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

Need to talk to Mark. Pulling up my interface and selecting the map, Markos’s name appeared at the castle gates. He was making his way toward us, and I decided to meet him halfway, jogging up the hill as he came into view.

“Ah, how kind of fate to ordain this chance encounter, Duran,” Markos spoke, slightly out of breath from his run. “I needed to speak with you when I arrived at the field of battle.”

“Wouldn’t want to inconvenience fate any further,” I said, letting him catch his breath before speaking again.

“Makenna wanted me to pass these along,” he said, pulling out several small vials of dark liquid.

I picked one up carefully before inspecting it. Knowing Makenna, she could have brewed any manner of potent poisons. Reading the description told me the contents—crater snake venom—I shuddered. I don’t even want to know how she obtained this.

“I’m guessing she picked these up on her recent outing to the ruins of Machine City?”

“More than likely, though she is far braver than I to tempt the fates so,” Markos said, eyeing the brackish liquid sloshing in the vials.

Harvesting the venom from them was incredibly dangerous, though knowing Makenna, she’d probably had a blast doing it. I also wouldn’t put it past her to have kept a few of the snakes as pets in her room. I’ll need to talk to her about that.

“Remind me to give her my thanks, though I’m guessing she’s sitting this one out?”

“Ah, yes. Yes, she is. Her talents, like mine, are not suited for open combat.”

“Figured,” I said. Damn, that puts us even more outnumbered, but what was I expecting? “Anyway, stay out of the fight and focus on healing, got it?”

He nodded, though I didn’t know how much registered past the constant funhouse party in his head. I bid farewell to the quirky mage and went to where Yumiko was setting up. She seemed to be deciding on what bow to use for the coming fight, having several laid out in neat rows. I tapped her on the shoulder, and she jumped, stifling a squeak before she whirled around to glare at me.

“Godsdamnit, D, you scared the hell out of me!” she said.

Usually soft-spoken, Yumiko could have a mouth dirtier than any sailor when she was frightened or angry.

Her small stature was also in complete contrast to her mouth. She was petite with gorgeous olive skin that had paled sharply recently, and she had a cute, oval face with lips the color of cherry blossoms. Yumiko kept her long black hair tied back into a ponytail to stay out of her face while in battle, which showcased her newest feature: her bright crimson eyes.

“What do you want, you sneaky bastard?” she grumbled.

“Hey, now, don’t be like that. Especially since I’ve come bearing gifts.”

I tossed her the bottle of venom. She caught it one-handed, not even glancing at it before glaring at me.

“The fuck is this?”

“Well, if you would stop cursing me and read it, maybe you’d find out.”

She harrumphed and looked down at the little glass bottle for a moment. I knew she’d found out what it was when she visibly paled, quite a trick for her. “Wh-what the hell? Where the fuck did you get this? And why the hell are you just tossing it around so casually, you clumsy shit?” she yelled her questions in rapid succession.

“Consider it a gift from Makenna.”

Her stare could wilt flowers from fifty paces. “Well, no shit, it’s from her. Who the fuck else would be willing to get close to those creepy-ass things? What I want to know is what the fuck do you expect me to do withgo, I get it,” she said. Her eyes lit up as she comprehended my plan. The glint in her eye turned diabolical. “An arrow poisoned with crater venom, that’ll ruin someone’s day, all right.”

I smiled, tossing her the last couple of vials. “Several somebodies, I’m hoping. You have fun with those.”

I walked off, leaving her to her preparations, and glanced at the incoming guild. They were close. Maybe two minutes out now. It was time to get in position.

We had nine of us against thirteen since Markos and Makenna would be sitting out of the actual fighting. Which left us outnumbered in terms of sheer numbers. Our abilities and levels, however, would bridge the gap and even the playing field quite nicely, especially since we wouldn’t be fighting fair in the slightest.

I received a ping on my interface. It was Harper, letting me know he had reached his flanking position. With that, we were as ready as we could have been. All that was left was our skill in battle and a little luck.

I smiled at my friends, my family, as we stood side by side and went to war.

Chapter 7 - War Is The Answer

The enemy advanced quickly, pushing their mounts hard. Multiple hues of brown to gray told me that the horses were regular mounts: no rainbow unicorns or the four horses of the apocalypse heading our way.

When they were within the range of Yumiko’s arrows, she pinged me, and I sent back two pings in rapid succession, letting her know to hold off. The enemy didn’t seem to be reaching for their weapons just yet, so I let them approach. Suits me just fine if they want to talk first. Gives me time to better prepare our ambush.

As the thirteen players arrived, they slowed to a stop a few dozen yards from us and dismounted their horses, fanning out in an attack formation not unlike our own. From their weapons and armor, they held a decent mix of roles. I counted four warrior types and two archers, though one wielded a crossbow, which was unusual.

They also had two tanks, two