Enter the Dragon

Chapter 3: Preparations and Messages…

The pitter patter of rain behind me, I make my way towards the nailsmith, running the encounter with Lurien the Watcher through my mind. His mask glowed, showing the power of the soul within it, while his cloak hid his body. I could tell that he was a tall and thin bug, but what kind exactly, I had no idea. Lurien was seemingly steadfast in his belief in the Pale King, but hopefully he takes what I said to heart, and acts on it.

Marissa being attacked by someone from the Soul Sanctum wasn't something I was expecting, but hopefully Lurien will solve that matter himself. Marissa's beauty in person was much greater than I was expecting as well, putting the simple image from the game to shame.

After a few minutes (some of which was spent squeezing as much water out of my cloak as possible) I made my way to the nailsmith. Stepping inside, the Nailsmith turns, saying "Ah, there you are. Just finished it this morning." and stands up, going to one of his racks, pulling out a sheathed nail, holding it out to me, saying "Long and thin, as requested. The balance towards the handle should also make it nice for throwing, so I added a hoop at the bottom, for attaching thread to."

I accept the nail, pulling it from it's sheath, giving it a light swing, testing it's balance. As requested, the balance was focused on the hilt, allowing for easing of swinging. It is long an thing, very much like a rapier, but thicker. It was channeled, allowing for greater channeling of soul, very much like the knight's nail in game. Sheathing it and attaching it to my belt, I say "It's perfect, thank you."

Stepping out of the nailsmith's hut, who continued onto his next job. Pulling out my map, I plan out my next move. Knowing that I'll need some kind of offensive ability beyond my nail, I hope the snail shaman is within the Kings Crossroads (aka, Forgotten Crossroads), and from their, visit Greenpath, hopefully making contact with Unn. From there, make my way to Deepnest, kill the Nosk, and save the vessels, before making contact with the Pale King. And maybe find the dream nail.

At least, that's the current plan. Something to work towards, for now, as I make my way to the nearest stag station.

Wandering the crossroads, I stared at my map, grinding my teeth as I attempted to figure out where the Snail Shaman would be. After starring fruitlessly at the map, I put it away, and just began wondering, searching for the room that resembled what the False Knight was fought in. Something that I had long realized a while ago, but was still coming to terms with, was the fact that each area of Hollownest was much, much larger than what was shown in game.

Eventually, I found the room I was looking for, comparing it to what I remembered. The chamber was much, much larger than I was expecting, the carved stone and pillars almost giving it a shrine like appearance. Moving forward, stepping aside various bugs who continued on their way, not even giving me a glance, I strived forward to the next room, where the Snail Shaman is supposed to be.

And I was thankfully not disappointed, seeing the familiar torches, leading up into an alcove above the previous chamber. Climbing up, I follow the torches, finding my way in front of the Ancestral Mound, which appeared to be in much better condition than the game, it's stone exterior smoothly cut stone.

Stepping inside, I find the Snail Shaman, who appears to be napping. Clearing my throat, they jump up, shaking themselves awake. Straightening up, the Snail Shaman says "Oh, hello. I have been expecting you, come." and gets up, moving into their hut, gesturing for me to follow.

If I had eyebrows, I'd have raised them, but none the less, I followed, stepping inside their simple abode, saying "Expecting me? What do you mean?"

The Shaman pulls out a black sphere, holding it out to me as they respond "Yes, the void, mysterious as it is, gave me a message. Here, inside this Arcane Egg, a message from within the void, meant for you, burning one."

Accepting the Arcane Egg, turning it over feeling the surface with my fingertips, responding "Huh, well, that's nice and all, but I was actually seeking you out for a trade of knowledge." as I put the egg in one of my many pockets, retrieving my dream catcher, presenting to the shaman, saying "I'll teach you how to make this, if you teach me how to focus and use my soul."

The shaman simply laughs, before composing himself, and replies "That won't be necessary, my friend. I was going to teach you anyway, even from here I can sense the massive pools of soul you possess. Come, come, time for your first lesson." and gets up, grabbing their staff, leading me deeper into the Ancestral Mound.

I follow dutifully, this interaction already going far more in my favor than I ever expected.

Several hours later, I stood, taking a deep breath, and focus, believing I would summon the soul to form an attack. And the soul within me obliged, coalescing briefly in the palm of my hand, before I aim it at the target ahead of me, unleashing the vengeful spirit attack, blasting the target into pieces.

Grinning, I consider the possibilities, before turning to the Shaman, who is taking notes, mumbling to himself. The palm of my hand tingling, I turn away from the impromptu targeting range, and take a seat opposite from the shaman, saying "Thank you, I greatly appreciate you taking the time to teach me."

The Shaman simply waves me off, responding "Oh it's no trouble, I so rarely get visitors these days anyway, and the void demanded I teach you. As a servant of the void, it was an honor to serve. Now, you have places to be, and things to do."

Again, if I still had eyebrows, they'd be raised, but I collect my things, leaving with a simple "Take care" as I left, moving towards my next objective, still slightly confused about the whole experience.

Channeling soul, as it turned out, was quite easy, once you knew how to do it. And apparently, I had been gifted with a tremendously large soul capacity, seemingly much more than Ghost got within the game, as I could cast 5 vengeful spirit attacks in quick succession, and only felt slightly winded.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that soul could do, and I'd need to experiment, see if I could come up with my own soul based spells, but that would be for later.

For now, I briefly planned out my route to Greenpath, and continued my way.

Hornet, sitting along one of the benches within the meeting room, was bored. She idly ran her sub arm down the side of her needle, admiring the smooth metal finish of her weapon, tuning out the conversation going on between her father, mother and aunt. Sitting next to her, staring off into space with her wings twitching, was her half-sister, Princess Helia of the Hive. And to Hornet, the second most annoying bug in existence, second only to her father, who despite his brilliant mind, was sometimes the blindest one in the room.

Looking over her sisters appearance, it's apparent she had hit a recent growth spurt, being slightly taller than she was. Having a face very much like hers, but with a pair of bee like antenna, Helia could almost be mistake for her twin, if not for the fact that her body was much more bee like, having patches of yellow and black striped fuzz along her carapace. Also unlike her, Helia had no qualms showing off her body, much like her mother, her subtle curves often drawing the eye of curious males who saw her.

Turning back to the adults, she parsed the few details of the meeting she had picked up on, was that the infection had seen a sudden rise in infections, mostly those who lived alone or were mentally deranged previously, but still a concern regardless. Queen Vespa was attending, having joined the Dreamer part of the plan, with much the same stipulation as Herrah. Which resulted in Helia.

Turning to her sister, Hornet says "So, anything interesting happen at the hive lately?" Helia gave out a deep sigh, extending then retracting her mandibles before turning to give Hornet the look, that she gives when she feels she's been asked a stupid question. After giving Hornet the look for a moment, she turns away, sighing again as she responds "Or course not, you know that. If anything interesting were to happen, you'd probably be one of the first to know."

Humming to herself, Hornet turns back to take a look at the three rulers arguing amongst themselves, throwing out ideas, while her sibling (despite her what father may think, the Hollow Knight, is her sibling) sat impassively, acting like the statue it was pretending to be. Hornet had voiced her concerns to her mother about the plan, but had been rebuked, leading to Hornet, when not embroiled in these meetings, trying to research as another way around the infection. But, with her father keeping her at arm's length, it was difficult.

She was startled out of her thoughts, when a retainer stepped into the room, exclaiming 'Your highness, I've got an urgent request from Lurien the Watcher!", causing the arguing adults to cease, allowing silence to fill the room briefly before her father responded, "What's the request?"

The retainer stepped forward, handing over a trio of tablets, his antenna and scent clearly showing his nervousness. Looking back to her father, she watches as her father's eyes slowly widen while reading the message, the charge of soul in the air shifting ever so slightly, before he puts the tablet down, and says "I'm afraid we'll have to cut this meeting short, Herrah, Vespa. An urgent situation has come up within the City of Tears, and I must attend to it. You're both free to rest here before returning home." and gets up, his long wyrm body uncoiling from around the chair he sat in, exiting the room while gesturing for her sibling to follow.

Herrah, her inner fangs grinding, stands up, calling out "Hornet dear, we're leaving. We've been gone from home long enough as it is, for now. Pleasure as always, Vespa." as she goes to leave, exiting out the room via an opposite door that her father left.

Hornet gives her sister a wave as she leaves, saying "I'll see you later, dear sister." Her sister simply rolls her eyes, responding "Yeah, yeah, see you later." as she stands up herself, following along behind Vespa.

Catching up to her mother, Hornet states "Mother, I will be visiting the Archives before I return home."

Herrah givers a look, before huffing out "Alright dear, but please be careful." Hornet simply smiles, responding "Of course, I always am." while twirling her needle around. Once they exited the Palace, and made their way to the Stag station, she parted ways, taking a stag station to the Queens Station, hoping for something, anything to be found at the Archives.

Of course, what she didn't know, was her half-sister, had much the same plan, following after her, just one step behind.

Stepping onto Greenpath at last, I took in the green scenery. The temperature of the area was much warmer than in the Crossroads, or City of Tears, but not unbearable. A fortunate upgrade of having a carapace instead of soft skin, is that the humidity doesn't get to me nearly as much as it would have.

After the escapade with the Snail Shaman, the trip to Greenpath had taken longer than I was expecting, the winding paths of the Crossroads much, much larger than expected, putting the time right at my next sleep cycle. I could already feel the draw to sleep nagging at me. Shaking my head violently, getting the adrenaline going, I begin scouting out the local area, looking for an appropriately hidden crevice to hide in.

Upon finding an appropriate hiding place a fair ways off the path, concealed behind a series of thick bushes, I set out my cloak, arranging it like a blanket and pull out the arcane egg that I had been gifted.

Turning it over and over, running my finger tips across the surface, I note that it's surface felt less like an egg, and more like a silky smooth glass egg, and yet I could clearly see the designed on the outside of the egg. After a couple of minutes, one of my fingers felt a seam. Pulling it up to my face, I turn it over, running the seam over the exterior. Extending one of my claws, I run it over the seam, trying to get any kind of purchase, to no avail.

Humming in thought, I hold it up in the palm of my hand, focusing soul into the egg, seeing if it reacted at all. And react it did.

Once soul began flowing into it, it expanded, opening up like a flower in my hand, a swirling mass of what could only be void energy appearing above the flower before flowing towards me, causing me to lean back much too later, as it dove into my open nostrils.

The void flowing into my nostrils caused me to dry heave, feeling like something was stuck in my throat, before it dispersed, as a throbbing pain presented itself, spreading from my nose throughout my head before fading away into nothing, as if it never happened.

Shaking my head, I note that the arcane egg has seemingly disappeared, evaporated into nothing, for I could find no trace of ever having it. It was while checking my cloak, that I felt a slithering feeling at the back of my skull, as I hear "Burning One, take heed. Your appearance here is not simple chance, nay, it has been fated that you would come. The ancient enemy will attempt to strike at you before you are ready, before you ascend to your fated position. Please accept this humble servant's gift. Know that when the time comes, the void will answer."

After the words faded from my mind, I come to, almost fallen over from the strain, and sit up, rubbing the sides of my head as the pain fades. Suddenly a jolt blows through me, knowledge presenting and the disappearing, leaving my vision blurry as I try to understand what happened.

After several minutes making sense of what just happened, I finally begin to piece together what was in the egg. The message, was a warning, that the ancient enemy would attempt to attack me, and that the void would answer my call.

The flash of knowledge that flew through my mind was, magic. I think. Standing up, I step a fair ways away from my stuff, and get into a combat stance, mentally pulling at the magic that had been suddenly imbued within me, and focus my soul. Lashing out, a blade of soul energy forms out from my hand, longer and wider than my nail, creating a sweeping arc of energy, cutting through several vines along the wall.

Grinning like a mad man, I focus my soul and smash the ground in front of me, blasting soul energy around me in a circular explosion, very much like the desolate dive spell. One other power was left to try out, so I hold out my left hand, holding out my palm outward, and create a shimmering shield, black runes swirling within a soul powered shield.

After practicing each move a few times, I finally settle down for bed, chuckling like a crazy person at how much this would help future fights, as while I was knowledgeable about basic fights, I was no warrior. And in my previous life, I was much more comfortable with a gun, so these soul powers were a godsend.

But I had to wonder, who was it that created the arcane egg? Surely it wasn't the void itself. The void, as I understood, didn't really have a mind of it's own, but it could be focused by others. Something to think about.

And after a fairly exhausting day, I finally closed my eyes, dreamless sleep claiming me once more.

AN: And there we go, chapter 3 is done. I hope everyone has enjoyed so far.

Now, a couple of things to clarify. Firstly, the way time works is based on cycles. A 'day' in Hollownest, is roughly equivalent to 20 hours, broken up into 10 cycles, with each cycle roughly 2 hours each, which in the City and Palace are tracked mechanically with mechanical time pieces. Most insects only require 2-3 cycles of sleep per day. Ray, due too his hybrid nature, requires 4 cycles of sleep for optimal function, roughly equivalent to 8 hours of sleep. Seasons aren't a thing, because underground, but more time focused bugs measure longer measurements of time as a decacycle (10 day periods), and a centicycle (100 day periods), but don't have a concept of years. Most normal bugs can live for tens of thousands of days, provided they aren't killed by disease or physical trauma, and the longer lived insects with multiple molts can live for entire generations, as long as food and water is plentiful. Higher Beings are functionally immortal, provided they get a constant source of worship.

Essentially, time moves along quite quickly in Hollownest, because without access to a accurate time piece (which most common bugs don't), there is no way of measuring time below ground, and even basing time frames and events off of breeding seasons isn't particularly accurate, so expect time to be, rather sketchy, in this story, simply due to the nature of Hollownest as an underground civilization of various species.

Secondly, the current timeline of events is before the Pure Vessel plan is put into effect, being stretched out because a certain king is exhausting all other possible avenues of dealing with the infection before enacting it. And at this point of the timeline, Hornet is in her young adult stage, looking very much like she does in the game, but with a couple of minor changes that will be explored in future chapters. And she has a half sister, from Queen Vespa. And Queen Vespa is now a Dreamer. Ray is going to be very confused when he finds out.

And, the void's interest has become known. I'll leave that bit at that, don't want to spoil the surprise.

Anyway, I hope this chapter has been informative, peace out.