Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) by Grayson Sinclair (poetry books to read TXT) 📗

knife and threw it, burying it to the hilt in his heart. He crashed to the ground as he bled out.

It’d taken me only a minute to dispatch the three goons, but it had given the brutish one holding Eris time to escape.

Godsdamn it!

A dark chuckle bubbled from my heart. “Lose something, knight?” the Aspect asked, laughing.

Fuck you!

I tuned out the insidious laughter of the Aspect to focus on Darren.

“You’re going to tell me where she is, right now!”

He’d been leaning against the alley wall, hands in his pockets, while I fought his men, but he pushed off with a laugh.

“No, now I’m going to savor this moment,” he said, taking a shiny object from his pocket and slipping it on his fingers.

Brass knuckles. Shit.

“Hope your Exoskeleton can hold up,” the Aspect snickered.

I was tired of the mind games, and it wasn’t helping me. I settled into my stance and watched Darren’s feet. He had good technique, and his leather armor was well suited for quick movements. Darren brushed an errant lock of his auburn hair that fell to his forehead with his left hand and swung with his right.

He feint almost worked, as my eyes gravitated to his hair, but his hips gave him away, and I stepped back as his knuckles grazed my nose.

Darren followed his sucker punch with a kick to the groin. I twisted my leg to deflect it, but his boot collided with the side of my knee hard, and I stumbled. He flicked his knuckled hand out in a jab, and I blocked, but it was just a fake to set up his cross. His left hand hit me square in the jaw, almost in the same spot as his first hit. Pain flared to life from the left side of my face, and I fell to the flagstones, spitting out a thick gob of blood.

The pain was intense, but I’d had worse. I stood up, and a warning flashed across my vision.

Warning! Proximity to Hive Queen Greater Than 100 Meters

Penalty Activated: -20 to all Stats

 

My strength fled, and I sagged as exhaustion set in. Darren took the opportunity to smash my face with his brass knuckles.

Absolute pain obliterated my world, and I lost consciousness. When I came to, blood poured freely from the side of my ruined face, and Darren was smiling.

“Doesn’t feel too good, does it, asshole? How’s it feel to be on the receiving end of the worst beating of your life? Not fun, is it?” he shouted as he hit my face again.

I blacked out again.

When I came to, Darren was kneeling over me, his too-white teeth grinning a malicious smile. “Really need to thank the weasel for coming through for me. It’d have taken me ages to find you on my own.”

Phineas! That rat bastard! I’ll skin him alive when I find him! But I had more pressing concerns at the moment—namely, the man beating me to a pulp.

My face was a mess of pain, but I could still fight.

Darren stood and drew his scimitar. I aimed a kick to the side of his leg, hitting the peroneal nerve that runs up the shin, locking his leg in agony.

He dropped to the ground and seized up, screaming in pain. I had a few seconds to breathe.

“Once more, allow me to offer you power, knight. They’ve absconded with your queen, and you need me to get her back.”

Hell, no. I’m not making a deal with you. I can handle this on my own.

I opened my inventory and pulled out a health potion. I uncapped it and brought it to my lips to take a sip when my hand locked up. The glass bottle slipped from my fingers and shattered on the stones.

“Whoops.”

Go to hell!

It just laughed. In the time it took for whatever the Aspect did to wear off, Darren shook off his pain and stood with his scimitar once more.

I drew my blade and prepared to engage him. Darren swung, keeping his movements light. He was quick with his sword, but I parried each of his strikes.

He switched from slashes to thrusts, and I countered. I swung, but as I reached the end of my attack, my hand locked up again, and my blade slipped through my fingers.

I could do nothing as Darren kicked my sword away and thrust forward, stabbing me in the chest. It went through my armor and even my Exoskeleton but stopped before it pierced anything vital.

“Care to keep this going, knight? You’ve wasted enough time already. Just imagine what vile things they’re doing to her as we speak. I bet they’re pawing over her lovely porcelain skin right now.”

I screamed wordlessly, tearing my vocal cords as I seethed in pitch black hatred at the voice in my head. I’d have killed myself just to kill it if I could’ve, but I was frozen and seconds from death.

Fine, you godsdamned bastard. Deal. Give me your power.

“At your command, sir knight.”

 

Warning! Forceful Activation of Abilities! 

Hive Guard

Chitin Blade

Warning! System Corruption!

Forceful Activation of Passive Ability: Hive Mind

My pain vanished as Hive Guard took effect, pooling black over my skin and healing my injuries, allowing me to fight back. I knew I’d just made a mistake, but I didn’t have time to waste.

Worry about the rest of that shit later. Right now, Darren needs to die!

He was enraged when my body healed itself, screaming in rage, he swung at me. “Why won’t you fucking stay down!”

On reflex, I brought my hand up to defend myself, but what came up wasn’t my hand. A long black sword of chitin enveloped my arm, jagged with uneven lines and wickedly sharp. It met his scimitar and nicked the edge.

Darren backed up