"Come through, Davke." said the man standing outside the Babylon walls. She entered through the gate, and was escorted through the roads, by several of the king’s men. She was an important person, and they did not want her to see any harm done. She would be delivered by the request of the king. She enjoyed her royal walk down to the inner wall.

As they entered through, she was brought into a tower that rose for many heights off the ground. She was left to herself at the base of the stairs, that ascended into the gardens. She was able to see some of the vibrant plants that hung from the stone walls of towers, and she began to reflect on what she was asked to do.

She walked up the stairs, knowing what would be of her fate. She was a priestess of the goddess of life. The king decided on her to be the servant of the gardens, because he believed that her goddess would do her great things. She would happily give herself to her goddess.

She continued to ascend the steps of the tower, while praying to her lord. She was building her faith so that she could do her best to aid the flourishment of the gardens of babylon, but doing such a great endeavor meant that she would have to exert herself as far as she could go. Her goddess gave her strength, and she would use it all to give the gift of life to the hanging gardens.

Davke stepped out into the bright sunlight, and was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of budding plants. A tear of awe escaped her eye, and she felt pride in herself, and what she was endeared with. She would raise this garden to bloom with all sorts of exotic plants of all sizes and colors and scents. Her goddess, and her kind had bestowed her such wonder.

She walked down the cobblestone path, covered with vines and moss. Her feet were always covered in dirt from walking barefoot to stay in tune with nature. She felt as if she was back at home, in the temple, praising her lord, but now, she was doing so much more. She would make these gardens her home, the hanging gardens of Babylon.

She removed her holy pendant from her neck, and clutched it in her hand. She ran her finger across the engraved image of her goddess, and pressed it to her heart. Davke looked up to the sky, as if seeing the face of her in the clouds, looking down there. She fastened the pendant back behind her neck, and continued down the ivy path.

Some plants had already started to sprout, and colors could be seen from their emerging feathers. Seeing the collection of such vivacious plants is all Davke could ever ask for. Oh, how she longed to see them all in full bloom. But the beautiful thought returned to her, and she knew that she would be the sole reason that these plants would flourish. What was she waiting for, she needed to see the master of the gardens if she wanted to raise them.

She raised her robe a little off the ground so she could hurry down the pathways, to the master of the garden. He would give her custody, and the responsibility to raise the plants for the good of the kingdom of Babylon. The beauty of the gardens, the strength of the city, she was entrusted to care for them both. For without beauty, what else is there to flaunter to the neighboring kingdoms.

She met up with the heavily robed man. No skin would be shown through his velvety red robes. From under his wrappings, the man spoke with a raspy voice, as if from talking too much in the past. "Davke, is it? You are the one chosen by the good king to watch over his wife’s gardens?"

"I am the one chosen by the king, himself. I am Davke, priestess of the goddess of nature. He called to to make his gardens flourish, and this is a task I will take with all my heart. I am capable of doing great things with the gardens. I will honor my goddess with all my strength to please my king, and this garden.

"So it seems, Davke, you are a righteous woman, but are you feeling worthy of such a task. These gardens are a symbol of this kingdom, and failure would ruin us beyond recognition. Will you pour your soul into these very gardens?"

"My soul, my heart, and my life will be donated to these plants. I feel no need for anything other in life. If this is what my goddess asks of me, then her wish shall be my reality."

"You are truly dedicated to these gardens, as far as I can tell. But you say that you would give anything. If your goddess demands of it, then that is what you shall do? I wish for you to speak to her immediately through the alter. If it is true that you are a holy priestess, then I require you to prove yourself through her first actions."

"Are you testing my faith." Davke responded angrily "I am a loyal servant to my lord, and anyone could see all the way through this. Not one has doubted my dedication, except you; the one man who bestows the gardens to me, a doubter of my faith. You are a fool in nature."
"Now, how do you expect me to look passed that fury. With someone with a temper such as that, do you really think that the gardens will flourish?"

"Hmm... Well if you must doubt my abilities, then I will talk to my goddess. Maybe she will tell me something about you, that I might just need to do then!"

Davke walked down the ivy path, and stared to the great altar dedicated to her lord. She approached the the bouquet of flowers, arrange to be the figure of a person. The cobble wall was lined with moss and budding wallflowers. Dirt littered the floor and table symbolizing the earth. It was all tied together with an aged honeycomb that seemed to glow from a distance.

Davke kneeled down to the bouquet, and lay her head over her folded hands. She undid her hair, and removed her robe. She would have to be as a member of the forest to communicate. She was bare; her clothes would break her ties with nature, so she kneeled naked over the altar.

Her head was cleared, and she let herself detached from her body, as if it became the earth itself. This was where she must go to directly speak; a place between divinity and mortality. She was currently existing as an ethereal being, and this was what it took to hear the voice of her lord.

"Davke" sounded a detached voice "You will need divine powers if you wish to have this garden flourish. These are not native to these lands, and the plants must adapt to their surroundings. You will have to allow me to alter you for what is beneficial to these plants. Will you allow yourself to become another?"

"If you ask of it, than so it shall be. Do what you must, my goddess."
Davke could see her body through a rupture in the ethereal realm. She seemed so distant from her own body, but it was as if she was still in full control. She saw golden dust fall from the honeycomb above her head, as life itself was restored to the nest. Insects began to thrive inside of the honeycomb as Davke's own body began to change.

Davke's body was going through a metamorphosis. Her body was quickly becoming covered by black and yellow hairs as her body slendered. As her arms and legs reduced to nearly nothing more than sticks, a second pair of arms grew underneath her first. The fingers of her hand merged together, leaving her with only a thumb and two other fine extensions. The same went for her toes.

The protruding hairs now covered her body in a fine yellow, and black down. Her torso and part of her head was concealed under the striped fur. Now she could see swelling occur at the base of her spine. A large growth was appearing behind her. I began to blossom into a large thorax, ending with a pointed stinger.

Her head was consumed at the same time as two antenna escaped her temples. Her eyes began to bug out as soon as the entered into her peripheral vision, making her eyes more sensitive to movement and bright colors. Behind her shoulder blades, she saw a pair of membranes form. These fanned out into two wings that she hoped to fly with.

Davke broke from her ethereal form, and began to return from the other realm. She broke through the plane, and returned to her body. She awakened in the body of the honeybee that her goddess had bestow upon her. She finished her prayer, and got up from the altar, with bees buzzing through the honeycomb.
　
She beat her wings, and hovered over the garden, back to the keeper of the land. She gracefully landed besides him, but the fright of her new appearance knocked the man to the floor. He stumbled to his knees, and shouted blessings to the heavens and to the gardens. Davke leaned in closer, and the man, out of fright, gave her the blessing of the hanging gardens.

She cast him out of the garden, and sent him off with a banishment for doubting her. She turned back to the plants. If she was going to raise these to full bloom, she would need to get started. She hurried back to the hive to collect her workers to pollinate the entirety of the garden.

She came back to see that the hive had increased in size ten-fold, and still gaining. Within a day, she would be able to sit inside. Davke peered into her colony to see hundreds upon hundreds of little honey bees swarming around. They all stopped their work, and stared back at their queen. She would tell them where to go.

That night of her work, the nest was finished, allowing her to sleep inside. She positioned herself in the room of honeycomb, and lay down on her stomach. She shut her eyes, and fell asleep quickly. Within moments she was dreaming that she was back on the ethereal plane.

“Davke.” said a voice within her dream “I have granted you divine powers, and I trust that you use them correctly. Do not let yourself get carried away by your abilities, for there are many. The gardens are your home, and you will raise them as a child. Do not let distractions carry you from your duties. Your powers and mind are still delicate, and many will try to take them away from you. Do not stray far, or let yourself be too well known.

You are too easily corruptible, Davke, please keep to yourself. Stay on the path that I have set for you, and do not give into temptations that may remove you from me. You are divine, and you should know that not all deities are good, for many wish to end the world in which we exist.

You are much more important than these gardens, but as your progress, you will begin to understand that I have given you more than you think, for one day, you will be my heir as goddess of nature. Stay pure my young Davke, and let no evil change your love for me and nature.”