“Run! Go now!” my mother screamed, brandishing a revolver, aiming at the ghoul devouring what remained of our father.
It was a creature from my worst nightmares. Humanoid, but wrong. It crawled on all fours, its too- pale, thick, leathery body hunched over my Dad as it tore into his body and sucked long strips of flesh down its gullet.
I gripped Micah’s hand as hard as I could, ignoring his pained protests. The ghoul was focused on its meal, ignoring my mother for now, which changed as she opened fire. The first shot took it in the neck, burrowing in its dense flesh. Shockingly white blood dripped down its pallid skin like a glass of spilled milk.
Three more shots in rapid succession did little damage. A few more spurts of blood, nothing more. It opened its wide, angular face and let out a pained shriek that sent waves of fear through our minds. Mother stood steady and fired twice, finally hitting the thing’s head. One bullet took its jaw off, spilling hundreds of small, needlepoint silver teeth to the ground. The final shot went through its eye. White blood splattered in the air, and the ghoul dropped to the ground. Dead.
My mother stood still, in shock, pulling the trigger again and again. Click, click, click. Both of us moved to go to her and run from our home, our sanctuary that had been corrupted. As I stepped on the hardwood, my footsteps echoed in the quiet house. A high-pitched growl came from the kitchen, and a second ghoul stalked around the corner, its ice-blue eyes dripping with hunger.
Micah cried out with fear, and that broke the spell on us. Mom turned to us and nearly tackled us out of the doorway. We fell back off the porch and hit the gravel driveway hard. I stumbled up faster than Micah, while Mom stood in the doorway frantically attempting to reload.
The ghoul savored the hunt, inching forward a step at a time. Just as mom grabbed a handful of bullets from her pocket, it howled. The suddenness caused her to flinch, sending half a dozen rounds clattering to the floor like drops of rain.
Mom tossed the empty handgun at the thing in desperation, it went wide, bouncing off the wall. She hurriedly shut the door as the ghoul lunged, smashing into the door with a crack. The wood tore like cardboard, but it held. She threw her shoulder against it and screamed at us to run. I yanked Micah’s hand, and we took off into the night.
With a howl of rage, the ghoul shredded the remains of our door, and I looked back to see my mother lying on the porch amid broken planks of wood as the ghoul opened its mouth wide, thousands of needles glistened as it bit into my mother, her blood spraying in the air to coat what remained of our doorway. I swallowed my bile and pulled Micah along even faster.
We didn’t get very far.
Voices too loud next to me brought me out of the memory. “Shit, get him a potion quick!” someone shouted.
The voice was low and deep. Must be Gil. My body wasn’t responding anymore; I was cold, and my fingers wouldn’t work properly. Someone turned me over into the sun’s blinding light. I closed my eyes to shield myself and couldn’t find the strength to open them again.
Chapter 9 - Unexpected Guest
I awoke with a headache. If you could call the blinding pain that was currently using my head for sword practice as such. From the warm light streaming through the open window, I could tell it was late afternoon, at least. Though I couldn’t know if I’d been unconscious for a few hours or a few days.
The events of the day raced through my mind. I sat up swiftly, which did nothing but add to my misery. Nausea, cold chills, and the most mind-numbing headache possible formed the basis for my current state of being. I tried to get out of bed, but the thin bedsheet got tangled around my legs, and I fell onto the floor with a dull thud.
After five agonizing minutes of my face kissing stone, I tried to sit up again, this time much slower. I was in the infirmary. However, none of our medical staff were present, which was unusual. It must be dinner time.
With none of our admittedly cute nurses to scold me for what I was about to do, I went over to the medicine cabinet, opened it, and took out a cloth bag of cure powder. With a large pinch, double or triple the recommended dose, I went over to the large granite sink on the far wall, past the small row of pristine white cots.
Searching through the alchemy bench led me to my prize, and I grabbed a large glass beaker and poured it full of whiskey. I downed the cure powder with a grimace, followed with a hefty swig of liquor.
The sharp bite of the alcohol did little to mask the chalky and bitter powder. I gulped down the rest of my drink and poured another, it would help keep the headache at bay. While not remotely curing me of the potion sickness, my homemade remedy would help me manage the pain enough to bear moving.
I opened the wooden door that led to the hallway and stepped outside, nearly running into one of the maids.
“Pardon me, sir.”
I smiled at her. “Its fine, Ruby.”
She curtsied and walked around me, immediately focusing on her cleaning duties.
My interface told me it was just past five-thirty in the evening, so everyone would be dining. I walked out toward the main hall. Bright red rugs and golden tapestries accented the cool tones of the dark stone walls and ceiling with torch sconces placed between the fabric. The bright colors gave the castle a warm and comfortable atmosphere.
I hadn’t the heart to change the color scheme from the previous owners. The Gloom Knights’ guild colors were black and purple, but one glance at the gray stone, and I’d known that those colors wouldn’t work.
I’d planned to head up to my room immediately, but a deep rumbling from my stomach brought food to the forefront of my thoughts. I stopped by the kitchen, not even trying to find a place to sit in the dining hall. I grabbed a plate full of chicken and pork, scarfing it down and finishing my beaker of whiskey.
With my belly no longer screaming in protest, I went to check the loot room.
There were a hundred other things I’d rather do than sort through the spoils of war, but Wilson would bitch at me in the morning if I didn’t do it tonight.
As I stepped into the basement, I was met with an ostentatious display. The entire lower level of the castle housed our loot room. A heavy metal door dominated the hallway. It was made of reinforced Aldrustian steel and looked like an old-world bank vault—and it could only be opened by a unique key. While the door itself was impressive and expensive, it was nothing compared to the floor guardians.
Whenever I visited, I couldn’t help but appreciate the two massive creations on either side of the vault. Next to the door were two giant figures. Crystalline golems. Both standing nearly ten feet tall, crafted out of enchanted sapphires, they’d cost a fortune to create but were made almost unbreakable by white magic—both hefted greatswords in their outstretched hands.
Adam outdid himself with these two. I walked to the door without incident, but anyone deemed a threat by the golems would find themselves reduced to a bloody paste.
The vault door swung open without a sound as I unlocked it and stepped through, pulling the door closed behind me. The room wasn’t large by any means, but we’d made the best use of the tight space as possible. Along all four walls were individually labeled chests for specific types of items, from gold to weapons and even magical ingredients, all neatly organized and stored away─courtesy of Wilson.
The center of the room was nearly bare except for a large crimson rug and a solid brass table. Upon which lay an inordinate amount of gold and items, enough that they spilled over the table and onto the carpet.
I whistled appreciatively. Not bad, not bad at all. The gold was piled high, at least forty thousand coins stacked in chaotic disarray, which was more than enough to pay the guild well for a few weeks. The coin was nice, but it troubled me deeply. Either the money came from the soldiers or the Order of the Dawn, and I didn’t think Richard would be stupid enough to go into battle with this much coin in his guild’s possession. Though the Alliance didn’t pay their soldiers nearly this well. Most only earned a hundred gold a year—a pittance.
This much gold presented a serious problem. I wanted to pin this attack on the Alliance. The backstabbing, political machinations of the Compass Kingdom were nothing new. We could handle them easily enough, but this money hinted at someone else being behind this. A new player on the board could mean trouble for us, especially if we don’t know their identity.
Much as I wanted it to be the Alliance, my gut told me otherwise. Too many things didn’t add up, but all the years of bad blood between our two groups didn’t let me rule them out entirely. Regardless of whether it was our old enemies or a new threat, I didn’t care. They’d provoked us, brought war to our home, and they would pay for that. I’d make sure of it.
The guild would need to be convened, and a plan of action discussed, but right now, I had to sort through this mess.
Without even counting it, I stored the pile of gold in its respective chests. Wilson would make sure each member was paid equally, so I left the unenviable task to him and started sorting through the items, hoping to find a new piece of gear I could use.
Other guild leaders took advantage of their position and took all the best equipment for themselves; I restrained myself to one item, usually a weapon.
But at once, I could see that there wasn’t anything that could outdo my current sword. Hero-tier was the best for a reason. Several high-tier and even a few hero-tier weapons were scattered throughout, but I skipped over all the others that littered the ground. Richard’s armor caught my attention. It was top quality but far too flashy for my tastes. Still worth a hundred thousand gold, at least. Everything here was of exceptional quality and would either make great new gear for the guild or fetch a high price from the Merchants Guild.
However, there was one item among the lot that was out of place. Hidden among the random assortment of gear sat a small green crystal. It was well worn, and upon closer inspection, the crystal itself wasn’t green. It looked to be made from obsidian glass. The green coloring came from the whirling green smoke that twisted and writhed inside it.
It looked similar to the crystal Adam used to summon the void golem, but it wasn’t a summoning crystal that I could tell—the material was different. It was something the like of which I’d never seen before. There were small chips and nicks in the crystal, but the majority was whole.
It was an oddity, so much so that I immediately picked it up. It was small enough to fit comfortably in my hand and was warm to the touch. As soon as my hands wrapped around it, there was a tiny pinprick of pain and when I turned it over, a minuscule sliver of my blood smeared the obsidian. Using my interface, I pulled up its stat screen.
Prison of the Hive Queen: Increases luck permanently by twenty.
Trapped inside a Void crystal by black magic ages past. The Hive Queen commands all races of the Hive. However, the method of releasing the queen has been lost to time. Now, this item is little more than a lucky charm.
Some strange flavor text, but no way am I passing up a stat boost. While Luck didn’t play heavily into my build, finding an item that automatically increased it by twenty was unprecedented. I’d rather use this than spend my money at the stat trainers. Fucking highway robbery for a couple points increase.
I took the crystal and stored the rest of the gear in the chests and was about to head upstairs when a thought struck me. If the others find out about this crystal, they’ll mob me for it. Adam and Wilson especially would salivate over the possibility of twenty extra points in Luck since it factored so heavily into their classes.
Removing it from my inventory, it pulsed with warmth, and the texture of the crystal in my hands was strangely smooth, despite the nicks. As I brought it closer to my face, I smelled hints of pine and cedar wood, with a note of something bitter lurking underneath. Brimstone perhaps?
A notification popped into my vision.
Use Item Yes/No
Yes.
Luck Increased by 20!
As I waved the screen away, the crystal grew noticeably hotter in my hand, pleasant at first, then becoming scorching with each passing second. Half a minute later and I couldn’t hold onto it any longer.
Before it burned me, I tossed it into the center of the room, expecting it to hit the floor. However, it hovered just off the ground.
The crystal glowed like a lump of red-hot coal in a fire and steamed. Fractures appeared along the small gem, releasing tendrils of green smoke, which drifted lackadaisically to the floor. It shattered with a sharp crack and burst into a thousand rainbow-colored shards, pouring out a cloud of the same noxious smog.
I knelt as the emerald wisps filled the room and stung my eyes, coughing as the scent of the forest filled my nose. As the smoke dissipated, I thought it was over, but the whiff of brimstone grew stronger, and a thin tendril of pitch-black murk trailed out of the broke shards.
It twisted and curled as if in anger and moved like it had a mind of its own. The obsidian mist drifted toward me and I was too stunned to react as it covered my face, and the acrid scent burned in my nostrils. I was forced to inhale as it suffocated me, and the burning sensation went away, replaced by frigid ice that settled over my heart.
The black smoke was gone, but I wasn’t alone any longer, a new presence settled in the room.
What the hell? It should be impossible for another person to be here once the vault shut. Nothing but the key in my pocket could open it, and teleportation was impossible, except to a gate. As the smoke cleared from the room, I received a better look at the creature who had appeared before me.
It was a person, but not a person. They gazed up at me, silent and expectant.
It looked like a girl, but she wasn’t human. That much was obvious. Small in stature, maybe a hair or two above five feet, with a cute, cherubic face and thick, wavy dark blonde hair that fell in chaos to her shoulders.
Her ears were long—longer than even the elves, extending four or five inches past her face. While unusual, I’d met a few elves, so I wasn't bothered by them, and I’d have called her an elf, if not for her eyes.
She looked up at me with eyes that were far larger than any humans. They weren’t the eyes of any creature I’d seen on Nexus before. Neither the elves nor the dwarves had eyes like these. It was as if they were made from solid obsidian—a pure, glossy black.
As I looked closer, I found they weren’t as solid as I thought. Dozens of miniature hexagons refracted in the dim light as she looked at me. Her eyes are compounded, like an insect. What is she? These were the eyes of a creature entirely alien to me, deep and unfathomable.
Terror gripped my heart as I realized who she was. There was only one answer, and I shouldn’t have dismissed what the text read so quickly.
For my petty greed, I could have just doomed the entire guild.
My heart pounded in my ears, and I mustered up the courage to speak. “Are you the Hive Queen?”
She looked at me and cocked her head to the side, as if not comprehending what I’d said. Her eyes were unfocused as she stared at me, as if she’d been jostled out of deep sleep and hadn’t fully woken up yet.
Damn it, the one time I wish I’d leveled up the Detection skill. I can’t see her level. Even if I couldn’t tell it, she had to have one. Everyone did, even NPCs.
I didn’t want to startle her, in case she lashed out in pure reflex, so I backed away a few feet and knelt, silent while she composed herself. Her mouth moved like she was trying to speak, open and closed, but no words would come. When she opened again, a flash of white startled me. Instead of four canines, she possessed eight, side by side on both rows of teeth.
”Whhhee,” she started to speak. Her words came out thick and mumbled.
She stopped and shook her head. Trying to be polite, I pulled a waterskin from my inventory and handed it to her. She looked at it and back at me, just staring. I sighed and uncapped it, taking a small sip and pouring some on the stone.
“It’s just water.”
The girl comprehended and held out her hand. I scoot
ed closer on the stone and offered her the skin. She took it from my hand, but her fingers brushed against mine as she did, and it was like a jolt of static shock zapped my hand.
I pulled back, my face growing hot for some reason. Her fingers were soft, and very warm.
She drank deeply, polishing off the entire thing. When it was dry, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and gave it back with a nod of thanks.
“Where...where am I?”
With the dryness of her mouth gone, she had a lovely voice. Soft, yet rich and lilting. It drew me in automatically, and I had to stop myself from inching closer. She looked around in confusion, her eyes going wide at the unfamiliarity.
“Easy now, are you all right?”
At the sound of my voice, she turned to stare at me again, her rigid posture relaxing when she looked at me.
“Ah, it’s you,” she smiled, flashing her sharp teeth. “This place is strange and unfamiliar to me. Do you know where I am?”
I nodded, holding up my hands. “You’re safe and in my castle, which resides in the heart of the Isle of Nexus.”
She hummed under her breath. “Nexus. A human word. I take it to be your name for the island?”
“It is, has it not always been called Nexus?”
She shook her head. “In the time of my people, it was known as Telae.”
“Your people?” I asked.
“Yes, the Hive.”
“So, are you the Hive Queen?” I asked again.
She flinched at the title, and a look of great sadness fell over her. She chuckled, but it was hollow and bitter.
“I suppose I am,” she said, sighing.
Despair filled her voice; it seeped out with every word and movement, and I was afraid to know the reason. I had so many other questions, more than enough to occupy me.
Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) Page 12