Enter the Dragon

Chapter 15: Stirring's in the Shadows…

Moving through her private abode, Marissa hummed a tune to herself, just enjoying her peaceful home with quite contentment. Her work had both become more and less stressful over the last couple of decacycles. Her own personal dreamcatcher hanging above her bed, it is light glow offering safety and security in her sleep. It was amazing how much having a proper night's sleep, without the fear and anxiety of falling to the infection, did to improve one's energy and mental awareness.

She had signed a soul charged promise to withhold her silence, of the true nature of the infection, but she understood why that was the case. As she understood it, gods like the Pale King and this, Radiance, gained power from being worshipped. And the infection was an insidious way of forcing those unwilling to let the old light into their minds, by manipulating their dreams until they gave in.

This put into context how important the dreamcatchers were, and how important the upcoming negotiations with the old light were. She could only hope and pray that they were successful, that there would be a time when they would not have to fear of going mad from their dreams.

Lurien was sitting in his chair, a cup of tea steaming in his grip, as he came to grips with what the reports of the last few days indicated. The dreaded infection, which had been a never-ending source of nightmares for the last centi-cycle, was seemingly beginning to come to an end. The infected that were still contained within the lower levels of the City, were no longer violently trying to tear their way out of their confines, no longer raging at everything around them. Those that had recently been infected had become freed of it, their mind's returned to them. Those that had been infected for a substantial amount of time, their bodies warped by the infection, were now docile, with some regaining some of their minds, while others were practically comatose, but alive.

The upcoming negotiations were a spot of much discussion, with him having to take a trip to the White Palace every couple of days to work on one detail or another. They were now at the point that all current preparations that could be done, were done, and they simply had to await the proper time frame to meet with the old light, and hopefully, achieve a form of peace.

Personally, as the Watcher of the City of Tears, he wanted for all the world, to make the Radiance suffer as the citizens of his city have suffered. To watch as friends, family, children and the elderly, were claimed by an unstoppable disease that targeted the mind, leaving behind hollow husks that had to be put down for the safety of everyone else. To suffer at having to have to put to death your own citizens that were too far gone to save, to watch as everything you love falls apart around you.

However, as the Watcher, and right hand of the King, he had to see the bigger picture. And regardless of his feelings on the matter, negotiations with the old light, to bring about a, peaceful, end to the infection, was preferable to the old light winning in the end. That the King's plan with the Pure Vessel was doomed to fail, was a bitter pill to swallow, but in hindsight, it makes sense.

Letting out a sigh, he takes a long gulp of his tea, enjoying the warmth and taste. Exquisite as always. Taking in a deep breath, he mumbles his prayers, hoping the upcoming negotiations work out. If they did not, then he did not know what he would do.

Aldren huffed and puffed, as he worked. The injuries to his body, while healed, still stinged, the cracks in his shell still visible despite the healing he endured. The ache inside his shell from the sudden loss of what he now knew was the infection, forever sat in the back of his mind, no matter what he was doing or how relaxed he was, he ached inside.

His escape from the Pale King had been a miracle, as he had teleported randomly, throwing caution to the wind when he unleashed the teleportation spell. He ended up in the fungal wastes, somewhere deep within the Mushroom Village. He nearly died, Shroomal warriors attacking him on sight.

He initially fled, his soul reserves drained from the fight with the King, but as soon as he got some amount of soul back from life saving soul totem, he quickly turned the fight around, blasted apart the Shroomal warriors attacking him. After draining some mushrooms of their soul, he set off to find a new place to hide and heal.

4 of his acolytes had survived, and shown up to his new hidden lab, deep in the depths of the fungal wastes. They had to be careful not to attract the attention of the Mantis tribe, but their new location proved fruitful enough for gathering soul. It was while getting some proper healing supplies, that they were suddenly wracked with spasms of pain.

It was not until later, when he could not hear the whispers in his mind anymore, that he realized they were now free of the infection. Two of the acolytes had unfortunately passed away, their bodies unable to cope with the strain of losing the infection, but he and the other two had survived. They healed their wounds and survived despite everything.

However, they could not stay within the fungal wastes. Hence, why they were gathering what supplies they were able to scrounge up from the Shroomal village and were going to make their way back to the City of Tears. While the Sanctum had fallen, there were many hideouts they had setup specifically for the possibility of the Sanctum being raided.

He would need to recruit more acolytes, as he would not get much done with only two of them. And clearly, despite the power the warriors of the Sanctum had been able to wield, they were nothing compared to the power of a god. And even himself, despite his power, was lacking when compared to the Pale King, who used most of their godly might to give bugs their minds.

More research would have to be conducted, and reconnaissance would need to be undertaken. That they had seemingly been cured of the infection, despite the hollow feeling it left inside of them, and this had to be investigated. Was it just them, or did everyone sudden get cleared of the infection? They hadn't found anymore infected within the Shroomal village since they were cleared of it, but it seemed that most of the Shroomal's had either died or become inert instead. Were they spared because of their heightened soul reserves? Was it the rituals they underwent?

Questions such as these ran through Aldren's mind, as he gathered up their meager supplies, plans forming within his mind. Before they could pursue such plans though, they needed to get to a safe house. Which meant crossing mantis territory. Ordinarily, they'd just teleport, but attempts to do so caused their soul to fizzle out ever since they lost the infection, so they'd have to take the long way there.

Once done, Aldren set off, keeping a large cloak over their body to hide their face, and slowly made their way up through the Fungal Wastes, his destination in mind.

Tunneling throughout the kingdom, the Vorpal Serpent considered its options. It's new ruler, the Burning One known as Ray, was training their body and soul within the Pale King's Palace, learning alongside their void siblings. This was good. The presence of the Nightmare King was not. Even from this far distance, the new connection to Ray's mind allowed them an insight into their mindscape, and they could see the subtle changes the Nightmare King was imposing upon their chosen ruler.

They were, however, only subtle changes, most of them geared towards making Ray less, open, to the Radiance's influence, so for now, they left them be. Already, they had learned a great deal of the current situation. The time for Ray's ascension would be coming soon, but Ray was interested with ending the feud between the warring Light's. Even despite this, however, they did not think the piece would last. The claws of influence from the Radiance were already present, albeit only on the outer edges of Ray's mind, kept away by the void within his core.

They would be watching carefully, fully prepared to intervene should the Radiance break Ray's defenses to his mind. They did not think it likely, but it didn't hurt to plan ahead for the possibility. It was fortunate, that the Pale King was reconciling with his void touched children, for if he had not, then they would have had to punish the Pale King for his actions against the void. The void had been quite active as of late, funneling into and out of Ray's mind, learning great and powerful things. Such as the knowledge of how to truly channel the building blocks of the universe, to create and destroy by manipulating the very matter that makes up everything.

In Ray's world, his kind had only begun to manipulate the very fabric of reality, mostly to create the terrifyingly powerful atomic weapons, devices capable of ending an entire civilization in one fell swoop. However, even more powerful, was the idea, of creation from such a power.

The Voidbeast was already putting this knowledge into practice, crafting new bodies for the hundreds of voidlings the Pale King had left behind, and was creating a great void cocoon, for Ray to undergo his ascension inside. Even if the Radiance agreed to a peace, there would still be a reckoning for all Hallownest to pay. For the void, who had listened through rock, and metal, and time, was now ready to voice their complaints for all to hear. And Ray would be the new King, Ruler and Sibling to the void, their mind a burning beacon for all to connect to and ascend.

The Radiance sat on her new throne, humming a tune as she overlooked the new structures atop Hallownest's Crown. The few homes that had remained from so long ago, had been torn down, and new buildings rebuilt. She had, borrowed, some of the miners from the mines below, for help with the labor part of it, as well as the securing of materials. The miners and their overseers had been some of the first to be infected, to the point that many of them had hollowed out, their bodies kept alive by the infection.

She did what she could, returning as much of their memories and personality back as possible, but their dependence on the infection meant they would never be truly alive again. But she could at least allow them to have some semblance of self again, even if it was only an echo of what once was.

The overseers, who had large egos, were surprisingly the most unaffected by the change, as they were smart enough to figure out when they were infected, and took steps to hide that fact, hence why the mines had not been shut down by now.

With the new buildings on the Crown done, she had then spent some time finetuning her vessel's appearance and power, as she didn't want to put too much of her power into the vessel, lest it get destroyed, and she banished back to the almost non-existence that had created the infection. Her connection to Ray was, incomplete, but she figured that would be the case, given his connection to the void, which was actively funneling into and out of his mind. And she could not approach via dreams, as he used a wretched dreamcatcher to keep her out. Not that she blamed him, but still.

Her brief time within his dreams had given her some insight into his mind. He was not an inherently violent creature, hence why he had made his ultimatum instead of just trying to kill her from the outset. He loved quite freely, finding beauty in a variety of things, and he was smart. Incredibly smart, as the brief look into something called "programming" he knew about, only gave her a headache.

And the power. His mind was unlike any other being she had ever felt before. Not even the Pale King, who's mind was crazy powerful, was nothing compared to the wildfire that resided within Ray's mind. The power of his mind, constrained with rational thought, was a constantly churning storm, and her brief connecting to it had gifted her a substantial amount of power just from contact. Even now, she could sense the increase in Unn's might as well, as Unn had met Ray face to face.

She had altered her vessel's body to better appeal to Ray's subconscious. A small part of her balked at the thought of trying to appeal to a mortal, for she was a goddess, it should be the other way around. But his power was very real. And something she had learned from the many lady bugs under her thrall, was that a surprisingly easy way to get what you want from a man, was to appeal to their masculinity. And so, her vessel had a curvy, hourglass form, her chest and hips curved into pleasing shapes to the eye, her abdomen that was normally hidden behind her fluff, extended out, covered in soft fluff. Her wings were shaped to appear as a cloak, and when extended, would accentuate her form. Her three-pointed crest was made shorter, her normally hidden antenna fully extended up and over her head, provided a facsimile of the "hair" that his former home's kind possessed.

And to top it off, her face was a slightly canted heart shape, her glowing white eyes accenting the darker chitin of her face, her mouth parts formed into a normal bugs design. She, looked drop dead gorgeous, and she was fully prepared to do anything to get Ray by her side. Perhaps, with his power at her disposal, she could finally rid herself of the plague of life, that she had partaken in so long ago. One could dream.

AN: Alright, there we go. Some outsider perspectives on things, and some more information on what the Voidbeast has been doing, as well as what the Vorpal Serpent is doing. And the Radiance, is being a creepy milf. Yes, I said it, what you gonna do about it?

Anyway, the next chapter, will finally show the fruits of everyone's labor towards the negotiations that we have been looking forward too. Even if some of those fruits of labor, vastly contrast with each other.

Also, apologies about the lateness of the update. I have been working on my other story, and IRL things have gotten in the way. I'm very excited for the upcoming E3 event starting on the 12th, and over the last couple of weeks, I've been playing the crap, out of the game Bug Fables The Everlasting Sapling. It is an amazing game, and I will be working elements of it into my other story. Not this one though, this story is all Hollow Knight.

I hope you all enjoyed, and peace out.