The smoke dispersed with a puff, and the altar's fire went out with one last burst of fire that incinerated all the firewood in an instant.
When I blinked the white spots out of my eyes, I saw that all that was left were coals and ash.
"You forgot the map! Dal—" I paused and saw that the ashes and coals were actually forming an image.
*That* where the map was!
Despite being made from ashes, it was very detailed. From where I was, I could easily see that it covered the entire human kingdom, showing higher and lower elevation and the major cities which were pointed with small coals.
The only coal left glowing was lying not in a city, though. It was in a place where nothing was supposed to be.
'Is this a map?' I heard Farini think. 'Hm… The burning coal should be… that's near lord ma Reshyha's estate. Quite a way from here. The holy animals—will they save us? For a mission this sacred, I have to be there! But… curse it, if I leave, my forces here will grow restless. Gresch can organize the army, he can even look after our preachers—but there are too many nobles I have to placate!'
As he thought this, Farini turned his head to look at the other humans in the temple. The same nobles he spent so much time placating and making alliances with.
The movement also put me in Farini's line of sight, and he jolted.
'Ah, Your Majesty! I—'
'Farini, the great Dalmanrach has shown his visage to people outside the temple as well. Come with the other humans and tell them how blessed they all are. Celebrate! Although the task given to us is important, this is also very important. I will speak with you again later.'
With this message, I darted away from Farini, returning to my girls. Although they had much less reverence for gods, much more discipline, and much more tolerance for all things unusual, they were also alarmed. And curious.
"Father, was this a god? Do they do things with smoke often?" Explanatory asked me when I reached the group.
"The mission was a success…" B666666 breathed out. "What now?"
"Yes, a success!" I let myself grin at my daughters. Although the things Dalmanrach said, like his entire existence, were not all positive… There was hope!
If I breathed in and let this hope fill me fully… Oh, what a sweet feeling of fooling myself. I enjoyed it for a moment, then moved on.
"Now, we proceed with the ceremony as planned. B666666, you and your group are not needed here—you will return to Hive Supremo with the next dragon that goes there. As for the rest—we will discuss it later. With Farini around."
The genuine miracle (and free drinks) created so much fervor among humans that the celebrations didn't stop until well into the night. Although Farini wanted to get on with saving the dodos immediately, I urged him to use the opportunity and charm as many important people as he could.
I used the time to deal with some issues in Bloodimina's army that could use my personal touch (mostly headpats; but I had to give some stern words to girls who acted too zealously or too recklessly).
Of course, Bloodimina was handling these things without me well enough, but even bees who saw me once or twice in their lives listened better to my words than to anyone else's.
After all, they were taught about me from the youngest age. Some would call it "indoctrination", but every word of the school program was true! I checked it personally, because I didn't want bees to come up with anything outlandish.
At least now they were doing it *outside* of the school program.
Now, a morning after the celebration, Farini, his friend and general Gresch, myself, and selected bees have gathered in Farini's temporary study near a large stone table.
This was also the first day when Whisper returned to her job position, which meant that she sat on Farini's head and looked extremely pleased with herself.
What Farini felt I couldn't say—the bug-shaped faces of this world's humans were a complete mystery to me. But both he and Gresch were standing, not daring to sit in the presence of the holy beings.
'Sit, both of you,' I ordered, because I didn't want to fly the entire conversation.
'Thank you for this honor, Holy Emperor,' Whisper sent me Farini's thought as he took a seat at the table. His friend sat nearby.
I landed on Farini's table, on the opposite side of the humans, who lowered to the chairs in the room. My retinue followed me, of course. Now things have become more convenient.
I translated my next thoughts to everybody in the room, including the bees.
'We've been given an extremely important task, and fulfilling it should become our priority. We have ten days before it will be too late and the blessing of Dalmanrach will be lost.'
Dalmanrach said about two weeks, but I wanted to be sure.
Farini replied immediately, pulling out a large sheet of permanent and thinking thoughts that Whisper agitatedly sent to me.
'I've already looked at the map of the Naregan Kingdom. A horse rider can reach ma Reshyha's lands in exactly ten days. Eight if he changes horses whenever one tires. Only a small force could travel to the place in time, Holy Emperor, but it's possible. It will be easier to avoid attracting attention from lord ma Reshyha, too.'
I frowned. My estimation was way more generous.
'Shouldn't it be closer to six days, Farini, by your own map? There's a direct route right to the pointed out area.'
The man bowed his head.
'Forgive me, Holy Emperor, but this road is impossible to cross at this time of the year! The Yamiamimi river is too wide and fast for ferries. It could only be crossed closer to the mountains.'
Did we even *need* humans in this?