Buzz

BUZZ

No one knew what had happened. First, whole households were found dead and no cause of death could be found. That quickly escalated to whole villages, towns, cities. No one was safe. The world’s human population was decimated in a matter of months. Something was ravaging the human race. Young and old, male or female, all were susceptible to whatever was killing them and now, survivors lived in fear. Anarchy reigned. Riots and looting happened everywhere. You could be killed for a loaf of bread and no-one would bat an eye. Survivors fled the cities and headed for the countryside in the hopes that they would be safer there. Strangers met strangers and stayed together for there is safety in numbers, and soon new communities grew.

The community of Iorwerth was one such community, thrown together by the horrors of what had happened. Previously strangers, they met each other whilst escaping the cities. When the looting started, one of them had taken an abandoned bus, bundled his family into it along with some supplies and drove in search of a peaceful and safe place to live, picking up other wanderers along the way. They found this village and decided it was a good place to stay. It was remote, nestled on the hillside of a beautiful Welsh valley. With hills all around they were hidden from view. They thought they were safe.

Gradually, the villagers settled into community life. They grew their own food and foraged in the hedgerows, they sent out hunting parties although they didn’t hunt animals, these parties hunted out abandoned houses and shops, and took whatever supplies they could find. The weaker and less able-bodied looked after the children. Everyone had a job. They worked as a community and life started to settle down.

Often the hunting parties came back with more than supplies, finding and helping the lost and lonely, bringing them back to the village to join their community. On one occasion they came upon what they thought was a bunch of rags by the side of the road. It wasn’t until they got closer that they realised there was a girl lying beneath a pile of torn clothes. She was still breathing, but unconscious and covered in cuts and bruises. She had obviously been attacked. The girl was surrounded by hundreds of dead bees. Beside her lay an amber locket which, judging by the broken chain, had been ripped from her neck. A small bag full of food lay a short distance away. Clearly a robbery gone wrong. But why the bees? And what had scared off her attackers? The hunting party gathered up the girl's things, wrapped her in a blanket, and carried her back to the village. Another waif to add to the many they had already found. The population of their community was growing rapidly.

And so the bee girl joined Iorwerth. They discovered that her name was Mara and that she could neither remember anything nor could she speak. She could read and write, though, and, better still, she was an excellent baker, soon becoming responsible for the village bread supply. She also made amazing cakes once or twice a week. It was well known that Mara had a sweet tooth.

The people of Iorwerth got on with life. The sadness and fear would always be with them but things were getting better a little bit day by day. There had been several ‘marriages’ although they called them celebrations of commitment as there was no priest or celebrant to oversee proceedings. Three new babies had been born, new and beautiful signs that life perseveres, and the human race, at least in this little corner of Wales, would survive.

Attack

Taking a short break from making bread, Mara looked out of the window at the beautiful, sun-drenched fields beyond and smiled. She loved the summer with its heat and abundance but she didn’t go outside much. Not because she didn’t want to but because every time she did go out, she would be surrounded by buzzing things. She never got stung but it could be unnerving for the other villagers when there were hundreds of the little buzzers crawling on her, so Mara stayed indoors for the most part, at least during the day. At night the buzzy things were asleep and Mara would wander around in peace, just to get some fresh air. The people loved her despite the buzzers. She was a sweet girl plus she made amazing cakes. What wasn’t there to love?

Mara got back to kneading her latest loaf of bread, almost punching the dough, putting so much effort into it that a sliver of her black hair fell out from under her cap, framing her face perfectly.

‘Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you,’ a voice from the doorway said.

Startled, Mara jumped and turned to look at the man standing there.

‘Sorry for sneaking up on you’ Aeron laughed, an evil twinkle in his eye, ‘But I thought you might be interested in these.’ He held up two large sacks of flour and a big smile spread across Mara’s face. The hunting party was back and clearly, it had been a successful hunt. Aeron was the hunt leader.

‘What will you give me in return?’

Mara frowned. He was teasing her, as he often did, but he was the most eligible bachelor in the village. What would he want with her? Aeron was about six feet tall, muscular, with dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome and every single woman in the village wanted him.

‘I got you these too’, he said, passing what looked like a box of chocolates to her. ‘Hopefully, they won’t have spoiled’.

Mara's eyes widened and her smile grew big again. She reached for the chocolates and suddenly found herself being pulled towards him in a tight embrace.

‘I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time’, he said, lowering his lips to hers. Mara closed her eyes in anticipation of the kiss, heart beating fast, she could feel the blood rushing through her veins and she could hear… screams?

‘What the?’ said Aeron as he ran out the door closely followed by Mara.

The sight that met them was mayhem. People on horses were charging around the village, brandishing clubs and in some cases, swords. Hitting the villagers as they passed. Men, women and children fell before them, no-one was spared.

A child was being run down by a horse and Aeron, without thought for his own safety, leapt on the rider, pulling him down and disarming him.

A piercing screech filled the air and another rider, a woman this time, thundered towards him, charging her horse straight into him with such force that Aeron was thrown to the floor. The rider jumped off her horse, running at Aeron wielding a sword. Anger and fear gripped her but Mara jumped between the woman and Aeron, and suddenly felt a pressure in her chest. Time seemed to slow down and as if in slow motion, Mara looked down to where the woman’s sword had pierced the amber locket that she had worn ever since the day she had been found. Aeron had fixed it for her and she never took it off. A golden light seeped out from around the edges of the slit the sword had made then exploded out, throwing her attacker onto her back. A deafening bang echoed through the village which was now bathed in bright golden light. Time stopped. Everyone was looking at her and Mara realised that she was surrounded by bees, buzzing all around her, forming a shield. And that the golden light was coming from her. Was her?

‘Tell your people to keep still and they will be safe,’ several thousand tiny voices whispered in unison inside her head. Without thinking Mara bellowed:

‘People of Iorwerth, be still. Do not move and you will be safe’. Her voice sounded strange, there seemed to be a hum underneath the words but the people, perhaps shocked at the fact she was speaking, listened. All of them lay down as one, even as their attackers still rampaged through the village.

And then they heard it, a loud buzzing sound, louder than they had ever heard before. Looking to the skies they saw swarms of wasps speeding towards them. Some villagers screamed, forcing Mara to once again shout for them to be still. Then the wasps hit, mercilessly stinging the attackers again and again and again forcing them to run screaming, flapping their arms, trying to beat the wasps away. Some of them fell to the ground twitching, still being stung and eventually laying still. Others, still screaming, ran and kept running until the village was way behind them. The villagers listened as the screams faded into the distance. As quickly as it had started, the attack had stopped.

‘Tell them to stay still and we will heal them,’ the voices whispered again, and Mara did as commanded.

Slowly, the shield of bees lifted from Mara and, separating into small groups, they moved to each fallen villager, gently landing on them then lifting away again, repeating this process until each one of them had received their help. Then they returned to Mara, forming a shield around her again. To the watching villagers it looked as if the bees were communicating with Mara, and they weren't wrong. The bees were talking fast using both words and images, telling her who she was, why she was here and how they were here to help. To call them all she had to do was open the locket.

‘It’s not amber.’ They whispered. ‘It’s ancient honey formed into a stone, and it’s power calls all buzzing things to it. The wearer commands us. But you must never tell anyone of its power. There is danger in your midst. A traitor. Beware. But, for now, tell the villagers that they are under our protection from this moment forth. We can deal with the traitor another time.’

It only took seconds for the bees to impart all of this information to Mara but it seemed like hours, and she felt stunned, exhausted with all that had happened. The bees slowly lifted away from her and she bowed to them. The villagers all looked at her and she gestured for them to bow also.

‘We are all so grateful for the help you have given us today. Thank you so much’, said Mara, bowing again. As one, the swarm dipped as if they were bowing back, then they flew away.

Mara looked at the villagers, all of whom were looking to her for an explanation.

‘The bees told me that we no longer need to live in fear. Should we be attacked again, they will come to our aid but only as long as we take care of them. We are protected’. Stunned, the villagers stared at her, then everyone was talking at once, asking questions, overwhelming her. She felt a strong arm around her waist and, looking around, she saw that Aeron was with her. Just in time too, because at that point she fainted.

In the following days and weeks the community put the village back together. Everyone was amazed at the help offered to them by both the bees and wasps. And all of them slept well in their beds at night, safe in the knowledge that they were protected. All of them slept well but one.

Mara, who could now speak, stayed awake worrying about the bees warning and wondering who the traitor was. She did not mention this to anyone, not even Aeron who was now her partner and confidant.

She also remembered her previous life thanks to the information the bees had afforded her. But that is a story for another time.