Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1)

by Grayson Sinclair

  A drip from my sword told me Poison Blade kicked in. I hope the poison will even the playing field a bit. Even with Eris backing me, we’re heavily outnumbered.

  Spurred on and their numbers making them overconfident, three of the men attacked at the same time. From a glance at their swords, I estimated them to be at least level forty. A challenge.

  My sword and armor were well above my level, but I was only working with four skills, and Aura of the Antimage wasn’t going to do a whole lot of good here. Dance of the Immortal would easily even the playing field, but if I didn’t time it exactly right, I’d end up maxing out my battle fatigue, and that would kill me just as quickly.

  All three had swords, one was a falchion, one was a longsword, and the final looked like a Roman gladius.

  Longsword swung at me while Falchion and Gladius circled. I ducked under the first swipe and cracked Longsword in the face, he held firm and fought down the pain, swiping at me again. I dodged the second swing and kicked Longsword’s leg out from underneath him. He tumbled roughly to the ground.

  Pain burned from my side. Gladius slipped underneath my guard while my back was turned and stabbed me. His sword still stuck in me, but it didn’t get through my Exoskeleton. Falchion attempted to take advantage of the situation while my attention was focused on Gladius. His steps were heavy behind me, but I turned too slowly to intercept him.

  Eris stepped in, taking his sword on her arm. She cried in pain as it split open her skin. Blood welled and ran like a river over her arm, but just beneath her skin was black chitin. She grimaced and fought back the pain. Green smoke poured from her fingers as she worked her magic.

  While Eris kept Falchion busy, I dealt with Gladius and Longsword. Gladius was still clutching his namesake, so I brought my arm down sharply, breaking his wrist. Gladius dropped his weapon and clutched his broken hand. Longsword came in quick, thrusting with his blade. I parried it and sliced a thin line down his arm, splashing a stream of poison into his bloodstream.

  A bloodcurdling scream echoed behind me. Hundreds of spiders had come at Eris’s call and were crawling over her and Falchion. They jumped from Eris to Falchion and scuttled over every inch of bare flesh. He frantically tried to peel them off, but they scurried to his face and neck, sinking their fangs deep into his exposed skin and refusing to let go.

  Falchion wasn’t even trying to fight Eris anymore. He dropped his weapon to focus solely on the horde tearing at him. Dozens of rivulets of blood ran from his face and arms from the spider bites.

  Eris clumsily gripped the knife in hand and stabbed Falchion while he was busy with the spiders. The blade lodged deep in his chest, and she pulled it out in a fountain of blood. Nicked the heart, but not enough.

  Falchion was still standing, and panic-stricken, he lunged for Eris. He pinned her to the ground while making a hasty grab for his weapon. She cried out as she hit the grass.

  I kicked Longsword in the groin and ran over to Eris, tackling Falchion to the ground. My sword fell from my hands in the tumble, so I gripped my hands together and brought them down sharply. Once, twice, and a final time, I slammed my fists into Falchion’s throat, crushing his trachea and shattering his hyoid bone. He spasmed with each hit, clutching his obliterated neck and wheezed, trying to breathe. His last breath would never come, and I stood from him as he fought for one more gasp of air.

  No one was coming to his rescue, and without a healing potion, he would soon expire. I grabbed my sword and the falchion, handing the latter to Eris as Longsword got off the ground.

  “Keep behind your sword at all times and never let your opponent into your space,” I told Eris as I focused on Longsword.

  He wasn’t looking so hot. The poison wreaked havoc on his insides, and the kick to groin had bruised more than his pride. Longsword snarled at me and picked up the gladius, a drop of my blood fell from the blade as he charged me.

  Longsword by himself, wasn’t a threat, even with the added weapon. I dodged his sword and parried the gladius. His footwork was sloppy, and his swings heavy. He thrust with the longsword while I pivoted on the balls of my feet. His attack passed by my ribs as I brought my sword down at the same time and severed his arm from his body.

  Longsword howled in agony and dropped the gladius, backing away from me and fumbling at the satchel at his waist for a health potion. Unlike Falchion, he’d had some foresight. He uncapped it as I bent down and picked up the discarded gladius. As Longsword put the bottle to his lips, I flung the gladius at him. The sword took him in the chest, sinking hilt deep into his heart. Longsword dropped to the ground, the health potion spilling to mix with his blood.

  I backed up a bit to stand with Eris, handing her a health potion from my inventory. “Take two little sips, no more,” I said.

  “Right.”

  With her slight injuries taken care of, I turned my attention to the rest of the group. Gladius had regrouped with the other three, who were playing gatekeepers. They'd watched two of their friends die so callously and hadn’t even drawn their weapons. They sure as hell did when I moved to engage them.

  “Eris, use your magic to keep them from surrounding us.”

  She nodded and moved back a few steps. “I’ll do my best,” she said a little breathlessly.

  I’m pushing her; even that little display a moment ago was enough to weaken her. She probably can't use much more.

  Gladius had healed his broken wrist and picked up a spare weapon. A dagger. He stayed behind the others, though, shaking, rightfully cautious of me. The other three were more than willing to fight in his stead. Two rushed ahead of the others, while the third went for Eris. He held a spear in his hands.

  My first opponent wielded a massive cleaver straight from Hell's kitchen, which he attempted to chop me into bits, while the second was a flamberge, the winding blade whistling as it came for my head.

  Flamberge was easy enough to deal with. His two-handed sword was too unwieldy and slow to hit me. Dodging was easy, but as soon as I stepped out of reach of Flamberge, Cleaver struck with frightening speed, slicing me twice in under a second. I tried to deal with Cleaver, but as soon as I turned my back, Flamberge struck, and I couldn’t dodge.

  It worked with her, better fucking work for me! Pain rolled through me as I caught the sword on my palm. My skin split, spilling fresh blood, and the impact made my arm rattle hard enough to shake me to my core, but the chitin held under the onslaught of his blade—dark black chitin formed over my hand, acting as a second skin for me.

  I grabbed hold of the flamberge, and with my chitin-wrapped grip, squeezed as hard as I could. It held for a moment before cracking under my fingers, shattering and tumbling to the ground in pieces.

  Flamberge just stared in fear at the broken tip of his weapon sticking out of my hand. I let go of his broken sword, ducked under Cleaver’s swipe, and ran Flamberge through with my blade. Cleaver swiped at my head while my blade was sticking out of his friend, and I managed to move just in time. His wide blade sank deep into his dying friend's neck.

  Thick, heavy blood sprayed into the air, coating us in rancid gore. I shut my mouth and stepped back as Flamberge dropped lifelessly to the ground, his head nearly sheared from his body. I spat on the ground, making sure none of his vile fluids landed on my tongue.

  I returned to Cleaver. My sword was stuck in Flamberge’s body, and Eris still had my knife, so I fought with my hands.

  Cleaver was much less confident now that we’d taken down half of their number. While Gladius stared wide-eyed at our duel, and Spear fought Eris, Cleaver was more cautious.

  A glance told me that Eris was holding her own. With the falchion raised, she knocked aside what attacks she could and moved when she couldn’t parry them. Her movements were stiff and awkward, but she could move fast and was strong, so it allowed her to survive what attacks were coming her way. While Eris was his target, Spear had much bigger problems. Namely, the bugs.

  Spiders, scorpions, and even ants were encroac
hing on him, dozens of them. He stomped the larger ones as they got closer, but every time his foot landed, a few managed to crawl up his leg. The spiders scurried towards his chest, while the scorpions jabbed their stingers into his legs over and over.

  Spear screamed and frantically clawed at his pockets for an item while trying to knock the spiders off him. He pulled out a small gray stone, polished smooth with Script on it. A fire stone. He spoke the activation word and threw it at his feet.

  Which was a fatal mistake.

  Whether his terror had overridden his common sense or he just misjudged the throw, the fire stone landed just shy of his feet and exploded, sending a wave of pressure toward us, and a massive, roaring fire rose to consume everything in its path.

  Spear meant to kill the bugs but was too close to the spell when it went off—fire engulfed him in a matter of seconds. He screamed as he burned before falling to his knees, clutching at his blackened and cracked skin. He died a second later as the fire devoured his entire body.

  Eris picked herself off the ground. The fire hadn’t done much damage to her; a singed shirt was the worst of it. Though she was about to give out, she stumbled and was struggling to stand. Her mana had reached its limits. She smiled at me to let me know she was okay, but it turned to fear as she shouted.

  “Sam, behind you!”

  I turned, just managing to get out of the way of Cleaver’s swing. He swung again and again. I stepped out of the way of what I could, but he was fast, a few of his swings sliced thin grooves into my armor, one slice carved into my face, just below my cheek. Hot blood rushed down my face, but I ignored it and looked for an opening.

  Cleaver was lightning fast and his weapon razor-sharp, but even with how light it was, he was tired from the numerous swings. His speed was still just as fast, but his technique slipped, allowing me to step close to him and kick him off balance. He fell to the ground, and I wasted no time in pinning his arm and breaking his nose with a jab. I snapped his wrist, took the cleaver from him, and buried it in his skull, splitting his face in two. Yellowed bone peeked out from behind his eyes as his skull cracked in half.

  Five of the six were dead, leaving only the still stunned Gladius to deal with. Eris limped over to me, still holding the falchion and handed me back my knife. I secured it and went to grab my blood-soaked sword from Flamberge’s body. It came away slippery, which washed away as Poison Blade activated, and toxins dripped down it.

  I turned to Eris and smiled at her. “Not half bad for your first time.”

  “Really?” she asked, practically glowing, despite her exhaustion.

  “Don’t get a big ego. You still need training, but this conversation can wait. We still have threats to deal with.”

  I wasn’t talking about Gladius. He was kneeling on the ground, shaking with fear. I thought he was frightened of me, of the fact that I had beaten his friends so quickly, but no. He was staring at Eris, trembling with fear, and muttering to himself.

  He looked from her to me and scrambled on all fours over to me, clutching at my pant leg, begging me. “Please, please, please, don’t let her near me. Please have mercy. I’ll do anything, just keep her away.”

  I smiled a grim smile. “Don’t worry. I won't let her have you.”

  Gladius broke into tears, misconstruing my meaning. He blubbered at me. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  “No problem.”

  While he stared at me with pure unadulterated hope in his eyes, I plunged my sword downward into his neck and twisted, killing him instantly. His lifeblood spilled to the earth as I pulled my sword free.

  With those six dealt with and their blood sinking into the earth, I faced the four men who were the actual threats, except there were only three of them.

  Shit! Where’s Slip?!

  The wind picked up, rustling leaves rolled by, and I knew what was coming. I turned and sliced my sword behind me, right where I expected Slip to Shadow-Walk, except my blade whistled through empty air.

  No! Damn it! I wasn’t the target.

  Eris was.

  Slip appeared in a haze and wrapped his arm around Eris, fading back into shadows before I even had a chance to cry out. A few seconds later, he reappeared at the tree line with the others, passing Eris to Mikhail, who raised his sword to her throat.

  Darren held a look of confidence. He wasn’t sure he could take me in a fight, so he took Eris to save his own skin as well as make a profit off her. Two birds, one stone. He grinned wide at me.

  “Take one more step, and your little girlfriend’s head rolls to the floor!”

  Fuck.

  Chapter 18 - What Are You Willing To Lose?

  Darren looked me down, bursting with confidence.

  “Now, how’s this going to play out, hero? You going to set your weapon down like a good boy and walk away, or is Mikhail here going to paint the grass with her blood?”

  Shit! What can I do? No way can I make it there without Dance of the Immortal, and if I fuck up my timing, I’m dead, and they’ll take her.

  My hand gripped my sword tight enough to hurt, and I tensed, ready to make my move, but Darren was faster.

  “Uh-uh, I don’t think so,” he said, motioning to Mikhail, who drew his blade tight across Eris’s throat. A thin line of blood snaked down her neck, causing her to squirm in pain while her entire body shook with mana depletion.

  Even if I can get her away, she’s too weak to fight anymore. Darren smiled as he watched me trying to figure out a solution and come up wanting.

  “Don’t even think about it. Now, you’re pretty strong. I mean, godsdamn. You two took out six of my men like it was nothing, but I wouldn’t do anything rash if I were you, you’ll just end up dead.”

  Damn it! I seethed in rage, but I couldn’t attack without a plan, and a glance at my battle fatigue told me that I didn’t have it in me for another fight. It was high, nearing the top and slowly creeping down as we kept up our conversation. But it wouldn’t drop fast enough.

  “Do you wish for power?” my Darkness asked.

  Like hell, I’m going to answer you. Nothing good can come from a question like that.

  ”Do you not wish for your queen to be returned to you, sir knight?”

  Obviously, but I’ll do it my damn self, with no help from the devil whispering in my ear.

  “Very well, knight. It’s your life if she dies,” it said, chuckling as it faded away.

  I had a plan, but it all rode on timing, and with Mikhail holding Eris, her safety came before anything else.

  My battle fatigue was high, but I had a way to deal with it and activated Dance of the Immortal. All color bled from the world, sending my vision into a wash of every hue of gray. I sprinted the distance as fast as I could, reaching the four men in two seconds. Eight.

  I pulled Eris free from Mikhail’s filthy hands and ran her away from the group. Six. When we were safe from them, I pulled a mana potion from my inventory and pressed it into Eris’s arms, and then rushed back to the group, hoping to do some damage before time ran down. Four.

  My naked sword found purchase in Mikhail’s chest, skewering him through the heart before I removed it and severed his head. Two.

  A flash of color told me my time was up. I took out one final potion from my inventory and filled my mouth with half the contents as I ran back to Eris. One. Time returned to normal. Mikhail’s body sprayed blood like a burst pipe, showering Slip and Darren in his gore. My battle fatigue soared as it nearly maxed itself, and a timer appeared in the corner of my interface. Counting down from seventy-two hours.

  I stumbled as the effects of Dance hit my system and swallowed the potion in my mouth. The recovery potion kicked in almost immediately. Only drinking half of it was a blessing and a curse. It lessened the aftereffects, but it was also half as effective, knocking down my battle fatigue, but not removing all of it and only taking twenty-four hours from Dance’s cooldown.

  It’ll do. Hopefully. Eris looked to me and back at th
e men with surprise. “How did I get here?”

  “No time. Drink the mana potion and get ready.”

  “Wha—oh.” Looking down and seeing the blue vial in her hands, she quickly uncapped it and downed it. As her mana climbed, she steeled herself for battle. A swift breeze rolled through the trees, chilling the sweat dripping down my face and bringing the stench of blood to us, I choked back the scent and readied for Darren and his thugs.

  My Darkness whispered to me from my heart. “Not bad, knight. But you still have enemies. I could help you get rid of them in an instant.”

  Fuck off.

  I could handle them on my own. It was up to me to earn the title of Hive Knight now.

  Slip recovered faster than the others, wiping the blood from his face and baring his bloody teeth in rage. He aimed and fired at me almost as a reflex. A bright green glow appeared around his bow, bringing a torrent of wind to the tip of his arrow. He’d activated Whisper of the Wind and fired. His arrow sped forward as if propelled by a hurricane, accelerating it so fast it was a blur as it raced toward me.

  Trusting my instincts, I threw myself to the side, hoping I wasn’t about to end up with a hole in my chest. My instincts were right, but I wasn’t quick enough to dodge it altogether. It left a ragged tear through my left bicep, spilling blood down my arm.

  As the pain roared up my arm, I looked down to see the arrow had torn through even my Exoskeleton. Shit! He got through my Exoskeleton. Not good. Something that didn’t go unnoticed. Slip grinned darkly. “Looks like you bleed like the rest of us mortals, after all, freak!”

  He dropped his bow and drew his twin daggers, rushing me while Wolf and Darren stayed behind, Darren because he was still cleaning blood off himself, but Wolf was watching the show with a calmness about him, which unnerved the hell out of me. What is his deal?

  I had to tune him out as Slip attacked, focusing my attention on dodging the rapid strikes.

  Slip was true to his namesake and was as fast as any high-leveled rogue I’d ever faced before. Might even be on par with Wilson. I’d spent hundreds of hours dueling Wilson, though all that practice was a double-edged blade. Capable of harming me just as easily as it could help me. Spending so much time fighting a single person meant I was tuned to how Wilson fought. If I try and let muscle memory take over, I’ll find myself with a few new holes.