Enter the Dragon
Chapter 5: Assault on the Sanctum…
The Pale King, Solaris, was thankful for the invention of umbrella's keeping the majority of his cloak clear of rain, as he skittered along on his many legs, heading towards the City of Tears, Luriens message replaying itself in his mind over and over again.
"Your Majesty
A new, and dangerous lead on the missing person case has come up. Marissa the Songstress was attacked, bug managed to escape, detailing how she was approached by and then attacked by a acolyte of the Soul Sanctum.
As stated in previous reports, a great many of those missing showed signs of a struggle, with soul taint consistent with what was discovered at the most recent crime scene.
We've already staged an investigation into the Soul Sanctum, and have found more than enough evidence to arrest and charge everyone inside. However, the Soul Master, Aldren Razor has already sealed off the upper levels with many layered levels of soul barriers, keeping us out. Despite my best efforts, I have been unable to break through.
I humbly request you're presence in dealing with this matter, as soon as is possible.
Lurien,
Your Watcher"
While Solaris had known that Aldren had been quite insistent with his demands for soul experimentation, it had never occurred to him that the Soul Master would stoop to such levels. It was a well known fact that one could increase their own soul power by forcibly taking it from another, but to do so was considered heresy, by his own decree.
There was also the matter of dealing with the new higher being that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, their presence being a tiny pinprick on his senses, before slowly growing into something much akin to his own ascension. However, this new higher being was seemingly content with living a normal life, having only just started moving around Hollownest over the past couple of days, their power a low burning hum.
Stepping out of the elevator with the Hollow Knight following close behind, along with a pair of Kingsmolds. He would have preferred bringing a couple of the Great Knights along as well, bug they were all already on assignments, and this was an issue that needed to be taken care of, now.
Making their way into the City of Tears, stepping past citizens towards the Soul Sanctum, his thoughts ruminating the situation. He had personally declined many requests and proposals from Aldren over the year, the requests getting more and more extreme as time went on, and thinking about it, he should have seen this coming. Even before being appointed as the Soul Master, Aldren had been an ego centered bug, that despite his great intelligence, rarely thought beyond his own interests.
Stepping into the lobby of the Soul Sanctum at last, he was greeted by a pair city sentries, who upon sighting him, quickly approach and bow, before rising, the taller one on the right saying "Your Highness, the Watcher is waiting for you above us, please follow me." and heads towards the nearest elevator. Solaris followed behind, his party going up in pairs.
After a few minutes, with Solaris noting how it seemed over half of the cities sentries were here, he was led to Lurien, standing before a pair of double doors, covered in glowing soul glyphs. Turning to him, Lurien bows, then straightens up, saying "Your highness."
"What's the situation?" Solaris replies, observing the spell work before him, as Lurien responds "We've found an increasingly large amount of evidence corroborating our initial suspicions. We haven't found any bodies yet, but we did find a partial ledger, with a list of names. On it was Marissa the Songstress. A great many of the others match those who have been missing. When we moved to apprehend Aldren, we came upon this." while gesturing to the barrier, casting a dagger into the barrier, which shattered upon impact.
Stepping past Lurien, Solaris took in the spell work of the barrier, noting that this was very similar to a variety of designs of seals of binding that had been submitted by Aldren, all of them turned down for either being not strong enough, or being so strong as to burn out after a short time of function.
After a few moments of examining the barrier, Solaris spotted a notable weakness in the spell work, and drew upon his power, focusing a single soul spear into being, stabbing it into the weak point, forcing a spell of unbinding through the hole in the barrier, blasting it into pieces in an instant.
Stepping forward, Solaris says "The creation of this barrier is a clear show of Aldren's guilt in this matter. Capture any members of the Soul Sanctum, but if they resist, lethal force is authorized." with the full might of is voice, marching into the Soul Sanctum's upper levels.
After moving through a few rooms, a pair of acolytes teleported in front of them, their eyes glowing with the power of soul. Before Solaris could utter a word, they both summoned soul bolts, blasting them towards him.
Rolling his eyes, Solaris deflected the soul blasts with ease, a simple barrier appearing in front of him, before summoning and sending a pair of soul spears. One of them teleported away, with the other not reacting fast enough, getting speared through the center of its torso, the splattering of orange blood confirming his suspicions.
He turns to his entourage, saying "It appears as though they are infected. Don't bother arresting, attack to kill. Lethal force is authorized for any who resist." The Kingsmolds saluted, and then began marching ahead, while his Hollow Knight kept it's original position next to him, having not been ordered itself to move.
Stepping forward, what followed would less be called a battle, and more of a slaughter. The attacking acolytes, who would have been a major fight for most bugs, were practically nothing under the shear might Solaris wielded, their soul spells having no effect, and any of the more nail inclined acolytes swiftly found themselves taken apart by the Kingsmolds and the Hollow Knight. Their orange blood ran thick, many of them simply exploding from the pressure within their bodies when struck.
Lurien and his Sentries followed behind, taking care of any stragglers and seizing evidence. Eventually, they found their way to the very top of the Sanctum, slaughtering dozens of acolytes that attempted to stop them, fully cementing their traitor status in the eyes of Solaris.
They reach the Soul Masters Sanctum, which has another barrier, much like the one down below. Solaris smashed it into pieces just like the last one, noting the same weakness in this barrier the previous one had, and continues forward, jolting back when a trio of Soul Warriors teleport next to him, lashing out with their nails.
In a flash, all three are parried, two on either side by the Kingsmolds, the one directly in front of him by the Hollow Knight. The Hollow Knight retaliates, sending the Soul Warrior back with the force of the swing, leaping forward to bring it's nail down upon the stunned bug, cleaving it in two, orange blood flying from the force of the strike.
The Soul Warriors engaged by the Kingsmolds floated back, blasting soul bolts at said Kingsmolds, who deflected with perfect form, their scythes twirling around at breakneck speeds, deflecting soul bolts with ease, advancing forward. I summoned and then launched a pair of soul spears, catching one of them through the face, ending it's life instantly. The other teleported, appearing behind me, launching itself at me with it's nail held forward.
I simply whipped my hand around behind me, a soul nail appearing in my hands, deflecting the attack and then beheading the soul warrior in a single stroke. Dismissing the soul nail, I continued forward, my guard falling back into step behind me. The next set of doors I immediately blasted apart, and as I stepped forward, a series of barriers springing to life in front of me, layered upon each other like layers of paint.
Beyond the barrier, I could see Aldren, surrounded by 12 acolytes all bowed in prayer, as the Soul Master chanted a series of soul spells in quick succession. I began burning my way through the barriers, using brute force instead of the careful application used before, but even I could see that I wouldn't get through the barrier in time to stop the current spell taking place.
Before my very eyes, Aldren completed the spell, and the acolytes around him began spasming, before shrinking down, their bodies being converted into pure soul, which swirled around Aldren before being absorbed, his body expanding under the strain of containing that much unnaturally obtained soul.
Even as the last barrier fell beneath my might, Aldren turned to me, shouting "My ascension into GODHOOD WILL NOT BE STOPPED, FOR SHE HAS FORSEEN IT!" and unleashed a massive blast of soul towards me. I raised my hands, summoning a much larger barrier than previously, blocking the attack, even as I summoned a single spear, launching it towards Aldren's face, smashing into his face, shattering his mask.
Screaming in pain, the Soul Master raised himself up, before plunging down at unnatural speed, smashing into the glass floor below him, blasting through it without stopping. Extending my wings, I dove after him, summoning and launching a series of spears while descending.
It wasn't until I landed that I realized where we were, for around us, in what was once the Soul Sanctums Amphitheater, was now a tomb, containing hundreds of corpses of bugs in various states of decay, their bodies forcibly drained of soul. Above me, I hear the sounds of battle commence, as several soul warriors teleported in above me, engaging my Hollow Knight and the Kingsmolds. I briefly considered helping them, but my attention was caught by Aldren.
Aldren, his mask shattered, began speaking gibberish, randomly teleporting even as his body started coming apart from the wounds inflicted upon his body, before appearing before me, holding a large orb of soul. I instinctively raised a shield, expecting a soul attack, however fruitless it would have been, only for Aldren to flash brightly before disappearing, the scent of a teleportation spell thick in the air.
Cursing, I try following the trail of magic with my inner eye, trying to determine where it went, but quickly lost it beyond the City of Tears. Looking around, I took in the sheer number of bugs that had their lives taken by the Soul Master, trying to understand how long this had been going on.
Eventually, my Hollow Knight dropped down, stains of blood along their nail and cloak, followed by the Kingsmolds, both of which were now damaged, having dents along their armored forms. Once down, they took up their formation around me.
Taking a deep breath, I continued my way through the Soul Sanctum, intent of clearing this place of all members, their minds clearly long gone from either soul insanity or the dreams of the Radiance.
"Stay on guard, my loyal knights. We continue until there are none left." I say aloud, more for the Kingsmold's benefit than the Hollow Knights.
Several cycles later, the Soul Sanctum had been secured. Sitting in the Lurien's office, Solaris sat clutching his head, as the headache of the fallout of Soul Santum's fall would be tremendous and would lead to his most hated thing of ruling Hollownest, paperwork.
Over 500 bodies had been collected from the Soul Sanctum, many of them too twisted and deformed to easily be identified, and yet there were still several hundred more to collect and sort, hidden away in the various crevices and closets of the Soul Sanctum. Nearly all members of the Soul Sanctum were killed or captured, with only 5 members known to have escaped, the Soul Master the most dangerous of them.
Lurien walked up, sitting down across from, him, and says "This event will have far reaching consequences." Solaris straightens up, responding "Indeed it will. And we'll need to spread the word that the Soul Master is to be killed on sight, along with his remaining acolytes." with a grim tone, steepling his claws as Lurien nods.
Lurien stands up, waving Solaris over as he says "Something else important has come up, something involving the infection." This got Solaris's attention, getting up for his seat and ambling over after him, following him over to a desk, where a glowing object sat.
Lurien grabs it, presenting it to Solaris as he says "This, is a dream catcher, an object that, after some testing appears to keep those who sleep near one safe from the infection.", holding it for Solaris to inspect it. Taking a hold of it, Solaris turned it over, viewing the simple construction, being a simple metal hoop with string twined over it in a net like pattern. Focusing his soul senses, he could see the simple spell work, less designed and more implied, seemingly pulling the very essence of dreams out of the air.
His eyes widening with the sudden revelations, thoughts dashing back and forth at how such a device will help curb the infection, Solaris looks to Lurien, saying "This is amazing! How did you discover it?"
Lurien simply turned away, walking in a semi-circle, replying "I didn't discover it. A bug, by the name of Ray, showed me how to make them. He's the same bug that rescued Marissa the Songstress, and pointed us towards the Soul Sanctum." Turning back to Solaris, Lurien continued "He also knows about the Pure Vessel, something that no citizen should know about. I don't know where he went, but he left shortly after showing me how to make more of these dream catchers."
Solaris considered the information dropped on him, saying "What does this Ray look like?" Lurien sighed at that, pointing to the Hollow Knight, saying "Visually, he looked very similar to the Hollow Knight, with a white, mask like face. What the rest of him looks like, I couldn't say, he was wearing a heavy cloak the whole time. However, Marissa is believed to have gotten a good look at him when he rescued her, she even painted a picture of him shortly after leaving the hospital."
"Alright, you have my thanks. I hate to leave this mess all to you, but I need to return to the palace. Lurien, if these dream catchers do in fact work, you have my permission to create as many as possible, even recruiting others to the task." and began to leave, gesturing for the Hollow Knight to follow him.
Before leaving, Solaris decided to visit the Songstress, see this painting she created, and after entering the Pleasure House, leaving his Kingsmolds in the Lobby below, he entered her room, where Marissa was singing for a crowd of nobility and other well off bugs, all of whom scrabbled to get out of his way, bowing before his light.
Once in front of her, Marissa stopped, bowing before saying "Greetings, your majesty. Have you come to listen to me sing?", confusing apparent on her face, having only sang for his majesty at city wide events, never so up close and personal.
Solaris responds "No, not today. I heard you had a, dangerous encounter the other day and wanted to check to see if you were alright. As well as see this painting of your savior for myself, if you wouldn't mind." with the air of formal procedure, keeping emotion out of his voice.
Marissa, slightly startled, turns to the rest of the crowd, saying "I must apologize, but that concludes tonight's songs." followed by the groaning of multiple bugs, many who wanted to shout some kind of complaint, but complied, not wanted to cause a scene in front of the King.
Once they were all gone, Marissa walked to her back room, gesturing for Solaris to follow. After walking in, Marissa walked over to a curtained painting, pulling it aside, unveiling a painting of a being, set in a pose that evoked one jumping down towards something, as Marissa says "This, is the painting of Ray. I was, inspired, by his selflessness, jumping in after me, a total stranger, with no question of reward. And his voice, silky smooth and powerful, pulled at my creative mind."
While Marissa spoke, Solaris looked over the painting, taking in the details. The mask of the individual pictured was very much like the Hollow Knights, but shorter, having only two pairs of points, one pair curling inward, and the other pair curling outwards. The being's body was a dark, almost black blue, shaped much like the body of a bee, a dual pair of wings extended out from their back. They had 5 fingered hands, which had grey colored pads on them.
Turning away from the painting once Marissa was done speaking, Solaris turns back to her, who has grabbed a similar looking dream catcher, as she continues "He gave me this. I wasn't really sure if what he said was true, but ever since I've had it, my sleep has been undisturbed by dreams."
"I see. Did he say anything else when he gave you it?" Solaris asks, observing the magic within the dream catcher, much the same as the previous one. Marissa responds "No, only that he looks forward to hearing me sing in the future."
Humming in thought, Solaris turns away, saying "Thank you for your time. We'll be going now." Marissa replies "Of course, your majesty." while staring at the painting, a slight blush appearing on her face as they walked away, hoping to meet the mysterious bug again.
And following behind the Pale King, as dutiful as ever, the Hollow Knight, had a small, tiny thought flow through the back of its mind. Said thought was so small, as to not register as being a thought, but it existed none the less. That thought, was "Sibling…", holding the picture of it's sibling to memory, trying to understand why that picture caused it to think the word sibling.
AN: And there we go. Chapter 5 is done. The Soul Sanctum has fallen, but the Soul Master and a few of his acolytes have escaped. And the Pale King has learned of Ray, albeit in passing only, having not yet connected Ray to the new being that he's been sensing. That will be, quite the meeting, when it happens.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed, and peace out.