who have joined the intruders. Buzzes and hums and swirls in the sky speak to one another, and soon, the new arrivals turn their attention to the kobold, who grins at them with the toothiest smile she can muster.

"Let guess," Tik Tik says. "You like Tik Tik now, too?"

"We'll have to announce your arrival to the others,' one of them says.

"This is a most strange situation," the second adds.

"We've never heard anything like this before," says the third.

"Tik Tik get that a lot," the wizard says, nodding.

"Right this way," the soldiers say, turning and fluttering down toward the ground in front of one of the tallest tower. When everyone lands, they find themselves on an old overgrown cobblestone road that leads towards the most significant entrance of the combed construction.

Many bees fly in and out in a chaotic crowd. They somehow know how to move their business in such a way as to give the party a path to tread. As Tik Tik and her friends land upon the stones and walk towards that yawning entrance, the many colony members only give them the swiftest of furtive glances before returning to their work. There are foragers with leg baskets filled with nectar, soldiers patrolling with stingers and spears at the ready, and guards at the entrance, greeting both the arrivals and the departures.

One of the guards steps up to the group, hands upon her hips, tilting her head and frowning.

A moment later, her antennae perk up. "Oh? OOOH!?" She says, clasping two hands upon her cheeks. "B-but that's, and you...?"

The Soldier nods.

Tik Tik snickers, waving with a cute finger wave. "Tik Tik not sure have time have fun with all bees, but would love to later. Need talk to leader, uh, have queen?"

"Yes, but what business have you with the queen? She's quite busy, as she always is."

A forager flits out of the opening, whispering into the guard's ear.

"Oh, very well, Miss Tik Tik and friends, please follow this worker."

As she speaks, the new forager disappears into the wilds while another worker lands in her place. Immediately following this, the original two bees disperse. Tik Tik puffs her cheeks, grumbling a bit.

"Something the matter?" the new worker says, landing before the party.

"Not very polite," Tik Tik grumbles.

"Those workers have jobs, as do I, Miss Tik Tik. But I shall say their thanks for them in their stead. Now, please, follow me and be careful not to disrupt any of the important work of the colony."

The entrance was large enough for many bees to enter. As soon as the party passes the threshold, they find themselves in a tower of cramped corridors. Bees cling to the walls, ceiling, and floor, walking in single file and buzzing past one another. Tik Tik, Cynwrig, and Eshere slip on through ot one of the passages, but Baker stops, shaking his head.

"Darling, I simply can't crawl around in this state," he says, patting his chest. "I've already lost a lot of filling, and it's making me very woozy. Can I even fit in there as I am?"

Halfway climbing into one of the corridors, the worker pokes her head out, eying the taller figure. "Hm... no, good point. State your business, and Her Majesty will hear your words."

"That's no good," Tik Tik says. "Tik Tik go on ahead."

The worker nods, and scurries back into the tunnel.

Tik Tik follows with little issue, maneuvering through cramped corridors and passing through throngs of bees crawling on the walls beside and above her, but she pokes her head out on the other side and emerges in another chamber, this one guarded by a legion of spear-carrying soldiers.

The wizard stands in this corridor, her head held high as she calls. "Tik Tik here see queen. Forager should come ahead and tell queen, yes?"

A moment passes, and the guards scurry away, creating an aperture for the kobold. On the other side stands the Scout, smirking as she steps to the side, holding out two hands towards the darkness. "Her highness has been expecting you, Oh Tik Tik, Herald of the Divine and tamer of Demons."